All the form, none of the content!

14 Comments

1. Contrarian response

2. Accidental double-post.

3. Accidental double-post.

4. Synchophantic response…ROFL, IMHO!

5. I consider myself a ‘nice guy’, but….

6. Dr Free Ride
   I came across something roughly analagous last January, and mentioned it a week ago on PZ’s blog. I’ll quote part of my post.

   But there is a game here. Compare two quotes, first John Miller’s then mine from a paraody book review on Amazon.

   You cannot have randomness. If you do, you can never science (know) a subject because there is no pattern and no law governing that phenomenon since it is random.
   The foundation of any good society has always been order and tradtional cultural absolutes. HOW CAN ONE BRING ORDER FROM RANDOMNESS? It is the exact opposite of order, by definition! . . . Nowhere do the authors inform the reader that Randomism denies God designed a non-random creation.

   The Amazon game might be fun for some of PZ’s readers. It’s an evolving challenge to one’s brain and sense of humor simultaneously. It gets more difficult with each new participant.
   Amazon has listed an apparent reprint of an apparent milestone of computer science from the 1970s, A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates by Rand Corporation. The contents are simply one giant list of 5-digit random numbers.
   Almost all of the 44 reviews treat the book as if it has story content and, so far, no reviewer has repeated a slant/approach used by previous reviewers. Some of this is quite clever. I’d recommend reading them from the earliest to the most recent to appreciate the evolution. Two of my favorites are what the ……………? by Preston Brewer “preston” [Think about it; it took me awhile to come around] and 47382 75983 37483 83740! by 47.
   It’s a great, spontaneous, unscripted group joke-in.

   I forgot to mention I like 47382 75983 37483 83740! by 47 because it’s original, definitive, and subtle.
   And, one of the shorter reviews, but no less poignant from it’s brevity, What about the abnormal deviates? by John W. Runyan III, “Too much time on my hands”. The two opening sentences [and about one third the total] set the emotional tone. “Why don’t we ever hear about them? They have feelings too.”

7. Comment on content of original post placed on this thread (based on the assumption that now the original comments number ove 200 no one there would read my comment anyway).

8. Further comment complaining about the delay in posts being added to the thread, with additional accusation of censorship made in blatant disregard of blogger’s notice about delays being due to comment moderation for spam.

9. What you postmodern liberals don’t understand is 9/11 changed everything.

10. Obligatory reference to similar but earlier work.

11. Comment admonishing ETOG for typing from basement instead of fighting in Iraq

12. Re-post of my previous uncharacteristically-long post with the damn nested blockquotes formatting correctly. This witty apology included.

13. McLuhan was right!

14. Whiny comment asking why my trackback hasn’t showed up yet, after 6 days!