A shield volcano is formed when large quantities of basaltic lava are erupted over a long period of time. Basalt is very fluid, so it often spreads over large areas and the resulting mountain is shaped like a giant shield.
Examples are Mauna Loa in Hawaii and Olympus Mons on Mars.
What you are describing is properly called a laccolith.
Although the obvious surplus of mod points lately is screwing up my system... there's no way my 'this is how the mod system works' message was worth a 5... a 5 used to be something you had to work for... now they're everywhere; almost everything that gets a 3 ends up as 5 as too many people are dishing out the points...
I've only had moderator points once, and it was quite some time ago, but it seems to me that people will go through the entire list of comments before clicking the "Moderate" button. This means that they don't see that many of the good posts have already been moderated up while they were reading the list.
This has the benefit of seeing which posts were well-liked by many, but it does lead to other good posts being lost in the cracks while a few get high points.
What might prove interesting (at least, for a trial period) would be a secondary confirmation page that pops up when the moderator clicks the "Moderate" button and shows him what the results of his moderation will be on the posts that he's chosen to moderate. If it takes information from the Slashdot server, and not the previous page, the moderator can then see whether someone has already moderated them and can decide accordingly.
Seamount islands usually form at about two metres below the surface if they're in the midocean. At that depth, they will be completely underwater all the time (assuming normal wave activity), and will be kept that way by the sea.
The early phases of island-building are phreatomagmatic, as the magma reacts with low-pressure water near the surface. Such eruptions are extremely violent, and don't produce very stable land. Wave action keeps the new island just under the surface.
After the island is large enough to slow wave activity, a ring of tuff usually forms as tephra is deposited by base surges and fallout. This protects the island from the rest of the waves.
Finally, when the vent has little direct contact with the water, the eruption will shift to effusive (Hawaiian style), firmly cementing the loose earth into a stable island.
The same thing happened with the formation of Surtsey, near Iceland, in the 1960s.
- Ricky
"But close by Etna thunders and its affrighting showers fall. Sometimes it ejects up to high heaven a cloud of utter black, bursting forth in a tornado of pitchy smoke with white hot lava, and shoots tongues of flame to lick the stars." - Virgil, The Aneid
The US sticks with Imperial units because we tend to be fairly unaccepting of change.
For example, Massachusetts was considering renumbering all of the exit ramps on the interstates to coincide with the distances (in miles) from the border (N/S, I don't remember). This would make numbering new exits much easier, as they'd simply follow suit. People protested, saying that they liked the exit number as they were. As a result, we still have exits numbered 21B, 42A, etc. I think we even have a couple C's and D's. Americans just don't like the idea of change very much.
Another reason is that Imperial units were much easier to deal with before computers/calculators than metric. Dividing any number by 10 is easy, metric or Imperial. Just move the decimal place. And to divide by 5, just divide by 10 and double it. But Imeperial units divide evenly by both 2 and 3, a pain with metric. (I know, I know, it's easy to divide by three. But remember, we're nerds. Not everyone could read, let alone divide, when the standard was adopted.)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Communism \Com"mu*nism\ (?), n. [F. communisme, fr. commun common.] A scheme of equalizing the social conditions of life; specifically, a scheme which contemplates the abolition of inequalities in the possession of property, as by distributing all wealth equally to all, or by holding all wealth in common for the equal use and advantage of all.
Note: At different times, and in different countries, various schemes pertaining to socialism in government and the conditions of domestic life, as well as in the distribution of wealth, have been called communism.
From WordNet (r) 1.6 [wn]:
communism n 1: a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership 2: a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless society
By these definition, the method in which the Open Source movement handles its code could be considered a form of communism. Note, however, that Animal Farm was a possible example of how a specific form of communism (socialism) wouldn't work as a form of _government_, which has been corroborated by events in the past decade.
I would say that OS has been doing quite well in its sharing of information equally. The source code is as available as people can make it, and that availability is put to good use.
If Metcalfe is trying to compare the way we handle our own source code to communism, let him. If, however, he's comparing the way OS is run, he's dead wrong. Linus, RMS, and many others are wonderful spokespeople for OS, but they don't run it. No one actually runs it. We all do our part, but we're not nearly organised enough to call it communism.
And I'm not sure I want us to be that organised. We're large enough that if we _were_ that organised, we probably would have many of the same or similar problems to those of a government run under that system.
borg% webster geek geek \'ge-k\ n [prob. fr. E dial. geek, geck fool, fr. LG geck, fr. MLG] : a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usu. includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake.
borg%
Umm... I'm trying to figure out how this came to be associated with computers...
> I dont want to be reached most of the time, and I sure as hell dont want to talk while I am in the grocery store.
I agree. I carry a cellphone with me all the time, but it's usually off. I use it often enough to pay the bill, but mostly it's for my personal use. The only incoming calls I get are expected (ie. I know that someone's trying to reach me and I need to leave, or I just ordered a pizza from lab, which doesn't accept off-campus calls).
For this purpose, however, I have found it extremely useful. Especially for unexpected or emergency situations.
But today's french dishonor their past. Not that I have much moral authority as an American, but what the French have done is truly pathetic. This is only the latest, and perhaps the most laughable, series of sad events, from their ungrateful rejection of NATO to their nuclear testing. The french should take a long hard look at themselves.
Um... you're generalising the French based on some decisions by their government. It's like saying, "All Americans either cheat on their spouses or hire special prosecutors to search out those who do."
For example, I know many French people who think that the nuclear testing in the Pacific was a bad idea, just like many Americans don't ever want to hear another word come out of Ken Starr's mouth.
"I'm beginning to think you haven't had a-- my dear child, don't be so gleeful when you talk about hacking at people with swords-- safe moment in your life." - Queen Teleria to Eilonwy
Why, oh why, do we want linux on a Palmtop organizer? This I do not know.
Why did people port Linux to the Nintendo 64? It's a challenge!
Also, Linux is a relatively easy OS to port (compared to MacOS or anything M$ puts out). In porting Linux to an architecture, you learn a great deal about that arch, and become more adept at fixing problems, even in other OSes.
Don't forget "naked" and "Venus." There was even an article in Sky & Telescope that described the editor's test of net-watching programs on the S&T site, which contained sentences like "On a clear night, the planet Venus is able to be seen with the naked eye."
Needless to say, the site was blocked by nearly all of the programs.
The article mentioned searching the web for the most recent kernels and stable module versions... I'm sure it would have run much more smoothly if they had compiled their own kernels instead of mix-and-match from several places.
Slashdot Mirror
Errr... no.
A shield volcano is formed when large quantities of basaltic lava are erupted over a long period of time. Basalt is very fluid, so it often spreads over large areas and the resulting mountain is shaped like a giant shield.
Examples are Mauna Loa in Hawaii and Olympus Mons on Mars.
What you are describing is properly called a laccolith.
... the Milky Way is in fact a barred spiral!
Mmmmmm... Milky Way Bar...
Jurassic Park?
I know a tyrannosaur isn't exactly a serial killer, but...
Good night, sweet Hubble. And a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Ummm... I hate to break it to you, but they'd need a time machine to get the Big Dig done on time... :)
``The evil Dr. Claw has taken over a Dell factory as part of his schemes. Investigate the factory and stop Claw. This laptop will self-destruct.''
I've only had moderator points once, and it was quite some time ago, but it seems to me that people will go through the entire list of comments before clicking the "Moderate" button. This means that they don't see that many of the good posts have already been moderated up while they were reading the list.
This has the benefit of seeing which posts were well-liked by many, but it does lead to other good posts being lost in the cracks while a few get high points.
What might prove interesting (at least, for a trial period) would be a secondary confirmation page that pops up when the moderator clicks the "Moderate" button and shows him what the results of his moderation will be on the posts that he's chosen to moderate. If it takes information from the Slashdot server, and not the previous page, the moderator can then see whether someone has already moderated them and can decide accordingly.
I dunno. Just a thought :)
The early phases of island-building are phreatomagmatic, as the magma reacts with low-pressure water near the surface. Such eruptions are extremely violent, and don't produce very stable land. Wave action keeps the new island just under the surface.
After the island is large enough to slow wave activity, a ring of tuff usually forms as tephra is deposited by base surges and fallout. This protects the island from the rest of the waves.
Finally, when the vent has little direct contact with the water, the eruption will shift to effusive (Hawaiian style), firmly cementing the loose earth into a stable island.
The same thing happened with the formation of Surtsey, near Iceland, in the 1960s.
- Ricky
"But close by Etna
thunders and its affrighting
showers fall. Sometimes it ejects up to
high heaven a cloud of utter black, bursting
forth in a tornado of pitchy smoke
with white hot lava, and
shoots tongues of flame
to lick the stars."
- Virgil, The Aneid
For example, Massachusetts was considering renumbering all of the exit ramps on the interstates to coincide with the distances (in miles) from the border (N/S, I don't remember). This would make numbering new exits much easier, as they'd simply follow suit. People protested, saying that they liked the exit number as they were. As a result, we still have exits numbered 21B, 42A, etc. I think we even have a couple C's and D's. Americans just don't like the idea of change very much.
Another reason is that Imperial units were much easier to deal with before computers/calculators than metric. Dividing any number by 10 is easy, metric or Imperial. Just move the decimal place. And to divide by 5, just divide by 10 and double it. But Imeperial units divide evenly by both 2 and 3, a pain with metric. (I know, I know, it's easy to divide by three. But remember, we're nerds. Not everyone could read, let alone divide, when the standard was adopted.)
- Ricky
ERROR READING WARP DRIVE
ABORT, RETRY, FAIL, IGNORE?
tir-na-nogth% dict communism
2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Communism \Com"mu*nism\ (?), n. [F. communisme, fr. commun
common.]
A scheme of equalizing the social conditions of life;
specifically, a scheme which contemplates the abolition of
inequalities in the possession of property, as by
distributing all wealth equally to all, or by holding all
wealth in common for the equal use and advantage of all.
Note: At different times, and in different countries, various
schemes pertaining to socialism in government and the
conditions of domestic life, as well as in the
distribution of wealth, have been called communism.
From WordNet (r) 1.6 [wn]:
communism
n 1: a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
2: a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless
society
By these definition, the method in which the Open Source movement handles its code could be considered a form of communism. Note, however, that Animal Farm was a possible example of how a specific form of communism (socialism) wouldn't work as a form of _government_, which has been corroborated by events in the past decade.
I would say that OS has been doing quite well in its sharing of information equally. The source code is as available as people can make it, and that availability is put to good use.
If Metcalfe is trying to compare the way we handle our own source code to communism, let him. If, however, he's comparing the way OS is run, he's dead wrong. Linus, RMS, and many others are wonderful spokespeople for OS, but they don't run it. No one actually runs it. We all do our part, but we're not nearly organised enough to call it communism.
And I'm not sure I want us to be that organised. We're large enough that if we _were_ that organised, we probably would have many of the same or similar problems to those of a government run under that system.
borg% webster geek
geek \'ge-k\ n [prob. fr. E dial. geek, geck fool, fr. LG geck, fr. MLG] :
a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usu. includes
biting the head off a live chicken or snake.
borg%
Umm... I'm trying to figure out how this came to be associated with computers...
> I dont want to be reached most of the time, and I sure as hell dont want to talk while I am in the grocery store.
I agree. I carry a cellphone with me all the time, but it's usually off. I use it often enough to pay the bill, but mostly it's for my personal use. The only incoming calls I get are expected (ie. I know that someone's trying to reach me and I need to leave, or I just ordered a pizza from lab, which doesn't accept off-campus calls).
For this purpose, however, I have found it extremely useful. Especially for unexpected or emergency situations.
But today's french dishonor their past. Not that I have much moral authority as an American, but what the French have done is truly pathetic. This is only the latest, and perhaps the most laughable, series of sad events, from their ungrateful rejection of NATO to their nuclear testing. The french should take a long hard look at themselves.
Um... you're generalising the French based on some decisions by their government. It's like saying, "All Americans either cheat on their spouses or hire special prosecutors to search out those who do."
For example, I know many French people who think that the nuclear testing in the Pacific was a bad idea, just like many Americans don't ever want to hear another word come out of Ken Starr's mouth.
"I'm beginning to think you haven't had a-- my dear child, don't be so gleeful when you talk about hacking at people with swords-- safe moment in your life."
- Queen Teleria to Eilonwy
First, we need a Spaceballs: Special Edition with all new computer graphics :-)
On the same topic, how about a Hardware Wars: Episode 1 (There's already a Special Edition...)
Why, oh why, do we want linux on a Palmtop organizer? This I do not know.
:-)
Why did people port Linux to the Nintendo 64? It's a challenge!
Also, Linux is a relatively easy OS to port (compared to MacOS or anything M$ puts out). In porting Linux to an architecture, you learn a great deal about that arch, and become more adept at fixing problems, even in other OSes.
Oh, and it's fun
Don't forget "naked" and "Venus." There was even an article in Sky & Telescope that described the editor's test of net-watching programs on the S&T site, which contained sentences like "On a clear night, the planet Venus is able to be seen with the naked eye."
Needless to say, the site was blocked by nearly all of the programs.
Owen was Anakin's brother-in-law. Beru was his younger sister.
The article mentioned searching the web for the most recent kernels and stable module versions... I'm sure it would have run much more smoothly if they had compiled their own kernels instead of mix-and-match from several places.
Wholeheartedly.
Narf.
- Ricky
- Ricky
If I had had time, I would have built one with a LinuxPPC screen.