Suicide Hotline, I guess - 2 B R 0 2 B

Propaganda - The Marching Morons

Nineteen Neighty-Four: Celestia is Watching

"At the sound of the princess’s name, Twilight felt her stomach contract in anger again. The princess who thought she knew how to run ponies’ lives better, who sought to control every aspect of life. Almost automatically her eyes moved to the huge poster that dominated the far side of the room. It was peeling in the top corner slightly, as Rarity had not been able to reach high enough to blu-tack it securely in place, and Twilight had refused to help her. It was a simple design, just a large image of Celestia’s smiling face, with the legend ‘CELESTIA IS WATCHING YOU’ emblazoned above it.<br><br>Below, in similarly large letters were the words: ‘SOMETIMES. UNLESS YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING PRIVATE OR DON’T WANT TO BE WATCHED. THEN SHE IS NOT.’" - Nineteen Neighty-Four, Blueshift

I Look Into the Flames and See: Legacy

'[discussing a Time Travel Spell] “I want to see how the world looks once I’m gone,” she said, a faint smile appearing on her face. Spike’s eyes turned towards her, but she could not read his face. He was good at hiding his thoughts, unlike back in the old days. “I’m just interested what sort of impact I had, whether or not I’ll have any long lasting impact.”<br><br>The dragon shook his head. “Why would you even worry about something like that?”<br><br>“Celestia,” she had long since dropped the formalities, “has gotten herself a new student. Emberstar is her name, and she shows a talent that might well be above mine. It’s… weird knowing I’ll be surpassed. Chances are, even forgotten. That’s the sort of sad ending I don’t really want.”' - I Look Into The Flames And See - Tramper<br><br>You know, Skunkie, in a certain way, I'm lucky to be nothing great, no protégé of the powerful. Sure, I'll eventually start my university and so on, but it will not be much remembered because it will mostly be in my head.

An Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp: Lisp Python

Reading "An Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp" I find myself thinking, "well, I can do all this in Python...and it's easier." In that vein, Peter Norvig writes, " Basically, Python can be seen as a dialect of Lisp with "traditional" syntax"." Coming from a C background, Python's just more familiar, I suppose.<br><br>Back in the 50's or so FORTAN was an attempt to do math in a way that was less annoying that assembly. LISP was for data. Python largely wraps these two into one language with syntax similar to C. In my opinion, it's hard to beat Python except where resources are tight, in which case it's hard to beat C/C++.<br><br>Ref: https://norvig.com/python-lisp.html

How to Train Your Pegasus: Training

'"Bah." The dragon tossed Snow Bolt to the floor again. She made an exasperated noise. “Of all the ponies in Equestria, I had to get the one pegasus that can’t fly. And if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the taste of white meat.” She huffed, and regarded Snow Bolt, who was sprawled out on the cave floor again. “Alright then, little Pot Pie. I shall teach you to fly. Then, when your flight muscles are strong enough, I will eat you.” The dragon nodded to herself, then walked away. She apparently did not require her meal's consent in the matter.' - How to Train Your Pegasus<br><br>Ah, I see what you did there. Although I've never seen (read?) the original.

Histories: Babylon

"Babylon was a city such as I will now describe. It lies in a great plain, and is in shape a square, each side an hundred and twenty furlongs in length; thus four hundred and eighty furlongs make the complete circuit of the city....Round it runs first a fosse deep and wide and full of water, and then a wall of fifty royal cubits’ thickness and two hundred cubits’ height." - Herodotus

Histories: Fly, you Fools!

"Wretches, why tarry ye thus? Nay, flee from your houses and city, Flee to the ends of the earth from the circle embattled of Athens! Body and head are alike, nor one is stable nor other, Hands and feet wax faint, and whatso lieth between them Wasteth in darkness and gloom; for flame destroyeth the city, Flame and the War-god fierce, swift driver of Syrian horses. Many a fortress too, not thine alone, shall he shatter; Many a shrine of the gods he’ll give to the flame for devouring; Sweating for fear they stand, and quaking for dread of the foeman, Running with gore are their roofs, foreseeing the stress of their sorrow; Wherefore I bid you begone! Have courage to lighten your evil." - Orcale's Response to Athenians asking for advice as the Persians prepare for invasion.<br><br>"You're so screwed." - Signed, God.<br><br>Makes you wonder, though, about these Oracles. Seems there are a lot in the ancient world -- important people go to the Oracle at Delphi, but regular folks need oracling, too.<br><br>And although there's certainly a fortune-cookie vagary to it, before asking of the Gods, people give gifts. In short, there's a lot of money in being a respected oracle. So you wonder if there were informant networks involved. Ships full of people stop at Delphi. They will need hospitality services. Means there's probably staff -- maybe they ask friendly questions of the guests and relay the info back to a hub of priests who can make sure the oracle utterances stay relevant to current events.<br><br>Of course, it's the same sort of thing you can ask of any religious institution that speaks for God: genuine piety or a money-making scheme. And if there were informant networks, maybe asking for advice even from a secular perspective wasn't totally stupid, plus you want the people to believe God's on your side, so you can ask the same of the supplicants.