Apropos of nothing in particular, does anybody have any idea what the oldest continuously maintained system on Earth is?
I’m thinking Chinese canals, Roman waterworks or bridges, and so forth; but the answer could be some more social or political, I suppose. The hierarchy of Judaism, for example.
Heck, does anyone want to take a shot at refining the question?
Posted: 5:43 am Wed December 03 2008 | Comments(1) |
the_child has asked me to help her find a praying mantis pin she can give her mother for Christmas. She is hoping someone in the blogosphere can point us to an appropriate source.
Posted: 6:36 pm Mon December 01 2008 | Comments(1) |
If anyone in greater Portlandia wants three peacock eggs which have been sitting in my freezer for a very long time, they are free for the taking. [ETA: They have been claimed.] Two feel so light as to be empty, a third has something rattling around inside it. (Ie, a frozen peacock fetus — the_child is cracking a fourth egg to investigate.)
I figure these are unusual enough to offer to a crafter rather than simply throw away.
Let me know in comments or via email if you are interested. (I’m also willing to mail them, but for very obvious reasons, can offer no guarantee at all concerning deliverability.)
ETA: the_child reports “there was no male involved, just egg bits”. We have photographed the results, which I will post later.
Posted: 3:37 pm Fri November 28 2008 | Comments(0) |
I’m working on the (new) Sekrit Projekt here, and I’ve realized I need some info I don’t have in my brain and am not successfully Googling up.
Is there a set of (simplified) equations that can be used to establish the differential between ship-time and observer-time for a relativistic transit at interstellar distances? I’d love a calculator applet or spreadsheet that would let me set distance in lightyears and ship speed as a fraction of c, thereby showing the two separate values for elapsed time. (And I know that this stupid-simple example ignores acceleration/deceleration time, but you get the idea.)
Or am I asking too much here? Comments, Web links, Excel files and whatnot welcome.
Posted: 11:39 am Fri November 28 2008 | Comments(3) |
Will someone with fairly good Latin skills ping me? I need help on a phrase.
All good now! Thank you.
Posted: 3:03 pm Mon November 10 2008 | Comments(0) |
Anyone out there use a transcription service or an individual transcriptionist? I need a 25-minute recorded conversation transcribed, assuming I can handle the rates. Please leave tips in comments.
Loads of great answers! More than I can handle already. Thank you very, very much.
Posted: 2:59 pm Wed October 22 2008 | Comments(0) |
tillyjane, a/k/a my mom, is looking to join a walking team for the Hood-to-Coast race. If you have any leads or know anyone who can help her, please email me directly or leave a comment here.
Thanks!
Posted: 12:43 pm Sat October 18 2008 | Comments(0) |
the_child has asked for an introduction to computer programming. I am seeking advice on both a grade school level introductory text on programming, and the appropriate language/development environment which can be installed on her Macintosh.
Posted: 6:50 pm Mon September 22 2008 | Comments(2) |
O mighty LJ brain, I was asked the following question, to which I do not have an answer. I hope someone here can contribute wisdom:
I have been hosting several nonprofit membership databases on our company server which is on a business Internet account and therefore has a static IP address. We’re now dropping the business account. However, that also loses the static IP so we lost the ability to be servers for them.
I am seeking suggestions on alternatives for the nonprofits. Yes, there are many online alternatives, but they cost far more than the nonprofits can deal with (generally $40/month and up).
At least one of the nonprofits has their own static IP — is there a cheap alternative to Sharepoint that you know of that they might purchase to do the trick?
Posted: 3:49 pm Tue September 16 2008 | Comments(2) |
Per kate_schaefer’s post at clarionites:
Due to the swift and generous response of the SF community, Clarion West has now received nearly enough money to replace the four student laptops stolen July 4 from rooms at the workshop residence. Clarion West staff, volunteers, and students all express their thanks for your very timely help. They especially want to thank BoingBoing, Cory Doctorow, Jay Lake, and many more for their generosity and for alerting others to the need for money and laptops. Donations began coming in from around the world just hours after the theft.
“If we collect funds that are much in excess of the cost of replacing the stolen computers, we will return them proportionally to the donors,” said workshop administrator Leslie Howle. “The use of PayPal makes this relatively easy to do.” She added, “We are all overwhelmed, and the students are immensely grateful. They were devastated by this theft, and it’s been amazing to see the community rally to support them.”
I am very pleased to see them on course, and the losses made whole. While I appreciate the shout-out, all I really did was pass along a message from albionidaho. A perfect example of our field’s networking and mutuality at its finest, and my congratulations to all concerned.
Posted: 11:52 am Sun July 06 2008 | Comments(0) |
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