25 OCT 2017 by ideonexus
The False Promise of WWW Enlightenment
Never before have so many people been connected together in an instantly responsive network through which memes can spread faster than natural viruses. But the notion that taking the whole world online would create a utopia of netizens, all equal in cyberspace, was always a fantasy—as much a delusion as Luther’s vision of a “priesthood of all believers.” The reality is that the global network has become a transmission mechanism for all kinds of manias and panics, just as the combinati... 1 
notes
notes10 MAR 2017 by ideonexus
Six Fundamental Properties of Games
All games are in some way a combination of the four “mother” mechanics: agon, alea, mimicry, and ilinx.
Games have strict rules that all players must follow.
Game-winning conditions are clearly defined.
There are many different ways a game can end—not just one. In other words, there’s a way to win and (usually) lots of ways to lose.
Players try hard to win because winning is desirable.
Games can be played repeatedly with different outcomes.
Folksonomies: gaming
Folksonomies: gaming
1 notes
notes12 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
The Many Ways of Representing Sounds in English Spelling
English spelling, owing to the conditions that gov-
ernd the growth of the English language, now presents
many anomalies. The same letter, or combination of
letters, often represents many different sounds; while
the same sound is often represented by many different
letters, or combinations of letters.
The combination ough, for example, represents at
least 9 different sounds in the words cough, rough,
though, through, plough, hough, thorough, thought,
hiccough; and the sound of e in ...
1 25 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
Cyberpunk RPG
The world of Cyberpunk is a combination of savage, sophisticated, modern and retrograde. Fashion-model beautiful techies rub shoulders with battle-armored road warriors, all of them making the scene in the hottest dance clubs, sleaziest bars and meanest streets this side of the Postholocaust. Each character in this world is playing a role--a face that the person projects to the outside world as the real thing. There are nine Roles in Cyberpunk: Rockerboys, Solos, Netrunners, Corporates, Techi...22 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
The Three Principal Means of Investigation
We have three principal means: observation of nature, reflection, and experiment. Observation gathers the facts, reflection combines them, experiment verifies the result of the combination. It is essential that the observation of nature be assiduous, that reflection be profound, and that experimentation be exact. Rarely does one see these abilities in combination. And so, creative geniuses are not common. 1 notes
notesEach is a virtue, and strength in all three is rare.
25 SEP 2013 by ideonexus
Explaining the Name "ideonexus"
The name "ideonexus" is not an English word, but it is a combination of two words: "ideo" and "nexus." The "ideo" is a version of the word "idea" (想法) that we use in compound words, like "ideology." The word "nexus" means "intersection" (路口), "relationship" (关系), or "connection" (连接). So the name "ideonexus" is something I made up to symbolize my interest in connecting and relating ideas to one another (maybe "想法连接"?).An explanation I gave a Chinese Paleontology student for my blogging moniker.
13 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Freestyle Chess
In fact, the best game of chess in the world right now might be played neither by man nor machine.47 In 2005, the Web site ChessBase.com, hosted a “freestyle” chess tournament: players were free to supplement their own insight with any computer program or programs that they liked, and to solicit advice over the Internet. Although several grandmasters entered the tournament, it was won neither by the strongest human players nor by those using the most highly regarded software, but by a pai... 1 notes
notesSimilar to correspondence chess, where computer programs are allowed to offer suggestions and the players act like coaches directing the moves.
"Word" plus "to get lost"; thus, a riddle is words that you become lost within. The word "to get lost" is also interesting, a combination of "path" and "rice", which reminds us of leaving breadcrumbs to find our way back.
06 JUL 2012 by ideonexus
The Bootes Void
In the course of a redshift survey of galaxies brighter than R approximately equal to 16.3, 133 redshifts were measured in three fields, each separated by roughly 35 deg from the other two. If the galaxies in these fields were distributed uniformly, the combination of a galaxian luminosity function and the magnitude limits predicts that the distribution of redshifts should peak near 15,000 km/s. In fact, only one galaxy of the 133 was observed with a redshift in the 6000 km/s interval centere... 1 notes
notesAn inconceivably massive region of space extremely sparsely populated with galaxies, strangely spherical in shape.
05 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Theories Dwindle in Number as Facts Emerge
The intensity and quantity of polemical literature on scientific problems frequently varies inversely as the number of direct observations on which the discussions are based: the number and variety of theories concerning a subject thus often form a coefficient of our ignorance. Beyond the superficial observations, direct and indirect, made by geologists, not extending below about one two-hundredth of the Earth's radius, we have to trust to the deductions of mathematicians for our ideas regard...Folksonomies: observation theory
Folksonomies: observation theory
1 notes
notesFrom speculation to precision based on observations.
