Today's Highlights:
Saturday, October 20, 2007
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HUAC Subcommittee Members Source |
Spotlight: Sixty years ago today, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened its investigation into alleged Communist influence in the motion picture industry. The first witness to take the stand was Jack Warner. As a result of hearings that took place over the next month, 10 screenwriters and directors were cited for contempt of Congress and served a year in jail. Blacklisted until the 60s, some wrote under pseudonyms; Michael Wilson and Dalton Trumbo were unable to collect Oscars they won under assumed names.
Quote: "No member of our generation who wasn't a Communist or a dropout in the thirties is worth a damn."
Word of the day: phageA program that modifies other programs or databases in unauthorized ways; esp. one that propagates a virus or Trojan horse. See also worm, mockingbird. The analogy, of course, is with phage viruses in biology.
Usage: Beware of phages that sneak in through a "back door" and infest your computer.
From banana problem to Visual Fred, you'll find all the hacker lingo you need in Hacker Slang, including definitions, etymologies, background and a good dose of humor.
Today's News:
Today's History:
- Louisiana Purchase: was ratified by the US Senate (1803)
- Saturday Night Massacre: special prosecutor Archibald Cox and others lost their jobs during Watergate (1973)
- Luzhniki disaster: dozens of spectators were killed in a stampede at a UEFA cup game in Moscow (1982)
Today's Birthdays:
- John Dewey (1859-1952): philosopher, pragmatist educator
- Mickey Mantle (1931-1995): New York Yankees slugger
- Jerry Orbach (1935-2004): actor, Law and Order
- Elfriede Jelinek (61): Nobel-winning Austrian writer
- Tom Petty (57): Heartbreakers' frontman
