Rusted Sky

Inconceiveable!

Inigo Montoya was a wise man. He understood that just because a word was used for a concept by someone, that didn't mean the word was the right one for the concept described.

There's been some words and phrases kicking around with applications that are frankly surprising to me. Let's go through a few of them.

Over on another blog, the concept of Obama's behavior being ethical came up. And I posed the idea that ethical behavior isn't something which is easy to define if you don't know the culture that the behavior is ethical in, or the expected norms of ethical behavior in that culture in the first place.

I do believe he's ethical - according to his own beliefs and that of the culture he was raised in, both personally and professionally.

But the folks who insist that shari'a law is the only right and proper way to go about things are being ethical in accordance to their culture, too - even if it mandates burquas, stonings, and beheadings. It was ethical in the USSR to turn in those suspected of disloyalty - even knowing it was likely going to result in (at the minimum) a lengthy sentence in Siberia, up to death. Ethical behavior in the Crips or Bloods subculture isn't exactly something you'd want a 6-year old to learn.

So 'ethical behavior' is another one of those nice concepts you visualize according to YOUR thinking - while the thoughts and visualization of someone else may be VERY far off from what you're thinking.

(Might be why we have annual 'ethics training' at work, trying to get us all on the same page ethics-wise.)

But without knowing the specifics of the culture, 'ethical behavior' is exceedingly hard to define. All we have to go on is what we can observe, and then try to infer what sort of ethical culture the behavior fits.

I can absolutely believe he is being consistent and ethical, in his own eyes, for his own culture - and it seems those ethics put self above all else with the requirement that any action be judged by how it benefits HIM or advances what HE wants to have happen. The good of the country or the people is of importance only as it serves his ends. There's no need to hurry the response to the Gulf Crisis, it's useful to push Cap&Trade. Immigration reform/amnesty is what's desired, so it's only right and proper to fight Arizona's desire to have current federal law complied with.

I'd like to think I'm wrong on that - that we're missing something either exceedingly subtle that would make a coherent (and positive) picture of everything that he's done (rather like the key piece of a jigsaw puzzle) or we're missing the whole point because we're simply not capable of comprehending it... when we try, we reject what we're seeing because it's patently absurd.

And what idea could be more patently absurd than a President trying to ruin the economy and physical security of the United States? You think about it, and go... "Nah - that's just not possible." and you just blank it out.

Yeah. Well. There's a lot of things I wouldn't have thought possible that are coming to pass

Another concept I'm having a problem with is 'social justice' - another one of those weasel phrases that are spouted to try to get agreement. After all, who could possibly be against justice (which is an equality of applied law and operation from our legal system) as applied to social conditions?

But how do you judge it? Is it even possible to be impartial and objective when trying to define it? Does it involve unequal treatment or preferences? If discrimination is involved, is it right and appropriate to discriminate against one group to provide 'justice' for another, especially if it causes that other group to be significantly disadvantaged?

One thing 'social justice' hasn't proven itself to be is 'equal justice under the law'. The favoritism it engenders is extremely damaging, and causes far more long-term trouble than it cures. You don't get justice for all by holding one group exempt from standards by which equality is administrated, no matter what the history is of 'justice' for that group.

Something to think about, isn't it?

Now, let's look at one concept that's reasonably easy to define - 'securing our borders'. There's plenty of old jokes in the military about 'securing a building' - so let's take a look at one.

When securing a building...

The Army will post guards around the place.

The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors.

The Marines will kill everybody inside and set up a headquarters

The Air Force will take out a 5 year lease with an option to buy.

And that brings me to the last one.

"Reform"

Now, I'm nowhere near as nuanced as the folks in Washington. In fact, I have a tendency to look at what they say and go "You know, that didn't work anywhere NEAR the way you're saying it was going to." On the other hand, if what I consider to be a 'good faith' effort is applied and actual progress is being made towards a goal, I'll cut 'em some slack on getting everything done that was on the label. The 'Cash 4 Clunkers' program is an example of the former - it was supposed to stimulate car purchases (and did so temporarily) but when it ended car sales fell off a cliff and THEN we found out that each $4k rebate cost a total of $24k.

I don't know about you, but I think it would have been cheaper for the government to just buy the same number of cars at $20k each and give them away by some arbitrary means. Like, say, the fourth and fifth digits in your Social Security number were (roll 2d10) 78. Show up with last years 1040 and proof of ID, and get a free car - and it'd have been cheaper.

Constrast that with the War on Terror that was much maligned under Bush. Did it work? We didn't have any attacks - and that's the criteria I'd judge by. Since Obama's taken office... well, you know the record.

We've had "Health Care Reform" that looks to increase costs and reduce availability of health care, we've had 'stimulus' packages that are doing anything BUT stimulating the economy, and today Obama is touting a lowered unemployment rate as a sign that the economy is coming aroudn - when it's people dropping off the unemployment rolls as they run out of benefits that's lowering the numbers... the meanings of the words are inverted, and we're all the worse off for it.

So there are words that don't mean what the users think they mean - and there are concepts used for political gain that deliberately mean different things to different people... and are labeled in a way that makes their concepts very difficult to standardize. As a society, we're rapidly fragmenting because there's no agreed, actual standard about what certain concepts mean. And that is starting to become a real problem.

J.

Gee, how odd.

CNSNews.com - Congressional Report Claims Administration Misled About Efforts on Oil Spill

CNSNews.com) – Billy Nungesser, president of New Orleans’ Plaquemines Parish, sensed that a chart showing 140 oil skimmers at work -- a chart given to him by BP and the Coast Guard -- was “somewhat inaccurate.” So, Nungesser asked to fly over the spill to verify the number.

The flyover was cancelled three times before those officials admitted that just 31 of the 140 skimmers were actually deployed.

Either way - there's a real problem. And, lucky us - we get to PAY for it, too!

J.

There is no 'free' lemonade :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

As the author points out, someone always pays. In the case here, it's the kids' parents. In the case of 'free' health care, it's the people. (And in Germany, with 'free' health care, apparently every employable person is going to have to be paying 15% of their GROSS income to fund the 'free' health care.)

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays. Might not be you - now, but chances are it'll be you - later.

J.

That when it gets developed, you go - "But that's so simple!"

And it is.

InstaLoad Battery Tech is Polarity-Agnostic | ECN: Electronic Component News

Microsoft. First they came for the OS, now they're coming for batteries... soon, they WILL take our souls, puree them, and then redispense the homogenized product...

J.

Every administration has certain priorities that end up defining their legacy.

Kennedy had the Cold War, and started the Space Race.

Johnson had the Cold War, by proxy in Viet Nam, and supported the Space Race while touting the 'Great Society' fix that was supposed to make everything better for the lower classes. (It didn't, but that's as may be.)

Nixon had the Cold War, a society that was rejecting the need for the Viet Nam war, the Space Race (which was won, and then dropped like a hot rock) and an Energy Shortage.

Ford had "I'm not Nixon."

Carter had "I'm not Nixon, or Ford, and I'm a pacifist." Which got him pretty much squat, and ended up with the Iranian Hostage crisis and the USSR glomming onto Afghanistan. (Which proved to be a mistake, but that's as may be.)

Reagan was a firm believer in American exceptionalism, and he set the conditions for a boom that lasted close to 20 years.

GHWBush wasn't quite Reagan, but was ready when the Iron Curtain collapsed and Iraq invaded Kuwait.

Clinton wasn't Bush - but he didn't need to be. He had a tech explosion to deal with, and mostly kept his fingers out of the machinery. The tech bubble started to collapse, he palmed the whole mess off on...

GWBush. Who, when the country was kicked in the 'nads in 2001 both kept the country from collapsing and supported a push that toppled the Taliban and knocked out Saddam. And then was blindsided by the Democrats.

Which brings us to Obama. Who inherited a faltering economy, which he promptly made worse by rolling out pretty much every single little wet-dream program the Dems ever thought up. We're in bad shape - and it doesn't look like things will get better soon because things are just too uncertain in the business community.

Obama's solution? More taxes, more government expansion, more regulation. (And they wonder why nothing's improving...) They see that what they're doing NOW isn't working - and they can't think of anything ELSE to do but what they've always wanted to do... and have already done.

That their 'solutions' aren't doing the job doesn't matter - their ideology SAYS it should work, so that's all that matters. Reality be damned - we're talking THEORY here, and who are you going to believe? Theories crafted by the finest minds from the finest universities (and we know they're the finest because they tell us so) or your lying eyes and common sense?

Theory says raising taxes is always possible, as long as you target the right groups.

Common sense points out that with a struggling economy, the last thing you want to do is make it MORE expensive for businesses to run.

Theory says if the goose lays golden eggs on an annual basis, the goose must be full of gold.

Common sense points out that the goose weighs about as much as a regular goose, that gold is very heavy, so the goose may LAY golden eggs, but it's not FULL of anything other than normal goose innards.

Theory says the goose must be full of gold, otherwise there wouldn't be golden eggs. Kill the goose, sort through the innards, and there must be lots of gold just waiting to be cleaned out.

Common sense says "Look at the weight. No gold. And you're getting regular golden eggs out of the goose so don't mess with a good thing."

Theory says "Just think of the good we could do with all that gold!" And the ax is swung.

Common sense later on refrains from saying the goose dinner was delicious, but the income from the gold eggs would have bought a lot more geese... because Theory's been so darn touchy lately.

Theory vs Common Sense. Striking a balance is one thing. The trick is to not go overboard in either direction, and to realize that sometimes you've got to just re-examine what you're doing to make sure you're getting the results you want.

There comes a time in every technician's life when he realizes that the answers that have heretofore served him well in his craft are no longer sufficient. That he's going to have to learn something different to fix the problems that present themselves, and that knowledge will actually make him a better technician in the long run.

But when you've got someone who won't believe he DOESN'T have the answers - what are you supposed to do?

I think Obama's in that position now. The supposed sure-fire solutions he's been taught all his life were the best and only possible fixes for all the inequalities that our country has suffered from for decades are proving to make things worse - not better. He's in a real quandary - does he go "Well, this didn't work - we'll roll the legislative and economic environments back to about 2005 and see if things sort themselves out while we figure out what to do" - earning the ire of all his supporters who think everything will be fine if we just go further down the road we're on, faster? Or appease all who got him to where he is today - and keep on going the way we are, despite the fact that things are not getting better no matter how much he wants them to?

As a technician, I know if something I'm doing isn't working - I need to try something else. I've got plenty of knowledge already, I've got loads of resources (Google IS your friend!) and I understand that it doesn't matter if something is SUPPOSED to work, it HAS to work otherwise I'm just wasting my time and the customer's money.

And the customer (you and I, in case the metaphor phailed to get through) doesn't LIKE seeing his money wasted on extraneous stuff that will not fix the problems that needed resolution in the first place.

As Obama is doing.

Even the most committed of Democrats has to be looking at what's going on and thinking "Everything we're doing is making the situation worse." To me, it doesn't seem like a difficult step to go from that to "Maybe we'd better change things back to when they WERE working." But the idea that things were somehow 'better' back in 2005 (as in people having jobs, governmental spending not racking up trillion-dollar deficits, and businesses actually being able to get loans) HAS to take a back seat to the 'correct' ideology.

It's funny how the Dems always accused conservatives of being lemmings, when it's the 'Progressives' that have gotten the government to jump off a cliff in their quest for political nirvana.

So don't give me good theory, Mr. President - theory doesn't pay the bills. If you don't know what the fix is - and it's getting pretty darn clear that you haven't a clue and couldn't buy one with a trillion dollars - then roll things back to 2005. THEN, at least, things were working. They may not have been perfect (anyone else recall the media hyperventilating when the unemployment rate got over 5.1%?) but things were better than they are now, or look to be for the next couple of decades.

Sometimes the fix is just to remove the garbage that's been loaded on. And just because someone sends you an email saying something is really great and you should install it doesn't mean it IS great, and that it won't cause problems elsewhere.

J.

About last June, I got a Blackberry 8220 Flip. After two replacements (thing went into a permanet reboot cycle, and nothing I could do could unbrick it) I got one that actually was performing pretty well. I treated it like it was made of glass, opening and closing it carefully, and it worked without any problems...

Until the Bluetooth went out on it.

Unfortunately, the warranty's expired and T-Mobile's not offering any replacements... not, at this point, that I'd get another one. This was decidedly a product that wasn't ready for prime time. So I've dropped to the backup phone while trying to figure out what I want for a replacement.

I prefer flip-phones (hey, ST-TOS was prime time when I was 12 or so. You've GOT to open the communicator before it'll work.) BUT there seems to be a decided lack of smart flip-phones. (Not that the 8220 was particularly intelligent, and I wasn't about to shell out $40 a month for a data plan... but I want the capability if I decide I've got more money to toss at T-Mobile.)

Anyway. I'm open to suggestions. Anyone got a phone they particularly like?

J.

Life insurance. Ever read the fine print?

Got a flyer from my bank, for the low cost of $11 a month I could have $100,000 of life insurance. It seemed like a good deal, until I started digging into it a bit.

You're not covered for suicide. (No brainer there...)
Or self-inflicted injuries, including autoeroticism. (Okay...)
Or sickness, disease, mental incapacity or body infirmity that results directly or indirectly from any of these...
1. Commission of a felony.
2. Infections of any kind regardless of how contracted except bacterial infections that are caused by botulism, ptomaine poisoning or an accidental cut or wound independent and in the absense of any underlying sickness or condition including but not limited to diabetes
3. Declared or undeclared war, or any act of declared or undeclared war, except if specifically provided by the policy,
4. Participation in any team sport or athletic activity,
5. Duty in the Armed Forces
6. Travel or flight in or on any vehicle used for aerial navigation
7. Being under the influence of intoxicants or drugs,
8. During the medical or surgical treatment of sickness, disease, mental incapacity or bodily infirmity
9. stroke or cerebrovascular accident or event, cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction or heart attack, coronary thrombosis, aneurysm
10. Any condition for which you or your spouse are entitled to benefits under any Workers' Comp act...
11. Riding in or driving any type of motor vehicle as part of a speed contest or scheduled race
Any loss incurred while outside the United States, its Territories, or Canada.

So let's see - it doesn't cover you for illness, accident, or suicide, or random acts of terrorism, or heart attacks, acts of war, or the usual causes of death as you age.

Hell of a profit center - as it's designed, to my layman's eyes, there's not much they're going to have to pay out for!

J.

Power Line - Why the silent treatment?

The reason the MSM has the lid on NASA's new "mission" to snuggle up to Islam (in between decapitations and floggings) is that it would be devastating to Obama if it became known. On the surface, the new NASA "mission" seems merely screwball, and thus a small story. But I think it's a good deal more than that. It shows that Obama's thinking is unrecognizable to the average person. It also shows that he's unserious -- frivolous, really -- about something that made a generation of Baby Boomers take pride in their country. How many millions of people sat in their junior high auditoriums and watched the Alan Shepherd and John Glenn launches? How many millions more were up at midnight on July 20, 1969 to watch the first human being, an American, put his foot on the moon?

When the domestic roots of skepticism about America (and sometimes flat-out anti-Americanism) were being laid -- in the 60's assassinations, the Vietnam War, and the exposure of the country's treatment of blacks -- the one thing in which we all took pride was the space program. So for Obama, it's now one thing that needs to be perverted. Making it a dumbed-down PR front for Islam is, in its way, a genius move for this purpose. But as the MSM recognizes by its silence, it's a bridge too far.

I wish I could say that the 'Muslim Outreach' mission for NASA had potential for success - but I just don't see it, or any real justification for it.

J.

Live feeds from ROVs at Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster site is a good collection of them. In a way, it's almost like watching NASA feeds with the sound off - there's a lot of wierd stuff to watch, with no explanation of what's going on.

Enjoy!

J.

Well, instead of getting a smartphone, as opposed to a dumb phone, I got an idiot-savant phone. It does a couple of things well, it's pretty single-minded, and it doesn't learn new things easily. It's a Samsung T-359, the 'Smiley'.

There were certain things I wanted. A keyboard (whether virtual or real) was desirable, as well as a moderate size and a folder configuration, and a relatively low price. (Low being under $100, or so.) The ability to get neat apps (like the Tricorder function for a Droid) would be nice, but not essential.

Well, you just TRY to find a smartphone for less than $100... much less one that's a moderate size.

So, sometimes you just don't get what you want. I DID end up with a phone that has GPS (which boggles my little mind, having worked with the system since the early '80s...) AND a keyboard (a slider instead of a folder - well, I can live with that) - AND apparently VERY decent battery life. (Charged it up Friday night, lasted through Saturday and Sunday and didn't drop a bar. The Blackberry 8220 would have been digging for electrons at the bottom of the battery by then...

Bluetooth, of course - though not wifi... oh, well, connectivity is good in the house. The screen is bright and readable, the keyboard miniscule but the keys are large enough so there's no problem. The camera isn't great, but it'll do for impromtu shots. The volume is decent, and the alarm WORKS, with customizable mp3s. (Yay, I can still use my H2G2 ringtones!) It'll pay music, but there's no standard earplug port - instead it's a micro-USB. And Bluetooth, of course, though I'm not too eager to get some Bluetooth stereo headphones...

Of course, there's a good number of games available for it - but I'm not really willing to spend $6 a pop for something of dubious playability. There aren't any neat apps for it like there are for smartphones - but that's the breaks. Maybe in a couple of years, when the Droid wars have subsided... but I'm just not in the same frame of mind I was 20-30 years back, where the new was

For now? This'll do nicely.

(A phone with GPS AND music capability, AND a camera... will wonders ever cease?)

J.

The little guy and I are down in Eastman for the next couple of days, at the Middle Georgia College Aviation campus, for their summer aviation camp. I have to admit I'm impressed so far by the energy the leader of the thing is showing, as he works with about 20 kids (and a handful of adults, yours truely being one of them) to keep them entertained. Me? I've found the library and the computer lab - what more do I need? LOL...

We're being put up in the dorm here - it's a relatively new building and I've no complaints at all about the price. Meals, aside from lunch, aren't included, but there's a WalMart nearby, so we got breakfast stuff and dinner sandwiches. I have to admit it's about the least busy WalMart I've ever seen, but then Tuesday evenings probably aren't exactly their busiest time. And I was surprised to see the "Blimpie's" sandwich shop in it had permanently closed in June, according to the sign on the door...

Walking the halls of the aviation campus here reminds me of about 35 years back, in the halls of the schools at Chanute AFB. Groups of students, all in the same uniform (black shirts and slacks here, OD fatigues then) looking to learn in a concrete block walled, gleaming tile floored environment, with classrooms strewn with various engine parts and pieces. Some things just don't change, I guess....

It's a nice little change of pace. We'll be here until Thursday afternoon, and then it's back to work on Friday. The little guy's made some mention of going to this college - we'll see what happens. The world is, as always, stranger than we think it might be - and takes us places we never considered.

J.

Any business relationship has to have elements of trust. In the case of insurance companies, they trust you'll pay your premiums, and you trust they'll pay your claims without jerking you around.

Well, that's not quite what's going on.

It's time to renew our house policy. An appraiser checked out our house, found two trees that had branches brushing the roof, and requested they be trimmed back. We complied (and had a couple of other trees taken down at the suggestion of the tree folks) and sent photos back to the agent.

The agent forwarded them to their adjusters. The adjusters replied back that they wouldn't consider renewing. We had suddenly become an unacceptable risk. But if we switched our auto coverage... they'd renew.

Hear that little, quiet *snap* in the distance? That's the trust we had in our insurance company to not jerk us around breaking.

For what it's worth, the agent went to bat for us, pushing hard to get us renewed without the auto coverage. And it's appeciated, to be sure - but it's a bit late in the game.

We've been a real profit center for them - no claims of any sort in 16 years. And we've been pretty satisfied with the communication process each year - but this?

No, I think the 'good hands' have dropped the ball - and we're dropping them. It's too bad for them - but if something SHOULD happen to our house, we have no trust now that they'd cover it.

Trust is something that takes a long time to establish, but can be broken with just an email.

J.

Cameron Raids Dormant U.K. Accounts as Minister Attacks Banks - Bloomberg

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to use “hundreds of millions of pounds” from dormant bank accounts to fund community projects, while Business Secretary Vince Cable said lenders “ripped off” customers.

Cameron said he will press ahead with a proposal set out in the coalition government’s program to establish a “Big Society Bank” to finance moves by charitable groups and not-for-profit companies to take over jobs currently done by the government.

Dormant bank accounts. I wonder how they determine it's 'dormant'? No withdrawls/deposits for ten years? Five? Six months? Six weeks?

Look for the standards, as time goes on, to slip. No withdrawls in 6 weeks ? It's been abandoned, and fair game for the government to grab.

It's not terribly surprising, I guess. There DOES come a point where the money runs out, and the powers that be in the UK are trying anything they can to keep the house of cards they've built up just a little bit longer.

Because when it falls, it's going to be spectatuclar.

J.

Time flies when you're having fun.

July 20, 1969: One Small Step … One Giant Leap … | This Day In Tech | Wired.com

1969: The Soviet Union was first to land a spacecraft on the moon, in 1959, but NASA’s Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the lunar surface, realizing humanity’s age-old dream. And effectively winning the space race for the United States.

Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin left the Apollo 11 command module (piloted by Michael Collins) in orbit and performed a landing in the lunar module Eagle. At 4:18 p.m. EDT, Armstrong announced to a watching and waiting world that “The Eagle has landed.”

But at least Virgin Galactic is pushing the boundaries.

Now all I've got to do is come up with $200k...

I'd really hoped for more in 40 years. But - we've got what we've got, and it's better than nothing.

J.

Deficits vs. Unemployment: You’re Wrong, America - Exchequer - National Review Online

According to a new poll, American voters say that reducing unemployment is more important than cutting the federal budget deficit, taking the Democratic side in what is expected to be an ongoing debate in this midterm election year.

The government response is to spend MORE - but maybe the thing to do is stop spending. To stop overly regulating. To stop making things so chaotic in the financial markets that a business doesn't have a clue which way to jump - because what looks safe to do now is going to cost them penalties out the wazoo next year.

We're stuck with people trying to fix the economy who have only one tool, and only one way they can even think of to use it. And their lack of imagination is possibly ruining it beyond recovery.

J.

That there were some serious undercurrents back in the day.

YouTube - Jane Austen's Fight Club

Enjoy!

J.

There's a story I read, a long time back - about the crew of a high-tech ambulance/wrecker on the intercontinental highway system. I think the name of the story was "Code Red", and it was a good 20-30 years back, if not more. I ran across a link to an on-line copy through Metafilter - but I must not be remembering the title right. If you recall the story (Three person crew, HUGE ambulance hovercraft, capable of doing 300mph or more) let me know if I've got the title right...

J.

PJTV - Bill Whittle

It's a tough but good watch. Take the time (about 16 minutes) and enjoy it.

J.

Jaywalking Problem.

These Flying Cars Don't Fly, They Whoosh!

Of course, there'd be a heck of a cleanup problem... for a while.

Until Darwinian selection weeded out the slow and foolish pedestrians.

J.

The Volokh Conspiracy » Michelle Obama Asks Me to Sign President Obama’s Birthday Card

I received the following email from First Lady Michelle Obama:

SUBJECT: Will you sign Barack's birthday card, James?

James -

Every year, our family tries to come up with a fun way to wish Barack a happy birthday.

And this August 4th, when he turns 49, I have something new in mind.

This has been a big - and hectic - year for him. After signing the Affordable Care Act and Wall Street reform into law - and completing his first year as president - I think it's safe to say we will remember it for a long time.

And I know full well how much he credits this movement, and the work of supporters like you, for the change that we've accomplished.

So I'm putting together a birthday card that I would like you to sign. Together with other Organizing for America supporters - and me, Malia, Sasha, and Bo - we'll wish him a happy birthday and let him know that we're ready to take on the year ahead alongside him.

Will you wish Barack a happy birthday with me?

J.

One Man's Trash

Let me know here what you think about it... comments over on Stories are currently closed due to spam.

J.

At one time, there were a fair number of SF magazines. Amazing Stories, Aboriginal SF, Analog, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Fantasy & SF - if you're of a certain age and bent, you'll know the names, and you'll know that a lot of them have gone away... and the few remaining printed magazines are hard to find at your local bookstore. Analog, Asimov's, and F&SF are about all that's left of the big ones.

But despair not! There's some on-line E-Zines, if you like the magazine format. For example, Redstone Science Fiction Magazine. I'm thinking about submitting one of my stories to it.

Wikipedia's got a listing of current and defunct magazines - you might find something there to interest you.

But one thing I believe has led to the decline of the SF magazine is something pretty simple. A lot of folks (like me ) used to enjoy the gadget-oriented SF more than the 'personality' oriented SF. Hardware was what I liked - technical solutions to the problems presented. It was fun reading about devices that'd do darn near everything needed - because (as I point out in this story) at the time they WERE science fiction. A device that would combine the functions of a log-duplex slide rule, a chronometer, a mechanical calculator, a tape recorder, a record player, a movie camera, a still camera, a long-range transceiver, a telegraph, a typewriter, a half-dozen games? In something the size of a deck of cards? No - that was firmly in the realm of science fiction.

At least, it was until fairly recently.

We're living the SF (except for space exploration...) that we used to read. Advances in medicine, computers, communications and whatnot have gone in directions I never expected.

And we're even getting flying cars. Such wonders we have... and take for granted.

Anyway - I hope you'll find something in one of those magazines you enjoy.

J.