h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Casa Canis?

Dog End?
Mut Close?
Mongrela?

Hmmm.
Sounds like "Dogpatch" to me.


How - ooooo!

Watching () Casablanca this evening and loved this dialogue.



An old German couple about to get a plane to the USA and freedom.


Husband: [We] are speaking nothing but English now.

Wife: So we should feel at home ven vee get to America.

[...]

Husband: Liebchen... ahem... Sweetness heart, vat vatch?

Wife: 10 vatch.

Husband (surprised): Such much?

Rick's Deutsche barman (with a visible effort to appear sincere): You will get along beautifully in America.



just tickled my fancy,

spiff

The d*g watch, obviously

Ah, Casablanca! "You played it for her, now play it for me!"

Victor Laslo

Can someone explain to me the phrase "Ghost in the Machine". I believe it was invented by Arthur Koestler, but I don't know what it means.

I think it was originally a rough translation of Deus ex Machina, but now seems to have veered towards gremlins

I think 'the ghost in the machine' refers to consciousness or the mind. But I've been spectacularly wrong before...

Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"

Ask the Cosmic Watchmaker...

I'll go with Patter Chaser. As far as I remember from the book it was a reference to the consciousness.

It tends to be used today (certainly in the things I read) to talk about Artificial Intelligence and stuff. Good for talking about machines that become sentient and terrorise their makers in a cheap Frankenstein rip off sort of way. I think it also applies to cars etc. that you have to talk to nicely before they start.

Or, now I think about it more (always dangerous) it would be the ineffable something that turns a clever, yet predictable and programmable machine into a humanesque, self aware mind.

Munchkin mentioned <> *These* are dangerous! I can tolerate (so-called) intelligent machnery in general, but when I come across something that some sick programmer has primed to do things according to *its* own rules, and not take direction from humans, then I get ANGRY.

The only acceptable 'intelligent' machine is "slave" the shipboard computer from the wonderful BBC sci-fi series "Blake's Seven". Now *that* was AI as it ought to be.

Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"

I've heard of gymns with "intelligent" exercise machines. Each machine has a name, such as "George" or "Al". When you start working on Al, "he" speaks to you, saying, "I see you've been working hard on George, so I'll go easy on you". That I can do without.

I even get cross with messages "Please be patient while the files are installed". The worst is "I am about to restart your computer. Click on OK to proceed". There is no Cancel button.

I think the message is there to give you one last chance to swear at the machine before it shuts down and then "mysteriously" fails to reboot, leading to four days of confusion and panic and a couple of hundred pounds worth of software/hardware. Or a lump hammer.

You're a man (oops! gender-assumption warning!) after my own heart, Gnomon. Perhaps large axes should be installed within easy reach of all programmable equipment, in case of urgent need, such as you describe?

Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"

Gender assumption correct.

<>

Good.

Axe acceptability assumption?

Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"

Axe sounds good too!