Bag of Beans

Astronomers have discovered a star that is composed of diamond.

The huge cosmic diamond - technically known as BPM 37093 - is actually a crystallised white dwarf. A white dwarf is the hot core of a star, left over after the star uses up its nuclear fuel and dies. It is made mostly of carbon.

For more than four decades, astronomers have thought that the interiors of white dwarfs crystallised, but obtaining direct evidence became possible only recently.

The white dwarf is not only radiant but also rings like a gigantic gong, undergoing constant pulsations.

“By measuring those pulsations, we were able to study the hidden interior of the white dwarf, just like seismograph measurements of earthquakes allow geologists to study the interior of the Earth.

“We figured out that the carbon interior of this white dwarf has solidified to form the galaxy’s largest diamond,” says Metcalfe.

• Link (via Neatorama)

This is a fairly interesting interview with the creator of the C++ programming language.

TR: How do you account for the fact that C++ is both widely criticized and resented by many programmers but at the same time very broadly used? Why is it so successful?

BS: The glib answer is, There are just two kinds of languages: the ones everybody complains about and the ones nobody uses.

There are more useful systems developed in languages deemed awful than in languages praised for being beautiful–many more. The purpose of a programming language is to help build good systems, where “good” can be defined in many ways. My brief definition is, correct, maintainable, and adequately fast. Aesthetics matter, but first and foremost a language must be useful; it must allow real-world programmers to express real-world ideas succinctly and affordably.

• Link (via Lambda the Ultimate)
• More Trouble With Programming, the second part of the interview

A brief article on how profitable the open-source Firefox project has become.

You see that little Google search box on the upper right? If you use that box to make a search and click on one of the Google ads from the results page, Firefox gets an estimated 80% of the money. In addition to the search box, Mozilla also makes money from searches made on the Firefox start page.

• Link (via Digg)

An aide for a Montana congressman was fired for trying to solicit hackers from attrition.org to boost his college GPA. The hackers merely led him on through a series of hilarious emails, including some asking him to take pictures of squirrels.

From: Todd Shriber (nascar24_08530@yahoo.com)
To: lyger@attrition.org
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 12:58:29 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Question for you or other Attrition members

Lyger - I came across Attrition.org for the first
time. I enjoyed the site though I am not an expert
with computers. That brings me to my next point: I
need to urgently make contact with a hacker that would
be interested in doing a one-time job for me. The pay
would be good. I'm not sure what exactly the job would
entail with respect to computer jargon, but I can go
into rough detail upon making contact with a
candidate. Thanks for your help.

• Link (via Boing Boing)
• The entire email exchange is posted here on attrition.org.