I worked in a physics lab with a UV telescope - we'd launch it up above the atmosphere for observations (no air = more UV) in a ballistic not-quite-orbit.
The guys in the lab had buttons that said, "Why, yes, I AM a rocket scientist"
I was taking a Peter Pan bus from Baltimore down South, and we were watching an in-bus movie (Yay Peter Pan!), when all of a sudden... The bus driver turned off the movie, pulled over to the side of the interstate, and announced over the PA that he had to reboot the bus. He then turned off the engine, and we sat there for 2 minutes. After that, he turned it back on, restarted the movie, and we were on our way.
One day, and engineer comes up to the gates of hell. The Devil takes a look at him and says, "Well, we've never had an engineer in hell before, but I guess we can take you in." So the engineer goes in.
After a few days, he comes up to the Devil and says, "I'm sure you've noticed, but it's really hot down here! What do you think of setting up a couple of refrigeration coils, getting an icebox set up so we could have iced drinks down here?" Now, the Devil hears this and says, "Why not? If you can set it up, go for it!"
So the engineer gets some tools together, works for a little bit, and sets up his little icecube maker, and soon the engineer, the Devil, and everyone else is enjoying ice cubes in their drinks, and everyone thinks it's a great improvement.
Couple of days later, the engineer comes back to the Devil and says, "Well, I'm impressed by how big Hell is - there are so many people here! But it takes so long to get from place to place - how about I install some people-movers? I can put in escalaters, elevators, moving ramps, the works!" The Devil takes a sip of his ice marguarita, and says, "Sure, give it a shot."
As the engineer works, the souls in Hell start getting around easier - there are elevators, escalators, all sorts of people-movers! It gets to be quite convenient to get around Hell.
After that project, the engineer comes up to the Devil and says, "I've been thinking about tackling the heat down here - ice drinks are all well and good, but it's still bloody hot! How about it?" The Devil at this point returns, "Anything you need, you got it!"
Two weeks later, the first stage of the cooling system goes on-line, and all the damned souls breath a sigh of relief as the heat wave finally breaks. At this point, God comes down to talk to the Devil, and tells him there's been a mistake: "That engineer you've got doesn't belong in Hell - he was meant for Heaven!"
Now, the Devil wasn't about to let his first engineer go! He returns, "Oh, come on - once he's in those gates, he's Mine! That's the way it works, and you know it!"
God tells him, "Well, you're just gonna have to return him! If you don't, I'll, I'll - I'll sue you, is what I'll do!"
The Devil knows he's won - he leans back, cocky as all hell, and asks, "Now, where you gonna find a Lawyer in Heaven?"
The best part about this joke is that it's not really an engineer joke, but really a lawyer joke.
You catch yourself using computer commands as words in nontechnical conversation, such as, "Is that still under warranty? I'll have to grep the filing cabinet and see if I can find the purchase order."
That's just another form of slang. Mathematicians use "modulo" in regular conversations. E.g., "That's a great restaurant, modulo the fact that all the dishes have meat." It's just slang. A useful way to make sure outsiders can't understand you.
--LWM
ps - it's not jargon unless you're using it in the proper context:-P
An engineer is walking down the street, and sees another guy from his lab walking along with a new bright red motorcycle. He's impressed, especially since his friend doesn't know how to ride a motorcycle, so he goes up and asks, "Wow, where'd you get that?"
His friend explains, "Well, I walk walking along, and this gorgeous blond drives up on the motorcycle, stops in front of me, strips her clothes off and tells me, 'Take what you want!'"
The engineer nods in understanding. "Good choice. Her clothes probably wouldn't have fit you."
As I heard it: An engineer is walking down the road one day, and, seeing a frong on the side of the road, bends down to look at it. Suddenly, it pipes up and talks to him!
"I may look like a frog now, but I'm really a princess - if you kiss me, I'll turn back into my real self!"
The engineer smiles, picks up the frog, puts it in his (pocket protected) shirt pocket and goes on to the lab.
When he gets to the lab, he puts the frog down to get some work done, and she opens her mouth to speak:
"I tell you, I'm a beautiful princess! If you kiss me, I'll turn back, and I'll do anything you want!"
The engineer smiles, and goes on with is work. After he's done, he picks the frog up. She again starts talking to him:
"Look, I'm a princess turned into a frog! If you kiss me, I'll turn back into a beautiful woman. I'll do whatever you want! And I'll stay with you forever!"
The engineer peers at the frog, smiles, and tucks it back in his pocket for the walk home. When he gets there, he pulls her out, and she nearly screams at him:
"WHAT THE HELLS THE MATTER WITH YOU? Here I am, I'm a beautiful princess, I'll do whatever you want, and I'll stay with you forever! Why won't you kiss me??"
The engineer says, "Well, I don't have time for a girlfriend,..."
Did you see the article about the monkey's learning to move the robotic arm? If we can teach monkeys to use a third arm, why not teach people to wiggle their wangs (or tails if you want to be PG13) at will? Same idea!
Yeah, it'd take some effort, but it's certainly doable, and I expect it will be done.
If they can get nerves to grow too, then perhaps they can grow things like a tail for a person - a tail that will actually move, wiggle around, twitch, etc...
Or imagine putting extra rings of muscles in certain orifices, or in certain appendages to give more movement?
"Body mod" could take on a whole lot of new meanings!
Yeah. The time required to find a good way to back up media files (even if only once in a while) is far, far less then the time required to re-rip a music collection...
Because it's software (information), you haven't prevented them from selling it to anyone else, either! They've lost no assets - they can still sell it to anyone else they want!
But what about typing with one hand? I can get away with typing lots of words with only one hand on the qwerty keyboard, but Dvorak seems to have set it up specifically to force switching.
Re:Only going to work if it became standard
on
Advocating Dvorak
·
· Score: 1
I touch-type in both english (QWERTY) and Russian. Yeah, my QWERTY skills took a beating when I learned, but I could still do it! You're not going to forget QWERTY just because you learned Dvorak:-P
Software patents are getting really absurd because they try to patent ideas. It's like patenting brushing your teeth instead of patenting a single toothbrush. In the software world, there is no reason to patent a toothbrush - the software toothbrush is already covered by copyright, which gives more control than patents anyway.
If you allow someone to patent brushing teeth, then you actually end up stifling innovation (no power toothbrushes, no water piks, no...you get the idea), and the People (e.g., voters) get hurt. On the other hand, if a company can only patent a toothbrush (or is it a process of producing toothbrushes - patents were supposed to protect factories and such?), then other companies are free to innovate, more jobs are created, and the People both have more work and better teeth.
If the software world, 10 different companies can have the same idea and implement it 10 different ways (one will write 20 lines of C, one 2 unreadable lines of perl, one 200 lines of basic, whatever). The old idea of patents would only apply to the 20 lines of C, not to the idea - 20 lines that are already covered (as I said) by copyright.
As an extreme example of bad patents, how's "Using a computer to do work." Heh.
It's still a bit hot right now - 200 degrees estimated surface temperature. That's not quite hot enough to ignite paper (we're talking celsius here), but still hotter'n New York this week. You'd have to get some serious soot in an atmosphere to cool it down!
But 2X gravity? We should be able to survive that...unless we were born on earth and had brittle bones and were getting on in years:-P Maybe a colony ship going there could artificially support successively higher Gs for several generations...
OTOH, high gravity on means that the workers have a -50% penalty, at least until a Gravity Generator is built! If it's an Extra Rich planet, that's still ok!
Slashdot Mirror
That way you can all get on-line at the same time, and socialize using the internet even though your physical seperation is a whopping 5 feet!
--LWM
I don't get it. And I studied math!
I worked in a physics lab with a UV telescope - we'd launch it up above the atmosphere for observations (no air = more UV) in a ballistic not-quite-orbit.
The guys in the lab had buttons that said, "Why, yes, I AM a rocket scientist"
--LWM
No, my neighbor who was building helecopters (i.e., weapons) considered himself a mechanical engineer.
;-)
It was his joke, too
--LWM
At least, my dad knew it before Babylon 5 ;-P
s/mathematician/engineer/; Whatever.
But I prefer an architect (building lasting relationships with a loving family) and an artist (who prefers the mistique of having a mistress) myself.
--LWM
No, no no - how do you tell an extrovert NSA worker from an introverted one?
In this case, it's serious!
--LWM
I was in a bus that had to be rebooted.
I was taking a Peter Pan bus from Baltimore down South, and we were watching an in-bus movie (Yay Peter Pan!), when all of a sudden... The bus driver turned off the movie, pulled over to the side of the interstate, and announced over the PA that he had to reboot the bus. He then turned off the engine, and we sat there for 2 minutes. After that, he turned it back on, restarted the movie, and we were on our way.
So...yeah, it can work for buses, at least.
--LWM
An engineer told me his favorite engineer joke:
One day, and engineer comes up to the gates of hell. The Devil takes a look at him and says, "Well, we've never had an engineer in hell before, but I guess we can take you in." So the engineer goes in.
After a few days, he comes up to the Devil and says, "I'm sure you've noticed, but it's really hot down here! What do you think of setting up a couple of refrigeration coils, getting an icebox set up so we could have iced drinks down here?" Now, the Devil hears this and says, "Why not? If you can set it up, go for it!"
So the engineer gets some tools together, works for a little bit, and sets up his little icecube maker, and soon the engineer, the Devil, and everyone else is enjoying ice cubes in their drinks, and everyone thinks it's a great improvement.
Couple of days later, the engineer comes back to the Devil and says, "Well, I'm impressed by how big Hell is - there are so many people here! But it takes so long to get from place to place - how about I install some people-movers? I can put in escalaters, elevators, moving ramps, the works!" The Devil takes a sip of his ice marguarita, and says, "Sure, give it a shot."
As the engineer works, the souls in Hell start getting around easier - there are elevators, escalators, all sorts of people-movers! It gets to be quite convenient to get around Hell.
After that project, the engineer comes up to the Devil and says, "I've been thinking about tackling the heat down here - ice drinks are all well and good, but it's still bloody hot! How about it?" The Devil at this point returns, "Anything you need, you got it!"
Two weeks later, the first stage of the cooling system goes on-line, and all the damned souls breath a sigh of relief as the heat wave finally breaks. At this point, God comes down to talk to the Devil, and tells him there's been a mistake: "That engineer you've got doesn't belong in Hell - he was meant for Heaven!"
Now, the Devil wasn't about to let his first engineer go! He returns, "Oh, come on - once he's in those gates, he's Mine! That's the way it works, and you know it!"
God tells him, "Well, you're just gonna have to return him! If you don't, I'll, I'll - I'll sue you, is what I'll do!"
The Devil knows he's won - he leans back, cocky as all hell, and asks, "Now, where you gonna find a Lawyer in Heaven?"
The best part about this joke is that it's not really an engineer joke, but really a lawyer joke.
--LWM
A mechanical engineer builds weapons.
A civil engineer builds targets.
--LWM
--LWM
ps - it's not jargon unless you're using it in the proper context
An engineer is walking down the street, and sees another guy from his lab walking along with a new bright red motorcycle. He's impressed, especially since his friend doesn't know how to ride a motorcycle, so he goes up and asks, "Wow, where'd you get that?"
His friend explains, "Well, I walk walking along, and this gorgeous blond drives up on the motorcycle, stops in front of me, strips her clothes off and tells me, 'Take what you want!'"
The engineer nods in understanding. "Good choice. Her clothes probably wouldn't have fit you."
--LWM
Damn. I know some of these.
"...but a talking frog is cool!"
As I heard it: An engineer is walking down the road one day, and, seeing a frong on the side of the road, bends down to look at it. Suddenly, it pipes up and talks to him!
"I may look like a frog now, but I'm really a princess - if you kiss me, I'll turn back into my real self!"
The engineer smiles, picks up the frog, puts it in his (pocket protected) shirt pocket and goes on to the lab.
When he gets to the lab, he puts the frog down to get some work done, and she opens her mouth to speak:
"I tell you, I'm a beautiful princess! If you kiss me, I'll turn back, and I'll do anything you want!"
The engineer smiles, and goes on with is work. After he's done, he picks the frog up. She again starts talking to him:
"Look, I'm a princess turned into a frog! If you kiss me, I'll turn back into a beautiful woman. I'll do whatever you want! And I'll stay with you forever!"
The engineer peers at the frog, smiles, and tucks it back in his pocket for the walk home. When he gets there, he pulls her out, and she nearly screams at him:
"WHAT THE HELLS THE MATTER WITH YOU? Here I am, I'm a beautiful princess, I'll do whatever you want, and I'll stay with you forever! Why won't you kiss me??"
The engineer says, "Well, I don't have time for a girlfriend,..."
--LWM
We, as intelligent creatures, have stopped evolving. We change our environment to suit ourselves.
Or something.
Anyway, I like the way meat feels!
--LWM
Did you see the article about the monkey's learning to move the robotic arm? If we can teach monkeys to use a third arm, why not teach people to wiggle their wangs (or tails if you want to be PG13) at will? Same idea!
Yeah, it'd take some effort, but it's certainly doable, and I expect it will be done.
--LWM
If they can get nerves to grow too, then perhaps they can grow things like a tail for a person - a tail that will actually move, wiggle around, twitch, etc...
Or imagine putting extra rings of muscles in certain orifices, or in certain appendages to give more movement?
"Body mod" could take on a whole lot of new meanings!
--LWM
Yeah. The time required to find a good way to back up media files (even if only once in a while) is far, far less then the time required to re-rip a music collection...
--LWM
Because it's software (information), you haven't prevented them from selling it to anyone else, either! They've lost no assets - they can still sell it to anyone else they want!
--LWM
I'm not sure it's "better," but it's certainly more addictive!
:)
MOO3 is too much of a good thing. It's a star-empire simulator (and a great one at that), not a game. Yes, MOO2 is great
--LWM
But what about typing with one hand? I can get away with typing lots of words with only one hand on the qwerty keyboard, but Dvorak seems to have set it up specifically to force switching.
Interesting, but slightly irritating...
Has this caused a problem for anyone?
--LWM
Geeze, guys, you killed it!
Is there a mirror?
--LWM
I touch-type in both english (QWERTY) and Russian. Yeah, my QWERTY skills took a beating when I learned, but I could still do it! You're not going to forget QWERTY just because you learned Dvorak :-P
--LWM
Software patents are getting really absurd because they try to patent ideas. It's like patenting brushing your teeth instead of patenting a single toothbrush. In the software world, there is no reason to patent a toothbrush - the software toothbrush is already covered by copyright, which gives more control than patents anyway.
If you allow someone to patent brushing teeth, then you actually end up stifling innovation (no power toothbrushes, no water piks, no...you get the idea), and the People (e.g., voters) get hurt. On the other hand, if a company can only patent a toothbrush (or is it a process of producing toothbrushes - patents were supposed to protect factories and such?), then other companies are free to innovate, more jobs are created, and the People both have more work and better teeth.
If the software world, 10 different companies can have the same idea and implement it 10 different ways (one will write 20 lines of C, one 2 unreadable lines of perl, one 200 lines of basic, whatever). The old idea of patents would only apply to the 20 lines of C, not to the idea - 20 lines that are already covered (as I said) by copyright.
As an extreme example of bad patents, how's "Using a computer to do work." Heh.
Anyway, good luck!
It's still a bit hot right now - 200 degrees estimated surface temperature. That's not quite hot enough to ignite paper (we're talking celsius here), but still hotter'n New York this week. You'd have to get some serious soot in an atmosphere to cool it down!
:-P Maybe a colony ship going there could artificially support successively higher Gs for several generations...
But 2X gravity? We should be able to survive that...unless we were born on earth and had brittle bones and were getting on in years
OTOH, high gravity on means that the workers have a -50% penalty, at least until a Gravity Generator is built! If it's an Extra Rich planet, that's still ok!
--LWM
And he has no life!
--LWM