The very first thing I noticed about the Columbine thing was that the kids were building bombs in their garage. There's no way in Hell that my Dad wouldn't have put a stop to that quickly when I was a kid.
Hell, my Dad helped me build bombs.
He also taught me how to be safe when doing so. He blew up a coyote carcass and showed me the kind of damage the things could do.
But yeah. I couldn't have hid anything from my parents. They simply ignored some of the small stuff.
It's something that Lt. Col. Dave Grossman calls "distance." This means simply as distance from the violent act increases, the psychological resistance to committing that violent act decreases.
For example, I used to throw Tomahawk Cruise Missiles at people. I have probably killed, or caused to be killed, hundreds of people. While I'm not really thrilled about that fact, I don't lose sleep over it. On the other hand, a friend of mine knifed a sentry in Vietnam (a "personal" kill in Grossman's words) and has nightmares about it to this day.
Now, I'm not saying that GTA or Rome: Total War is liable to cause an otherwise normal person to go on a killing spree. But GTA, due to the desensitization to the personal kill, is much more likely to push a sociopath over the edge than other games.
You are right to question the bias of any source. In this case, CS Monitor is generally accepted to be the best source for unbiased news in this country. Whatever values and agendas the Church itself may have don't seem to bleed over into their newspaper.
Interesting. I moved out of Omaha last year, and a couple of months ago I received a notice of where I was to vote, forwarded to my new address. So I know they sent 'em out.
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I wouldn't mind an invite, thanks.
michaelhough at mac.com
A structure capable of withstanding the ~15# pressure differential would be heavy. In order to be bouyant, this structure would have to displace a volume of air equal to its weight.
I'm not going to do the calculation, but even such a vessel made from aircraft aluminum would have to be enormous.
I know nothing about Go, but I know martial arts, and if anybody thinks rank is any kind of an indicator of skill in martial arts, I've got a judan to sell you.
Well, it is off-topic. I thought it was kind of interesting, since I hadn't heard about it, but it doesn't have much to do with this discussion. I'd have probably modded it down, too.
So, does anyone know what is so special about Ellsworth that the windows were ordered shut?
Ellsworth is a nuclear base. Not that you can see anything, really, but the presence of nuclear weapons on a base is enough to make base security pretty paranoid. It's probably not policy anywhere, just a judgement call in this rather strange case.
Ever been away from home for 6+ months with no contact from your friends and family? With people shooting at you, no less? I have. It sucks. Bad.
I remember waiting in line for hours to make a 5 minute phone call home.
I remember mail call. When a letter came, it made my week. When one didn't, I was depressed for hours.
Giving soldiers easy communication home is perhaps the single best thing you can do to keep morale up. Having you're mother say "I love you" on a daily basis is better than more money or better food can possibly be.
OPSEC be damned. The benefits completely outweigh the risks.
His statistics likely came from here. Though, the way he presented them was a bit screwed up.
The relevant quotes are:
During World War II U.S. Army Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall asked . . . average soldiers what it was they did in battle. His singularly unexpected discovery was that, of every hundred men along the line of fire during the period of and encounter, an average of only 15 to 20 "would take any part with their weapons." (p. 3)
Swank and Marchand's much cited World Ward II study determined that after sixty days of continuous [emphasis his] combat, 98 percent of all surviving soldiers will have become psychiatric casualties of one kind or another. Swank and Marchand also found a common trait among the 2 percent who are able to endure sustained combat: a predisposition toward "agressive psychopathic personalities." (pp. 43-44)
It's just as important to note that these are WWII studies. Grossman goes on to show how the U.S. Military raised firing rates into the 90 percent range by Vietnam, primarily through operant conditioning, and this is at least part of the reason post-traumatic stress disorder is so much more common in Vietnam-era vets than in previous wars. He also hypothesizes that a very similar form of operant conditioning is occurring in society at large due to violent movies, tv, and video games.
In a kind of reverse Clockwork Orange classical conditioning process, adolescents . . . are learning to associate this killing and suffering with entertainment. . .. (p. 302)
Operant conditioning firing ranges with pop-up targets and immediate feedback, just like those used to train soldiers in modern armies, are found in the interactive video games that our children play today. (pp. 302-303)
Now, for what it's worth, every combat veteran I've talked to on this matter falls into one of two camps: those that think Grossman's right on the money, and those that think he's completely full of shit. I am taking neither stance for the purposes of today's discussion.
Oh, as for why the Allies weren't decimated? Simple. Most of the Germans didn't shoot, either.
But, onto the other point: many geeks like high amounts of kinetic energy. It's true. Often, this love tuns into the irrational lust for wanton destruction of random objects.
Which leads to my observation that, when presented with a large electromagnet, a REAL geek immediately constructs a railgun
I mean, really. Is there anything more beautifully destructive than a railgun?
And this is the issue. Most of the methods that I see being used in high school math/science (and history, for that matter) are only good for the stuffing of facts....
The only point I can infer from your staement is that you believe the Math definition of the word "real" is the same as the English definition of the word real. I assure you that the difference is just as profound as the word "yo" in Spanish and the word "yo" in English street vernacular.
I graduated from the US Naval Academy with a Physics degree, and spotty grades. The grades didn't matter to me much at the time, 'cause I ended up in Submarines, which is what I was after.
Later on, when I was having some personal problems, and the resulting depression made qualifying on the power plant difficult, my boss took a look at my test scores, then my grades. I will never forget what he said:
"It's obvious that you can do well when you want to, Ensign. Do you want to be here? I don't think you do."
Then they fired me. Let me tell you, getting kicked out of the Navy for "Lack of Effort" does wonders for your future job prospects. And grad school? Hell, I'm getting a second bachelors degree just to prove to admissions that I can apply myself.
Of course, it's arguable that I have ever learned to apply myself. I love my current job, except for one particular task, the results of which are due on Monday. And I'm posting on Slashdot.
Scam #1 was actually the MO of one company I worked for. They eventually fired me because I kept barging into the boss's office and demanding that we actually hire some damn programmers.
Slashdot Mirror
Hell, my Dad helped me build bombs.
He also taught me how to be safe when doing so. He blew up a coyote carcass and showed me the kind of damage the things could do.
But yeah. I couldn't have hid anything from my parents. They simply ignored some of the small stuff.
It's something that Lt. Col. Dave Grossman calls "distance." This means simply as distance from the violent act increases, the psychological resistance to committing that violent act decreases.
For example, I used to throw Tomahawk Cruise Missiles at people. I have probably killed, or caused to be killed, hundreds of people. While I'm not really thrilled about that fact, I don't lose sleep over it. On the other hand, a friend of mine knifed a sentry in Vietnam (a "personal" kill in Grossman's words) and has nightmares about it to this day.
Now, I'm not saying that GTA or Rome: Total War is liable to cause an otherwise normal person to go on a killing spree. But GTA, due to the desensitization to the personal kill, is much more likely to push a sociopath over the edge than other games.
You are right to question the bias of any source. In this case, CS Monitor is generally accepted to be the best source for unbiased news in this country. Whatever values and agendas the Church itself may have don't seem to bleed over into their newspaper.
umm...Audion?
Interesting. I moved out of Omaha last year, and a couple of months ago I received a notice of where I was to vote, forwarded to my new address. So I know they sent 'em out.
I wouldn't mind an invite, thanks. michaelhough at mac.com
A structure capable of withstanding the ~15# pressure differential would be heavy. In order to be bouyant, this structure would have to displace a volume of air equal to its weight.
I'm not going to do the calculation, but even such a vessel made from aircraft aluminum would have to be enormous.
I know nothing about Go, but I know martial arts, and if anybody thinks rank is any kind of an indicator of skill in martial arts, I've got a judan to sell you.
Maybe the far side of the moon.
Or western Nebraska.
I actually have the religious station set as one of my presets just to fill up all 6. And that's with NPR set twice.
My iTrip works fine.
Well, it is off-topic. I thought it was kind of interesting, since I hadn't heard about it, but it doesn't have much to do with this discussion. I'd have probably modded it down, too.
Ellsworth is a nuclear base. Not that you can see anything, really, but the presence of nuclear weapons on a base is enough to make base security pretty paranoid. It's probably not policy anywhere, just a judgement call in this rather strange case.
Dude. Fuck you.
Ever been away from home for 6+ months with no contact from your friends and family? With people shooting at you, no less? I have. It sucks. Bad.
I remember waiting in line for hours to make a 5 minute phone call home.
I remember mail call. When a letter came, it made my week. When one didn't, I was depressed for hours.
Giving soldiers easy communication home is perhaps the single best thing you can do to keep morale up. Having you're mother say "I love you" on a daily basis is better than more money or better food can possibly be.
OPSEC be damned. The benefits completely outweigh the risks.
His statistics likely came from here. Though, the way he presented them was a bit screwed up.
The relevant quotes are:
It's just as important to note that these are WWII studies. Grossman goes on to show how the U.S. Military raised firing rates into the 90 percent range by Vietnam, primarily through operant conditioning, and this is at least part of the reason post-traumatic stress disorder is so much more common in Vietnam-era vets than in previous wars. He also hypothesizes that a very similar form of operant conditioning is occurring in society at large due to violent movies, tv, and video games.
Now, for what it's worth, every combat veteran I've talked to on this matter falls into one of two camps: those that think Grossman's right on the money, and those that think he's completely full of shit. I am taking neither stance for the purposes of today's discussion.
Oh, as for why the Allies weren't decimated? Simple. Most of the Germans didn't shoot, either.
Which leads to my observation that, when presented with a large electromagnet, a REAL geek immediately constructs a railgun
I mean, really. Is there anything more beautifully destructive than a railgun?
Ok, working from memory here, and being lazy, so I'm not going to bother balancing equations:
Chalk (Calcium carbonate) + Oxygen -> Calcium oxide + Carbon dioxide
Calcium oxide + Water -> Calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide is a strong base, so putting your finger in it will probably result in severe alkali burns.
A perfect game is 27 batters up, 27 batters out. No hits, no walks, no errors, nobody on base.
A no-hitter is a complete game with no hits. Runners may still reach base on a walk or error in a no-hitter.
In fact, it is quite possible to pitch a no-hitter and lose
Enter search query: _Abbey Road_
Search
Looking......................
Nope. Don't seem to have any of that. Let me look in the back.
Looking.......................
Looks like you're out of luck. You sure you don't want some Madonna?
And this is the issue. Most of the methods that I see being used in high school math/science (and history, for that matter) are only good for the stuffing of facts....
Though i is really a number, the set of real numbers does not include i.
Now, the police models are quite a bit more powerful, but they aren't the end-all, be-all that people make it out to be.
Pepper spray does work, but only as "an eye jab in a can," as a friend of mine says. Spray 'em and run.
The green numbers fuck this strategy up.
P(red) = 18/38 = .47
P(black) = 18/38 = .47
Eventually, you're going to lose either way.
The quicker you figure it out, the better.
I graduated from the US Naval Academy with a Physics degree, and spotty grades. The grades didn't matter to me much at the time, 'cause I ended up in Submarines, which is what I was after.
Later on, when I was having some personal problems, and the resulting depression made qualifying on the power plant difficult, my boss took a look at my test scores, then my grades. I will never forget what he said:
"It's obvious that you can do well when you want to, Ensign. Do you want to be here? I don't think you do."
Then they fired me. Let me tell you, getting kicked out of the Navy for "Lack of Effort" does wonders for your future job prospects. And grad school? Hell, I'm getting a second bachelors degree just to prove to admissions that I can apply myself.
Of course, it's arguable that I have ever learned to apply myself. I love my current job, except for one particular task, the results of which are due on Monday. And I'm posting on Slashdot.
This is modded funny, but it's true.
Scam #1 was actually the MO of one company I worked for. They eventually fired me because I kept barging into the boss's office and demanding that we actually hire some damn programmers.
Yeah...but only in NZ