Sad news about Terry Pratchett

[badgoodDeb]

Yeah, but "later" may be too late for Mr. Pratchett (and by extension, us).

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by joblack

Have played the Discworld Computer Adventure games. Very nice indeed.

He should relax - modern medicine will finde a cure sooner or later.

I suspect the difficulty relaxing lies with whether his sooner is sooner than "sooner" or if his later is sooner than "sooner or later".

Cheers,
Marc

[joblack]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I suspect the difficulty relaxing lies with whether his sooner is sooner than "sooner" or if his later is sooner than "sooner or later".

That's a great sentence (grammar style related) - I needed half a minute to think it over =).

By the way - in a logical computer science way this expression is always right (logical OR).

Anyway, the growing alzheimer disease cases must have a reason, perhaps the crappy food in todays world.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by joblack

That's a great sentence (grammar style related)

Why, thank you, Mister Black.

I needed half a minute to think it over =).

Okay, perhaps that's not a good indicator of the quality of the sentence.

By the way - in a logical computer science way this expression is always right (logical OR).

Is "logical computer science" an oxymoron, or one of those hyper-realities and ultra-truths I can never get my head around?

Anyway, the growing alzheimer disease cases must have a reason, perhaps the crappy food in todays world.

Honestly, I do tend to agree with your earlier post (or at least, have significant hope). At the very least, an aging population's voting capacity (their democratic vote and monetary "vote") might have a significant impact on the funding of research, and bring about a cure sooner rather than later.

Respect the elderly - if you're lucky you'll be one some day, and it might be your only chance for the good karma to catch up to you in this life.

Cheers,
Marc

[joblack]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Is "logical computer science" an oxymoron, or one of those hyper-realities and ultra-truths I can never get my head around?

Its based on Boolean Algeba - in short it means

false OR false = false
false OR true = true
true OR false = true
true OR true = true

Thou 'sooner OR later' is true if at least one of these expressions are true.

Anyway - enough geektalk.

I wish Mr. Pratchett good luck.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by joblack

Anyway - enough geektalk.

Shame on you, Mister Black. There can never be enough geek talk.

You are one of us now. mmwuAHAHAHAHAHAH!

I wish Mr. Pratchett good luck.

Most certainly. The man's a living legend (especially amongst us geeks).

Cheers,
Marc

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by joblack

Anyway, the growing alzheimer disease cases must have a reason, perhaps the crappy food in todays world.

Far more likely, I suspect, is simply the increasing life expectancy. People who would previously have died at a younger age are living longer, and a certain proportion of them are developing dementia in their old age.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Far more likely, I suspect, is simply the increasing life expectancy. People who would previously have died at a younger age are living longer, and a certain proportion of them are developing dementia in their old age.

Good point. It'd be interesting to see (for example) cancer deaths correlated to life expectancy. If you die in childhood from being run over by a coal cart, you never develop things like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, carcinoma, etc.

[DonRobodroid]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Far more likely, I suspect, is simply the increasing life expectancy. People who would previously have died at a younger age are living longer, and a certain proportion of them are developing dementia in their old age.

Sure, that would be a very rational explanation.

However (to feed the other thought):

I've been to England at the end of the 80s, just when the folks were dying by the scores from egg poisoning - this leading to the memorable "Eggs (The Real Truth)" pamphlet btw. - (not) wondering why the cafeterias at the Canterbury Campus were selling eggs, eggs, eggs, boiled eggs, cooked eggs, baked eggs, fried eggs, maccheroni with eggs, eggs, eggs and eggs... (sorry, got a bit carried away there, I'm afraid )

And another unforgettable moment was eating an exceptionally delicious 16 oz rump steak at the "Black Horse" pub in Cherhill (ever so picturesquely located in sight of a prehistorical chalked-into-the-slope-of-the-local-hill-image of a, er... right, White Horse) amidst the BSE hysteria in the mid 90s...

Well, what can I say? The frequency of the not-remembering of certain words is slowly rising - not yet alarming, but certainly disconcerting - so I can barely begin to understand how someone must feel with more severe symptoms of such an ailment.

My best wishes to Terry and his family.

Cheers,
- Don [:-]

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by StephanieP

I just bought The Colour of Magic from fictionwise in anticipation of reading it on my Cybook when it arrives later this month.

I've watched the Hogfather movie (actually I own it ) I've been meaning to read his books for a while now, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

You do know that you will have to go back to the sites where you've bought eBooks to put in your PID for the Gen3 and redownload them. So don't use up all of the slots for PIDs.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DonRobodroid

Well, what can I say? The frequency of the not-remembering of certain words is slowly rising - not yet alarming, but certainly disconcerting - so I can barely begin to understand how someone must feel with more severe symptoms of such an ailment.

I have for a long time had trouble with names. I cean hear a name and then not remember it. It seems forgetting names is not an uncommon thing.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have for a long time had trouble with names. I cean hear a name and then not remember it. It seems forgetting names is not an uncommon thing.

Yes, I too have a problem with it. I can forget a person's name literally within seconds. I'd like to think it was some inherent flaw in my wiring I have no control over...except that I have absolutely no problems remember the names of people's dogs (and thus have been known to refer to the dogs' owners as "Mister Roy" and "Miss Bubbles" and "Mrs Fluffy").

Cheers,
Ummm, Mister Oscar

[JSWolf]

I can be introduced to someone and forget the name just like that. It's odd. But it happens.

[DonRobodroid]

Forgetting names? Yeah, I guess that's pretty normal for geeks like us.

What I meant is that I now and then forget a word I've known all my life and I KNOW that I know it but can't get it off my tongue. It doesn't happen very often (yet) and not with the most basic kind of words, but when it happens it is very... um... well... youknowwhatImean... *cough*... errrrm... not enjoyable.

Cheers,
- Don [:-]
PS: ...mmmh... ... !!! FRUSTRATING!!!

[nekokami]

Oh, a lost pointer. Yeah, I get that sometimes. Try kicking off a garbage collection cycle. Maybe that will clear it up.