Wow! Actual film that uses Hash Animator!
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 1:29 PM on January 4, 2008

No, they didn't have them until 3001 - and they weren't just elevators, but gigantic tower structures built on the same principle as the "ribbon" type elevator. The idea is that they found other huge chunks of diamond floating around the solar system besides the one that hit Europa, and mined them for raw materials.

And actually, IIRC, in the book 2010, there's a sequence where the disembodied and modified consciousness... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 1:29 PM on January 1, 2008

You should see him just cut loose on the standards thing live. More notes for your money!
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:11 PM on October 24, 2007

I was also expecting a completely different Andrew Bell.

All of these Andrew Bells are quite interesting and talented!

Perhaps I should change my name...
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 4:44 PM on October 15, 2007

Speaking mostly to my fellow Californians:

Navy showers for everyone, people. It ain't hard to do. Hardware stores have showerheads with on/off valves, they work great.

And don't run the water the whole time you brush your teeth and shave, either.

And fergossake, get rid of your store-bought genetically-engineered chemically-supported "green grass lawn," and go with native desert plants and rock landscaping.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:51 PM on October 15, 2007

So, once the paranoid bullies ran out of "real" enemies in the world, they turned on us.

Anyone surprised?
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:34 PM on October 15, 2007

"As long as I'm footing the bill for this adventure, how the hell do they think they are gonna get the oil out?"

Well, that's the real trick, isn't it? The real trick to all this is to get the oil production up to a high level - maximum or near-maximum that's physically possible - and then to transport it from the production sites to the place of use, here in the US.

That's a very, very long supply line with... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 11:44 AM on October 11, 2007

"I think he meant years, not dollars."

Oops. So he did. D'oh! Apologies.

"I believe the term you're looking for is Clusterfuck."

Well, not for the interests being served.

Remember, fellow Americans, your interest being served by all this is to generally be able to keep living as you are now, with cheap gasoline and plenty of neat toys... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 1:47 PM on October 11, 2007

Arturus, "money now" is tactics; "money later" is strategy.

There are so many angles to this, and they're all working together, is what srboisvert is saying, and I agree. Sure it's not just the oil, but oil control is definitely a major long-term core strategy.

Making lots of money now funds the long-term strategy.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:03 PM on October 11, 2007

Foosnark: consider how disruptive it would be to your life if gasoline was $10 or $15 a gallon instead of $3. I'm not going to list it all out for you, but there's a massive domino effect when an essential commodity becomes very expensive.

Believe me, your day-to-day interests are being served - just indirectly.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 3:02 PM on October 11, 2007

Whenever it stops being profitable, I should guess.

No meters on the oil? Hmm. Very interesting. Although, you can get a reasonable guess by just counting tankers.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 3:36 PM on October 11, 2007

"It may not have been about the same thing for all the protaganists."

100% agree. Something of a synergy of different desires all combining.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:42 PM on October 11, 2007

Paging Oolon Colluphid to 65416, Oolon Colluphid to 65416, please.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 11:14 AM on October 10, 2007

"Selling via a label bands make about $2 per CD"

beagle, GodDAMNit, NO, they DON'T. How many f#$king times does this have to be screamed until people get it?

On paper, most acts get between 10% and 13% of the retail sale price of their CD (which may indeed be around $2). In reality, the record deals are completely rigged so that the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 6:25 PM on October 9, 2007

"Or heck, just collect those entries that people on MusicFi, SongFight and others contribute (assuming they've tagged 'em to be used thusly), with a little filtering to keep the quality up?"

I'm writing the business plan now.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 6:34 PM on October 8, 2007

"The idea that students could be forbidden to carry personal possessions and have no right to privacy is (despite the patina of "security!) a ridiculous assault on the basic civil rights of students"

How about you try replacing "students" with "prisoners" or "inmates," and see if it rings a little differently to you.

We have more people in prison in the USA than any other country... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 6:01 PM on October 8, 2007

Ah, the poet McTeagle. Wondrous. My favorite being, of course, the epic What's 300 quid to the bloody Midland Bank?

But then again...

Oh freddled gruntbuggly, thy micturations are to me...
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:13 PM on October 8, 2007

No ego-filled rock star wants to admit that his stardom came from providing fellatio to his Svengali.

That puts you on about the same social status as "prison bitch," cappiche?
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:00 PM on October 5, 2007

Doesn't matter which way the "favor" goes, nor how musically talented you actually are. You're still the prison bitch if that's how you got famous.

Worse, you were the willing prison bitch. The article said that one of the unnamed band members said that each band had one kid who "took it" from Pearlman, one "sacrifice."

Nobody wants to admit they utterly compromised themselves to get what they... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:14 PM on October 5, 2007

There are humans out there - a lot of them - who'd much rather hurt, dominate or kill other people than have sex. They literally get far less enjoyment from sex than they do from violence.

And we wonder why things are so screwed up. Judging by what generally goes on in the world, there's a lot more of those people than we'd like to admit.

Bad wiring.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:41 PM on October 5, 2007

From her site:

"Chimpanzees live in violent male dominated societies. Sexual coercion and infanticide are common, as is war. Bonobos however, are peaceful and female dominated. There is no infanticide, sex is used to resolve all kinds of conflict, and bonobos do not have war."

Hmm, whom do the chimps sound like?

Thanks, evolution...
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:46 PM on October 5, 2007

"To do this you need to make core cities much more attractive to suburban and exurban employers than they are now. Secondarily, you need to make living in or near core cities more attractive to suburbanites and exurbanites than it is now."

Double or triple the price of gasoline, and suddenly there's some incentive.

This may happen whether we like it or not; jury's still out.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:46 PM on October 2, 2007

Another method is congestion pricing, which they have in London. I hear Bloomberg's trying to get that going in NYC too.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:06 PM on October 2, 2007

"road networks mostly used by the wealthy for profit-making."

I don't think this is true. I'm pretty sure the vast, vast majority of vehicle miles driven in the US are done in passenger cars.

It's a good point, though, that those who are making a profit using the road should pay a portion of that profit directly to maintaining the road.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:42 PM on October 2, 2007

Your hypothetical "good road" is never going to exist. Humans simply cannot control themselves that well. The obvious evidence for that is all around you.

Stop throwing stones, unless you are free of sin.

I'm not kidding.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 11:44 AM on September 27, 2007

Precisely, dnab.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 1:13 PM on September 27, 2007

If they'd just out and admit that these wars are pre-emptive land grabs to facilitate control of oil reserves, I'd have a lot more respect for them - even though I think such wars are foolish in the extreme.

If you're gonna play Empire, you might as well just be Empire. Don't hide behind craven lies, just declare your divine right of rule, already.

Hilary and Obama, they're part of it, inextricably.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:01 PM on September 26, 2007

Don't forget, if the market is flat or even climbing, but the dollar is being inflated, that Dow Jones number isn't telling you everything.

Factoring in the recent inflation, this year my market investments are all down in real dollars (but not by much). I'd be in better shape if it was all in CDs.

Sigh.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 11:52 AM on September 23, 2007

eddydamascene, you just cracked my ass up. Bravo!
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 12:06 PM on September 21, 2007

Great post, ROU. Favorited.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:14 PM on September 20, 2007

Has anyone been paying attention to the "stealth inflation" going on at your grocery stores? This little anecdote illustrates:
"Picked up some Cottonelle t.p. yesterday, it felt light. Got home and compared it to another package from last month. The "Double Roll" has shrunk from 352 squares per roll to 308, and the squares are SMALLER also. The old rolls were 44 sq. ft. per roll, the new are 35.9 sq. ft., price unchanged. That is 18.4% shrinkage, or a stealth... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 6:31 PM on September 20, 2007

Big .
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 10:56 AM on September 11, 2007

"f i am, then you should be able to provide me with the section of the DSM-IV that describes religious belief as a mental deficiency"

"i can find professional criteria for near-sightedness and many other conditions... where's your professional criteria? ... the american psychiatric association does have some for "religious mental deficiency", right? ... right?"

For someone who often (and often... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 11:30 AM on September 4, 2007

"Begging your pardon, but we do revise the laws of physics, along with other physical law, from time to time. We made those laws up. Physical laws summarize observations. We revise them any time they don't fit with what's carefully observed."

Perhaps it's more accurate to say that what we call the "Laws of Physics" refers to our current translated understanding of the inherent physical properties of the universe. We revise the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 12:03 PM on September 4, 2007

"Exploiting primal fears is what good propaganda is about."

Not to Godwin the thread, but this is pretty much what Goering said about controlling the populace.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:02 PM on August 30, 2007

Suddenly my day seems much brighter. Thanks!
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 1:06 PM on August 29, 2007

Also remember that even prime borrowers succumbed to the hype and did I/O ARMs on properties even they couldn't afford.

Y'know, people who might have been able to pay cash for a $1 million house, who simply couldn't bear the embarrassment of living in those neighborhoods, who instead did a teaser-rate ARM on a $10 million house.

OK, that's extreme. Guarantee there's at least a few of those, though.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 9:52 PM on August 12, 2007

Here's an example of one sort of scenario that's happening, from Corona CA - Riverside County. (LA Times)

Choice bits:
"For a few years, the house fulfilled its traditional role: It was a place to sleep, to eat, to raise their two boys. "It was a blessing, a beautiful place," says Theodore Judice, a telecommunications worker.

Life threw some curveballs. Cassandra, a healthcare worker, had medical problems and left her... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 12:57 PM on August 14, 2007

Hey, lots of government employees getting paid with all that borrowed government money! :)

Some places will stay bubbly longer than others; some might even pretty much stay flat because of local income disparity.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 6:26 PM on August 16, 2007

"Prices are going to go down EVERYWHERE there was significant price rises due to these suicide loan products (as opposed to genuine wage growth)."

The tricky part of that statement is, "where has there been genuine wage growth in America the last 5 years?"

I don't think anyone is going to like the answer to that.

"If you have good credit and an adjustable loan, this... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 3:39 PM on August 16, 2007

"We don't need Star Trek to produce a first world Earth, fusion alone could do it, and that really is looking more and more likely to pay off soonish. If not fusion something else."

Yep, in just about 50 years now! Yep, about 50 years. You'll see! In 50 years!

Something else, huh? Quantum singularities? Zero-point field? Incredible, laws-of-physics breaking discovery in photovoltaics?

Meesa thinkin' no. Sorry.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 2:29 PM on August 14, 2007

"But, oh condesending one, what choice do we have but to try and solve the energy problem?"

None. Or, well really, do it or face massive de-civilization.

"Or are we to just decide that a decent way of life is a fleeting moment in history and once we run out of fossil fuels resign ourselves to medieval squalor? Meesa thinks that sounds like a pretty shitty plan, jackass.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 3:40 PM on August 14, 2007

Woops sorry, this should read:

"I'm sorry that I snarked you so hard, but I have a lot of trouble taking anyone seriously who throws fusion into the ring as a viable solution, for the reasons I state above."
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 3:56 PM on August 14, 2007

Good rant, loquacious. Go ahead and be cranky, this is worth it.

You point out another side of the problem; the people with the vested interest in selling you as much crap as they possibly can (which they can make more of every year with more cheap energy) have refined the art of mind-tricking people from a distance to a spectacular degree.

Most people have been programmed to believe buying stuff, and then throwing that stuff out to buy more... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 4:18 PM on August 14, 2007

"I wasn't trying to paint a pie-in-the-sky picture of fusion, but rather disagreeing with Avenger's pessimistic dismissal of techno fixes. For the most part the techno fixes have worked fairly well in the past and I see no reason to assume they won't continue to work both today and into the future."

I have to disagree with you, and side more with Avenger. Technology requires massive expenditure of energy to develop. The reason why techno... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 4:50 PM on August 14, 2007

"The Fat Man was born, and it worked."

I don't think you can compare this very specific flash of insight in a very specific highly focused research program to a general energy research program, but it may be applicable. That "flash" didn't come out of nowhere, though; they already knew they could get that reaction if they found a compression method.

But I get yer point, to be sure. There are accidents and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:59 PM on August 14, 2007

TheOnlyCoolTim: Just remember that for fusion to power our society, you need to get to where you can reliably and (crucially) economically build fusion power plants that run energy-positive (and I mean like 50% more energy output than input) with something like 50% minimum uptime for a minimum of 25 years - realistically more like 50 years.

And you need to build hundreds of them, very quickly. At least, if we're talking about powering this civilization with the same... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 6:34 PM on August 14, 2007

"So when oil prices start spiking not only will it cost more to ship our food, it'll cost more to grow it in the first place."

Oh, absolutely. That's probably going to be one of the biggest problems for Western nations, since a lot of them (most especially the US) have displaced the bulk of food production so far away from population centers that the percentage of the price spike from transport costs will be disproportionate. I submit that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 3:25 PM on August 15, 2007

.

Aww man. Phil Rizzuto's gone? What a bummer. Ciao, paisan'...
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 5:31 PM on August 14, 2007

IMO, anyone who buys a foreclosed place for more than 50% of what the repossessor would like to get for it is making a poor business decision.

Anyone who actually pays what the repossessor would like to get for it is going to wind up being the next foreclosure statistic, most likely.

Housing market's got a long way to fall yet, IMO.
posted to MetaFilter by zoogleplex at 10:36 AM on August 14, 2007