Random Posts (An alternate to side discussions)

[Hooovahh]

That's interesting.  In the future if you want to clear the undo stack Darren said just add an object and delete it.  If scripting isn't wrapped in an undo operation the undo stack is cleared.

[Jacobson-ni]

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@Hooovahh wrote:

That's interesting.  In the future if you want to clear the undo stack Darren said just add an object and delete it.  If scripting isn't wrapped in an undo operation the undo stack is cleared.

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Placing and deleting a dummy object is a pretty good idea. I knew scripting without using the transaction begin and end would kill the undo history so I was trying to figure out how to best script something that would work for any VI but wouldn't actually do anything. I ended up indexing the first reference from the All Objects property and setting the Selected? property to FALSE.

[Ben]

How time has passed:

My son was talking about keeping up with his game PC and managing the space with his girls now starting to enjoy gaming as well. He told me about find a utility that lets him view his disk storage and drill down to figure where the disk space has gone.

I reminded him that I used a program like that when he was a kid and he asked where I got that program because he had searched all over the web and could not find it. It displayed the disk space as a Pie Chart and one could drill down by clicking on the segments of the Pie. I told him;

"I wrote it!"

Just thought it was funny.

Ben

[Ben]

This is about as random as it gets but I will hide it since it may touch a nerve.

Spoiler

Is was an odd Saturday to say the least. My better-half suggested I cash in on some gift cards she had piled up for Builder's Square. It took me hours to decide how to spend them and finally went with batteries for my drill and impact driver along with a very large roll of heavy mil plastic sheeting. The former will help keep me going with the remodeling work and the latter will be used to line the three ponds I have. There were some other things as well.

When I got home I figured out how to stow all of that and decided I would do a repair job on the sword The wife uses for Kung FU. The handle was shaky and the scabboard was beat up. I enjoyed doing something different and the chance to work in my shop for change. I will skip the details of the repair. And then my son called and asked if I had heard what had happened.

I am generally off-line on the week-ends with only an occasional check of headlines once in the morning and maybe again as the sun goes down. Then like now I was having a hard time finding words. The Tree of Life Synagaaue is just five blocks from where my wife used to live when I first met her. She would have passed it last night on the way home if they did not have the roads still closed down. One of my associated at work lives in Squirrel Hill as well.

I can not count how many times I have been disappointed that the national news skipped over what happens around here and that changes in an instance.

I pray for those that that lost loved ones on Saturday.

The killing combined with the pseudo-bombings last week give more reason to look to civil unrest as a threat to our lifestyles.

The book "The Forth Turning" talks about the changes that take place cyclically throughout history. It is one thing the read about cycles and another thing to ride them out.

May God Smile on all of you and yours as we frail humans wonder off in our darkness trying to find what had been discovered in our past.

Ben

[JÞB]

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@Ben wrote:

This is about as random as it gets but I will hide it since it may touch a nerve.

Spoiler

Is was an odd Saturday to say the least. My better-half suggested I cash in on some gift cards she had piled up for Builder's Square. It took me hours to decide how to spend them and finally went with batteries for my drill and impact driver along with a very large roll of heavy mil plastic sheeting. The former will help keep me going with the remodeling work and the latter will be used to line the three ponds I have. There were some other things as well.

When I got home I figured out how to stow all of that and decided I would do a repair job on the sword The wife uses for Kung FU. The handle was shaky and the scabboard was beat up. I enjoyed doing something different and the chance to work in my shop for change. I will skip the details of the repair. And then my son called and asked if I had heard what had happened.

I am generally off-line on the week-ends with only an occasional check of headlines once in the morning and maybe again as the sun goes down. Then like now I was having a hard time finding words. The Tree of Life Synagaaue is just five blocks from where my wife used to live when I first met her. She would have passed it last night on the way home if they did not have the roads still closed down. One of my associated at work lives in Squirrel Hill as well.

I can not count how many times I have been disappointed that the national news skipped over what happens around here and that changes in an instance.

I pray for those that that lost loved ones on Saturday.

The killing combined with the pseudo-bombings last week give more reason to look to civil unrest as a threat to our lifestyles.

The book "The Forth Turning" talks about the changes that take place cyclically throughout history. It is one thing the read about cycles and another thing to ride them out.

May God Smile on all of you and yours as we frail humans wonder off in our darkness trying to find what had been discovered in our past.

Ben

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Ben, Pittsburgh took a very nasty hit!

Yet, that was against men, not Man.  I do wish to assure you that not all evil acts will destroy us.  

I pray for your community but, I know Pitt has the guts in itself...its a bad OOFF. But, with some help.. you will breathe easy again. 

[Intaris]

I really shouldn't be butting in.....

I dislike the "evil" narrative.  It hints at the origins of these kinds of things being separate from "us".  It's not.  "we" make evil. "we" make good.  Our actions and words has effects on others and helps frame the reality upon which everyone bases their actions.

If we manipulate reality sufficiently (lies, deceit), those without sufficient critical thinking skills (which is nearly everyone to be honest) run the risk of believing the world is a very different place than it really is and will eventually adjust their actions accordingly.  Extreme bias leads to extreme reactions.  One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and so on.  I'm not defending the act (it's completely and absolutely reprehensible and the perpetrator a violent and dangerous criminal) but using the "evil" card as a scapegoat prohibits us from having a proper look at where this kind of thing really comes from.  And we really need to look at where this comes from, irrespective of how unconfortable that makes us feel.

There are a multitude of things which influenced this act.  I'm pretty sure the perpetrator was in some way convinced that his actions were neccessary.  So if you want to understand the act, think about how that maybe came about?  There are already several clues.

Spoiler

My son just read a book for school "The man who refused to hate" about a concentration camp survivor (Schlomo Graber).  One paragraph in the book has the author questioning the humanity of his captors.  He wonders, given exposure to the same environment and culture, if he wouldn't also be capable of such crimes.  He doesn't have compassion for his captors, but he refuses to boil it all down to "evil".  He analyses. And this analysis is a major part in how he managed to resist the urge to hate, which must have been so huge.

[jcarmody]

I combine the "evil" and "us" components, but the idea isn't originally mine:

Spoiler

Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

History repeats iteslf, regardless of whether we study it or not.

[Intaris]

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@jcarmody wrote:

I combine the "evil" and "us" components, but the idea isn't originally mine:

Spoiler

Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

History repeats iteslf, regardless of whether we study it or not.

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As someone quoting scripture: Do you not believe in free will and thus the ability to shape ones own destiny? Is that not what we've been sold all this time?

Does that not contradict history just repeating itself ad nauseum?  Wouldn't your statement seem to be a fatalistic and deterministic one?  Doesn't that completely undermine the whole idea of evil and good?

[jcarmody]

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@Intaris wrote:

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@jcarmody

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As someone quoting scripture: Do you not believe in free will and thus the ability to shape ones own destiny? [...]

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Of course I believe in free will; that scripture doesn't imply that the "thoughts and intents" weren't voluntary.  People have always, in the aggregate, made selfish choices.  That aspect of man's history has continued to repeat itself.

I think back to the concept of Pshchohistory in Asimov's Foundation series.  Perhaps I shouldn't interject fiction to this discussion, but it's an interesting illustration for anyone familiar with the books.

I'm not sure what you're objecting to.

[Intaris]

I've decided not to continue with the discussion.  There are some things I would need to address first which is guaranteed to annoy a significant group of people.