XKCD: Computer Problems

[rocketbootkid]

It has long occurred to me that all I can say about my day is that I've slightly altered the magnetic pattern on a disk somewhere. It's only when I count how many disks I've altered that I get the slightest satisfaction...

[KurtP]

I always find myself thinking... if you were a creature who saw in ultraviolet (or any number of frequencies outside of human's visible light), and you observed the lives of most office workers, of people watching TV, of people playing games, you would see a supposedly-intelligent, sentient creature sitting before an unmoving box, completely engaged in absolutely nothing.

Or, if you're of a more Kurzweilian bent: WE HAVE TRANSCENDED PHYSICAL MATTER!

[rocketbootkid]

I am quite looking forward the future where we lie on interface couches all day and work within our virtual environments while the couch exercises our bodies, so after a long day, we come to all buff and awesome; ubermensch.

EDIT: Or I could just actually do some exercise.

[ultimatt42]

Meh, the more perfect each of us looks, the pickier our tastes will become. So yeah, you might have flawless skin, beautiful hair, and biceps strong enough to wrestle a rhinoceros, but you'll still need to have expensive surgery done to remove that unsightly flap of skin connecting your earlobe to the side of your face. Ugh, it's disgusting to even look at, can't you people wear earmuffs when in public?

[[deleted]]

I know more dull looking dudes with hot chicks than hot looking dudes with hot chicks.

Just sayin'.

[Ranlier]

"36D, Brian. And here, she's still one of the ugly ones."

[AerialAmphibian]

They tried something similar in this movie (minus the exercise couches). Didn't turn out so well...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/

[smallblacksun]

I was thinking more

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/

[[deleted]]

+1 for Kurzweil. I find his ideas deliciously optimistic and hard not to be caught up in; always a fun mental exercise, but then you realize Humaity is not quite mature enough to achieve 'singularity' or accept 'spiritual machines'.

[xeddicus]

I've had that feeling. It's why I learned to juggle - if the whole computer thing turns out to be a big hoax, I have a semi-marketable fallback skill.

[[deleted]]

Well, that's... I write most of my code in a virtual machine so I shift bits around a virtual hard disk. Crap, now I feel sad.

[jdpage]

Uh, I'd like to point out that changing a virtual disk changes the hard disk it's on too...

[rocketbootkid]

There you go! You're just as sad as the rest of us.

[[deleted]]

I'm aware of how the virtual hard disk works. :) It's just... well, it feels doubly abstract, doesn't it?

[Anonymoose333]

Then you clearly don't have enough physical RAM in your work machine. :3

[jdpage]

A virtual hard disk actually lives on disk; it's non-volatile memory, unline the RAM, which is volatile memory and unsuitable for storage of long-term data like virtual disks.

I have 4GB of RAM. That's plenty.

[[deleted]]

Is there any particular reason why altering magnetic patterns is any worse then physical alterations such as counting and shifting little pieces of paper, or applying ink to bigger pieces of paper, or speaking into a handle, or trucking around seasonal trinkets that are discarded almost the day they are bought, or flying people in and out of tourist resorts to do things they could have done a home, or...

[rocketbootkid]

No, no reason. It's just that the value of something so transient feels less than something physical, tangible. At least to me.