doug117

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• Commented on IBM computer brain simulation as complex as a cat's
  Not only was it not real-time, it was only part of the brain and only the part that (1) they knew something about and (2) for which they could create a model. There's a lot of hype around this story....
• Commented on What to do if you smell a terrorist
  People who buy into this thing will be conditioned to think "I am not an expert." After all, the experts are -- by definition -- someone else. Another form of this conditioning is: Let the "authorities" handle it... or Let...
• Commented on Two Good Reasons To Always Read the Methods Section of a Scientific Paper
  Err... sorry -- that would have been "infinitives."...
• Commented on Two Good Reasons To Always Read the Methods Section of a Scientific Paper
  Dang! I wish you wouldn't split infinites....
• Commented on How to make chai tea syrup
  Amen #1, #2. Lost battle though. 'Masala chai' is proper and unambiguous....
• Commented on Mitch Horowitz on Freemasons
  Annuit coeptis novus ordo sec[u]lorum = "Grant the beginning of a new order of the world." Or, maybe 'approve', 'smile on' or even 'bless' instead of grant. I assume it's God they wanted to do the granting. === P.S. it...
• Commented on Fresh Greens: A surprising twist for an ex-Enron-er, building houses for under $3k, presto-change-o chocolates, and goats
  What he's built is/would be ideal for me. Yep -- I like "mud huts." We (Americans and anyone else) have got to get over the idea that a dwelling must have porcelain potties and wiring etc etc. Most houses in...
• Commented on Why we walk in circles without directional cues
  Is there a pre-disposition to walking clockwise or counter-clockwise? Differences in legs should make a difference only on very flat terrain without obstacles....
• Commented on In America, it is increasingly illegal to be poor.
  Always has been a crime to be homeless or poor. Depends on the decade whether you get your head cracked or just get arrested....
• Commented on Former French President says Bush invaded Iraq to thwart Gog and Magog's apocalyptic mission
  In all probability, it was not Bush's idea [to invade] at all. Whatever his beliefs. The reasons given to the public were not the actual reasons for the invasion, which were strategic and economic and which we'll probably never know....
• Commented on Soviet computers from the Cold War tech-race
  Perspective: 6000 vacuum tubes = 6000 switches. What's an Intel µP nowadays? 1-2 million? More? The IBM 360 was pretty much dogmeat -- even by the standards of the 60s. The CDC Cyber 75 (7500?) "blew its doors off."...
• Commented on Howard Rheingold explains 21st Century Literacies
  "Literacies" ?? There is no such word in my dictionary (Webster's Collegiate 10th) and in my opinion. A bit ironic!!...
• Commented on HOWTO ask good skeptical questions
  Here is a headline from today's posting of "New Scientist." Gluttonous black holes power ancient cosmic 'blobs' Amusing, no?...
• Commented on HOWTO ask good skeptical questions
  I, for one, have no access to many documents that might prove or disprove some theory. As a lay person, I have no access to astronomical data (for instance). There is no way I can examine such data to prove...
• Commented on Project to make electronic communication network from raw materials in nature
  Maybe he/they could use available tools at first to prove the concept, then work back from there to show how it can be done with scratch tools....
• Commented on How to fit 500GB on a DVD
  Spodium -- a place to stand and deliver evil sermons...
• Commented on How to fit 500GB on a DVD
  @#11, 12, 15 et al Comparing the brain with data storage devices is specious if not outright odious. Such comparisons presume facts not in existence. And such comparisons seem always to be presented by people hyping their new whizbang thing....
• Commented on What Not To Do This Earth Day
  @#22 That, and we could stop using disposable containers. Or stop using the items that come in disposable containers. No more disposable diapers ?!? Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm crazy -- nobody's gonna stop....
• Commented on What Not To Do This Earth Day
  @#6 Coke bottles are truly ugly but actually provide decent habitat for small critters, especially ocean critters. Bottles = glass = sand mostly. I have heard that metal cans are similar, but I suspect (do not know) that plastic bags,...
• Commented on Sacculina are Pretty Much My Favorite Parasite
  Maggie @#17 Mine too: joke...
• Commented on Three Ways to Drive an Animal to Extinction
  Method 4: Sheer blundering ignorance....
• Commented on Sacculina are Pretty Much My Favorite Parasite
  And this is "against the existence of a loving deity" how?...
• Favorited Poe paper toy on Boing Boing
• Commented on Fox's Glenn Beck says Obama is building concentration camps for Republicans
  @#5 et al. Don't forget that the loons still run some things and many have formidable weapons....
• Commented on Modern day Noah's Ark replica
  So... I'm wondering, How does this guy know what the original ark looked like? ;)...
• Commented on Turtle sex with a shoe
  Female turtles generally show as much interest as the shoe....
• Commented on Tough geometric brain teaser
  The heights of the components are not exactly integers although it appears that way. The red triangle (assuming the overall shape is 13x5) is actually about 3.07 squares high. The little bits add up (or subtract out). (If the top...
• Commented on Woman places 3 calls to 911 to complain about McNuggets incident
  Fraud or theft. She should have reported a crime....
• Commented on Elongated skulls discovered in Russia
  It is doubtful that anyone at that time or place associated heads or brains with the mind. So it is even more doubtful that they did such mutilation to increase mental awareness. The quote suggests that the author is not...
• Commented on Making remotes easier to use
  Yep. So ... why didn't the manufacturer do this in the first place? >gripe...