Luke: All right, I'll give it a try.
Yoda: No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.

Luke raises his hand, and slowly, the X-wing begins to rise out of the water - Yoda's eyes widen - but then the ship sinks again.

Mark Hamill: "Um, George..."
George Lucas: "What is it now?"
Mark: "So... according to the script, next I say, 'I can't. It's too big'."
George: "That's right."
Mark: "Shouldn't Luke maybe give it another shot?"
[...]

-- Eliezer Yudkowsky, "Use the try harder, Luke"

After robot_mel linked to this, I started reading more. See also http://cectic.com/163.html http://cectic.com/155.html http://cectic.com/079.html http://cectic.com/069.html http://cectic.com/042.html http://cectic.com/035.html

Dear Bill: Is there a method to winning a political argument online? S.L., South Bend

Dear S.L.: Try this:

You always You never You should You must You shouldn't You mustn't. Why can't you Why don’t you Why aren't you Why didn’t you How could you? You suck You blow You lie You have no idea. You ignoramus You jerk You Ass You partisan hack. You're lying You're cheating You're distorting You're asking for it. You're out of your mind You’re out of your league You’re out of your tree You're out of your gourd. You’re off your rocker You're off your meds You're off the reservation. You're wrong You're stupid You're ignorant You're mental You're full of shit. You're an automaton You're a bomb-thrower You’re a water carrier You're a Kool Aid drinker You're a hack You're a loser You're a prick. You've got blinders on You've got no sense You've got spittle on your chin You've got your head up your ass. You disgust me You repulse me You disappoint me You make me want to puke. You’re talking in circles You're talking in riddles You’re talking in gibberish You're talking trash You're talking like a two year old. You can go to hell You can kiss my ass You can leave You can take your shit to another blog. I'm warning you I'm telling you I'm advising you I'm this close to troll-rating you. I'm sick of your crap I'm sick of your attitude I'm sick of your comments I'm sick of your emails I'm sick of your purity. Mine's better, smarter, faster, more organized, more effective and more experienced than yours, whatever it is. I say so I know so I was there I heard it from the horse's mouth I saw it on the internet I found it on Wikipedia I have a friend who took a class I got it from Fox News I read a press release from my congressman. Knock it off Cut it out Get a clue Do your homework. Clearly you don’t understand Clearly you don’t listen Clearly you don’t get it Clearly you haven’t tried it Clearly you weren't old enough at the time Clearly you're out of touch Clearly you're running around with the wrong crowd Clearly you want us to lose. One more word One more peep One more comment One more outburst One more syllable and you'll regret it. Don’t give me that attitude Don’t play that card Don’t change the subject Don't act so surprised Don’t be so stupid. Go to hell Go pound sand Go back to your mommy Go screw yourself Go to Little Green Footballs. I'm sick of you I loathe you I hope you get what's coming to you, crybaby.

And then add: "With all due respect." Bingo---you win.

---Bill Harnsberger, Daily Kos

Assume you have the wealth of Bruce Wayne, and in addition are supremely fit, deadly in the use of a variety of weapons and martial arts, and cunning in the extreme. What do you need in addition to be a superhero?

How about some combination of a personal jetpack, armour suit and powered exoskeleton?

(ISTR asking this before, but personal jetpacks have improved since then :-)

ergotia, on PMT:

I want a cigarette so much. Preferably a chocolate-coated one.

The logo of Instituto de Estudos Orientais, the Brazilian Institute of Oriental Studies, is a stylized pagoda sillhouetted against the setting sun. ( Read more... )