David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 231
June 12, 2014
Breakfast Places I Go In Omaha That Aren’t Village Inn
Since I decided a few days ago to share some of the places in Denver I go for breakfast that aren’t Village Inn to go along with the recent publication of The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes, I thought I’d be remiss if I didn’t share some Omaha places I used to frequent and sometimes still hit when I get to town as well:
- Denny’s
- IHOP
June 11, 2014
Skepticism About Passing The Turing Test
Computer people have been all abuzz recently because a program called Eugene Goostman supposedly recently passed the Turing Test. The Turing Test is supposed to be a big deal in artificial intelligence, a test where a computer program supposedly can’t be distinguished from a real person. However, Wired and others claim to not be impressed by Goostman, asserting that the program got lucky, had an advantage in claiming to be a 13-year-old non-English speaker from Ukraine, and still only fooled people about 30 percent of the time.
However, regardless of whether or not Goostman actually achieved something here, I think question exist about what the Turing Test measures in general given the fact that the main test is fooling people. I mean, is this a measure of a computer program’s sophistication or a measure of the intelligence/gullibility of the people who attempt to talk to the computer program? Are there any standards required for how intelligent and/or gullible the people to whom the computer program attempts to talk have to be?
Absent such, it seems that the test is more dependent upon the human participant than the computer program itself. Given how gullible some people are, it might not measure much about the computer program at all. After all, no matter how outrageous satire articles get these days it seems like somebody ends up mistaking it for real. Is this kind of human participant measured test even meaningful then?
Just a thought.
June 10, 2014
No One Is Going To Believe Me Now That I Saw A Link To Bill Watterson In “Pearls Before Swine”
When I first saw the Pearls Before Swine comic for June 4, 2014, I suspected the influence of Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes. However, since I waited to mention anything about that to anyone until after the big revelation, no one is going to believe me now that I figured out anything.
As it turns out, this turned out to be a big deal. It was revealed that Bill Watterson had actually done guest art for a few days of the comic under the premise parodying Pastis’s artistic abilities that a child neighbor of Pastis was doing the art. Watterson and Pastis had put the short series together with Watterson’s stipulation that the authorship would only be revealed afterward.
Of course, I never actually suspected that Watterson had actually done the art. When I first saw the Pearls Before Swine comic for June 4, 2014, I immediately recalled some of the big art panels Watterson used to occasionally do for Calvin and Hobbes. The style seemed similar and I thought it was an homage, whether or not Pastis himself drew it. Still, I saw the influence…I just didn’t suspect that Watterson himself had actually been willing to do it.
But, no one will believe this now. I should have said something earlier. Even with not claiming to have figured out what was going on entirely, I just don’t sound credible after the fact.
June 9, 2014
Breakfast Places I Go In Denver That Aren’t Village Inn
Now that The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes has been published, people know I spend a good amount of time at Village Inn. However, I do like my breakfasts enough that Village Inn still isn’t the only breakfast place I go in Denver. Here are a few other breakfast places I frequent in the Denver area:
- Devil’s Food Bakery & Cookery
Anybody hungry yet?
June 8, 2014
There Is Just No Way To Adequately Respond To This
There is just no way to adequately respond to the article I’m about to link to. I first read it a few days ago and I just stared at it. I’m just as floored today as I was then. I mean, what can you possibly say to it that would be adequate? Just take a look:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-man-allegedly-returned-enemas-cvs-article-1.1181642
June 7, 2014
An Idea For Easing The Limits On Restricted Cold Remedy Purchases
I think we’re all aware by now of the restrictions that have been imposed on cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine. We all understand that these restrictions are to combat meth manufacture, which apparently can use pseudoephedrine containing cold remedies, but we’re also aware of how this causes problems when fighting colds. I have a proposal for easing the restrictions for those with legitimate colds and infections.
After all, many of us all been in the situation where we have a cold or infection and bought cough syrup and/or other remedy containing pseudoephedrine. Due to the restrictions, purchase of enough to last the cold may not be possible…particularly when the cold spreads throughout a household and only one person goes to get the cough syrup. This necessitates multiple trips, which is really annoying when you’re fighting a cold or infection and just want to stay in bed as much as possible without repeated trips to the pharmacy.
As such, why not allow people to go into a pharmacy and prove they have a cold? Take a mucus sample or something. If they have a cold or infection, they can probably provide one. Then, once the cold or infection is proven, let them buy more restricted cold remedy than usual for a limited period of time…say a week or two.
I realize this could result in meth manufacturers targeting sick people to buy their materials, but at some point we have to still be able to bear up under our colds/infections…but it’s not like meth manufacture has ceased since these restrictions were enacted anyway. Besides, sick people probably don’t feel up to running errands for meth heads any more than they feel up to running their own errands.
June 6, 2014
Have You Read “The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes” Yet And Not Reviewed It?
Hey, have you read The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes yet and not reviewed it on Amazon and/or Goodreads? If so, it’d be cool if you’d give a thought or two to doing so. I’d like to hear what more people think about the book and this is the only real way I’ll know.
I may or may not be fishing for reviews here.
Of course, if you haven’t read the book, I’d be thrilled if you’d do that too. Here’s that link again to where you can pick it up on Amazon.
I have no shame. Of course, authors with shame probably don’t get many people reading their books these days. Shame is overrated.
June 5, 2014
Atticus Review Debuts A New Column…And “The Garden Of Good And Evil Pancakes” Is Mentioned!
Atticus Review just created a new column called “Rolling Papers Revue” that is dedicated to the essential opening lines of written works. Guess what? The first volume includes The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes! Check it out!
This is so cool that they thought The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes has a strong opening. Like them, I believe a strong opening is critical for a book. Who can forget a book with a strong opening? Like these:
“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Hunter S. Thompson
“Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.” The Stranger , Albert Camus
“The beet is the most intense of vegetables.” Jitterbug Perfume , Tom Robbins
Loving books with a strong opening as I do, I was just thrilled to see Dan Cafaro include my book in his very first discussion for this column. It’s an honor. It’s such an honor, you should think about checking out the book on Amazon.
On an additional note, I was sort of on this list twice. Also included is Small Batch: An Anthology of Bourbon Poetry, in which a poem of mine appears. He wasn’t talking about my poem specifically, but I’ll count that as a double win anyway.
June 4, 2014
Dear Playbuzz… Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
I noticed that Playbuzz has a What is Your High School Stereotype? quiz. I loathe most of these quizzes, and this was no exception. As such, I decided to form a response. This response is below, my apologizes to The Breakfast Club:
Brian Johnson: Dear Playbuzz, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did WAS wrong, but we think you’re crazy to ask us to take a quiz that determines our high school stereotype. You and your quiz see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is … a brain…
Andrew Clark: …and an athlete…
Allison Reynolds: …and a basket case…
Claire Standish: …a princess…
John Bender: …and a criminal…
Brian Johnson: Does your quiz figure out that?
Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
June 3, 2014
My Five Favorite Restaurants in the Denver Area
No one has asked, but I feel like sharing some of my favorite restaurants in the Denver area. I just feel in a sharing mood today and though no one has asked, I figured there’s an off chance someone reading this would like to know. I picked five of my favorites, though there are many others I’m fond of.
Anyway, here we go:
1. Queen Of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant
2. Domo
3. Voodoo Doughnut (I know this is doughnuts as opposed to a full restaurant, but I don’t care.)
5. Star Kitchen
And there we have it. I hate picking favorite anything because it’s so hard to rank and can depend on my mood, but these are five places in the Denver area I love.
