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From: Charlie Gibbs on 6 May 2010 12:18 In article <michelle-2D2A76.19025305052010(a)62-183-169-81.bb.dnainternet.fi>, michelle(a)michelle.org (Michelle Steiner) writes: > In article <1236.812T2770T10276431(a)kltpzyxm.invalid>, > "Charlie Gibbs" <cgibbs(a)kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote: > >>>> 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. >>> >>> *chuckle* I just may have to start reading SF magazines again. >>> But didn't the recoil send him and the car flying backwards when >>> he fired the gun? >> >> No, by the time he fired the saucer had gone far enough ahead that >> its field no longer enveloped the car. > > It just occurred to me that before the bullet hit the saucer, it > would have entered the field, so it wouldn't have any inertia, so > it couldn't transfer its energy to the saucer. It would just stop > dead without affecting the saucer. Good point. It also occurred to me that if he had fired while still in the field, there would be no recoil either. -- /~\ cgibbs(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: Charlie Gibbs on 6 May 2010 12:24 In article <0tk4u5t86dnl7d4se6229gvgbbvkurn6q6(a)4ax.com>, genew(a)ocis.net (Gene Wirchenko) writes: > On Tue, 04 May 2010 23:26:34 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer > <pfeiffer(a)cs.nmsu.edu> wrote: > >> Charles Richmond <frizzle(a)tx.rr.com> writes: >> >>> Pessimist: Looks at the glass as half empty. >>> >>> Optimist: Looks at the glass as half full. >>> >>> Optometrist: Says "Does the glass look better this way, or this >>> way... this way, or this way..." >> >> Engineer: you know, that glass is twice as big as it needs to be.... > > Real Engineer: "That glass is 1.9 times bigger than it needs to > be." (allowing for a tolerance) If he was a Real Engineer, would he really say "1.9 times bigger than" when he actually means "1.9 times as big as"? (On the other hand, perhaps he works for the B.C. government, where such overruns have become standard practice.) -- /~\ cgibbs(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: Charlie Gibbs on 6 May 2010 12:52 In article <slrnhu4e8h.ohg.g.kreme(a)ibook-g4.local>, g.kreme(a)gmail.com.dontsendmecopies (Lewis) writes: > In message <4be15ba5$0$11039$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com> > > Warren Oates <warren.oates(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> In article <hrqo46$enh$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, >> Charles Richmond <frizzle(a)tx.rr.com> wrote: >> >>> Pessimist: Looks at the glass as half empty. >>> >>> Optimist: Looks at the glass as half full. >>> >>> Optometrist: Says "Does the glass look better this way, or this >>> way... this way, or this way..." >> >> Bureaucrat: That glass is twice as big as it needs to be. > > You left off the rest of the sentence: > > ...therefore your funding for next year will be cut 50%. The extra money will be go to creating an extra department to study ways to eliminate extra departments, and to replace the furniture in upper management offices, which is now two years old and starting to show champagne stains, especially near the wide-screen TV which is only 46 inches and needs to be replaced with a 60-inch model so that hockey games^W^Wmeetings can be made more productive. The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy. -- /~\ cgibbs(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: Walter Bushell on 6 May 2010 12:08 In article <1112.813T191T5043356(a)kltpzyxm.invalid>, "Charlie Gibbs" <cgibbs(a)kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote: > In article <0tk4u5t86dnl7d4se6229gvgbbvkurn6q6(a)4ax.com>, genew(a)ocis.net > (Gene Wirchenko) writes: > > > On Tue, 04 May 2010 23:26:34 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer > > <pfeiffer(a)cs.nmsu.edu> wrote: > > > >> Charles Richmond <frizzle(a)tx.rr.com> writes: > >> > >>> Pessimist: Looks at the glass as half empty. > >>> > >>> Optimist: Looks at the glass as half full. > >>> > >>> Optometrist: Says "Does the glass look better this way, or this > >>> way... this way, or this way..." > >> > >> Engineer: you know, that glass is twice as big as it needs to be.... > > > > Real Engineer: "That glass is 1.9 times bigger than it needs to > > be." (allowing for a tolerance) > > If he was a Real Engineer, would he really say "1.9 times bigger than" > when he actually means "1.9 times as big as"? > > (On the other hand, perhaps he works for the B.C. government, > where such overruns have become standard practice.) Real Engineers don't talk that well. See Mote in God's Eye by Niven and some dufus. -- A computer without Microsoft is like a chocolate cake without mustard.
From: Walter Bushell on 6 May 2010 12:08
In article <758.813T1744T5065541(a)kltpzyxm.invalid>, "Charlie Gibbs" <cgibbs(a)kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote: > In article > <michelle-AE88DE.19010405052010(a)62-183-169-81.bb.dnainternet.fi>, > michelle(a)michelle.org (Michelle Steiner) writes: > > > In article <1068.812T2159T10235148(a)kltpzyxm.invalid>, > > "Charlie Gibbs" <cgibbs(a)kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote: > > > >>>>>> 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. > >> > >> No, he's on first. > > > > Who's on first? > > That's right. No Wright's on third. -- A computer without Microsoft is like a chocolate cake without mustard. |