intelligent machines (was genius)

[aiz24 at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 8929


readbaby said:
>just a sid point about j.k. rolling's genius; isnt it amazing how 
>much like the internet tom riddle's diary is? how dangerous is it for 
>a kid to chat with people on the internet that he/she doesnt know? 
>wow! 
>your thoughts?

Oh yeah!  A related point came up in a conversation I had with a few 
colleagues, not about the internet, but just about Palm Pilots.  One 
of my colleagues had just gotten one and made a comment about how 
crazy it is to entrust our lives to machines we don't even remotely 
understand.  (I often feel like this about my car as well as my 
computer.)  Another woman said "didn't some famous person say that?" 
and I muttered, half-hoping they wouldn't hear me, "I think it was 
Harry Potter..."  I knew it was Arthur Weasley but I thought, they'll 
REALLY think I'm nuts if I have to explain who Arthur Weasley is!  But 
yet another colleague, who has 2 kids, laughed and gave the exact 
quote and the character!

Amy Z.