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The future of computing

Если коротко: нетбуки. Я года два+ назад прочитала у кого-то (тогда ещё неочевидную) мысль про то, что приложения в конечном итоге вынесутся online, и с тех пор то что происходит в этой области только подтверждает тот прогноз.

On the bus from downtown to the U some black guy around 40 came in, in one of those dirty knee-long teeshirts, and asked if I had a pen to borrow. I gave him one, and the next thing he did was sticking it in his mouth & starting to talk to a girl that was with him. Eventually he gives it back to me & I wipe it off on a piece of paper (well, duh...). The girl starts to puff that she's never seen anyone do that, & he says I shold just throw it away (maybe I still should..) & I say quietly that it's just bad manners to do what he did. Next thing he starts to exclaim something about "those white americans" (his 20-smth-year-old girl is white btw, a bit "special" one, by her looks and speech). I'm just ignoring them. And then some (white) guy starts to tell him that it _is_ rude to take somebody else's pen in your mouth & well, you can guess the reaction & the ensuing couple minutes of "conversation" until the driver told them to keep it quiet.
(1) That's why I wouldn't want to live in predominantly black Baltimore.
(2) Can't help wondering how far this unasked for protection can potentially go (specifically re darkish T). Historically, way too far. On other hand, it's a fact that if you let people do crappy things, some will do as much as they can.
Again, the motivation makes all the difference.
(3) жизнь, помимо всего прочего, ещё и дерьмо(с)

Perl is an acronym for "Practical Extraction and Report Language", although you'll sometimes hear it referred to as the "Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister." (c)

licopodium: У мужчин другое мировосприятие.... поэтому они становясь ленивыми, остаются умными.

Чреватый
Такой, что может породить, произвести что-н., что может вызвать те или иные последствия (первонач. с большим чревом, беременный). Событие, чреватое самыми неожиданными последствиями. Спустилась мгла, туманами чревата. Блок....Капиталистические страны чреваты пролетарской революцией... Сталин ("Итоги первой пятилетки").

Harmonic mean
In certain situations, the harmonic mean provides the correct notion of "average". For instance, if for half the distance of a trip you travel at 40 miles per hour and for the other half of the distance you travel at 60 miles per hour, then your average speed for the trip is given by the harmonic mean of 40 and 60, which is 48; that is, the total amount of time for the trip is the same as if you traveled the entire trip at 48 miles per hour.
Typically, the harmonic mean is appropriate for situations when the average of rates is desired.
(Wikipedia)

Rebellion is almost as stupid as obedience. In either case you let yourself be defined by what they tell you to do. The best plan, I think, is to step onto an orthogonal vector. Don't just do what they tell you, and don't just refuse to.

Your teachers are always telling you to behave like adults. I wonder if they'd like it if you did. You may be loud and disorganized, but you're very docile compared to adults. If you actually started acting like adults, it would be just as if a bunch of adults had been transposed into your bodies. Imagine the reaction of an FBI agent or taxi driver or reporter to being told they had to ask permission to go the bathroom, and only one person could go at a time. To say nothing of the things you're taught. If a bunch of actual adults suddenly found themselves trapped in high school, the first thing they'd do is form a union and renegotiate all the rules with the administration.