Re: Science Fiction In General
I wrote, re: the Dune books: I hated the second one. Hated, hated hated. Damon asked: What exactly didn't you like about it? I thought it was pretty good...not as good as the first, but somewhat better than the third. It was... it had... it lacked... um... You know, it's been so long since I read it that I can remember I reacted very strongly, very emotionally, and in a very negative way to the second book, but I don't really remember why. Maybe it's time I re-read it. Reggie Bautista ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis wrote: A rose by any other name I replied: ...is the sexual organ of a thorny shrub ;-) (I wish I could remember where I first heard that...) Travis responded: lol Well if you remember, enlighten me as to the origins of it!! -Travis was it a witty biology teacher? Edmunds Something in the back of my brain is telling me it was a Heinlein character, maybe Jubal Harshaw or one of the other Old Man characters. I'm almost positive it was from some work of fiction, I think I remember reading it in the form of a conversation. But I could be wrong :-) Reggie Bautista Maybe Alberto Knows Maru ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
The New Math
The Spin, 'New Jobless Claims Lowest of Bush Tenure'. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=530e=1u=/ap/20031231/a p_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy The Labor Department (news - web sites) reported Wednesday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 15,000 to 339,000 for the week ending Dec. 27. The reality: ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm Weekly Claims Report: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 516,501 in the week ending Dec. 27, an increase of 91,785 from the previous week. There were 620,929 initial claims in the comparable week in 2002. --- The New Math: +92k = -15k ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Bonne Année à vous tous Was: Happy New Year, All
Puisse cette nouvelle année vous aporter bonheur et réalisation de vos voeux. -- Jean-Marc ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Stargate Atlantis
And how long has it been since Richard Dean Anderson was in his early 20s? I could be wrong, but I don't think he was in his early 20s when _Macgyver_ started . . . -- Ronn! :) Unfortunately, that DOES seem to be the new formula/trend. Didn't the B5 Rangers spin-off have mostly 20 something's as the cast? My guess is that casting 20 something's in the lead roles is an attempt to attract a younger audience than Stargate SG-1 does. I would bet that they will also have a busty, cleavage showing 20 something female lead too. :-) Just for SG, here is the IMDB entry for this disaster in the making... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374455/ Gary ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Science Fiction In General
From: Bryon Daly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Science Fiction In General Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 23:01:39 -0500 From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Calculating God (Robert J Sawyer/Anyone heard of him or the book?/He has won a Nebula) This is sitting on my pile of to-be-read books. I thought my pile was large, with about 40 or so sitting on the shelf, but it's dwarfed by Julia's pile. (Julia - where do you store all of them?) Well, I have it read (past-tense) now. It was a really neat book. Yes I think that's the appropriate word neat. I don't think Sawyer is a great writer, although he is very fast paced (in a good way), and very intelligent in the little things transferred from his head to paper. However his abilities as a great storyteller who envelopes one into his/her fictional world is certainly lacking. But the best thing about the book and Sawyer himself I suppose, is the originality and bold ideas put forward. Like I said, NEAT. -Travis will be reading more Robert J. Sawyer in the future Edmunds _ 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: Science Fiction In General
From: Reggie Bautista [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Science Fiction In General Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 01:01:34 -0600 Dune is most definitely in my top ten favorite book series, along with Tolkien's Middle-Earth books (The Hobbit, The LoTR trilogy, The Silmarillion, Book of Lost Tales, etc. all as one group), the Uplift books by His Brin-ness, Asimov's Foundation books and stories, Niven's Known Space stories and novels, and a handful of others I'm too tired to think of right now. Reggie Bautista Interesting. Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and db's Uplift series' are certainly in my top ten. The other's on your rudimentary list however are not. In any case I havent yet read the Foundation series hangs head in shame as I haven't encountered anything (as of yet) by Asimov that I actually liked. Some other series', universes though, that make my top ten are as follows: -The Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches (same Universe) - Anne Rice -The War Against The Chtorr - David Gerrold -Rama series - Clarke Aside from those, it gets to be tough choices... -Travis gonna work on a completed top ten Edmunds _ 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
The US Has Insane Privacy Protections
Here is an interesting piece that argues the opposite of the conventional wisdom - namely that insance US privacy regulations prevented us from stopping September 11th and may prevent us from stopping the next big attack. http://slate.msn.com/id/2093344/ 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: A Chink in the Armor
On 1 Jan 2004, at 5:55 am, Doug Pensinger wrote: http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2003/12/31/rtr1195252.html Apple users threaten to sue over iBook, iPod The difficulties stem from the iBook's logic board, or motherboard, users say in discussion forums and on message boards -- including boards on Apple's own Web site. Many users report replacement units have the same problems with display and video output. On the other hand http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv3.jsp? CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id%20=305449 Apple are, on the whole, one of the better manufacturers in terms of reliability. and Meanwhile, a video making the rounds of the Internet shows a man spray-painting the message IPod's unreplaceable battery lasts only 18 months on iPod posters. The filmmaker, Casey Neistat, said in a note on his Web site, ipodsdirtysecret.com, that he decided to make the film after his unit essentially died in September and he was told the battery could not be replaced. Subsequently, Apple has begun offering a $99 battery replacement service. http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/ Q: Apple only released their battery replacement service because of all the bad publicity from iPod's Dirty Secret. A: While often claimed, this couldn't be further from the truth. Apple released the battery replacement program November 14. ipodsdirtysecret.com was only registered on November 20, and started being heavily publicized on November 21. Additionally, Apple had been planning the AppleCare programs for months - these types of service programs don't just happen overnight - before Casey Neistat even had his first contact with Apple. The video campaign had nothing to do with Apple's rollout of the battery replacement program. If the battery does fail, and the iPod is no longer under its original one year warranty or $59 AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod, or any of numerous third party service plans, you don't have to buy a new iPod. You may replace the battery yourself for as little as $49, or have Apple perform the replacement for $99. Dell's new DJ portable music player uses an integrated, non-user-replaceable lithium ion battery, just like the iPod. Dell also has no plan or program to replace batteries outside of warranty at this time (verified by calls to both Dell sales and Dell technical support, 12/03/03). -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ It is our belief, however, that serious professional users will run out of things they can do with UNIX. - Ken Olsen, President of DEC, 1984. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General
At 12:13 PM 1/1/04, Travis Edmunds wrote: -The War Against The Chtorr - David Gerrold -Travis gonna work on a completed top ten Edmunds I wish Gerrold would work on a completed series . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General
From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Science Fiction In General Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 15:11:39 -0600 At 12:13 PM 1/1/04, Travis Edmunds wrote: -The War Against The Chtorr - David Gerrold -Travis gonna work on a completed top ten Edmunds I wish Gerrold would work on a completed series . . . -- Ronn! :) My sentiments as well. Do you like that series? -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: Science Fiction In General
At 03:16 PM 1/1/04, Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Science Fiction In General Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 15:11:39 -0600 At 12:13 PM 1/1/04, Travis Edmunds wrote: -The War Against The Chtorr - David Gerrold -Travis gonna work on a completed top ten Edmunds I wish Gerrold would work on a completed series . . . -- Ronn! :) My sentiments as well. Do you like that series? I wouldn't put it in *my* personal top ten, but I did enjoy it, and would like to have known what happened . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Science Fiction In General
Travis Edmunds wrote: snip -Travis will be reading more Robert J. Sawyer in the future Edmunds -- IMO, good decision. I've read most of his stuff. His works are easy to read, the characters, while not deeply developed, are likeable, or at least understandable as they have the same real-world problems as we do. He does have some great ideas that other authors would most likely develop a little more thoroughly, but what the heck, the stories are good. He won the 1995 Nebula for The Terminal Experiment and the 2003 Hugo for Hominids, the first in his Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy. Humans and Hybrids are the sequels. All are quite good. The first I read by Sawyer was Starplex (Hugo and Nebula nominee). I'd like to see a sequel to it. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: A Chink in the Armor
William wrote: On the other hand http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv3.jsp? CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id%20=305449 Apple are, on the whole, one of the better manufacturers in terms of reliability. How'd I know I'd get a reply from you 8^) I don't doubt that Apples manufacturing is superior. That's one of the reasons their computers cost more. http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/ Q: Apple only released their battery replacement service because of all the bad publicity from iPod's Dirty Secret. A: While often claimed, this couldn't be further from the truth. Apple released the battery replacement program November 14. ipodsdirtysecret.com was only registered on November 20, and started being heavily publicized on November 21. Additionally, Apple had been planning the AppleCare programs for months - these types of service programs don't just happen overnight - before Casey Neistat even had his first contact with Apple. The video campaign had nothing to do with Apple's rollout of the battery replacement program. If the battery does fail, and the iPod is no longer under its original one year warranty or $59 AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod, or any of numerous third party service plans, you don't have to buy a new iPod. You may replace the battery yourself for as little as $49, or have Apple perform the replacement for $99. Dell's new DJ portable music player uses an integrated, non-user-replaceable lithium ion battery, just like the iPod. Dell also has no plan or program to replace batteries outside of warranty at this time (verified by calls to both Dell sales and Dell technical support, 12/03/03). Why don't they have easily replicable batteries like cameras? 18 months seems like a short lifespan especially considering the cost of the product. I don't think I'd buy anything that expensive with an integrated battery. -- Doug ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Universal Kilns Temporary Tattoos now available
When I first announced my online store, I said I was planning to eventually sell temporary tattoos with the Universal Kilns logo from _Kiln People_. They are now available for sale, and they're an essential part of a ditto costume, ideal for Halloween, or Masquerade at science fiction conventions. You can find a link at my online store: http://www.sloan3d.com/store/ Or go directly to this site: http://www.sloan3d.com/store/ditto_tattoos.html In addition to purchasing instructions and a preview of the logo, the store page also has suggestions for ditto makeup color and clothing, and instructions for applying the tattoos. __ 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
Re: First Mad Cow Case in U.S.
--- Kevin Tarr [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [I wrote:] snip Here in Colorado and a few contiguous states there's been a problem with Chronic Wasting Disease, a TSE, in deer and elk; it was recently discovered in Wisconsin as well... http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/research/chronic_wasting/chronic_wasting.html That's weird. I went to the CWD website: http://www.cwd-info.org/index.php/fuseaction/about.map and it had nothing for PA. I was sure some whitetail deer, on a captive farm, were found with CWD. In PubMed, there was no entry for CWD AND (Penn OR PA); there were 2 2003 articles that reported no evidence of CWD in humans. The abstract of one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrievedb=PubMedlist_uids=12617536dopt=Abstract Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a fatal neurologic disorder in humans. CJD is one of a group of conditions known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, that are believed to be caused by abnormally configured, host-encoded prion proteins that accumulate in the central nervous tissue. CJD has an annual incidence of approximately 1 case per million population in the United States and occurs in three forms: sporadic, genetically determined, and acquired by infection. In the latter form, the incubation period is measured typically in years. Recent evidence that prion infection can cross the species barrier between humans and cattle has raised increasing public health concerns about the possible transmission to humans of a TSE among deer and elk known as chronic wasting disease (CWD). During 1993-1999, three men who participated in wild game feasts in northern Wisconsin died of degenerative neurologic illnesses. This report documents the investigation of these deaths, which was initiated in August 2002 and which confirmed the death of only one person from CJD. Although no association between CWD and CJD was found, continued surveillance of both diseases remains important to assess the possible risk for CWD transmission to humans. (The other has no abstract, but is titled Still no human cases of chronic wasting disease from Mayo Clinic Letters.) But I have a question about Mad Cow disease... First was the cattle incubation period of 3-7 years. Does that mean if the animal is infected, it is not sick for at least three years? Is it contagious before three years? The WHO site states The disease has a long incubation period of four to five years, but ultimately is fatal for cattle within weeks to months of its onset. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs113/en/ When the animal becomes obviously sick, it lives only for several weeks more; I couldn't find the direct answer to your question WRT human infection, but would certainly presume the brain and spinal cord tissue are infectious before the animal is clearly ill. However, the _amount_ of infected tissue that must be consumed to produce human disease is not yet known; there appears also to be a genetic susceptibility to becoming infected/developing vCJD. This 2001 article from the British Medical Journal gives some background for BSE, describes experiments of infectivity in mice, and discusses vCJD. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0999/7290_322/74089375/p1/article.jhtml?term=cjd Second was the incubation period in humans. The caller said 5 to 40 years and it's 100% fatal. True, false, real facts? So far the incubation period is about 10 years, then symptoms begin progress over 6+ months to death. The possibility of genetic resistance to BSE exists, such that the incubation period in these humans could be 20 or 40 years; however we _do_not_ have any evidence of this so far. This is a long 2001 CDC article: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0999/7290_322/74089375/p1/article.jhtml?term=cjd The third, related to the long human incubation period, was that it may be causing Alzheimer disease. Somebody eating bad meat 30 years ago gets diagnosed with Alzheimer today. Bob Z answered this already; someone may have confused the reported findings of brain amyloid plaques in a few vCJD patients with evidence that it causes Alzheimer's (since plaques in the brain do occur in Alzheimer's). Fourth and last I heard from another source. When it was first discovered in England they did a survey of those affected, or the families of those who died, and found 24 of the first 28 ate cow brains as a meal. insert conspiracy music That study was hushed up because the public wouldn't take it as seriously, seeing no risk by just eating regular meat. Nerve tissue did get into certain processed meats (sausage, bologna, etc.) because of the mechanical extraction process, but I didn't see anything about vCJD occurring only in Eaters-of-Brayns... :P Other tissues known to be infective to experimental animals include part of the small intestine (the ileum; I think animal intestine is sold as tripe) and the retina (mmm, scoop up those eyeballs!). Debbi
Re: Science Fiction In Music
Reggie Bautista [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Debbi wrote (re: Rush) Their concept album 2112 with the Temples of Syrinx speaks of the 'great computers,' the Solar Federation, and how they have made the world contented: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/9123/lyrics/2112.html snip On the fantasy level is The Trees, about war between the oaks and the maples (last song): http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/9123/lyrics/hemispheres.html I love that song! But the first one from Rush that came to my mind was Red Barchetta. snip I strip away the old debris That hides a shining car: A brilliant red Barchetta From a better vanished time. [snip] Suddenly ahead of me Across the mountainside A gleaming alloy air-car Shoots towards me, two lanes wide... That song on the radio had me night-flying down the Washington coast at gasp 70mph in a 55 zone, before I realized that I was cruisin' for a ticket (I was returning to Portland after a weekend in the Olympic National Park -- ooh, lovely!). :) Then there's Prime Mover, from Hold Your Fire. It might be a little bit of a stretch... snip One of my favorite albums. If Prime Mover is allowed, then it's only a tiny stretch further to allow Dreamline from Roll the Bones... He's got a road map of Jupiter A radar fix on the stars All along the highway... Another good album! snip Movie music on Eric Kunzel's CDs Star Tracks I II (I could have misremembered the titles) is good too - themes from various SF and fantasy films, from ET to The Day The Earth Stood Still. Debbi Crank It Up! Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: First Mad Cow Case in U.S.
[I wrote:] snippage So far the incubation period is about 10 years, then symptoms begin progress over 6+ months to death. The possibility of genetic resistance to BSE exists, such that the incubation period in these humans could be 20 or 40 years; however we _do_not_ have any evidence of this so far. This is a long 2001 CDC article: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0999/7290_322/74089375/p1/article.jhtml?term=cjd Eeediyot! Wrong paste! Here's the correct one: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol7no1/brown.htm Debbi Chagrinned Agin Maru :} __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: A Chink in the Armor
On 1/1/04 6:00 PM, Doug Pensinger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How'd I know I'd get a reply from you 8^) I don't doubt that Apples manufacturing is superior. That's one of the reasons their computers cost more. Please don't remind me of that. I almost get physically sick every time I see one of those Gateway ads for a 600 buck complete system. Plus PC are so much lighter than our new dual G5. The thing is a brick. Why the entire case has to be made out of metal is beyond me. It has something like 7 fans to keep it cool. I am trying to figure out how to keep dog hair out of it. But man is it cool. And if you're really quiet, you'll here the other G4's in our house whimper. Why don't they have easily replicable batteries like cameras? 18 months seems like a short lifespan especially considering the cost of the product. I don't think I'd buy anything that expensive with an integrated battery. I will be buying one of those Apple care plans for my ipod. Apple can't have enough of our money :( Steve Jobs sends us Xmas cards, Matthew and Julie Bos ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The US Has Insane Privacy Protections
On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 13:21:02 -0500, John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Here is an interesting piece that argues the opposite of the conventional wisdom - namely that insance US privacy regulations prevented us from stopping September 11th and may prevent us from stopping the next big attack. http://slate.msn.com/id/2093344/ Herein we see the kind of spin the Bush administration will use when the 9/11 commission finds that they were asleep at the switch. -- Doug ROU No Sale ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
