Re: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
Jim Sharkey wrote: I got Time Enough for Love also. What's it about? I'm afraid my Heinlein exposure has been minimal. And you call yourself a Science Fiction reader ;-) Time Enough for Love follows the exploits of 2000-year old Lazarus Long, first introduced in Methusela's Children. The book opens with Lazarus wanting to die, an not really being allowed to by his descendant's. They are violating the rights of a family of long-lived people. The reason being is they want his wisdom. Seems the human race is going to hell in a handbasket (again) and they think what he's learned over his life time will help those who intend to escape the downfall (which doesn't necessarily happen). Lazarus and one of his descendants, Ira, reach and agreement. Lazarus will tell his story while Ira looks for something new for Lazarus to do; seems he thinks he's about done it all in his 2000 years. The book then flips back and forth between Lazarus telling stories and the present day (in the book). Eventually they find something new and the latter third of the book or so is him actually doing it as well as setting up a new planet. I'm a big Heinlein fan and this book is probably my favorite novel. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No Americans Need Apply
From: Trent Shipley [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yeah? So join a union or quit whining. Where are these so-called IT unions. I haven't seen one. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: No Americans Need Apply
Jan Coffey wrote: I was angry becouse as more and more H1's were at work the culture shifted to be ~their~ culture. It became difficult to get anything done at work in English, and although I do speak a bit of Chinese, it's not enough to get by at work, and I know only a couple of words in Hindi. That's weird..using Hindi at work I mean. Your company did land up with a lot of impolite jerks. I was angry when I saw frieds who labored to build start-ups for half of what they could have been makeing elsewhere and who showed the highest degree of loyalty and work ethic booted out of their jobs just before their options vested and replaced by H1's who would work for next to nothing with hardly no options. I was angry when 7 groups at Seible were asked to train the Indeans who would replace them, all the while being promised that they were not going to loose their jobs. Was the management Indian in both the above cases? And this makes me angry becouse just as the DotCom failed becouse of over zelous expectations coupled with crap for code, now the same will happen to the rest of the technology sector. Unless of course the Indean and Chinese education system steps up (and I would be glad for them to do so). Or the US firms start behaving more responsibly towards their employees and caring more about skills than about the bottom line. But then that would also mean that all of my profesion would be moved off-shore. Not in the aforementioned scenario. You don't think that when that happens they will hier Americans there, let our culture take over their company, and shift all buisness to being spoken in English...do you? They might hire Americans though it is doubtful because, for a long time to come, an average Indian *would* be happier with a lower pay than an average American. I don't understand what you mean by your culture taking over...unless of course you believe that fair and equitable treatment at workplace is a uniquely American characteristic. Most of the business in a lot of IT firms [any which doesn't hire on a purely linguistic basis] is already done in English as English is the only common language we Indians have. So that shouldn't be a concern really. Ritu --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.516 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 01-Sep-03 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Cell Phones could 'make you senile' new research shows
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=443248 Mobiles 'make you senile' By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor. 14 September 2003 Mobile phones and the new wireless technology could cause a whole generation of today's teenagers to go senile in the prime of their lives, new research suggests The study - which warns specifically against the intense use of mobile phones by youngsters - comes as research on their health effects is being scaled down, due to industry pressure. It is likely to galvanise concern about the almost universal exposure to microwaves in Western countries, by revealing a new way in which they may seriously damage health. Professor Leif Salford, who headed the research at Sweden's prestigious Lund University, says the voluntary exposure of the brain to microwaves from hand-held mobile phones is the largest human biological experiment ever. And he is concerned that, as new wireless technology spreads, people may drown in a sea of microwaves. The study - financed by the Swedish Council for Work Life Research, and published by the US government's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - breaks new ground by looking at how low levels of microwaves cause proteins to leak across the blood-brain barrier. Previous concerns about mobile phones have concentrated on the possibility that the devices may heat the brain, or cause cancer. But the heating is thought to be too minor to have an effect and hundreds of cancer studies have been inconclusive. As a result, the US mobile phone industry has succeeded in cutting research into the health effects, and the World Health Organisation is unlikely to continue its studies. Mays Swicord, a scientific adviser to Motorola told New Scientist magazine that governments and industry should stop wasting money by looking for health damage. But Professor Salford and his team have spent 15 years investigating a different threat. Their previous studies proved radiation could open the blood-brain barrier, allowing a protein called albumin to pass into the brain. Their latest work goes a step further, by showing the process is linked to serious brain damage. Professor Salford said the long-term effects were not proven, and that it was possible the neurons would repair themselves in time. But, he said, neurons that would normally not become senile until people reached their 60s may now do so when they were in their 30s. He says he deliberately refrained from publicising his work to avoid alarm, and acknowledges that mobile phones can save lives. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Decline in SF?
Erik Reuter wrote: But I don't see why you must like him to find the book interesting. Talk about whiny! Talk about short-term memory loss. I've already said several times in the past few days that I enjoyed the first TC trilogy quite a bit, despite my distaste for the man himself. Do I need to engrave that fact on stone tablets and ship it to you so you'll stop accusing me of only being interested in likable characters? Jim ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
G. D. Akin wrote: Jim Sharkey wrote: I got Time Enough for Love also. What's it about? I'm afraid my Heinlein exposure has been minimal. And you call yourself a Science Fiction reader ;-) I used to, but compared to many of the folks on this list, I'm clearly a piker and need to catch up. :) In truth, I've been more of a Fantasy fan than an SF fan. But thanks to the good people here, though, I am making up for lost time. Jim ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Counterfiet
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushbill1.html SEPTEMBER 12--North Carolina cops are searching for a guy who successfully passed a $200 bill bearing George W. Bush's portrait and a drawing of the White House complete with lawn signs reading We like ice cream and USA deserves a tax cut. The phony Bush bill--a copy of which you'll find below--was presented to a cashier at a Food Lion in Roanoke Rapids on September 6 by an unidentified male who was seeking to pay for $150 in groceries. Remarkably, the cashier accepted the counterfeit note and gave the man $50 change. In a separate incident involving a different perp, Roanoke Rapids cops Tuesday arrested Michael Harris, 24, for attempting last month to pass an identical $200 Bush bill at a convenience store. * Site has photos of front and back of bills (including picture of white house signs on back that is quite funny) and a police report. I suppose it might be true. xponent Comedy At Its Finest Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-03za.html Sir Arthur C. Clarke, world-renowned science fiction author, will address the Second Annual Space Elevator Conference held Sept. 12-15 in Santa Fe. The event is co-sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Institute for Scientific Research Inc. (ISR). Clarke, the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fountains of Paradise and many other novels, will open the conference with a live address via satellite at 8 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, from his home in Sri Lanka. Clarke has included space elevator imagery in several of his novels and has long been a champion of this revolutionary means of space travel. The conference will bring together individuals and institutions interested in solving the scientific and engineering challenges inherent in constructing the world's first space elevator. Said conference organizer Bryan E. Laubscher of the Los Alamos Space Instrumentation and System Engineering Group, With the discovery of carbon nanotubes and their remarkable strength properties, the time for the space elevator is at hand. The promise of inexpensive access to space is so important to the human race that we are ready to meet these challenges head on. Viewed in one way, the space elevator will be the largest civil engineering project ever attempted, Laubscher said. The conference is being held at the Santa Fe Radisson, beginning Sept. 12 with an evening reception and concluding Sept. 15. Media representatives are welcome to attend. Speakers at the conference will provide a historical perspective of the space elevator and its promise for future space activity. Facilitators will outline each area of technical challenge and discussion of solutions is encouraged through audience participation. The team that works out the technological solutions will encompass government and industry and represent a new level of teamwork not seen since the days of NASA's Apollo program, said Laubscher. It sounds a little far out at first, but with materials science advances such as nanotubes and other new materials, we are reaching the stage where this starts to look like real science, a real advance for space transport. And with the Los Alamos experience in both space and material science, it's a great opportunity for teamwork. The space elevator is a revolutionary way of getting from Earth into space, a ribbon with one end attached to Earth on a floating platform located at the equator and the other end in space beyond geosynchronous orbit (35,800 km altitude). The space elevator will potentially ferry satellites, spaceships and pieces of space stations into space using electric lifts clamped to the ribbon, serving as a means for commerce, scientific advancement and exploration. In direct analogy with the Transcontinental Railroad, in which construction began as soon as the last routes through the California mountains were scouted, I hope that the space elevator is begun as soon as the 100,000-km ribbon can be manufactured, said Laubscher. In order to be ready with the required technologies, those scientists and engineers interested in the space elevator must begin now to identify and solve the technical challenges involved in constructing and operating a space elevator. The Second Annual Space-Elevator Conference is being held to discuss these challenges and their solutions. NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) granted funds to Dr. Bradley Edwards, ISR's director of research, to investigate the feasibility of designing and building a space elevator. Once relegated to the realm of science fiction, the space elevator is now the subject of scientific research by ISR. The discovery of carbon nanotubes and the ongoing development to implement them into a composite is the key to space elevator viability being achieved in the future. Researchers estimate that a space elevator capable of lifting 5-ton payloads every day to low Earth orbits could be operational in 15 years. From this first orbit, the costs to go on the moon, Mars, Venus, or the asteroids would be reduced dramatically. The first space elevator is projected to reduce lift costs immediately to $100 per pound, as compared to current launch costs of $10,000-$40,000 per pound, depending upon destination and choice of rocket-launch system. Additional and larger elevators, built utilizing the first, would allow large-scale manned and commercial activities in space and reduce lift costs even further. xponent In the News More Frequently Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trampoline bear
Andrew Crystall wrote: Almost as good as the flying cat... I'm not familiar with *that* one, but I'm intrigued now. Want it offlist? (it's 372KB) Anyone else? Andy Dawn Falcon Maybe. Is it this one? http://web.ms11.net/kittyclips/catfly.mpeg (More of a jump, really.) (And 2mb.) ---David ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
New Technique Could Lead To Widespread Use Of Solar Power
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-03e.html Princeton electrical engineers have invented a technique for making solar cells that, when combined with other recent advances, could yield a highly economical source of energy. The results, reported in the Sept. 11 issue of Nature, move scientists closer to making a new class of solar cells that are not as efficient as conventional ones, but could be vastly less expensive and more versatile. Solar cells, or photovoltaics, convert light to electricity and are used to power many devices, from calculators to satellites. The new photovoltaics are made from organic materials, which consist of small carbon-containing molecules, as opposed to the conventional inorganic, silicon-based materials. The materials are ultra-thin and flexible and could be applied to large surfaces. Organic solar cells could be manufactured in a process something like printing or spraying the materials onto a roll of plastic, said Peter Peumans, a graduate student in the lab of electrical engineering professor Stephen Forrest. In the end, you would have a sheet of solar cells that you just unroll and put on a roof, he said. Peumans and Forrest cowrote the paper in collaboration with Soichi Uchida, a researcher visiting Princeton from Nippon Oil Co. The cells also could be made in different colors, making them attractive architectural elements, Peumans said. Or they could be transparent so they could be applied to windows. The cells would serve as tinting, letting half the light through and using the other half to generate power, he said. Because of these qualities, researchers have pursued organic photovoltaic films for many years, but have been plagued with problems of efficiency, said Forrest. The first organic solar cell, developed in 1986, was 1 percent efficient -- that is, it converted only 1 percent of the available light energy into electrical energy. And that number stood for about 15 years, said Forrest. Forrest and colleagues recently broke that barrier by changing the organic compounds used to make their solar cells, yielding devices with efficiencies of more than 3 percent. The most recent advance reported in Nature involves a new method for forming the organic film, which increased the efficiency by 50 percent. Researchers in Forrest's lab are now planning to combine the new materials and techniques. Doing so could yield at least 5 percent efficiency, which would make the technology attractive to commercial manufacturers. With further commercial development, organic solar devices would be viable in the marketplace with 5 to 10 percent efficiency, the researchers estimated. We think we have pathway for using this and other tricks to get to 10 percent reasonably quickly, Forrest said. By comparison, conventional silicon chip-based solar cells are about 24 percent efficient. Organic solar cells will be cheaper to make, so in the end the cost of a watt of electricity will be lower than that of conventional materials, said Peumans. The technique the researchers discovered also opens new areas of materials science that could be applied to other types of technology, the researchers said. Solar cells are made of two types of materials sandwiched together, one that gives up electrons and another that attracts them, allowing a flow of electricity. The Princeton researchers figured out how to make those two materials mesh together like interlocking fingers so there is more opportunity for the electrons to transfer. The key to this advance was to apply a metal cap to the film of material as it is being made. The cap allowed the surface of the material to stay smooth and uniform while the internal microstructure changed and meshed together, which was an unexpected result, said Forrest. The researchers then developed a mathematical model to explain the behavior, which will likely prove useful in creating other micromaterials, Forrest said. We've shown a very new and general process for reorganizing the morphology of materials and that was really unanticipated, Forrest said. xponent Maybe Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Antimatter Factory On Sun Yields Clues To Solar Explosions
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antimatter-03a.html The best look yet at how a solar explosion becomes an antimatter factory gave unexpected insights into how the tremendous explosions work. The observation may upset theories about how the explosions, called solar flares, create and destroy antimatter. It also gave surprising details about how they blast subatomic particles to almost the speed of light. Solar flares are among the most powerful explosions in the solar system; the largest can release as much energy as a billion one-megaton nuclear bombs. A team of researchers used NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft to take pictures of a solar flare on July 23, 2002, using the flare's high-energy X-rays and gamma radiation. We are taking pictures of flares in an entirely new color, one invisible to the human eye, so we expect surprises, and RHESSI gave us a couple already, said Dr. Robert Lin, a faculty member in the Dept. of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, who is the Principal Investigator for RHESSI. Gamma-rays and X-rays are the most energetic forms of light, with a particle of gamma ray light at the top of the scale carrying millions to billions of times more energy than a particle of visible light. The results are part of a series of papers about the RHESSI observation to be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters October 1. Antimatter annihilates normal matter in a burst of energy, inspiring science fiction writers to use it as a supremely powerful source to propel starships. Current technology only creates minute quantities, usually in miles-long machines employed to smash atoms together, but scientists discovered the July 2002 flare created a half-kilo (about one pound) of antimatter, enough to power the entire United States for two days. According to the RHESSI images and data, this antimatter was not destroyed where expected. Antimatter is rare in the present-day universe. However, it can be created in high-speed collisions between particles of ordinary matter, when some of the energy from the collision goes into the production of antimatter. Antimatter is created in flares when the fast-moving particles accelerated during the flare collide with slower particles in the Sun's atmosphere. According to flare theory, these collisions happen in relatively dense regions of the solar atmosphere, because many collisions are required to produce significant amounts of antimatter. Scientists expected that the antimatter would be annihilated near the same places, since there are so many particles of ordinary matter to run into. Antimatter shouldn't get far, said Dr. Gerald Share of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C., lead author of a paper on RHESSI's observations of the antimatter destruction in the July 23 flare. However, in a cosmic version of the shell game, it appears that this flare might have shuffled antimatter around, producing it in one location and destroying it in another. RHESSI allowed the most detailed analysis to date of the gamma rays emitted when antimatter annihilates ordinary matter in the solar atmosphere. The analysis indicates that the flare's antimatter might have been destroyed in regions where high temperatures made the particle density 1,000 times lower than where the antimatter should have been created. Alternatively, perhaps there is no shell game at all, and flares are able to create significant amounts of antimatter in less dense regions, or flares somehow may be able to maintain dense regions despite high temperatures, or the antimatter was created on the run at high speeds, and the high-speed creation gave the appearance of a high-temperature region, according to the team. Solar flares are also capable of blasting electrically charged particles in the Sun's atmosphere (electrons and ions) to almost the speed of light (about 186,000 miles per second or 300,000 km/sec.). The new RHESSI observation revealed that solar flares somehow sort particles, either by their masses or their electric charge, as they propel them to ultra-high speeds. The result is as surprising as gold miners blasting a cliff face and discovering that the explosion threw all the dirt in one direction and all the gold in another direction, said Dr. Craig DeForest, a solar researcher at the South West Research Inst. Boulder, Colo. The means by which flares sort particles by mass is unknown; there are many possible mechanisms, according to the team. Alternatively, the particles could be sorted by their electric charge, since ions are positively charged and electrons negatively charged. xponent Anti-Matters Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trampoline bear
On 14 Sep 2003 at 9:48, David Hobby wrote: Andrew Crystall wrote: Almost as good as the flying cat... I'm not familiar with *that* one, but I'm intrigued now. Want it offlist? (it's 372KB) Anyone else? Andy Dawn Falcon Maybe. Is it this one? http://web.ms11.net/kittyclips/catfly.mpeg (More of a jump, really.) (And 2mb.) Nope :P It's...er...indoors. I really don't want to spoil it... Andu Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
From: G. D. Akin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In? Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 15:49:29 +0900 Jim Sharkey wrote: I got Time Enough for Love also. What's it about? I'm afraid my Heinlein exposure has been minimal. And you call yourself a Science Fiction reader ;-) Ha! The list of authors *I* haven't read is at least as long as my arm. :) Time Enough for Love follows the exploits of 2000-year old Lazarus Long, first introduced in Methusela's Children. The book opens with Lazarus wanting to die, an not really being allowed to by his descendant's. They are violating the rights of a family of long-lived people. The reason being is they want his wisdom. Seems the human race is going to hell in a handbasket (again) and they think what he's learned over his life time will help those who intend to escape the downfall (which doesn't necessarily happen). Lazarus and one of his descendants, Ira, reach and agreement. Lazarus will tell his story while Ira looks for something new for Lazarus to do; seems he thinks he's about done it all in his 2000 years. The book then flips back and forth between Lazarus telling stories and the present day (in the book). Eventually they find something new and the latter third of the book or so is him actually doing it as well as setting up a new planet. All accurate, except I think Lazarus was 4000+ years old. Well, I'm pretty sure he was , anyway. My wife reorganized the shelves while I was in Baltimore recently and now I can't find anything. On the up side, precariously-stacked paperbacks aren't falling off the shelves anymore. :) Now that I think about it, this book may have began as a series of short stories. Heinlein ties them together seamlessly into a very captivating narrative... although there's an ongoing 'taboo' theme that culminates in a *very* odd ending. I'm a big Heinlein fan and this book is probably my favorite novel. I am too. Tied for me with Starship Troopers, and The Man Who Sold The Moon. I'm a big fan of authors who create universes and then continuity in unexpected places. Asimov and Heinlein were very good at it. Frex, there's a short story in TMWSTM about a Doctor Pinero, who has discovered a foolproof way to predict when someone who is going to die. Lazarus mentions an amusing visit to Pinero in Methuselah's Children. Jon Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com _ Use custom emotions -- try MSN Messenger 6.0! http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_emoticon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
New virus tactic
Both yesterday and today, I received near-identical e-mails from [EMAIL PROTECTED] informing me that my e-mail address was about to expire, and to read the attachment for details. The attachment in both cases was identified by Norton Anti-Virus as a virus, and in each case it was a .zip file. Just wanted folks to be aware. If you get something like that from [EMAIL PROTECTED], I'd suggest contacting the admin before opening anything. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Decline in SF?
G. D. Akin wrote: Julia Thompson responded with: G. D. Akin wrote: But did it have to go SIX books? Did anyone HAVE to read all six? :) -- No, not really. But I finish what I start (with two exceptions) and I really wanted to see what the fuss was about. I'll give up on series after a few books if I'm not enjoying it. A few can translate to just one in some cases. Usually, I won't buy the second book in the series until I've enjoyed the first. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No Americans Need Apply
Trent Shipley wrote: Yeah? So join a union or quit whining. Have computer programmers unionized anywhere? Or IT workers? I'm curious (and interested). Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Counterfiet
Robert Seeberger wrote: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushbill1.html SEPTEMBER 12--North Carolina cops are searching for a guy who successfully passed a $200 bill bearing George W. Bush's portrait and a drawing of the White House complete with lawn signs reading We like ice cream and USA deserves a tax cut. The phony Bush bill--a copy of which you'll find below--was presented to a cashier at a Food Lion in Roanoke Rapids on September 6 by an unidentified male who was seeking to pay for $150 in groceries. Remarkably, the cashier accepted the counterfeit note and gave the man $50 change. In a separate incident involving a different perp, Roanoke Rapids cops Tuesday arrested Michael Harris, 24, for attempting last month to pass an identical $200 Bush bill at a convenience store. * Site has photos of front and back of bills (including picture of white house signs on back that is quite funny) and a police report. I suppose it might be true. Just the opposite of the story where the guy tried to use the $2 bill at Taco Bell and the manager wanted him arrested for trying to pass counterfeit money. (Of undetermined veracity at snopes.com; url is http://www.snopes.com/humor/business/tacobell.htm with a link to similar stories.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No Americans Need Apply
Julia Thompson wrote: Trent Shipley wrote: Yeah? So join a union or quit whining. I believe he is insinuating that IT professionals, among others, _should_ unionize to protect themselves from this kind of stuff. Doug ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference
From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 08:53:53 -0500 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-03za.html *shudder* Somebody at Los Alamos better read KSR's Mars trilogy before they build that thing. A single well-aimed ballistic missile would leave elevator parts killing thousands or millions as they descended at 1000+ mph all over the planet. A space elevator would need advanced missile defense systems, tightly controlled airspace and a battallion of troops at both anchor points at the very least. Until we grow up a bit as a species and make terrorism unimaginable, it seems way too risky. Jon Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com _ Get a FREE computer virus scan online from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference
On Sun, Sep 14, 2003 at 02:59:09PM -0400, Jon Gabriel wrote: From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 08:53:53 -0500 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-03za.html *shudder* Somebody at Los Alamos better read KSR's Mars trilogy before they build that thing. A single well-aimed ballistic missile would leave elevator parts killing thousands or millions as they descended at 1000+ mph all over the planet. A space elevator would need advanced missile defense systems, tightly controlled airspace and a battallion of troops at both anchor points at the very least. That's not a problem if you build it as a very thin ribbon, as several others gave references for here previously (I guess you missed that thread?). The real problem is making the material. So far, no one has made any significant lengths of it and tested it to see if it behaves as predicted. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference
On 14 Sep 2003 at 14:59, Jon Gabriel wrote: From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 08:53:53 -0500 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-03za.html *shudder* Somebody at Los Alamos better read KSR's Mars trilogy before they build that thing. A single well-aimed ballistic missile would leave elevator parts killing thousands or millions as they descended at 1000+ mph all over the planet. A space elevator would need advanced missile defense systems, tightly controlled airspace and a battallion of troops at both anchor points at the very least. Until we grow up a bit as a species and make terrorism unimaginable, it seems way too risky. Not an issue if it's made of ribbons. Anything which cut the cable would separate it into ribbons which would burn up. Andy Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
Jon Gabriel wrote: All accurate, except I think Lazarus was 4000+ years old. 2359. He was born on 1912-11-11, and the story begins somewhere in 4272. But he wasn't 2359 _years_ old, because he cut some of these years [about 70 of them] during _Methuselah's Children_. Timeline Maniac Maru Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
G. D. Akin wrote: Time Enough for Love Did I mention that I made a timeline of Heinlein? http://www.geocities.com/albmont/rah2.htm follows the exploits of 2000-year old Lazarus Long, first introduced in Methusela's Children. The book opens with Lazarus wanting to die, an not really being allowed to by his descendant's. They are violating the rights of a family of long-lived people. The reason being is they want his wisdom. Seems the human race is going to hell in a handbasket (again) and they think what he's learned over his life time will help those who intend to escape the downfall (which doesn't necessarily happen). No, there's no evidence of this crisis for the human race. It seems like _Secundus_ is in crisis, but it's a subtle crisis: they seem to be too much satisfied with what they already got. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: New virus tactic
Julia Thompson wrote: Just wanted folks to be aware. If you get something like that from [EMAIL PROTECTED], I'd suggest contacting the admin before opening anything. The Organized Crime is trying to take control of the Internet :-/ Paranoia Maru Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference
From: Erik Reuter [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 15:24:26 -0400 On Sun, Sep 14, 2003 at 02:59:09PM -0400, Jon Gabriel wrote: From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 08:53:53 -0500 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-03za.html *shudder* Somebody at Los Alamos better read KSR's Mars trilogy before they build that thing. A single well-aimed ballistic missile would leave elevator parts killing thousands or millions as they descended at 1000+ mph all over the planet. A space elevator would need advanced missile defense systems, tightly controlled airspace and a battallion of troops at both anchor points at the very least. That's not a problem if you build it as a very thin ribbon, as several others gave references for here previously (I guess you missed that thread?). I did miss that one, thanks. Will hunt through the archives when I have a bit more time. :) The real problem is making the material. So far, no one has made any significant lengths of it and tested it to see if it behaves as predicted. Yes or no answer is ok, since I'll read the more about it in the archive: Would the proposed tensile strength be enough to handle several hundred pounds of humans equipment at a time? Just curious! Thanks, Erik. Jon Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com _ Try MSN Messenger 6.0 with integrated webcam functionality! http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_webcam ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Clarke To Address Los Alamos Space-Elevator Conference
On Sun, Sep 14, 2003 at 06:42:37PM -0400, Jon Gabriel wrote: Yes or no answer is ok, since I'll read the more about it in the archive: Would the proposed tensile strength be enough to handle several hundred pounds of humans equipment at a time? Sure, it has to hold a lot more than that -- the vehicle to lift people and cargo would weigh tons. The material proposed is carbon nanofilament based. But no one has yet made a long length of it to test its properties on a large scale. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: New virus tactic
Alberto Monteiro wrote: Julia Thompson wrote: Just wanted folks to be aware. If you get something like that from [EMAIL PROTECTED], I'd suggest contacting the admin before opening anything. The Organized Crime is trying to take control of the Internet :-/ Paranoia Maru I'm guessing it's just a way to get you to open the darn attachment and infect your computer. I think that Organized Crime would come up with something that Norton *didn't* identify as a virus if it really wanted to take over. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Neolithic people in the XXI Century
I have just watched a short documentary about a native brazilian tribe, the Ashaninka [who claim to be descendant from the Incas of Peru] who were shown making their own primitive clothes, and using a hollow tree to ferment some mandioca to create an alcoholic beverage, that they will use to celebrate their new Internet connection using satellites... Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No Americans Need Apply
Just my point. Historically, upper-echelon IT workers have been very liberterian and anti-union. Serves 'em right. (telecom workers are another matter) On Sunday 2003-09-14 03:46, The Fool wrote: From: Trent Shipley [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yeah? So join a union or quit whining. Where are these so-called IT unions. I haven't seen one. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No Americans Need Apply
Trent Shipley wrote: Just my point. Historically, upper-echelon IT workers have been very liberterian and anti-union. Serves 'em right. (telecom workers are another matter) Can you elaborate on your statement about telecom workers? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No Americans Need Apply
- Original Message - From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2003 9:29 PM Subject: Re: No Americans Need Apply Trent Shipley wrote: Just my point. Historically, upper-echelon IT workers have been very liberterian and anti-union. Serves 'em right. (telecom workers are another matter) Can you elaborate on your statement about telecom workers? I eat lunch at the Telecommunication Local (#6222) almost every day. Most Bell employees are members, and they are growing at the present time. xponent IBEW #716 Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trampoline bear
Andrew Crystall wrote: Almost as good as the flying cat... I'm not familiar with *that* one, but I'm intrigued now. Want it offlist? (it's 372KB) Anyone else? I'd like to see it. Thanks. __ 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: New virus tactic
Julia Thompson wrote: The Organized Crime is trying to take control of the Internet :-/ Paranoia Maru I'm guessing it's just a way to get you to open the darn attachment and infect your computer. And the purpose of infecting your computer is turning it into a spamming zombie. I think that Organized Crime would come up with something that Norton *didn't* identify as a virus if it really wanted to take over. :) Maybe they want to make you feel confident in Anti-Viruses before they make a real attempt to take it over. People who trust anti-viruses are more likely to be infected than those paranoids who simply delete *all* attachments. Paranoia Maru Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: New virus tactic
Alberto Monteiro wrote: Julia Thompson wrote: The Organized Crime is trying to take control of the Internet :-/ Paranoia Maru I'm guessing it's just a way to get you to open the darn attachment and infect your computer. And the purpose of infecting your computer is turning it into a spamming zombie. I think that Organized Crime would come up with something that Norton *didn't* identify as a virus if it really wanted to take over. :) Maybe they want to make you feel confident in Anti-Viruses before they make a real attempt to take it over. People who trust anti-viruses are more likely to be infected than those paranoids who simply delete *all* attachments. I don't trust attachments unless they're from someone I know, and if I'm not expecting them, I often e-mail back asking, Hey, did you just send me file X with an e-mail? Deleting the attachment I'm *expecting* so that I can print out the document and fax it, when I have access to a fax machine and my friend doesn't, is not at all helpful. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: New virus tactic
From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: New virus tactic Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 11:15:24 -0500 Both yesterday and today, I received near-identical e-mails from [EMAIL PROTECTED] informing me that my e-mail address was about to expire, and to read the attachment for details. The attachment in both cases was identified by Norton Anti-Virus as a virus, and in each case it was a .zip file. Just wanted folks to be aware. If you get something like that from [EMAIL PROTECTED], I'd suggest contacting the admin before opening anything. *grin* Considering the hell I went through trying to get a tech response the last time Hotmail had real problems I can only imagine how much of a pain in the neck it would be to try and report (and elicit a response to) a fake problem! Thanks for the warning. :-) Jon Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com _ Get a FREE computer virus scan online from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
