[cwassert]

I remember when Joseph Weizenbaum gave a speech at my university in a small town in Germany. The actual reason he came to Germany was to set up his funeral on a Jewish graveyard. At the time he was already ill. He said it is the first time he had to hold a lecture sitting down. He spoke in German.

The topic was "the special responsibility of a computer scientist" or something. He was talking about students at MIT, and how much of their research is funded by the military. How seemingly harmless programs like a talking Teddy bear would in the end up becoming part of a military drones etc. He gave a couple more examples and was suddenly talking about the sundown. How one can wonder when it is really setting. Is it when the lower side touches the horizon, or the middle. Or should one use the actual horizon or the apparent. Then all of a sudden he slammed his hands on the table, stood up and said in a said very loudly: But there is a difference between night and day!

That one hit hard. I think it changed me as a person.

He died a few weeks later. I never checked where he was buried. Maybe i should.

[fsckboy]

It is traditional when visiting a Jewish grave to find a small stone on the ground and place it on the marker. You may see stones already there, just add yours.