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From: Jennifer Usher on 5 May 2010 18:29 "Michelle Steiner" <michelle(a)michelle.org> wrote in message news:michelle-5DEFC7.14490205052010(a)62-183-169-81.bb.dnainternet.fi... > In article <4be1e417$0$5251$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com>, > "Jennifer Usher" <jennisuzan(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> >> > Yes in a context relevant to FTL travel - check the references >> >> > listed in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive for warp >> >> > bubbles applied to FTL travel. >> >> >> >> Eh, he just stole the idea from Zefram Cochrane. ;-) >> > >> > That's pretty good, considering that he will probably die before >> > Cochrane will be born. Time travel, anyone? >> >> Maybe he is friends with the Doctor. > > Doctor Who? Of course. -- Jennifer Usher
From: Wes Groleau on 5 May 2010 18:38 On 05-05-2010 03:20, JF Mezei wrote: > Wes Groleau wrote: >> If a 32-bit integer's bytes are stored (ascending addresses) >> DEADBEEF on Intel and EFBEADDE on 68000, the VAX would store >> them ADDEEFBE or EFBEADBE. I forget which of those two it was, >> but I well remember the trouble it caused me in trying to accomplish >> certain tasks on the VAX in 1986-1988. > > VAX is little endian just like the intel 32 bit X86. First byte contains > lowest order byte. You may be refering to different format of > hexadecimal memory dump between different operating systems. I was there. To accomplish a long-forgotten goal, I overlaid a four-byte integer on a four-character string. The second and third characters were NOT in the order of the first and last. -- Wes Groleau Some schools are cutting back on homework … http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/russell?itemid=1508
From: Mensanator on 5 May 2010 18:42 On May 5, 5:52 pm, "Charlie Gibbs" <cgi...(a)kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote: > In article <qNSdnVP8Qo-IAnzWnZ2dnUVZ_uydn...(a)earthlink.com>, > > magicon...(a)earthlink.net (Paul Magnussen) writes: > > Michelle Steiner wrote: > > >> In the Lensmen (or maybe the Skylark) series, FTL was > >> accomplished by negating inertia, resulting in an inertialess drive. > >> However, when regaining inertia, the ship (or other object) had its > >> intrinsic velocity that it had at the moment it went inertialess. > > > It was the Lensman series, but the trick was to neutralize inertia, > > not negate it. The Boskonians apparently once attempted to negate > > inertia by overdriving a Bergenholm, but even Kinnison couldn't > > understand why :-) > > I just finished reading a story in the latest Analog where the > protagonist is driving a car being chased by a flying saucer. > As the saucer got close enough, its inertia-neutralizing field > enveloped the car, so our hero hit the brakes and came to an > instantaneous stop, causing the saucer to fly right past. What > was even more fun was that he then fired at the saucer with a > handgun; the bullet hit the saucer, which being inertialess was > flicked off into the distance. If the car got caught in the "inertia-neutralizing field", how come the bullet didn't? > > -- > /~\ cgi...(a)kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs) > \ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way. > X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855. > / \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign!
From: Joe Pfeiffer on 5 May 2010 18:43 DRAMA QUEEN <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> writes: > On 05-05-2010 13:17, Charlie Gibbs wrote: >> Every time I try to eat one of those long yellow fruit >> I get a floating-point exception. >> >> ba + (na)^2 > > Standard Usenet nitpicking: > Why is one syllable added and the others multiplied? So ba(na)^2 would be slightly better. -- As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)
From: Joe Pfeiffer on 5 May 2010 18:45
Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> writes: > On 05-05-2010 03:20, JF Mezei wrote: >> Wes Groleau wrote: >>> If a 32-bit integer's bytes are stored (ascending addresses) >>> DEADBEEF on Intel and EFBEADDE on 68000, the VAX would store >>> them ADDEEFBE or EFBEADBE. I forget which of those two it was, >>> but I well remember the trouble it caused me in trying to accomplish >>> certain tasks on the VAX in 1986-1988. >> >> VAX is little endian just like the intel 32 bit X86. First byte contains >> lowest order byte. You may be refering to different format of >> hexadecimal memory dump between different operating systems. > > I was there. To accomplish a long-forgotten goal, I overlaid a > four-byte integer on a four-character string. The second and third > characters were NOT in the order of the first and last. Either you mis-diagnosed what you were seeing, or you are mis-remembering. -- As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin) |