How to waste computer memory?

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.