Go ahead, ask

[altivo]

After that last one, where I did what amounted to prying into private thoughts (or so it seemed to me at times) I feel as if I should give you all a chance to get even. I don't think I've done this one, though I've seen others try it.

Ask me anything. No holds barred, though in a few cases I might answer in private rather than here. I will try to answer anything honestly if you want to ask.

In other news, rain, rain, rain. Power has gone out twice today. The first time it took down the network at the library. Or at least, they thought it did and called me. I was puzzled at first because it was a short outage, under ten minutes, so everything with UPS protection should have just stayed up through it.

Turned out that the local name servers had shut down on UPS command, after five minutes. Once they do that, the UPS is supposed to kill the power. When the power comes back on, they restart themselves. Well, the power came back on before the UPS itself shut off, but after the servers had closed. Consequently, neither one woke back up. The network connection was live, but everyone there thought it was dead because everything they did to test it depended on getting a DNS response first. I'm going to have to hard code an external IP for an alternate server on some machines to get around this. I've given up on getting anyone else to actually understand the distinction and diagnose it without my help.

Comments

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Message transmitted. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And answered, at least as well as I can.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

Inquiries sent!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And answered, I hope.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

Answered, and then some. Many thanks for clearing up my misconceptions!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, you should probably get some other viewpoints, but ask insiders. For some reason, the view from the outside has been seriously clouded.

(:)

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

I've already pried as far as I have an interest to- but sine you asked, I guess I'll ask this question, and you're free to answer however you see it (of course):

If you had unlimited power (financial, physical, political, anything), what's something you would do that you've always wanted to?

Re: (:)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I think I answered something very similar to this just recently. If we are talking godlike powers, as in I could change the laws of physics, I have an answer. No form of explosive chemical or nuclear reaction will ever work again when applied as a weapon, regardless of the motivation or intention of the user.

The social changes attendant upon that would be massive, but ultimately good ones I think.

If necessary I'd go so far as stopping internal combustion engines as well. I understand, I think, why the Mennonites and Amish regard those as tools of evil.

Now, if we are talking only about what is actually possible in the world as we know it, and I just had unlimited resources to bring to bear on a problem, I would attack global climate change from every possible angle. This involves not only actual increased research and efforts to find greener solutions to energy needs, but also intensive education that would hopefully make more people accept the scientific approach, as opposed to a closed minded religious or emotional approach, to any issue.

Re: (:)

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Whinnyhi.

But you own, or are owned by, a team of horses that could take your wagon to town or ride you the same and you actually think the average person would even know what end of a horse to talk to much less saddle up?

GRIN!

Imperator

Re: (:)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Right. As much as I'd be in some ways delighted to see society return to the horse as a major form a transport, it would be really, really bad for the horses.

What I would actually expect based on modern science and technological understanding, is a lot more effort to develop practical public transportation schemes. If internal combustion really had to go, then we should see a blossoming again of light rail lines using electricity, trolleys and interurbans. I also think a practical, safe, and efficient steam power system that burns, say, ethyl alcohol, is well within our technological reach now. So is some sort of fuel cell system that produces only water vapor as waste. Higher speed trains for long distance travel, lower speed trains for light rail service and local freight. The reason these haven't developed in the US is our addiction to those fast, showy, smelly automobiles. If we don't change that now, nature is going to force us to change it one way or another anyway. Might as well kick the research into high gear.

And yes, I'll keep the horses. Especially one special one with wings.

Love,
Rider

Re: (:)

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I'm always amused at the idea of godlike power, but both answers are fine, thanks. As you know, I can live without internal combustion engines as well ;)

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

cock length? *falls over in giggles* Sorry I had to say it :) Seriously though, how do you see the future of printed literature?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If it's important enough for you to need to ask, then not big enough to satisfy you. ;p

Printed books are going to be with us for a good long time yet. The technology by which they are produced and distributed is changing rapidly, but they are still coming off the press. For instance, the "print on demand" systems like Lulu, iUniverse, or FurPlanet are growing rapidly. It is practical to produce books, even bound hardcover books, to order and for a small audience yet still do so for a reasonable price. The large publishers who produce best selling titles are changing their production methods as well. They can no longer afford to hold large inventories of back titles, and must produce smaller runs more frequently. Fortunately, electronic typesetting and assembly-line machinery that prints, folds, and binds all in a single run have made this much more practical.

Yes, digital books that are read from a computer screen or a handheld device like the Kindle or the eBookwise-1150 are growing in popularity, but I believe they have a self-limiting audience. I'm more concerned about the overall decline in reading and literacy, which is accelerating rapidly in the US and I suspect similar patterns in other developed countries.

As for libraries, they are going to be with us for a long, long time. Too many paper books to digitize, Google notwithstanding, and much too costly to convert.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

If it's important enough for you to need to ask, then not big enough to satisfy you.

This is my new favorite answer to that question!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Being nothing but ordinary in that department, I do tend to get irritated by the obsession some folks have. ;p

Playing with... words :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Forgive them- they have the idea reinforced from so many outside sources, they think it's important ^_^ My favorite answer to that question is "Everything is relative"; everyone's own perspective determines what is "normal" or bigger or smaller.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

When have you ever been humiliated by an employer?

Have you thought of taking revenge?

Did you?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I can think of a couple of times when employers (well managers anyway) tried to humiliate me. It didn't work, though.

If I take enough offense, I walk. I've had the pleasure of a former employer calling me nine months after I went to another job, asking me to come back, offering to bridge my seniority, and agreeing that I was right. The offending manager had been demoted. Now *that's* revenge. XD

A thought on revenge

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

You know, if someone does things and you aren't offended, it really doesn't matter how much they do- "to you" or anyone else. Without the feeling of offense or "being wronged", why cause harm?

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

One more question. What's your real name? You frequently refer to your mate Gary, and everyone here refers to you only as Altivo. I've never seen your RL name tossed around.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

This will just muddy things further. My mate and I are both named Gary. We both have the same last initial, "P" and the same confirmation name, "Francis".

My family sometimes called me "Gary Lee" adding my middle name. Now his family calls me that as well to avoid confusion.

Our personal friends sometimes use my online nicknames, most often the old one I used to use 15 years ago and more: Fuffle. (Fuffle was also my first furry character, a sheepdog.) They also often refer to the two of us together as "The Garys".

Furry friends, which accounts for most of what you've seen here, call me 'Tivo or Altivo, and a few call me Argos.

Gary is an Anglo-Saxon diminutive for either Gareth or Garth. Gareth means "spear" and Garth means "garden". I prefer the latter. :D