“Just remove the duck” (2013)

Post by digi_owl » Tue, Mar 03, 2015, 8:30 PM UTC

dilap wrote: post #177

inthewoods wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So right on about doing the same thing by accident. Early in my life, I programmed synths in a studio - and I practiced a variation on this. I would listen to what sound they wanted, then I would play them something that was likely pretty close. They they would complain about it not being quite right, so I would play 3 or 4 different sounds that I knew were completely wrong, then return to the first sound. To which t…

I could believe that the original sound actually does seem different after the 3 or 4 other sounds were priming the brain. Our senses don't operate in isolation. Just think of #thedress, or a note played in isolation vs played after a sequence of notes in a key in which the original note does not appear.

Post by digi_owl » Tue, Mar 03, 2015, 8:38 PM UTC

lotharbot wrote: post #239

larrys wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention that obviously Johnson was aware of how the knob worked. And I find that it's funny that people think that a Vice President can't get temperature adjusted to his liking and should or would play games with him. "Oh there he goes again" type of thing. I don't think you get to be in a position of being able to fly a President or Vice President of any country by having an attitude and not being fully respe…

> "Johnson was aware of how the knob worked" No, he wasn't. It was intentionally put in place to deceive him, and the deception worked. > "people think that a Vice President can't get temperature adjusted to his liking" Most VPs could get the temperature adjusted to their liking. Johnson was a special kind of control freak. He liked to make people uncomfortable by making it extra hot, extra cold, walking around naked…

Post by digi_owl » Tue, Mar 03, 2015, 8:44 PM UTC

loudmax wrote: post #106

NickPollard wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another version I've heard of this is with film censorship - apparently when Hitchcock made Psycho , the film censor (I think in the UK - the BBFC) wouldn't give the film a certificate because it was too extreme for the era - too much nudity, too much violence - and suggested a few cuts to just trim back some of the offending shots. Hitchock said of course he would, took the film back, and sat on it for a couple of w…

There is a story that when the animators of Avatar The Last Airbender were working on the Beach episode, they knew that if they drew the outfits the way they wanted, they would be told to tone it down. So they drew everyone in outfits far too revealing for a children's program. When, as predicted, they were told to draw something more conservative they went ahead and animated the scenes the way they originally envisi…

Post by kyberias » Tue, Mar 03, 2015, 8:56 PM UTC

kevinskii wrote: post #258

kyberias wrote: post #255

There's a certain tone in this article that bothers me a bit. At least in software engineering, the idea of reviews is to find errors in code or design how ever small they are. When inspecting any code, we almost always find at least something, regardless of the level of quality. It's not about being fair, it's not personal, and it probably isn't even dependent on the reviewers personality. It's just that when the go…

About a year ago I had the misfortune of working with a program manager. He asked me to create a PowerPoint presentation on something totally unimportant and irrelevant. After failing to explain this to him, I decided to accommodate him figuring that he would become more reasonable once he knew a bit more. After emailing him the presentation, he called and asked me to switch the 2nd and 3rd bullet on one of the slide…

Post by jimbokun » Tue, Mar 03, 2015, 8:58 PM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #50

mvdwoord wrote: post #8

A story from the time recounts that Piero Soderino, the head of the powerful Florentine Republic, even told the famously irascible Michelangelo that David's nose was much too large. Michelangelo then hid some marble dust in his hand, climbed back up his ladder and pretended to do some more "chiseling" on the offending proboscis. While he did so, he let some marble dust fall from his hand. The pompous Soderino was foo…

There are countless fables about record company executives dropping by the mastering studio to hear the new hit in its finished form. They'd inevitably make some ill-posed request, of the familiar "it needs to pop more!" variety. The wily engineer directs them towards a large and important looking knob, telling them that they are free to dial in as much "pop" as they think the track needs. Of course, they screw up th…