memories for Jul 11

2016

2016 Jul 11
Automation and the Increasing Value of Social Skills

Automation has already happened. The robots have already taken over most of the jobs that robots can perform. And it's already had major effects.

· Read more…

2016 Jul 11
Incrementalism

If not revolution, then at least incrementalism.

· Read more…

2016 Jul 11
The Ethics and Societal Ramifications of Adopting Robot Bombs as a Law Enforcement Tactic

Disclaimer: I unequivocally condemn the actions of Michael Xavier Johnson and I can't help but wonder if his actual aim was not just to terrorize law enforcement officials but also to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement.

· Read more…

2012

2012 Jul 11
the pursuit of happiness is in vain

I'm trying to figure out where this thought came from, trying to tease apart my memory to determine who taught this to me, or how I learned it. For as far as I can remember, I've taken it as a personal article of faith that you cannot really chase happiness. Maybe it's just an extrapolation of the conventional wisdom that you can't buy happiness. But happiness is not something acquirable, certainly not like you can obtain the newest iPhone, or even the acquiescence of corrupt politicians in certain regions of the world of ill-repute. You can't realistically set a goal like "in 3 months, I will be happy", certainly not the same way you can say "in 3 months, I will lose 20 pounds" or even "in 3 months, I will be married."

· Read more…

2008

2008 Jul 11
Go crazy? Don't mind if I do!

I only had two simple tasks to complete today: complete my MacBook/iPod Touch/Apple Care rebate, and complete my Palm Centro/AT&T wireless rebate. Somehow it happens to be 11:10 p.m. and neither have been done.

· Read more…

2007

2007 Jul 11
ok computer: 10 year anniversary

Radiohead *OK Computer*

· Read more…

2004

2004 Jul 11
cynical bastard

The appropriate song for this occassion would probably be The Cure's "10:15 on a Saturday Night" [lyrics][iTMS].

· Read more…

2003

2003 Jul 11
Jesus, What A Mind Job

Why do I feel like I am once again, in the calm before the storm? I suppose I could be paranoid.

· Read more…

1998

1998 Jul 11
Forsaken

                       I've seen a trillion stars
                   Burning upon the midnight sky
                   Still hoping for impossibilities
                   Still wishing for what cannot be
                     Even as my heart crumbles
                 Like a dessicated carcass long in the desert sun
                     Ash, ash, and no hope
               Tell me the missteps I've taken
                  I wish to know what to regret
              Much better the particular, specific grief
              Rather than this dull, general drear
               I trod upon the wayward path
              Leading to the endless abyss
              The land of the damned
                Where the very idea of happiness
              Is a ludicrous absurdity
                that sets its denizens erupting with mirthless laughter
              Oh, how laughter is cruelty
               I know it not without its sharp barbs
     Laughter which comes from my throat
              Knows nothing of joy
                  and everything of bitterness
              Still I dare ask why
              I must be
                Continue on
                  As this empty shell of a man
              No dreams for tomorrow
              I do not wish to stir even today
               For the fire in my heart is extinguished
               And not even an ember glows
                  I want nothing
               For all I have desired has led to disappointment
               And hope has just become another word for despair
                  I want nothing
               But the silent grave of oblivion is slow to creep
               Time crawls, inch by inch
                   I have a hundred thousand days to waste
                     wanting nothing
               And still I will not get what I want
                              No do not tell me to wait for better times
                I know everything about waiting
                Waiting leads but to one thing
                And that is only more waiting
                and waiting to wait
                    life is only endless waiting
               No do not tell me things will get better
                For I have hoped with all my strength
                wished with all my might
                And still I have nothing to show for it
                Though I crawl through the mud from sunrise to sunset
                And bend my back in hard labor
               I am dead
                though I must still keep living
               I know this is true because I no longer feel anything

· Read more…