Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Spotlight
It's HAL's birthday. According to the computer in Stanley Kubrick's classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL became operational on this date in 1997.

Quote
"The real origin of science fiction lay in the seventeenth-century novels of exploration in fabulous lands. Therefore Jules Verne's story of travel to the moon is not science fiction because they go by rocket, but because of where they go. It would be as much science fiction if they went by rubber band." -- Philip K. Dick

Word of the day
hoi polloi -- the common people; the masses. Used in an article on high tech innovations in skin care products. "Cosmetics companies, whether they serve the hoi polloi or the elite, are adopting not just the language of Silicon Valley but many of its most sophisticated techniques." (story) (© )

Today's News

• Allah? Shiva? -- tsunami survivors ponder reasons for dukkha (story)
• Coma Berenices -- black holes shown to warp spacetime (story)
• Mr. Blackwell -- Nicollette Sheridan, Lindsay Lohan top annual list (story)

Today's History

• Hattie Caraway -- first woman elected to the U.S. Senate (1932)
• Carlos Santana -- first Hispanic inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1998)
• Mark McGwire's -- 70th home run ball was sold at auction in NY for $3m (1999)

Today's Birthdays

• John Hancock -- the first signer of the Declaration of Independence (1737-1793)
• talk show -- hosts Rush Limbaugh (54) and Howard Stern (51)
• Jeff Bezos -- the Internet entrepreneur turns 41