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Dave and Ben's Extremely Slow Discussion (was Light etc..)

Posted by David C. on 1998/02/13 23:31

Previously, Ben wrote...

You were being racist against the English. That's not just wrong,
that's
quite silly.

Why? Are you saying that the English can dish it out but shouldn't have
to take it? Isn't it better to laugh at one's self than to laugh at
others, or at least do it first? (I leap off the soap box before
someone can kick it away and hang me...)

But America? Pick some better example next time.

Hey, at least they aren't descended from a bunch of convicts! And at
least some of the shows they send over are popular for the right
reasons, rather than just being 1-dimensional soap operas which are
funny for the wrong reasons!

And I can insult Australians, too, because my family lived there for
many years (back when I was just a twinkle in the milkman's eye).
Seriously, though, sorry to any Ozzies out there. (Incidentally, why do
Australians call us English people the French word for "apple"?)

I'm not horrid (Do people still actually use that word?) to Americans.
I
just don't like the country. Some of my best mates.... no, I won't say
it.

I still say "horrid". I still say "rubbish", instead of swearing a blue
streak like some people... (though fortunately people in IFIS
thoughtfully hold back these words, or asterisk them out!) Do you mean
you don't like the country itself (ie. the landmass, which has some nice
scenery... apparently...), or the ethos?

Imagine time as up/down. I find that helps.

That works best in the time cone thing mentioned many decades ago
(January) - up-down is time, and sideways goes "elsewhere", with the
meeting point being "here and now", and the cone going at 45 degrees.

Hey, there's only so much budget in B-movies. But lilke I said before,
supermassive black holes (Like you'd get at the centre of a galaxy)
might
actually be doorways to other universes. For some reason, the greater
size
means the gravity doesn't 'spaghettify' you on the way in. (I saw this
on
a documentary. The voiceover man said, in a dramatic documentary
voice,
'This time, there is no spaghetti.' I laughed until I stopped.)

This time? This time?! Do you mean the government has been running
secret black hole survivability tests? Where? When? How much?! Why?
And why not?!? (That was the ObSF, BTW... huh?!)

Who said anything about 'black star'?

You did, in a roundabout sort of way - you said "black" is a
superlative, whereas "dark" is comparitive.

They explained the
effect of a singularity on space/time using the rubber sheet analogue
I
talked about before, only Homer Simpson was walking around it. Looks
like
it came from a real episode of the Simpsons, too... Anyone seen it?
(Amusing bit: Homer trips over a time cone, and throws it into the
singularity ('Take that coney'). It expands massively. 'Ohhw... I wish
I'd
read that book by that wheelchair guy')

Yes, that was in one of the recent Hallowe'en episodes, circa season 6
or 7 (which BBC will get around to showing some time in the early 24th
century). Like all Hallowe'en episodes, it's called "Treehouse of
Horror X" - you can read the episode capsule at:

http://www.snpp.com

(if Fox haven't had it shut down yet).

I use Exchange, which does virtually nothing whatsoever to assist in

any

way (I have to write out the headers, you may have noticed), so I

don't

see why you should have it easy, chief!

Hey, get a better mail proggy then.

That might be difficult, as I am forced to use whatever Royal Holloway's
Computer Centre staff give us to use. The last guy who so much as asked
when E-mail was coming back on line was eviscerated with a rusty nail.
(You doubt my words? Hey, I've *seen* these people, and they are not
human!)

Come on, man, mellow out! Take it easy! Oh no, am I quoting Dark

Star

Now who can't take a joke?

You, it seems. When I said "mellow out", I was being daft and OTT...
hmm, no change there - okay, I see your point!

Dave C.