Re: Scouted: Article on camera phones and transparency issues
David Hobby wrote: Accordingly, as early as Dec. 17, the Chicago City Council is to vote on a proposal by Mr. Burke to ban the use of camera phones in public bathrooms, locker rooms and showers. Most Australian local councils have already done this, and most institutions also have signs at the entry banning mobile phones from their change rooms and rest rooms. A couple of court cases certainly hastened this into place. I did a tour of a car racing workshop a couple of days ago, and we were warned not to take out our phones, as most phones here now have cameras built-in whether you want one or not. Cheers Russell C. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Irregulars Question on Eudora
If you have noticed that I have been unusually quiet this week and wondered what was responsible for your good fortune, I'm sorry to have to tell you that I'm apparently back. Near as I can figure out, something in a spam message did not agree with Eudora and it crashed. Getting the latest version and upgrading did not make the problem go away, rather, I had to install the new version in a new directory and then rebuild all of my mailboxes (generally, one or more for each list I'm on, each person or entity from which I regularly get mail, etc., and then some). It seems like things are working now (knock wood), so here's my question: whenever Eudora crashes, or the connection with the mail server is lost, while messages are being downloaded, frequently the next time it starts all over, resulting in two identical copies of each message (more if, as has been the case this week, it crashes more than once while trying to download the same group of messages). Does anyone know of a quick way to eliminate the duplicate messages? With several hundred unique messages after a couple of days, and more arriving from you loquacious people all the time, going through and deleting them one at a time is not very practical, even though obviously two copies of a message take up twice the disk space of one copy, and three, four, . . . is even worse. Any suggestions? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Back to telescopes...
At 11:15 AM 12/7/2003 -03-30, you wrote: I know what you mean with the kids though. I come from a large family, and I'm certanly aware of how much energy is expended in caring for them. Quite a time consuming task. Doesn't everyone come from somewhere? Welcome to the list Travis. Kevin T. - VRWC The joke's there, I couldn't help myself ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
William T Goodall wrote: snip Poul Anderson Read The Boat of a Million Years John Brunner Stand on Zanzibar Lois McMaster Bujold The entire Miles Vorkosigan Saga (Memory is my favorite) Thomas M Disch Non-fiction: The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of an excellent discussion of SF Philip Jose Farmer To Your Scattered Bodies Go Frank Herbert Dune (Duh!!!) Ursula K Le Guin The Telling George R R Martin His Songs of Ice and Fire series (When will book four be out???) Frederik Pohl Gateway (Easily one of the best SF books ever, IMHO of course) Robert Silverberg The Alien Years Clifford D Simak Way Station Neal Stephenson Cryptonomicon Bruce Sterling Heavy Weather Walter Jon Williams The Rift Connie Willis The Doomday Book I just picked my favorites by the authors in the list William listed. This reading list should keep you busy for a while. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Irregulars Question on Eudora
On 12 Dec 2003, at 7:48 am, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: With several hundred unique messages after a couple of days, and more arriving from you loquacious people all the time, going through and deleting them one at a time is not very practical, even though obviously two copies of a message take up twice the disk space of one copy, and three, four, . . . is even worse. Any suggestions? I don't use Eudora, but you could try this... For advanced users only: if you need to use an Esoteric Settings plug-in, copy esoteric.epi from the Extra stuff subdirectory into your main Eudora directory. This will allow an interface to several features in your options settings. You will notice additional icons appearing at the end of the category list in Options. Restart Eudora, open settings, scroll down to Really Miscellaneous and check Delete duplicate messages (slow) -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Misuse of IMPs leads to strange, difficult-to-diagnose bugs. - Anguish et al. Cocoa Programming ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Back to telescopes...
From: Kevin Tarr [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Back to telescopes... Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 05:27:50 -0500 Welcome to the list Travis. Thank you. _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
From: G. D. Akin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Science Fiction In General... Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 21:36:19 +0900 William T Goodall wrote: snip Poul Anderson Read The Boat of a Million Years John Brunner Stand on Zanzibar Lois McMaster Bujold The entire Miles Vorkosigan Saga (Memory is my favorite) Thomas M Disch Non-fiction: The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of an excellent discussion of SF Philip Jose Farmer To Your Scattered Bodies Go Frank Herbert Dune (Duh!!!) Ursula K Le Guin The Telling George R R Martin His Songs of Ice and Fire series (When will book four be out???) Frederik Pohl Gateway (Easily one of the best SF books ever, IMHO of course) Robert Silverberg The Alien Years Clifford D Simak Way Station Neal Stephenson Cryptonomicon Bruce Sterling Heavy Weather Walter Jon Williams The Rift Connie Willis The Doomday Book I just picked my favorites by the authors in the list William listed. This reading list should keep you busy for a while. George A Thanks for the recommendations. As for Frank Herbert, I've been anxious to read the Dune series for a while; and Clifford D. Simak has crossed my mind more than once. However, as big a sc-fi buff as I am, I don't read 100% sci-fi, 100% of the time. So it'd take me a while to get that many sci-fi authors under my belt. I try to go for the creme de la creme books/series', as my many interests and time itself inhibit me somewhat from going all out on our fav genre. _ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Irregulars Question on Eudora
I use a lot of filters in Eudora and typically sort them by date when reading discussion groups. This keeps things manageable, and I can tell which messages are dupes when reading specific threads. I don't know of an easy way to get rid of them, other than reading a thread in question, skipping the dupes, and then trashing the unread stuff later... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Challenge: 80's Lyrics Quiz
Gary Nunn wrote: Kind of long, and my score was embarrassingly low...but fun. http://www.yetanotherdot.com/asp/80s.html 74 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: [ADMIN] Another dang interruption
Jon Gabriel wrote: Out of curiosity, has anyone an opinion on which is a better option: leasing or buying a car? Jon The best option by far is buying a car and paying cash. Other than that, it's really a matter of how long you want to make car payments: for years or forever, and whether you want to keep the car at the end of your payment lifetime. Other things to consider: Do you care so much exactly which make model car you want? Leases let you get more car for your budget, but at the end of the lease, all you have are memories. -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Case for a Marriage Ammendment
Angel_888 wrote: Gays are free to marry but the disabled are NOT... (rest of text removed) Was that a spam? -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Battlestar Galactica mini series
My reactions to the miniseries: They did a relatively good job of explaining why impossibly old tech would even be in use on a starship. Also, the Cylons did not seem to make much sense. I mean, they didn't necessarily have to attempt the extinction of humanity, espeically with the option for diplomatic relations. There was no competition for resources, or even any contact for that matter between humans and cylons for years. Another issue was how things got to the point where they decided war was necessary. Too bad none of the pre-war humans had come across the idea of making the cylons citizens in their society. Not enough Brin readers in the colonies, I guess. ;-) I really liked the space battles -- they did the zero-g flight better most movies and television ever do. -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
This should bring out the inherent nerd in all of us. Lets utilize our collective knowledge of our favorite fictional Universes, to map out intricate fictional scenarios of our own. For example, the other day a friend of mine asked me an interesting question. He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. The one stipulation being that my army would have to employ military hardware of today's technology. Of course, one of my prime choices (Volunteers/Agents from the Earth Final Conflict Universe) weren't allowed due to the scrills/skrills on their arms, which, as you may know are symbiotic organisms that feed off a person in exchange for the ability to discharge blasts of energy. So called built in weapons and their users were to be omitted from my picks. Finally after much deliberation, I had the field narrowed down to three possible choices: -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) I still haven't decided on the winner. There are so many things to take into consideration. And lets not forget, that I aim to pick the best possible army. Which have the most strength's, the most weaknesses? I would appreciate some input. What species would you pick? What would you base your decision on? Do you have any choices that I may have initially overlooked? Last but not least, do you have any scenarios of your own? We haven't even touched starships yet... -Travis _ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Battlestar Galactica mini series
Also, the Cylons did not seem to make much sense. I mean, they didn't necessarily have to attempt the extinction of humanity, espeically with the option for diplomatic relations. There was no competition for resources, or even any contact for that matter between humans and cylons for years. Another issue was how things got to the point where they decided war was necessary. Too bad none of the pre-war humans had come across the idea of making the cylons citizens in their society. Not enough Brin readers in the colonies, I guess. ;-) Well, we don't know why the Cylons and humans were at war yet anyway...they could have very good (at least to them) motivations to commit genocide; we simply don't know yet, as it hasn't been revealed. If it follows the forshadowing that I think I already have seen, I bet its because humanity did something bad to them in the past... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
Thanks for the recommendations. As for Frank Herbert, I've been anxious to read the Dune series for a while; I STRONGLY reccommend Dune; its probably my #1 fave SF book of all time! If you decide to go with it, I'd also reccommend Dune Messiah, which I found to be a page turner. Some of the later books are not as good, but worth reading if you really like the first two... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Science Fiction In General... Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 09:10:00 -0800 (PST) Thanks for the recommendations. As for Frank Herbert, I've been anxious to read the Dune series for a while; I STRONGLY reccommend Dune; its probably my #1 fave SF book of all time! If you decide to go with it, I'd also reccommend Dune Messiah, which I found to be a page turner. Some of the later books are not as good, but worth reading if you really like the first two... Damon. Wow! You really think so highly of that book? Nobody that I know has felt so strongly about it. Considering your opinion though, I may go for it. Either Dune, or some new books in OS Card's Alvin Maker series. Has anyone ever read that series? I had heard about it, but was never really enticed. Then the other day, as I was browsing around in the local Chapters bookstore, I spied Seventh Son, which is the first book in the series, on sale for $4.99 Canadian. If purchased before Dec 29 you get a $4.00 mail in rebate on Card's newest Alvin novel The Crystal City. Anyway I think it's a decent book. As many bad things as you can say about Card, you can't take away the fact that he's a good writer in the sense of how he writes. When I read his work, I feel as if I'm being cradled in his arms. The only other writer like that is Tolkien. I feel like unto a young child, being swept away into a fantastical dream world. It's great!! -Travis _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Heh. How about the Zentraedi from Macross. Nothing like a 40ft tall giant for fun. Arm them with light cannon and heavy machine guns (for 20th/21st C tech) and they can be pretty dangerous. Feeding them is the problem though... Damon :) = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 09:28:56 -0800 (PST) Heh. How about the Zentraedi from Macross. Nothing like a 40ft tall giant for fun. Arm them with light cannon and heavy machine guns (for 20th/21st C tech) and they can be pretty dangerous. Feeding them is the problem though... Damon :) Yes feeding them would be a problem, thus rendering them impractical. _ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Yes feeding them would be a problem, thus rendering them impractical. yeah but you wouldn't need so many. Laundry day would be a challenge... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Gremlins! Who needs conventional weapons or any sort of strategy?.. Just add water and turn them on your enemy... Nerd From Hell ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
--- Chad Cooper [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gremlins! Who needs conventional weapons or any sort of strategy?.. Just add water and turn them on your enemy... LOL Think I'll go for Tribbles - they'll 'purr' humans into submission and eat other species into starvation. Romulans ought to be serious candidates - although the Klingons certainly are more enthusiastic. Protected By My Own Personal Miniature Kzinti Maru ;) __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Here's another obscure candidate...the Vorox from the Fading Suns SFRPG. They're big, they're mean, they have 6 arms, they're hairy, they're GREEN. Plus some of them have poison claws. Think Kzinti but less sadistic, more instinctive, more arms, and uber loyal to their chosen group or tribe. Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:21:04 -0800 (PST) Here's another obscure candidate...the Vorox from the Fading Suns SFRPG. They're big, they're mean, they have 6 arms, they're hairy, they're GREEN. Plus some of them have poison claws. Think Kzinti but less sadistic, more instinctive, more arms, and uber loyal to their chosen group or tribe. Damon. Hmm. Never heard of em. Would they be easy to control? Are they as intelligent as my top three picks? Tell you what. Why don't you do a top 3/5/10 whatever. Then we'll finally decide (after a little deliberation) on a #1 pick for each of us. Then well do battle so to speak. _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Hmm. Never heard of em. Would they be easy to control? Are they as intelligent as my top three picks? Easy to control if they have vested interest to be loyal to you (otherwise no), and about as intelligent as, say, Jem'hadar (or at least no less so). Tell you what. Why don't you do a top 3/5/10 whatever. Then we'll finally decide (after a little deliberation) on a #1 pick for each of us. Then well do battle so to speak. Heh. I'm betting no ST race has been statted out for D20... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:31:25 -0800 (PST) Easy to control if they have vested interest to be loyal to you (otherwise no), and about as intelligent as, say, Jem'hadar (or at least no less so). Damon. What about hand to hand? Would they come out on top most of the time against my picks? Remember of course that I'm speaking of generic members of these species'. No heroes or demigods. _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: The Flu!
--- Gary Nunn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: John wrote In all of the news reports, they keep talking about the number of people who have died from the flu so far and how they are all children. As a parent of small children of my own, does any one know what age those kids are? How concerned should we be about this? My Kids are 9 and 2.5, and I had both of them vaccinated last week. My 9 year old daughter has mild asthma and is considered high risk. My 2 year old is supposed to get a second shot in 30 days, but I suspect that they will be out of vaccination by then. I looked over the news reports and the CDC website, and although they are somewhat vague, it appears that it is primarily the high risk children that have the highest mortality rate. By high risk I mean kids with severe asthma, suppressed immunity, less than 24 months old, etc. Although, there have been reports of perfectly healthy 10 year olds kids that didn't survive, but I really think that occurrence is very rare. Colorado has had 9 documented flu-related child deaths, and 1 or 2 more are still being investigated; ages ranged from 22 months to ~15yo. Almost half of these children had no known underlying illnesses, while the others had various chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer. One complication that seems to be more of a problem this year is secondary infection (pneumonia, mostly) with *community-acquired* methicillin-resistant _Staphalococcus aureus_[MRSA]; this used to be primarily a hospital-acquired infection, so those without hospital exposure weren't at risk. MRSA infections have to be treated with different antibiotics than most primary care docs would ordinarily use for bronchitis or pneumonia -- they're more expensive, and some have to be given IV rather than orally. Here is one article with links: http://www.9news.com/storyfull.aspx?storyid=21811 (Because of CO's high rate of flu related deaths, most of the local stations have put up doctor-assisted sites/info for the community.) Children, especially the very young, frequently have atypical symptoms as well: rather than a high fever with severe chills and body aches, they might have hoarse breathing, tummy ache with diarrhea, or a bad headache. They also seem to get dehydrated more easily (in a baby or toddler, a parent would notice decreased need for diaper changes). Since children have smaller airways than adults, and a smaller body volume, they do not tolerate clogged airways or dehydration as well (well, it's a little more complex than that, with children's immature immune systems a big factor, but you get the picture). For a healthy child over 5yo, an alternative to the shot is the nasally-administered vaccine (it's called FluMist); this is an attenuated live virus rather than a killed virus as in the shot, so cannot be given to a child with a compromised immune system. It is also more expensive than the regular shot. Of course, this year, there is a slight mismatch between the viral strains used to prepare the vaccine and one of the actual variety that's going around: the Fujian variant. Still, most experts think that getting the vaccine will result in a less-severe infection even with the mismatch. This is the CDC site, with multiple links and FAQs, including info on the nasal vaccine and maps outlining cases across the country (I think most states have set up websites on the flu, but you can see what's been reported to the CDC here): http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ To add to the confusion, there is apparently at least one other respiratory virus going around that can be confused with the flu; there are laboratory tests that can identify flu infection in less than an hour (with reasonable accuracy for such rapidity, but there can be up to 30% false-negative rate). Here is the CDC site on diagnosis: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/labdiagnosis.htm For reference, the flu and its complications kill from 20,000 to 36,000 people in the US every year; periodically a pandemic will sweep the world killing millions. (Frex the 1917-8 pandemic, which might have been a fusion virus rather than the pure human influenza virus; I've seen research leaning towards an avian or swine flu pass-through. When humans and animals live in close proximity under poor sanitation hygeine, some viruses 'jump' from one species to another: if an individual, human or animal, has an active infection with more than one influenza virus, there can be some mixing of genes, and the resultant virus might be even more virulent or communicable than the standard varieties. Of course, most such fusions probably are _less_ hardy, and unable to pass through one species into another, which is one of the reasons we don't have more pandemics. This is why the WHO and CDC pounced so hard on the SARS infection; many epidimiologists think we are past due for a bad pandemic.) I couldn't find any hard data on national child mortality from influenza
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell Romulans ought to be serious candidates - although the Klingons certainly are more enthusiastic. Romulans would not come close to my top three picks. At least that's my opinion, after a very nerdy breakdown of my candidates' attributes. Well, I'm not familiar with all of your candidates -- but *I* wouldn't want to face what is essentially a bunch of angry, irrational Vulcans across a battlefield. Hmmm...wonder how they'd do against the Tandu? Ooh -- or Klingons with bat'leth (?sp) against ceremonially armed Tandu -- now *that* would be a blood ichor bath... :P My Zimba Is A Cross Between A Miniature Kzin And A Giant Tribble* Maru ;) __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
Damon Agretto wrote: snip I STRONGLY reccommend Dune; its probably my #1 fave SF book of all time! If you decide to go with it, I'd also reccommend Dune Messiah, which I found to be a page turner. Some of the later books are not as good, but worth reading if you really like the first two... --- Concur with Damon almost. While not my #1 favorite, it is clearly in my Top 10 SF books. IIRC, the last two times Locus Magazine has run its top SF of all time list, Dune has finished #1 both times. (The Lord of the Rings took the fantasy top spot). Below comments are IMO, DuneExcellent, a must read Dune Messiah Not as good, but okay. Children of Dune Better God Emperor of Dune Okay, but a hard read--much, much dialog and ponitification by the worm emperor. Heretics of Dune Not bad Chapterhouse Dune Just got it in a recent Amazon shipment--in my to read stack. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Case for a Marriage Ammendment
Matt Grimaldi wrote: Angel_888 wrote: Gays are free to marry but the disabled are NOT... (rest of text removed) Was that a spam? Yes, I don't know why people bother to reply. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: (...) He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. (...) Finally after much deliberation, I had the field narrowed down to three possible choices: -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
hum, no borgs or terminators? then my three would be: 1. Minbari (as long as they don't just go and surrender at the last second :) 2. The Race's little scaly devils from Turtledove's World War Series (need to train them to stay away from ginger and to use their teeth) 3. The Neolithic giants from Farmer's Riverworld series. --Jack If you're not living on the edge, then you're taking up too much room. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:13:09 + I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Alberto Monteiro Ok, but why? _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Ok, but why? In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: The Flu!
From CNN QuickNews today: The number of states severely hit by the flu has more than doubled since last week and the illness is hitting the western part of the nation particularly hard, federal health officials reported Thursday. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares tips to keep you from catching the flu. Wipe down your keyboard and your phone, he suggests. Ninety-nine percent of germs will be taken care of by this. Just to put it in perspective, your keyboard and your phone have 400 times the number of germs as a toilet seat. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a medical correspondent for CNN and appears on CNN's American Morning with the latest medical news, health tips, and more to help viewers understand the world of medicine and how it relates to them. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
On 13 Dec 2003, at 12:17 am, Alberto Monteiro wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Ok, but why? In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. It was also a notion that Analog editor John W Campbell was keen on with the result that there were a couple of generations of sf where the clever/tough/plucky/lucky humans defeated the aliens against overwhelming odds. I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone. - Bjarne Stroustrup ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
William T Goodall wrote: In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. It was also a notion that Analog editor John W Campbell was keen on with the result that there were a couple of generations of sf where the clever/tough/plucky/lucky humans defeated the aliens against overwhelming odds. I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. That's also what I remember reading. In fact, it was this very subject that first got me on Brin-L. I read a comment on Hector's web site wondering why Asimov used an all-human Galaxy, and I emailed him that answer. He invited me onto his new David Brin list, and the rest is history. :-) __ Steve Sloan . Huntsville, Alabama = [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brin-L list pages .. http://www.brin-l.org Chmeee's 3D Objects http://www.sloan3d.com/chmeee 3D and Drawing Galleries .. http://www.sloansteady.com Software Science Fiction, Science, and Computer Links Science fiction scans . http://www.sloan3d.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
[Scouted] Drunk worms
It's all in the genes...? http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/78/95777.htm?printing=true An intoxication gene controls whether alcohol makes one drunk, worm studies show. Alcohol has no effect on worms lacking the gene. But worms with a revved-up version of the gene act drunk even if they haven't touched a drop of alcohol, report Steven L. McIntire, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco. McIntire's team spent six years looking for genes that affect roundworm responses to alcohol. At last they found a gene called slo-1, which controls a chemical message circuit in the brain. That circuit, the BK channel, is also found throughout the human body. We have found that alcohol acts on this channel in nerve cells to cause neural depression [slowing of nerve function] and intoxication, McIntire says in a news release. We would expect that the same process functions in humans. The implication is a drug might be found that could change the effect of alcohol on the BK channel. That might quickly sober someone up after a bout of drinking. It might also help alcoholics lose their taste for drinking. Until we conduct human studies, we can't say for sure whether this channel or the pathways involving this channel are defective in alcoholics -- but this is a highly attractive target [for developing new drugs], McIntire says. We now know it is central to the intoxicating effects of alcohol. At least in worms! :P[entire article above] Is That Why The Sesame Street Worms Are So Cheerful? Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
On 12 Dec 2003, at 5:10 pm, Damon Agretto wrote: Thanks for the recommendations. As for Frank Herbert, I've been anxious to read the Dune series for a while; I STRONGLY reccommend Dune; its probably my #1 fave SF book of all time! If you decide to go with it, I'd also reccommend Dune Messiah, which I found to be a page turner. Some of the later books are not as good, but worth reading if you really like the first two... I recently acquired a bunch of old Astounding/Analog and other sf mags from the late 50's and early 60's for next to nothing from a small-town used book store. Somebody died and their collection got bought for pennies. One of them was the Astounding that had the first part of the serialisation of the first part of _Dune_. I think it had a Bonestell cover. Of course, I can't lay my hands on it now...[1] [1] What women call 'tidying up your office' men call 'losing stuff'. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Mac OS X is a rock-solid system that's beautifully designed. I much prefer it to Linux. - Bill Joy. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
On 13 Dec 2003, at 1:42 am, Steve Sloan II wrote: William T Goodall wrote: I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. That's also what I remember reading. In fact, it was this very subject that first got me on Brin-L. I read a comment on Hector's web site wondering why Asimov used an all-human Galaxy, and I emailed him that answer. He invited me onto his new David Brin list, and the rest is history. :-) And Campbell's strict, and increasingly cranky, editorial views led hard sf into a ghetto by the late 60's. Meanwhile under Horace Gold's editorship the satirical and left-wing Galaxy published Frederik Pohl, Alfred Bester, Damon Knight, Fritz Leiber, Robert Sheckley... -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Misuse of IMPs leads to strange, difficult-to-diagnose bugs. - Anguish et al. Cocoa Programming ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
[1] What women call 'tidying up your office' men call 'losing stuff'. And it ends up at the Thrift Store or used book shop for some other unsuspecting sap to buy it so that it can be tidied up by the misses and re-enter circulation... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Jack Tackett - Netwharf [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 3:49 PM Subject: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. hum, no borgs or terminators? then my three would be: 1. Minbari (as long as they don't just go and surrender at the last second :) 2. The Race's little scaly devils from Turtledove's World War Series (need to train them to stay away from ginger and to use their teeth) 3. The Neolithic giants from Farmer's Riverworld series. My picks: 1) Humans (In most universes we succeed over brute force tactics with wit and intuition. Niven may be right about Teela Brown G) 2) Bacteria (From Bears Blood Music) 3) Dragaerans (From Steven Brust, all the good qualities of humans but stronger, longer lived, and are sorcerous) BTW to all the new people who have showed up recently: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) How did you folks happen upon our commons? xponent Red Carpet Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
If you want to eliminate homo sapiens, I'd use H. B. Piper's Fuzzies. Whaa? I hear you ask. We'd evolve into something else. William Taylor ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Insurance
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3312701.stm Our building and contents insurance was through them. Went online and got new cover, effective immediately, and then online to the bank and cancelled the direct debit. They had already taken a monthly payment on the 2nd or so. A lot of people probably don't even know yet... -- 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 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
William T Goodall wrote: I recently acquired a bunch of old Astounding/Analog and other sf mags from the late 50's and early 60's for next to nothing from a small-town used book store. Somebody died and their collection got bought for pennies. One of them was the Astounding that had the first part of the serialisation of the first part of _Dune_. I think it had a Bonestell cover. Of course, I can't lay my hands on it now...[1] [1] What women call 'tidying up your office' men call 'losing stuff'. That's kind of sexist. In our household, it's the other way 'round. :) Julia now, the kitchen, that's another story -- but Dan knows where things go, it's occasionally a problem when his mom or the nanny doesn't ask where something goes and just assumes incorrectly ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Insurance
At 09:12 PM 12/12/03, William T Goodall wrote: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3312701.stm Our building and contents insurance was through them. Went online and got new cover, effective immediately, and then online to the bank and cancelled the direct debit. They had already taken a monthly payment on the 2nd or so. A lot of people probably don't even know yet... One of my pet peeves is deliberately suspenseful ghostposting . . . WHAT insurance company, so those who don't have dedicated high-speed connections can know if it is worth their time to click on the link or not? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Black Market Body Parts
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Several of us had the beginnings of a talk in chat last week on black market body parts and the upswing in people selling off parts of their bodies. There is going to be a Talk of the Nation/afternoon NPR discussion on this today. I think I might be glad I am working through that time. It might be a reality, but oh g, there is enough heart ache in families that help relatives never mind those that feel it is the only thing they have to sell. I didn't know about that program, so missed it, but here are a few articles that detail some of the problems and ethical dilemmas of paid (but sometimes not - as in the case of executed Chinese prisoners) organ transplant, and the distribution of donated organs when the demand far outstrips the supply. South Africa, India, Brazil, Peru - and a Florida man to be tried for plotting to sell human body parts for profit. For someone to be so desperate that they feel they must sell part of their own body is tragic; for someone to buy it is at best morally suspect; for doctors to perform it violates the precept of first do no harm - at least, IMO. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1134/n8_v107/21191220/p1/article.jhtml?term= ...The United States has a well-organized national distribution system for organs and a law, at least on the books, that requires hospitals to solicit the organs of dead people by requesting permission from their next of kin. Despite these efforts, nearly 50,000 people are currently on waiting lists for various organs. Worldwide, the medical community's persistent emphasis on the scarcity of organs has, if anything, exacerbated the desperate search for them. Faced with long waiting lists, candidates cross borders and enter unorthodox agreements for transplants--agreements often made without provision for vital follow-up care. The scarcity, however, may represent a need that can never be satisfied, for underlying it is the unprecedented possibility of extending life indefinitely via the organs of others--in other words, the denial and refusal of death... ...Ten years ago, Cohen says, townspeople responded with revulsion and alarm when they first learned, through newspapers, of kidney sales in the cities of Bombay and Madras. Today, some of the same people speak matter-of-factly about how it might be necessary to sell a spare organ. Some of them have told Cohen they can no longer complain about the fate of a dowryless daughter. Haven't you got a spare kidney? an unsympathetic neighbor is likely to respond... ...Before 1983, transplant surgeons in South Africa were not obligated by law to ask a family for its consent before harvesting organs and tissues from cadavers. And the 1983 Organ and Tissue Act allows appropriate officials to remove needed organs and tissues without consent when reasonable attempts to locate the potential donor's next of kin have failed. But as one state pathologist explained to me, some doctors and coroners use this authority to harvest prized organs immediately... ...Brazil recently passed a radical law designating the state as owner and arbiter of dead bodies. The law, in effect since January, makes all adults universal donors at death, unless they declare themselves nondonors by requesting new identity cards or drivers' licenses officially stamped, I am not a donor for organs or tissues... [Is this still the law, Alberto, or has it been changed? This was written in 1998.] ...Compensated gifting--whereby living donors (relatives included) are paid by recipients for organs--is accepted by some transplant surgeons as an ethically neutral practice... ...The line between bought and gifted organs is indeed fuzzy, and considerable pressure can be exerted on vulnerable family members to volunteer as donors. Dr. C, a transplant surgeon in me state of Bahia, told one of my research assistants of a young woman whose brother threatened to kill her if she refused to give him a kidney; the doctor had not known of the threat at the time of the transplant... ...Chinese-born Harry Wu, who heads the Laogai Research Foundation in California, was among the first to reveal the sale of executed prisoners' organs. He and other human rights activists claim the Chinese government sanctions the removal of organs from the bodies of at least 2,000 executed prisoners each year, and that the number is growing because the list of capital crimes in China has been expanded to accommodate the demand for organs. In 1995, task force leader David Rothman visited hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai, where he interviewed surgeons and administrators; he is among those convinced that what lies behind China's new anticrime campaign is a thriving medical business that relies on prisoners' organs for raw materials. A recent FBI sting operation in New York City led to the arrest of two Chinese men allegedly offering to sell organs taken from executed Chinese prisoners... ...There's no denying that the
Lesh
At least it is on topic. - Lesh ab-Tothtoon ab-Rosh ab-Kosh ab-Erbl ul-Zhuup ul-Vijls ul-Lith ul-Heebi The Lesh are at the pinnacle of their career as a main-sequence species. Staunch members of the Tothtoon super-clan, the Lesh are its leading merchants and widely regarded as the second most influential members after the Thennanin. The Lesh are moderate but stalwart Awaiters. Lesh are descended from large, four legged, semi-upright gatherers that lived in tropical and semi-tropical forests. The proto-Lesh were extraordinary generalists who climbed well, but also harvested resources in scrubland. Proto-Lesh social behavior was also highly generalized. The size of proto-Lesh social groups varied with resources diversity. Most of the time proto-Lesh were semi-solitary but in the presence of abundant food proto-Lesh would form pack-sized social groups, and in the event of a windfall, group size could be very large indeed. Note that the proto-Lesh actually formed social groups with complex politics and even food sharing--the groups were not mere population aggregations like occur among bears during a salmon run. Proto-Lesh social groups were very flexible. When food was abundant groups would grow and were fairly peaceful except for occasional dominance displays and competition for females in oestrous. As a food supplies became depleted conflict increased and proto-Lesh social groups dwindled. In cases where resources were relatively dense and persistent proto-Lesh tended to form proto-communities. Each proto-Lesh had its own network of relationships although there might be persistent groups of high network density called cliques. Persistent high density populations also had a transient character as proto-Lesh drifted into the area. Out-migration tended to balance in-migration when nagging social-political conflict and adverse changes in dominance caused other proto-Lesh to leave an area of consistently high resource density. Uplifted Lesh look like upright bears with short legs and long arms that end in three fingered hands. The Erbl uplifted the Lesh to excel as merchants, and they succeeded brilliantly. The Erbl retained proto-Lesh social behavior. The Lesh can work in a large array of social configurations, though many Lesh spend a lot of time alone. Unfortunately, Lesh are not ideal organization men--they are seldom happy in low-prestige jobs. The Lesh uplifted their first clients, the Zhuup, to fill roles in middle-management and as laborers. Lesh enjoy new things and seek out new experiences. Lesh are amiable and, while not exactly xenophilic, they enjoy the company of most other sapients and often keep pets. The ubiquitous solitary Lesh free-trader or lone trader and his or her child typically make the most of their time in port with any other Lesh they might meet there, then move on without any sign of remorse. Though Lesh exhibit altruism from time to time, they always strive for the optimum diplomatic or economic bargain. Human who deal with Lesh say its not true a Lesh would sell her own mother ... but mom's house and favorite pet are negotiable. Lesh military forces are just adequate to protect the clan's considerable industrial and mercantile interests as well as Clan Tothtoon mutual security obligations. Militarily the Lesh are a respectable but not a great power. Not surprisingly Lesh are active in the institutes of Trade, Navigation, and Money. They are also well represented in the institutes of Coexistence and Civilized Warfare. Human wags have said that Lesh foreign policy can be summed up as free trade good, war bad. The Lesh are not pacifists but do not like conflict because it is bad for business. Lesh diplomats are active mediators, often acting through the auspices of the Galactic Institute for Civilized Warfare. Lesh trade actively with Earth Clan, though the terms of trade are not always regarded as fair by Terragens. Lesh development aid to the Terragen Confederation has been modest. However, during the Siege of Earth and its aftermath the Lesh have given New York considerable aid-in-kind and free economic development advisement. The increase is largely regarded as a demonstration of solidarity with the Thennanin and their new Garthling clients rather than an intrinsic interest in Earth Clan. On the other hand, Lesh--consistent with their conflict averse foreign policy--have been highly critical of the current climate of aggression. Lesh relations with the Obeyer Jophur are strained to the breaking point. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Robert Seeberger wrote: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) Can I order a meal I get to finish in total peace? :) I can ignore an awful lot of grime for that Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Insurance
Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 09:12 PM 12/12/03, William T Goodall wrote: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3312701.stm Our building and contents insurance was through them. Went online and got new cover, effective immediately, and then online to the bank and cancelled the direct debit. They had already taken a monthly payment on the 2nd or so. A lot of people probably don't even know yet... One of my pet peeves is deliberately suspenseful ghostposting . . . WHAT insurance company, so those who don't have dedicated high-speed connections can know if it is worth their time to click on the link or not? Well, if you're not in the UK, I don't think it's an issue. :) Not that that was the exact answer you were looking for Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Insurance
On 13 Dec 2003, at 3:23 am, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: One of my pet peeves is deliberately suspenseful ghostposting . . . WHAT insurance company, so those who don't have dedicated high-speed connections can know if it is worth their time to click on the link or not? Sorry! Too annoyed to post properly :) About 40,000 people are being warned they are unlikely to have insurance cover after a company was placed into provisional liquidation. Tribune Risk and Insurance Services had been selling policies but failed to have them underwritten, according to the Financial Services Authority. Most of the policies related to home insurance and Tribune had no reserves to meet claims, the FSA said. A helpline has been set up for policyholders. The number is 0870 1648120. It is estimated that about £2m worth of claims will not be paid out, with no compensation for policy holders because the company was not authorised to sell insurance. In a statement, the FSA said Tribune, which is based in Eskbank, near Edinburgh, had been operating without its authorisation. The FSA is therefore warning around 40,000 policy holders who have taken out household and buildings insurance with Tribune... that they are likely to have no effective cover, it went on. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Aerospace is plumbing with the volume turned up. - John Carmack ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General...
On 13 Dec 2003, at 3:24 am, Julia Thompson wrote: William T Goodall wrote: I recently acquired a bunch of old Astounding/Analog and other sf mags from the late 50's and early 60's for next to nothing from a small-town used book store. Somebody died and their collection got bought for pennies. One of them was the Astounding that had the first part of the serialisation of the first part of _Dune_. I think it had a Bonestell cover. Of course, I can't lay my hands on it now...[1] [1] What women call 'tidying up your office' men call 'losing stuff'. That's kind of sexist. Not if it's generally true. My mom put away some xmas cards a couple of years ago and they still haven't been found. My nephew was staying over a couple of weeks ago at my parents so my mum put away his xmas present. Took two days to find it after he left My dad finally found it... In our household, it's the other way 'round. :) That doesn't surprise me :) -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Mac OS X is a rock-solid system that's beautifully designed. I much prefer it to Linux. - Bill Joy. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 01:35 PM 12/12/2003 -03-30, you wrote: This should bring out the inherent nerd in all of us. Lets utilize our collective knowledge of our favorite fictional Universes, to map out intricate fictional scenarios of our own. For example, the other day a friend of mine asked me an interesting question. He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. The one stipulation being that my army would have to employ military hardware of today's technology. Of course, one of my prime choices (Volunteers/Agents from the Earth Final Conflict Universe) weren't allowed due to the scrills/skrills on their arms, which, as you may know are symbiotic organisms that feed off a person in exchange for the ability to discharge blasts of energy. So called built in weapons and their users were to be omitted from my picks. Finally after much deliberation, I had the field narrowed down to three possible choices: -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) I still haven't decided on the winner. There are so many things to take into consideration. And lets not forget, that I aim to pick the best possible army. Which have the most strength's, the most weaknesses? I would appreciate some input. What species would you pick? What would you base your decision on? Do you have any choices that I may have initially overlooked? Last but not least, do you have any scenarios of your own? We haven't even touched starships yet... -Travis Bah to all of the above. For my money, the Dorsai win hands down. For further details see any of the Childe Cycle novels by Gordon Dickson: Tactics of Mistake; The Chantry Guild; Soldier, Ask Not; Necromancer; Dorsai; The Final Encyclopedia. ...The weapons of war came to their hands like tame dogs. john ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 9:30 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Robert Seeberger wrote: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) Can I order a meal I get to finish in total peace? :) I can ignore an awful lot of grime for that SureG.and ol' uncle Rob can make faces-that-entertain at diaper fillers for 45 minutes or so at the drop of a hat, and do so effectively after 25 years of practice! G (Well, I'd help if I could G) xponent Uncle 12 Times Going on 13, Soon To Be A Great Uncle Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) From the Star Trek world, I'd take the Founders over the Jem'Hadar or the Klingons, any day, for obvious shape-shifting reasons. I guess the Q would be ruled out... A army of veiny-brainy's from The Cage might be able to use their illusions to make any opponents kill themselves, make enemy space fleets dive into the sun, etc. Can we count the X-Men mutants as a species? Vampires would make a pretty tough army, depending on which universe you pull them from. A million Jedi would be neato, even without light sabers, particularly if we include the force powers seen in the LucasArts Jedi Knight games. How about Dragonball Z Super Saiyans? From the DD world: - mind flayers - yikes! - Red dragons (or would they not count as a *ground* force?) - Storm Giants From the comics: - While both Superman and the Martian Manhunter are heroes, IIRC, they are both just sole representatives of their races, so presumably the rest of their race would have equal powers. So could we pick Superman's race, or MMH's? -bryon _ Get holiday tips for festive fun. http://special.msn.com/network/happyholidays.armx ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 09:28:56 -0800 (PST) Heh. How about the Zentraedi from Macross. Nothing like a 40ft tall giant for fun. Arm them with light cannon and heavy machine guns (for 20th/21st C tech) and they can be pretty dangerous. Feeding them is the problem though... Damon :) Yes feeding them would be a problem, thus rendering them impractical. As with most questions, I imagine the reader is supposed to interpret it so that it makes sense. Here's the original: For example, the other day a friend of mine asked me an interesting question. He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. The one stipulation being that my army would have to employ military hardware of today's technology. So you can't use vampires, or episarchs, or Kryptonians, because allowing them makes the question degenerate. Or put it this way--anything can come, but they have to leave their powers with the physics of their home universes. I'm with Damon, it doesn't say anything about the SIZE of the million individuals, at least as long as they can move around on a planet. So bigger is better! Feeding them should not be an issue; one assumes that an army comes with supplies. It could well degenerate into a contest to name bigger species... but I do like the human consciousness in dinosaur bodies things mentioned in Banks's _Feersum Endjinn_, and even in _Kiln People_ there were dittoes of similar sizes. ---David ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 10:57 PM 12/12/03, Bryon Daly wrote: From the comics: - While both Superman and the Martian Manhunter are heroes, IIRC, they are both just sole representatives of their races, so presumably the rest of their race would have equal powers. So could we pick Superman's race, or MMH's? Sticking to the DC universe . . . I suppose Daxamites would be excluded because the serum which renders them invulnerable to lead was not invented in the 20th century. Someone once suggested that Tromites have the potential of being among the most powerful beings around, but the writers never seem to allow the sole surviving representative of that race to cut loose. (Perhaps that's why they made him some sort of monk . . . ?) Others have pointed out that a Green Lantern is potentially limited only by the strength of his/her/its will power . . . presuming of course that his/her/its ring has been charged within the past 24 hours and the other guy is not wearing (or pigmented) yellow.¹ Again, though, there are never a million of them in existence at one time. And I suppose the power ring does not meet the limitations . . . _ ¹Obvious off-color observation concerning the limitation of a Golden-Age GL (or Jade of the late Outsiders) is left to the reader . . . probably Vilyehm. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Irregulars Question on Eudora
At 06:44 AM 12/12/03, William T Goodall wrote: On 12 Dec 2003, at 7:48 am, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: With several hundred unique messages after a couple of days, and more arriving from you loquacious people all the time, going through and deleting them one at a time is not very practical, even though obviously two copies of a message take up twice the disk space of one copy, and three, four, . . . is even worse. Any suggestions? I don't use Eudora, but you could try this... For advanced users only: if you need to use an Esoteric Settings plug-in, copy esoteric.epi from the Extra stuff subdirectory into your main Eudora directory. This will allow an interface to several features in your options settings. You will notice additional icons appearing at the end of the category list in Options. Restart Eudora, open settings, scroll down to Really Miscellaneous and check Delete duplicate messages (slow) Where did you get this? I can't seem to find either a Really Miscellaneous or Delete duplicate messages (slow) entry (though I did find some other additional options) . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
