Every now and then all humans get the craving for randomness. But randomness is hard to come by. Here’s a book to fulfill all your random needs. A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates!
A friend and colleague of mine, Freysteinn (yes, that’s another unpronounceable Icelandic name) pointed it out to me today. It’s a book filled with sequences of random digits. Just like the title says. Page after page of random numbers. Haha. I’m seriously considering ordering it — it’s so cool. Take a look inside the book. One of the comments left a reviewer is so hilarious that I feel compelled to post it. It’s by a Mr. Jamie R. Wilson:
A truly amazing genre-breaking work of art unlike any that has ever
been or ever will. I was captivated from the moment I opened the cover until the extremely suspenseful moment I turned the last page. Withthat said, I was a little disappointed that 71602 was knocked off by 92937 just as the plot was unfolding, but the arrival of 96240 really got my blood pumping and I just couldn’t put the book down from that moment on.
I am so glad that Amazon.com is offering the "Search Inside This Book" option for this book so that it can be enjoyed by countless other avid readers who otherwise may not have come across it. I wait, impatiently, for the audio CD version of this fine book.
Randomness is an interesting subject, as we can’t be entirely sure whether there is such a thing as true randomness. I think the closest we’ve come to exploring it is in quantum mechanics, Wikipedia has an example:
An example of such an experiment is placing a single unstable atom in a controlled environment; it cannot be predicted how long it will take
for the atom to decay; only the probability of decay within a given time can be calculated.
I have a very hard time envisioning how a non-deterministic phenomena works — obviously, as that would mean no causation, no chain of events to trace and thereby make sense of. It would also seem strange that everythingbut the lowest level components of our Universe are not random — and by strange I mean inconsistent. I remain indecisive until further notice on the issue. Fascinating concept nonetheless.
If you’ve grown and never watch cartoons any more, but want to be in the know of what kids are watching. Then by all means, if you’re going to choose just one to watch — choose this one.
My hoax article on a proof of god got dug very recently, sparking some humorous discussions as people scratched their heads over whether the story was real or not. I don’t think I’ve ever been called an “insane fundementalist” before, which in an odd way I find very amusing. To clear any confusion (and ruin the fun): I’m quite the atheist.
Oddly enough, little I wrote seemed too absurd to flag it as definitely a hoax — not even the final paragraph which stated the scientists were now doing follow up research by scanning planetary surfaces for anything that might resemble a gigantic fingerprint. Or that the entry claimed that news of the iPhone were overshadowing the discovery of god’s existance. Remarkable, isn’t it? I’m giggling out loud even as I’m writing this; the iPhone vs. god.
Moreover, the article implied that the proof was founded on observing how someone seemed to be moving planets around like pieces in a boardgame — like Ludo or Chess. I don’t know, maybe this just shows how and why intelligent design proponents are still making a case — if a very brief, unlinked and unsubstantiated article on an amateur webpage can spark doubt in people’s minds, imagine what a professional religious organization can do (I’m not saying that people who were uncertain are in any way stupid — it was my intention to make the news sound realistic).
My hats off to the people that called the bluff (there is no Dr. John Hilbert, nor is there a University of Palo Alto). Actually, my hats off to everyone that commented on the article.
From an evolutionary standpoint, sex isn’t useful if we take precautions to avoid impregnation. Basically, it’s like hunting for food by fishing with just a string and no hook: You might get some exercise but you’re not going to end up with an organism in your belly.
On more than one occasion I’ve heard that Humans are the only species that have sex for recreation. I have no idea if that’s absolutely true; but in any case we probably do it (pun intended) for recreation with much more diversity than any other species.
We are, for example, the only species that so eagerly seek recreation that we use our cognitive abilities to produce artificial material, develop it to feel like human skin — and then create artificial humans to have sex with (see picture). That is engenius, hilarious and a lot of other words that end with -us. Again from an evolutionary standpoint: It’s the equivalent of digging a hole, filling it with water, throwing dead fish into the water and then fishing with only a string and no hook.
But wait — there’s more: When we’ve finished years of research on artificial material that resembles natural human skin and creating an artificial human out of it — we record the intercourse and sell it as recreational material (can sex with an artificial human be called a sexual intercourse? Why not?).
For the third time: From an evolutionary standpoint, that’s the equivalent of digging a hole, filling it with water, throwing dead fish into the water, fishing with only a string and no hook just so that people can give you a fish for watching you do it.
Researchers in astrophysics at the University of Palo Alto in California have found substantial evidence of planets and galaxies having been created and are being rearranged intellectually, rather than abide by scientific laws as previously thought, BBC reports.
When analyzing the heat signatures left by planetary motion and constellations, scientists have found patterns which indicate they have been arranged by an intellectual, cognitive being. Dr. John D. Hilbert, head of research at the astrophysics lab at UA has confirmed that the findings correlate with a multitude of data from other institutes.
“The planetary heat signatures and current constellations can be traced from the origins of time by large telescopes and various computer filtrations and simulations,” reports Dr. Hilbert, “When overlayed as a continuous map, their movement constitute patterns which can only be explained by introducing god into the equation. The planets are being moved around as if being controlled by a superhuman, similar to movement patterns such as we see in regular human board games… like LUDO or Chess.”
The findings of the astrophysics lab are monumental and can be expected to have a deep impact on human civilization once the news hit public channels — which are currently overflooded with news about Apple’s new iPhone. Dr. Hilbert and his team are currently in the process of doing follow up research by scanning planetary surfaces for anything that might resemble a gigantic fingerprint.
I was making myself a toast with bananas & peanut butter (ala Elvis) when I suddenly heard music coming from my room again. Waddya know? It’s OS X’s built in Bruce voice singin’ Imagine again. This time with video!
Vacation is always a good thing. Especially when you decide to have fun with OS X’s Speech technologies. I present the soundclip Bruce Sings “Imagine”.
Every now and then all humans get the craving for randomness. But randomness is hard to come by. Here’s a book to fulfill all your random needs. A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates!
My hoax article on 
From an evolutionary standpoint, sex isn’t useful if we take precautions to avoid impregnation. Basically, it’s like hunting for food by fishing with just a string and no hook: You might get some exercise but you’re not going to end up with an organism in your belly.
