[QUOTE=Brian-E;340790]Wish granted. You receive a good (bug-free), not old (recently written), unit of software which takes any graphic such as a histogram or pie chart and interprets the pictorial information, giving as output the raw data which was depicted.

I wish for an as yet undiscovered effect, peculiar to our planet, whereby carbon dioxide and methane are removed from the atmosphere before they reach dangerous levels.[/QUOTE]
[OT]I bet Google would be very interested in a piece of software like that.[/OT]

[QUOTE=cheesehead;340799]I wish for an adequate shield against the possibility of that's happening.[/QUOTE]
Wish granted. Now the only star we can see in the sky is the Sun.

I wish for a mind-reading device that only works if the person it's used on consents.

Not part of the wish, but explanantion:If a true mind-reading device existed, it could be used to figure out who truly deserves to be in jail. Unfortunately, an actual mind-reading device wouldn't need consent in order to operate, so a government could use it to suppress opposing views.

[QUOTE=cheesehead;340799]"Woosh" granted: A Cosmic Vacuum Cleaner comes along and sucks up all of Earth's atmosphere. leaving all of us to suffocate. A group organizes to sue because the C.V.C. is not peculiar to our planet, but litigants expire before the case comes to trial.

I wish for an adequate shield against the possibility of that's happening.[/QUOTE]The languorously limp finger of fate slowly glides past the possibilities. Bingo! Exactly what is needed! People get sensible. Gasses are conserved and not vented into the atmosphere. Consumables are sensibly recycled. We become awesome stewards of the planet. Unfortunately, these brave new paragons of virtue are not satisfied with their choices of mates because selection is now too objectively logical and no one is good enough. We die out in one generation. The Cosmic Vacuum Cleaner visits and explores this fascinating planet full of wonders -- beautifully preserved.

I secretly wish something. Bwah! Hah! Ha!

[QUOTE=only_human;340812]The languorously limp finger of fate slowly glides past the possibilities. Bingo! Exactly what is needed! People get sensible. Gasses are conserved and not vented into the atmosphere. Consumables are sensibly recycled. We become awesome stewards of the planet. Unfortunately, these brave new paragons of virtue are not satisfied with their choices of mates because selection is now too objectively logical and no one is good enough. We die out in one generation. The Cosmic Vacuum Cleaner visits and explores this fascinating planet full of wonders -- beautifully preserved.

I secretly wish something. Bwah! Hah! Ha![/QUOTE]

Wish granted. You died from lack of revealing.

I wish I had a cat.

[QUOTE=kracker;340817]I wish I had a cat.[/QUOTE]

Wish granted. Unfortunately it grows up to be a Bengal tiger, and it eats you.

I wish Barbados had more than 17 weeks of foreign exchange reserves.

[QUOTE=jasong;340811]I wish for a mind-reading device that only works if the person it's used on consents.[/QUOTE]
(Just picking up the effects of the cross-post here...)
Wish granted. But it only works at the moment of consent. The only information it ever shows is "I consent", or "I don't mind my mind being read".

Back to the later wishes...

[QUOTE=chalsall;340820]I wish Barbados had more than 17 weeks of foreign exchange reserves.[/QUOTE]
Woosh granted! Barbados has <insert here a calamity or a coupe> and 18 weeks worth of foreign exchange reserve corps are promptly dispatched. Some of them are from Nepal, and bring cholera into the country (completely inadvertently, mind you).

Back to the later wishes...

[QUOTE=Batalov;340832]Woosh granted! Barbados has <insert here a calamity or a coupe> and 18 weeks worth of foreign exchange reserve corps are promptly dispatched. Some of them are from Nepal, and bring cholera into the country (completely inadvertently, mind you).

Back to the later wishes...[/QUOTE]

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad...

A group representing Haiti victims is suing the United Nations for at least USD $1 billion because of a cholera outbreak which has been documented (via DNA evidence) to have been imported into the country by aid workers.

Machiavelli would be proud....

Edit: Just for [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_indemnity_controversy"]further context[/URL]. The reason Haiti suffered so badly during the 2010 earthquake, while the Dominican Republic didn't, is because Haiti (and its people) was economically disadvantaged by colonial powers.
__________

[SPOILER][COLOR="LightBlue"]EDIT/S.B.: My black humor was of course aimed at the UN, and not at the people of Haiti who suffered greatly.
Neither it was aimed at the alleged higher power that in its infinite wisdom allegedly let that happen.[/COLOR]
...Ah crap, I just set off another conversational landmine.[/SPOILER]

[SPOILER][COLOR="Lightgreen"]EDIT/CH.: I know. And I appreciate you bringing this forward. Very few understand just how much damage has been caused by international "help". (And perhaps the punchline to the joke: The UN has claimed that it is "protected by immunity".)[/COLOR][/SPOILER]

[QUOTE=Batalov;340832]...
Back to the later wishes...[/QUOTE]

Wish granted. You are back ... to a previous wish of your choice.
But you used up a wish to get there. Oh well.

I wish someone would compute past 215000 to get the
value of a(20) (from another thread). It could possibly
never terminate and that could be important. How
could we actually prove non-termination?

Having just seen "[URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734658/"]The Man in the Bottle[/URL]", I figured that I should revive this thread.
[QUOTE=davar55;340835]I wish someone would compute past 215000 to get the value of a(20) (from another thread).[/QUOTE]
Wish granted. The only problem is that the results of the computations were not kept (hardware failure).

I wish that I could keep all of my current knowledge and skills and return to my first year of high school (with no other variables changed.)

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;353535]Having just seen "[URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734658/"]The Man in the Bottle[/URL]", I figured that I should revive this thread.

Wish granted. The only problem is that the results of the computations were not kept (hardware failure).

I wish that I could keep all of my current knowledge and skills and return to my first year of high school (with no other variables changed.)[/QUOTE]
Wish granted, everyone thinks you're creepy because you've turned from a 15-year old into an old man overnight.

I wish I had a mentor.