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Toxn

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Everything posted by Toxn

  1. Toxn
    Geez, we could be doing this one for a while. It doesn't help that 'medieval' is a real lumper sort of term - it covers a shit-ton of history, area and development.
  2. Toxn
    The problem with this idea is that the US is absolute shit at empires. Which I would cheer you for, except for the fact that there are other, smarter actors out there and they will not be fun to live under or be around if they ever get their empire on. Basically; you guys generally tend to fuck things up in an ignorant, pig-headed way rather than a malicious, calculating way. Highlighted for correction.
  3. Toxn
    I would say by jumping, but I know for a fact that they put mesh over the windows due to suicides. edit: maybe it's a scheme to harness the power of vengeful spirits angry at the moron who designed the thing?
  4. Toxn
    As for shitty sculptures, Pretoria is just chock full of steel things made by Eduardo Villa.
  5. Toxn
    Gah that's ugly! I wonder if the architect was the same dude responsible for these buildings in my home town? You can't see it that well at this angle, but that part on the left is a giant, projecting wing... This one is known as the ship of fools, as it houses the admin wing for the University. Edit: this makes me wonder why starchitects seem so obsessed with ships. Is there something about a large, functional structure that just makes them go nuts?
  6. Toxn
    There was a joke* I saw somewhere that might explain why it wasn't considered that much of an issue. That said, you raise a very valid point. I wonder if an upwards-facing inlet leading to the intake would have been too inefficient, or if it would have marginally increased lift? * "What is the technical term for a flying infantrymen?" "Skeet."
  7. Toxn
    You know, the one they ended up stuffing into Tomahawk?
  8. Toxn
    Notice anything? Like, say, an air intake for an upside down turbojet?
  9. Toxn
    No, the one on the left
  10. Toxn
    This is the weakest shit, man. I mean, these doofusses have spent almost a decade working up to what amounts to a baby ducted fan VTOL. Meanwhile, this problem had been solved in 1969
  11. Toxn
    You don't need a degree to do science. Hell, you don't even need to be particularly smart. All you need to do is come up with a testable, falsifiable hypothesis able to make predictions and then test it against your null hypothesis. At at least p = 0.05, if stats are involved*. * Note that 95% confidence is entirely arbitrary but widely accepted anyway.
  12. Toxn
    Nice example, although not the worst of the breed by any standard. As someone who actually has a huge boner for Bauhaus, Frank Lloyd Wright and all the other usual suspects, I find myself rooting instinctively for concrete-and-glass buildings. Which makes it doubly sad when they all end up being the pugs of the building world. Maybe that's actually a perfect analogy: current trends in architecture are like current trends in dog ownership. The product is inbred useless, pointless, expensive, short-lived and (being an international phenomenon) indistinguishable in terms of placing it in its surroundings. Edit: in addition to the 'is it ugly' test, we should also have a test where you try to guess where it comes from. Any takers?
  13. Toxn
    And yes, I know this is ostensibly about the effect of modernist architecture. But let's be real: denying empiricism and elevating the artist-critic above the consumer/observer is post-modern to the core. If latter-day modernist architecture is producing melted-looking, expensive and retardedly unliveable houses then it is indistinguishable from post-modern architecture. Edit: adding this link, although I haven't read anything yet. Perhaps good things reside here?
  14. Toxn
    Yes, even architecture. Yes, even when they're given the blank slate they always want, even when they are doing it for charity. As someone who has a few friends studying architecture, I have a theory. Modern architects serve two purposes: 1) to stamp the designs on ugly, inhuman Tuscan-styled security complexes and 2) to make their universities obscene amounts of money in fees and project costs (which have been rising nigh exponentially for the last few years) while studying.
  15. Toxn
    He's actually boring human being John Dolan pretending to be full of shit and bitching. Doesn't mean that he isn't right on occasion, but take with a large grain of salt and so on.
  16. Toxn
    I think for a lot of the preppers 'zombie' is just code for 'people we don't like' anyway. Have an obligatory war nerd post on why preppers would get eaten first in any case.
  17. Toxn
  18. Toxn
    How does this prove adaptive selection?
  19. Toxn
    Eh, evo psych. Come up with a way to test that hypothesis, then I'll get interested.
  20. Toxn
    More proof that it is easier to make a complex system from scratch than reverse-engineer one.
  21. Toxn
    Claymore attached to the front rail will solve that problem, son.
  22. Toxn
    This is old news to the well-informed, but part of the problem is also simple psychology. Nobody in the navy wants to be stuck as captain of a patrol boat, even if swarms are more efficient. And nobody in the airforce wants to be stuck as a drone jockey. So you are always going to have people in both organisations pushing for big ships and manned aircraft.
  23. Toxn
    Good points. Part of the problem is that we're in the 19th century again, and peace-time/small war forces are radically different to the sorts of stuff you need for a big fight. As an example, your peace-time navy needs something to fly the flag, conduct patrols and do interdiction against small opponents. So in peace-time a cruiser is pretty boss. War time, though? You want subs, subs and more subs. Seriously, in every naval exercise not gimped to hell and back your subs are your number one ship-killer.
  24. Toxn
    Comes with black anodised aluninum 'kiltek' coating, for when you need to tier I operate at maximum efficiency.
  25. Toxn
    He's the only one still buying magaznes, so yeah.
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