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?
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.
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