MetaFilter posts tagged with Parrot

Say groove, sucker...say dance, sucker...now move, sucker.

MaryDellamorte — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:30:01 -0800

Meet Frostie the dancing cockatoo. When I say he loves to dance, I mean he really loves to dance.

When Polly is in Charge

davidstandaford — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:19:10 -0800

"The animals all think he's Margaret when he speaks. He loves ordering them around and commanding them – it's very surprising. He's not frightened or scared of them at all."

"Parrot mimics owner's voice to boss around her other pets "

Polly wants a Prozac

BrnP84 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:02:46 -0800

Polly wants a Prozac. Fred the Parrot tries to bite his neck off after his owner dies, vets prescribe bird-friendly anti-depressants.

Snoring animals

ObscureReferenceMan — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:01:34 -0800

Snoring duck, snoring dog, snoring pig, snoring cat, snoring parrot. That is all.

A mouthful of bytecode

Skorgu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:57:16 -0800

Bytecode-based virtual machines are the Next Big Thing in programming. You can run Lisp, Ruby, Python, OCaml, and yes even COBOL on the JVM. Or if you prefer your languages to be a bit more melodic there's J#, A#, P# and F#. Even C/C++ has a bytecode compiler now. That's not to mention languages that have their own VMs like Erlang or that are writing their own like Parrot or PyPy. Some background for the confused: Computer programs are traditionally written in human-readable source code then compiled to computer-executable machine code. Bytecode is a sort of halfway point between the two. It's not human readable but neither is it tied to a specific architecture like compiled code is. Java is the canonical example: a program written in Java will run on any machine that has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) from your desktop to your cellphone. With bytecode-targeted compilers programmers can write in their favorite language without being limited by the libraries and compilers written for it and have those programs run anywhere there's an appropriate VM.

He's Pinin' For The Fjords

briank — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:59:19 -0800

Alex, the African Gray parrot who "spoke" over 100 words, has passed away. y2karl introduced MetaFilter to Alex a few years ago. Alex had been the subject of Dr. Irene Pepperberg's research for nearly 20 years. His ability to communicate with people using an extensive English vocabulary demonstrated a level of intelligence previously unthought of in birds, but critics include no less than Noam Chomsky himself. Here's a 1999 NYT article about Alex if you have never heard of this incredible bird, and a video of another gray parrot demonstrating its own talents.

mini gnarly

nickyskye — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:59:41 -0800

Radical Rodents: Chopsticks, Bunsen, Harry & Curly, surfing mice. An Australian man trained several mice on tiny surfboards. More surfing critters, a surfing dog and another one. Surfing parrot (video repeats in a couple of spots).

Feral monk parakeets attack New York!

myopicman — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 09:16:01 -0800

The Wild Parrots of Brooklyn. "I'm amazed at how many people living on the island of Manhattan regard these birds as urban legends, just like the crocodiles once reputed to live in the sewers. But these birds are real, they're thriving and yet they're also endangered." Theories, studies, photos and an audio sample of these non-native birds, which are found elsewhere in the US, throughout the world and on film. [prior discussion, first link via memepool.]

Talking Parrot

lobstah — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 06:50:42 -0800

The Amazing Einstein This African Grey Parrot was a show stopper on animal Planet's Pet Stars. Lots of other great videos there too

the best ever death metal band out of denton

scrim — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 14:59:09 -0800

"Face-crushing guitars, head-pounding drums, bass so low you'll vacate your bowels, and vocals so scorching, so extreme they simply can't be human! They're not." You cannot dodge the talons of hate.

The Continuing Adventures of Alex The African Grey Parrot

y2karl — Sat, 29 Nov 2003 12:13:21 -0800

So we put a number of differently colored letters on the tray that we use, put the tray in front of Alex, and asked, ''Alex, what sound is blue?'' He answers, ''Ssss.'' It was an ''s'', so we say ''Good birdie'' and he replies, ''Want a nut.'' Well, I don't want him sitting there using our limited amount of time to eat a nut, so I tell him to wait, and I ask, ''What sound is green?'' Alex answers, ''Ssshh.'' He's right, it's ''sh,'' and we go through the routine again: ''Good parrot.'' ''Want a nut.'' ''Alex, wait. What sound is orange?'' ''ch.'' ''Good bird!'' ''Want a nut.'' We're going on and on and Alex is clearly getting more and more frustrated. He finally gets very slitty-eyed and he looks at me and states, ''Want a nut. Nnn, uh, tuh.'' - That Damn Bird - A Talk with Irene Pepperberg. Referential Communication with an African Gray Parrot. Irene Pepperberg says that Arthur, an African Gray parrot, is so smart that she and a group of students at the Media Lab are teaching him to go online. A more subjective take on some more African Grey parrots here. The Alex Homepage. Alex interviewed. languagehat on talking parrots.