Phi for All

wth do you mean?

Have *you* tested your plans? Why are you so willing to believe it will work without such a crucial test? There was a guy from the US a while back who claimed he had a working engine that combined electromagnets with a gyroscopic effect to create a magnetic field so huge it could be used to produce more electricity than the system required to operate. He was very persuasive and even got a spot on The Tonight Show (with Carson, not Leno). He eventually put it in a car and drove it around a stadium to impress investors. Everyone who gave him money lost it all with no results. He would never let anyone test his original engine and all the plans he sold couldn't reproduce his original "results". If you want people to take you seriously you need to produce your device and it needs to work for anyone who cares to observe it. You will never gain any credibility unless you can show by empirical observation that such a device works and works every time.

Each group had a pair of tin snips. Two went over, and iirc they took the longest, mostly because the first one over insisted on staying up there to help his buddy; it would have been quicker if he'd given the guy space to jump up by himself since he'd already cut the barbed wire on top. Two went under and they came in second, digging pretty much barehanded. The two who went through pried up the bottom edge of the thick galvanized sheet metal sheath and just cut and kicked themselves through. They were first through, in about three minutes. I don't remember but they did mention that the company who built a similar fence south of San Diego paid like US$5M in fines for... you guessed it... using illegal immigrants to do the building. To bring this back to a slippery slope, when the 700 miles of fence gets breached over and over, we will probably end up approving bigger, higher, stronger fencing. And we will ignore the fact that the vast majority of illegals enter the country on legitimate work visas and simply let them lapse and never go back. Slippery Slope? Yeah, but you just know it's going to happen.

My honest feedback is that this will not change anyone's mind. If you are looking for an affect, you need more facts. As the tree said, you're too vague and give no data, so it's easy to pick your arguments apart.

Of all the logical fallacies, however, I'm more inclined to lend credence to Slippery Slopes than just about anything else. History has shown that if you give your leaders permission to burn books they will go too far. Political correctness is like a double Slippery Slope. We see a potential for future harm because little Johnny is being picked on by bullies in school. So we intervene and try to "correct" the situation, insuring that little Johnny will never learn how to assert himself and will always look to outside sources when faced with confrontation. And I agree with D H, the right uses SS as well. "We have X number of illegal aliens now, in 20 years we'll have 20X if we don't build a fence to stop them!" Btw, Penn and Teller hired some illegal aliens to build a small section of fence to the same specs being proposed now. Less than 20 feet wide, 14 feet tall and it took six guys all day to build. Then P&T split them into three groups to try going over it, under it and through it. I don't think any of the groups took more than five minutes to thwart "The Fence".

I want you to know I didn't have any of the fudge torte, not even the whipped cream part.

That was the brilliant touch. At the funeral, when Mary keeps snorting and giggling at everything the guy giving the eulogy says while her co-workers keep turning in their seats to stare at her, the guy speaking (a fellow clown) finally tells her it's OK to laugh, Chuckles would have wanted it that way. Now having permission to laugh openly, Mary bursts into tears.

Is everyone here too young to remember The Mary Tyler Moore Show? One of the most brilliantly funny moments in all of television is the episode where Chuckles the Clown dies and Mary is horrified that her co-workers are cracking jokes about it (will the funeral flowers squirt you in the face? will dozens of clowns pile out of the hearse? etc). Mary's reaction is delayed though and her co-workers are horrified when she can't stop laughing *at* the funeral. Classic.

You mean you lost the ones you borrowed?! My daughter will be crushed! Did you ever figure out if your blow-up Teletubby "companion" was anatomically accurate? I heard you paid a bundle for that thing. Oh, crap!! Does your mom read these posts?! Sorry!

After eight years of a self-styled "moderate" administration, even the far left should be tickled blue to have a true moderate elected. I would hope even the most radical lefty would understand that another 50/50 election is the last thing this country needs. I hope a lot of Republicans actually do figure their candidates are "unable to win" (and I would feel the same way if the situation were reversed; I'm *that* tired of close call elections). The two-party system creates a need to back the winner in many who aren't platform voters. We have some tricky waters to negotiate in the next decade or so, diplomatically and militarily, and globally right now I think we're about as politically seaworthy as an NBA center in a kayak.

Love it! I had the idea once of manufacturing a half-moon shaped can (picture a Bumblebee Tuna can cut in half from the top down, so from above it looks like a D) with the label, "Schrodinger's Cat Food", but the few people I pitched it to looked at me in horror at the thought of 1) retooling to make something so odd, and 2) the limited market for such joke product. They didn't think we could find 100,000 people who would even get the joke, much less pay $10 for it.

I think this reaction is one of embarrassment. It could be the person who was nearly pasted stepped into the street without looking, or misjudged the distance, or anything else they subconsciously realized was their own fault. They laugh nervously to cover up their embarrassment. When they're in the right they yell and shake their fists and are righteously angry. When they're in the wrong they giggle like a Pangloss.

Very perceptive. And abskebabs did say: You make it sound like you're pointing the finger at *her* because she won't forgive you easily. You are justifying your theft and I'll bet she can sense that. This is probably why she still hasn't forgiven you. A good mea culpa doesn't include a justification. You may have a reason but you have no excuse.

LOL, that's lazy-speak for, "There's no way I'm going to *that* much trouble, I'll think of something easier!" Spend the time, go to the trouble, it's what "quite good friends" do for each other.

Agreed, but though he said they were homemade he didn't say SHE made them. What if her mom made them? In that case abskebabs should just start looking for another flat. Unless he calls her mom and THEN pleads the "very good cook" routine.... Feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck when you read this? Good. Never take advice about women from someone who describes them this way. Misery loves company.

Great idea! And for the other 23 hours a day he could check the real estate ads for you so you can move out of your parent's house!

Absolutely not. If you want a chance at forgiveness you should go to the trouble of getting the recipe and making another batch all by yourself. You messed up and it will only make matters worse if you aren't willing to accept that. As YT said, it won't make it right but it's a start. Remember that the cornflakes are NOT the issue, the theft and breach of trust are. Replace what was lost and make sure she knows you've learned your lesson. If she doesn't jump to forgive you just give it time.

I would have to choose the maid. Though I'm fine with "clean enough" normally, it's the set of chores that takes up the most time when we buckle down and do it. And it pays dividends since we spend the most time just "living" in the house so we get to have it clean all the time. LOL. This brings up a good point. Would your housemates choose differently? My wife would probably choose the dishwasher, not because it would save her time but because dishes are my job and the robot would stay on top of things better.

OK, here's the deal: You've just won the grand prize in a contest, a robot that will take over one set of household chores and perform them flawlessly. When the robot is not performing it's duty it hides away and takes up no space. The robot will function at no cost to you for the rest of your life. You have to choose what set of chores the robot will take over. The choices are very strict since the robot needs to be designed specifically for a limited skillset. The choices are: Gardener: Maintains your current exterior landscaping, including lawnmowing, watering, weeding, fertilizing and trimming. Will maintain your vegetable garden but won't harvest. Bags cut grass but doesn't take it out for trash collection. Launderer: Washes, dries, folds, presses and mends clothing placed in its hamper. Doesn't pick them up off the floor for you. It can't create clothing. Doesn't put clothing away. Cook: Prepares any meals you program it for in any quantity you need. It will prepare each meal to the taste of each individual in the house (yes, the kids can have mac & cheese while you have fillet mignon). You still have to buy the ingredients it will use. It puts away any ingredients it uses but doesn't do dishes or clean up the stove/oven. Dishwasher: Collects all used dinnerware (read this as anything you drink from or eat off of) from around the house, cleans it and places it back in the appropriate cupboard or cabinet. Maid: Dusts, cleans, sanitizes and vacuums the whole house, including bathrooms stovetop, oven and kitchen counters. Doesn't do windows, dishes or touch clothing. Window-washer: Keeps every window clean every minute of the day. Your view outdoors is constantly spotless. Don't try to cheat the question or combine skillsets. I'm basically looking for what routine chores you would most like NOT to do anymore, and why.

Can't help you with that. I've never been bored for a single second of my life. Welcome to SFN everyone. You'll find answers here to virtually every question (except why you may be boring yourself ).

I think it's more of an "urge" in a vague direction that can later be either focused, ignored or plausibly denied.

Nice introduction. Welcome to SFN. So if someone pulls an Andy Rooney and wants to edify and expound rather than dissect and discuss, should we just leave them to it and ignore their post instead of asking what the point is? Is asking for an explanation like kicking a carefully crafted sand castle or mustaching the diva's poster? Is a curmudgeon an ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions or a crusty irascible cantankerous old person who refuses to follow otherwise accepted guidelines? Gotta go, I'm missing my soap operas.

Please take this the right way. DO NOT USE TEXT SPEAK when you are trying to make yourself understood. If you want a decent answer then take the time to type it out. It's a matter of respect for your fellow members, many of whom use English as a second or third language. The titles of threads in Relativity go out to many browsers and are posted on our Home page as well. You make everyone here look like an idiot when you try to save a couple of letters in typing. Please? I'm asking really nicely.

In many municipalities in the US, the energy companies that supply gas & electric are required to buy back electricity you generate over and above what you use. Come up with a great strategy and people here will pay you to tell them how to get a check from the E-weasels instead of paying them. So you'll have to figure a way to empty a bunch of beer cans? I know it's a burden, but you HAVE to consider the advancements to science....

Is it RC or just in-line performance? Once you get it tweaked and measured is Hannah going to get a crack at it? I also fully expect you to rig it up so it powers your whole house (some kind of Hamster-wheel?).