Off Topic

kbs2244 · Post by **kbs2244** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:36 am

I have mixed feeling about the internet as a source.
I do love it as a way of purchasing or reading excerpts of books that I may never have been able to find, or even now existed.
But as a standalone medium it can be used well or not depending on the integrity of the author.
In this sense it is no different than moving type, movies, radio, or TV.
I do love it’s giving people the ability to self publish at little or even no cost. Without a publisher counting words, picking the photos, bugging for copy for a contracted release date, etc, etc some one can take their time and ‘do it right” or other may just “post and go” depending on their personality.
But the publishing world did have it’s reasons for existence. Editing for readability. Fact checking. Even down to such details as font selection.
The lack of that kind of expertise is only too lacking in some posts.
Some of these people may have multiple PhD’s but the last time they studied sentence structure was in 8th grade.

Post by **Minimalist** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:00 am

TV? pffft - it is a commercial enterprise from top to bottom with very little integrity. In the 60+ years of its existence, it has never lived up to its promise.

Nor will it ever. In fact, it is getting worse.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:46 am

De Forest, the man who invented the triode vacuum tube once addressed a group of broadcasters and asked, 'What have you done with my child'?

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 9:21 am

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0 ... stions/?hp

Astrophysicist Jose Ishitsuka of Peru’s Geophysics Institute reached the site about 6 miles from Lake Titicaca. He confirmed that a meteorite caused a crater 42 feet wide and 15 feet deep, the institute’s president, Ronald Woodman, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Ishitsuka recovered a 3-inch magnetic fragment and said it contained iron, a mineral found in all rocks from space. The impact also registered a magnitude-1.5 tremor on the institute’s seismic equipment _ that’s as much as an explosion of 4.9 tons of dynamite, Woodman said.

This story has been crazy. It's a meteorite, with a cover-up, and a conspiracy theory, and an Andromeda Strain scare. Hopefully, that's the end.

Post by **Minimalist** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:01 am

Jose Ishitsuka

Jose Ishitsuka? Now there is a cross culture name if ever I saw one!

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:45 am

I think we'll have to get used to that. It's a new world. I think I saw the name Pedro O'Brien once.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:26 am

As we're off topic Beag, some time ago I was doing some research for some writing and one of the characters is Michael Obregon. Apparently that's the way the way Brazilians handled the Irish, O'Brian, and it goes back to the break up of the Spanish and Portuguese empires.

Post by **Minimalist** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:36 am

Damn Irish are everywhere!

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:43 am

I hope Patrick's not watching!

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:20 pm

Happy Autumn guys. I haven't looked for any archaeology today. I'm into football. The TV stations, in their wisdom, have Sunday football all the way to midnight.

The roads in the US are temporarily safe.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:34 pm

Good thing you don't live where I do Beag. Rugby football here in Wales isn't a sport, it's a religion, and the major 'enemy' is England.
When Wales beats England you can't get through town for people celebrating, and when they lose you can't get through for people drowning their sorrows!

Post by **Minimalist** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:56 pm

Yankees winning, Red Sox losing. Don't get any better than that!

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:45 pm

Don't get any better than that!

You're missing the best beer, sub sandwich, and censored commercials in the sports world.

Post by **MichelleH** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:17 pm

Beagle wrote:Happy Autumn guys. I haven't looked for any archaeology today. I'm into football. The TV stations, in their wisdom, have Sunday football all the way to midnight.

The roads in the US are temporarily safe.

Football is one of a couple of reasons the news gets posted late on Sundays. My house is an AFC house. My husband has bled Steelers black and gold for 40 years. I am far more delusional as a die hard Chargers fan.

It makes for some interesting battles over the remote control.

Post by **Minimalist** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:41 pm

Not worth watching football for. Too much standing around.