The Da Vinci Code

[Rasix]

Crichton is a lot better than Brown.  At least he's isn't asserting that his work is based off fact.

I take it, you haven't read his latest: "Global Warming Is A Damn Dirty Lie And My Book Has Footnotes, So It Must Be True"?

I wait until paperback.  I guess I should have chosen my words a bit more carefully.  Crichton bases a lot of his work off scientific research and theory.  But he presents the fantasy parts as fantasy parts (it's seemingly obvious if you aren't an idiot).  Brown takes a lot of conjecture and presents it as plain fact.

[Paelos]

But...but Brown wrote about super fast planes, and crazy weapons that make bullets out of snow, and melting ice with frickin lasers, and an interconnected global network of spying devices on the sea floor. He had to research those right? They exist, right?

[Roac]

But...but Brown wrote about super fast planes,

Those exist.

and crazy weapons that make bullets out of snow

That doesn't.

and melting ice with frickin lasers,

Doable, but I'm guessing he had some sort of super laser?

and an interconnected global network of spying devices on the sea floor.

That exists.

[Paelos]

The plane in question got from the Northeastern US to the North Pole in two hours. I presume it was actually Santa's sleigh.

As for the network under the water, it was so finely tuned in the book that it heard an S.O.S. signal being tapped out in Morse Code with an ice hammer on a floating piece of ice in the middle of an uncharted piece of ocean where there just happened to be a nearby super-secret stealth sub positioned to pick up the survivors.

And people thought roasting a cardinal was silly.

[Roac]

The plane in question got from the Northeastern US to the North Pole in two hours.

The Blackbird, with a speed over mach 3, could make the trip from Main to the north pole in under an hour and a half.  It could circumnavigate the globe in just over 11 hours.  To go from 46 degrees latitude (somewhere in Maine) to the pole in exactly 2 hours would be mach 2.1.  At mach 3, travelling for 2 hours, you could go about 64 degrees of latitude, which puts you starting in Mexico.  Very doable for the government.

As for the network under the water, it was so finely tuned in the book that it heard an S.O.S. signal being tapped out in Morse Code with an ice hammer on a floating piece of ice in the middle of an uncharted piece of ocean where there just happened to be a nearby super-secret stealth sub positioned to pick up the survivors.

Yeah, that sounds far fetched.

Edit: but, maybe not.  There is a law enforcement project, unclassified, that can pinpoint the location of gunfire.  You setup the system, turn it on, and it will notify you whenever it detects a gunshot, and where it occured.  You can tie it into GPS, which in turn can give you an address if you like.  Right now it's a mobile system, since cost prohibits setting the thing up all over the place permanently, but they're working on it.

[Furiously]

Unrelated, anyone know of a good place to get a silencer?

[Polysorbate80]

Unrelated, anyone know of a good place to get a silencer?

Your local black market?

[stray]

Despite popular belief, you can buy or make a gun suppressor in some states. And in many countries, they're perfectly legal.

Don't call them "silencers". Only Brown or Chrichton would use such a word.

[Polysorbate80]

Technically they're legal in 30-odd states but the Feds classify them as title 2 weapons (same category as machineguns, sawed-off shotguns, etc.).  Costs you $200 to apply to the BATF for a license, takes several months to process, and violations are very costly (don't even loan it to someone else for fun.)

I *think* they're obligated to issue you one unless there's some specific reason you don't qualify, but expect the Feds to do a little digging into your life regardless.

[Alkiera]

Edit: but, maybe not.  There is a law enforcement project, unclassified, that can pinpoint the location of gunfire.  You setup the system, turn it on, and it will notify you whenever it detects a gunshot, and where it occured.  You can tie it into GPS, which in turn can give you an address if you like.  Right now it's a mobile system, since cost prohibits setting the thing up all over the place permanently, but they're working on it.

Rochester, NY, is one of a few cities getting a permanent installation of a system like this.  The company that makes it is out of Kalifornia.  Basically, they install tiny boxes in a grid over the city, such that any point is within a mile of 3 sensors.  They can then pinpoint gunfire to within like 20 feet or so, and tell if the shooter is moving(like a drive-by), how many shots there were, etc...  In the space of 5-10 seconds.  Most of which is waiting for the sounds to reach the sensors.

Ah, found link.  ShotSpotter

Alkiera

[Ironwood]

It's hard to believe in global warming when you've been hit by a record breaking snow storm. Evidently the melting of all those arctic ice caps is having less of an impact in the general future than alarmists would have hoped. Maybe in 20 years people will start caring.

You've fallen into that trap of believing that because something is badly named, it isn't evident.  The whole 'Warming' thing should have been scrapped from the start and called Climate Change or summat.  After all, you WERE JUST HIT BY A RECORD BREAKING SNOW STORM.  That should be evidence, if any were needed, that things are changing.  I mean, didn't you watch The Day After Tomorrow ??  CLIMATE CHANGE KILLED BILBO !!  A Hobbit was at Steak !!

[AlteredOne]

Regarding global warming, one must remember that temperatures will not rise universally at every location.  Apparently much of the USA has seen slight declines in temperature recently.  But the entire planet has seen a significant rise in temperature, using aggregate figures from every location on the globe.  The Arctic and Antarctic regions are seeing particularly huge swings, but I'm afraid that the weather girl at WRAL does not report on those.

[Alkiera]

It's a good thing for the 'gobal warming' crowd that nature never does anything in a cyclic fashion... 'cause that would make for a really simple solution for the question of why average temperatures have gone up by 1 degree over the last 150 years or so.  Occam's Razor would even support such a thing.  And those tests where they looks at cores of ice bored up from various areas, and determined that temps have been notably colder lately than they were in, say, the middle ages, they'd seem to support the cyclic hypothesis too.

But no, nature is never cyclic.  Man just has an incredible ability to destroy an ecosystem which has repeatedly recovered from, say, volcano eruptions that put off more 'pollutants' in a single event than the human race has since before the industrial revolution.  Phear our mighty p0w3r!

Alkiera

[AlteredOne]

It's a good thing for the 'gobal warming' crowd that nature never does anything in a cyclic fashion...

And this is why every conversation about global warming breaks down into oversimplification.  Yes, nature has cycles.  The question is whether the current cycle is natural or man-made.  And if it is man-made, what will be the effects, how quickly will we see those effects, and is it reversible?  Then of course, it all breaks down into political mudslinging, as various sides trot out their experts.   It is a classic example of how science is inevitably political.

However, I think it means something that nearly every international organization of scientists is coming to the conclusion that the cycle is man-made, and the burden of proof is getting heavier for the neigh-sayers.  And saying "OMG I just got a lot of snow, fuck the tree-huggers" doesn't cut it.

Meanwhile, for the great masses of humanity who sit inside their air-conditioned rooms playing MMO games 18 hours per day, it probably doesn't matter unless their utility bills start to cut into their gaming budget.

[HaemishM]

Here's the fun part of the whole global warming/environmentally conscious debate. It's all a crock of shit.

The "World" will still be here, even if we manage to fuck up the environment so much that this planet becomes completely unhabitable to mankind. OUR world won't be, but nature itself will just make a few corrections and keep doing whatever it's going to do with our without us. The whole environmental debate is all about making sure humans are comfortable with the environment they are in. It's got nothing to do with saving the planet.

[Zetleft]

"Haven't we done enough. We're so self-important. So self-important. Everybody's gonna save something now. Save the trees. Save the bees. Save the whales. Save those snails. And the greatest arrogance of all, save the planet. What? Are these farking people kidding me? Save the planet? We don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned to take care of one another and we're gonna save the farking planet. I'm getting tired of that shiat. I'm tired of Earth Day. I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists. These white bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world safe for their Volvos. Besides environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet, they don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. They're own habitat. They're worried some day in the future they may be personally inconvenienced."

"Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. We, on the other hand, are fucked. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. You ever think about the arithmetic? Planet has been here four and a half billion years and we've been here what, a hundred thousand, maybe two hundred thousand. And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for around two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion, and we have the conceit to some how think we're a threat. That some how we're gonna put into jeopardy this beautiful little blue green ball that's just a floating around the sun. The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles, hundreds of thousands of years of bombardments by comets and asteroids and meteors, world wide floods, tidal waves, world wide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages, and we think some plastic bags and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference. The planet isn't going anywhere. We are. We're going away. Pack your shit folks. We're going away and we won't leave much of a trace either. Thank god for that. Maybe a little Styrofoam. Maybe. The planet will be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-des-ac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance. You want to know how the planet's doing? Ask those people in Pompeii who are frozen into position from volcano ash how the planet's doing. Want to know if the planet's alright just ask those people in Mexico City, or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble if they feel like a threat to a planet this week."

George Carlin

Carlin said it best I think.

[HaemishM]

Yes, yes he did. Or to quote:

Humanity: "Why are we here?"

The Planet: "Plastic, asshole."

[Alkiera]

Wow.  Something I can really agree with George Carlin on.

Alkiera

[AlteredOne]

That is some damn funny stuff from Carlin, but I can't say I would personally rely on a comedian for my world view.  Sure, if you think humanity is headed for an inevitable apocalypse, I guess you might as well run 10 credit cards to the max, dump your wife for hookers and drugs, and drive around in your Hummer mowing down animals for fun.  Isn't nihilism great!  Sure, environmentalists are self-interested, but who the hell isn't?  Maybe they just happen to be slightly more optimistic about the chances of humans to do anything other than dig themselves a mass grave.

[schild]

George Carlin is a notable linguist among other things. If there's a single comedian you could learn something from - it's him.

[Train Wreck]

Edit: but, maybe not.  There is a law enforcement project, unclassified, that can pinpoint the location of gunfire.  You setup the system, turn it on, and it will notify you whenever it detects a gunshot, and where it occured.  You can tie it into GPS, which in turn can give you an address if you like.  Right now it's a mobile system, since cost prohibits setting the thing up all over the place permanently, but they're working on it.

I'm glad the government is going to have such a device.  They would never, ever abuse such a power, would they?

[Hanzii]

But no, nature is never cyclic.  Man just has an incredible ability to destroy an ecosystem which has repeatedly recovered from, say, volcano eruptions that put off more 'pollutants' in a single event than the human race has since before the industrial revolution.  Phear our mighty p0w3r!

It's a great quote from Carlin and all, but I don't really care if the planet will recover in a few millenia after we'd left our mess behind if I and mine don't get to recover with it.

Cynicism is fine, but I don't see any reason to just giving the planet to the roaches just yet - I like other species better. Homo Sapiens is one of them.

[Roac]

I'm glad the government is going to have such a device. They would never, ever abuse such a power, would they?

Replace "is going to have" with "has had for some time".  And this is unclassified.  Really, the unclassified stuff doesn't bother me so much, because there are a shitton of people watching it.  Even if you personally don't know where they're stting it up and what they're doing with it, you know that there are a lot of people are involved with the project, know about it, and oversee it.  It's really hard to abuse a system this public and get away with it, because so many people know what you're doing.

[HaemishM]

That is some damn funny stuff from Carlin, but I can't say I would personally rely on a comedian for my world view.

Why not? If you cannot look at a universe that gives humanity the ability to think of larger things than itself, then give it a lifespan that isn't even an eyeblink in the cosmic scheme of things, as well as inflicting crimes like rotting crotch diseases and New Kids on the Block on us while tempting us with riches and sex with supermodels, if you can't look at all that shit and laugh your ass off, what the fuck is the point of living?

I'd rather take my world view from comedians than say politicians, philosophers and religious sumbitches.

[Hanzii]

then give it a lifespan that isn't even an eyeblink in the cosmic scheme of things

See, this is something we don't know.
We could be the only intelligent race in the whole damn universe and therefore the one species most important to protect.
We sure as hell are unique on earth and therefore we could be only past the first percentile of the species lifespan with great and wonderful things in store if we don't fuck it up.
Be all teen angst and fashionable cynicism, if that makes you happy. Me I'm sticking around for at least 100 years more and I hope the planet stays a rather comfortable place.

[HaemishM]

Good luck with that.

[AlteredOne]

Why not? If you cannot look at a universe that gives humanity the ability to think of larger things than itself, then give it a lifespan that isn't even an eyeblink in the cosmic scheme of things, as well as inflicting crimes like rotting crotch diseases and New Kids on the Block on us while tempting us with riches and sex with supermodels, if you can't look at all that shit and laugh your ass off, what the fuck is the point of living?

I'd rather take my world view from comedians than say politicians, philosophers and religious sumbitches.

Oh, I can definitely look at all that and laugh my ass off.  Carlin is funny, and so is a lot of stuff on comedy central.  I laugh my ass off at Chapelle, but I don't write him letters asking for advice on how to live.  And at the end of the day, it's perfectly possible to have a sense of humor, yet also try to be a responsible citizen who gives a shit about leaving something decent for the next generation.

[Boogaleeboo]

I'd rather take my world view from comedians than say politicians, philosophers and religious sumbitches.

I'd rather develop my own world view rather than listen to a guy that gets to go through life with a fuckton of money for bitching. All love to Carlin for his act, but he's not exactly a great thinker of the age. He's a smart man that knows his craft.

And in any given fight, I take humanity. We are just mean and petty enough to destroy this planet and move on to another.

[ahoythematey]

Earth will not ever be a comfortable place for humans as long as humans live on it: this thread is proof of that.  Anybody that has the gall to sneer at George Carlin is displaying some incredible dumbassery.

[AlteredOne]

Earth will not ever be a comfortable place for humans as long as humans live on it: this thread is proof of that.  Anybody that has the gall to sneer at George Carlin is displaying some incredible dumbassery.

"Sneer" is not the proper term.  Laugh at his comedy act, yes.  Admit he's damn right about the ability and propensity of humans to destroy themselves.  Sure.  But in the end, the Carlin quote is flat out nihilistic.  There is something heroic about admitting that nihilists may be right, but still deciding to believe that we are capable of something better, and trying to make it happen.  It's easy to destroy, much harder to create.  

Just ask the MMO game developers we all talk about so much.... There are lots of lousy games and crappy online worlds, yet we all seem to believe it's possible to make something better.  Otherwise why the hell would we talk so much about it.

[Samwise]

We are just mean and petty enough to destroy this planet and move on to another.

[Soukyan]

George Carlin is a notable linguist among other things. If there's a single comedian you could learn something from - it's him.

I would say he's a cunning linguist. But that's just my take on it.

[HaemishM]

If you think Carlin or, for that matter, myself are nihilistic, you haven't been paying attention. Nihilism is the ultimate circle jerk fantasy of retarded slackers with nothing better to do. It is the penultimate poseur's paradise. Nihilist wouldn't care enough to create anything.

Whatever you may think of my writing, or Carlin's comedy, they are both creations. If either of us were really nihilist in our outlook, we wouldn't bother, because really, what's the point?

Shit, if your going to label me anything, call me an existentialist. At least they had the audacity to claim that things were worth doing, despite their complete and utter lack of certainty that anything made any difference whatsoever.

Nihilists. Gen X slackers and extreme sports punks have more important things to say than nihilists.

[Paelos]

I always had you pegged as a Utilitarian with Teurets syndrom and an english degree.

And that makes my day.

[Avatard]

I always had you pegged as a Utilitarian with Teurets syndrom and an english degree.



And that makes my day.

Oh for fucks sake, jesus boy.



It's Tourette's and syndrome.