The wiki is quite interesting, and I'm hoping to build some of the things from the site once I get my Shapeoko http://www.shapeoko.com/ up and running again.
There was actually explict mention of this in one of the books --- whenever 2 Federation ships meet their computers synch w/ each other --- can't recall it being a plot point though.
> only used for a period of time brief enough that it's unlikely bacteria will develop resistance
as opposed to the current scheme of continuing to use until anti-biotic resistance is pervasive.
Remove the anti-biotic from the environment and there won't be a selection for resistance (instead there will be a selection for the replacment), but before there's selection for the second, rotate in a third, rinse, lather and repeat.
But above all, usage of anti-biotics should be minimized to:
- people who are genuinely ill (prescribed and monitored by a doctor, w/ a rigorous lecture on the importance of completing the entire regimen)
- small dosage uses with a genuine payoff in societal terms (preventing cavities is the only one coming to mind)
- animals who are genuinely ill and a veterinarian deems worth saving
where it is markedly better than anything else, though I wouldn't object to seeing it prescription only.
All other usages should be discontinued.
Further, _all_ anti-biotics should be on a rotating schedule, and only used for a period of time brief enough that it's unlikely bacteria will develop resistance, then some other similar anti-biotic rotated in, repeat as necessary, and new anti-biotics are added into the rotation schedule (and only used when prescribed by a doctor, or injected by a veterinarian).
This could be easily enforced by manipulating the expiration dates of anti-biotics.
Well, for the automated greenhouse there are some commercial ones, and on a small scale there're Aerogrow tabletop gardens (but I don't think their fertilizer usage is sustainable (search for ``peak phosphorous'')
I've thought for a while that FEMA should develop a concrete block for disaster relief which could be poured on site and filled with:
- window greenhouses for food
- rain water collection system and filtration system
- small sink
- composting toilet
- solar panels, LED lighting and a bicycle connected to a generator
- fold up sleeping pallets which double as seating
Once the disaster was over people could build a house around it.
I just want to see a tool which makes it easy to collect information, sort it out, edit it and keep it all consistent --- been using tools for this since Zoomracks came out, and still haven't found the perfect tool.
``The failures of government transparency, too, cross party lines. Rooted in political expediency, those failures of transparency know no color, neither red nor blue. And they need to be pointed out and resisted. As author Robert A. Heinlein wrote, ``Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.' ''
(my thanks to Danny Burstein for bringing this to my attention or usent:rec.arts.sf.written.)
The organic farmer selling non-GMO crops who sues for damages 'cause his plants are cross-pollenated by a neighboring farmer using GMO seeds who doesn't follow the guidelines for planting a barrier row of non-GMO plants around the edges of his field.
Not only that, vast swaths of forest are planted as pulpwood, which requires huge energy inputs to convert to paper --- the manufacture of one hardcover book uses enough energy to put roughly 8.85 pounds of CO_2 into the atmosphere.
An interesting movement among firearms manufacturers is a refusal to sell firearms to police departments which their municipalities won't allow their citizens to buy:
An AR-15 is not a machine gun, sub-machine gun, nor fully automatic --- it doesn't even have a 3 round burst mode --- it's a semi-automatic rifle (or carbine w/ short barrel and collapsing stock).
Gun ownership among everyone in the U.K. is low. It was so low in WWII that ``The American Committee for defense of British Homes has organized to collect gifts of pistols, rifles, revolvers, shotguns (and binoculars) from American civilians who wish to answer the call and aid in defense of British homes'':
An interesting statistic is that a home is burglarized when occupied ~13% of the time in the U.S., while that number is 47% in the U.K. --- my father worked as a prison guard, and a recurring theme among people serving time for robbery was the importance of ``casing the joint'' because one didn't want to risk confronting an armed home-owner.
One can export to a.idml file from InDesign CS5.5 (I believe that that's been duped in the File | Save As dialog since), and it can be opened up by any version of InDesign back to CS4, which can export to.inx which can be opened up by CS3, which can export to.inx which can be opened by CS2, which is as far back as my memory goes.
The.idml and.inx file formats are well-documented XML --- there was even a tool for generating a.inx programmatically (InxBuilder --- not sure if it's around).
I vehemently object to the Creative Cloud licensing scheme, but you can't complain against it on the basis of a lack of backwards-compatibility (yet).
For that matter, any InDesign publication is going to be composed of:
- text --- be sure to import / export in something which is nicely tagged and future-proofed
- graphics --- have an archival version of the original of the graphic which can be edited / up-dated and is future-proof
all that InDesign brings to the table is the ability to nicely, prettily and reliably (and to some limited degree automatically) arrange the elements on a page (or screen) --- so long as one has a.pdf, one has access to that aspect of the work.
Illustrator --- buy FreeHand/MX or buy into Quesado's StageStack http://www.stagestack.com/en_US/ or learn to use Asymptote (has a GUI, xasy), METAPOST (gui METAGRAF), or Inkscape PhotoShop --- use an old version, switch to doing everything in color-managed RGB, try some other pixel editor Flash --- code in JavaScript and HTML5 InDesign --- Quark Xpress, Scribus, Apple's Pages.app or learn to use TeX
Slashdot Mirror
The wiki is quite interesting, and I'm hoping to build some of the things from the site once I get my Shapeoko http://www.shapeoko.com/ up and running again.
There was actually explict mention of this in one of the books --- whenever 2 Federation ships meet their computers synch w/ each other --- can't recall it being a plot point though.
I write scripts in TeX and AppleScript for my day job, thank you.
I don't see an available tool or technique that'll take 80 search results for ``driveshaft'': http://www.shapeoko.com/forum/search.php?keywords=driveshaft
and condense, reformat,discard redundant / off-topic mentions and create a structured page like: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Drive_Shaft
There's also 138 matches for ``drive shaft'': http://www.shapeoko.com/forum/search.php?keywords=drive+shaft (and I'm sure someone mis-spelled it as well).
Yes, I could script auto-adding or concatenating 218 pages, but that's not any more useful than any of the responses to my initial post.
I've spent more time than I care to remember moving content from:
http://www.shapeoko.com/forum
to
http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki
Why can't it be automated?
Hugo award winner:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cookie_Monster_(novella)
Most of it is available here:
http://www.analogsf.com/0310/cookie.shtml
Making ammunition is trivial:
- bullets can be cast from lead http://www.amazon.com/Cast-Bullets-E-H-Harrison/dp/B0007ASOHO
- primer can be strike anywhere matches carefully ground up, or fashioned from chemicals http://cryptome.info/0001/tm-31-210.htm
- gunpowder is simple chemistry http://www.amazon.com/Do-Yourself-Gunpowder-Cookbook/dp/0873646754
- cases can be turned on a lathe (granted they're not as malleable as those which are formed, but they'll last for a couple of firings) http://www.janellestudio.com/metal/turning_brass.txt
and of course, doing a muzzle loader eliminates the need for that, just need a patch
I said:
> only used for a period of time brief enough that it's unlikely bacteria will develop resistance
as opposed to the current scheme of continuing to use until anti-biotic resistance is pervasive.
Remove the anti-biotic from the environment and there won't be a selection for resistance (instead there will be a selection for the replacment), but before there's selection for the second, rotate in a third, rinse, lather and repeat.
But above all, usage of anti-biotics should be minimized to:
- people who are genuinely ill (prescribed and monitored by a doctor, w/ a rigorous lecture on the importance of completing the entire regimen)
- small dosage uses with a genuine payoff in societal terms (preventing cavities is the only one coming to mind)
- animals who are genuinely ill and a veterinarian deems worth saving
where it is markedly better than anything else, though I wouldn't object to seeing it prescription only.
All other usages should be discontinued.
Further, _all_ anti-biotics should be on a rotating schedule, and only used for a period of time brief enough that it's unlikely bacteria will develop resistance, then some other similar anti-biotic rotated in, repeat as necessary, and new anti-biotics are added into the rotation schedule (and only used when prescribed by a doctor, or injected by a veterinarian).
This could be easily enforced by manipulating the expiration dates of anti-biotics.
William
This is a good example of why I prefer to live where the local top police official is elected, not appointed.
I really wish I'd pirated a copy of MacBasic instead of buying Microsoft's lame BASIC for Macintosh ( http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=MacBasic.txt ).
Every time I pick up my Fujitsu Stylistic ST-4121 running Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, I wish it were running Go Corp.'s PenPoint ( http://www.amazon.com/Startup-Silicon-Adventure-Jerry-Kaplan/dp/0140257314 http://www.amazon.com/ThinkPad-Different-J-Gerry-Purdy/dp/0672317567/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368791379&sr=1-1&keywords=thinkpad )
It kills me that I can't buy Creaturehouse Expression for a new version of Mac OS X ( http://www.creativemac.com/article/Microsoft-Buys-Creature-House-Assets-21443 )
Or that I can't upgrade my copy of Altamira Composer or that the plug got pulled on Altsys Virtuoso for Windows NT.
&c.
Well, for the automated greenhouse there are some commercial ones, and on a small scale there're Aerogrow tabletop gardens (but I don't think their fertilizer usage is sustainable (search for ``peak phosphorous'')
I've thought for a while that FEMA should develop a concrete block for disaster relief which could be poured on site and filled with:
- window greenhouses for food
- rain water collection system and filtration system
- small sink
- composting toilet
- solar panels, LED lighting and a bicycle connected to a generator
- fold up sleeping pallets which double as seating
Once the disaster was over people could build a house around it.
There were a number of HyperCard clones for Windows:
SuperCard
Runtime Revolution
Asymetrix Toolbook
Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoomracks
I just want to see a tool which makes it easy to collect information, sort it out, edit it and keep it all consistent --- been using tools for this since Zoomracks came out, and still haven't found the perfect tool.
NY Times Editor Margaret Sullivan quoting Robert Heinlein.
http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/transparency-secrecy-and-retaliation-emerge-as-major-issues-in-benghazi-coverage/
``The failures of government transparency, too,
cross party lines. Rooted in political expediency,
those failures of transparency know no color,
neither red nor blue. And they need to be pointed
out and resisted. As author Robert A. Heinlein
wrote, ``Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.' ''
(my thanks to Danny Burstein for bringing this to my attention or usent:rec.arts.sf.written.)
The organic farmer selling non-GMO crops who sues for damages 'cause his plants are cross-pollenated by a neighboring farmer using GMO seeds who doesn't follow the guidelines for planting a barrier row of non-GMO plants around the edges of his field.
Not only that, vast swaths of forest are planted as pulpwood, which requires huge energy inputs to convert to paper --- the manufacture of one hardcover book uses enough energy to put roughly 8.85 pounds of CO_2 into the atmosphere.
There was also Poul Anderson's _The Boat of a Million Years_
An interesting movement among firearms manufacturers is a refusal to sell firearms to police departments which their municipalities won't allow their citizens to buy:
The Firearms Equality Movement --- http://cnsnews.com/blog/gregory-gwyn-williams-jr/update-number-us-gun-makers-refusing-sales-govt-firearms-equality
An AR-15 is not a machine gun, sub-machine gun, nor fully automatic --- it doesn't even have a 3 round burst mode --- it's a semi-automatic rifle (or carbine w/ short barrel and collapsing stock).
Give me an M-14 or M-1 Garand any day.
Apparently you think the thin brass case makes a difference in whether or no a gun explodes when fired?
It doesn't, and oft' reloaded cases will split, and hitting the primer will detonate a round, shredding the case in the process.
A metal case does deform and conform to the chamber when fired --- a plastic or paper on will as well to a degree --- look at shotgun shells.
Gun ownership among everyone in the U.K. is low. It was so low in WWII that ``The American Committee for defense of British Homes has organized to collect gifts of pistols, rifles, revolvers, shotguns (and binoculars) from American civilians who wish to answer the call and aid in defense of British homes'':
http://twinbuttebunch.org/index.php?fuseaction=misc.sendguns
I'm given to understand that my grandfather sent over a Remington No. 4 which an uncle of mine had cut down to a pistol....
This article indicates a dramatic uptick in gun crime (89%) in the U.K. though:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223193/Culture-violence-Gun-crime-goes-89-decade.html
FWIW, I can't think of a single police force in the U.S. where regular police officers on patrol carry submachine guns.
Another article:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/12/11/gun-crime-soars-in-england-where-guns-are-banned-n1464528
An interesting statistic is that a home is burglarized when occupied ~13% of the time in the U.S., while that number is 47% in the U.K. --- my father worked as a prison guard, and a recurring theme among people serving time for robbery was the importance of ``casing the joint'' because one didn't want to risk confronting an armed home-owner.
and here's an article which argues about statistical reporting:
http://www.theendrun.com/larry-pratt-british-gun-crime-stats-a-sham
and here're some hard numbers:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list
A government strong enough to protect you from everything, is strong enough to take everything from you.
William
One can export to a .idml file from InDesign CS5.5 (I believe that that's been duped in the File | Save As dialog since), and it can be opened up by any version of InDesign back to CS4, which can export to .inx which can be opened up by CS3, which can export to .inx which can be opened by CS2, which is as far back as my memory goes.
The .idml and .inx file formats are well-documented XML --- there was even a tool for generating a .inx programmatically (InxBuilder --- not sure if it's around).
I vehemently object to the Creative Cloud licensing scheme, but you can't complain against it on the basis of a lack of backwards-compatibility (yet).
For that matter, any InDesign publication is going to be composed of:
- text --- be sure to import / export in something which is nicely tagged and future-proofed
- graphics --- have an archival version of the original of the graphic which can be edited / up-dated and is future-proof
all that InDesign brings to the table is the ability to nicely, prettily and reliably (and to some limited degree automatically) arrange the elements on a page (or screen) --- so long as one has a .pdf, one has access to that aspect of the work.
Illustrator --- buy FreeHand/MX or buy into Quesado's StageStack http://www.stagestack.com/en_US/ or learn to use Asymptote (has a GUI, xasy), METAPOST (gui METAGRAF), or Inkscape
PhotoShop --- use an old version, switch to doing everything in color-managed RGB, try some other pixel editor
Flash --- code in JavaScript and HTML5
InDesign --- Quark Xpress, Scribus, Apple's Pages.app or learn to use TeX
Makes me wish I'd taken up woodworking instead.
If the industry has any sense they'll boycott.
The boxed copies are just a license key and instructions to download since CS6 came out.
Ammunition is quite easy:
- bullets can be cast from lead http://www.amazon.com/Cast-Bullets-E-H-Harrison/dp/B0007ASOHO
- primer can be strike anywhere matches carefully ground up, or fashioned from chemicals http://cryptome.info/0001/tm-31-210.htm
- gunpowder is simple chemistry http://www.amazon.com/Do-Yourself-Gunpowder-Cookbook/dp/0873646754
- cases can be turned on a lathe (granted they're not as malleable as those which are formed, but they'll last for a couple of firings) http://www.janellestudio.com/metal/turning_brass.txt
and of course, doing a muzzle loader eliminates the need for that, just need a patch
William