Posts by maxwell

76

Jessica Lynch Book Trouble

by Panda in

has anyone seen the news about jessica lynch's book (which isn't even written yet).

on the news last night the father of one of lynch's company of soldiers was on tv stating that since his son was part of her experience that she should share the profits from her book.

his son was killed in that battle in iraq.

I haven't heard about this, but that was something I wondered about when I first heard about the book deal and potential movie deals. She was not alone in being attacked and rescued. They talk about giving her money for her story, but what about everyone else involved? She came in direct contact with several other people, including those in her company and those who rescued her. And what about the Iraqi citizen who risked his life to bring information to the US soldier rescuers? I suppose the book will be completely from her perspective (autobiography), so maybe she is the only one who should get money there. Others can write their own book (if and when they leave the Army) and make whatever money their book generates based on the interest of the public no matter how unfair it may seem if Jessica's book generates more interest and makes the most money. But I more wonder about any movie deals.

I also think this particular guy is just very upset, and really doesn't have any legal ground on the book deal.

9

NOTE On American No Call List

by Francois in

jw
friends

.

i noticed someone here the other day making a discouraging remark about the subject no call list to the effect that it was a waste of time because advertising calls were still coming through.

i don't remember who was making these ill-informed remarks.. the american no call list does not go into effect until october 1, 2003. best to be fully informed before blasting a good idea out of the saddle.. frank

maxwell

The law only applies to telemarketers. People should also be aware of the exceptions, which include companies with whom you have a previous relationship or have done business with. Almost all the telemarketing calls I've ever picked up, were from my credit card company. They are not covered by this list since I have their credit card, but I signed up just as a precaution anyway.

29

Remember the slide rule?

by JH in

jw
friends

did you ever work with this contraption?

when i was young, i used it in school.

did you ever use this, and do you still remember how it works?.

maxwell

onacruse,

The circular rule is outside of my experience. Never heard of that one. The only reason I have the slide rule is because my dad gave it to me.

Ah FORTRAN, didn't do anything with that except try to translate a simple statistical program to C from FORTRAN once. It was in a numerical recipes book, and it would have been simpler to just get the C version of the book, but it wasn't in the library for some reason. I went on a field trip the summer of 1994 to the Memphis Wastewater treatment plant. They had a big old ancient computer running FORTRAN programs controlling their operations. I suppose state of the art computers aren't particularly necessary when treating sewage. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still using it. I"ve seen the punchcards and heard the stories but never did anything with them.

Maxwell

still have my HP48GX from college, but is not used for anything more than balancing my checkbook these days. seems like such a waste of computing power.

29

Remember the slide rule?

by JH in

jw
friends

did you ever work with this contraption?

when i was young, i used it in school.

did you ever use this, and do you still remember how it works?.

maxwell

My dad gave me a plastic one similar to the one in the picture although I broke the part with the vertical red line. Shame on me. (I had it in my backpack one day with some heavy books and laid it down the wrong way.) My dad showed me how to add and multiply on it once but I'm not sure if I remember how to do that anymore. I just keep it as a sort of antique collectable. A cool item from the past. When I was in college, I remember seeing a gigantic wooden slide rule (~5 feet) sitting in one of the engineering classrooms. I love that scene in Apollo 13 where the engineers pull out their slide rules and start calculating frantically.

33

Are You Afraid of Another Terrorist Attack This Month?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when i read about september 11 and the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, i always think something big is being planned again.

do you tend to worry about this stuff?

maxwell

Simon said,

I know Spt 11 was a very bad thing but the perspective does seem a little skewed or lost sometimes. For instance, 20 times the number who died on that much publicised and reported event die on America's highways each month.

Besides the fact that I don't think any terrorist is capable of delivering a nuclear bomb here undetected, that's another reason I'm not worried. Even if they could get strong enough bomb and/or enough people concentrated in one place to kill the amount of people who were killed on Sept 11, the chances that I or someone I know will be there are slim. Not to diminish the trauma it would have one any who's loved ones were there. But the scariest thing I occasionally do is get inside a car and drive. Most of the risk/danger I face comes from people who are already here.

33

Are You Afraid of Another Terrorist Attack This Month?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when i read about september 11 and the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, i always think something big is being planned again.

do you tend to worry about this stuff?

maxwell

I live in DC. I'm not worried at all. Of course, this city probably has more people watching over it than any other. But even if I were in some other large city where security was not as tight, I wouldn't be worried.

9

My son just got a full scholarship! : ) But not MIT : (

by Gamaliel in

jw
friends

friends, .

i'm putting this in the form of a question, but it should be apparent i'm a parent - and a bit too proud to keep this to myself.

i've been worried about college costs for my oldest son.

maxwell

I had a full tuition scholarship for the school I attended. But I also received the National Achievement something scholarship. I don't remember the full name, but it was related to my taking the PSAT. I got a good enough score on the PSAT and I went ahead and took the SAT and received $500 per semester on a scholarship related to that. Since the school's scholarship only covered tution, that came in handy for covering books. And what I had left after books came in handy for covering other little expenses although I did have to pay taxes on any scholarship amount that wasn't spent on tuition and books. I'm not sure whether you get to deduct housing costs since I stayed at home throughout schooling.

But I'd like to echo what someone else said. Apply for as many scholarships as you think are appropriate or are in line with the student's interests. Sometimes you can patch together several different scholarships and maybe some financial aid to cover all the expenses.

32

Football predictions for "egg chasers" (NFL)

by crownboy in

well, the upcoming nfl season is about to start in two days, with my team the new york jets being involved in the opening game.

now i was a little discouraged when our starting qb chad pennington (the best in the nfl) went down earlier in the preseason with an injury that will keep him out for more than half the season, but fortunately for the jets, they're one of the few nfl teams with a backup qb that can be a quality starter, so i don't expect that we will have much of a drop off with vinny testaverde taking the reigns temporarily.

he'll surpass 40,000 career passing yards this year, and he also has a stronger arm than does pennington, so look for deep plays to the wide receivers.

maxwell

I don't follow US football much these days and I'm not sure if I will be able to say this later in the season, so I'll say it now:

How 'bout them Redskins!

And they say the field goal kicker is a former Jet.

41

Are You Surpised By What You Don't Believe In Anymore?

by minimus in

jw
friends

.

jehovah's witnesses must "believe" whatever the watchtower bible & tract society publishes.

now that you aren't forced to accept beliefs that you might not have wholeheartedly endorsed, there must be many different things that you don't accept.....what comes to mind?

maxwell

Belief in God for me also. Of course, I was taught that from birth, but as I "progressed", I really feel that I had a totally independent belief in God and I thought that I had solid logic behind why I believed in God. I had made my mind up at that time that if my parents were to ever leave the "truth" by some highly unlikely scenario, that I would always continue on my own. That is how I felt as a teenager. So my present agnostic feelings/beliefs are still somewhat strange to me as I would never have anticipated getting to this point.

39

Just Re-Read 1984

by Francois in

jw
friends

and i remember the days when the jws warned about the catholics and their "index" of books, movies, and plays that were denied to catholics as being "dangerous" to their faith.

that is to say, they were revelatory of the actual truth of a matter and the roman church did not want these truths spreading throughout the faithful.

now the witnesses are up to it to.. have you read 1984?

maxwell

I was in high school less than a decade ago and I read "1984" then. I'm not sure if it's read at every high school. We didn't read "Animal Farm". I reread "1984" maybe a couple of years ago. Both times, I was looking for similarities in the governments of the world. However, I can definitely see the parallels in the JW, especially along the lines of doublespeak and thought control or thought police. I always enjoy reading that book, and I am sure I will pick it up again.