the archives of my old site. No longer regularly maintained.
The Game (I lost!). Okay, I'm gonna tell you about 'The Game'. I have no idea where or when this started. I found out about it online about 6 months ago. I'd quite like to know the origins of 'The Game' because it is intensely irritating.
Firstly, a disclaimer - anyone who decides to join 'The Game' cannot blame me for any psychological damage caused
Okay, there is only one rule to 'The Game' - if you think about the game, you lose. When you lose you have to declare it; you have to say out loud "I lost". Once you've said that, anyone else playing the game around you will lose and will have to declare it too.
Once you've forgotten about 'The Game' you stop losing.
As I am telling you about 'The Game' I have lost and so are you because you're thinking about 'The Game'. But you will go away and forget about 'The Game' and you will stop losing. Until someone says something or you see something that makes you think of 'The Game'.
How nervous am I? Ok, so this shouldn't be anything to stress about, but for the first time since Connor was born Sharon has gone out and left me "holding the baby". She's just gone shopping for an hour because she needs a break from the children for a short while. But suddenly the responsibility has made me a little nervous. Why? With two kids already, its not like its something I've never done before, just that Connor's a little younger than James was when I first looked after him.
The Rules. Over the last few weeks I have been inundated with "Rules for Men" written by women. So here to redress the balance is a set of "Rules for Women". Yes, I know this is "weak content" and the chances are that you've read something similar about 100 times this year already. But it made me smile (which is no mean feat on a Saturday morning) so I don't care. And, yes - they are all supposed to be numbered "1".
1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us moaning about you leaving it down.
1. Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!
1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.
1. Saturday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
1. Don't cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then you're stuck with her.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
1. We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.
1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?
1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
1. Check your oil! Please.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. We refuse to answer.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. Let us ogle. We are going to look anyway; it's genetic.
1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.
1. The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it. And quit whining to your girlfriends.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. No you really do have too many shoes.
1. It is neither in your best interest or ours to take the quiz together. No, it doesn't matter which quiz.
1. I'm in shape. ROUND is a shape.
1. BEER is as exciting for us as handbags are for you.
1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know we really don't mind that, it's like camping.
Grrr! I've not been able to get Blogger to post or publish what I wrote properly for at least a couple of hours. And suddenly I had 5 copies of the last entry. Oh well. I suppose you can't complain too much given how much it (doesn't) cost.
They stole my brain! I can't explain why, but I've had real trouble concentrating on anything for the last few days. It feels like trying to think through cotton wool. Minutes drift by into hours and still I've got nothing achieved. Sharon's starting to put her foot down now and give me a list of things to achieve each day as a way of kick starting my head. Today I managed 3 out of the 4 objectives she set me but I also got a lot of admin for
the disco done too. I caught up on 3 weeks worth of contracts and invoices. Hopefully I should get paid a shed load of cash soon.
Keeping it under lock and key I haven't told Sharon that I keep a blog. To start with there was no specific reason to mention it. I didn't think it was going to be as big a thing as it is (not that its a massive part of my life). However, since she got out of hospital, she became suspicious and asked me directly. In a split second decision, I denied it. Why? Well that's as big a mystery to me as it is to you. There is nothing here I would not want her to read. My life is an open book to her. She may not be 100% happy with everything that I do, but I do not wish to have any secrets from her. I suppose its just that I wanted something in the maelstrom that has been my life recently that is mine. Something to which I can retreat without having to explain myself.
Anyway, immediately after denying keeping a blog I regretted it. As I said, I have no wish to have any secrets from my wife. Thankfully, on Sunday she told me that she what I was up to. She was a little upset I wasn't 100% honest but I think we've sorted that out now. She is still respecting my privacy and, despite that fact that I have invited to read through these ramblings, had decided not to. But I do now talk to her about what I write and read here and on the blogs I visit.
I want to be Neo! After
reading the article on whether we are living in a computer simulation, I decided to look up the author
Nick Bostrom on the Net. I found a whole website he wrote about his paper over at
http://www.simulation-argument.com/. It is extremely dense reading but the following quote summarises its arguements.
- VII. CONCLUSION: A technologically mature “posthuman” civilization would have enormous computing power. Based on this empirical fact, the simulation argument shows that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage is very close to zero; (2) The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero; (3) The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one.
If (1) is true, then we will almost certainly go extinct before reaching posthumanity. If (2) is true, then there must be a strong convergence among the courses of advanced civilizations so that virtually none contains any relatively wealthy individuals who desire to run ancestor-simulations and are free to do so. If (3) is true, then we almost certainly live in a simulation. In the dark forest of our current ignorance, it seems sensible to apportion one’s credence roughly evenly between (1), (2), and (3).
Unless we are now living in a simulation, our descendants will almost certainly never run an ancestor-simulation.
Bloody Hell!
Wetting the baby's head. Last night I finally got chance to go out with a few friends and celebrate Connor's arrival in the style traditional for new fathers. I had fully intended to just have a few drinks and be back by 10.30pm. Instead I crawled in with 2 friends at 1am completely paralytic and in the middle of a huge giggling fit. Sharon, bless her, was totally cool about it even when I passed out on a chair and she had to chat to my mates until they left at about 3am. I regretted it slightly this morning when I had to get up at 9 o'clock to drive Chloe to a holiday drama club.
That's what friends are for. In true drunk bloke style I spent about half an hour last night making my friend, who is expecting his first child in 2 months time, promise that he would phone me if ever he felt down or couldn't cope after the birth.
Monday Mission 2.31 Courtesy, as usual, of
PromoGuy.net.
- 1. Ever considered just deleting your Blog and not doing it anymore? What prompted that and what stopped you? Nope. Not yet. I've had a couple of days when I was to knackered / blue to be bothered to write anything but I've never contemplated deleting it and packing it in.
- 2. How about a quick review of the last movie you saw? Rambo, First Blood part II. Chocked full of the clichés it created and the wooden acting that has made its stars famous, it did at least keep me occupied for a few hours. 5/10.
- 3. What's your favorite gadget? Are you lusting for any new ones? Will you ever be satisified??? My fave gadget at the moment is the Micro Racer Sharon bought me. A remote control car the size of a matchbox. Excellent fun. I always lust after new gadgets. The desirability of any particular item is often in direct relation to its BPI (Buttons per Inch).
- 4. Saturday night I played "UNO" for the first time in years, I mean it has been over 10 years since I played it. It was great fun, but it really made me want to learn how to play Backgammon again. What "table game" do you enjoy playing most with other people? Have you played it lately? Risk. I haven't played it for years mainly because its difficult to find the requisite 3 - 4 hours to play a decent game.
- 5. About a year ago I was obsessed with loosing weight, and I dropped pretty low before I got a handle on things (I've actually gained about 8 pounds of it back, and it is still a struggle sometimes to not try to loose it). Thankfully, I like fattening sweets and buttery popcorn too much to live like that for too long. Have you ever been obsessed with something so much that it was close to causing you physical or mental harm? If not, have you known anyone else who has? Erm. I have known people with an addiction but that's about it.
- 6. Did you grow up in a family or community that displayed racist or prejudice attitudes? Did it influence you in any way, either toward or away from those views? How did you manage to avoid it, or did you? My family were not racist but my Dad is part of a generation that didn't see the harm in jokes at the expense of a racial minority. My Mum however brought us up with open minds.
- 7. Good grief, I am starving! You got anything to eat around here? We just did the big shop today so help yourself. But keep your hands off the microwaveable Doner Kebabs. They're mine.
- BONUS: What did you tell them? Nothing. I swear. Now please, put those pliers down and stop looking at me like that. If they know about your little secret, they didn't find it out from me.
The Matrix was a documentary I read
New Scientist this week and was amazed to read an article about a respected Yale University philosopher who reckons we could all be part of a giant simulation being run on a computer in what we think of as the future.
I know what you're thinking because I thought it too. How ridiculous. But he makes a good argument.
In a paper submitted to the journal Mind, Bostrom has outlined exactly how he reached this chilling conclusion. The reasoning starts with one simple premise. At some point, civilisation will develop enormously powerful computers capable of mimicking what we call consciousness. And if that premise is true, the rest follows logically.
Outrageous? Not a bit of it. Look at it rationally. If it becomes technologically possible to mimic consciousness, the future can only pan out in one of three ways. First, some extinction event - maybe a powerful but deadly technology, maybe a natural disaster - will wipe us out before we actually do it. If that's true, then you can relax. What you're experiencing right now is real life.
The second scenario is also a comforting one: future humans won't be interested in running simulations. They might be too sophisticated to bother with such games, or there may be laws against it. But do either of those noble outcomes sound like a probable future of human civilisation to you? Thought not.
Which leaves us with the least palatable option: humans will one day simulate consciousness, and then go on to create simulated Universes for it to live in. If that's true then the chances are they've already done so, and you're living in one.
He also goes on to say that, if simulations are run, there is likely to be so many of them that the chances of you being one of the few "real" people is next to none.
Right at the end of the article is a quote from Nick Bostrom about the film The Matrix.
"Using humans as an energy source is ridiculously implausible," he says. "But that's Hollywood for you."
A man of leisure For someone with no full time occupation I seem to have precious little time. Looking after a newborn is an incredibly all consuming activity. Connor seems to sleep all day but won't settle at night leaving Sharon and I worn out. This has caused a little friction but I think we've worked it out.
Friday and Saturday evenings were spent as they are going to be spent for some considerable time. Both were weddings this weekend but they couldn't have been more different. Friday's was one of those that reminds me why I started DJing. The crowd was small but they were all in a real party mood. On Saturday the mood seemed more appropriate to a funeral than a wedding. No matter what I did I couldn't get them going. I managed to get them dancing at several points during the night but it was bloody hard work.
I've also spent the weekend putting an alarm system into the garage. With all of the security I've added over the last few weeks, it should be more secure than the house is.
that's a nice rock!
me:
sex:male
age:30
status:married
children:3
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