2023-06-14 23:22:39

🔥 after the first few times around, the budget for analysis was greatly increased ...

Meter thy liquor.

💭 for me, this means weighing it on a scale, if it is not one of those pre-portioned containers.

🔥 for others, it might mean keeping a journal. Either for volume alone, or for tasting notes.

When you operate a place of hospitality, you should provide coffee and other hot drinks free of charge to those over nine years of age.

What are "hot drinks"? Certainly they do not include alcohol.

For myself, I have found that a "Keurig-style" machine that heats water and can filter it through a "pod" is suitable for this task.

⚙️ we will fill in some of the other colors later

2023-06-13 21:39:17

💡 welcome to the new internet.

Today, it is a matter of suspense whether either Twitter or Reddit, the two largest non-federated social boards, will be functioning at any given time.

We are going back to the old internet. Or else the new internet.

🔥 the medium internet, was, sadly, destroyed by a pack of llamas on the way over here.

the Old Internet - "minitel" access for corporate web portals. personal homepages and lockers from your friends.

💬 a dangerous word from a dangerous man, there. "lockers".

2023-06-10 23:09:05

💡 we note a Substack which claims that, instead of a "Big Five", there is actually a Zipf distribution of discernment of various attributes.

The most discerning one, named ALPHA, is:

FOUND IN WORDS LIKE "considerate, peaceful, respectful, kind, courteous, unaggressive, polite, agreeable, cordial, reasonable, pleasant"

OPPOSED IN WORDS LIKE "abusive, belligerent, disrespectful, quarrelsome, unkind, rude, bigoted, intolerant, inconsiderate, uncooperative"

in the traditional "Big Five", closest to "agreeableness"

described by that guy as "social self-regulation".

The second-most discerning one, named BETA, is described by this guy as "dynamism" - impulsiveness v. cautiousness.

🔥 obviously, a "positive" ALPHA is generally coded as 好 in society, and I tend to have "negative" ALPHA.

This is partly because "ALPHA" is in fact a conflation of multiple different factors.  If all of these things cast a shadow, then "length of shadow" is ... not the most important factor in measuring them, but it is the most discerning.

I could call "positive" ALPHA as "eloi" and "negative" ALPHA as "morlock" and would be, more or less, correct.

Just because the extremes are "polite" and "abusive" doesn't mean that everything should be measured on that scale.

💭 perhaps, in conclusion, this mythical ALPHA is best described by Milan Kundera at the start of The Unbearable Lightness of Being (who quotes Parmenides).  There is a sense that "brightness", "fineness", "warmth" have one attribute, and their opposites "darkness", "coarseness", "coldness" do not.  But which of "lightness" and "weight" has the attribute?

Regardless, my conclusion is that "ALPHA" proves too much, and is inherently self-contradictory.  The version he calls "rotated" removes at least some of these problems, and is to be preferred.

🔥 of course there is self-interest, as, as noted earlier, positive-ALPHA is coded as "good in all circumstances", and I am coded negative-ALPHA in a way that relies on "even a smart nine year old could see through the holes in the high-positive-ALPHA mindset".

✨ trust not in those who worship models ...

Ultimately, the sin here is that which Nietzsche pointed out.  Is the dimension "good v. bad" or "good v. evil"?

🔥 when you cast both to the same scale, one has the uncomfortable property that the opposite of "ungood" is sometimes "good" and sometimes still "ungood".

2023-06-01 13:23:49

There is a very predictable type of news story that one sees every so often. The crux of the story is that, by breaking one important constraint, one achieves the impossible.

🔥 sometimes to do such a thing is indeed a great accomplishment. other times, the only accomplishment is the degree of subterfuge needed to make it appear meaningful.

Most recently, in the news, we find: These tiny, medical robots could one day travel through your body . With the one important detail being that these are no more robots than a firecracker is a robot.

The puffery continues throughout. When the article says they are capable of traveling "many times faster than a cheetah in relative terms", that is still less than 1/1000th of the speed of blood flow.

💡 ultimately, the maximum speed is impressive-sounding. This is because humans are bad at thinking in scale. If a 人 could become 100 times smaller, accomplishments like "jumping higher than you are tall" would become easy.

The propulsion is "compressed air" powered. There is no pretense that these are capable of perpetual motion, or of gathering energy from the environment, or of navigating in any fashion. It is a pressurized cavity that can be opened by ultrasound, and nothing more.

🔥 so, when people point to this as "a worrying sign towards the pending development of nanobots", it isn't.

🌎 or, more modestly, it is no more a sign than a child's picture of monsters is a worrying sign towards a pending alien invasion

✨ trust not in those who worship mirrors

💡 as many of you should have already noted, the failure of this news story to actually be about nanobots is not evidence that nanobots are impossible

⚔️ well, actually, to the straw-man Bayesian (he who sees a black horse and views it as evidence that all sheep are white), this is evidence

2023-05-28 18:39:25

Every person concerned about their public image needs to have a press kit. This should be available as a 力ZIP file or public website. It should contain at least two images released either to the public domain or under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

⚙️ 力ZIP is a yet-to-be-implemented "safe compression" system.

When this does not happen, we end up with comedy. A recent sitcom, Bupkis, features Pete Davidson complaining about his Wikipedia picture. Because ... what other picture is there?

💡 In the show, it was a point of humor that someone kept switching the picture back to the bad one. In real life, there simply isn't another picture available. And, unless Mr. Davidson wants to schedule a photo shoot, we have no ability to do anything about that.

🌎 or we could get a release from the Taco Bell commercial ...

✨ trust not in those who worship mirrors

2023-05-17 21:01:14

We begin not with the most important of the laws; nor with the most difficult to explain. But with a law which certainly resides on the convex hull of importance and difficulty.

⚙️ 凸包 (普通话 TU1BAO1) meaning "convex hull"

Cover thy head in public.

The interpretation of the law raises several important questions.

Whom does the law apply to? Does it apply to those who have accepted the call, or to the friend and the stranger in your midst? Surely it cannot apply to the cattle and the sheep that graze in your fields.

What covering does the law advise? In this year 2023 of the Common Era, the term "facemask" has acquired a common meaning: a mask that covers the nose and mouth. But do eyeglasses also "cover thy head"? What about the historically more common approach of hat-wearing?

Where is the public realm? Does it apply in the sanctity of one's own home? What about the home of your neighbor or brother?

⚙️ we use the term "Common Era" for two parallel reasons. For those who are followers of the Christian tradition, we reject "Anno Domini" because of the near-universal agreement that Jesus was born in 4 BC on that calendar. For those who are not followers of the Christian tradition, there is even less reason to include an appeal to Jesus in your calendar schema.

🔥 But, as the new calendar is not yet ready, we continue to follow the old numbering.

2023-05-11 17:16:05

🔥 well, actually, i wouldn't ask me to be an authority on the subject ...

Levy Rozman's take on this is clear. If you want to watch YouTube content to improve your chess, you should watch Daniel Naroditsky.

🌎 cue a superclip /* no unsafe pointers */

⚙️ 对不起,那个看得不好。请等一下。

2023-05-10 23:30:45

Why do you look like Cesar Romero?

Because you don't know what Cesar Chavez looks like.

"Hungry Hungry Homer", episode of The Simpsons

✨ we live in a day where people complain about the Names of the Day, but the nightmares of yesteryear are quickly forgotten.

Trump magic is where you stare at a photograph of an object and something happens in the vicinity of that object.

⚙️ 不知道是一样的复读。

/purple1040 "Apparently, Frankenstein is racist".

💡 is it a 好工 thing or a 错工 thing.

2023-05-10 01:22:24

It is dandelion season here. Dandelions are weeds, they show up where they are unwanted.

⚙️ 蒲公英 (普通话 PU2 GONG1 YING1)

One might suggest, "Perhaps they should grow potatoes in their front yards".

A native would never ask such a question. In poor countries, people use their land to feed themselves. But America is a land of proud beggars.

Somewhere, on a social network far away, people are screaming into the void, and I cannot hear it.

2023-05-09 22:00:48

🔥 trust not in prophets that make prophecies

✨ if we're not doing it, stop complaining about it.

💡 Have you read the book "Flowers for Algernon"? If not, have you heard of it?

⚔️ It is common on middle-school reading lists.

📣 don't just talk about creating a reading list, go ahead and do it :fnord: Reading List

⚙️ 如果紫用英语,要大声说出来。

💭 I don't know how to say "xantham" in Chinese.

⚙️ what would be 🤖 is ChatGPT output. The font is "Roboto", a tall sans-serif.

✨ remember, lazy minions lead to cluttered minds

💡 remember, with ChatGPT, the question isn't "what is in the answer", the question is "who asked the question".

In English, violet is a specific frequency of light that falls at the end of the visible spectrum with a wavelength of approximately 380-450 nanometers. Purple, on the other hand, is a hue that can be created by combining red and blue light. It is a more general term that refers to a range of colors that fall between blue and red on the color spectrum, including shades like lavender and mauve.

In Mandarin Chinese, the distinction between violet and purple is not as clear-cut as it is in English. The Chinese language has fewer distinct color terms than English, and the terms for violet and purple (紫色 zǐ sè) are often used interchangeably. However, there are some subtle differences in the way the term is used in certain contexts.

For example, in traditional Chinese culture, purple is often associated with royalty and nobility, while violet is associated with spirituality and mysticism. In modern usage, however, the two terms are often used synonymously to refer to a range of purple-ish hues. Overall, the linguistic nuances of the term in Mandarin Chinese depend largely on cultural context and individual interpretation.

💡 I suspect this "traditional Chinese culture" is either hokum or bunk.

⚙️ we have intercepted a security-check: "As an AI language model, I rely on the information that has been programmed into my training data and my ability to analyze and provide insights based on that information."

My description of traditional Chinese culture regarding the association of purple with royalty and nobility, and violet with spirituality and mysticism, is based on common cultural associations and historical references that have been recorded in literature and art. However, it's important to note that cultural traditions and interpretations can vary greatly depending on the region, time period, and individual interpretation.

It's always important to take cultural descriptions and interpretations with a degree of caution and approach them with an open mind, understanding that they may not be representative of the entire culture or society.

💡 leaning towards the bullshit.

While the terms "violet" and "purple" are often used interchangeably in Mandarin Chinese, there are some cultural and contextual associations that can provide nuanced distinctions in their usage. For example:

Cultural associations: As I mentioned earlier, purple is often associated with royalty and nobility in traditional Chinese culture. This association may influence the usage of the term "purple" in certain contexts to imply a sense of richness, luxury, or high status.

Color nuances: While "violet" and "purple" may refer to similar hues in general, there are subtle differences in the specific shades and tones that each term can connote. For example, "violet" may imply a more cool or subdued tone, while "purple" may suggest a warmer or richer tone.

Contextual usage: In certain contexts, the usage of "violet" or "purple" may be influenced by the specific context in which it is used. For example, "violet" may be used more frequently in the context of spirituality, while "purple" may be used more often in the context of fashion or design.

It's important to note that these distinctions are not always clear-cut and can vary depending on the individual and cultural context. Ultimately, the usage of "violet" and "purple" in Mandarin Chinese may depend on a range of factors, including personal preference, cultural associations, and context.

💡 after some groveling in response to our complaints, it repeated the last 4 paragraphs in Chinese

文化联想:在中国传统文化中,紫色通常与皇族和贵族有关联。这种联想可能会影响在特定情境中使用“紫色”一词时的语义,例如强调富裕、豪华或高贵等含义。

颜色细微差别:尽管“紫色”和“紫罗兰色”可能在一般情况下都指代类似的色调,但它们的语义有些细微的差别。例如,“紫色”可能暗示更加凉爽或柔和的色调,而“紫罗兰色”可能暗示更加温暖或丰富的色调。

语境使用:在某些语境下,使用“紫色”或“紫罗兰色”可能受到特定语境的影响。例如,在宗教或灵性相关的语境中,“紫色”可能会更常用,而在时尚或设计相关的语境中,“紫罗兰色”可能会更常用。

这些区别并不总是清晰明确,取决于个人和文化背景的不同。总之,在中文中,“紫色”和“紫罗兰色”的用法可能取决于一系列因素,包括个人偏好、文化联想和语境。非常感谢您的宝贵意见,希望我的回答对您有所帮助。