Status-Q

Lauren Sandler - "This rain is proof that there is no God".

These are tough times for any religion to justify itself. My upbringing tells me that it is only the belief in heaven, in the fact that this life is just a temporary waiting room for better things to come, that can provide any real comfort for those involved.

Still, can we pick and choose like that? There have been a large number of church services over the last few days, and many sermons preached. I haven't heard much reference to loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute you, and especially not turning the other cheek.

There's nothing I can really say that hasn't been said about yesterday, the most infamously historic day of my lifetime. 'Infamous' is an appalling description. There aren't even any suitable adjectives left. But I love the defiance of this amazing photo from the NY Daily News.

Remember how hands-free kits for mobile phones were meant to reduce the radiation going into your brain, but were then discovered to be just as dangerous as holding the phone to your ear, if not more so?

Drs James Luck and Ata Khalid have come up with a solution which is definitely from the "Now why didn't I think of that?" department. For some reason I have more admiration for inventions which are rather obvious, but which nobody else considered. They show greater lateral thinking on the part of the inventors. Perhaps I find Edison's famous statement about genius being 1% inpiration and 99% perspiration a little depressing, so I feel cheerier when an invention appears which helps to redress the balance!

Nicholas Petreley always writes pretty good stuff, and his recent articles about the dangers of .NET (part1, part2) are particularly good. He's started a web site at www.varlinux.org which should be worth watching for anyone interested in Linux.

There are some benefits to having an unusual name. If I type 'quentin' into Google, I'm on the first page! I come a little below Quentin Tarantino and Quentin Crisp, though. I know my place.

It's always interesting to think back on the feudal economies of the past and wonder what sort of a wealthy landowner one would have been. Would my tenants have cursed me each year when the hard winters set in, or would they have loved and respected their master, and cheerily doffed their caps in recognition as I rode by?

Sadly, there's a new feudal system now, and Nick Tredennick's article, An Engineer's View of Venture Capitalists, makes me feel that I'm really much closer to being one of the peasants.

Embeddded Linux goes from strength to strength. An article pointing out that one thing giving it the edge over some other operating systems is its support for IPv6, soon to be very important in devices like phones and home appliances.

Today's interesting trivia: Where does the phrase 'hat-trick' come from? Apparently, it was an old cricketing tradition that a bowler who took three wickets in three successive balls was entitled to a new hat, to be purchased by his club.

So now you know.