I'm an 'open source hippie' and I have been told my writing skills are quite good. Not to toot my own horn (honk, honk) but I've been published in magazines and am currently writing my first book.
I think there are plenty of people into open source that are very, very good writers. In fact, some of the trolls on slashdot would be excellent writers if they channelled their energies into something a little more productive than trolling. They obviously know how to write a good story (or parody) and are very good at creating a nice dialog. It's a little disappointing to read through one of the rather lengthy fictitious stories posted by a troll or off-topic poster and realize that all that talent is going to waste.
Write some good fiction, and publish it open-source/open-content. That's what I'm working towards. And you don't have to sell your sould to have your work appreciated. Of course, if you're just into the trolling, then I'm totally off base in my assumption the posting on slashdot is simply from boredom. In which case, ignore me.:-)
...I've recently read two of the most abysmal science fiction books ever written,
Benford's Foundation prequel and the lamentable Dune House Atreides prequel thing
Never, never, never read an author attempting to rip off the style of a past good author. I almost got suckered into buying both of the above books as they both have the original authors in prominent letters and then in little tiny barely readable letters ('s as interpreted by blah) or something along those lines. They really don't want you to think about who is actually writing the story.
Once an author is done with a series, or he/she passes away, his or her worlds should be laid to rest. No one can truly know what they were thinking. No other person can have so much insight into the author's mind that they will know the details of parts of the worlds left un-explored by the author themselves. I know, I write fiction (not very good, but I write). Not even my wife, whom I've discussed many things that have yet to be written with, would really be able to give the details that I haven't explored life. It's not a lack of trust, it's a lack of vision. No matter who attempts to capitolize on another's vision, they will not get it right.
Let the great ones lie. It's too bad modern society is so stuck on making money. We will never see a good series end (I fear the day that Dan Simmons dies and other people are allowed to write more Hyperion books.). It's really too bad. Some questions, some details, are best left undisturbed. Better that, then the story is filled out improperly.
I've bought three books reviewed here thus far. Two programming books, and one fiction. If it wasn't for slashdot, I probably wouldn't even know about the fiction book I purchased, and I certainly wouldn't have known how to get the 'real' version of it (it was the book that came in either one 'full length' version in other countries, or broken up into parts in the US).
Hmm, an ocean that can record any information and put it directly in your brain when you 'go for a swim'. Would that be like the shape-shifters 'ocean' on DS9?
And this space suit you speak of sounds extremely familiar to me. Perhaps the author read Dan Simmons Hyperion/Endymion books? Space suits that modify themselves (and you) in such ways as to make a 'wing' kilometers wide that can 'catch the waves' of sunlight and ride them. Enhancing vision through sub-optical light.
I don't mean to flame, but I would like enough details of the story to know if it is worthwhile, or if it is just a collection of other people's ideas. So far, it sounds like the later.
And another tear flows at the loss of a great band.
I've been wating for a new Metallica album since 1988 (the year Justice came out). The band that created albums under the name 'Metallica' since then just isn't the same.
The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremecy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe, I can't believe the price
You pay
Nothing can save you
Justice is lost, justice is raped, justice is gone
Pulling your strings, justice is done
Seeking no truth, winning is all, find it so grim, so true, so real
--Metallica, "...And Justice For All" 1988
Hypocracy is the ultimate vanity. Now watch me be sued for posting Metallica's lyrics on the web.
The primary problem with Metallica is that they lost their one true moral and spiritual leader at a critical juncture. Cliff (the bassist for a long time) was killed in an bus accident during the "Master Of Puppet" tour. Cliff didn't want Metallica to become a 'pussy band' (his words). He felt the music was art, and that it shouldn't be done for money. If they made money doing it 'their way' then that would be OK, but selling out was not an option to him.
Unfortunately, shortly after his death Metallica had a huge surge in popularity. I believe with everything in me that Cliff would have kept them grounded in reality. But the fact that they took a relatively unknown bassist (yes I know Jason played for Flotsam and Jetsam, they were and still are one of my favorite bands) to replace someone that had 'been there all along' and projected him to nearly instant super-stardom didn't help much. All that happened is that they have decided to go for whatever they have to do to get more money.
This is reflected in the first album done without Cliff's songwriting skills (the black ablbum, even though Cliff was dead for Justice, he had written a lot of the songs). The music is more 'poppy' and more radio influenced. And slowly Metallica de-evolved into a completely 'show me the money' type of band.
Metallica is a sad and frustrating subject for me. My boyhood heros have all turned bad. What to do, what to do.
Metallica has forgotten what it is like for the majority of musicians (not to mention they don't give a f*ck for their fans anymore).
At one time Metallica was a struggling band of real artists. They scrimped and they saved and they hired a lawyer to sue the pants off of their record company so that they had the rights to own their songs, they had the rights to redistribute those songs as THEY saw fit, and they basically had the right to do whatever the piss they wanted.
The thing they foget is that not all bands are fortunate enough to have fans support them long enough that they can 'fight the power' hard enough to actually become the power themselves. Metallica's insistance that they 'own the rights' of their music, the way the RIAA member comanies own the rights of their artists music, has made them see things from the RIAA's perspective. Suddenly they forget that for years and years they fought tooth and nail against companies like those that made up the RIAA and decide they need to fight tooth and nail for the 'rights' of the RIAA itself.
Metallica was and is one of the biggest disappointments of my generation. They went from a 'f*ck the system, our fans are the best' type of band to a 'f*ck our fans, give us your goddamned money you worthless bastards' type of band. They have become everything that they once mocked. They are living proof that if you once succumb to the entrallment of success, you will never be able to remember what idealisms had made you fight for that success in the first place.
Sorry if I sound bitter, but watching your heros slowly turn into your enemies is a very disturbing event. And when you see the anger they feel towards those that once admired them, well, how can you feel happy about it.
If only Cliff were here. He'd kick all their asses and ask them what the f*ck they were thinking.
My god, I was wiping tears for two minutes when I read this.
I would pay good money (I'm talking 10 grand at least) to see this done to Katz for real. Of course, somehow the stupid bastard would still find a way to tie it into his limited worldview. He could read the bible and see how it predicted the Internet and showed how the geeks were going to be the rulers of the Information Age.
Re:Is he talking about introverts?
on
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· Score: 1
Thsi review made my head hurt.
Your mispelling aside, I believe you have just stumbled over Katz's main purpose in life, to make people's heads hurt.
I'm just really glad that there are enough authors out there writing what I like to call 'techno-propaganda' to keep Katz occupied. I'd hate to have to read Katz review a good fiction book and ruin my opinion of sci-fi or fantasy forever. I swear, if I saw some correlation between my favorite fantasy books and some of Katz's cockamamy, "The countries of the world will come to end and currency will only matter on the web" type of theories I would stop reading altogether.
Considering that I've already given up on TV for the most part, that would leave me with only sitting a drooling to occupy my free time.
Moderators: By all means, mark this as flamebait. Katz creates a firey anger in me that causes me to flame anyone and everyone I see.
I would be interested to know if the primary mission and the secondary mission are both programmed before the robots leave Earth, or if they are re-programmed once they are done with the first mission. In the article it is stated that the first mission is for the company (to collect rocks to ship back) and the second is up to the individual designing the robots (he wants them to clear an area for 'future development').
Another thought, will this be something that actually leads to permanent human residents on the moon? Or will this just be the equivalent of that lot down the street that got cleared for the big mall and then got left? I mean, it's exciting, and having someone other than the government (through NASA) be in charge of it seems a lot more promising than what we normally hear, but doesn't it sound like the roboticist (I think that's what their called) is a little optimistic?
If this gets much publicity, I look for the freaks to start coming out of the woodwork and screaming bloody murder that we are 'ruining the moon's habitat' or some such nonsense. Personally, I think that's the first logical step to getting off of this rock and out onto some other ones. We need to do this. Never mind the people that say we need to solve our problems here first. That won't ever happen. Not that we should ignore our problems here. But we can do more good (in the long run) for humanity by getting ourselves some diversity. Diversity of places to live, diversity of culture (instead of the homogenized mess that is happening right now) and the diversity of life that seems missing from our 'modern world'. Yes, I know we have some diversity now, but it's nothing compared to having humans live on different worlds, in different star systems, or even different galaxies (real long term).
Anything that moves us forward seems to me to be a good thing. We need to think about what we are doing and why, but we shouldn't hold ourselves back like we have up to this point. Hopefully this concept will get driven home somehow. And the idea this company has of turning a profit on 'moon rocks' is probably the best idea that I've heard of yet. The only thing that would be better is to get a habitat built and sell 'vacations' in it (on the moon or anwhere 'out there').
Make space profitable and I garauntee you we will see some serious shit start to happen. (A sad reflection on society at the moment, but an honest one.)
The funny thing to me about this (and other similar cases) is that in the software and hardware world we are just seeing the exact same thing as in the rest of the 'corporate world'.
I watched a story on the news this morning (on CNN) that the games in Sydney are suffering from a bit of controversy. Why? Well, Coke is one of the sponsors, and if you are caught drinking a Pepsi, you are 'banned' from entering until you get rid of it. McDonald's is another sponsor. There is a restaraunt near the Olympic stadium that serves breakfast sandwiches similar to an egg McMuffin. If one of the game officials (or a cop) sees you eating one of these sandwiches, they will take it from you, throw it away, and tell you to purchase from McDonald's next time. If you are wearing a Pepsi tee-shirt, you are not allowed in until you change into something else. If you wear or use anything produced by a company in direct competition to one of the sponsors, you are banned from entering any of the competitions (banned from watching I should say).
Of course, CNN (with all its corporate sponsors) was really willing to see both sides of this story. They interviewed three 'regular people' that all said, "These companies have invested a lot of money in the games and deserve to have some recognition for it." I would like to have seen them interview one of the people that had their breakfast ripped out of their hands and thrown away, or someone that had their Pepsi taken away from them, or someone that got told, "You can't wear that shirt here."
Frankly, the corporate controlled world is becoming the norm. And anybody that doesn't like it will soon be 'banned' from participating in anything in society. You say that wouldn't happen if the games were in America? Take a look at some of the ridiculous crap that goes on (and is covered on Slashdot) and think again. Also consider that most of the companies that are promoting the Olympics are American companies, and you'll start to see that it is just as much an American problem (probably moreso an American problem as we are the country with the stupidest IP laws in the world) than any other country.
Sorry for the slightly off-topic rant, but that news story just pissed me off and made me feel like boycotting Coke, and McDonalds for life. That won't be so hard, I'm not a big fan of either. But I wanted others to know, and felt it applied to the 'companies protecting their (supposed) intellectual property' conversation.
The space elevator is supposed to hit speeds of 15,000 mph. Hardly sounds like it would be a boring ride.
And the Slashdot article contained a link that was to a story that proclaimed the possibility of a space elevator being feasible in 50 years. Not that it will happen, I just hope it can.
The real benifit was that the cost would be minor compared to the old fashioned way. $200 would be the average cost for going up as a passenger. If only they would actually do it.
Actually, there was an article here last week about just this topic. A space elevator isn't possible today, right now. But in approximately fifty years we could very well have the materials and the ability to build a space elevator.
This may be slightly off-topic here, but why are they telling 'us normal people' this?
Personally, I'd be much more interested in hearing when we would be able to visit space (as normal people) rather than 'how to use our laptop'.
Here's hoping they actually do build a space elevator before I'm gone. Instead of another vacation to Colorado, I could take a vacation to the ISS and actually do something 'new and exciting'.
Well, I don't know if this was actually going to happen.
Many science fiction stories have hypothesized about this eventually happening.
My personal favorite (Dan Simmons is becoming a theme for me lately) is in the Hyperion/Endymion stories. The Autonomous Intelligences (the evolution of artificial life on our computers today) decide to create a 'doorway' through space and in their early experiments they 'screw up' (well, not really, but you have to read the story to fully understand) and instead of opening the 'Farcaster' they had hoped to create, they create a black hole that migrates into the Earth's core and slowly eats away the Earth. Of course, later in the story you find out that 'someone else' actually tricked the AI's (which were actually trying to destroy the Earth) and stole the Earth through the 'black hole' so that they could preserve it and bring it back, 'when humanity was ready'.
I would settle for Katzspeak to English at this point. But the dumbass to English would be appreciated too. Then I could converse with my relatives;-).
We used to have a cat that the only way you could give it shots was to wear heavy welding gloves (you know, them big ass insulated things). Anything else and they would just shred the glove without a second thought.
Slashdot Mirror
You may just be flaming, but I beg to differ.
I'm an 'open source hippie' and I have been told my writing skills are quite good. Not to toot my own horn (honk, honk) but I've been published in magazines and am currently writing my first book.
I think there are plenty of people into open source that are very, very good writers. In fact, some of the trolls on slashdot would be excellent writers if they channelled their energies into something a little more productive than trolling. They obviously know how to write a good story (or parody) and are very good at creating a nice dialog. It's a little disappointing to read through one of the rather lengthy fictitious stories posted by a troll or off-topic poster and realize that all that talent is going to waste.
Write some good fiction, and publish it open-source/open-content. That's what I'm working towards. And you don't have to sell your sould to have your work appreciated. Of course, if you're just into the trolling, then I'm totally off base in my assumption the posting on slashdot is simply from boredom. In which case, ignore me.:-)
Never, never, never read an author attempting to rip off the style of a past good author. I almost got suckered into buying both of the above books as they both have the original authors in prominent letters and then in little tiny barely readable letters ('s as interpreted by blah) or something along those lines. They really don't want you to think about who is actually writing the story.
Once an author is done with a series, or he/she passes away, his or her worlds should be laid to rest. No one can truly know what they were thinking. No other person can have so much insight into the author's mind that they will know the details of parts of the worlds left un-explored by the author themselves. I know, I write fiction (not very good, but I write). Not even my wife, whom I've discussed many things that have yet to be written with, would really be able to give the details that I haven't explored life. It's not a lack of trust, it's a lack of vision. No matter who attempts to capitolize on another's vision, they will not get it right.
Let the great ones lie. It's too bad modern society is so stuck on making money. We will never see a good series end (I fear the day that Dan Simmons dies and other people are allowed to write more Hyperion books.). It's really too bad. Some questions, some details, are best left undisturbed. Better that, then the story is filled out improperly.
I've bought three books reviewed here thus far. Two programming books, and one fiction. If it wasn't for slashdot, I probably wouldn't even know about the fiction book I purchased, and I certainly wouldn't have known how to get the 'real' version of it (it was the book that came in either one 'full length' version in other countries, or broken up into parts in the US).
Hmm, an ocean that can record any information and put it directly in your brain when you 'go for a swim'. Would that be like the shape-shifters 'ocean' on DS9?
And this space suit you speak of sounds extremely familiar to me. Perhaps the author read Dan Simmons Hyperion/Endymion books? Space suits that modify themselves (and you) in such ways as to make a 'wing' kilometers wide that can 'catch the waves' of sunlight and ride them. Enhancing vision through sub-optical light.
I don't mean to flame, but I would like enough details of the story to know if it is worthwhile, or if it is just a collection of other people's ideas. So far, it sounds like the later.
I've been wating for a new Metallica album since 1988 (the year Justice came out). The band that created albums under the name 'Metallica' since then just isn't the same.
Hypocracy is the ultimate vanity. Now watch me be sued for posting Metallica's lyrics on the web.
The primary problem with Metallica is that they lost their one true moral and spiritual leader at a critical juncture. Cliff (the bassist for a long time) was killed in an bus accident during the "Master Of Puppet" tour. Cliff didn't want Metallica to become a 'pussy band' (his words). He felt the music was art, and that it shouldn't be done for money. If they made money doing it 'their way' then that would be OK, but selling out was not an option to him.
Unfortunately, shortly after his death Metallica had a huge surge in popularity. I believe with everything in me that Cliff would have kept them grounded in reality. But the fact that they took a relatively unknown bassist (yes I know Jason played for Flotsam and Jetsam, they were and still are one of my favorite bands) to replace someone that had 'been there all along' and projected him to nearly instant super-stardom didn't help much. All that happened is that they have decided to go for whatever they have to do to get more money.
This is reflected in the first album done without Cliff's songwriting skills (the black ablbum, even though Cliff was dead for Justice, he had written a lot of the songs). The music is more 'poppy' and more radio influenced. And slowly Metallica de-evolved into a completely 'show me the money' type of band.
Metallica is a sad and frustrating subject for me. My boyhood heros have all turned bad. What to do, what to do.
Metallica has forgotten what it is like for the majority of musicians (not to mention they don't give a f*ck for their fans anymore).
At one time Metallica was a struggling band of real artists. They scrimped and they saved and they hired a lawyer to sue the pants off of their record company so that they had the rights to own their songs, they had the rights to redistribute those songs as THEY saw fit, and they basically had the right to do whatever the piss they wanted.
The thing they foget is that not all bands are fortunate enough to have fans support them long enough that they can 'fight the power' hard enough to actually become the power themselves. Metallica's insistance that they 'own the rights' of their music, the way the RIAA member comanies own the rights of their artists music, has made them see things from the RIAA's perspective. Suddenly they forget that for years and years they fought tooth and nail against companies like those that made up the RIAA and decide they need to fight tooth and nail for the 'rights' of the RIAA itself.
Metallica was and is one of the biggest disappointments of my generation. They went from a 'f*ck the system, our fans are the best' type of band to a 'f*ck our fans, give us your goddamned money you worthless bastards' type of band. They have become everything that they once mocked. They are living proof that if you once succumb to the entrallment of success, you will never be able to remember what idealisms had made you fight for that success in the first place.
Sorry if I sound bitter, but watching your heros slowly turn into your enemies is a very disturbing event. And when you see the anger they feel towards those that once admired them, well, how can you feel happy about it.
If only Cliff were here. He'd kick all their asses and ask them what the f*ck they were thinking.
Jesus man, I pity your keyboards ':' key. ;-).
Thanks, don't know why but my distro didn't include much in the way of documentation and I was having trouble locating much useful on the web.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I don't know what's sadder, the fact that you knew all of that about the tri-corders, or the fact that I read it in rapt attention.
;-).
Star-Trek fascinates me, but I also realize how pathetic that makes me. Self-realization sucks
I think that's already happened. Case in point, how about my post;-).
My god, I was wiping tears for two minutes when I read this.
I would pay good money (I'm talking 10 grand at least) to see this done to Katz for real. Of course, somehow the stupid bastard would still find a way to tie it into his limited worldview. He could read the bible and see how it predicted the Internet and showed how the geeks were going to be the rulers of the Information Age.
Your mispelling aside, I believe you have just stumbled over Katz's main purpose in life, to make people's heads hurt.
I'm just really glad that there are enough authors out there writing what I like to call 'techno-propaganda' to keep Katz occupied. I'd hate to have to read Katz review a good fiction book and ruin my opinion of sci-fi or fantasy forever. I swear, if I saw some correlation between my favorite fantasy books and some of Katz's cockamamy, "The countries of the world will come to end and currency will only matter on the web" type of theories I would stop reading altogether.
Considering that I've already given up on TV for the most part, that would leave me with only sitting a drooling to occupy my free time.
Moderators: By all means, mark this as flamebait. Katz creates a firey anger in me that causes me to flame anyone and everyone I see.
I've been driving myself nuts trying to find any good tutorial on LaTeX. Where would you suggest?
Oh, and BTW, I like your nick.;-).
I would be interested to know if the primary mission and the secondary mission are both programmed before the robots leave Earth, or if they are re-programmed once they are done with the first mission. In the article it is stated that the first mission is for the company (to collect rocks to ship back) and the second is up to the individual designing the robots (he wants them to clear an area for 'future development').
Another thought, will this be something that actually leads to permanent human residents on the moon? Or will this just be the equivalent of that lot down the street that got cleared for the big mall and then got left? I mean, it's exciting, and having someone other than the government (through NASA) be in charge of it seems a lot more promising than what we normally hear, but doesn't it sound like the roboticist (I think that's what their called) is a little optimistic?
If this gets much publicity, I look for the freaks to start coming out of the woodwork and screaming bloody murder that we are 'ruining the moon's habitat' or some such nonsense. Personally, I think that's the first logical step to getting off of this rock and out onto some other ones. We need to do this. Never mind the people that say we need to solve our problems here first. That won't ever happen. Not that we should ignore our problems here. But we can do more good (in the long run) for humanity by getting ourselves some diversity. Diversity of places to live, diversity of culture (instead of the homogenized mess that is happening right now) and the diversity of life that seems missing from our 'modern world'. Yes, I know we have some diversity now, but it's nothing compared to having humans live on different worlds, in different star systems, or even different galaxies (real long term).
Anything that moves us forward seems to me to be a good thing. We need to think about what we are doing and why, but we shouldn't hold ourselves back like we have up to this point. Hopefully this concept will get driven home somehow. And the idea this company has of turning a profit on 'moon rocks' is probably the best idea that I've heard of yet. The only thing that would be better is to get a habitat built and sell 'vacations' in it (on the moon or anwhere 'out there').
Make space profitable and I garauntee you we will see some serious shit start to happen. (A sad reflection on society at the moment, but an honest one.)
Says the anonymous coward when asked who in their right mind would release their real info on the web.
The funny thing to me about this (and other similar cases) is that in the software and hardware world we are just seeing the exact same thing as in the rest of the 'corporate world'.
I watched a story on the news this morning (on CNN) that the games in Sydney are suffering from a bit of controversy. Why? Well, Coke is one of the sponsors, and if you are caught drinking a Pepsi, you are 'banned' from entering until you get rid of it. McDonald's is another sponsor. There is a restaraunt near the Olympic stadium that serves breakfast sandwiches similar to an egg McMuffin. If one of the game officials (or a cop) sees you eating one of these sandwiches, they will take it from you, throw it away, and tell you to purchase from McDonald's next time. If you are wearing a Pepsi tee-shirt, you are not allowed in until you change into something else. If you wear or use anything produced by a company in direct competition to one of the sponsors, you are banned from entering any of the competitions (banned from watching I should say).
Of course, CNN (with all its corporate sponsors) was really willing to see both sides of this story. They interviewed three 'regular people' that all said, "These companies have invested a lot of money in the games and deserve to have some recognition for it." I would like to have seen them interview one of the people that had their breakfast ripped out of their hands and thrown away, or someone that had their Pepsi taken away from them, or someone that got told, "You can't wear that shirt here."
Frankly, the corporate controlled world is becoming the norm. And anybody that doesn't like it will soon be 'banned' from participating in anything in society. You say that wouldn't happen if the games were in America? Take a look at some of the ridiculous crap that goes on (and is covered on Slashdot) and think again. Also consider that most of the companies that are promoting the Olympics are American companies, and you'll start to see that it is just as much an American problem (probably moreso an American problem as we are the country with the stupidest IP laws in the world) than any other country.
Sorry for the slightly off-topic rant, but that news story just pissed me off and made me feel like boycotting Coke, and McDonalds for life. That won't be so hard, I'm not a big fan of either. But I wanted others to know, and felt it applied to the 'companies protecting their (supposed) intellectual property' conversation.
Um, you do realize he was talking about Mac OS X, which has exactly nothing to do with BeOS.
While technically you are right (and I've used BeOS in the past, very cool), you really jumped in out of nowhere with your statement.
The space elevator is supposed to hit speeds of 15,000 mph. Hardly sounds like it would be a boring ride.
And the Slashdot article contained a link that was to a story that proclaimed the possibility of a space elevator being feasible in 50 years. Not that it will happen, I just hope it can.
The real benifit was that the cost would be minor compared to the old fashioned way. $200 would be the average cost for going up as a passenger. If only they would actually do it.
Trolling?
Actually, there was an article here last week about just this topic. A space elevator isn't possible today, right now. But in approximately fifty years we could very well have the materials and the ability to build a space elevator.
This may be slightly off-topic here, but why are they telling 'us normal people' this?
Personally, I'd be much more interested in hearing when we would be able to visit space (as normal people) rather than 'how to use our laptop'.
Here's hoping they actually do build a space elevator before I'm gone. Instead of another vacation to Colorado, I could take a vacation to the ISS and actually do something 'new and exciting'.
Well, I don't know if this was actually going to happen.
Many science fiction stories have hypothesized about this eventually happening.
My personal favorite (Dan Simmons is becoming a theme for me lately) is in the Hyperion/Endymion stories. The Autonomous Intelligences (the evolution of artificial life on our computers today) decide to create a 'doorway' through space and in their early experiments they 'screw up' (well, not really, but you have to read the story to fully understand) and instead of opening the 'Farcaster' they had hoped to create, they create a black hole that migrates into the Earth's core and slowly eats away the Earth. Of course, later in the story you find out that 'someone else' actually tricked the AI's (which were actually trying to destroy the Earth) and stole the Earth through the 'black hole' so that they could preserve it and bring it back, 'when humanity was ready'.
OK, I know it's off-topic, but it's a cool story.
I would settle for Katzspeak to English at this point. But the dumbass to English would be appreciated too. Then I could converse with my relatives ;-).
Remember to wear the right KIND of glove.
We used to have a cat that the only way you could give it shots was to wear heavy welding gloves (you know, them big ass insulated things). Anything else and they would just shred the glove without a second thought.