Re: IBM BlueGene/P ("what is Watson?")

On Jun 27, 8:43 pm, Alan Feldman <alanfeldma...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jun 25, 9:56 am, DaveG <david.gudew...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Jun 25, 3:35 am, Michael Kraemer <M.Krae...@xxxxxx> wrote:

Alan Feldman schrieb:

On Jun 23, 3:53 pm, AEF <spamsink2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Jun 23, 3:37 pm, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spam...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Michael Kraemer wrote:

but that was in the good old times when computers were really dumb.
IIRC in one of the TNG episodes the crew tried similar tricks
by requiring an evil computer to calculate PI to the last digit.
The machine was smart enough to recognize that PI is irrational
and thus refused the computation. That's progress, I guess.

No, it is experience. The evil compurter would have watched the original
Ster Trek series episodes and knew that the new crew were trying the
same tricks.  :-)

I have the episode on my ipod.  I think Spock asked for the exact
value, but I'm not sure. I'll check this evening. Stay tuned.

AEF

Well, I have it on the Mac, too.

Spock: Computer: This is a class A directive. Compute, to the last
digit, the value of pi.

Jack the Ripper who is "in" the computer: No no no no no no noooooooo!

Spock: As we know, the value of pi is a transcendental figure [true!]
without resolution. The computer banks will work on this problem to
the exclusion of all else until we order it to stop.

Kirk: Yes, that should keep that thing busy for a while.

That's the classic example how to keep the computer busy
until it eventually goes up in smoke.

So what happened on TNG?

My memory is really weak, but ISTR that in a later episode, presumably
a TNG one, the computer simply refused to calculate an irrational
number, be it PI or sqrt(2) or sth like that, because it knew beforehand
that it would be impossible.
This somehow reflects the different views on IT in the 1960s vs the
late 1980s.
Anyway, SciFi tells you more about the past than the future.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

This from a ST fan, TNG way more than TOS.  For me, it was
entertainment and it told some good stories.  The Borg stuff was hard
to beat and I liked Q.  Didn't he "introduce" the Borg and show Picard
the ooze from which we came.

Why not enjoy it for what it was rather than criticizing it for what
it wasn't.  ST did not air on PBS to my knowledge.  I think Shatner
once said:  "it's just a TV show, get a life!!"

Program complete, enter when ready.

But that's the fun of it! Enjoying it AND pointing out the flaws. One
has to remember they had a small budget to work with, even smaller
during the third season.

The flaws add some "light comedy" to the experience.


The first time I just couldn't go with it was Star Trek IV with the
whales. Yeah, it was fun, but I really had to ignore the destructo
ship destorying planets where whales were fished to death. I just
can't see it.

Uh, fat-fingered a premature post. Sorry about that!

I just can't see it: A large cylindrical probe, wandering the galaxy,
looking for planets whose whales have gone extinct. "Ah, whales!" Next
solar system. "Ah, whales here too. Next!" "Uph! No whales here. Time
to slowly destroy the place!"

It was just too much. I could go with everything until that point --
flaws and all. Oh, come to think of it I did have some problems going
along with Star Trek III. I need to re-watch Wrath of Khan. I keep
reading that that was a really good one. Is that the one where Spock
should have fired his phaser and wimped out? That was a "C'mon" moment
for me.

Well, I could go on and on. I'll stop here.

AEF
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: IBM BlueGene/P ("what is Watson?")
    ... IIRC in one of the TNG episodes the crew tried similar tricks ... by requiring an evil computer to calculate PI to the last digit. ... Ster Trek series episodes and knew that the new crew were trying the ... Spock: Computer: This is a class A directive. ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: IBM BlueGene/P ("what is Watson?")
    ... IIRC in one of the TNG episodes the crew tried similar tricks ... by requiring an evil computer to calculate PI to the last digit. ... Ster Trek series episodes and knew that the new crew were trying the ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: IBM BlueGene/P ("what is Watson?")
    ... IIRC in one of the TNG episodes the crew tried similar tricks ... by requiring an evil computer to calculate PI to the last digit. ... Ster Trek series episodes and knew that the new crew were trying the ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: IBM BlueGene/P ("what is Watson?")
    ... IIRC in one of the TNG episodes the crew tried similar tricks ... by requiring an evil computer to calculate PI to the last digit. ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: IBM BlueGene/P ("what is Watson?")
    ... IIRC in one of the TNG episodes the crew tried similar tricks ... by requiring an evil computer to calculate PI to the last digit. ... Ster Trek series episodes and knew that the new crew were trying the ...
    (comp.os.vms)