In a “Peanuts” strip from the mid-1950s, Charlie Brown walks through the first panel and finds Schroeder sitting in front of an adult-size hi-fi, his ear to the speaker. “Shh,” Schroeder says, “I’m listening to Beethoven’s Ninth.” Charlie Brown inspects Schroeder’s outfit. “In an overcoat?” he asks. Schroeder leans even closer to the speaker and responds, “The first movement was so beautiful it gave me the chills!”

Schroeder Played Real Beethoven in Charles M. Schulz’s ‘Peanuts’ Strip - NYTimes.com

'Fantasy Island' actor Ricardo Montalban dies at 88

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

'Fantasy Island' actor Ricardo Montalban dies at 88 - Los Angeles Times

In response to an emerging moral controversy over whether most vital organs used in transplants are technically taken from living people, the President's Council on Bioethics issued a new report that defines brain death as the cessation of engagement with the world.

Bioethicists Save Organ Donation by Tweaking the Definition of Death | Wired Science from Wired.com

A highly decorated fighter pilot, almost completely unknown to the space community, has emerged as the top candidate to run NASA, two sources close to the Obama transition team said today.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jonathan Scott Gration is close to President-Elect Obama, having served as a military adviser to him during the campaign. Gration spoke at the Democratic National Convention. His selection is not a done deal, the sources said, but a formal announcement could be made before the inauguration. Gration's name first surfaced Tuesday night on the Web site Space.com.

What's certain is that Gration would give NASA a closer personal connection to the White House than it currently has under NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. Gration traveled with Obama on an extended senatorial trip to Africa and, despite having voted for George W. Bush in 2000, emerged a strong Obama advocate, at one point comparing him to Nelson Mandela.

Retired Fighter Pilot to Run NASA? | 44 | washingtonpost.com

In a top secret operation, the U.S. Defense Dept. is conducting the first deep space inspection of a crippled U.S. military spacecraft. To do this, it is using sensors on two covert inspection satellites that have been prowling geosynchronous orbit for nearly three years.

Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | Secret inspection satellites boost space intelligence ops

A high-profile task force created by 49 state attorneys general to find a solution to the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem, despite years of parental anxieties and media hype.

The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was charged with examining the extent of the threats children face on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, amid widespread fears that older adults were using these popular sites to deceive and prey on children.

But the report compared such fears to a “moral panic” and concluded that the problem of child-on-child bullying, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.

Report Finds Online Threats to Children Overblown - NYTimes.com

So I go to the hardware store to buy the tools, and I ask the sales clerk where I can find a hammer.

"A hammer?" he asks. "Nobody really buys hammers anymore. They're kind of old fashioned."

Why I Hate Frameworks - The Joel on Software Discussion Group

The next time someone tries to convince you that releasing music under CC will cannibalize digital sales, remember that Ghosts I-IV broke that rule, and point them here.

re NIN best selling cc-licensed music (Lessig Blog)

HAWTHORNE, CA – January 12, 2009 – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announced its Falcon 9 launch vehicle was successfully raised to vertical on Saturday, January 10, 2009, at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida — two days ahead of schedule. This operation was a critical step in validating a variety of system interfaces and launch processes in preparation for the maiden flight of Falcon 9 later this year.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - Press

The very fact that I had to think so hard brought home what scholars of autobiography and memoir have long recognized. None of us know what made us what we are, and when we have to say something, we make up a good story.

Steven Pinker in NYT Magazine.

My Genome, My Self - Steven Pinker Gets to the Bottom of his own Genetic Code - NYTimes.com