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Odds and Ends (Sujatha)

Zombie -I knew the CDC was the go-to place for information on dealing with epidemics, the latest outbreaks of measles, travel vaccination recommendations etc, but did you know that they offer instructions on how to deal with a Zombie Apocalypse ?

-Not all planets need their stars, some may be Lonely Rangers, like these newly found types of planets.

-A possible competitor for Mad Hal, the crazed computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Research from U Texas shows that it is possible to make a computer schizophrenic.

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11 responses to “Odds and Ends (Sujatha)”

  1. Norman Costa

    There is nothing special about the U of Texas making a computer schizophrenic. I have had several of them that were schizo all on their own. The last one was a dual processor Opteron. Maybe it would recognize 8GB RAM, maybe it would recognize only 2 GB. Sometimes it would find the MBR, if it felt like it. Occasionally, it would become disoriented and not know where some drivers were. I had to medicate it with Linux OS which made it more stable and coherent, but medication does not solve all problems. I am not sure it is a genetic problem passed down through its evolving technology, or if it is an interaction between the genetics and crappy MS Windows software.

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  2. Dean C. Rowan

    “Scientists Afflict Computers with Schizophrenia to Better Understand the Human Brain,” or “Man Bites Dog”?
    Best line from the story: “It’s an important mechanism to be able to ignore things,” says Grasemann. You can say that again!

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  3. Sujatha

    Pssst, Norman: Are you sure that it isn’t a virus that might have afflicted the original pre-Linux system? You should have vaccinated rather than being scared off by the ‘mercury’ claims ;)
    Dean: Try telling your wife that, I’ve a feeling that you may end up sleeping in the doghouse.

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  4. Ruchira

    Sujatha: Dean and I had a conversation earlier today regarding “men behaving badly” (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Schwarzenegger, Berlusconi et al being the latest high profile perpetrators). Dean might earn a night in the doghouse if I tell his wife about his “ho-hum” response to that.
    I read about the free wheeling planets this morning. Will wait to see what they turn out to be in the end.

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  5. Elatia Harris

    Wonderful gathering, Sujatha! As satisfying as three lollipop sticks fallen on the pavement just so. Ruchira, please write a post about men behaving badly. You could just instruct the men around here not to read it.

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  6. Ruchira

    Elatia, I have no special insight on this matter. But I may collect a few relevant links to what others are saying. I been wondering if I am at some level still naive. Why am I still outraged or even surprised when another sordid tale about another powerful man comes to light?

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  7. Norman Costa

    Sujatha,
    Actually, my system did have a major virus. It is called the Windows Operating System. December 2009 I bought a new laptop with Win 7 from Gateway. Guess what I got during the first month or two? The BSD (Blue Screen of Death). I could not believe it. I agree with something Steve Jobs said a number of years ago. “I don’t mind that Bill Gates makes a lot of money. I just wish he did not have to do it by selling third-rate software.”

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  8. Norman Costa

    Do men behave badly in ways that are worse, better, different, the same, more, less, whatever compared to women? Just asking.
    Re Arnold: What was he thin….. Never mind.

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  9. Ruchira

    What was Arnold thinking? Perhaps he wasn’t thinking at all. Or like every other power drunk idiot, he was thinking that he wouldn’t get caught.

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  10. Sujatha

    Norman: It’s funny how one man’s poison is another’s medicine. I used to get BSODs until I switched to Windows 7. When it starts to give trouble (crossing my fingers here), I will switch to Linux, I guess :-)
    Elatia: I hope these lollipops weren’t too ancient or unwrapped. Your words brought to mind a battle I had the other day persuading a preschooler to discard her half-licked lollipop. She was very insistent on wiping it clean with a tissue and putting it back in her mouth, but luckily the tissue stuck to it and she promptly threw it away.
    Ruchira: Arnold was thinking, just with the wrong part of his anatomy.

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  11. Elatia Harris

    Well, as Queen Victoria opined as she listened, incredulously, to someone explaining Lesbians to her — “A woman would simply never do such a thing!”

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