Machining thespians: effort vs reward....
Existential Angst
Lemme tell you.... I've never met a happy retired machinist. Unless mebbe
he owned the company, and even then he's pretty grouchy.
Sorta reminds me of the adage about old homosexuals being obligatorily
miserable -- which isn't entirely fair, as most single old people are, well,
obligatorily miserable -- but who's nitpicking logic.....
Retired machinists seem to exude a kind of resentment, which I can quite
relate to:
Muthafucka, I made thousands of different parts, to +/- .001, some
requiring dozens of fixturings, and my kids think I"M an asshole?
I bustid my fukn ass, so I can get kicked to the curb, and watch my kids
have screaming fits over fuknBrittny or the no-talent Jonas Bros?
They sell their tools, upon retirement, and don't have one g-d good thing to
say about their careers, only to rue that they lost their sight, working in
shitty light all day long.
There seems to be a deep and justifiable resentment, that true productivity
is essentially dismissed.
So ahm watchin Ancients Behaving Badly, on History, cuz, well, I'm avoiding
machining (a cnc macro, to be specific), the episode on Nero, who fancied
hisself God's gift to art, acting, music, poetry.
The narrator (obligatorily Bri'ish, of course, just like in infomercials --
iirc) pointed out that in those days, thespians were viewed as little more
than prostitutes, proly, well, cuz most of them *were* prostitutes on the
side, to make, uh, ends meet.
The Brit likened Nero's determined theatrical dabblings to our President
soliciting on Sunset Blvd.... swear to god..... fuknHilarious.....
What was indeed good about this episode is that the narrator made a few
specific analogies to modern-day behavior. Indeed, I could quite see George
Bush soliciting on Sunset Blvd..... and if not, only because his drunken
staggering would preclude any effective or coherent solicitations.
Which of course did not stop him from getting elected President of the
USA..... twice..... holy shit.....
Inyway.......
This threw a bit of nut in my historical gears, as I fashioned my own
zeitgeist on the premise that nothing has really changed historically --
that we are the same assholes we always were, except now we can communicate
that fact instantaneously, over thousands of miles, in 64,000,000 color
video, to millions of people, simultaneously.
Chips, donchaknow....
It seems, back then, in contrast to actors, tradesmen were highly prized.
Actors were despised as the character-disordered buffoons they really are
(no offense to anyone with kids in drama school... mebbe just a hint, tho),
and tradesmen were the upstanding citizens/leaders -- them, and corrupt
ass-kissing politicians, of course -- some things indeed never change.
So what happened, with the role reversal of tradesmen and actors?
What happened, that machine shops have closed in droves, skilled artisans
are taking mind-numbing municipal civil service jobs (so's their paycheck
won't bounce)? Oh, yeah, I forgot -- ASIA!!! OK, well, still......
That utterly useless talentless assholes, such as Will Smith, Tom Cruise et
al command $20,000,000 per useless flick?
What happened, that "working" is the hallmark of a loser? Unless sed
"working" = "daytrading" or "house-flipping".....
What happened, that we so fiercely worship throwing a fukn ball that we will
fist-fight over who throws it better?
Never mind *throwing* a ball..............
How bout *putting* an ittybitty ball into a fukn hole in the grass, with....
a putter?
And following this putting putz over the better part of a mile, over several
days?? Goodgawd.....
I read sumpn sumpn where golf is THE most played """"sport"""" in the
world??
'course, if yer gonna call golf a "sport", you might as well call ketchup a
"vegetable".....
And did you know that there are more golf-related patents than in all other
sports combined???
That Charlie Rose, just the other day, interviewed two golf pro's, who have
achieved some fame/notoriety by advocating a different kind of swing??????
Michael Bennet's "Tilt'n'Stack", fer you golfers -- and ketchup-eaters.....
Holy shit.... but I degreased.....
How did the glorious poetry come to be, that the vile-est of ignerint-azzed
wannabee-cop-shooting rappers send their kids to the best private (white)
schools with manicured mini-golf courses, while *your* kids struggle in
public school, hoping not to get their asses kicked -- or shot?
Well, I don't really know, but I can hazard a good guess.
I think I was basically right, that nothing really has changed, human
nature-wise -- we just needed the right stuff to raise us to our full
Assaholic Glory. Those who would benefit from raising us to our full
Assaholic Glory just needed the right tools to exact that Glory.
The first tool was the printing press. Abe Lincoln was sposedly the first
pol to exploit the "power of the press" -- proly the only time "the press"
did any good..... Oh, and don't forget The Bibble..... goodgawd.....
Could say a lot about this......
Next came radio, film.
These were anemic, ito of The Great Mindfuck, compared to TV.
Then, the Internet, gaming.....
Then, Portable Internet, via the smart phone, and Virtual Goods -- you know,
better rims'n'shit fer yer virtual car, so you can win more games -- geez,
you just cain't put a finite price on *that*!.
The only thing left is a smart phone with brain probes, inserted into
properly-drilled holes in our skulls, for direct brain stimolation.
In the past......
Before mass communication came of age, the communication amongst ourselves,
as individuals and small communities, was enough to counteract the
non-technology-assisted mindfucking efforts of the powers-dat-were.
Once TV entered the picture, not only was the MindFuck just too too
overwhelming, it mostly felt pretty good too -- AND, it subtlely pitted
citizen against citizen, in a never-ending competitive one-upsmanship,
undermining what local communication there might have been.... effing
brilliant, yo, brilliant......
So, while you bust yer effing ass, and hope you have the privilege to keep
busting yer effing ass, making parts etc to +/- .001, all effing day long,
praying you get some modicum of bennies, or that you don't lose the middling
bennies you got, while you do all of this, the utterly useless and
talentless Will Smith, Tom Cruise and friends will make about $20,000,000
(each) in about 3 months, if the shoot goes well.
Or Kobe will, if there is a god, have another 60 point game.... didn't he
have an 83 point game?? Yaaaaay, KOBE!!!!!
And Snoop Dog will make quite a few mill, having hoes SHD on video, with
your daughters possibly praying for the opportunity -- just like the 'Boomer
gerlz had hoped, with Jim "Light My Fire" Morrison.....
I'll take Nero -- well, assuming I could kiss enough ass to curry enough
favor, so's I don't get flayed to the bone by that twisted cocksucker.
Also, there was no novacaine in those days.... hmmmmmmmmm..... AND, no
AstroGlide..... hmmmmmmm.......
Mebbe technology/The MindFuck are worth it after all??!!??!!
Now I'm all confused.....
--
EA, philosophically PV'd
RBnDFW
> What was indeed good about this episode is that the narrator made a few
> specific analogies to modern-day behavior. Indeed, I could quite see George
> Bush soliciting on Sunset Blvd.....
Existential Angst
news:hhghkt$3g9$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Yeah, well, Rahm Emmanuel is a ballerina.... albeit with only 9 complete
digits.
So what happened to all this? Apparently it didn't go anywhere.
But it dudn't really matter -- a country that can elect Bush twice, and
obsess over fuknGolf can tolerate anything. We live in a near-official
BizarroLand.
The Syllogism, as we knew it, is dead. It is now the sillygism.
--
EA
Ed Huntress
"Existential Angst" <UNfi...@UNoptonline.net> wrote in message
news:4b3bc770$0$31265$607e...@cv.net...
> Awl --
<snip>
> Mebbe technology/The MindFuck are worth it after all??!!??!!
> Now I'm all confused.....
>
> --
> EA, philosophically PV'd
Gee, this one is simple.
By 1955, we'd made all of the shit we really need.
By 1970, we'd made all of the shit we really wanted.
After that, we've been busy trying to come up with other shit that we don't
need and don't really want, but could be made to buy because there's nothing
really worthwhile to do with solitary selfs, and buying shit keeps us from
thinking about it. We find that we can get it pretty cheap, because people
all over the world thought that we must have the right idea, because it
looked like we were having one hell of a party, and they're doing the same
thing we did, only 30 or 40 years later. And they need to sell *their*
useless shit to somebody, too. So we buy it.
Along the way we realized that we were so busy making shit that we needed,
then wanted, and then didn't really want that we never figured out why we
were making all of that shit, and what we'd do with our solitary selfs once
we'd made it. We had brushed off art, literature, architecture, philosophy,
single-malt whiskey, and all those other things the Greeks used to do with
their solitary selfs when they faced a similar problem. And they didn't even
have Chevys and Fords!
But we're making up for lost time with the mass-produced, sugar-coated,
violence- and sexually-perverted substitutes, like Brittany Spears, the NFL,
3D movies, and fruit-flavored alcopops.
That's the state of the union. What shall we do next? Maybe we can take up
extreme skateboarding and hacking government computers.
--
Ed Huntress
Jim Wilkins
Eternal glory to the memory of the 700 Thespians who died with the
Spartans at Thermopylae!
Jim Wilkins
> > Gee, this one is simple.
>
> By 1955, we'd made all of the shit we really need.
>
> By 1970, we'd made all of the shit we really wanted.
>
> After that, we've been busy trying to come up with other shit that we don't
> need and don't really want, but could be made to buy because there's nothing
> really worthwhile to do with solitary selfs, and buying shit keeps us from
> thinking about it. >
> Ed Huntress
From an R&D perspective I have to agree with you, but I felt that
electronics didn't reach saturation until the late 90's with
approximately the 1 GHz PC and Windows 2000. That was the Good Enough
point, and for what I -need- to do it still is. I use my newer PC only
to play flight sims and record HDTV, big whoop. Cell phone and GPS
technology have benefitted me more by providing a pay check than by
being tools I depend on.
Mechanical engineering reached that level in the 1950's; jet fighters
and airliners today are almost indistinguishable from the ones of 50
years ago unless you know what to look for. They may be bigger, more
efficient, easier to maintain, but they aren't any faster than 1960's
models. The advances in cars have come from using cheap electronics to
implement ideas from aircraft of the 40's, like fuel injection and
ABS.
Biology is still rising. When I learned it the teacher made a point
that it was still in the observation stage and was unable to model and
predict. We now understand how DNA codes proteins but not enough of
how the switches that activate it function. Maybe that is the next
direction, or perhaps its potential for harm will restrict it as has
happened to chemistry and nuclear power. The demand for chemists
evaporated just before I got a degree in it.
I am too old to care much now, but I spent my life looking for the
direction of the next advance and trying to get in on its development
(engine controls & ABS, digital radio, the Segway). Many of the
promising ideas either failed or barely made a profit, though I always
was paid and never lost on speculative investments.
jsw
Brother Lightfoot
"Jim Wilkins" <kb1...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:65577400-d87b-4d5a...@l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
>
> Eternal glory to the memory of the 700 Thespians who died with the
> Spartans at Thermopylae!
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film)
--
Wes
>That's the state of the union. What shall we do next? Maybe we can take up
>extreme skateboarding and hacking government computers.
Is that really you Ed? Doesn't seem like your normal writing style.
Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
Ed Huntress
"Wes" <clu...@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:VlU_m.287506$mn3....@en-nntp-03.dc1.easynews.com...
> "Ed Huntress" <hunt...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>>That's the state of the union. What shall we do next? Maybe we can take up
>>extreme skateboarding and hacking government computers.
>
> Is that really you Ed? Doesn't seem like your normal writing style.
>
> Wes
So, how *shoud* I write when responding to a PV post? I mean, you have to
reach a bit. d8-)
--
Ed Huntress
Ed Huntress
On Dec 30, 5:52 pm, "Ed Huntress" <huntre...@optonline.net> wrote:
> > Gee, this one is simple.
>
> By 1955, we'd made all of the shit we really need.
>
> By 1970, we'd made all of the shit we really wanted.
>
> After that, we've been busy trying to come up with other shit that we
> don't
> need and don't really want, but could be made to buy because there's
> nothing
> really worthwhile to do with solitary selfs, and buying shit keeps us from
> thinking about it. >
> --
> Ed Huntress
>From an R&D perspective I have to agree with you, but I felt that
>electronics didn't reach saturation until the late 90's with
>approximately the 1 GHz PC and Windows 2000. That was the Good Enough
>point, and for what I -need- to do it still is. I use my newer PC only
>to play flight sims and record HDTV, big whoop. Cell phone and GPS
>technology have benefitted me more by providing a pay check than by
>being tools I depend on.
And we never even knew we wanted them! Sometimes I really don't! <g>
>
>Mechanical engineering reached that level in the 1950's; jet fighters
>and airliners today are almost indistinguishable from the ones of 50
>years ago unless you know what to look for.
I wrote an article many years ago with the headline "Going Nowhere." The
photo was a 707 next to a 757. Then I described the prettier and nicer stews
on the 707s, and the better food and the fun of flying in those days. I
scratched it before submitting it. The idea wasn't fully baked yet.
> They may be bigger, more
>efficient, easier to maintain, but they aren't any faster than 1960's
>models. The advances in cars have come from using cheap electronics to
>implement ideas from aircraft of the 40's, like fuel injection and
>ABS.
>
>Biology is still rising. When I learned it the teacher made a point
>that it was still in the observation stage and was unable to model and
>predict. We now understand how DNA codes proteins but not enough of
>how the switches that activate it function. Maybe that is the next
>direction, or perhaps its potential for harm will restrict it as has
>happened to chemistry and nuclear power. The demand for chemists
>evaporated just before I got a degree in it.
>
>I am too old to care much now, but I spent my life looking for the
>direction of the next advance and trying to get in on its development
>(engine controls & ABS, digital radio, the Segway). Many of the
>promising ideas either failed or barely made a profit, though I always
>was paid and never lost on speculative investments.
>
>jsw
This is a challenging subject. PV happened to write his post just as I was
thinking about some closely related things as I start work on a related
project. The "next big thing" idea that you're talking about is, to a large
extent, each of those classes of things that we never knew we wanted, and
might not, in some cases, if we had thought about it. <g>
But it's a good thing we can create a demand for them because our economic
system would collapse if we couldn't. All of which explains the genius
behind the McMansion: All of those rooms and the big basements are the
answer to the question, "Now, where do I *put* all this shit?" d8-)
--
Ed Huntress
Wes
>> Is that really you Ed? Doesn't seem like your normal writing style.
>>
>> Wes
>
>So, how *should* I write when responding to a PV post? I mean, you have to
>reach a bit. d8-)
I think you do Ed a lot better than PV. At least now I know what is going on.
Larry Jaques
<clu...@lycos.com> scrawled the following:
>"Ed Huntress" <hunt...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>>That's the state of the union. What shall we do next? Maybe we can take up
>>extreme skateboarding and hacking government computers.
>
>Is that really you Ed? Doesn't seem like your normal writing style.
He hasn't been himself for most of the year, Wes. That's why he's in
so many of our twit filters now.
--
Sex is Evil, Evil is Sin, Sin is Forgiven.
Gee, ain't religion GREAT?
Andrew VK3BFA
wrote:
> "Existential Angst" <UNfit...@UNoptonline.net> wrote in message
Hang on Ed - Mr PV did a really good RANT, and you come along and
explain it in logical terms!. Thats not nice. Go with the feeling - we
all know SOMETHING is wrong, and its beyond fixing as its gotten
totally out of control. (If it was simple, it would have been fixed by
now). So when enough people get really pissed about it, then there
will be another revolution and we can start again - but, as PV says,
there is an inate tendency in humans for someone to want to be in
charge of everyone else, so the cycle repeats. Stuffed if I know what
the solution is, try to have as little involvement as possible with
all the consumerist crap but I know I am kidding myself to a large
degree.
And I reckon the CD player was in the Good Idea category - someone
else said it first, but I think its pretty cool you can get all the
Bach sonatas for 20 bucks....
Andrew VK3BFA.
Ed Huntress
"Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
news:f87f1441-2c2a-4aef...@a6g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
There was an atricle recently about how the CD player is a thing of the
past. That means they'll be coming in here on RCM, any day now. <g>
Rants are good, but they're like Chinese food therapy: They just leave you
hungry an hour later. Here's how to deal with the "something is wrong"
feeling:
Throw your cell phone away.
Then throw away anything on your TV that gives you more than local news
shows (if yours are like ours, that means all air time will be consumed with
fires, murders, rapes, and various perversions. Who needs sitcoms and drama
when you have the real thing?)
Don't read newspapers.
Confine your computer activity to word processing, e-mail, and spreadsheets.
Normal mental health will be restored within a few months. Then, get outside
more and talk to the neighbors, if you can drag them away from the devices
listed above. <g>
--
Ed Huntress
Andrew VK3BFA
> "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
>
>
>
> past. That means they'll be coming in here on RCM, any day now. <g>
When did this happen? - Bugger. Not getting rid of mine - have enough
spares (notably SONY KSS210A laser blocks) to keep it going for ever.
>
> Rants are good, but they're like Chinese food therapy: They just leave you
> hungry an hour later. Here's how to deal with the "something is wrong"
> feeling:
Hah!
>
> Throw your cell phone away.
Most of the time, its not even turned on. And I never use the "reply
to missed call" facility. Dont use SMS either - I can send morse
faster than that. At the moment, its out of credit - will do something
about that, real soon now....and its a clunky old one, all it does is
make and receive phone calls - what more do you need?
> Then throw away anything on your TV that gives you more than local news
> shows (if yours are like ours, that means all air time will be consumed with
> fires, murders, rapes, and various perversions. Who needs sitcoms and drama
> when you have the real thing?)
Agree - still running a CRT TV, it came off the hard rubbish on the
side of the road. When I can get a big LCD for nothing (except
repairing it) then, maybe. (But dont want to provoke a house re-
arrangement frenzy from SWMBO - the really big bastards, remind me of
the Black Monolith in 2001 - take over the place....) We have 2 decent
networks here, bit like your Public Radio sorta thing. The rest - The
Kid watches it, incessantly. Doesn't read anything except the TV
guide, is doing remedial English and Maths this school year.
> Don't read newspapers.
Still a couple of decent newspapers, turn straight to the letters, and
the opinions pages. Sometimes, interesting background articles, trying
to figure out how you guys tick. <g> The rest? - nah, its been on the
TV news by the time you get it.
> Confine your computer activity to word processing, e-mail, and spreadsheets.
CAD, (mechanical and electrical), fancy calculators, music, browsing
for metalworking/electronic sites - I would be stuffed without the
internet, its the main source of service manuals now, and with Paypal,
the worlds parts inventory is available...
>
> Normal mental health will be restored within a few months. Then, get outside
> more and talk to the neighbors, if you can drag them away from the devices
> listed above. <g>
Nah. The neighbours dont have any tools I want to borrow. Keep an eye
on the few oldies who havent been squeezed out by gentrification,
usually good value re conversation, try to help out where I can. The
McMansion dwellers - precious little of interest there.
>
> --
> Ed Huntress
Good shot Ed - you are right, Mr PV is right, and we are all still in
a mess!......<g>.....
Andrew VK3BFA.
Oh, BTW - someone else in this thread said there had been no advances
in aviation, and compared the 707 to the 757.
Ah yes, the Good Old Days - they had to carry a navigator, and a radio
operator, metallurgy wasnt as good, and they crashed a lot compared
to modern aeroplanes. There is a difference - you can afford a
ticket on the later, flying is no longer the preserve of the rich or
almost rich. Whether this is a good thing or not...... Check out the
Vulcan bomber restoration website, they got one into the air, but the
engineering logs - something goes wrong on virtually every flight.
60's technology....
Ed Huntress
On Jan 6, 4:46 am, "Ed Huntress" <huntre...@optonline.net> wrote:
> "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
>
>
>
> There was an atricle recently about how the CD player is a thing of the
> past. That means they'll be coming in here on RCM, any day now. <g>
>When did this happen? - Bugger. Not getting rid of mine - have enough
>spares (notably SONY KSS210A laser blocks) to keep it going for ever.
It hasn't been long. It was on a list of "Things to Not Buy in 2010." <g>
>
> Rants are good, but they're like Chinese food therapy: They just leave you
> hungry an hour later. Here's how to deal with the "something is wrong"
> feeling:
>Hah!
>
> Throw your cell phone away.
>Most of the time, its not even turned on. And I never use the "reply
>to missed call" facility. Dont use SMS either - I can send morse
>faster than that. At the moment, its out of credit - will do something
>about that, real soon now....and its a clunky old one, all it does is
>make and receive phone calls - what more do you need?
I agree with that. Unfortunately, mine is a lifeline for emergencies, for
several people, and it's the way clients get in touch with me.
> Don't read newspapers.
Excuses, excuses. <g>
>
> Normal mental health will be restored within a few months. Then, get
> outside
> more and talk to the neighbors, if you can drag them away from the devices
> listed above. <g>
>Nah. The neighbours dont have any tools I want to borrow. Keep an eye
>on the few oldies who havent been squeezed out by gentrification,
>usually good value re conversation, try to help out where I can. The
>McMansion dwellers - precious little of interest there.
>
> --
> Ed Huntress
>Good shot Ed - you are right, Mr PV is right, and we are all still in
>a mess!......<g>.....
Andrew VK3BFA.
>Oh, BTW - someone else in this thread said there had been no advances
>in aviation, and compared the 707 to the 757.
>Ah yes, the Good Old Days - they had to carry a navigator, and a radio
>operator, metallurgy wasnt as good, and they crashed a lot compared
>to modern aeroplanes. There is a difference - you can afford a
>ticket on the later, flying is no longer the preserve of the rich or
>almost rich. Whether this is a good thing or not...... Check out the
>Vulcan bomber restoration website, they got one into the air, but the
>engineering logs - something goes wrong on virtually every flight.
>60's technology....
That issue is a frequent one for me in real life. I actually think of those
things in answer to the question about why we don't have more young people
pursuing engineering these days, and, 25 years or so ago, I even made a
slide show about it.
You can imagine what it was. I had a photo of an airplane from 1925, and
then a 707 from 30 years later. And then the latest Boeing offering from 30
years after that.
'Same thing with cars. Then radio -- CW, then TV, and then...bigger TV.
The things that were really visible, and qualitative, occurred mostly in the
first 60 years of the last century. After that, the progress is a lot less
dramatic.
I think it's had an enormous influence on the interests of smart young kids.
It's not that there aren't challenges or that there hasn't been lots of
progress. It's just that it's a lot less dramatic, and thus, a lot less
appealing.
BTW, regarding flying, then and now: In 1969 I could fly halfway across the
country in an all-first-class airplane, eat my choice of filet mignon or
lobster tail, with two free mixed drinks served by very attractive stews --
for around $55, full fare. I flew for half that at the time, as a student.
Now, I get on an airplane only when I have no choice. It's ugly, it's
unpleasant, and, unless you fly on specific days, it's no cheaper, even with
inflation.
Oh, regarding texting: I keep looking for a cell phone model with a key for
CW and appropriate software. I'd be *much* faster with that, and I wouldn't
have to look at the keys. Then I might text. d8-)
--
Ed Huntress
Jim Wilkins
> "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
> On Jan 6, 4:46 am, "Ed Huntress" <huntre...@optonline.net> wrote:
> > "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
>
> >Oh, BTW - someone else in this thread said there had been no advances
> >in aviation, and compared the 707 to the 757.
That was me. In the late 50's the Next Big Step was going to be
supersonic and then hypersonic transports that could cross the
Atlantic in two hours. Boeing, Aerospatiale+BAC and Tupolev created
(or stole) the technology but the cost/benefit balance didn't support
them. 500 Kts was fast enough at an acceptable price. Instead
airliners evolved to fit the traffic volume that developed and
stabilized.
The speed race for fighters peaked at ~Mach 3, then to improve all-
around performance fell back to around Mach 2. The Navy's current
fighter tops out at 1.8:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet
There are faster 50-year-old fighters in museums:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-4_Phantom_II
The new ones fit modern requirements much better but the improvements
are mostly in reliability, stealth and electronics.
>...
> BTW, regarding flying, then and now: In 1969 I could fly halfway across the
> country in an all-first-class airplane, eat my choice of filet mignon or
> lobster tail, with two free mixed drinks served by very attractive stews --
> for around $55, full fare. I flew for half that at the time, as a student.
In 1970 I rode the Eastern Shuttle between New York and Boston most
weekends, for $18 a trip. For noise abatement it accelerated at max
throttle within the boundaries of Newark airport and then climbed out
very steeply, quite a ride when lightly loaded.
> ...
> Oh, regarding texting: I keep looking for a cell phone model with a key for
> CW and appropriate software. I'd be *much* faster with that, and I wouldn't
> have to look at the keys. Then I might text. d8-)
> Ed Huntress
But who would listen? I barely passed the code requirement.
jsw
Ed Huntress
On Jan 6, 12:06 am, "Ed Huntress" <huntre...@optonline.net> wrote:
> "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
> On Jan 6, 4:46 am, "Ed Huntress" <huntre...@optonline.net> wrote:
> > "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
>
> >Oh, BTW - someone else in this thread said there had been no advances
> >in aviation, and compared the 707 to the 757.
>That was me. In the late 50's the Next Big Step was going to be
>supersonic and then hypersonic transports that could cross the
>Atlantic in two hours. Boeing, Aerospatiale+BAC and Tupolev created
>(or stole) the technology but the cost/benefit balance didn't support
>them. 500 Kts was fast enough at an acceptable price. Instead
>airliners evolved to fit the traffic volume that developed and
>stabilized.
>
>The speed race for fighters peaked at ~Mach 3, then to improve all-
>around performance fell back to around Mach 2. The Navy's current
>fighter tops out at 1.8:
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet
>There are faster 50-year-old fighters in museums:
>.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-4_Phantom_II
>The new ones fit modern requirements much better but the improvements
>are mostly in reliability, stealth and electronics.
>
>...
> BTW, regarding flying, then and now: In 1969 I could fly halfway across
> the
> country in an all-first-class airplane, eat my choice of filet mignon or
> lobster tail, with two free mixed drinks served by very attractive
> stews --
> for around $55, full fare. I flew for half that at the time, as a student.
>In 1970 I rode the Eastern Shuttle between New York and Boston most
>weekends, for $18 a trip. For noise abatement it accelerated at max
>throttle within the boundaries of Newark airport and then climbed out
>very steeply, quite a ride when lightly loaded.
>
> ...
> Oh, regarding texting: I keep looking for a cell phone model with a key
> for
> CW and appropriate software. I'd be *much* faster with that, and I
> wouldn't
> have to look at the keys. Then I might text. d8-)
> Ed Huntress
>But who would listen? I barely passed the code requirement.
>
>jsw
That's what the "appropriate software" is for. You'd need CW-to-text
conversion. Easy enough.
--
Ed Huntress
Andrew VK3BFA
Ed, you have unencumbered to to much theory -Mr PV, in his own
slightly scary way, has defined the problem(s) very well, and with
considerable eloquence. I "Dips me lid" to him.
Reminds me of a movie I saw once, about the Spanish Civil War - bunch
of republicans sitting in a trench, dodging bullets and earnestly
debating what form the government would take. (Needless to say, being
extreme lefties, they couldn't agree with anything....but I digress.)
Your trying to find an explanation for the mess - thats not possible -
and nothing will happen anyway. (See previous post)
And there probably is an application for the IPhone that does that, ie
send cw then put it on a screen. Gosh, technology has come a long way
when you can do things like that! (Mind you, it means buying an
IPhone.....sorry.....)
Jim Wilkins - thank you for the aviation tutorial, interesting. The
point I was trying to make, which you also made, was that aviation has
progressed to the point where aeroplanes are 2 stories and can hold
over 400 people. I remember standing under the first 747 to come to
Australia, about 1972(??) craning my head back to see to the top.
"Nah, not natural" says I "something that big couldn't possibly fly"
Regards,
Andrew VK3BFA.
Existential Angst
===================================================
2001 Monolith -- prescient analogy!!
And, we are the gorillas at its base, in front of a CRT/LCD. heh.....
--
EA
Existential Angst
Well, thank you.
So you agree that Will Smith and Tom Cruise suck, eh? :)
But Ed is essentially right:
Rants can be entertaining, but we are proly at the point where
they are useless, even if 100% correct.
Basically what I'm trying to do is understand my own demise, whilst in the
middle of said demise, and to understand just why it's becoming increasingly
difficult to cope -- above and beyond the effects of aging, afaict.
And I'm not in as bad a position as many many many other people, by any
means -- admittedly supported by a thread, but while that thread holds, I'm
OK.
It is seeming to me that the reason that "correct rants" are pointless, that
there is essentially no hope, beyond what I stated/implied, is the result of
another very unfortunate human trait:
That when someone is fucking us *hard* in the ass -- voraciously --
gleefully -- we cope with that indignity by interpreting it as perhaps an
overly-enthusiastic colonoscopy.
And we THEN stand in line to pay the bill!!!
Dats like enduring 18.5 mins of commercials every 59 minutes, and paying yer
cable bill!! See my TV commercial rant -- TV is spamming you 1 out of every
3 minutes -- almost incomprehensible -- and THEN we are paying for it....
Man, I'm drooling and foaming as I type.....
But really, this is Merka at it's effingBest:
You fmita 'til I pert near need a colostomy with a built-in
sewage ejector pump, and I turn around, in a puddle of blood, and I ask:
What do I owe you..... Sir?
Someone on the 'net said, The problem with people is that they can/will
get used to anything.
Indeed. And then rationalize it into what it is not.
So ranting amidst then numb (and in many many cases the dumb) just makes you
look like a maladjusted malcontented misfit.
But which does not make you wrong.
But, as Ed alluded, being right and having a subway token will get you on a
subway, in our current state.
And it is, with little doubt, now IRREVERSIBLE.
We are, in a sense, each other's enemy now, and there is no turning back.
Instead of a people with a common interest and mutual regard, each of us is
hustling for that oh-so scarce air pocket as the ship slowly -- or not so
slowly -- sinks.
I think the powers-dat-be vastly exceeded Orwellian expectations, by
"infiltrating" ""us"", sabotaging us, by mindfucking us way beyond oh-so
crude Orwellian mind control techniques, by artfully and brilliantly
choreographing a conceptual chaos (or lobotomy) via superhigh-technology so
that now, resistance is indeed futile.
As an aside, I very much believe part of this sabotage are the vituperative
talking heads: Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter -- and not because I disagree.
Strangely, I often *do* agree -- goodgawd -- but it is the insidioius -- and
I believe deliberate -- non-productive divisive fracturing of the masses
they foment. And the coordinated defusing of rebellion.
Limbaugh was quoted as saying he doesn't believe half the shit he spews....
sez it all, eh?
Oh, did I say resistance? Futile resistance? WHAT RESISTANCE?
IOW, we are so mindfucked that now, we just mindfuck ourselves, so
resistance is not futile, it's simply a moot concept!!!
The mindfuck is now so artfully and diabolically complete, we don't even
realize that resistance is needed!
To wit:
Yeah, we got fucked out of our houses, pensions, and retirements, so what do
we do?
We give what's left of our money to butt another asshole who sez he'll make
it grow -- see the ads on TV -- it's like Big Tobaccer, telling us not to
smoke. Holy effingShit.... We ARE living on the planet Bizarro (cube
planet, old Superman comics)..
Instead of shooting up the goddamm place.
Which is pointless now, since even one-horse towns have fukn SWAT teams.....
Which just means you will be seeing more and more suicides, murder-suicides,
and suicide-by-cop.
A pity, given the good that someone *could* do, on their way out, if they
just thought correctly, a little little bit.....
But, the SWAT teams have it made, they can just sit around and play
shoot'emup effing video games all fukn day, on the taxpayers' dime.
Because,
If there is no one around to f us ita really good, well, we'll just grab a
phone receiver (for those of us with landlines), dip it in the nearby
conveniently-placed 1# jar of vaseline, and f ourselves ita. Voraciously.
Who amongst you can start or join a rebellion with a Ma Bell-type phone
receiver stuck 8" up your ass?
Not me! And I"ve tried!!
Me, I just pulled my Ma Bell phone receiver out of my ass, and called the
Wife:
DO we have what it takes to pull the heroin needle out of our arms
and cancel fuknCableTV???
DO WE??
DO WE HAVE ENOUGH LEFT IN OUR MISERABLE COWARDLY BEINGS TO DO EVEN
**THAT LITTLE effingBIT** ?????????
Or we just too mindfucked and addicted???
The answer: I don't know.
I just don't fucking know.
We're going to talk about it some more, tonite, over the News.
Goodgawd....
--
EA
Please, Sir: May I have *another* colonoscopy? (2010 Oliver Twist....)
Garlicdude
> "Andrew VK3BFA" <VK3...@wia.org.au> wrote in message
>
> Hah!
>> Throw your cell phone away.
>
> Most of the time, its not even turned on. And I never use the "reply
> to missed call" facility. Dont use SMS either - I can send morse
> faster than that. At the moment, its out of credit - will do something
> about that, real soon now....and its a clunky old one, all it does is
> make and receive phone calls - what more do you need?
>
One month I had one whole minute on my cell phone.
Best,
Steve
--
Regards,
Steve Saling
aka The Garlic Dude �
Gilroy, CA
The Garlic Capital of The World
axolotl
> Oh, regarding texting: I keep looking for a cell phone model with a key for
> CW and appropriate software. I'd be *much* faster with that, and I wouldn't
> have to look at the keys. Then I might text. d8-)
>
Available as apps for both the iPhone and Droid. Of course only
children, ladies, and liberal arts majors would use the iPhone.
Kevin Gallimore
Ed Huntress
"axolotl" <munge...@shorecomp.com> wrote in message
news:hi35ct$d5t$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
I figured they'd probably be available for iPhone. When it's available on
the ones Verizon gives you for free, maybe my wish will be fulfilled. <g>
--
Ed Huntress
Winston
(...)
> DO we have what it takes to pull the heroin needle out of our arms
> and cancel fuknCableTV???
Yup.
I did it; so can you.
Admittedly, installing the antenna was a little more difficult in my
doddering old age than it was when I was a yout. (Anybody want to loan
me a 'F' cable stripper / crimper?)
I find the picture size and quality of the OTA digital broadcasts to
be *much* better than on cable.
I figure the antenna and cable will pay for themselves inside 10 mos.
Having one less check to write every month is a bonus as well.
I'm reading more now, too. It's highly underrated as an activity.
--Winston
--
Congratulations Robert Piccinini and Steven A. Burd, WalMart Publicists of the Year!
Winston
Damn straight. I like making calls on my iPod Touch.
Jim Wilkins
> ...
> I did it; so can you.
> Admittedly, installing the antenna was a little more difficult in my
> doddering old age than it was when I was a yout. (Anybody want to loan
> --Winston
The machine tools helped me make a tall TV mast that doesn't require
climbing. I set up a PT wooden supporting pole from the ground to
about 5' above the edge of the roof and attached a simple track for
the rotator to slide up on. The ~20' metal mast runs up from the
rotator through a guide at the top of the pole and is braced just
below the antenna with guy lines that go over pulleys and down the
mast so I can look up to tension them equally and keep the mast
straight, which is difficult to do from out at their ends.
When the rotator is at the bottom of the track the antenna is within
reach from the roof, or I can disconnect the lower end of the mast
from the rotator and swing the mast + antenna to the ground with a
block and tackle.
The custom machining was mostly the pulleys. The guys are deep-water
fishing line (ice doesn't stick) and the pulleys for them had to fit
the housings closely so the lines couldn't slip off. The three pulleys
are attached to a ring hanging about a foot below the antenna, so
rotation doesn't pull them around.
I hung wheel weights on the vertical run of the guy lines to pull in
the slack in the diagonal part while raising and lowering the mast.
Otherwise they sag and catch on branches and the shingles at the edge
of the roof.
The track is U shaped aluminum like for shower doors, two rails with
the openings inward. The rotator bracket is bolted to a plate that
fits loosely between them. A block and tackle raises it.
The UHF antenna was damaged by falling branches so I made a new dipole
from two 6" aluminum hex standoffs stuck into the ends of plastic
hose. The correct length from Martin Meserve's antenna calculator is
within 1/2" and it picks up Boston just fine in NH through a 2-way
splitter and about 75' of quad-shield.
I think I've described it adequately without photos. It's all pretty
simple and the only tricky part was setting up the guy lines to allow
rotation and vertical travel.
jsw
Winston
That is a *neat* approach!
Sounds like you use your head before starting a project.
I shall have to try that sometime.
Jim Wilkins
> Jim Wilkins wrote:
> ...
>
> Sounds like you use your head before starting a project.
> I shall have to try that sometime.
>
> --Winston
What I described was about the 10th revision, with many bad ideas
removed. I shouldn't have located it directly under a tree branch that
I had to saw off with a very awkward 40' pole saw, for instance.
The guy line arrangement probably isn't original but I hadn't seen it
anywhere although I've done radio tower work. We just had one man at
the base giving instructions and another at the anchor adjusting the
tension.
jsw
Winston
(...)
> What I described was about the 10th revision, with many bad ideas
> removed. I shouldn't have located it directly under a tree branch that
> I had to saw off with a very awkward 40' pole saw, for instance.
That sounds familiar.
> The guy line arrangement probably isn't original but I hadn't seen it
> anywhere although I've done radio tower work. We just had one man at
> the base giving instructions and another at the anchor adjusting the
> tension.
OK hardware hackers,
Time to invent a two - axis radio - enabled inclinometer!
Jim Wilkins
> > the base giving instructions and another at the anchor adjusting the
> > tension.
>
> OK hardware hackers,
> Time to invent a two - axis radio - enabled inclinometer!
> --Winston
As I recall there was more to it, the cables were supposed to have a
little slack so they didn't apply a downforce that might buckle the
tower. The tower's owner was an elderly British radar wizard who had
taught the ham radio class and was combining some instruction with the
maintenance we 'volunteered' to do on his home station.
jsw
Winston
I suspect 'proper tensioning' would be easy to do if one could
easily keep an eye on the tower orientation. Make it vertical and see how
much side pressure is required to push it off normal. Tweak guy wires
as necessary.
Jim Wilkins
> easily keep an eye on the tower orientation. Make it vertical and see how
> much side pressure is required to push it off normal. Tweak guy wires
> as necessary.
>
> --Winston
That's the point of my system, I am standing at the base looking up
when I set the tension and tie off the lines. AFAIK the rule for real
antenna towers is Follow the Manufacturer's Instructions.
jsw
Winston
Well OK, Jim. I trust your judgment.