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Syntax vs. Semantics
Is consciousness a purely syntactic process or does it require semantics? That is another way of asking whether, if you take a snapshot of all the neurons in a human brain, and simulate it on a computer, the resulting program will be conscious. Computers are purely syntactic engines: they simply manipulate symbols. So if consciousness…
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Pakistan
There was a pretty good article about Pakistan in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. It was mostly about the relationship between the Pakistani government and the Taliban in Pakistan’s northwestern province. It didn’t say anything terribly new, but I found it helpful to see everything laid out. I’ve never been to Pakistan, but from…
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Web Advertising
Display ads on the web seem to be in something of an arms race (display ads are like the ones on the right side of this post; they are not the same as search ads, which you see when you do a web search). People browsing the web get better and better at ignoring display…
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Fannie and Freddie
The U.S. government takes over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The old CEOs are forced out. Of course, they took home multiple millions of dollars over the last few years, while they were engaging in risky behaviour which led to the government bailout. Are they going to have to give it back? Stay tuned. So…
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3D Birds
My laptop’s disk crashed while I was away. I’ve reformatted the disk, reinstalled an old OS I had actual CDs for, restored my files from backup, and ordered a new laptop. What a pain. I was enjoying watching birds flying. I’m not a bird-watcher at all, and all I know about these is that they…