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Monolith Appears In Seattle
LordXarph writes: "AP reports that on new year's day 2001, a 6 foot tall monolith has appeared in seattle. If Monolith Software weren't based in Seattle, I would be worried." Anyone have pictures of this thing? It makes me want to hum Particle Man by They Might Be Giants. Oh wait- Wrong song.Update: 01/03 04:39 AM by H :Check out the picture that a number of people sent in.
......It's full of stars!
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
and did anybody look inside?
John
6 feet with a dumb look ? Must be Bill Gates...
..:: Molotov's cocktail is a Russian blowjob
Here's a picture of the monolith in the Seattle Times.
The link again. Click that for the picture.
... it's the first year of the new Millenium.
Next year there'll be two, the next, three, the next, four, and so on.
By the end of the Millenium, we'll have Monoliths across America, and God will reach down and start the biggest domino effect in the history of the world!
Actual Picture
sulli
RTFJ.
CmdrTaco should have known that the dimensions would have to be 1x4x9 - how hard is it to remember 1^2 x 2^2 x 3^2 if you've seen the movie?
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Not as impressive as I had hoped.
This is not the way to build a lasting empire.
But does it have the 1x4x9 proportions?
Baz
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You know what's inside...
It's full of stars!
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
I suspect that the folk behind the SpeakEasy cafe are behind this;
I walked by the cafe with my girlfriend on New Years [wanting to visit the staff], and they noted that they were closed for New Years Eve and New Years. It said, "Come see us at the Monolith Party!", or something like that.
They're crazy, interesting, and rich enough to pull off something like this. I'd say: Quite possibly (likely?) it was them..!
It is a shame, however, that the aliens chose English units... not that I'm Canadian or anything...
The "theme song from 2001" is "Also Sprach Zarathustra", by Richard Strauss.
Sigh.
/. is a commercial entity. goto slashdot.com
That's one short man in the photo if it's only six feet tall.
Didn't see whether the other axes were FOUR feet by ONE foot, but it looks plausible.
(In Clarke and Kubrick's films, as well as Clarke's books, the monoliths' measurements were in the ratio of 1 : 4 : 9, the squares of the first three positive integers, presumably as a sign that the creator was aware of the universality of mathematics as a way of communicating between evolved species.)
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The new commercial for Ford:
full story
Ridiculopaths R us
Didn't they find the monolith in 1999 on the moon (i assume before the moon was blown out of earth's orbit by that massive nuclear waste explosion) in the movie? apparently, someone was just too lazy to pay attention to details. I mean come on, we've know how to get stuff to the moon since the late sixties. nobody puts in any effort these days.
.^
^.
( @ )
Soylent Foods, Inc.
Seattle has one of the most progressive government programs I've ever heard: they decree that 1% of the annual budget must be spent on public art. Statues, murals, sculptures of all sorts, everywhere you go. It's really pretty cool to have real art that's not hidden away. (Even if one or two particular pieces don't tickle your fancy.)
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It's not the feet, it's the ratio between the measurements. It could be 1 : 4 : 9 cubits or zoinkles or leagues, it doesn't matter. Those measurements would show to some other race that the makers knew MATH.
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I can't be the real deal if its proportional dimensions aren't perfect squares(1x4x9). Anyone actually take the measurements of the thing?
Seriously, this is pretty cool move on who ever did this(especially if it was God or ET). They obviously like A Clarke's work.
here's the collection of yahoo pics of the monolith.
On January 24 Datacloud will introduce JANNA. And you'll see why 2001 won't be like '2001'.
ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
I wish people would realize that it's not JUST the "theme from 2001," it's a piece of music called "Also Sprach Zarathrusta" by Richard Strauss.
This project has been ongoing for months in the Seattle area. On New Year's Eve, a parade/protest/whatever was organized from Capitol Hill in Seattle (the "Bohemian" Neighborhood) up and down its main street and then into downtown Seattle. The parade was in support of the monolith that was going to be emplaced at an unknown location. We were supposed to have a wooden faux monolith with us but the cops confiscated it. The real monolith was put into place while this was going on.
It's just an unfinished Domino peice.
:)
(or it will be soon after a geek gets
their hands on some black n white paint)
It's only a matter of time
Other tricks to do... glue a monkey toy to the top, make it output funny noises randomly, etc.
1,4, and 9 are prime where you are? damn, that is weird.
Jan 12 is HAL's birthday!
PS: None of the monoliths in the movie were 1:4:9 because they didn't look right on camera.
Pope
Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Monopolies offer Choice!
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
The end of high prices!
;)
Seriously, does this remind anyone of a Simpsons episode?
Well, I just walked down with my trusty tape measure (can see the hill from my office building) and the official size:
1.0ft x 4.0ft x 8.5+ft
My ruler goes to 1/16 inches and it was accurate to that level---don't have micrometers to examine further. It was buried slightly at an angle, so I couldn't determine the height.It's oriented N/S, but with the sun at its current height there's at least one "sunrise over monolith" place to stand.
I would have dug it up to determine the height, but there was a crowd there, mostly dog-walkers. I got involved with a conversation with Fido and Rex about the trival 12th-dimensional spacetime rotation required to unify...oh, that's right, you haven't touched it yet.
--Cost of steel and welding supplies: $1,245.
--Cost of labour on New Years Eve: $724
--Cost of having an entire city gape blankly at a hunk of steel, without a bone in sight: priceless.
Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
One has to wonder...I have yet to see a mpeg of a bunch of geeks in ape suits tossing bones around this thing.
In a more geeky locale, I bet we would have pics of such an event by now.
What? No costume shops in Seattle? Or just no geeks?
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
As an employee of Speakeasy, I can safely say that the monolith was not a promotion item, nor is Speakeasy affiliated with the monolith or its appearance. A number of us did attend a certain parade/public revelry/gathering that was to have a wooden monolith replica burnt in effigy at its culmination. Hence the sign.
Actually, that's "..Zarathustra" and not "...Zarathrusta". :)
"sweet dreams are made of this..."
"lith" is latin for stone.
We know it's made of stainless steel, not stone therefore it's not a monolith.
Which begs the question - who assembled it? IIRC, welding stainless steel requires some special equipment - TIG welder, instead of your typical arc welder or oxy-aceteline setup. Okay, I guess you can pick up a TIG welder at Ace hardware. . .
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Wouldn't an advanced alien species measures things in meters? Or have they not converted over yet, either?
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It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
um, I was pretty much worried about the 4 and 9.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was local engineering students pulling this off---if so, it would be in the tradition of the finest hackers as started by MIT.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20010102 /capt.monolith_mystery_egp.jpg
Thats a good pic!
In case of Emergency, Curl up in the Fetal position, and lick a Bible for comfort!
Has anybody bothered to check if it's magnetic or not? Sounds like it's made of steel, so it's possible-- but I'm curious to see how far they went.
http://www.ihoz.com/lith/
Anyway, Deface the Nation, a public access news show which lampoons the media has been promoting this since the anniversary of WTO/N30. Great show if you're in the area. The soundman for their DTN was driving around with a mock monolith on his car until the police stopped him and then tried to confiscate his hammer.
We need a bit more humor in this city again. It's getting a little too serious. So cheers to all involved.
"I have a cunning plan..."
1 : 2^2 : 3^3 : ... : (n-2)^2 : (n-1)^2 : n^2
The Monolith apparently doesn't conform to safety codes or something (it wasn't mounted right) and they'll be taking it down.
Meanies.
--- Now, go away 'cuz you all up in my Kool-Aid!
On New Year's Eve, a parade/protest/whatever was organized from Capitol Hill in Seattle (the "Bohemian" Neighborhood) up and down its main street and then into downtown Seattle.
Ahem. Fremont is Seattle's bohemian neighborhood, Capitol Hill is Seattle's gay and alternative neighborhood.
Everyone knows that.
Will in Seattle
OK, geography lesson.
Seattle is on the West Side of Lake Washington.
Mercer Island is in the middle of Lake Washington.
Bellevue and Redmond are on the East Side of Lake Washington.
Just think Seattle = New York and Redmond = Trenton and you'll get the idea. Except it's reversed, since it's the West Coast.
The Monolith is in Seattle. Bill Gates is in Redmond. Oh, ok, that cheesy suburb right off of I-520, but same concept. And, sometimes, just to be nice, we let Bill Gates come to Seattle to pretend he has culture.
Will in Seattle
Certainly a valid opinion, but here's mine. Cities are communities, and taxes go to build all aspects of the community. That means zoning to keep industrial waste more-or-less out of your front yard, fixing potholes, providing parks and recreational areas, and yep, you guessed it, public art. So that's publically funded public art. And if you don't like the 'foo' at 'Baz & Main', then write a letter to your city council. Personally, if you don't like a few surprises in art, I'd rather you just find some other community where you can be a curmudgeon to your heart's content.
Wait, it's not just Monoliths, it's also Monorails that Seattle needs, wants, and desires.
And, we actually have a 2 percent for art requirement in King County. Not just your paltry one percent - two percent.
Will in Seattle
ouldn't an advanced alien species measures things in meters? Or have they not converted over yet, either?
They made it easy for the people who are Microserfs. The rest of the Seattlites can do metric, it's just those wannabes across the lake who can't.
Will in Seattle
There go our plans for world domination.
We figured with Bush as President he'd be clueless as to geometric progression, which would give us enough time to get monoliths in all 51 states.
Will in Seattle
Really. Now that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has settled it's strike, the Seattle Times (which is still on strike) needed to do something to raise it's circulation and page hits, since most of us are only getting the Seattle P-I now.
You'll see Frank out at the Monolith with his shotgun, trying to shoot it, just like he did his neighbors dogs when they wandered onto his property.
Just lift up the Monolith and look for the union label.
Will in Seattle
Maybe they should see how long it takes to get SPD out to beat it into submission.
Nah, first they have to surround it with four squads of police officers, tear gas it, block off all the exits, and then take away it's rights of free speech.
Then they can bring in the robot tank they bought. Gotta justify that big waste of money somehow.
After all, it might be a bomb.
But, I have a simpler solution - check the version number - if it's a point zero release, it's a bomb, if it's a point one or higher it's mostly harmless.
Will in Seattle
I'm suing the aliens for gross negligence. As restitution, I get their flying saucer.
Somehow, I don't think you've ever met the SpeakEasy crew...
I find it rather laughable to believe that this is "scheming marketeers"...
The SpeakEasy staff are the most environmentally (both social and ecological environments) conscious people I have ever met.
Their cafe is an incredible place.
I thought I had an appetite for destruction, but all I really wanted was a club sandwich. --Homer J.
No, but I had the mental image of a bunch of students doing this as a prank. A couple of art students working on this for a few months and then someone borrowing their dad's 1/2 ton and a bunch of guys driving out to the park in the middle of the night to plant this thing.
I guess it is not the end of the world if it was the work of an internet cafe or something, just kind of takes the gleam out of my eye as I chuckle about someone just going out and pulling this _cool_ prank vs some commercial enterprise doing this for publicity (if that is in fact their motivation)
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
Who says that the ratio only had three dimensions to it?
1:4:9:16:... are the correct dimensions..
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- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Yes, it is gone, but here is a story (with video) on local TV channel KOMO 4 about it.
arf arf arf
Will in Seattle
story. DOH!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
...it's the double-zero, of course.
Never take moderation advice from sigs, including this one.