RE: META: How to survive reading this list

O'Regan, Emlyn (Emlyn.ORegan@actew.com.au)
Fri, 4 Jun 1999 14:31:58 +1000

>----------
>From: Eugene Leitl[SMTP:eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de]
>Reply To: extropians@extropy.com
>Sent: Friday, 4 June 1999 12:09
>To: extropians@extropy.com
>Subject: META: How to survive reading this list
>
>O'Regan, Emlyn writes:
> > Between 11 May 99 (start of property rights fiasco) and 4 June 99
> > [ tale of much woe deleted ]
>
>In case you run Linux, and want to filter using procmail, do this:
>
...

Problem is, I can't bring myself to actually delete e-mails. Even with those which appear devoid of content, there somehow seems less content if the message is deleted. Perhaps this is like the difference between 0 and NULL.

I don't like losing information, and I think there could be information in the noise somewhere, even if only at a meta^n level (MANY thanks to T.0.Morrow for your posts along this line, it expressed an idea that I was having trouble crystalising).

I am finding, however, that I am having to run searches to find past e-mails to which I would like to respond/refer, because the shear volume has rendered my vertical scroll bar useless. I've got to find a way around this, because I'm using MSExchange, and the find mechanism is severly limited*.

Emlyn

PS: I've got an idea in mind for a generator (kinetic -> electrical energy), powered by typing. Maybe this would make flamewars useful, because sheer volume of material is more important than content. I think it could even have a little feedback loop by powering a coffee machine next to the keyboard (typing+sending a flamewar post powers coffee machine brews coffee raises stress level / lowers non-linear thinking in typist increases agitation due to response to original post + all other flamewar posts generates response-to-(response-to(original post)) post which is more beligerent than original post, go back to the beginning.

Actually, I think the guys in the electrical control room here would be pissed about this idea, because of the potential for load to spiral out of control. Maybe when load gets too high, you can help individual postors to meet in person, which should lower overall flame-post volume because of violent deaths (esp. in "guns" related flamewars).

Before anyone else brings it up, did anyone see the april fools day joke from Compaq this year about the "dyna-mouse", which is supposed to power the laptop to which it is connected by converting kinetic energy from the user's hand movements into electricity? I was fooled by it. It was very slick though, really! (no, really!)

Hey, I think I'll invent a bullshit->electricity convertor, and make a fortune... no, that's just the keyboard-generator above, but used by me. damn.

Emlyn
Intel inside (visualise the John Hurt in Alien).

>