Category Archives: Immortality

One of the most popular DJs in the world, Steve Aoki has just announced the dates of a winter tour that includes a March 11 stop at the Agora. Aoki founded Dim Mak Records, a record label and events/lifestyle company, back in 1996. The label has served as the launching pad for acts such as the Chainsmokers, Bloc Party, the Bloody Beetroots, the Gossip and the Kills.

As it approaches its 25th anniversary, the label has issued more than 1,000 official releases. Aokis tour supports hisNeon Future series (released via Ultra Music/Dim Mak), albums that delve into Aokis deep interest in futurism through technology and explore timely themes of singularity, biotechnology, electronic immortality and the symbiotic relationship between man and machine.

Neon Future is about a global community. Across the board, the artists on this album represent different cultures, languages, and walks of life coming together around this album concept, says Aoki in a press release. Ive always intended for the Neon Future concept to extend beyond just the music. I really do like to spread my wings far and wide and I love being able to cross into different cultures, genres, and worlds.

Tickets to the show go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday.

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Steve Aoki to Perform at the Agora in March - Cleveland Scene

Shrink-wrapped, used paperback books. It's a thing. I spotted a rack of them in a Calistoga drugstore.

Among the titles were the usual suspects like Sue Grafton's "infinite alphabet" series (Z is for Zomebody Please Kill Me) and the no-doubt scintillating Her Ideal Man. Because they trapped the book inside form-fitting plastic, I couldn't thumb through itbut I suspect it's about a man who is ideal and, maybe, Fabio.

This kind of literary sleuthing is what an English degree is forI bet. Whether or not a melted, transparent film appreciably increases the resale value of these titles, I cannot say. But if it does, I'm going to insist the Bohemian get the plastic treatment. Will it up the newstand value? Trick questionthe Bohemian is free. Besides, you can't put a price on the freedom of the press, can you? Don't answer that.

Shrink-wrapping is a lens through which we can perceive something exquisitely on its own tattered terms. If we could shrink-wrap the perfect imperfections of our souls, we'd probably be better for it. And not because we'd all suffocate. Though I have to admit to a Sylvia Plathlike, by-way-of-polyvinyl-chloride-compulsion to stick my head in a shrink-wrap machine.

Perhaps I'd become like those saints whose bodies don't decompose, the so-called "incorruptibles," who no matter how green and leathery they look, are somehow in an everlasting state of beatification. At this point, that's about as close to literary immortality I'm going to getso crank up the machine.

Speaking of plastics, Buck Henry, the screenwriter behind one of the most iconic lines from The Graduate, died. As a refresher, the line went like this:

Older family friend, Mr. McGuire, corners recent grad Benjamin, played by Dustin Hoffman.

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

That, and an Oscar nomination, will keep you working in the biz for half a century. Henry was 89.

No word if they'll preserve Henry via plastination, the technique for preserving biological tissues pioneered by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens.

The results are life-sized Visible Man anatomy models. Hagens tours a show called "Body Worlds" that features dozens of plastinized cadavers, splayed and filleted in a variety of ways. It's like walking into Nirvana's In Utero album cover but without having to endure the '90s.

When performing his anatomical dissections, von Hagens insists on wearing a black fedora as a sort of sartorial reference to a hat depicted in Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. It's also sinister as hell when he's pumping corpses full of plastic.

I'll stick with paperbacks.

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Sealed for Your Protections - North Bay Bohemian

(Andrush/Shutterstock)

Millions of companies around the world will compete this year to win more than $49 trillion in consumer spending. Having products and services that consumers desire certainly helps. But increasingly, the winning companies will be those who can deliver a superior user experience, and that means big data.

The analyst group Forrester detected a shift in consumer sentiment back in 2011, when it declared we were entering the age of the consumer, which is marked by the desire of consumers to be given the VIP treatment. Technology has improved substantially since then, both in user experience (UX) and artificial intelligence (AI), and were now at the point where consumers have certain expectations in terms of how both of those are used.

According to Splunk CTO Tim Tully, 2020 will be the year of the indulgent user experience. Those organizations that dont abide by the shift, which is being driven in part by breakthroughs in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, will be left wanting.

AR glasses will emerge sometime this decade, Zuck predicts (Zapp2Photo/Shutterstock)

Even as enterprise and industrial applications evolve, theyre not yet consumer-friendly enough for daily users, Tully says. Enterprise software companies who are still producing dull user experiences will find it harder to keep their users loyal, and will be even more vulnerable to disruption. When it comes to enterprise UX, the companies that will succeed are the visionaries that design software to make peoples entire experience better.

Envisioning how customers will interact with data and applications in the future can give companies a jump on evolving consumer expectations. For Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, its clear that an computing platform for the next decade will be AR glasses.

The technology platform of the 2010s was the mobile phone, Zuckerberg writes. The platform of the 2000s before that was about the Web, and the 1990s was the desktop computer. Each computing platform becomes more ubiquitously accessible and natural for us to interact with. While I expect phones to still be our primary devices through most of this decade, at some point in the 2020s, we will get breakthrough augmented reality glasses that will redefine our relationship with technology.

Effective communication is key to happy customers (Black Salmon/Shutterstock)

One frequent big data application is the personalized recommendation. But in 2020, companies will see to create hyper-personalized customer experiences, such as through the use of smart voice assistants, says Alexey Aylarov, the CEO of Voximplant.

AI will play an integral role in a delivering superior customer experience in 2020, Aylarov says. In fact, 78% of brands say they have already implemented or are planning to implement AI and virtual reality by 2020 to better serve customers. AI and Automation (if done correctly) decreases the time customers spend trying to reach support or get answers to their questions. Businesses should understand that automation is not only about cost reduction; its also about being faster, smarter and offering a better customer experience.

Many companies are trying to harness AI technology. But according to Lenovo, those that figure out how to use AI to augment the customer experience will have a built-in advantage over their competitors.

AI can help deliver great customer experiences (13_Phunkod/Shutterstock)

In 2020, businesses will bring AI to life to truly transform the customer and employee experience, the computer maker says. With AI technologies only getting smarter, companies will start to use AI to augment human intelligence. When employees are able to shift focus from tasks that once were mundane (e.g., scanning through company data), it will open the workforce across industries up to new opportunities.

We all have unique interactions with companies, and realizing this is critical to understanding how technology can improve the customer experience. For TIBCO CTO Nelson Petracek, focusing on the customer journey will pay dividends.

The optimization of the customer journey will continue to be important for organizations, but we will see growth in emerging technology areas which may be used to support this capability, Petracek says. The notion of a digital twin for machines is not new, but applying this concept to people (customers, students, patients, etc.) will gain more traction. The ability to model a person (a virtual customer image, virtual student image, etc.) and influence this model via a variety of inputs (e.g. IoT), knowledge of current state/time, emotion analysis/identification, and defined goals/outcomes will allow organizations to produce an experience that is much more timely, contextual, and relevant.

Effective communication with customers is critical to business success. In the modern age, that means meeting customers on their preferred channels, typically Web and mobile, says James Brown, CEO of Smart Communications.

Digital immortality: The ultimate data-driven customer experience. (Quick Shot/Shutterstock)

Sixty-two percent of consumers will leave a company that isnt delivering on their communications expectations, Brown says. This statistic is both sobering and exciting. Sobering, because it highlights the power todays consumers have over the companies they do business with but exciting because it also demonstrates the tremendous opportunity enterprises have to significantly impact the overall customer experience via the communications they deliver and, even more importantly, the conversations they are having with their customers.

Technological advancement and fossil fuels have combined to increase the quality of life for billions of people around the world. Now technology is on the cusp of delivering the ultimate luxury UX: digital immortality, per Jans Aasman, CEO of Franz.

We will see digital immortality emerge in 2020 in the form of AI digital personas for public figures, Aasman says. The combination of AI and semantic knowledge graphs will be used to transform the works of scientists, technologists, politicians, and scholars into an interactive response system that uses the persons actual voice to answer questions. AI digital personas will dynamically link information from various sources such as books, research papers and media interviews and turn the disparate information into a knowledge system that people can interact with digitally. These AI digital personas could also be used while the person is still alive to broaden the accessibility of their expertise.

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2020: The Year of the AI-Powered User Experience - Datanami

Disintegration is a first-person sci-fi shooter from Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto, set to launch sometime this year. To get feedback, the studio, V1 Interactive, will host closed technical beta sessions on January 28th and January 29th on the PS4, PC, and Xbox One platforms. Presently, closed beta sign ups are live via the games official website. A public beta is also planned from January 31st to February 1st across all platforms.

A post on the official Disintegration Twitter page offers a breakdown of all the multiplayer beta dates and times. See them outlined in the following tweet:

V1 Interactive and publisher Private Division unveiled Disintegration last summer. Details and an announcement trailer were shared shortly thereafter during 2019s Gamescom: Opening Night Live. In addition to multiplayer offerings, the title will consist of a story campaign. Players will explore a near future Earth, in which pandemics such as the planets overpopulation and food shortages led scientists to drastic attempts at a solution. One such solution involved Integration, a process whereby the human brain is stored in robotic bodies.

Though Integration was designed as a temporary problem solver, it took an a permanence some refuse to let go of. Those who live comfortably in their robot armatures are known as theRayonne. But its not just immortality they seek; many of the Rayonne also wish to exterminate those who prefer to live as human.

Disintegration currently lacks a release date, though it is expected to launch this year.

[Source: Disintegration on Twitter]

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Disintegrations Closed and Open Beta Dates Announced for Later This Month - PlayStation LifeStyle

PULLMAN, Wash. As one Splash Brother gets honored by his alma mater this weekend in Pullman, it would only be fitting that the other Splash Brother was in attendance.

Former Washington State basketball star Klay Thompson is set to have his jersey retired at the Cougars game this Saturday against Oregon State at 1 p.m., with his current Golden State Warriors teammate Stephen Curry attending as well.

WSU announced the news back in the fall, and is now set to officially retire Thompsons No. 1 jersey in a ceremony at Beasley Coliseum during halftime.

Klays impact not only as a student-athlete at Washington State but also as a three-time World Champion with the Golden State Warriors is most deserving of this recognition, Washington State Director of Athletics Pat Chun. There has only been one basketball jersey retired in WSU history and on Jan. 18 we will add another as the Klay Thompson No. 1 will take its rightful place in WSU immortality. We appreciate how Klay has continued to represent the Cougars globally and we look forward to celebrating his many accomplishments at home in Pullman.

Joining Klay for the ceremony will be a teammate he has won those three NBA titles with, the two-time MVP Curry, considered one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. Curry and Thompson have combined for 11 All-Star appearances and are commonly referred to as the Splash Brothers for their elite three-point shooting.

Its really cool, Thompson told ESPN of Currys attending. Weve been through a lot of highs together. A lot of lows. Weve played at the highest level of the game as far as the NBA Finals and international competition. And hes been my longest-tenured teammate, so I appreciate him coming. One day maybe Ill make it out to Davidson, too, if he got to go get that degree.

According to reports, several of Thompsons current and former Warrior teammates as well as head coach Steve Kerr would have also planned to attend, but the Warriors have a game Saturday in San Francisco. Former Warriors center Zaza Pachulia is expected to attend the ceremony in Pullman.

Klay, congratulations on this incredible honor, getting your jersey honored at Washington State is so fitting, Kerr said in a video posted by the WSU Cougars Twitter account this week. Youve done so much for that school and of course so much for the Warriors as well. But I just want to say what a thrill it is to coach you, what a joy it is to see you every day and I know the impact youve made with our franchise here. Everybody at Washington State obviously knows exactly what youve meant to that university. So congrats, nobody deserves this more.

Thompson is unlikely to play this NBA season after suffering a torn ACL during the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Curry has been recovering from a broken hand.

In just three seasons, Thompson became WSUs third all-time leading scorer, averaging 17.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while draining a school-record 242 3-pointers. He was the 11th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2011 NBA Draft, becoming just the second Cougar to be chosen in the first round.

As a Cougar, Thompson earned Pacific-10 Conference honors all three seasons at WSU, all-freshman accolades as a rookie and First-Team All-Pac-10 as both a sophomore and junior. As a junior, Thompson led the Pac-10 and ranked 11th in the nation in scoring with 21.6 points per game, while also leading the league in 3-pointers made (98) as he broke four WSU single-season records, including points (733), and 3-point field goals.

Im really excited, Thompson told ESPN. I havent been back in about five years, so to go back and see the people I really grew up with, and the community that really embraced me. Its very nostalgic and its just really cool, because [having my jersey retired] was a dream of mine leaving Pullman. I didnt think it would ever come true. And it did, so its exciting.

Over 500 tickets are still available as of 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to WSU Athletics.

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Klay Thompson to be joined by Warriors teammate Curry at WSU jersey retirement Saturday - FOX 28 Spokane

Corofins quest for club football immortality will be decided on Sunday in the All Ireland Senior Club Football Championship final.

Throw in at Croke Park is at 4pm when they will face a Kilcoo side managed by Mickey Moran, who has previously faced Corofin in Croke Park with Slaughtneil.

Corofin are chasing an historic three-in-a-row All-Ireland football club titles which has never been achieved. Crossmaglen Rangers and UCD are the only other two sides to previously have retained the Andy Merrigan Cup - Crossmaglen achieved that feat twice (2011 and 2012 and 1999 and 2000 ), while UCD did so in 1974 and 1975.

Corofin manager Kevin OBrien will have no doubt shut down any talk of three-in-a-row within the Corofin camp, but he will be acutely aware of this chat outside the group. It would be an incredible achievement and would be put alongside Dublins five-in-a-row achievement, considering there is little or no break given for the club champions in the calendar season.

Now, however, Corofin are facing a team that will pose questions which have never previously been asked. The intensity and speed the Down champions will bring is on a different level to anything they have seen. They have runners from all angles and are relentless, and to last the full 60 minutes at this intensity is outstanding.

OBrien will have a full hand from which to select. Dylan Wall is expected to be back to full fitness following an illness which ruled him out of the start of the semi-final versus Nemo Rangers. It will be interesting to see if OBrien opts to use him from the bench or play him from the start, and if so, which of the half back line will drop to the bench. Walls pace and power going forward is a vital weapon to the Corofin juggernaut.

A key player for Kilcoo is wing back Daryl Branagan, one of five Branagan brothers in their starting line-up. He has impressed many in this year's campaign with his dogged determination and his ability to pop up in the right place at the right time to find a goal for his team. He is likely to be tagged by either Michel Lundy or Jason Leonard, both of whom spoke ahead of next Sundays final.

Leonard, whose free-taking has been a key component of scores for Corofin this year, says the buzz among the players and even among students in the primary school is electric.

"Any day you get to Croke Park is a special day and All-Ireland club final day is no different. Weve no heroes on our team. Were all just there to do our unique job.

Captain Michel Lundy, goalscorer in the semi-final, says Corofin is full of leaders.

Theres no extra pressure being captain, but its a great honour. Im delighted to just be playing on the team. There are no guarantees youre going to make the starting 15, theres such competition within the squad. There are great leaders within the group, people who stand up and are counted. The team is full of leaders.

It is sure to be a titanic battle in Croke Park this coming Sunday and both teams will be well primed. However, Galway will be backing Corofin to come out on top and carry the Andy Merrigan across the Shannon for an historic third successive year.

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Corofin primed for All Ireland in bid to create history - Galway Advertiser

In this post, we are going to talk about Blade of the Immortal episode 15 release date, streaming details, and preview. The show has premiered its first season, and is supposed to drop another episode this week. So, we will be talking more about it, although it will involve spoilers which we would like you to warn about. If you do not like spoilers, read only release date and streaming details.

The show is now 14 episodes deep into the first season, and the 15th episode is due this week. Blade of the Immortal episode 15 is all set to release on 16 January 2020, while the last episode was released on 2 January 2020. The previous episode was titled Act Fourteen Amendments, and the next episode title is Act Fifteen Acquisition of Guts. The show has an average episode length of 25 minutes.

There is no preview clip available for the next episode.

The show releases new episodes only on Amazon Prime Video, and no other streaming services. The new episodes are released at midnight in the US, and are only scheduled on Thursdays. We would also like to recommend the viewers to watch the show only using the official sources, and avoid all the illegal means of streaming and downloading options.

Here is the official synopsis to brief you about the show: Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan, has been cursed with immortality. To rid himself of this curse and end his life of misery, he must slay one thousand evil men! His quest begins when a young girl seeks his help in taking revenge on her parents killers.

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Blade of the Immortal Episode 15 Release Date, Streaming, and Preview - Otakukart News

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Superheroes and their superpowers are fictional. Originally coming from comics, there have been numerous superheroic characters who portrayed themselves so well. And their love story adds a different light to their stories, be it in comics or Marvel world. Similar was for Dark Phoenix and Wolverine too. Both shared a loving connection.

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Jean Grey was the Phoenix whom we saw in comics first. Remarkable superpowers of telepathy, empathy, psychokinesis is what defines the Phoenix. And with immortality, Phoenix is nothing because thats what brings Phoenix back into life every time.

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Wolverine is a super male fictional superhero who is blessed with his regenerative ability and healing powers that helps him stay uninjured. Not to miss is his chemistry with Phoenix that we have found in comics often.

Phoenix has been known as a character who already had its partner, but despite that, there was something that made Wolverine and Phoenix fall for each other. But, that was all that we have seen so far. And now we think if Marvel will again show their love story or not and here we tell you about that.

Well, if Marvel plans any such project where both Phoenix and Wolverine will cross each others way then, surely we can have them in a scene where once again their love story will come alive. But, thats just speculation we have.

As of now, we have to wait to see if Marvel plans anything like that or not. But fans would love to have them back as lovers.

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Will Marvel Again Show Love Story Of Dark Phoenix And Wolverine? - Pop Culture Times

FRISCO History wouldnt be within Marvin Mims grasp if he hadnt already had a taste of it.

To get to this point, earshot from the states record for most receiving yards in a high school career, Mims had to have an unprecedented senior year. No one in the country had ever broken the 2,500-yard receiving mark in one season until the Frisco Lone Star senior did it last week.

His historic season has brought him here, 66 yards away from breaking the career record, an honor that former Burnet and Texas receiver Jordan Shipley has held for the last 16 years, according to Dave Campbells Texas Footballs record book.

Mims is right on Shipleys tail, but someone else is closer.

Rockwall senior Jaxon Smith-Njigba has an eight-yard lead on Mims as both receivers get set to play this weekend in the state semifinals. Their games will start 30 minutes apart from each other on Saturday, meaning both might pass Shipley before simultaneously racing each other for a spot at the top of Texas high school football history.

This didnt happen by accident. Its not a coincidence that these two childhood friends are both on the verge of breaking a record thats withstood the influx of pass-happy offenses and 7on7 until now. It took a perfect storm of circumstance to create this scenario, and two special players in the eye of it for it to become an imminent reality.

It doesnt even seem real, does it? asked Rockwall head coach Rodney Webb. Its too good to be true, this whole story.

You could start this story on the basketball court. Thats where these two met.

At first, Mims didnt like Smith-Njigba. Mims has always been competitive, so when he and his AAU teammates kept running into Smith-Njigba at the championship game of tournaments back in about fifth grade it stoked his competitive fire.

I had to see him every weekend, Mims said. I mean, we always battled it out.

Soon after, the battle between the two stopped. Smith-Njigba joined Mims AAU team for the next couple of years. Being teammates instead of opponents didnt change how they played, though. They both brought a fearless football player mentality to the court, said Southlake Carroll tight end Blake Smith, a Texas A&M pledge who played AAU basketball with them.

Its a competitive drive they have in each of themselves, Smith said. Especially those two.

Thats something they have in common. Theyre both confident players, who take single-man coverage not as an insult, but as an opportunity to showcase their abilities. They both also felt the need to after this offseason.

Mims noticed this offseason when he dropped in the national recruiting rankings, going from four stars to three, according to 247Sports composite rankings. He also wasnt invited to The Opening, a combine and national showcase for the top recruits in the country, an event that happened in his backyard at The Ford Center in Frisco. Smith-Njigba arguably had the best showing at The Opening, but he was only invited because someone else dropped out and they needed to fill the space. Its cliche for athletes to say they have doubters, but both point to those examples as proof and motivation.

To a certain extent I didnt really care about it, because it was a personal shot at me, said Mims, an Oklahoma pledge who has since become a four-star recruit, once again. But at the same time I was focused on this team.

Thats because Mims knew his team had the potential to be this good. And the truth is both Mims and Smith-Njigba probably wouldnt be on the precipice of history without their teammates.

Webb, the president of the Texas high school coaches association, said a lot has to go into breaking a career receiving record, especially here. A player has to stay healthy, has to have a good quarterback and an offensive line protecting that quarterback, has to play in an offense conducive to passing success and has to be on a team thats good enough to go deep in the playoffs. Special receivers have come through Texas in the last 16 years, but theres a reason Shipleys record has held.

It looks like a very individual he-did-it type of award, Smith-Njigba, an Ohio State pledge, said, but it's really not without the help of others.

So many things could have derailed their pursuits, but nearly-perfect circumstance has led them to the doorstep of state immortality, something that was unimaginable to both until it was within their grasp. On Saturday, nearly simultaneously, both will have the chance to catch history. So let the race begin.

Heres where Mims and Smith-Njigba stack up in the states history for receiving statistics, according to Dave Campbells Texas Footballs record book.

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How childhood friends and star WRs Marvin Mims and Jaxon Smith-Njigba wound up on the doorstep of Texas football immortality - The Dallas Morning News

There is an entire day dedicated to humbugs in December (Scanned from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")

Readers will, in all probability, not remember Wilhelm Kroll, the German scientist, denouncing Gideon Morgenstern, an amateur anthropologist, as a humbug in one of Professor Shonkus adventures. Yet, Bah! Humbug, Ebenezer Scrooge had uttered these words to dismiss Christmas, has helped the Dickensian character attain a degree of literary immortality.

Ironically, Kroll and Scrooge were accusing their adversaries of a similar transgression deceit, the attribute that unites the humbugs of the world, real and imagined. During the Continental Wars, the falsification of bulletins from Germany led to the coining of the expression, This is from Hamburg, which was subsequently shortened to humbug, much to the consternation of Hamburgians. Even our very own Khushwant Singh had dreamt up an India sans humbugs, in the hope that the nation would then be able to rid itself of their chicaneries.

But humbuggery, in spite of its critics, is, evidently, winning this war. This years UN human development index report states that thousands of people have been able to haul themselves up from grinding poverty in liberalized economies. Yet, the real cause of their distress global inequality remains entrenched in the capitalist order. In India, the Union home minister thought nothing of pinning the blame of Partition on the BJPs principal rival during discussions on a contentious, unconstitutional legislation, even though it is a recorded fact that the blood of the sectarian Two Nation theory smears the hands of V.D. Savarkar, whom the BJP idolizes. But then history, in the BJPs hands, is humbug.

There is isnt this apt? an entire day dedicated to humbugs in December. But the purported goal of National Humbug Day is to encourage people to vent their frustrations in a controlled manner during the festive season. Maybe the miserly Scrooge did have a point about excesses that taint modern religions.

Yet, the humbugs complicity can be far from simple. How can I help being a humbug when all these people make me do things that everybody knows cant be done? observed the Wizard of Oz, who, the Scarecrow said, is nothing but a humbug. The Wizard seems to be hinting that the desire to be deceived by the improbable, the illusory, and the spectacular could well be an innate, entirely human, urge. P.T. Barnum, the American impresario and showman, who gained fame and notoriety in equal measure by blurring the line between ethics and incredulity, had called himself the Prince of Humbugs.

The Wizard has proved to be prescient. Humbugs reign only because we serve them as supplicants.

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The humming bug that has bitten one and all - Telegraph India