Saturday, 7 July, 2012 - 12:00am
[00:07] #knownspace> fredskuentz: You hear they're making a Highlander reboot, with the nimrod that played Green Lantern?
[06:08] Akiraa has joined #knownspace
[07:09] #knownspace> sean: movie. and i heard about the reboot. why?
[08:54] #knownspace> Akiraa: looks like it's phd hunting season in Europe
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 02 Jul 00:33Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa that Romania is home of some of the most beautiful women in the world
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 04 Jul 17:42Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa hello and welcome back
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 04 Jul 18:35Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa hello and welcome back
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 03:28Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa that sean said "bye akiraa"
[08:55] #knownspace> Akiraa: the german president, a minister and a few top political leaders found with copy-pasted dissertations
[08:55] #knownspace> Akiraa: hungarian president
[08:55] #knownspace> Akiraa: a romanian minister and the prime-minister
[09:43] sean has joined #knownspace
[09:44] #knownspace> sean: .weather 40601
[09:44] #knownspace> Outsider: Clear ¤, 84.2? (29?), 30.01in (1013mb), Calm 0kt (?) - KLOU 12:53Z
[10:44] #knownspace> fredskuentz: If it's like America, they'll give the plagerists their own national holiday
[13:58] NickE has joined #knownspace
[13:58] #knownspace> NickE: evenin'
[13:59] #knownspace> fredskuentz: hey
[13:59] #knownspace> NickE: hi Fred
[14:00] #knownspace> fredskuentz: ONE HOUR TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:05] #knownspace> NickE: just chilling after dinner
[14:25] Jim has joined #knownspace
[14:25] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Jim
[14:39] #knownspace> Jim: hi
[14:50] #knownspace> NickE: back in a bit (quiet till official start time I'm assuming today)
[14:52] #knownspace> fredskuentz: NINE MINUTES TO NIVEN CHAT
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[14:57] #knownspace> NickE: ho Ronn
[14:58] #knownspace> fredskuentz: TWO MINUTES TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:58] dmac44 has joined #knownspace
[14:58] #knownspace> ronn: Hi, Nick, everyone!
[14:58] #knownspace> ronn: Guess I'm here early?
[14:58] #knownspace> dmac44: Hi guys
[14:59] #knownspace> fredskuentz: ONE MINUTE TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:59] #knownspace> fredskuentz: NIVEN CHAT IN:
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[15:00] #knownspace> fredskuentz: COMMENCE CHATTING
[15:00] #knownspace> Jim: chat
[15:00] Louis_Wu has joined #knownspace
[15:00] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ..walks off the stepping disc
[15:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Salutations! :)
[15:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: *cricket sounds*
[15:02] #knownspace> NickE: heh
[15:02] #knownspace> NickE: Greetings Louis!
[15:06] #knownspace> NickE: so, what do we talk about again?
[15:07] #knownspace> NickE: (gone to get a beer, back shortly)
[15:10] Larry has joined #knownspace
[15:10] #knownspace> Larry: hello
[15:11] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Larry
[15:11] #knownspace> Jim: Hi Larry, because of the heat, we are rather lethargic.
[15:11] #knownspace> Jim: 95 F here
[15:11] #knownspace> ronn: Hi, Larry!
[15:12] #knownspace> Larry: Hi, NickE. Hi Jim. Hi Ron
[15:12] #knownspace> NickE: heat ? (chance would be a fine thing, it's done nothing but rain fior 2 months :-)
[15:13] #knownspace> ronn: What heat? It's only 91°F here today. Positively frigid compared to last week at this time!
[15:13] #knownspace> Jim: NickE are you in UK?
[15:13] #knownspace> Larry: I've been short of inspiration. I don't think it's heat. My AC works fine.
[15:13] #knownspace> NickE: UK yes
[15:13] #knownspace> NickE: miserable, local flooding in south west and Scotland
[15:13] #knownspace> Jim: I was going to say that I liked the details of the Known Space financial system in Fleet of Worlds.
[15:14] #knownspace> Jim: How about a science fiction story that does not have spaceships or aliens but is all about the futuristic financial system.
[15:14] #knownspace> Larry: Yeahm Ed is good it seeing or generating implications.
[15:15] #knownspace> Larry: I don't know that i'd want to go into financial details that deeply.
[15:15] #knownspace> Jim: I was not entirely serious.
[15:16] #knownspace> NickE: Accountancy SF doesn't quite have that ring to it :-0)
[15:16] #knownspace> Larry: But Jerry Pournelle makes me think things out. I just tossed in "stars" and others ran with them.
[15:17] #knownspace> dmac44: Larry: I thought stars was a pun. I recall you first used it when you said that the Outsiders wanted an astronomical amount for their interialess drive.
[15:18] #knownspace> ronn: "Bankster of Worlds"? "Occupy Known Space"?
[15:18] #knownspace> NickE: Renumeration of Worlds
[15:19] #knownspace> NickE: ah, Ronn got there first :-)
[15:19] #knownspace> Larry: Hah hah. It might have been a pun. I've long forgotten.
[15:20] #knownspace> NickE: (phone call, brb)
[15:21] #knownspace> ronn: "a trillion stars" would be a fairly large galaxy, probably a cD like M87 . . .
[15:22] #knownspace> dmac44: ronn: ... and that would make it astronomical.
[15:23] #knownspace> ronn: Yeah . . . any bigger and you're getting into Congressional numbers.
[15:23] #knownspace> ronn: (Tip o' th' space helmet to George O. Smith.)
[15:25] #knownspace> Larry: My nephew Tim wrote a song about the 14 trillion dollar debt, before it got bigger.
[15:26] #knownspace> Jim: I would like to see the lyrics sometime.
[15:30] #knownspace> dmac44: Larry: The last Fleet book comes out next month. How do you feel about moving out of the KS neighborhood for a while?
[15:31] #knownspace> NickE: RHETORICAL!
[15:32] Larry has joined #knownspace
[15:32] #knownspace> NickE: I odn't think he meant it literally :-)
[15:32] #knownspace> fredskuentz: afternoon Larry!
[15:32] #knownspace> Larry: I'm back. Sorry. Thought I could do two things at once.
[15:32] #knownspace> ronn: The weather's hot enough, Nick, no need to make the conversation too hot as well!! :D
[15:32] #knownspace> NickE: interesting timing
[15:33] #knownspace> Larry: What did I miss?
[15:33] #knownspace> NickE: (no there's enough of that on the list)
[15:33] #knownspace> NickE: not a lot dmac asked about teh last Worlds book being out shortly
[15:34] iFred has joined #knownspace
[15:34] #knownspace> Larry: Yeah, FATE OF WORLDS is either out soon or now.
[15:34] #knownspace> fredskuentz: hi uFred
[15:34] #knownspace> ronn: Well, that's Larry and me. Who else is trying to do [at least] two things at once? :|
[15:35] #knownspace> iFred: Me
[15:35] #knownspace> ronn: (I'm stuffing my face . . .)
[15:36] #knownspace> iFred: Technically I suppose I'm doing the same thing twice
[15:36] #knownspace> NickE: I thought as much :-)
[15:37] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Any thoughts on the Higgs boson....?
[15:37] #knownspace> ronn: Wait a few minutes, and Fred'll be arguing with himself . . .
[15:37] #knownspace> Larry: I was reading an article about a stem cell transplant. A vein into a little girl.
[15:38] #knownspace> NickE: other than it's way beyond me. Cool science though
[15:38] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Hi Larry! Ok so the stem cells grew into the vein...?
[15:38] #knownspace> Jim: Just as long as people do not call the Higgs Boson the God Particle, then I am okay.
[15:38] #knownspace> NickE: Stem cells is closer to my area, but only generally
[15:38] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ...or they created the vein *with* the stem cells ?
[15:39] #knownspace> Larry: Higgs boson: could be really interesting. If we could control Higgs bosons, we could turn the mass of a spaceship on and off. Reduce it, like in "ARM".
[15:39] #knownspace> NickE: agree it's a silly name
[15:39] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: Yeah! I was wondering if the Higgs field might tie into dark matter somehow
[15:40] #knownspace> NickE: Still not clear on the idea of the Higgs field
[15:41] #knownspace> Larry: Stem cells from the girl's marrow were used to line a (lifeless) tube that had been a vein.
[15:41] #knownspace> NickE: but lots of interesting ideas now they've found something in teh right place thats new
[15:41] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: THey've been looking for that futzy boson for like 40 years now
[15:42] #knownspace> NickE: so teh cells became epithelial or fully differentiated into the various layers?
[15:42] #knownspace> Larry: There's no certainty re that Higgs particle.
[15:42] #knownspace> Larry: about the vein, I know little more than what I said. Find the article.
[15:43] #knownspace> NickE: I know it's been a long search. Also fairly sure that it's nowhere near the end of teh search fo what the frell is going on at that level
[15:43] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: If they can create veins.... So much for organ leggars! :o)
[15:43] #knownspace> NickE: (will search)
[15:44] #knownspace> Larry: Organleggers don't disappear if the line for stem cell transplants is too long...as with Obamacare.
[15:44] sean has joined #knownspace
[15:44] #knownspace> iFred: Organ Leggers will deal in the stem cells
[15:44] #knownspace> ronn: Larry> There's no certainty re that Higgs particle.
[15:44] #knownspace> ronn: Which is why I haven't gotten all worked up about this week's announcement.
[15:45] #knownspace> SeanS: been helping a friend move his aunt.
[15:45] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: To stave off disappointment? :o)
[15:46] #knownspace> ronn: Sean: Did she at least come with wheels?
[15:46] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: *rim shot*
[15:46] #knownspace> NickE: ah, dead donor vein provided inert tissue scaffold, sucessfully populated by girl's own cells and transplaned in. Cells grown in lab conditions prior to transplant
[15:46] #knownspace> SeanS: the Uhaul came with wheels and lots of really heavy stuff inside. ;) only about 102 degrees here as well.
[15:47] #knownspace> NickE: interesting and not too surprising development (done with trachea already)
[15:47] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Sean: That doesnt sound like much fun....
[15:47] #knownspace> iFred: Chilly
[15:47] #knownspace> NickE: with 3D printing tech able to pattern suitable inert scaffolds, may not be limited to using human base material
[15:48] #knownspace> ronn: Louis: Just figure we haven't heard the last about it. Might even turn out that what they found is something else -- which from a scientific POV would be even more interesting than if it's what they predicted . . .
[15:48] #knownspace> NickE: `not quite autodoc level, but early day perhaps?
[15:49] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: I agree; like finding out expansion is accelerating....
[15:49] #knownspace> NickE: totally personalised treatment becoming a real possibility/actuality in some cases
[15:50] #knownspace> ronn: yep
[15:50] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Any thoughts on why we have yet to hear from any ET's....?
[15:51] #knownspace> Larry: Too many answers, Louis.
[15:51] #knownspace> NickE: well how long does it take an answerphone message to return "sorry, but we're all out at the moment..."
[15:51] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I've been thinking the universe may be too young...
[15:51] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: Yeah, there are lots of possible answers
[15:51] #knownspace> dmac44: David Brin's latest book Existence is about one.
[15:52] #knownspace> NickE: is it actually out yet? Not read any Brin for a while
[15:52] #knownspace> Larry: Yeah. We know it took 13.7 billions of years to get us. Maybe we're the first.
[15:52] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: That's a thought that's like a splinter in my brain
[15:52] #knownspace> NickE: being first is scary...what the hell wil we leave behind?
[15:52] #knownspace> NickE: if anything
[15:52] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: Not much I think; were at the tipping point
[15:53] #knownspace> Larry: Usual assumption is that we're in the middle of anything...but Earth seems to be at the low end for mass of a habitable (rocky, water, oxygen) world.
[15:53] #knownspace> NickE: like to think not personally, but dodgy times no doubt
[15:53] #knownspace> NickE: yeah, we don't know near enough about what's "normal" re planets
[15:53] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: There's simply too many people and too little organization
[15:54] #knownspace> dmac44: I still like the double planet theory (Earth-Moon system) and the low probability of it.
[15:54] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: There are a lot of planets out there... :o)
[15:55] #knownspace> dmac44: Sure, so some will happen. But how many?
[15:55] #knownspace> NickE: indeed and discovery is going fast and better
[15:56] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: That's a good question. Also: we dont have any real idea how many moons of larger planets might be earthlike
[15:56] #knownspace> NickE: the sheer number of exoplanets now known is amazing given that it was not that long ago that the first was confirmed (-97?)
[15:56] #knownspace> Larry: so many stories have first contact happening NOW. The odds of that go way down...unless they're tracking radio waves.
[15:58] #knownspace> NickE: would 1st contact now be a good thing? (guess tahts what the stories are about)
[15:58] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: Its just that I cant help thinking that there should at least be signals from point sources all over the galaxy....
[15:58] #knownspace> dmac44: It's also taken several mass extinctions to get to us. It seems to me that evolution favors size as apex predators instead of intelligence.
[15:58] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: I think so; it might sober us up a bit
[15:58] #knownspace> NickE: it might at that
[15:59] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: That's a good point: Think about how many "trials"...how many species existed before things accidently made *us*
[16:00] #knownspace> NickE: in fact given that some form of remote contact is probably more likely rather than a full on invasion, it could very well be a goo thing
[16:00] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I've read that life may have started on earth about 6 different times before being obliterated by impacts...
[16:00] #knownspace> Larry: I'm 84. My window is closing re first contact.
[16:00] #knownspace> NickE: I'd love to see proof of life elsewhere
[16:00] #knownspace> Larry: Sorry. I'm 74, and jumping the gun here.
[16:00] #knownspace> NickE: phew!
[16:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: wow thats a hell of a typo :o)
[16:01] #knownspace> NickE: heh
[16:01] #knownspace> Jim: :-)
[16:01] #knownspace> ronn: Larry, you're just feeling old today . . .
[16:01] #knownspace> NickE: even life elewhere in this solar system would be terrifically exciting news
[16:01] #knownspace> NickE: no matter how "simple"
[16:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: Please leave New Jersey out of this
[16:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ( joke )
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: <snort>
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: figured
[16:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: :oD
[16:02] #knownspace> ronn: Or as many wiseakers have said, finding intelligent life on this world would be exciting . . .
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: too tru
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: sadly
[16:03] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: Its funnier if you say it wistfully...
[16:05] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Does it bother anyone else that there's like 100 billion stars in the galaxy....they're finding planets are common....and there are no signals?
[16:05] #knownspace> Larry: First message: "Stop spyingt on us!"
[16:06] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: heh
[16:06] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I'd like to watch an ET's version of "Gilligan's Island"
[16:06] #knownspace> NickE: :-)
[16:06] EML has joined #knownspace
[16:06] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Ed
[16:06] #knownspace> EML: Hi guys.
[16:06] #knownspace> Larry: would you really?
[16:07] #knownspace> Larry: Hi, Ed.
[16:07] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: How would I know what the show was even about? :o)
[16:07] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Salutations, Ed
[16:08] #knownspace> EML: what's on the table today?
[16:08] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: Higgs bosons (maybe), stem cells, and ET's so far
[16:08] #knownspace> EML: All good :-)
[16:08] #knownspace> Larry: Contact with aliens is on the table. Where are they?
[16:09] #knownspace> EML: The Eerie Silence.
[16:09] #knownspace> Jim: Maybe they are all 100 light years from earth.
[16:09] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: What I've been thinking is that we've been radiating unintentional radio for about a hundred years now....
[16:10] #knownspace> EML: Shoulda added the author's name. The Eerie Silence, by Paul Davies. Good book.
[16:10] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Jim: The signals may have left a long time ago from a planet that's far enough away so that the signals begin to reach us now
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: "Simply send 6 x 10^50 atoms of Hydrogen to the Star
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: System at the top of the list, cross off that star system,
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: then put your Star System at the bottom of the list and send
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: it to 100 other Star Systems. Within one-tenth of a Galactic
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: Rotation you will receive enough hydrogen to power your
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: civilization until entropy reaches maximum! IT REALLY WORKS!"
[16:12] #knownspace> EML: Powerful rdaio leakage may be a short-term phenom ... except for radar, Earth is getting quieter as we move to fiberoptics.
[16:12] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: A galactic pyramid scheme....
[16:12] #knownspace> Jim: Louis_Wu, after 100 light years, any conceivable radio signal would be undetectable.
[16:15] #knownspace> EML: Radio signals will be recognizably non-natural long after the signals aren't intelligible. (It's a matter of frequency distribution.)
[16:15] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: You're saying that we have a very short radio "window" as a civilization utilizes better tech....?
[16:15] #knownspace> NickE: quite possibly
[16:16] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: yes, that's my point. (Not mine originally, but one I'm parroting.)
[16:17] #knownspace> EML: Unless, of course, someone *wants* to signal to other stars. That takes major gear and lots of power. Read: it's expensive.
[16:17] #knownspace> dmac44: But then shouldn't we be able to see their works? Assuming they go in for chnaging their stellar environment.
[16:18] #knownspace> EML: dmac: some planetary-engineering projects woudl be visibly from long distances (say, the black-body radiation of a dyson sphere).
[16:19] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: A ringworld would be harder to spot I think :o)
[16:19] #knownspace> dmac44: I'm also thinking that fiber optic cable works for planet based civilizations but once you get out to space electromagnetic radiation is still used.
[16:20] #knownspace> ronn: (Irony: Phone rang and I had to erase a recorded telemarketing message.)
[16:20] #knownspace> Larry: Ringworld not in the same plane as Sol: hard to spot. In the plane: harder yet. We couldn't see the star.
[16:20] #knownspace> EML: dmac44: for interstellar distances, you'll want as focused a beam as possible (i.e., lasers), not RF. You can look for laser beams, but aren't likely to see any not meant for you.
[16:20] #knownspace> NickE: that makes sense, lasers too of course, but coherent light detected from another star, that sounds like...oh wait :0
[16:20] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: So maybe there arent any old enough civilizations to be emiting radio long enough...? UGH....Larry is right; there are too many answers
[16:21] #knownspace> ronn: NickE: Eta Carinae? ;)
[16:21] #knownspace> dmac44: and if they're all true .....
[16:21] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: The idea of smaller rings orbiting the star ( no need for shadow squares)....harder still
[16:21] #knownspace> NickE: I was thinking Mote actually
[16:21] #knownspace> ronn: I know . . .
[16:22] #knownspace> NickE: Bank's Orbitals
[16:23] #knownspace> dmac44: EML: I was thinking about your point of not information but frequency distribution detection.
[16:24] #knownspace> EML: and still thinking :-)
[16:25] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: So the expanding radio is probably a *shell*, versus a sphere.... that cuts the probabilty of interception down quite a bit
[16:25] #knownspace> NickE: hmm, yeah
[16:26] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Still, there shoud be lots of expanding shells....
[16:26] #knownspace> dmac44: and the distance that is detectable is still limited.
[16:26] #knownspace> ronn: Point is, there ARE extant natural lasers/masers in space. (Eta Car gives off UV laser radiation at certain points in its activity cycle: current best hypothesis is that not only is it a very massive star, but is binary, and when the two stars are at closest approach, interesting things happen -- even more interesting than usual . . . ) Hydroxyl (OH) masers (radio wavelengths) seem to be...
[16:26] #knownspace> ronn: ...fairly common from protostars.
[16:26] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: a thinner shell if your'e trying to extract meaning than only trying to detect artificiality.
[16:27] #knownspace> EML: As to big-time RF beams (but not SETI), might I venture a commercial announcement?
[16:27] #knownspace> Jim: Ronn, tell us more about natural lasers and masers.
[16:28] #knownspace> Jim: SPAM away.
[16:29] #knownspace> NickE: (Ronn, yeah, I'd forgotten about Eta Corinae)
[16:29] #knownspace> Larry: EML: your book or ours? This crew knows of FATE, wonders if it's out yet.
[16:30] #knownspace> NickE: (Think it's due out in October??)
[16:30] #knownspace> Jim: In other news, I am on the short list for a 1 year appointment at Youngstown State University.
[16:30] #knownspace> NickE: on amazon for pre order
[16:31] #knownspace> EML: Coming July 17 … Energized. The energy crisis to make you nostalgic for the Deepwater Horizon blowout, the Arab Spring oil-supply disruptions, and four-buck gas. Complete with solar-power satellites and gigawatt maser beams.
[16:31] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Jim: Congrats! :o)
[16:31] #knownspace> Jim: thanks
[16:31] #knownspace> EML: Jim: way cool.
[16:32] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: That's what I meant earlier; we're at a tipping point and there's no organization
[16:32] #knownspace> Larry: Jim: Goody!
[16:33] #knownspace> dmac44: So, if gig-watt maser beams are possible, at some point they'd be used to power space ships. And there'd be many of them. Wouldn't that be detectable over very long distances?
[16:33] #knownspace> EML: http://www.edwardmlerner.com/sample-page/list-of-books/#Energized (for the curious)
[16:34] #knownspace> dmac44: Congrats Jim.
[16:34] #knownspace> ronn: Jim: Probably take too long, esp. in chat, and I don't have any links off the top of my head. Try Googling things like "Eta Carinae laser" or "protostar maser" and you'll probably turn up something . . . :)
[16:35] #knownspace> Larry: dmac44: long distances, sure, but not in most directions.
[16:35] #knownspace> EML: dmac44: yes, gigawatt masers would be detectable over long distances -- if they're pointed right at you. A nice thing about RF is it can be omni directional.
[16:36] #knownspace> ronn: Jim, re job: How long until you hear something for sure?
[16:36] #knownspace> Jim: I will interview with them in person in a two or three weeks. I will know sometime after that.
[16:37] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: An untouchable water monopoly...? :o)
[16:37] #knownspace> EML: Larry: were you asking if Fate is out? Not till August 21.
[16:37] #knownspace> dmac44: I agree not in most directions but it may be something to look for since the right frequency would go far.
[16:37] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: I lost the thread I guess. Water monopoly?
[16:38] #knownspace> Jim: Could a gigawatt maser be used as a weapon?
[16:39] #knownspace> EML: Jim: absolutely (a factor in Energized).
[16:39] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I think a gigawatt anything could be used as a weapon at close range...
[16:39] #knownspace> dmac44: Water monopoly/energy monopoly the same basic thing?
[16:40] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: For a civilization like that I'd say "yes"
[16:40] #knownspace> Jim: In a sense that would be bad news because countries would fear who ever had the orbital gigawatt power delivery system.
[16:41] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: for some reason, I'm seeing some of your comments as if in a separate chat, not interleaved. Weird.
[16:41] #knownspace> EML: Jim: all in the book :-)
[16:42] #knownspace> Jim: OK
[16:42] #knownspace> EML: Which I'll now stop flacking ...
[16:45] Louis_Wu has joined #knownspace
[16:45] #knownspace> EML: So ... the Higgs boson. Basic happiness at the find, or somethign more?
[16:46] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ....walks off the stepping disk
[16:47] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I think incredulity is the main sentiment re higgs
[16:48] #knownspace> NickE: it is some weird ass shit to be sure
[16:48] #knownspace> ronn: patiently awaiting further information . . .
[16:48] #knownspace> EML: Fair enough. I'd sure like to know more.
[16:49] Hippy has joined #knownspace
[16:49] #knownspace> Jim: Hippy!!!
[16:49] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Darren
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, JUm
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, Nick
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, everyone
[16:49] #knownspace> EML: Yo, Hippy.
[16:49] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Salutations, Hippy!
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Apologies for being late, the spirit is willin but the flesh is riddled with virus. . .
[16:49] #knownspace> NickE: bummer
[16:49] #knownspace> NickE: and early too fopr you
[16:50] #knownspace> Hippy: Yep. I wish I was one of the Boys from 'World out of Time', so I could work out a quick way of dying
[16:50] #knownspace> Hippy: Anyway, how is everyone?
[16:51] #knownspace> Larry: better than that.
[16:51] #knownspace> Hippy: No, Nick, I should've been here by noon Pacific time, but as I say, rhinovirus and all that. . .
[16:52] #knownspace> dmac44: Hi Hippy.
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: Glad to hear it, Larry
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, Dmac
[16:52] #knownspace> NickE: thought it was early morning where you are?
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: Is there no topic?
[16:52] #knownspace> NickE: ETs, lack of, Higgs
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: It is, Nick, but I'm usually on channel by 5 AM my time, not nearly 7
[16:53] #knownspace> Larry: Higgs boson, Hippy.
[16:53] #knownspace> NickE: still early though :-)
[16:53] #knownspace> Hippy: I thought Higgs would come up. All I can comment about is how glad I am that they found it
[16:53] #knownspace> EML: It was careless ever to have lost it.
[16:54] #knownspace> NickE: :-)
[16:54] #knownspace> Hippy: Nice, one, Ed. I was going to ask that, if it's the God particle, what are its thoughts on abortion?
[16:54] #knownspace> Hippy: And gay marriage
[16:54] #knownspace> dmac44: lol
[16:54] #knownspace> Jim: How could one make a Higgs Boson field generator?
[16:55] #knownspace> Hippy: And does one neceddarily lead to the other?
[16:55] #knownspace> Jim: :-o
[16:55] #knownspace> dmac44: or an anti-Higgs field generator.
[16:55] #knownspace> EML: A weighty matter?
[16:57] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ha!
[16:57] #knownspace> Jim: Isaac Asimov had W field generators that increased the rate of radioactivity in the earth's crust.
[16:57] #knownspace> dmac44: ... to reduce the intertia matter feels.
[16:57] #knownspace> Jim: I suppose that would be anti-W field generators
[16:58] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Holy #$@%....are you saying that a higgs neutralizer would function as an inertial damping system....?
[16:58] #knownspace> EML: an M field, then?
[16:59] #knownspace> Hippy: You're on fire today, Ed
[17:00] #knownspace> EML: Thanks, Hippy. Though as it's 95 degrees here, I have a head start.
[17:00] #knownspace> EML: scratch that. IT's up to 100.
[17:00] #knownspace> Hippy: 60 higher than here. My head is the only thing stopping the approaching Ice Age
[17:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: inertia was something that bothered me about the swarms of Pak in Destroyer
[17:01] #knownspace> Jim: Louis_Wu, please explain.
[17:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I kept picturing Conquistadors riding wild plasma horses ( that crest ridge...)
[17:02] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: :-)
[17:03] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Jim: The pak made sudden course changes after building up velocity
[17:03] #knownspace> Jim: OK'
[17:04] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I remember something about needing something like 14 percent of light before a ramscoop even functions....
[17:04] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: WOuldn't the pak spend a few weeks plastered to a wall when turning?
[17:05] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ok...if you gimbal the life section... a few weeks plastered to the floor? :o)
[17:05] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: Changes yes, but no intent to ignore inertia. No right-angled turns :-)
[17:05] #knownspace> dmac44: Plaster of Pak? :)
[17:05] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: But you're accelerating all through a turn...
[17:07] #knownspace> EML: orthogonal force vectors. Accelerate all you want to (say) the left ... it doesn't change your accumulated velocity forward.
[17:09] #knownspace> EML: Velocity vectors add, too. In Destroyer, the scared-off Pak fleets would ooze to the galactic south while continuing to speed from the galactic core.
[17:09] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: I'm dense....if you change the ship's direction, wouldn't your body (and anything loose in the cabin) try to keep going straight ?
[17:10] #knownspace> ronn: I think the confusion is that you have to choose a reference frame: that of the external universe or that inside the ship . . .
[17:10] #knownspace> EML: When you go into a curve, your'e pressed to the side: centripetal force. It'll apply to spaceships as well as carnival rides.
[17:11] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I dont think I'd want to be on a ship that makes a week long turn....
[17:11] #knownspace> EML: All reasons for affirming the Pak fleet change in course was gradual (just as the Fleet of Worlds course change to avoid the Gw'oth was gradual).
[17:12] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: Yes, that's true. I remember the sped up video to see if the pak were turning
[17:14] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: Frame of reference just gives the illusion of centrifugal force
[17:15] #knownspace> EML: This is one of those cases where a picture (vector addition diagram) is worth a thousand words.
[17:16] #knownspace> ronn: Louis: Yes. It seemed as if the confusion earlier was that one side was using the internal frame and the other the external one.
[17:16] #knownspace> ronn: EML: Absolutely!
[17:17] #knownspace> EML: I've been advised to prep for dinner (setting aside that I'm always ready).
[17:17] #knownspace> Larry: I need to drop out. LASFS is holding a memorial for Ray Bradbury, started 15 minutes ago.
[17:17] #knownspace> Jim: bye Larry
[17:17] #knownspace> EML: Bye, Larry. Bye, all.
[17:17] #knownspace> Hippy: A good cause, Larry
[17:17] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ok....great talking to you fellows
[17:17] #knownspace> ronn: Bye, Larry!
[17:17] #knownspace> Hippy: 'Bye, Larry. See you at LibertyCon, if I live. . .
[17:18] #knownspace> ronn: Bye, Ed!
[17:18] #knownspace> Hippy: You see? They are the same person
[17:18] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Hahaha
[17:18] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Hippy: That's an interesting hypothesis
[17:18] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Remember "Singularities make me nervous"....?
[17:19] #knownspace> Hippy: Have we ever seen them together?
[17:21] #knownspace> NickE: drat, missed them, never mind, nice to see them both in again
[17:22] #knownspace> Hippy: 'Both' being a figurative term
[17:23] #knownspace> NickE: Well yes, still not compeletly satisfied on that point :-)
[17:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Let's say that Larry has a look at his old works, old assumptions therein, and wants to retrofit them. He can't do it, so he invents 'Ed Lerner' to do it for him. Then he mistakenly books both of them to the same convention
[17:23] #knownspace> NickE: as Fred showed, easy to login twice :-)
[17:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Now he needs an actor to play 'Ed Lernet'. But he can say that Ed doesn't turn up bercvause he's died
[17:23] #knownspace> NickE: brb
[17:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Only now he needs a body to be Ed Lerner's body. Who does he get?
[17:24] #knownspace> dmac44: Someone who is deathly sick? :)
[17:24] #knownspace> Hippy: Eek!
[17:24] #knownspace> dmac44: Be careful Hippy ...
[17:24] #knownspace> ronn: . . . so then he has to find a ghost writer.
[17:24] #knownspace> Hippy: LOL, ronn
[17:25] #knownspace> Hippy: Hang on, I've got to answer the door. . .
[17:25] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Oh no...they're gonna off Hippy before he uncovers the whole plot!
[17:25] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Dont answer the door!
[17:25] #knownspace> dmac44: Careful, if you open the door and see a long tunnel with a light at the end of it ....
[17:26] #knownspace> dmac44: Run!
[17:26] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: "Sarah Connuh..?"
[17:26] #knownspace> Hippy: Well, let's asy he finds a loyal but terminally ill fan - then the fan changes his mind. The fan is already Ed Lerner, but if he kills Larry Niven he can pretend that he was larry all along, invented by. . .Jerry Pournelle, let's say
[17:27] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: This is getting convoluted
[17:27] #knownspace> dmac44: Send in the clones ...
[17:27] #knownspace> Hippy: In any case, only one writer could produce all that output of the three of them - Isaac Asimov
[17:27] #knownspace> ronn: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive . . . "
[17:28] #knownspace> dmac44: Hippy: He's not writing much any more.
[17:28] #knownspace> Hippy: Exactly!
[17:28] #knownspace> Hippy: How can he? Up until recently he was Ray Bradbury, too!
[17:28] #knownspace> ronn: Wasn't that the pen name of Arthur C. Clarke?
[17:29] #knownspace> Hippy: As were so many others
[17:29] #knownspace> Hippy: In the end, they're all that bloke at the end of 'Achille's Choice'
[17:30] #knownspace> ronn: Not the man behind the curtain?
[17:30] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I suspect that they're *all* manifestations of H.G. Wells, as "The Time Machine" wasn't a story at all, but the world's first blog....
[17:30] #knownspace> Hippy: Ignore the man behind the curtain!
[17:30] #knownspace> dmac44: Are we back to Hippy again (the Wizard of Oz)?
[17:30] #knownspace> ronn: What are the little cups of mercury at the bottom of barometers known as?
[17:31] #knownspace> Hippy: Reservoirs?
[17:31] #knownspace> ronn: Hg wells.
[17:31] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: hahaha
[17:31] #knownspace> dmac44: lol
[17:31] #knownspace> Hippy: Bloody hell. Should've seen that coming :)
[17:32] #knownspace> Jim: I wonder if the Taliban has the death penalty for punsters.
[17:32] #knownspace> Hippy: That's what killed Asimov
[17:33] #knownspace> ronn: A hitch in time?
[17:33] #knownspace> Hippy: Yes! Saves Stein! I've bgeen trying to think of that for a couple of months!
[17:34] #knownspace> ronn: :)
[17:37] #knownspace> dmac44: I'm taking off. See you all next month.
[17:37] #knownspace> Hippy: Okay, dmac, see you then
[17:37] #knownspace> Jim: bye
[17:40] #knownspace> Hippy: Is Louis_Wu Lensman in disguise?
[17:42] #knownspace> Jim: I don't know.
[17:45] #knownspace> Hippy: It's just surprising to not see Lens here
[17:46] #knownspace> Hippy: and bless whatever subatomic particle invented tea. I feel almost human again
[17:50] #knownspace> ronn: The T meson?
[17:51] #knownspace> Hippy: As good a candidate as any. Bless you, 'T' meson
[17:53] #knownspace> Jim: Actually, it was the P(ee) meson that invented tea.
[17:54] #knownspace> Hippy: Spoken like a loyal American. Now run off to Boston and throw some in the sea
[17:55] #knownspace> Hippy: I do like coffee as well, but I'm too ill to go through the rigmarole of cofee making
[17:55] #knownspace> ronn: That would be CP (sea-pee) non-conservation . . .
[17:55] #knownspace> Hippy: And it's too, too cold for a beer
[17:56] #knownspace> Hippy: What was the Taliban's number again?
[17:56] #knownspace> Jim: How cold could it be?
[17:56] #knownspace> Hippy: Well, it's above freezing, barely, but compared to US climates it's pretty warm I suppose. It rarely snows here
[17:57] #knownspace> ronn: Probably even more rarely snows both there and here at the same time . . .
[17:58] #knownspace> Hippy: Very true.
[17:59] #knownspace> Jim: Hippy are you in Tasmania?
[17:59] #knownspace> Hippy: Which reminds me of 'One Face'. It struck me that as the restart the Earth's roation, they can pick their own axial tilt, and thus control their seasons
[17:59] #knownspace> Hippy: Victoria, Jim
[18:00] #knownspace> ronn: Why, are you suggesting he's a devil?
[18:01] #knownspace> Hippy: I will admit to being mildly marsupial, but I'm working on it :)
[18:02] #knownspace> ronn: At least it would be hard to lose things in your pocket . . .
[18:03] #knownspace> Hippy: True. . .but it does make paper money a problem
[18:04] #knownspace> Hippy: Nobody wants a mucusy five dollar bill for a tip
[18:05] #knownspace> ronn: Hopefully that's not what you plan to pay your doctor with . . .
[18:07] #knownspace> Hippy: The great thing about being a marsupial is you don't need much in the way of OB GYN
[18:07] #knownspace> Jim: In South Australia I was bornHeave away. Haul away!South Australia round Cape HornAnd we're bound for South AustraliaHaul away you rolling kingHeave away! Haul away!All the way you'll hear me singAnd we're bound for South AustraliaAs I walked out one morning fairHeave away! Haul away!It's there I met Miss Nancy BlairAnd we're bound for South AustraliaThere ain't but one thing that grieves my mindHeave away! Haul away!It's to leav
[18:07] #knownspace> Jim: that was not a smart move
[18:08] #knownspace> ronn: And you're never disappointed when your kids pick your pocket.
[18:08] #knownspace> Hippy: I remember that song from primary school
[18:09] #knownspace> Hippy: There's no umbilical ties, either
[18:09] #knownspace> Jim: it is popular in the US among the celtic folk people
[18:11] #knownspace> Hippy: I have just remembered that South Australia is the only State that didn't have a penal colony, so I wonder how accurate that song actually is
[18:16] #knownspace> Hippy: Don't everyone talk at once
[18:22] #knownspace> SeanS: hey hippy.... I walked over the hill and drank some beer with friends on the river.
[18:22] #knownspace> Jim: I have gotta go; I will see you all next month.
[18:26] #knownspace> Hippy: G'day, Sean. I wssh it was warm enough for that, but I suppose I did have a few last night so that's nearly as good
[18:28] #knownspace> SeanS: .weather 40601
[18:28] #knownspace> Outsider: Clear ¤, 104.0? (40?), 29.91in (1010mb), Light air 3kt (?) - KLOU 21:53Z
[18:29] #knownspace> SeanS: little toasty today
[18:29] #knownspace> Hippy: According to my handy Windows gadget, it's 35F here
[18:30] #knownspace> SeanS: warm weather clothes when you head this way
[18:30] #knownspace> Hippy: Absolutely!
[18:31] #knownspace> SeanS: going to get a phone in a few days. cell that is. for use at the con
[18:31] #knownspace> Hippy: Ah, good plan
[18:32] #knownspace> Hippy: It was suggested that I get one just for US use, but is it worth it for just one month?
[18:32] #knownspace> SeanS: Like I said, I should be rolling into chattanooga about the time you clear baggage. do you want me to just pick you up at the airport?
[18:32] #knownspace> Hippy: That would be fantastic if you could
[18:34] #knownspace> SeanS: email me your itinerary so i can try to be as close to time as possible.
[18:34] #knownspace> Hippy: No worries
[18:34] #knownspace> Hippy: The arrival time is 10:25AM on the 20th
[18:34] #knownspace> Hippy: I forget the flight number
[18:34] #knownspace> NickE: <wishing he could share beers with Sean and Hippy>
[18:35] #knownspace> Hippy: It'll happen, Nick
[18:35] #knownspace> SeanS: and dan and larry
[18:35] #knownspace> NickE: that too
[18:35] #knownspace> NickE: LibertyCon I guess
[18:36] #knownspace> SeanS: yep
[18:36] #knownspace> Hippy: It sould've happened in August, but for a problem with the Lotto draw last week
[18:36] #knownspace> NickE: I expect plenty of stories!
[18:37] #knownspace> Hippy: That'll mean I have to stay sober enough to remember them!
[18:37] #knownspace> SeanS: i hope lots of stories and pictures
[18:38] #knownspace> NickE: heh
[18:39] #knownspace> NickE: mighty envious. Won't be getting to Atlanta this year (there was a possibility of a work related trip at one point this year)
[18:42] #knownspace> NickE: well, time for bed said Zebedee
[18:42] #knownspace> SeanS: its chattanooga... really only about an hour drive or so from atlanta. We will work something out I am sure
[18:44] #knownspace> NickE: may get toe do Dragon Con again one day I'm hoping, but have other travel plan ideas that will take priority financially
[18:46] #knownspace> NickE: (50th BD and 25th wedding anniversary in 2014)
[18:46] #knownspace> SeanS: Dan goes to dragon con... let me go to liberty con and see if I can be tempted to another con. I am sure I can. I expect to have an incredible amount of fun.
[18:47] #knownspace> NickE: Winning lottery would make things sooo much easier :-)
[18:47] #knownspace> Akiraa: wasn't there a chattanooga near toronto?
[18:47] #knownspace> SeanS: if i had a lottery win, i would just take dad's boat everywhere.
[18:47] #knownspace> NickE: D*C was of teh awesome and not just because we did a live show
[18:48] #knownspace> SeanS: not sure of chattanooga near toronto
[18:48] #knownspace> Akiraa: you'd become a yachtie? (people who live on boats and travel place to place)
[18:48] #knownspace> SeanS: absolutely
[18:48] #knownspace> NickE: Hoping that London wins the 2014 World Con bid
[18:49] #knownspace> NickE: cos I'd do that definietly
[18:49] #knownspace> SeanS: with several friends that i have never met sure to attend, it would be hard to say no to worldcon
[18:50] #knownspace> NickE: (2005 in Glasgow was excellent - inc lunch with Brenda Cooper and Tim from teh list)
[18:50] #knownspace> NickE: Oh and an hour chatting to Terry Pratchett in the bar - wish oh wish I could remember that conversation!
[18:50] #knownspace> SeanS: thats basically what i am looking forward to in chattanooga
[18:51] #knownspace> NickE: I'm sure it will be that good Sean
[18:51] #knownspace> SeanS: it will be my first time
[18:51] #knownspace> NickE: 2005 was my first SF con and i I swear, it felt like coming home
[18:52] #knownspace> SeanS: a SMOF and newbie in the same convention.
[18:52] #knownspace> NickE: Fallen Angels was actuallty good prep reading
[18:52] #knownspace> ronn: NickE> Oh and an hour chatting to Terry Pratchett in the bar - wish oh wish I could remember that conversation!
[18:52] #knownspace> ronn: Ouch!
[18:53] #knownspace> NickE: well, I'd had about 5 pints by that point and Pterry was only on 2, so he was witty and i was probably babbling :-)
[18:53] #knownspace> SeanS: i have decided to try to stay light on the beer intake
[18:54] #knownspace> ronn: I meant it sounded ironic in light of his health issues . . .
[18:54] #knownspace> NickE: well yeah, taht was somtime befroe he was aware of teh embuggerance
[18:55] #knownspace> NickE: I liek the guy/ Met him prior to that at a school talk (I was teaching then). Genuinely nice intelligent bloke
[18:55] #knownspace> NickE: greatly respect teh way he is handling the situation
[18:56] #knownspace> SeanS: I would like to meet spider at some point but really excited to meet larry in a couple of weeks.
[18:58] #knownspace> SeanS: and yes, i know you were talking about pratchett.
[19:05] #knownspace> SeanS: .weather 40601
[19:05] #knownspace> Outsider: Clear ¤, 102.2? (39?), 29.90in (1009mb), Light breeze 4kt (?) - KLOU 22:53Z
[19:06] #knownspace> NickE: sorry about that, father in law came in to pick up teh dog
[19:06] #knownspace> SeanS: no worries
[19:07] #knownspace> NickE: blearh. Think I'm going to return that Irish Whiskey tomorrow for a refund, tastes like a corked wine!
[19:08] #knownspace> NickE: (and I've had that brand before and its been fine)
[19:08] #knownspace> NickE: lingering aftertaste of rubber
[19:08] #knownspace> SeanS: I really wish you could be there nick.
[19:08] #knownspace> NickE: me too
[19:10] #knownspace> NickE: the nearest I'll get to LibertyCon anytime soon is the steampunk vibe of the latest Rush album and the tour next year
[19:10] #knownspace> NickE: (the last one was going that way with teh stage design, very cool)
[19:11] #knownspace> NickE: WB
[19:12] #knownspace> SeanS: like I said... this is my first. hoping Dan and Hippy will show me the good shit.
[19:12] #knownspace> NickE: I'm sure they will, you lucky bugger
[19:13] #knownspace> SeanS: Dan and Lynn promise so.
[19:14] #knownspace> SeanS: hence the need for the cell phone to hook up with them immediately
[19:14] #knownspace> NickE: (random aside, Dan's response to some of the latest list crap was a perfect example of why I'm always happy to read what he has to say and why I consider him a friend and would love to share a beer)
[19:15] #knownspace> SeanS: I am looking forward to meeting them like you would not believe.
[19:15] #knownspace> Hippy: Me, too
[19:16] #knownspace> SeanS: just a couple of weeks to go. ;)
[19:17] #knownspace> Hippy: Yep!
[19:17] #knownspace> Hippy: I shall put in an extra special effort to stay off the sauce, too
[19:17] #knownspace> NickE: yeah alright, rub it in (as the actress said to the bishop)
[19:18] #knownspace> Hippy: I'm sure London will win the 2014 bid, so I will make the effort to attend if its there
[19:18] #knownspace> NickE: That. Would be very cool.
[19:18] #knownspace> ronn: Back from AFK (away feeding kitties).
[19:18] #knownspace> SeanS: sorry nick... I wish you and fred, and ronn and mark could all be there.
[19:18] #knownspace> NickE: totally
[19:19] #knownspace> Hippy: We could start ListCon, and get everyone to a mutually convenient location
[19:19] #knownspace> NickE: that would be some achievement
[19:19] #knownspace> NickE: but I'd go for it if possible
[19:20] #knownspace> Hippy: Yes. Damn this lack of teleportation!
[19:20] #knownspace> SeanS: heh
[19:20] #knownspace> NickE: all for the lack of a tenth star coin...oh and the tech
[19:20] #knownspace> Hippy: LOL!
[19:21] #knownspace> ronn: So is a tenth star equivalent to a chocolate dollar?
[19:22] #knownspace> SeanS: or a reeces cup mini?
[19:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Different universes, ronn, but I like the idea of some sort of foreign exchange
[19:23] #knownspace> ronn: A dollar for a mini Reese's cup is like a buccaneer.
[19:23] #knownspace> ronn: Yeah, I know . . .
[19:24] #knownspace> Hippy: In the Ringworld, it says a star is equivalent in bying power to 10 US dollars, so a tenth-star would be 1 US dollar
[19:24] #knownspace> Hippy: In the Ringworld game , I mean
[19:24] #knownspace> NickE: of course
[19:25] #knownspace> ronn: And we all know how little 1 US dollar is worth . . .
[19:25] #knownspace> NickE: damn the time. I have to go to bed...like I said at least 20 minutes ago
[19:25] #knownspace> SeanS: heh
[19:25] #knownspace> Hippy: 97.9 cents Australian. Woo hoo!
[19:25] #knownspace> SeanS: sorry to tempt your presence
[19:27] #knownspace> NickE: fun as always, may not manage next month due to a clinical trial going on
[19:27] #knownspace> NickE: night
[19:27] #knownspace> Hippy: Nor me, because of weird IRc behaviour in Florida
[19:27] #knownspace> SeanS: gotcha... hopefully i will have a lot of con strories
[19:27] #knownspace> Hippy: Nighty-night, Nick
[19:28] #knownspace> ronn: I managed to get out of bed for this . . . which I was sorely doubting I'd feel like doing when it was getting light outside a few hours earlier . . .
[19:28] #knownspace> NickE: night mates
[19:28] #knownspace> ronn: 'Night, Nick!
[19:28] #knownspace> Hippy: I thoughyt you were in the US, ronn
[19:28] #knownspace> SeanS: ronn...you feeling bad?
[19:29] #knownspace> ronn: Just the usual, plus the aftermath of going out for a couple of hours yesterday to run some errands (as I mentioned on the list).
[19:30] #knownspace> SeanS: I am not getting list mail.
[19:31] #knownspace> ronn: Oh, well. I only mentioned it in passing, anyway.
[19:31] #knownspace> SeanS: so whats up?
[19:32] #knownspace> Hippy: Yes, this is a bit concerning
[19:38] #knownspace> ronn: Was that to me?
[19:38] #knownspace> ronn: Chronic fatigue syndrome since a spell of "bronchitis" @ Thanksgiving of 81. Add in "chronic bronchitis" because it comes back whenever I do too much (measured by current standards, not old ones).
[19:43] #knownspace> Hippy: Oh, no
[19:51] #knownspace> ronn: I am slowing down, so I think I'll call it a day and get some rest. Talk to all of you later!
[19:51] #knownspace> Hippy: 'Bye, ronn. Thanks for chatting!
[19:51] #knownspace> Hippy: See you next month, all being well :)
[19:53] #knownspace> Hippy: Which is a good reason to head off and get some breakfast, I think
[19:53] #knownspace> Hippy: See you in August, everyone
[19:53] #knownspace> Hippy: See you Friday week, Sean
[20:10] iFred has joined #knownspace
[23:49] #knownspace> fredskuentz: sigh. fell sound asleep mid chat. again.
[23:50] #knownspace> fredskuentz: if you'd send out a log I'd appreciate it kindly, sean.
[06:08] Akiraa has joined #knownspace
[07:09] #knownspace> sean: movie. and i heard about the reboot. why?
[08:54] #knownspace> Akiraa: looks like it's phd hunting season in Europe
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 02 Jul 00:33Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa that Romania is home of some of the most beautiful women in the world
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 04 Jul 17:42Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa hello and welcome back
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 04 Jul 18:35Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa hello and welcome back
[08:54] #knownspace> Outsider: Akiraa: 03:28Z <fredskuentz> tell Akiraa that sean said "bye akiraa"
[08:55] #knownspace> Akiraa: the german president, a minister and a few top political leaders found with copy-pasted dissertations
[08:55] #knownspace> Akiraa: hungarian president
[08:55] #knownspace> Akiraa: a romanian minister and the prime-minister
[09:43] sean has joined #knownspace
[09:44] #knownspace> sean: .weather 40601
[09:44] #knownspace> Outsider: Clear ¤, 84.2? (29?), 30.01in (1013mb), Calm 0kt (?) - KLOU 12:53Z
[10:44] #knownspace> fredskuentz: If it's like America, they'll give the plagerists their own national holiday
[13:58] NickE has joined #knownspace
[13:58] #knownspace> NickE: evenin'
[13:59] #knownspace> fredskuentz: hey
[13:59] #knownspace> NickE: hi Fred
[14:00] #knownspace> fredskuentz: ONE HOUR TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:05] #knownspace> NickE: just chilling after dinner
[14:25] Jim has joined #knownspace
[14:25] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Jim
[14:39] #knownspace> Jim: hi
[14:50] #knownspace> NickE: back in a bit (quiet till official start time I'm assuming today)
[14:52] #knownspace> fredskuentz: NINE MINUTES TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:54] ronn has joined #knownspace
[14:57] #knownspace> NickE: ho Ronn
[14:58] #knownspace> fredskuentz: TWO MINUTES TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:58] dmac44 has joined #knownspace
[14:58] #knownspace> ronn: Hi, Nick, everyone!
[14:58] #knownspace> ronn: Guess I'm here early?
[14:58] #knownspace> dmac44: Hi guys
[14:59] #knownspace> fredskuentz: ONE MINUTE TO NIVEN CHAT
[14:59] #knownspace> fredskuentz: NIVEN CHAT IN:
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[15:00] #knownspace> fredskuentz: COMMENCE CHATTING
[15:00] #knownspace> Jim: chat
[15:00] Louis_Wu has joined #knownspace
[15:00] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ..walks off the stepping disc
[15:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Salutations! :)
[15:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: *cricket sounds*
[15:02] #knownspace> NickE: heh
[15:02] #knownspace> NickE: Greetings Louis!
[15:06] #knownspace> NickE: so, what do we talk about again?
[15:07] #knownspace> NickE: (gone to get a beer, back shortly)
[15:10] Larry has joined #knownspace
[15:10] #knownspace> Larry: hello
[15:11] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Larry
[15:11] #knownspace> Jim: Hi Larry, because of the heat, we are rather lethargic.
[15:11] #knownspace> Jim: 95 F here
[15:11] #knownspace> ronn: Hi, Larry!
[15:12] #knownspace> Larry: Hi, NickE. Hi Jim. Hi Ron
[15:12] #knownspace> NickE: heat ? (chance would be a fine thing, it's done nothing but rain fior 2 months :-)
[15:13] #knownspace> ronn: What heat? It's only 91°F here today. Positively frigid compared to last week at this time!
[15:13] #knownspace> Jim: NickE are you in UK?
[15:13] #knownspace> Larry: I've been short of inspiration. I don't think it's heat. My AC works fine.
[15:13] #knownspace> NickE: UK yes
[15:13] #knownspace> NickE: miserable, local flooding in south west and Scotland
[15:13] #knownspace> Jim: I was going to say that I liked the details of the Known Space financial system in Fleet of Worlds.
[15:14] #knownspace> Jim: How about a science fiction story that does not have spaceships or aliens but is all about the futuristic financial system.
[15:14] #knownspace> Larry: Yeahm Ed is good it seeing or generating implications.
[15:15] #knownspace> Larry: I don't know that i'd want to go into financial details that deeply.
[15:15] #knownspace> Jim: I was not entirely serious.
[15:16] #knownspace> NickE: Accountancy SF doesn't quite have that ring to it :-0)
[15:16] #knownspace> Larry: But Jerry Pournelle makes me think things out. I just tossed in "stars" and others ran with them.
[15:17] #knownspace> dmac44: Larry: I thought stars was a pun. I recall you first used it when you said that the Outsiders wanted an astronomical amount for their interialess drive.
[15:18] #knownspace> ronn: "Bankster of Worlds"? "Occupy Known Space"?
[15:18] #knownspace> NickE: Renumeration of Worlds
[15:19] #knownspace> NickE: ah, Ronn got there first :-)
[15:19] #knownspace> Larry: Hah hah. It might have been a pun. I've long forgotten.
[15:20] #knownspace> NickE: (phone call, brb)
[15:21] #knownspace> ronn: "a trillion stars" would be a fairly large galaxy, probably a cD like M87 . . .
[15:22] #knownspace> dmac44: ronn: ... and that would make it astronomical.
[15:23] #knownspace> ronn: Yeah . . . any bigger and you're getting into Congressional numbers.
[15:23] #knownspace> ronn: (Tip o' th' space helmet to George O. Smith.)
[15:25] #knownspace> Larry: My nephew Tim wrote a song about the 14 trillion dollar debt, before it got bigger.
[15:26] #knownspace> Jim: I would like to see the lyrics sometime.
[15:30] #knownspace> dmac44: Larry: The last Fleet book comes out next month. How do you feel about moving out of the KS neighborhood for a while?
[15:31] #knownspace> NickE: RHETORICAL!
[15:32] Larry has joined #knownspace
[15:32] #knownspace> NickE: I odn't think he meant it literally :-)
[15:32] #knownspace> fredskuentz: afternoon Larry!
[15:32] #knownspace> Larry: I'm back. Sorry. Thought I could do two things at once.
[15:32] #knownspace> ronn: The weather's hot enough, Nick, no need to make the conversation too hot as well!! :D
[15:32] #knownspace> NickE: interesting timing
[15:33] #knownspace> Larry: What did I miss?
[15:33] #knownspace> NickE: (no there's enough of that on the list)
[15:33] #knownspace> NickE: not a lot dmac asked about teh last Worlds book being out shortly
[15:34] iFred has joined #knownspace
[15:34] #knownspace> Larry: Yeah, FATE OF WORLDS is either out soon or now.
[15:34] #knownspace> fredskuentz: hi uFred
[15:34] #knownspace> ronn: Well, that's Larry and me. Who else is trying to do [at least] two things at once? :|
[15:35] #knownspace> iFred: Me
[15:35] #knownspace> ronn: (I'm stuffing my face . . .)
[15:36] #knownspace> iFred: Technically I suppose I'm doing the same thing twice
[15:36] #knownspace> NickE: I thought as much :-)
[15:37] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Any thoughts on the Higgs boson....?
[15:37] #knownspace> ronn: Wait a few minutes, and Fred'll be arguing with himself . . .
[15:37] #knownspace> Larry: I was reading an article about a stem cell transplant. A vein into a little girl.
[15:38] #knownspace> NickE: other than it's way beyond me. Cool science though
[15:38] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Hi Larry! Ok so the stem cells grew into the vein...?
[15:38] #knownspace> Jim: Just as long as people do not call the Higgs Boson the God Particle, then I am okay.
[15:38] #knownspace> NickE: Stem cells is closer to my area, but only generally
[15:38] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ...or they created the vein *with* the stem cells ?
[15:39] #knownspace> Larry: Higgs boson: could be really interesting. If we could control Higgs bosons, we could turn the mass of a spaceship on and off. Reduce it, like in "ARM".
[15:39] #knownspace> NickE: agree it's a silly name
[15:39] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: Yeah! I was wondering if the Higgs field might tie into dark matter somehow
[15:40] #knownspace> NickE: Still not clear on the idea of the Higgs field
[15:41] #knownspace> Larry: Stem cells from the girl's marrow were used to line a (lifeless) tube that had been a vein.
[15:41] #knownspace> NickE: but lots of interesting ideas now they've found something in teh right place thats new
[15:41] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: THey've been looking for that futzy boson for like 40 years now
[15:42] #knownspace> NickE: so teh cells became epithelial or fully differentiated into the various layers?
[15:42] #knownspace> Larry: There's no certainty re that Higgs particle.
[15:42] #knownspace> Larry: about the vein, I know little more than what I said. Find the article.
[15:43] #knownspace> NickE: I know it's been a long search. Also fairly sure that it's nowhere near the end of teh search fo what the frell is going on at that level
[15:43] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: If they can create veins.... So much for organ leggars! :o)
[15:43] #knownspace> NickE: (will search)
[15:44] #knownspace> Larry: Organleggers don't disappear if the line for stem cell transplants is too long...as with Obamacare.
[15:44] sean has joined #knownspace
[15:44] #knownspace> iFred: Organ Leggers will deal in the stem cells
[15:44] #knownspace> ronn: Larry> There's no certainty re that Higgs particle.
[15:44] #knownspace> ronn: Which is why I haven't gotten all worked up about this week's announcement.
[15:45] #knownspace> SeanS: been helping a friend move his aunt.
[15:45] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: To stave off disappointment? :o)
[15:46] #knownspace> ronn: Sean: Did she at least come with wheels?
[15:46] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: *rim shot*
[15:46] #knownspace> NickE: ah, dead donor vein provided inert tissue scaffold, sucessfully populated by girl's own cells and transplaned in. Cells grown in lab conditions prior to transplant
[15:46] #knownspace> SeanS: the Uhaul came with wheels and lots of really heavy stuff inside. ;) only about 102 degrees here as well.
[15:47] #knownspace> NickE: interesting and not too surprising development (done with trachea already)
[15:47] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Sean: That doesnt sound like much fun....
[15:47] #knownspace> iFred: Chilly
[15:47] #knownspace> NickE: with 3D printing tech able to pattern suitable inert scaffolds, may not be limited to using human base material
[15:48] #knownspace> ronn: Louis: Just figure we haven't heard the last about it. Might even turn out that what they found is something else -- which from a scientific POV would be even more interesting than if it's what they predicted . . .
[15:48] #knownspace> NickE: `not quite autodoc level, but early day perhaps?
[15:49] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: I agree; like finding out expansion is accelerating....
[15:49] #knownspace> NickE: totally personalised treatment becoming a real possibility/actuality in some cases
[15:50] #knownspace> ronn: yep
[15:50] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Any thoughts on why we have yet to hear from any ET's....?
[15:51] #knownspace> Larry: Too many answers, Louis.
[15:51] #knownspace> NickE: well how long does it take an answerphone message to return "sorry, but we're all out at the moment..."
[15:51] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I've been thinking the universe may be too young...
[15:51] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: Yeah, there are lots of possible answers
[15:51] #knownspace> dmac44: David Brin's latest book Existence is about one.
[15:52] #knownspace> NickE: is it actually out yet? Not read any Brin for a while
[15:52] #knownspace> Larry: Yeah. We know it took 13.7 billions of years to get us. Maybe we're the first.
[15:52] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: That's a thought that's like a splinter in my brain
[15:52] #knownspace> NickE: being first is scary...what the hell wil we leave behind?
[15:52] #knownspace> NickE: if anything
[15:52] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: Not much I think; were at the tipping point
[15:53] #knownspace> Larry: Usual assumption is that we're in the middle of anything...but Earth seems to be at the low end for mass of a habitable (rocky, water, oxygen) world.
[15:53] #knownspace> NickE: like to think not personally, but dodgy times no doubt
[15:53] #knownspace> NickE: yeah, we don't know near enough about what's "normal" re planets
[15:53] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: There's simply too many people and too little organization
[15:54] #knownspace> dmac44: I still like the double planet theory (Earth-Moon system) and the low probability of it.
[15:54] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: There are a lot of planets out there... :o)
[15:55] #knownspace> dmac44: Sure, so some will happen. But how many?
[15:55] #knownspace> NickE: indeed and discovery is going fast and better
[15:56] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: That's a good question. Also: we dont have any real idea how many moons of larger planets might be earthlike
[15:56] #knownspace> NickE: the sheer number of exoplanets now known is amazing given that it was not that long ago that the first was confirmed (-97?)
[15:56] #knownspace> Larry: so many stories have first contact happening NOW. The odds of that go way down...unless they're tracking radio waves.
[15:58] #knownspace> NickE: would 1st contact now be a good thing? (guess tahts what the stories are about)
[15:58] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: Its just that I cant help thinking that there should at least be signals from point sources all over the galaxy....
[15:58] #knownspace> dmac44: It's also taken several mass extinctions to get to us. It seems to me that evolution favors size as apex predators instead of intelligence.
[15:58] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: I think so; it might sober us up a bit
[15:58] #knownspace> NickE: it might at that
[15:59] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: That's a good point: Think about how many "trials"...how many species existed before things accidently made *us*
[16:00] #knownspace> NickE: in fact given that some form of remote contact is probably more likely rather than a full on invasion, it could very well be a goo thing
[16:00] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I've read that life may have started on earth about 6 different times before being obliterated by impacts...
[16:00] #knownspace> Larry: I'm 84. My window is closing re first contact.
[16:00] #knownspace> NickE: I'd love to see proof of life elsewhere
[16:00] #knownspace> Larry: Sorry. I'm 74, and jumping the gun here.
[16:00] #knownspace> NickE: phew!
[16:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: wow thats a hell of a typo :o)
[16:01] #knownspace> NickE: heh
[16:01] #knownspace> Jim: :-)
[16:01] #knownspace> ronn: Larry, you're just feeling old today . . .
[16:01] #knownspace> NickE: even life elewhere in this solar system would be terrifically exciting news
[16:01] #knownspace> NickE: no matter how "simple"
[16:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: NickE: Please leave New Jersey out of this
[16:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ( joke )
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: <snort>
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: figured
[16:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: :oD
[16:02] #knownspace> ronn: Or as many wiseakers have said, finding intelligent life on this world would be exciting . . .
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: too tru
[16:02] #knownspace> NickE: sadly
[16:03] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: Its funnier if you say it wistfully...
[16:05] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Does it bother anyone else that there's like 100 billion stars in the galaxy....they're finding planets are common....and there are no signals?
[16:05] #knownspace> Larry: First message: "Stop spyingt on us!"
[16:06] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: heh
[16:06] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I'd like to watch an ET's version of "Gilligan's Island"
[16:06] #knownspace> NickE: :-)
[16:06] EML has joined #knownspace
[16:06] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Ed
[16:06] #knownspace> EML: Hi guys.
[16:06] #knownspace> Larry: would you really?
[16:07] #knownspace> Larry: Hi, Ed.
[16:07] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: How would I know what the show was even about? :o)
[16:07] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Salutations, Ed
[16:08] #knownspace> EML: what's on the table today?
[16:08] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: Higgs bosons (maybe), stem cells, and ET's so far
[16:08] #knownspace> EML: All good :-)
[16:08] #knownspace> Larry: Contact with aliens is on the table. Where are they?
[16:09] #knownspace> EML: The Eerie Silence.
[16:09] #knownspace> Jim: Maybe they are all 100 light years from earth.
[16:09] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: What I've been thinking is that we've been radiating unintentional radio for about a hundred years now....
[16:10] #knownspace> EML: Shoulda added the author's name. The Eerie Silence, by Paul Davies. Good book.
[16:10] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Jim: The signals may have left a long time ago from a planet that's far enough away so that the signals begin to reach us now
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: "Simply send 6 x 10^50 atoms of Hydrogen to the Star
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: System at the top of the list, cross off that star system,
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: then put your Star System at the bottom of the list and send
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: it to 100 other Star Systems. Within one-tenth of a Galactic
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: Rotation you will receive enough hydrogen to power your
[16:11] #knownspace> ronn: civilization until entropy reaches maximum! IT REALLY WORKS!"
[16:12] #knownspace> EML: Powerful rdaio leakage may be a short-term phenom ... except for radar, Earth is getting quieter as we move to fiberoptics.
[16:12] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: A galactic pyramid scheme....
[16:12] #knownspace> Jim: Louis_Wu, after 100 light years, any conceivable radio signal would be undetectable.
[16:15] #knownspace> EML: Radio signals will be recognizably non-natural long after the signals aren't intelligible. (It's a matter of frequency distribution.)
[16:15] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: You're saying that we have a very short radio "window" as a civilization utilizes better tech....?
[16:15] #knownspace> NickE: quite possibly
[16:16] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: yes, that's my point. (Not mine originally, but one I'm parroting.)
[16:17] #knownspace> EML: Unless, of course, someone *wants* to signal to other stars. That takes major gear and lots of power. Read: it's expensive.
[16:17] #knownspace> dmac44: But then shouldn't we be able to see their works? Assuming they go in for chnaging their stellar environment.
[16:18] #knownspace> EML: dmac: some planetary-engineering projects woudl be visibly from long distances (say, the black-body radiation of a dyson sphere).
[16:19] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: A ringworld would be harder to spot I think :o)
[16:19] #knownspace> dmac44: I'm also thinking that fiber optic cable works for planet based civilizations but once you get out to space electromagnetic radiation is still used.
[16:20] #knownspace> ronn: (Irony: Phone rang and I had to erase a recorded telemarketing message.)
[16:20] #knownspace> Larry: Ringworld not in the same plane as Sol: hard to spot. In the plane: harder yet. We couldn't see the star.
[16:20] #knownspace> EML: dmac44: for interstellar distances, you'll want as focused a beam as possible (i.e., lasers), not RF. You can look for laser beams, but aren't likely to see any not meant for you.
[16:20] #knownspace> NickE: that makes sense, lasers too of course, but coherent light detected from another star, that sounds like...oh wait :0
[16:20] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: So maybe there arent any old enough civilizations to be emiting radio long enough...? UGH....Larry is right; there are too many answers
[16:21] #knownspace> ronn: NickE: Eta Carinae? ;)
[16:21] #knownspace> dmac44: and if they're all true .....
[16:21] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Larry: The idea of smaller rings orbiting the star ( no need for shadow squares)....harder still
[16:21] #knownspace> NickE: I was thinking Mote actually
[16:21] #knownspace> ronn: I know . . .
[16:22] #knownspace> NickE: Bank's Orbitals
[16:23] #knownspace> dmac44: EML: I was thinking about your point of not information but frequency distribution detection.
[16:24] #knownspace> EML: and still thinking :-)
[16:25] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: So the expanding radio is probably a *shell*, versus a sphere.... that cuts the probabilty of interception down quite a bit
[16:25] #knownspace> NickE: hmm, yeah
[16:26] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Still, there shoud be lots of expanding shells....
[16:26] #knownspace> dmac44: and the distance that is detectable is still limited.
[16:26] #knownspace> ronn: Point is, there ARE extant natural lasers/masers in space. (Eta Car gives off UV laser radiation at certain points in its activity cycle: current best hypothesis is that not only is it a very massive star, but is binary, and when the two stars are at closest approach, interesting things happen -- even more interesting than usual . . . ) Hydroxyl (OH) masers (radio wavelengths) seem to be...
[16:26] #knownspace> ronn: ...fairly common from protostars.
[16:26] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: a thinner shell if your'e trying to extract meaning than only trying to detect artificiality.
[16:27] #knownspace> EML: As to big-time RF beams (but not SETI), might I venture a commercial announcement?
[16:27] #knownspace> Jim: Ronn, tell us more about natural lasers and masers.
[16:28] #knownspace> Jim: SPAM away.
[16:29] #knownspace> NickE: (Ronn, yeah, I'd forgotten about Eta Corinae)
[16:29] #knownspace> Larry: EML: your book or ours? This crew knows of FATE, wonders if it's out yet.
[16:30] #knownspace> NickE: (Think it's due out in October??)
[16:30] #knownspace> Jim: In other news, I am on the short list for a 1 year appointment at Youngstown State University.
[16:30] #knownspace> NickE: on amazon for pre order
[16:31] #knownspace> EML: Coming July 17 … Energized. The energy crisis to make you nostalgic for the Deepwater Horizon blowout, the Arab Spring oil-supply disruptions, and four-buck gas. Complete with solar-power satellites and gigawatt maser beams.
[16:31] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Jim: Congrats! :o)
[16:31] #knownspace> Jim: thanks
[16:31] #knownspace> EML: Jim: way cool.
[16:32] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: That's what I meant earlier; we're at a tipping point and there's no organization
[16:32] #knownspace> Larry: Jim: Goody!
[16:33] #knownspace> dmac44: So, if gig-watt maser beams are possible, at some point they'd be used to power space ships. And there'd be many of them. Wouldn't that be detectable over very long distances?
[16:33] #knownspace> EML: http://www.edwardmlerner.com/sample-page/list-of-books/#Energized (for the curious)
[16:34] #knownspace> dmac44: Congrats Jim.
[16:34] #knownspace> ronn: Jim: Probably take too long, esp. in chat, and I don't have any links off the top of my head. Try Googling things like "Eta Carinae laser" or "protostar maser" and you'll probably turn up something . . . :)
[16:35] #knownspace> Larry: dmac44: long distances, sure, but not in most directions.
[16:35] #knownspace> EML: dmac44: yes, gigawatt masers would be detectable over long distances -- if they're pointed right at you. A nice thing about RF is it can be omni directional.
[16:36] #knownspace> ronn: Jim, re job: How long until you hear something for sure?
[16:36] #knownspace> Jim: I will interview with them in person in a two or three weeks. I will know sometime after that.
[16:37] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: An untouchable water monopoly...? :o)
[16:37] #knownspace> EML: Larry: were you asking if Fate is out? Not till August 21.
[16:37] #knownspace> dmac44: I agree not in most directions but it may be something to look for since the right frequency would go far.
[16:37] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: I lost the thread I guess. Water monopoly?
[16:38] #knownspace> Jim: Could a gigawatt maser be used as a weapon?
[16:39] #knownspace> EML: Jim: absolutely (a factor in Energized).
[16:39] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I think a gigawatt anything could be used as a weapon at close range...
[16:39] #knownspace> dmac44: Water monopoly/energy monopoly the same basic thing?
[16:40] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: dmac: For a civilization like that I'd say "yes"
[16:40] #knownspace> Jim: In a sense that would be bad news because countries would fear who ever had the orbital gigawatt power delivery system.
[16:41] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: for some reason, I'm seeing some of your comments as if in a separate chat, not interleaved. Weird.
[16:41] #knownspace> EML: Jim: all in the book :-)
[16:42] #knownspace> Jim: OK
[16:42] #knownspace> EML: Which I'll now stop flacking ...
[16:45] Louis_Wu has joined #knownspace
[16:45] #knownspace> EML: So ... the Higgs boson. Basic happiness at the find, or somethign more?
[16:46] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ....walks off the stepping disk
[16:47] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I think incredulity is the main sentiment re higgs
[16:48] #knownspace> NickE: it is some weird ass shit to be sure
[16:48] #knownspace> ronn: patiently awaiting further information . . .
[16:48] #knownspace> EML: Fair enough. I'd sure like to know more.
[16:49] Hippy has joined #knownspace
[16:49] #knownspace> Jim: Hippy!!!
[16:49] #knownspace> NickE: Hi Darren
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, JUm
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, Nick
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, everyone
[16:49] #knownspace> EML: Yo, Hippy.
[16:49] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Salutations, Hippy!
[16:49] #knownspace> Hippy: Apologies for being late, the spirit is willin but the flesh is riddled with virus. . .
[16:49] #knownspace> NickE: bummer
[16:49] #knownspace> NickE: and early too fopr you
[16:50] #knownspace> Hippy: Yep. I wish I was one of the Boys from 'World out of Time', so I could work out a quick way of dying
[16:50] #knownspace> Hippy: Anyway, how is everyone?
[16:51] #knownspace> Larry: better than that.
[16:51] #knownspace> Hippy: No, Nick, I should've been here by noon Pacific time, but as I say, rhinovirus and all that. . .
[16:52] #knownspace> dmac44: Hi Hippy.
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: Glad to hear it, Larry
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: Hi, Dmac
[16:52] #knownspace> NickE: thought it was early morning where you are?
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: Is there no topic?
[16:52] #knownspace> NickE: ETs, lack of, Higgs
[16:52] #knownspace> Hippy: It is, Nick, but I'm usually on channel by 5 AM my time, not nearly 7
[16:53] #knownspace> Larry: Higgs boson, Hippy.
[16:53] #knownspace> NickE: still early though :-)
[16:53] #knownspace> Hippy: I thought Higgs would come up. All I can comment about is how glad I am that they found it
[16:53] #knownspace> EML: It was careless ever to have lost it.
[16:54] #knownspace> NickE: :-)
[16:54] #knownspace> Hippy: Nice, one, Ed. I was going to ask that, if it's the God particle, what are its thoughts on abortion?
[16:54] #knownspace> Hippy: And gay marriage
[16:54] #knownspace> dmac44: lol
[16:54] #knownspace> Jim: How could one make a Higgs Boson field generator?
[16:55] #knownspace> Hippy: And does one neceddarily lead to the other?
[16:55] #knownspace> Jim: :-o
[16:55] #knownspace> dmac44: or an anti-Higgs field generator.
[16:55] #knownspace> EML: A weighty matter?
[16:57] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ha!
[16:57] #knownspace> Jim: Isaac Asimov had W field generators that increased the rate of radioactivity in the earth's crust.
[16:57] #knownspace> dmac44: ... to reduce the intertia matter feels.
[16:57] #knownspace> Jim: I suppose that would be anti-W field generators
[16:58] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Holy #$@%....are you saying that a higgs neutralizer would function as an inertial damping system....?
[16:58] #knownspace> EML: an M field, then?
[16:59] #knownspace> Hippy: You're on fire today, Ed
[17:00] #knownspace> EML: Thanks, Hippy. Though as it's 95 degrees here, I have a head start.
[17:00] #knownspace> EML: scratch that. IT's up to 100.
[17:00] #knownspace> Hippy: 60 higher than here. My head is the only thing stopping the approaching Ice Age
[17:01] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: inertia was something that bothered me about the swarms of Pak in Destroyer
[17:01] #knownspace> Jim: Louis_Wu, please explain.
[17:02] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I kept picturing Conquistadors riding wild plasma horses ( that crest ridge...)
[17:02] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: :-)
[17:03] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Jim: The pak made sudden course changes after building up velocity
[17:03] #knownspace> Jim: OK'
[17:04] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I remember something about needing something like 14 percent of light before a ramscoop even functions....
[17:04] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: WOuldn't the pak spend a few weeks plastered to a wall when turning?
[17:05] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ok...if you gimbal the life section... a few weeks plastered to the floor? :o)
[17:05] #knownspace> EML: Louis_Wu: Changes yes, but no intent to ignore inertia. No right-angled turns :-)
[17:05] #knownspace> dmac44: Plaster of Pak? :)
[17:05] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: But you're accelerating all through a turn...
[17:07] #knownspace> EML: orthogonal force vectors. Accelerate all you want to (say) the left ... it doesn't change your accumulated velocity forward.
[17:09] #knownspace> EML: Velocity vectors add, too. In Destroyer, the scared-off Pak fleets would ooze to the galactic south while continuing to speed from the galactic core.
[17:09] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: I'm dense....if you change the ship's direction, wouldn't your body (and anything loose in the cabin) try to keep going straight ?
[17:10] #knownspace> ronn: I think the confusion is that you have to choose a reference frame: that of the external universe or that inside the ship . . .
[17:10] #knownspace> EML: When you go into a curve, your'e pressed to the side: centripetal force. It'll apply to spaceships as well as carnival rides.
[17:11] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I dont think I'd want to be on a ship that makes a week long turn....
[17:11] #knownspace> EML: All reasons for affirming the Pak fleet change in course was gradual (just as the Fleet of Worlds course change to avoid the Gw'oth was gradual).
[17:12] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ed: Yes, that's true. I remember the sped up video to see if the pak were turning
[17:14] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: ronn: Frame of reference just gives the illusion of centrifugal force
[17:15] #knownspace> EML: This is one of those cases where a picture (vector addition diagram) is worth a thousand words.
[17:16] #knownspace> ronn: Louis: Yes. It seemed as if the confusion earlier was that one side was using the internal frame and the other the external one.
[17:16] #knownspace> ronn: EML: Absolutely!
[17:17] #knownspace> EML: I've been advised to prep for dinner (setting aside that I'm always ready).
[17:17] #knownspace> Larry: I need to drop out. LASFS is holding a memorial for Ray Bradbury, started 15 minutes ago.
[17:17] #knownspace> Jim: bye Larry
[17:17] #knownspace> EML: Bye, Larry. Bye, all.
[17:17] #knownspace> Hippy: A good cause, Larry
[17:17] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Ok....great talking to you fellows
[17:17] #knownspace> ronn: Bye, Larry!
[17:17] #knownspace> Hippy: 'Bye, Larry. See you at LibertyCon, if I live. . .
[17:18] #knownspace> ronn: Bye, Ed!
[17:18] #knownspace> Hippy: You see? They are the same person
[17:18] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Hahaha
[17:18] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Hippy: That's an interesting hypothesis
[17:18] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Remember "Singularities make me nervous"....?
[17:19] #knownspace> Hippy: Have we ever seen them together?
[17:21] #knownspace> NickE: drat, missed them, never mind, nice to see them both in again
[17:22] #knownspace> Hippy: 'Both' being a figurative term
[17:23] #knownspace> NickE: Well yes, still not compeletly satisfied on that point :-)
[17:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Let's say that Larry has a look at his old works, old assumptions therein, and wants to retrofit them. He can't do it, so he invents 'Ed Lerner' to do it for him. Then he mistakenly books both of them to the same convention
[17:23] #knownspace> NickE: as Fred showed, easy to login twice :-)
[17:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Now he needs an actor to play 'Ed Lernet'. But he can say that Ed doesn't turn up bercvause he's died
[17:23] #knownspace> NickE: brb
[17:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Only now he needs a body to be Ed Lerner's body. Who does he get?
[17:24] #knownspace> dmac44: Someone who is deathly sick? :)
[17:24] #knownspace> Hippy: Eek!
[17:24] #knownspace> dmac44: Be careful Hippy ...
[17:24] #knownspace> ronn: . . . so then he has to find a ghost writer.
[17:24] #knownspace> Hippy: LOL, ronn
[17:25] #knownspace> Hippy: Hang on, I've got to answer the door. . .
[17:25] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Oh no...they're gonna off Hippy before he uncovers the whole plot!
[17:25] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: Dont answer the door!
[17:25] #knownspace> dmac44: Careful, if you open the door and see a long tunnel with a light at the end of it ....
[17:26] #knownspace> dmac44: Run!
[17:26] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: "Sarah Connuh..?"
[17:26] #knownspace> Hippy: Well, let's asy he finds a loyal but terminally ill fan - then the fan changes his mind. The fan is already Ed Lerner, but if he kills Larry Niven he can pretend that he was larry all along, invented by. . .Jerry Pournelle, let's say
[17:27] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: This is getting convoluted
[17:27] #knownspace> dmac44: Send in the clones ...
[17:27] #knownspace> Hippy: In any case, only one writer could produce all that output of the three of them - Isaac Asimov
[17:27] #knownspace> ronn: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive . . . "
[17:28] #knownspace> dmac44: Hippy: He's not writing much any more.
[17:28] #knownspace> Hippy: Exactly!
[17:28] #knownspace> Hippy: How can he? Up until recently he was Ray Bradbury, too!
[17:28] #knownspace> ronn: Wasn't that the pen name of Arthur C. Clarke?
[17:29] #knownspace> Hippy: As were so many others
[17:29] #knownspace> Hippy: In the end, they're all that bloke at the end of 'Achille's Choice'
[17:30] #knownspace> ronn: Not the man behind the curtain?
[17:30] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: I suspect that they're *all* manifestations of H.G. Wells, as "The Time Machine" wasn't a story at all, but the world's first blog....
[17:30] #knownspace> Hippy: Ignore the man behind the curtain!
[17:30] #knownspace> dmac44: Are we back to Hippy again (the Wizard of Oz)?
[17:30] #knownspace> ronn: What are the little cups of mercury at the bottom of barometers known as?
[17:31] #knownspace> Hippy: Reservoirs?
[17:31] #knownspace> ronn: Hg wells.
[17:31] #knownspace> Louis_Wu: hahaha
[17:31] #knownspace> dmac44: lol
[17:31] #knownspace> Hippy: Bloody hell. Should've seen that coming :)
[17:32] #knownspace> Jim: I wonder if the Taliban has the death penalty for punsters.
[17:32] #knownspace> Hippy: That's what killed Asimov
[17:33] #knownspace> ronn: A hitch in time?
[17:33] #knownspace> Hippy: Yes! Saves Stein! I've bgeen trying to think of that for a couple of months!
[17:34] #knownspace> ronn: :)
[17:37] #knownspace> dmac44: I'm taking off. See you all next month.
[17:37] #knownspace> Hippy: Okay, dmac, see you then
[17:37] #knownspace> Jim: bye
[17:40] #knownspace> Hippy: Is Louis_Wu Lensman in disguise?
[17:42] #knownspace> Jim: I don't know.
[17:45] #knownspace> Hippy: It's just surprising to not see Lens here
[17:46] #knownspace> Hippy: and bless whatever subatomic particle invented tea. I feel almost human again
[17:50] #knownspace> ronn: The T meson?
[17:51] #knownspace> Hippy: As good a candidate as any. Bless you, 'T' meson
[17:53] #knownspace> Jim: Actually, it was the P(ee) meson that invented tea.
[17:54] #knownspace> Hippy: Spoken like a loyal American. Now run off to Boston and throw some in the sea
[17:55] #knownspace> Hippy: I do like coffee as well, but I'm too ill to go through the rigmarole of cofee making
[17:55] #knownspace> ronn: That would be CP (sea-pee) non-conservation . . .
[17:55] #knownspace> Hippy: And it's too, too cold for a beer
[17:56] #knownspace> Hippy: What was the Taliban's number again?
[17:56] #knownspace> Jim: How cold could it be?
[17:56] #knownspace> Hippy: Well, it's above freezing, barely, but compared to US climates it's pretty warm I suppose. It rarely snows here
[17:57] #knownspace> ronn: Probably even more rarely snows both there and here at the same time . . .
[17:58] #knownspace> Hippy: Very true.
[17:59] #knownspace> Jim: Hippy are you in Tasmania?
[17:59] #knownspace> Hippy: Which reminds me of 'One Face'. It struck me that as the restart the Earth's roation, they can pick their own axial tilt, and thus control their seasons
[17:59] #knownspace> Hippy: Victoria, Jim
[18:00] #knownspace> ronn: Why, are you suggesting he's a devil?
[18:01] #knownspace> Hippy: I will admit to being mildly marsupial, but I'm working on it :)
[18:02] #knownspace> ronn: At least it would be hard to lose things in your pocket . . .
[18:03] #knownspace> Hippy: True. . .but it does make paper money a problem
[18:04] #knownspace> Hippy: Nobody wants a mucusy five dollar bill for a tip
[18:05] #knownspace> ronn: Hopefully that's not what you plan to pay your doctor with . . .
[18:07] #knownspace> Hippy: The great thing about being a marsupial is you don't need much in the way of OB GYN
[18:07] #knownspace> Jim: In South Australia I was bornHeave away. Haul away!South Australia round Cape HornAnd we're bound for South AustraliaHaul away you rolling kingHeave away! Haul away!All the way you'll hear me singAnd we're bound for South AustraliaAs I walked out one morning fairHeave away! Haul away!It's there I met Miss Nancy BlairAnd we're bound for South AustraliaThere ain't but one thing that grieves my mindHeave away! Haul away!It's to leav
[18:07] #knownspace> Jim: that was not a smart move
[18:08] #knownspace> ronn: And you're never disappointed when your kids pick your pocket.
[18:08] #knownspace> Hippy: I remember that song from primary school
[18:09] #knownspace> Hippy: There's no umbilical ties, either
[18:09] #knownspace> Jim: it is popular in the US among the celtic folk people
[18:11] #knownspace> Hippy: I have just remembered that South Australia is the only State that didn't have a penal colony, so I wonder how accurate that song actually is
[18:16] #knownspace> Hippy: Don't everyone talk at once
[18:22] #knownspace> SeanS: hey hippy.... I walked over the hill and drank some beer with friends on the river.
[18:22] #knownspace> Jim: I have gotta go; I will see you all next month.
[18:26] #knownspace> Hippy: G'day, Sean. I wssh it was warm enough for that, but I suppose I did have a few last night so that's nearly as good
[18:28] #knownspace> SeanS: .weather 40601
[18:28] #knownspace> Outsider: Clear ¤, 104.0? (40?), 29.91in (1010mb), Light air 3kt (?) - KLOU 21:53Z
[18:29] #knownspace> SeanS: little toasty today
[18:29] #knownspace> Hippy: According to my handy Windows gadget, it's 35F here
[18:30] #knownspace> SeanS: warm weather clothes when you head this way
[18:30] #knownspace> Hippy: Absolutely!
[18:31] #knownspace> SeanS: going to get a phone in a few days. cell that is. for use at the con
[18:31] #knownspace> Hippy: Ah, good plan
[18:32] #knownspace> Hippy: It was suggested that I get one just for US use, but is it worth it for just one month?
[18:32] #knownspace> SeanS: Like I said, I should be rolling into chattanooga about the time you clear baggage. do you want me to just pick you up at the airport?
[18:32] #knownspace> Hippy: That would be fantastic if you could
[18:34] #knownspace> SeanS: email me your itinerary so i can try to be as close to time as possible.
[18:34] #knownspace> Hippy: No worries
[18:34] #knownspace> Hippy: The arrival time is 10:25AM on the 20th
[18:34] #knownspace> Hippy: I forget the flight number
[18:34] #knownspace> NickE: <wishing he could share beers with Sean and Hippy>
[18:35] #knownspace> Hippy: It'll happen, Nick
[18:35] #knownspace> SeanS: and dan and larry
[18:35] #knownspace> NickE: that too
[18:35] #knownspace> NickE: LibertyCon I guess
[18:36] #knownspace> SeanS: yep
[18:36] #knownspace> Hippy: It sould've happened in August, but for a problem with the Lotto draw last week
[18:36] #knownspace> NickE: I expect plenty of stories!
[18:37] #knownspace> Hippy: That'll mean I have to stay sober enough to remember them!
[18:37] #knownspace> SeanS: i hope lots of stories and pictures
[18:38] #knownspace> NickE: heh
[18:39] #knownspace> NickE: mighty envious. Won't be getting to Atlanta this year (there was a possibility of a work related trip at one point this year)
[18:42] #knownspace> NickE: well, time for bed said Zebedee
[18:42] #knownspace> SeanS: its chattanooga... really only about an hour drive or so from atlanta. We will work something out I am sure
[18:44] #knownspace> NickE: may get toe do Dragon Con again one day I'm hoping, but have other travel plan ideas that will take priority financially
[18:46] #knownspace> NickE: (50th BD and 25th wedding anniversary in 2014)
[18:46] #knownspace> SeanS: Dan goes to dragon con... let me go to liberty con and see if I can be tempted to another con. I am sure I can. I expect to have an incredible amount of fun.
[18:47] #knownspace> NickE: Winning lottery would make things sooo much easier :-)
[18:47] #knownspace> Akiraa: wasn't there a chattanooga near toronto?
[18:47] #knownspace> SeanS: if i had a lottery win, i would just take dad's boat everywhere.
[18:47] #knownspace> NickE: D*C was of teh awesome and not just because we did a live show
[18:48] #knownspace> SeanS: not sure of chattanooga near toronto
[18:48] #knownspace> Akiraa: you'd become a yachtie? (people who live on boats and travel place to place)
[18:48] #knownspace> SeanS: absolutely
[18:48] #knownspace> NickE: Hoping that London wins the 2014 World Con bid
[18:49] #knownspace> NickE: cos I'd do that definietly
[18:49] #knownspace> SeanS: with several friends that i have never met sure to attend, it would be hard to say no to worldcon
[18:50] #knownspace> NickE: (2005 in Glasgow was excellent - inc lunch with Brenda Cooper and Tim from teh list)
[18:50] #knownspace> NickE: Oh and an hour chatting to Terry Pratchett in the bar - wish oh wish I could remember that conversation!
[18:50] #knownspace> SeanS: thats basically what i am looking forward to in chattanooga
[18:51] #knownspace> NickE: I'm sure it will be that good Sean
[18:51] #knownspace> SeanS: it will be my first time
[18:51] #knownspace> NickE: 2005 was my first SF con and i I swear, it felt like coming home
[18:52] #knownspace> SeanS: a SMOF and newbie in the same convention.
[18:52] #knownspace> NickE: Fallen Angels was actuallty good prep reading
[18:52] #knownspace> ronn: NickE> Oh and an hour chatting to Terry Pratchett in the bar - wish oh wish I could remember that conversation!
[18:52] #knownspace> ronn: Ouch!
[18:53] #knownspace> NickE: well, I'd had about 5 pints by that point and Pterry was only on 2, so he was witty and i was probably babbling :-)
[18:53] #knownspace> SeanS: i have decided to try to stay light on the beer intake
[18:54] #knownspace> ronn: I meant it sounded ironic in light of his health issues . . .
[18:54] #knownspace> NickE: well yeah, taht was somtime befroe he was aware of teh embuggerance
[18:55] #knownspace> NickE: I liek the guy/ Met him prior to that at a school talk (I was teaching then). Genuinely nice intelligent bloke
[18:55] #knownspace> NickE: greatly respect teh way he is handling the situation
[18:56] #knownspace> SeanS: I would like to meet spider at some point but really excited to meet larry in a couple of weeks.
[18:58] #knownspace> SeanS: and yes, i know you were talking about pratchett.
[19:05] #knownspace> SeanS: .weather 40601
[19:05] #knownspace> Outsider: Clear ¤, 102.2? (39?), 29.90in (1009mb), Light breeze 4kt (?) - KLOU 22:53Z
[19:06] #knownspace> NickE: sorry about that, father in law came in to pick up teh dog
[19:06] #knownspace> SeanS: no worries
[19:07] #knownspace> NickE: blearh. Think I'm going to return that Irish Whiskey tomorrow for a refund, tastes like a corked wine!
[19:08] #knownspace> NickE: (and I've had that brand before and its been fine)
[19:08] #knownspace> NickE: lingering aftertaste of rubber
[19:08] #knownspace> SeanS: I really wish you could be there nick.
[19:08] #knownspace> NickE: me too
[19:10] #knownspace> NickE: the nearest I'll get to LibertyCon anytime soon is the steampunk vibe of the latest Rush album and the tour next year
[19:10] #knownspace> NickE: (the last one was going that way with teh stage design, very cool)
[19:11] #knownspace> NickE: WB
[19:12] #knownspace> SeanS: like I said... this is my first. hoping Dan and Hippy will show me the good shit.
[19:12] #knownspace> NickE: I'm sure they will, you lucky bugger
[19:13] #knownspace> SeanS: Dan and Lynn promise so.
[19:14] #knownspace> SeanS: hence the need for the cell phone to hook up with them immediately
[19:14] #knownspace> NickE: (random aside, Dan's response to some of the latest list crap was a perfect example of why I'm always happy to read what he has to say and why I consider him a friend and would love to share a beer)
[19:15] #knownspace> SeanS: I am looking forward to meeting them like you would not believe.
[19:15] #knownspace> Hippy: Me, too
[19:16] #knownspace> SeanS: just a couple of weeks to go. ;)
[19:17] #knownspace> Hippy: Yep!
[19:17] #knownspace> Hippy: I shall put in an extra special effort to stay off the sauce, too
[19:17] #knownspace> NickE: yeah alright, rub it in (as the actress said to the bishop)
[19:18] #knownspace> Hippy: I'm sure London will win the 2014 bid, so I will make the effort to attend if its there
[19:18] #knownspace> NickE: That. Would be very cool.
[19:18] #knownspace> ronn: Back from AFK (away feeding kitties).
[19:18] #knownspace> SeanS: sorry nick... I wish you and fred, and ronn and mark could all be there.
[19:18] #knownspace> NickE: totally
[19:19] #knownspace> Hippy: We could start ListCon, and get everyone to a mutually convenient location
[19:19] #knownspace> NickE: that would be some achievement
[19:19] #knownspace> NickE: but I'd go for it if possible
[19:20] #knownspace> Hippy: Yes. Damn this lack of teleportation!
[19:20] #knownspace> SeanS: heh
[19:20] #knownspace> NickE: all for the lack of a tenth star coin...oh and the tech
[19:20] #knownspace> Hippy: LOL!
[19:21] #knownspace> ronn: So is a tenth star equivalent to a chocolate dollar?
[19:22] #knownspace> SeanS: or a reeces cup mini?
[19:23] #knownspace> Hippy: Different universes, ronn, but I like the idea of some sort of foreign exchange
[19:23] #knownspace> ronn: A dollar for a mini Reese's cup is like a buccaneer.
[19:23] #knownspace> ronn: Yeah, I know . . .
[19:24] #knownspace> Hippy: In the Ringworld, it says a star is equivalent in bying power to 10 US dollars, so a tenth-star would be 1 US dollar
[19:24] #knownspace> Hippy: In the Ringworld game , I mean
[19:24] #knownspace> NickE: of course
[19:25] #knownspace> ronn: And we all know how little 1 US dollar is worth . . .
[19:25] #knownspace> NickE: damn the time. I have to go to bed...like I said at least 20 minutes ago
[19:25] #knownspace> SeanS: heh
[19:25] #knownspace> Hippy: 97.9 cents Australian. Woo hoo!
[19:25] #knownspace> SeanS: sorry to tempt your presence
[19:27] #knownspace> NickE: fun as always, may not manage next month due to a clinical trial going on
[19:27] #knownspace> NickE: night
[19:27] #knownspace> Hippy: Nor me, because of weird IRc behaviour in Florida
[19:27] #knownspace> SeanS: gotcha... hopefully i will have a lot of con strories
[19:27] #knownspace> Hippy: Nighty-night, Nick
[19:28] #knownspace> ronn: I managed to get out of bed for this . . . which I was sorely doubting I'd feel like doing when it was getting light outside a few hours earlier . . .
[19:28] #knownspace> NickE: night mates
[19:28] #knownspace> ronn: 'Night, Nick!
[19:28] #knownspace> Hippy: I thoughyt you were in the US, ronn
[19:28] #knownspace> SeanS: ronn...you feeling bad?
[19:29] #knownspace> ronn: Just the usual, plus the aftermath of going out for a couple of hours yesterday to run some errands (as I mentioned on the list).
[19:30] #knownspace> SeanS: I am not getting list mail.
[19:31] #knownspace> ronn: Oh, well. I only mentioned it in passing, anyway.
[19:31] #knownspace> SeanS: so whats up?
[19:32] #knownspace> Hippy: Yes, this is a bit concerning
[19:38] #knownspace> ronn: Was that to me?
[19:38] #knownspace> ronn: Chronic fatigue syndrome since a spell of "bronchitis" @ Thanksgiving of 81. Add in "chronic bronchitis" because it comes back whenever I do too much (measured by current standards, not old ones).
[19:43] #knownspace> Hippy: Oh, no
[19:51] #knownspace> ronn: I am slowing down, so I think I'll call it a day and get some rest. Talk to all of you later!
[19:51] #knownspace> Hippy: 'Bye, ronn. Thanks for chatting!
[19:51] #knownspace> Hippy: See you next month, all being well :)
[19:53] #knownspace> Hippy: Which is a good reason to head off and get some breakfast, I think
[19:53] #knownspace> Hippy: See you in August, everyone
[19:53] #knownspace> Hippy: See you Friday week, Sean
[20:10] iFred has joined #knownspace
[23:49] #knownspace> fredskuentz: sigh. fell sound asleep mid chat. again.
[23:50] #knownspace> fredskuentz: if you'd send out a log I'd appreciate it kindly, sean.