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"Just for note-taking on the fly (cross-platform), the best free thing is probably Evernote." You people in 2013 are out of date.

A five-second video that takes three minutes.

In 2012, George Smith was referring to a "a forthcoming collection of writings by Roy Childs"; I wish I had seen this report then and could have asked him about it. The only Roy collection I know about is the Taylor-edited one that came out two or three years after Roy's death--in 1992. Does anybody know what this "forthcoming collection of writings by Roy Childs" is and whether it will be published?

"Formalities of situation" doesn't seem very math-specific.

This seemed to be the best place to note Robert's recent update (as of May 4, 2024 or so) about the health of his wife and request for financial assistance from his friends. You can visit his Facebook post for more information. Here is an excerpt from the post: A FEW DAYS AGO, during one of my (daily) visits to Cynthia at Arcadia Assisted Living of Chester, one of the staff snapped this photo. Cyn is considerably better now than she was last year, or in February, when she was hospitalized for nearly three weeks with a very serious infection. She’s now receiving therapy for foot issues that are preventing her from standing and walking. Being able to walk again is crucial to her recovery and, I hope, to her eventual return home. To regain that functionality, she is receiving physical therapy several times per week, and I’ve taken her to orthopedic specialists who have ordered special foot devices, which will be fitted in two weeks. But meanwhile, we’re in a race against time. As I’ve explained before, the monthly costs of my dear wife’s care, therapy, and medications are astronomical, far beyond my means (or most people’s). Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of many of you who have contributed to the “Care for Cindy Fund,” I’ve been able to meet the bills so far. But on the current spending trajectory, the Fund will run out of money in August. For more info visit facebook.com / RobertBidinotoAuthor Robert Bidinotto, Author WWW.FACEBOOK.COM Robert Bidinotto, Author. 409 likes · 6 talking about this. This is the official author page for "vigilante author" Robert Bidinotto, whose debut thriller is "H

Thanks for the responses. It's been many years, but I have seen this show or movie. The story is as I describe it; a young boy who ends up with the responsibility of landing a plane is talked down by a pilot who is on the ground. Maybe I'm wrong that Rand mentioned it somewhere.

Ayn Rand (I think) once recommended a show or movie about a boy who finds himself alone in a small plane (presumably because a heart attack or some other affliction had killed the pilot). The boy is scared stiff, but a pilot on the ground helps him to land the plane. The story is about the relationship between the pilot and the boy, and how the boy manages to function despite his fear. This is something I have tried to find on and off for years. A title and perhaps info on where and when Rand's notice appeared would be great if anybody has the info. Thanks.

Um: "NEW expurgated edition, mildly entertaining character sketch of an elderly retired author and the middle aged vixen who steals his heart. No third act. They both live forever, and it doesn't matter what really happened, because it offended and disgusted my pal Tom. Priced 20 cents above production cost because the guts and heat were ripped up and thrown away. Swell way to end a career, mutilated. As far as I'm concerned, Cocktail no longer exists." Sounds like the purpose of the ad copy is to prevent sales.

Why are you calling Robert Bidinotto "Biddibob"? What is the purpose of this gratuitous snideness?

"Anyone miss Phil? No." Wow.

"If all 'Christian Objectivists' mean is that they are people who loosely follow the Bible and loosely follow Objectivism, I say go for it. They don't do me any harm and they are certainly no threat to me. May they go in peace. I won't be joining them, but I won't be throwing stones at them, either." The question wasn't about whether to harangue "Christian Objectivists" but about the meaning of words. Objectivism is a primacy-of-existence philosophy. Any form of meaningful religious belief assumes the primacy of consciousness. Confusions about the proper metaphysics may be manifested in a zillion ways, but you can't hold as a primary both that existence comes first and is independent of consciousness and that you start with a consciousness or consciousnesses that somehow created and sustain existence. An awful lot of people who may be very nice and responsible are wrong about various fundamental things. Should we beat them up for being wrong? No. Are they wrong about the things that they are wrong about? Yes. Is "Christian Objectivism" a contradiction in terms? Yes.

In what Harden quoted, Kelley does not distinguish clearly between the form of perception and the thing being perceived. Color as a form of perception requires the operation of sensory organs. But insofar as the color conveys information about external objects being perceived, what makes color is an object that exists independently of any perception. Sensory forms are products of an interaction. Kelley does clearly distinguish between form and object in his book. In any case, the so-called Copenhagen interpretation is indeed nonsense. Electrons exist independently or not, and there is no way except "independently" that things in the world of whatever kind can exist, whether or not we are justified in calling them "entities" in a primary sense. The fact that we have means of observing electrons or inferring their existence provides evidence that they do exist, not that they can't exist unless we observe them. What can't exist without observations are observations. If Kelley really said in private correspondence or anywhere that "Even if entities do exist only in relation to our means of perception..." then this is no problem, his wording implies a grotesque muddle. What can exist only in relation to a means of perception is the form in which we perceive the entities. Entities exist regardless of the form in which they are perceived. Radically different forms give us the same, overlapping or complementary information about the same thing. Bake an apple pie, and then see whether radically different forms of perception--smell, sight, taste--enable you to know that the pie is ready to eat. Given the clarity and precision of his book The Evidence of the Senses, I suspect either that Kelley is being misquoted or that he did not intend to say what he seems to be saying.

Perhaps I haven't read enough of the thread, but I don't have a clear idea of the problem. "How can life be worth living?" cannot even begin to be answered with respect to a given person's life without an idea of what it is which is making someone feel that life is not worth living. Lives have details. If a person were to tell me, "No no, I have all the regular components that fulfill other people, loving spouse or boy/girlfriend, productive and challenging job that exercises my interests and faculties, living in a good neighborhood, I enjoy food and movies and music, no mental or physical affliction, the cat is well-behaved and the toilet is not overflowing, etc.; but I just have this feeling that life cannot be worth living, and I don't even see how there can even be any possibility of its ever being worth the effort involved"--I'd feel either that some crucial information were being omitted or that I were being sold a bill of goods. This, for example, seems suspect to me: "I can't think of any future state I want to achieve. It's all so empty. Why choose to live? I'm over it." What if one attained a state of not feeling empty? Would that also be "so empty"? What if one had a glimpse that a better feeling about life is possible? Why is life too painful, or nothing _but_ pain? What are we talking about? A dead end job that makes one feel trapped? Inability to get a date or companionship? Having lost a loved one in a tragic accident? Chronic illness? Disfigurement? Paraplegia? Addiction? Abuse? Being 72 years old and stuck in prison for the next 20 years? Being stuck in Canada? What? Many other relevant questions would arise as the story begins to be told. But even if we knew something of the background, the best that persons of good will could do in a thread like this is suggest a few possibilities for pursuing a remedy. I agree with the commenter who said that a person suffering such a persistent feeling of hopelessness should seek professional help. Or, if professional help is not feasible for whatever reason, should at least talk in person to someone sensible in a candid way about the problems.

See Wendy McElroy's responses to many of the issues raised in this thread, including the sexual content, at her web site. The posts are listed on this page: http://www.wendymcelroy.com/news.php?cat.21

"Anyone who knows anything about fasting knows that during a fast, hunger (or what is called hunger) goes away." BaalChatzaf is a chronic troll.