April 15, 2011
Sufficiently indistinguishable from magic
Posted by Claus at April 15, 2011 11:28 AM | TrackBack (0)
A few days ago my brother asked me if I know of a good way to record what was going on on the screen of his Windows laptop. The following conversation then occured
Arthur C. Clarke has this famous quote that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", and here it is, realized almost to a T: How do you operate Google? Through magical incantation. You can find anything - if you know the magic spell. In this case, channeling Harry Potter, findus screencastius!
Me: There are a number of good options. The good word to search for is 'screencast'
Brother: Alright, I'll search then.
Me: I think it's easier that way.
Brother: Agree. But the search word is important.
Me: Yup.
Posted by Claus at April 15, 2011 11:28 AM | TrackBack (0)
Comments (post your own)
We are almost there. If it was true magic your brother would just say "record screen" in the general direction of his computer and it would start recording. As it is now, there are a few more steps involved.
Posted by: Christian Bering on April 15, 2011 12:47 PMThat would be animism - where everything is sentient and sentiently responsive. Magic is difficult - you need to know the spell. But yes.
Posted by: Classy on April 15, 2011 1:16 PM
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