But the human would still be augmented with machinery. The point that the guy was trying to make in the quote was that it should be no big suprise that a machine programmed to just play chess or whatever can do it better than we can.
In my opinion, the real marvel would be if the computer came up with new strategies based upon its opponents' moves. Otherwise, the machine is simply an extension of human thought.
"Let's play the adding game. Which can add faster, a calculator or a woman or a man?. The calculator can, right?...[My} point is that if you light a match near a calculator it's not going to scurry away. If there's a fire in my living room where me and my calculator are sitting, I can escape the fire, but my calculator can't!"
--Moxy Fruvous (good, funny band), commenting on Kasparov vs. Deep Blue
In my opinion, the best accessory would be a dog. Not a big, scary dog, or a dog trained to hurt people, but a medium-sized dog like a Labrador would at least make a mugger think twice. Any dog will bark and raise hell if its person is threatened.
I live in Savannah, GA, and I was mugged at gunpoint about three weeks ago. I know for a fact that I didn't look wealthy or have widgets of any kind on me at the time, but I was apparently a target anyway. A gun or similar only works if you can get the jump on someone. However, a dog would probably nip muggers' plans in the bud, so to speak.
And one more question. Previous ice ages have onset over the course of hundreds years, giving plant and animal life time to adapt to the new climate or migrate to slightly warmer areas. Wouldn't the insta-freeze depicted in this movie kill all flora and fauna in its path? Who wants to survive in a world where they won't be able to find anything to eat but a bit of lichen or some hundred-year-old Twinkies after the snows go away?
Or maybe I think too much. It's just a movie after all.
Mr. Gaiman, recently I've been reading about Banned and Challenged Books Week on your online journal. Have any of your novels, graphic or otherwise, been banned or challenged? By whom and why?
I agree with you that the products Apple provides are the epitome of quality. Heck, I've never had a problem with mine. However, I would find it hard to believe that Apple's bigwigs, especially Mr. Jobs, didn't see this coming. I'm sure they've been waiting, and preparing for it. Personally, I think their prices are more than fair, but as far as a warchest for a lawsuit looming on the horizon goes, every little bit helps.
Wish that were the case, but alas! I am not that witty, nor did I read any farther than the shared archives proposal. Sorry to dash your hopes upon the cold stone of banality.
There's a similar one for dollar bills. I think it's called "Where's George". You have to deface the bill, though, and last time I checked that's a bit of a bad thing.
Definitely an interesting concept, but I'm just a little shy of letting some random person on the internet know where I live. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but how else would this work? For a similar, and I think safer idea, check out www.bookcrossing.com.
Actually, I believe that human egg donors are given a drug that makes them produce more than one per month. This thing is dangerous because, among other things, it can cause infertility and ovarian cancer.
An old roomie of mine once tried to make some extra money by signing up with a program that sold ova to couples having fertility trouble. In addition to sheets and sheets of questions about her criminal background, IQ, level of education, blood type, interests, etc. she had to sign all kinds of waivers. Basically, "If you get sick because of this, it's not our fault and we won't pay for it." She wouldn't listen to me when I told her how dangerous it was, but they finally wouldn't take her anyway. You see, she was adopted and didn't know much about her birth parents.
Anyway, it's just plain difficult to get many women to take that kind of risk with their tender bits.
Yeah, but some pro scammer-waiters will take down credit card numbers during a shift. Just write down all the information from all the cards they scan in a night and use it at a later date. I guess it's a situation of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Also, I would hope that the restaurants in question would do a little encryption of their wireless networks, but perhaps that's too much to ask from an industry that just upgraded to Windows 2000 last week.
I've been working in restaurants here in the U.S. for longer than I care to admit. I've proposed the idea of a handheld device for server's orders more than once, but most restaurants don't want to go through the expense of upgrading their equipment. Never mind that it would save, not only a few miles of paper, but also loads of time, it's just not worth it to them.
I think it would also be wonderful if the handhelds had credit card scanners. That way a customer's card would never leave their tables, cutting down on fraud that, alas, does take place with some of my more unscrupulous co-workers.
If this guy is using the iTMS, then it's a pretty safe bet that he's using.mac as well. Why did he never think to use the handy-dandy little "Backup" button to preserve his system in case of emergencies? Or even if he doesn't use.mac, why didn't he back his stuff up on some sort of external media? It sounds like someone was being careless.
Slashdot Mirror
How many bands do you know that post _all_ their lyrics on their websites? Darn nice guys.
http://www.fruvous.com/ln-lyr.html#kasparov
But the human would still be augmented with machinery. The point that the guy was trying to make in the quote was that it should be no big suprise that a machine programmed to just play chess or whatever can do it better than we can.
In my opinion, the real marvel would be if the computer came up with new strategies based upon its opponents' moves. Otherwise, the machine is simply an extension of human thought.
"Let's play the adding game. Which can add faster, a calculator or a woman or a man?. The calculator can, right?...[My} point is that if you light a match near a calculator it's not going to scurry away. If there's a fire in my living room where me and my calculator are sitting, I can escape the fire, but my calculator can't!"
--Moxy Fruvous (good, funny band), commenting on Kasparov vs. Deep Blue
In my opinion, the best accessory would be a dog. Not a big, scary dog, or a dog trained to hurt people, but a medium-sized dog like a Labrador would at least make a mugger think twice. Any dog will bark and raise hell if its person is threatened.
I live in Savannah, GA, and I was mugged at gunpoint about three weeks ago. I know for a fact that I didn't look wealthy or have widgets of any kind on me at the time, but I was apparently a target anyway. A gun or similar only works if you can get the jump on someone. However, a dog would probably nip muggers' plans in the bud, so to speak.
And one more question. Previous ice ages have onset over the course of hundreds years, giving plant and animal life time to adapt to the new climate or migrate to slightly warmer areas. Wouldn't the insta-freeze depicted in this movie kill all flora and fauna in its path? Who wants to survive in a world where they won't be able to find anything to eat but a bit of lichen or some hundred-year-old Twinkies after the snows go away?
Or maybe I think too much. It's just a movie after all.
Come on, computer industry! Get on the ball and get me a retinal scan for my home computer!
Mr. Gaiman, recently I've been reading about Banned and Challenged Books Week on your online journal. Have any of your novels, graphic or otherwise, been banned or challenged? By whom and why?
I agree with you that the products Apple provides are the epitome of quality. Heck, I've never had a problem with mine. However, I would find it hard to believe that Apple's bigwigs, especially Mr. Jobs, didn't see this coming. I'm sure they've been waiting, and preparing for it. Personally, I think their prices are more than fair, but as far as a warchest for a lawsuit looming on the horizon goes, every little bit helps.
I think you succeeded, actually. I was just worried that I came off as being shallow or something. Guess it's too late now, though. Alas and forsooth.
Wish that were the case, but alas! I am not that witty, nor did I read any farther than the shared archives proposal. Sorry to dash your hopes upon the cold stone of banality.
There's a similar one for dollar bills. I think it's called "Where's George". You have to deface the bill, though, and last time I checked that's a bit of a bad thing.
It's weird, though. All the meeting and arrangements that would need to be made make it seem like a drug deal or something.
"Hey, man...you got the stuff? If I go too long without pulp I get the shakes, man."
"First time's free, but then you gotta pay."
It just feels like so much trouble to go through for a book that I could just buy.
Definitely an interesting concept, but I'm just a little shy of letting some random person on the internet know where I live. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but how else would this work? For a similar, and I think safer idea, check out www.bookcrossing.com.
Actually, I believe that human egg donors are given a drug that makes them produce more than one per month. This thing is dangerous because, among other things, it can cause infertility and ovarian cancer.
An old roomie of mine once tried to make some extra money by signing up with a program that sold ova to couples having fertility trouble. In addition to sheets and sheets of questions about her criminal background, IQ, level of education, blood type, interests, etc. she had to sign all kinds of waivers. Basically, "If you get sick because of this, it's not our fault and we won't pay for it." She wouldn't listen to me when I told her how dangerous it was, but they finally wouldn't take her anyway. You see, she was adopted and didn't know much about her birth parents.
Anyway, it's just plain difficult to get many women to take that kind of risk with their tender bits.
Yeah, but some pro scammer-waiters will take down credit card numbers during a shift. Just write down all the information from all the cards they scan in a night and use it at a later date. I guess it's a situation of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Also, I would hope that the restaurants in question would do a little encryption of their wireless networks, but perhaps that's too much to ask from an industry that just upgraded to Windows 2000 last week.
I've been working in restaurants here in the U.S. for longer than I care to admit. I've proposed the idea of a handheld device for server's orders more than once, but most restaurants don't want to go through the expense of upgrading their equipment. Never mind that it would save, not only a few miles of paper, but also loads of time, it's just not worth it to them.
I think it would also be wonderful if the handhelds had credit card scanners. That way a customer's card would never leave their tables, cutting down on fraud that, alas, does take place with some of my more unscrupulous co-workers.
If this guy is using the iTMS, then it's a pretty safe bet that he's using .mac as well. Why did he never think to use the handy-dandy little "Backup" button to preserve his system in case of emergencies? Or even if he doesn't use .mac, why didn't he back his stuff up on some sort of external media? It sounds like someone was being careless.