You don't need to go hang-gliding over the Himalayas, you don't need to screw your luscious and oh-so-willing secretary or party all night with the beautiful people. You don't need visions of merging with the totality of the Universe. Just be what you are, where you are. Clean the toilet. Walk the dog. Do your work. That's the most magical thing there is. If you really want to merge with God, that's the way to do it. This moment. You sitting there with your hand in your underwear and potato chip crumbs on your chin, scrolling down your computer screen thinking "This guy's out of his mind." This very moment is Enlightenment. This moment has never come before and once it's gone, it's gone forever. You are this moment. This moment is you. This very moment is you merging with the total Universe, with God Himself.
having spent far too many happy hours playing each iteration of the sim city series (through #4), i can say the game has gotten way more realistic.
sim city 4, especially, has a bunch of skyscrapers from san francisco that you'll get in your cities if you do a decent job of zoning commercial areas.
there's a certain joy to walking around downtown san francisco and seeing the life-size versions.
I'm sticking by the source who told me about Digg bringing in the bank to help them sell. Even if that's not how Digg wants to spin their strategy to Business Week.
Anyone else notice that BusinessWeek and the New York Times both just came out with feature articles on how Google is taking on Microsoft via cloud computing?
There are even charming anecdotes in both stories from the same engineers -- people like Christophe Bisciglia.
Happy Holidays, Google PR.
edit: Sorry if I'm coming across as too cynical, but I could have sworn I've been reading very similar Google versus Microsoft articles for years. Of course, that topic is a big deal -- it's just the timing, the lack of a hard-news angle, and the anecdotes in these two articles strongly suggest PR orchestration.
When one considers the hundred years of horrific racism present in white culture, it's hardly surprising that such cultural attitudes manifest themselves from time to time in the form of sophisticated scientific arguments.
Whether or not there are genetic differences, doesn't the most accurate approach -- if not the most ethical approach -- seem to be withholding all race-based judgement for the time being?