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Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: Ed_McCarron on August 09, 2007, 06:16:51 am

Title: So long...
Post by: Ed_McCarron on August 09, 2007, 06:16:51 am
... and thanks for all the fish?

Big Honking Long Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070808/sc_livescience/dolphinspeciesgoesextinctduetohumans;_ylt=ArcGP1K1Eq.3115OQeb7IXBxieAA)
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: patrickl on August 09, 2007, 06:20:01 am
Yeah saw that one on the news too.

Quote
It's a relic species, more than 20 million years old, that persisted through the most amazing kinds of changes in the planet
Wow.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 10:26:16 am

Makes you wonder why the Chinese never got any into captivity to make sure they didn't go extinct.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Havok on August 09, 2007, 10:40:48 am
Don't worry - one will come up on ebay soon...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 09, 2007, 12:25:58 pm
I highly recommend the non-fiction book "Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams (yes, that Douglas Adams) and Mark Carwardine

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams/dp/0345371984

Not only is the Yangtze river dolphin discussed, but several other uber-threatened species...its a really interesting read. 
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Chris G on August 09, 2007, 12:50:10 pm
Don't worry - one will come up on ebay soon...

 :laugh2:

That's not funny.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 09, 2007, 01:02:12 pm
I'm sorry...am I supposed to know who Douglas Adams is??

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 01:04:35 pm

What a kneebiter.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Chris G on August 09, 2007, 01:06:23 pm
Little disappointed there, Jouster...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 09, 2007, 01:14:17 pm
I'm sorry...am I supposed to know who Douglas Adams is??

Jouster

Are you upright with positive blood pressure and a sense of humor?  If so, then yes.  If not, then no.

You obviously don't know where your towel is....

Title: Re: So long...
Post by: saint on August 09, 2007, 01:32:48 pm
I'm sorry...am I supposed to know who Douglas Adams is??

Jouster

Wow.... Yes, yes you are. Get thee hence and google!
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Havok on August 09, 2007, 01:33:30 pm
You obviously don't know where your towel is....

Or your piece of fluff...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 01:33:51 pm
Wow.... Yes, yes you are. Get thee hence and google!

Don't panic.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 09, 2007, 01:40:01 pm
I've always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 09, 2007, 03:26:16 pm

Makes you wonder why the Chinese never got any into captivity to make sure they didn't go extinct.


They're more valued when ground into powder and mixed into tea to make erections last longer or some other such theory - even at the cost of extinction. ;D

What we've got to work on is some rumor to feed the Chinese about how seagulls or Canadian geese make you live eleventy years longer if ground/powder/tea mix/whatever
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 03:27:56 pm

I'm going to tell them that illegal aliens ground into powder can bring back extinct dolphins.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Chris G on August 09, 2007, 03:40:17 pm
What we've got to work on is some rumor to feed the Chinese about how seagulls or Canadian geese make you live eleventy years longer if ground/powder/tea mix/whatever

Add pigeons to the list please.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 09, 2007, 04:14:47 pm
What we've got to work on is some rumor to feed the Chinese about how seagulls or Canadian geese make you live eleventy years longer if ground/powder/tea mix/whatever

Add pigeons to the list please.

And ChadTowers?

I kid I kid..... ;D
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 04:18:25 pm
The ChadTowers are already known to them as aphrodisiacs.  I went there as a kid.  Now there are nearly 2 billion Chinese people.  You do the math.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 09, 2007, 04:22:15 pm
The ChadTowers are already known to them as aphrodisiacs.  I went there as a kid.  Now there are nearly 2 billion Chinese people.  You do the math.

1.5 billion Chinese dudes + yrmomz = 2 billion Chinese people.

I get an A in maf.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 04:30:48 pm

No you don't.

You try pumping out half a billion 9 month pregnancies in one woman.

You get a D in maf.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 09, 2007, 04:39:38 pm
He gets an A in maf, but a D bio-ology
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 09, 2007, 04:45:36 pm

That's because they won't allow sex edumacation at the learnin buildings where he lives. 
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 09, 2007, 06:56:52 pm
Oh...yall are talking authors...I don't do books.  (besides Project Arcade)

I don't believe I was properly trained when I started here...I blame management!

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Barry Barcrest on August 09, 2007, 08:38:03 pm

Makes you wonder why the Chinese never got any into captivity to make sure they didn't go extinct.

They didn't think it was rare....

Go to dolhpin-ipdb.org to look at the production numbers.  Lists at several million.   That's pretty high for either a dolphin or a whale.

 ;)
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: pointdablame on August 09, 2007, 08:39:29 pm
Oh...yall are talking authors...I don't do books.  (besides Project Arcade)

I don't believe I was properly trained when I started here...I blame management!

Jouster

This is no excuse.  Douglas Adams transcends illiteracy.  Go get the audiobooks.  Geez... who hasn't read HHGTTG.

For shame Jouster... FOR SHAME!
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 10, 2007, 08:54:22 am
Oh...yall are talking authors...I don't do books.  (besides Project Arcade)

I don't believe I was properly trained when I started here...I blame management!

Jouster

This is no excuse.  Douglas Adams transcends illiteracy.  Go get the audiobooks.  Geez... who hasn't read HHGTTG.

For shame Jouster... FOR SHAME!

listening to an audiobook isnt strictly reading  :D

and get 'the meaning of liff, by adams too
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 10, 2007, 09:33:10 am

I'm still boggling at "I don't do books".
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 10, 2007, 11:33:56 am
I've heard of HHGTTG...never read it...never saw the flick either...therefore, wouldn't have a clue who wrote it.

There's too much stuff to read on the interwebs...I don't have time for static data.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: ChadTower on August 10, 2007, 11:36:37 am

The book should be standard reading for people with eyes.

The movie should not be seen by people with eyes.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 10, 2007, 11:39:47 am
That's too bad...cause I'd watch the movie before reading the book.  So I guess I'll never know.

Oh well, what's for lunch?

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 10, 2007, 11:42:52 am
That's too bad...cause I'd watch the movie before reading the book.  So I guess I'll never know.

Oh well, what's for lunch?

Jouster

I dunno...was planning on stepping out to the Restaurant at the end of the universe.....

 :D
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 10, 2007, 11:54:53 am
Hmm...what do they have there?  It isn't showing up on my Yahoo map.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 10, 2007, 01:23:07 pm
Hmm...what do they have there?  It isn't showing up on my Yahoo map.

Jouster

Search for Milliways....

I think its safest just to have the Dish of the Day, but I hear that the Betelgeuse Beetles are tasty today.  I definately recommend a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster though....top notch.  Just don't order tea.....
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: AtomSmasher on August 10, 2007, 01:42:15 pm
The movie should not be seen by people with eyes.
I agree that the movie was crap compared to the book, but I still love the WTF factor of the opening song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG6b3V2MNxQ
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 10, 2007, 01:51:46 pm
the movie WAS crap for the most part, but I still found it somewhat entertaining in its own right. comparing it directly to the books/radio shows it pales......

there were some funny interpretations as well as some total BS....the old BBC tv series was pretty crap too if you recall.... ;)
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 10, 2007, 02:15:06 pm
and now i will treat you all to my vogon poetry :D

i quite liked the tv series but i was young when i watched it
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Ed_McCarron on August 10, 2007, 02:17:05 pm
there were some funny interpretations as well as some total BS....the old BBC tv series was pretty crap too if you recall.... ;)

DNA specifically said that you should NEVER compare the different versions for similarity.

As for the BBC version - crap - but 'effin hilarious crap!
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 10, 2007, 02:24:53 pm
don't panic (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/)
bbc sorta fansite thing if anyones interested
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 10, 2007, 02:32:16 pm
this is one of my favorite fansites...

http://www.floor42.com/

no particular reason...just is.  Not much info there, just a forum really
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Ed_McCarron on August 10, 2007, 04:17:26 pm
this is one of my favorite fansites...

http://www.floor42.com/

no particular reason...just is.  Not much info there, just a forum really

Why would you post that?  What kind of loser has time to hang out on some internet for...

Uh, nevermind.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: pointdablame on August 11, 2007, 09:47:49 am

listening to an audiobook isnt strictly reading  :D

where exactly did I say it was?

If he really doesn't "do books" though (which is completely absurd.. sorry Jouster), it is still imperative to hear the story.  The audiobook would do that quite well without all the mess of "reading" which seems to be disliked by Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 11, 2007, 10:12:26 am
It ain't like I can't read...I just don't enjoy it.  I'd rather spend two hours and watch the movie than two weeks to two months to read the book.  I know some people could read the book in a day...but reading (books anyway) puts me to sleep.  Plus...my ADD usually leads me to subconsciously read for a while when my mind goes off on a tangent...then when I come back to the book...I can never remember what the heck I just read on the last five pages and have to go back.  It's always been that way for me...reading simply doesn't hold my attention...doesn't generally matter what I read.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 11, 2007, 10:17:44 am

listening to an audiobook isnt strictly reading  :D

where exactly did I say it was?

If he really doesn't "do books" though (which is completely absurd.. sorry Jouster), it is still imperative to hear the story.  The audiobook would do that quite well without all the mess of "reading" which seems to be disliked by Jouster
it was just meant to be a joke , hence the smiley face, sorry if it offended.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: saint on August 11, 2007, 11:09:31 am

I'm still boggling at "I don't do books".

That made me sad :'(
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: pointdablame on August 11, 2007, 11:16:46 am

listening to an audiobook isnt strictly reading  :D

where exactly did I say it was?

If he really doesn't "do books" though (which is completely absurd.. sorry Jouster), it is still imperative to hear the story.  The audiobook would do that quite well without all the mess of "reading" which seems to be disliked by Jouster
it was just meant to be a joke , hence the smiley face, sorry if it offended.


it'd take much more than that to offend me  ;)  I just wanted to clear up the fact that I don't think audiobooks are a replacement for reading... but if it's that or NOTHING, I'd take the audiobook.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Texasmame on August 11, 2007, 06:06:52 pm
I'm sure that fraud Gore will find a way to tie this in to Global Warming.    :timebomb:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 11, 2007, 08:40:33 pm
I'm sure that fraud Gore will find a way to tie this in to Global Warming.    :timebomb:

Get back under your bridge TROLL!

Minimizing and politicizing the extinction of a species is as ignorant as you can get....

NICE!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Level42 on August 12, 2007, 03:47:59 am
Guess where Level 42 comes from....
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Joystick Jerk on August 12, 2007, 05:16:01 am
I've heard of HHGTTG...never read it...never saw the flick either...therefore, wouldn't have a clue who wrote it.

There's too much stuff to read on the interwebs...I don't have time for static data.

Jouster

Did your mom snort a lot of ground up river dolphin when she was pregnant with you?
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: jbox on August 12, 2007, 07:17:57 am
One too many pan-galactic gargle blasters me thinks...  ;D
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 12, 2007, 09:04:32 pm
I've heard of HHGTTG...never read it...never saw the flick either...therefore, wouldn't have a clue who wrote it.

There's too much stuff to read on the interwebs...I don't have time for static data.

Jouster

Did your mom snort a lot of ground up river dolphin when she was pregnant with you?

 :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Extinction?  Never heard of the word :cheers:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 12, 2007, 11:57:03 pm
Extinction?  Never heard of the word :cheers:

It's what happens when you take a shower...you ex-stink yourself....oh, you wouldn't know 'bout that, wouldja DK?  Bathing, that is.....

 ;)
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 13, 2007, 01:33:20 am
The wife hits me with the garden hose once a month whether I need it or not.  That qualifies, right? :dunno
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: shmokes on August 13, 2007, 02:28:11 am
Do you ever not need it?
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 13, 2007, 02:57:44 am
Do you ever not need it?

The beating, or the water?
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: shmokes on August 13, 2007, 09:36:42 am
Yes
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 13, 2007, 07:34:11 pm
No.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: FrizzleFried on August 13, 2007, 08:51:44 pm
I'm sorry...am I supposed to know who Douglas Adams is??

Jouster

You ARE kidding...right?
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 14, 2007, 12:04:01 pm
Just conducted a small test here at work...out of the 25 people I just asked...only one person knew who Douglas Adams was.  Which was pretty much how I figured it would turn out.

I got a few smart as$ comments from other people that didn't have a clue who he was.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade...but I'm in the majority it seems.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Havok on August 14, 2007, 12:18:22 pm
Just conducted a small test here at work...out of the 25 people I just asked...only one person knew who Douglas Adams was.  Which was pretty much how I figured it would turn out.

I got a few smart as$ comments from other people that didn't have a clue who he was.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade...but I'm in the majority it seems.

Jouster

What's the average age of the people you work with? Also, I would just ask if they have ever heard of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - not Douglas Adams. Most people don't know who wrote what half the time...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 14, 2007, 03:57:46 pm
His books aren't that great and he was kind of a pompous jerk in his speeches.

You're not missing too much.



Sure, everyone has an opinion.  And that jewish carpenter that lived 2000 years ago was a real nice guy, but I don't understand why they wrote all these books about him and get together on sundays to talk about it....

 :timebomb:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 14, 2007, 06:09:33 pm
sense of humour is a very personal thing, much like religion.  We don't all like the same things, and hardly ever agree.

And last time I checked, the carpenter didn't write anything, it was other people who wrote about him.  So, no, I wasn't comparing Douglas Adams to anyone, just making the point that your interpretation of his body of works was valid, as was mine about another, completely different one.

I don't want this thread to get PH'd, so that's all I'm going to say about religion....if need be, I'll clean up my posts.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 14, 2007, 06:22:49 pm
was jesus an atheist, im confused
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 14, 2007, 09:43:50 pm
What's the average age of the people you work with?

Most of the people I asked are between 21 and 35.

Also, I would just ask if they have ever heard of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - not Douglas Adams. Most people don't know who wrote what half the time...

I think that just proved my point...if HHGTTG had been mentioned here, I'd have known more about what was being referenced...but I don't know many authors, and quite frankly don't care.  I know the ones that matter to me...which is a pretty short list.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Ed_McCarron on August 14, 2007, 11:19:33 pm
Lot of incomplete ideas that he never finished.  :(

Funny how that happens when you die unexpectedly.

I'd consider Adams one of my favorite authors.

I'd wager that if Jouster took a few coconuts to work with him, noone would laugh, either.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: saint on August 15, 2007, 12:13:46 am
His books aren't that great and he was kind of a pompous jerk in his speeches.

You're not missing too much.



That's it. Get off my web site. Kneebiter.

Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 15, 2007, 12:14:39 am
pbj, funnily enough that was a joke i know jesus was a muslim.

im gonna open this up if i may further tend away from deceased dolphins which i think is genuinely so sad.
anyone like terry pratchett, when i first read his stuff i thought he was a poor mans adams but the more i read of his the more i really like him.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 15, 2007, 12:16:17 am
No, but Douglas Adams was.  Richard Dawkins has lately taken to claiming their were good buddies and has even dedicated his last novel to Adams.  Perhaps it's true, but I'm skeptical.

Does this help clarify it for you?  Richard Dawkins and Douglas Adams were good friends.  Douglas Adams introduced Dawkins to his wife, they worked together.  If this pseudo-eulogy for a lost friend doesn't convince you, I guess nothing will.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,490295,00.html

Quote
Richard Dawkins
Monday May 14, 2001
The Guardian


A lament for Douglas Adams, best known as author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, who died on Saturday, aged 49, from a heart attack.
This is not an obituary; there'll be time enough for them. It is not a tribute, not a considered assessment of a brilliant life, not a eulogy. It is a keening lament, written too soon to be balanced, too soon to be carefully thought through. Douglas, you cannot be dead.

A sunny Saturday morning in May, ten past seven, shuffle out of bed, log in to email as usual. The usual blue bold headings drop into place, mostly junk, some expected, and my gaze absently follows them down the page. The name Douglas Adams catches my eye and I smile. That one, at least, will be good for a laugh. Then I do the classic double-take, back up the screen.
What did that heading actually say? Douglas Adams died of a heart attack a few hours ago. Then that other cliche, the words swelling before my eyes.

It must be part of the joke. It must be some other Douglas Adams. This is too ridiculous to be true. I must still be asleep. I open the message, from a well-known German software designer. It is no joke, I am fully awake. And it is the right - or rather the wrong - Douglas Adams. A sudden heart attack, in the gym in Santa Barbara. "Man, man, man, man oh man," the message concludes. Man indeed, what a man. A giant of a man, surely nearer seven foot than six, broad-shouldered, and he did not stoop like some very tall men who feel uncomfortable with their height. But nor did he swagger with the macho assertiveness that can be intimidating in a big man. He neither apologised for his height, nor flaunted it. It was part of the joke against himself.

One of the great wits of our age, his sophisticated humour was founded in a deep, amalgamated knowledge of literature and science, two of my great loves. And he introduced me to my wife - at his 40th birthday party.

He was exactly her age, they had worked together on Dr Who. Should I tell her now, or let her sleep a bit longer before shattering her day? He initiated our togeth erness and was a recurrently important part of it. I must tell her now.

Douglas and I met because I sent him an unsolicited fan letter - I think it is the only time I have ever written one. I had adored The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Then I read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

As soon as I finished it I turned back to page one and read it straight through again - the only I time I have ever done that, and I wrote to tell him so. He replied that he was a fan of my books, and he invited me to his house in London. I have seldom met a more congenial spirit. Obviously I knew he would be funny. What I didn't know was how deeply read he was in science. I should have guessed, for you can't understand many of the jokes in Hitchhiker if you don't know a lot of advanced science. And in modern electronic technology he was a real expert. We talked science a lot, in private, and even in public at literary festivals and on the wireless or television. And he became my guru on all technical problems. Rather than struggle with some ill-written and incomprehensible manual in Pacific Rim English, I would fire off an email to Douglas. He would reply, often within minutes, whether in London or Santa Barbara, or some hotel room anywhere in the world. Unlike most staff of professional helplines, Douglas understood exactly my problem, knew exactly why it was troubling me, and always had the solution ready, lucidly and amusingly explained. Our frequent email exchanges brimmed with literary and scientific jokes and affectionately sardonic little asides. His technophilia shone through, but so did his rich sense of the absurd. The whole world was one big Monty Python sketch, and the follies of humanity are as comic in the world's silicon valleys as anywhere else.

He laughed at himself with equal good humour. At, for example, his epic bouts of writer's block ("I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by") when, according to legend, his publisher and book agent would lock him in a hotel room, with no telephone and nothing to do but write, releasing him only for supervised walks. If his enthusiasm ran away with him and he advanced a biological theory too eccentric for my professional scepticism to let pass, his mien at my dismissal of it would always be more humorously self-mocking than genuinely crestfallen. And he would have another go.

He laughed at his own jokes, which good comedians are supposed not to, but he did it with such charm that the jokes became even funnier. He was gently able to poke fun without wounding, and it would be aimed not at individuals but at their absurd ideas. To illustrate the vain conceit that the universe must be somehow preordained for us, because we are so well suited to live in it, he mimed a wonderfully funny imitation of a puddle of water, fitting itself snugly into a depression in the ground, the depression uncannily being exactly the same shape as the puddle. Or there's this parable, which he told with huge enjoyment, whose moral leaps out with no further explanation. A man didn't understand how televisions work, and was convinced that there must be lots of little men inside the box, manipulating images at high speed. An engineer explained about high-frequency modulations of the electromagnetic spectrum, transmitters and receivers, amplifiers and cathode ray tubes, scan lines moving across and down a phosphorescent screen. The man listened to the engineer with careful attention, nodding his head at every step of the argument. At the end he pronounced himself satisfied. He really did now understand how televisions work. "But I expect there are just a few little men in there, aren't there?"

Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender (he once climbed Kilimanjaro in a rhino suit to raise money to fight the cretinous trade in rhino horn), Apple Computer has lost its most eloquent apologist. And I have lost an irreplaceable intellectual companion and one of the kindest and funniest men I ever met. The day Douglas died, I officially received a happy piece of news, which would have delighted him. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone during the weeks I have secretly known about it, and now that I am allowed to it is too late.

The sun is shining, life must go on, seize the day and all those cliches.

We shall plant a tree this very day: a Douglas Fir, tall, upright, evergreen. It is the wrong time of year, but we'll give it our best shot.

Off to the arboretum.
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: DrewKaree on August 15, 2007, 12:24:47 am
No, but Douglas Adams was.  Richard Dawkins has lately taken to claiming their were good buddies and has even dedicated his last novel to Adams.  Perhaps it's true, but I'm skeptical.

Does this help clarify it for you?  Richard Dawkins and Douglas Adams were good friends.  Douglas Adams introduced Dawkins to his wife, they worked together.  If this pseudo-eulogy for a lost friend doesn't convince you, I guess nothing will

It's sad, really.  I didn't believe it until I read that last sentence of your post.  XiaoucheEleventy was right.  That's exactly what "they" WANT you to believe :laugh2:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: jbox on August 15, 2007, 12:32:07 am
anyone like terry pratchett, when i first read his stuff i thought he was a poor mans adams but the more i read of his the more i really like him.
Pratchett is one of the only authors I actually "collect". But to be fair, Pratchett writes political satire, while Douglas Adams wrote existential satire.  :cheers:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: polaris on August 15, 2007, 12:46:47 am
anyone like terry pratchett, when i first read his stuff i thought he was a poor mans adams but the more i read of his the more i really like him.
Pratchett is one of the only authors I actually "collect". But to be fair, Pratchett writes political satire, while Douglas Adams wrote existential satire.  :cheers:

me no clever like that, i had a friend explain me the significance of the symbolism in asterix 'books' recently, in thirty years of reading them i never saw any of it  :laugh: but i see what your saying now you've said it. i think above all i love the 'completeness' of the worlds pratchett creates, and the silliness, just what i liked with adams i s'pose. :cheers:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 15, 2007, 01:05:29 am
Needless to say, I'm a fan of DNA's work.  My most prized book is a signed first print of "Mostly Harmless" that he signed during his US book tour for that books release.  I can't claim to have known him, any more than I "knew" him through his body of work, but I did have the honor of meeting him ever so briefly the day he signed the book for me.

Shortly after his death, I recounted my brief encounter with him for some fellow grieving fans in a thread over at floor42 dedicated to his memory:

http://floor42.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=979#979

Title: Re: So long...
Post by: cdbrown on August 15, 2007, 12:08:32 pm
I'm on Jouster's side and don't do books either - unless it's a comic.  I had pretty much gone 30 years without reading a book from cover to cover, but then a friend bought me a book so I felt I should read it.  I do enough reading at work which isn't enjoyable.  Plus I read the news and webstuff so that's enough for me.

I had to search for Douglas Adams as I've never heard of him either.  I'd heard of the hhgttg (or whatever the abbreviation is) only through people quoting it and then explaining to me what it's from after seeing the blank look I gave.  Never even picked up a copy of the book to read.  Have seen that the movie is being shown regularly on tv but haven't watched that either.

As for audio books, when am I expected to listen to that?  I'd rather watch tv, go outside, play games than read so I'm not going to sit there staring at the wall while listening to someone read a book to me.   :soapbox:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 15, 2007, 12:29:34 pm
I'm on Jouster's side and don't do books either - unless it's a comic.  I had pretty much gone 30 years without reading a book from cover to cover, but then a friend bought me a book so I felt I should read it.  I do enough reading at work which isn't enjoyable.  Plus I read the news and webstuff so that's enough for me.

I had to search for Douglas Adams as I've never heard of him either.  I'd heard of the hhgttg (or whatever the abbreviation is) only through people quoting it and then explaining to me what it's from after seeing the blank look I gave.  Never even picked up a copy of the book to read.  Have seen that the movie is being shown regularly on tv but haven't watched that either.

As for audio books, when am I expected to listen to that?  I'd rather watch tv, go outside, play games than read so I'm not going to sit there staring at the wall while listening to someone read a book to me.   :soapbox:

Do you "do" movies?

check out Idiocracy...right up your alley for you guys that "don't do books"

 :cheers:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 15, 2007, 12:49:45 pm
Do you "do" movies?

check out Idiocracy...right up your alley for you guys that "don't do books"

 :cheers:

How so?  Because I...er...we have too much other stuff to do, whether it be business or fun, to read...we are unintelligent?  I'll put my IQ up there against anyone else's...I read plenty on-line and industry related.  But I don't enjoy reading books.  Probably never will.

Reading a book only engages my sense of sight...to read the lines...nothing else.  Given that...my mind will wander in about 2.6 pages.  A movie on the other hand engages hearing & sight and unless it is a bad chick flick or foreign film, will hold my attention for the entire movie...and spawn hours of imaginative thought following the movie.  That's something that books almost never do for me.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: billf on August 15, 2007, 01:52:15 pm
Reading a book only engages my sense of sight...to read the lines...nothing else.  Given that...my mind will wander in about 2.6 pages.  A movie on the other hand engages hearing & sight
Jouster

Maybe you should try reading aloud to yourself.   :D
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Havok on August 15, 2007, 02:11:32 pm
Reading a book only engages my sense of sight...to read the lines...nothing else.  Given that...my mind will wander in about 2.6 pages.  A movie on the other hand engages hearing & sight and unless it is a bad chick flick or foreign film, will hold my attention for the entire movie...and spawn hours of imaginative thought following the movie.  That's something that books almost never do for me.

Jouster

Wow - that blows my mind, if that is your experience when reading. I read probably about 4 - 5 books a month. (I've slowed down now that I have kids, working on updating my MCSE and distance learning)

When I read, the story develops in mind, I imagine the scene, the characters, how they, speak what they look like, how they react, etc. I create the entire story from what I read. On the other hand, a movie has all that, but doesn't engage me in quite the same way: it's all force-fed to me, no imagination required, just watch.

I believe there have been studies on this, and people's brain activity has been shown to be markedly less when just watching a show, as opposed to reading...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Chris G on August 15, 2007, 02:38:06 pm
How so?  Because I...er...we have too much other stuff to do, whether it be business or fun, to read...we are unintelligent?  I'll put my IQ up there against anyone else's...I read plenty on-line and industry related.  But I don't enjoy reading books.  Probably never will.

Reading a book only engages my sense of sight...to read the lines...nothing else.  Given that...my mind will wander in about 2.6 pages.  A movie on the other hand engages hearing & sight and unless it is a bad chick flick or foreign film, will hold my attention for the entire movie...and spawn hours of imaginative thought following the movie.  That's something that books almost never do for me.

Jouster

It doesn't say you're unintelligent, it just means you're closing yourself off to a great medium for entertainment and avenue for broadening your mind and life experience.  Like Havoc said, it's more than just your sense of sight that's engaged - it's your brain and your imagination.  Movies and television are great for that too, just in a different way.  If you truly have ADD, then maybe this just isn't possible for you - and you're certainly entitled to simply not enjoy reading.  But I think you're really missing out on something, partner...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Havok on August 15, 2007, 04:11:20 pm
I believe there have been studies on this, and people's brain activity has been shown to be markedly less when just watching a show, as opposed to reading...

No citation = speculation

Don't pass off your personal bias as scientific fact unless you can back it up with peer reviewed research.



No bias - I did "read" about it...

 ;D

"Psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television the brain begins to produce alpha waves, which indicates torpid (almost comatose) [slow] rates of activity. Alpha brain waves are associated with unfocused, overly receptive states of consciousness. A high frequency alpha waves does not occur normally when the eyes are open. In fact, Mulholland’s research implies that watching television is neurologically analogous to staring at a blank wall."

I am making an assumption here, but I would think that the results would be the same whether it is television, or a movie screen...
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 15, 2007, 09:04:20 pm
For me...my brain goes comatose while reading, but comes alive while watching TV or movies.  I like to watch for stuff in the background...stuff that doesn't add up...stuff that isn't right.  You know...stuff the people that go comatose completely miss.

It doesn't say you're unintelligent, it just means you're closing yourself off to a great medium for entertainment and avenue for broadening your mind and life experience.  
Wasn't that kind of the point of the movie...humanity got really dumb and lazy?

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Chris G on August 16, 2007, 12:49:00 pm
Wasn't that kind of the point of the movie...humanity got really dumb and lazy?

Jouster

I haven't seen that movie.  By "It" I was just referring to you not reading in general.


That isn't to say that you're not really dumb and lazy... I have no idea.   ;D
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 16, 2007, 01:59:43 pm
Wasn't that kind of the point of the movie...humanity got really dumb and lazy?

Jouster

I haven't seen that movie.  By "It" I was just referring to you not reading in general.


That isn't to say that you're not really dumb and lazy... I have no idea.   ;D

Without specific citation, its just speculation....we need some peer reviewed research on the subject  :laugh2:
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 16, 2007, 03:14:24 pm
No peer review needed...not dumb...just lazy.  I use my smarts to work less...and play more.

You know you're jealous.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 16, 2007, 03:46:53 pm
No peer review needed...not dumb...just lazy.  I use my smarts to work less...and play more.

You know you're jealous.

Jouster

I'm intrigued by your ideas...do you have a newsletter I could subscribe to?  :D

In all honesty, I don't have time to read much anymore either.  Between technical journals, online stuff, forums, programming books, etc I want to relax with a good remote control and watch....

Title: Re: So long...
Post by: pointdablame on August 16, 2007, 06:45:14 pm


I'm intrigued by your ideas...do you have a newsletter I could subscribe to?  :D


Why would he?  Even he wouldn't read it.    ;D
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: boykster on August 16, 2007, 06:56:10 pm
ZING!!!!
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: Jouster on August 17, 2007, 06:12:23 am
True, but I could hire some one to write it all for me...and then read it to me.

Jouster
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: cdbrown on August 17, 2007, 12:10:55 pm
True, but I could hire some one to write it all for me...and then read it to me.

Jouster
To make it more entertaining they would also have to act it out - perhaps some interpretive dance
Title: Re: So long...
Post by: jbox on August 17, 2007, 09:18:52 pm
Brother Rimmer searches for the Truth, danced by Brother Cat. But the Truth is elusive, and in agony and torment we search forever...
(http://www.scifilm.org/tv/tvgraphics/reddwarf-demangels.jpg)