We now have magnetic deflector shields for our spaceships. But: "I don't think it'll come down to as little as sticking fridge magnets on the outside of the spacecraft," said an expert.
But I'd rather have a cheetah appear in my back garden.
Martin
Little is known about this goblin beyond its dual role as an offensive weapon and teapot.
Holy crap. NASA just invented shield generators. The Trekkies must be over the moon.
-Nick
"I used to think it was a terrible thing that life was so unfair. Then I thought, 'what if life were fair, and all of the terrible things that happen to us came because we really deserved them?' Now I take great comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe." — Marcus Cole, Babylon 5 — A Late Delivery from Avalon
The mental image amused me rather a lot. I think it was the idea of a dragon in a business suit. Not sure how the new CEO would cope with the idea of having meetings in a non-smoking building mind you......
Karl
"Have you reached the point of no return?" Chrvches, Heaven/Hell.
Yes, they would. It was with some despair I read comments from Alistair Darling the other day in the Herald. He mentioned that when he coralled the banks together to sort things out, plans were settled, then at 1am they tried to renegotiate. What bunch of fucking morons.
Post by Andy Turnbull on Dec 24, 2008 16:54:40 GMT
Yeah he mentioned that on Panorama. Fair play to him that he told them what the offer was, he was going to bed and they'd either accept it by morning or raise the capital themselves.
Probably has more resonance for those whose work-life balance is skewed too much towards work, rather than those unable to get any. Nevertheless, there's a lot of sense in it. In my experience there's fulfilling idleness (enjoying nature, having time for fellow human bengs) and less fulfilling idleness (spending days playing video games).
Martin
Little is known about this goblin beyond its dual role as an offensive weapon and teapot.
An interesting point this. I do wonder whether industrialisation is in some sense responsible for the demise of idleness - the coming of generally available gas/electric light to some degree freed us from natural circadian rhythmns to some degree. Is it possible that this has had some influence on the cultural drift towards filling the hours with as much activity as possible?
(Of course, in Scotland a certain residual Calvinism probably has a big influence on this too - a shadow for the insistence that people must be made to work as much as possible, because people inherently wish to commit "sin" and must be kept busy at all times to prevent them from doing so. It has perhaps drifted over the years into a sense that people must "do things" at all times).
I have certainly had a nice few days doing not very much at all - I've been down at my mothers and have made myself useful with a few household chores but otherwise have spent the time reading, walking down to the ponds to watch the ducks and helping out with crosswords now and then.
Karl
"Have you reached the point of no return?" Chrvches, Heaven/Hell.
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 29, 2008 19:36:12 GMT
There is a lot of unproductive activity that goes on in UK workplaces. And there is also productive inactivity.
I made a lot of progress in my maths at university by looking at a problem, then going and sitting by the lake and reading Tolkien, while my subconscious worked on the problem. I would then return to it with greater success than I would have had if I'd been working consciously all that time.
Some people argue that if working hours were shorter the same amount of work would get done. That can't be true for all jobs, but I bet it's true for many.
Martin
Little is known about this goblin beyond its dual role as an offensive weapon and teapot.
