malek77

Maybe I like shipping containers too...

Could you make the bullet more like a 'cup'?

Like - hollow from the back end up, with the propellant in there? The base could flare a little bit to ensure fit...

You could even extend the idea into rocket propelled bullets if the propellant further up the 'hollow' burnt at a different rate...

...well, its an idea at least.

OH drool drool...me want...

Um - what's the ISBN? Publisher?

Any kind of details that would let me chase it down would be much appreciated.

(i'm in Australia, so european second hand markets are probably a bit beyond my range...)

Yes, I see that.

Of the two options - a) nothing, something, why 'b'?

How 'b'?

The 'it just is' nature of things existing is troubling because it denies its existance has a cause.

If it seems to have a cause (god, big bang, tachyon's) then you can infer that that cause is also the effect of something before it...ad infinitum.

The implication is that 'existance' has no cause. That it cannot have a cause.

There was nothing to cause it to occur, but it occured regardless.

This is highly unreasonable in a cause and effect universe, thus I'm getting to the idea of a 'bigger' encompassing one that is not cause and effect, but eternally and infinitely self extant.

If that is the case, then how does a non-C&E universe work?

(I'm right out at the edge of my philosophical abilities with this one, and have little idea how to proceed further...)

Re: the Judas thing

Interesting...very interesting...

An insight I had not encountered before.

I don't particularly like it either.

I have no particular attachment to the idea of a soul or spirit or other 'indefinable elements' of the human psyche. I prefer the idea that things make a kind of mechanistic sense...

Thus I have major feasibility issues with things that say nothing can become something(ie: Big bang theory, and what follows), and I'd prefer something that doesn't seem utterly demented.

The basic question for me is...Why is there something, rather than nothing at all?

If we live in a cause and effect universe, is that the process by which it was created? At some point, any theory of existance breaks down into something unreasonable that challenges the concept of cause and effect.

ie: we get back to that 'utter demention' again.

Rather a conundrum, hey...

LoL!

Check out the AI stuff - and I thought some of my friends were taking the Matrix too seriously...

http://www.crank.net/ai.html

Check the Nexus one...

As for advantages, I thought the idea of caseless was that you could fire faster.

There was no need to eject spent cartridges - it just loads and fires - everything flies out the end of the barrel, its ready for the next one.

Fewer moving parts is always good for reliability.

I think there were also some power savings (I think it was to do with less escaping gas), and some improved accuracy.

http://remtek.com/arms/hk/mil/g11/g11.htm

http://world.guns.ru/assault/as42-e.htm

Damn the G11 looks pretty...

One more thing - Caseless would be nice to go along with bullpup designs. No hot gas and flying metal coming out directly under our gunners face...

(btw - this is the understanding of an armchair commando with no real weapon experience, if I'm wrong, don't hesitate to tell me!)

http://www.trustedcomputing.org/tcpaasp4/index.asp

Have a look.

Then if you're not reliving nightmares brought on by 1984 or loading your AR, tell me what you think...

I saw it in a game shop in Sydney once, and it looked ok. I'll think about buying it next time...

If you're really keen on playing it, and you don't mind answering LOTS of questions - why not run a game on the board here? I'd be in...

Oooh - what else can you get?

+playing as a dolphin character seems interesting...+

I can believe it - why?

If something bad happens when you are young, you react emotionally to it.

You develop a response pattern - negative stimuli here, reminds you of past event, you react the way you reacted then now, because you defend your belief you did the right thing then.

This becomes dangerous when the response is extreme - and when you keep defending it.

With the result you're 40 and you react to a stimuli like a 4yr old child.

Say Hitler had some negative experiences (iirc, he was in the artillery in WWI, got kicked out of art school, saw Jews as living high on the hog while the rest of Germany suffered) and he let these thoughts compound, and continued to defend them and believe them.

I would say simply being hit by someone he believed was Jewish for some tiny perceived injustice when young could have done it...if he was really cut about it at the time and would never let it lie.

This thing?

http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html

I'm interested in old movies, but this one freaks me out!

Can you clarify what you're trying to say with it, I think I'm missing something...

Your Wolfgang Peterson idea has things going for it...

+wants a big bottle of prozium+

Sounds cool...shall have to keep a look out for it.

Don't try it with Evolution either, its gets messy fast...(most of the people I've tangled with on the topic have more faith in Evolution than I have in god. I'm serious. It's scary - I'm this rationalist, determinist, materialist hardcase in comparison!)

I'm curious now too! Do tell...

I think more time is necessary before he can become a distant and completely safe historical figure - like Napoleon or Alexander the great.

I think ole' Boney was a monster himself (see Goya's sketches of war atrocities, for inst') but he's so distant now its difficult to get worked up over him.

However - understanding the forces that created him could be very valuable. From what did Hitler arise?

If my learning serves, a very poor, depressed and pressurised Germany. Fear, resentment, economic chaos - not conducive to subtle politics or sensible ideals. Terror breeds extreme solutions, extreme people.

(The saddest thing I have ever seen is a photo of a German soldier, with Iron Cross and various other medals, in full uniform - missing a leg and begging on a concrete path.)

I can well understand how Hitler gained power - but if we aren't aware of how it can happen, we can't stop it again - look at our current political environment! Cold ideals of 'Fortress Europe' or 'Fortress Australia' are rising in response to the slinking, indefinite 'Turbanned Terror.'

Which means lots of desperate people are being cast as an enemy - making them more desperate...blah blah, you know how it goes.

If this movie can make plain that its not raving lunatics that cause the most damage, but fairly ordinary people under pressure, I think it could be a good and timely thing...

My take on Hitlers psychology was that he was an idealist, who was fortunate enough to be able to take control of a country and then found he could enact his most extreme plans with no resistance.

He wasn't mad. And the German people aren't stupid.

It was the outworking of 70 years of pressure.

Marc works his way along, sketching the odd detail as he proceeds, just generally noting down for posterity the look of the hall.

As he reaches the first flight of stairs, he looks to see if Pat is following, and will give him a hurry up nod if he isn't...

Running along an empty hall, knowing that your pursuers had firearms was a sign of...desperation...

         ...confidence...

                    ...planning or reaction?...

...the Cat...where did it come from? What was it doing?

Marc nervously begins asking questions of Pat.

"The Replicant, tell me, did - did he look afraid? Did he seem familiar with the place? It doesn't seem reasonable to run down an empty hall with people with guns pursuing you..."

Re-entry friction from just dropping directly down isn't so bad - the shuttle gets really hot because its grinding its way through thousands of k's of atmosphere...straight drop is only a few k's.

Bush isn't. Rumsfield is.

http://www.fas.org/rlg/030522-space.pdf

http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_04/moltzapril02.asp

(well, dammit, I can't find the exact article I want, but this'll do for the moment...when I get home I'll try post up some others...)

If this urban warfare stuff really gets your interest, have a read of this link...

http://www.strategypage.com/ - link about stuff learnt in Iraq -

There's a More... button, and believe me, its well worth the read.

Its just full of interesting tidbits - the value of kneepads, the real use of tanks in cities, how to effectively fight in cities, why smaller grenades are becoming popular...

Just the value of training alone comes through unusually loud and clear.

Yeah...I am...

+raises riot shield+

Heh - problem is they're friends and they can walk straight past that one...I'm gearing up to let them have it.

It'll be interesting at least.

Never thought of that. Interesting point. +begins pondering+

There are people who test even my disbelief of evolution...

Hehe - What about 'We want you to JOIN US'...

I find myself to be a popular target for JW's.

They all seem to think that one day I'll wake up and believe what they do...

But as a(n imperfect) christian, I feel I should at least say that as much craziness as surrounds the belief as there is, don't discount it because of the people. You'd be doing a great disservice to a beautifully simple concept.

well, bear in mind that I'm doing a programming course and making a little databasey thing to help an electrician manage their inspections.

There's 2 of us working on it, its taking 6 months and wages alone would make it worth AUS$30,000.

Bigger software rapidly gets into the millions...  

LOL!!! We have our breakthrough engines right there!

Actually - that is a serious worry. Hadn't thought of that...but there are plenty of other processing paradigms being developed that needn't run so hot. Robust parallel processing at least would have a huge effect, photonic computing would be nice and cool too...well. Maybe.

I'm looking forward to it all, whatever happens...

+looks way too happy at the thought of getting those things implanted...+

I wonder how much control a completely healthy brain could have with these switches...

Good point...damn...

I can't wait for my programming course to finish. I wanna run some of these things...

I've seen it advertised and it looked cool - does it have this hijacking insanity in it too?

Ah Phipps, ever with the pragmatism...

I was hoping to raid the plane then jump out again - any valuables you stick in packs with their own parachutes and beacon, throw them out - let your recovery boat find them.

Yes.

Recovery boat.

Hijacking aircraft over international waters should alleviate some of the risks associated with Security forces near land. (ie: getting shot at by air-force/police/etc)...and create a whole heap more in terms of having to able to float...

Hmm. Didn't think of that...good point...

Yes yes - but lets not let the facts get in the way of a good story...besides...we have the magic wand of high-tech to wave here, and an entire genre's worth of things that would make it worth trying...

Marc begins scouting up the hall...motioning with a nod for Pat to follow him with a nod of the head.

"Where to from here?"

ooc:Scene descriptions? I want to retrace the exit path...

...and worse still, this is more than likely to be over international waters!

"Ah Pat - which way did the Replicant go..." Marc looks down the hallway.

"I was going to have a look at his exit path..."