July 2010
13 posts
brain gray.
Eigengrau (German: “intrinsic gray”), also called Eigenlicht (“intrinsic light”), dark light, or brain gray, is the color seen by the eye in perfect darkness. Even in the absence of light, some action potentials are still sent along the optic nerve, causing the sensation of a uniform dark graycolor.
-wikipedia, eigengrau.
i am at KOÇ RCAC.
this is koç universitesi’s research center for anatolian civilizations.
the building reminds me of aperture science. pretty, but sterile and cold.
in the entrance, two security guards peered at me through a circular hole in the wall. they intercepted me as i got to the other side of the entranceway, asked me for my ID (which they are holding until i leave). the second guard escorted me...
4 tags
scooping the loop snooper.
an elementary proof of the undecidability of the halting problem by geoffrey k. pullum.
No program can say what another will do. Now, I won’t just assert that, I’ll prove it to you: I will prove that although you might work till you drop, you can’t predict whether a program will stop.
Imagine we have a procedure called P that will snoop in the source code of programs to see...
foreign accent syndrome.
Foreign accent syndrome is a rare medical condition involving speech production… To the untrained ear, those with the syndrome sound as though they speak their native languages with a foreign accent; for example, an American native speaker of English might sound as though they speak with a south-eastern English accent, or a native British speaker might speak with a New York American accent.
...
do you ever feel like the nytimes is out of touch... →
if the demographic to which this article appeals composes nytimes main readership, the news is in big trouble.
5 tags
"how are programming languages different from...
I’ve been asked this more than any other single question about linguistics. How are programming languages different from human languages?
The scope of this question is vast, and I think its many answers delve into the deepest inquiries about language. What is (and is not) a language? What does it mean to use language? How does the human mind use language to think?
It also hits on what...
talking about prisons, kahve pera.
a middle-aged man with a mustache and a half-open western shirt, holding a cup of coffee: you are british?
me: i'm american.
him: american? where in america?
me: los angeles.
him: puh. los angeles. makes american movies.
me: you don't like american movies?
him: i hate Midnight Express.
me: what's wrong with Midnight Express?
him: it misrepresents turkish prison.
me: yeah, i'm sure turkish prisons aren't that bad.
him: no, turkish prisons are that bad. misrepresents because the man escapes from the prison. you cannot escape from turkish prisons.
me: really? so the prisons are that horrible?
him: yes. better that way. punishes criminals.
me: but what if you get thrown in jail?
him: i don't get thrown in jail. i don't do anything illegal.
me: what if you get thrown in jail by accident?
him: you do not get thrown in jail by accident here. this is not america.
me: how so?
him: here there is a list, things you cannot do. you do them, you go to jail. i have been to new york once. there, you have a list of things you are allowed to do. you do something not on the list, you go to jail.
my trip to istanbul.
upon waking up on july 3 and taking my keys from my desk, my father says: why are you taking those? those can't open anything in turkey.
later, in line for my lufthansa flight at bradley international terminal, i say to the girl in front of me: is this all for lufthansa?
she says: yeah.
me: so, where are you going?
her: i'm going to montenegro. for a cooking internship.
a few minutes later, she — melinda — she says: any siblings you're going to miss?
me: not exactly. two parents i'll miss. what about you?
melinda: yeah, quite a few.
me: really? how many?
melinda: fifteen.
an hour later, on the plane, the 80-something spaniard next to me: are you from the US?
me: i am, yes.
him: did you see the world cope?
me: i did, congratulations to spain.
him: thank you. argentina should lose. they think they are better than everyone.
me: really?
him: yes, you talk to an argentinian, they think they are better than you.
me: one of my best friends is argentinian.
him: does he think he is better than everyone?
me: not really, no.
him: then he was not born in argentina.
me: okay, that's true.
him: i tell you i know these things.
ten hours later in a bar in the international airport in frankfurt, melinda says: cognac? this reminds me of my dad.
me: wait, what time is it?
melinda: 11.12. why?
me: when does your flight board?
melinda: oh. um. 11.05.
me: yeah, mine boards at 11.
melina: you have an entire pint of beer.
three hours later, driving on a highway in istanbul, a 10-year-old smoking a cigarette jumps off of the highway divider and in front of our car, prompting my driver to say: something in turkish that i cannot understand or remember.
1 tag
"why are there words that mean more than one...
When I say “I went to the bank,” I could mean that I was exchanging US dollars for Turkish lira. I could also mean that I went to catch frogs. Whether I mean money-bank or river-bank depends on context.
I’ve been asked a few times why words can mean more than one thing. It doesn’t make immediate sense, after all, why natural language would have homophones — doesn’t...