Google Scribe (in Google Labs) tries to help make writing easier and better by using predictive text suggestions. These go beyond regular finish the word suggestions, and can actually suggest the next word. I assume this must be based on their index of commonly occurring word that are adjacent. So I was wondering what would Google Scribe write if always take the suggested next word? What kind of inspiration would it provide after I choose the starting word?

Inspiration for the design of the study was to determine the effect of the drug in the treatment of the subject matter of the present invention is to provide a method for the determination of the amount of the compound of formula I wherein R is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Berkeley . . . .

When I gave it the starting word “Inspiration” it assumed I was writing a paper about a study on a drug at the University of California Berkeley, and they got stuck in a recursive loop. What if I try a different word?

Writing and Editing Professional in Human Resources Management and Development of the National Association of Realtors and the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States and Canada for the first time in the future and the future of the country and the world of the living room and dining room with a view to the sea and the mountains of the world and the world of the living room and dining room with a view to the sea and the mountains of the world . . . .

Not sure where it was going with that one. I gave it the word “Writing” and it started talking about organizations and departments and countries then got in a weird loop about rooms with views . . . It doesn’t seem that it will ever suggest punctuation, which leads to run on sentences. I wonder what Scibe wants to say about “Google” . . .

Google Earth and Google Maps to find the best deals on the best way to get the best of the best in the world of the living room and dining room with a view to the sea and the mountains of the world and the world of the living room . . .

Interesting that it listed Google Earth and Google Maps specifically, but then got stuck in the room with a view loop again. It clearly isn’t looking only at word pairs since Google would have matched Earth both times, but at the same time the context is shorter in other situations since it really likes that room with a view loop.

It does have an option to give multiple suggestions, so the user could steer the conversation in different directions. Plus the addition of the occasional period would allow for the introduction of new chains of thought.

Conclusion: It does look at more than just the previous word, but still can get stuck in a recursive loop. No punctuation is suggested. It is clearly still a labs toy, but I’ve seen predictive correction before that works, so this may evolve and show up in more places. You can install the extension today and play with it on your favorite web text box.

I had a good friend who was a rock hound.  He would go out and either find rough rocks in the wild, or buy them.  Then clean, cut and polish them.  For some of the rocks he would mount them as jewelry.

He told me about a gift he made for his mother-in-law.  It was a very involved project.  He took a great piece of Onyx, cut it like a heart and polished it up.  Then he mounted it in a necklace.  I forget the exact number of hours he spent on it, but it was quite a few.  When he was done it was beautiful.  It got a nice jewelry box and put a little note it in, then mailed it to his mother-in-law.

When she got it she called him to say how much she loved it, but she was a bit confused about the note.

“Why do I need to keep it in the freezer when I am not wearing it?” she asked.

“Well,” he said, “onyx is a very hard and darkly colored stone.  So if you keep it cold, then I can tell everyone that my mother-in-law has a very cold, hard, black little heart.”

She thought it was very funny, and it is one of her most treasured pieces of jewelry.  She even keeps it in the freezer too.

It is good to have family with a sense of humor.

BTW, if you have a mother-in-law with a good sense of humor you can buy an onyx necklace for her.

I really enjoy watching Big Bang Theory, one of the best parts is all the crazy T-Shirts Sheldon wears.  Now someone case created similarly crazy shirts based on Sheldon.

I already have this one:

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock

This is probably my favorite:

I’m Not Insane
My mother had me tested

Bazinga

Visionary

Revenge

Friendship Algorithm

All the Big Bang Theory shirts at StylinOnline.com

It looks like someone might finally have my number when it comes to a massively multiplayer game (MMO):

I actually have not played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic yet, but I heard good things about it. It it wasn’t BioWare teamed with Lucas Arts for this game then I would have my doubts of them actually achieving the scope they are aiming for in this teaser. Star Wars The Old Republic looks really cool.

One of my favorite movies GATTACA is now on Hulu. It is a Sci-Fi movie about a world where they have completely sequenced the human genome, and within seconds of birth they can tell you your likelihood of diseases and life expectancy.  Naturally they also have the ability to engineer humans with no genetic defects.

This results in two classes:

• The Valid: Those with superior, non-flawed, engineered from conception, genetic makeup.  These are the most desired employees for all the top professions: Doctors, Astronauts, etc.
• The Invalid: Those with naturally occurring genetic makeup and flaws, the result of normal conception.  Sometimes called love children.  These are the new lower working class: Janitors, etc.

Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is a natural born child full of defects and predisposed to a heart trouble.  He also has a dream of space travel.  Enter Jerome (Jude Law), no dreams, but the genetics to have any position.  Unfortunately Jerome broke his back and is paralyzed.

Now Vincent is a borrowed ladder: A person living life under the guise another’s genome.  That will get him in the door at GATTACA – the premier space exploration agency, but how will he make it to the stars?

Simple, There is no gene for Human Spirit.

I am not making this up.  My debit card has gotten the signature strip warn off the back, so I needed a new one.  Unfortunately the little card services number is missing too.

1. So I figured I would go to the web site and submit a request there.
2. I get a response back the next day that I need to be logged into my online checking account to make that request – because they value my security.  
3. So I log into online banking and make the request again.  Next time we log into our account we get a note telling us we need to call the office to make that request – because they value my security.  
4. So call the number and they tell me I need to visit the branch to make that request – because they value my security.
5. I am yet to visit my local branch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they told me to go to branch I opened my account at – they have done that too me before.  Only problem is now I have moved out of state. . .

I suspect this might become more common, but I believe I may have developed some Wii Elbow from playing tennis on Wii Sports.

Last week I decided to launch a Delphi podcast.  It was a lot of work, but amazingly it all came together and I met my deadline of having the first episode online this morning.  I did however discover it was very, very time consuming to put it together.  I sepent over 10 hours just making, editing and publishing the single 18 minute episode.  That doesn’t include general site work.  I expect the time necessary to go down.

It was very enjoyable process though, and it is great to get something done and have others enjoying it and giving positive feedback.  Not sure if it is worth the time investment yet though.  One thing I read about podcasting is that experience is a big part of it, so you need to start podcasting as soon as possible so you will be good at it when you need to be.  Kind of like how you always burn the first pancake when you are camping.

In the long run the time invested in this podcast will pay off.

Dr. Horrible isn’t horrible, it’s fantastic.  I guess Dr. Fantastic wouldn’t be a really good name for a super villain though.  And that would be an even worse catch phrase then “I have a PhD in horribleness!”  (yes, it is a word.)

I just watched Dr. Horrible Act 1 and 2 again.  I can hardly wait for Act 3 this Friday night at midnight (9 PM PST – Yippie!)  It looks like I will be buying all three on iTunes, my first iTunes purchase ever.

First of all I really want to support Joss in making this available.  I want it to be so wildly successful that he and others will make more good quality programming available like this.  But probably more importantly, I don’t want to wait for the DVD to come out to see it again after Sunday when it goes offline. . . .

Besides the campy songs, catchy one-liners and cheese character names, the thing I really like is the complex Dr. Horrible character played by Neil Patrick Harris and the contrast with his arch nemisis Captain Hammer, played by Nathan Fillian.  We have a protagonist and an antagonist, but in this case, the protagonist is Dr. Horrible, the super-villain wanna-be.

In the first act we are introduced to the main character, who happens to be a “bad guy.”  We meet the good guy, but we are really rooting for the bad guy, and we are OK with that.

Interestingly, by the end of the second act we see that even though Dr. Horrible is on the wrong side of the law, he is the better man.  While Captain Hammer is good buddies with the mayor, he is really not a very nice guy.  So while we thought we were rooting for the bad guy, we were rooting for the good guy.

Now the only question is what will happen next.  Will Dr. Horrible prove he is evil enough to Bad Horse to enter the Evil League of Evil?  What will Penny think when she realizes that “Billy” is positively motivated, but willing to step outside the law to get there?  What will become of Captain Hammer?

At the end of Act 1, before I saw Act 2, I actually entertained the idea that maybe Penny was a secret plant from the Evil League of Evil, sent to observe Dr. Horrible.  After Act 2 I am pretty sure she is who she appears to be, but I am OK with being surprised in Act 3.

I just hope the sound track comes out soon.