The Claws of Deinonychus
I wonder if the famed 'killing claws' of the 'raptors' is actually a sexual feature used in
competing for mates?
Outrageously exaggerated weaponry is no necessarily related to hunting; narwhal for instance, do not hunt with their tusks.
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?
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