Why fear the "panic" of cessation of email traffic? It's so close to useless now that important communication happens other ways, and major (expensive) change requires a major spur.
According to Noam Chomsky and colleagues, the difference between humans and all other "intelligent" creatures lies in the ability to recursively combine words into a meaningful sentence (see The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve by Mark Hauser, Noam Chomsky, and W. Tecumseh Fitch, published in Science recently-- I'd offer a link, but it's un-free).
the size of the vocabulary is irrelevant, because animals can't communicate meaningfully using only single words.
I think he would have been into the right kind of digital. I used to work for Paul Horowitz, author of The Art of Electronics and designer of much of Adams' electronic gear (light meters, exposure timers, etc; some actual designs are in that classic text). From the few conversations we had on the subject, I was left with the impression that Adams was definitely not beyond mixing in a bit of digital with his intuition, but would not change his established "rituals" for the sake of a new electronic widget (often sending items back several times for modification).
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Why fear the "panic" of cessation of email traffic? It's so close to useless now that important communication happens other ways, and major (expensive) change requires a major spur.
According to Noam Chomsky and colleagues, the difference between humans and all other "intelligent" creatures lies in the ability to recursively combine words into a meaningful sentence (see The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve by Mark Hauser, Noam Chomsky, and W. Tecumseh Fitch, published in Science recently-- I'd offer a link, but it's un-free). the size of the vocabulary is irrelevant, because animals can't communicate meaningfully using only single words.
I'll believe in Martians when I pry a Beagle from their cold, dead fingers?
I think he would have been into the right kind of digital. I used to work for Paul Horowitz, author of The Art of Electronics and designer of much of Adams' electronic gear (light meters, exposure timers, etc; some actual designs are in that classic text). From the few conversations we had on the subject, I was left with the impression that Adams was definitely not beyond mixing in a bit of digital with his intuition, but would not change his established "rituals" for the sake of a new electronic widget (often sending items back several times for modification).