Log24

The Khan calmed himself by degrees.

Click image for background.

Today is Commencement Day at MIT.

Well, perhaps not quite nothing.

The above pictures were posted here on the day the following book was published—

The lives of the nine Jews in the above book amount to more than Yau's "nothing."

Note, however, that claims by Jews (see Jill Abramson yesterday) 
that their secular publications constitute a substitute for religion
and contain only "absolute truth" should be viewed with at least one
raised eyebrow.

Abramson's remark yesterday that her promotion to New York Times  executive editor
was like "ascending to Valhalla" had a religious flavor worthy of yesterday's
Feast of the Ascension.

In related news from yesterday's Times—

See also a symbol related to Apollo, to nine, and to "nothing"—

A minimalist 3×3 matrix favicon—

This may, if one likes, be viewed as the "nothing"
present at the Creation.  See Jim Holt on physics.

For Women's History Month —

See this post's title in Log24 and the following from Pinkdex ,
the online catalog of the MIT Science Fiction Society (MITSFS)—

"The Pinkdex is so named because it was originally
maintained by another member of MITSFS, many years ago—
 Marilyn 'Fuzzy Pink' Niven [said to be so called for her sweaters],
 whose husband, Larry Niven, has written
or co-authored many of the books in the MITSFS library."

— Susan Shepherd, MIT '11

See also MIT Commencement in this journal.

Postscript for the less technically oriented reader—
This post was suggested by yesterday's "Look, Buster,"
and by the middle name of William Rowan Hamilton.

A remark from the prepared text of Salman Khan,
who spoke at the MIT commencement today—

"I always tell people that MIT is the closest
thing to being Hogwarts— Harry Potter’s
wizarding school— in real life."

A detail from one computer's view of
the webcast of the commencement—

Time elapsed (from the start
of the browser's window, not  
from the start of the webcast) 

This suggests a look at the date  11/27—

Click on St. Patrick's for further details.

* See June 6, 2007.

Mormon Mitt Romney at the Baptist school Liberty University today:

"The task set before you four years ago
  is now completed in full."

I do not know what that task was. In this journal four years ago,
the task was lottery hermeneutics… a subject I doubt is taught
at Liberty University.

The New York lottery numbers from Sunday, May 11, 2008,
in a May 12 post four years ago could be interpreted as
pointing to the date 3/13— 

Say, 3/13, 2006— a date on which this journal quoted some
remarks on the biblical phrase "the fullness of time."

Those remarks were neither Baptist nor
Mormon, but rather Presbyterian.