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by Randy Cassingham

Randy Cassingham’s Honorary Unsubscribe Recognizes the Unknown, the Forgotten and the Obscure People who Had an Impact on Our Lives

Rajeev Motwani

A computer scientist, Motwani was an expert in data mining — using complex computer algorithms to dig through vast data bases to find nuggets of useful information. As a professor at Stanford University, Motwani mentored two special students: Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Motwani, Page and Brin co-authored a paper about a data-mining project to rank the usefulness of pages on the World Wide Web, which enabled the creation of “a novel search engine called Google.” Google co-founder Brin said “Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it.” Motwani was found in his backyard pool, the apparent victim of an accidental drowning, on June 6. He was 47.

From This is True for 14 June 2009


Now Available: Honorary Unsubscribe books

The early write-ups from This is True's popular Honorary Unsubscribe feature are now available for your Kindle (or Kindle software for your smartphone, tablet, or computer) as low-cost ebooks. See details on Volume 1 (covering 1998 through 2000) and Volume 2 (covering 2001 through 2003). The honorees truly are the people you wish you had known.

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