Multiple-state existence found in ordinary plants

Photosynthesis (plants turning light into food) turns out to be evidence of multiple-state existence, according to a recent article in Wired.

From the article:

The analogy I like is if you have three ways of driving home through rush hour traffic. On any given day, you take only one. You don’t know if the other routes would be quicker or slower. But in quantum mechanics, you can take all three of these routes simultaneously. You don’t specify where you are until you arrive, so you always choose the quickest route...

In 2010, the first signs of artificial intelligence were discovered growing in a closet of discarded electronics. Somehow the inorganic material had self-organized into a living body with a mind of its own.

Thought challenge for my friends

Aristotle drew a distinction between 'essential' and 'accidental' properties. Essential properties are qualities that something must have to be what it is, and accidental properties are attributes that a thing happens to have but that it could lack.

One's rationality, according to Aristotle, is an essential property of being human. One's hair color, by contrast, is merely accidental. Hair color is how they are; it's not essential to who they are. A chair is essentially something you can sit on, be it accidentally made of wood, metal, or plastic.

So, my friends, what are essential properties that make you who you are? What are qualities others consider to be essential in you, but you feel are merely accidental?

Apple iPad's calendar is broken

So the reason Apple's iPhone and iPad refuses to include Flash is (according to Jobs) "The world is moving to HTML5". Absolutely, but WTF year do you think you're selling your product in?

Crazily, a not-so-insignificant portion of the population is still using IE6 (around 15 to 25%). IE8 supports some HTML5, but is missing many of the key features that would make programming an app in HTML5 a viable proposition. Who knows when IE9 will be released. Did I mention that people are still using IE6? Even large web services such as YouTube are just now experimenting with HTML5 versions of their web applications. Their video player is broke in my (updated) version of IE8. Even if all the browsers supported HTML5, these applications would need to be rebuilt to use it.

Where's the rush? Over 99% of computers have Flash Player installed. Over 80% have the latest version. There's no real incentive for application developers to invest the resources needed to rebuild applications in a virtually non-existant HTML5. It's not like there's a Y2K bug that demands it be done now. Indeed, "the world is moving to HTML5", but if in 2020 there's the full adoption that Flash enjoys today, like right now, that would be very surprising. Don't underestimate the laziness of the average web user in upgrading. IE6 was released in 2001 after all. Nine years later it still has (conservatively) 15% of the market.

Refusing to include Flash leaves huge holes in the web. Most videos, games, and rich media on the web are delivered through Flash. That's why Apple's iPhone user's have been complaining for years. They've been missing a huge part of the web on the device. Many were somewhat resigned to the lack of Flash, because, well, it's just a phone. It's not their main web tool. However, Apple's attack on Flash with the new iPad is just perplexing. The iPad is supposed to be a fully functioning web use tool, not a scaled down accessory like the iPhone.

Again, Mr. Jobs, WTF year do you think it is? In 2010, the year you are releasing the iPad, most of what's cool on the web is delivered through Flash.