Category Archives: Quotes

The Science of Memorable Quotes

Posted on April 8, 2012 by GilPress

Memorable phrases contain generic pearls of wisdom expressed with unusual combinations of words in ordinary sentences.

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Back to the Future: Re-centralizing storage

Posted on April 2, 2012 by GilPress

IDC: “One of the major themes affecting the HDD forecast is the shift in demand for HDDs in client devices. While PCs will continue to represent the largest market for HDDs in terms of unit shipments, revenue derived from HDDs … Continue reading →

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15 Minutes of Fame 2 Centuries Ago: “At Least a Twelvemonth!”

Posted on April 1, 2012 by GilPress

“He came on the wings of disappointment, and with his head full of acting, for it had been a theatrical party; and the play in which he had borne a part was within two days of representation, when the sudden … Continue reading →

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Authority Unloaded: No Limits to Information Overload

Posted on March 29, 2012 by GilPress

“The forward-thinking librarian understands that Shirky’s ‘everybody’s coming’ is the future. We are now living in the chaotic world, and we do not have a choice regarding where we can position ourselves. Our choice lies in how we respond. If … Continue reading →

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Data, Information, Knowledge, Whatever

Posted on March 21, 2012 by GilPress

“Noise becomes data when it has a cognitive pattern. Data becomes information when assembled into a coherent whole, which can be related to other information. Information becomes knowledge when integrated with other information in a form useful for making decisions … Continue reading →

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Data Mania, 1971

Posted on March 20, 2012 by GilPress

“Too many information handlers seem to measure a man by the number of bits of storage capacity his dossier will occupy… The new information technologies seem to have given birth to a new social virus – ‘data mania.’ It symptoms are … Continue reading →

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Just the Facts, Ma’am

Posted on March 16, 2012 by GilPress

“Chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving.”—Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 “What people really intend when they speak of ‘information’ … Continue reading →

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Meaningless Information

Posted on March 12, 2012 by GilPress

“The fundamental problem of communications is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point. Frequently the message has meaning… these semantic aspects of communication are irrelevant to the engineering problem”–Claude Shannon, in Shannon … Continue reading →

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Video Games and (Artificial) Intelligence

Posted on March 9, 2012 by GilPress

“[Video games are] just another manifestation of human mania, our endearing quality of going relentlessly after absolutely pointless goals.”–John Skow, Time Magazine, January 18, 1982 “From AI-designed games to realistic virtual worlds and social physics, gaming is changing our world … Continue reading →

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Quotes, Video Games | 1 Comment

The Empirical Lexicographer

Posted on March 7, 2012 by GilPress

Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words–Samuel Johnson After we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley’s ingenious … Continue reading →

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