have you ever had an original thought?
$Zero
what was it.
-$Zero...
how to drive anti-social warmongering fascists absolutely crazy!
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.writing/msg/7f958b35701bd49e
Towse
> have you ever had an original thought?
>
> what was it.
Years ago I designed and wrote a piece of code that used a prioritized
linked list to make the s/w run at optimal speed.
Long story, but basically, we were setting saws at a Weyerhaeuser lumber
mill up in Washington state to produce optimal output -- $$ and quantity
-- from the logs coming down the line. (And they came down FAST!) We had
to scan the incoming logs with lasers and then model each lump and knot
and log length and width for each log, and -- knowing what the mill
needed to deliver and what cuts were getting the best price -- we then
set the saws to get not only the lumber the mill needed to deliver on
orders but also to get the best value out of each log.
Fun project.
I was so chuffed about my design.
My boss, now old friend, checked my design and the code for the piece I
was working on and agreed that it was a brilliant design and brilliant
solution and then mentioned that that cool smooth piece of code I'd
designed? well, what I'd done was use a prioritized linked list, a
concept written up by Knuth.
"Oh," I said. "I thought I'd thought that up."
"You did, Sal," he answered. "Give yourself credit. It's just that Knuth
'thought it up' too, and wrote it up in his classic textbook."
So that's my sole original thought in my entire life ... 'tis just
someone else had had the same original thought earlier. [snff snff]
--
Sal
Ye olde swarm of links: thousands of links for writers, researchers and
the terminally curious <http://writers.internet-resources.com>
john.ku...@sympatico.ca
Sal
"...we were setting saws at a Weyerhaeuser lumber
mill up in Washington state to produce optimal output "
Lumberjack Song
I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night. I work all day.
Mounties : He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.
Mounties: He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping
And has buttered scones for tea.
Chorus : I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) okay.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.
Mounties : He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!
Chorus : I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) okay.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.
I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Mama (or Papa in later versions)
Mounties : He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra?!
Chorus : I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) okay.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.
Yes, I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) ok-a-y.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.
boots
>have you ever had an original thought?
Absolutely.
>what was it.
Dunno, by the time the drugs wore off I'd forgotten what it was.
--
just write it
$Zero
> "$Zero" <zeroi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >have you ever had an original thought?
>
> Absolutely.
>
> >what was it.
>
> Dunno, by the time the drugs wore off I'd forgotten what it was.
what was the question again?
-$Zero...
POLL -- what's the angriest you have ever been?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.writing/msg/f2f5d884d4172f93
john.ku...@sympatico.ca
$Zero wrote:
> have you ever had an original thought?
>
> what was it.
>
Misc. Writing: The Musical
I could not sleep for weeks after that.
$Zero
> $Zero wrote:
> > have you ever had an original thought?
>
> > what was it.
>
> Years ago I designed and wrote a piece of code that used a prioritized
> linked list to make the s/w run at optimal speed.
yeah, you've brought this one up before.
> Long story, but basically, we were setting saws at a Weyerhaeuser lumber
> mill up in Washington state to produce optimal output -- $$ and quantity
> -- from the logs coming down the line. (And they came down FAST!) We had
> to scan the incoming logs with lasers and then model each lump and knot
> and log length and width for each log, and -- knowing what the mill
> needed to deliver and what cuts were getting the best price -- we then
> set the saws to get not only the lumber the mill needed to deliver on
> orders but also to get the best value out of each log.
IOW: you gathered data and added some priority fields to a relational
database.
> Fun project.
>
> I was so chuffed about my design.
no doubt.
> My boss, now old friend, checked my design and the code for the piece I
> was working on and agreed that it was a brilliant design and brilliant
> solution and then mentioned that that cool smooth piece of code I'd
> designed? well, what I'd done was use a prioritized linked list, a
> concept written up by Knuth.
>
> "Oh," I said. "I thought I'd thought that up."
>
> "You did, Sal," he answered. "Give yourself credit. It's just that Knuth
> 'thought it up' too, and wrote it up in his classic textbook."
shocking.
> So that's my sole original thought in my entire life ... 'tis just
> someone else had had the same original thought earlier. [snff snff]
well, don't cry too hard.
not everyone is geared toward creative genius, i guess.
$Zero
all that dancing practice, no doubt.
$Zero
"number seventeen: the larch!"
john.ku...@sympatico.ca
$Zero wrote:
> On Jan 8, 7:31�am, "Koolchi...@smurfsareus.xxx"
> <john.kulczy...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> > $Zero wrote:
> > > have you ever had an original thought?
> >
> > > what was it.
> >
> > Misc. Writing: The Musical
> >
> > I could not sleep for weeks after that.
>
> all that dancing practice, no doubt.
Damn that web cam!
Josh Hill
When that happens to me, I simply assume that the other person stole
it in advance. Like years ago when I was working on autostereoscopic
(no glasses) 3D TV, I needed a way to detect the location of the
viewer's eyes. In those days, small computers weren't powerful enough
for facial recognition techniques, and I wanted something cheap enough
for home use. It occurred to me that I could make use of the red eye
phenomenon we've all seen in photographs. I took an infrared light
source, invisible to the naked eye, and aimed an infrared-sensitive
video camera at the viewer's eyes. Sure enough, when you looked at the
image, there were two bright reflections where the eyes were -- easy
for the hardware of the day to detect.
OK, so I go off to file a patent on my cool new active infrared eye
detector, and my patent lawyer does a prior art search, and guess
what? Someone had already patented one! For a different use -- eye
tracking in automobiles -- so it didn't really affect me. But I still
say the only way he could have come up with it was to steal my idea in
advance.
--
Josh
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because
I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony
Towse
> On Jan 8, 1:19�am, Towse <s...@towse.com> wrote:
>> $Zero wrote:
>>> have you ever had an original thought?
>>> what was it.
>> Years ago I designed and wrote a piece of code that used a prioritized
>> linked list to make the s/w run at optimal speed.
>
> yeah, you've brought this one up before.
Well, it =is= the only original thought I've ever had. I bring it up
whenever possible.
> IOW: you gathered data and added some priority fields to a relational
> database.
Well, no.
$Zero
> $Zero wrote:
> > On Jan 8, 1:19�am, Towse <s...@towse.com> wrote:
> >> $Zero wrote:
> >>> have you ever had an original thought?
> >>> what was it.
> >> Years ago I designed and wrote a piece of code that used a prioritized
> >> linked list to make the s/w run at optimal speed.
>
> > yeah, you've brought this one up before.
>
> Well, it =is= the only original thought I've ever had.
i highly doubt it.
you're much more clever than that, surely.
> I bring it up whenever possible.
>
> > IOW: you gathered data and added some priority fields
> > to a relational database.
>
> Well, no.
well, basically, yes, sematically speaking, that's exactly what you
described, although in a bit more detail.
and it sounds like you did it in a creative way for the application.
and independently.
methinks you're selling yourself short (and long).