[geeks] Funny

[joshua d boyd]

I'm reading a Stephen Hawking lecture.  He is pretty interesting to
read. And, he has some funny parts.

On Black Holes:
To Americans, it suggested something dark and mysterious, while to the
British, there was the added resonance of the Black Hole of Calcutta. But
the French, being French, saw a more risqu meaning. For years, they
resisted the name, trou noir, claiming it was obscene. 

Then later:
You can throw television sets, diamond rings, or even your worst enemies
into a black hole, and all the black hole will remember, is the total
mass, and the state of rotation. John Wheeler called this, 'A Black Hole
Has No Hair.' To the French, this just confirmed their suspicions.

http://www.hawking.org.uk/text/public/dice.html

I'm going to have to consider buying his book now.
-- 
Joshua D. Boyd