Author Topic: EP135: Stu  (Read 21129 times)

Chodon

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Reply #25 on: December 14, 2007, 05:50:06 PM
Okay, after everyone's rave reviews I went back and tried this story again.  It still didn't click.  I guess I've never had a relationship with one of my parent's friends like this or something.  I just couldn't put myself in the shoes of any of the characters.  Maybe because I'm an engineer in a position like Stu I associated with him more than the main character?  I'm a tenacious as hell engineer in real life and I keep flapping my arms up and down and shouting until someone listens.  Most engineers I work with are that way.  Stu was content to be trampled on by the government, and smile the whole time.  I think that's what seemed unrealistic to me.  Or maybe I'm too dense to get the heavier themes.  I'm glad everyone else enjoyed this story so much, but it still just doesn't work for me.

Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither.


eytanz

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Reply #26 on: December 15, 2007, 10:54:22 PM



swdragoon

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Reply #27 on: December 16, 2007, 01:21:23 AM
I liked this story it was remunicent of my military time . But if you think this is limited to the us gov you are sadly misinformed

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Planish

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Reply #28 on: December 17, 2007, 05:59:30 AM
I enjoyed the story. My take on it is the notion of it being about "the journey, not the destination".

I was also reminded of Hedy Lamar's little-known contribution to technology.


Quote from: wikipedia
In Hollywood, she was usually cast as glamorous and seductive. Her many films include Algiers (1938), White Cargo (1942), and Tortilla Flat (1942), based on the novel by John Steinbeck. In 1941 she was cast alongside two other Hollywood beauties, Lana Turner and Judy Garland in the musical extravaganza Ziegfeld Girl. As she or her agent also declined some roles, it is said that Ingrid Bergman was often cast instead of her.

Her biggest success came as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah, the highest-grossing film of 1949, with Victor Mature as the Biblical strongman.

[snip]

Avantgarde-composer George Antheil, a son of German immigrants and neighbor of Lamarr, had experimented with automated control of instruments. Together, they submitted the idea of a Secret Communication System in June 1941. On 11 August 1942 U.S. Patent 2,292,387  was granted to Antheil and Hedy Kiesler Markey [her birth name]. This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam.

The idea was impractical and ahead of its time and mechanical technology. It was not implemented in the USA until 1962, when it was used by U.S. military ships during a blockade of Cuba,[3] after the patent had expired. Neither Lamarr nor Antheil (who died in 1959) made any money from the patent. Perhaps due to this lag in development, the patent was little-known until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Lamarr an award for this contribution.[1]

Lamarr's and Antheil's frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology used in devices ranging from cordless telephones to WiFi Internet connections, namely CDMA.[4] Similar patents had been granted to others earlier, like in Germany in 1935 to Telefunken engineers Paul Kotowski and Kurt Dannehl who also received U.S. Patent 2,158,662  and U.S. Patent 2,211,132  in 1939 and 1940.

Lamarr wanted to join the National Inventors Council but she was told that she could better help the war effort by using her celebrity status to sell War Bonds. She once raised $7,000,000 at just one event.

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wakela

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Reply #29 on: December 19, 2007, 11:31:44 PM
This was a very pleasant story.  I enjoyed the kid's relationship with his father.  If he and his father had just not seen eye to eye over the backdrop of the Vietnam War and 60's counter culture I might have strangled myself with my headphone chord. 

I enjoyed listening to this story very much, but I have to say that I can't have complete sympathy for Stu.  He's the one who decided to work for the Navy.  He knew the Navy would own his inventions.  The Navy's job is to protect the country, and it's completely understandable that they would rather listen for Soviet submarines than look for space aliens.  Even if they knew the aliens were real, it is in the Navy's interest to keep the Earth hidden from them.   Look at what's happened in Earth history when a more technologically advanced civilization meets a less advanced one.  Stu would have had a bigger beef if he worked for academia.



Listener

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Reply #30 on: December 20, 2007, 06:22:52 PM
I enjoyed listening to this story very much, but I have to say that I can't have complete sympathy for Stu.  He's the one who decided to work for the Navy.  He knew the Navy would own his inventions.  The Navy's job is to protect the country, and it's completely understandable that they would rather listen for Soviet submarines than look for space aliens.  Even if they knew the aliens were real, it is in the Navy's interest to keep the Earth hidden from them.   Look at what's happened in Earth history when a more technologically advanced civilization meets a less advanced one.  Stu would have had a bigger beef if he worked for academia.

Devil's Advocate:  working for the military, you get access to the best new toys faster than anyone else (hello appropriations budget) and you don't have to go looking for grants or anything.

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lieffeil

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Reply #31 on: June 16, 2008, 10:12:46 PM
This story got to me. I get the feeling like I'm sure I'll listen to it again at a later date, and it'll be just as good, if not better. Plus, it gave me one of my favorite quotes, to date:
"All an atom bomb is, Brian, is the heart of a star—the gorgeous, miraculous heart of a star—that we just happen to step a little too close to …"

...you've got three metric seconds.


Bdoomed

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Reply #32 on: June 17, 2008, 05:36:11 AM
I was also reminded of Hedy Lamar's little-known contribution to technology.
IIIIIIIIITS HEDLEY!!!!!! :P couldnt resist

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Unblinking

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Reply #33 on: March 11, 2010, 03:12:05 PM
I liked the themes, philosophy, and emotional core of the story.  But I thought it was rather long for its content.  I did like the ending with him leaving the Frisbee behind.