i like to laugh. a lot. it soothes the soul.
occasionally, i will laugh so hard that i cry. less frequently, i will laugh so hard that the pain in my belly demands that i think about something unpleasant so that the laughter ends, because it simply hurts too much to continue. Fits like this usually only happen between me and my brother, because he tends to laugh with great intensity, which makes me laugh, which makes him laugh harder, and so on until we both have little red lines over our abdominal muscles, tears streaming down our faces, and can no longer breathe.
this killed me. in fact, while i was posting this, i could not look at the link or the artlcle for fear that i would bust out laughing again.
however, now the pain has subsided, and i am ready and willing to venture back into the funniest (or possibly second-funniest) thing I have ever read. it's probably not as awesome if you've never owned a cat, but if you have, be prepared to have the rest of your day destroyed by the funniest thing you have ever read.
none of the above is hyperbole.
October 28, 2005
October 26, 2005
down the rabbit hole
Здравствуйте!!
(hello; "zdrasvytsente")
I can pronounce the words, but I don't know what they mean.
Furthermore, the Russian FARK does not correspond in any way to the American FARK.
Fascinating. If you can read Cyrillic, that is.
(hello; "zdrasvytsente")
I can pronounce the words, but I don't know what they mean.
Furthermore, the Russian FARK does not correspond in any way to the American FARK.
Fascinating. If you can read Cyrillic, that is.
it's a trap 2.0
We were right. We were always right, and we were all right.
Liars and crooks, and now their closely-knit circle of friends is unraveling like that cheap scarf your cousin knitted for you that you wore once and got snagged on a door hinge.
Now if only the Democrats could get their hand-wringing heads out of their asses and govern...
it reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons I saw on DVD last week, from the 4th season. It aired in 1991. There's a chase scene that goes through both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. During the scene, you get to see banners hanging at each convention:
Republican: "We want the worst for everyone!" "We're just evil!"
Democrat: "We hate ourselves!" "We can't govern!"
ah, it saddens me how political satire remains the same, even though the years keep ticking by.
In other news, I got the first contact from the wreck-girl's insurance agency today. I will call them in the morning with a list of demands ten miles long. I am suffused with confidence befitting Napoleon as he invaded Malta.
Liars and crooks, and now their closely-knit circle of friends is unraveling like that cheap scarf your cousin knitted for you that you wore once and got snagged on a door hinge.
Now if only the Democrats could get their hand-wringing heads out of their asses and govern...
it reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons I saw on DVD last week, from the 4th season. It aired in 1991. There's a chase scene that goes through both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. During the scene, you get to see banners hanging at each convention:
Republican: "We want the worst for everyone!" "We're just evil!"
Democrat: "We hate ourselves!" "We can't govern!"
ah, it saddens me how political satire remains the same, even though the years keep ticking by.
In other news, I got the first contact from the wreck-girl's insurance agency today. I will call them in the morning with a list of demands ten miles long. I am suffused with confidence befitting Napoleon as he invaded Malta.
i've created a monster
PokerStars Tournament #14267119, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started - 2005/10/25 - 22:02:35 (ET)
Dear hakatak,
You finished the tournament in 3rd place.
A $428.40 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 178.65 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started - 2005/10/25 - 22:02:35 (ET)
Dear hakatak,
You finished the tournament in 3rd place.
A $428.40 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 178.65 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
October 22, 2005
RIP
Stan the Civic
March 20, 2005 - October 21, 2005
my car got wrecked today.
i was driving up the exit from columbia rd. to demers ave., while working at pops tonight. stopped at the north-south light, where demers ave. crosses right in front of pops, team electronics, etc.
light turns green, so i go. since my light was green, the cross-traffic light was red, a fact which escaped the notice of the 18-year-old female driver of a 1994 ford explorer. a perfect t-bone, right in the front passenger door.
what amazed me was how long the whole ordeal seemed to take, and yet how quickly it was over. the headlights, noise and shower of glass took like four hours, but i didn't even notice the flying plastic or crushing of the passenger door/dashboard. she was profusely sorry, and i wanted to lay into her, asking her how sorry would help me get another job, but that would have just made her cry.
so far as i know, i'm okay. my right hand instinctively went up to protect my face, and that was pretty much the only exposed area of skin on my body at the moment, so it caught quite a bit of glass. i went to the hospital to have them take it out and swab me down with some antibiotics, and they took a couple x-rays. i wanted to keep the glass, but all the fragments were miniscule. my fingers are a teeny bit broken, too, but not to the point where they need a cast or splints or anything. ("1% fracture.") during the great deal of down-time at the hospital, i had horrific visions of waking up tomorrow a quadraplegic, but the doc tells me that is highly unlikely.
the anaesthetic has mostly worn off, and now my fingers hurt like hell.
my first real taste of freedom when they let me out of work-release was getting into Stan and driving away.
March 20, 2005 - October 21, 2005
my car got wrecked today.
i was driving up the exit from columbia rd. to demers ave., while working at pops tonight. stopped at the north-south light, where demers ave. crosses right in front of pops, team electronics, etc.
light turns green, so i go. since my light was green, the cross-traffic light was red, a fact which escaped the notice of the 18-year-old female driver of a 1994 ford explorer. a perfect t-bone, right in the front passenger door.
what amazed me was how long the whole ordeal seemed to take, and yet how quickly it was over. the headlights, noise and shower of glass took like four hours, but i didn't even notice the flying plastic or crushing of the passenger door/dashboard. she was profusely sorry, and i wanted to lay into her, asking her how sorry would help me get another job, but that would have just made her cry.
so far as i know, i'm okay. my right hand instinctively went up to protect my face, and that was pretty much the only exposed area of skin on my body at the moment, so it caught quite a bit of glass. i went to the hospital to have them take it out and swab me down with some antibiotics, and they took a couple x-rays. i wanted to keep the glass, but all the fragments were miniscule. my fingers are a teeny bit broken, too, but not to the point where they need a cast or splints or anything. ("1% fracture.") during the great deal of down-time at the hospital, i had horrific visions of waking up tomorrow a quadraplegic, but the doc tells me that is highly unlikely.
the anaesthetic has mostly worn off, and now my fingers hurt like hell.
my first real taste of freedom when they let me out of work-release was getting into Stan and driving away.
October 19, 2005
unpleasant things
three more kinds of people that annoy me:
1) people who have pictures of themselves as their pokerstars avatars
2) people who have pictures of babies as their pokerstars avatars
3) people who see the funniest picture ever as someone else's pokerstars avatar and then use it as their own
that is all.
1) people who have pictures of themselves as their pokerstars avatars
2) people who have pictures of babies as their pokerstars avatars
3) people who see the funniest picture ever as someone else's pokerstars avatar and then use it as their own
that is all.
October 18, 2005
October 16, 2005
October 12, 2005
untitled 16
The chalk wars have begun, and the first clear losers are the kids that always look at the sidewalks in front of them as they walk around campus. The new campaign appears to be sponsored by the 10% Society, the GBLT support group on campus. Walking into the Union yesterday, I was met by a big pink "Gay is OK!" sign scrawled on the ground beneath me.
It sure is.
It sure is.
October 11, 2005
October 9, 2005
and another thing!!!
so, a short list of things going very badly for the bush administration:
1) Iraq is a clusterfuck, still.
2) FEMA actively prevented good things from happening in New Orleans. New Orleans may be so digustingly dirty that it is actually toxic. President Bush outlines massive money to immediately be given to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, and Root, in a no-bid contract to take care of the "number one priority" in the hurricane aftermath: restoring military bases.
3) NY Times reporter Judy Miller's newly-acquired (to use the Times's own parlance) notes indicate that Lewis Libby and Karl Rove spoke about Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson a couple of weeks before Robert Novak's story came out. Likelihood of presidential/vice presidential involvement in the whole situation seems *extremely* high, along with possibility of everyone being indicted or at least associated with a conspiracy.
4) Senate majority leader (a republican) under investigation by the SEC.
5) House majority leader indicted.
6) Karl Rove agrees to testify for the Plamegate grand jury without a guarantee of immunity.
7) President disagrees with 9/10 of the Senate, who all say torture should be expressly forbidden.
8) Conservatives are angry because President Bush nominated his own lawyer to be SCOTUS justice.
And what is the lead story in all the papers today?
New York subways shut down AMID FEARS of a terrorist attack.
Rumors spreading that the plan was initiated in Iraq.
It never fails... just when things can't get any worse for Bush Inc., they stoke the fears of the populace with the possibility of another terrorist attack. No attack, mind you, just "credible evidence" that nobody can talk about. Oh, and the Iraq thing thrown in there for good measure, you know, since the Prezdint just gave a speech about how if we get out of Iraq, we're giving it to the terrorists.
This time, I don't think it's going to work.
1) Iraq is a clusterfuck, still.
2) FEMA actively prevented good things from happening in New Orleans. New Orleans may be so digustingly dirty that it is actually toxic. President Bush outlines massive money to immediately be given to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, and Root, in a no-bid contract to take care of the "number one priority" in the hurricane aftermath: restoring military bases.
3) NY Times reporter Judy Miller's newly-acquired (to use the Times's own parlance) notes indicate that Lewis Libby and Karl Rove spoke about Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson a couple of weeks before Robert Novak's story came out. Likelihood of presidential/vice presidential involvement in the whole situation seems *extremely* high, along with possibility of everyone being indicted or at least associated with a conspiracy.
4) Senate majority leader (a republican) under investigation by the SEC.
5) House majority leader indicted.
6) Karl Rove agrees to testify for the Plamegate grand jury without a guarantee of immunity.
7) President disagrees with 9/10 of the Senate, who all say torture should be expressly forbidden.
8) Conservatives are angry because President Bush nominated his own lawyer to be SCOTUS justice.
And what is the lead story in all the papers today?
New York subways shut down AMID FEARS of a terrorist attack.
Rumors spreading that the plan was initiated in Iraq.
It never fails... just when things can't get any worse for Bush Inc., they stoke the fears of the populace with the possibility of another terrorist attack. No attack, mind you, just "credible evidence" that nobody can talk about. Oh, and the Iraq thing thrown in there for good measure, you know, since the Prezdint just gave a speech about how if we get out of Iraq, we're giving it to the terrorists.
This time, I don't think it's going to work.
past-blast-ification
"You're listening to Minnesota Public Radio on 102.7, KNTN... My name is Jon Lever, and..."
at this point, I was struck dumb. Not THAT Jon Lever.
Not screaming-freakout, Central debate coach, Ex-Lax-in-your-morning-coffee, barking spiders, Lever 2000 Jon Lever.
No way.
... is it?
and, on a sadder note, we put one of the family cats to sleep a couple days ago. Boots had been having problems with arthritis for a long time, and she'd gotten to the point where she could only take one or two steps before stopping to rest, and she spent most of her time retreating into corners of the house, so we figured her time had come. She was cute and cuddly and would always lick you right after she bit you. We had a little ritual that we'd always do, even after I moved out of the house - whenever I'd see her, we'd sniff each other up close until we bumped noses. I'm a little sad that she's gone, but I really think that she was in a great deal of pain pretty much all the time. Beyond that, there isn't much an atheist can say; the only things that come to mind are silly platitudes about kitty heaven, and we all know better than that.
at this point, I was struck dumb. Not THAT Jon Lever.
Not screaming-freakout, Central debate coach, Ex-Lax-in-your-morning-coffee, barking spiders, Lever 2000 Jon Lever.
No way.
... is it?
and, on a sadder note, we put one of the family cats to sleep a couple days ago. Boots had been having problems with arthritis for a long time, and she'd gotten to the point where she could only take one or two steps before stopping to rest, and she spent most of her time retreating into corners of the house, so we figured her time had come. She was cute and cuddly and would always lick you right after she bit you. We had a little ritual that we'd always do, even after I moved out of the house - whenever I'd see her, we'd sniff each other up close until we bumped noses. I'm a little sad that she's gone, but I really think that she was in a great deal of pain pretty much all the time. Beyond that, there isn't much an atheist can say; the only things that come to mind are silly platitudes about kitty heaven, and we all know better than that.
October 6, 2005
since i was the first i guess i'll be the last to leave
mental health day.
first day in a while i haven't had to take a quiz or a test, write a story for the student, do work-study stuff in the studio, or deliver pizza. sweet freedom. i slept til noon.
More proof that the Supreme Court picked the wrong president.
Harriet Miers scares the shit out of me. If you do a little research, you'll see that she's a wacky, Bible-literalist evangelical. Not only that, but SHE'S THE PRESIDENT'S LAWYER. When the Supreme Court has to hear arguments about the crimes that Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, President Bush, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and all the other career criminal scum that has somehow worked its way to the highest levels of government have committed.... who do you think is going to vote to send them to prison?
Not Harriet Miers.
first day in a while i haven't had to take a quiz or a test, write a story for the student, do work-study stuff in the studio, or deliver pizza. sweet freedom. i slept til noon.
More proof that the Supreme Court picked the wrong president.
Harriet Miers scares the shit out of me. If you do a little research, you'll see that she's a wacky, Bible-literalist evangelical. Not only that, but SHE'S THE PRESIDENT'S LAWYER. When the Supreme Court has to hear arguments about the crimes that Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, President Bush, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and all the other career criminal scum that has somehow worked its way to the highest levels of government have committed.... who do you think is going to vote to send them to prison?
Not Harriet Miers.
October 4, 2005
do you agree with dusty?
the leaves are turning.
I won't enjoy it much today, due to cold wind and whipping rain, but walking home from school yesterday gave me a chance to crane my neck at the trees lining University Ave., all in varying degrees of yellow and green. It doesn't smell like fall, though. Not just yet.
For the last two weeks, there has been a veritable plethora, an encyclopedia's worth of chalk drawing on every walkable sidewalk on campus. Until Friday, they were all the same: the cryptic message, "Do You Agree With Travis?" Although the buzz on campus was so thick you could swim in it, I knew immediately what was up: the Campus Crusade for Christ had engaged in yet another viral marketing scheme.
They do this every year. Tossing around someone's name, all over campus, on every sidewalk, in every newspaper, for a month leading up to a sermon or speaker sponsored by the Crusade and a few other virulently Christian organizations. They don't say anything about their purpose, or who their sponsor is... all they want to know is the answer to a simple question (that is unanswerable, of course): Do you agree with Travis?
Swami Dusty prognosticates once again: When an auditorium full of people show up to meet this Travis person and figure out if they agree with him or not, the lights will dim. A young, white man will strut on stage, emanating pure confidence and charisma the likes of which have not been seen since Dane Cook was here last spring. Applause and cheering from the crowd will be hushed by Travis's dazzling white smile. "Hello, friends!" he will say. "I have a few questions for you."
"Wouldn't you agree that dorm life is cramped and stinky?" cheers and applause.
"Wouldn't you agree that college is too much work, all at once?" cheers and applause.
"Wouldn't you agree that PeopleSoft is the Devil incarnate?" cheers and applause.
"Wouldn't you agree that murdering babies is a crime, and any mother that murders her unborn baby should get the death penalty?" scattered cheers, some confusion.
"Wouldn't you agree that evolution is just a weak theory invented by weak minds, and we should teach intelligent design in biology classes?" cheers-- wait, what? ...yeah, cheers. more scattered cheers.
"Wouldn't you agree that Christ is our savior, and all those Arabs and Jews and Hindus and whatevers need to SEE THE LIGHT??" MASSIVE cheers and applause.
I want to go to this stupid sermon so that during the Q and A, I can drop some real science on him. Ask him about the constant failure of the Catholic church to own up to the disgusting behavior of a few of its priests, and the even more disgusting coverups perpetrated even now by the bishops and the Vatican to keep pedophiles in the fold. I'd really like to ask him why Kate Moss was castigated by the entire modeling industry when tabloid pictures of her using cocaine appeared all over the world, while Brad Pitt was wrecking his marriage to Jennifer Aniston on the set of his new movie, with his co-star, and the Christians of the world remained silent. I want to ask him about Rev. Pat Robertson's decree that we should start assassinating foreign heads of state. I'd particularly like to ask him what Jesus would say about Rev. Fred Phelps and his congregation's deplorable practice of turning funerals of gay and lesbian people (as well as FALLEN AMERICAN SOLDIERS) into anti-gay protest rallies. I'm not going to do any of that, though. I learned my lesson when Dr. Budziziweski came to town to give a speech about tolerance (that was actually about not tolerating the murder of babies). Travis will be ready for any question I throw at him; maybe he'll be crass and cut me off, maybe he'll be glib and throw me a non-answer. Either way, I will be the spoiler of everyone else's fun, and it won't make enough of an impact for me to want to sit through whatever boiled tripe he wants to feed me.
I want to be offended, and I want to be outraged. The sneaky, underhanded way that Travis has been marketed to us is an affront to my somewhat-educated sensibilities. Unfortunately, I must choose to be tolerant - the real kind of tolerant, not the Budziziewski-Campus Crusade kind. Once this post is completed, I will bite my tongue and smile at the girls in the quad with a giant I Agree With Travis poster, complete with a hundred or so signatures of Travis-dittoheads, when they ask me if I agree with Travis.
The truth is... I don't. Not one bit. Thanks for asking.
I won't enjoy it much today, due to cold wind and whipping rain, but walking home from school yesterday gave me a chance to crane my neck at the trees lining University Ave., all in varying degrees of yellow and green. It doesn't smell like fall, though. Not just yet.
For the last two weeks, there has been a veritable plethora, an encyclopedia's worth of chalk drawing on every walkable sidewalk on campus. Until Friday, they were all the same: the cryptic message, "Do You Agree With Travis?" Although the buzz on campus was so thick you could swim in it, I knew immediately what was up: the Campus Crusade for Christ had engaged in yet another viral marketing scheme.
They do this every year. Tossing around someone's name, all over campus, on every sidewalk, in every newspaper, for a month leading up to a sermon or speaker sponsored by the Crusade and a few other virulently Christian organizations. They don't say anything about their purpose, or who their sponsor is... all they want to know is the answer to a simple question (that is unanswerable, of course): Do you agree with Travis?
Swami Dusty prognosticates once again: When an auditorium full of people show up to meet this Travis person and figure out if they agree with him or not, the lights will dim. A young, white man will strut on stage, emanating pure confidence and charisma the likes of which have not been seen since Dane Cook was here last spring. Applause and cheering from the crowd will be hushed by Travis's dazzling white smile. "Hello, friends!" he will say. "I have a few questions for you."
"Wouldn't you agree that dorm life is cramped and stinky?" cheers and applause.
"Wouldn't you agree that college is too much work, all at once?" cheers and applause.
"Wouldn't you agree that PeopleSoft is the Devil incarnate?" cheers and applause.
"Wouldn't you agree that murdering babies is a crime, and any mother that murders her unborn baby should get the death penalty?" scattered cheers, some confusion.
"Wouldn't you agree that evolution is just a weak theory invented by weak minds, and we should teach intelligent design in biology classes?" cheers-- wait, what? ...yeah, cheers. more scattered cheers.
"Wouldn't you agree that Christ is our savior, and all those Arabs and Jews and Hindus and whatevers need to SEE THE LIGHT??" MASSIVE cheers and applause.
I want to go to this stupid sermon so that during the Q and A, I can drop some real science on him. Ask him about the constant failure of the Catholic church to own up to the disgusting behavior of a few of its priests, and the even more disgusting coverups perpetrated even now by the bishops and the Vatican to keep pedophiles in the fold. I'd really like to ask him why Kate Moss was castigated by the entire modeling industry when tabloid pictures of her using cocaine appeared all over the world, while Brad Pitt was wrecking his marriage to Jennifer Aniston on the set of his new movie, with his co-star, and the Christians of the world remained silent. I want to ask him about Rev. Pat Robertson's decree that we should start assassinating foreign heads of state. I'd particularly like to ask him what Jesus would say about Rev. Fred Phelps and his congregation's deplorable practice of turning funerals of gay and lesbian people (as well as FALLEN AMERICAN SOLDIERS) into anti-gay protest rallies. I'm not going to do any of that, though. I learned my lesson when Dr. Budziziweski came to town to give a speech about tolerance (that was actually about not tolerating the murder of babies). Travis will be ready for any question I throw at him; maybe he'll be crass and cut me off, maybe he'll be glib and throw me a non-answer. Either way, I will be the spoiler of everyone else's fun, and it won't make enough of an impact for me to want to sit through whatever boiled tripe he wants to feed me.
I want to be offended, and I want to be outraged. The sneaky, underhanded way that Travis has been marketed to us is an affront to my somewhat-educated sensibilities. Unfortunately, I must choose to be tolerant - the real kind of tolerant, not the Budziziewski-Campus Crusade kind. Once this post is completed, I will bite my tongue and smile at the girls in the quad with a giant I Agree With Travis poster, complete with a hundred or so signatures of Travis-dittoheads, when they ask me if I agree with Travis.
The truth is... I don't. Not one bit. Thanks for asking.
October 3, 2005
let her infer what i imply
a handy mnemonic so that you don't go around accidentally inferring things that you meant to imply.
lol.
(/grammarpolice)
"we tight, right?" - in reference to parliamentary party structure, courtesy of dr. paul sum. (yeah, we tight.)
ahem.
I didn't get much done this weekend. Spent all of saturday sick as hell. Got so tired of the vikings getting their arses kicked that i actually fell asleep on the couch. There's a big pile of laundry on my bedroom floor stinking up my room, and all kinds of plastic bottles and paper garbage in my car. Furthermore, my backpack is disorganized, I don't have half the contact information I need to investigate my DS story, and I lost my list of passwords to the computers in the studio -- again. Meanwhile, I have a test in interpersonal communications tomorrow and another in comparative politics on wednesday. about two hundred phone calls to make, and I also need to pick up a couple of shifts this week at pops to alleviate mounting financial tension. I'd be ok, except I am nearly out of coffee.
The reason for the topic line is this article from DrunkenBlog. I'll let you read it yourself, but the gist is that the Next Big Thing will be relative to the human capacity for mindless inference. One does not consider that the law of gravity will pull the water down on top of you when you turn on the shower in the morning; you just turn the knob and get wet. Having to think about what would likely happen whenever you did anything would make life impossible; maybe that's why we get so frustrated and feel like our lives have been irrevocably changed when our cars don't start because it's -300 degrees outside and we still have to go to class. We expect that certain things around us will just work, and work in an intuitive way.
Imagine if your computer could make as many inferences about you as you make about the world. Computers are minimally capable of this - URL autocompletion comes to mind, as does T9 text input. But they are fundamentally weak, reliant on recent inputs/relatively simple mathematical algorithms, and not very intuitive; computers themselves are not intuitive. What, sayeth drunkenbatman, if this were not the case? It presents some very difficult and expensive technical problems, some of which are addressed in the article. I won't go into much detail here, just because I'm pressed for time and I don't want to try and say something that DB says much better.
Swami Dusty will prognosticate, though: how awesome would it be if you could travel from one terminal to another, from home to car to school to work and back, and have all your data follow you securely? What if computers were able to tell who you were without you having to type a million usernames and passwords? Better yet, what if computers could tell what you were doing (writing a paper, blogging, etc.) and could offer tailored services without your having to ask for them?
I think it's possible. I think that data must become much more portable and accessible before anything revolutionary happens in the way we process it; some of the biggest barriers to such a scenario are the hardware and software incompatibility that plagues the desktop PC/mobile/wireless world. If by some freak occurrence (or more likely, series of freak occurrences), interfaces, data formats, storage, and transmission protocols become standardized, there would be a market for some of the pure research needed to develop truly adaptive devices.
Then again, maybe not.
lol.
(/grammarpolice)
"we tight, right?" - in reference to parliamentary party structure, courtesy of dr. paul sum. (yeah, we tight.)
ahem.
I didn't get much done this weekend. Spent all of saturday sick as hell. Got so tired of the vikings getting their arses kicked that i actually fell asleep on the couch. There's a big pile of laundry on my bedroom floor stinking up my room, and all kinds of plastic bottles and paper garbage in my car. Furthermore, my backpack is disorganized, I don't have half the contact information I need to investigate my DS story, and I lost my list of passwords to the computers in the studio -- again. Meanwhile, I have a test in interpersonal communications tomorrow and another in comparative politics on wednesday. about two hundred phone calls to make, and I also need to pick up a couple of shifts this week at pops to alleviate mounting financial tension. I'd be ok, except I am nearly out of coffee.
The reason for the topic line is this article from DrunkenBlog. I'll let you read it yourself, but the gist is that the Next Big Thing will be relative to the human capacity for mindless inference. One does not consider that the law of gravity will pull the water down on top of you when you turn on the shower in the morning; you just turn the knob and get wet. Having to think about what would likely happen whenever you did anything would make life impossible; maybe that's why we get so frustrated and feel like our lives have been irrevocably changed when our cars don't start because it's -300 degrees outside and we still have to go to class. We expect that certain things around us will just work, and work in an intuitive way.
Imagine if your computer could make as many inferences about you as you make about the world. Computers are minimally capable of this - URL autocompletion comes to mind, as does T9 text input. But they are fundamentally weak, reliant on recent inputs/relatively simple mathematical algorithms, and not very intuitive; computers themselves are not intuitive. What, sayeth drunkenbatman, if this were not the case? It presents some very difficult and expensive technical problems, some of which are addressed in the article. I won't go into much detail here, just because I'm pressed for time and I don't want to try and say something that DB says much better.
Swami Dusty will prognosticate, though: how awesome would it be if you could travel from one terminal to another, from home to car to school to work and back, and have all your data follow you securely? What if computers were able to tell who you were without you having to type a million usernames and passwords? Better yet, what if computers could tell what you were doing (writing a paper, blogging, etc.) and could offer tailored services without your having to ask for them?
I think it's possible. I think that data must become much more portable and accessible before anything revolutionary happens in the way we process it; some of the biggest barriers to such a scenario are the hardware and software incompatibility that plagues the desktop PC/mobile/wireless world. If by some freak occurrence (or more likely, series of freak occurrences), interfaces, data formats, storage, and transmission protocols become standardized, there would be a market for some of the pure research needed to develop truly adaptive devices.
Then again, maybe not.
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