Mocca Gallery

But the big feature of human-level intelligence is not what it does when it works but what it does when it’s stuck. – Marvin Minsky

Creative photos by Chema Madoz – I love this site!

Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. – E. W. Dijkstra

It seems clear the old structure is changing and something new is coming. But that is always the case. Grab any old newspaper from, any year, and the excitement and fear of what is approaching is always the top story.

Today it seems like a really big thing is happening. But, again, that is always the feeling.

I’m trying to see what is being born. But I don’t see it yet. I’m on the lookout for signs, clues. I need an oracle to read some chicken bones.

Part of the difficulty is the noise from the falling away of the old is so damn loud, it drowns out everything else. All the spotlights are on what is leaving. But that is always the case.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Dylan – 1963

It is interesting, all the posts and blogs and articles and youtube videos I see, everyone is convinced they have it right. It is fascinating. I must admit I think I’m right too. And of course everyone else is obviously wrong. So, now I must come to the conclusion that somehow, maybe, I may not be right after all.

It is much clearer when I look at religion. Each religion knows it is right and the other religions have it wrong. Being non-religious, it is easy for me to see that none of them are right.

But in matters where I do have a belief, I seem to be blind. Even though, over the years, I have had countless beliefs that I later rejected. The ones I hold now I really think are true.

It seems there is some basic flaw in the way our minds work. It is insidious, because even though I know about the flaw, I still make the same mistake. I know that if I write down everything I believe in today, and then read that list in 20 years, not many of those beliefs will hold up. And yet I still think I’m right today.

So, how messed up is that?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, less the commission of course.

I saw this on The History Channel tonight. When the first Europeans stumbled upon the Grand Canyon they looked down and thought the river below was only about six feet wide. They sent explorers down for a closer look. When these scouts returned they announced:

The canyon is deeper than it looks.

I don’t normally do this, but I really like this one. It’s by Bill Day. I think he sums it up nicely.

So, Leo woke us up early this morning. Seems he was starving for wet food even though his dish of dry food was full. Of course I got up and feed him, he is the boss after all.

I was wide awake with an extra hour on my hands, so I decided to play a one table poker tournament on Poker Stars. It was 5:30 AM Pacific Standard Time. Around 8:30 on the East Coast. A table of me and eight others players filled up quickly. Here are the cities the other players were from:

• Groningen, Netherlands
• Hallstavik, Sweden
• Munster, Germany
• Aalborg, Denmark
• L’Aquila, Italy
• Waldstetten, Germany
• Prestatyn, North Wales
• Barcelona, Spain

Isn’t that fantastic. I was the only player from the US. This internet thing is big. Very big.

 

I really like the way this works. This is a good example that highlights the flow. You start with a raw XML file. Performing an XSLT translation on that creates basic HTML content. Apply a CSS style sheet to that, and you get a beautiful web page.

The part I like best is that you can specify the translation file directly in the XML and have the browser do all the work. There is something very elegant and slick about that. It may not be appropriate for web crawling spiders, but you could always have the server perform the translation in those cases. In fact, serving up pages specifically optimized for spiders is a common practice.

I don’t know why I’m so into this. I just know it happens sometimes, and if I give into it and play around with it, eventually I’ll be satisfied, then I can move on to something else. I did want to create this nothing so I would have a good example of the practice in case I ever wanted to use it in the future.