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.
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.
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