The syntax is ugly, inconsistent, and whitespace-aware. Which is survivable by itself but the 'community' makes it untenable with ivory tower defenses related neologisms like 'pythonic' which means, as far as I can tell, 'we like it that way so nyah.'
I, on the other hand, just want a language that can be read without requiring a deep, memorized grokking of how a damned boolean equation will evaluate depending what data type I happen to be working with.
Ridonculous discussions ensuing from this simple question being a perfect case. Explicitness is, apparently, of less value to these people than 'pythonicness'. There's a reason the symbol 'explicit' has existed in human language rather a lot longer than the symbol 'pythonic'.
I can go from debugging C++ to VB.net to (with a lot of brace counting) LISP to Perl to PHP with more or less minimal hiccups. Python I can barely look at without wondering what the fuck a given statement really means, nevermind trying to actually write something efficient and readable that requires more than one conditional.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Fainting
After hearing Neil Gaiman's recounting of strangulation in the Studio 360 interview on Jun 13 I'm reminded of the time I fainted while giving blood (I actually haven't given blood since then which may or may not be related to this experience, I'd like to believe it's not related and that I'm simply more squeamish than I thought... I really need to develop a proper habit of donating).
I mostly remember the process and completing the withdrawal. And then they applied the iodine. Now iodine (concentrated anyway) is a decent antiseptic and has a powerful odour. I remember it from my first blood donation and don't recall it being as strong as this. Perhaps my consciousness was already retreating from the rest of my senses back to the more primitive ones because the next thing I remember is floating up out of pitch black. Noise, and a very distinct, quite 'real' sensation of exerting direct and conscious control over each muscle in my body, one at a time. Before finally grasping the words in the noise I'd been hearing and then opening my eyes upon full living experience. There was no intervening out of body or light or anything of that nature. A Mystic might call this mundane but I felt it, remember it, as profound.
It's interesting to note that at the time it felt like I was directly experiencing each of my individual muscles but with greater experience (I was maybe 15 when that happened) and reflection I realize that I was only 'feeling' major muscle groups. The limbs mostly, and some parts of the trunk.
The root cause is, clearly, that I lost too much blood too fast and my body was unable to maintain enough flow to my brain. But I was in the same mostly-reclined position the entire time and it didn't happen until they'd already removed the needle and were cleaning up. Which makes that explanation a bit awkward. I suspect it's very much related to the subject of the next sentence though.
I've passed out since then due to a mostly-minor heart condition. The above surreal, more-than-real experience has not repeated itself (though like many I can massage my brain into experiencing induce mystical experience). The last time I fainted (it's only happened twice, I'm not some Victorian Lady.. :P ) I only remember coming to as being incredibly cold as though I'd just been dug from an avalanche and no amount of hot soup was ever going to make me warm again. Of course, that too passed. The mind is great at filming over the scary parts of life when given enough time.
I mostly remember the process and completing the withdrawal. And then they applied the iodine. Now iodine (concentrated anyway) is a decent antiseptic and has a powerful odour. I remember it from my first blood donation and don't recall it being as strong as this. Perhaps my consciousness was already retreating from the rest of my senses back to the more primitive ones because the next thing I remember is floating up out of pitch black. Noise, and a very distinct, quite 'real' sensation of exerting direct and conscious control over each muscle in my body, one at a time. Before finally grasping the words in the noise I'd been hearing and then opening my eyes upon full living experience. There was no intervening out of body or light or anything of that nature. A Mystic might call this mundane but I felt it, remember it, as profound.
It's interesting to note that at the time it felt like I was directly experiencing each of my individual muscles but with greater experience (I was maybe 15 when that happened) and reflection I realize that I was only 'feeling' major muscle groups. The limbs mostly, and some parts of the trunk.
The root cause is, clearly, that I lost too much blood too fast and my body was unable to maintain enough flow to my brain. But I was in the same mostly-reclined position the entire time and it didn't happen until they'd already removed the needle and were cleaning up. Which makes that explanation a bit awkward. I suspect it's very much related to the subject of the next sentence though.
I've passed out since then due to a mostly-minor heart condition. The above surreal, more-than-real experience has not repeated itself (though like many I can massage my brain into experiencing induce mystical experience). The last time I fainted (it's only happened twice, I'm not some Victorian Lady.. :P ) I only remember coming to as being incredibly cold as though I'd just been dug from an avalanche and no amount of hot soup was ever going to make me warm again. Of course, that too passed. The mind is great at filming over the scary parts of life when given enough time.
Inner Eye
Note: A few weeks after my brain handed me this notion I heard about a presentation at a conference of some Android contact lenses. Funny how things work. Of course, it still took me a few more weeks to put any of this into draft (and then a few more weeks to decide 'fuck it' and hit publish in its present form rather than obsessively cleaning and polishing it...). It's also important to note that this is inspired directly from The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clark and Stephen Baxter which uses a more existing science to build the fiction on.
I'm just splashing stuff out here. This is rough first draft and doesn't really amount to much of a story. It's just prose containing some mashed up ideas and some consequences of those ideas.
I woke to the sound of another's breathing. Opening my eyes I did not see my wife, as I expected to, but instead I saw my self. My brain struggled to make understanding out of my senses for a few vertiginous minutes before the faction of rationality finally quashed the faction of 'OMG out of body experience, squee!' and I noticed that my irises were glowing faintly.
The bits behind the 4th wall...
bluetooth cameras at eye corners, auto paired in sleep
sleepers lenses project soothing light onto retina
possible further plot device: cameras detect motion without corresponding signals in sleepers brain, trigger wakefulness
I'm just splashing stuff out here. This is rough first draft and doesn't really amount to much of a story. It's just prose containing some mashed up ideas and some consequences of those ideas.
I woke to the sound of another's breathing. Opening my eyes I did not see my wife, as I expected to, but instead I saw my self. My brain struggled to make understanding out of my senses for a few vertiginous minutes before the faction of rationality finally quashed the faction of 'OMG out of body experience, squee!' and I noticed that my irises were glowing faintly.
The bits behind the 4th wall...
bluetooth cameras at eye corners, auto paired in sleep
sleepers lenses project soothing light onto retina
possible further plot device: cameras detect motion without corresponding signals in sleepers brain, trigger wakefulness
You can't regret what you don't decide - Sick Puppies, "There's No Going Back"
Can't regret my past life because in large part I made no decisions. By my own doing I did not have an active role in where my life went and so I cannot regret where I have arrived at. I can regret being numb and largely sleeping or reacting my way through life but what occurred and where it placed me is simply what it is.
Can't regret my past life because in large part I made no decisions. By my own doing I did not have an active role in where my life went and so I cannot regret where I have arrived at. I can regret being numb and largely sleeping or reacting my way through life but what occurred and where it placed me is simply what it is.
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