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I'd wager the use of "the" is mostly about making the meter work and having the iambic pentameter sound the way he wanted it to.

This isn't a data science question. Especially if the data science is blind to meter and to phonetics.


Shakespeare coined (or at least first wrote down) hundreds of neologisms presumably just to make the verses scan. His English was never the best, honestly. Like, in terms of being normal English. Much of his poetry was creatively odd, but also grammatically odd at the time. He sounded unusual even to his contemporaries. That's part of why he made such a big splash.


why "the" but not "a"? Same meter.

But I agree it's silly that say "the" is what makes Macbeth creepy, and not, you know, the occult theme that permeates it.


Stressed "the" and unstressed "the" have different implications for meter. (And meaning.) "The" has two pronunciations in English. "Thee" and "thuh". The former is stressed, the latter not. While part of it follows the same pattern as a/an governed by by the initial sound, some of the rules are complicated. "Thee" is also used for emphasis as a demonstrative.

"Give me thuh cat toy." (Some ordinary toy.)

"Give me thee cat toy." (The one with special powers.)


But how was it pronounced at the time Shakespeare actually wrote Macbeth?

If you listen to a performance of Shakespeare that replicates the original pronunciation, it's wildly different.

I'd wager the "thuh" pronunciation is a modern simplification and not something Shakespeare accounted for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiblRSqhL04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYiYd9RcK5M

(though, having watched the second video, the actor clearly uses "thuh" and considers it Original Pronouniation, so perhaps I'm mistaken)


The pattern of the articles the and a/an being affected by the sound of the following word dates to Old English. The use of the stressed form as an emphatic does as well. It probably goes back further. There are similar traits in the other Germanic languages. German routinely reduces its definite article die ("dee"), to approximately "duh", and its indefinite article ein ("ayn") to approximately "uhn", as well. Except when emphasized. We even have traces of emphatic "a" in English which is now completely archaic -- except still irresistible in "an historic moment". That probably counts as a fixed expression now. But etymologically speaking, when someone says that they're saying "one historic moment" and emphasizing its distinctiveness. Germans would say "ein historischer Moment" and it's a safe bet they'd say ein (one) and not the usual "uhn" (a).


Sure, but the article doesn't attempt to classify the stress, and the stress is often flexed as a convenience to help the meter or to avoid hard -to-pronounce double vowels, not to change emphasis.

"I don't what that one; I want thee other one. Thuh yellow one, not thee orange one."


In BrE, "the" before a vowel is pronounced "thee". So I'm not sure what you're saying.


Precisely. 'the' is an easy single-syllable choice to pad out your meter, so it makes perfect sense that it was abused here.


As a playwright, Chekhov is second only to Shakespeare.

And you get get through his 4 major plays in only a few days. There are even great adaptations on YouTube in English or Russian (with subtitles). Highly recommended.


Link?


No. Not even close. I assume you're talking about organisms with the complexity of animals.

Maybe the Wooly Mammoth project can give you some insight on how far we are from having DNA to making it into an organism: http://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/


It's easier to learn old tech than new tech. Copying manufacturing is easier than making new software.


This mentality highlights the hubris of Silicon Valley. Manufacturing is not easy, and the "tech" that Tesla has isn't unique. Their main advantage is good design which is arguably easier to copy than manufacturing or software.


I live in an area with an automotive industrial base. There are hundreds of tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers in addition to the five vehicle assembly plants within 150 miles. Each required real-estate acquisition and development entitlement and tax incentive pursuit and contract negotiations. There were roads and highway interchanges. Sewer lines were laid and power lines run and electrical substations and ordinary fire stations built.

All those suppliers built manufacturing capacity because of established relationships with the automaker. It's why there will be German owned suppliers associated with a German manufacturer and Japan owned suppliers associated with a Japanese manufacturer, etc.

Manufacturing at scale happens by outsourcing. It's not the technology that limits, it's business capacity.


> Copying manufacturing is easier than making new software.

That's a good one. Next you'll tell me supply chain and logistics is just as simple as buying SAP or even better, that SAP is for fools and you're betting off rolling your own solution.


This is definitely wrong. Easiness of tech is determined by their complexity not age.


This explains why there are so many companies that make passenger jets.


Eh? Modern jets of all types are full of software.

An unattributed quote my father told me back in the 80s: "Software saved the aerospace industry. Every other way of adding expense to an airplane also adds weight."


I would pay >$100/mo for something that has intelligence. If you could create an AI to replace a junior marketing analyst, it's worth it. But you have to first talk with businesses and really understand what kind of intelligence they need.


Given how many of these app development shops there are out there, it's surprising that one of them hasn't hit a home run.

There's probably something inherent in the people, structure, and incentives that prevents it from happening.


I would assume that most companies that work remotely are flexible enough that you can squeeze a nap in.

(Waiting for the upcoming napjobs.io)


napjobs.io RFLAMO.. Me too, waiting ;)


The book Programming Collective Intelligence has a step-by-step example of how to build a recommendation system. Highly recommended.


I can second this. It gives plenty of working examples and lays enough groundwork so you can dig deeper where you need to.


I have the book sitting on my desk, but I have not read it yet. Thanks for pointing this out, I have been wanting to do something with recommendations.

Cheers


Knowledge is an interesting subject. When I read, I don't remember the exact order of words. Especially in the age of Google, we have a choice of what to burden our memory with and what to leave to Google. Are names and dates important? What's important is to have models of how things work in your mind. It is through the process of reading that we develop and refine these models.


Approximate dates are important to find connections with other contemporary events, and more broadly to put things into the context of the prevailing culture at the time.


In two years, I went from starting doing stand-up comedy out of boredom to getting third place in a contest at the best club in the state.

My advice is:

* Don't be afraid of being stupid or being unfunny.

* Do everything to kill fear. Face your fears to kill them.

* Follow your gut.

* Practice in front of a live audience as much as you can.

* Observe and notice everything. Question everything.

* When you're inspired to write a joke, notice the things that inspire you.


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