JohnB

You know, I bet someone said something very similar about wasting money and resources to send Lt. James Cook to the Southern Ocean to observe the transit of Venus. There was certainly no apparent benefit to most of the population from his voyage. I don't think it was a waste, do you?

How dare you Sir. You don't know me or my abilities. I'll have you know I have a Black Belt in Origami.

What resources? Three piddly little ships and the aircraft to carry them? LOX? I thought there was a fair bit of that around. Kerosene? No shortage there. Compare that to the thousands of tons of steel and concrete used to make a hotel somewhere so that people can have a holiday "here on earth". Then add in the tremendous amount of fuel used to fly people around for their holidays. Should Virgin Galactic be successful, other companies will get on the bandwagon. This will produce the economic motivation for more research into better ways of getting to orbit. (The competing Spacelines will want to carry more people higher for longer as a sales pitch, so those who build the ships will want to sell such craft to them.) Once orbital craft are achieved, hotels in space will follow. People will live and work in space in large numbers. I read many years ago that the minimum number needed for human genetic diversity to be fully self sustaining is 5,000. I don't know if this right, but it seems reasonable. Not that long ago, the Western world watched the nightly news to see 19 dirty big bangs on Jupiter. The smallest of which IIRC was 1,000 times greater than all the Earth's nukes let off at once. Do you think it can't happen here? All the evidence states, not suggests, states, that it has happened before. It will happen again. Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Sustainable energy will not save us. [Excerpt from speech by the UN Secretary General 2206] "People of the World, after a century of trying we, the Human Race have finally eliminated poverty from our planet. There is no longer any starvation, any disease. The weapons of war of 100 years ago have long since been recycled into more useful items. By not wasting our resources, our Civilization now shares an ecologically sustainable existance with nature........ .......Unfortunately, the telescopes of the World Astronomical Sciences Foundation report, and the report is confirmed, that the Earth will be hit by a 5 km wide asteroid at 1340 hrs Greenwich Mean Time tomorrow. We expect the impact to be in the Pacific Ocean. Estimates are that waves 1000 metres high will travel around the world at speeds in excess of 1000 kph. By this time tomorrow, all Human life on the Planet Earth will be extinquished and all our works and history swept away."[/excerpt]

I lean towards B5. While I enjoyed the various Trek Series, the big problem I had with them was that the humans were always right, always smarter, sneakier with the best tech. In the B5 Universe, the humans were more human. Oh yes, and it was good to watch the characters evolve.

May I add to the previous; 1. Spyware Blaster. (Immunizes against most Mal/Spyware) 2. Webroot Spy Sweeper. (Has a function similar to Tea Timer) 3. Hijack This. 4. Coolwebshredder. (For that bloody Coolwebsearch. And you thought Gator was bad.) Hijack this is especially useful as it allows you to identify what is going on in your system with one sweep. By adding your standard processes, etc to the ignore list, any changes or additions show up instantly. Yes, I use all of these plus Spybot S&D, Adaware (Latest Version) and NIS. I find that one program will get things that the others miss, perhaps this is due to the search criteria and scanning methods used?

Actually it isn't. They are operating from the premise that there will come a point (a number) when the West will give in. From their POV, the West doesn't have the moral fibre to accept too many of this type of casualty. Basically they are trying to find that number. One Hostage? Two? Twenty? Thirty? They believe that such a number exists and that we are lying when we say it doesn't. To give in proves them right. By analogy, I tell you to do something and you refuse. I punch you in the mouth and again tell you to do whatever. You do it. What does this prove? That you will do what I say if I hit you. It doesn't matter if you give in after the first or twentieth punch. If I hit you often enough you will do as you are told. And that would be a sad state to be in, wouldn't it?

Sorry, that wasn't mentioned originally. On that basis it possibly would fly. Could this be why some places are considered "Sacred"? The Aboriginals in Oz call them "Dreaming Places", and some are seriously strange. To be honest, they "feel" different. Very hard to describe. That is the politest way I've been told I'm wrong in ages. Thank you.

I agree with Swansont. To fight for the right to have non content in speech sounds like; FRANCIS Why are you always on about women, Stan? STAN ... I want to be one. REG ... What? STAN I want to be a woman. From now on I want you all to call me Loretta. REG What!? STAN It's my right as a man. JUDITH Why do you want to be Loretta, Stan? STAN I want to have babies. REG You want to have babies?!?!?! STAN It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them. REG But you can't have babies. STAN Don't you oppress me. REG I'm not oppressing you, Stan -- you haven't got a womb. Where's the fetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box? (STAN starts crying.) JUDITH Here! I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the *right* to have babies. FRANCIS Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister, sorry. REG What's the point? FRANCIS What? REG What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies, when he can't have babies? FRANCIS It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression. REG It's symbolic of his struggle against reality. We shall fight for your right to say nothing when you speak.

Sorry guys, the hallucination idea just doesn't fly. To be even remotely acceptable, the theory would have to account for the sightings of "ghosts" hundreds of years before electrical wiring in houses. It doesn't, ergo, (my word for the week ) it doesn't fly.

Mycologists are Fun Guys to be with. (Sorry, I did their conference yesterday. )

Interesting subject. My take on it is this, a person floating in a pool will not get electrocuted, but a person standing on the bottom will. This is because the first person is not earthed while the second one is. By analogy, you are in a car and a powerline falls and drapes over your vehicle. While you are in the car, you are safe. (At least until the tyres blow.) As you are part of the medium, current doesn't flow through you. Should you attempt to leave the car however, as your foot hits the ground you become earthed, and fry. Consider the guys who work on the high tension power pylons. (I can only assume that the methods are similar around the world.) In Oz, when using a helicopter for working on the lines, the repairer leans out of the chopper and touches the line with a conducting rod. He then hooks himself to the line with a conducting cable. He can then work on the line with complete safety. While he is part of the circuit, as he is not earthed, no current flows through him. Bizarre, I know, but that's what the fellow that does it told me.

For some fun, mention "Diffusionism" to one and watch the fireworks. (And really watch the logic behind what they say, it's quite fascinating. )

Deltanova, a "Bob" was a shilling in the old currency. The Florin, which was 2 shillings is now the 20 cent piece. That's why we say something isn't worth 2 bob. i.e. It's not worth 20 cents. A Quid was a pound IIRC. BTW, amongst some I know the 20 cent piece is now known as a "Hazel". This is a reference to a previous Prime Minister, Bob Hawke and his wife Hazel. After being tossed out of office, Bob divorced the wife who had stood by him all the years to marry his biographer. Hence a "Hazel" is worth "2 Bobs". I'd write more, but I've been flat out like a lizard drinkin'. I'm droving Goannas from the Isa to Hobart.

Science folk love haiku It has them all in fits, oops My first line had six.

You know Sayonara, points 4, 5 and 6 of your list may have just messed up a lot of Archeaologists. 5 and 6 especially.

Agreed, and this is part of the problem. Enough of it is to allow the discounting of all. Human Nature makes people think that if one example is faked, then all examples are faked. It's easier than revising our beliefs. The "orbs" referred to are perhaps what are known in Oz as "Min Min Lights". These are a truly bizarre phenomenon. They normally appear in the bush around 50 to 75 yards away from the observer, most often of a reddish colour. If you move towards them they move away, if you retreat they approach, always seemingly keeping a constant distance. Many put these forward as a spititual thing, but to my mind the "keeping a constant distance away" bit would probably make them a natural phenomena. I don't think that light from infra red can be a usual cause unless you have a moving infra red source. Speaking from experience, you can chase these bloody things for miles. What they are I haven't a clue, but ghosts or spirits? No, I don't think so.

Truly the Galileo multiple sling shot navigation was awe inspiring. Especially given the time lag to Mission Control. An amazing piece of work. (Why is there no "cheers" smilie?)

But time is relative, lunchtime doubly so.

From the reading I've done over the years, it is important to differentiate between ghosts and spirits. Spirits are self aware entities in their own right and can consciously interact with the people and things around them. Belief in their existence is a personal spiritual matter. Ghosts are another matter. As has been said, in many cases they appear to be recordings, normally of some thing or person with strong emotions. BTW, in all the cases I've read where a ghost walks through a wall, research shows that at the time that the recording was "made", there was actually a door there. It's also why some are seen either above the ground or buried to the knees as they move. Their actions conform to the layout and floorlevel of the building at some time in the past. The time slip is also a possibility. I read many years ago an account where a man met a ghost wearing old fashioned clothing in a garden (IIRC) he reached out to touch her, she turned, screamed and disappeared. While recounting the event to his host, he found there was a family legend how the great, great, (whatever) Grandmother met a strangely dressed ghost in the garden, it disappeared when she screamed. I should be able to find the account if anyone's interested. (Yes, I do have an extensive library. ) During my life I have seen some seriously weird stuff. Some I can come up with a "rational" explanation for, and some.... Anyway, interesting discussion.

My apologies DRZ, the system you describe would fit the bill beautifully and would definitely lean me towards numbers 1 or 2. The reasoning behind their behaviour is a mystery though.

Encrypted, while it may sound trite, you can't give in to terrorists. Period. If you do it once, it proves that kidnapping (or whatever tactic they are using) works. If they feel the tactic works, they will continue to use it. Also, if you give in, at some point in the future you eventually have to say "No". i.e. They demand changes to the internal policies of your nation. (Note this was a recent demand of kidnappers concerning the French internal policies.) Where will you draw the line? How will you explain to the relatives of the hostage that you gave in before to save lives but refuse to do it now? It must be made clear that the tactic of taking hostages will not work and therefore should be abandoned as unproductive.

Hmmm, I see 3 possibilities. They are either; 1. Military. 2. Non Military but Government in some way. 3. Alien. At the moment, I don't think there's enough data to decide which one. Although if the "cloaking" is an accurate description of the craft's capabilities, then I'd probably lean towards Number 3. Such a major breakthrough couldn't be kept secret. Their most recent behaviour does seem to fit the "Let's show ourselves to the funny little Earthmen and see what they do" type experiment. I'm sure we'll find out eventually.

Hmm, someone who does hold intelligent conversations with cucumbers. Well, i guess it's an improvement. Thanks Phi, I lurked for a while before joining. I figured that any group with a "rhyming thread" that goes for 8 pages had to have a sense of humour. I was also impressed with the way that even obvious loonies were treated by the mods and members.

Thanks Martin. I haven't done differential equations since high school. Oh well, time to hit the books again. When you say "FTL recession speeds" are you referring to the galaxy actually travelling FTL or apparently FTL because of the expansion? Strangely enough, I don't have any problem with the concept of something apparently travelling FTL due to expansion, I just thought that everybody else would. Concerning things like Morgan's Calculator, I think I'll need to do a bit more reading to be able to phrase my questions correctly. I hope you don't mind if I return to the topic at a later date?

OMG, what are you guys on? blunt= not cornered, free. Me. And can I have some?