Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" was probably the first timetravel story that I ever read. It had me marvelling for days.
It's only a short story and it will take you about 10 minutes to read. (All the reviews I've read said to not bother at all with the movie)
Others that spring to mind:
* a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court. (mark twain) - also a very early read of mine; i think i had a cutdown reader's digest version of it.
* arthur dent on prehistoric earth in the hitchhiker's series.
* back to the future (the book-of-the-movie). Yes, I'm cheating with this one.
The first three days are going to be incredibly hard - if you're already a a skier you are going to wonder why you are going through the pain. But, damn, on day 4 and 5 when you link turns together and get some flow going it's going to feel awesome.
Fitness: get some running or cycling going to improve general fitness. your legs are still going to hurt like hell, but you'll be able to go for longer before totally giving out.
Crunches/sit-ups/reverse-pushups: you spend a lot of time on your back (having just fallen over) and raising your body back up to your feet each time is going to kill your abs and lats (and wrists, and triceps and most of the rest of your body). A bit of preventative training may help a little here.
Knees: When I learned to snowboard I didn't mind falling on my arse - it was falling onto my knees which really shat me. If there was one thing I would do different, it would be to wear knee guards.
Wrists: some people advocate wrist supports/guards, but I always just found them annoying.
Pain: there's going to be a lot of creaking pain on the morning after a big day of snowboarding. I heartily recommend a couple of ibuprofen tablets with breakfast.
Learning: you're going to have people yelling 17 different kinds of advice as you try to learn - stuff about "bending your knees", "shifting your weight", "pointing your shoulder to where you are going", "feeling the edge". All of it is good advice, but doesn't really mean much until after you get a feel for the board. And the only way to get a feel for your board is to follow this simple plan:
* stand up on board
* glide for a bit
* fall down
* repeat
Do that every day for 3 days and you *will* learn the basics of how to snowboard. Falling down is integral to the plan, as is the repetition.
I learned to snowboard at 27 and if I had the money I'd be there every holiday.
Check out Anatomy for Beginners. A UK Channel4 TV production showing the anatomy of the human body by cutting up cadavers. No holds barred. There's a DVD of it out somewhere.
As a cheapskate box-builder, the bang/buck ratio is very important - I've had AMDs in my last two boxes, and my next box will definitely have one of those dual core AMD 64-bit processors. AMDs have been better value for money for me for a few years now.
Note: I'm a number cruncher and not a video person or gamer.
meredithea. that's exactly what I wanted to know. thanks.
The two product limit also comes about because I have to drag this stuff to the pool with me (since I usually swim in the morning before work.)
Now, if collected monkeys could hit me with some good/accessible brands I'd be indebted. Some of the more boutique/esoteric brands don't make it to .au, or if they do, they're bloody expensive.
Some good stuff so far. I'm taking notes.
I probably should have been explicit in saying that, for me, "low hassle" means a maximum of 2 products.
If it's more than 2, then the chances of me
(a) using it
(b) remembering to use it
are slim.
I must be soooo in love with tabs, because this question and Chyren's assertions just sound like trolls.
How can you use tabs for a day and not adore them?
Depends on the ruleset on what it blocks/allows etc I suppose.
The most powerful rule on my firewall is "do not allow stuff to connect inwards unless it's part of a connection I started outwards" - so basically nothing can be initialised from the outside on any port (except for the few ports that I have forwarded for p2p stuff).
If your router allows you to "block everything (but leave ports X,Y & Z open)", then it's probably fine for personal stuff. If this is the case, then I would run a personal firewall as well - just to be sure.
Besides the dedicated firewall, my only other windows advice is to turn off *EVERYTHING*. Then start enabling things until your box works the way you want. Then store a drive image of this somewhere.
Sorry I can't really be more help, but once you put a good firewall in, you sort of negate the need for most other hardening measures.
(Disclaimer: my main box runs *nix, so it isn't that much of a target anyways)
Feh! I clicked on this story specifically to post "get a firewall." So I will.
Get a firewall! And not some 'personal firewall' running on the same machine. Get a *dedicated* firewall box.
I've heard reports of windows personal firewall software being deactivated by viruses - so if malware comes in via email - it can let itself back out by disabling the firewall program.
A dedicated non-windows firewall box makes sense for a few reasons:
* most malware thrives in monoculture environments. two different OSs is a great start to a safer computing experience.
* the external firewall box seen by the net is different from your internal box. If the world sees your computer as a BSD/*nix box, it may be less of a target to the scriptkiddies out there.
* the firewall is *NOT* running on the same computer as your everyday computer - useful for both safety and performance.
Once you have a good firewall set up, you can pretty much attach completely unsecured windows boxes to the net through it and not ever worry about remote exploits.
There are a number of linux/bsd firewall distros which attempt to be friendly (though I have no personal experience with them). My firewall solution is a very old p166 (MMX!) running *nix with iptables.
Sorry for posting "get a firewall" when it is exactly not what you wanted. (Disclaimer - My free advice is worth only half of what you paid for it.)
Every now and then I'm tempted to ride along the main road into the city along the T3 transit lane - I would fly past all the people gridlocked in their cars.
On the downside I would be hit by a bus and not have enough time to enjoy my feeling of superiority.
Coming soon: Your complete guide to the bleeding obvious! Includes:
* How to use your keyboard to make letters appear on a page - or even on the internet!
* Using your mouse to draw *DIGITAL* pictures
* Writing your daily thoughts down somewhere in this great new thing called a 'diary' - and then sharing all of your stupid teenage angst with the world.
* How to use a microphone.
Yes, I'm a cynical and jaded bastard.
Monkey Business
4 words or *fewer*.
You're One Stop Print Shop [misspellings in print shop names add that extra bit of credibility]
Text like Grammar used to make!
Galley Slave
Proof of Concept
I think perhaps you should get away from the gimmicky business names (like the awful ones hairdressers seem to like).
What about "[Yourname]'s Editing"?
direct link to movie.
This is a clip from a few years ago of some 3-year-old North Korean girl playing the xylophone.
Obviously forced by her communist overlords to look like she's enjoying herself.
"I heard a comedian (can't remember who... sorry) say that the number of keys you carry is directly inverse to how powerful you are"
That's *MY* rule! The "inverse key rule", invented in 1989. My jokes are being stolen!
*sulks*
Alien. 2001.
And probably lots from the (good) sci-fi genre. Who wants to see yucky kissing when there's glorious science to fictionalise?
Depending upon your definition of romance, some of the following probably don't cut it: To kill a mockingbird, 21 hours in munich, Memento (?), Iron Giant, Finding Nemo (lots of animated stuff), Meaning of Life, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Withnail and I, Grave of the Fireflies, Shawshank Redemption, Lord of the Flies, One Flew over the cuckoo's nest, Usual suspects, Saving private ryan, das boot, T2, unforgiven, deer hunter, lock stock and two smoking barrels (was there even a woman in the film besides the card dealer?)
I'm prepared to be corrected on any of those.
dictionary.com suggests that a cliche is "an expression or idea that has lost its originality or force through overuse".
If it fits, and it still emotes the way you want, then I say - go for it.
Disclaimer: The last poetry I wrote was as an angsty teenager and was summarily burned once I realised that bad prose is something you get blackmailed with.
roryk - it appears that they *are* np-complete. which makes solving by logic alone impossible for the difficult ones (although the easy/moderate ones are easily solved using logic).
The harder problems require some hypothesise/test iterations in order to prune the possibilities in order to get to a solution.
Instead of programming a game-tree-search algorithm, i spent a couple of hours writing a genetic algorithm type solver. It currently often gets stuck in a locally optimal zone, but I think I can fix that.
And again, I've spent more time on this post than is sane.
tracicle, I challenge your #2 to write one which will solve the more difficult puzzles.
I wrote another solver in C++ to use as much of the "first level" of logic as possible. It will solve any of the beginner/moderate ones in about a tenth of a second.
However, with the more difficult puzzles you need to start a search tree and start pruning it as you reach dead ends. (e.g. the diabolical ones in here).
My next solution will involve genetic algorithms.
Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" was probably the first timetravel story that I ever read. It had me marvelling for days. It's only a short story and it will take you about 10 minutes to read. (All the reviews I've read said to not bother at all with the movie) Others that spring to mind: * a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court. (mark twain) - also a very early read of mine; i think i had a cutdown reader's digest version of it. * arthur dent on prehistoric earth in the hitchhiker's series. * back to the future (the book-of-the-movie). Yes, I'm cheating with this one.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Anti-Semiticism Contest"
I have nothing to say that isn't said here
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Monkey on a Board"
The first three days are going to be incredibly hard - if you're already a a skier you are going to wonder why you are going through the pain. But, damn, on day 4 and 5 when you link turns together and get some flow going it's going to feel awesome. Fitness: get some running or cycling going to improve general fitness. your legs are still going to hurt like hell, but you'll be able to go for longer before totally giving out. Crunches/sit-ups/reverse-pushups: you spend a lot of time on your back (having just fallen over) and raising your body back up to your feet each time is going to kill your abs and lats (and wrists, and triceps and most of the rest of your body). A bit of preventative training may help a little here. Knees: When I learned to snowboard I didn't mind falling on my arse - it was falling onto my knees which really shat me. If there was one thing I would do different, it would be to wear knee guards. Wrists: some people advocate wrist supports/guards, but I always just found them annoying. Pain: there's going to be a lot of creaking pain on the morning after a big day of snowboarding. I heartily recommend a couple of ibuprofen tablets with breakfast. Learning: you're going to have people yelling 17 different kinds of advice as you try to learn - stuff about "bending your knees", "shifting your weight", "pointing your shoulder to where you are going", "feeling the edge". All of it is good advice, but doesn't really mean much until after you get a feel for the board. And the only way to get a feel for your board is to follow this simple plan: * stand up on board * glide for a bit * fall down * repeat Do that every day for 3 days and you *will* learn the basics of how to snowboard. Falling down is integral to the plan, as is the repetition. I learned to snowboard at 27 and if I had the money I'd be there every holiday.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Medical monkey!"
Check out Anatomy for Beginners. A UK Channel4 TV production showing the anatomy of the human body by cutting up cadavers. No holds barred. There's a DVD of it out somewhere.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious George : AMD or Intel"
As a cheapskate box-builder, the bang/buck ratio is very important - I've had AMDs in my last two boxes, and my next box will definitely have one of those dual core AMD 64-bit processors. AMDs have been better value for money for me for a few years now. Note: I'm a number cruncher and not a video person or gamer.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Skin Care"
meredithea. that's exactly what I wanted to know. thanks. The two product limit also comes about because I have to drag this stuff to the pool with me (since I usually swim in the morning before work.) Now, if collected monkeys could hit me with some good/accessible brands I'd be indebted. Some of the more boutique/esoteric brands don't make it to .au, or if they do, they're bloody expensive.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
Some good stuff so far. I'm taking notes. I probably should have been explicit in saying that, for me, "low hassle" means a maximum of 2 products. If it's more than 2, then the chances of me (a) using it (b) remembering to use it are slim.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious. George tabbed browsing."
I must be soooo in love with tabs, because this question and Chyren's assertions just sound like trolls. How can you use tabs for a day and not adore them?
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In " Filthy, funny, flawed, gorgeous"
Girls are pretty does the same sort of thing - except much better, more twisted and exceedingly bitter. Pure gold.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Computer security."
Depends on the ruleset on what it blocks/allows etc I suppose. The most powerful rule on my firewall is "do not allow stuff to connect inwards unless it's part of a connection I started outwards" - so basically nothing can be initialised from the outside on any port (except for the few ports that I have forwarded for p2p stuff). If your router allows you to "block everything (but leave ports X,Y & Z open)", then it's probably fine for personal stuff. If this is the case, then I would run a personal firewall as well - just to be sure. Besides the dedicated firewall, my only other windows advice is to turn off *EVERYTHING*. Then start enabling things until your box works the way you want. Then store a drive image of this somewhere. Sorry I can't really be more help, but once you put a good firewall in, you sort of negate the need for most other hardening measures. (Disclaimer: my main box runs *nix, so it isn't that much of a target anyways)
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
Feh! I clicked on this story specifically to post "get a firewall." So I will. Get a firewall! And not some 'personal firewall' running on the same machine. Get a *dedicated* firewall box. I've heard reports of windows personal firewall software being deactivated by viruses - so if malware comes in via email - it can let itself back out by disabling the firewall program. A dedicated non-windows firewall box makes sense for a few reasons: * most malware thrives in monoculture environments. two different OSs is a great start to a safer computing experience. * the external firewall box seen by the net is different from your internal box. If the world sees your computer as a BSD/*nix box, it may be less of a target to the scriptkiddies out there. * the firewall is *NOT* running on the same computer as your everyday computer - useful for both safety and performance. Once you have a good firewall set up, you can pretty much attach completely unsecured windows boxes to the net through it and not ever worry about remote exploits. There are a number of linux/bsd firewall distros which attempt to be friendly (though I have no personal experience with them). My firewall solution is a very old p166 (MMX!) running *nix with iptables. Sorry for posting "get a firewall" when it is exactly not what you wanted. (Disclaimer - My free advice is worth only half of what you paid for it.)
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Ride to Work Day"
Every now and then I'm tempted to ride along the main road into the city along the T3 transit lane - I would fly past all the people gridlocked in their cars. On the downside I would be hit by a bus and not have enough time to enjoy my feeling of superiority.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Beginner's Guide to Podcast Creation"
Coming soon: Your complete guide to the bleeding obvious! Includes: * How to use your keyboard to make letters appear on a page - or even on the internet! * Using your mouse to draw *DIGITAL* pictures * Writing your daily thoughts down somewhere in this great new thing called a 'diary' - and then sharing all of your stupid teenage angst with the world. * How to use a microphone. Yes, I'm a cynical and jaded bastard.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious Editorial George:"
Monkey Business 4 words or *fewer*. You're One Stop Print Shop [misspellings in print shop names add that extra bit of credibility] Text like Grammar used to make! Galley Slave Proof of Concept I think perhaps you should get away from the gimmicky business names (like the awful ones hairdressers seem to like). What about "[Yourname]'s Editing"?
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Mo Kin (short quicktime movie)"
direct link to movie. This is a clip from a few years ago of some 3-year-old North Korean girl playing the xylophone. Obviously forced by her communist overlords to look like she's enjoying herself.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Lost! (Not the show.)"
"I heard a comedian (can't remember who... sorry) say that the number of keys you carry is directly inverse to how powerful you are" That's *MY* rule! The "inverse key rule", invented in 1989. My jokes are being stolen! *sulks*
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "Aromantic George"
Alien. 2001. And probably lots from the (good) sci-fi genre. Who wants to see yucky kissing when there's glorious science to fictionalise? Depending upon your definition of romance, some of the following probably don't cut it: To kill a mockingbird, 21 hours in munich, Memento (?), Iron Giant, Finding Nemo (lots of animated stuff), Meaning of Life, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Withnail and I, Grave of the Fireflies, Shawshank Redemption, Lord of the Flies, One Flew over the cuckoo's nest, Usual suspects, Saving private ryan, das boot, T2, unforgiven, deer hunter, lock stock and two smoking barrels (was there even a woman in the film besides the card dealer?) I'm prepared to be corrected on any of those.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "CuriousGeorge/Clichés?"
dictionary.com suggests that a cliche is "an expression or idea that has lost its originality or force through overuse". If it fits, and it still emotes the way you want, then I say - go for it. Disclaimer: The last poetry I wrote was as an angsty teenager and was summarily burned once I realised that bad prose is something you get blackmailed with.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
In "This is a mind boggling (but fun) puzzle...apparently the new craze of the day..."
roryk - it appears that they *are* np-complete. which makes solving by logic alone impossible for the difficult ones (although the easy/moderate ones are easily solved using logic). The harder problems require some hypothesise/test iterations in order to prune the possibilities in order to get to a solution. Instead of programming a game-tree-search algorithm, i spent a couple of hours writing a genetic algorithm type solver. It currently often gets stuck in a locally optimal zone, but I think I can fix that. And again, I've spent more time on this post than is sane.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
tracicle, I challenge your #2 to write one which will solve the more difficult puzzles. I wrote another solver in C++ to use as much of the "first level" of logic as possible. It will solve any of the beginner/moderate ones in about a tenth of a second. However, with the more difficult puzzles you need to start a search tree and start pruning it as you reach dead ends. (e.g. the diabolical ones in here). My next solution will involve genetic algorithms.
posted by lamearse 18 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)