Ron, welcome to the forum. Allow me to introduce the concept of OT or Off
Topic, to you.
As you might have heard, HP abruptly announced the demise of the HP3000 5
years ago come November 14. Since that time, very little new development
work has been done by HP on the platform, comparatively speaking so the
level of technical discussion has steadily diminished over that time. After
all, there are only so many things to discuss about a technology that has
not changed in years and is being replaced by many (most?)
Some years back, it was discovered that, (are you ready for this?) smart
people have opinions about lots of things and these people will express
their opinions given half a chance. So, after a little while it was decided
that a post that really had nothing to do with the HP3000 should have the
letters "OT" in the subject line. There have been a lot of discussion about
a great many things and politics has been such a subject. This last one is
especially prevalent when election time approaches in the US. This gives
everyone the opportunity to chime in, especially our international members.
It seems they are more interested in US politics than they are in their own.
(BTW, did you know that Sweden, yes, Sweden, elected a conservative Prime
Minister last week? He's going to "tweak" the welfare state. I think it
needs a good trashing but it's a start.)
Another (broad) subject that comes up frequently is science, however since
science has been politicized so much over the last few decades, a discussion
on science inevitably leads to politics. It is truly unfortunate as science
should transcend politics completely but there you are. I think Carl Sagan
is probably the model of a scientist who blatantly prostituted his
scientific integrity to politics but since then, there has been a steady
stream of such "scientists" to follow in his footsteps, (if I can mix my
metaphors.)
However, now I need your help. A little over a year ago, or thereabouts,
there was a steady stream of posts from people who belong to what I
affectionately refer to as "The Loony Left," urging other members on this
list to go see the Docucrockery from Michael Moore known as Fahrenheit 911.
It seems a lot of people from the Loony Left actually believe Michael Moore
is a first rate history recorder and tells it like it really was. They
would actually believe Michael Moore rather than their lying eyes. Heck, I
bet you there are members her who believe 9/11 was all staged by the US
government.
Cycle forward to today and now we have more members of the Loony Left who
actually believe Algore and his movie. They think that Algore, a divinity
school reject, is now an expert of climatology.
I am a long-time skeptic and practicing iconoclast and it takes a lot more
than Algore, a veritable epitome of non-partisanship, telling me things in a
movie for me to believe any grandiose assertion. So, I thought my line
"Algore does to science what Michael Moore does to history," was very
clever, thinking that anyone who took offense to that would be confused and
conflicted.
So Ron, when you took exception to it, is it because:
a) You think that Michael Moore's movie was correct in every way but that
Algore's movie is crap and equating the two is an insult to Michael Moore.
b) You think that Algore's movie is correct in every way but that Michael
Moore's movie was crap and equating the two is an insult to Algore.
So, is it a or b? I can sense the inner conflict from here.
Believe me, I would rather be discussing MPE/iX 9.0 running on IA-64 than to
talk about Michael Moore and Algore. Did I ever tell you about the T-shirt
I have, which I obtained at an event somewhere, somewhen and it was handed
out by HP. The front says: "HP 3000: The Sequel IA-64." (I can't seem to
remember when and where I got it, but since it says HP3000 and not HPe3000,
it was probably in pre-Winston days.) On the back, there is a nice
science-fictionish type picture with a 3000 and the words: "The HP 3000:
Worry-Free, Business-Critical Computing." On the right sleeve is the old
HP/Hewlett Packard logo.
I have JPEGs of this T-shirt if anyone is interested. I may even bring the
T-shirt to the GHRUG HP3000 user conference in November.
Denys
-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Ron Seybold
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 4:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT:Mars
Hello Friends:
It's sad to see a discussion and debate of science, on a mailing list
dedicated to technology, devolve into tiresome broadsides in less than 24
hours. We've gone from elaborate, instructive posts on Wednesday afternoon
to
"Wirt, you are an idiot.'
"Algore does to science what Michael Moore does to history."
and soda coming out of somebody's nose -- all in a little more than 18
hours.
When this thread began, I was learning something. I appreciate my
subscription privileges to this list when that happens.
But by now I'm learning something completely different, about how people
relate and listen -- or don't.
I know I'm not alone in wondering how this list got so abusive and divisive.
Now it feels like any topic that strays from the 3000 or computing is up for
this kind of heckling, invoking the names of the 2000 Presidential
candidates like they were demons or nitwits. I'm all for First Amendment
rights; I'm a reporter and writer. But isn't there some way to mute this
name-calling, the same way I hit the button on the remote while watching
commercial TV?
I know, there isn't, without renouncing my subscription.
Not likely to do that, but disappointed in this becoming the Hyde Park
soapbox,
Ron Seybold
Editor, 3000 NewsWire
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