The "not invented here" syndrome

How'd you get 'em to date you? I got the look before asking.

Harold

Hah! Another Niven fan, eh? :) :)

You can potentially fall into "holes" if you don't understand the "whole" of the English Language which "provokes" people

AWEM

Chuckle!

That's my man Andrew, folks! Give him a bow.

Harold

A lot of technology was shared/stolen at that time, but Steinmetz never worked for Westinghouse, he worked for Eickemeyer's and then GE. When GE was formed out of Thomson-Houston and Edison General, the AC/DC battles were over, as GE embraced AC transmission and Edison moved on to other fields, perfecting the phonograph and pursuing magnetic ore separation, among other things at his West Orange laboratory.

Steimetz's development of the use of complex notation to simplify electrical calculations proved to be a major advance, as engineers could use the simpler math to properly design components.

wrote: (snip)

Nitrogen asphyxiation.

I would agree IF the organs were sold and the profit given to the victim's family.

The problem with the guillotine - and any number of other "instant kills" - is that they're typically gory. The average "developed world" citizen is too squeamish for the sight of much blood or (perceived) suffering.

It's also fairly well-documented that quick, clean removal of a person's head doesn't result in instant death. Instead, the head remains viable, aware, and responsive for quite a number of seconds before losing consciousness. The body goes through the same flailing and thrashing as does the proverbial "chicken with its head cut off". It's altogether an effective but highly disturbing execution for observers.

"Going to sleep and not waking up" seems to be the only means of execution modern people are willing to accept en-masse. Even then you'll find any number of folks claiming that the unconscious criminal suffers unmentionable torment and pain during the process. Their victims didn't -- right?

My read is simply that people have, of late, afforded more "human rights" to the criminals than their victims. To my estimation, no method of execution is too painful, gory, or ugly for the animal who has raped a child or killed an innocent for the change in their pockets.

When I was a kid (a loooong time ago), we would imagine various crimes against our enemies (teachers, bullies, and the like), then unanimously cite, "but you'd go to the 'chair' for that!". Even if capital punishment doesn't deter every criminal, with no punishments, there exist no deterrents. An all-expenses-paid tour in prison is hardly the deterrent it used to be. (see "Cool Hand Luke" for a refresher)

LLoyd

Ah.....

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her t*ts" John Griffin

Hardly instantly and you turn into a bright red beet.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her t*ts" John Griffin

Hardly instantly and you gasp and choke for at 3-4 minutes and turn nice and blue.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her t*ts" John Griffin

Nitrogen asphyxiation operates on a slightly different process than normal asphyxiation. The gasp and choke response is due to a buildup of CO2 in your bloodstream. Replacing O2 with N2 results in no buildup of CO2 in the blood. There are some symptoms, but they aren't that noticible. A couple of techs at NASA back in '81 died from from this because they didn't realize they were having a problem. I understand it is also a danger on container ships that pressurize the holds with straight N2 to prevent pest problems.

Todd Rich wrote: (snip)

Here is a link:

Because Bill Gates is a lousy software engineer and doesn't and has never prized good engineering. He DOES prize monopolistic business procedures that have made Microsoft what it is today, to the great cost of computer users worldwide- which is why I said "from an engineering perspective."

From an "arrogance perspective", no doubt he's right up there.

Gregm

That's right. Interested parties can read about "confined space rescue".

How is that different than Edison? Edison tried to ruin AC current so he could sell more of his DC. It wasn't the best product either, but he certainly tried to monopolize the market.

I hate Microsoft and their practices as much as the next guy, but you can't say Gates isn't good at what he does (marketing).

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:24:44 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Harold and Susan Vordos" quickly quoth:

Don's wonderful sci-fi book reference (re: suicide via a glass of poison) meets those qualifications, Harold. Well, unless the guy breaks the glass and slits his wrists or beats his head against the wall.

On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:17:02 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Mark Jerde" quickly quoth:

Westinghouse was more savvy than Edison, who was stuck in an electrical rut at that time.

But they still code poorly, write bloatware, and still can't do I/O worth a shit. Their programmers don't follow their OWN guidelines, either. (I've heard that last one from far, far better programmers than I.)

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 23:05:17 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus13628 quickly quoth:

Yeah, no guilt. War is hell. If only the boy was shot, the charge could still have been used by another of the enemy. (You made the logical choice, Gunner.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------- The more we gripe, *