Phi for All

I had a buddy that worked for an architectural / engineering firm and they used to send him all over the country on short notice. His profile fit a few of the terrorist guidelines (traveling alone, traveling to areas with sensitive structures, buying his tickets a few days before the flight, checking hardside equipment cases) and he would get searched EVERY SINGLE TIME he flew, sometimes a second time at the boarding gate. He complained only once, to ask why it happened to him all the time, and was told he'd been flagged for these things.

There are many applications for nylon in machine parts for cars and planes, even nuclear power. While it might bring a smile to think of people's clothes falling off spontaneously, this bacteria could be a definite threat in many areas.

History always interested me but it took James Burke tying bits and pieces together to show correlation to really set me on fire about it. Similarly, much of science takes on a special texture for me when it's applied to the way my life really is. I just reminded myself of something. I live now in the city where I spent much of my childhood (not by design really, just where the best school for my daughter was). Two different locations where many childhood recollections happened were revealed to me in a new light last year when the city punched a connecting road through. Growing up I hadn't realized how close together the two different sites were. It was a real epiphany and made me feel stupid for not realizing it back then. I could have easily joined together two sets of friends and *really* had a great time.

I've always believed a big part of learning right is being taught right. Some teachers (or books) are great for most people on certain subjects but sometimes you just need a different approach, a different teacher or a different text. The second time I took college Calculus was light years different from the first time. The first teacher I had just didn't connect with me and I dropped her course. I wanted to learn Calculus and she kept trying to teach me Greek.

Not plagiarizing the work of others is a big key to success, at least here at SFN. Please give citations when quoting verbatim from another author. Otherwise, they are not your conclusions, they're Rajat Gupta's. I would add "Be honest to yourself and others" to the list as part of your strong value set.

As always, religion and science can only get along when one isn't used to destroy the other. Starting from the premise that evolution MUST be wrong because it doesn't agree with one's religion is a sure way to further fractured observations.

It's got to be a regional thing. Too lean and you don't get any tasty grease. In the US the bacon is 10-12 inch strips to fit in a skillet (are the pans in Oz really that big or does everyone have a professional griddle in their homes?). "Streaky" bacon (never heard it called that here) is like a well-marbled steak, with a mix of fat and lean meat. I remember in Germany some relatives tried to gross me out with how they made sausages, killing a cow and a pig and having a party to make them. They'd immediately grind some of each up in a bowl, crack an egg over it and share it tartare with some Schnapps while filling the sausage casings. They laughed at the faces I made. I told them I'd rather have a rare steak anyday. You should have seen the faces they made at that statement. They couldn't stand the thought of hacking off a cut of meat and just grilling it!

In the case of the stream I saw, it was next to a road that was going slightly uphill and the banks of the stream started out cut fairly high and tapered lower further down, making it seem like the stream was following the road uphill. I think when I saw the stream appear to reverse itself my mind was just forcing the perspective to adjust to what I knew had to be the right way for water to act.

Because the perspective around the bench tells you the direction the ball is rolling *must* be uphill. They measure to show you it's level and then the ball seems to defy gravity. The folks who run these mystery spots will even put clear hard resin in lamps and glasses to simulate oil and water which aids the "level" illusion. And as I mentioned before, they'll have curtains stiffened with wire or starch so they add to the feeling that everything is on the level. It's no wonder people get dizzy at these places when the eye, the mind and the inner ear are in conflict. Hey mooeypoo, I'll bet most of these phenomena were viewed while you were more or less stationary, right? The inner ear and your sense of balance work much better when you're moving, so these places want you to stand still and observe.

I want to start small with this idea, having this one competition, but there is enough Staff interest that this could become a quarterly event or even have an ongoing forum of it's own. For now let's imagine it as a yearly competition. I'm reluctant to limit or constrain the number of words but I'm also concerned that someone will dump a 97 page effort they wrote in junior high on us. I suppose we should have an upper limit, though. Prizes are tough since we're not charging for this so someone's got to pony up the dough for anything we give away. I guess I could donate a set of steak knives for second place.

I have a Golden retriever and I was buying a large bag of Purina at Wal-Mart and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. Normally I'd just roll my eyes and shake my head disgustedly but on impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again. I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her. Horrified, she asked if I'd ended up in the hospital in that condition because I had been poisoned. I told her no; it was because I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me. I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard as he staggered out the door.

I remember seeing a little creek like that. Could have been a real tourist attraction if it wasn't in an out-of-the-way location. I stared at that creek for half an hour and couldn't figure out why it looked like it was flowing uphill. I *knew* it was an optical illusion but it still baffled me why. It was pretty weird and I even remember my mind tricking me at one point to make it look like the water was flowing the *right* way. Just for a few seconds and then it went back to flowing uphill again.

It would keep everyone busy just figuring out the rules. But I doubt anyone would allow the fate of their country to be decided by a game. The loser would claim the winner cheated and they would attack. Good idea in theory, though. In a perfect world... oh, I guess it wouldn't be necessary in a perfect world. Of course, I think I would HATE living in a perfect world.

"Staff" envy? * sigh * Have you been drinking?

For me it has nothing to do with whether he's a conservative, and it has absolutely nothing to do with forgiveness. I love him as an actor and still do. I've loved most of the movies I've seen him in. However, as an alcoholic, I can tell you that being drunk is never an excuse for horrible behavior, no matter how much you want it to be. And being drunk doesn't put words in your head, it just makes you stupid enough to give voice to the words that are there already, no matter who they hurt. Alcoholism is not a disease, it's an addiction. Calling it a disease makes it somehow not your fault. And this was definitely Mel's fault. But he merely showed us his prejudice, his opinion of Jews, so it's not up to me to forgive Mel Gibson for what he said while he was drinking. This is not something he did against me that needs my forgiveness. It's really not about the Jews forgiving him either. We now know he blames Jews for many things and it's up to us to decide whether or not we want anything to do with him anymore. Mel Gibson is entitled to his opinion about Jews. And I'm entitled to think less of him for it.

I looked it up before I posted and a quick check revealed that the highest jump was something over 31,000 meters (yes meters, not feet). JohnB, will there be any zero-G training involved before the flight? That would be awesome just by itself.

Is it some kind of drawing or do you have to write an essay or something to win this contest? I've seen some other contests where suborbital flight was the grand prize and it sounds so great! If you need online votes let us know. Hey, watch it, they didn't say where they were going to drop you off, now did they? Probably push you out over the Americas with a chute at 30,000 meters!

OK. No, I'm not. Fair enough. Again, I'm sorry you tend to place members in "groups" from which it will be difficult for them to escape. It makes everyone's job a bit harder. I would hope all here could be simply knowledge seekers instead of in some kind of clique. I could be wrong but you did say we had graduated high school, no? Record-straightening, that is where this is coming from. I thought your comments were continuing an imagined feud with the staff. Perhaps I was wrong. But perhaps I was not wrong. Either way, the record is... less bent, and I'm content that I've tried to explain how I feel about DrCloud's perspective.

No, I'm taking exactly what he mentioned: It's odd because I ususally like to "open the drapes" but have chosen to use the third degree lamp on you to show how it tends to be received in a very defensive manner. It causes reactions like:

Sometimes it's worth taking a thread a bit off-topic to correct mis-information. You can't just leave it there for others to pick up as legitimate at a later date. As long as you are "opening the drapes to let the sun shine in" as opposed to "focussing the third-degree lamp on the suspect" I think your intentions will speak for themselves. This is a good example of someone who should "open the drapes" more often, imo. Silkworm, I love ya buddy, but you sometimes let your witchhunting get the better of you. You are smart and knowledgeable enough to enlighten your audience without resorting to roughing up the suspect. It's all a matter of perspective. You are working much better in the forums to enlighten the membership but some of the IRC logs I've seen are just shameful. I don't participate there because of this lack of respect. For what it's worth.

Howz about STST for, "Spin there, spun that"?

No one cares what you or I think, but Mel Gibson "owns Malibu" and has thousands of media outlets waiting to hear anything at all from him. His actions and words carry weight. What he does and says affects millions of opinions around the world. His "bandwidth" is enormous compared to the average person, so he does have a responsibility to use it wisely. In fact, I have to give him credit for mentioning several times his responsibility to those his actions affect. He's aware that celebrity carries a heavy price.