Maou_Tsaou

Then don't come by my place. I make my own wine. "Everything to excess! Moderation is for monks." R.A.H. as L.L. Your some kind of damed on either side of this one, and smack in the middle is so vanila that it must be that "luke warm" that gets spat out. Dan Fogelberg left us not long ago. For the yanks here 'Same Auld Lang Signe' will be especially poingient this year.

Okay, I think our friend Indianpartner means something like this (I don't mean to put words in your mouth Indianpartner, please correct me where I'm wrong): What were the possistions of the planets in the sky at the moment and place of your birth? Simplly because you don't believe that the question has any practical value does not address the question. Do you know? If not then the mathmatics involved in creating a "Birth Chart" is suffecent to answer this question. Not nessecary, but suffecent. Now are you ready for the lecture you asked for? Our ancesters had to play the hand they were delt. These people did not have the benifit of the knowledge we possess today. We DO have the benifit of THEIR knowledge. This is how we came to be here now. It's part of the story of us all, and in the long run that may be all we leave of ourselves in this place. And maybe not even that. I will assume that you have a basic working knowledge of Astronomy. I'm not asking you to have read Peebles here, but if you don't grasp the basic concepts of Cosmic Measurement then you'll be lost here. If you want me to open a thread for Equinoxes (do you have any Latin? What is Nox?), Solstices, the Ecliptic, or what it means for a Planet to be "In" a given consilation then holler, but else if I'm going straight to the Math asked for. You first require "quite" a collection of tables and charts. A breif and incompleate list: Standard Time Zones of the World Sidereal Times for the Sun at Each Degree of the Zodiac A section of Cusp Graphs (funny here is I've only got an Ausie reference book for this and it's all in the WRONG hemisphere for me.) Okay this is boiled down from "Your Planetary Personality" by Denis Oakland First you need information. Where and when were you born? Remember we are talking about EXACTALLY where in the sky was each and every planet, at THAT moment on THAT spot. The more exact your information, the more exact your answer. GIGO Are you begining to see what Indianpartner is refering too? Refer to the Ephemers Table which this source baselines as the Sun to Mars relation and pull the figures closest to your birth date on either side. Subtract the later figure frome the ealier one (given in military time) and convert to Greenwich. Add the number of days to prior Sun posistion. divide by 5 Since the table uses 5 day incriments this "adjusts" the Suns posistion on the Chart to the actuall Day of Birth. This figure can now reference the Sun-Sidereal Time Table to end up determing the Solar Noon Sidereal Time at your birth moment. There are additional procedures for refining the time from noon to your actual time of birth and actual place of birth. Is this sufficent to get the point across?

Lord, help me. Okay here it goes. I sus the question this way. If one is asking how too aquire the most money in the least amount of time within the IT skill set then there is one path. If one is asking how to earn a modest living in a field of their own choosing that is another path. And if one is asking weather one can survive in following their 'hearts desire' then that is the road less taken. So saying that you ask specificly about specific skills as opposed to generic skills. Well the choice is diaditic. Pick your poision. If you keep score of your life in money then pay strong attention to the wishes of the company. If the majority of us choose this method then, after the downsizing, it'll all shake out to "My shack is bigger than your shack". Else if you've got personal knowledge for personal fufillment. I learn because "I" want to know, not for some Company. Of course the good vs. evil model of looking at such problems sets up imediate conflicts. "Who's side are YOU on?" Can you find a more middle ground in your question? Douglas Adams had a bit where this "Great" alien society built the Earth as a giant computer who's program was to calculate an answer to the great question of the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. The answer was 42 GIGO What "IS" the meaning of life? Do you spend more time in a state of aingst in constant flux, trying to get bills paid to suport your life style? Or are you activly trying to follow the thing that you care about? If your putting those things off until later, after retirement perhaps, then I could see how this might generate angist. Take the wisdom of our fathers as you will. Perhaps the only purpose we have tword a "Meaning" in this life is caretakers. God asks us to "house sit" and "look after the animals". We got more intrested in rummaging through It's stuff, especally the stuff It specifically told us "not to mess with". Instead of apologising, we lie. < boot > out of the garden. I say that to say this. By this view, we were MADE to be caretakers. There is NO GREATER thing (imho) that we can take care of than our familes. Show me a species that dosen't protect it's women and children and I'll show you a species that's fixen to become extenct. Just don't get TOO enamared with the $ It's fiat anyway... MAOU

The simpilest thing is to pull a sylabus from the net. Game Design is like film school in it's early stages right now. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ These will have all sorts of nice free and legal links to very valueable information. Next, think about games that you really admire. Who was the designer/s? The lead programers? Do they have a personal site? Do they Blog? It's not gonna slow down for you so jump in and start following the news. http://www.erasmatazz.com/ The above is one of the guys that really had an influence on my intrest in how games tic internally. Look for his PDF AoCGD (The Art of Computer Game Design). It's required reading for many courses, including the gatech class above. See if there is a project running curently to emulate a game you admire. Often the current source code will be released with the exe. See how they work the problems. Reverse engenear AMAP! http://www.freecol.org/download.html Finally I personally am an advocate of the old pen and paper games. IMHO a well written ruleset is a well written algorithem. At the idea stage it can sometimes be simpler to test principals of mechanics as pen and paper or board games first, before investing development effort on a "shaky" idea. http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/ Hopefully this is what you have in mind! Good luck! And bear in mind that if you treat your efforts like a part-time job, i.e. work the problems a little every day, even when you don't want too, and you work on a project that your passionate about, you can't REALLY fail. Unless you hang a $ expectation on it! Glad to add more if you'd like. Go Kiwi! Maou

The Regan White House wasn't above such matters.Also many of the Eastern augries such as the 'I Ching' can be seen as a way of focusing one's thoughts on the question, rather than as directions to be slavishly followed.Anything that makes a World Leader stop and think a bit before they act can't be all bad can it?FWIWMaou

To New Zealand? In a heartbeat! Without looking back! Dunedin please, one way! <sigh> Maou

Not trying to be a jerk here.... I promise! But have you seen population figures for Aisa? Europe seems to be postureing to feed China and the U.S. apears to be working on India. Of course the U.S. has Wal-Mart and if there actually IS an election in the U.S. in '08 then we could end up with another Arkansas Governor as President. However with '08 being an Olympic Year the curent administration may ride out the summer while the Commercial powers that be use their media outlets to tout our HGH infused athleets overly dramatised victories over nations with populations smaller than our least populace State. (Wyoming) Sometime in Sept. ? they strike again, only this time the Saudi Nationals are from Iran. The executive orders that went into effect in early '07 kick in making the excecutive branch soley in charge. In a speach Bush says that the Nation must "stand strong" and so will remain Pres. through this "crises". He then declaires War on Iran. Or am I just paranoid? Maou

Jung called the process in which people subconsciously look for something to happen that they've recently become aware of Syncronicity.Now as far as the planets posistions determining our destinies, my point is not that this is the correct belief but rather that the two concepts of planetary possision and the posistion of the planets at the time of ones birth determining an individuals destiny were obviously intermixed to begin with.It was only much later that these concepts became sorted out.Kepler, a truly underlooked individual in the History of Science IMHO, died from an illness contracted by walking a long distance to collect a debt owed for a horoscope drawn up for a nobleman if I recall properly.He didn't get paid.Einstine said that it had always pained him to know how shabbaly Galaleo treated Kepler.The man who made one of the most profound mathmatical discoveries ever concieved practiced Astrology.Newton got his clutzy Calculas from Kepler.I try to imagine pre-neolithic culture which was pretty stable for tens of thousands of years before the "Revolution".Have you ever seen "The Gods Must Be Crazy?"It is important to know the seasons.The easiest way is to check the sky.The shortest day of the year occurs during the coldest time of year.6 moons later comes a day with 12hrs day and 12hrs night.What would the tribe think of these times of year?Would that affect the way they view children born on these days?Again not that we should believe that way, but don't you think that some of the "silly" parts may actually have quite a bit to tell us about ancestors who could leave no other records?Maou

While I agree that the example dosn't show that circles don't exist, the above has me scratching my head for two reasons. First, a line contains an infinite number of points. Second, the only value math has as a formal system is it's ability to help us model "objective" reality, whatever "That' is. Goodel showed the limits of formal systems for capturing "Truth". I suspose what I'm trying to say is that I don't see how an equation equaits to proff. Anyway, Rucker used this as a springboard into Transfinite Numbers. Aelf-One and such. I didn't mean to imply no Circles. Sorry. Maou

This continues to naggale at the back of my thoughts all day. Quite intresting stuff really. Okay then, Your second quoted point first. (say "That" sentence three times fast and see if you still know what I mean...) Heinlein used a gyroscope that was pushed "inward/kata" on all three axises. "The Number of the Beast" It's 6^6^6 or six to the sixth and again to the sixth. In the story it was the number of Universes available.... at first. Now the paradoxes. I don't understand why the Universe would choose to act this way. I defently don't see how the Universe would cease to be. Then in moving back into nothing,... I suspose that answers the directional nature with a possability but what about Uncertinty? The Observer affects the Observed. This is almost the old "If a tree fell in the woods....." but backward. This is anonamous, I came across it in Russels "History of Philosophy" There once was a man who said God must find it increadably odd to find that this tree continues to be when there's no one about in the quad and the reply; Dear Sir your astonishments odd I am always about in the quad that's why this tree continues to be it's percieved by Your faithfully God Sorry not to wait awhile but like I said.... It's like having a bad song stuck in your head all day. Not saying your theorys are bad (quite the opposite) but that sometimes it's hard to shake it. So it seems that yes, I do see the world a bit diffrently Maou

This is hitting closer to the point. Pardon the pun Infinagons don't cut it as infininty is just a way of saying I don't know. If you wanna throw infinities into the thing then you can renormilize it afterwards. I believe the first time I ran across the little example for .9_ = 1 was in a book called "Infinity and the Mind" by Rudy Rucker. The one I liked better from the first chapter is this; Take a center-point. Extend a line of unit 1. Make the Circle r=1. Now back to the point bit. What is a point? Well we simplly say they are dimensionless. Something like ghostmarkers in space. There can be an unlimited amount. Inifinate amount. Okay then, what does this mean? Take center-point from above. Extend a line of unit 2. Make the Circle r=2 (congurent?) Now the questions are; 1 How many points make up the Circumfrence of Circle r=1? 2 How many points make up the Circumfrence of Circle r=2? 3 What is the ratio of the Circumfrence of Circle r=1 to the Circumfrence of Circle r=2? In other words how can these figures Circumfrence consist of the same number of infinate points (radi from center-point for proff) when r=2's Circumfrence is twice that of r=1? I found it a nifity read, Maou

There are plenty of traditions that espouse a view that whatever this experience is, it might have something to do with "the Universe discovering itself". Viewed in this manner such a "transitory material world" captures moments of beauty and light that are "Soully" for your experience and yours alone. IMHO this makes this "transitory material world" striking beautiful to me. When one questions one, I must ask "What is one?" Why can not my contomplation of the Universe find the same destination as the contomplation of my navel? Some thoughts.

Genesis is a very intresting collection of writings.Something that most Literalists fail to see about the Creation stories (2 of them) is that the second one is told from the point of the loosers of the Neolithic revolution.I find this important.Man decides he knows more than God.This takes Man out of the 'garden' state in which he formally had lived where the enviroment provided what was required, each to it's season.Shortly Cain kills Able, (the Farmers knock off the Nomads because they need the land for their agraculture) and we're into City building, which means our civilation.Gen4; "And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering".From this we get the Jewish and therefore the Christians strange fasination with blood IMHO. Things like ritualistic canabalisam, via communion. Or the whole Scapegoat concept.To state a belief and stick with it through faith is a respectable stance, but attempting to make others accept your views on faith is at best, totally misguided.A basic idea of Science is to not tear down a theory without having something better to replace it with. Also each and every claim in a theory must be falseafiable.This means that claims such as "The Earth was created with the appearence of age." are compleatly lacking in scientific merrit. Under those conditions any test would show the Earth to be older than 6000years. This isn't scientifc at all. This is someone telling me "I accept/grew up with/etc. that God created the Earth when Ulsher said He did. I require no further proff so neither should you." This is the fundamental problem between the aproaches in my opinion.A Litteral interpratation dosn't cut it.1 Kings 7:23, 23 ? And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.So if this is the literal word of God then He can't do math!Pi is 3.1415........But God aparently says it's just 3.Screw the decimal.I guess we were created in His image.Maou

This is from, Magic Words, from a Netsilik shaman, Nalungiaq (as recorded in Jerome Rothenberg's Shaking the Pumpkin and in Robert Bly's News of the Universe), reproduced here from Bly's anthology:"In the very earliest time,when both people and animals lived on earth,a person could become an animal if he wanted toand an animal could become a human being.Sometimes they were peopleand sometimes animalsand there was no difference.All spoke the same language.That was the time when words were like magic.The human mind had mysterious powers.A word spoken by chancemight have strange consequences.It would suddenly come aliveand what people wanted to happen could happenall you had to do was say it.Nobody can explain this:That's the way it was."It kinda makes you wonder don't it?Maou

Balance of Power, by Chris Crawford.Late '80s I think.I don't coun't his Eastern Front cause that one was a Kobiashi Mairu.Some stuff never should have made the shelves.Maou