May 14, 2003

With the movie The Core as an inspiration, a professor at CalTech wants to send an unmanned probe to the center of the Earth.   11:57:16 PM

ExtremeTech is investigating the possibility that Nvidia is cheating in Futuremark's 3DMark2003 benchmark of its new GeforceFX 5900 Ultra chip. They suggest that Nvidia may be special-casing 3DMark2003, throwing away work, to attain higher benchmark scores. Nvidia is investigating, calling the issue a bug. Update: June 3 : Futuremark now says that Nvidia did not cheat on its 3DMark 2003 benchmark, describing what Nvidia did as "an application specific optimization and not a cheat". 11:45:41 PM

Margaret Wente states that unless the Palestinians drop their demand for a "right of return" the Middle East road map for peace is a waste of time for giving in to such a demand would destroy Israel. These are negotiations, not a suicide pact- the Palestinians seem to forget that fact. 12:32:01 AM

Writing in the NY Times, Alessandra Stanley is afraid that with Aaron Sorkin, the creator, writer and executive producer of The West Wing leaving after tomorrow’s season finale the nature of the show with change. She fears a less literate show that is less idealistic and more like other television shows that focus on character relationships and not their work and ideas. 12:31:07 AM

The LA Times looks at the how special effects and huge salaries are pushing the cost of movies ever higher. One result is that A-list actors who specialise in adult dramas are finding it hard to get noticed over the studios’ empathise on blockbuster movies. 12:30:45 AM

Kindersley, Saskatchewan – rocket port to the stars (well sub orbit) 12:30:24 AM