Time (Free)Will Crawl
Mar. 14th, 2013 12:19 amSagittarius Horoscope for week of March 14, 2013
NASA used whale oil to lubricate the Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager spacecrafts. There was a good reason: Whale oil doesn't freeze at the low temperatures found in outer space. While I certainly don't approve of killing whales to obtain their oil, I want to use this story to make a point. It's an excellent time for you, too, to use old-school approaches for solving ultra-new-school problems. Sometimes a tried-and-true method works better, or is cheaper, simpler, or more aesthetically pleasing.
There have been times I've wanted to use smoke signals instead of the Internet. The problem is I don't smoke and don't really want to talk to anybody who does.
NASA used whale oil to lubricate the Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager spacecrafts. There was a good reason: Whale oil doesn't freeze at the low temperatures found in outer space. While I certainly don't approve of killing whales to obtain their oil, I want to use this story to make a point. It's an excellent time for you, too, to use old-school approaches for solving ultra-new-school problems. Sometimes a tried-and-true method works better, or is cheaper, simpler, or more aesthetically pleasing.
There have been times I've wanted to use smoke signals instead of the Internet. The problem is I don't smoke and don't really want to talk to anybody who does.
From Last Night's 60 MINUTES
Jan. 14th, 2013 03:34 pmMarch of The Machines.
There was a part that meshed directly with the "firmware" portion of POI's Machine. Law offices, prosecutor and defender divisions are now commonly using analytical computers to research cases and collect evidence in the "discovery" phase. How much you want to bet that The Machine already is looking in on every single one of these systems to tell who's being investigated...and who's doing the investigating? Maybe even to recruit potential future assets?
There was a part that meshed directly with the "firmware" portion of POI's Machine. Law offices, prosecutor and defender divisions are now commonly using analytical computers to research cases and collect evidence in the "discovery" phase. How much you want to bet that The Machine already is looking in on every single one of these systems to tell who's being investigated...and who's doing the investigating? Maybe even to recruit potential future assets?
Snippets Of Dream Content
Nov. 30th, 2011 01:31 pm* It becomes a fad to get mini refrigerators, mini freezers and mini microwave ovens (all roughly the size of toaster ovens--originally designed for the Asian market) and have them in rooms other than the kitchen. One set for the living room, one for the den, one for the hallway between the bedrooms, one for the office. Of course, this doesn't do the problem of rampant obesity any good.
* Disney adds a new area to Walt Disney World devoted entirely to the studio's horror properties. The Haunted Mansion is moved out of Adventureland and updated to become the centerpiece of this park-let.
* A viral advertising campaign for a synthetic "incense" product gets a lot of notoriety when the people behind the campaign hack local TV stations to air commercials which are banned by the FCC. They ALMOST get away with it. But the phrase "Stoner Taxicab" enters the slang lexicon permanently.
* Disney adds a new area to Walt Disney World devoted entirely to the studio's horror properties. The Haunted Mansion is moved out of Adventureland and updated to become the centerpiece of this park-let.
* A viral advertising campaign for a synthetic "incense" product gets a lot of notoriety when the people behind the campaign hack local TV stations to air commercials which are banned by the FCC. They ALMOST get away with it. But the phrase "Stoner Taxicab" enters the slang lexicon permanently.
What happened was that after I'd done some work converting the Armor suits, I noticed that I had skipped one of the later Technical Readout books that I have in my collection. So I got out some ledger paper sheets, jotted down the converted facts and figures on 56 here-to-fore "forgotten" 'Mechs, and was all set to bubble them into my Database files--
--Only to find that not only does Precious lack the program that the files were created using, but the only other program I have for database work, OpenOffice.org 3.2, doesn't recognize the .WDB format. "It's not a bug, it's a feature" say the Internet voices.
So you are saying, "Well, why doncha re-install the software you DID use before onto Precious?" and that point is quite logically valid. The problem is the "security" measures that Microsoft puts on their software to limit your right to profigate it among your hardware systems. Besides, I'm working with a new operating system anyway and the old software may not work.
The data files are not going anywhere, and I have them on backups, so this can wait till I acquire the new version, whenever that will be. In the meantime, I'm saving myself from entering in five or six pages of hard data. This is not procrastination--this is taking the time to do the job right.
FP
--Only to find that not only does Precious lack the program that the files were created using, but the only other program I have for database work, OpenOffice.org 3.2, doesn't recognize the .WDB format. "It's not a bug, it's a feature" say the Internet voices.
So you are saying, "Well, why doncha re-install the software you DID use before onto Precious?" and that point is quite logically valid. The problem is the "security" measures that Microsoft puts on their software to limit your right to profigate it among your hardware systems. Besides, I'm working with a new operating system anyway and the old software may not work.
The data files are not going anywhere, and I have them on backups, so this can wait till I acquire the new version, whenever that will be. In the meantime, I'm saving myself from entering in five or six pages of hard data. This is not procrastination--this is taking the time to do the job right.
FP
Staring Me In The Face
Jan. 9th, 2010 02:02 pmThe other day I was trolling YouTube and saw some mecha in-game footage (because it was linked to a MechWarrior demo) and I watched it and was very impressed with it. But because the headers were in Korean, it took me a while to figure out what it was. It was from Armored Core 4 which I saw HAS BEEN OUT TWO YEARS!
I can't believe how obsolete I am when it comes to these things. But then again, where's the virtue that if I get the funding, I'd just play games with it?
I can't believe how obsolete I am when it comes to these things. But then again, where's the virtue that if I get the funding, I'd just play games with it?
The Now That Is No More
Feb. 20th, 2008 10:57 pmMSN Article: Movie Plots Made Obsolete By Modern Tech.
The writer limits himself to business and consumer electronics, so I'm a little disappointed that the material from war and spy movies isn't covered either. One example I know from good ol' 007: On Her Majesty's Secret Service. James Bond has to crack a safe in an office building to find out what Spectre is doing. Well, as the building is next to a construction site, he manages to have a crane operator send a coffin-sized safecracking machine (or was it an x-ray machine? Have to watch it again. In spite of it being Mr. Lazenby, it's still one of my favorites)/photocopier/printer to the room where the safe is located. These days, the safecracker could be just one of dozens of functions of his super cell phone. Heck, it could be an MP3-player...all the more harmless-looking and unlikely to be confiscated.
FP (who would love to have a GPS unit with a Diesel-punk design case and display)
The writer limits himself to business and consumer electronics, so I'm a little disappointed that the material from war and spy movies isn't covered either. One example I know from good ol' 007: On Her Majesty's Secret Service. James Bond has to crack a safe in an office building to find out what Spectre is doing. Well, as the building is next to a construction site, he manages to have a crane operator send a coffin-sized safecracking machine (or was it an x-ray machine? Have to watch it again. In spite of it being Mr. Lazenby, it's still one of my favorites)/photocopier/printer to the room where the safe is located. These days, the safecracker could be just one of dozens of functions of his super cell phone. Heck, it could be an MP3-player...all the more harmless-looking and unlikely to be confiscated.
FP (who would love to have a GPS unit with a Diesel-punk design case and display)
Pick Up The Pieces
Feb. 7th, 2007 01:23 pmHey.
The house microwave oven blew out a circuit board overnight. The folks are blaming me for it failing (as I was the last one to use it), but I think we've had that one for years and used it just about every day.
It dismays me to see that in such appliances, it's often cheaper now to replace the whole thing than to have it repaired. Way back in the 1970s, people were already complaining about the "Throwaway Society", and here it is.
*Looks at the kitchen* *feels hungry*
I guess I'll put a pot of ramen together on the stove.
FP
UPDATE:
While I was grilling a cheese sandwich on the stove, my parents got back from WallyWorld with a new General Electric to replace the Panasonic, which I learned (from the Owner's Manual) was about six or seven years old.
After I ate my sandwich I plugged the GE in, set the clock, and test-heated a cup of tea. It came out WAY too hot and I had to add ice cubes to cool it back down to drinkability.
They DON'T make them like they useta.
The house microwave oven blew out a circuit board overnight. The folks are blaming me for it failing (as I was the last one to use it), but I think we've had that one for years and used it just about every day.
It dismays me to see that in such appliances, it's often cheaper now to replace the whole thing than to have it repaired. Way back in the 1970s, people were already complaining about the "Throwaway Society", and here it is.
*Looks at the kitchen* *feels hungry*
I guess I'll put a pot of ramen together on the stove.
FP
UPDATE:
While I was grilling a cheese sandwich on the stove, my parents got back from WallyWorld with a new General Electric to replace the Panasonic, which I learned (from the Owner's Manual) was about six or seven years old.
After I ate my sandwich I plugged the GE in, set the clock, and test-heated a cup of tea. It came out WAY too hot and I had to add ice cubes to cool it back down to drinkability.
They DON'T make them like they useta.
Farewell To Armament Window
Oct. 8th, 2006 05:46 amHey.
My compy locks up every time I attempt to play Thexder for Win95 now. Gosh darn, I've only had the game for nine years.
I'm awaiting the release of the new Starsiege game, but that's only going to Alpha test now. I have One Must Fall Battlegrounds, but have never gotten it to work on my compy.
I know I should be making my compy do more useful things than play games, but this is part of who I am.
My compy locks up every time I attempt to play Thexder for Win95 now. Gosh darn, I've only had the game for nine years.
I'm awaiting the release of the new Starsiege game, but that's only going to Alpha test now. I have One Must Fall Battlegrounds, but have never gotten it to work on my compy.
I know I should be making my compy do more useful things than play games, but this is part of who I am.