I'm taking philosophy this summer (Socrates' chapters, what a crazy guy), and it's now that I'm looking at some of the reasoning behind Thalo's posts or even the silly songs in "The OS X Silly Thread". And then I realize that Thalo and "mithradites" and possibly "mAxximo" are all greek names, right? or maybe roman? philosophers or gods or rulers. So following the line of dialectical thinking: Does reason dictate adherence to AHIGs while appetites explain all the iCandy that has been going on recently? Makes sense to me

I always assumed thalo was chosen for it's connection to color (green), oil paints or inks, art in general but not for the Greek reference.

Thallos is Greek for new branch, young twig, green sprout etc.

Thalo even has an element named after him: thallium

...

THALO:
And if he is compelled to look straight at the stripes, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of Platinum which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?

BRAD:
True, he said.

THALO:
And suppose once more, that the Pro is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of Jobs himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the stripes his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called MHIGs?

BRAD:
Certainly

THALO:
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the Aqua world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of candy and other objects in the GUI, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the blight of the Dock and the animations and the spangled background; and he will see the crap and the beachballs by night better than the memory protection or the preemptive multi-tasking by day?

BRAD:
Certainly.

THALO:
Last of all he will be able to see Quark, and not mere reflections of him in the Aqua, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.

BRAD:
True, he said.

THALO:
The Pro will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the Mac world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?

BRAD:
Clearly, he said, he would first see the UI and then reason about it.

THALO:
And when he remembered his old OS, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-users, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on them and pity the change?

BRAD:
Certainly, he would.

...

lol!! hahahhaha comical appetites are good

'Tis much the same when I listen to Rush. When in the presence of genius it’s the untruthful and arrogant one who can not humble himself to be a yes-man.

To less-is-more I say YES!
To the AHIGs I say YES!
To elegance, simplicity, and ease-of-use I say yes, yes, a thousand times YES.

[To one-button mice I say a resounding NO!]

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I always assumed thalo was chosen for it's connection to color (green), oil paints or inks

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not green in this case man, there's also a pthalocyanine BLUE, that you can mix into a kind of candy ice-blue aqua color. Another coal-tar pigment. Deadly if ingested.

Brother trif, I like the reason vs. appetites thing. It's at the heart of the pro vs. casual use thing. Computers as passive entertainment, bread and circuses... or as tools of self determination and creative destiny. A product subject to the whims of trend and fad and mass market mentality (hence dumbed down), or as a kind of attempt of humankind to elevate and understand itself. Is it a Hubble telescope, or a Hello Kitty Kaliedescope?

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Fantastic Socratic dialog, John!!

Donald Rumsfeld is even more contained. He doesn't need anyone to ask him questions, agree with him, or anything else. He carries on his own dialogs and press conferences:

"Are we in a tough situation? Yes, we are. Am I worried? Yes, I am. Will we lose more people? I'm afraid we will. Am I confident about the future? Yes, I am. Do I agree with the President? Of course I do, you boob. Is this press conference over? You betcha!"


Markle

quote:

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"Are we in a tough situation? Yes, we are. Am I worried? Yes, I am. Will we lose more people? I'm afraid we will. Am I confident about the future? Yes, I am. Do I agree with the President? Of course I do, you boob. Is this press conference over? You betcha!"

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I knew there was SOMETHING I liked about him, haha.

Actually I think we all do that by design. I believe discourse is usually about trying to hammer our internal monologues into actual dialog with other humans. Which is why it's always such a slippery slope. But the choice to try is noble. Rummie is obliged to give press conferences, and when the question is appropriately dumbed down, he falls back on this technique, which always causes a flurry of pencil scratching and keyboarding. Why? Because we think in overcharge. We love to load up short phrases with larger issues, overcharge every vocabulary word. Why do we do this? I dunno. Does OS X suck? Yes.