November 21, 2005

There were 3 posts published on November 21, 2005 (this is page 1 of 1).

Google RTP?

A local venture capitalist, Jason Caplain, is reporting of a rumor that Google may be opening shop here in the Triangle. No sources are quoted, and no further information is given. I don’t know where they get their information, but VCs are generally known to be tuned in to the emerging business scene.

Caplian speculates that Google would get here through an acquisition, rather than build fresh. That makes me wonder if Google had anything to do with local hosting provider Hosted Solutions mysteriously calling off their seemed-like-a-done-deal recent merger plans. Since Google would be more interested in people, not datacenters, Hosted Solutions probably isn’t a target.

Trilug has had its last two sysadmins hired away to Google and shipped off to California. Now I’m in that role. What would I do if the phone rings, especially now that moving’s not a requirement?

[Update: 5 Jan 2007] Google has purchased a start-up in Chapel Hill called Skia.

The Christmas Truce

One of the songs in my Christmas music colection is The Royal Guardsmen’s Christmas Bells. This song about Snoopy and The Red Baron toasting each other on Christmas made me think of the real-life Christmas Truce of World War I. For a few days in December 1914, thousands of soldiers on either side put down their weapons, shook hands, sang songs, and shared cigarettes and brandy.

The last known survivor of the 1914 Christmas Truce has passed away. Alfred Anderson died in his sleep this morning. He was 109.

Frank H. Smith: Living Right

Nursing homes around the country are filled with people in their eighties who can no longer take care of themselves. Their minds have gone, or they’ve lost their mobility, or just need a hand. In general, we aren’t surprised because society associates old age with frailty.

Cary’s Frank H. Smith, on the other hand, is not a man who acts his age. The eighty-seven year retired engineer cheated death Saturday when he made an emergency landing on Highway 1 in his plane. A plane that he built himself, no less.

In a situation where a lot of pilots would’ve soiled themselves, Smith was downright nonchalant. “When the engine blows, you’ve got to put it down someplace,” he said. “Highway 1 was the best I could do. I lucked out.”

At an age when others are pushing walkers, Smith was pushing his plane onto a trailer. Yes, pushing the plane! It looked like he was putting some muscle into it, too.

If you want to know what it means to live right, talk to Frank Smith!

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