Comments on: The Father Bob Show #029 - Don’t Mention The Ninja

By: urbaer

urbaer — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:05:14 +0000

Ok… so Ninjas. I’ve found this http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=83697&d=13&m=6&y=2006 which seems to indicate that the term was used as a derogatory term against muslim women has been in use “since 9/11″. The use of the word ninja has been in an internet meme since around Novemeber 2001 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninjas_versus_Pirates ). So pretty much the same time.

On the internet though being ninjas are generally regarded as being unseen agents of mysterious happenings.

And let’s not forget that a group can reclaim a term that was once used to put them down. For example “Geek has always had negative connotations within society at large, where being described as a geek tends to be an insult. The term has recently become less condescending, or even a badge of honor, within particular fields and subcultures; this is particularly evident in the technical disciplines, where the term is now more of a compliment denoting extraordinary skill.”

Although I think Father Bob’s Geeks doesn’t sound as good…

By: bobmaguire

bobmaguire — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:52:56 +0000

anon, exponential is the way to go!When “we,the people” can understand what we’ve been contributing to global misunderstanding we’ll demand access to exponential development of “speaking in tongues”.(note for christian visitors…this would be the Pentecostal experience mentioned in Acts of the Apostles…sometimes referred to as the reversal of Babel mentioned in the Jewish pentateuch[first five books]…)bobmaguire.

By: greenwood

greenwood — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 15:08:22 +0000

lol, its bob shinpu (pronounced shim poo) not shibu (which means astringent juice of unripe persimmons). Also not to be mistaken with shabu which means ampethemines or crystal meth (is the illegal drug of choice of the Japanese in contrast to how cannabis is the drug of choice of the western world).

There is nothing wrong with the name Bob Aji. Aji has no bad connotation. In japanese it could mean Taste/flavour or horse mackerel.

Its like how alot of people get chinese characters as tattoos without knowing the meaning. I just thought it would be interesting to tell you the meaning.

Anyways good job on another interesting show. With regards to technological advances and increases in computer processor speed, the most important invention could be a universal translator. Think of all the conflict caused by ignorance of other cultures and societies. For example in America where white people see immigrants’ choice of using their native language over english as an insult to their country. By breaking down the barrier of language there could be a greater empathy of your fellow man.

At the moment, machine translation is limited to rough, chopped up sentences but with the exponential increase in computer power, there will eventually be a time that natural language processing will be a reality.