Tower of Babel

Below is a list of some 55 programming languages ... some compiled, some interpreted ...... many implemented in various forms on multiple computers ... and each designed to a specific end. This is just a scratching on the surface of all the possible ways of making a computer perform useful things using English. Don’t forget other programmers in other languages must also bring these electronic monsters to heel.

Of these numbers below, COBOL is probable the most used in commerce ... but other newer languages; C++, HTML are likely catching up. I myself was involved in developing MUSE, a natural language designed for data analysis ... alas, now on ice ... like many others. Anyhow, here are just a few of the litany of our computer communication means:

FORTRAN, COBOL, Assembly Language, JCL, Pascal, Snobol, Algol, Basic, Java, VBScript, PL-1, Ada, C, C++, HTML, MUSE, Java Sicript, C#, PHP, R, Sequel, SQL, Python, Swift, Ruby, Io, Objective-C, Lisp, Ruby, Spin, REXX, MUMPS, APL, Forth, Bliss, Haskell, Opal, CLEO, Dibol, Jovial,Visual Basic, HyperTalk, Occam, RPG, AppleScript, SGML, Janus, Leda, Prolog, Joule, SALSA, Lava, MOO, Pliant

DNA Test

Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny for years ... pretty much all the juice has been squeezed out of the Trump lemon. In order to turn things around, I offer the following skit to rejuvenate this once-vibrant weekend entertainment.

Let's start withe the scene: A family dinner of the Farkels ... an attractive vibrant mother, somewhat nerdy father and am attractive  teenage daughter. They are discussing  the day's events:

Mother: We got our DNA tests back today ... I am 73% Swedish, 24% German and 3% Turkish. That figures ... my mother was a full Swede and my father had German ancestors.

Father: I got mine and I am 87%  English' 10% Irish and 3% Italian.

Daughter: Wow! I want to have my DNA tested ...

Mother (visibly chagrined): Oh honey, that isn't necessary. Your  results will just be ta mix otf your Dad's and mine. Besides it costs $90 ... this is money we don't need to spend.

Father: Oh, dear ... what's the harm?

Mother  (flushing):Sweetie, these DNA tests are notoriously unreliable. You can't depend on their results.

Father: Oh, honey ... let our daughter do this test. What's the harm?

Mother (angering):'No, I refuse to allow it. It's a waste of good money on an unreliable test.

Daughter: I'll use my own money. I just want to see how much of my DNA comes from you Dad and from you Mom.

Mother (red faced): I refuse to allow it and that's final!

Father (milquetoasty): Aw, honey .

Mother (storming from the table): That's final!!

Father (clueless, to daughter): Gee, I wonder what's gotten into your Mother?

Xi and Me

I have written before about the contest for world hegemony between the United States and China ... see: China vs. U.S. ... in which I discussed the strategic advantages of each. Since then I have had four more thoughts on this subject:

- One advantage I had given to the U.S. was that it sits between two oceans ... something China could not correct. Well, it seems that it is trying ... with an initiative called the New Silk Road ... see: Building the New Silk Road. I somehow doubt that this opening to China's west will equate to another ocean, hut, at least, China seems to recognize that it does have a geopolitical problem.

- China does have ambitions to make the yuan the basis of international trade ... replacing the U.S. dollar. However, it is clear that China has been recently devaluing the yuan as part of its trade war with the United States ... see: Bloomberg Article. This duplicity does nothing but undermine China's currency ambitions.

- One issue I did not previously address was the language differential between these two countries. The incredibly complicated nature of the Chinese alphabet and spoken language, I believe, gives the strategic nod to English and America. Yes, computer software has ameliorated this edge somewhat, but will never eliminate it.

- Although"diversity" is argued by the liberal left to be a strategic advantage, clearly China is far less diverse than the U.S. ... and seems to deem it a disadvantage as it cleanses itself of dissents. Diversity in America might end up being a plus ... but only after these diverse groups are assimilated ... which may take many years into the future.


These four points seem to shift the strategic advantage of America over China further to the plus side, albeit only slightly.  The real pudding tasting will be in how the current trade skirmish with China turns out. Stay tuned.

Why Polls Can Be Wrong

Voter polling sometimes gets it wrong ... sometimes dramatically so ... witness Brexit. Why might this be so? I have previously discussed "thumb on the scale" polling ... see:  Polling. But let us assume that a pollster is honestly trying the read the tea leaves ... what could go wrong?  One slip could be a disconnect between the polling samples and the actual voter populations. Here are some examples:

- Since, surprisingly, many voters don't speak English these days, it is doubtful that these people, even though included in the polling samples, may be able to answer the pollsters' questions.

- Obviously, last hour events can have the ability to change minds inside the voting booth.

- Election Day turnout can be affected by the weather ... particularly between the younger and older voters.

- It is quite unlikely that voter fraud can be captured in polling results ... graves or phony addresses usually don't have phones

- Polls try to discern voter enthusiasm to determine if polling opinion translates into voter action. But "likely voter" is a binary choice, whereas enthusiasm is a wide continuum. And, of course, forward- leaning turn-out operations can clearly have an impact on more passive voters.

- Honest pollsters try to stratify their political party allocations based on past results ... but these past results can be historically stale ... particularly insofar as the impact of third-party candidates.

Are the polls right or wrong that show Hellary Clinton winning tomorrow? I'll be damned if I know...

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites:

Robot-powered burger joint threatens fast-food workers

July 4 message from Putin to Obama: Let's have better ties

Tim, the Kenyan elephant, seeks human help after being hurt by spear

Divided Poland mulls total abortion ban ...

Scientists FlipFlop back to Global Cooling?

Fido forever: dog cloning clinic

Those [in Dhaka mass killings] who could recite the Quran, spared

Huma admits Clinton burned daily schedules

U.S. Surpasses Saudi [Arabia] in oil reserves

Dems drop platform requirement that illegals learn English for amnesty

[National] debt jumps $100 billion ... in one day!

About 1.6 million people didn't make their Obamacare payments

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites:

Maine's First Lady takes summertime waitress job to pick up cash

Federal Judge: Constitution outdated, no value studying it ...

English will no longer be [an] EU official language

Flashback: Hillery pitches TPP 'gold standard'

Barry Gibb to release first album since '01

Obama pushes military to salute transgender, cross-dressing soldiers

China to Mars 'by end of decade'

FBI didn't inform some people they were on the ISIS kill list

Keystone XL pipeline company sues Obama and U.S. For $15 billion under NAFTA

Democrat platform calls for taxpayer funded abortions

Obama to hasten pivot towards Germany as top ally

University of North Carolina: Christmas is a 'microaggression' now

European Heaven and Hell

I figure I have offended a goodly number of Americans with my previous blog post … suggesting that (too) many of us are susceptible to Obama’s B.S.  So, to be fair and balanced, it is now time to dis(respect) the Europeans.  This is a (hopefully) humorous story I heard well over twenty-five years ago ... so I trust it is new to many of you.  It is the European version of heaven and hell.

European Heaven

A German mechanic

An English policeman

A French chef

An Italian lover

and

A Swiss administrator

European Hell

A German policeman

An English chef

A French mechanic

An Italian administrator

and

A Swiss lover

Bada Bing …