A rare occurrence: Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Apple founder Steve Jobs appeared on stage together at the D5 conference. The two rivals talked about how the two have worked together over the years and how much respect they have for one another.
Link: PC Magazine
This is ridiculous. When are Americans going to finally realize that two-dollar bills are legitimate (although rarely circulated) legal tender? When in doubt, check with the Treasury Department…
Link: WorldNetDaily
I love stories about senior citizens who perform amazing feats. The latest one is about Katsusuke Yanagisawa, a seventy-one-year-old mountain climber who has become the oldest person to ever scale Mount Everest. The retired junior high school teacher from central Japan reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 22.
Link: ABC News
Brood XIII, a brood of periodical cicadas which tunnels up from the ground every seventeen years in order to reproduce, is about to arrive. Within a month’s time, billions of the flying insects will emerge just long enough to molt, mate, and lay the eggs of the next generation. After that is accomplished, the cicadas all die.
Unfortunately, the mating call of the male cicada is quite loud. The sound of a single cicada can reach ninety decibels, which is as loud as a kitchen blender. Although the noise might be unbearable for a while, the adult cicada only lives for about thirty days, so the blaring brood will not be around for long.
Link: LiveScience
The “face” of the anti-war movement in U.S. is calling it quits. Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in the Iraq War, has been a very vocal and very visible critic of the American-led liberation of the Iraqi people.
Following the Democratic Congress’s reluctant vote to continue to fund the operation in Iraq, Sheehan has decided to give up her crusade, head back home to California, and “try to regain some of what [she] lost.” Things which the anti-war activist has lost due to her own actions following the death of her son U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan include her health, her twenty-nine-year marriage, and — some would argue — her sanity.
Link: CBS News
This season’s finale of American Idol ran about nine minutes long, causing those who recorded it for later viewing to miss the very end where Jordin Sparks was announced as the winner. Many, many fans were upset, including the one to whom I am married.
The Fox network has now issued an apology to the miffed fans, saying “it was always our intention to bring the show in on time.” Considering that the network produces several hours of live television every week, it seems to me that they could have tried a little harder.
Link: TV Squad
Following the big fight with Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Wednesday, Rosie O’Donnell has chosen to leave her job on The View three weeks before her contract ends.
I can’t say that I am said to hear the news.
Link: New York Daily News
At the age of seventeen, Jordin Sparks is the youngest American Idol winner thus far. Jordin was declared the winner — beating out the beatboxing Blake Lewis — at the very end of last night’s two-plus-hour season finale.
Unfortunately, everyone who recorded the show to watch later (including my wife) was disappointed because the show ran over its time slot by several minutes, and the voting results were not announced until the very end. DVRs and VCRs all over the country stopped taping on the hour mark, and frustrated viewers were forced to turn to the Internet to found out the winner.
Link: Fox News
I don’t want to give the guy too much of a hard time. After all, I completely understand that he would want to look good before going on television in front of millions of people. That is something I personally have never experienced, but I imagine that it can be a stressful situation. In a society where people are far too often judged based upon their looks, it makes perfect sense that Edwards would desire to look his best.
But even so, this does seem kind of… excessive.
Link: YouTube
The technology news of the day is that search engine giant Google is purchasing web feed management company Feedburner for $100 million. As a fan and user of both companies’ services, I think this may turn out to be a good match. I look forward to seeing how Feedburner’s technologies fit into Google’s long-term plan.
Link: TechCrunch
As if the President doesn’t get enough criticism, Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to join the fray. The Republican governor of California, along with Connecticut governor Jodi Rell, described a President Bush-issued executive order, which allows the federal government to continue studying global warming (instead of, I suppose, having a knee-jerk reaction to it like most politicians do), as “inaction and denial.”
Link: Reuters
We all knew this was coming: Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico is running for President.
I am actually glad that Richardson is in the race. Although I disagree with him on many issues, he seems to be more moderate than most of the Democratic candidates.
Link: USA Today
