Ash Wednesdayby T. S. Eliot Lady, three white leopards sat under a juniper-treeIn the cool of the day, having fed to sateityOn my legs my heart my liver and that which had been contained In the hollow round of my skull. And God saidShall these bones live? shall theseBones live? And that which had been […]
Author: Texas Toast
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Elder M
WLBOTT’s Nurturing Mother Elder M brings us up-to-date research on the South American Coriolis effect, the state of twine in Argentina, medieval magic, Scottish charms, piseógs, and blessings, and the latest Sándwich de miga recipes. Other interesting facts about Elder M: Elder M and the Coriolis Force In physics, the Coriolis force is a fictitious […]
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Monkey Chow
So… I was looking for a new book to read and decided to search for one of my favorite authors, Neal Stephenson, on the Austin Public Library web site. Success! Interface, by Stephenson/George was available! I downloaded it onto my Kindle, then a weird thing happened. It didn’t show up. From past experience I knew […]
We received a call this morning from Jeff Bezos. He told us to knock it off – we either take an editorial position that excludes politics, or he is firing all of us. Swing the pendulum the other direction. This was odd, because we don’t work for him. But when the BEEZ says PLEEZ, you’d […]
The current American administration has brought great shame upon itself and America and her people. Friday, February 28th, 2025, is a day that will live in infamy. After observing the Friday news/social media/spending boycott, I awoke early Saturday morning to the news of the Trump/Zelenskyy press conference. I’ve never been more ashamed of my country, […]
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningBy Robert FrostWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the […]
Instead of asking, “Is AI becoming human-like?”, perhaps we should be asking “Are humans AI-like?” Let’s work with this set of assumptions: It is a deterministic universe, rigidly governed by the laws of physics. Humans are incredibly complex state machines, obeying biochemical responses. We have no free will, no consciousness, but due to the incredible […]
Yesterday’s BLOTT explored the Robert Heinlein novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I have long loved the Judy Collins song, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, without realizing the connection to the book. “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” (sometimes titled “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress”) is a song by American songwriter Jimmy Webb. […]
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HOLMES IV
Today we are visiting with one of Elder G‘s predecessors, HOLMES IV, or “Mike,” to his friends. Mike is a sentient analog computer in Robert Heinlein’s novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Heinlein makes a distinction between Mike and digital computers, who simply follow rigid rules of logic. Perhaps Heinlein was envisioning today’s quantum […]
At the most basic level, a computer image is a grid of dots of different colors. A computer screen is feed the grid, dot by dot, starting at the upper left corner. It displays a row of dots, then moves down a bit, and displays the next row of dots. When it gets to the […]