Author Topic: the EP avitar  (Read 20223 times)

DKT

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Reply #25 on: March 12, 2008, 05:04:50 PM
"Darth Vader can kiss my ass."


birdless

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Reply #26 on: March 12, 2008, 06:40:50 PM

Ha! Me too!... what exploding spaceship, though? That I don't see.

You need to look at the full version of the image, which is used as a banner at escapepod.org

The version used as cover art for the podcast (and Steve's forum avatar) crops out the spaceship.
OOoooooohhh....  ::)

Thanks. (I was looking at the cover art, btw)



Windup

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Reply #27 on: April 03, 2008, 12:59:29 AM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


Chodon

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Reply #28 on: April 03, 2008, 01:26:52 AM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o
Hah!  Ain't that the truth.  I write assembly instructions in addition to various other engineering duties, and it's amazing how people (including myself) can miss things written in certain ways.

Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither.


Windup

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Reply #29 on: April 03, 2008, 01:49:31 AM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o
Hah!  Ain't that the truth.  I write assembly instructions in addition to various other engineering duties, and it's amazing how people (including myself) can miss things written in certain ways.

Yup. Though in fairness to the users, it's often because you're trying to write directions to get them to perform inherently unreasonable actions.  Who, for example, would stop in the middle of a deep space emergency to check the exterior of the escape module for directions?  However, I'm sure by the time the problem was discovered, the development team insisted it was a "training issue..." 

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


wintermute

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Reply #30 on: April 03, 2008, 10:53:14 AM
"Quarantine:- Do Not Open"

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #31 on: April 03, 2008, 08:54:48 PM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o
Hah!  Ain't that the truth.  I write assembly instructions in addition to various other engineering duties, and it's amazing how people (including myself) can miss things written in certain ways.
I was out-right astounded to find out that the instructions for assembling and detonating atomic weapons are written at an 8th grade level.

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Heradel

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Reply #32 on: April 03, 2008, 09:13:54 PM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o
Hah!  Ain't that the truth.  I write assembly instructions in addition to various other engineering duties, and it's amazing how people (including myself) can miss things written in certain ways.
I was out-right astounded to find out that the instructions for assembling and detonating atomic weapons are written at an 8th grade level.

Well, it's not like the base mechanics are that hard for you basic nuke — take Sphere A and Sphere B, put Sphere B into cannon and fire directly at Sphere A.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


CGFxColONeill

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Reply #33 on: April 03, 2008, 10:28:49 PM
Well, it's not like the base mechanics are that hard for you basic nuke — take Sphere A and Sphere B, put Sphere B into cannon and fire directly at Sphere A.
there are even diagrams of how all that works on how stuff works

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wintermute

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Reply #34 on: April 03, 2008, 10:38:04 PM
I don't get why nukes are so hard to disarm. At least, assuming Hollywood is telling me the truth...

Apparently, you have to enter a super-secret 20-digit number, which seems like overkill when these things are meant to be flying through the air while they're armed. I'd imagine that if they're armed and in a position where someone can physically get to them, you'd want to make it as easy as possible to disarm. Maybe a big flashing button that says "Push here not to be vaporised"...

Science means that not all dreams can come true


eytanz

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Reply #35 on: April 03, 2008, 10:42:31 PM
I don't get why nukes are so hard to disarm. At least, assuming Hollywood is telling me the truth...

Apparently, you have to enter a super-secret 20-digit number, which seems like overkill when these things are meant to be flying through the air while they're armed. I'd imagine that if they're armed and in a position where someone can physically get to them, you'd want to make it as easy as possible to disarm. Maybe a big flashing button that says "Push here not to be vaporised"...

I always thought that the lesson to take away from Hollywood is that the actual security measures are just there as a distraction. All nukes will disarm when the big red timer they carry reads "00:01", regardless of what anyone does.



Heradel

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Reply #36 on: April 03, 2008, 10:49:04 PM
I always thought that the lesson to take away from Hollywood is that the actual security measures are just there as a distraction. All nukes will disarm when the big red timer they carry reads "00:01", regardless of what anyone does.

Or have a "humorous" flag shoot out saying "Boom" instead of a few megaton explosion.

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wintermute

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Reply #37 on: April 03, 2008, 10:52:03 PM
No, that only happens when someone actively presses the "explode now" button.

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Windup

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Reply #38 on: April 04, 2008, 12:33:06 AM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o
Hah!  Ain't that the truth.  I write assembly instructions in addition to various other engineering duties, and it's amazing how people (including myself) can miss things written in certain ways.
I was out-right astounded to find out that the instructions for assembling and detonating atomic weapons are written at an 8th grade level.

OK, but let's assume you were actually in the position of having to assemble and detonate said nuclear weapon.  How much of your brain would actually be available to deal with the task at hand, and how much is busy thinking "WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"? (Or whatever...)  I'm thinking under those circumstances, mustering an 8th-grade level of concentration might be a bit of a trick....   :o
« Last Edit: April 04, 2008, 12:58:35 AM by Windup »

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


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Reply #39 on: April 04, 2008, 12:58:18 PM
I was out-right astounded to find out that the instructions for assembling and detonating atomic weapons are written at an 8th grade level.

Well, it's not like the base mechanics are that hard for you basic nuke — take Sphere A and Sphere B, put Sphere B into cannon and fire directly at Sphere A.

I am reminded of "Hobby Sheet #4: A Simple Atomic Bomb for the Home Craftsman" from R. A. Wilson's Shrödinger's Cat: The Universe Next Door.

Can't dig up the relevant quote though, as the book is still packed (went through a recent move and another is impending so not much point to unpacking).

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #40 on: April 05, 2008, 02:47:35 PM
"Remove before using Escape Pod"

I write directions professionally, and know for a solemn truth that the fact it's in red letters six feet tall will not help get it done...    :o
Hah!  Ain't that the truth.  I write assembly instructions in addition to various other engineering duties, and it's amazing how people (including myself) can miss things written in certain ways.
I was out-right astounded to find out that the instructions for assembling and detonating atomic weapons are written at an 8th grade level.

OK, but let's assume you were actually in the position of having to assemble and detonate said nuclear weapon.  How much of your brain would actually be available to deal with the task at hand, and how much is busy thinking "WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"? (Or whatever...)  I'm thinking under those circumstances, mustering an 8th-grade level of concentration might be a bit of a trick....   :o
Yes. Mostly that.
Also, consider the kind of person who volunteers for such a duty.
A co-worker of mine use to be with the Marine Nuclear Ordinance Platoon, and specialized in "tactical" nukes. He mentioned a few times how the guys he worked with weren't mentally stable, for a reason. They had to employ people who actually would strap a suitcase bomb to themselves, jump out of a plane, and detonate it. Understandably these guys weren't mental giants either.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Windup

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Reply #41 on: April 05, 2008, 03:36:10 PM

OK, but let's assume you were actually in the position of having to assemble and detonate said nuclear weapon.  How much of your brain would actually be available to deal with the task at hand, and how much is busy thinking "WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"? (Or whatever...)  I'm thinking under those circumstances, mustering an 8th-grade level of concentration might be a bit of a trick....   :o
Yes. Mostly that.
Also, consider the kind of person who volunteers for such a duty.
A co-worker of mine use to be with the Marine Nuclear Ordinance Platoon, and specialized in "tactical" nukes. He mentioned a few times how the guys he worked with weren't mentally stable, for a reason. They had to employ people who actually would strap a suitcase bomb to themselves, jump out of a plane, and detonate it. Understandably these guys weren't mental giants either.

Well, don't believe everything you're told by ex-Marines.  And realize that the system evolved over time, of course -- you didn't mention during exactly what period your co-worker was talking about.  Things were a lot looser in the early 50's than they were even by the mid-60's. 

By the time I was in the Air Force in the mid-80's, the Personal Reliability Program could (and did) remove people from the nuclear chain of command for "abnormalities" no more serious than insomnia.

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


wintermute

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Reply #42 on: April 05, 2008, 05:35:16 PM
..."abnormalities" no more serious than insomnia.
Speaking as a some-time insomniac, it can be pretty serious.  Three or four days without sleep, and you're pretty much clinically insane. I fully agree that people having vivid hallucinations should not have the ability to set off a nuclear bomb.

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Windup

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Reply #43 on: April 06, 2008, 03:48:12 AM
..."abnormalities" no more serious than insomnia.
Speaking as a some-time insomniac, it can be pretty serious.  Three or four days without sleep, and you're pretty much clinically insane. I fully agree that people having vivid hallucinations should not have the ability to set off a nuclear bomb.

I'm a sometime insomniac myself, and I don't disagree with it being part of the Personal Reliability Program screening criteria.  My point is, that's a relatively low threshold for what's considered a problem in the world in general; PRP would presumably screen out the more serious problems you sometimes hear described.

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


Thaurismunths

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Reply #44 on: April 08, 2008, 02:19:47 AM

OK, but let's assume you were actually in the position of having to assemble and detonate said nuclear weapon.  How much of your brain would actually be available to deal with the task at hand, and how much is busy thinking "WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"? (Or whatever...)  I'm thinking under those circumstances, mustering an 8th-grade level of concentration might be a bit of a trick....   :o
Yes. Mostly that.
Also, consider the kind of person who volunteers for such a duty.
A co-worker of mine use to be with the Marine Nuclear Ordinance Platoon, and specialized in "tactical" nukes. He mentioned a few times how the guys he worked with weren't mentally stable, for a reason. They had to employ people who actually would strap a suitcase bomb to themselves, jump out of a plane, and detonate it. Understandably these guys weren't mental giants either.

Well, don't believe everything you're told by ex-Marines.  And realize that the system evolved over time, of course -- you didn't mention during exactly what period your co-worker was talking about.  Things were a lot looser in the early 50's than they were even by the mid-60's. 

By the time I was in the Air Force in the mid-80's, the Personal Reliability Program could (and did) remove people from the nuclear chain of command for "abnormalities" no more serious than insomnia.
Good points, and very true.
The Marine in question was in for 30 years, the last of which would have been around 2000. So we'll guess that he was playing with nukes around 1980.
As for mental in stability, nothing debilitating or terribly creative. Just the kind of instability that keeps one from having successful personal relationships: mild depression, mild bi-polar disorder, addictive personality, impulse and aggression control, low self-esteem, etc.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Heradel

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Reply #45 on: April 08, 2008, 03:00:25 AM
Good points, and very true.
The Marine in question was in for 30 years, the last of which would have been around 2000. So we'll guess that he was playing with nukes around 1980.
As for mental in stability, nothing debilitating or terribly creative. Just the kind of instability that keeps one from having successful personal relationships: mild depression, mild bi-polar disorder, addictive personality, impulse and aggression control, low self-esteem, etc.

You know, with any other job I would care and be affronted, but not with people handling Nukes. I would prefer those people to have no imagination or tendencies beyond those necessary for life.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


wherethewild

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Reply #46 on: April 08, 2008, 11:02:53 AM
(Can I jump around the nuclear bit, and make a suggestion for the translation?)

"Gary and Maureen's Milky Way Tour 2008"

(I'm not sure if that needs explanation: In Germany all the 50 yr olds going around in their big white mobile homes will stick giant stickers on the back of it, often with photos of them grinning inanely. And these always say something like the above, only with Italy or Spain or The Baltics or something).

The Great N-sh whispers in my ear, and he's talking about you.