📅May 4th, 2016
Finished reading My Stroke of Insight.
A nonfiction story of a brain scientist who experienced an arteriovenous-malformation stroke, the rupturing of blood vessels in the brain causing (temporary) disablement of the left hemisphere and impaired motor function of one side of the body. And the recovery process.
Because of how different parts of the brain are responsible for different functions, the stroke caused a loss of the ability to speak words, read or write, plus a bunch of other stranger ones- the sense of 'boundaries between objects' and the 'boundaries between oneself and objects', sense of 3D.
The fact that it was a brain scientist who experienced this firsthand, who has background knowledge about what is happening, lent itself to a lot of really interesting anatomical descriptions and detail.
Through years of successful therapy the scientist's abilities returned one by one.
Although, the scientist still found a sense of longing for experiencing that same emptiness, that 'nirvana' feeling that went along with losing so much of your ordinary functions and the sense you have of your identity. It came as a surprise to be magically finding bliss after a devastating neurological event.
Until the last part, great. Then it descends into this weird, self-help-y, new-age mysticism... lending serious credibility to Reiki and Angel Cards without using the word 'placebo'? They lost me at 'energy dynamics' and 'transmitting energy from one human to the other'. To have this good opportunity for learning from a brain scientist only to hear a bunch of mysticism, was a bit demoralizing.
All the same it was good times. There were descriptions of this serious, worldly detachment that can happen through something as simple as physical manipulation of the brain. And how there is not really one brain, but two, halves that can exist independently, even if the connection between them is totally severed. And how we can remove parts and survive, but with different functions. While our brains and senses are our only window to the world, I find it comforting, somehow, the way this book describes how manufactured our experiences are.
📅May 1st, 2016
📅April 24th, 2016
Suppose there is a 3D copying machine. In one instant it can copy, particle-for-particle, what's in one chamber and replicate it into another chamber. You put a person in one chamber. It copies of all the atoms that comprise them. It copies the energy and light affecting their senses.
When the chamber doors open, will the copy of the person be alive? I think the answer is 'yes', if there's no medical reason for them not to be. If humans are granted life on earth through physical processes, and die through physical processes, through the presence of connections in the brain and cognitive capacity, then a perfect copy of those physical processes shouldn't deter how well they work.
Will the copy of the person be the same 'self'? I think, the answer is 'no'. They may have been the same at one time, but are no longer. After the chamber doors open, the original and the copy will go out into the world and undergo different physical processes, and have different experiences.
'Self' is not some specific tangible thing, then, not some specific piece of the brain, but a special label given to the physical processes that one's brain can do.. So the way this label is defined, copying a brain and all its stimulus yields two 'selves'. The two brains and bodily systems can physically work independently from each other, thereafter.
The thing I don't know the answer to, is, at what point are there two 'selves'?
1) The instant that the atoms are copied, but no differing light or stimulus has occurred yet to the original, or the copy (the chamber doors have not opened yet)?
2) The very first differing piece of light or stimulus occurs to the original and the copy? (during/after the chamber door opens)
3) The whole premise is wrong
📅March 25th, 2016
>be me
>"Going to an anime convention! Let's sync up on the latest new shows."
>See someone talking about an anime called Lucky Star
>Youtube it!
>First result is the opening for the show
>letsdothis.avi
>music starts up
mfw
📅March 14th, 2016
This might be the best game, ever. Reason: Can't remember the last time I've come across a game with literally zero grind. No repetitive action. For the 'meat' of the game, solving puzzles- each puzzle is different with no repeats, nor any cheesy reprising the same puzzle with an only-slightly-different flavor. Shouldn't be such a novel thing but it really is.
Also no puzzles that rely on pure anagrams, big-time number crunching, external knowledge of other languages / scripts. 
Nice.
📅March 3rd, 2016
Finished Braid for the first time.
The levels are really clever. Got all the puzzle pieces, got the ending/epilogue, and was left really confused.
What the heck is going on! I understand 0% of the lore of this game.
📅February 22nd, 2016
Check mail. Get a nice greeting card in the mail. Great!
Except, mail envelope has been torn open. No customs stamp. Not re-sealed. Illegally opened, then. Sad face.
Open envelope and card. Inside, a PSN gift card.
I think this thief was more of an Xbox fan.
📅January 31st, 2016
Finished reading: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.
A story about a Muslim family living in New Orleans during the time of Hurricane Katrina.
This tackles some difficult subject matter. I think the narrative is high quality- colorful and never wandered too much. I don't feel like there was anything deeper to the story though. Since it was based on a real-life story, I don't think the author felt comfortable moving much beyond "this is a really bad thing that happened".
It also turned out that Zeitoun IRL was a bad person- re-frames a story that spends literally the entire time trying to sell him and his bond with his wife to you. Shouldn't surf the books subreddit after reading something... It will tell you things you don't want to know
6/10
📅January 28th, 2016
Possible to attach a rotary phone to a VoIP line?
Turns out yes.
Method:
Use a pulse-to-tone converter- an box that converts pulse signals into DTMF tones, since there are zero VoIP boxes around (that I know of!) that understands pulses. The phone plugs into this adapter, the adapter plugs into the VoIP box which I have connected to my router.
📅October 12th, 2015
Replaying Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (replaying nostalgia games lately) and it never occurred to me until now how BAD the soundtrack is.
I mean, the game has other qualities. Just not that. Why are literally all the dungeons and bosses one of two pieces? Why are all the loops like 5 seconds long? Why does this exist:
I would link to the Fortune Teller music but I don't want to put anyone else through that today.