[The joys of a new PC...]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

You guys crack me up! :D

Madaz, I think you just revolutionized Science with your observations!

Hmmm... lets see, re-writing Newton slightly here:

First law

Cats in motion tend to stay in motion, and cats at rest tend to stay at rest unless an outside force acts upon them.

Second law

The rate of change of the momentum of a cat's body is directly proportional to the net force acting on it, and the direction of the change in momentum takes place in the direction of the net force.

Third law

To every action (force applied) there is an equal and opposite reaction (equal force applied in the opposite direction), unless the cat has lost its composure and is uncooperative and already bored.

PS: If the whole universe actually is a 'free lunch', can one really declare that a cat 'lost it' if one should 'lose' its lunch, especially if the universe (and therefore the cat) didn't exist in the first place? :roll:

GaryGB

[what to buy?]

Hi Shamir:

As you can see, the EFFC forum is full of surprises, and unpredictable responses can even be had in response to a structured survey! :lol:

Hey Francois, do you think we should change the template for the survey to include a choice of "Other: (List Here)"? :P

In keeping with the tradition of unpredictability at EFFC, I suggest you consider purchasing the Saitek X-52 Hands-On-Throttle-And-Stick (HOTAS), with a followup purchase of the Saitek Rudders when they are available soon. 8)

But to answer your question fairly, if you are into flight control yokes, certainly the CH USB Flight Yoke is a good and more affordable unit than the Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS (or some lesser known and more expensive units on the market), especially if you use it with the free CH Control Manager programmable software. It also lends itself well to use in other types of sims and racing games. :idea:

Have Fun... and be sure to pass the 8th grade!

GaryGB

[BUMMER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Hi Francois:

I think everyone respects the commitment to quality and user-friendliness that FS-Addon has as its primary goal. Thanks for your consideration! :D

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Whoa Gary, that's a tall order!

For now though, the answer...

'Because nothing is something'.

That may seem like nothing more than a 'play on words', but in reality, it's true. The answer actually lay in the question for eons, but until QM came along, the answer appeared to be elusive to human thought.

Also, another point. You're familiar with Dante and his famous...

Abandon hope all ye that enter here.

Well with QM that could read...

Abandon logic all ye that enter here.

Our concept of logic isn't advanced enough to fully (or to even begin) to understand many of the concepts that are required for a true and deep understanding of what makes a universe.

Pups

Hmmm... A new theory of nothing!

"There was once nothing and then there was something. Then after along time something became nothing again and so it all came to nothing in the end. Which turned out to be something after all, even though it had little to do with anything anyway. Which is just as well as you can get anything out of nothing with out something being there in there first place, and that would mean the nothing was something; that would then result in... there was once nothing, and then there was something, and so on ad infinitum."

Well, Pups, my vengeance will be that you shall surely be thinking about this all day and into the night! :twisted:

But, as my girlfriend says regularly: "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!" :shock:

And after all, we must all move forward in spite of uncertainty. Which brings to mind a Descartes joke...

( see: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy and http://www.island-of-freedom.com/DESCARTE.HTM )

"I will go forward until I know something certain -- or, if nothing else, until I at least know for certain that nothing is certain."

But this can't be serious! (Although there is no evidence that Descartes caught the joke.)

If I knew for certain that "nothing is certain," then something would be certain and what I would know would be false, so I wouldn't know it. It is a contradiction for me (or anyone) to know for certain that nothing is certain.

I might go forward until I know something for certain, but what I come to know for certain surely won't be that nothing is certain. :roll:

PS: Were you implying that the more 'massive' the post, the more that object tends to resist changes in its state of motion? Hah! You'd be having a 'Newtonian Breakdown', and I would defy you to show that a page break added to this thread requires more force to move my post than that required to move other less massive posts on the same page, especially since it was typed at a very high rate of acceleration relative to my other posts (Dragon Naturally Speaking can accomodate a rate of 160 spoken words per minute!) :!:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

I just ran across this humorous treatise: :wink:

On The Importance of Correct Punctuation

"Dear Bill: I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours? Hilary"

"Dear Bill: I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Hilary"

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Hi Chris:

Hope you didn't mind my freaking out in your "The joys of a new PC..." thread; it just sort of got my mischievous imagination rolling, and I figured we could all have some fun with it.

I thought you might find this interesting:

Basic principles: apostrophe showing omission

An apostrophe is commonly used to indicate omitted characters:

It is used in abbreviations, as gov't for government, or '70s for 1970s.

Note: Currently, apostrophes are generally omitted when letters are removed from the start of a word. For example, it is not common to write 'bus, 'phone, 'net. However, if the shortening is unusual or dialectic, it may still be used (i.e. 'bout for about, 'less for unless).

It is used in contractions, such as can't from cannot and it's from it is or it has.

An apostrophe is used by some writers to form a plural for abbreviations and symbols where adding just s rather than 's would leave things ambiguous or inelegant. While British English did formerly endorse the use of such apostrophes after numbers and dates, this usage has now largely been superseded. Some specific cases:

In the US, it is generally accepted to use apostrophes to show plurals of single lower-case letters, such as mind your p's and q's. However, this is far from universally accepted practice, and instead of writing "ps and qs" which may look slightly confusing, many editors recommend "Ps and Qs" or "Ps and Qs."

For the plural of abbreviations, an apostrophe is widely regarded as incorrect, so CDs is preferable to CD's.

For groups of years, the apostrophe at the end cannot be regarded as necessary, since there is no possibility of misreading. For this reason, many authorities prefer 1960s to 1960's, and 90s or '90s to '90's.

Finally, a few sources [1] accept its use in an alternative spelling of the plurals of a very few short words, such as do, ex, yes, no, which become do's, ex's, etc. In each case, dos, exes, yesses and noes would be preferred by most authorities. Nevertheless, many writers are still inclined to use such an apostrophe when the word is thought to look awkward or unusual without one.

And of passing note, this little surprise:

"The English possessive of French names ending in a silent s is rendered differently by different authorities. Some prefer Descartes' and Dumas', while others insist on Descartes's and Dumas's. Certainly an s sound (or strictly a z sound, with Dumas) is pronounced in these cases; the theoretical question is whether the existing s is the one that is sounded, or whether another s needs to be supplied. A similar problem arises with French names ending in silent x. Many authorities prescribe possessives with an added s: Sauce Périgueux's main ingredient is truffle; but an apostrophe alone is also acceptable. For possessive plurals of words ending in silent x or s, the few authorities that address the issue at all call for an added s, and require that the apostrophe precede the s: The Loucheux's homeland is in the Yukon; Compare the two Dumas's literary achievements. As usual in punctuation, the best advice is to respect soundly established practice, and beyond that to strive for simplicity, logic, and especially consistency."

Hmmm... Descartes and Dumas compared in the same sentence; "I write, therefore I am", or "I put on my thinking hat, therefore I am"! :lol:

(see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greengrocer%27s_apostrophe ) :wink:

PS: How's the peformance of FS9 on a HAL9000? :twisted:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Gary has made a boo-boo. Puppy (waiting patiently like a hawk after its prey) has relished this moment of moments, this time of times that will surely go-down in the annals of Emma's history books as 'Gary's Day of Infamy'.

Pups (relishing his victory in Seattle)

Hee hee hee :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yup, Pups

I wish my copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking didn't take so long to load; I guess I'll have to start using it for online stuff too, since my time is rather limited of late. But heck, if I didn't goof now and then by typing manually, I fear we might run short on material for banter! :?

I guess I'd better get another cup of Green Tea (had to give up coffee) to try and wake up for another weekend of repartee. :shock:

Wait... now there's another idea for the Emma Emporium! A higher caffeine blend of teas concentrated to enhance one's own concentration while posting to the EFFC forum. We can call it "EFFC ReparTea", a modern answer to the age old process of survival of the fittest; drink this tea before venturing out of safe quarters, or you're toast. Kind of a new twist on 'Tea and Toast' wouldn't ya' say? :wink:

PS: Pups, since your mind is so sharp this morning, have you yet solved the dilemma of the "Expanding Plethora of Objects"? :roll:

(see: http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.psc&start=0 )

Perhaps this will get you started:

Spontaneous Creation of Inflationary Universes and the Cosmic Landscape

Authors: Firouzjahi, Hassan; Sarangi, Saswat; Tye, S. -H. Henry

We study some gravitational instanton solutions that offer a natural realization of the spontaneous creation of inflationary universes in the brane world context in string theory. Decoherence due to couplings of higher (perturbative) modes of the metric as well as matter fields modifies the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction for de Sitter space. Generalizing this new wavefunction to be used in string theory, we propose a principle in string theory that hopefully will lead us to the particular vacuum we live in, thus avoiding the anthropic principle. As an illustration of this idea, we give a phenomenological analysis of the probability of quantum tunneling to various stringy vacua. We find that the preferred tunneling is to an inflationary universe (like our early universe), not to a universe with a very small cosmological constant (i.e., like today's universe) and not to a 10-dimensional uncompactified de Sitter universe. Such preferred solutions are interesting as they offer a cosmological mechanism for the stabilization of extra dimensions during the inflationary epoch.

Comment: 52 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Added discussion on supercritical string vacua, added references

( see: http://www.citebase.org/cgi-bin/citatioth/0406107 )

and:

Spontaneous creation of almost scale-free density perturbations in an inflationary universe

James M. Bardeen

Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195

Paul J. Steinhardt

Department of Physics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

Michael S. Turner

Astronomy and Astrophysics Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637

Received 31 March 1983

The creation and evolution of energy-density perturbations are analyzed for the "new inflationary universe" scenario proposed by Linde, and Albrecht and Steinhardt. According to the scenario, the Universe underwent a strongly first-order phase transition and entered a "de Sitter phase" of exponential expansion during which all previously existing energy-density perturbations expanded to distance scales very large compared to the size of our observable Universe. The existence of an event horizon during the de Sitter phase gives rise to zero-point fluctuations in the scalar field φ, whose slowly growing expectation value signals the transition to the spontaneous-symmetry-breaking (SSB) phase of a grand unified theory (GUT). The fluctuations in φ are created on small distance scales and expanded to large scales, eventually giving rise to an almost scale-free spectrum of adiabatic density perturbations (the so-called Zel'dovich spectrum). When a fluctuation reenters the horizon (radius≃H-1) during the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) phase that follows the exponential expansion, it has a perturbation amplitude δρ/ρ|H=(4 or 2/5)HΔφ/φ̇(t1), where H is the Hubble constant during the de Sitter phase (H-1 is the radius of the event horizon), φ̇(t1) is the mean value of φ̇ at the time (t1) that the wavelength of the perturbation expanded beyond the Hubble radius during the de Sitter epoch, Δφ is the fluctuation in φ at time t1 on the same scale, and 4 (2/5) applies if the Universe is radiation (matter) dominated when the scale in question reenters the horizon. Scales larger than about 1015-1016M⊙ reenter the horizon when the Universe is matter dominated. Owing to the Sachs-Wolfe effect, these density perturbations give rise to temperature fluctuations in the microwave background which, on all angular scales ≫1°, are δT/T≃(1/5)HΔφ/φ̇(t1). The value of Δφ expected from de Sitter fluctuations is O(H/2π). For the simplest model of "new inflation," that based on an SU(5) GUT with Coleman-Weinberg SSB, φ̇(t1)≪H2 so that δT/T≫1—in obvious conflict with the large-scale isotropy of the microwave background. One remedy for this is a model in which the inflation occurs when φ̇(t1)≫H2. We analyze a supersymmetric model which has this feature, and show that a value of δρ/ρ|H≃10-4-10-3 on all observable scales is not implausible.

©1983 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v28/p679

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.28.679

( see: http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v28/i4/p679_1 )

and:

Meanwhile, the time has come to contemplate inflation's largest implication, one that seemed overreaching for an unproved theory in 1979 but that now must be faced squarely. The whole universe may be, to use Guth's phrase, "a free lunch." The primordial "stuff" of inflation, he and other cosmologists contend, is very likely a spontaneous creation, a no-strings gift that boiled out of absolutely nowhere by means of an utterly random but nonetheless scientifically possible process. Now that inflation theory is approaching dogma, it is bringing science to the brink of answering one of the largest questions of all: Why is there something rather than nothing?

( see: http://www.discover.com/issues/apr-02/cover/ )

Oh, and we mustn't forget about Murphy's and Parkinson's Laws:

Junk will grow to fill the available cupboard space.

Storage requirements will increase to meet storage capacity (usually in reference to fileservers; see also Parkinson's law)

Of passing note researching this was these humorous findings:

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool

If you strap a piece of buttered toast to the back of a cat (Schrödinger's Cat?), butter side up, and drop the cat out a window, it will fall to approximately a foot above the street, and hover there, spinning

(see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_law and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law )

Think you'll be done in time for your "free lunch", Pups? :twisted:

PS: Let's not forget that Uncle Elmer already came up with his own version of the 'chaotic inflation theory and bubble theory' of creation which he discovered while expelling gas in the bathtub after having a "GUT feeling"; he named it after the 'sound of creation': <O'Rourke>! 8)

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Hi Francois:

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. It's interesting to learn of one another's backgrounds, and how the directions we take in our lives can be influenced by the experiences we have with people and our environments as we grow up. :D

And I can see where your "HAT" fascination might have come from! :lol:

Here's hoping we will see more publications from you as time permits! :P

PS: Maybe the old books will gain in value as collectors items someday. :wink:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Holy erudite historian Gary!

Is there any discipline that escapes you?

Sure; in fact, I've been accused of being rather "undisciplined" on more than one occasion! :lol:

Well, thanks for the kind feedback, Pups; I thought Francois might particularly enjoy that post. :D

Yeah, school can be a long journey, with costs that take years to resolve, especially for those who would 'profess'! :?

Postgrad aspirations remind me of the term used for it in the movie "The World According to Garp": 'Gradual School' :roll:

But you should be proud of your resolve, as it takes 'cojones' to get through a "Eunuchversity" curriculum; or 2; or 3... :shock:

After a while, one might see the classroom setting and "them thar' papers of completion" as an occasional digression incidental to an inner commitment to a lifetime of learning. An attitude of curiosity, and a desire to make the world a better place is often what best moves the spirit. :idea:

PS: I believe it's "Whoa is I" if Pups says it, ain't that so? :wink:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Uncle Elmer and the Wabbit invite Dr. Gideon Fell to find clues for the disappearance of sheep and several hats near the old hangar at Emma Field over a game of chess, and numerous rounds of Old #5. :idea:

GaryGB

[Lost At Sea]

Hee Hee Hee :lol: :lol: :lol:

I thought you'd have some fun with that Pups!

CAUTION: Keep putting things in your 'arse'-nal and it might become difficult to sit down! :twisted:

PS: I remember Andy Devine best as Wild Bill Hickok's sidekick on TV when I was a kid; that brings back some memories! :D

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

When I was young I read a little pocket book.... a detective I think... always remembered it for some reason, it played in London, end of 1800's, eerie story.. it was called 'The Mad Hatter' .... :lol: :lol:

Hi Francois:

I thought you might find these links interesting to look into for some nostalgia; I hope this is the right "Mad Hatter"... :roll:

http://jdcarr.com/

This site is for the Carr enthusiast as well as the Carr collector.

http://www.scifi.demon.co.uk/carr-books.htm#top

JOHN DICKSON CARR

Bibliography and Photo of Author

http://www.crimefiction.com/cfd1.htm

(Biography and work history of Author)

http://jdcarr.com/Zoomview/pb_the_mad_hystery.htm

Synopsis:

When the Mad Hatter twitched off the headgear of important citizens most people regarded it as a joke. But the lifeless body of Philip Driscoll gave no cause for laughter. Driscoll was found on the steps of Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London. A crossbow bolt was driven through his heart and a stolen top-hat was on his head.

Faced with a daring killer who left his signature at the scene of his crime, the police called in Dr. Gideon Fell to solve Driscoll's murder and to unravel the riddle of the little plaster dolls, the strange voice and the theft of a manuscript worth ten thousand pounds.

http://www.mysterylist.com/comment.htm

LOST MANUSCRIPTS -- Quite often, a mystery plot involves the theft of a lost or unknown object of value (usually a manuscript). Examples are John Dickson Carr's Mad Hatter Mystery (a previously unknown Dupin story by Edgar Allan Poe who invented the genre of detective fiction with three mesmerizing stories of a young French eccentric named C. (Chevalier) Auguste Dupin)

http://www.mingbooks.supanet.com/paperbalogue.htm

143. .. .. The Mad Hatter Mystery. A body found at Traitors Gate, a stolen

manuscript and hats being stolen, one of which is found on the corpse. Dr Gideon Fell investigates.

http://members.aol.com/grobius/carr.htm

THE MAD HATTER MYSTERY (1933) ***

(Tower of London; nicely done, one of Carr's best-constructed plots*, with some very sympathetic characters)

http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~mipat/carr_novels.html

The Mad Hatter Mystery

Harper & Brothers, New York, 1933; Hamish Hamilton, London, 1933

Popular Library 61, 1945; Penguin 610, 1947

Dr. Gideon Fell

http://www.olaisen.se/jdc.htm

THE MAD HATTER MYSTERY (Harper 1933 Hamish Hamilton 1933)

http://www.isbn.pl/A-john-dickson-carr/

(Available copies)

http://jdcarr.com/dr_fell_thumbnails.htm

Dr. Gideon Fell

Meet Dr. Fell, the corpulent former schoolmaster, lexicographer, and chronicler of the history of drinking in England. The first thing one notices about Dr. Fell is his size; in his first appearance he is described as having a face that is large, round and ruddy with a twitching smile "somewhere above several chins". The second thing one notices is his get-up; he is often seen lumbering about with a cape billowing behind him, a shovel hat planted firmly on his head and using the aid of a walking cane (or two).

Hmmm... Chronicler of the history of drinking at Emma Field? :wink:

http://www.scifi.demon.co.uk/detectives.htm#top

Dr. Gideon Fell Ph. D., F.R.H.S

Modelled after Carr's idol, G.K. Chesterton, Dr. Fell is vast and beaming, wears a box-pleated cape and a shovel hat, consumes countless pints of beer and smokes a meerschaum pipe. He has a 'bandit's' moustache and wheezes and rumbles through it's luxuriant spread. He has a keen eye and a piratical swagger; he swears and curses ( Archons of Athens! By thunder!).

Hmmm... Shovel Hat, Drinker, Smoker, Moustache, 'Piratical Swagger', Swears and Curses; sounds like our beloved Fritzois!!! :mrgreen:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Chris, in quest of ultimate FS performance, upgrades his AMD FX-62 CPU with a new, powerful, but as yet untested technology. As he puts his new computer on display at Emma Field, he again scares the crap out of Uncle Elmer, and amazes the Wabbit. :mrgreen:

GaryGB

[Lost At Sea]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Hilarious, Pups!

Your stories just keep getting funnier all the time! :shock:

Gary

(He’s notorious for cartooning most of Emma. He’s also famous for his quick whit and ability to write words in snow. In the winter of 2005, he broke the Olympic ‘Snow Writing’ record by managing to write the first 5 chapters of Hamlet in the snow without a break. Because of his world renowned ability at cartooning, he’s also known as the fastest ‘draw’ in the West.)

Pups

So, is that like "Whit and Whizdom" to diminish my purported high capacity snow whizzing? :wink: http://www.dictionary.net/whit

Hmmm... To pee or not to pee, that is the question... :?

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Down here we call it 'The French Revenge' ........ 8)

"Never trust the French" ...a line used by a Brit in the recent movie "The Da Vinci Code" :twisted:

You guys are crazy.... too much Uncle Elmer again !!?? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hee Hee Hee :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yep, Francois, I'm on a roll here! :P

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

FS 2010? :roll:

I can just see it now! 8)

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Fritz in outer space? :shock:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

I think you misunderstood... I built this PC specifically to go "flying"

Well, how about this, Chris? :wink:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Hi Pups:

Well, regardless of the specifics on the card and perfume, it was a very well-written story, and a lot of fun all of us! :lol:

Glad to hear you got a step up in performance on your computer. :P

GaryGB

[Lost At Sea]

Hi Madaz:

Should have used the float version on that flight! :wink:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Chris liked his new computer so much he had a "portable" unit built; he takes it on the road, as in this hotel room view. :wink:

It even has a remote control he carries with him, as in the bottom picture here. :D

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Chris puts his twinkling new computer on display at Emma Field, scares the crap out of Uncle Elmer, and amazes the Wabbit.:D

[The joys of a new PC...]

Hi Pups:

This says it all too, doesn't it? :idea:

Nice set of "knobs", eh? :wink:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

Francois, are you having a heat wave where you are too? :roll:

Or perhaps experiencing some "burn-out" or having a "meltdown" from the intensive work? :shock:

Well, regardless, one can feel better from taking a break now and then to admire hardware and laugh at forum posts! :lol:

GaryGB

[The joys of a new PC...]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gawd, Pups, I'm pickin' myself up off the floor again! Ain't it the truth? :twisted:

It's a story we simmer guys can all relate to. :oops:

PS: Which graphics card did you end up getting, by the way? :roll:

Oh, and for all your good buddies out here in the rest of the world, what was the name of the perfume (just so we all can be prepared with a defense strategy the next time we get dragged up to the cosmetics counter)? :wink:

GaryGB