(no subject)

I'm a fan of the Myers-Briggs personality test. It's one of the few ones that's given me reliable results I can relate to. I was amused to notice that someone's come up with a Star Trek based version of it (putting a trekkie spin on the questions). I normally come out INTP (Introvery, Intuitive, Thinker, Perceiver), which is darn close to what I got here:

Myers-Briggs would say that you are an INTJ (Introvert, Intuitive, Thinker, Judger). In Star Trek language, you share a basic personality configuration with Jean-Luc Picard and Seven of Nine.

People like you are generally autonomous, aloof, and intellectual. You sometimes give the impression you have no need of others, but you're intensely curious and driven to learn. You're cautious with others socially and respond best to people who don't push you to be friendly or affectionate. You appreciate when others follow your lead and accept your criticism in the helpful spirit in which it is intended. You're calm by nature and feel off-balance when confronted by highly emotional people.

You're highly organized and expect the same of others. You analyze automatically and enjoy seeing patterns and trends. When your mind is made up, that's it, which means that while you're definitive and strong, you can be stubborn and arrogant.

You respond best to other people's needs when they tell you about them clearly. You value honesty greatly. You prize people who listen to you and respect your ideals. You are somewhat contemptuous of those who don't pay attention to what you say.

You're a conservative dresser, but you have a unique and personal style.

Your primary goal in life is achieving independence and being able to live according to your own standards. Your reward is continual expansion of your competence and knowledge.

Good careers for your type include being a starship captain, intellectual property attorney, news analyst, design engineer, software developer, inventor, Webmaster, architect, and ex-Borg.

Take it yerself.

The ends justify the whole damn system

Here's a fantastic article on how the internet works on a tchno-social level and why it's such a fantastic place.

The World of Ends

But the Internet is different. It isn't wiring. It isn't a system. And it isn't a source of programming.

The Internet is a way for all the things that call themselves networks to coexist and work together. It's an inter-network. Literally.

What makes the Net inter is the fact that it's just a protocol — the Internet Protocol, to be exact. A protocol is an agreement about how things work together.

This protocol doesn’t specify what people can do with the network, what they can build on its edges, what they can say, who gets to talk. The protocol simply says: If you want to swap bits with others, here’s how. If you want to put a computer – or a cell phone or a refrigerator – on the network, you have to agree to the agreement that is the Internet.

The various lords of the various rings

I've seen this before, but not for a while. It's a bunch of alternative LOTR, as if written by other authors.

Those non-brits out there may find a few of them befuddling...

Top 50 SF novels

According to the Science Fiction Book Club, these are the 50 most influential sf books.

I've read 34.


[Poll #110133]