In 1949 some friends and I came upon a noteworthy news item in Nature, a magazine of the Academy of Sciences. It reported in tiny type that in the course of excavations on the Kolyma River a subterranean ice lens had been discovered which was actually a frozen stream - and in it were found frozen specimens of prehistoric fauna some tens of thousands of years old. Whether fish or salamander, these were preseved in so fresh a state, the scientific correspondent reported, that those present immediately broke open the ice encasing the specimens and devoured them with relish on the spot.
The magazine no doubt astonished its small audience with the news of how successfully the flesh of fish could be kept fresh in a frozen state. But few, indeed, among its readers were able to decipher the genuine and heroic meaning of this incautious report.
As for us, however - we understood instantly. We could picture the entrire scene right down to the smallest details: how those present broke up the ice in frenzied haste; how, flouting the higher claims of ichthyology and elbowing each other to be first, they tore off chunks of the prehistoric flesh and hauled them over to the bonfire to thaw them out and bolt them down.
We understood because we ourselves were the same kind of people as those present at that event. We, too were from that powerful tribe of Zeks, unique on the face of the earth, the only people who could devour prehistoric salamander with relish.
"One thing can be assumed here is that many three lettered acronym departments in the governmint have scrubbed the collection top to bottom years ago."
Perhaps those three-letter acronyms have, themselves, been scrubbed from the collection.
How does the saying go? "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to convince people that he doesn't exist."
... measuring the "trustworthiness" of their employees and whether they use a psychiatrist or sociologist to measure the unhappiness of an employee as a measure of trustworthiness
Who will measure the unhappiness of the psychiatrists and sociologists?
Ultrasound machine plus home computer equals in utero chess training.
Kids learn faster than adults -- a well-trained, well-programmed embryo should learn the rules quicker than anyone.
It's mainly a problem of interface design. After that, throw enough processor power at the problem, and this baby will trounce Deep Blue from the womb!
But if editors put the bare facts in the fucking summary, how would editors fool themselves into thinking that they're being clever by witholding the bare facts?
Seriously: the editor is being deliberately coy with us. Pisses me off, too.
Awesome post. Thanks for the CS Lewis rebuttal/quote, and for the intelligent commentary. You're a latter-day Mark Twain, neatly skewering our current Gilded Age.
There are as many flavors of socialism as there are socialists.
You've identified one form of socialism: de-emphasing the individual, emphasizing the collective.
Then there are people like me, who declare that mankind has a duty to look after all members of the species, and that we have a moral responsibility to foster peace and goodwill, and that we we ought to feed the hungry, cloth and house the homeless, and heal the sick. I don't call myself a socialist or anything else; I'm not advocating, nor do I place much faith in, government action to remedy social ills. I'm just saying that we have a responsibility to each other, as individuals, if we want to make the world a better place.
Slashdot Mirror
Made me laugh!
Life is not fair. Try to accept this gracefully, without spite or jealousy
Various other people have advantages over you, about which you can do nothing.
You have advantages over various other people, about which they can do nothing.
Try to be a good person: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The "enormous storage and bandwidth demands of porn" are manageable situations.
The enormous discharge of porn -- that's a real problem.
Aerogel is so light and fluffy, you can easily crush it between two fingers. That's my understanding, anyway (I haven't actually touched the stuff).
"Remember last week when we dug up all those Indian bones and made puppets out of them?"
... had that kind of courage. RIP.
From the Preface to The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
Oh yes, Dick Cheney died, all right.
Then his Zombie corpse ran for Vice-President ... and won.
"One thing can be assumed here is that many three lettered acronym departments in the governmint have scrubbed the collection top to bottom years ago."
Perhaps those three-letter acronyms have, themselves, been scrubbed from the collection.
How does the saying go? "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to convince people that he doesn't exist."
Who will measure the unhappiness of the psychiatrists and sociologists?
A beowulf cluster of water sprites, performing genetic algorithm computation using genetic material.
Two admins. Two keys. Two guns. One set of orders. Problem solved!
My patent for "One-Way False Information Relationships" amounts to "I'm lying to all of you."
Just ask my ex-wives and -girlfriends -- they'll tell you all about my "One-Way False Information Relationships".
"... give machines or robots visual intelligence similar to humans."
In other words:
"Do her boobies jiggle? And how!"
Well articulated, and quite intesting. Thanks.
"Any female chess players who come along get shoved into girl's and then women's tournaments."
I did not know that. The thought saddens me.
"Female chess world should ditch its attitude of inferiority, and look to its best player for inspiration."
Amen to that.
Furthermore, women and like-minded men should start shaming anyone who takes a "no girls allowed" attitude .
Ultrasound machine plus home computer equals in utero chess training.
Kids learn faster than adults -- a well-trained, well-programmed embryo should learn the rules quicker than anyone.
It's mainly a problem of interface design. After that, throw enough processor power at the problem, and this baby will trounce Deep Blue from the womb!
I propose Finkware . "Traitorware" has too damned many syllables.
Useful info -- thx!
... this other guy posted a useful reply to my question.
I'm interested in Khyber's reply. Your sarcasm makes me tired.
But if editors put the bare facts in the fucking summary, how would editors fool themselves into thinking that they're being clever by witholding the bare facts?
Seriously: the editor is being deliberately coy with us. Pisses me off, too.
Details, please -- how does one light cigarettes with AA batteries? Thanks!
Awesome post. Thanks for the CS Lewis rebuttal/quote, and for the intelligent commentary. You're a latter-day Mark Twain, neatly skewering our current Gilded Age.
There are as many flavors of socialism as there are socialists.
You've identified one form of socialism: de-emphasing the individual, emphasizing the collective.
Then there are people like me, who declare that mankind has a duty to look after all members of the species, and that we have a moral responsibility to foster peace and goodwill, and that we we ought to feed the hungry, cloth and house the homeless, and heal the sick. I don't call myself a socialist or anything else; I'm not advocating, nor do I place much faith in, government action to remedy social ills. I'm just saying that we have a responsibility to each other, as individuals, if we want to make the world a better place.