m1n1

The system could conceivably learn what a particular user means by "pork" (which cut, how much) and "brown rice" on the first iteration, and then default to that next time if no further specification is given.

Do you have a favorite accessible guide to comparisons of lisps with respect to purity and power?

According to Calvinism, all are sinners who deserve eternal damnation and some are chosen to be given a new life and repent. So his case is not strange from a Calvinist point of view at all. Edit: Neither (in Calvinism) can one say "he was predestined to be a criminal". The blame for sin lies at the feet of the sinner. Sin is the sinner's choice. Grace, to give someone the heart to repent, is God's choice.

(OT but related to security and Google) I used the existing link at the bottom of my gmail page to sign out all other sessions. The next day I went to another device and saw that it was still signed in.

He is trying to improve his bedside manner. It's an ongoing effort. :)

There's a lot of people who avoid conversations about religion, especially if they think someone will try to 'convert' them. Edit: "doctor for souls" might invite "what do you mean?"

There's a pastor who sometimes answers this question with "I'm a doctor for souls." .... The answer "Pastor" can be a conversation killer.

So keep the time limits but make it about whichever side is more convincing to the judges -- without specifying how they're going to judge. Make the game harder to game.

A key decision for any sentient species would be whether to broadcast one's existence or snoop around quietly first.

They open the pump face, unplug the back of the existing reader, plug the front of their skimmer into the back of the existing reader, and connect the first plug into the back of their skimmer.

It goes from ? --> reader

to

? --> skimmer --> reader

The face of the pump appears unchanged (unless they broke a security sticker and were unable to replace it)

Where does one go for a fully representative sample of all kinds of valid C code to test a project like this? Or -- given a formal grammar, has someone produced a tool that generates representative code?

Honest question: how is a man who thinks he is a woman different from an anorexic who thinks he is fat?

Ancient typos

She was very delighted with this new idea, and went to her professor. And his reply was, no, you cannot do that, because the experiment has already been done and you would be wasting time. This was in about 1935 or so, and it seems to have been the general policy then to __nut__ try to repeat psychological experiments, but only to change the conditions and see __hat__ happens.

it's been so long, why are there typos in it?!

Is it key that he's a veteran? If he wasn't a veteran would he still be able to help you? Would it be different and if so, how?

Is that BFF also a veteran? Just curious.

Here's another debt choice: given a mortgage with over 20 years left on the term and a sudden cash windfall of, say, 20% of the remaining principal, and assuming there's nothing better to do with the money than applying it to the mortgage would you rather (1) pay off some principal now thus effectively shortening the term but allowing the monthly bill to stay constant or (2) re-cast the loan by paying off some principal, still have 20 years left of payments, but each monthly bill is now smaller? ... Personally I'd opt for (2) because it immediately gives more breathing room especially if something bad were to happen. Going with (1) may save more money ultimately, but doesn't reduce the financial risk until the final payment is made.