Nah, I'd just wave and say hey Jon. Treat him like everyone else. He's a regular guy and pretty dang friendly if I remember correctly. Met him in Dallas back in 1999 or so at a Unix User's Group meeting; he patiently answered all of our questions. Can't for the life of me figure out why they call him maddog when he's so laid back and relaxed.:/
mcrbids said: > In case you haven't seen it before, you outta take a look at the real jet-man. No, I'm not kidding. Know your limitations and work with them!
Wow. I saw this youtube video and all I can say is Freakin Awesome! I want one.
> A lot of people aren't liking the noise of jet aircraft
They like the thought of walking from LA to NYC even less...
Some cool ideas and their problems: Jet/Rocket Pack - Flight duration, landing gear gets easily damaged, excessive cost, safety. Autogyro - Reduced need for airfield, regulation, moderate cost, training./nice/ Airplane - Need for airfield, regulation, training, high cost. Helicopter - Regulation, training, high cost. Ground Effect Vehicle - Need for specially constructed thruways./This is a great idea!/ Hang glider - Subject to excessive wind conditions and landing gear is easily damaged.
It's all well documented in System's Analysis and Design Methods. Problem is, no one wants to do things the right way these days. They all want RAD fixes - short term gains with long term losses.
I figure that, with the way things are going, the Patent System is going to go critical before long. Innovation will grind to a standstill in the US because of sheer litigation of Patent claims.
I don't know about anyone else but... this scares the heck out of me. The potential for mistakes and destruction of the biosphere is tremendous. It's meat for sci-fi thrillers like nothing before. Makes radiation experiments look tame in comparison. We could be planting the seeds of our own destruction.
I think they aught to build a base on the Moon or Mars and do their playing God there.
>>Your brain gives the command with the proper I/O routines selected, and out pop the results.
Cool stuff isn't it? I like to think of the brain as a very large FPGA with some ROM attached. I'm sure there are probably cpu like processor bundles in the brain but I figure it's more of a very large array of neurons that does most of the processing work. Computers have got nothing on the brain.
As far as tools being an extension of the body, I have to agree. I kinda thought that was the definition of a tool.
DeeQ said: "You must have a horrible computer." and "So whats the big deal, if you're too poor to afford a real computer go ahead and use linux."
Momma said don't feed the trollz but I had to bite on this one. I'm not going to go out and buy a new computer every time Big Bill sez so. I'll just continue using Gentoo on my old machine and be happy as a clam. I'm thinking you must either be rich, have a rich daddy, or are in the business of selling computer hardware.
After all is said and done, I'd run Linux on a brand new computer costing thousands. If you like the Microsoft Merry-Go-Round(tm) then enjoy it. Don't expect everyone to jump on and follow your lead.
>I have the patent for shaking a stick at competitors.
I'm sorry Rooseveldt beat you to it. By the way, the KDE drag and drop interface used to present a mini menu that let you decide to copy, paste, etc...
This patent/application deserves to die a grisly death.
Jonny eh said: "Humans could not have brought it over since the article states that it has undergone 80 million years of evolution since splitting from its asian ancestors. Humans have only been around for approximately 100k years."
Homo Habilis is said to have appeared around 2.5MYA.
The BBC News article - Giant palm tree puzzles botanists - said: "It bears a resemblance to a species of palm found in regions of Asia, 6,000km away.
It is possible that the palm has quietly gone through a remarkable evolution since Madagascar split with India some 80 million years ago."
Was the palm in India 80million years ago? Isn't Madagascar a piece of Africa? Didn't India start out next to or part of Africa so very long ago. Then, according to plate theory, India raced an arc north-east to slam into Asia? If the palm has gone through evolution since Madagascar split with India then that would mean that it probably was already in Madagascar 80MYA and not in Asia proper. Maybe it split 80million years ago and India carried the plant to Asia. That would mean that the Madagascar and Indian/Asian plants are siblings and not ancestors of each other. DNA evidence would be good to have.
The BBC Article's text sounds like a theory itself.
The only things we know for sure are: There is a giant palm in Madagascar. There is a similar giant palm in Asia. Madagascar and India split approx 80MYO. The Madagascar Giant Palm lives approx 100years? Flower's itself to death? Polynesians arrived in Madagascar approx 2000 years ago. Madagascar underwent some drastic changes with the arrival of the modern humans.
Possible conclusions: India carried the plant to Asia. This seems to be the most viable theory based upon further consideration. Birds may have carried the seeds to or from Madagascar. Could birds have carried the seeds? Birds and their relatives have been around almost 155Million Years or so. Polynesians had the opportunity to bring the plant to or from Madagascar. This theory will stand or fall based on fossil evidence of when the plant first appeared in Madagascar's fossil record.
Of the three theories, I begin to favor the India carrying the plant based on the 80MYA idea. However, we want to explore the other possibilities too by looking for evidence.
It's an interesting puzzle to be sure. And, your post made me think a bit deeper than my original idea.
I have some theories: Dies once it has produced it's fruit. Possibly to allow it's seedlings some light. Also, more fruit means more likelihood of a successful bunch of seedlings. How did it get to Madagascar? Well, it's flowers produce lots of nectar but not sure if the fruit itself is edible - probably the Polynesians carried it with them. After all, they are the ones who first colonized Madagascar not the Africans.
>> Is that not what I am saying they had many who died very very young and made the rest reproduce like rabbits to compensate for the death.
I have to agree with this statement. Look at family statistics here in the U.S.A. prior to around 1940. Family pictures often show a long line of kids from short to tall. Infant mortality was a very real thing and families were larger back then - pretty much had to be. Heck, after WWII, there was this thing called the Baby Boom to replenish the population.
By the way, rabbits are the perfect example. They reproduce fast and young because they are a primary food animal for many predators. If they didn't reproduce the way they do then they would be extinct.
Balloons have been made of porus rubber for so long that the Helium supply is dwindling. Well, isn't that amazing. I figure it's what the Helium suppliers want - so you'll buy more balloons and Helium. Only recently have they begun to sell balloons with less porus fabric but for outlandish prices.
I built one when I was a kid. Hated the keyboard so much I bought an old surplus TRS-80 Model I keyboard and interfaced it instead of the membrane kbd of the Timex.
Actually worked pretty good too. Although, after I got my Vic-20, it spent most of the time in the top of my closet.
>> Seeing as there usually isn't an ultraviolet light source in the wild at night
Ah, but I think I read that insects see well in the ultraviolet spectrum AND on a moonlit night, there should be some trace UV to be had. Not to mention that, to an insect, such a porker would be lit up like a christma... er holiday tree during the day.
Before you can say that the Universe will end, you must define what the end of the universe is. Heck, before you can do that, you must define what the universe IS.
So, the universe might be ONE reality? Possibly, then what would be it's end? If we define the end in terms of what we think the START was, then at least we have a theoretical point of reference.
If the beginning was the Big Bang. What was the thing that went boom? A neutronic mass of matter? An ultimate singularity? Did this singularity have it's source in another reality?
I think that matter is produced by taking nothing and dividing it into two somethings. Matter and Antimatter. When these two somethings come back together, there is nothing again. Therefore, the Big Bang would be nothing being divided into alot of somethings. Now if the matter is in this universe... where did the antimatter go? Another universe? That would mean we have a multiverse of at least two constituents.
My idea of the End of the Universe would be that matter is being converted from simpler atoms into larger atoms. The conversion process would continue until all matter was at some stable isotope.
Also, there is a theory of entropy where all energy was seeking it's resting or lowest level much like the universe winding down to a standstill. The conversion into larger atoms would be the energy being stored. What gets me is... energy is released when atoms are merged... energy is also released when atoms are split... some of the mass being converted back into energy.
Is it possible that the universe or reality was largely energy that was then converted into matter? Matter and energy are merely two forms of the same thing; one can be converted into the other. My question is... what is doing the conversion and why?
Slashdot Mirror
Nah, I'd just wave and say hey Jon. Treat him like everyone else. He's a regular guy and pretty dang friendly if I remember correctly. Met him in Dallas back in 1999 or so at a Unix User's Group meeting; he patiently answered all of our questions. Can't for the life of me figure out why they call him maddog when he's so laid back and relaxed. :/
> Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme
So, I take it this doesn't mean Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) then.
mcrbids said:
> In case you haven't seen it before, you outta take a look at the real jet-man. No, I'm not kidding. Know your limitations and work with them!
Wow. I saw this youtube video and all I can say is Freakin Awesome! I want one.
> A lot of people aren't liking the noise of jet aircraft
/nice/ /This is a great idea!/
They like the thought of walking from LA to NYC even less...
Some cool ideas and their problems:
Jet/Rocket Pack - Flight duration, landing gear gets easily damaged, excessive cost, safety.
Autogyro - Reduced need for airfield, regulation, moderate cost, training.
Airplane - Need for airfield, regulation, training, high cost.
Helicopter - Regulation, training, high cost.
Ground Effect Vehicle - Need for specially constructed thruways.
Hang glider - Subject to excessive wind conditions and landing gear is easily damaged.
It's all well documented in System's Analysis and Design Methods. Problem is, no one wants to do things the right way these days. They all want RAD fixes - short term gains with long term losses.
You don't get what you don't pay for.
YMMV
I figure that, with the way things are going, the Patent System is going to go critical before long. Innovation will grind to a standstill in the US because of sheer litigation of Patent claims.
I don't know about anyone else but... this scares the heck out of me. The potential for mistakes and destruction of the biosphere is tremendous. It's meat for sci-fi thrillers like nothing before. Makes radiation experiments look tame in comparison. We could be planting the seeds of our own destruction.
I think they aught to build a base on the Moon or Mars and do their playing God there.
>>Your brain gives the command with the proper I/O routines selected, and out pop the results.
Cool stuff isn't it? I like to think of the brain as a very large FPGA with some ROM attached. I'm sure there are probably cpu like processor bundles in the brain but I figure it's more of a very large array of neurons that does most of the processing work. Computers have got nothing on the brain.
As far as tools being an extension of the body, I have to agree. I kinda thought that was the definition of a tool.
DeeQ said:
"You must have a horrible computer." and "So whats the big deal, if you're too poor to afford a real computer go ahead and use linux."
Momma said don't feed the trollz but I had to bite on this one. I'm not going to go out and buy a new computer every time Big Bill sez so. I'll just continue using Gentoo on my old machine and be happy as a clam. I'm thinking you must either be rich, have a rich daddy, or are in the business of selling computer hardware.
After all is said and done, I'd run Linux on a brand new computer costing thousands. If you like the Microsoft Merry-Go-Round(tm) then enjoy it. Don't expect everyone to jump on and follow your lead.
Laterz,
> How the hell do you people even code? Spelling counts there too!
Spel chekurz, preproseserz, leksicul anulizerz, an' sintaktik parserz.
Wasn't that called MSDOS 5.0 DOSHELL? i.e. DOS HELL? :)
>I have the patent for shaking a stick at competitors.
I'm sorry Rooseveldt beat you to it. By the way, the KDE drag and drop interface used to present a mini menu that let you decide to copy, paste, etc...
This patent/application deserves to die a grisly death.
Yep, sounds like what most men are looking for. If it weren't so, we'd have alot of musicians and poets out of work.
YMMV
Jonny eh said:
"Humans could not have brought it over since the article states that it has undergone 80 million years of evolution since splitting from its asian ancestors. Humans have only been around for approximately 100k years."
Homo Habilis is said to have appeared around 2.5MYA.
The BBC News article - Giant palm tree puzzles botanists - said:
"It bears a resemblance to a species of palm found in regions of Asia, 6,000km away.
It is possible that the palm has quietly gone through a remarkable evolution since Madagascar split with India some 80 million years ago."
Was the palm in India 80million years ago? Isn't Madagascar a piece of Africa? Didn't India start out next to or part of Africa so very long ago. Then, according to plate theory, India raced an arc north-east to slam into Asia? If the palm has gone through evolution since Madagascar split with India then that would mean that it probably was already in Madagascar 80MYA and not in Asia proper. Maybe it split 80million years ago and India carried the plant to Asia. That would mean that the Madagascar and Indian/Asian plants are siblings and not ancestors of each other. DNA evidence would be good to have.
The BBC Article's text sounds like a theory itself.
The only things we know for sure are:
There is a giant palm in Madagascar.
There is a similar giant palm in Asia.
Madagascar and India split approx 80MYO.
The Madagascar Giant Palm lives approx 100years? Flower's itself to death?
Polynesians arrived in Madagascar approx 2000 years ago.
Madagascar underwent some drastic changes with the arrival of the modern humans.
Possible conclusions:
India carried the plant to Asia. This seems to be the most viable theory based upon further consideration.
Birds may have carried the seeds to or from Madagascar. Could birds have carried the seeds? Birds and their relatives have been around almost 155Million Years or so.
Polynesians had the opportunity to bring the plant to or from Madagascar. This theory will stand or fall based on fossil evidence of when the plant first appeared in Madagascar's fossil record.
Of the three theories, I begin to favor the India carrying the plant based on the 80MYA idea. However, we want to explore the other possibilities too by looking for evidence.
It's an interesting puzzle to be sure. And, your post made me think a bit deeper than my original idea.
Thanks,
I have some theories:
Dies once it has produced it's fruit. Possibly to allow it's seedlings some light. Also, more fruit means more likelihood of a successful bunch of seedlings.
How did it get to Madagascar? Well, it's flowers produce lots of nectar but not sure if the fruit itself is edible - probably the Polynesians carried it with them. After all, they are the ones who first colonized Madagascar not the Africans.
>> Is that not what I am saying they had many who died very very young and made the rest reproduce like rabbits to compensate for the death.
I have to agree with this statement. Look at family statistics here in the U.S.A. prior to around 1940. Family pictures often show a long line of kids from short to tall. Infant mortality was a very real thing and families were larger back then - pretty much had to be. Heck, after WWII, there was this thing called the Baby Boom to replenish the population.
By the way, rabbits are the perfect example. They reproduce fast and young because they are a primary food animal for many predators. If they didn't reproduce the way they do then they would be extinct.
Pong. Bloop. Bloop. Bloop..bloop. Bloop.
Before that... pin ball games - some of which were very very elaborate.
Sounds like something made with the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator. (With apologies to Dilbert and his assistant Scott Adams)
Codifex
Balloons have been made of porus rubber for so long that the Helium supply is dwindling. Well, isn't that amazing. I figure it's what the Helium suppliers want - so you'll buy more balloons and Helium. Only recently have they begun to sell balloons with less porus fabric but for outlandish prices.
Oh well, must party some other way now. Big deal.
I built one when I was a kid. Hated the keyboard so much I bought an old surplus TRS-80 Model I keyboard and interfaced it instead of the membrane kbd of the Timex.
Actually worked pretty good too. Although, after I got my Vic-20, it spent most of the time in the top of my closet.
>> Seeing as there usually isn't an ultraviolet light source in the wild at night
Ah, but I think I read that insects see well in the ultraviolet spectrum AND on a moonlit night, there should be some trace UV to be had. Not to mention that, to an insect, such a porker would be lit up like a christma... er holiday tree during the day.
I expect Bronto-burgers by friday.
The suit is already won... Penguin just doesn't know it yet.
Before you can say that the Universe will end, you must define what the end of the universe is. Heck, before you can do that, you must define what the universe IS.
So, the universe might be ONE reality? Possibly, then what would be it's end? If we define the end in terms of what we think the START was, then at least we have a theoretical point of reference.
If the beginning was the Big Bang. What was the thing that went boom? A neutronic mass of matter? An ultimate singularity? Did this singularity have it's source in another reality?
I think that matter is produced by taking nothing and dividing it into two somethings. Matter and Antimatter. When these two somethings come back together, there is nothing again. Therefore, the Big Bang would be nothing being divided into alot of somethings. Now if the matter is in this universe... where did the antimatter go? Another universe? That would mean we have a multiverse of at least two constituents.
My idea of the End of the Universe would be that matter is being converted from simpler atoms into larger atoms. The conversion process would continue until all matter was at some stable isotope.
Also, there is a theory of entropy where all energy was seeking it's resting or lowest level much like the universe winding down to a standstill. The conversion into larger atoms would be the energy being stored. What gets me is... energy is released when atoms are merged... energy is also released when atoms are split... some of the mass being converted back into energy.
Is it possible that the universe or reality was largely energy that was then converted into matter? Matter and energy are merely two forms of the same thing; one can be converted into the other. My question is... what is doing the conversion and why?
Questions...
> Only Duke Nukem knows for sure!
And it will take him forever to tell us.