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Friday, March 28, 2003 |
L. A. Story
I really wanted to find the exact quote from Steve Martin's L.A. Story about coffee drinks; it's been on my mind every time I stand in line at a coffeeshop for the last three days. I was surprised to find that my earlier reference is currently the first hit for "steve martin" "l.a. story" latte when you search on Google.I eventually found it on the Internet Movie Database:
Guy with neck-support: I'll have a decaf coffee. Trudi: I'll have a decaf espresso. Movie critic: I'll have a double decaf cappuccino. Policeman: Give me decaffeinated coffee ice cream. Harris K. Telemacher: I'll have a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon. Trudi: I'll have a twist of lemon. Guy with neck-support: I'll have a twist of lemon. Movie critic: I'll have a twist of lemon. Cynthia: I'll have a twist of lemon.
I read the news today, oh boy
Well, this never happens. I actually agree with the editorial page of the Wisconsin State Journal. They've looked at the idea of allowing more than one viewpoint in the media, and have decided they're in favor of it: Publisher: Advocacy ads part of healthy marketplace of ideas. As I've noted before, the trend has been to deny access to the media for those who want to protest the war.
Madison's media has been concentrated in out of state, convervative owners (both our daily newspapers are owned by the same out of state group,and ClearChannel owns far too much of our local radio market). It's good to see at least an occasional gesture to allowing the Left a voice. The Dixie Chicks still get their music played on local stations, too.
You're talking a lot...but you're not saying anything
The Phraselator is a device that lets you speak a phrase in English, and plays back a prerecorded Arabic translation of the phrase. It's not doing on the fly translation, but it's interesting as an advance in user interface, not in machine language translation.When I was growing up, we had a Dutch-English phrasebook, published by the US Army during World War II. It struck me as slightly absurd "found poetry": "I am an American soldier -- your friend. Where is the enemy? Bring us all the food. Everything will be paid for with military script. This village is under martial law. Anyone found moving after curfew will be shot."
Alas, the article does not give any detail about the Phraselator's vocabulary.
[Via Gizmodo] Device Lets U.S. Troops Talk to Wounded Iraqi POWs
