Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Slope’s First Robot

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Slope is going to turn 18 years old this month. During that time, we’ve had something like 36,000 posts, and for every single one of them, at the bottom, I’ve had to type the words NEW POST, hyperlinked to the next post. It was a way to let people using the comments system (specifically, what we now call the “classic” comments, since all the cool kids are in SlopeTalk) know that it was time to move to the next post. I’ve seen other sites copy my behavior in this respect.

I am delighted to say I have finally fired myself from this job. Henceforth, the system itself will create this “comment“, and even better, it doesn’t bother showing it in SlopeTalk (where it has absolutely no meaning and, is in fact, superfluous garbage).

Suffice it to say I’m glad to be relieved of this tedious but vital task. Maybe I should claim that AI is behind it in order to create a media frenzy around my site.

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

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I’ve shown this before over the years, but it warrants another viewing. You see, back in 1996, Rudy Galindo, the ice skater, was going to perform his long program at the U.S. Championships in nearby San Jose. The situation seemed like it was made for a movie:

  • He had recently lost a brother and his father to death;
  • He was the oldest competitor (at 26, that’s ancient in the world of skating);
  • He had lost his skating partner who broke up with him;
  • He was the very last competitor to perform, and in front of a home town audience, the pressure was immense

His performance was nothing short of spectacular, and I’ve always enjoyed watching this clip from start to finish. It shows magnificent grace under pressure, and I’m so happy his hard work paid off.

Swerving Prices

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I’ve got to say, I’ve never seen a car maker announce such frequent price changes. It seems that the list price for Tesla cars moves with as much frequency as its equity value. I don’t think this is good for business. Why would someone want to buy a car and have no idea if it’s suddenly going to cost thousands less the next week? Tesla is creating their own deflationary price environment, complete with the uncertainty that always causes the human consumer.

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