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Mark_Wallace wrote: When you're finished, grieve for the 2,000,000 men, women, and children that his "tools" killed.
Yes, I know I was stepping onto a landmine.
Marc
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Marc Clifton wrote: landmine
No that would be Nils Waltersen.
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tool
/tuːl/
noun
1. a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.
Not sure what your decision to put single quotes around the word was intended to say. The only use of single-quote marks that I'm familiar with in that situation is to imply that the chosen word is inappropriate.
That the implement has been used by many to kill those 2,000,000 is indeed an unfortunate thing - it's also indicative of the brilliant simplicity and robustness that are incorporated into its design - it wouldn't have been the weapon of choice if not for it's brilliant design - it's a hell of a lot more clever than anything I came up with as a 28 year old, how about you?
Presumably you're able to separate appreciation of a clever design and lamentation of the way the design may be/has been abused?
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enhzflep wrote: Presumably you're able to separate appreciation of a clever design and lamentation of the way the design may be/has been abused?
Weapons are designed to kill. I don't think a tool has been abused if it was used for its main purpose. The fact that its main purpose is to kill is regrettable, but (as you mentioned) one can still appreciate the cleverness of the design.
What is this talk of release? I do not release software. My software escapes leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality assurance people in its wake.
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Good point. Never even considered that use of the word abuse, I see and agree with your point, though not to the exclusion of my use of the word. I believe both are correct uses of the word. If I had to pick one definition to the exclusion of the other, I really dont know which way I would lean.
"define abused" as a google search returns both your definition (i.e to use improperly) and "to bad effect"
Thanks for the impetus to take a closer look and think more about it. I've since considered another use - the one employed when used as a tool to promote compliance through fear. As an example, consider bank-robberies, or actually, robberies in general - the purpose there is not to actually kill, but rather to make it clear that compliance is expected. (Not that its a particularly relevant scenario when considering the purpose and environment that the AK was designed for and in)
There's lots of parts of high-school & uni I'm glad to be long free from. There are many others I quite enjoyed and miss. Thanks again for a trip back to one of the gems of the era.  (your post) gets my vote.
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The purpose of a tool is to do useful work.
Do you consider killing people to be useful work?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: 2,000,000 men, women, and children
What about the rest?
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I moved to this new place last week and since I entered this building, whenever I see this old man (70+), he is always complaining -
1. About the parking - I parked my car on my guest parking and not on my own parking place.
2. Explaining random things - Things that am not bothered about or asked him.
3. Post - Why don't pick my post everyday?
4. Cooking smell - Someone was cooking and he could smell it and was asking everyone who was it.
and on and on..
Yesterday it was crazy one - You can only throw one bin bag in a week. It's quite obvious when you move in or move out of any property there are lot of stuff that you need to throw away and I ain't throwing one bag a week. May be after am settled there will be 1 bag a week but this man is just a big pain.
I am still acting very patiently as he is 70+. But he is really taking the piss now and testing my patience level....
I really want to gift him 'Grumpy Old git mug' as a gift this xmas.
RANT OVER... Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year to all.
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Old people are the worst when they have some gripe... mostly because they have little else to occupy their time. In my neighborhood we have old people reporting illegally parked cars and other small infractions... who cares!?
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Our neighbors are likewise (and in 90+ !) They can't hear anything you say and even if you make them hear it by shouting (on the top of your lungs) they don't understand. Our neighbors also complained about everything and threaten to call the cops or whatever each time they deem something wrong.
I just ignore them and I mean that literally. If they try to talk I just keep on moving pretending I didn't hear  .
They can't stretch it for too long anymore though .
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Perhaps it would be better if they just died and got out of your way.
Merry f***ing Christmas.
Software Zen: delete this;
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If co2 turns to a solid at -109F and the coldest place on earth was measured to be -135F (click[^]) does co2 "freeze" at that point? Is any co2 in the air if you were to be there?
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That's cool.
There's only 0.039% (by volume) CO2 in the air though. That's a way too low partial pressure.
So I would predict that nothing would happen, unless you collected a whole bunch of the stuff in one place.
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Although 4% of exhaled air is CO2 so, if you were foolish enough to be outside in such an environment, you might see your exhaled breath fall downwards. The 90%+ that is still oxygen & nitrogen staying aloft, but the remaining water vapour & CO2 condensing & falling to the ground.
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pt1401 wrote: condensing & falling to the ground.
Not necessarily. The air is full of particulates composed of materials with molecular weights greater than the primary components of air (like dust mites and their feces), They don't fall, but rather, disperse, due to Brownian motion: the energy imparted to them by being banged around randomly by all of the air molecules. A particle needs to be large enough to fall if it's not in a vacuum.
(large enough depends upon the surroundings: in vacuum, everything is large enough).
(this all depends upon the size of the particulates resulting from the condensation).
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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True, but it also depends on the temperature - there's not a lot of Brownian motion at -135 degF
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Concentration plays a part as well as temperature. Take, for example, water vapor: the Brownian[^] motion of the air molecules and the macro movement of air currents keep some of the vapor from freezing out. The concentration of CO2 in the air is less than the concentration of H2O, so carbon dioxide cannot freeze out, either.
If you want naturally occurring dry ice, you'll need to head to Mars: during the winter, the colder pole can get as low as −143 C, resulting in a layer of CO2 snow.
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Gregory.Gadow wrote: The concentration of CO2 in the air is less than the concentration of H2O, so carbon dioxide cannot freeze out, either.
No - it's an effect of a substance's partial pressure at a given temperature (vs. the solid/liquid states with which it is in contact). The materials attempt to create an equilibrium which is the appropriate partial pressure for a given conditions in contact with the solid/liquid source. IF there's not enough of the solid/liquid available to reach the equilibrium state then it all goes into the gaseous state.
An example of partial pressure would be smell of alcohol when you open a bottle: it's boiling point is above room temperature. It has a significant partial pressure and thus alcohol molecules leave the liquid phase and become a vapor above the liquid. If the bottle's closed - it stops pretty quickly. If the bottle's open, it never reaches equilibrium and so all the alcohol evaporates. The partial pressure of a solution (example, alcohol + water) is equal to the partial pressures of each component weighted by its relative molal volume. 100pf thus has a tad more than half the vapor pressure of grain neutral spirits.
The CO2 could potentially be flash-frozen into the solid state, kept aloft by Brownian motion, and then re-sublime in a vain attempt to reach equilibrium with the atmospheric CO2. Frosty breath.
Since this is CP, it is unlikely that alcohol would ever be in (1) a closed bottle or (2) allowed to evaporate from an open bottle. The actual situation is better addressed by biochemistry, of which I claim not expertise whatsoever, except, perhaps, with well peated single-malt Scotches
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon_dioxide_pressure-temperature_phase_diagram.svg[^]
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Gregory.Gadow wrote: Concentration plays a part as well as temperature.
So if you REALLY focus...
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So that means global warming isnt true eh? 
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Was wondering when you were going to chime in. 
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With great planning, you can set a camera in the same place and take a picture of the sun at the exact same time of day; in the resulting composite, the sun traces out a figure 8 shape called an analemma[^]. With even greater planning, you can get a tutulemma[^], an analemma with a total solar eclipse.
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I was about to sy man, that is really cool!
...but then I realized it wasn't - closer to 16 million Kelvin, in fact. 
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Way cool.
Always give 100%.
Unless you are donating blood...
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To Infinity & Beyond 
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