Phi for All

That's because CAD is drawn 1:1 ratio in model space, while what you see on a blueprint is just a snapshot of the model in paper space at a certain scale and perspective and printed in 2D. Many engineers and architects still print CAD files to check them over. Many use the computer for everything. It just depends where you are on the ladder how much exposure you get to blueprints. jordan, as has been stated before, getting files on planes is going to be tough unless they are really old. Design is very much an intellectual property issue, and in certain circumstances a security issue as well.

At one point I held out great hope for this thread. Enough has been said and the arguments are beginning to repeat, which wastes everyone's time. Move along, nothing to see here.

I'll say this again, a little louder: MY MOUTH HAS NO ROOM FOR YOUR WORDS. Stop trying to interpret what I'm really saying because what I'm really saying is very carefully formulated and typed out in previous posts. This is not IRC chat or a pub debate over beers. I am actually thinking as I type. You're back to ranting and hand-waving and the decibel level is deafening you and others as to what is being said on both sides. We're back to the entire scientific community again?!? What happened to: You're joking with us now, right? No progress except fission? In the last 100 years?! Oh, believe you me, "us folks" will get right on that. Because ALL politicians are corrupt, and gedankenexperiments are the ONLY solution, and I'm sure you've factored in every possible thing that is currently being done (or not done) before you joined us to point out the scientific community's flaws. Thanks goodness someone cares about what's happening (I mean, besides National Geographic, NASA, the governments and corporations who make the satellite images available, the scientists who evaluate the information, and, you know, a host of others). Everyone shares your concerns. Seriously, do you think you're the only person who wants a future? I realize things can't happen soon enough for you but I also wonder if things would EVER happen soon enough to suit you. As I mentioned before, if change happens too fast it catches us by surprise and that's a bad thing, ALWAYS.

I know it seems like we're behind in many areas but trust me, the last thing in the world you really want is to have something startling happen almost overnight. It's a romantic fantasy to suddenly stumble on the key to cold fusion or a simple cure for cancer, but economies and infrastructures need time to coordinate and adjust, and we are in the middle of that process right now (and indeed, all the time). When it doesn't happen this way, you get violent errors and unstable policies that don't do anyone any good. What if a cure for cancer suddenly shows up out of left field tonight. Without ways to implement it's manufacture and distribution, everyone who has cancer or worries about it is going to want the cure NOW. Without scientists, manufacturers, distributors, the media, the government, the entire apparatus of modern civilization behind you, you could end up hurting instead of helping. Progress is slow but inevitable.

I'm very impressed that you can see this. Most people who start with a rant never leave that position. Science is just one of many factors in play. We are definitely in a time of turmoil. Historically this happens before great change can occur. We'll make it, I have no doubt, and oddly enough it will probably be the rich and powerful despots we bemoan who will lead the way. They want to stay rich and powerful, so energy we can all afford is an absolute necessity that will drive the market. Fuel cells that aren't fossil fuel based. Are you suggesting some sort of personal use cells beyond the obvious automotive uses? Viable fuel that can power an individual home or business? Perhaps it is UC's role to provide the highly funded machine experiments while others provide the lower-cost a priori methodology. Collaborative efforts usually work best when the strengths of all involved are taken into consideration. * sigh *

Good call, Cap'n. I'll have to remember that one. The biggest shame is that there may be a great deal of truth underneath the overly dramatic broad brush strokes the OP chooses to use against the global scientific community. Electing to escalate a perceived problem at the University of California into a worldwide conspiracy is a poor choice, imo.

It is unfortunate that the media rarely stirs itself to write articles about those who do practice good ethics. It is usually the bad conduct that gets reported but one shouldn't take that to mean there are no good ethical practices. It is not science's fault that the media panders to base tastes.

BhavinB was right, you've stopped up your ears with enormous wads of self-proclaimed "truth" and set up a system where you alone are correct. These are the types of threads that are doomed to Moderator closure because the OP has no intention of debating, only of enlightening the blind masses. You are waving the "truth" around almost as much as your hands. You need to provide more global evidence that this is not the case. Mr. Mattson, with all due respect sir, please refrain from granting this rant the honor of "theory" status.

Similarities but nothing definite, tough to tell. Different IPs, different ISPs, join dates a week apart. Both from GMT-8 time zone. Conspiracy breeds paranoia.

Thanks, but we can't be trusted with something this big. "Absolute power", that sort of thing.

Real good point. We'll debrief him before letting him back into the Mods area. dave: "It's real good to see you again, Mokele." Mokele: "Thanks dave, good to be back." Sayo: "Where have you been?" Mokele: "Working." Sayo: "Who have you had contact with?" Mikele: "Just my GF, fellow students and my colleagues at work." dave: "How do you feel?" Mokele: "Fine." Sayo: "How many days did it take to create the Earth?" Mokele: "Si-, I mean thou-, millions, millions of days. YEARS! Millions of years!" dave: "It's cattle prod time!" Mokele: "NOOOOOO!"

The Bloop sounds weren't picked up by subs, IIRC, they were picked up by a passive hydrophone system that listens for subs. The sound had all the hallmarks of a marine life form and was considered huge because it was recorded on two different sensors quite a ways apart. I guess not even a whale could make a sound loud enough to trip two sensors but that's the part that makes me question the whole thing. Couldn't some kind of anomalous current or combination of factors have caused the same sound to be recorded by two remotely separated devices? Isn't that more likely than an enormous cephalopod or something? It would be so cool though to discover something like that!

This is very true to a certain extent. There is a definite psychological factor involved. But I think a bigger part of alcoholism involves tolerance levels. Some people can handle toxins better than others. Alcohol, drugs, caffeine, nicotine, many people can only handle small amounts of these poisons before they say, "Whoa, that's it for me!" Others have a larger tolerance, and for some the tolerance goes so far beyond what is healthy for them that it becomes more than just damaging, it becomes addictive. The human body is funny that way, you can feed it poison every day and then it will rebel when you stop. For a true alcoholic, it's not really a case of quitting for a while to dry out and then just having a drink or two. An alcoholic doesn't want just two drinks, and ten may not be enough either. Technically, alcoholism is cured as long as the alcoholic is not drinking alcohol. Realistically, ANY recovered alcoholic is still just one sip away from full-blown alcoholism again. Personally, when asked I say I'm a recovered alcoholic, with fourteen years of sobriety under my belt. I never say I'm cured.

"More fleas?" "Garbage, anyone?" "Drop it on my big toe." "Five dollars?!? Meh, I'll give you ten." "My hat is made of meat." "No tongues, Mom." "Keep your severance pay!" "Benzene makes me belch."

To reiterate:

I thought you were all jealous of me because I was the only one who hears the voices.... It's always my voice, but I switch inflections, accents and pitch to match whoever I'm reading. And sometimes I channel Mel Blanc for the really tough ones.

Informed sources report that our beloved Tokyo-stomping monster is alive and well, despite reports to the contrary. In an email interview, Mokele broke his 2-month-long silence:

I should have clarified, this is exactly what I meant. The bank and the police would never expect you to reach out in this manner. If they really suspect you they'll have your photo at the train stations and airports expecting you to run for it. I would call or visit your local police precinct and explain what's happened and tell them you're worried about your credit rating and your good name. Get the policeman's name, asking him if you can mention it to the bank manager. Be completely up front about it, offer to provide any records they may need.

Experimentation is mostly failures. That is it's nature. Success naturally means the experiments can taper off a bit. And the reason oil hasn't been replaced is because it's still a viable, profitable market. Just because you and I hate being dependent on it (and beleive me, we are not alone) doesn't mean it isn't driving the market for some people. I should angrily list all the scientific advancement that's happened since WWII but I absolutely refuse to let myself get crabby over your absurdities. It's the beginning of the weekend, afterall, and why am I working in my comfy welfare state lab if not to enjoy my weekends? I appreciate your fervor in this, I really do. It's passionate people like yourself who will drive politics and science to a better place. But unless you focus your approach and speak to specific points without hasty generalizations, flawed logic and conspiratorial zealotry, you are going to drive away many people who may share your objectives.

There's my missing piece! Thanks, gcol, I'll bet that's it. insane_alien, forget the newspapers, tell them you want the police brought in if they won't unfreeze the account. Someone committing fraud would never want the police involved. You don't have anything to hide from the police, do you?

We all know that, but THEY think you made a £600,000 investment. Why are they freezing your account? You say the bank says you invested in a business but even if it were true, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?! Investing in a business is no crime, and why would the bank freeze your account unless you were either overdrawn or defaulted on loan payments? Banks don't care about investments unless you borrowed their money to do it and aren't paying them back. That's the only reason to treat such a wealthy financier like yourself shabbily. There's a missing piece to this puzzle and you'd better cough it up, flu-boy (OK, eeww). Otherwise I'll get no sleep this weekend.

Keep us posted, I still want to know why the bank freezes the account of someone who can make an investment like that. They should be kissing your wealthy green butt instead. I guarantee that somewhere along the line they think you owe them money.

Strawman. Please point to where I accepted the end of Humanity. More strawman. I said: I didn't say it was the only factor. Please watch your logical fallacies. My mouth has no room for your words. OK. Quite generalized and oversimplified. "Fifty years of scientific failure" is Misleading Vividness, and so encompassing as to be completely meaningless. Even breaking down individual scientific failures I fail to why I should believe any single thing could be the root cause. The rest of your post is very reactionary, which I don't mind really, but again paints all of science with a very wide brush. Seemingly collective mind sets and conspiracies are easy targets for our outrage but practical application and surgical problem-solving beats a good rant any day. And perhaps the days of small labs making big discoveries has simply passed, and as Bascule points out, the supercolliders may break up enough "Big Science" so the little guys can reclaim their own scientific territory again.

Unfortunately accumulating wealth has always been among the leading motivators of all mankind for quite some time. Big science needs big funding and they are at the mercy of those who would reap the profits of genius. Equally unfortunate are the facts that oil is still a profitable market venture, and war is even more so.