Re: Definition of SF
JDG wrote (belatedly): At 08:19 AM 8/25/2004 -0700 Nick Arnett wrote: Doesn't science fiction require *fictitious* science, i.e., stuff that hasn't been discovered/invented yet? This would eliminate novels like _Alas, Babylon_, _On the Beach_, and _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ - which I would be uncomfortable with. I guess the first question that would need to be answered is, does speculative fiction exist as a separate genre for or as a subset genre of science fiction. My preference would be for the latter - science fiction includes any speculative fiction about the future, as well as any fiction involving outer space or alien life forms.Of course, this definition would make things like _Red Storm Rising_ and Isaac Asimov's short story about sugar-based aliens part of the science fiction genre, but I don't have a problem with that. - I think the three post-nuclear war novels you list are definitely SF, unless you discount the soft science of psychology, sociology etc. I thought the sugar-based aliens story was by Ray Bradbury, but its been so long since I read it, I'm not sure. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Open-Shop,
- Original Message - From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 9:31 PM Subject: Re: Open-Shop, Closed-ShopRe: What are the real rules? and a bit on unions Dan Minette wrote: - Original Message - From: John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 8:43 AM Subject: Open-Shop, Closed-ShopRe: What are the real rules? and a bit on unions At 11:29 PM 9/17/2004 -0500 Dan Minette wrote: If you were to argue that open shop laws hurts workers, then I'd agree with you. I woudl also argue that closed-shop rules hurt workers, by making them bound to a Union which may or may not represent their interests and violates their freedom of association. They can always work elsewhere, that's what people who oppose their work contributing to campaign contributions of the owners are told. I work in an open shop, and under a legal prohibition against striking, and our union has managed to negotiate some of the most favorable benefits in the federal government. Federal employees are in a very unique situation. They can influence the people in charge of the entity they work for in a way that no other employees can. This has a lot to do with Federal employees being the only area for union growth now..., bucking the trend of unions dropping from about a third to about an eight of the workforce. If you look at the history of the labor unions, you will see that nothing was gained in private industry just by an open shop union asking pretty please. Rather, unions were able to negotiate good wages when they had the ability to adversely affect the profitability of their employers if they refused. Strikes have long been the tool used to do this. Lets look at an open shop with a strike. A union, which represents 60% of the employees goes on strike. The other 40%, who are not in the union, aren't part of the strike...pretty well by definition. If the strike is successful, they are in a win-win situation...they get the wages and benefits won by the strike and they kept on working. If the strike fails, they are no worse off than before, and are considered more reliable workers by the management than the troublesome union workers. Thus, the union workers will be the first to be laid off...in an open shop/right to work state, if the management understands enlightened self interestand most do. It is often a little more complicated than that. In the recent CWA strike, non-union workers tended to honor picket lines. Why? Because it is their pocketbook being affected too. (At the time of the strike I had been eating lunch at the CWA local every work day for three years or so) Do people who refuse to cross picket lines sit at home without income, or do they often find work at other sites until the strike is over? I'd be surprised if a non-union worker would do without pay for weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if they just crossed that site off their list and went elsewhere. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Mt. St. Helens On Eruption Watch
From: Russell Chapman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Mt. St. Helens On Eruption Watch Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 11:11:11 +1000 Travis Edmunds wrote: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20040927/helens.html Sept. 30, 2004 U.S. geologists warned Wednesday that a surge in seismic activity at Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington could spark a volcano eruption. Gosh - I hope not - it is one of the centrepieces of my Christmas holiday plans, along with Rainier and some other spots in the Cascades. Chartering a plane to go hunting for flying saucers? -Travis Kenneth Arnold, 1947 Edmunds _ Powerful Parental Controls Let your child discover the best the Internet has to offer. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-capage=byoa/premxAPID=1994DI=1034SU=http://hotmail.com/encaHL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN® Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Job growth by president
From: Robert G. Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Job growth by president Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 18:54:47 -0500 http://www.sagarmatha.com/jobs2.gif Sagarmatha. Isn't that the Nepali name for Mt. Everest? -Travis _ Don't just Search. Find! http://search.sympatico.msn.ca/default.aspx The new MSN Search! Check it out! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: This World In Arms
From: Doug Pensinger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: This World In Arms Date: Sat, 02 Oct 2004 16:20:17 -0700 On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 15:31:08 -0400, John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 12:19 PM 10/2/2004 -0700 Dave Land wrote: Republicans were different then. Ahem. As were Democrats. The difference being that the Dems are _better_ now. Personally, I'm all about the Marijuana Party of Canada. But that's just me. -Travis they're strongest in British Columbia Edmunds _ Take charge with a pop-up guard built on patented Microsoft® SmartScreen Technology. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-capage=byoa/premxAPID=1994DI=1034SU=http://hotmail.com/encaHL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN® Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br!n: Re: The opinion of heaven?
From: David Brin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Brin: Re: The opinion of heaven? Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 17:38:55 -0700 (PDT) As for lecturing me about schaedenfreude. again, it is your fearless leader who openly supports an idological movement that officially looks forward to 150,000 people getting a special pass to heaven, then millions suffering in a pre-ordained stage show battle, and the BILLIONS being cast down to roast in hell. That is quite the revelation... -Travis _ Take advantage of powerful junk e-mail filters built on patented Microsoft® SmartScreen Technology. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-capage=byoa/premxAPID=1994DI=1034SU=http://hotmail.com/encaHL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN® Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Mount St. Helens cam
Gary Nunn wrote: Mount St. Helens cam Updated every 5 minutes... http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/ I've been watching it for the last few days... the server often can't keep up, so it becomes necessary to reload manually. Apparently now that the warning level is 3, the camera is unattended. Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br!n: Re: The opinion of heaven?
John D. Giorgis wrote: I thought it was the far-right, fundamentalists who propose that the Left Behind series reflects Christian doctrine and theology. I am most definitely not one of them; the popularity of those books disturbs me. First off, when did the Left Behind series become an ideological movement? That's not what I said. I was describing a group of people who seem to think those books reflect Christian doctine and theology. Call 'em rapture freaks or end-times fanatics... but I think there's a group out there that David was describing. Secondly, subsequent to becoming an ideological movement, when did it start adopting official positions? Dr. Brin's emphasis of the terms ideological movement and officially strongly hinted to me that he wasn't referring to something as nebulous as readers of the Left Behind series who also take such books literally - but instead must be referring to a group large enough to take, quote, official positions. The group of Christians would match the terms ideological movement and officially much better. Yes, if one takes them out of context and ignores the reality that people use the word official to mean more than one thing. And that is my official opinion. Secondly, since when did President Bush become a far-right fundamentalist who propose(s) that the 'Left Behind' series reflect Christian doctrine and theology? Again, George W. Bush, quote, openly supports, Christianity he does not openly support the Left Behind movement so far as I know. There's a movement? Does it have official positions? ;-) Did you realize that Tim Lahaye, one of the Left Behind authors, is and has long been a very politically active person and helped put Bush in office? Many consider him the primary organizer behind the extreme politics of Falwell, etc. He was doing that long before the books. The White House won't say if Bush has read the books. Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br!n: Re: The opinion of heaven?
At 08:17 AM 10/4/2004 -0700 Nick Arnett wrote: The White House won't say if Bush has read the books. But this isn't what Dr. Brin said, now is it? As for lecturing me about schaedenfreude. again, it is your fearless leader who openly supports an idological movement that officially looks forward to 150,000 people getting a special pass to heaven, then millions suffering in a pre-ordained stage show battle, and the BILLIONS being cast down to roast in hell. He said openly supports an ideological movement.So, maybe you and I can both agree that what Dr. Brin said so vociferously was patently false? I would also note that President Bush has been very open about his Christianity. Moreover, as Dan Minette has noted, the open expressions of this Christianity have, if anything, been indicative of someone who is not a member of the rather tiny millenialist movement among evangelical Christians. JDG ___ John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity. - George W. Bush 1/29/03 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Debate
- Original Message - From: Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 4:35 PM Subject: Re: Debate Apparently - the most recent polls have Kerry winning the debate but (at least the ones I've seen) not making up any ground in the actual polls. I've been a little distracted, so I'm certainly not as informed as I'd like to be. We won't really know until about 72 hours after the debate, when the first round of spinning is over. It's now a bit over 72 hours, and the results seem to be that Kerry has pulled from about 6 points down into a tie. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Debate
At 11:18 AM 10/4/2004 -0500 Dan Minette wrote: It's now a bit over 72 hours, and the results seem to be that Kerry has pulled from about 6 points down into a tie. I'm very curious as to what tonight's ABC News/Wash Post will show for that reason. I don't put much stock in the Time or Newsweek polls that were out this weekend, and the Gallup poll - while one of the best the week before an election, is notorious for its exaggerated swings in the leadup months. Time and Newsweek polls, which have to poll earlier due to their publication schedules, also were the only ones to show a bounce following the Democratic National Convention. In other words, all the polls we have seen so far use methodologies that tend to produce swing, so these results are hardly unexpected.While Rasmussen showed Bush +3, I don't put much stock in that poll either, as the robot-calling method remains untested. Unfortunately tonights ABC/Wash Post poll is a tracking poll, so isn't necessarily comparable to their earlier results. I'm still very interested, just since there isn't much else to go on. JDG ___ John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity. - George W. Bush 1/29/03 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br!n: Re: The opinion of heaven?
On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 08:17:13 -0700, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Did you realize that Tim Lahaye, one of the Left Behind authors, is and has long been a very politically active person and helped put Bush in office? Many consider him the primary organizer behind the extreme politics of Falwell, etc. He was doing that long before the books. The White House won't say if Bush has read the books. Given that, from what I've heard, Bush doesn't tend to read, period, I think it somewhat unlikely that he's read those particular books. A few years ago, I visited my parents-in-law, who attend a Pentecostal-type church. Before the service, someone came up to my mother-in-law and was going on about the first book, and how everyone should read it. The way she talked about it creeped me out a bit. I have since received the first two books as gifts (from someone else) and have not read either yet. They're pretty far down on my list. Maybe in 2007 or 2008, I might get to the first one ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bush Blows Debate: Talks to Rove in Earpiece!
On Oct 3, 2004, at 3:24 PM, Doug Pensinger wrote: Erik wrote: On Sun, Oct 03, 2004 at 04:37:38PM -0500, Robert G. Seeberger wrote: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=3562 During the Presidential Debate Bush made what may be his most costly error- he exposed that hes using an earpiece to help him answer debate questions. In the middle of an answer bush said, now let me finish as if someone was interrupting him - yet nobody did - he was talking to the person in his earpiece. When I heard that, my guess was that Kerry made had just made some contrary facial expression or hand motion (I couldn't see Kerry when Bush made the comment). Did anyone who COULD see Kerry notice what Kerry did just before Bush's remark? I don't suppose that that is out of the question, but unless Bush actually glanced over at Kerry it's hard to believe that he saw a gesture. I can't get to the video, apparently CSPAN is pretty popular at the moment, is there another site that has the video avalilable? From the CSPAN video, it doesn't appear that he was talking to Kerry, but to the host. I don't know which camera was covering him at that moment, but It appeared to be pretty close to straight in front of Bush's podium, which would have put it somewhere behind the host, audience-right. In my experience (I've worked in live TV), people who speak to their earpiece generally address a point above and behind themselves on the side in which the earpiece is installed, usually the right. When bush points to whomever it is he's addressing, it seems to be directly below the camera. If he wanted to address Kerry, he would have pointed off-camera, frame-right. Dave ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
X-Prize Won!
It seems as if Burt Rutan has been successful in his quest to win the X-Prize. http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aerospacedaily_story.jsp? id=news/xpri09304.xml Could this be the beginning of a new era for spaceflight? john get me a ticket maru ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: This World In Arms
On Oct 2, 2004, at 4:20 PM, Doug Pensinger wrote: On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 15:31:08 -0400, John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 12:19 PM 10/2/2004 -0700 Dave Land wrote: Republicans were different then. Ahem. As were Democrats. The difference being that the Dems are _better_ now. That is the point I was making. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
X-Prize
here is the link i should have sent http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/technology/04CND-SPAC.html?hp john ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: X-Prize Won!
Could this be the beginning of a new era for spaceflight? Sure do hope so. As I've always maintained the true advances in space exploration will come about through the pursuit of the almighty dollar rather than the heady pursuit of science, or just because its there. But I think that's a GOOD thing! get me a ticket maru You have $200K. Can I have some? :P Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: Legends Aussie Centurion Mk.5/1 __ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Definition of SF
At 05:55 AM Monday 10/4/04, G. D. Akin wrote: JDG wrote (belatedly): At 08:19 AM 8/25/2004 -0700 Nick Arnett wrote: Doesn't science fiction require *fictitious* science, i.e., stuff that hasn't been discovered/invented yet? This would eliminate novels like _Alas, Babylon_, _On the Beach_, and _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ - which I would be uncomfortable with. I guess the first question that would need to be answered is, does speculative fiction exist as a separate genre for or as a subset genre of science fiction. My preference would be for the latter - science fiction includes any speculative fiction about the future, as well as any fiction involving outer space or alien life forms.Of course, this definition would make things like _Red Storm Rising_ and Isaac Asimov's short story about sugar-based aliens part of the science fiction genre, but I don't have a problem with that. - I think the three post-nuclear war novels you list are definitely SF, unless you discount the soft science of psychology, sociology etc. I thought the sugar-based aliens story was by Ray Bradbury, but its been so long since I read it, I'm not sure. Nope. Asimov. One of his many stories in the shaggy-dog genre. -- Ronn! :) Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever. -- Konstantin E. Tsiolkovskiy ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
David said: Do any of you have a favorite blog site that works well, is easy to set up and performs as promised? It's not a blog site, but if you have a proper account somewhere that lets you run perl then I can recommend the Movable Type weblog publishing system. I've been using it to publish my own weblog for almost two years and have never had any difficulty with it. As I'm borrowing the account that's running Sharp Blue I can't offer you hosting there, but I can set up a test blog that you can use to play with the software if that would help your choice. Rich ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Definition of SF
On Oct 2, 2004, at 3:41 PM, JDG wrote: At 08:19 AM 8/25/2004 -0700 Nick Arnett wrote: Doesn't science fiction require *fictitious* science, i.e., stuff that hasn't been discovered/invented yet? This would eliminate novels like _Alas, Babylon_, _On the Beach_, and _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ - which I would be uncomfortable with. Actually wouldn't _Leibowitz_ still make it under the SF bar? In the last section there's a kind of diaspora or colonization that takes place off Earth in spacecraft. All I recall of _Babylon_ -- it's been years -- was that one of the characters was obsessed with tobacco. Civilization lay in ruins and billions were dead but he was worrying about stuffing his pipe ... which might have been Frank's point. Never read the third. But if we're looking at apocalyptic fiction, what about films like _Failsafe_ or _Dr. Strangelove_ (which, I've always believes, is more accurate a picture of government than most non-satirical movies)? It's all very good drama but I don't know if I'd call it SF unless one means 'speculative fiction -- which one could argue *all* fiction is. ;) -- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress The Seven-Year Mirror http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
On Oct 4, 2004, at 2:03 PM, d.brin wrote: Do any of you have a favorite blog site that works well, is easy to set up and performs as promised? I've had little (uh, actually no) trouble with blogspot.com. If you're on OSX there's even freeware you can use to write your articles locally and post them when you're ready to make them live. Tres convenient. -- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress The Seven-Year Mirror http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: X-Prize Won!
At 12:59 PM Monday 10/4/04, John Garcia wrote: It seems as if Burt Rutan has been successful in his quest to win the X-Prize. http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aerospacedaily_story.jsp? id=news/xpri09304.xml Could this be the beginning of a new era for spaceflight? Anyone note the significance of the date? -- Ronn! :) Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever. -- Konstantin E. Tsiolkovskiy ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Good news, bad news . . .
My stepbrother got married this weekend. (Not technically -- they had really gotten secretly married over a year ago but hadn't told anybody.) His son was supposed to be his best man, but didn't show up. They found him later in his hotel room, dead from an apparent accidental overdose. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Open-Shop,
Dan Minette wrote: - Original Message - From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 9:31 PM Subject: Re: Open-Shop, Closed-ShopRe: What are the real rules? and a bit on unions Dan Minette wrote: - Original Message - From: John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 8:43 AM Subject: Open-Shop, Closed-ShopRe: What are the real rules? and a bit on unions At 11:29 PM 9/17/2004 -0500 Dan Minette wrote: If you were to argue that open shop laws hurts workers, then I'd agree with you. I woudl also argue that closed-shop rules hurt workers, by making them bound to a Union which may or may not represent their interests and violates their freedom of association. They can always work elsewhere, that's what people who oppose their work contributing to campaign contributions of the owners are told. I work in an open shop, and under a legal prohibition against striking, and our union has managed to negotiate some of the most favorable benefits in the federal government. Federal employees are in a very unique situation. They can influence the people in charge of the entity they work for in a way that no other employees can. This has a lot to do with Federal employees being the only area for union growth now..., bucking the trend of unions dropping from about a third to about an eight of the workforce. If you look at the history of the labor unions, you will see that nothing was gained in private industry just by an open shop union asking pretty please. Rather, unions were able to negotiate good wages when they had the ability to adversely affect the profitability of their employers if they refused. Strikes have long been the tool used to do this. Lets look at an open shop with a strike. A union, which represents 60% of the employees goes on strike. The other 40%, who are not in the union, aren't part of the strike...pretty well by definition. If the strike is successful, they are in a win-win situation...they get the wages and benefits won by the strike and they kept on working. If the strike fails, they are no worse off than before, and are considered more reliable workers by the management than the troublesome union workers. Thus, the union workers will be the first to be laid off...in an open shop/right to work state, if the management understands enlightened self interestand most do. It is often a little more complicated than that. In the recent CWA strike, non-union workers tended to honor picket lines. Why? Because it is their pocketbook being affected too. (At the time of the strike I had been eating lunch at the CWA local every work day for three years or so) Do people who refuse to cross picket lines sit at home without income, or do they often find work at other sites until the strike is over? I'd be surprised if a non-union worker would do without pay for weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if they just crossed that site off their list and went elsewhere. Now that I'm thinking about it, as I recall, SBC sent *everyone* home for the duration of the strike (3 days IIRC). Management had to man the posts for the duration, and even some non-members were hanging around the union hall and had to be asked to leave (as were we union electricians who ate lunch there) because a round of negotiations were to take place in the hall that afternoon. As to your question, non-union open shop members who honor pickets do exactly what union open shop members do when there is a strike on. It is not like there is some artificial distinction that causes different needs for different groups. Some union situations are exactly the way you have described and others the way I described in regards to open shops. It is determined by the nature of the contract the union has with a company. In the case of my union (IBEW), even though Texas is a Right To Work state, contractors who are signatory with the IBEW can hire only union labor (Except under special circumstances). But then, we have no right to strike either because that is also part of the contract with NECA. I sorta let my point drift away in the previous post while writing my example,G, but basically, there are quite a few very different setups for union labor regardless of the State. It kind of helps to know the background of a particular example and how it differs from other situations, because generalities do not always apply to the situations a person is most familiar with. How Things Work is very dependent on the wording of the contract between a union and a company. State and Federal laws just do not tell the entire story. xponent Collective Bargaining Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: X-Prize Won!
In a message dated 10/4/2004 3:07:25 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Anyone note the significance of the date? Broderick Crawford Day? Vilyehm Teighlore ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
d.brin wrote: With a major political salvo about to be posted (I'll let you all see it first), I feel I had better finally bite the bullet and set up a blog for public discussion. Unfortunately, I've just wasted several hours trying to get blogs set up at both livejournal.com and blogger.com Both efforts raised blood pressure without offering any success. Maybe it's the fact that I use a Macintosh (that should not matter), but with both Netscape and Explorer both sites were simply unusable and atrocious. Do any of you have a favorite blog site that works well, is easy to set up and performs as promised? Thanks. Dan has a blog at his own domain, using Moveable Type as the blogging software. He's very happy with it. I don't know who's hosting his domain (I know one hoster that *isn't*, but that's a tale for another day), but wherever it is that he's having it hosted, everything he wants to do there is doable. If you'd like for me to put him in touch with you about it, let me know, I'm sure he'd be happy to get you information about it. (I'll share the domain name with anyone who asks off-list.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
L. Gordon Cooper, 1927-2004
Another of the original _Mercury_ astronauts is gone: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/oct/HQ_04335_cooper_dies.html ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
An Emulation Sensation
http://www.click2houston.com/technology/3741612/detail.html?treets=houtml=hou_digsts=Ttmi=hou_digs_1_03150110042004 http://tinyurl.com/3l93o A startup claims it has created software that lets programs run on any operating systemand any processorwithout slowing down. Is the hype for real this time?The topic of program emulation is not something that will light a fire in many peoples hearts, or put a spark in their eyes. But run the topic by IT professionals and youll likely see a glimmer of hopefollowed by a dismissive wave. Theyre enchanted by the promise of the technology, but havent exactly been thrilled with the offerings to date. Big promises, piddling results.Software emulatorssoftware that allows another piece of software to run on hardware for which it was not originally intendedhave been an elusive goal for the computing industry for almost 30 years. The ability to port software to multiple hardware configurations is something companies such as IBM, Intel, and Sun Microsystems are constantly working on. Software emulators do exist today, but most are narrowly focused, allowing one particular program to run on one other processor type. Sometimes, performance suffers with the use of an emulator. It was with a shock, then, that I read the announcement by tiny Transitive Software of a new product, Quick Transit, that it claims allows software applications compiled for one processor and operating system to run on another processor and operating system without any source code or binary changes. My first thoughts went straight to the heart of the Linux/Microsoft battle. Could this software emulator be used to run Microsoft programs on Linux? And wouldnt that be inviting the full wrath of the Microsoft legal team? I called the Los Gatos, CA-based startup to learn more and ended up talking with CEO Bob Wiederhold, who spoke from Manchester, England, home of the companys engineering offices. Wiederhold immediately dashed my grander ideas. If we tried to run Windows programs on a Linux platform, Microsoft would be upset, Wiederhold said. Thats not what were trying to do. Wiederholds initial goals are less incendiary, but could bring about big changes in the way companies manage their technology assets. Whats more, the technology could eventually drift down to the consumer level, where it could allow older video games to play on newer versions of game platforms (such as Microsofts Xbox, or Sony Playstation). The initial target market for the product, however, is large computer makers. Wiederhold says Quick Transit has been in development for nine years, and that its the first software emulator that works with a broad array of processors with minimal performance degradation. Typically, software emulatorswhen they do worksuffer performance hits; a cursor arrow struggles to move across the screen, or there's a two-second delay after clicking on a file menu before the dialogue box opens. Analysts who have seen Quick Transit report that it exhibits no such degradation. The release has generated some buzz, along with doubts. People are excited, says Wiederhold. But theres also quite a bit of skepticism surrounding the announcement. That was expected. We claim to have made a pretty big breakthrough and dont think people will believe it until they can see the [shipping version]. Transitive claims it has six companies signed up for the product, but declined to identify them; Wiederhold says the first customer announcement will come in the next couple of months. If the product actually does what Transitive claims it can do, it could have a big impact. Among the biggest expenses and headaches for IT departments today are the management of servers, the migration of software, and hardware upgrades. Businesses often hold off on upgrading or switching servers because of the time and cost involved with migrating their software to the new hardware. A product such as Quick Transit could make the migration much easier and less costly. Another potential benefit could be an increased ability for IT staffs to consolidate servers. IT departments often run multiple servers, each for a specific tasktheres a file server, a mail server, and so forth. These servers are often vastly underutilized, not running near their capacity. A program such as Quick Transit could enable a single server to run multiple tasks, reducing the management hassle and budget overhead from running multiple units. Astute readers will notice a lot of could and potentially and might in this story. Software emulators such as Quick Transit have had high hypes only to deliver poorly. And with Transitive keeping the unveiling restricted to a handful of analysts until its first customer ships, you cant get much more definitive than that. I trust the analysts I spoke with for the story, having known them for years. And theyre aware of the broken promises software emulators have left in the past. Thats what makes
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
d.brin wrote: With a major political salvo about to be posted (I'll let you all see it first), I feel I had better finally bite the bullet and set up a blog for public discussion. Unfortunately, I've just wasted several hours trying to get blogs set up at both livejournal.com and blogger.com Both efforts raised blood pressure without offering any success. Maybe it's the fact that I use a Macintosh (that should not matter), but with both Netscape and Explorer both sites were simply unusable and atrocious. Do any of you have a favorite blog site that works well, is easy to set up and performs as promised? We could get something going on www.mccmedia.com... but if you're going to make big trouble, it might not have the bandwidth necessary... ;-) Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Good news, bad news . . .
Ronn!Blankenship wrote: My stepbrother got married this weekend. (Not technically -- they had really gotten secretly married over a year ago but hadn't told anybody.) His son was supposed to be his best man, but didn't show up. They found him later in his hotel room, dead from an apparent accidental overdose. My condolences to you and your family Ronn!. The tale is horriffic, I can only imagine your Stepbrothers grief. xponent Struck At My Core Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
--- Julia Thompson wrote: Dan has a blog at his own domain, using Moveable Type as the blogging software. This looks like an ideal approach to host discussions at http://www.davidbrin.com/ Thanks. I'll bring it up with my webmaster. But it looks a bit complicated to set up and right now my need is to set up a discussion place as quickly as possible. ANyone who wants to can look over what I've currently set up at http://www.davidbrin.blogspot.com/ It looks kind of messed up. Don't know why. Anyone who wants to test it is welcome. Best to you all. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: L. Gordon Cooper, 1927-2004
On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 18:09:34 -0500, Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Another of the original _Mercury_ astronauts is gone: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/oct/HQ_04335_cooper_dies.html Who's left? (Or is that in the article which I haven't read yet?) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: X-Prize Won!
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 10/4/2004 3:07:25 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Anyone note the significance of the date? Broderick Crawford Day? Uh..C.W. McCall good buddy! xponent Rubber Duck Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
On Oct 4, 2004, at 4:25 PM, David Brin wrote: But it looks a bit complicated to set up and right now my need is to set up a discussion place as quickly as possible. ANyone who wants to can look over what I've currently set up at http://www.davidbrin.blogspot.com/ It looks kind of messed up. Don't know why. Anyone who wants to test it is welcome. Well, it's legible but the big post you mention isn't there; is that what you mean? Or were you thinking it'd have a different visual style, or what? (The dashboard can handle a lot of the visual settings...) -- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress The Seven-Year Mirror http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
David Brin wrote: ANyone who wants to can look over what I've currently set up at http://www.davidbrin.blogspot.com/ It looks kind of messed up. Don't know why. Anyone who wants to test it is welcome. Well...it won't let me comment, therefore it oinks.G What you really want is a cockadoodledoo!G xponent Raise the Flag Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: needing to set up a blog
--- Warren Ockrassa wrote:Or were you thinking it'd have a different visual style, or what? (The dashboard can handle a lot of the visual settings...) On a Mac I am now looking at it using Netscape and MS/internet Explorer. Netscape cuts off the upper part including the blog title. Explorer crams my initial posting in a long column only a couple of words wide, at the right. In neither case is it easy to see any controls ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: X-Prize Won!
Ronn!Blankenship asks: Anyone note the significance of the date? Sputnik! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l