A case of (too many) good intentions

Here it is, over halfway through the week, more than halfway through the month, and I'm feeling more than half-behind in things I've meant to do (and post!).

I’ve had Internet problems all day, making everything take nearly twice as long, not even accounting for the ff (frustration factor) of losing stuff -- and waiting, waiting, waiting.

But trying again, intent with good intentions.

I had a photo I'd taken and saved especially for Valentine's, even found an article about writing a love poem I intended to use. Oh, sigh.

And it seemed a natural follow-up from the last posting, on Walk Myself Home, to write about the Women's Memorial March held on Monday.

Then, getting fluffier in my thinking, this big blue machine by the name of Watson showed up on Jeopardy! At least at this point, here in the Pacific Time Zone, where we haven't yet seen tonight's show, Watson is beating the proverbial pants off his competitors, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

While it's impressive to see Watson's comprehension of 'natural language' it's crummy seeing two such brainy humans getting slapped around so badly by a bank (okay, banks and banks) of microprocessors (or whatever they are). Both Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter have earned payouts in the millions, but it looks as though neither of them stands a chance against Watson. And I suspect it's largely a matter of who can buzz in the fastest. Hands down (as there are no ‘hands’ involved), when it comes to speedy reflexes, the winner is going to be Watson.

One thing Watson has made me think about is Robert J. Sawyer's www trilogy -- okay, only two are out so far, Wake and Watch -- but it's hard not to think Sawyer's vision (those who have read these will know what I mean) could indeed be soon to come true.

Beyond language

When I used the website, Babylon, to translate the phrase above into Hungarian, it came out as Túl nyelv. But when I pasted that phrase into the Hungarian-to-English form, it came back as too language.

And really, 'too language' is about how I feel when I try to learn (or even hear and repeat) almost anything in the subtle sounds of Hungarian. To my western ear, it sounds like a series of swishes and other vocalizations that are impossible for my mouth to wrap itself around.

When I travel, I try to learn enough of a language to at least say thank you and hello. But when I travelled in Hungary, I was hard-pressed to acquire even that much. I found myself pretty well stuck with English only.

This summer, friends from Hungary have been visiting nearby. Yesterday, we took them on an excursion to the city. Five-year-old Hunor proved that English isn’t always necessary to enjoy an outing with a couple of Canadians. Science World with its many interactive attractions kept him (and the rest of us) happily occupied for the entire two hours we’d plugged the parking meter for. Who ever said science wasn’t any fun?