Things Not to Hear During Surgery

• Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy.
• Someone call the janitor — we're going to need a mop.
• Bo! Bo! Come back with that ! Bad Dog !
• Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what's that ?
• Hand me that.... uh.... that uh.... thingie.
• Oh no ! I just lost my Rolex.
• Oops ! Hey, has anyone ever survived 500ml of this stuff before ?
• Darn, there goes the light again...
• Ya know, there's big money in kidneys. Heck, the guy's got two of them.
• Everybody stand back ! I lost my contact lens !
• Could you stop that thing from beating ? It's throwing my concentration off..
• What's this doing here ?
• I hate it when they're missing stuff in here.
• That's cool ! Now can you make his leg twitch ?
• I wish I hadn't forgotten my glasses.
• Well folks, this will be an experiment for us all.
• Sterile, shcmerile. The floor's clean, right ?
• Anyone see where I left that scalpel ?
• This patient has already had some kids, am I correct ?
• Nurse, did this patient sign the organ donation card ?
• Don't worry. I think it is sharp enough.
• FIRE ! FIRE ! Everyone get out now !!
• Darn ! Page 47 of the manual is missing
  

Famous Last Words

• 3... 2... 1... Liftoff !
• 'Don't try this at home', my ass.
• "DO NOT OPEN"
• Click ?? ...This doesn't come with ammo ?
• AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHhhhh...
• Actually, there's a knack to opening the Concorde's windows.
• After I pick up my handgun, let's go see that new Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez flick.
• And now that I'm running my life support equipment through Windows 95, I'll never have to worry about — beeeeeeeep...
• Anybody in here have a match ?
• Are you pregnant or just plain fat ?
• Aww what cute little fish...
• Bob, you have any grenades left ? Throw me one...
• But I thought you were my friend ?
• But this cartoon about Mohammad is REALLY FUNNY
• Come outside and say that, Tyson.
• Comrade Stalin. I don't like your style of management so I'm going to challenge you for the leadership.
• Coo-er ! Wait until I tell the missus I crashed into a car with a MAF-1 number plate !
• Cool! If you look through the wrong end of the binoculars, those charging elephants look really far away !
• Cover me !
• Cut the red one !
• Dad, why the apple on my head ?
• Diamonds... Gold... Sapphires !!! Terry ! Terry, we're rich, we're rich, we're fabulously wealthy !!!! ...Terry..... Terry ??
• Did you hear thunder ? Oh well hurry up and putt.
• Did you see that guy's head ? I wonder what did this...
• Did... go... all... the... way!
• Didn't we celebrate Mothers Day last year ?
• Don't be silly. If this was really the ship's self-destruct button, do you think they'd leave it lying around where anyone could press it ?
• Don't be so superstitious...
• Don't panic !
• Don't shoot, it's me...
• Don't unplug it, it will just take a moment to fix.
• Don't worry, even though they have a powerful bite, the muscles that OPEN the jaws are really weak.
• Don't worry, I'll handle it.
• Don't worry, I read somewhere that bears mostly eat roots and berries.
• Don't worry, it's not loaded.
• Don't worry, my parents are asleep
• Don't worry, Sarah, there are thirty cops in this building (from Terminator 1).
• Don't worry, this ship won't sink with this little water inside.
• Don Corleone doesn't suspect a thing.
• Everybody will be fine, just fi...
• Excuse me, I'm a tourist and I'm lost.
• Fancy a quick snifter before we leave Saudi ?
• For my next trick I will escape from this flaming coffin while wearing a straight jacket and singing Eye Of The Tiger.
• Gee, that's a cute tattoo.
• Get your hands off my wife !
• Give me liberty or give me death.
• Give this juggernaut driver the 'V' sign while we're overtaking him, would you, darling ?
• Go ahead you idiot, pull the trigger.
• God will save me!
• Good Lord ! It's not often a black cat causes you to break a mirror by crossing your path while you're walking under a ladder on Friday 13th, is it ?
• Green Zone shmeen zone. I’m going put on my kilt and walk to the market.
• He's been a perfectly safe driver ever since his first Model T.
• He's probably just hibernating.
• Hell's Angel ? Then why are you all dressed like one of the Village People ?
• Here, kitty, kitty, kitty...
• Here, you hold this and I'll light it.
• Hey, I bet I can do that better than you can !
• Hey, man, gimme a match. I can't see but I think my gas tank's empty.
• Hey, that's not a violin.
• Hey, there's no handles inside these car doors !
• Hey, we're out ! We're safe !
• Hmmm... tastes of almonds, yummy...
• How'd you get this far from the donut shop ? (said to the S.W.A.T. team)
• How am I doing, Doctor ?
• How could we possibly lose ?
• Humpty Dumpty may sound like the name of a plonker, but I know a safe wall when I see one.
• Hydrogen gas plus oxygen gas makes water,...right ?
• I'd feel better if we had some crampons. Oh, what the hell, let's go for it...
• I'll get a world record for this.
• I'll get your toast out.
• I'll hold it and you light the fuse.
• I'll just slip into the commuter lane for a second.
• I'll put my head in, and see what's inside...
• I'll take a Big Mac and a Coke.
• I'm bored...
• I'm making a citizen's arrest.
• I'm sure I turned my lights off.
• I'm sure reinforcements will get here on time. They promised...
• I've done this before.
• I've never felt better.
• I've seen this done on TV.
• I am challenging you in a duel !
• I am The Highlander...
• I bet I can fit in there.
• I bet most of the gasoline has evaporated by now.
• I can do that with my eyes closed.
• I can hold my breath at least that long.
• I can make this light before it changes.
• I don't need a helmet for that climb.
• I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.
• I feel better now...
• I folded my parachute myself.
• I have a very bad feeling about this.
• I know how to handle a flame thrower...
• I know it's 30,000 volts, but I'm wearing rubber soles.
• I never get lost.
• I rather fancy this cheese with the green mold on it.
• I saw that Crocodile Hunter guy do this...
• I think it said connect the brown wire to the negative terminal.
• I told you living off the land was great. First we found wild strawberries, then wild raspberries, and now...wild almonds!
• I will be back
• I wonder what the black-and-yellow striped ring above the seat does ?
• I wonder where the mother bear is.
• I would never do anything if there was any chance at all my wife would find out
• If you insist, you can get on top this time...
• If you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't be a cop.
• Inny meany miny moe...
• Interesting...
• Is that a bear ?
• Is it true that crocodiles do exist in this area ?
• Is that bone supposed to do that ?
• It'll be a short ocean voyage. One week's worth of food and water will be enough.
• It'll shrink in the wash.
• It's always sunny there this time of the year.
• It's just a short easy hike.
• It's OK to format this disk.
• It's OK, the gay guy with the boils just lent me his hypodermic needle.
• It's not the voltage, it's the amps that get you.
• It's pretty much grounded.
• It's probably just a rash.
• It's so tame I can put my head in its mouth.
• It's strong enough for both of us.
• It's supposed to make that noise.
• It can't possibly rain for forty days and nights.
• It doesn't look like the bridge is out.
• It doesn't look very fast; we can easily swim across...
• It says "Please press '#' to download your free navigation software upgrade".
• It says: "Achtung ! Minefield". That's German for "Welcome to Munich" isn't it ?
• It should be ok to swim in.
• It shouldn't take long to reach Anchorage.
• It was fresh just last week.

• Jason won't find us in this closet.
• Is it just a coincidence that everyone in your gang is ugly?
• It's one of the things I've always wanted to do before I die.
• It's only explosive when it's confined under pressure.
• It really isn't a red button, its more maroon...
• It worked on Jackass...
• Just take whatever you want, this is a ghost town.
• Just throw me that meat cleaver, would you ?
• Let's ask those soldiers for directions.
• Let's drop our weapons and talk.
• Let's not get excited.
• Let's split up, we'll cover more ground.
• Let's stay cool.
• Let it down slowly.
• Let me handle this...
• Let me reach in and get your watch out of the printing press.
• Look ! No hands !
• Looks good to me...
• Maybe the Iranians do need nuclear reactors for energy...
• Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
• Me first ! Me first !
• My faith will protect me.
• Nah - flammable means it burns - inflammable is quite safe.
• Never mind...
• Nice doggie.
• No free will? Snort! Would a man who has no free will do THIS ?
• No problem. That's easy.
• No retreat, no surrender !
• No, darling ! I'm sure they drive on the left over here in France.
• No, dude, this stuff is completely natural and safe, man. That's why it's called 'herbal'.
• No, I read once that if you're driving over 55mph on the freeway and pull the key out of the ignition, the steering wheel won't lock, it's designed that way for safety.
• No, my shoes aren't untied.
• No, the stream is not strong...
• Now here's a picture of the Prophet partying with...
• Of *course* it's bulletproof. Shoot me and you'll see.
• Of course being colour blind was no barrier to fulfilling my lifelong ambition to work in bomb-disposal... and now for the red wire
• Of course he's intelligent, he's the President ain't he ?
• Of course I'm fit to drive.
• Of course it's sterile.
• Of course Muslims have a sense of humor...
• Oh, hi Laur... err Sandra !
• Oh, I wouldn't worry about that noise. It's probably nothing.
• Oh, we don't need to follow the instruction manual. It all looks quite obvious.
• OK honey, you can drive!
• OK, I'll go ahead and make your day.
• OK, this is the last time.
• Okay, let's see if I loaded this thing right...
• Okay, so helium makes your voice squeaky... what happens with hydrogen ?
• One more jelly doughnut isn't gonna kill me
• Oooh! Somebody from Montana sent me a package made entirely of wood!
• Oooopsss...
• Pass me a hanky; I'm going to wipe the foam off that dog's mouth.
• Patchy fog ? On this road ! Don't make me lau...
• Pick up those 32 empty lager cans, you lout !
• Pull the pin and count to what ?
• Question over here, Arnold ! Why does Maria look like a friggin' skeleton?
• Rat poison only kills rats.
• See a doctor ? Just for a ruptured aorta and a couple of dozen black suppurating pustules ?!
• See, it'll be much quicker if I butter the toast while it's still IN the toaster.
• She won't mind if I take the last piece of chocolate.
• Sitting Bull! I'm here to teach you a lesson!
• So, this is Beirut/Iraq/Afghanistan...
• So, you're a cannibal ?
• Sorry dear, I won't be home by Mothers' Day, I have to stay on-site and wait for a new patch.
• Tequila ? That stuff's for wimps! I can drink it all night and still be sober enough to drive home.
• That's not smoke, that's steam.
• That's odd...
• That's strange; you don't usually see many American planes over this part of Hiroshima, do you ?
• That's the oldest trick in the book.
• That birthmark on your head looks like 999.
• That should be at least enough gas to make it across Nevada.
• The boss won't mind.
• The ice is safe.
• The manager just gave me another of those assignments from hell.
• The odds of that happening have to be a million to one !
• The piranhas must be full by now.
• The sign on the door says, "AIRLOCK". I wonder what's inside...
• The toast is stuck. Pass me the knife, will you.
• The trick with a charging rhino is to stand perfectly still.
• There's 300 of us. That should be enough to intimidate the Persians.
• There's a lovely view if you can lean over this...
• These are the safe kind of mushrooms.
• These cockpit lights flash all the time. Don't worry about it.
• These nuclear plants look lovely when they begin to glow like that, don't they ?
• They're only ceremonial guards, they're unarmed.
• They don't look so tough.
• They only attack when they're hungry.
• This boat/car/plane is in top condition.
• This bomb alert must be a joke.
• This does have a safety catch, doesn't it ?
• This doesn't taste right.
• This drink tastes a bit bizarre...
• This is the best gay biker bar EVER !
• This one time at band camp...
• This planet has an atmosphere just like Earth.
• This will go down in history...
• This won't hurt.
• Those noises are probably nothing.
• Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmbeeeeeeerrr !
• Trust Me, it's the blue wi.....
• Two front berths on the Titanic, please.
• Uh guys ? Hello ? Anyone ?
• Uh oh...
• Uh, what does 'explosive decompression' mean ?
• Violence is not an answer.
• Wanna see me beat this train ?
• Was that 'on belay' or 'off belay' ?
• Watch this...
• Watch where you're pointing that bow ! You nearly...
• We'll be perfectly safe behind this much lead plate.
• We'll be safe enough on this highway if we just follow that traveling salesman's Sierra.
• We'll let him fire the mortar, he's not too good with a gun.
• We are all out of candles, so I used lanterns to surround the pentagram...
• We are now flying over Iraq.
• Well we've made it this far.
• Well, here we are on the world's largest hydrogen airship; this calls for a cigare.
• Well, the sergeant says we have 10 minutes before we attack the fort. Here, let me show you some new photos of my kid that my wife sent me.
• Well, we're the next best thing to a bank.
• Whaddya mean, a pentagram only has FIVE sides ?
• What's that beeping noise ?
• What's that priest doing here ?
• What a fine air ship we have gentleman. The Furher is proud of this acheivement. Lets light some cigars to celbrate.
• What do you mean 'Abestos' arent safe i had them in my house for who knows how long.
• What do you mean my weapon was made by the cheapest contractor ?
• What do you mean, "I'll be back" ?
• Which one of you Ringwraiths ordered the veal ?
• Whistling sounds ? Naw, they can't have a grenade launcher !
• Who's a nice sweet cooch-woochy little lion, then ?
• Who took the battery out of my grav belt ?
• Whoops ! Did I spill your scotch, McTavish ?
• Why am I standing on a plastic sheet ?
• Why are you guys smiling like that ?
• Why do these candles say T-N-T ?
• Why is your torch flame turning blue ?
• Why yes honey, I do think you look fat in that dress.
• Wow, that sure is an odd-looking lampshade you've got there... it almost looks like it has tattoo.
• Yeah ? Over my dead body !
• Yeah, I made the deciding vote on the jury, so what of it ?
• Yeah, we've debugged it thoroughly. It's foolproof.
• Yes that does make your bum look big, actually...
• Yes, I'm sure this hold/belay/anchor/rope is good.
• You're not in the frame yet — stand closer to the cage
• You are on belay. But whatever you do... don't fall !
• YOU are the UGLIEST guy I've ever seen !
• You can’t wake them up when they’re hibernating.
• You have a secret room under your house? Cool. I’d love to see it.
• You look just like Charles Manson.
• You sure this fireworks' dead ?
• You will take a check, won't you cabbie ?
• You won't get me alive !
• You wouldn't dare...
• You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you ?

Some not so Real Ones

• "He bubba, watch this !" — Any redneck.
• "I drank what ?" — Socrates.
• "Happy Ides of March, Brutus." — Julius Caesar.
• "Aren't those the daggers I gave you for Christmas ?" — Julius Caesar.
• "Let me think... I wonder if an anvil will drop like an apple ?" — Isaac Newton.
• "Waiter, I said no ice in my Whisky !" — A passenger on board of the Titanic.
• "Luke, I lied. Bill Shatner is your real father." — Darth Vader.
• "Don't worry about the Rover. That's no cliff." — NASA techie.
• "No, no, I said BUD Light !" — Pilot of the space shuttle Challenger.
• "Oh for Christ's sake, let her drive..." — The commander of Challenger.
• "What's that big red button for ?" — Christa McAuliffe on board of Challenger.
• "Bloody hell, what was that ?" — The mayor of Hiroshima.
• "Scattered showers ?!?" — Noah.
• "I don't suppose its gonna rain ?" — Joan of Arc.
• "Where the hell did all those Indians come from ?!?" — General Custer.
• "I eat guys like you for breakfast !" — Jeffrey Dahmer.
• "Yoko, why don't you try to sing one ?" — John Lennon.
• "Courtney, I'm retiring from music and giving everything away to charity can we live off of Hole royalties ?"
• "Here I sit all broken-hearted..." — Elvis Presley.
• "Oh, and some more drugs and hamburgers please..." — Elvis Presley.
• "Who greased the viiiiiiiiiiiinnnneee..." — Tarzan.
• "What's a mountain goat doing 'way up here ?" — Airplane pilot.
• "I wonder if this thing is loaded ?" — Kurt Cobain.
• "Keep your cotton-pickin' hands off my gin !" — Ely Whitney.
• "I said 'Beat them all', NOT 'Eat the wall' !" — Princess Diana.
• "These paparazzi are driving me up the wall." — Princess Diana.
• "No more pictures, I'm a bloody Princess !" — Princess Diana.
• "Darn, I can't auction this dress now !" — Princess Diana.
• "Take me up the tunnel, make me scream !" — Princess Diana.
• "Don't worry I can lose them..." — The driver.
• "Careful son, that thing's loaded !" — My late father.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Stream of Life
- Rabindranath Tagore

In the state of your mind burning low
And the fear you hide seems to grow
The shade of your lies makes you blind
And you live your life with no desire

It's in your head it's in your eyes
It's in your dreams, it's in disguise
So you should try to free your mind
Then you'll find the stream of life

Well it's easy to drown in this life
Now's the time for you to realize
With the burden inside you'll get lost
Here's the reason for you to wake up

It's in your head it's in your eyes
It's in your dreams, it's in disguise

So you should try to free your mind
Then you'll find the stream of life


Praan Lyrics - Transliteration

Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3X)

Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Computer artist doodles oodles of 'Google's

More than 150 million Web surfers around the globe celebrated Korean Independence Day Aug. 15, 2001. Well, at least for a few moments while they were visiting the popular Internet search engine Google. That day, the Korean national flag and several roses of Sharon, the Korean national flower, adorned the familiar "Google" logo on the homepage of the Web site.

Just another day's work for Dennis Hwang (Hwang Jung-moak), a 23-year-old Korean computer artist in the United States, who has been drawing the face of Google for almost two years, creating a buzz of sorts with his simple yet witty designs.

With its seemingly magical ability to produce the most relevant search results, Google is already an established destination for the Internet savvy. Recently, Hwang's creative logos have been expressing the playful heart of Google behind the impressive technology.

For Piet Mondrian's birthday, Hwang transformed the "Google" logo to emulate the artist's signature style of utilizing colorful blocks. Claude Monet's birthday saw the logo turned into a dreamy watercolor, complete with floating lily pads.

Hwang recently spoke with The Korea Herald to give his take on the artistic side of the popular Internet search engine.

The Korea Herald: How long did you live in Korea as a child? What was it like?

Dennis Hwang: I was born in Knoxville, Tenn., but moved to Korea when I was about five years old. My hometown was Gwacheon where I had a very normal childhood. I went through public schools like everyone else, spending six years at Gwacheon Elementary School and two years at Munwon Middle School. Actually, much of my ideas and style stem from the time I spent during my childhood in Korea. Whatever challenges the logos bring, I can often rely on the little doodles that I used to do in school when I was young. Something that used to be frowned upon turned out to be my greatest asset.

Herald: When did you move back to the United States?

Hwang: I came back in 1992 when my father received a Fulbright Scholarship to research in the United States.

Herald: What was it like going to an American school all of a sudden?

Hwang: I was placed in a public middle school but was completely unprepared for it. I didn't speak a word of English. For the first six months, I couldn't communicate with the teachers or students. With the help of ESL programs though, I got better. My father returned to Korea, but my brother and I decided to continue our education in the States. My parents have made unimaginable sacrifices for us over the last 10 years, and I wouldn't be this successful without their support.

Herald: What was the first logo you designed for Google?

Hwang: Google had been using outside contractors to do the earlier logos, so the first project I got was modifying the Fourth of July logo in 2000. The two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, wanted something more fun, so I redrew parts of the image. The next logo was for Bastille Day, which is the first logo I did from scratch.

Herald: Which letters are your favorite targets for manipulation?

Hwang: Understandably, the "O" and the "L" are the easiest to deal with. The "O" has become a Halloween pumpkin, a Nobel Prize medal, the Korean flag symbol and the planet earth. The "L" has been used as a flagpole, the Olympic flame cauldron or a snow ski. The first "G" is the most difficult to deal with, and I don't think the "E" has gotten much action because of its location.

Herald: How did you come to do the Korean Independence Day logo?

Hwang: Google makes a big effort to recognize holidays that aren't necessarily mainstream. The Korean Independence Day logo was seen globally by tens of millions of people. Numerous Korean-Americans wrote to thank us on Aug. 15 last year. Many expressed how proud it made them to see the Korean flag.

Herald: Do you have plans for other Korea-related logos in the future?

Hwang: I'll definitely to a special logo for Korea hosting the World Cup.

Herald: You're only 23 years old. What are your future plans?

Hwang: Who knows? It's very important to me that I can work both technically and artistically. Google is a perfect place to do that. It allows me to have a programming job while letting me express myself artistically, with the added bonus of having my work be seen by tens of millions of people in a single day.

Herald: What is your favorite letter among the ones found in the word "Google?"

Hwang: I've stared at the logo for so long and so often. I love them all equally.

EBCD

You've probably been in situation when your computer doesn't boot because of software or hardware failure and you lost access to results of your work.

Emergency Boot CD (EBCD) is able to help you. It is a CD-ROM for booting PC and recovering data in emergency situations.

EBCD contains file manager, which is able to process files on FAT, NTFS, EXT3 volumes. All national characters in file names are displayed correctly and preserved when copied. Builtin editor and viewer allows you to work with files in any DOS/Windows encodings, and also UTF-8 and UTF-16.

Using EBCD you can backup your data from IDE, SCSI and SATA fixed disks to USB Flash, FireWire removable devices, or other fixed disks; and restore it when necessary.

EBCD includes Windows Password Wizard, which can be used to restore access to your PC when you forgot the password for Windows user account.



However to me it looks like an ideal hackers item. Muhhhaahahahaa