The "generic algorithim" in physical simulations is called "finite element analysis". All they would need to do is swap some constants in the formula for other liquids. For solids they may have to change the formula but the algorithim would still be the same.
The same algorithim is used in everthing from climate simulation to casting simulations for engine blocks to simulating the trajectory of space probes. The technique is not new but supercomuters have used it to quietly revolutionise science and engineering over the last 50yrs or so.
Good example. I was thinking of the Suez canal. It uses a "hydrolic computer" to prevent gates at distant locations from being opened in a dangerous combination. It's been working flawlessly for century now.
"When I was an apprentice in the Merchant Marines"
Speaking of tradesmen, most have their own tools and most will tell their co-workers to fuck off and buy their own (well at least here in Oz they do). It has nothing to do with being selfish and everything to do with lost/broken/dirty tools that the tradesman is dependent on, in fact it's considered rude to even ask the question in many trades here. I don't see why a laptop is a special case?
"Are you trying to say that it was impossible for Saddam to do so? Humiliating? Certainly. Impossible? Certainly not."
No I am saying it's impossible to PROVE, for all anyone knows there COULD be still a missle silo hidden in the Iraqi desert. It's like trying to PROVE god does not exist, you can't, it's simple logical fallacy that was pointed out time and again before the invasion.
One last time, knodody knew either way for CERTAIN, many in the EU and Australia (in particular Cook) thought it was HIGHLY UNLIKELY.
This is one of the problems I have with the nutter (and extremists in general), he is so fucking certain that his OPINION is FACT, he just repeats the same bullshit over an over again as if repition will add more weight to his arguments. The FACTS are 70+% of the population in both the UK and Australia were shouting bullshit very, very, loudly AT THE TIME, their governments simply ignored them and went ahead anyway.
"many who now claim in hindsight to have reservations are lying to themselves & everyone else"
The US may be full of hypocrites and liars for all I know (there are certainly more than a few in congress). However, since only ~30% of the public in UK/AU/Spain supported the invasion it cannot possibly be "many" preople using the hindsight shield in those nations, simple arithmetic, right? Contrary to your claims, a good portion of the 30% who did support the invasion (myself included) also had serious reservations, not the least of which was the US walking away from the security council and Cook's resignation speech.
"every major player including those like France & the Russians, judged that he had breached the ceasefire & stockpiled a kernel sufficient for him to expand later when the heat came off"
"The first casulty of war is truth" - If the only thing you saw/read at the time was US news services then it's no surprise to me you have such a selective memory. Did you bother to look at the BBC, Al Jazzera, the Gaurdian, The Independent or Australia's ABC/SBS, AT THE TIME? - because if you did you would have thought they were talking about a different fucking planet. And BTW, look up the definition of "strawman argument", it does not mean what you think it does.
"The defence guys actually try and investigate these reports and obviously it's not the Russians or the Chinese who spent the last 60 years flying those things above our heads."
+1 Irony for doing exactly exactly what you accuse those silly scientists of doing.
I'm not normally a charitable guy but since you so desprately need a clue; "The defence guys" ARE scientists.
"Should the tomato company find out that some of their lines could be endangered"
I knew wild tomato plants are a common sight at shit farms due to all the seeds coming down the line but I didn't know they had turned it into an industry!
Ignoring the fact that you can't prove you are not hiding something, nobody had proof either way about WMD but outside the US many public figures voiced their belief that he probably didn't have anything more than a few chemical shells.
Anyway regardless of his views on the war, I still think he's a nutter.;)
I'm guessing you are still relatively young and that your teachers turned you off the idea of education.
In my day (1960's) the sharp repot of the ruler came from a students knuckles, skull, ears, etc. Even though I have always been interested in science I did not learn much about it until well after I dropped out of HS. The philospophy of science and the associated skill of skepticisim really are worth learning and constantly practising, even if you have to go it alone and educate yourself. It will help you make sense of the competing claims that come from politicians, priests, and others who are constantly trying to manipulate our opinions with credible sounding bullshit.
After finding out about the philosophy of science for myself (ironically from reading a book written by a magician), I went to uni at age 30 and turned my passion for fiddling with my Apple II into a well paid job. That was in the late 80's and I can assure you nobody at uni tried bouncing erasers off my head, in fact most lecturer's don't give a flying fuck if your listening or not, they quite rightly figure your a grown up and it's your loss if you don't take advantage of the knowledge and skills they offer.
Flamebait? My comment is basically the same point as the insightfull post dircetly above, was it because I pointed out the historical fact that telling ones creditors to go fuck themselves didn't end well for Hitler?
I didn't mean it was completely useless, what I was trying to say is that you can't eat it. I agree Issac Newton's "gold standard" was a brilliant step forward in economics, he understood that gold was usefull as a token because it's hard to come by and because everyone has trust in the idea that it will always be hard to come by and can be swapped for food, etc. However it's value collapses when it occasionally becomes easier to obtain, take a look at what occured across Europe when Spain doubled the available gold supply in a very short space of time by looting the Myan empire. All that gold didn't make Europe twice as rich, it simply made gold half as valuable basically wiping out 50% of peoples existing savings.
With so called "fait currency" governments can have absolute control over the supply and thus control infalation (something they can't do with gold, silver, etc), the down side is governments sometimes collapse, when that happens the currency becomes fancy toilet paper (ie: it wipes out 100% of peoples savings, eg:Zimbabwe). The smart thing to do is treat currency itself as a kind of commodity and turn the fluctuating value of it's various forms into personal profit, not that I know how to do that but those who do are extremely wealthy.
Hitler already tried that. Apart from starting another world war, you will have demonstrated to everyone (including your allies) you are not to be trusted and your currency will end up in the toilet.
I didn't read his drivel about Iraq, nor was I replying to him. The reason I made the comment is because I agreed with the OP that he is a nutter and I base that classification on past observations and discussion I have had with him. If you feel a compultion to stand up for him then good for you, just be aware that your wasting your time trying to make a dent in my opinion of him and his sock puppets.
As for YOUR adopted claim that "everyone at the time was convinced that Saddam still had his WMD's", I think you are forgetting Robin Cook (the Britsh foriegn minister at the time) who resigned in disgust over the issue. Maybe you don't consider the Britsh foriegn minister to be a "major player" but as I indicated before this is not about Iraq or the nutter's revisionist history of what people knew at the time. There were plenty of other "players" who knew the WMD thing was bullshit both here in Australia and in the UK, I understand why they were not given any air time in the US but that's another sad story.
BTW: I tentatively supported the invasion because of Saddam's track record, but even I knew the WMD thing was propoganda at the time, I'm not ashamed to say I made a mistake and grossly overestimated GWB's competence, I realised I had made that mistake on the third day when the US dismantled Iraq's institutions (cops, etc) then stood back and allowed looters to trash the place. But I have forgiven myself for that mistake since I'm not the commander in chief of the world's last remaining superpower, I'm just an old fart living at the arse end of the Earth.
You make a good argument but there is a voice in the back of my head saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". In the hypothetical case that fines did not change their behavoiur, I would rather MS be banned from trading in the EU than have the EU (or anyone else) attempt to right every economic wrong with an eye for an eye type system. (and this is from a "greenie" not a free market zealot)
All currency is backed by trust, even gold/oil. Gold has little intrinsic worth and oil's intrinsic value is that is can be burnt to do usefull work, with any currency you are simply trusting that your fellow man will see it as a token that can be swapped for something with intrinsic value such as food, shelter, oil, etc. China is the modern equivalent of the Medici family, they may well end up printing the default currency one day but that will be because the huge government deficits around the globe are largely funded by China's massive trade surplus. They have not yet threatened to derail the gravy train but Hu has stated several times that he will only continue to fund deficits in the west while it's "economically sustainable" to do so.
Slashdot Mirror
The "generic algorithim" in physical simulations is called "finite element analysis". All they would need to do is swap some constants in the formula for other liquids. For solids they may have to change the formula but the algorithim would still be the same.
The same algorithim is used in everthing from climate simulation to casting simulations for engine blocks to simulating the trajectory of space probes. The technique is not new but supercomuters have used it to quietly revolutionise science and engineering over the last 50yrs or so.
More to the point, has anyone spent time in Jail for this law? There are lots of insane laws on the books, a sane society simply ignores them.
"I would never trust air powered mechanisms to touch a baby"
I agree, we should ban politicians from kissing babies.
Good example. I was thinking of the Suez canal. It uses a "hydrolic computer" to prevent gates at distant locations from being opened in a dangerous combination. It's been working flawlessly for century now.
They certainly did. (also in 1960)
"When I was an apprentice in the Merchant Marines"
Speaking of tradesmen, most have their own tools and most will tell their co-workers to fuck off and buy their own (well at least here in Oz they do). It has nothing to do with being selfish and everything to do with lost/broken/dirty tools that the tradesman is dependent on, in fact it's considered rude to even ask the question in many trades here. I don't see why a laptop is a special case?
"Are you trying to say that it was impossible for Saddam to do so? Humiliating? Certainly. Impossible? Certainly not."
No I am saying it's impossible to PROVE, for all anyone knows there COULD be still a missle silo hidden in the Iraqi desert. It's like trying to PROVE god does not exist, you can't, it's simple logical fallacy that was pointed out time and again before the invasion.
One last time, knodody knew either way for CERTAIN, many in the EU and Australia (in particular Cook) thought it was HIGHLY UNLIKELY.
This is one of the problems I have with the nutter (and extremists in general), he is so fucking certain that his OPINION is FACT, he just repeats the same bullshit over an over again as if repition will add more weight to his arguments. The FACTS are 70+% of the population in both the UK and Australia were shouting bullshit very, very, loudly AT THE TIME, their governments simply ignored them and went ahead anyway.
"many who now claim in hindsight to have reservations are lying to themselves & everyone else"
The US may be full of hypocrites and liars for all I know (there are certainly more than a few in congress). However, since only ~30% of the public in UK/AU/Spain supported the invasion it cannot possibly be "many" preople using the hindsight shield in those nations, simple arithmetic, right? Contrary to your claims, a good portion of the 30% who did support the invasion (myself included) also had serious reservations, not the least of which was the US walking away from the security council and Cook's resignation speech.
"every major player including those like France & the Russians, judged that he had breached the ceasefire & stockpiled a kernel sufficient for him to expand later when the heat came off"
"The first casulty of war is truth" - If the only thing you saw/read at the time was US news services then it's no surprise to me you have such a selective memory. Did you bother to look at the BBC, Al Jazzera, the Gaurdian, The Independent or Australia's ABC/SBS, AT THE TIME? - because if you did you would have thought they were talking about a different fucking planet. And BTW, look up the definition of "strawman argument", it does not mean what you think it does.
"we have those weird unexplained things literally flying circles above us"
They're vultures, they can sense your argument is dying.
"The defence guys actually try and investigate these reports and obviously it's not the Russians or the Chinese who spent the last 60 years flying those things above our heads."
+1 Irony for doing exactly exactly what you accuse those silly scientists of doing.
I'm not normally a charitable guy but since you so desprately need a clue; "The defence guys" ARE scientists.
As one modern philosopher said: "Statistics are like Bikinis. They reveal what is known and hide what is vital."
Actually Aaron Levenstein's qualifications were in law, the same proffession that legislated pi=3.
A really good pratical joke takes a lot of effort and planning, just ask the crop circle guys.
Read your own sig and get off my lawn.
Britain definitely does not have a Ministry of Defense
Well that explains why your crops keep getting attacked by artistic aliens.
"That job was done by the Weimar Republic"
I stand corrected, I thought it was Hitler who printed the money when he first came to power.
"Should the tomato company find out that some of their lines could be endangered"
I knew wild tomato plants are a common sight at shit farms due to all the seeds coming down the line but I didn't know they had turned it into an industry!
Ignoring the fact that you can't prove you are not hiding something, nobody had proof either way about WMD but outside the US many public figures voiced their belief that he probably didn't have anything more than a few chemical shells.
;)
Anyway regardless of his views on the war, I still think he's a nutter.
Now your just trolling me, either that or you really are as stupid as your ideas.
I'm guessing you are still relatively young and that your teachers turned you off the idea of education.
In my day (1960's) the sharp repot of the ruler came from a students knuckles, skull, ears, etc. Even though I have always been interested in science I did not learn much about it until well after I dropped out of HS. The philospophy of science and the associated skill of skepticisim really are worth learning and constantly practising, even if you have to go it alone and educate yourself. It will help you make sense of the competing claims that come from politicians, priests, and others who are constantly trying to manipulate our opinions with credible sounding bullshit.
After finding out about the philosophy of science for myself (ironically from reading a book written by a magician), I went to uni at age 30 and turned my passion for fiddling with my Apple II into a well paid job. That was in the late 80's and I can assure you nobody at uni tried bouncing erasers off my head, in fact most lecturer's don't give a flying fuck if your listening or not, they quite rightly figure your a grown up and it's your loss if you don't take advantage of the knowledge and skills they offer.
Flamebait? My comment is basically the same point as the insightfull post dircetly above, was it because I pointed out the historical fact that telling ones creditors to go fuck themselves didn't end well for Hitler?
I didn't mean it was completely useless, what I was trying to say is that you can't eat it. I agree Issac Newton's "gold standard" was a brilliant step forward in economics, he understood that gold was usefull as a token because it's hard to come by and because everyone has trust in the idea that it will always be hard to come by and can be swapped for food, etc. However it's value collapses when it occasionally becomes easier to obtain, take a look at what occured across Europe when Spain doubled the available gold supply in a very short space of time by looting the Myan empire. All that gold didn't make Europe twice as rich, it simply made gold half as valuable basically wiping out 50% of peoples existing savings.
With so called "fait currency" governments can have absolute control over the supply and thus control infalation (something they can't do with gold, silver, etc), the down side is governments sometimes collapse, when that happens the currency becomes fancy toilet paper (ie: it wipes out 100% of peoples savings, eg:Zimbabwe). The smart thing to do is treat currency itself as a kind of commodity and turn the fluctuating value of it's various forms into personal profit, not that I know how to do that but those who do are extremely wealthy.
Hitler already tried that. Apart from starting another world war, you will have demonstrated to everyone (including your allies) you are not to be trusted and your currency will end up in the toilet.
I didn't read his drivel about Iraq, nor was I replying to him. The reason I made the comment is because I agreed with the OP that he is a nutter and I base that classification on past observations and discussion I have had with him. If you feel a compultion to stand up for him then good for you, just be aware that your wasting your time trying to make a dent in my opinion of him and his sock puppets.
As for YOUR adopted claim that "everyone at the time was convinced that Saddam still had his WMD's", I think you are forgetting Robin Cook (the Britsh foriegn minister at the time) who resigned in disgust over the issue. Maybe you don't consider the Britsh foriegn minister to be a "major player" but as I indicated before this is not about Iraq or the nutter's revisionist history of what people knew at the time. There were plenty of other "players" who knew the WMD thing was bullshit both here in Australia and in the UK, I understand why they were not given any air time in the US but that's another sad story.
BTW: I tentatively supported the invasion because of Saddam's track record, but even I knew the WMD thing was propoganda at the time, I'm not ashamed to say I made a mistake and grossly overestimated GWB's competence, I realised I had made that mistake on the third day when the US dismantled Iraq's institutions (cops, etc) then stood back and allowed looters to trash the place. But I have forgiven myself for that mistake since I'm not the commander in chief of the world's last remaining superpower, I'm just an old fart living at the arse end of the Earth.
You make a good argument but there is a voice in the back of my head saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". In the hypothetical case that fines did not change their behavoiur, I would rather MS be banned from trading in the EU than have the EU (or anyone else) attempt to right every economic wrong with an eye for an eye type system. (and this is from a "greenie" not a free market zealot)
All currency is backed by trust, even gold/oil. Gold has little intrinsic worth and oil's intrinsic value is that is can be burnt to do usefull work, with any currency you are simply trusting that your fellow man will see it as a token that can be swapped for something with intrinsic value such as food, shelter, oil, etc. China is the modern equivalent of the Medici family, they may well end up printing the default currency one day but that will be because the huge government deficits around the globe are largely funded by China's massive trade surplus. They have not yet threatened to derail the gravy train but Hu has stated several times that he will only continue to fund deficits in the west while it's "economically sustainable" to do so.
"Maybe there wouldn't be so many researchers getting six figure salaries"
Unless were talking peso's, that demographic is a lot smaller than you think.