In Memory: Randy Pausch

I've been out of town and without internet since Friday, otherwise this would have been up much sooner. This won't be long, but I can't in good conscious not mention the passing of Randy Pausch. I hope you all know who he is, but if not he was a phenomenal person in every way - a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was loved by all. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer almost two years ago and was given a dire prognosis, as almost all with the same diagnosis receive. In the fall he was given three to six months to live, and considering he died on Friday at the age of 47, he far outlived that, and in doing so changed the world.

He delivered one of the most amazing speeches I've ever heard, entitled "The Last Lecture," which has also been made into a beautiful book that I highly recommend. It wasn't about anything technical or scientific, but it was certainly life-changing: about living life to the fullest, which he truly exemplified. Oprah had on a great special about him, and you could just tell he loved life. He has made such an impact in the world of pancreatic cancer, an often overlooked area as it's a fairly rare diagnosis and has such poor outcomes. He became the spokesperson this disease so desperately needs - for one of the first times, pancreatic cancer made national news.

Basically, he was an amazing person and his rich legacy will live on for generations. You can read his story here: http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html. And if you haven't heard the lecture, I highly recommend you take an hour and sixteen minutes out of your day to watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo. I promise, you won't regret it.