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Comment: Re:Language Confusion (Score 1) 189

by cellocgw (#44040613) Attached to: Trying To Learn a Foreign Language? Avoid Reminders of Home

It has been said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to get really good at anything.

Even at 10 hours a day this means it will take three years to really learn a language.

No, the alleged 10k hours is to become world-class, like the Stones or Federer. It takes a lot less time to become above average at something, plus in the case of language you get to count all the time you're talking or reading or writing it (I think).

Comment: Re:Tough one (Score 2) 741

by cellocgw (#44008147) Attached to: Snowden Is Lying, Say House Intelligence Committee Leaders

I just don't know who to believe.

A techie who believes what he says enough to basically call out the most secretive, nastiest intelligence agencies of one of the most powerful countries in the world

or

a pack of politicians.

Oh, man, it's difficult. Maybe I should just flip a coin?

Why not use the same criteria that the NSA has openly admitted their ops use when determining whether a communication is "foreign" ,i.e. "greater than 51% probability." ? I'd love to see how they generate their Bayesian estimates...

Comment: Re:thanks copyright...thanks. (Score 1) 440

by cellocgw (#44007263) Attached to: Birthday Song's Copyright Leads To a Lawsuit For the Ages

Interestingly enough, while the lyrics are copyrighted, you can hum the tune all you want, copyright-free, since the tune itself has fallen out of copyright.

Hmmm, so "To you, a Birthday; Happy,...." would not be under copyright? While I'm semi-joking here, it's regular practice in the sheet music industry to take some old piece, change a couple slur marks, label it "arranged by [Mr. X]" , and slap a brand-new copyright date on it.

Comment: Re:Legal drug? (Score 1) 134

by cellocgw (#43997173) Attached to: The Trajectory of Television: A Big History of the Small Screen.

People long before TV used to bitch about books (novels and stories) being the Devil's own, distracting people from industriousness

I was going to say something similar. Name any significant technical development which did NOT change people's lives. Phone? Precision timepieces for determining longitude? Steam engine? The wheel?

Comment: Re:Before assuming "they didn't control for" (Score 1) 152

The problem w/ bats breaking could have been very easily solved by switching to metal bats. And before you go all "but they're much too powerful" on me, metal (or any composition) bats can be designed with any size sweet spot and coefficient of rebound you want. They currently get designed to maximize output so as to let ballplayers think they're the offspring of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

Or better yet, let's design bats out of tempered glass, like Prince Rupert's teardrops, so a mis-hit leads to a shower of dust. Hilarity ensues!

"Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch." -- Robert Orben

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