I blame the matrix principle. We live in a physical world with certain rules. Thinks like gravity, turbulance, pressure, etc. A computer world has not rules but what the programmer hath wrought. It is an entire construct built of rules. Engineers know that, barring that we have stumbled on some new phenominon, what we see in a system has been characterized somewhere else. Air under pressure will evacuate to areas of lower pressure in accordance with certain laws. Hot things will cool down to the ambient temperature according to another equation. A mass accellerated will travel only so far before it falls to the ground.
In a computer world, none of that is true. And you can't just toss it off a building and see how it reacts.
Does anyone remember a web comic out there featuring a glob of goo that evolved from the mold in someone's coffee? I used to read it a lot, but I can't remember any of the names, nor where I found it.
Sure, you could get the tanks into space with a little extra energy. But then you are going to be spending a lot more energy dodging the damn things when you are in orbit. They have no attitude control. No guidance system. And beyond an insulated shell for storing cyrogenic fuel for short periods of time, not use whatsover in space.
We have a big enough problem with space junk as it is.
My thought is that Engineering is suffering from eating its own seed corn. In Liberal Arts, your highest career goal is to be a professor. (Assuming that you are there to seriously geek out on the material, as opposed to slog through for 4 years to get a sheet of paper.)
In Engineering, the highest goal is to get a PH.D and work for a Military Industrial Complex. There really isn't a whole lot in the engineering culture that encourages a free exchange of ideas. It's usually "how do we fix this for the least expenditure of time and resources?"
Art, interpretation, even learning how to write in compete sentences, are viewed as time consuming extras. Going back to academia and teaching what you have learned is quitting.
Actually they are moving Fest up a week starting next year. Too many schools are starting the Monday after fest, and we are losing folks to move-in weekend.
It's not all THAT family friendly. (I should know, I'm up in the camping office taking complaints.)
Because the grounds are so much smaller than, say, Burning man, you can't just pick up stakes and get out of earshot if something bugs you. The standing ban on Bongos stems from one particularly awful year back in the 90's where we had bongo circles a few hundred deep, and people started turning everything into a percussion instrument. Including port-a-potties and dumpsters. You couldn't hear yourself think.
I was on some of the patrols trying to crack down. We kept pulling guys out of the circle, and they kept saying "You don't want the drumming to stop."
We were prying guys off the dumpster, who were 'playing' it with 2x4s and tent poles. And every one of them told us "you don't want the drumming to stop."
I was dragging one guy to the gate, by the scruff of his neck. He kept yelling "you don't want the drum circle to stop." Finally I asked "what is going to happen when the drumming stops?"
It all comes down to the fact that Corporate types just don't understand a world that is not driven by money. They believe that everyone has a price. The also believe that everything has a price.
The myth of the Hippies going whoreporate is a coping mechanism for cube dwellers. It makes them think that everyone eventually will adopt their lifestyle.
What did happen in the 60s was a large number of maleable individuals tried adopting the Hippie lifestyle. Then they became disco freaks in the 70s before putting on collars and dress shoes to work as cogs in the great mill of capitalism.
These were not the hippies. These were simply boomers. And if the ascetic lifestyle of Tibeten monks suddenly got popular you'd see a pile of 50 year olds on the street corner bumming rice.
If you are in the Philadelphia area, try the Philadelphia Folk Festival. It's been around for 45 years, and has a colorful following. There are camp sites that have been around for decades, and they each form a village that seems to pick up next year where this year left off.
If you volunteer, you get in for free. So you get everything from RV's with decks on the roof, to folks showing up with a sleeping bag and not much else.
I've been going since I was an infant. (And slightly before.) I really don't know much about Folk Music. I just show up to work and run into folks that I only see once a year.
That's when I revert to discussions about Dungeon and Dragon's campaigns past, or deck strategies for Magic the Gathering. Which leads to the inevitable discussion about why the new blocks are good or bad, and then turns into a fistfest when folks discuss the impact of Color Screw on Multiplayer games, and how the game is now fun now that nobody plays for Ante anymore.
If you are in a sufficiently stoned crowd that stuff is deep, man.
only in big cities where the yuppie/normal person ratio is absurdly high
There are plenty of smaller communities where Yuppies are found. For whatever reason when they tire of the city the ALL seem to move to Town X, Village Y, or community Z.
I go to the Philadelphia Folk Festival every year. When I was 8 years old, the concert grounds where the middle of nowhere. Today, the grounds are at the same field, but it's surrounded by Yuppie farms. I wouldn't mind so much, if the neighbors didn't complain about the noise, the traffic, and all the stuff that was there WAY before their 'cottage in the wilderness.'
You start to understand why the Greeks and Romans split up the various functions of God over the Pantheon.
Aries/Mars was the war God. That's what he did. Hermes/Mercury was the winged messenger, but he loved to mess with mortal's heads. Aphrodite/Venus was all about Beauty and stuff.
You could analyze the forces outside your world one aspect at a time without resorting to bizarre theological constructions like the Trinity and Satan.
As a native of Philadelphia, who went to school in West Philly, I know the feeling. Really, you just get used to the annual "bum smashed my window for change" and cleaning dog shit off your your boots is a rite of spring.
I love the city. Could live without the people some days, though.
Funny that. We have people moving from South Philadelphia to Jersey because of the schools, they are tired crime, and/or want a bigger house.
At the same time we have in influx of refugees from the Burbs who can't afford housing out there and/or are looking to shorten THEIR commute. In South Philly you are a hop skip, and a traffic Jam away from either South Jersey or Center city.
Methinks that people are just starting to behave like ocean currents.
My tinfoil cap is buzzing. If you wanted to steal the germs, it sounds like swiping some infected hosts would be the simplest way to start your own culture.
Don't mind the sounds of duct tape and plastic sheathing...
Actually the medival lifestyle created it's own hordes of "hosts" with compromised immune systems. Malnutrition, poor living conditions, and having little more than fire to combat the cold European winter is a recipe for outbreak.
And don't forget, there are vast fields of methane in the Ocean that are trapped there by the cold temperature of the water. Heat up the oceans too much, and you'll have even MORE sources of greenhouse gas to deal with.
Skip Mars and the Moon. NASA ought to be working on large scale habitats for mankind to flee too along with enough livestock and crops to keep us going.
I'm not saying we need it just this minute, or even just this century. But to quote "Contact", "There are a dozens of reasons we can thing of why you would need it. But it's the ones that we haven't thought of that are more important."
Slashdot Mirror
layoff the harrasement fire, a pregnant terror is a bankruptcy of ammunition
Moving from theory to practice can take centuries.
In a computer world, none of that is true. And you can't just toss it off a building and see how it reacts.
-Linus Torvalds
That's the one. Thanx!
Does anyone remember a web comic out there featuring a glob of goo that evolved from the mold in someone's coffee? I used to read it a lot, but I can't remember any of the names, nor where I found it.
We have a big enough problem with space junk as it is.
No. Skylab was a space station. It was just happened to take the place of the upper stages of a moon rocket.
My thought is that Engineering is suffering from eating its own seed corn. In Liberal Arts, your highest career goal is to be a professor. (Assuming that you are there to seriously geek out on the material, as opposed to slog through for 4 years to get a sheet of paper.)
In Engineering, the highest goal is to get a PH.D and work for a Military Industrial Complex. There really isn't a whole lot in the engineering culture that encourages a free exchange of ideas. It's usually "how do we fix this for the least expenditure of time and resources?"
Art, interpretation, even learning how to write in compete sentences, are viewed as time consuming extras. Going back to academia and teaching what you have learned is quitting.
It's not all THAT family friendly. (I should know, I'm up in the camping office taking complaints.)
Because the grounds are so much smaller than, say, Burning man, you can't just pick up stakes and get out of earshot if something bugs you. The standing ban on Bongos stems from one particularly awful year back in the 90's where we had bongo circles a few hundred deep, and people started turning everything into a percussion instrument. Including port-a-potties and dumpsters. You couldn't hear yourself think.
I was on some of the patrols trying to crack down. We kept pulling guys out of the circle, and they kept saying "You don't want the drumming to stop."
We were prying guys off the dumpster, who were 'playing' it with 2x4s and tent poles. And every one of them told us "you don't want the drumming to stop."
I was dragging one guy to the gate, by the scruff of his neck. He kept yelling "you don't want the drum circle to stop." Finally I asked "what is going to happen when the drumming stops?"
He responded "A Bass Solo."
Me: Why?
Acquaintence: (stunned by my question) To test my TIME MACHINE!
Hell, caffiene is the only thing thas is allowed to be sold on site!
The myth of the Hippies going whoreporate is a coping mechanism for cube dwellers. It makes them think that everyone eventually will adopt their lifestyle.
What did happen in the 60s was a large number of maleable individuals tried adopting the Hippie lifestyle. Then they became disco freaks in the 70s before putting on collars and dress shoes to work as cogs in the great mill of capitalism.
These were not the hippies. These were simply boomers. And if the ascetic lifestyle of Tibeten monks suddenly got popular you'd see a pile of 50 year olds on the street corner bumming rice.
If you volunteer, you get in for free. So you get everything from RV's with decks on the roof, to folks showing up with a sleeping bag and not much else.
I've been going since I was an infant. (And slightly before.) I really don't know much about Folk Music. I just show up to work and run into folks that I only see once a year.
If you are in a sufficiently stoned crowd that stuff is deep, man.
Because a goodly measure of slashdotters ARE hippies.
There are plenty of smaller communities where Yuppies are found. For whatever reason when they tire of the city the ALL seem to move to Town X, Village Y, or community Z.
I go to the Philadelphia Folk Festival every year. When I was 8 years old, the concert grounds where the middle of nowhere. Today, the grounds are at the same field, but it's surrounded by Yuppie farms. I wouldn't mind so much, if the neighbors didn't complain about the noise, the traffic, and all the stuff that was there WAY before their 'cottage in the wilderness.'
Aries/Mars was the war God. That's what he did. Hermes/Mercury was the winged messenger, but he loved to mess with mortal's heads. Aphrodite/Venus was all about Beauty and stuff.
You could analyze the forces outside your world one aspect at a time without resorting to bizarre theological constructions like the Trinity and Satan.
Actually it's worse. From Philadelphia you cross into CAMDEN. For Trenton you have to cross further north in Buck county.
I love the city. Could live without the people some days, though.
At the same time we have in influx of refugees from the Burbs who can't afford housing out there and/or are looking to shorten THEIR commute. In South Philly you are a hop skip, and a traffic Jam away from either South Jersey or Center city.
Methinks that people are just starting to behave like ocean currents.
Don't mind the sounds of duct tape and plastic sheathing...
Actually the medival lifestyle created it's own hordes of "hosts" with compromised immune systems. Malnutrition, poor living conditions, and having little more than fire to combat the cold European winter is a recipe for outbreak.
Skip Mars and the Moon. NASA ought to be working on large scale habitats for mankind to flee too along with enough livestock and crops to keep us going.
I'm not saying we need it just this minute, or even just this century. But to quote "Contact", "There are a dozens of reasons we can thing of why you would need it. But it's the ones that we haven't thought of that are more important."
Besides, I can see some problems with huge microwave transmitters trying to operate on top of permafrost.