Can PF Random Thoughts be Split to Help with Server Load?

In summary: Knew". It's a really great game.In summary, Irrational Games has released a new game called "God Only...Knew". It is a great game that is sure to please players.
  • #2,171
AnTiFreeze3 said:
Might I ask why a literary-inclined physics student wishes to be adept at warfare?

Yes, I may ask. So: Why does the Art of War interest you enough to read it multiple times?

Blame it on Age of Empires (and LOTR)...I got hooked to war strategies at a bit too early an age...Did you know Mongol cavalry during their long rides used to make a nick on their horses' neck and feed of their blood? And for some reason vinegar and urine were effective against greek fire suggesting an alkaline composition of the legendary weapon...
Coming back to Art of War- it can virtually be adapted to any thing and is more of a philosophical treatise if you look beyond the more obvious war applications...but yesterday it was because I wanted some insight on war strategies for a literary venture.
 
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  • #2,172
Enigman said:
Why is it that every time I read the Art of War I am invariably reminded of Sherlock Holmes?
Fuu rin kou zan in rai

EDIT: "Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt- Sun Tzu (Fuu-rin-ka-zan-in-rai)
(never understood how Japanese condenses the whole thing to such a short phrase...)

I'm reading The Art of War just now myself (only first time though), although I somehow happen to get a swedish translation of it. Even though neither english nor swedish is the orgininal language the quotes somehow doesn't feel that good in swedish, would have preferred to read it in english I think.

On another note, the passage you quoted, Fuu rin kou zan in rai, is based on chinese right? Not japanese. The Kanji can of course be the same, but I speak a bit japanese and don't recognize the pronounciation at all.
 
  • #2,173
AnTiFreeze3 said:
Might I ask why a literary-inclined physics student wishes to be adept at warfare?

Yes, I may ask. So: Why does the Art of War interest you enough to read it multiple times?

Office warfare, http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/8a0f/
 
  • #2,174
Zarqon said:
On another note, the passage you quoted, Fuu rin kou zan in rai, is based on chinese right? Not japanese. The Kanji can of course be the same, but I speak a bit japanese and don't recognize the pronounciation at all.

I was quoting from a manga (Case Closed), so I presumed it to be japanese but The Art of War was originally chinese so it is highly likely that you are correct.
Ed- Yes it is chinese (from my wiki link which I didn't bother to pay close attention too. :shy:
The kanji seems to be different but I *suck* at japanese and not even a Dummies book can help me...you may be able to check it yourself in the link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fūrinkazan
Ed2-http://www.orientaloutpost.com/shufa.php?q=furinkazan
Ed3- that's a lot of eds... anyway try the Lionel Giles translation http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html
That's the one I got with Aldiko (android app)
 
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  • #2,175
AnTiFreeze3 said:
Might I ask why a literary-inclined physics student wishes to be adept at warfare?

Yes, I may ask. So: Why does the Art of War interest you enough to read it multiple times?

The art of war is one of those texts that is so ambiguously phrased that you can apply it to any discipline, and it makes you think you've just heeded some sort of wise advice, when you really just applied some interpretation of the text to your interpretation of the events. Which is probably the brilliance of the whole thing.
 
  • #2,176
AnTiFreeze3 said:
Might I ask why a literary-inclined physics student wishes to be adept at warfare?

Yes, I may ask. So: Why does the Art of War interest you enough to read it multiple times?

The book isn't about "warfare". It's about "how to live".

But if course if you were a Samurai, the two things were hard to distinguish.
 
  • #2,177
Go ahead I am listening to understand why people do something
 
  • #2,178
AlephZero said:
The book isn't about "warfare". It's about "how to live".

But if course if you were a Samurai, the two things were hard to distinguish.

Being a Samurai was often more about how to die:
Wikipedia said:
Feudal lords such as Shiba Yoshimasa (1350–1410 AD) stated that a warrior looked forward to a glorious death in the service of a military leader or the emperor: "It is a matter of regret to let the moment when one should die pass by...First, a man whose profession is the use of arms should think and then act upon not only his own fame, but also that of his descendants. He should not scandalize his name forever by holding his one and only life too dear...One's main purpose in throwing away his life is to do so either for the sake of the Emperor or in some great undertaking of a military general. It is that exactly that will be the great fame of one's descendants."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
 
  • #2,179
  • #2,180
Today a serving maid corrected me on a mistake I made on 3x3=6. She shamed me and told me that her Senior Manager who had planned to meet with me said that I was a pathological liar.
 
  • #2,181
pyzicslolito said:
Today a serving maid corrected me on a mistake I made on 3x3=6. She shamed me and told me that her Senior Manager who had planned to meet with me said that I was a pathological liar.

Interesting.
 
  • #2,182
Gad said:
Interesting.

Is that negative or positive ?
If you want I definitely can state her company name, the maid name but I don't know about that Senior Manager. I told her I wished to talk face to face with the guy. I don't think this guy is any superior to me about technologies. Her company is full of kids.
 
  • #2,183
Anand lost...:cry:
Damn the newbie and damn Kasparov. Get your act together Anand.
 
  • #2,184
Finally... I can stop seeing his name on the marquee every stinking day. :frown:

fruitbats.2013.11.16.at.the.Aladdin.jpg

Who knew that Fruitbat was so famous, that people named their band after him. o:)
 
  • #2,185
Math exam:done.
 
  • #2,186
riccotongue.jpg


I miss The Fruit Bat.
 
  • #2,188
collinsmark said:
riccotongue.jpg


I miss The Fruit Bat.
BEST DOG IN THE UNIVERSE! :cry: I miss him everyday. Now I am really in tears. Murdered by his vet.
 
  • #2,190
  • #2,192
OmCheeto said:
Nope

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=646545

ps. I was going to vote for philately, as Feynman and I are both philatelists, QED.

pps. Why do people put the abbreviation for Queen's English Dictionary at the end of something that is obvious?
Gad said:
dkotschessaa said:
104,518 yes votes. ahahahaha
... Aliens.
Who then? Ah yes...
Doctor-500x848.jpg
 
  • #2,193
Enigman said:
Who then? Ah yes...
Doctor-500x848.jpg

Sooooooo cute. Buy him a hat please. .
But is he Jewish ?
 
  • #2,194
pyzicslolito said:
Sooooooo cute. Buy him a hat please. .
But is he Jewish ?

Actually...
matt_smith_fez_meme_by_slyfox34-d3cl4j2.jpg

(British TV show Doctor Who)
 
  • #2,195
The dog is obviously a tenured professor, do they wear hats anymore? Oh wait, my depth perception is off, what is that red thing on his head?
 
  • #2,196
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fez_(hat )
 
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  • #2,197
Oh, the dog is Dr Who.
 
  • #2,198
Evo said:
Oh, the dog is Dr Who.

It is so obvious what a Dr. Who fan you aren't! :-p
 
  • #2,199
dkotschessaa said:
It is so obvious what a Dr. Who fan you aren't! :-p
I have never watched an entire episode, I don't get it.
 
  • #2,200
Evo said:
I have never watched an entire episode, I don't get it.

I haven't watched an episode since the 70's.
This is the only Doctor I've known:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcjIzo3FGvo​

[Edit] Though it would appear I was not too much of a fan. I've seen scores of image references to the Daleks in the last year, and have no recollection of them.

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/NewDalek1.jpg​
 
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  • #2,201
Evo said:
I have never watched an entire episode, I don't get it.

It's become an institution, like the BBC radio soap opera "The Archers" (started in 1950, and fairly incomprehensible unless you have listened to every daily episode for the last 63 years).

In its early days Dr Who was at the cutting edge of TV special visual effects, electronic music, etc. Now it's more fuelled by nostalgia IMO.
 
  • #2,202
Evo said:
Oh, the dog is Dr Who.

Dog-ter Who, actually.
 
  • #2,204
AlephZero said:
It's become an institution, like the BBC radio soap opera "The Archers" (started in 1950, and fairly incomprehensible unless you have listened to every daily episode for the last 63 years).

In its early days Dr Who was at the cutting edge of TV special visual effects, electronic music, etc. Now it's more fuelled by nostalgia IMO.

Nostaliga-wise, they have done an excellent job of preserving the old-school, somewhat B-movie grade cheesiness of the original show and all villains (like the Daleks). But at the same time they managed to update it, and make it more dramatic, without ruining it like an american reboot would do. It's got a kind of "self aware of it's own camp" kind of feel, and is very brave.

However, many of the people watching it now, especially Americans, have never seen the older version. It just happens to be really well done. Well directed, excellent drama, very imaginative stories, especially compared to all the craptastical stuff coming out of the US right now. Most of the people I know that watch it are too young to have seen the original.

-Dave K
 
  • #2,205
Enigman said:
What the...?
:smile:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=723044
Can mentors manipulate polls? Phrenology has a thousand votes...

And it gets better and better...
:biggrin:
Evo said:
I have never watched an entire episode, I don't get it.
That's sort of the point...
tumblr_lb7h95OJLo1qzxfyto1_500.gif
 

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