http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl The Geek Crew en-us The Geek Crew Sat, 19 May 2012 23:49:47 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss YaBB 2.5 AE Revision: 1.29 30 http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1215782993/729#729 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1215782993/729#729 Fri, 18 May 2012 13:49:56 GMT Being as Naughty Dog is making that game, I think you can not worry about game play.<br /><br />If you are familiar with the Uncharted series you should know of what I speak. http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1171509430/172#172 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1171509430/172#172 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Thu, 17 May 2012 01:35:24 GMT The access point would be far preferable.  When you use a repeater (or an AP in repeater mode) you immediately cut your bandwidth in half, double your latency, and increase radio interference (which can further reduce latency and noise).<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...repeaters are for temporary hack jobs.) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1200511067/331#331 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1200511067/331#331 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Sun, 13 May 2012 21:26:58 GMT <b>Quote:</b><br /><div>George Lucas' rich neighbors don't want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response is the best thing he's done in years.<br /><br />The local homeowners association has been such a thorn in Lucas' side that he's decided to abandon the studio construction entirely, issuing this official statement about Lucasfilm's withdrawal of the new studio:<br /><br />The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were to spend more time and acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors.<br /><br />So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he's tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, "If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit." </div><br /><br />More here:  <a href="http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883" target="_blank">http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883</a><br /><br />This is the best thing I've read in ages.  It's about time Lucas did something that didn't make me want to kick a baby.<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...w00t!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1129558932/2250#2250 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1129558932/2250#2250 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Sun, 13 May 2012 19:51:15 GMT <a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Spinner.gif" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Spinner.gif" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a> http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1182973775/74#74 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1182973775/74#74 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Sat, 5 May 2012 20:59:28 GMT Warning:  Some strong language.<br /><br /><br /><br /> <b>Quote:</b><br /><div>Stardate 41021<br />Call: 02:55 - Replicator Malfunction (emergency)<br />Complainant: Lt. Junior Grade Worf<br /><br />Report: Was woken up in the middle of the sleep cycle by a call from Lt. Worf. Asshead said he was having difficulty getting the replicator to produce k'ruh'nuwhatever. Some bullshit Klingon crap. I get there and Worf answers the door completely naked. Great start. He smells like he's been running laps inside a dog's asshole and he is apparently drunk again. I ask him what the hell the k'ruh'nuwhatever crap is and he launches into some unlistenable shit about his Klingon house. He's slurring all over the place with his giant deformed Klingon dong flapping around and I'm barely able to stay awake. I pretend to "tune" the replicator until he passes out and then leave.<br /><br />Status: Resolved.<br /><br /><br />Stardate 41088<br />Call: 21:30 - Replicator Malfunction (non-emergency)<br />Complainant: Commander Beverly Crusher<br />Report: Not fifteen minutes into my shift I get a call from Doctor Crusher. She's legendary around replicator maintenance. She calls in a complaint after a couple glasses of wine and then tries to seduce whichever guy shows up. It's a running joke around the place that not even Lieutenant LaForge would fall for it, but to be honest it was my first call to her quarters and I was kind of excited. I was two weeks out from my next holodeck chit and some genuine officer tang was sounding mighty good. BIG mistake. I get to her quarters and the lights are all dimmed and she has some vanilla scented candles burning.<br /><br />She comes out in this billowy night gown and she says she is having problems with her replicator and then she says "sensual oil, 95 degrees" and boom, it works. She's all like "I don't know if it worked though, the consistency doesn't seem right, rub some into my back." She drops the night gown and I start rubbing the crap onto her shoulders, we're both starting to get into it and then she turns around. She's got an okay rack, but I look down and she's wearing this thong thing. The carpet matches the drapes, but she's got wall to wall Berber. It was like a rubber band wrapped around a big red spider. I'm backing away and then there is this clatter and her kid freaking falls out of a closet nearby. She's all like "Wesley, go to your room!" and I beat a hasty retreat. The real bitch of the situation is that after I escaped I checked my worklog and she had filed a complaint saying I was "unbelievably rude." Fuck that old bag, and I don't mean literally.<br /><br />Status: Resolved.<br /><br />Stardate 41202<br /><br /><br /><br />Call: 06:31 - User Error (emergency)<br />Complainant: Lt. Commander Data<br />Report: I was covering for Ensign Glurch's morning shift when this call came. According to Glurch's worklog he gets the same call once or twice every month at around the same time. According to Lt. Commander Data, the replicator had "entered a non-terminating cycle of production" and was spewing out translucent plastic cubes at a rate of about one a second. Needless to say that was putting quite a strain on the old dilithium crystals and we were getting brownouts all over the saucer section. I get to Data's quarters and the cubes are piled up at least three feet deep and they're still falling out of the damn replicator. Data is just looking at them and cocking his head like some sort of albino bird. I ask him what he had it replicate and he says "love." After a really cathartic sigh and shake of the head I dig through the cubes and open up the override panel and toggle it off and then back on.<br /><br />"I suppose the computer was generating a metaphor," was Data's theory. "I believe it is meant to be the ever-giving burden of love."<br /><br />"Replicator: one wish." I said to demonstrate. Cubes started shooting out of it again.<br /><br />Happens every time you try to replicate an idea. I tried to explain it to him but he just kept saying "fascinating" so I called down to janitorial and had them send up a cleaning crew.<br /><br />Status: Resolved.<br /><br /><br />Stardate 41260<br />Call: 10:08 - Maintenance (non-emergency)<br />Complainant: Commander William Riker<br />Report: No one puts a strain on the replicator infrastructure quite like Commander Riker. The man is the laziest officer in all of Starfleet and the ultimate bachelor. His quarters are heaped with junk and he can never find anything in the teetering piles of books, gee-gaws, dishes and discarded clothing. What is a lazy man with unlimited access to a renewable resource going to do? Replicate everything he needs rather than even looking for it, of course. Can't find the keys to his gym locker? Replicate them. Can't find his leftover hoagie? Replicate a new one and let the old one rot. Can't find his bath robe? You get the idea.<br /><br />That kind of workload on a private replicator means I have to make a trip down to Riker's quarters once a week to service his replicator. Normally that isn't too bad. I just shove my way through all the junk, replace some circuits and follow my footsteps back out. However, today was his day off so I had to contend with Riker. He sat on his swaybacked sofa watching me fix the damn thing and then he cajoled me into looking at his collection of alien bongs. He boasted about the adventures he'd gone on to acquire each bong, but I knew from looking through his replicator buffer that the bongs were just one of the thousands of things he had replicated. I didn't say anything though, he's got horrible self-esteem and will become extremely defensive and liable to pull rank if you criticize him in the least. After looking at the bongs I could tell he wanted me to smoke some replicated weed and sit around and talk for a while, but I had work to do. The whole encounter was more depressing than annoying.<br /><br />Status: Recurring.<br /><br />Stardate 41299<br />Call: 23:38 - Maintenance (non-emergency)<br />Complainant: Computer Dispatch<br /><br />Report: This was a good one. I get a computer pop-up on my console telling me to report to acting Ensign Wesley Crusher's room in his mother's suite. It's flagged non-urgent so I take care of some other crap and then make my way down. Commander Crusher is sitting on her sofa in tears and there is a medical team and an engineering team already down there. Turns out Wesley decided he wanted a "giant rubber vagina" (direct quote from Lt. Barclay) and it came out of the replicator a bit more suddenly than Wesley had expected. One end of the thing got wedged in the replicator slot and the other end ballooned out of the replicator and pinned him to the floor of his room. The engineering team had to set their phasers to shame to get him out of that predicament. Unfortunately, by the time I showed up, he was long gone and there were just pieces of rubber left in the replicator that needed some work.<br /><br />I'll never let that little prick live this one down.<br /><br />Status: Hilarious.<br /><br />Stardate 42009<br />Call: 03:46 - Security Emergency<br />Complainant: N/A<br /><br />Report: We were boarded by some Romulans at about 3:25, smack dab in the middle of my lunch break. Security details were sent to the locations where the Romulans had beamed aboard and a huge sissy fight erupted with phasers. I used the replicator to make a .45 pistol and I went down and shot them all in the head. A couple of them shot at me but I just casually stepped out of the path of their phaser beams. Somehow, LaForge managed to take the credit claiming he "disabled them with a phase-inversion field by venting the plasma containment units." Oh, is that why maintenance spent three hours cleaning brain-smeared bullets out of the corridor walls on deck 18? Fucking asshole.<br /><br />Status: Resolved.<br /><br /><br />Stardate 42012<br />Call: 10:34 - User Error (Non-Emergency)<br />Complainant: Keiko Ishikawa<br />Report: During the middle of one of our more recent time travel incidents I was called to the shared quarters of Keiko Ishikawa and Miles O'Brien. I didn't ask why they were living together, but Keiko was in a tizzy about some food she had been replicating right when the time shift happened. I went in to their living room and there was some sort of live parasitic monster fused into the replicator. It looked sort of like a cross between a fish and a human baby only it was at least as big as a person and had these horrible hooked talons on the end of floppy vestigial arms. I asked the transporter room to beam it off the ship but they were all "transporter use is reserved for Commander use only and besides we're trying to slingshot around the sun and fly at the earth to travel in whatever direction in time."<br /><br />Completely useless, as usual. Maintenance came down and had a look and they had no idea what to do either. The whole time we're trying to figure out what to do, Keiko is screaming her head off and that thing is moaning and puking up green crap all over the carpet. I eventually got a hold of Counselor Troi and I convinced her to get off her psychic ass and come down and help out. She walked in and started doing all her stupid mind magic crap, which actually worked for once and seemed to calm the thing down. That gave me the opportunity I needed so I snuck up behind it and brained it with a pipe. Took about ten good whacks to bash in its skull. Then Troi totally loses it and talks about how I just committed genocide on a new alien race and that it was scrambled DNA from such and such. She was threatening to confine me to quarters and just yelling and yelling. I was about to blow my top but finally I just managed to get in the zone and stare at her cleavage until she shut up. I would be ready to kill people about now, but my holodeck chit is up tonight and I think I know who is going to make an appearance.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the replicator unit is out of operation. I will have to go back for a refit next week.<br /><br />Status: Unresolved. </div> http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1165336311/2144#2144 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1165336311/2144#2144 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Sat, 5 May 2012 17:22:21 GMT Although Jay Leno is a giant bag of douche, I have to admit that he's got a beautiful car collection.  The following video showcases his 3D scanning and printing setup that he uses to manufacture car parts that are simply no longer available.  It's been awhile since I caught up on 3D printing and it's come an incredibly long way over the past few years.<br /><br />Multimedia File Viewing is not available on RSS Feeds!!  You need to <a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?action=login;sesredir=num~1165336311"><img src="http://www.twncommunications.net/Forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Buttons/English/login.png" alt="Login" title="Login" border="0" /></a> or <a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?action=register"><img src="http://www.twncommunications.net/Forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Buttons/English/register.png" alt="Register" title="Register" border="0" /></a> !!<br /><br />The part I find particularly fascinating is the ability to make a complex piece with moving parts in a single pass, fully assembled.  I'd love to see a demonstration of this technology in person, because it sounds too cool to be true!<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...needs one of these!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1131463095/1496#1496 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1131463095/1496#1496 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Sat, 5 May 2012 16:24:00 GMT <b>Quote:</b><br /><div><b>U.S. House Oversight Committee Makes Case for Contempt of Congress in "Fast and Furious" Investigation</b><br /><br />Back in February, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) promised to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress if Holder didn't hand over Justice Department documents that had been subpoenaed as part of an ongoing investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' now-infamous "Operation Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation.  <br /><br />This week, Rep. Issa--chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee--made good on the pledge and sent out a draft Contempt Order against Holder to members of the committee.  The document makes a case for holding the beleaguered U.S. Attorney General in contempt of Congress due to his ongoing refusal to cooperate with the investigation.  While not actually citing Holder with contempt, the document does establish grounds for the charge. </div><br /><br />It's about time Issa kept his word.  The ATF's Fast and Furious operation put thousands of firearms into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, leading to countless deaths in Mexico and the death of a Border Patrol agent in the United States.  It is absolutely unacceptable for the Department of Justice to withhold information from Congress regarding this program.  I would love to see Holder in a jail cell until he's willing to comply.<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...suck it, ATF!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1302575258/99#99 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1302575258/99#99 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Wed, 2 May 2012 23:04:34 GMT <b>Quote:</b><br /><div><b>Michigan House Committee to Consider Repeal of Handgun Permit-to-Purchase and Registration</b><br /><br /><br />The Michigan House Judiciary Committee will have a hearing on Thursday, May 17, to review an important and long-overdue bill that would eliminate the state handgun “permit-to-purchase” and registration requirements.  This committee will hear House Bill 5225 and consider this proposed amendment language that will be used as a substitute for HB 5225 when this hearing takes place.<br /><br />HB 5225, introduced by state Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93), would abolish the bureaucratic “permit-to-purchase” handguns which became obsolete when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) went into effect in 1998.  Under the current state system, gun buyers must apply with their local law enforcement agency and pass a written test before being authorized to buy a handgun.  This “permit” is valid for only one gun and it expires after ten days.  Since 1998, federal law has required a national criminal records check for the purchase of any firearm from any gun dealer in every state.  Some of the key points of the proposed amendment to HB 5225 are:<br /><br />•      Repeal the state requirement for someone to ask for police permission to purchase a firearm by traveling to a local police station and obtaining a permit to purchase.<br /> <br />•      Repeal the requirement to register a completely legally purchased and owned firearm by a law-abiding citizen to be registered with the government through the police.<br /> <br />•      Adopt the use of the federally-funded National Instant Criminal Background Check System.<br /> <br />•      Default to the federal standard of prohibited persons and each purchase would still require a background check.<br /> <br />•      Cut Michigan’s costs by using the federally-administered instant background check system and eliminate wasted man-hours of tracking lawful gun owners in Michigan.<br /><br />The NRA has been working diligently to repeal this antiquated, costly and unnecessary obstacle for gun owners and has coordinated with several state Representatives to produce new language for HB 5225.    </div><br /><br />This is the fantastic news, and I hope the NRA can get the support it needs to pass this bill!  Even with a CCW license, I still have to register my pistols with the state, and that's absurd.<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...at least the "safety inspection" is no longer required.) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1129557726/150#150 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1129557726/150#150 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:44:13 GMT I've had some reliability issues with the web server over the past few days, so I've moved the forum to another hardware platform.  I'm doing some other updates to the VMware host server, but everything should be stable by the end of the night.<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...sorry!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1326080313/9#9 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1326080313/9#9 agentx216@yahoo.com (X) Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:23:29 GMT Very cool! http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1303007361/20#20 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1303007361/20#20 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:18:30 GMT I'm still not sure what the deal is with the warrens, but I'm told book 3 clears them up a lot.<br /><br />I finished book two and am a few hundred pages into book two now.  I'm liking the whole desert groove to this book with the Seven Cities....liking it even more than the first book! http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1133485166/1296#1296 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1133485166/1296#1296 agentx216@yahoo.com (X) Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:51:13 GMT Very cool and interesting!<br /><br /> <b>Quote:</b><br /><div>Tomb exploration reveals first archaeological evidence of Christianity from the time of Jesus<br />February 28, 2012 <br />The archaeological examination by robotic camera of an intact first century tomb in Jerusalem has revealed a set of limestone Jewish ossuaries or "bone boxes" that are engraved with a rare Greek inscription and a unique iconographic image that the scholars involved identify as distinctly Christian. <br /><br />  0  <br /> Download mp3  iTunes podcast  Latest podcasts  About      <br /><br /> Share to facebookPHYSorg.com on FB.  PHYSorg.com on Twitter. inShare.1 Reddit Google Delicious Slashdot Yahoo! bookmarks RSS QR code..Ads by Google<br /><br />Watch Full Episodes - Turn Your Computer into a TV! Watch Full TV Episodes Online. - <a href="http://www.TelevisionFanatic.com" target="_blank">www.TelevisionFanatic.com</a><br /><br />The four-line Greek inscription on one ossuary refers to God "raising up" someone and a carved image found on an adjacent ossuary shows what appears to be a large fish with a human stick figure in its mouth, interpreted by the excavation team to be an image evoking the biblical story of Jonah.<br /><br />In the earliest gospel materials the "sign of Jonah," as mentioned by Jesus, has been interpreted as a symbol of his resurrection. Jonah images in later "early" Christian art, such as images found in the Roman catacombs, are the most common motif found on tombs as a symbol of Christian resurrection hope. In contrast, the story of Jonah is not depicted in any first century Jewish art and iconographic images on ossuaries are extremely rare, given the prohibition within Judaism of making images of people or animals.<br /><br />The tomb in question is dated prior to 70 CE, when ossuary use in Jerusalem ceased due to the Roman destruction of the city. Accordingly, if the markings are Christian as the scholars involved believe, the engravings represent – by several centuries - the earliest archaeological record of Christians ever found. The engravings were most likely made by some of Jesus' earliest followers, within decades of his death. Together, the inscription and the Jonah image testify to early Christian faith in resurrection. The tomb record thus predates the writing of the gospels.<br /><br />The findings will be detailed in a preliminary report by James D. Tabor, professor and chair of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, to be published online in bibleinterp.com on February 28, 2012.<br /><br />"If anyone had claimed to find either a statement about resurrection or a Jonah image in a Jewish tomb of this period I would have said impossible -- until now," Tabor said. "Our team was in a kind of ecstatic disbelief, but the evidence was clearly before our eyes, causing us to revise our prior assumptions." <br /><br /><br />Ads by Google<br /><br />Living with Robots - Watch the short film to see the Honda philosophy in action. - <a href="http://www.honda.com" target="_blank">www.honda.com</a><br /><br /><br />The publication of the academic article is concurrent with the publication of a book by Simon & Schuster entitled "The Jesus Discovery: The New Archaeological Find That Reveals the Birth of Christianity." The book is co-authored by Professor James Tabor and filmmaker/professor Simcha Jacobovici. A documentary on the discovery will be aired by the Discovery Channel in spring 2012.<br /><br />The findings and their interpretation are likely to be controversial, since most scholars are skeptical of any Christian archaeological remains from so early a period. Adding to the controversy is the tomb's close proximity to a second tomb, discovered in 1980. This tomb, dubbed by some "The Jesus Family Tomb," contained inscribed ossuaries that some scholars associate with Jesus and his family, including one that reads "Jesus, son of Joseph."<br /><br />"Context is everything in archaeology," Tabor pointed out. "These two tombs, less than 200 feet apart, were part of an ancient estate, likely related to a rich family of the time. We chose to investigate this tomb because of its proximity to the so-called 'Jesus tomb,' not knowing if it would yield anything unusual."<br /><br />The tomb containing the new discoveries is a modest sized, carefully carved rock cut cave tomb typical of Jerusalem in the period from 20 BCE until 70 CE.<br /><br />The tomb was exposed in 1981 by builders and is currently several meters under the basement level of a modern condominium building in East Talpiot, a neighborhood of Jerusalem less than two miles south of the Old City. Archaeologists entered the tomb at the time, were able to briefly examine it and its ossuaries, take preliminary photographs, and remove one pot and an ossuary, before they were forced to leave by Orthodox religious groups who oppose excavation of Jewish tombs.<br /><br />The ossuary taken, that of a child, is now in the Israel State Collection. It is decorated but has no inscriptions. The archaeologists mention "two Greek names" but did not notice either the newly discovered Greek inscription or the Jonah image before they were forced to leave. The tomb was re-sealed and buried beneath the condominium complex on what is now Don Gruner Street in East Talpiot.<br /><br />The adjacent "Jesus tomb," was uncovered by the same construction company in 1980, just one year earlier. It was thoroughly excavated and its contents removed by the Israel Antiquities Authority. This tomb's controversial ossuaries with their unusual cluster of names (that some have associated with Jesus and his family) are now part of the Israel State Collection and have been on display in various venues, including the Israel Museum. These ossuaries will be in an exhibit running from late February through April 15 at Discovery Times Square.<br /><br />In 2009 and 2010, Tabor and Rami Arav, professor of archaeology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, working together with Jacobovici, obtained a license to excavate the current tomb from the Israel Antiquities Authority under the academic sponsorship of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Because of its physical location under a modern building (making direct access nearly impossible), along with the threat of Orthodox Jewish groups that would protest any such excavation, Tabor's team determined to employ a minimally invasive procedure in examining the tomb.<br /><br />Funding for the excavation was provided by the Discovery Channel/Vision Television/Associated Producers. Jacobovici's team at the Toronto based Associated Producers developed a sophisticated robotic arm to carry high definition cameras, donated by General Electric. The robotic arm and a second "snake camera" were inserted through two drill holes in the basement floor of the building above the tomb. The probe was successful and the team was able to reach all the ossuaries and photograph them on all sides, thus revealing the new inscriptions.<br /><br />Beyond the possible Christian connection, Tabor noted that the tomb's assemblage of ossuaries stands out as clearly extraordinary in the context of other previously explored tombs in Jerusalem.<br /><br />"Everything in this tomb seems unusual when contrasted with what one normally finds inscribed on ossuaries in Jewish tombs of this period," Tabor said. "Of the seven ossuaries remaining in the tomb, four of them have unusual features."<br /><br />There are engravings on five of the seven ossuaries: an enigmatic symbol on ossuary 2 (possibly reading Yod Heh Vav Heh or "Yahweh" in stylized letters that can be read as Greek or Hebrew, though the team is uncertain); an inscription reading "MARA" in Greek letters (which Tabor translates as the feminine form of "lord" or "master" in Aramaic) on ossuary 3; an indecipherable word in Greek letters on ossuary 4 (possibly a name beginning with "JO…"); the remarkable four-line Greek inscription on ossuary 5; and finally, and most importantly, a series of images on ossuary 6, including the large image of a fish with a figure seeming to come out of its mouth.<br /><br />Among the approximately 2000 ossuaries that have been recovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority, only 650 have any inscriptions on them, and none have inscriptions comparable to those on ossuaries 5 and 6.<br /><br />Less than a dozen ossuaries from the period have epitaphs but, according to Tabor, these inscribed messages usually have to do with warnings not to disturb the bones of the dead. In contrast, the four-line Greek inscription contains some kind of statement of resurrection faith.<br /><br />Tabor noted that the epitaph's complete and final translation is uncertain. The first three lines are clear, but the last line, consisting of three Greek letters, is less sure, yielding several possible translations: "O Divine Jehovah, raise up, raise up," or "The Divine Jehovah raises up to the Holy Place," or "The Divine Jehovah raises up from [the dead]."<br /><br />"This inscription has something to do with resurrection of the dead, either of the deceased in the ossuary, or perhaps, given the Jonah image nearby, an expression of faith in Jesus' resurrection," Tabor said.<br /><br />The ossuary with the image that Tabor and his team understand to be representing Jonah also has other interesting engravings. These also may be connected to resurrection, Tabor notes. On one side is the tail of a fish disappearing off the edge of the box, as if it is diving into the water. There are small fish images around its border on the front facing, and on the other side is the image of a cross-like gate or entrance—which Tabor interprets as the notion of entering the "bars" of death, which are mentioned in the Jonah story in the Bible.<br /><br />"This Jonah ossuary is most fascinating," Tabor remarked. "It seems to represent a pictorial story with the fish diving under the water on one end, the bars or gates of death, the bones inside, and the image of the great fish spitting out a man representing, based on the words of Jesus, the 'sign of Jonah' – the 'sign' that he would escape the bonds of death."<br /><br /><br />Provided by University of North Carolina at Charlotte<br /> </div> http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1327197858/10#10 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1327197858/10#10 agentx216@yahoo.com (X) Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:02:29 GMT Remember, like last time...if you want to make a food run...eat frozen pizza later http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1326131080/4#4 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1326131080/4#4 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:33:12 GMT <center><a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardPhaser.png" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardPhaser.png" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a></center><br /><center><a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardTommy.jpg" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardTommy.jpg" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a></center><br /><center><a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardRifle.jpg" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardRifle.jpg" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a></center><br /><center><a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardShotgun.jpg" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardShotgun.jpg" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a></center><br /><br /><br />Oh, did I mention that Sir Patrick Stewart is a Knight of the British Empire?  When is Mr. Shatner going to get his knighthood?<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardKnight.jpg" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PicardKnight.jpg" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a></center><br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...booyah, grandma!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324495807/21#21 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324495807/21#21 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Mon, 9 Jan 2012 13:14:18 GMT <a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324495807/19#19">Briney wrote</a> on Jan 9^th, 2012 at 1:30am:<br /><div>How did the Empire Earth game go? </div><br /><br />Eric and I wrapped up around 6:00am.  We were facing two Easy CPUs that were on the same team.  Eric had a lot of trouble right of the bat, but once we were established it turned into a game of attrition.  We built some large armies (ground troops for Eric, Aries and nuclear bombers for me) and coordinated attacks on one guy, then the other.  As usual, we had to continually sweep over their destroyed bases to keep them from rebuilding.  They must have spawned a few thousand workers each, as they were rebuilding at a ridiculously fast pace.<br /><br />Here's a screenshot of our final push, with Eric in blue and me in red.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/EmpireEarth2.jpg" rel="gb_image[nice_pics]" title="..."><img src="http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/EmpireEarth2.jpg" name="signat_img_resize" alt="..." title="..." border="0" /></a><br /><br />The expansion added quite a bit of content and overhauled the graphics.  The game looks nice and it's fun to have some new units and abilities to play with after all these years.<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...thanks Eric!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1130103416/1487#1487 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1130103416/1487#1487 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Thu, 8 Dec 2011 13:06:43 GMT Battlefield Earth. http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1320625315/5#5 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1320625315/5#5 agentx216@yahoo.com (X) Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:46:49 GMT Well then where is my null set answer!? http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1316121124/44#44 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1316121124/44#44 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:16:23 GMT Believe it or not, it's still as much fun today as it was ten years ago.  I'm thinking we should probably break out Earth 2150 for the next LAN, though.  I think I still have the install discs around here somewhere.<br /><br />The traditional New Year's LAN is usually the first or second weekend in January.  Now that everyone is married, it's gotten difficult to actually hold it on New Year's Eve.  That gives you a solid 10 weeks to put something together!<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...w00t!) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1177428851/143#143 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1177428851/143#143 JRogers@TWNCommunications.Net (b0b) Thu, 6 Oct 2011 19:54:49 GMT Thanks for that, Stewie.  I can't say I knew her well, but that picture definitely jogged the memory.<br /><br /><br />-b0b<br />(...) http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1315513814/5#5 The Geek Crew/The Mother Board http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Forum/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1315513814/5#5 agentx216@yahoo.com (X) Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:23:48 GMT I think a .40 XD would be perfect for your price and what you may need it for.  Just don't forget to get hollow points!<br /><br />X<br />(XD Luv0r for Life!)