Re: Moving: Irregulars & book questions

[Ronn!Blankenship]

At 04:08 PM 1/26/04, Deborah Harrell wrote:
I'm moving into the foothills this week - a situation
presented that involves taking care of 5 Arabians and
their barn, with a caretaker apt (that is at least as
big as the place I'm in now) attached.
  Manna from heaven.  Truly.
So I'm frantically sorting and purging,


(Possibly) Dumb question:  Why, if the new place is at least as big as what 
you have now?



-- Ronn!  :)

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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Ronn!Blankenship]

At 03:58 PM 1/26/04, Julia Thompson wrote:
"Ronn!Blankenship" wrote:

> so it just goes to show you that posting to lists is like eating a
> whole jar of jalapeno peppers:  it can come back to burn your butt
> tomorrow . . .
Posting an analogy like that will do it, for one.

Sheesh.

What do I do to get that image out of my head now?  ;)


I dunno.  I copied it from another list.  (With at least one slight change 
. . . )

Which, come to think of it, is what the guy I was telling about getting 
canned did with the comment that seems to gotten him canned . . .




Julia

participating on a thread about cat fecal material on another mailing
list...


Anyone who lives with one frequently participates in such conversations 
both on-line and in-person with others who also cohabit with felines.

BTW, I got some training for being a parent of a small child this 
afternoon:  Midnight chased a neighbor's cat up a tree then stood at the 
base of the tree staring at me while I repeatedly told him to come back 
into our yard . . . IOW, he obeyed about as well as a child in the middle 
of some enjoyable mischief would.  The other cat eventually climbed down, 
while I ended up stepping into a knee-deep hole where the stump of a tree 
we cut down 30 or so years ago has finally rotted away (yeah, I need to go 
get a couple of bags of dirt and fill that sometime . . . )



-- Ronn!  :)

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No teeth in this tiger

[Kevin Tarr]

Picked up Tom Clancy's TotT last week from the workplace library*. Started 
okay, but mostly it sucked. The ending was very bad. It needed another five 
chapters to really finish the story but I'm sure the next book will cover that.

If I had friends who repeated the same things that much during 
conversations (Git-R-Done) I'd punch them.

I saw one blatant error, where a city name one one page was different on 
another. Five word usage errors, they passed the spellcheck but used the 
wrong word. Ex: list instead of lust. (Now that I think about it, it may 
have been intentional but there were others that were wrong.) And a few 
diversions that just could not be true. Not plot points, but chapter filler 
situations that the author obviously knew nothing about.

--

Near the end of Chasm City there were two word errors that stood out. I 
know I questioned one in Kiln People and the list thought the words were 
okay. Just wondering how many errors get into finished books.

Kevin T. - VRWC
Time for bed, more snow tomorrow and 4x4 isn't working
*It's in a section's food cubicle. The books are all mysteries and 
thrillers. I asked why no sci-fi? The section leader nearly jumped down my 
throat. This Clancy book was the first I've ever borrowed, working there 
two years now. When I returned it I saw a Harry Turtledove which I grabbed 
and a Dilbert book, next.

I could leave some sci-fi to see what happens, but I hate the thought of 
losing something.

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Re: Moving: Irregulars & book questions

[William T Goodall]

On 26 Jan 2004, at 10:08 pm, Deborah Harrell wrote:

So I'm frantically sorting and purging, and must now
ask the computer-saavy here what I should have last
month:
I've been given 2 computers for home use (primarily
I'll use for word processing and a little email, don't
care about games or fancy graphics; use the T1 line at
the office for serious research):
-Macintosh Performa 6220CD/75  16/1 GB
Discontinued in 1996. 75MHz PowerPC 603 CPU. Worth about $30. A 
'horrible architecture' to 'be avoided at all costs' :)

http://www.lowendmac.com/roadapples/x200.shtml

You could run MkLinux on it, but even then the serial ports don't go 
above 9600bps making it rather slow on the internet...

-Hewlett Packard Pavillion 6535 "designed for Windows
98," w/ Intel Celeron sticker
Introduced in 1999 (?) 466Mhz Celeron CPU. Probably a bit more useful 
than the Performa :)

--
William T Goodall
Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web  : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in
Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me 
-- you can't get fooled again."
 -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 
17, 2002

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Re: Uplift Timeline

[Medievalbk]

In a message dated 1/26/2004 7:29:31 PM US Mountain Standard Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

>  don't think it's absurd - it depends on the rate of space exploration. It
>  just shows that in some point in the 1980s there was a "cusp" event
>  that separated the Uplift Timeline from ours :-)

Regan forgot to duck?
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Re: Part of Parrot Act Ruled Unconstitutional

[Medievalbk]

For the first time, a federal judge has declared unconstitutional a  parrot 
with an almost unparalleled power to
communicate with people. 

The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of
950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.

He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel
ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human
child would do, and a bad commedian who can't add-lib tries to do.


The parrot has brought stand-up commedians short, and as N'kisi is not a 
member of SAG, or any actor's or commedian's union, he has been slapped with a 
restraining order to not out perform any human.

The act bars giving expert advice or
assistance to groups designated as being humour deprived.

The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing the ruling, spokesman Mark
Corallo said in a statement from Washington.

Corallo called the Anti-Parrot Act - the federal anti-oneupmanship statute
passed in the aftermath of the BBC Wildlife Magazine.article- "an essential 
tool in the war on unintended Uplift consequences, and asserted that the 
portion at issue in the ruling was only a modest amendment to a pre-existing 
anti-Tytlal law.

The judge's ruling said the law, as written, does not differentiate
between impermissible advice on humour and encouraging the use of
peaceful, nonviolent stupid pet tricks to achieve gafaws

Vilyehm Teighlore
-
Polly want an agent..
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Public Bombards Operators to Save Hubble

[Robert Seeberger]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/hubble_public_040125.html

The operators of the Hubble Space Telescope are being bombarded by
suggestions from the public on how to save the craft -- which NASA has
decided not to service anymore -- and say they are considering all
offers.
Of the hundreds of e-mails, about a quarter ask, "Why can't the
Russians help?"

Others suggest towing it to the space station for repairs, said Bruce
Margon, associate director for science at the Space Telescope Science
Institute, which operates Hubble for NASA.

"They are enormously concerned, they are perplexed, they are angry,"
Margon said. "They ask 'What percentage of the NASA budget is this?'
And we tell them it's about 1 percent."

The Baltimore-based institute will set up a Web site to take
suggestions from the public, he said.

The suggestions started arriving after NASA said last week it won't
send the space shuttle in 2006 to service the Hubble, a mission
considered essential to enable the orbiting telescope to continue
operating. The Hubble has revolutionized the study of astronomy with
its striking images of the universe.

Instead, NASA will focus on President Bush's plans to send humans to
the moon and Mars. Virtually all remaining missions of the shuttle,
which also is being phased out, will be used to complete construction
of the International Space Station.

As for the suggestions received so far for saving the Hubble
telescope, Margon said the Russians might be able to help, but towing
the Hubble to the space station is impractical because the two are in
very different orbits.

The space station is in a lower orbit, and takes a much different path
around the Earth. If the Hubble could be moved into that orbit, it is
not clear whether the space telescope could work because of drag from
the small amount of the Earth's atmosphere present at that altitude,
he said.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., the ranking minority member of the
Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA's budget, said
in a letter to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on Wednesday that she
was shocked by the decision given the Hubble's extraordinary
contributions to science.

"I ask you to reconsider your decision and appoint an independent
panel of outside experts to fully review and assess all of the issues
surrounding another Hubble servicing mission," Mikulski said.

The 2006 mission was to be the fifth and final mission to the space
telescope before its planned retirement in 2010. The Hubble will
eventually fall out of orbit and crash to Earth, probably in 2011 or
2012.

"We feel that we should consider every conceivable idea to get back
the last four to six years of discovery that Hubble was on the brink
of making," Margon said.

NASA does eventually plan one final mission to Hubble, an as yet
undesigned, unmanned rocket that will guide the space telescope back
to Earth for a fiery crash into the Pacific. NASA originally planned
to use the shuttle to retrieve Hubble and display it at the
Smithsonian.

"That's part of the heartbreak, something is going to have to visit
Hubble anyway," Margon said.




xponent

If You Love Hubble And You Know It Clap Your Hands Maru

rob


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Re: Uplift Timeline

[Alberto Monteiro]

Trent Shipley wrote:
>
> NB! I would like to make contact and all the future fictional dates 100
> years in the future.  The date for human NLS interstellar engines (2061 CE)
> is absurd.  2161CE seems safely remote.
>
I don't think it's absurd - it depends on the rate of space exploration. It
just shows that in some point in the 1980s there was a "cusp" event
that separated the Uplift Timeline from ours :-)

Remember that in the Uplift story, there was an "Indian Summer" at
the end of the XX century, where space exploration boosted with
the foundation of extraterrestrial colonies.

We can only speculate on _what_ we did wrong. Did the USSR fall
too early?

[ok, I promise I will check the other data later]

Alberto Monteiro

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Part of Patriot Act Ruled Unconstitutional

[Robert Seeberger]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040126/D80AP78O0.html

For the first time, a federal judge has declared unconstitutional a
section of the USA Patriot Act that bars giving expert advice or
assistance to groups designated foreign terrorist organizations.
In a ruling handed down late Friday and made available Monday, U.S.
District Judge Audrey Collins said the ban is impermissibly vague in
its wording.

The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing the ruling, spokesman Mark
Corallo said in a statement from Washington.

Corallo called the Patriot Act - the federal anti-terrorism statute
passed in the aftermath of Sept. 11 - "an essential tool in the war on
terror" and asserted that the portion at issue in the ruling was only
a modest amendment to a pre-existing anti-terrorism law.

David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor who argued the case
on behalf of the Humanitarian Law Project, declared the ruling "a
victory for everyone who believes the war on terrorism ought to be
fought consistent with constitutional principles."

"It Is the first federal court decision declaring any part of the
Patriot Act unconstitutional," he said.

The case before the court involved five groups and two U.S. citizens
seeking to provide support for lawful, nonviolent activities on behalf
of Kurdish refugees in Turkey.

The Humanitarian Law Project said the plaintiffs were threatened with
15 years in prison if they advised groups on seeking a peaceful
resolution of the Kurds' campaign for self-determination in Turkey.

The judge's ruling said the law, as written, does not differentiate
between impermissible advice on violence and encouraging the use of
peaceful, nonviolent means to achieve goals.

"The USA Patriot Act places no limitation on the type of expert advice
and assistance which is prohibited and instead bans the provision of
all expert advice and assistance regardless of its nature," the judge
said.

The ruling specified that the plaintiffs seek to provide support to
"the lawful, nonviolent activities" of the Kurdistan Workers' Party
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an advocate group for the
Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Both groups are on a list issued by former
Secretary of State Madeline Albright in 1997 of "foreign terrorist
organizations."

In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tiger rebels have been engaged in a two-decade
civil war that has killed more than 65,000 people. Turkey's military
has been battling Kurdish rebels seeking autonomy since 1984, a fight
that has left some 37,000 people dead.

Under the Patriot Act, the U.S. prohibition on providing "material
support" or "resources" to terrorist groups was expanded to include
"expert advice or assistance."


xponent

What Patriot? Maru

rob


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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Jim Sharkey]

Nick Arnett wrote:
>Or like letting Edward Scissorhands measure your inseam.

He's part tailor, part moil!  :-)

Jim

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Parrot's oratory stuns scientists

[Robert Seeberger]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm

The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to
communicate with people has brought scientists up short.
The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of
950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.

He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel
ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human
child would do.

N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy,
feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine.

N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human
language in the animal world.

About 100 words are needed for half of all reading in English, so if
N'kisi could read he would be able to cope with a wide range of
material.

Polished wordsmith

He uses words in context, with past, present and future tenses, and is
often inventive.

One N'kisi-ism was "flied" for "flew", and another "pretty smell
medicine" to describe the aromatherapy oils used by his owner, an
artist based in New York.

When he first met Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee expert,
after seeing her in a picture with apes, N'kisi said: "Got a chimp?"

He appears to fancy himself as a humourist. When another parrot hung
upside down from its perch, he commented: "You got to put this bird on
the camera."

Dr Goodall says N'kisi's verbal fireworks are an "outstanding example
of interspecies communication".

In an experiment, the bird and his owner were put in separate rooms
and filmed as the artist opened random envelopes containing picture
cards.

Analysis showed the parrot had used appropriate keywords three times
more often than would be likely by chance.

Captives' frustrations

This was despite the researchers discounting responses like "What ya
doing on the phone?" when N'kisi saw a card of a man with a telephone,
and "Can I give you a hug?" with one of a couple embracing.

Professor Donald Broom, of the University of Cambridge's School of
Veterinary Medicine, said: "The more we look at the cognitive
abilities of animals, the more advanced they appear, and the biggest
leap of all has been with parrots."

Alison Hales, of the World Parrot Trust, told BBC News Online:
"N'kisi's amazing vocabulary and sense of humour should make everyone
who has a pet parrot consider whether they are meeting its needs.

"They may not be able to ask directly, but parrots are long-lived, and
a bit of research now could mean an improved quality of life for
years."



xponent

Gray Cheek Gubru Maru

rob


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Re: Moving: Irregulars & book questions

[David Hobby]

Deborah Harrell wrote:
> 
> I'm moving into the foothills this week - a situation
> presented that involves taking care of 5 Arabians and
> their barn, with a caretaker apt (that is at least as
> big as the place I'm in now) attached.
>   Manna from heaven.  Truly.

Wow.  Good for you.

> -Macintosh Performa 6220CD/75  16/1 GB

Don't know...

> -Hewlett Packard Pavillion 6535 "designed for Windows
> 98," w/ Intel Celeron sticker

Hey, don't laugh!  I still use Windows 98.  (It's
familiar, and later versions are not much better for what
I do.)  I bet it would be fine.

> Books-gifts received: to read or not to
> read/keep/move?
> -Greg Bear's _Slant_ (inclined to try unless told to
> toss)

Read.  Pretty good.

---David
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Re: Energy Independence

[Erik Reuter]

On Mon, Jan 26, 2004 at 09:32:39AM -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Note: 1000 MWe utility, at 60% load factor, generates 5.3109 kwh/year,

actually, that would be 5.3 BILLION kWh per year

( or 5.3 x 10^9 kWh per year, Alberto )

> enough for a city of about 1 million people in the U.S.A.
> (Note: MWE is an abbreviation for megawatts-electrical output)

-- 
Erik Reuter   http://www.erikreuter.net/
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Re: Moving: Irregulars & book questions

[Erik Reuter]

On Mon, Jan 26, 2004 at 02:08:02PM -0800, Deborah Harrell wrote:

> Books-gifts received: to read or not to read/keep/move?  -Greg Bear's
> _Slant_ (inclined to try unless told to toss)

It is more or less a sequel to _Queen of Angels_, so you may want to
read that first. They are both worth reading.


-- 
Erik Reuter   http://www.erikreuter.net/
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Scouted: Convenient Crew Handhold Caused Station Air Leak

[Gary Nunn]

Doh !!


Convenient Crew Handhold Caused Station Air Leak

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A poorly designed flexible air hose used by one
too many astronauts as a makeshift handhold caused the recent air leak
at the International Space Station, NASA's top station manager said
Friday. 


http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/exp8_update_040123.html

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Re: Moving: Irregulars & book questions

[Robert Seeberger]

- Original Message - 
From: "Deborah Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "brinl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 4:08 PM
Subject: Moving: Irregulars & book questions


>
> Books-gifts received: to read or not to
> read/keep/move?
> -Greg Bear's _Slant_ (inclined to try unless told to
> toss)

Its quite good once the story gets moving.


> -L. Neil Smith's _Bretta Martyn_ (going to pitch
> unless it gets *significantly* better than the first 3
> chapters - tiresome decadent old lizards with nekkid
> virtual-slave female 'servants' --oh, pu-LEEZ).
>

It would make more sense if you have read Henry Martyn beforehand, but
it is also quite good and shows how good Smith can be when he wants
to.

BTW, Smith lives near Ft Collins, Co. He's a pretty nice guy if you're
not discussing politics or philosophy thereof, but that's not all that
common an occurrence.  (The guy is definitely a "true believer")


xponent
Recommends The Crystal Empire Maru
rob


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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Robert Seeberger]

- Original Message - 
From: "Deborah Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 5:00 PM
Subject: Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.


> Debbi
> When I Googled My Name* Last Week, The Pix Of Darby &
> Me On Steve's Site Were First Maru
>
> *changed from 'Myself' in deference to those who might
> take offense upon casually encountering this post  ;)
>

I suppose that when you have people "Googleing" themselves on a webcam
that is considered porn, and is therefore subject to local standards.



xponent
Copernicer Maru
rob


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RE: how Some Candidates win elections

[Miller, Jeffrey]

> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bryon Daly
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 04:49 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: RE: how Some Candidates win elections
> 
> 
> Kucinich gets the total dis from you.

I would've called him "The Garden Gnome" but that's just me
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Re: Call for help

[Gary Nunn]

> Anyone seen this before?
> I would appreciate any help identifying the inaccuracies in this
> screed so I can cram it right back at 'em. 
> rob
> FW: CONSIDER THIS WHEN WE VOTE IN 2004


Not sure if this will help, but interesting none the less..


http://www.factcheck.org/

Our Mission

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that
aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We
monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political
players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news
releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and
scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.




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The damn Printer Domas.

[Medievalbk]

My IBM 4000 laser printer died. 

The one I use on the old computer.
It may just be a belt. It may easily be fixable.

But the location of the homegrown independent computer printer specialty shop 
has been replaced by, of all things, and Internet gaming company.

So I go looking at new printers.

I shop first, by pricing the cartridges, not the printer.I ain't buying the 
one on sale for $19 after mail in rebate.

So I get a HP 3600.

BUT

I can't instal it on the old computer. It's Windows 95

So I take the HP C6614 printer, oh ye of the more expensive cartridges, off 
of the new computer, and move it to the old because it can run on Windows 95.

Now I can take the new printer and instal it on the newer computer, running 
on Windows ME.

All this so that I can print those damn pdf files Barnes and Noble makes me 
print when I have a book sold.

And the fact that I can't figure out how to transfer a font from one computer 
to the other. I have all my storage room book box labels in an old computer 
font, and house boxes in a new computer font.

I'm about ready to look for the Allen Font.

Well that's it. That's been my day.

I'm going to go grab the Card hardback I got from the Phoenix Lib. sale and 
head for the local buffet.

I'll sit down with soup, cottage cheese, and pears at 3PM, and eat slow 
waiting for 4PM when they bring out the pork ribs and charge everyone who comes at 
4PM two dollars.

except I have to pick up the steak fries by 3:30 because as soon as they 
bring out the steaks for the grill, they no longer serve steak fries.

Ya just can't win.

Go have a better day than what I've been having...

William Taylor
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RE: how Some Candidates win elections

[Bryon Daly]

From: "The Fool" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

So whoizit?  Shrub the Lesser?  Heinz?  General?  Nutbar?  Religious Nut?
 Drawl?
Let's decode the charming nicknames!

Shrub the Lesser ==> Bush, obviously
Heinz ==> Kerry, easy
General ==> Clark, easy
Drawl ==> Edwards
Religious Nut ==> Rev. Al, or Lieberman?   I'm guessing Lieberman.
Nutbar ==> By elimination, I'm guessing this must be Kucinich.
So I take it you're a Dean supporter, Fool?  And judging from the nicknames,
I'm guessing you'd rate Clark and Kerry #2 and #3?  I'm really surprised 
that
Kucinich gets the total dis from you.

_
Learn how to choose, serve, and enjoy wine at Wine @ MSN. 
http://wine.msn.com/

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Re: Peer Review

[Deborah Harrell]

> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >kneem posted-

> >Peer Review Plan Draws Criticism 
> >Under Bush Proposal, OMB Would Evaluate Science
> Before New Rules Take Effect 
> >(snip)
 
 
> I can see the pros and cons of moving to a peer
> review system.  So 
> many groups are moving to "evidence based"
> programming/decision
> making- that in some idealized ways this makes
> sense.  I still have
> nightmarish thoughts that things like open heart
> surgery will be 
> eliminated from insurance plans because there is no
> proof of 
> extending the lifespan (just quality of life).  It
> takes a long time
> to even begin to formulate data in some areas that
> are clearly
> "large effect" things.  I recall the uproar that
> research was 
> stopped midstream on some medical study about women
> and medicine (Debbie might recall-maybe related to
> cancer effects/tamoxifen??). Even thought it broke
> scientific
> study protocol the results were too clear to warrant
> not immediately informing the public, IIRC.   
 

I recall *something* about tamoxifen research, but
will have to check up on it (later!); of course, last
year's study-stoppage because of ill effects from
hormone replacement therapy with PremPro made the news
big-time.  A decade ago, there was a furor over
certain anti-arrhythmic drugs -- they stopped the
study early because the death rate was much higher in
those getting the drug (I think it was encainide or
flecainide).

Debbi

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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Julia Thompson]

"Ronn!Blankenship" wrote:

> so it just goes to show you that posting to lists is like eating a
> whole jar of jalapeno peppers:  it can come back to burn your butt 
> tomorrow . . .

Posting an analogy like that will do it, for one.

Sheesh.

What do I do to get that image out of my head now?  ;)

Julia

participating on a thread about cat fecal material on another mailing
list...
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Moving: Irregulars & book questions

[Deborah Harrell]

I'm moving into the foothills this week - a situation
presented that involves taking care of 5 Arabians and
their barn, with a caretaker apt (that is at least as
big as the place I'm in now) attached.  
  Manna from heaven.  Truly.

So I'm frantically sorting and purging, and must now
ask the computer-saavy here what I should have last
month:
I've been given 2 computers for home use (primarily
I'll use for word processing and a little email, don't
care about games or fancy graphics; use the T1 line at
the office for serious research):

-Macintosh Performa 6220CD/75  16/1 GB
-Hewlett Packard Pavillion 6535 "designed for Windows
98," w/ Intel Celeron sticker

I'm thinking the HP, especially since I haven't worked
with a Mac before - any opinions?  
(Or merely hysterical laughter?  ;} )

Books-gifts received: to read or not to
read/keep/move?
-Greg Bear's _Slant_ (inclined to try unless told to
toss)
-L. Neil Smith's _Bretta Martyn_ (going to pitch
unless it gets *significantly* better than the first 3
chapters - tiresome decadent old lizards with nekkid
virtual-slave female 'servants' --oh, pu-LEEZ).

I will be checking my email every few days, but won't
have time to do much interacting/non-urgent research
until I've completed the move.

TIA-

Debbi
She Who Must Now Pack At Warp Speed Maru   ;)

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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Deborah Harrell]

--- Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Gary, et al,
> 
> Not that there was anything damaging in your
> message, of course, but 
> this reminds me of the old adage, "Never put
> anything in an email that 
> you wouldn't want to hear read aloud in court."

Well, there go the teasing innuendos, clever put-downs
and lots of plain high-spirited silliness...  :P

The 'taking-out-of-context' issue could be a real
problem; Vihlyem (misspelled?) and I 'encountered'
that Tucson woman who snatched a few sentences from a
post, but didn't bother to read them all thoroughly,
or check for our follow-up postings.

Debbi
When I Googled My Name* Last Week, The Pix Of Darby &
Me On Steve's Site Were First Maru

*changed from 'Myself' in deference to those who might
take offense upon casually encountering this post  ;)

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Re: The Captain has passed

[Deborah Harrell]

> Kevin Tarr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>   Montpelier, Vt. -- Long Island native Bob Keeshan,
> who gently entertained 
> and educated generations of children as television's
> walrus-mustachioed 
> Captain Kangaroo, died Friday at 76.
> 
>
http://www.nynewsday.com/ny-kangaroo0123,0,1776938.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left
> 
> Kevin T.
> drop ping-pong balls at the funeral

  And have a talking moose and
silent-yet-expressive bunny rabbit give the eulogy...

Debbi
who remembers avidly watching the Captain until 2nd
grade

Thick Black Glasses Maru

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RE: how Some Candidates win elections

[Miller, Jeffrey]

> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ronn!Blankenship
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 12:24 AM
> To: Killer Bs Discussion
> Subject: Re: how Some Candidates win elections
> 
> 
> At 01:56 AM 1/26/04, The Fool wrote:
> >So whoizit?  Shrub the Lesser?  Heinz?  General?  Nutbar?  
> Religious Nut?
> >  Drawl?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would be unsurprised to learn that the calls had nothing to 
> do with any 
> candidate's campaign, but were a product of some probably 
> young person who 
> also thinks it would be funny to wake people up in the middle 
> of the night 
>

While I would be surprised if it WASN'T a campaign.. but I'd actually attribute it to 
the person who's played some of the dirtier phone-bank tricks in the last 4 years.. 
not to any of the running Democrats.

Hey, if you've got money to burn, you might as well light a fire.

-j-
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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Nick Arnett]

Ronn!Blankenship wrote:
...
posting to 
lists is like eating a whole jar of jalapeno peppers:  it can come back 
to burn your butt tomorrow . . .
Or like letting Edward Scissorhands measure your inseam.

Nick

--
Nick Arnett
Director, Business Intelligence Services
LiveWorld Inc.
Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Ronn!Blankenship]

At 11:40 AM 1/26/04, Dave Land wrote:
Gary, et al,

Not that there was anything damaging in your message, of course, but this 
reminds me of the old adage, "Never put anything in an email that you 
wouldn't want to hear read aloud in court."


As I've explained earlier, the reason I recently started using that 
copyright notice that apparently made Dan very nervous (not at all my 
intent) was because something like five years ago a guy on another list 
made a comment which was intended to be humorous (I personally didn't find 
it all that ROTFLOL funny, but others did:  it was, I suppose, one of those 
YMMV things).  Two years ago, someone dug through the archives of that list 
apparently looking for something incriminating, and, using a pseudonym, 
forwarded that comment to the employers of the guy who made it.  They were 
apparently even less amused by it than I was, as they put him on probation 
for the past couple of years, and, although they continued to renew his 
contract every year, they never told him how he could get the probation 
lifted, and a couple of months ago called him in and told him he could 
either accept early retirement (after 35 years of service, about 2 years 
before he was scheduled to retire) with a reduced pension and benefits or 
be fired with no pension or benefits.  As I said then, people here have 
made comments about others which were at least as offensive as, if not 
worse than, the comment he made, and I myself have certainly made my share 
of so-called humorous remarks which were no worse than his comment, so it 
just goes to show you that posting to lists is like eating a whole jar of 
jalapeno peppers:  it can come back to burn your butt tomorrow . . .



-- Ronn!  :)

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Re: Brin-L archives searchable - a real life example.

[Dave Land]

Gary, et al,

Not that there was anything damaging in your message, of course, but 
this reminds me of the old adage, "Never put anything in an email that 
you wouldn't want to hear read aloud in court."

Dave


 David M. Land [EMAIL PROTECTED] 408-551-0427
 Connect to the Conversation -- Identify Influencers, Topics and Trends
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Re: Bone Phone

[Reggie Bautista]

rob posted:

>
http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2004/01/21/1074360813226.html
>
> Japanese telecom carriers, pioneers of internet-capable and
> picture-snapping handsets, have now come up with the world's first
> mobile phone that enables users to listen to calls inside their
> heads - by conducting sound through bone.

I couldn't find any links with the exact stats, but I remember reading
somewhere that a lot (5% to 10%) of our regular hearing is conducted through
our bones to our ears.  Something like 1% of what we hear comes originally
from our breastbone, and somewhat higher percentages come from our
cheekbones and forehead.  These numbers are all from memory -- perhaps one
of the medically inclined folks on the list might be able to get better (and
more up-to-date) numbers for this?

Also, here's an article about a very similar (but IMO much funnier) phone...

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/4414.html

 Go go gadget finger-phone!
 By: Anthony Newman, Friday 12th December 2003, 12:04 GMT

 NTT DoCoMo continue research into sticking fingers in ears at the
 cutting edge of telecoms.

 Japanese cellular provider NTT DoCoMo, pioneers of advanced
 phone features, have managed to create a handset - if one can call
 it that - to redefine the whole telephonic paradigm.

 The FingerWhisper comes close to replicating the instinctive gesture
 for 'call me': little finger at the lips, thumb up to the ear. With the
 DoCoMo design, the user wears a wristwatch which contains the
 phone and its microphone.

 The really interesting bit is that the voice of the caller is
transmitted
 through bone induction by the wristband, and carried to the bones
 of the ear by the wearer's finger. Stick finger in ear, hear voice in
head.

 This is a big step in reducing the size of the handset while not
 compromising voice quality. It also claims to solve issues of hearing
 callers in noisy environments by completely bypassing the ambient
 environment, and also removes the need for buttons, replacing them
 with a morse code-like system of tapping for the execution of phone
 functions.

 The only issue, of course, is how to pass a call over to a friend.

Reggie Bautista


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Re: Toddler Television

[Julia Thompson]

Gary Nunn wrote:

> The snow storm has started - so far one inch on the ground.

Thank you for reminding me why I left New England.  :)

Julia

p.s. what's your take on Sesame Street and Between the Lions?
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Re: how Some Candidates win elections

[Jan Coffey]

Thanks for responding in a manner that did not require minutes of 
scrolling and reading to figure out what portion of the message is 
new content provided by you

It would be nice if others were as curtious.

However, I am not so sure that these early morning calls are not in 
some way connected to another campaign. The NH DA should look into it 
just in case.

Jan

--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Ronn!Blankenship 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 01:56 AM 1/26/04, The Fool wrote:
> >So whoizit?  Shrub the Lesser?  Heinz?  General?  Nutbar?  
Religious Nut?
> >  Drawl?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would be unsurprised to learn that the calls had nothing to do 
with any 
> candidate's campaign, but were a product of some probably young 
person who 
> also thinks it would be funny to wake people up in the middle of 
the night 
> to ask them if their refrigerator is running . . .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >
> >
> 
>< >6273>>
> >
> >Fake Campaign Calls in NH
> >
> >It appears that in NH people are phoning residents in the wee 
hours of
> >the morning and claiming to be from the Dean campaign and 
encouraging
> >them to vote. Lovely 4am wakeup call.
> >
> >Here's an individual story.
> >Here's the statement from the New Hampshire Dean campaign:
> >
> >
> >Statement from State Director Karen Hicks
> >Posted by Timothy Jones
> >on Sun, 01/25/2004, 12:50 pm
> >
> >Today, Karen Hicks, Dean For America's New Hampshire State 
Director, made
> >the following statement:
> >
> >"In recent days, our campaign has been hearing reports from New 
Hampshire
> >voters that they are receiving:
> >
> >* phone calls early in the morning and late at night;
> >* "robo calls" from soulless machines, not calls from considerate 
people;
> >* calls claiming to originate from the Dean campaign, but do not;
> >* and even harassing calls and bigoted messages.
> >
> >Let me be very clear. The Dean campaign does not call New 
Hampshire homes
> >before 8:30 am or after 8:30 pm. Our calls are made by respectful 
people,
> >not droning machines. Our callers tell the truth.
> >
> >We call on the other campaigns to make the same commitments.
> >
> >We are grateful for the extraordinary engagement of New Hampshire's
> >people in this race. But our campaign believes that everyone 
deserves
> >some peace, some respect, and a truthful message."
> >
> >___
> >http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
> 
> -- Ronn!  :)
> 
> 
> ___
> http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l

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RE: Energy Independence

[ChadCooper]

> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1) What are the costs and benefits of energy taxation as a 
> means to reduce 
> demand for strategic independence?

The government would get more revenue. I can't believe it would do much,
other than inhibit economic growth artificially. I don't see a big backlash
to suv's costing so much in gas. People don't seem to mind dropping $50 a
fillup. What's another $5 (from a 10% tax, which would never be tolerated).
It would hurt the trucking industry at a time where manufacturing is down,
and costs are up, expecially with the cost of federal safety and
environmental regulations that get passed on to the shipping industry.  

Now there is in place a tax CREDIT for the development of renewable power
plants (10%). This made renewable sources able to compete against coal, gas,
and oil plants for electricity production in terms of costs and profit. 

This tax credit expired last month... A failure of the Bush administration
to get a energy policy passed.



> 
> 2) Is there any hope that research would produce a substitute 
> for petroleum 
> and natural gas based alternatives?  (My suspicion is that 
> this is where it 
> falls down, that energy experts [read oil economists and 
> executives] believe 
> that natural gas and crude are the only viable energy sources. 

We have had this discussion before. The primary problem is our voracious
need for energy. Oil is the easiest, cheapest way to get energy. Renewable
sources only provide about 6.7% of the energy we need.  This is growing at
.1 % per year. At that rate, it will take a long time before renewables are
dominant. 


>From http://physics.syr.edu/courses/modules/ENERGY/ENERGY_POLICY/tables.html

Energy Content of Fuels (in Joules)
Energy Unit Joules Equivalent (S.I.) 

pound of coal1.6 x 10^7  
pound of gasoline2.2 x 10^7  
pound of oil 2.4 x 10^7  
Pound of Uranium-235 3.7 x 10^13 


Fuel Requirements for a 1000-MWe Power Plant 
(2.4 10^11 Btu/day energy input) 




Coal: 9000 tons/day of 1 "unit train load" (100 90 - ton cars/day) 
Oil: 40,000 bbl/day or 1 tanker per week (note: "bbl" means barrels) 
Natural Gas: 2.4 l0^8 SCF/day 
Uranium (as 235U): 3 kg/day

Note: 1000 MWe utility, at 60% load factor, generates 5.3109 kwh/year,
enough for a city of about 1 million people in the U.S.A.
(Note: MWE is an abbreviation for megawatts-electrical output)



> 
> 2a) What about coal gas coversion? 

See chart above: No process to convert coal to gas will increase the power
output. You may get a more efficient conversion if the coal was in gasous
form, but you have to spend energy to do so. Its biggest benefit is
environmental, not economic or political.

There are also issues with little infrastructure to create, distribute and
handle new synthetic fuels, compared to gasoline. Coal Gas is being pursued
primarily because domestic production of oil is down, combined with world
production dwindling, may result in shortages in the near future. It is
looked upon as a reactive measure to provide energy in the case where there
is not enough oil. Maybe in a couple of decades


BTW... Fusion experts now confidently state that with sufficent funding,
they can have a fusion powerplant providing electricity to the powergrid in
35 years (sigh)

Nerd From Hell


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> 

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Re: how Some Candidates win elections

[Ronn!Blankenship]

At 01:56 AM 1/26/04, The Fool wrote:
So whoizit?  Shrub the Lesser?  Heinz?  General?  Nutbar?  Religious Nut?
 Drawl?




I would be unsurprised to learn that the calls had nothing to do with any 
candidate's campaign, but were a product of some probably young person who 
also thinks it would be funny to wake people up in the middle of the night 
to ask them if their refrigerator is running . . .






<>
Fake Campaign Calls in NH

It appears that in NH people are phoning residents in the wee hours of
the morning and claiming to be from the Dean campaign and encouraging
them to vote. Lovely 4am wakeup call.
Here's an individual story.
Here's the statement from the New Hampshire Dean campaign:
Statement from State Director Karen Hicks
Posted by Timothy Jones
on Sun, 01/25/2004, 12:50 pm
Today, Karen Hicks, Dean For America's New Hampshire State Director, made
the following statement:
"In recent days, our campaign has been hearing reports from New Hampshire
voters that they are receiving:
* phone calls early in the morning and late at night;
* "robo calls" from soulless machines, not calls from considerate people;
* calls claiming to originate from the Dean campaign, but do not;
* and even harassing calls and bigoted messages.
Let me be very clear. The Dean campaign does not call New Hampshire homes
before 8:30 am or after 8:30 pm. Our calls are made by respectful people,
not droning machines. Our callers tell the truth.
We call on the other campaigns to make the same commitments.

We are grateful for the extraordinary engagement of New Hampshire's
people in this race. But our campaign believes that everyone deserves
some peace, some respect, and a truthful message."
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how Some Candidates win elections

[The Fool]

So whoizit?  Shrub the Lesser?  Heinz?  General?  Nutbar?  Religious Nut?
 Drawl?


<>

Fake Campaign Calls in NH 

It appears that in NH people are phoning residents in the wee hours of
the morning and claiming to be from the Dean campaign and encouraging
them to vote. Lovely 4am wakeup call.

Here's an individual story.
Here's the statement from the New Hampshire Dean campaign:


Statement from State Director Karen Hicks
Posted by Timothy Jones
on Sun, 01/25/2004, 12:50 pm

Today, Karen Hicks, Dean For America's New Hampshire State Director, made
the following statement:

"In recent days, our campaign has been hearing reports from New Hampshire
voters that they are receiving:

* phone calls early in the morning and late at night;
* "robo calls" from soulless machines, not calls from considerate people;
* calls claiming to originate from the Dean campaign, but do not;
* and even harassing calls and bigoted messages. 

Let me be very clear. The Dean campaign does not call New Hampshire homes
before 8:30 am or after 8:30 pm. Our calls are made by respectful people,
not droning machines. Our callers tell the truth.

We call on the other campaigns to make the same commitments.

We are grateful for the extraordinary engagement of New Hampshire's
people in this race. But our campaign believes that everyone deserves
some peace, some respect, and a truthful message."

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