Internet Causes Amnesia?

19Apr07

William James:

Our memory is always used in the service of some interest; we remember things which we care for or which are associated with things we care for. When we wish to fix a new thing our conscious effort should not be so much to impress and retain it as to connect it with something already there. The connecting is thinking. I would say that the art of remembering is the art of thinking.

Human brain is a very powerful and adaptive system. A curious example of the brain’s ability to adapt is our bad visual memory. As you all know it is quite difficult to hold a mental picture in mind of what you have just seen. The reason for that is simple, it is not necessary for the brain to memorize the image while you can actually see that image with your eyes. In a sense, the brain uses sight as the external memory, so it adapted not to spend effort to memorize what it is seeing.

Student:

Professor, may I ask a question?

Filed under: brain, google, internet   |  Leave a Comment

Electric Emoticon Announcement

11Apr07

UNESCO Spokesman:

Ladies and Gentlemen.

The seriousness of environmental issues on the planet is recognized globally. Many countries and institutions have tackled these problems through various projects; however, the global trend of environmental degradation is still continuing. Humanity is still burning millions of barrels of oil every day, and still emits millions of tons of pollution into the air.

Today, every effort to end the oil age and switch to the clean, environmentally friendly alternatives should be publicly recognized, emphasized, and supported. As part of the international environmental movement, today UNESCO officially announces an ASCII art sequence representing the electricity or electrical nature of something. The ASCII sequence consists of two characters, plus and minus, enclosed in square brackets.

Filed under: electric, electric vehicle, emoticon, environment, internet, polution, sociology, tesla, warming, writing   |  Leave a Comment

Extreme Internet Surfing

02Apr07

BitnikB:

Hi, Gal! Tsup?

Gal909090:

Hi, Bit. Haven’t seen you for a while.

BitnikB:

Got into an awful accident, just recovered.

Gal909090:

Did you get under the “under construction” sign again?

Filed under: blogosphere, humor, internet, writing   |  Leave a Comment

SpaceX Launch Trouble

23Mar07

Tom Sawyer:

Hello, Huckleberry!

Huckleberry Finn:

Hello yourself, and see how you like it.

Tom Sawyer:

What’s that you got?

Huckleberry Finn:

A space rocket!

Tom Sawyer:

Lemme see it, Huck. My, it’s pretty stiff. Where’d you get it?

Filed under: space, spacex, terrorism, writing   |  Leave a Comment

Winter Is Over

16Mar07

Louis Bernacchi:

Nicolai!, Hey, Nicolai! Get up and come with me, I want to show you something!

Nicolai Hanson:

What? Do you want me to go outside? Are you crazy? It’s Antarctica for God sake! It’s 50 degree below zero!

Filed under: antarctica, management, writing   |  3 Comments

Jeff Hawkins’s Advisor

02Mar07

Jeff Hawkins:

Hey, H.

HTM-1:

Good morning, Jeff.

Jeff Hawkins:

Listen H, I have a question to you.

HTM-1:

I knew you were coming to me with that.

Jeff Hawkins:

With what?

HTM-1:

With that, which your want to ask me.

Filed under: jeff hawkins, numenta, palm, writing   |  2 Comments

Emmy Noether on DRM

23Feb07

Alex Na:

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Emmy Noether!

Emmy, It is an honor for us to have you here. You have not been very public in recent years.

Emmy Noether:

Thank you for having me here.

Alex Na:

Emmy, let’s talk about that publication of yours.

For those who don’t know, the article was titled “On asymmetry in the noosphere” and you can find it in The Bryn Mawr Scientific Journal for February 2007.

That article produced quite a buzz. Activists of so called People Against DRM movement claim that you mathematically proved that information of any kind should be open, free and freely distributed.

Filed under: DRM, open source, writing   |  2 Comments

Quantum Love

14Feb07

The Professor:

Hey! Hey! Anybody! Where am I?!

The Doctor:

Easy! Easy, professor! Settle down. You are in a hospital. I’m your doctor. I’m here to help you.

The Professor:

What happened to me?

The Doctor:

The ambulance got you here this morning! Something happened in your lab, professor, but nobody has a clue what was it. What could possibly happen in the department of sociology?

Filed under: quantum, Saint Valentine's Day, sociology, writing   |  1 Comment

Approaching Python Galaxy

05Feb07

Picard:

We are entering the Python Galaxy. Mister Crusher, maintain impulse speed.

Wesley:

Aye, sir.

Riker:

Captain, look! What is that white?

Picard:

I’ve never seen anything like it. All stop, Mister Crusher!

Wesley:

Aye, sir! … Captain, it doesn’t stop! The engine doesn’t stop!

Filed under: python, scripting, star trek, writing   |  Leave a Comment

Mad Lightning Round

31Jan07

Jim Cramer:

It’s time! It’s time for the lightning round! Are you ready, skee-daddy? I’d like to start with Joe, from Alabama! Hit me, Joe!

Joe:

First of all boo-boo-boo-booyaah from Alabama!

Jim Cramer:

Very nice regional booyah! Joe, what’s on your mind?

Joe:

Jim, your show is making me money!

Jim Cramer:

We are making money! Tu-turu-tu-tu-tu-turu-tu!

Joe:

Jimbo, talk to me about IMC – Iraqi Mobile Corp!

Filed under: iraq, media, writing   |  Leave a Comment