I know I could have found a translator to convert the code for the title into plaintext, but I downloaded the list of Morse Code and gave it a go manually.
I know. I'd have failed my HAM radio test, back when Morse Code was a requirement.
Morse Code, BSL and Pitman shorthand are three skills I really regret not learning when I was very young (not because the opportunities were there and I refused - the opportunities were not there; not, at least, where I grew up).
Want to learn Morse Code? Harry Lorayne, the memory expert, has a mnemonic way to do it.
The system is as follows.
1) t and d represent dash; r represents dot
2) commit 26 phrases to memory
Here are some of the phrases:
Awful rat
Big terror
Crazy torture
Dreamy tearer
Translating "Awful rat": This phrase means "A" is dot dash, because Awful starts with an A, and rat has an R and a T in it.
Likewise, B is represented as dash dot dot dot, because "Big" starts with a B, and "terror" has trrr in it.
Look at this link, and you'll know Morse Code in no time. This can get you over the initial hurdle of memorization, but obviously doesn't relieve you of the need for practice!
That's not an ideal way to go. Morse is an aural language and needs to be learned by sound. Knowing what combinations of
'dots and dashes' compose various symbols is next to useless: A is didah, not "dot dash".
The optimal way to learn it is by having a partner or computer app transmit individual letters at relatively fast rates, so you don't have time to parse them into their elements. Then, adjust the transmission speed by varying the time between letters, gradually ramping things up as your recognition skills improve.
I can't debate you on that. I'm just reporting what I read in Harry Lorayne's book. And with one simple reading, and about 5 minutes of rehearsal, I knew all 26 letter translations.
But I never tried to convert it to use.
It seems on the internet, some who have learned Morse Code recommend techniques like this, while others recommend against mnemonic techniques.
Wikipedia has a few other examples of other mnemonic devices, so it seems that someone has found these techniques useful. And people learn differently.
If I compare it to learning a foreign language, I know my experience with that was that the hurdle of memorizing vocabulary was large, and memory techniques helped that. But it wasn't until I practiced, that I was able to "think" in the foreign language, and all intermediate steps went away. And books on memory book say that same thing.
Short wave radio allows global scale communications with very little infrastructure, and Morse code has many advantages over other forms of communications in the short wave bands. A Morse code signal can be understood in a noisy radio environment better than a voice signal at the same amount of power. It requires less radio bandwidth, enabling very efficient use of the limited short wave spectrum.
Short wave radio is not near as important now with the global Internet in place, but it still has reach to some places that don't have Internet connectivity. It is also a good backup technology in the event that something like a natural disaster or terrorist attack severely damages our Internet infrastructure.
Finally, communicating using Morse code over Amateur Radio is a fun and intellectually stimulating hobby. I don't currently have a rig setup where I can do this, but when I did in the past, I really enjoyed it.
I suspect that the Guardian's editorial staff may have acted like a spy in the camp throughout the election period. The rest of the media, I could understand: but the Guardian seemed to like AV as much as the Telegraph or the Mail, and that I could not understand.
When even the BBC and internet news sources started to speak up against AV, I had a feeling that we would soon see the baby flying out along with the bathwater: and so, indeed it came to pass.
A sad day, that the British public would reject innovation in favour of an old, failing system. I'd rather have had the new system; the politicians' unfamiliarity with it meant that they could not game the system with the same expertise as they all now have with First Past The Post.
Celebrate the lives of whose whom bin Laden had adversely affected throughout his life of crime. All those lives, lost. All those soldiers dead and injured, their lives spent in the name of hunting him down. Their bravery and sacrifice now made worth it on this day. Bless them. Bless them all, and may they and their families find rest and closure.
Think about those who perverted bin Laden's mind as a young man, the environment he grew up in, and those who poisoned him and turned him into the killer he became. Think of how his life might have turned out if he'd embraced peace instead of terrorism.
Think of those lives he might never have ended before their time, and the world we'd have had since 2001 if he'd never come close to causing 9/11. A more peaceful world. No DHS, no Patriot Act, no TSA, no body scans. People allowed to wear shoes and carry bottled water onto a plane.
Nobody fearing their neighbours just because they're a different skin colour. Bigotry on its way to becoming a thing of the past.
Celebrate the world where the things he has done are now in the past, and you have a far better future ahead of you. Celebrate all of that, and turn your mind to creating the conditions for peace to return to the world once more.
A far better future ahead of us?? I'm not sure on what basis you declare that this will be the case. Osama Bin Laden's death will not end the Orwellian slope we're slipping down.
I woke up this morning, determined to look for unanswerable questions. Hungry for philosophy.
By chance, I decided to browse through HN now, rather than later. If I'd come here later, I might have missed this link, and this blog.
I honestly thought I'd done with HN, and that it had served its purpose. It seems that I can still gain much by coming here daily, after all.
And the Krishnamurti site will provide me with a veritable feast of unanswerable questions, enough to satisfy the hunger of my inner philosopher for a long time to come.
"Even a tree struck by lightning may bear new fruit." -- The Code of Ananda
What happens to the sculpture, now he has completed it? Does it go on permanent exhibition somewhere? Curious to know its fate. I would like to visit San Fran some time, and I would pay to go and see that sculpture if I did.
What began as a simple glitch and a footnote in the history of howlers and error turned into an interesting tale of morality, honour and ethics. Fascinating.
I have it on good authority that Australia won't receive the first episode on their screens until April 30th. Have the Beeb suddenly changed their minds? Will the Beeb, then, surprise them by releasing the season opener to them on the same day as us here in the UK?
Yeah you are right about that http://www.abc.net.au/tv/watchnow/?id=doctorwho. But the good thing about Doctor Who in Oz is that the ABC put most of their shows up on their iview platform which means it can be watched online for a week after the broadcast. Handy for me as I always seem to miss the show on tv.
Hrrrm... not sure what the situation is in Australia, but here in the States, we do get the first episode of the new series today (the 23rd), same day as the folks in the UK. Of course we're a few hours behind them, which means I may still bittorrent it anyway... but at least BBC America isn't lagging 3-4 weeks behind the UK, like they have in past years.
I expect the tabloids would have fun fanning outrage if a prominent licence fee payer---funded TV show was shown in a foreign country before it was shown in the UK.
If this experiment is a success, maybe they'll extend it in the future.
I first got into transfinite numbers through a book by Rudy Rucker, "Infinity and The Mind." I tried explaining this subject to a Doctoral candidate once, at around 2am - and he accused me of having come off my meds.
I see no problem with happiness. However, happiness will always remain fleeting - a momentary feeling of contentment and fulfillment where you convince yourself that you have achieved your goals.
A dedicated, mindful person can achieve many of the benefits of happiness - the stronger relationships, the untroubled and healthy sleep patterns - by focusing on maintaining those benefits directly. Do you want to sleep like a baby? Get to bed and rise regularly, 22:00 - 06:00, and declutter your bedroom to dedicate that room entirely towards the function of sleep.
Do you want to maintain healthy relationships? Work on them. Build and maintain trust. Act without expectation of reward, and feel delight when your puzzled friends respond to your new found generosity of spirit.
You'll quickly discover the inadequacy of money alone in providing happiness. True, too little and you will find paying the bills a struggle and life somewhat problematic. Join the club. However, too much money attracts entirely the wrong people, drawn by the prospect of loosening the money from your grip and nothing else.
Myself, I strive not for happiness, but for mindfulness: for the awareness of the fact that I exist; that I live; and that, at any time, I have ownership of this precise moment on this marvellous world, this incredible universe.
Quiet focus and calm, mindful determination. That works for me.
I know. I'd have failed my HAM radio test, back when Morse Code was a requirement.
Morse Code, BSL and Pitman shorthand are three skills I really regret not learning when I was very young (not because the opportunities were there and I refused - the opportunities were not there; not, at least, where I grew up).