When I read the summary on the/. front page my first thought was "Huh, I wonder if they are going to make mention of MLP:FiM."
Then, BAM! First paragraph.
Anyway, I wouldn't get too freaked out about 4chans influence on a kids show. Yes, the animators threw a hoofbump to the bronies, but that's about it. Until we see Princess Molestia or Twilight screaming that she's going to love and tolerate the shit out of all you fucking ponies, I can't see a company like Hasbro or any director, writer, or producer who values their future job prospects actually allowing influence.
I saw it as more a concealed and polite wave from a parent to a kid who won't stop yelling "Mom! MOOOOOOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! OVER HERE! MOM! MOM! LOOK AT MEEEEEEEE! MOM! MOM! MOM! YOU'RE NOT WATCHING! MOM! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
That was such a shame too. The John Carter stories were no-nonsense action adventure three-fisted tales of ass kicking and name taking and Disney STILL managed to fuck them all to hell and gone.
My only regret is that I paid $30 for two tickets and stayed up till 3am to catch the movie on Thursday night/Friday morning in IMAX.
No worries. When you're doing behavioral research, you have to expect that there are going to be external factors that you can't control. One year, for example, crews from National Geographic and The Discovery Channel were filming for their Blue Planet/Earth series along side our expedition and the size of the camera housings along with their relative inexperience in shallow water caused quite a big disturbance. While the data wasn't exactly what we were looking for, it was still possible to study how squid respond to stress. Similarly, when the seismic boats were firing their charges, we got some good data on the squid's ability to sense low frequency sounds and pressure waves.
As for outreach, it really depends on the people involved. I've done surveys around rigs and found that just talking to the roughnecks gets you pretty far. When they see something other than a crew boat pull up to a rig they tend to get suspicious, especially as there always seems to be one guy spreading rumors about PETA or the EPA or the political party they hate coming to shut them down and take their jobs. A few words about what you're doing and a handshake work wonders. A bankers box full of porn works miracles.
The companies themselves tend to be more resistant, and I can understand some of the reasons. Liability is always a huge concern which goes hand-in-hand with the fear that we're somehow going to cost them more money.
Still, when you're in the field, you have to be prepared for anything. Sometimes you get the data, sometimes you don't, and while it can be maddening having to deal with people who don't get that you're on an incredibly tight budget, that's just something you learn to deal with.
Back on the topic of hydrocarbons, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to slash the price point for alternative energy sooner rather than later. The fact that most alternative energy ideas will at some point require plastics and lubricants seems to be lost on most people who believe that alternative energy means death to the oil industry. Until such a point in the future where magnetic levitation or some other whiz-bang technology makes mechanical friction a non-issue, we're going to need hydrocarbons to work their magic on anything that spins, slides, or reciprocates.
As for a Peak Oil situation, I think we're pretty much there, at least for the easy stuff in the U.S. When companies are looking at shale gas and tar sand projects as having a good enough ROI to develop, and they have, that to me is a bell-weather.
Its good to know that Halliburton et. al. are looking in that direction, but I have a feeling that they are going to milk petrochem for energy until every profitable cent is soaked up while waiting for someone else to take the lead and, of course, the up-front costs. Such is life though, innovation doesn't make much money at first, and there is always some boardroom type that sees the dip on the graph and can't look beyond how many dollars he assumes his stock options are worth now, versus how many they'll be worth when they are actually cashed in.
A bit more OT, I've jokingly called Halliburton/KBR my nemesis for years. When KBR still did road construction around here, they always seemed to close off the places I would go most often. Later, when I was doing oceanic research, Halliburton was the operator on a number of projects that directly affected the species I was studying. Not that they were pumping mud all over baby seals or anything, but the noises from seismic and drilling scare the shit out of squid. Scared squid don't behave like content squid, so your data gets pretty screwed. Even later, I had a contract job doing network stuff on rigs, but then Halliburton put the screws to some of the subcontractors on cost, and that job dried up faster than a puddle of piss in the Sahara.
Yep, good ole Nitrogen Narcosis. I'm on the susceptible side of the curve and it starts to hit me around 25m. It is really mild, just a general euphoria and sense that I really fucking love scuba diving. 30m and below it gets a bit stronger but I know enough to watch for the symptoms. If I've been at depth for some time or I go below 40m, then it is a lot like being drunk. I'm giddy, and I have the urge to give fish my regulator.
This is why, if I'm going below 40m for any reason or if I'm decompression diving, I prefer heliox or tri-mix. Trimix is a lot less expensive and I can get it mixed with a lower percentage of nitrogen for the same price. I'd really love to try hydrox or hydreliox since hydrogen narcosis doesn't kick in till 300m or so, but there are some dangers in that. One being that a hydrogen-oxygen mix under pressure is ridiculously flammable.
As others have said, it raises the price of the stock, but it does it through two mechanisms. First, it raises the price by scarcity. Fewer Apple shares being traded means the price goes up from demand. Apple is one of the small handfuls of companies that has never had a stock split and maintains a very high individual share value, and a surprisingly high demand.
Second, when the buy orders start to come in, and the price goes up from demand, this tends to drive interest. A staggering number of investors don't follow buy low-sell high, they tend to buy near the top of a stock's curve and sell near the bottom because of what is probably an emotional response to stock pricing. When the price is rising, they want to be part of the trend. When stock prices are falling, they hang on to shares with the hope that the stock will rebound.
Anyway, this means that any upward movement on the part of Apple stock will trigger a buy wave that will only send the price higher.
Hidden downsides?
Less cash-on-hand in case something goes wrong, but that is unlikely given Apple's zombie-like resilience, at least in the near term. Stock holder intransigence. If they start getting used to a dividend, there will be some complaints the dividend ever stops. This isn't a huge deal but it has triggered sell-offs in the past when the company was least able to deal with them. (think Ford right around 2006. They stopped paying, institutional investors didn't see a value in the stock, trigger sell-off)
The kitchens on TBMs are pretty neat. Depending on the depth of the dig, the pressure can get quite high, and this renders normal cooking recipes absolutely useless. Anything and relies on gas pressure to add volume will end up flat, so fluffy breads, crusts, and desserts like muffins, cakes, or souffles are right out as are things that use steam for cooking. Anything cooked in water has to be watched as temperatures get much higher and you don't have the cooling effects of boiling to help with regulation.
When I was doing squid research, I got an opportunity to spend some time in an underwater lab. Pressure wasn't much higher than normal (can't remember how many mmHg) but it was enough that cooking was crazy-go-nuts. We ended up eating a lot of cold preparations, salads, and packaged foods.
Fun Fact, beer is fucking lousy at depth. You'd be amazed how much the dissolved gasses and the release of such affects the taste and enjoyment.
I've done some contracting work for a driller on both the tech side and the bio/environmental side. I was flat out amazed at the amount of tech that went in to the drilling heads. Truly, it is the industry that marries blue collar "fuck it, hit it with a hammer" practicality and blue sky dreamer sci-fi technology.
A bit OT, but this is why I'd love to see the US start investing in geothermal energy. We've already got the gear and the know-how to drill holes of just about any size to amazing depths, quickly, accurately, and with a mostly reasonable safety margin. So, instead of sinking six shafts and pressurizing a huge area to extract gooey black sludge, why can't we sink six shafts, pump in water, and pump out high pressure steam?
Yeah, what the hell is wrong with people? Envisioning the future? Advocating for public understanding of technological achievement? Fucking loons.
Its just like those Sailing Nutters who kept coming up with wild theories about there being all water routes to places and the Earth being round or some other rubbish.
Woo! Less than 10 posts and we already have a blistering Libertarian screed against, well, civilization!
So yes, blah blah blah, enjoy your oppressive feudal system where anyone with more power, money, or willingness to use force will be your lord and master.
Yep, those have been readily available for quite a while. Wild-life photographers like the stock holders because they make working with a very long lens a much simpler affair. They also help with providing a more stable base so you get less blur and thus can use a slower shutter speed at very long focal distances.
Slashdot Mirror
When I read the summary on the /. front page my first thought was "Huh, I wonder if they are going to make mention of MLP:FiM."
Then, BAM! First paragraph.
Anyway, I wouldn't get too freaked out about 4chans influence on a kids show. Yes, the animators threw a hoofbump to the bronies, but that's about it. Until we see Princess Molestia or Twilight screaming that she's going to love and tolerate the shit out of all you fucking ponies, I can't see a company like Hasbro or any director, writer, or producer who values their future job prospects actually allowing influence.
I saw it as more a concealed and polite wave from a parent to a kid who won't stop yelling "Mom! MOOOOOOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! OVER HERE! MOM! MOM! LOOK AT MEEEEEEEE! MOM! MOM! MOM! YOU'RE NOT WATCHING! MOM! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
I have a Rarity desktop, you insensitive clod!
Yeah, the kids love that one. I'd also like to see Facebook: The Doll, Facebook: The Sheets, and of course Facebook: The Toilet Paper.
Good lord, do you mean to tell me that his mistresses gained mass the faster he went with them?
Yeah, I had to re-read that part a couple of times. One of his mistresses? Implying that he had several?
Man, those old school geeks really got around.
That was such a shame too. The John Carter stories were no-nonsense action adventure three-fisted tales of ass kicking and name taking and Disney STILL managed to fuck them all to hell and gone.
My only regret is that I paid $30 for two tickets and stayed up till 3am to catch the movie on Thursday night/Friday morning in IMAX.
We're talking about Michael Bay. He's 1% Perspiration 99% Masturbation.
No worries. When you're doing behavioral research, you have to expect that there are going to be external factors that you can't control. One year, for example, crews from National Geographic and The Discovery Channel were filming for their Blue Planet/Earth series along side our expedition and the size of the camera housings along with their relative inexperience in shallow water caused quite a big disturbance. While the data wasn't exactly what we were looking for, it was still possible to study how squid respond to stress. Similarly, when the seismic boats were firing their charges, we got some good data on the squid's ability to sense low frequency sounds and pressure waves.
As for outreach, it really depends on the people involved. I've done surveys around rigs and found that just talking to the roughnecks gets you pretty far. When they see something other than a crew boat pull up to a rig they tend to get suspicious, especially as there always seems to be one guy spreading rumors about PETA or the EPA or the political party they hate coming to shut them down and take their jobs. A few words about what you're doing and a handshake work wonders. A bankers box full of porn works miracles.
The companies themselves tend to be more resistant, and I can understand some of the reasons. Liability is always a huge concern which goes hand-in-hand with the fear that we're somehow going to cost them more money.
Still, when you're in the field, you have to be prepared for anything. Sometimes you get the data, sometimes you don't, and while it can be maddening having to deal with people who don't get that you're on an incredibly tight budget, that's just something you learn to deal with.
Back on the topic of hydrocarbons, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to slash the price point for alternative energy sooner rather than later. The fact that most alternative energy ideas will at some point require plastics and lubricants seems to be lost on most people who believe that alternative energy means death to the oil industry. Until such a point in the future where magnetic levitation or some other whiz-bang technology makes mechanical friction a non-issue, we're going to need hydrocarbons to work their magic on anything that spins, slides, or reciprocates.
As for a Peak Oil situation, I think we're pretty much there, at least for the easy stuff in the U.S. When companies are looking at shale gas and tar sand projects as having a good enough ROI to develop, and they have, that to me is a bell-weather.
Yeah, my bad. The most recent one was in 2005, right smack in the middle of the years I worked in finance, and boy do I feel like a complete dumbass.
Its good to know that Halliburton et. al. are looking in that direction, but I have a feeling that they are going to milk petrochem for energy until every profitable cent is soaked up while waiting for someone else to take the lead and, of course, the up-front costs. Such is life though, innovation doesn't make much money at first, and there is always some boardroom type that sees the dip on the graph and can't look beyond how many dollars he assumes his stock options are worth now, versus how many they'll be worth when they are actually cashed in.
A bit more OT, I've jokingly called Halliburton/KBR my nemesis for years. When KBR still did road construction around here, they always seemed to close off the places I would go most often. Later, when I was doing oceanic research, Halliburton was the operator on a number of projects that directly affected the species I was studying. Not that they were pumping mud all over baby seals or anything, but the noises from seismic and drilling scare the shit out of squid. Scared squid don't behave like content squid, so your data gets pretty screwed. Even later, I had a contract job doing network stuff on rigs, but then Halliburton put the screws to some of the subcontractors on cost, and that job dried up faster than a puddle of piss in the Sahara.
Yep, good ole Nitrogen Narcosis. I'm on the susceptible side of the curve and it starts to hit me around 25m. It is really mild, just a general euphoria and sense that I really fucking love scuba diving. 30m and below it gets a bit stronger but I know enough to watch for the symptoms. If I've been at depth for some time or I go below 40m, then it is a lot like being drunk. I'm giddy, and I have the urge to give fish my regulator.
This is why, if I'm going below 40m for any reason or if I'm decompression diving, I prefer heliox or tri-mix. Trimix is a lot less expensive and I can get it mixed with a lower percentage of nitrogen for the same price. I'd really love to try hydrox or hydreliox since hydrogen narcosis doesn't kick in till 300m or so, but there are some dangers in that. One being that a hydrogen-oxygen mix under pressure is ridiculously flammable.
As others have said, it raises the price of the stock, but it does it through two mechanisms. First, it raises the price by scarcity. Fewer Apple shares being traded means the price goes up from demand. Apple is one of the small handfuls of companies that has never had a stock split and maintains a very high individual share value, and a surprisingly high demand.
Second, when the buy orders start to come in, and the price goes up from demand, this tends to drive interest. A staggering number of investors don't follow buy low-sell high, they tend to buy near the top of a stock's curve and sell near the bottom because of what is probably an emotional response to stock pricing. When the price is rising, they want to be part of the trend. When stock prices are falling, they hang on to shares with the hope that the stock will rebound.
Anyway, this means that any upward movement on the part of Apple stock will trigger a buy wave that will only send the price higher.
Hidden downsides?
Less cash-on-hand in case something goes wrong, but that is unlikely given Apple's zombie-like resilience, at least in the near term.
Stock holder intransigence. If they start getting used to a dividend, there will be some complaints the dividend ever stops. This isn't a huge deal but it has triggered sell-offs in the past when the company was least able to deal with them. (think Ford right around 2006. They stopped paying, institutional investors didn't see a value in the stock, trigger sell-off)
Didn't Steve Jobs say something like "Apple will only pay dividends over my dead body."
Too soon?
The kitchens on TBMs are pretty neat. Depending on the depth of the dig, the pressure can get quite high, and this renders normal cooking recipes absolutely useless. Anything and relies on gas pressure to add volume will end up flat, so fluffy breads, crusts, and desserts like muffins, cakes, or souffles are right out as are things that use steam for cooking. Anything cooked in water has to be watched as temperatures get much higher and you don't have the cooling effects of boiling to help with regulation.
When I was doing squid research, I got an opportunity to spend some time in an underwater lab. Pressure wasn't much higher than normal (can't remember how many mmHg) but it was enough that cooking was crazy-go-nuts. We ended up eating a lot of cold preparations, salads, and packaged foods.
Fun Fact, beer is fucking lousy at depth. You'd be amazed how much the dissolved gasses and the release of such affects the taste and enjoyment.
I've done some contracting work for a driller on both the tech side and the bio/environmental side. I was flat out amazed at the amount of tech that went in to the drilling heads. Truly, it is the industry that marries blue collar "fuck it, hit it with a hammer" practicality and blue sky dreamer sci-fi technology.
A bit OT, but this is why I'd love to see the US start investing in geothermal energy. We've already got the gear and the know-how to drill holes of just about any size to amazing depths, quickly, accurately, and with a mostly reasonable safety margin. So, instead of sinking six shafts and pressurizing a huge area to extract gooey black sludge, why can't we sink six shafts, pump in water, and pump out high pressure steam?
Yeah, what the hell is wrong with people? Envisioning the future? Advocating for public understanding of technological achievement? Fucking loons.
Its just like those Sailing Nutters who kept coming up with wild theories about there being all water routes to places and the Earth being round or some other rubbish.
Woo! Less than 10 posts and we already have a blistering Libertarian screed against, well, civilization!
So yes, blah blah blah, enjoy your oppressive feudal system where anyone with more power, money, or willingness to use force will be your lord and master.
We're having Pi pie at the office in 3 minutes. (posted at 1:56)
Something like the Canon 500mm f4 or the Sigma 200-500mm f2.8 almost require some sort of something if you're not going to use a tripod.
Personally, I agree with you and would rather have the tripod over the stock.
Yep, those have been readily available for quite a while. Wild-life photographers like the stock holders because they make working with a very long lens a much simpler affair. They also help with providing a more stable base so you get less blur and thus can use a slower shutter speed at very long focal distances.
Yes, but will it keep the space kids off our space lawn?
How the hell are you supposed to sleep in a server room like that?
So, you're saying that future computers, if we don't want to spring for fans or liquid cooling, will have to be lit up like a modder's case?
I guess that's great if you like your server rooms to also double as sweet rave parties.
Holy Optochip Batman!
But did you put wingy bits on top?