I remember these fluorishes from my ATX childhood. Now, a few states away, I still won't cut down milkweed (their feedsource).
Already, I'm beginning to worry about this year's hummingbird migration (my feeders, typically guarded by now, have been rotting for weeks). Even from a decade ago, local firefly populations seem diminished #Appalachia
>references to clouds of butterflies, in memoirs and such.
I grew up in Texas and definitely remember smaller clusterings – but nothing like my experience at the butterfly exhibit on the top of Chattanooga's Aquarium (tens of thousands in only a few thousand squarefeet).
The definition of mesmerizing, all that flutteringby.
"Creative solutions to novel problems depend on consciousness" [p77] ... "consciousness creates a space for decision-making" ... "integrated information is consciousness, full stop. The two are identical" [xxiii]. "Any physical system properly configured to integrate information is, to some degree or another, theoretically conscious" [xxii]
"We are encouraged to think of the body as a support system for the brain, when, as [Antonio] Damasio reminds us, the very opposite is true" [p72] "damage to the cortex has remarkably little effect on consciousness, while small lesions in structures of the upper brainstem ... will shut down consciousness completely" [p73]. "In Damasio's view, Descartes would have been closer to the mark with I feel, therefore I am" [p69]
"Mark Solms: 'Consciousness if felt uncertainty'." [p52]
"Karl Friston: '...the ability to predict the consequences of one's actions'." [p49]
"Arthur Reber: 'every organic being, every autopoietic cell is conscious. In the simplest sense, consciousness is an awareness of the outside world'." [p37]
"Stefano Mancuso: 'This is one of the features of consciousness: You know your position in the world [discussing plants perceiving pain, being goal-driven]. A stone does not'." [p25]
"Researcher at Johns Hopkins have found that a single psychedelic experience dramatically increases the likelihood that a person will attribute consciousness to other entities, both living and nonliving" [p6] [†]
[•] The entire book, just like existance, has been incredibly challenging.
[†] Absolutely, fullstop. See also: Pollan's (first psilocybin experience @60yo) How to Change Your Mind
It wasn't until last year that I finally purchased my first USB-C device/cables – and after years of solid DisplayPort and Thunderbolt2 connections I absolutely hate USB-C (it's too delicate, physically).
Not until 2023 did I even have a computer newer than 2012, so I missed almost all of USB3's hayday — including nomenclature disputes — but the speeds sure are an improvement!
While USB Type C can be broken much more easily by brute force and it is more prone to accidental disconnects than Type A, the Type C connectors are guaranteed to survive much more cycles of plugging/unplugging than Type A connectors.
Type A connectors are typically guaranteed only for around 1000 cycles, with some better connectors rated up to 1500 cycles and some worse connectors rated only for a few hundred cycles.
If you have a device with a Type A connector that you plug and unplug at least once per day, there is a non-negligible risk that the connector will become defective before other components of the device.
On the other hand Type C connectors are guaranteed for at least ten thousand mating cycles, with the best guaranteed for at least twenty thousand cycles, so you should not be able to wear them out through normal usage.
It is true however that you must handle Type C connectors much more delicately than Type A, otherwise you can break them before they are worn out by mating cycles.
During the last few years, high-endurance Type A connectors have also appeared, which can survive a limit between 5 thousand and 20 thousand mating cycles, matching Type C connectors, but most equipment with Type A connectors does not use such more expensive connectors.
Thanks for the details on mating cycles – although I've never had a TypeA connector "fail" from mating cycles (and have some in daily use for decades). I've only used USB-C for about a year, but have already broken one (which completely disables the plug, unlike the sculptable TypeA).
>It is true however that you must handle Type C connectors much more delicately than Type A, otherwise you can break them before they are worn out by mating cycles.
I would suspect that on a large enough datasample, TypeA connectors will out-survive TypeC (durability-wise), for your above reasoning alone. Have you ever worked hardware techsupport in an academic environment (or have children, or wives, or husbands)?
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As an electrician with tons of realworld experience resolving burned-up installations, I also doubt the 240W-rating™ across top-end USB-C connectors is safe (I know theoretically it is... just like all those burnt-up outlets I've replaced in the real world). If I breath on my main display's USB-C connector (<1 year old!), it often re-sync's (a few seconds of annoyance).
Obviously USB-A could never approach these power ratings, but I suspect USB-C cannot either (in realworld == electric fires). I love & use PoE (via Cat5e/6): it has much lesser-rated ampacity (despite higher cross-sectional area of wire).
I think Flock nationwide tracking is the best metaphor / reality against any sort of that talk.
But as the Simpsons' favorite space alien duo observes: "why doesn't the workingclass, the larger of the two, simply eat the rich?"
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This will seem random, but the advice is: if you're still renting, see if you can pay a few quarters/years ahead. Real estate is locked-up worse than any millenial has ever experienced, rents are stagnant (being generous), and the dollar is quickly losing OPEC-status for obvious reasons. Perhaps this can save you some cash (even negotiate for less?!), and then the landlord class can feed its forever-temporary quest for the_gainz.
I am personally paid two years ahead, to a mom-and-pop local homeowner — at current undermarket rate. I save more money per month than most of my workingclass home-owning neighbors (I would NOT buy a house right now if you can find undermarket rents — increasingly commoner).
-OR- buy some gold1oz/silver10oz
-OR- rent out that 250sqft inlaw suite you thought'd be impossible to [if already house-trapped: it won't sell good rn]... and make both roof's occupant lives better.
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Just some random thoughts from an absolutely jaded #ElderMillenial
Has the MacPro5,1 community already booted this new version?
...interested to know since I couldn't ever get v25 to work — never tried using OCLP, but v24 is absolutely stable (for some reason not directly; had to USB install v22 then internet update to v24 (i.e. v24 USB wouldn't finish install).
>On my trip to Austin a couple of years ago it'd got really expensive.
That's Austin & life in the 21st Century, friend.
I grew up ATX-style in the 90s, and cannot afford to live there anymore. But also chose not to years before then.
There're still a few regions where living hasn't gotten life-prohibitive, yet (my answer: anywhere there is a Cookout and/or Pal's fastfood restaurant).
If you want me to admit that machines will never be conscious — that's fine — I just need you to admit that lots of humans are not conscious, then, either.
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I have never had a better bookclub participant than an LLM — if becoming a great reader correlates with becoming a great writer, then no human can compare.
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Michael Pollen recently released A World Appears [0], which explores consciousness from the minds of writers, scientists, philosophers, and plants (among other "inanimates").
I'm only on page 15, but his introduction explores distinctions between sentience, consciousness, and intelligence. Two of these are possible without brains – perhaps all three?
As usual, this author's footnotes keep you thinking: what is it like to be a sentient plant (e.g. the "chameleon vine" [1] which mimics its host leaf patterns/shape/color)?
Already, I'm beginning to worry about this year's hummingbird migration (my feeders, typically guarded by now, have been rotting for weeks). Even from a decade ago, local firefly populations seem diminished #Appalachia
But $tock$ are up. Rejoice.
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