Happy Birthday, Owen!
Happy Anniversary, GG & DH!
But that's just my point! You she obeys! She obeys you! There's obeying going on right under my nose!
Wash ,'War Stories'
Natter 58: Let's call Venezuela!
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Pix - Apr 11, 2008 7:27:35 am PDT #1132 of 10001
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
Vortex - Apr 11, 2008 7:28:15 am PDT #1133 of 10001
"Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman
There aren't just pre-electronic, they're pre-electric, calculators.
Isn't that an abacus?
Matt the Bruins fan - Apr 11, 2008 7:28:16 am PDT #1134 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
So - what are everybody's weekend plans?
Knuckle down on my Painted Spires artwork, possibly sound out a hot Italian executive about a date.
tommyrot - Apr 11, 2008 7:32:12 am PDT #1135 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
There aren't just pre-electronic, they're pre-electric, calculators.
Wow, I've never seen anything like those.
My boss and I just check eBay - I guess they go for about $400-$600.
Fred Pete - Apr 11, 2008 7:33:27 am PDT #1136 of 10001
Ann, that's a ferret.
It's April 11 and I haven't done my taxes. That'll take care of my weekend.
Miracleman - Apr 11, 2008 7:42:05 am PDT #1137 of 10001
No, I don't think I will - me, quoting Captain Steve Rogers, to all of 2020
There aren't just pre-electronic, they're pre-electric, calculators.
I read about those in Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Neat little things.
Consuela - Apr 11, 2008 7:42:42 am PDT #1138 of 10001
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
I'm happily home on my day off, and right now I'm going to pick up my dog from my sister's house, take a long walk, go to UPS to get a package, and hopefully do some writing. Writing would be good.
There's also some new movies out, as well. And I might go to the climbing gym tomorrow.
Helicopter flight was a success: I got to sit in the copilot's seat. What I learned: helicopters are really frelling loud and there's no graceful way to get in and out of them. I had to wear a survival suit over my clothes, and I'm so glad it fit! Pity about the view, though: it was mostly grey and overcast, so we didn't see as much awesome scenery as I would have liked. But the guys were awesome, and I'd love to go again some time.
Sean K - Apr 11, 2008 7:45:03 am PDT #1139 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
I have to file extensions for both S and I. Taxes are not going to happen by Tuesday.
Aims - Apr 11, 2008 7:45:46 am PDT #1140 of 10001
Shit's all sorts of different now.
It's April 11 and I haven't done my taxes.
Shit.
adds one more thing to the list
tommyrot - Apr 11, 2008 7:47:23 am PDT #1141 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
A while back I was reading about electro-mechanical analog computers. Amazing. A whole lost art these days....
Integrators also formed the heart of another historically significant line: the military analogue computer. After simple beginnings such as Arthur Pollen's 'Argo Clock' for WW1 battleship target tracking, this technology reached its ultimate development in the work of American scientists Ford and Newell, whose blocky and highly robust computers solved in real time the ballistics equations for naval and other artillery control during WW2 and later. Generally, WW2 forced a convergence of civilian and military expertise in mechanical analogue computing; but at this point the foundations of modern digital computing were also being laid.
The fire-control computers on WW2 battleships were incredibly complex, and took into account the ship's speed and direction, the target ship's bearing, distance, speed and direction, wind speed, curvature of the earth, paralax error, etc. and generated real-time fire-control solutions for the guns....