09/10 /07/12:05 EST
...And the station is off the air,ladies and gentlemen!
Noticed this interactive LED design. Seems like it would be even more interesting if it was combined with a cellular automata display. Using the input hand gestures as seeds for the cells would get ripples of patterns echoing out from your hands.
Direct interaction with the automata would be fun.
Direct interaction with the automata would be fun.
It should be possible to fit a air nozzle behind each hammer on a piano, and a valve on each key.
Pneumatic amplification - the hammer would strike with increased power; but with careful rigging of the nozzle, it should be possible to arrange it so that the hammer beats repeatedly against the strings, permitting a vibrato sustain. The valve would control the airflow, which would modify both volume and beat- rate.
If the valve box was fed from a master manifold, with a controling flow reducer, then each keys beat-rate would slow depending on how many other keys were depressed. This would give fast vibrato single notes and slow throbbing chords.
Pneumatic amplification - the hammer would strike with increased power; but with careful rigging of the nozzle, it should be possible to arrange it so that the hammer beats repeatedly against the strings, permitting a vibrato sustain. The valve would control the airflow, which would modify both volume and beat- rate.
If the valve box was fed from a master manifold, with a controling flow reducer, then each keys beat-rate would slow depending on how many other keys were depressed. This would give fast vibrato single notes and slow throbbing chords.
the Internet seems to run on the 4 C's:
Code, Chatter, Carnality and Consumption.
Whats the actual information depth? Seems quite shallow at times, especially after you get out of the potholes of Academia and wander through the puddles of Forum Drivel (spelt Dribble, I suspect)
While the Singularity enthusiasts pursue their dream in tones that veer wildly between religious fervor (the Coming , man! Everything is gone to change!) and eroticism (the Cumming, man! Everything is gonna change!) I still find in very hard to determine exactly how this is going to come about.
Yes, CPU speeds continue to increase. Doesn't make my word processor any smarter.
Data storage continues to get cheaper. Files continue to proliferate. Data - as opposed to information - continues to pile up at a breathtaking rate.
But somehow, my computer isn't any smarter then it was. Quake 4 is glossier then Quake 1, but the experience hasn't changed. Google searches better than, say Webcrawler used to, but I still can't find info any better.
the Singularity is supposed to happen when we can't figure out how to find information, let alone aggregate it?
Search engines demonstrate RenegadeMime's First Problem of Intelligence: It ain't what info you can access, its what you can ignore. And without an ability to ignore, the Singularity is going to be about 40 % pornography, 20 % spam and 20 % academia.
Now picture an academic with a serious perverse bent and an obsessive-compulsion about the Nigerian $10-million dollar bank account. And then give it some fR** V1agra.
Lets take a subsection of the Net: the Mastercard validation and accounts network.
The network contains in excess of 360 terabytes of storage . Thats about the total information capacity of about 36 human brains.
The network can process over forty thousand transactions a second. It has a robust firewall and immune system. Its subsystems are watched by hundreds of clever humans, and thousands of lines of clever code. Do they detect the flickers of consciousness? The first dim rumbling dreams of awareness?
No ones seriously argues that that network is going to Singularity.
Why not?
Because is banal, and the Singularity is a romantic dream. Its much more romantic to argue Google becomes sentient - after all, its so smart, isn't it? It can answer our questions so swiftly!
Like with the eponymous BASIC program:
10 INPUT A$
20 PRINT "HELLO"A$
we are tricked by our willingness to ask stupid questions.
After a decade of the World Wide Web are we any smarter? Educated? Aware?
Not very.
And I will be the first to admit that sitting here adding this drivel to the storm of babble isn't making me any smarter either.
Code, Chatter, Carnality and Consumption.
Whats the actual information depth? Seems quite shallow at times, especially after you get out of the potholes of Academia and wander through the puddles of Forum Drivel (spelt Dribble, I suspect)
While the Singularity enthusiasts pursue their dream in tones that veer wildly between religious fervor (the Coming , man! Everything is gone to change!) and eroticism (the Cumming, man! Everything is gonna change!) I still find in very hard to determine exactly how this is going to come about.
Yes, CPU speeds continue to increase. Doesn't make my word processor any smarter.
Data storage continues to get cheaper. Files continue to proliferate. Data - as opposed to information - continues to pile up at a breathtaking rate.
But somehow, my computer isn't any smarter then it was. Quake 4 is glossier then Quake 1, but the experience hasn't changed. Google searches better than, say Webcrawler used to, but I still can't find info any better.
the Singularity is supposed to happen when we can't figure out how to find information, let alone aggregate it?
Search engines demonstrate RenegadeMime's First Problem of Intelligence: It ain't what info you can access, its what you can ignore. And without an ability to ignore, the Singularity is going to be about 40 % pornography, 20 % spam and 20 % academia.
Now picture an academic with a serious perverse bent and an obsessive-compulsion about the Nigerian $10-million dollar bank account. And then give it some fR** V1agra.
Lets take a subsection of the Net: the Mastercard validation and accounts network.
The network contains in excess of 360 terabytes of storage . Thats about the total information capacity of about 36 human brains.
The network can process over forty thousand transactions a second. It has a robust firewall and immune system. Its subsystems are watched by hundreds of clever humans, and thousands of lines of clever code. Do they detect the flickers of consciousness? The first dim rumbling dreams of awareness?
No ones seriously argues that that network is going to Singularity.
Why not?
Because is banal, and the Singularity is a romantic dream. Its much more romantic to argue Google becomes sentient - after all, its so smart, isn't it? It can answer our questions so swiftly!
Like with the eponymous BASIC program:
10 INPUT A$
20 PRINT "HELLO"A$
we are tricked by our willingness to ask stupid questions.
After a decade of the World Wide Web are we any smarter? Educated? Aware?
Not very.
And I will be the first to admit that sitting here adding this drivel to the storm of babble isn't making me any smarter either.
Tea Flakes:
A sugar cube is only a little better than a sugar sphere; only a small amount of surface is exposed to my tea. A sugar snowflake would be better. A sugar flake the approximate diameter of my teacup would be perfect; it would dissolve as it sank to the bottom, insuring a perfectly sweetened cup without any need to dirty a teaspoon.
The next step, of course, would be to impregnate each Sugar Flake with instant tea. This would result in a slightly larger flake, but once dropped into boiling water, a instant cuppa would result.
...Now thats what I call the 21st Century in action.
A sugar cube is only a little better than a sugar sphere; only a small amount of surface is exposed to my tea. A sugar snowflake would be better. A sugar flake the approximate diameter of my teacup would be perfect; it would dissolve as it sank to the bottom, insuring a perfectly sweetened cup without any need to dirty a teaspoon.
The next step, of course, would be to impregnate each Sugar Flake with instant tea. This would result in a slightly larger flake, but once dropped into boiling water, a instant cuppa would result.
...Now thats what I call the 21st Century in action.
Daphnia continues to thrive in its jar. The other aquatic life - the mosquito larvae and so forth have perished. the green algae has settled to the bottom of the jar. Several hundred daphnia swarm in the bottle. I wonder how long they will thrive. The bottle's neck is plugged with a bit of cotton wool, so it is not quite a sealed enviroment; still, they've survived longer then I expected.
Now I wish I had taken several jars full, and sealed a couple off as experiments.
Now I wish I had taken several jars full, and sealed a couple off as experiments.
In order to hold the index cards, a sort of clipboard style clamp is needed. Now, because a index card is much stiffer than a sheet of paper, this makes flipping through them much harder. What I need is a series of little clamps, each to hold a single index card, and all of them hinged to page rapidly through the deck.
I was given a copy of the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporations's Reference Data for Radio Engineers, 4th edition, printed 1957.
Dry but interesting read, especially on topics like forecasts of high frequency propagation, magnetic amplifiers, and Optimum current distribution for broadside arrays.
More nomographs and formulae than I could shake a stick at!
RenegadeMime told me he found it in a Salvation Army bookcase for fifty cents, which he claims makes it the second cheapest present he's ever given.
He also tells me that he did several 'Castle Grayskull / Quake One ' mashup maps back in 1999 with the idea of making a episode called 'the Four Powers of Grayskull'.
He promised to post them when he can dig them out of his musty archives.
Seeing as his archives comprise a terabyte of networked storage, two suitcases of CD-ROMs, and a card cabinet full of ROSM (Random Obsolete Storage Material), I'm not holding my breath.
He's also claimed in the past to have 'topless pictures of Gillian Anderson' and 'blueprints for an atomic device - y'know, the one that swedish university student designed'
...I'll take this with a grain of salt, but still, the only thing more exciting than Chebishev and Butterworth performance with constant-K and equivalent configurations is the prospect of slaughtering fiends before the blank black stare of Castle Grayskull.
Dry but interesting read, especially on topics like forecasts of high frequency propagation, magnetic amplifiers, and Optimum current distribution for broadside arrays.
More nomographs and formulae than I could shake a stick at!
RenegadeMime told me he found it in a Salvation Army bookcase for fifty cents, which he claims makes it the second cheapest present he's ever given.
He also tells me that he did several 'Castle Grayskull / Quake One ' mashup maps back in 1999 with the idea of making a episode called 'the Four Powers of Grayskull'.
He promised to post them when he can dig them out of his musty archives.
Seeing as his archives comprise a terabyte of networked storage, two suitcases of CD-ROMs, and a card cabinet full of ROSM (Random Obsolete Storage Material), I'm not holding my breath.
He's also claimed in the past to have 'topless pictures of Gillian Anderson' and 'blueprints for an atomic device - y'know, the one that swedish university student designed'
...I'll take this with a grain of salt, but still, the only thing more exciting than Chebishev and Butterworth performance with constant-K and equivalent configurations is the prospect of slaughtering fiends before the blank black stare of Castle Grayskull.
My favorite watch is almost dead.
I wear a "SpongeBob Squarepants" watch, with reversible band. It has the advantage of a large simple display, which I find easy to read and the adjustment buttons guarded to prevent inadvertent adjustment of time.
I get a lot of sarcastic comments about it, which is usually amusing. Fashion is strict; big men are supposed to wear Big Watches. The basic formula is that a wristwatch must match the weight and diameter of your genitalia; its value is supposed to indicate your quanity of discretionary income.
I work hard, and I break wristwatches.
I am not going risk any significant money by strapping it to my wrist and waiting for the next blow to fall.
I have lost three to having their bands broken as the watch was torn from my wrist. I'm not going to get strong bands, either, or perhaps the watch won't get torn off, it'll be my hand that goes. I've lost two wristwatches to crushing damage, and at least five to water. (Yes, I know they say 'water resistant' or 'water proof to 30m', but that means nothing if the case is torqued or cracked first.)
'SpongeBob' cost me 2$ at the local Salvation Army and has survived eight months. The case has cracked across the back. If the watch is tapped, the display will go blank. By torqueing the case slightly, the display returns. Its not the battery connection thats broken, because the watch does not reset. In fact, I assumed to just kept running.
Not so.
I blanked the screen at 4:30 yesterday, redisplayed it at 5:45. It still read 4:30, and in the fullness of time continued to count off the passage of the Sands of Time.
Very very odd.
Is there a crack in the circuit board that is disconnecting the oscillator? I neglected to set it to the National Research Council's Official Time Signal ( "...after ten seconds silence the time will be two o clock Atlantic time...")
But it does seem to lose the occaisional minute, which is Not Supposed To Happen to a quartz watch.
I wear a "SpongeBob Squarepants" watch, with reversible band. It has the advantage of a large simple display, which I find easy to read and the adjustment buttons guarded to prevent inadvertent adjustment of time.
I get a lot of sarcastic comments about it, which is usually amusing. Fashion is strict; big men are supposed to wear Big Watches. The basic formula is that a wristwatch must match the weight and diameter of your genitalia; its value is supposed to indicate your quanity of discretionary income.
I work hard, and I break wristwatches.
I am not going risk any significant money by strapping it to my wrist and waiting for the next blow to fall.
I have lost three to having their bands broken as the watch was torn from my wrist. I'm not going to get strong bands, either, or perhaps the watch won't get torn off, it'll be my hand that goes. I've lost two wristwatches to crushing damage, and at least five to water. (Yes, I know they say 'water resistant' or 'water proof to 30m', but that means nothing if the case is torqued or cracked first.)
'SpongeBob' cost me 2$ at the local Salvation Army and has survived eight months. The case has cracked across the back. If the watch is tapped, the display will go blank. By torqueing the case slightly, the display returns. Its not the battery connection thats broken, because the watch does not reset. In fact, I assumed to just kept running.
Not so.
I blanked the screen at 4:30 yesterday, redisplayed it at 5:45. It still read 4:30, and in the fullness of time continued to count off the passage of the Sands of Time.
Very very odd.
Is there a crack in the circuit board that is disconnecting the oscillator? I neglected to set it to the National Research Council's Official Time Signal ( "...after ten seconds silence the time will be two o clock Atlantic time...")
But it does seem to lose the occaisional minute, which is Not Supposed To Happen to a quartz watch.
Scream Sandwich:
Two (2) pieces of cheap white (putatively) fortified bread - the sweeter the better. The kind of starch-and-sucrose 'bread' manufactured and sold to hoi polloi.
Two Hundred and Fifty Milliliters (250 ml) Vanilla Flavoured Ice Cream. Don't skimp on the quality here - the better the vanilla the better the result.
Margarine or Butter To Suit.
Toast both slices to a rich golden brown.
Remember that when the bread reaches >310 degrees Fahrenheit the Maillard Reaction begins. Starches and sugars start to caramelize, making the bread harder and sweeter.
Butter the toast with your preferred lubricant. Spread a one centimeter layer of ice cream.
Press down top layer.
Consume.
...dear god, I want another, now.
Two (2) pieces of cheap white (putatively) fortified bread - the sweeter the better. The kind of starch-and-sucrose 'bread' manufactured and sold to hoi polloi.
Two Hundred and Fifty Milliliters (250 ml) Vanilla Flavoured Ice Cream. Don't skimp on the quality here - the better the vanilla the better the result.
Margarine or Butter To Suit.
Toast both slices to a rich golden brown.
Remember that when the bread reaches >310 degrees Fahrenheit the Maillard Reaction begins. Starches and sugars start to caramelize, making the bread harder and sweeter.
Butter the toast with your preferred lubricant. Spread a one centimeter layer of ice cream.
Press down top layer.
Consume.
...dear god, I want another, now.
I have discovered daphnia!!
I was pursuing a report of a 'multitude of blue dragonflys'. I found a lake; I found a multitude of blue mayflys - ephemeroptera being characterized by their wings being folded at rest into a posture reminiscent of the cheap wings strapped onto models unrealisticly modeling angels.
The lake was algal and still; attracted by the minute churn of tiny bodies, I scooped up a sample.
A water bottle of pond water is sitting on my window sill. The water fleas jiggle and wobble through the green algae, pursued by a busy water beetle.
I have been reading about daphnia since I was a small boy; finding them is akin to discovering a real live elephant - only smaller, and less trumpety.
I was pursuing a report of a 'multitude of blue dragonflys'. I found a lake; I found a multitude of blue mayflys - ephemeroptera being characterized by their wings being folded at rest into a posture reminiscent of the cheap wings strapped onto models unrealisticly modeling angels.
The lake was algal and still; attracted by the minute churn of tiny bodies, I scooped up a sample.
A water bottle of pond water is sitting on my window sill. The water fleas jiggle and wobble through the green algae, pursued by a busy water beetle.
I have been reading about daphnia since I was a small boy; finding them is akin to discovering a real live elephant - only smaller, and less trumpety.
Gave blood today. The clinic was held at the local Legion, and I showed up after supper when I got off work. To my surprise, the parking lot was full, and the Army was playing war games; a pair of Cougar APCs were guarding the front door with a lot of very hot and sweaty soldiers running around in full kit. Part of the exercise involved guarding Town Hall - a whole platoon pacing around the front door. As part of their scheme, they were 'guarding' the Mayor. While I was half way through the donation process, a sergent came in and thanked everyone for putting up with the commotion, and finished by saying "..And you can have the Mayor back now."
To which some wag responded "Oh, you can keep him."
While I am a strong believer in Practise Makes Perfect, I am less than impressed with the exercises I've witnessed. The APC's are parked in the camp in neat and tidy rows, ideal for aerial attack. There never seems to be any form of AA equipment.
The camp is guarded only by a sentry at the gate.
Patrols moving through town tend to be tightly bunched together. The platoon 'guarding' Town Hall, not only had no cover, but their Squad Machine Gunner was wandering around several hundred feet down the street.
To improve these exercises, I recommend they call for local volunteers to play hostile militias.
I know quite a few people that would enjoy running around town trying to catch the troops with their pants down. This would improve training, and give the volunteers some experiance with homebrew quasi-military operations.
The question in my mind is: was the exercise staged to include the Legion to give people some reminder of the battlefield demand for blood? Or was it merely bad timing, serving to complicate and make difficult the blood donation process?
To which some wag responded "Oh, you can keep him."
While I am a strong believer in Practise Makes Perfect, I am less than impressed with the exercises I've witnessed. The APC's are parked in the camp in neat and tidy rows, ideal for aerial attack. There never seems to be any form of AA equipment.
The camp is guarded only by a sentry at the gate.
Patrols moving through town tend to be tightly bunched together. The platoon 'guarding' Town Hall, not only had no cover, but their Squad Machine Gunner was wandering around several hundred feet down the street.
To improve these exercises, I recommend they call for local volunteers to play hostile militias.
I know quite a few people that would enjoy running around town trying to catch the troops with their pants down. This would improve training, and give the volunteers some experiance with homebrew quasi-military operations.
The question in my mind is: was the exercise staged to include the Legion to give people some reminder of the battlefield demand for blood? Or was it merely bad timing, serving to complicate and make difficult the blood donation process?
Quote of the day, courtesy of Jocko:
"We don't certainly don't want to do that."
Does he mean
A: "We do not certainly 'do not want to do that.'"
as in "we're not absolutely decided we don't want to do that."
B: " We do not 'certainly do not ' want to do that."
as in "we're not decided we will not absolutely not do that."
C: "We do not want to do that."
D: Something else entirely.
How do we translate this Message from Planet Jocko?
"We don't certainly don't want to do that."
Does he mean
A: "We do not certainly 'do not want to do that.'"
as in "we're not absolutely decided we don't want to do that."
B: " We do not 'certainly do not ' want to do that."
as in "we're not decided we will not absolutely not do that."
C: "We do not want to do that."
D: Something else entirely.
How do we translate this Message from Planet Jocko?
A Lego self-replicator needs a method of securely and flexibly gripping and orienting the lego blocks it needs. (And while I know that anything can be modified with the postfix --ly , for some words: flexible , violet , and tree seem quite inelegant. (Usedly Inelegantly?))
Fingertips are the concept here, and its odd that a hobby with such a demand for manual dexterity should have produced so little in Lego grippers to grip Lego.
Or am I just using the wrong search parameters?
This fella
has got a very clever design, although for a different explicit purpose.
Fingertips are the concept here, and its odd that a hobby with such a demand for manual dexterity should have produced so little in Lego grippers to grip Lego.
Or am I just using the wrong search parameters?
This fella
has got a very clever design, although for a different explicit purpose.
I pretended I knew nothing about Chemistry today ("Onion is an element?") to avoid holding a conversation with a co-worker.
It didn't help that Oanishment was sitting across from me, and she was playing dumb too.
Blanche was holding the lunchroom enthralled with her rant about a (failed(?)) job interview, complaining that the interviewer was "...some sorta foreign guy, which made it really hard to understand his questions...he was like a dominatrix, really pushy and nasty..."
"Dominator" I correct, without thinking. She stares at me, her mouth open to allow maximum airflow to cool her brain.
"Huh?" she says.
"Dominator" I say, testing the slippery slope, but unable to shut up, "A -trix termination means a woman."
She stares at me for a half second, and then completely ignores my statement. "he me how I would do titrate things, and I'm like, its all first year stuff and I can't remember any of it. He wanted me to tell him how to do it with volumetric, rather than molarity, and everyone at school said molarity was way easier!"
At this point she turns to Oanishment and says in complete sincerity, "I'm sorry, I geuss you can't understand all the technical stuff..."
It was hilarious to watch the best educated woman in the building - hard sciences at that! - to airily tell Blanche "Oh, I know nothing about that stuff...I can't understand a word you're saying." and then turns back to her sandwich.
We were careful not to look at each other lest we start laughing, and then Blanche would have killed us. Or at least tried. Or been really offended. Or perhaps have no idea what the joke was.
So am I to take it Blanche's interviewer was a cross dressing emigrant with an attitude and a black PVC bustier? Or am I to accept the fact that Blanche can't think without getting crosseyed and avoid getting into the conversation at all costs?
At least I wasn't alone in my misery, I guess.
It didn't help that Oanishment was sitting across from me, and she was playing dumb too.
Blanche was holding the lunchroom enthralled with her rant about a (failed(?)) job interview, complaining that the interviewer was "...some sorta foreign guy, which made it really hard to understand his questions...he was like a dominatrix, really pushy and nasty..."
"Dominator" I correct, without thinking. She stares at me, her mouth open to allow maximum airflow to cool her brain.
"Huh?" she says.
"Dominator" I say, testing the slippery slope, but unable to shut up, "A -trix termination means a woman."
She stares at me for a half second, and then completely ignores my statement. "he me how I would do titrate things, and I'm like, its all first year stuff and I can't remember any of it. He wanted me to tell him how to do it with volumetric, rather than molarity, and everyone at school said molarity was way easier!"
At this point she turns to Oanishment and says in complete sincerity, "I'm sorry, I geuss you can't understand all the technical stuff..."
It was hilarious to watch the best educated woman in the building - hard sciences at that! - to airily tell Blanche "Oh, I know nothing about that stuff...I can't understand a word you're saying." and then turns back to her sandwich.
We were careful not to look at each other lest we start laughing, and then Blanche would have killed us. Or at least tried. Or been really offended. Or perhaps have no idea what the joke was.
So am I to take it Blanche's interviewer was a cross dressing emigrant with an attitude and a black PVC bustier? Or am I to accept the fact that Blanche can't think without getting crosseyed and avoid getting into the conversation at all costs?
At least I wasn't alone in my misery, I guess.
Whats the difference between a Mad Scientists Laboratory, and a Mad Scientists Secret Lair?
A hidden laboratory is hidden in order to protect the privacy of the genius involved. Its location is never revealed, and it is rarely used as a staging area or headquarters.
Victor Frankenstein rather frankly admits
"In a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house,
and separated from all the other apartments by a gallery and staircase,
I kept my workshop of filthy creation; my eyeballs were starting from
their sockets in attending to the details of my employment. " (V. Frankenstein, M.Shelley; A Modern Prometheus, 1818)
Secrecy on his part is due to the shame of his 'unclean' or 'profane' experiments; being repulsed by his own activities, he must hide in the most remote location availible what could have been done anywhere reasonably private in the house. At no time does he ever intend to reveal his place of work.
Similarly, Frederick Frankenstein finds his grandfathers laboratory hidden behind a trick bookcase in the family castle.(M. Brooks; Young Frankenstein, 1974)
And of course, Clark Savage, Jr. had his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic.
"The bronze man simply disappeared from his usual haunts, sometimes for months at a time, and during these absences, it was absolutely impossible to get in touch with him.
At no time did Nayland Smith ever uncover Fu Manchu's main laboratory. It possibly was in China - perhaps even Manchuria - but I remain unconvinced. Some location reasonably close to England seems probable, but beyond that we can only speculate.
Secret lairs are designed to fill a temporary role, and will be publicized or abandoned once the Universe is Under Control, or the World Ruled In An Iron Fist.
Doctor No's base on Crab Cay is a classic example of a secret lair.
Or Docter Nikola's laboratory set up in a deserted castle(Dr Nikola's Experiment; G.Boothby(1896)
... I would argue that the Batcave not actually a secret lair, as Batman never intended on revealing its location; it does contain most of his equipment, and as it houses his CSI equipment, and of course, that Colossus of Computing the Bat Computer, it might even be called a secret lab.
A hidden laboratory is hidden in order to protect the privacy of the genius involved. Its location is never revealed, and it is rarely used as a staging area or headquarters.
Victor Frankenstein rather frankly admits
"In a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house,
and separated from all the other apartments by a gallery and staircase,
I kept my workshop of filthy creation; my eyeballs were starting from
their sockets in attending to the details of my employment. " (V. Frankenstein, M.Shelley; A Modern Prometheus, 1818)
Secrecy on his part is due to the shame of his 'unclean' or 'profane' experiments; being repulsed by his own activities, he must hide in the most remote location availible what could have been done anywhere reasonably private in the house. At no time does he ever intend to reveal his place of work.
Similarly, Frederick Frankenstein finds his grandfathers laboratory hidden behind a trick bookcase in the family castle.(M. Brooks; Young Frankenstein, 1974)
And of course, Clark Savage, Jr. had his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic.
"The bronze man simply disappeared from his usual haunts, sometimes for months at a time, and during these absences, it was absolutely impossible to get in touch with him.
When Doc came back from these absences, he explained simply that he had been at his Fortress of Solitude -- and usually, too, he brought back some new invention, or the solution of some complicated problem of science or surgery." (L. Dent; Fortress of Solitude,193?)
The enigmatic man known only as "Docter Fu Manchu" (who in all probability never bore that name nor could claim legitimate descent from the Manchu dynasty) seems to have worked from a variety of secret lairs, each serving solely to disguise his presence and serve immediate ends.At no time did Nayland Smith ever uncover Fu Manchu's main laboratory. It possibly was in China - perhaps even Manchuria - but I remain unconvinced. Some location reasonably close to England seems probable, but beyond that we can only speculate.
Secret lairs are designed to fill a temporary role, and will be publicized or abandoned once the Universe is Under Control, or the World Ruled In An Iron Fist.
Doctor No's base on Crab Cay is a classic example of a secret lair.
Or Docter Nikola's laboratory set up in a deserted castle(Dr Nikola's Experiment; G.Boothby(1896)
... I would argue that the Batcave not actually a secret lair, as Batman never intended on revealing its location; it does contain most of his equipment, and as it houses his CSI equipment, and of course, that Colossus of Computing the Bat Computer, it might even be called a secret lab.
Both Doc Savage and Clark Kent had a 'Fortress of Solitude' in the far north which contained laboratories. Both of them would retire there for research and relaxation.
Co-incidence? Unlikely.
Doc Savage disappears shortly after the Second World War; no one knows if he died or retired.
Philip Jose Farmer suggests that Doc was growing increasingly frustrated as the years go by; certainly between the Nazi Horrors, and the growing Cold War he would have been justified in feeling that evildoers were winning. Certainly his idealistic patriotism would have been shaken - if not shattered - by Nagasaki and Hiroshima detonations.
He would also probably known of the 'hellish' deals made to trade pardons for data with Japanese scientists guilty of vivisection and torture; the whitewashing done to certain German rocket scientists, and of course, the growing truth of what our erstwhile ally Stalin had done - a monster whose 'labour camps' dwarfed Hitler's Die Endlösung der Judenfrage .
What would have remained of his belief in a shining future?
My father suggests that Clark Kent killed Clark Savage Jr., and took his laboratory; this certainly would have given Superman acsess to Savage's stockpile of captured and invented weapons, which would have given him a huge advantage in his struggles.
I think however, the similarity in their names goes farther than co-incidence.
I suggest that Clark "Doc" Savage Jr. created Superman.
The Man of Bronze creates the Man of Steel; harder, faster and certainly better suited for 'rough and tumble' work.
After all, the cover story of 'being from the shattered planet Krypton' is quite fantastic, but would allow Superman the cachet of being 'alien' and hence 'non-partisan' -- a non-partisan alien who spends his time defending the American way.
What are the odds that a highly advanced alien would find the U.S. the most appealing socially?
At that time (late 1940's, early 1950's) that nation was racially segregated, increasingly paranoid
and the wielder of atomic weapons.
I suspect that Doc felt he was a defender of his nation and could'nt leave his battlefield. I also suspect he created Superman as a 'fire and forget' weapon; indestructible, intelligent, pure of heart and deed; a steel dynamo who would never suffer as Doc had suffered; that would never know loss, or greif or doubt.
Co-incidence? Unlikely.
Doc Savage disappears shortly after the Second World War; no one knows if he died or retired.
Philip Jose Farmer suggests that Doc was growing increasingly frustrated as the years go by; certainly between the Nazi Horrors, and the growing Cold War he would have been justified in feeling that evildoers were winning. Certainly his idealistic patriotism would have been shaken - if not shattered - by Nagasaki and Hiroshima detonations.
He would also probably known of the 'hellish' deals made to trade pardons for data with Japanese scientists guilty of vivisection and torture; the whitewashing done to certain German rocket scientists, and of course, the growing truth of what our erstwhile ally Stalin had done - a monster whose 'labour camps' dwarfed Hitler's Die Endlösung der Judenfrage .
What would have remained of his belief in a shining future?
My father suggests that Clark Kent killed Clark Savage Jr., and took his laboratory; this certainly would have given Superman acsess to Savage's stockpile of captured and invented weapons, which would have given him a huge advantage in his struggles.
I think however, the similarity in their names goes farther than co-incidence.
I suggest that Clark "Doc" Savage Jr. created Superman.
The Man of Bronze creates the Man of Steel; harder, faster and certainly better suited for 'rough and tumble' work.
After all, the cover story of 'being from the shattered planet Krypton' is quite fantastic, but would allow Superman the cachet of being 'alien' and hence 'non-partisan' -- a non-partisan alien who spends his time defending the American way.
What are the odds that a highly advanced alien would find the U.S. the most appealing socially?
At that time (late 1940's, early 1950's) that nation was racially segregated, increasingly paranoid
and the wielder of atomic weapons.
I suspect that Doc felt he was a defender of his nation and could'nt leave his battlefield. I also suspect he created Superman as a 'fire and forget' weapon; indestructible, intelligent, pure of heart and deed; a steel dynamo who would never suffer as Doc had suffered; that would never know loss, or greif or doubt.
What would the Internet look like if rather than using the domain system, it used the Dewey Decimal System? That would assign a unique name for every webpage. the heirarchy tree would be a lot different, too. Where things are currently arranged under top level domains (say Yahoo or Google) under the Dewey Decimal Network Name System (DDNNS --> d2n2) the functions and information would be broken up. Google Search would be under one number, Google News would be under another, and Blogger under yet another; we would face the Internet in novel and intreasting ways. By changeing the trailing digit, one could step through all the search engines on the Net for instance...
Foremost amungst the Objects That I Should Possess (which includes such things as a 'Better Lathe' and a 'Quality Tap and Die Set') is a metal brake.
At least six times a year I need to bend up something from sheet metal, and at least half a dozen times I expend sweat, tears, and rages, on assemblages of 2x4 lumber and c-clamps. Today I needed - or rather, Liz needed - eight aluminium trays, each 10.5 inches by 22 inches, one inch deep and capable of stacking. I went for a primitive design, which works, but I am soundly disappointed by it. I merely folded the edges up by an inch, and folded them inwards slightly so that they reach the bottom of the tray above.
Perhaps - given a good brake, better quality aluminium ( I was using aluminium flashing from the local hardware store, tends to fatigue, quite soft) and a good edge rounder I could have eneded up with a better product. I don't know.
I was led astray by my minimalist desire to use a single sheet of aluminium for each tray without riveting anything on.
Instead, I need
A: some sort of positive locking together. I thought she'd need them solely inside a cooler, where the walls would keep the stack together, but she uses them in the fridge as well.
B: some sort of handle to make lifting them easier.
C: More stiffness and less flex.
I could use this as an excuse to build a brake this weekend. That would be a good excuse to break out the welder.
being at my job no longer drives me mad.
I had an epiphany - everyone around me is on crazy pills. Nearly everyone. Not quite all.
A value approaching unity but always remaining <1.
Its hard to be stressed by the hijinks and twitteries of people if you assume they have the same level of self-control and rational thoughts as four year olds.
Quod Erat Demonstratum.
I had an epiphany - everyone around me is on crazy pills. Nearly everyone. Not quite all.
A value approaching unity but always remaining <1.
Its hard to be stressed by the hijinks and twitteries of people if you assume they have the same level of self-control and rational thoughts as four year olds.
Quod Erat Demonstratum.
GM Plants ...
What are the possible dangers with altering plants?
Dangers that could be easily minimized by intelligent, rational scientists. (Minimized, of course, not eliminated. After all, the most common element in the Universe is the element of Surprise.)
But thats not whats happening. Corporations are not rational or intelligent. They exist for one purpose, and one purpose only : collection of wealth. Any corporation which acts on motives - or professes to - different than this is suspect. A corporation that does not concern itself solely with money is like a person who neglects food. Works in the short period, then Thermodynamics steps in.
Disasters can make money too. Observe Halliburton.
Corporations are also obsessed with the near future. If a hydroelectric plant is profitable for the next sixteen years, that it might leave sixty year damage is unimportant.
This leaves 'impartial' research groups - which are fed either by the corporations, or via government. Government which is lobbied, corrupted and nursed from the corporate hands.
...'Money is the root of all evil'...
What are the possible dangers with altering plants?
Dangers that could be easily minimized by intelligent, rational scientists. (Minimized, of course, not eliminated. After all, the most common element in the Universe is the element of Surprise.)
But thats not whats happening. Corporations are not rational or intelligent. They exist for one purpose, and one purpose only : collection of wealth. Any corporation which acts on motives - or professes to - different than this is suspect. A corporation that does not concern itself solely with money is like a person who neglects food. Works in the short period, then Thermodynamics steps in.
Disasters can make money too. Observe Halliburton.
Corporations are also obsessed with the near future. If a hydroelectric plant is profitable for the next sixteen years, that it might leave sixty year damage is unimportant.
This leaves 'impartial' research groups - which are fed either by the corporations, or via government. Government which is lobbied, corrupted and nursed from the corporate hands.
...'Money is the root of all evil'...
The Problem?
Overweight Cat.
Solution?
Feed Cat Less.
New problem. Cat likes to eat > 20 times a day and is a pain in the ass if thwarted.
Solution?
Make Cat expend more calories. the Cat is not smart enough to tell the difference between 10 kibbles of food and a whole dish full.
I need to build a food dispenser that
1. Activates when the Cat jumps up onto his feeding station;
2. Dispences only a few kibbles;
3. Can hold the contents of a full box of Our Compliments 3-Flavour Cat Food.
Time to break out the Meccano.
Overweight Cat.
Solution?
Feed Cat Less.
New problem. Cat likes to eat > 20 times a day and is a pain in the ass if thwarted.
Solution?
Make Cat expend more calories. the Cat is not smart enough to tell the difference between 10 kibbles of food and a whole dish full.
I need to build a food dispenser that
1. Activates when the Cat jumps up onto his feeding station;
2. Dispences only a few kibbles;
3. Can hold the contents of a full box of Our Compliments 3-Flavour Cat Food.
Time to break out the Meccano.
Watched Masters of the Universe (1987) ...
No where near as bad as I expected. About typical of 1980's schlock and amusingly non-canonical.
(since when did Castle Greyskull wear a tiara?)
By comparison, it was much much better than Abraxas:Guardian of the Galaxy. But then again, a root canal would be better than Abraxas.
No where near as bad as I expected. About typical of 1980's schlock and amusingly non-canonical.
(since when did Castle Greyskull wear a tiara?)
By comparison, it was much much better than Abraxas:Guardian of the Galaxy. But then again, a root canal would be better than Abraxas.
Lego as atoms...
The smallest possible lego is a legon; a one-stud block one thickness high; it comes in square and round. I shall consider colours to be trivial.
The legons can be stacked to form 2/3rd height blocks, which are very close to useless. A 3/3 block is homologous with a 1 stud full height block.
A 4/3 block is also un-natural.
There are several combinations of round and square legons; I presume the size of the resulting block is the average of the component shapes.
Either way, the legon combinations become either barrel or square one stud bricks.
Two stud bricks are followed by three stud, four stud, six stud, eight stud and ten stud.
The same rule applies to the 2 by x brick, where x=(1,2,3,4,6,8,10, 12, 16)
5 and 7 appear to be forbidden.
Also, certain shapes appear forbidden. While an L shaped 3 stud brick exists(fitting the space of a 4 stud) , there is no five stud or seven stud brick that would fit a six stud or a eight stud space respectively.
There is an L shaped 12 stud brick that would fit a 8x8 space.
Oddly, there is a several 1 by x bricks that are 5 units high (or 15 legons).
But the 2 by x bricks are 2, 3, and 4 units high! (6, 9, and 12 legons high).
Also, if 3 is such an important number (bricks are 3 legons high, there are three stud bricks in every category) is 3x3 or 9 forbidden?
An elementary table may follow.
The smallest possible lego is a legon; a one-stud block one thickness high; it comes in square and round. I shall consider colours to be trivial.
The legons can be stacked to form 2/3rd height blocks, which are very close to useless. A 3/3 block is homologous with a 1 stud full height block.
A 4/3 block is also un-natural.
There are several combinations of round and square legons; I presume the size of the resulting block is the average of the component shapes.
Either way, the legon combinations become either barrel or square one stud bricks.
Two stud bricks are followed by three stud, four stud, six stud, eight stud and ten stud.The same rule applies to the 2 by x brick, where x=(1,2,3,4,6,8,10, 12, 16)
5 and 7 appear to be forbidden.
Also, certain shapes appear forbidden. While an L shaped 3 stud brick exists(fitting the space of a 4 stud) , there is no five stud or seven stud brick that would fit a six stud or a eight stud space respectively.
There is an L shaped 12 stud brick that would fit a 8x8 space.
Oddly, there is a several 1 by x bricks that are 5 units high (or 15 legons).
But the 2 by x bricks are 2, 3, and 4 units high! (6, 9, and 12 legons high).
Also, if 3 is such an important number (bricks are 3 legons high, there are three stud bricks in every category) is 3x3 or 9 forbidden?
An elementary table may follow.
Strength and Weakness;
Lego's secret weakness... At first glance, it appears to provide swift, easy prototyping of anything imaginable. On second glance, a few caveats appear. Upon examination, the problem gets worse.
What Lego lacks is elegance. It makes up for it with accuracy and speed of assembly.
Versatility appears to be present, but the constraints are merely hidden.
I had my box of Technic spilled out on the table, and was assembling a steerable caster.
True to Lego's promise, I had one in my hand within minutes. But I didn't like it.
Inelegant. Not strong enough. Too many parts.
I redesigned.
A suggestion of elegance, of efficency, became overshadowed with a connection problem. I unraveled the problem, but like moving a wrinkle in a rug, it merely drifted farther up the device.
Legos need to stay oriented. You choose the plane of orientation ; traditionally its with the studs on top. But you don't consistantly change the plane as you move through the device.
There are adaptors, but they add a part and further complexity.
After a half hour, I had pushed the metaphorical wrinkles to the far edge of the device, and they stuck there.
And I was stuck.
Possible to do, but not with a simple part list.
Lego will not be bent. It offers bends, in certain fixed degrees.
...Bricks are indeed the correct name.
Lego's secret weakness... At first glance, it appears to provide swift, easy prototyping of anything imaginable. On second glance, a few caveats appear. Upon examination, the problem gets worse.
What Lego lacks is elegance. It makes up for it with accuracy and speed of assembly.
Versatility appears to be present, but the constraints are merely hidden.
I had my box of Technic spilled out on the table, and was assembling a steerable caster.
True to Lego's promise, I had one in my hand within minutes. But I didn't like it.
Inelegant. Not strong enough. Too many parts.
I redesigned.
A suggestion of elegance, of efficency, became overshadowed with a connection problem. I unraveled the problem, but like moving a wrinkle in a rug, it merely drifted farther up the device.
Legos need to stay oriented. You choose the plane of orientation ; traditionally its with the studs on top. But you don't consistantly change the plane as you move through the device.
There are adaptors, but they add a part and further complexity.
After a half hour, I had pushed the metaphorical wrinkles to the far edge of the device, and they stuck there.
And I was stuck.
Possible to do, but not with a simple part list.
Lego will not be bent. It offers bends, in certain fixed degrees.
...Bricks are indeed the correct name.
Fitting the ViviCam 3826 with a stop between the lens and the CCD dealt with the overexposure.
The stop's diameter is 1 cm. With the subjects lit by 60 watts of incandescent, the pictures seemed well lit. I haven't had a chance to use it in full sunlight yet, but I suspect I may need to go smaller yet - perhaps 0.25 cm or smaller. But seeing as most of my work is done indoors, the sensativity suits me fine.
The most critical part of this project has been the spacing between the manual lens and the CCD. Trial and error in lieu of learning any optical theory...and further refinement seems probable.
The stop's diameter is 1 cm. With the subjects lit by 60 watts of incandescent, the pictures seemed well lit. I haven't had a chance to use it in full sunlight yet, but I suspect I may need to go smaller yet - perhaps 0.25 cm or smaller. But seeing as most of my work is done indoors, the sensativity suits me fine.
The most critical part of this project has been the spacing between the manual lens and the CCD. Trial and error in lieu of learning any optical theory...and further refinement seems probable.
Another feature that most reconstructers of the Nautilus miss is the triangular cross-section at the bow. The Nautilus was equipped with a ram, which was capable of leaving a triangular hole two meters across. This width leads me to beleive that while the Nautilus's midships crosssection is circular, the ram is not, and the two forms blend into each other.
The hole punched in the Scotia's hull is described as two and a half meters below her waterline, but Nemo comments that he was submerged two meters below the surface when the collision occurred. This means the Nautilus's centerline was more than six meters deep. So like a U-Boat, the bow rises upwards.
Nemo never hesitates to use the Nautilus as a ram. This means that he would have removed every possible feature that would have jammed or hung up if a ram attack failed to drive the Nautilus completely through her enemy.
The other critical detail is that when on the surface, the Nautilus is frequently mistaken for the back of a great whale. This error of identity continues under a variety of sightings until Aronnax, Land, and Conseil actually climb aboard it!
This means that no windows or portholes are visible. All our adventurers can find is two rings, presumably the lifting points for the wheelhouse and the lighthouse. The railing telescopes down into the hull. The hatch is almost invisible.
The hole punched in the Scotia's hull is described as two and a half meters below her waterline, but Nemo comments that he was submerged two meters below the surface when the collision occurred. This means the Nautilus's centerline was more than six meters deep. So like a U-Boat, the bow rises upwards.
Nemo never hesitates to use the Nautilus as a ram. This means that he would have removed every possible feature that would have jammed or hung up if a ram attack failed to drive the Nautilus completely through her enemy.
The other critical detail is that when on the surface, the Nautilus is frequently mistaken for the back of a great whale. This error of identity continues under a variety of sightings until Aronnax, Land, and Conseil actually climb aboard it!
This means that no windows or portholes are visible. All our adventurers can find is two rings, presumably the lifting points for the wheelhouse and the lighthouse. The railing telescopes down into the hull. The hatch is almost invisible.
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