Steve Jobs dies at 55

Apple’s co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs passed away on October 5 from pancreatic cancer. He had stepped down from chief executive of Apple in August. Jobs was the visionary for many of Apple’s products, and he helped bring in the era of the personal computer as well as revolutionize music and mobile communication. He was 56 years old when he passed away.

10 of ‘Irvine 11’ guilty

Ten of the 11 UC Irvine students whose protests caused Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to leave the stagelast February were found guilty of two misdemeanors, consipiracy to disturb and disturbing a lawful assembly. Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Wilson sentenced them to three years probation and 56 hours of community service. The charges allowed for a maximum of a year in jail, but Judge Wilson noted that this was their first offense, and that the disturbance was motivated by personal beliefs, not a desire to disrupt “for disruption’s sake.”

Another Israeli Nobel in science

Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his 1982 discovery of quasicrystals. Quasicrystals have an orderly pattern, which was believed to be impossible at the time of his discovery, and most scientists didn’t believe him. He is the tenth Israeli citizen to receive a Nobel Prize and is now one of the over 170 Jewish Nobel Prize winners.

Troy Davis executed

Troy Davis was executed on Sept. 21 for the murder of a policeman, a crime that he repeatedly denied committing. Public support had grown for Davis as celebrities, politicians and social media users tried to get the execution to be delaying because of doubt.

nytimes.com, jpost.com