Everything posted by imatfaal
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Comments on Moderation
We have been asked why a post was trash-canned. The post immediately followed my request that we should get back on the topic and move away from discussing reaction-less drives; the post which was trash-canned was on reaction-less drives. Ongoing topics have a central theme which may vary organically over time but sudden sideways branches are considered hijacks - even if this branch is started by the OP. One Speculations thread per topic otherwise we will never get answers given to the important questions raised in this forum. These are not blogs nor public streams of consciousness - there is a need for academic discipline. And raising questions of dogmatism and lack of imagination is just poor form - the post would have been trashed if the physics had been well established; it is taking the mickey to immediately write a post on X immediately after being asked to no longer post on X.
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Banned/Suspended Users
miketempleton has been banned as a sockpuppet of mpc755 edit as has blueskynile Note: all the following have also been banned as other sockpuppets in the past. We hope he/she loses interest in spamming us with crackpottery soon mpc7555 mpc866 gravitational-aether incompressible.fluid milkywayhalo deformationcontinuousmedia s_luke52 leia incompressible-fluid delayed-choice max_planck liquidspacetimes smithjohn52 johncave
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Soft "Science" and Evidence of Your Own Eyes.
Whilst cladking is clearly talking crackpottery of the finest order - just to show that members are reading and taking note; 163 - (81.25)*2 = .5 or in older school 163' - (81'3")*2 = 6" The maths is correct as he does state a "multiple of" - still rubbish of course.
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Has the Republican party lost its collective mind?
To be honest proposals for new laws like the above make me think for a second (but only for a second) that maybe owning a firearm to protect myself and my family from the government isn't such a bad idea. Then I come back down to earth and realise what a wingnut plan that is - and how glad I am that I do not have to suffer the liberties of the land of the free
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Members in the Mod Queue
puppypower has been placed in the mod-queue for 30 days for failing to heed warnings and modnotes regarding hijacks and posting speculative nonsense in the science fora.
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Dividing a sphere into twelve "identical" shapes.
! Moderator Note Hijack regarding real vs ideal nature of spheres split off to new thread Fred Champion - from memory you have been asked before not to interrupt threads with your own speculations and new ideas; instead open a new thread (you can include a link to the old thread that prompted your branch in the OP. Do NOT just go off at a tangent and post new ideas and supposition No need to respond to this modnote - report if you think it is unfair
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What are you reading?
I cannot remember which was the first book I left half finished - but doing so was immensely liberating and has cut down on me spending too much time reading tripe in the mad hope that it will get better.
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Comments on Moderation
This question was raised in a report - and it is a valid question which might as well be answered here. The staff avoid moderating conversations in which they are already involved at a substantive level - this is an attempt to avoid any bias or perception of bias. It is the division of procedural from the substantive - we are very strict about this in the main fora and slightly more relaxed in Speculations. But even in Speculations we try to avoid moderating threads in which we have been personally involved if at all possible
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Why is there no forum for (insert field here)?
Because this is a science forum. There are a limited number of fora that deal with non-scientific topics - but they are, by their nature, auxiliary to the main project which is the provision of an internet forum for the discussion of science.
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Google map pictures from Russia - what is it?
I wonder if they are large scale wind breaks. It is the sort of thing that the mad collectivisors might write large across even a huge land mass - would actually be an all right idea compared to some of their other deadly brainwaves. Fields work better with hedgerows - so don't waste space by having lots of little hedgerows have three big ones every hundred miles or so btw you can street view the third one. There seems no elevation at all I think they are very old defensive forest lines like the Zaoksk Zaseka Line https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YQ-oKgca7hIC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=russian+shlyahs&source=bl&ots=ClwCSHFBln&sig=e-0vKXhrEDGrhGYC-EuCP5RkPZQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEMQ6AEwB2oVChMIuLLl-dKFxwIVxT4UCh3otAoY#v=onepage&q=russian%20shlyahs&f=false http://oaks.forest.ru/eng/events/kozelsk.html
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The Official JOKES SECTION :)
OK - as a moderator I see posts that you don't and my post numbers are not the same as yours. I was referring to the hyponotism about 3 pages back.
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The Official JOKES SECTION :)
Agree - either it is faked in which case meh or it is real in which case I hate it
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Banned/Suspended Users
jlindgaard has been banned for persistently re-introducing locked topics
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What are you listening to right now?
He is a real stereotype - and know what you mean. But that was 1983 and maybe it was a little fresher then. ie he was doing his bad boy of rock stuff with Bruce Springstein, Neil Young etc before most of the bad boy rockers had picked up their first plastic guitar
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What are you listening to right now?
Grin were going before I was born - so I can understand you not knowing them. But Nils is still playing solo (will try and see him in the Cadogan Hall again in October), with the E Street Band, and with special projects; he is a bit of a maestro on the guitar. Not the best voice in the world but a consumate instrumentalist - the acoustic version of Keith Don't Go is worth listening to
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What are you listening to right now?
nils lofgren / grin
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Cosmological Principle
Light years as a measure of time!? I know it's a typo but - Snigger Snigger And it would take 326 MILLION years to travel that distance - you lost a mega somewhere.
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The Official JOKES SECTION :)
I love the Tardis lift doors in a new Police Station
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What are you reading?
I got myself in the trap of not having enough time to read what I wanted a few years back - the kindle cured that. Always having a book to hand meant that 5 minute gaps became reading opportunities. I buy books on kindle at a silly rate and read a fair percentage - I also do not worry about abandoning half way through if it just isn't doing it for me. I use audible as well so that exercise time and travel time is also reading time I presume you have "done" William Gibson - his early stuff is just revolutionary.
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What are you reading?
Iain Banks and Terry Pratchett - two of my absolute favourites gone far too early; and of course Douglas Adams all those years ago
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The Official "Introduce Yourself" Thread
Good user name Don. Writing on page which goes left to right and then right to left like ploughing oxen - learnt that on holiday in Crete many moons ago. On the mad chance you learnt of it in the same place - did you know that they have recently decyphered the Codex of Phaistos; the spiral clay tablet?
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If I can imagine it, it is possible!
It is a good question. First it must be understood that this is refering to a full contradiction - not merely a situation in which previously seemingly contradictory events have occured. A vindaloo taken from a fridge could be both hot and cold - but that is merely linguistic silliness; I am sure you can think of other examples in which 'contradiciton' could be used sensibly in many areas. But we are looking at the contradiction that A both is and isn't - ie that A no longer is A. Our basic logic framework tells us that any sentence that says that A is equal to not A is inherently false. One of the reasons we do this is from the position that A equals not A we can prove anything we like. Any set of axiomata and logical progression that reaches an inescapable logical contradiction must be flawed This is a formal discussion on the matter http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contradiction/ Most of the above thread is based on Western - Aristolean logic. Some Eastern philosophies embrace contradiction (this has lead to their spurious and erroneous grasping of the pop-science of quantum theory) - but in my opinion this changes their philosophy to more approximate poetry and clever language usage. The logical power of an argument based on agreed assumptions and steady non-controversial steps is lost if you do not have the law of non-contradiction.
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Banned/Suspended Users
Bart was banned for continuing to re-introduce the same topic after being told not to
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Banned/Suspended Users
GeneralDadmission has now been banned. The same rule breaches that caused his 7 day suspension have continued upon his return.
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What are you reading?
I live in London and Un Lun Dun is quite believable - I love China Mieville esecially embassytown and the iron council series. I hope you are just starting reading him cos then you have a great few books ahead of you.