Comment Re:Go Doug Ford! (Score 1) 229
When Doug Ford somehow appears to be the reasonable one in the fray, you know you've lost bigly.
Comment All right Orcas... (Score 1) 123
...you know what to do.
Comment Animal Farm is better in the original Klingon... (Score 2) 28
Hoch Ha'DIbaHvam rurbogh bIH rap, 'ach latlh rapqu' law' latlh rapqu' puS.
Comment Re:Now we need to find... (Score 1) 25
Then we just need to form some sort of rudimentary lathe.
Comment ironic (Score 1) 153
Most translations of "flute" from ancient Greek usually refer to the aulos , a double-reeded instrument consisting of two separate pipes played simultaneously—though they could be played individually, too.
Why I mention this is that Plato famously had particular disdain for the aulos, referring to it in Republic III:
But when he pours [aulos] music in unceasingly, and it works its charms, he then proceeds to melt his spirit, turn it to liquid, until he finally dissolves it away as if he were severing the very sinews of his soul, and turning it into a "feeble warrior."
There are other references to his dislike of the instrument in Symposium and Plato's most famous student, Aristotle, held similar views:
Auloi must not be introduced into education, nor any other professional instrument such as the kithara.. Moreover the aulos is not a moralizing but rather an exciting influence, so that it ought to be used for occasions of the kind at which attendance has the effect of purification rather than instruction.
So, it is ironic that on his deathbed, Plato requested an aulos player... and then critiqued her playing.
Comment SpaceX has this in the bag... (Score 1) 102
Musk has shown a recent penchant for bringing down successful and well-established enterprises.
Comment Re:Actually Star Trek? (Score 1) 59
Star Trek was a show that embraced humanities potential for greatness - an idealized utopian society where abject poverty has been eradicated, and greed and power-mongering have been largely eliminated as driving social forces. They're still there as individual failings, but society has matured to the point that they are no longer a primary motivating force for those who rise to power, being replaced with wisdom, merit, and a desire to do the right thing even when that puts you (and your crew) at personal risk.
I think DS9 did this way before Abrams and the reboots. Section 31 comes to mind.
full disclosure: I love DS9.
Comment didn't buy into streaming; still getting bit by it (Score 3, Interesting) 207
I never stopped buying physical media and with the rise of streaming services, used media—especially CDs—has been super affordable. I typically pay less than 50 per CD, and less than $4 for DVD/Blu-Ray. Throw them on my Emby server and I have my own Netflix. And unless it's something I really want, Black Friday is a big buy day for me.
That said, for newer shows—as noted in the Slate article—a number of streaming services such as Amazon Prime, AppleTV, Disney+, etc., are refusing to release shows on physical media, now. For example, I'd really like to get The Expanse on 4K/UHD and even though I can watch it in that format on Prime, it's not the same quality, yet I have no other recourse.
So, I for one welcome the impending implosion and I hope it forces those remaining to continue to release physical media. I suspect that's a losing battling, though, because it is much easier to control the product through streams than via physical media.
Comment Re:BS (Score 2) 134
Yep, and the only things that killed it off were:
1.) Cheaper, smaller, higher-capacity thumb drives—and, to some extent CD-RW discs.
2.) The click of death: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death#Iomega_Zip_drives
Comment Re:Makes sense (Score 1) 98
Tell that to my kids. We limit their screen time and their limits are almost entirely taken up with YouTube personalities playing video games.
Comment Re:The prize money will be held entangled... (Score 1) 23
Under Everett's MWI, they each will and won't receive the money and the cat is both dead and alive.
Comment Re:International language of diplomacy (Score 1) 291
As is the language of aviation (i.e., Aviation English). Which reminds me of an aviation joke:
Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?"
Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English."
Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?"
Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war!"
Comment have they tried... (Score 1) 89
...moving around the rabbit ears? Whenever our signal would get wonky, this seemed to help. Maybe put some aluminum on the tips?
Comment That's nothing... (Score 1) 49
I made it through six months of CS grad school powered by nothing but ramen and Mountain Dew... like the gods intended.