Royston

oh dear So Insane Alien, Norman Alber and Death are about to walk into a bar, Norm say's 'why are you here Death?' Death replies 'well you see that 50ft ball of tumbleweed coming this way...'

Since when has tenure equated to expert. That's a bad thing because... I've never edited or added a wikipedia entry, because A. I don't feel I'm qualified yet to be making entries on an encyclopedia that's available to anyone with internet access, well not in the categories I'm interested in, and B. I'm too busy for correcting entries et.c as long as the info is correct, the rest is rather trivial IMO.

Well the fact 'the rest of us would be forced to eat sh*t' clearly indicates that it wouldn't work. Besides, like I said, work would directly effect the communities well-being, and profits / revenue distributed fairly...so not really similar to your example. Like I said in the OP, it was 'a fleeting thought' and probably 'utterly ludicrous' so it's not surprising it fell flat on it's face. Sometimes a fleeting thought does bear fruit, but this, without a shadow of a doubt, isn't one of them.

Really just echoing what's already been mentioned, but I don't see the point of changing politics to current affairs, why constrain future threads to just current events. Avatars to the left would be better...personally. A. it would be neater with all user info in the same area, and B. the avatar acts as an 'at a glance' i.d. You instantly recognise who's posting, then start reading, rather than being distracted by the avatar two sentences into the post. I certainly prefer the science subsections as they are now, rather than having to go into physics, then into e.g 'modern and theoretical physics'...it's more browser friendly, and you can see any new posts from the forum main page, which is much better IMO. Although I understand why you got rid of philosophy of science, seeing as philosophy is so integral to science that it's hard to see any difference, it's a shame to get rid of it based on popularity, you may as well ditch some of the less popular mathematics sections. I'm a bit dubious about the equipment forum, how much can be discussed in this area...perhaps change the description underneath, doesn't come across as very professional. Anyway, just my thoughts, but thanks to everyone who worked hard on the changes and improvements

Well this is weird, I had a dream a couple of nights ago that I got back together with an ex girlfriend (well kinda ex, we had a fling for a few weeks, many years ago now.) We were chatting at a party a friend organized for this Friday, one thing lead to another et.c. Now, she went off to India (in real life...I had no idea she'd gone yet, or when she was due back.) She came back two days ago (the same night I had the dream), and I heard she was coming to the party on Friday. It was a really nice dream, I kept on waking up, and when I fell back to sleep the dream carried on. I'll keep you posted, if my dream is fulfilled...I think I'll probably freak out if it does happen, and no, I won't be telling her about this dream, and yes, she is gorgeous.

Why do you think posting on another forum will change that soultech / erlyrisa, whatever user name you're going to pick next.

Ounces and fluid ounces are different...16 oz for a pint, 20 fluid oz is also a pint.

Rofl...awesome. My mistake for saying 'English pint' earlier. Regarding what Swansont stated earlier, on an American measuring jug, where is a pint in relation to ounces ? On a British pint glass, there's a line marking a half pint...do you have the same in the States, but obviously that would be 6 oz. It's a sorry state of affairs, that you may have to resort to taking a measuring jug into a bar. That actually reminds me of a guy at work who was disputing the fixed price of toast in the canteen, and was measuring the thickness of the bread each day...'It has come to my attention that on Wednesday, a medium slice, measuring 15mm in depth was served in the staff canteen at 15p a slice, however on Thursday, I was shocked to discover, that a slice measuring 13mm in depth, was sold for exactly the same price.'

Contact your local council about improving sea defences...this would probably entail completing a number of forms, returning these forms, waiting six months as they go through some over convulted beuracratic process. Wait another six months until the 'ten foot wave' is at the top of the agenda, for discussion at one of the weekly council / resident meetings. Once a decision is agreed, wait another month or two for a building contract to be written up and contractors to start work. Wait another 6 months for the sea defences to be built (possibly 7 months...depends on tea breaks.) Then receive complaints through your door that the wave hit over 1 year and 8 months ago, and the sea defences are a complete eye sore. Rerun the entire process again for the sea defences to be pulled down. Alternatively, just don't go to the beach that day.

I'm not sure if I'm for it...half a litre is 0.8 pints, plus a pint seems to be 'just right', probably because that's what we're used to, but still. Also I would expect the price to go down if we do switch to metric, unless of course they're serving litres. Another problem would be gauging the 'oh, just one more, then I'll go home' would one be enough, perhaps I should have two more (half litres), the whole thing could end in chaos...chaos I tell you.

Out of interest how much is a 16oz glass of beer (shudders) in the States, I know it probably varies quite a bit from state to state, but on average. Where I'm from some bars will charge up to £ 3.50 for a 'pint', roughly $ 6.00. I seem to remember beer was very reasonably priced when I was over there. Of course, you're not the only country to have paltry glasses of ale, in Australia they serve 'schooners' (is that right, it was a few years ago now.) I think they're just under half a litre, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I couldn't find anything up to date, but here's an article on the first success in this area (your OP.) http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/2005/Chip-Reads-Mind31mar05.htm I swear I remember a news article last year, where a replacement prosthetic arm was controlled by the user using thought alone... beyond the rather limited movement in the case above, I'll have another browse.

You have my deepest sympathy Bascule. Have you tried ordering an 'English pint', that might work, they may question what you mean, but to all intents and purposes, you've still ordered a 'pint'...but it does seem bizarre that even when given the choice, 12 oz has been ingrained into the beer servers psyche as a 'pint.' I mean you don't have '1 pint' on a measuring jug at the 12 oz mark...and beer, of all things is victim to this nonsense. I've gotten quite into my ales recently, mainly because our local changed hands, and is now under Dark Star Breweries, and there are some fine ales to choose from, Natural Blonde and Hop Head being my favourites.

Yeah, yeah...of course Sisyphus is a big softie at heart, he just wants to look cool in front of everyone.

I don't, hence the wink. 'Sarcasm being the lowest form of wit' is just a saying, you could extend it to all types of humour. I guess, funny you brought that up (no pun intended). I was reading just yesterday about a couple of guys who attempted to produce the most accessible piece of music, something that aspires to all tastes. The result was awful...I'll try and find a link. But it's a very interesting point, imagine a comedy show that attempted all 'that is funny' in a complete package, it would fail. It's completely a matter of taste, 'slap stick' still works as entertainment, you still see it used in recent films, but the situations and cultural connotations have changed. I'm not sure you can quantify humour, but as a qualitative statement, entertainment has to 'go up a notch' to sustain being entertainment. Sorry if I'm derailing the thread.

Or lower, one of the two. I must admit, the majority of comedy programmes I enjoy / have enjoyed, are all highly satirical. e.g Brasseye, Have I got News for You, The Thick of It, et.c So absurd was quite a surprise, despite being a fan of Monty Python.

Same as GutZ, absurd

It's 'these are a few of my favourite things.' If you're going to attempt sick humour, the least you could do is get the lyrics right.

Psiji, you may be interested in the Hilbert's Hotel metaphor... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert's_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel

Long distance relationship ? Phone sex ? Public execution perhaps... Overlooking the sheer idiocy of the idea, it does illustrate the poor reasoning of a project such as the Disney town. Although on a much smaller scale, and surely people are allowed to leave et.c to what ends does a selection process for communities result in, is it even ethical to herd people in to predetermined groups ? And so the thread doesn't veer off into ethics, does anyone have ideas that could result in a fair, perhaps more progressive society, or is it actually an impossibility. Just due to the diversity of outlooks et.c I realize this is the age old question of creating a utopia perhaps, but it doesn't have to be to that extreme. Start from terraforming another planet, and you can implement infrastructure, economic structure, laws et.c

IA, I know exactly what you mean by engineers squabbling, my old house mate came back regularly from work with a face of thunder...really didn't think this one out at all. So to summarize...meh.

Well it doesn't have to be utterly conformist to the individual company...errr, yeah I see what you mean.

Would privatized residential areas work, i.e you'd have large companies running districts where the residents are working for the company and the community strives for progress in that area...e.g pharmaceutical companies would run districts where the residents are made up of GP,s, neurologists, psychologists et.c Tax on wages would mean revenue would go back directly into the community, and the maintenance and services would be localised by the company, rather than tax distributed nationally et.c You'd have engineer communities, finance and banking communities et.c and so forth. It's just a thought that popped into my mind, for some reason I thought of that gross misrepresentation of American history, the town Disney built, where residents have to meet a certain criteria...model families, white picket fences et.c An extension of that, but where the communities are a concentration of like minds, and there are direct results for their labour onto their community, and the districts themselves help the progress in certain fields, like giant think tanks. It really was just a fleeting thought, and I'm no economist or politician, so is it feasible, or is it utterely ludicrous.

Thanks in return, and sorry for misinterpreting your earlier statement, I wholeheartedly agree with your last post.