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Madelaine McMasters

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Everything posted by Madelaine McMasters

  1. Madelaine McMasters
    I can be the outer spoon, not the inner one.
  2. Madelaine McMasters
    I didn't give birth to anyone, yet I've still got a kid. I can only imagine how painful childbirth is, but I KNOW how painful child rearing is. I got very excited yesterday when my tree guy informed me that he's got a new chipper that can handle 18" trunks. Mac will fit!
  3. Madelaine McMasters
    I love seeing others hugging and cuddling, and I love being the cuddler. But the cuddled one? Not even on my death bed. Nature can be so screwy.
  4. Madelaine McMasters
    No, TP direction compatibility is the sort of thing we knew to check before getting married. Having children wasn't. Oops.
  5. Madelaine McMasters
    ...gives you a flaming hug
  6. Madelaine McMasters
    I learned that lesson from the experts, monkeys at the Milwaukee Country Zoo. I also learned that experts needn’t be smarter than me.
  7. Madelaine McMasters
    Or which end of the sleeve of ice cream cones you open? My ex-hubby insisted on opening the “bottom” end, because you could easily grasp a cone to remove it from the sleeve. I insisted on opening the “top” because it was easy to tuck the plastic sleeve into the next cone when resealing. I’d insert my index and middle fingers into the cone and spread them to grip it for extraction. Easy peasy. Did I mention he’s my ex-hubby?
  8. Madelaine McMasters
    I don’t mind hugging people who need it, I’m just not fond of being hugged. I don’t think I ever need it. It’s also an issue of control. I had 26 aunts and uncles, so hugs were unavoidable. Dad was the only person who could hug me or set me on his lap, and that only lasted for my first few years. We were a “no public displays of affection” family. We conveyed affection through absurd banter, filled with mock insults. Like you, I tolerate people who offer up hug animations. Unlike you, I set people on fire to show I care. ”…hugs you all up” riffs on the seemingly universal need for human mothers to eat their young, often starting with their toes. Who hasn’t heard a mother coo “I’m going to gobble you all up” to an infant, or something like it? I love the absurdity of that and have co-opted it for hugging. ETA: The paradoxical nature of my farewells should not surprise. You know how I love being paradoxical.
  9. Madelaine McMasters
    This is how wars start.
  10. Madelaine McMasters
    Have you forgotten that I'm... nefarious?
  11. Madelaine McMasters
    Autogyros (sometimes called gyrocopters) don't need torque compensation as there's no torque applied to the rotor by the motor. They'll still have two rotary wings, as the motor provides propulsion through a propeller. One of my favorite childhood kites was a tiny gyrocopter. It was a fiddly thing, but when the winds were right, it was great fun to watch. And, and, and, it had only one rotary wing! Tip-jet helicopters need no tail rotor, but jets still have fans. Rocket On Rotor helicopters would satisfy the one rotary wing requirement. My childhood attempts at flying Catherine Wheel fireworks did nothing to contribute to the goal of one rotary wing.
  12. Madelaine McMasters
    Never heard of a NOTAR helicopter? In my world, a "fan" is a rotary wing. So, the NOTAR helicopter has... two!
  13. Madelaine McMasters
    I won't be listing names for the reason you both cited, and I understand why you did, despite your reservations. I miss a great many people I've met here over the years. Some have left SL. Some have left RL. They join the legions of people I've met before and elsewhere, who've faded away, leaving me to wonder. I won't presume to say they should come back. That's their call. I'll enjoy them again if they do. But, I'm currently enjoying the presence of people who might not know most, or any, of the names I'd list. I don't want any of them to feel they're second class citizens. I will miss them too, should they leave for whatever reason. Thank you to everyone who's right here, right now. You're the reason I'm right here, right now.
  14. Madelaine McMasters
    Early in my career, my team was designing a portable automatic defibrillator. It had a few buttons and a speaker to make beeps and boops. The design contained two little microprocessors, one to handle all the "housekeeping", one to look for cardiac activity and enable the defibrillator circuits if there was none. The engineer assigned the task of scanning the buttons and driving the speaker with the housekeeping processor made some error in his code, which resulted in the system playing what sounded like arcade game sound effects. Everybody in the lab started laughing, not because they realized he'd screwed up his code, but because the sounds were hilarious. We were all disappointed when he was unable to comprehend how the error produced the sounds. We wanted to do it intentionally.
  15. Madelaine McMasters
    Since his console and racks of vintage gear are analog, he needs a compact way to shuttle analog signals around. That's precipitated our exploration into using the eight wires of an Ethernet cable to carry four channels of analog. I'm not well versed on recording studio tech, but I think Dante is the current go-to digital transport interface for high-channel-count systems. I've seen S/PIDF and TOSLink connections on some of Mac's gear, but those were for 1-2 channels of I/O. I think those boxes also have USB for the computer connection. I recall him complaining about the varied latency of USB devices, as well as sampling rate drift. He's mentioned going "all Dante" when he can afford it. Unless he stops living off fast (and expensive) food, that day is far in the future.
  16. Madelaine McMasters
    Where's my damned scorn laugh, Scylla? Thank you, Arielle!
  17. Madelaine McMasters
    Favorite Destinations? Upcoming Events and Activities? Challenges? Make Friends? Getting Started?
  18. Madelaine McMasters
    I'll have you know that I check my forum standing every hour, on the hour. I will never recover from the shift in point assignment from Answers to everything, which caused photography to become everyone's best path to fame and fortune. A picture is worth a thousand likes. That left me (and Rolig, Lindal, Qie, Quistess, and many unnamed other helpful people) starving for adulation. My scant participation there now is entirely due to dopamine seeking. Ooooh, that felt good. All your scorn laughter are gonna belong to meeeeeeee!!!
  19. Madelaine McMasters
    Of course you must. You are of the "Triumvirate of the Derail". My turn will come.
  20. Madelaine McMasters
    I hope you understand that part of my good fortune has been your participation here, Silent.
  21. Madelaine McMasters
    I sprinkled some of Mom's and Dad's ashes on our beach, and now squish them between my toes on lakefront walks. I was underfoot years ago, now it's their turn. Cycle of life. I still have ashes from both Mom and Dad. Dad went first, and I launched a bit of him in a model rocket. After Mom died, I mixed some of their ashes (approximately proportional to their living body weights, I'm an engineer.) and sent them aloft for a world tour in a weather balloon on Halloween. All of this is, of course, entirely for my benefit. Their ashes don't give a damn. I like the idea of sprinkling my parents throughout the world of our family lore. All the memorable places they've been, both with and before me, are on my ash sprinkling bucket list. They aren't gone until nobody remembers them?
  22. Madelaine McMasters
    Yes, exactly. My World, My Imagination. Watch your step, People.
  23. Madelaine McMasters
    "An heir and a spare" right? It's a sordid story, for which I lay blame at the feet of my father, or the ashes of his feet, which I keep in a box in the barn.
  24. Madelaine McMasters
    ...sets out two bowls, one of catnip, the other of gin
  25. Madelaine McMasters
    Treasure, you always were a treasure. I’m so saddened to hear of your loss and wish the best for you going forward.
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