Navy Seal snipers rescued an American cargo ship captain unharmed and killed three Somali pirates in a daring operation in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, ending a five-day standoff between United States naval forces and a small band of brigands in a covered orange lifeboat off the Horn of Africa.

In Rescue of Captain, Navy Kills 3 Pirates - NYTimes.com

The winner of the “We’re Linux” video contest has been announced — it’s Amitay Tweeto, a freelance graphic designer and user interface consultant from Bet Shemesh, Israel.

I still think the geniuses at Ogilvy did the best linux ad ever for big blue a few years back.

Winning We re Linux Video Illustrates Meaning of Freedom - Webmonkey

James Duane explains why innocent people should never talk to the police.

"Don't Talk to the Police" by Professor James Duane

Company culture is one of the most important things that determines whether a startup succeeds or fails. For my startups I decided to think ahead of time about the kind of culture that I wanted, write it down, and then work to bring it about by hiring the right people and continually encouraging employees in the right direction.

This is from the guy who gave us tcl but try to be a better person than me and not hold that against him :P

Startup Company Culture

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd C. Blankfein struck a humble tone during a speech Tuesday, saying he recognizes the need for new regulations and believes the industry must strengthen compensation standards to prevent excessive risk-taking.

Article - WSJ.com

In just over a day, a powerful computer program accomplished a feat that took physicists centuries to complete: extrapolating the laws of motion from a pendulum's swings.

Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics | Wired Science from Wired.com

Let's take something of a 30,000-foot view on the condition of General Motors. The chart below details GM's operating margin -- its profits divided into its revenues -- over the past 50 years:

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: GM's Problems are 50 Years in the Making

"Backdropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth's atmosphere, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle
Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation.

Brilliant photo, see also this video

More Stunning Imagery - A Backlit Space Station | NASA Watch

Professor Charles Nesson of Harvard Law School, the attorney for Joel Tenenbaum, has filed a motion to dismiss (here's the memorandum of law [PDF] in support of the motion) on behalf of his client, the defendant in SONY BMG Music v Tenenbaum. I thought you would find it interesting because he argues that statutory damages for noncommercial defendants under copyright law are unconstitutional, unreasonable, and way out of proportion to any alleged injury to the plaintiffs here, which at most is, he argues, de minimis:

Groklaw - Tenenbaum: Are Copyright Law's Statutory Damages Unconstitutional for NonCommercial File Sharers?

I.B.M. is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems in a proposed deal valued at nearly $7 billion, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said on Wednesday.

I.B.M. Said to Be in Talks to Buy Sun for $7 Billion - NYTimes.com