JamesPadraicR

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• Commented on "Write me something fresh and new, but make it just like the last one"
  Speaking of Strawberry Hill, I nearly mentioned "The Castle of Otranto" as the original example, but read it 20 years ago and don't remember how much of a role the castle actually played. I just remember that is was one...
• Commented on "Write me something fresh and new, but make it just like the last one"
  but what the hell is an architectural novel? I'd guess it's where a building is such a part of the story as to essentially be a character. Think nearly any haunted house story. Particular example could be "The Shining", which...
• Commented on Heartbleed note
  I'm not sure if you missed the joke, or I'm missing yours. Meanwhile: Oops? Heartbleed coder: bug in OpenSSL was an honest mistake...
• Commented on Because people keep asking me ...
  Collinsgrace40; That is a fine example of spam. "St. Mary of the Angels Loan Services"? Boy are they in the wrong place....
• Commented on A nation of slaves
  I've considered answering "An author", after reading a blog post (I think by Scalzi) on how he says he's an Author rather than Writer because some people seem to have the attitude that one is a profession, the other a...
• Commented on A nation of slaves
  I don't have much to add, so this is kind of tangentially related, or at least this topic has brought it to mind. A couple weeks ago I heard & watched this TED Talk, by Alain de Botton, on how...
• Commented on I'm back
  So every time someone records me on their glasses, I can sue them for breach of copyright... Probably depends on what's being done with your image. If it features prominently in an ad, I would think so. But if your...
• Commented on I'm back
  In reply to Charlie on Twitter: My retinal patterns are pretty much unique. “What is this I don’t even …” to paraphrase the geek of opthalmology … and related to what I said above about waiting rooms. My mother's opthalmologist's...
• Commented on I'm back
  Pullman is entitled to his opinion, but that is what it is. When I'm writing I often have my ipod playing, I think that I know most of the songs on it well enough that they filter through. Though if...
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  Oh yeah, thanks. That's one site I'd forgotten about, it's been several years since I've done any genealogy. One problem, though, is not being sure of name spelling and having no idea where exactly my ancestors came from....
• Commented on I'm back
  Saw this earlier, kinda related: How to tell if someone is really in pain or just faking it. The title is a bit misleading, it's about computers being able to analyze facial expressions better than people....
• Commented on I'm back
  Imagine having your glass -- and thereby your entire lifelog -- pwned by looking at the wrong person's face ... Of course, the government can now create a lifelog for you, you just have to make a FOIA request to...
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  I'm probably one of the few people nowadays that only has one email address, and I don't put it out in public. I hadn't heard of that Kossoy. A few years ago was wandering around the Manhattan diamond district (looking...
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  I suppose I don't mind. I had second thoughts about putting the picture online, though I don't think there's much chance of it showing up elswhere. I don't really do much email, at least not with people I don't actually...
• Commented on Implications
  Everyday I see this example on Pikes Peak. Currently topped with snow....
• Commented on A hypothesis
  Suicides usually don't take 7 hours - too much time to reconsider. Autopilot. Kill off the passengers, other pilot and crew, set course, kill yourself, and plane flies on until it's on vapors....
• Commented on A hypothesis
  Right. I realised I wasn't too clear, and hadn't intended to imply any sort of accident--see my comment @149. I consider a pilot suicide type scenario as different from hijacking/theft. It's hard to imagine hijackers taking a plane to crash...
• Commented on A hypothesis
  A question: Any idea where in the plane the Data Recorders are? Are they buried in the main structure, or near the skin? I'm thinking that if they were near the skin they could be made to, possibly, break away...
• Commented on Implications
  and Vulch @27 I assume that Heteromeles was thinking in terms of Latitude--north and south of the Tropics, rather than about microclimates....
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  Okay, that was my second to last word on the topic, because I just put the photo of my great-grandfather on facebook. I think this link will work. Also thank you; I learned some things, always a good thing. And...
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  Okay, this will be my last off-topic comment on this subject. Apparently my great-grandfather is wearing a Russian Hussar uniform (?), very much like theses. At the bottom of this page, on the right, basically take the man leaning on...
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  Not bored, was just getting late here. And no, Elizabeth Bear needs no intro here....
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  Thanks, I'll give it a look tomorrow, after I find the photo....
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  Well, yes it is family lore, unfortunately I don't have anyone to ask about it. My great-grandfather died when I was little, and my grandparents since then. I should have said that we think he came over sometime around WWI,...
• Commented on Upcoming appearance: Pyrkon 2014, Poznan
  I believe my mother's grandfather left around the same time, though I don't have any certain idea of when and where from. We always say he, and his six brothers, came from Lithuania, but must have been near enough to...
• Commented on A hypothesis
  Or 2(c): The pilot or co-pilot has been simmering for a while and decides now was a good time to end it all, and have it be 'spectacular' by making it a mysterious mass murder. What was the pilot doing...
• Commented on Circumstantial connections
  Here's a decent article from NPR about various possibilities. How An Aircraft Can Fall From The Sky Midflight...
• Commented on Circumstantial connections
  Also, nothing I've seen about this mentions what the weather conditions were....
• Commented on Circumstantial connections
  A judge can order a jury to find the accused not guilty, if there's some procedural or legal reason why the entire foundation of the prosecution case is flawed -- that is, that the charge is inapplicable. I suspect that...
• Commented on Circumstantial connections
  I'm of the opinion that any modern passenger airliner that disintegrates at 30000ft was deliberately sabotaged or shot down, until proved otherwise. Except, I would think, the more complex they get the more potential points of failure. I can see...