Ramblings through technology, politics, culture and philosophy by the creator of the Python programming language.
In Silicon Valley is a very exclusive fast-food restaurant, which is always open. There is one table, where one guest at a time is served an absolutely fabulous hamburger. When you arrive, you wait in line until the table is available. Then the host takes you to the table and, this being America, you are asked a seemingly endless series of questions about how you would like your hamburger to be cooked and served.
But today we're not talking about culinary delights. We're talking about the queuing system used by the restaurant. If you are lucky to arrive at the restaurant when the table is available and there are no other guests waiting, you are seated right away. Otherwise, the host gives you a buzzer (from an infinite stack of buzzers!) and you are free to roam the neighborhood until your buzzer goes off. It is the host's job to ensure that guests are seated in order of arrival. When it is your turn, the host will