Between the hill of Iteration, and the sharp pit of recursion, (or is it the other way around?) .. there's a desert where the wind blows strongly, order forms for a moment, and in most places, disappears shortly afterwards. Some places, it lasts longer, and people pitch tent, all the time knowing that the context-dependant sands on which they sit could shift away. There are places where it's sharp, where you cannot walk without leaving flesh behind, and if you dance too long, there will be little left.. Visit the recursion edge, and you'll see the sand gently pour into the endless jungle valley, the vertical land of vines, water.

Here is an article on some strange people who have a plan for world peace (be sure to read all the pages of the article). Apparently, the author was originally part of a militant group that wants to destroy the Dome of the Rock (a Mosque in Israel where Mohammad, according to the legend, ascended into heaven, which also is believed to corrispond to the site of the original Temple in Judaism) in order to rebuild the temple. After being stopped, he now wants to build a holographic temple, floating above the Dome of the Rock on a blimp, in an attempt to bring forth the Messiah. He also hopes to construct a virtual reality version of the same temple. Apparently, the proceeds from a stupid patent lawsuit against Palm are supposed to provide the money for him to do this. The article is, of course, fascinating. Van der Hoeven, another guy who's a fundie christian also gets mention, and makes a very bad argument for razing the Dome to rebuild the temple. It also mentions, in passing, an interesting ascriptural Muslim concept, of a mahdi, which might or might not be equivalent to the judaist/christian term messiah. In any case, I (surprise!) support their efforts to do their thing, so long as the methods they use don't provoke violence, as every time they fail to summon their savior, and every failed prediction of miracles and stuff, is another emotional downer for the religious mindset. When the roller coaster is disappointing enough, people will, generation after generation, get off. Millenial cults rarely survive long after their big prediction flops.

On that site, I came across this -- an entry on the Egyptian book of the dead. Unlike many religious views of the afterlife, supposedly it gives people advice on how to deal with the struggles of the afterlife. Why is this kind of thing rare? Probably because the afterlife myth is present in religions primarily to either comfort them or to push them to do something in life, or in short, the concept of the afterlife is for purposes in this world. It's simply not useful innovation to suggest people will deal with trials, and to provide advice now on how to deal with them.

The U.S. is getting a taste of its own medicine, as the WTO has decided that its ban on online gambling is illegal. Amusing.

Google rolled out a personalized search system, as I predicted they might've a few entries back. I haven't used it much yet -- I wonder how well it works. I don't anticipate using it much until it can talk to the Mozilla version of the GoogleBar...