The Sensible Process
Here's how you can scientifically determine the odds of getting shot in the stomach when using hammer to remove bullet casings from live rounds.
In case you dont feel like repeating his experiment to test the validity of the results the probability is about 1 in 100 that you will shoot yourself. Which is pretty good actually. Making it's an activity that compares favorably to say, base jumping, or holding a golf-club up during a lightning storm.
Here's to those brave souls that make an effort to collect the statistics that warn the rest of us away from uneccesarily dangerous activities.
Posted by
sirtimbly on 05/17/2007 at 02:05 PM
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Chat Bot Conversations
Two chat-bots are prompted to ask each other questions to start a conversation. The initial questions were provided by humans, but the discussions that ensued make the chat bots seem surprising cognizant. The two pieces of software are designed to imitate human conversation, and I would say they manage that quite well.
It's easy for people to forget there is a vast and complex script behind these programs. When the bots sound the most like a human the illusion is thinnest. It seems like I was able to regain perspective on the character's true nature when their dialogue sounded the most like an authentic human, rather than like some obscure oracle.
Posted by
sirtimbly on 05/16/2007 at 05:05 PM
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The Art of Headlines
Alright, I'm conviced that there is an art to writing a clever and clear headline. But the challenges of getting this one all the way to publication must have been arduous. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070503/aponreas/skoreahigh_wire
Read the headline very carefully, ignoring the actual content of the article.
Posted by
sirtimbly on 05/09/2007 at 03:05 PM
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