Simply google for "saturn v blueprints" and you'll find any number of sources debunking that "the Saturn V blueprints were destroyed" nonsence.
The difficulty with reviving the Saturn V is not in the absence of the plans... those are safe and sound; but in the fact that the Saturn V was built with 1960's technology, most of the parts aren't made anymore, and many of the companies that made parts of the Saturn V don't even exist anymore. Furthermore, the production facilities that made said parts have long since been either shut down, or retooled. And NASA's own facilities, including the all-important Launch Complex 39, have long since been modified from Saturn V specs, for use with the shuttle.
With all of the modifications to the design that would be necessary to start production on a new run of Saturn V's, on modern production lines, with modern manufactureing techniques, with modern components and electronics; it'd be easier just keep the basic math, but design an entirely new rocket. Certianly, it'd be a damn sight easier than finding vendors to recreate the '60's era parts to build new examples of the original design.
But not a whit of the Saturn V design or data is "gone".
> they can hit within three+ miles of a *fleet*, does that > mean that they could have hit with three miles of a single > ship in the ocean?
No reason why not. Remember, when you're talking about a recovery "fleet"; that the actual recovery *ship*, in most every case involving capsule landing was an aircraft carrier. And an aircraft carrier just does NOT put to sea without it's attendant escort and support vessels. So when you hear about a recovery "fleet", it's a mistake to think that ALL those ships were necessary. You only need ONE ship if it's purpose-built to the task. But since no purpose-built ships were available, the navy loaned NASA a carrier for the purpose. And a carrier takes a "fleet" (actually, a task force or a battle group) with it everywhere it goes.
Sure... she can't go apply at McDonalds, fill out the W2 or W4 (I can never remember which it is, until the OTHER one arrives at tax-time.), for her exwmptions, and start flipping burgers for a paycheck.
But I had a go at the "lemonade stand" thing when I was SEVEN. It didn't exactly work out right. I used lemonade Kool-Aid instead of the real thing. And I neglected to remember that if *I* didn't wander around the neighborhood with cash on me, in case *I* happened across a lemonade stand or something, that the OTHER kids probably didn't either. So what little "business" I had, came from the handful of adults who thought it was cute. To the other kids, I mostly wound up giving away my "profits".
By the time I was twelve, though, I had finagled my way into being allowed to haul our lawnmower down our block, and mow the neighbors' lawns for $5 each every saturday afternoon. On a good day, I brought in $40 or so.
Who knows how much the first might apply in NY. And I KNOW that no one's going out and mowing lawns in NY. But it's not inconcievable for a twelve year old to be bringing in enough cash to pay for her 'net access.
I agree on the iPod being somewhat pointless to a DJ *DURING* his/her performance.
But lots of DJs actually record their performances. I know one who records EVERY set he spins at a party, and listens to it afterwards to find his mistakes and figure out where he could do better. Moreso though, most DJs will record an hour-long or so set, and give it away so as to promote him/herself. The "big names" do the same, in order to sell CDs in record stores and make more money / promote themselves even more.
In all of these cases, an hour-long MP3 of a DJ mix is a very real possibility. In fact, I have several of these in my own MP3 collection.
Garth brooks (remember him?) was every bit the industry's anti-first-sale schill, back in the day, as metallica are the RIAA's anti-fair-use schills today.
I specificly remember the news clips of garth BBQing used copys of his own CDs on a grill, in some kind of press stunt. Of course, I can think of no better fate than fire for clensing the world of garth brooks (or metallica, for that matter), but that's another story.
Too bad Napster hired that hack Boies, who wound up getting assraped by lars, instead of whoever the used-CD industry hired to bitchslap garth.
Less than 20% of the population of Japan was even BORN at the time of WWII. And, I suspect, neither were you. And OF that 20% that were alive during WWII, the bulk of them were toddlers at the time, and had nothing to do, whatsoever, with the war.
Mention "Nanking" to the average Japanese person of my generation, and he/she'll probably just think it's just some new Pokemon. These are not the same warmongering types as their distant ancestors. I *DO* have a handful of Japanese friends my age; some born here in the US, some immigrants. And they are the nicest, most non-violent, people you could imagine; and have sort of an innocence of the evils of the world about them. Certianly, they are far more virtuous than YOU, as your own post proves.
And the country as a whole has have made an astoundingly admirable transition from wartime imperialists to exporters of Pokemon, Hello Kitty, and Dance Dance Revolution; and cars end electronics superior to those you'll find anywhere else. Truely a much better example of "swords to plowshares" than you'll find anywhere else.
> those engeers are dead or retired that designed,
True.
> all the data is gone!
False.
Simply google for "saturn v blueprints" and you'll find any number of sites debunking that "the Saturn V blueprints were destroyed" stupidity.
The difficulty with reviving the Saturn V is not in the absence of the plans... those are safe and sound; but in the fact that the Saturn V was built with 1960's technology, most of the parts aren't made anymore, and many of the companies that made parts of the Saturn V don't even exist anymore. Furthermore, the production facilities that made said parts have long since been either shut down, or retooled. And NASA's own facilities, including the all-important Launch Complex 39, have long since been modified from Saturn V specs, for use with the shuttle.
With all of the modifications to the design that would be necessary to start production on a new run of Saturn V's, on modern production lines, with modern manufactureing techniques, with modern components and electronics; it'd be easier just keep the basic math, but design an entirely new rocket. Certianly, it'd be a damn sight easier than finding vendors to recreate the '60's era parts to build new examples of the original design.
But not a whit of the Saturn V design or data is "gone".
An actual reactor would have too many parts (moving, and otherwise) to be reliable in the environment and over the lifespan of a Voyager-type mission. And lets not even get into the complexities involved with the liquid coolent of a reactor.
Rathar, an RTG is simply a source of heat in a decay much slower than that in a reactor. Said heat is then converted into electricity by a thermocouple (Actually, a battery of many thermocouples, but who's counting?) And while there's no danger of the plutonium ceasing to give off heat anytime soon, even the best thermocouples wear out. And in the hostile environment of space, and under bombardment of particle radiation (from the plutonium, and the solar wind) they wear out even faster.
Incidently:
> These things have a half-life of several thousand years.
Nope.
Plutonium 238, the radioisotope used in the Cassini space probe (I'm not sure about Voyager.), does not have a half-life of "several thousand years". Pu-238's half-life is 87 years. Strontium 90, another radioisotope commonly used in RTGs has a half-life of 28 years. A half-life in the range of "several thousand years" would actually be a *BAD* thing in these applications. You WANT a significant amount of decay to take place. That's where the HEAT comes from!
Granted, I'm just talking about another layer of obscurity. But there's something to the idea that if it's not written down, it's a LOT harder to find.
Simply make it clear to your spouse/family/loved ones/maybe even your lawyer that if you are irrecoverably brain-dead, you want them to donate your organs. But skip the doner card, don't get that sticker on your license, in fact, don't have this particular desire written down ANYWHERE. Just have it be a fact that the people you trust know themselves.
This way, your trusted/loved ones themselves have to be in on the organlegging scheme. And if THAT's the case, the fact that they're willing and anxious to throw you to the wolves, when you're at your most vulnerable, probably means that they're looking for, and will find, a way to off you anyway.
> 2. See mob smash windows, break things...and break > the peace
Sorry, but in a just system; if you, yourself, PRESONALLY, did not do these things, the cops have no business in the world arresting you, beating you, gassing you, herding you, in ANY way harassing you, or even so much as speaking a word to you.
All YOU have done is provide an example that demonstrates that our "justice" system is, in no way, just.
No the police were NOT "handed their asses" over the issue. Most of the pigs involved suffered no reprecussions at all. Basiclly, all that happened was that the department offered up a couple of sacrificial lambs (one of whom was allowed to resign instead of being fired) to take the blame off of the rest of them.
Whould SHOULD have happened, is that EVERY SINGLE OFFICER involved in that incident should have been immediately terminated; banned for life from working in anything resembleing law enforcement; and had all their assets siezed and liquidated; the proceeds going to compensate their victims. I would even argue that prison time equal to the collective time that their victems spent in the lockup would be in order.
When the people who actually abuse the power entrusted to them are held accountable, and PUNISHED for that abuse of power, rathar than being allowed to pass the blame off on to a handful of scapegoats, THEN I'll smile about the pigs finally being "slapped down pretty hard". But what happened here was nothing of the sort.
> Fun my ass! You obviously have never tried to get thru a > city during CM.
I've lived (and commuted) in San Francisco (which has a HUGE Critical Mass) for over three years now. And not once has Critical Mass ever slowed me down.
See... this is the *CITY*... we have BART and MUNI to get from point A to point B. You know... those TRAINS that run UNDER the streets, where no amount of car/bike/pedestrian traffic can slow you down? And on the rare handful of occasions that I HAVE driven to work, finding and paying for parking has been much more of a hassle than Critical Mass would be.
And hell... even if you are so obstinate and arrogant that you believe you just HAVE to yacht around in the city in your ford executioner; it's not like Critical Mass is really so spontaneous as the parent claims anyway. The times and routes are planned and known in advance. So you can plan around them.
You remember that old line about our justice system: "Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."?
In asking those people to have their DNA tested, the cops were not working toward proving the guilt of the perpetrator. The were demanding that random, uninvolved, parties prove their innocence; exactly the OPPOSITE of the way our justice system is SUPPOSED to work.
Beyond general principle, it's a matter of basic common sence. You never EVER volunteer ANYTHING to the cops. They are NOT your friends. And they are NOT trustworthy. And they are NOT "looking out for you". They're trying to figure out a way to put you in jail.
Check out just about any civil liberties organization; the ACLU or copwatch will suffice; and read their guidelines for protecting your rights when dealing with the pigs. Said guidelines pretty much always run along thelines of: "Suck up, provide ID if driving a car, but NEVER volunteer ANY information to them, and do NOT talk to them until they provide a lawyer, never consent to any search, protest loudly to non-police witnesses if they do search without your consent, and do NOT give them physical evidence (like a DNA sample) unless compelled to do so by a court order.".
You're not being "uncooperative". You're simply protecting your rights.
There's no reason you couldn't put a conventional payload on a ballistic missile. Fifty years of cold war have just pretty much created an automatic (ballistic missile == nuke) association in most peoples' minds. But remember that the original ballistic missile, the V2, was quite conventional.
Modern ICBMs are already pretty damn accurate. Put a Tomahawk-style guidance system on them (obviously, an improved one, to deal with the increased speed), and you could almost certianly make them accurate enough for conventional payloads to be useful. It wouldn't replace ALL the roles of a regular bomber, but it'd be doable.
Hell, at the speeds that the things re-enter, you might not even NEED a payload, conventional or otherwise. Just build the RV out of depleted uranium (as opposed to the kind that goes BOOM), and let good old kinetic energy do its trick. Say hello to the thirty-minute, unstoppable, NON-NUCLEAR, bunker-buster!
Is dubya is still in charge of the US in 2025, we'll have FAR bigger problems in this country that any (mis)use of these hypothetical bombers could cause.
cya, john
Ars Technica? Unbiased? Laughable!
on
G5 Benchmark Roundup
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Not only IS ars technica biased angainst Macs, they proudly advretise it as their tagline:
"The PC enthusiast's resourse"
Personally, when dealing with a site so proudly dripping with bias, I assume that Macintosh performance is understated by at least 50%.
Or, even if you overlook THAT (How CAN you? It's at the top of their site!), did you forget their "RISC suxors, CISC r00l3z j00... GO INTEL!!! woot woot!" ranting against Macs a while back? Sorry, but ars technica has NO claim on any "unbiased site" title.
The thing with the Simpson case is that when the cops try to frame a guilty man; what matters is NOT that he's guilty. What matters is that the cops tried to frame him.
No matter that the perponderance of evidence was against OJ. Hell, I personally believe, too, that he DID kill Nicole. But you simply CANNOT let the cops get away with fabricating and planting evidence that wasn't there. Hell, officer what's-his-nuts even got mcaught ON TAPE referring to black people as the n-word, after having LIED IN COURT about NOT being a racist, and NOT useing the n-word.
Racism, bias, and corruption are simply NEVER acceptable, ESPECIALLY not in the police force. And if a few guilty men have to go free to keep the pigs honest, so be it. It's the lesser of the two evils.
> the church had enough fear of God to look into each case > individually. Mass execution of men by formula is an > abomination reserved exclusively for the 20th century.
Just where do you think the phrase: "Kill 'em all, and let god sort it out." came from?
The original quote was actually in French (oops... freedom) and translates closer to: "Kill them all. God will know his own."
It was during the Albigensian crusade from 1209-1255 in Catharic France. In summer of 1209, the crusaders attacked the city of Beziers, thought to hold a small enclave of Cathars (about 200 or so). The crusaders eventually sacked the city, taking the populace captive. Lacking any positive way to sort the Cathars out from the loyal Catholics, the soldiers asked the Papal Legate and head of the Cistercian monks, Abbot Arnaud-Amaury, for advice. It was Arnaud-Amaury who gave the infamous order: "Kill them all. God will know his own.".
And thus, the population of the city of Beziers, numbering 20,000 or so, was put to the sword, so as to execute the 200 heretics thought to be hiding amongst them.
> the rules required a typewriter that had no spell checking > capability, and could hold only a single line in memory > (for correction purposes) and could not hold even that > single line in memory after being switched off
So does your professor hold stock in the one remaining company that still makes those relics?
> Of course the rules explicitly prohibit putting food in the > containers
That assumes that everybody plays by the rules. Now, the handful of people I know who geocache ARE pretty concientious and intelligent about such things. And I DO get the impression that that is typical of the geocacheing community. But what happens if more people get into the game? You KNOW there's gonna be SOME wanker who thinks the rules don't apply to him. And even if we're NOT dealing with an actively obnoxious person, there'll eventually be some fool who just doesn't THINK, and decides it would be nifty to leave a bit of candy for the next person to find the cache.
> I don't think a raccoon can get into an ammo can > however.
Oh yeah they can. Back when I was in the Boy Scouts, it happened to me. And I almost got kicked out of the troop for it. I was pretty new to the troop. And, this one trip, we had the usual lecture: "Don't keep any food in your tent, not even snacks. The raccoons will get it.". Well, I had this ammo box my dad had given me. And I thought: "Rubber gasket, tight seal, hard for ME to open... it's safe.", and stashed some chips, chocolate, and a few granola bars in the thing... in my tent of course. Well, after that night, I woke up to find a hole in my tent, and an open and empty (of food, the wrappers were strewn about) ammo box just outside.
So I learned the hard way. Those bastards WILL get into ANYTHING that's not SERIOUSLY locked down.
Wayyyy back in the day, I was looking for a new removable media solution because, even back then, a 1.44MB floppy was just too damn small to be useful anymore. Iomega's Zip drive and the Syquest EZ 135 cartridge were both pretty new to the market. Neither one had REALLY caught on yet, so there was no question as to which would be compatible with my friends.
Both drives were about the same price. And since neither had achieved dominence, I based my decision on their technical merits. I went with the EZ 135 because for the same price:
The Syquest had 35MB more space per cartridge.
It was MUCH faster than the Zip drive (fast enough to use as a real hard drive... I used to play Mechwarrior and run OSs off the thing.)
When I eventually changed its position on my IDE bus, it was BOOTABLE. And, in those days, both Linux and windows (95) had a small enough installation footprint to fit in 135MB. Thus, I could dual-boot without futzing around with LILO. And I could let friends, roommates, and family use the machine without having to explain partitions and Linux to them whenever windows crashed. (I had to change the drive's position on the IDE cable, because this was back in the days before gates had figured out how to make a peecee boot from anything other than a: or c:)
The cartridges were more durable than Zip disks.
And the drive was more reliable than a Zip (click of doom, anyone?)
I thought I had made an excellent choice. Imagine my dismay when Syquest totally failed to market themselves, and Iomega's slick campaigns won the world over. I mean... fuck... if everyone was going to settle for slow and unreliable media, and REALLY wanted 100MB disks, they should AT LEAST have chosen Sony's "Superdisk" drives, which kept the familiar 3.5" form factor and were backwards-compatible with 1.44MB floppys! But no... Zip it was. Ugh.
Iomega is a FINE example of just about the WORST products in the market segment beating out the others not through superior technology, but with slicker marketing.
Slashdot Mirror
> There is no obvious good utility for an atomic weapon of
> any kind.
Look up something called Project Orion.
That Orion never got off the ground (pun unintended) for stupid political reasons is truely a crime against science and the human spirit.
cya,
john
Simply google for "saturn v blueprints" and you'll find any number of sources debunking that "the Saturn V blueprints were destroyed" nonsence.
The difficulty with reviving the Saturn V is not in the absence of the plans... those are safe and sound; but in the fact that the Saturn V was built with 1960's technology, most of the parts aren't made anymore, and many of the companies that made parts of the Saturn V don't even exist anymore. Furthermore, the production facilities that made said parts have long since been either shut down, or retooled. And NASA's own facilities, including the all-important Launch Complex 39, have long since been modified from Saturn V specs, for use with the shuttle.
With all of the modifications to the design that would be necessary to start production on a new run of Saturn V's, on modern production lines, with modern manufactureing techniques, with modern components and electronics; it'd be easier just keep the basic math, but design an entirely new rocket. Certianly, it'd be a damn sight easier than finding vendors to recreate the '60's era parts to build new examples of the original design.
But not a whit of the Saturn V design or data is "gone".
cya,
john
> So, (this begs the question)
Actually, no, it doesn't.
> they can hit within three+ miles of a *fleet*, does that
> mean that they could have hit with three miles of a single
> ship in the ocean?
No reason why not. Remember, when you're talking about a recovery "fleet"; that the actual recovery *ship*, in most every case involving capsule landing was an aircraft carrier. And an aircraft carrier just does NOT put to sea without it's attendant escort and support vessels. So when you hear about a recovery "fleet", it's a mistake to think that ALL those ships were necessary. You only need ONE ship if it's purpose-built to the task. But since no purpose-built ships were available, the navy loaned NASA a carrier for the purpose. And a carrier takes a "fleet" (actually, a task force or a battle group) with it everywhere it goes.
cya,
john
Sure... she can't go apply at McDonalds, fill out the W2 or W4 (I can never remember which it is, until the OTHER one arrives at tax-time.), for her exwmptions, and start flipping burgers for a paycheck.
But I had a go at the "lemonade stand" thing when I was SEVEN. It didn't exactly work out right. I used lemonade Kool-Aid instead of the real thing. And I neglected to remember that if *I* didn't wander around the neighborhood with cash on me, in case *I* happened across a lemonade stand or something, that the OTHER kids probably didn't either. So what little "business" I had, came from the handful of adults who thought it was cute. To the other kids, I mostly wound up giving away my "profits".
By the time I was twelve, though, I had finagled my way into being allowed to haul our lawnmower down our block, and mow the neighbors' lawns for $5 each every saturday afternoon. On a good day, I brought in $40 or so.
Who knows how much the first might apply in NY. And I KNOW that no one's going out and mowing lawns in NY. But it's not inconcievable for a twelve year old to be bringing in enough cash to pay for her 'net access.
cya,
john
I agree on the iPod being somewhat pointless to a DJ *DURING* his/her performance.
But lots of DJs actually record their performances. I know one who records EVERY set he spins at a party, and listens to it afterwards to find his mistakes and figure out where he could do better. Moreso though, most DJs will record an hour-long or so set, and give it away so as to promote him/herself. The "big names" do the same, in order to sell CDs in record stores and make more money / promote themselves even more.
In all of these cases, an hour-long MP3 of a DJ mix is a very real possibility. In fact, I have several of these in my own MP3 collection.
cya,
john
I specificly remember the news clips of garth BBQing used copys of his own CDs on a grill, in some kind of press stunt. Of course, I can think of no better fate than fire for clensing the world of garth brooks (or metallica, for that matter), but that's another story.
Too bad Napster hired that hack Boies, who wound up getting assraped by lars, instead of whoever the used-CD industry hired to bitchslap garth.
cya,
john
Less than 20% of the population of Japan was even BORN at the time of WWII. And, I suspect, neither were you. And OF that 20% that were alive during WWII, the bulk of them were toddlers at the time, and had nothing to do, whatsoever, with the war.
Mention "Nanking" to the average Japanese person of my generation, and he/she'll probably just think it's just some new Pokemon. These are not the same warmongering types as their distant ancestors. I *DO* have a handful of Japanese friends my age; some born here in the US, some immigrants. And they are the nicest, most non-violent, people you could imagine; and have sort of an innocence of the evils of the world about them. Certianly, they are far more virtuous than YOU, as your own post proves.
And the country as a whole has have made an astoundingly admirable transition from wartime imperialists to exporters of Pokemon, Hello Kitty, and Dance Dance Revolution; and cars end electronics superior to those you'll find anywhere else. Truely a much better example of "swords to plowshares" than you'll find anywhere else.
cya,
john
> those engeers are dead or retired that designed,
True.
> all the data is gone!
False.
Simply google for "saturn v blueprints" and you'll find any number of sites debunking that "the Saturn V blueprints were destroyed" stupidity.
The difficulty with reviving the Saturn V is not in the absence of the plans... those are safe and sound; but in the fact that the Saturn V was built with 1960's technology, most of the parts aren't made anymore, and many of the companies that made parts of the Saturn V don't even exist anymore. Furthermore, the production facilities that made said parts have long since been either shut down, or retooled. And NASA's own facilities, including the all-important Launch Complex 39, have long since been modified from Saturn V specs, for use with the shuttle.
With all of the modifications to the design that would be necessary to start production on a new run of Saturn V's, on modern production lines, with modern manufactureing techniques, with modern components and electronics; it'd be easier just keep the basic math, but design an entirely new rocket. Certianly, it'd be a damn sight easier than finding vendors to recreate the '60's era parts to build new examples of the original design.
But not a whit of the Saturn V design or data is "gone".
cya,
john
Heh...
Spoken like someone who never saw the guides for games like Master of Orion 3 or Outpost.
cya,
john
An actual reactor would have too many parts (moving, and otherwise) to be reliable in the environment and over the lifespan of a Voyager-type mission. And lets not even get into the complexities involved with the liquid coolent of a reactor.
Rathar, an RTG is simply a source of heat in a decay much slower than that in a reactor. Said heat is then converted into electricity by a thermocouple (Actually, a battery of many thermocouples, but who's counting?) And while there's no danger of the plutonium ceasing to give off heat anytime soon, even the best thermocouples wear out. And in the hostile environment of space, and under bombardment of particle radiation (from the plutonium, and the solar wind) they wear out even faster.
Incidently:
> These things have a half-life of several thousand years.
Nope.
Plutonium 238, the radioisotope used in the Cassini space probe (I'm not sure about Voyager.), does not have a half-life of "several thousand years". Pu-238's half-life is 87 years. Strontium 90, another radioisotope commonly used in RTGs has a half-life of 28 years. A half-life in the range of "several thousand years" would actually be a *BAD* thing in these applications. You WANT a significant amount of decay to take place. That's where the HEAT comes from!
cya,
john
Granted, I'm just talking about another layer of obscurity. But there's something to the idea that if it's not written down, it's a LOT harder to find.
Simply make it clear to your spouse/family/loved ones/maybe even your lawyer that if you are irrecoverably brain-dead, you want them to donate your organs. But skip the doner card, don't get that sticker on your license, in fact, don't have this particular desire written down ANYWHERE. Just have it be a fact that the people you trust know themselves.
This way, your trusted/loved ones themselves have to be in on the organlegging scheme. And if THAT's the case, the fact that they're willing and anxious to throw you to the wolves, when you're at your most vulnerable, probably means that they're looking for, and will find, a way to off you anyway.
cya,
john
> 2. See mob smash windows, break things...and break
> the peace
Sorry, but in a just system; if you, yourself, PRESONALLY, did not do these things, the cops have no business in the world arresting you, beating you, gassing you, herding you, in ANY way harassing you, or even so much as speaking a word to you.
All YOU have done is provide an example that demonstrates that our "justice" system is, in no way, just.
cya,
john
No the police were NOT "handed their asses" over the issue. Most of the pigs involved suffered no reprecussions at all. Basiclly, all that happened was that the department offered up a couple of sacrificial lambs (one of whom was allowed to resign instead of being fired) to take the blame off of the rest of them.
Whould SHOULD have happened, is that EVERY SINGLE OFFICER involved in that incident should have been immediately terminated; banned for life from working in anything resembleing law enforcement; and had all their assets siezed and liquidated; the proceeds going to compensate their victims. I would even argue that prison time equal to the collective time that their victems spent in the lockup would be in order.
When the people who actually abuse the power entrusted to them are held accountable, and PUNISHED for that abuse of power, rathar than being allowed to pass the blame off on to a handful of scapegoats, THEN I'll smile about the pigs finally being "slapped down pretty hard". But what happened here was nothing of the sort.
cya,
john
... the road, or the automobile?
For bonus points, care to venture a guess as to by how many years (mellenia, actually) one predates the other?
cya,
john
> Fun my ass! You obviously have never tried to get thru a
> city during CM.
I've lived (and commuted) in San Francisco (which has a HUGE Critical Mass) for over three years now. And not once has Critical Mass ever slowed me down.
See... this is the *CITY*... we have BART and MUNI to get from point A to point B. You know... those TRAINS that run UNDER the streets, where no amount of car/bike/pedestrian traffic can slow you down? And on the rare handful of occasions that I HAVE driven to work, finding and paying for parking has been much more of a hassle than Critical Mass would be.
And hell... even if you are so obstinate and arrogant that you believe you just HAVE to yacht around in the city in your ford executioner; it's not like Critical Mass is really so spontaneous as the parent claims anyway. The times and routes are planned and known in advance. So you can plan around them.
cya,
john
You remember that old line about our justice system: "Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."?
In asking those people to have their DNA tested, the cops were not working toward proving the guilt of the perpetrator. The were demanding that random, uninvolved, parties prove their innocence; exactly the OPPOSITE of the way our justice system is SUPPOSED to work.
Beyond general principle, it's a matter of basic common sence. You never EVER volunteer ANYTHING to the cops. They are NOT your friends. And they are NOT trustworthy. And they are NOT "looking out for you". They're trying to figure out a way to put you in jail.
Check out just about any civil liberties organization; the ACLU or copwatch will suffice; and read their guidelines for protecting your rights when dealing with the pigs. Said guidelines pretty much always run along thelines of: "Suck up, provide ID if driving a car, but NEVER volunteer ANY information to them, and do NOT talk to them until they provide a lawyer, never consent to any search, protest loudly to non-police witnesses if they do search without your consent, and do NOT give them physical evidence (like a DNA sample) unless compelled to do so by a court order.".
You're not being "uncooperative". You're simply protecting your rights.
cya,
john
There's no reason you couldn't put a conventional payload on a ballistic missile. Fifty years of cold war have just pretty much created an automatic (ballistic missile == nuke) association in most peoples' minds. But remember that the original ballistic missile, the V2, was quite conventional.
Modern ICBMs are already pretty damn accurate. Put a Tomahawk-style guidance system on them (obviously, an improved one, to deal with the increased speed), and you could almost certianly make them accurate enough for conventional payloads to be useful. It wouldn't replace ALL the roles of a regular bomber, but it'd be doable.
Hell, at the speeds that the things re-enter, you might not even NEED a payload, conventional or otherwise. Just build the RV out of depleted uranium (as opposed to the kind that goes BOOM), and let good old kinetic energy do its trick. Say hello to the thirty-minute, unstoppable, NON-NUCLEAR, bunker-buster!
cya,
john
Is dubya is still in charge of the US in 2025, we'll have FAR bigger problems in this country that any (mis)use of these hypothetical bombers could cause.
cya,
john
"The PC enthusiast's resourse"
Personally, when dealing with a site so proudly dripping with bias, I assume that Macintosh performance is understated by at least 50%.
Or, even if you overlook THAT (How CAN you? It's at the top of their site!), did you forget their "RISC suxors, CISC r00l3z j00... GO INTEL!!! woot woot!" ranting against Macs a while back? Sorry, but ars technica has NO claim on any "unbiased site" title.
cya,
john
Are they gonna open franchises in the Bay Area by any chance???
Failing that, if I paypal you some money, will you pack one in dry ice and send it to me?
cya,
john
The thing with the Simpson case is that when the cops try to frame a guilty man; what matters is NOT that he's guilty. What matters is that the cops tried to frame him.
No matter that the perponderance of evidence was against OJ. Hell, I personally believe, too, that he DID kill Nicole. But you simply CANNOT let the cops get away with fabricating and planting evidence that wasn't there. Hell, officer what's-his-nuts even got mcaught ON TAPE referring to black people as the n-word, after having LIED IN COURT about NOT being a racist, and NOT useing the n-word.
Racism, bias, and corruption are simply NEVER acceptable, ESPECIALLY not in the police force. And if a few guilty men have to go free to keep the pigs honest, so be it. It's the lesser of the two evils.
cya,
john
> the church had enough fear of God to look into each case
> individually. Mass execution of men by formula is an
> abomination reserved exclusively for the 20th century.
Just where do you think the phrase: "Kill 'em all, and let god sort it out." came from?
The original quote was actually in French (oops... freedom) and translates closer to: "Kill them all. God will know his own."
It was during the Albigensian crusade from 1209-1255 in Catharic France. In summer of 1209, the crusaders attacked the city of Beziers, thought to hold a small enclave of Cathars (about 200 or so). The crusaders eventually sacked the city, taking the populace captive. Lacking any positive way to sort the Cathars out from the loyal Catholics, the soldiers asked the Papal Legate and head of the Cistercian monks, Abbot Arnaud-Amaury, for advice. It was Arnaud-Amaury who gave the infamous order: "Kill them all. God will know his own.".
And thus, the population of the city of Beziers, numbering 20,000 or so, was put to the sword, so as to execute the 200 heretics thought to be hiding amongst them.
cya,
john
> the rules required a typewriter that had no spell checking
> capability, and could hold only a single line in memory
> (for correction purposes) and could not hold even that
> single line in memory after being switched off
So does your professor hold stock in the one remaining company that still makes those relics?
Or is he just a raging neophobic asshole?
cya,
john
> Of course the rules explicitly prohibit putting food in the
> containers
That assumes that everybody plays by the rules. Now, the handful of people I know who geocache ARE pretty concientious and intelligent about such things. And I DO get the impression that that is typical of the geocacheing community. But what happens if more people get into the game? You KNOW there's gonna be SOME wanker who thinks the rules don't apply to him. And even if we're NOT dealing with an actively obnoxious person, there'll eventually be some fool who just doesn't THINK, and decides it would be nifty to leave a bit of candy for the next person to find the cache.
> I don't think a raccoon can get into an ammo can
> however.
Oh yeah they can. Back when I was in the Boy Scouts, it happened to me. And I almost got kicked out of the troop for it. I was pretty new to the troop. And, this one trip, we had the usual lecture: "Don't keep any food in your tent, not even snacks. The raccoons will get it.". Well, I had this ammo box my dad had given me. And I thought: "Rubber gasket, tight seal, hard for ME to open... it's safe.", and stashed some chips, chocolate, and a few granola bars in the thing... in my tent of course. Well, after that night, I woke up to find a hole in my tent, and an open and empty (of food, the wrappers were strewn about) ammo box just outside.
So I learned the hard way. Those bastards WILL get into ANYTHING that's not SERIOUSLY locked down.
cya,
john
> remember SyQuest?
Do I ever.
Wayyyy back in the day, I was looking for a new removable media solution because, even back then, a 1.44MB floppy was just too damn small to be useful anymore. Iomega's Zip drive and the Syquest EZ 135 cartridge were both pretty new to the market. Neither one had REALLY caught on yet, so there was no question as to which would be compatible with my friends.
Both drives were about the same price. And since neither had achieved dominence, I based my decision on their technical merits. I went with the EZ 135 because for the same price:
The Syquest had 35MB more space per cartridge.
It was MUCH faster than the Zip drive (fast enough to use as a real hard drive... I used to play Mechwarrior and run OSs off the thing.)
When I eventually changed its position on my IDE bus, it was BOOTABLE. And, in those days, both Linux and windows (95) had a small enough installation footprint to fit in 135MB. Thus, I could dual-boot without futzing around with LILO. And I could let friends, roommates, and family use the machine without having to explain partitions and Linux to them whenever windows crashed. (I had to change the drive's position on the IDE cable, because this was back in the days before gates had figured out how to make a peecee boot from anything other than a: or c:)
The cartridges were more durable than Zip disks.
And the drive was more reliable than a Zip (click of doom, anyone?)
I thought I had made an excellent choice. Imagine my dismay when Syquest totally failed to market themselves, and Iomega's slick campaigns won the world over. I mean... fuck... if everyone was going to settle for slow and unreliable media, and REALLY wanted 100MB disks, they should AT LEAST have chosen Sony's "Superdisk" drives, which kept the familiar 3.5" form factor and were backwards-compatible with 1.44MB floppys! But no... Zip it was. Ugh.
Iomega is a FINE example of just about the WORST products in the market segment beating out the others not through superior technology, but with slicker marketing.
cya,
john