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BS: The Mother of all BS threads
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Little Hawk Date: 11 May 07 - 02:02 PM The cheap yellow form had grown tired of its tawdry existence, spent in the drawers of third class stationery. It yearned to rest on mahogany desks next to a bust of Persephone, and be written on with a $150 pen. The cheap yellow form had its mind made up. It would be a cheap form no longer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 11 May 07 - 01:45 PM The cheap yellow form finally got up and moved, resentful of having been used as a desk. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 11 May 07 - 12:31 PM Mainly thought he smelled trouble and was worried his good-for-nothing brother Q. Wyatt might be getting into trouble. He left the bar and strode to the Western Union office, determined to send a cable to the law firm he knew he could trust -- Manly and Still, from Indiana. His father's firm, once. He sighed, and started writing his message in careful block letters on the cheap yellow form. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 11 May 07 - 12:23 PM did I say "mainly"? I meant "manly" and still from Indiana. stop laughing. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 11 May 07 - 12:16 PM "Last I heard o' Q. Wyatt," the barkeep responded thoughtfully, "was when he said he was gonna go back to Arkansas to find his little sister, Moonshine. Said he thought she was wukkin' at some place called Copper Kettle. Ain't heard from him since..." |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 11 May 07 - 11:58 AM He was looking for his brother, Q. Wyatt Still, and given Q. Wyatt's proclivities, the bar was the best place to seek information. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 11 May 07 - 11:57 AM Mainly Stille, from Indiana, a rugged, square-jawed paradox, strode through the bat-wing doors and slapped a fistful of eagles down on the bar.... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 11 May 07 - 11:27 AM I'm mainly still from Indiana. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 May 07 - 10:24 AM Are you from Maine now? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 11 May 07 - 07:24 AM HUSH ON YOU MUSKIES!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 07 - 10:28 PM Even when it's a local it sometimes takes a little while to get that out of your system. I had dental work on Monday, right side above and below, and I felt a tad light-headed for a couple of days. Maybe our Indiana musher will pull out a dog sled on wheels and you can trot around on that (as the cargo) for the evening. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 09:48 PM Suggest you also stay off the razorblade riding track, amigo. Not to put too fine a point on it... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 10 May 07 - 09:00 PM So, Mom, that's why your favorite son isn't participating in the bull riding competition this evening. Not that I couldn't, mind you. And I'm not going to do the bronc riding, either. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 10 May 07 - 07:51 PM Sjpeakin' of scientific things, Mom, I had a growth removed from the inside of my upper left thigh this afternoon. Yessir, the removal didn't hurt a bit, except that the injection of anny's thetic was QUITE a jolt. And right now I'm on hydrocodone. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 At least the good doc didn't get a bit wild with scalpels and scissors! And yes, it hurt and that's why I had it removed. And no, it wasn't malignant (but it will be checked anyway). |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 04:47 PM Aw, it's okay, Still...I wuz funnin' witchoo. These impenetrable simontifique things are funny because they often ARE impenetrable even when the core development is interesting. I skim them myself!! :D A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: GUEST,Chongo Date: 10 May 07 - 04:21 PM Boy, I could use a good Cuban right now. Cigar, I mean... - Chongo |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 07 - 04:20 PM Amos Amos Amos, Not to worry. I actually read the last one. But sometimes I skim (usually after my eyes cross from the detail). |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 04:09 PM All right, all right, so my Bogie impression got a little outta hand. Mom will forgive me. She's that way. I mean it's understandable if I waxed a little wroth. Skimming!!!! ;>) A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 10 May 07 - 02:53 PM Shame, shame, shame on Amos! Shame, shame, shame on Amos! Gimme an S! Gimme an H! Gimme an A! Gimme an M! Gimme an E! What's it spell? SHAME!!! Gimme an R! Gimme an C! Gimme an E! Gimme a D! Gimme an H! What's it spell? ..... I dunno either.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 10 May 07 - 02:26 PM you're gonna be in trouble now, Amos! Casting aspersion on our own dear MOAB. For SHAME! |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 10 May 07 - 02:23 PM MOM! Amos just called you a two-bit BS thread! |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 02:21 PM You sweat, and strain, and pore over the rivers of information, and edit and format, and burn the midnight oil hoping to pass a little light to the world around you, to inform and elucidate. And what do you get? Skimming!! I swan, Stilly, of all the heart-breakers in all the two-bit BS threads in all of cyberspace.... Skimming!!!! Ok, ok....I know. I do it too. Ask Roger. I skim anything of his I am unfortunate enough to encounter. Sigh... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 10 May 07 - 02:18 PM very good, Amos! That's a spinner, too, if you put the pin through the center of the 4 |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 07 - 02:17 PM That's okay, John. I'll tell you a little secret--I skim those articles that Amos posts. You don't get so sea sick that way. Pick up enough along the way so you recognize the punch line if there is one and you'll do fine. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 02:14 PM 17471A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 02:06 PM I've ben sic, and I've ben wel. I've ben him, but never ben her. If u cn rd ths, u cn gt a gd-pyng jb. If u wrt lik ths, u r an idiot. What's so hard to understand about that? A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 10 May 07 - 01:53 PM you've never ben[sic] hur[sic] what? This stuff makes me sique[sic] |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 12:07 PM Quantum physics says goodbye to reality 20 April 2007 Some physicists are uncomfortable with the idea that all individual quantum events are innately random. This is why many have proposed more complete theories, which suggest that events are at least partially governed by extra "hidden variables". Now physicists from Austria claim to have performed an experiment that rules out a broad class of hidden-variables theories that focus on realism -- giving the uneasy consequence that reality does not exist when we are not observing it (Nature 446 871). Some 40 years ago the physicist John Bell predicted that many hidden-variables theories would be ruled out if a certain experimental inequality were violated – known as "Bell's inequality". In his thought experiment, a source fires entangled pairs of linearly-polarized photons in opposite directions towards two polarizers, which can be changed in orientation. Quantum mechanics says that there should be a high correlation between results at the polarizers because the photons instantaneously "decide" together which polarization to assume at the moment of measurement, even though they are separated in space. Hidden variables, however, says that such instantaneous decisions are not necessary, because the same strong correlation could be achieved if the photons were somehow informed of the orientation of the polarizers beforehand. Bell's trick, therefore, was to decide how to orient the polarizers only after the photons have left the source. If hidden variables did exist, they would be unable to know the orientation, and so the results would only be correlated half of the time. On the other hand, if quantum mechanics was right, the results would be much more correlated – in other words, Bell's inequality would be violated. Many realizations of the thought experiment have indeed verified the violation of Bell's inequality. These have ruled out all hidden-variables theories based on joint assumptions of realism, meaning that reality exists when we are not observing it; and locality, meaning that separated events cannot influence one another instantaneously. But a violation of Bell's inequality does not tell specifically which assumption – realism, locality or both – is discordant with quantum mechanics. Markus Aspelmeyer, Anton Zeilinger and colleagues from the University of Vienna, however, have now shown that realism is more of a problem than locality in the quantum world. They devised an experiment that violates a different inequality proposed by physicist Anthony Leggett in 2003 that relies only on realism, and relaxes the reliance on locality. To do this, rather than taking measurements along just one plane of polarization, the Austrian team took measurements in additional, perpendicular planes to check for elliptical polarization. They found that, just as in the realizations of Bell's thought experiment, Leggett's inequality is violated – thus stressing the quantum-mechanical assertion that reality does not exist when we're not observing it. "Our study shows that 'just' giving up the concept of locality would not be enough to obtain a more complete description of quantum mechanics," Aspelmeyer told Physics Web. "You would also have to give up certain intuitive features of realism." I just know the granola birds here in California will grow fat on this, once they start to decode it. They won't decode it right, but they'll pluck out the fattest buzzwords and fly off to feed them to their young. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 07 - 12:05 PM A flash flood will take care of that whippersnapper afore long. We have 50% chance of rain again today. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 10 May 07 - 12:00 PM no |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 10 May 07 - 11:47 AM As a result of Amos' post I have fired the entire Technical Services staff, everyone in Reference, and trimmed the collection to one volume of the "Encyclopedia Galactica" (vol. LXXIV part A, to be precise). Also, the World Wide Web will only allow you access to this post on MOAB. "That is all you know and all you need to know." |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 10 May 07 - 11:30 AM Glinda does so. Good Magician Humphrey does so as well. So why not the rest of us? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 10 May 07 - 11:24 AM Morning, MOM!! Science has saved the day for librarians, book indexers, encyclopaedists, and others who struggle with sorting lists especially in software. It's so simple and elegant, you'd think everyone would know it. You just use the Intelligent Design Principle of Sorting. NEw Scientist reports: "Intelligent sort is easy ANYONE who studied computer science will recall the huge intellectual effort that goes into creating and understanding algorithms for sorting lists efficiently. Perhaps this has all been superseded. Aidan Karley directs us to an apparently watertight algorithm developed by David Morgan-Mar, who calls it the Intelligent Design Sort (IDS). The probability of the input list being in the exact order it's in, Morgan-Mar notes, is 1 divided by the factorial of the length of the list. So for a list of just 10 items, that's 1/3,628,800; for 11, it's 1/39,916,800, and so on. Morgan-Mar says: "There is such a small likelihood of this that it's clearly absurd to say that this happened by chance, so it must have been consciously put in that order by an Intelligent Sorter." He is of course following the arguments of proponents of intelligent design, whereby apparently vastly improbable structures - such as an eye - must have been designed. Morgan-Mar suggests that applying the IDS to any list will reveal that it is already optimally arranged in a way "that transcends our naive mortal understanding of 'ascending order'. Any attempt to change that order to conform to our own preconceptions would actually make it less sorted." See www.dangermouse.net/esoteric/intelligentdesignsort.html for a short exposition of the advantages of this view (and see the rest of his site to judge how serious Morgan-Mar is). Indexing and cataloguing both depend on sorting by carefully chosen criteria. So Feedback wonders whether all library catalogues and web indexes could not, by a similar argument concluding that no work actually needs to be done, be replaced by a single instruction always to consult the same document for the answer to any question." |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 07 - 08:54 AM Morning, MOM! Moonglow is moving back for the summer tomorrow. I have some of her |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 09 May 07 - 09:02 PM Well, I've never Ben Hur, but I've Ben Hymn, and it's not fun, really... I think next life time I'll find out what it will have been like to have Ben Hur. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 07 - 08:30 PM Ben Hur. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 09 May 07 - 08:20 PM I think Rapaire does "befuddled middle age white knight" better than he does Spartacus at this point. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 07 - 04:36 PM Perhaps it's easier to spike the horse than the chariot? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 09 May 07 - 03:31 PM You've gotta wonder about those spiked anklets that the steed is wearing. My guess, not having a set of studs for my steed, is that they would do more harm to the horse than to anyone else. Bitchin' look though. ...as is that whole knight-in-armor-through-the-eyes-of-Thomas-Kinkade painting. Just bitchin' |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 09 May 07 - 03:12 PM Here's a picture of me astride my fateful steed, accompanied by a standard-issue groupie. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 07 - 03:12 PM Really short. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 09 May 07 - 01:55 PM Electra Glide (not in Blue) Electra Glide in Blue: A short Arizona motorcycle cop gets his wish and is promoted to Homicide following the mysterious murder of a hermit |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: John Hardly Date: 09 May 07 - 01:11 PM Elctro-Glide in Blue |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 09 May 07 - 01:01 PM Elctro-Glide in Blue. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 09 May 07 - 12:28 PM You are such a liar!! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Rapparee Date: 09 May 07 - 12:15 PM I have 1951 Vincent, myself. It keeps company with my 1932 Indian. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 09 May 07 - 12:04 PM oh - that was *you* I thought that was a mysterious and weatherbeaten stranger.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Amos Date: 09 May 07 - 11:50 AM As one who has followed many of our past fiction and Tavern threads, MM, you know perfectly well that my hog is a 1939 Indian. (Note that I said fiction threads). A |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: MMario Date: 09 May 07 - 11:13 AM I never even knew that Amos hads a riding Hog! The saddleback of course is your typical riding hog, but much has been made of the speed of a landrace, with various proponents favorouring the american, british, danish, finnish, german, Italian, Norwegian , swedish or belgian varieties Of course some people prefer the smooth gait of a Glouchestershire Old Spot, and some the stamina of a Duroc. Which do you have, Amos? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 07 - 11:05 AM You've been out riding that hog without your helmet again, haven't you, Amos? |
