While we're thinking about thinking, think about this: Recent research confirms that animals have language, experience complex emotions, and can apply abstract reasoning—including the assimilation of previously acquired information—to problem solving. So why do we think we're so special?
My buddy John Atkinson likes to say that what makes science work is <I>not</I> simply the measurement of observed phenomena, but the scientist's refusal to believe those measurements. I once asked him if he'd teach me to do audio measurements and he said no, "because you'd <I>believe</I> the measurements—a good scientist knows the measurements are trying to lie to him."
Larger than a stocking stuffer, Musical Fidelity's X-Ray<SUP>v3</SUP> CD player is nevertheless quite compact and would be very nice to find under the Christmas tree.
In an article published on June 28 on the website <I>Slyck.com</I>, a popular site dedicated to news and activism surrounding P2P networks, writer Thomas Mennecke contends that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has <A HREF="http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1237 ">retooled </A> its "strategy of launching a continuous barrage of monthly lawsuits aimed at approximately 750 individuals," a policy that has resulted in more than 18,000 suits since it was instituted three years ago.
Well, <I>I</I> would—if Hollywood could get it as right as these amateurs. But then, <I>Amateur</I> means doing it out of love and that's where Hollywood falls down when it makes movies out of comic books, um, I mean graphic novels.
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I've seen lots of links to the article on <I>LiveScience</I> about ants counting their steps in navigating the shortest route between two points. <I>Ho hum,</I> I thought, <I>I had a cow-orker who did the same thing when deciding which route to take to the bathroom at work—and he was way dumber than an ant.</I>
Bagheera demonstrates how to supercharge the obliques. That girl is flexible!
Huckleberry decides to add exercise to his regimen. He's already on the Atkins diet.
The guy who invented TV-B-Gone ought to get a Nobel Prize. I don't mind being at bars or places where people are actually <I>watching</I> TV, but I resent being the only person in a waiting room with the TV blaring inanities. And when you ask the receptionist to turn it off, you get answers like "Other people like it."
I've been remodeling my downstairs into a dedicated office, small listening room, and home theater and, as a result, I've been constantly scratching my head and muttering <I>how do you do that?</I> Well, the answer to most of those questions has been in the Lee Valley Tools catalog and website.