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06/03/2001 |
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Suri
(with thanks to Gratiot) |
Curious Facts of Science |
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Asymptotic Time:
Many furs have noticed that time seems to pass more slowly toward the end
of the workday, especially on a Friday. What's not generally understood
is that this effect is grounded in mathematical reality. The end
of the workday forms a limiting value to the day's length. As is
the case with limiting values in general, they can be approached, but not
met. Thus it is with the end of the day - as one draws closer to
the limit, time begins to pass in an asymptotic fashion. The closer
one gets, the longer it takes.
A similar effect can be observed with things such as file
downloads, supermarket queues, and traffic jams. The more astute
among you will be wondering why it is that the end of the day can be reached
at all if it's a limiting value. The answer has to do with something
called the observer principle. Simply put, the concept of 'End of
the Day' is a social construct, and not part of the natural universe. It
only exists when the observer is actively thinking about it. When
the observer's mind is on something else, time passes at the normal rate
(or even more rapidly in some cases, although that's a matter for another
column). Thus it is that the End of the Day is reached during those
few moments when the observer's mind is on his job, food, sex, or something
besides the clock. |
Argon |
Argonizationing Exhibition
To Be Held This Friday |
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If you've read
'The Eye of Argon' by Jim Theis and recognize it's value as comedy, then
you'll love this event. The idea is to take common simple statements
and re-word them as Jim would. An example would be to make a statement
such as 'The sun rose' become 'The brilliant orb that will blind
you if looked at too long, oozed above the edge of the world to cast it's
weak, new born light upon the face of the barren land', or worse.
If you haven't read this masterpiece, check it out at: http://www.centaursite.com/eyeofargon.htm
The Argonizationing Exhibition will be held this Friday,
June 8th 2001 at 11:00pm Eastern Time (8:00pm Pacific) in Centaur Square
(Enter cs to be teleported there). Hope to see you there! |
SED
Press Release |
Morticon Not A Lemur Dispenser |
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Morticon, leader
of the SED, claims to have been falsely noted of possessing the ability
to produce lemurs on demand. "I was framed!" claimed Morticon, "It
is not physically possible for me to produce a lemur from my pouch.
Somefur must have stuck that lemur in my pouch as another tried to put
a quarter into my ear as a distraction!" The event Morticon was referring
to occurred in the park, when Vassily stuck a quarter into Morticon's ear
after hearing of Morticon's supposed ability to dispense a Lemur. To everyone's
surprise, a lemur appeared to come from his pouch!
Morticon appears to be the only one who doubts his ability.
Others, however, believe that Morticon is a fully operational lemur dispensing
wallaby. "Lemur dispensing isn't a crime, it's a way of life!" said Maxl,
local badger. Vassily, local sloth, proclaims, "Thanks to Morticon's
new ability, we need never fear a lemur shortage. Even with the economic
downturn, Lemurs will continue to be available to the fur in the street"
Morticon vehemently denies this ability, maintaining it
was a cruel hoax. |
Mouser |
Further News from Your
Slithering Reporter |
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28 May, the
Village Waterhole: I've made friends with a colony of otters
who hang about this place. Although we at first seemed to have little
in common, they seemed a friendly sort. Tonight I was invited for
a game of water polo with them. As luck and fursnake reflexes would
have it, I ended up scoring the winning goal with a blind "behind the back"
pass that ended up going straight into the opposing team's net. I
was hailed as MVP and believe I've become accepted as a member of their
tribe despite my (to them) outlandish appearance.
29 May, The Hunt: I am getting better at finding
places outside the Village. I managed to escape for a while to hunt game
at a local market. I've discovered that it is very important to time
one's hunting here; there are periods during the day when the local holy
folk forbid it and command everyone, locals and foreigners alike, to cease
while the locals gather to pray. Luckily, I was able to snag some dinner
at the first warning signal and thus managed to return to the Village with
it before it could spoil.
31 May, the Ruined City: I joined an expedition
by some of the Village residents. We ended up in the ruins of an
ancient city that once served as the capital for the locals. We all
marveled at the mud bricks and stone. According to one of my friends
here, the current capital was until recently very much like the ancient
one, a testimony I guess to the very conservative nature of the locals.
I nearly collapsed of heat exhaustion during the tour; a reminder of how
harsh the climate is here and how necessary water is for life.
On the way back, we stopped by the local market for a quick
hunt before the holy folk called prayer-time. I found to my surprise
a Kentucky Fried Critter outlet, a rare sign of civilization in this wilderness.
The dining customs in this land are quite peculiar, especially regarding
females. There is a particular taboo, apparently, that forbids females
unaccompanied by their guardians or mates to eat in the presence of other
males. To accommodate that, the restaurant's dining area was divided
by a wall splitting it, counter and all, in two. One half was reserved
for females and their mates and children, while the other half was for
single males.
I returned this evening to the water hole for a swim with
the otters. I find myself growing more and more attracted to this
spot; it seems the only habitable place in the Village outside my den. |
Boki |
The Doze Garden (Click
for a larger image) |
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@Action
News Info |
Guidelines and Procedure
for Submitting Articles |
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## Procedure for submitting an article:
* The newspaper building is located at Role Play Central
(rpc). When you enter the building you will see a bulletin board.
* Go ahead and 'write' your story. If you decide you
don't want to write one, hit .abort and forget about it. Otherwise
page 'newspaper' alerting us that you wrote one when you finish pasting
it in.
* An alternative to this is to page #mail newspaper with
your story OR email it to newspaper@spindizzy.org
* If you wish to see the edited version before it is published,
please note that somewhere before or after your article.
* That's it! It'll appear in the paper!
## Guidelines for writing articles:
When writing articles for the paper...
* Try and do some proofreading before submission. That means
spell check! However, if you're no good at that sort of stuff, just
send it as-is and the editors will try their best.
* No articles whose sole purpose is to flame someone. You
can use the SpinDizzy BB for that ;)
* Please strive for accuracy. If they have time, the editors
may check up on some of the quotes and perhaps the basic facts of
the article. Otherwise, it is assumed you did your best to
write an accurate article. If this is abused and inaccurate
things are complained about, stricter rules may be put in place.
* Submitting your article anytime on Friday evening through the
normal publishing date (Saturday night) will usually waive your right to
review the edited version because of time constraints. You will be
contacted and informed but if you cannot get on before the publishing
deadline to check your article it will be published regardless UNLESS
you specify otherwise.
* The editors' decisions are final. This is not a wiz ran
paper so do not complain to them. We can be reached by paging
'newspaper'.
* Just about anything is published, so be creative! It can
be IC views on RL topics, RPs that occurred around the MUCK, or most
other things you can think of. You have creative license when
it comes to documenting RPs, so feel free to expound on the action,
etc. If you aren't sure if a story is acceptable, page 'newspaper'
and find out! :)
* The AUP applies, so keep language and content acceptable. |
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The End |
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