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1676

Living Room / Re: Interesting Academic Blog: Overcoming Bias

« Last post by 40hz on June 15, 2014, 11:39 AM »

And he does seem to be willfully blind to the level of bias displayed in some of his own core set of 'givens' doesn't he?

I always worry a little when these cross-disciplinary types start enthusiastically applying the tools of one discipline to an area they're not specifically designed or intended to he used in. But thats certainly the trend these days. And why you now see theoretical physicists developing formulas for hedge funds and actors penning books on health topics they have little expertise in. (NOTE: personal experience, "reading some books" or extensively browsing the web does not automatically an expert make.)

On a certain level, anything can be made to appear equivalent or similiar to virtually anything else. And that way lies "brain rot" according to AI pioneer Marvin Minsky, who cautions us to focus on the differences rather than the similarities between things.

1677

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2014, 01:31 PM »

Surveillance technology use is more addictive than crack AFAICT.

One reason why I never participated in any project that involved monitoring people was because I have seen what this technology does to the people who use it.

1678

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2014, 12:41 PM »

@40hz... that was a horrible intro to that film... Some good description, but you left me entirely unprepared for it. Perhaps that was a good thing...

-Renegade (June 14, 2014, 12:10 PM)

40hz has given a bit of description there, but it's completely inadequate to describe what this is.

Um...wasn't it you who said never tell you too much or show you trailers?

Well...we aims to please.



(So... are you in love with Ms. Doona Bae's character Sonmi-451 yet? )


"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others.
Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

This is more than just a film. This is an adventure.

I think that I need to watch this again.

I think I'm on my sixth or possibly seventh pass through it already. And I'll probably continue to watch it until I've got the entire thing committed to memory. Or at least for as long as I can handle the heartache I feel every time I see it. The only other brilliant (good choice of word!) films I've viewed this many times are The Usual Suspects, Amelie and Mamoru Oshii's Avalon - and those provide nowhere near the level of experience Cloud Atlas offers.

All I can say is: See it!


       

------------------------------

Note: by "not bad adaptation" I meant it doesn't exactly mirror the book. But I don't see that as an automatic negative. Some films do suffer by comparison to their origins. Some films, however, are better than their books. Chocolat and Big Fish being two examples that immediately come to mind. But that's me.

1679

Living Room / Re: Interesting Academic Blog: Overcoming Bias

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2014, 12:21 PM »

I have little patience with those whose thinking is sloppy, small, or devoid of abstraction. And I’m not a joiner; I rebel against groups with “our beliefs”, especially when members must keep criticisms private, so as not to give ammunition to “them.” I love to argue one on one, and common beliefs are not important for friendship — instead I value honesty and passion.

Strikes me (from his bio) as a bright guy who's devoid of manners, and is short on respect for others he doesn't consider his intellectual equals. It's an unfortunately typical attitude shared by many "university types" I've dealt/worked/fought with over the years. So it goes.

And now, after reading a few of his mini-screeds, he begins to strike me much the way Ayn Rand does. Some excellent ideas and/or observations wedded to some highly questionable conclusions and interpretations.

I'll have to give his blog a more in depth read when I can spare the time. I'm already slightly pissed about a few things I've read in there - so it ought to be a fun blogcrawl for me.

@Mouser - Thx for sharing!

1680

Living Room / Re: The Onion launches new site: Clickhole

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2014, 09:18 AM »

That's a great site.
I love spreading obvious misinformation on the internet. If someone is so dumb as to believe articles on the net, they may as well believe totally ridiculous ones.

-Fred Nerd (June 14, 2014, 05:54 AM)

Um...did you ever consider a career in government?   (kidding)

1681

Living Room / Re: The Onion launches new site: Clickhole

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2014, 09:16 AM »

  Once again The Onion does it's part to contribute to that pile of snarky BS so much of the web has become. And all done to score a cheap shot or get a quick laugh. Sad really. Or should that be more like "really sad?"

1682

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on June 13, 2014, 05:30 PM »

@wraith - Thanks for that! I'm going to print it out for closer study. Although there may be a few things anybody could quibble over from either side of the spectrum, a quick look and skim seems to say it's spot on.

1683

General Software Discussion / Re: Loss-Proof Text Editor

« Last post by 40hz on June 13, 2014, 02:42 PM »

+1 w/dr_andus. 

I've found it easiest to just set a short (<5 minute) autosave interval in whatever I'm using if I'm that worried about losing something between manual saves.

1684

Living Room / Re: Favorite Sci-fi movies?

« Last post by 40hz on June 13, 2014, 10:08 AM »

Sometimes some of the best scifi keeps you guessing as to whether or not it even is scifi.

Like seriously warped humor, conspiracy theories, weirdos, deserts, sinister bowling ball bags, mysterious suitcases, and scary government agents? Then check out The Big Empty

Would be-Hollywood actor John Person always considered his bizarre neighbor Neely a conspiracy theory nut-case. Still he accepts a simple task to wipe out his over $27,000 debt: delivering a blue suitcase to some Cowboy at Baker, in the empty desert.

Worth it just for Rachel Leigh Cook (one of my favorite weirdo-character actresses)



as Ruthie:



 

1685

Non-Windows Software / Re: NIX: KDE anyone? First thoughts.

« Last post by 40hz on June 12, 2014, 06:40 PM »

Tried the RC for Linux Mint 17 KDE, 40hz?

  http://community.linuxmint.com/iso

-ewemoa (June 11, 2014, 02:30 AM)

Nope!

Probably won't either. If I were to go over to another WM it would either be Xfce or Openbox. Those are what I run on my "traveling" laptops.
 

1686

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on June 11, 2014, 10:44 PM »

Another scary-good bassist by the name of Grant Stinnett out of Cambridge MA.

Here's Grant performing one of his solo compositions called Run of Angels. Fellow bassists might have trouble reconciling his fingering and sound with standard bass tuning. That's because he's using a piccolo string set (on a standard scale LeFay bass) that's tuned C-G-C-G.

This is a studio-live performance. No overdubs, effects or processing other than some light reverb are in use. Grant presented it as a demo of what he's capable of doing (and what an audience can expect) when seeing him perform live.

I like the hints of bluegrass, Shadowfax, Bill Ackerman, and Michael Manring stylings in various places. A very pretty piece of music in that odd jazz-influenced genre the Windham Hill record label made famous.

Check it out:

 

1687

Living Room / Re: WinXP is officially dead!

« Last post by 40hz on June 11, 2014, 05:20 PM »

I am just wondering exactly when it will become cool to do the same to XP users. Just because I only own 1 machine that still runs XP and have no intentions on booting it up unless it's an extreme emergency, doesn't mean that I will condone the kind of uncalled for OS bigotry that XP users will soon face. It will still bring out the angry warrior in me, when I see it. (if you have a legitimate reason for not supporting XP, then ok, but I won't tolerate OS bigotry)

-app103 (June 11, 2014, 03:40 PM)

I hear you and feel your pain. About all I can say is when (and if) it ever does happen: Welcome to my world.

I've been putting up with snark and insults for years as a GNU/Linux user and semi-advocate. I've even gotten some of it from people here - which came as a real surprise. I find it pretty interesting that a totally free OS and ecosystem can generate so much spleen from people who are paying a tidy sum for what they're using - and who are being systematically and regularly abused by the companies that are selling it to them.

Then there's that part I'll never get - users dumping on fellow users...

But I guess it's small surprise it all turns on its self from time to time. That's to be expected whenever discussions turn religious, like OS 'discussions' so often do.

So be it. I say "Give me the bird!" every time.

1688

Living Room / Re: WinXP is officially dead!

« Last post by 40hz on June 11, 2014, 12:41 PM »

What I don't understand is 3rd party developers that make their money off supporting their apps running on whatever platforms their customers are using. If there are still a large chunk of people running XP, why turn them away from buying and using your software, by not supporting XP? Flushing all that cash down the toilet is kind of self-defeating, don't you think?

-rgdot (June 11, 2014, 08:24 AM)

-app103 (June 11, 2014, 10:20 AM)

For a small indy developer, I think it comes down to accepting XP is now an orphan which will remain running until the inevitable major malware attack finally renders it unsafe to use under any circumstances. At which point, if the small dev doesn't have a product ready for the new version of Windows, they're out of business. And since development resources are limited it's smarter, in the long run, to start developing now for the future rather than hoping to continue to mine the past for as long as possible.

For big developers and those (antimalware app devs for example) who need access to proprietary internal information that goes beyond what an MSDN subscription will get you - or who need a friendly "heads-up" about planned (but non-publicized) changes - it's not a good idea to appear to be working at cross purposes to Microsoft. You could get taken off distribution for all the inside info (i.e the type of detail you usually need an invite and a signed non-disclosure agreement to get access to) that big devs rely on for their own product development efforts. If Microsoft says XP is over - then it's over as far as these guys are concerned.

1689

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 11, 2014, 11:45 AM »

Alice in Wonderland
 (see attachment in previous post)
I've been watching this a few times lately as I play it for my daughter.

And I must confess, I'm a bit of a freak for Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. They're simply brilliant.

This is always worth watching again every now and then. It never gets tired or worn or old.

My guess is that most people here have seen it at least once. I suppose I'm just posting as a silly reminder about how much fun it is.

-Renegade (June 11, 2014, 09:31 AM)

That one is in my collection. And Alice is good enough that even a Disney adaptation didn't hurt it.



When she gets a little older try reading her Carroll's Sylvie and Bruno books. In addition to being a multi-level children and adult story, it's also one told using multiple realities. (Available from Project Gutenberg btw.)

more on that here

(excerpted form a longer essay which can be found here)

Alice, unlike other Victorian child protagonists, is critical, defiant, and self-assertive. She is the only one to stand up to the arbitrary and domineering Queen. "The underlying message of Alice, then, is a rejection of adult authority, a vindication of the rights of the child."<11> This, not its nonsense, is the truly subversive element in the Alices.

    Nearly a quarter century later, in the two volumes of Sylvie and Bruno (Sylvie and Bruno was first published in 1889, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded in 1893) Carroll launched an attack on the Victorian novel that was perhaps even more subversive. Gathering together diverse materials to include in them, Carroll called the result "litterature," and he challenged the reader to identify the "padding" in the stories. "Victorian novels," as Gattegno observes, "would never dream of describing themselves in this ironic and even sacrilegious way."<12> Nor would most Victorian writers dare to begin as Carroll does, in midsentence: "--and then all the people cheered again" (a device Joyce picked up for the opening of Finnegans Wake). Carroll introduces self-reflexive mannerisms that anticipate Joyce, Queneau, Beckett, and the whole line of artifice-oriented modern writing. For example, when the narrator first encounters Lady Muriel, he reflects: "And this, of course, is the opening scene of Vol. 1. She is the Heroine. And I am one of those subordinate characters that only turn up when needed for the development of her destiny."

    But the most radical element of the novel is its simultaneous, separate, yet mysteriously corresponding plots, which take place in separate planes of reality that shift with dizzying abruptness, as Anne Clark explains:

    Dodgson hinges his story on an intricately worked-out series of hypotheses. First, that besides the world in which we live there exist two others: its counterpart, called Outland, whose society is a kind of burlesque of the real world, and Fairyland as we all understand it. Second, that human beings, unseen and in a state of trance, may observe people and events in Outland, and that in another state, which Dodgson describes as "eerie," they may participate in adventures in Fairyland, without losing consciousness of events in the real world. Thirdly, time may reverse or stand still, and fairies may assume human form. The links between Outland and the real world are the narrator, who passes back and forth between the two, and Sylvie and Bruno, alternately appearing in fairy form or as human children.<13>

The main story lines of the novels concern an attempt by the warden of Outland to usurp the birthright of the fairy children Sylvie and Bruno, and the rivalry of Captain Eric Linden and Dr. Arthur Forester for Lady Muriel Orme, in the English town of Elveston. The first plot has the form of a folktale, the second the form of a romance, but Carroll quickly undermines ordinary expectations of these genres. Characters on one level suddenly transform into equivalent, yet distinct, characters on another level: indeed, the very nature of character is challenged, as Carroll explores the borderline between dreaming and waking, probing the limits of language and logic.

Flat out brilliant even if not as humorous or zaney as the Alice adventures.

Funny thing...I've found many adults are stumped or just "don't get" Sylvie and Bruno. But when I read it to my niece when she was 5, she instantly caught on to what was going on and could follow it. She even corrected me at one point when I got confused and pointed out that a character was only dreaming the Fairyland - and wasn't fully in it at that point.


Sylvie clung to one arm; while Bruno, on the opposite side,
was pushing him with all his strength, with many inarticulate
cries of  “Gee-up! Gee-back!

That's my niece! Zen master from birth, and a natural shaman if there ever was one.

1690

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 11, 2014, 11:21 AM »

Regarding Entity, one complaint...

The sound guys.

Creepy sound effects 20~30 dB above the speaking level doesn't work well. We actually want to hear what the people say.

-Renegade (June 11, 2014, 09:26 AM)

Agree 100%. There were several times when I wished I could switch on subtitles.

1691

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 10, 2014, 07:56 PM »

More 'found footage' inspired thrills and chills.

This one is set in Siberia - and unlike many movies that take advantage of the "found" gimmick, Entity is actually a decent little scifi-horror flick.

Entity (2012)

In 1998, thirty four unidentified bodies were found in shallow graves in a remote Siberian forest. After subsequent investigations, no official explanation by the Russian authorities was ever offered about the circumstances of the deaths. The case was closed.



In 2010, a small English TV crew from the show 'Darkest Secrets' set out for the Siberian forest. 'Darkest Secrets' focuses on revisiting the sites of unsolved crimes and they employ the gifts of a psychic whose extraordinary powers may help shed new light on cold cases. The last communication to their production office in London stated that they were approaching the Siberian region where the bodies were found.

Some excellent acting plus a believable plot elevates this one above most of the pack. I genuinely appreciated how the two female characters were both resourceful and intelligent. As were the choices and decisions made by all the characters in reaction to various events and crises. No dummies, fainters, screaming-mimis, or twisted ankles or face-plants at the worst possible moments. This greatly added to the realism of the picture and made the shocking moments even better - because these people pretty much did what you'd imagine yourself doing in a similar predicament.

I wouldn't go so far as to call this a "found footage" film since the POV moves back and forth between classic 3rd-person movie and 1st-person video footage. A real found footage film would (IMO) only have a single POV delivered from the perspective of the camera operator(s). That said, the grainy washed out color palette of the cinematography really gave the impression of a post Cold War Russia - and an uninhabited locale out in the back end of Siberia - which itself is the back end of nowhere.

Pleasantly creepy and fun film.

If you liked movies such as Ringu, Pulse, and Yellowbrickroad, you'll like this picture too.

 

1692

Living Room / Re: Favorite Sci-fi movies?

« Last post by 40hz on June 10, 2014, 06:49 PM »

Not my favorite but i'm surprised no one has mentioned the Cube series -- good stuff.

-mouser (June 10, 2014, 10:30 AM)

I really enjoyed the first Cube movie. Are the sequels in the same ballpark of quality?

-CWuestefeld (June 10, 2014, 01:30 PM)

No. Just no.

Cube was decent. The others were just awful.

Or maybe they were all awful but I didn't realize it because I saw the first one when I was in my early teens , and the others as an adult.

-Deozaan (June 10, 2014, 06:42 PM)

Bingo! +1 on all of the above.

1693

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on June 10, 2014, 09:25 AM »

^That's come up with this 'test' in the past.

There's been some research and debate over whether letting the test subject know there's the possibility of a machine in the equation also affects people's judgement. And whether endowing the computer agent with some sort of persona is a positive or a negative addition to the mix.

In the end, I don't think it really matters. People will knowingly accept falsehood as truth if they're sufficiently motivated to do so. So the fact a certain percentage of people are fooled doesn't really say that much that you can take and run with as is. But that doesn't make it any less interesting or worthy of further study. Because each iteration seems to generate even more significant questions about human consciousness and perception.  That's why I love things like the Turing Test. We often learn as much about ourselves as we do the thing we're trying to study.

That can only be a good thing.  

1694

Living Room / Re: Favorite Sci-fi movies?

« Last post by 40hz on June 10, 2014, 09:14 AM »

It's also a bit of a visual nod to the famous Scopes Monkey Trial in the US where a substitute high school teacher went on trial in 1925 for violating a Tennessee law know as The Butler Act which effectively banned the teaching of evolutionary theory in publicly funded schools.

Scopes was ultimately convicted of violating the act and fined $100. The judgement was later thrown out on a legal technicality rather than a constitutional one. But the state of Tennessee (wisely in the face of withering publicity) decided not to retry the case.

The legal battle to teach evolutionary theory continues to this day in America.  

1695

Living Room / Re: Stuff We Feel Like Bitching About

« Last post by 40hz on June 09, 2014, 07:54 PM »

I'm on the verge...

-wraith808 (June 09, 2014, 07:00 PM)

Of switching hosts?

A wise decision. I would.

-40hz (June 09, 2014, 07:12 PM)

Unfortunately, it's not my site.  *sigh*

I even offered to host them for free on my server if they'd just move... but when dealing with people that don't know about technology, they hate change, understandably.

"So here is us.  On the raggedy edge."

-wraith808 (June 09, 2014, 07:29 PM)

Our world and welcome to it, huh?

Yeah...sounds about right.



Just be sure to wear your BOFH sigil, discreetly pinned inside your street clothes. (It adds 10 extra hit points!) 

1696

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on June 09, 2014, 07:41 PM »

(see attachment in previous post)
Anyone here related to Eugene?

Computer may be first to pass Turing Test, successfully impersonating a human

-Arizona Hot (June 09, 2014, 05:04 PM)

I think CBS may have jumped the gun in declaring the test "passed."

Nevertheless, Turing predicted by the year 2000, an AI system would fool 30% of the himans interacting with it. So he only missed it by 14 or so years if you want to accept this event's result as a passing score. I'm not happy with adding the "personality" of a teenage Ukranian boy to the mix. I think that might have skewed the test results a bit. (i.e. could 'explain' any awkward language constructs or grammatical gaffes/ possibly generated sympathetic attitude towards sim since the the plight of the Ukraine is so much in the news lately)

Still, it's an accomplishment. I'm glad researchers are still working on it. Not so much to develop an intelligent machine as to help us challenge and better understand our own thinking about consciousness and intelligence.

1697

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on June 09, 2014, 07:21 PM »

Anyone here related to Eugene?

-Arizona Hot (June 09, 2014, 05:04 PM)

Yeah, I only fool people about 30% of the time too... nobody confuses me with Wintermute...

-x16wda (June 09, 2014, 06:58 PM)

Just as long as Case and Molly don't, you should be ok.

1698

Living Room / Re: Stuff We Feel Like Bitching About

« Last post by 40hz on June 09, 2014, 07:12 PM »

I'm on the verge...

-wraith808 (June 09, 2014, 07:00 PM)

Of switching hosts?

A wise decision. I would.

1699

Living Room / Re: Stuff We Feel Like Bitching About

« Last post by 40hz on June 09, 2014, 04:15 PM »

@Ren - I still don't see what subjecting somebody (who often lacks any real authority) to a barrage of obscenity and spleen is going to accomplish. Maybe it's cathartic for some people to vent. But I usually find I feel far worse, after having lost my temper, than I did before. So I guess this is one of those YMMV things.

I'm not trying to say outrage is never justified or needed. But to adopt it as a default policy or 'game plan' strikes me as being counterproductive in the long run. Shock only works once or twice on most people. Then the psychological calluses start to form. After that, a caller's aggressive or abusive behavior rolls off the back like a cold drop of rain - an unpleasant sensation perhaps, but little else.

Most of my life's experience seems to tell me you can: get whatever you want - or - say whatever you want.

But not both.

At least not when dealing with the most people.

1700

Living Room / Re: Stuff We Feel Like Bitching About

« Last post by 40hz on June 09, 2014, 05:56 AM »

Wandering off a bit, there you remind me about how everyone is expected to be polite and nice to be point of being obsequious when dealing with people that work for companies/organisations that have wronged you. i.e. You get screwed, but you're not allowed to be upset about it.

-Renegade (June 08, 2014, 09:28 PM)

Seriously?

I don't get the part where you say "everyone is expected to be polite and nice" and "you're not allowed to be upset" about things.

I don't know where you're sitting. But where I live hardly anyone expects to be polite or nice about anything they don't like. And I haven't run into anyone (yet) that seems to feel the need to get permission before getting upset. Flying off the handle at the drop of a hat, and being just plain petulant and rude, seems to be more the norm around here.

You must live in a far more mannerly locale than I do.