racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, erstwhile Chairman, and currently Chief Software Architect, has surprised his dad, William, Sr., on the latter’s 80th birthday with a very special gift: a law scholarship at University of Washington under his name.

From the Seattle Times:

Nothing gaudy or flashy, nothing stylish or sleek. In fact, nothing for himself at all. Instead, something to inspire public service in others, something to give back. Something he has insisted on long before his son became the world’s richest man.

So when Bill Gates Sr. turned 80 Wednesday, his son surprised him with this: an 80-year scholarship program for the University of Washington School of Law in the elder Gates’ name.

Chanced by this article via DIGG, and I read some very interesting comments. Some conclude that Bill is not evil, after all. Some go by the “charity-contributions-equals-tax-cuts” dogma. But an interesting few say Bill is evil, after all, because the world will end up with more lawyers!

Tech recipes has an interesting post on blogging evil, or more specifically, how to spread malice through the blogosphere (and forums) without being caught.

Or at least lessening the likelihood of getting caught.  This guy
who was spreading the (evil) word was eventually caught, and with
evidence against him to boot!

Although safely blogging evil is relatively easily done,
the consequences if you  get caught are very high. The disgruntled
employee that I was hired to find will never work in his area of
expertise again. He may have been great at hiding his tracks; however,
his one slip up has him blackballed from his beloved profession.

Sweet.

(via Blogherald)

Check out greasenotgas.com.  The site has comprehensive information on the use of biofuels. Click “Convert now” to learn how to convert your diesel-engine vehicle to use vegetalbe-based fuel.

(via DIGG)

Want some good reading?  Then try the Lord of the Rings articles on Wikipedia.  I’ve been to these pages several times in the past few weeks, and I still learn something new each time.  It’s perhaps the best supplement to reading JRR Tolkien’s works to get immersed in his universe.

There are just so darn many links across the articles about anything and anyone significant (or sometimes otherwise) in Tolkien literature, covering the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Of course, this doesn’t go with the usual plot spoiler warning/advice.  Check it out!

We have drugs for everything now, don’t we?  Check this out:

Hetracil claims to be “the world’s most widely prescribed anti-effeminate.” Be sure to click “disease information” to read the company’s claim.

The Museum of Hoaxes says it’s a (what else?) hoax:

… as far as I know, no drug company is currently developing a treatment
for homosexuality. In other words, HETRACIL is a hoax. This is revealed
on homomojo.com
in an interview with Benjamin, the creator of the HETRACIL site. The
interview explains that “What he intended with these creations was to
spur conversation on a “what if” scenario in which a cure for
homosexuality (or at least feminine tendencies) becomes a reality. What
would be the ramifications to society if sexual orientation could be
manipulated?”

(Via DIGG)