Saturday, January 31, 2004

Government for the people... despite the people

Came across an article from July 7, 2003 edition of Newsweek magazine. The title is 'Dawnism in California,' the author is George F. Will.

I found it interesting because, alhtough the article is about the state of California, and the choices that need to be made, the last paragraph reads:

"When Ataturk was creating modern Turkey, going against the grain of society, pulling a reluctant people toward modernity, his saying was: 'Government for the people - despite the people.' Californians need someone similar, someone who will make difficult choices of the sort Davis has ducked and who will tell people they cannot casually slough off responsibility for the electoral choices they make. Californians need an Ataturk. But they probably would recall him."

SLAC

SLAC

We went to take a tour of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center... Our guide was very good. The tour includes a 45-minute introduction to particle physics, technology and the center.

The tour is free, but requires on-line reservation from the SLAC web site.

Sunday, January 25, 2004

In Excelsis Deo

Few days ago, I saw -I think, for the third time- one of the best West Wing episodes on TV: 'In Excelsis Deo.' It's from 1999, a Chrismas episode...

4 Out Of 6

A week ago, I have received a letter from Central Blood Bank about a possible bone marrow match for a patient. I called them to clarify few things. They told me that four out of six markers were a match, and the doctor already asked the blood bank to take the second sample from the bank to check for the remaining two markers... Patient has Beta Thalassamia Major...

National Bone Marrow Donor Program

Saturday, January 24, 2004

Curta Simulator

An old engineering toy, ehem, tool: Curta. Available from E-bay, but terribly expensive...

Thursday, January 22, 2004

Turkish Restaurants in Bay Area

A recent article about the Turkish cousine and restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area... From SF Gate

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Should Turkey Be Part of Europe?

NY Times journalist Thomas Friedman have an answer here. This is the scond article of the 5-article series.

Friday, January 09, 2004

CD Changer Playlist

Changed the CDs on Bezelye after a very long time:

Akin Eldes - Kafi
Chastain - For Those Who Dare
Disturbed - Believe
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I
Iron Maiden - Brave New World
Stratovarius - The Chosen Ones

Saturday, January 03, 2004

Spirit on Mars

According to the news reports, Spirit has made a succesful landing on Mars, and sent a signal back to Earth. Another success story for NASA.