How to waste computer memory?
Rick Johnson
rantingrickjohnson at gmail.com
Thu Mar 17 15:21:37 EDT 2016
On Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 9:34:46 AM UTC-5, wxjm... at gmail.com wrote:
> Very simple. Use Python and its (buggy) character encoding
> model. How to save memory? It's also very simple. Use a
> programming language, which handles Unicode correctly.
I personally don't have much use for Unicode, so i'm not
affected by the "buggy encoding model". Outside of posting
a "look of disapproval" emoticon on Usenet, or something
silly like that, i mostly avoid Unicode like the plague.
And if one day Unicode went away, and i could no longer
post my silly little emoticon, well, i seriously doubt
that the loss would cause me to slash wrists -- boo-hiss!
[tangent]
I've always found it so silly that people insist on using
Unicode chars when ASCII chars will suffice. For example,
consider "scare quotes" -- are they really so pedantic
that the leading quote must "lean to the left" and the
trailing quote must "lean to the right"? Not to mention
using the moronic Unicode spaces, etc..
Besides, i've always felt that Unicode was nothing more
than a monkey patch to repair the selfish anti-patterns
coded into each regional language source. The insistence
of some natural languages on using diacritics, as if their
users are so stupid, that they cannot remember how to
pronounce the words, and therefore must encode a tutorial
into the language glpyhs themselves! At best it's fluff,
and at worst it's an insult to both the users of said
language, and the general intelligence of *ALL* humans.
We humans have a tendency to inject chaos into our
systems, and the worst part is, the chaos is not
accidental, no, it's quite purposeful! The reasons we do
these things are varied, but mostly it's just pure
selfishness.
Some will claim that we should promote "language
diversity", and if we're talking about programming
languages, then i wholeheartedly agree . But if we're
talking about natural languages, then i strongly disagree.
I ask: how much productivity has been lost by needing to
translate one selfish natural encoding into another? Or
how much time has been wasted submitting to the "gods" of
internalization and localization? I would argue far too
much.
But natural language is not the system riddled with
overlaps,no, programming languages are guilty of the sin
as well. What many people don't understand about my
argument, is that, i don't want to create "one language to
rule all languages", no, that would only stifle
innovation. However, what we should do, is standardized
all the "overlapping bits" so that we can focus our energy
on the "experimental bits". Instead, we created a culture
of "wheel re-inventors".
(Of course, whilst re-inventing the wheel will always be a
indispensable tool of academic exercise, it should *NEVER*
be tolerated in our formal encoding systems)
I'll admit I tend to be highly pragmatic, and some have
even called me a "minimalist", but i consider neither of
these descriptions to be insulting. In fact, i wear them
as a badge of honor. In the end: i want to get the job
done, as quickly and correctly as possible, without being
distracted by the superfluous complexities of "encoded
selfishness".
We humans are such an inefficient species, and the only
reason we've managed to survive on this *ROCK* as long as
we have, is simply do to the luck of "drawing the longest
intelligent straw". But you see, all quantities are
relative, and we would be foolish to assume that the "gold
metal of intelligence" that we wear so proudly around our
neck, here on earth, would have even a *MODICUM* of
significance in the vast expanse of this universe.
And even though our intelligence can be applied to many
diverse problems, we have a tendency to become mired in
emotional tar-pits. Tar pits that did not exist until *WE*
created them! Tar pits that serve no function but to
retrograde the magnitude of our intelligence evolution
vector! What's the point the possessing the most powerful
tool in the known universe (the human brain), if we cannot
even escape the spectres of our own "mind spooks"?
I can easily imagine, that if an advanced intelligence
were to observe the behavior and evolutionary path of
humans, they would become disgusted with the poor
administration of our collective intelligence.
generations; centuries; even millennia, have come and
gone, but yet we still don't "GET IT"!
Our history can succinctly be described as: "jumping from
one shampoo-rinse-repeat cycle" to the next, all the
while, patting ourselves on the back as if we've achieved
"something great". Heck, they may even decide that we should
be "put out of our misery" like a horse with a broken leg.
So congratulations "earth man"! You've won the
"participation trophy". Now go home, place it on your
mantle, and bore your grand-kids to death with all the
wonderful stories of your "glory days"!
And after they are dead and gone, you can bask in the
beams of light glimmering from the fake gold-plating on
your cheap little plastic trinket, as you wait for *DEATH*
to come...
[/tangent]
In the event that i change my mind about Unicode, and/or for
the sake of others, who may want to know, please provide a
list of languages that *YOU* think handle Unicode better than
Python, starting with the best first. Thanks.
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