05 AUG 2013 by ideonexus

 Social Networks Limit Interaction to "Autistic" Levels

It is hardly surprising that many participants find social interactions on Friendster formulaic. The social structure is defined by a narrow set of rules that do little to map the complexities and nuances of relationships in other contexts. Formula-driven social worlds require everyone to engage with each other through a severely diminished mediator—what I have else- where called autistic social software, as a metaphor to signal the structured formula that autistic individuals learn to nego...
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Because of the limited kinds of interactions possible within a Social Network.

12 APR 2013 by ideonexus

 All Models are Wrong, but some models are useful

As the statistician George E. P. Box wrote, “All models are wrong, but some models are useful.”90 What he meant by that is that all models are simplifications of the universe, as they must necessarily be. As another mathematician said, “The best model of a cat is a cat.”91 Everything else is leaving out some sort of detail. How pertinent that detail might be will depend on exactly what problem we’re trying to solve and on how precise an answer we require. Nor are statistical models...
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All models are simplifications of the universe, this includes language as a form of modeling.

12 JAN 2012 by ideonexus

 Two Factions of the Model Railroad Club

There were two factions of TMRC. Some members loved the idea of spending their time building and painting replicas of certain trains with historical and emotional value, or creating realistic scenery for the layout. This was the knife-and-paintbrush contingent, and it subscribed to railroad magazines and booked the club for trips on aging train lines. The other faction centered on the Signals and Power Subcommittee of the club, and it cared far more about what went on under the layout. This w...
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The club is were many hackers came from in the early days of computing. Half its members were into history and total control over a miniature world, the half that would become hackers were interested in the technology beneath the plywood.