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Vint Cerf on the Future of the Net
johnd writes "The internet is set to become the basis for just about every form of communication, according to net pioneer Vint Cerf, and he should know what he is talking about. Not terribly in depth, but an interesting read all the same."
America, eh folks? It's a pretty screwed up place. Unfortunately, but not indefinitely, the USA's weapons of mass destruction make it the most powerful country in the world (militarily). As a result, it helps to be aware of American society and fit into it, and our quick 8-step guide should have you on the path to burger-munching enlightenment.
1 - Buy yourself a gun
To become a fully-fledged Yank, you'll need to get a weapon. Americans think that having more killing machines magically makes their country safer, and it helps them to walk around saying "I'll put a cap in your ass". Even though the concept of "no guns = no gun-related crimes" is alien to the average Yank, it'll give you a false sense of security in this country with the highest crime rates in the developed world.
2 - Put on at least 25 stone
Skinny? Medium? Chubby? That won't cut it in the good ol' US of A. Because America has the highest obesty levels on the planet, you'll need to get those rolls of flab built up. Eating 18 waffles with Maple syrup for breakfast (and visiting Burger King five times in a day) is all natural when much of the world is suffering massive poverty. Get fat and fit in.
3 - Learn the lingo
We've talked about issues affecting society, but on a personal level you'll need more knowledge (or ignorance as it may be) to fit in. First, forget proper English. Confuse "your" with "you're". Say "must of" instead of "must have". Whenever anything interesting occurs, say "shucks" repeatedly. Instead of clever spontaneity or witty insults, call people "asswipes". It's funny!
4 - Throw away all maps, history books etc.
To really feel a part of American society, you must lose all knowledge of the world. Forget where Poland is. Scrap your knowledge of the lengthy Chinese history. Make cretinous remarks like "India? Is that in Africa?". Because ALL that matters is America, and it doesn't matter how pathetic you look to educated people the world over.
5 - Become totally irrational and nonsensical
Spout on about the Constitution, and then make drastic changes to it. Talk about "freedom of speech" and watch TV programmes about the Ku Klux Klan. Rant on about market freedom, and sit back as companies run riot and destroy the economy with their anti-competitive practices. Essentially, act idiotic at all times.
6 - Sue everyone you ever meet
The USA doesn't produce many decent quality products, so the society is crumbling into a litigation-happy joke. With so many jobs going overseas to talented workers, your only option left is to start legal proceedings. About anything. Someone step on your toe? Get some hotshot downtown lawyer to sue their ass!
7 - Get a "shrink"
Americans have a hard time dealing with their own problems in a mature manner, and prefer to spend hundreds of dollars sitting in front of someone and whinging. However trivial your problems may be, blast them out like a baby!
8 - Watch abysmal TV
Forget educational programmes and incisive documentaries. Your ideal night in is with your gun, six cheeseburgers and a Friends box set. Watch as some over-paid talentless "actor" enters the scene, and whoop and scream hysterically as he delivers some ridiculously poor wisecrack.
So there you have it! Those 8 steps should have you killing innocent people, piling on pounds and acting like a moron in no time. America awaits you, brave hero! Just get out before it collapses in disarray.
END
This is not Swami's illness; this is an illness that Swami has taken on in order to save some one. Swami has no illnesses, nor will he get ill at any time. You must all be happy; that alone will make Swami happy. If you grieve, Swami will not be happy. Your joy is Swami's food.
(Then, Baba signaled to Kasturi to speak. After his short speech was over, Baba wanted the mike to be held before him. He asked through it "Vinapisthundaa!". But, though he asked again and again, the voice was so indistinct that no could make out what it meant.
He then signed for water. When it was brought, he sprinkled a little with his shaking right hand on the stricken left hand, on his left leg. He stroked his left hand with the right. Immediately, he used both hands to stroke his left leg, and that touch was enough to cure it. He doffed the disease in a trice! He started to speak! It was the same musical voice.)
For those who have no refuge, God is the refuge (Dikku lenivaniki devude gathi). That is exactly the reason I had to take on the disease that one helpless devotee was to get. He had to suffer this dire illness, as well as the four heart attacks that accompanied it, and he would not have survived it. So, according to my duty (dharma) to protect devotees (bakthasamrakshana), I had to rescue him. Of course, this is not the first time that I have taken on the illness of persons whom I wanted to save. Even in the previous Sariram at Shirdi, I had this responsibility. The suffering that you saw was too much for this particular devotee, so I had to save him by going through it myself. This is my play (leela), my nature. It is part of the task for which I have come, sishyarakshana.
People who were near me during the last week were asking me to give them the name of the person whom I had saved. I told them that it would make them angry against that person, for Swami, they would say, "had to undergo much pain in order to save that one person." Then, they replied that they would honor the person because of the extraordinary devotion that persuaded Swami to run to his rescue that Saturday morning.
Some people even asked me whether it was this person or that, giving names of those who had attacks of paralysis, especially on the left side! This is even more ludicrous, because when I save a person I save him completely. I do not wait until he gets the disease, and I do not leave him a fraction of a disease so that he may be identified later. It all looks funny to me, the guesses and surmises that you make.
Even in Shirdi, Dada Saheb, Nadaram, Balawanth, all were saved by these means. Balawanth was destined to get plague, but the bubo was taken over and the boy saved.
This is perhaps the longest period when I kept the devotees wondering and worried. That was because of the heart attacks, which had to come later on the devotee, from which also he had to be saved. Then, there is another reason why the 8-day period had to be observed. I shall tell you why. This means I must tell you about myself, about something I haven't disclosed so far, something that I was keeping within myself for the last 37 years. The time has come to announce it. This is a sacred day, and I shall tell you.
You know I declared on the very day when I decided to disclose my Identity, my mission, and my Advent that I belonged to the Apasthamba Suthra and the Bharadwaja lineage (gothra). This Bharadwaja was a great sage, who studied the Vedas for a full one hundred years; but, finding that the Vedas were endless (anantha), he did penance (thapas) for prolonging life, and from Indra he got two extensions of a century each. Even then, the Vedas could not be completed, so he asked Indra again for another hundred years. Indra showed him 3 huge mountain ranges and said, "What, you have learned in 3 centuries form only 3 handfuls from out of the 3 ranges that make up the Vedas. So give up the attempt to exhaust the Vedas. Perform a ritual (yaga) instead, which I shall teach you; that will give you the fruit of Vedic study, ful
Love the software and the project and I've only really ever had one complaint about anything and everything Mozilla related.
Did these guys corner the market on sucky software names or what? Mozilla? Firebird? Thunderbird? Camino? (Chimera wasn't bad but naturally someone made them stop using it) Galeon?
Epiphany sounds ok but I expect it will also change at some point since it doesn't fit the name scheme (must suck in some way).
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