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NYTimes, Jan. 25: "Unease for What Microsoft’s HoloLens Will Mean for Our Screen-Obsessed Lives:" [^].
" as screens have proliferated, the amount of actual, unencumbered reality we experience seems endangered. ...
What is it about our current reality that is so insufficient that we feel compelled to augment or improve it? I understand why people bury themselves in their phones on elevator rides, on subways and in the queue for coffee, but it has gotten to the point where even our distractions require distractions. No media viewing experience seems complete without a second screen, where we can yammer with our friends on social media or in instant messages about what we are watching." A strange essay, with virtually zero technical content about the HoloLens, more a series of reflections on/about contemporary movies "Black Mirror," and "Her," and various other cultural icons from Amazon to Obama.
"The individual need for placation and augmentation plays out in ways big and small. Because my daughters are grown, I used to worry about my friend’s younger children becoming bored when they stopped by to visit. Not anymore. The children are made to look up long enough to greet me, then they resume interacting with the screens in their hands." I have been intrigued by the words of Robert Louis Stevenson (in his essay, "The Lantern Bearers," 1887) a long time:
"...for no man lives in the external truth among salts and acids, but in the warm, phantasmagoric chamber of his brain, with the painted windows and the storied wall." [1] And, I think my fascination with it lies in its echoing the tension between the "hard-facts" of being "in" a physical body in a "real" world and the subjective experience of the flux of consciousness in which our perception of that "real world" wanders all over the map while, at the same time, we successfully go down a flight of stairs without falling 
I grew up without television, but radio dramas were a big-thing for me. I watched my first little brother grow up, getting out of bed at 7am at age 5 and ... first thing ... going over to the tv and switching it on.
Who is to say, I ask myself, if a new generation of children growing up immersed in various visual media from cradle-onward, playing with tablets in kindergarten, texting their friends in first-grade ... is any less in the "real world" than my generation ?
Is face-to-face contact, and "bonding" any the less because of all this "virtuality" ?
Does the current Primate Operating System, using a slowly-mutating DNA data-store state-machine, still in bloody alpha, circa 100k-years-old, over-ride any variations of tangible vs. visual, of direct sensation through the senses of smell, touch, and taste vs. virtual simulacra ?
It's a lovely day, the sun is shining; I think I will not think on these questions, today
[1] the full-text of "The Lantern Bearers" is on-line through Project Gutenberg: [^]. The quote is from section III of that essay.
«I'm asked why doesn't C# implement feature X all the time. The answer's always the same: because no one ever designed, specified, implemented, tested, documented, shipped that feature. All six of those things are necessary to make a feature happen. They all cost huge amounts of time, effort and money.» Eric Lippert, Microsoft, 2009
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I don't see the problem: our perception of what we like to call reality is already heavily influenced by the physical properties and state of health of our sensorical body parts, as well as our psyche and mental state. Whether we influence it a little more is just a matter of shifting the border.
Edgar Allen Poe wrote: All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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Hi Stefan, I don't see a "problem" either: I just see another fascinating chapter of Homo Sap in the making.
Whether this chapter does, indeed, result in a qualitative shift in the nature of identity, and social relationships, for those (still a tiny percentage of the world's population) people "growing up digital," imho, remains to be seen.
I am reminded that for my mother and father having/raising a baby (me) starting in the early years of WWII, the ideas (and books) of Dr. Spock about child-rearing really did have an effect on my generation of white children; it is also true that for my parents' generation many wanted their children to have an easier time than they had due to the impact/trauma of the Great Depression of the 1930's on their parents and their upbringing. Did the "context of the times" select the ideas of Dr. Spock to be influential, or did the books of Dr. Spock shape the "context of the times?" Both/and, imho.
If one subscribes to the idea of "innate genetic endowment," which is now coming "back into fashion," after having been made into an intellectual shibboleth to distinguish politically correct from incorrect, then perhaps one would say that certain aspects of human nature (the Primate Operating System ?) transcend the times ? Or, as Mr. Natural says: "Twas' Ever Thus."
While all the talking-heads-of-TED natter on about the coming age of digital-enhancement of our minds and bodies, the immanent arrival of possibly dangerous truly intelligent robots, genetic engineering, etc., I am determined not to stray too far from this aging package-of-meat, and the reality of its heartbeat, and breath
cheers, Bill
«I'm asked why doesn't C# implement feature X all the time. The answer's always the same: because no one ever designed, specified, implemented, tested, documented, shipped that feature. All six of those things are necessary to make a feature happen. They all cost huge amounts of time, effort and money.» Eric Lippert, Microsoft, 2009
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LOGON: Adding wood to make the barbie hotter
LOG OFF: Not adding any more wood to the barbie.
MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the barbie.
DOWNLOAD: Getting the firewood off the ute.
HARD DRIVE: Making the trip back home without any cold tinnies.
KEYBOARD: Where you hang the ute keys.
WINDOWS: What you shut when the weather's cold.
SCREEN: What you shut in the mozzie season.
BYTE: What mozzies do
MEGABYTE: What Townsville mozzies do.
CHIP: A pub snack.
MICROCHIP: What's left in the bag after you've eaten the chips.
MODEM: What you did to the lawns.
LAPTOP: Where the cat sleeps.
SOFTWARE: Plastic knives and forks you get at Red Rooster.
HARDWARE: Stainless steel knives and forks - from K-Mart.
MOUSE: The small rodent that eats the grain in the shed.
MAINFRAME: What holds the shed up.
WEB: What spiders make.
WEBSITE: Usually in the shed or under the veranda.
SEARCH ENGINE: What you do when the ute won't go.
CURSOR: What you say when the ute won't go.
YAHOO: What you say when the ute does go.
UPGRADE: A steep hill.
SERVER: The person at the pub who brings out the counter lunch.
MAIL SERVER: The bloke at the pub who brings out the counter lunch.
USER: The neighbor who keeps borrowing things.
NETWORK: What you do when you need to repair the fishing net.
INTERNET: Where you want the fish to go.
NETSCAPE: What the fish do when they discover a hole in the net.
ONLINE: Where you hang the washing.
OFFLINE: Where the washing ends up when the pegs aren't strong enough.
PS I've logged on enough I don't have a coat to get. Thanks for asking though.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Change ute to pickup truck and would be good for red necks too!
New version: WinHeist Version 2.1.0
My goal in life is to have a psychiatric disorder named after me.
I'm currently unsupervised, I know it freaks me out too but the possibilities are endless.
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Thought about it briefly; but it sounded too much like work to do on a Sunday.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Dan Neely wrote: Thought about it briefly; but it sounded too much like work to do on a Sunday.
I hear ya and totally agree!
New version: WinHeist Version 2.1.0
My goal in life is to have a psychiatric disorder named after me.
I'm currently unsupervised, I know it freaks me out too but the possibilities are endless.
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I was amused, but your (misleading) title sounded like you were going to discuss some musical Porn.
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Mr. Pareto Head[^]
Some of these are funny!
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
---
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
---
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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Maybe but the UI made me give up after two pages 
veni bibi saltavi
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You are part of the 80% who gave up, he's from the 20% who went on.
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TWO PAGES???? 
wow... that's a really big amount. after reading the first one I've closed the web browser.
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I do agree that the UI isn't the best. Some of the comics are funny, though. Some are... well... strange. And some are just 'huh?' inducing.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
---
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
---
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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What a marvelous idea[^].
However I would like a different shape, something a bit more suited to coders[^]. Perhaps something in the shape of Texas[^] ; but my whish is to find a bob (![Green Alien | [Alien]](https://codeproject.freetls.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/alien.gif) ) waffel iron. 
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I thought it was bacon mixed with the waffle dough.
not simply bacon cooked in a waffle "cooker".
I'd rather be phishing!
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You sound disappointed 
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"For ekstra gode og mettende rösti kan du tilsette litt revet ost før du steker."
Brilliant - I know there are instructions to make extra good and something rosti, but I'm too ignorant to read anything else in the sentence.
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Try this[^]
Translated with Google Translate.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
---
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
---
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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The translation is pretty good, though it does suggest to "tear the potatoes": the viking spirit is alive and well.
Also I had a linked article with the disconcerting title "Test Liverpaste" which I assume means "Liver Pate [Taste] Test"
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I just tried Bing translate, it got a number of things making some more sense.
You'll have to try that one yourself. Bing doesn't have a permalink to the translation (that I can find).
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
---
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
---
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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I remember myself participating in many such proposals that I had an interest in. Hinduism (link[^]) site was one of them. The problem actually isn't only to take it out of the commitment, the good thing of bringing the website online (as a public site) is to show a good and positive response while the site is in beta stage. Most of the sites and these proposals are closed in beta stage if there is no; or less, public support.
Good luck for German people and those who understand and feel at home, in German language.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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Thanks for your insights!
I'll try my best to keep the beta version alive.
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Very much wishes for you for that. Although you might get luckier in doing so, if you continue to share your links (to that beta website) to your friends, colleagues and other buddies who love to use Stack Overflow and are looking forward for a German version of that website.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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The problem "Lost in translation" is a killer issue. English => German
German-speaking programming community => deutschsprachige Programmierergesellschaft
Do you really want that "Denglish" a la "Windoz Händie"?
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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