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The Lounge / Heart Attack

« on: August 15, 2009, 12:24:23 AM »

So, how crazy is this?  I cut my hand open pretty good on Wednesday, and went to the hospital.  We're not sure why, but in the ER, I suddenly had an incredibly intense headache,then chest pain and arm pain.  I was in atrial fibrillation for the next five hours or so.  Tachycardia to 212 bpm...  Negative brain CT, negative LP, normal EKG for the two days since.

I'm 35 and in decent shape, if a bit flabby.  WTF??!!

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The Lounge / So, guess where I spent all day?

« on: June 09, 2009, 05:57:33 PM »

Give up?

OK

I spent all day at the JPL/NASA/Cal Tech facility in Pasadena, CA!  My father-in-law was getting a medal and award, and any opportunity I get to get on campus, I take!



So, this visit was especially cool because, as I said, my FIL got a medal, presented by Ed Weiler (Runs NASA's Science Mission Directorate and rarely travels) directly, and afterward, I got to spend a few minutes in conversation with he and Charles Elachi, the Director of JPL.

Along with the future of the god theory (25-50 years left in Mr. Weiler's opinion, with the Planet Quest project in full swing) and guesses at Voyager's longevity (man, is that thing far away!), TFES came up, of course.

While Ed said he'd heard of TFES (seriously, the head of NASA's Science Mission Directorate has heard of TFES), he claims no knowledge of the conspiracy.

Seriously, though, it was a cool day, I got to meet some people responsible for some pretty amazing science, including next-gen GPS (will be accurate in 3 dimensions to half an inch) the miniature transceivers in the new generation of spacecraft which allow all of them to act as repeaters/relays, the head of the Cassini Project... Did I mention the President of Cal Tech?  Yeah, I shook his hand.

Funny thing... one of the little jokes Ed Weiler told during his speech was about how many of his generation might need to check their PhDs for validity considering how much of the science they learned to get them was erroneous.  The example he gave?  Dark Energy/Matter.  The concepts are now officially a laughing stock in actual scientific communities.

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The Lounge / CMS Opinions?

« on: February 08, 2009, 11:00:28 AM »

OK, I have a new project I'm working on for a cheap client who doesn't want to invest the time or hourly rate in coding his site.  The site will include social networking aspects (ala facebook), a customizable web interface (like igoogle), and a message board (like... well TFES, of course).  In order for me to make that crap work (I'm no programmer) together, I will need to use a CMS.  I've been comparing Joomla, Drupal, and Xoops, as they all offer the functionality I need.

Anyone worked with these and have any advice on which one to go with?  So far, I've been told that Joomla sets up easier, but will look like every other ugly Joomla site without some heavy modifications (I can probably handle the div/PHP mods).  Drupal is supposedly a bit steeper of a learning curve, but the look will customize more easily.  I haven't talked with anyone who's used Xoops, but it seems to do what I need.

Thanks

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Flat Earth Q&A / FES Shirts

« on: November 20, 2008, 08:57:46 PM »

Who wants one?

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The Lounge / Where have you been, GD??

« on: November 09, 2008, 10:37:27 PM »

Just kidding, I know you've likely only the vaguest of recollections of my very existence.

Anyway, here's where I've been:

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Flat Earth Q&A / Advice on storage purchase

« on: October 17, 2008, 12:36:03 PM »

Hi, quite a few of you seem to really know your computer hardware stuff, so I though I might as well ask here as well.

I need storage.  I have a small (8 stations, 2 switches, 1 router) home network that includes my Xbox 360 and 2 TiVos.  We have a new HD video camera, around 120GB of music, and about 180GB of porn.  I am looking to add between 1-2TB of storage to the network, and I want to run it mirrored.

I was thinking I would go with the Buffalo Terastation 1.6 or 2TB, but have not been keeping up on these for a while.  A year ago when I spent a week researching, the Terastation 1TB was the top dog.  Are these still win?  Or have they been surpassed?

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Flat Earth Debate / What force motivates the Sun and Moon?

« on: October 06, 2008, 12:12:54 PM »

FE does accept Newton's laws of motion, correct?

So, what causes the motion of the sun and moon?  RET says the Sun is stationary relative to our solar system, and the Earth is perpetually falling around the sun (orbit).

In FET, what is providing the energy needed for the sun and moon to continue their circular paths, floating a static distance from the surface of the Earth?

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Flat Earth Debate / I'm curious... where does the shuttle go?

« on: October 06, 2008, 11:19:41 AM »

Hi, I spent some time this weekend with my Father-in-Law, who manages two projects for JPL NASA.  The FES came up, and after a significant amount of chuckling, he reminded me of something.

Where does the shuttle go for all that time, and how does it stay airborne?  He and I have both seen several launches, and I was actually able to see both the launch and landing for one mission (I was vacationing in Key West, but live in So Cal).  I know FET assumes (in lieu of evidence) that NASA is part of a huge conspiracy, but where do you all think this spacecraft goes for days and weeks at a time?

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Flat Earth Debate / OK, I'm tired of the 'proof' thing

« on: October 03, 2008, 09:42:58 AM »

Let's forget about proof.  Proof is for actual thinkers.  Let's talk probability.  I am an atheist, which means I don't believe in the sky-dude.  Now, I wouldn't say that I am certain that the sky-dude doesn't exist, but his existence, based on observable evidence is clearly extremely unlikely.  The proability, based on observable evidence, is that there is no sky-dude, and so I will say that I believe there is no sky-dude.

Let's apply that to the 'debate' at hand.  All observable evidence says that the Earth is a nearly spherical planet rotating on it's tilted axis as it revolves around Sol.  We have countless photos from outer space taken by men who are now congressmen, a nearly infinite number of astronomical observations, every experiment in Rowbottom's book (which, by the way, give tremendous evidence of the actual, round nature of the planet), the midnight sun on Antarctica, the flight and sailing times from Africa or Australia to South America or vice versa... The list is nearly endless.

So, FE'ers... based on the evidence, can any of you actually claim to hold the personal belief that the Earth is flat?  Will you seriously take the only known evidence for a FE, the view out your window, as superior, more convincing, or having more weight than EVERYTHING else on the subject?

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Flat Earth Debate / Oops, you forgot the suntan I got in Antarctica

« on: October 01, 2008, 03:34:43 PM »

So, I've been looking around for a while, and though the proofs offered by Aristotle ~2300 years ago should suffice, the attempts here to speak sense have been mildly entertaining.

So, last year, I took a bit of a vacation.  Wanting to get away from it all, I took a trip through www.escortedantarcticatours.com called The South Pole: Conquering the Final Degree Timeline, organized by Abercrombie and Kent.  They do the trip at least twice per year, and I took the later of the 2007 trips.  While I wouldn't want to trust my eyes, as they could deceive me, my doctor and several family members commented on the rather intense suntan I got while I was there.  You see, being in December, the height of summer, the sun was shining for my entire trip.

Based on the maps and descriptions in the FAQ and various threads, the sun should not be visible at all from the ludicrous FE 'Ice Wall'.  After all, if it is (and we all know it is) dark in Alaska at the moment it is light in Nova Scotia (during the winter, of course) because the sun disappears over that great distance, the sun should only be visible in Antarctica (which you call the ice wall) during the summer, and then, only for a few hours per day.

Would anyone care to explain my tan?