Is this mere superstition ?
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It depends on the author. Anything by Bruce Schneier or Matt Pietrek is sacred, but books by L. Ron Hubbard or Leon Uris may be safely used for anything from door stops to sanitary wipes for the outhouse. For the latter, buy the paperback versions on recycled paper, as there's less risk of paper cuts.
Will Rogers never met me.
Ah, thanks. That makes me feel better :) I really can't be bothered to go looking for a block of wood to do this on. As a compromise, I think I will switch to a reader's digest coffee table book on wonders of the natural world and leave the technical books alone.
L'enfer, c'est les autres - Jean-Paul Sartre
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich Nietzsche -
I could not find a suitable block of wood to do a calf workout (it's done by placing your toes on a block of wood and raising your heels while holding a pair of heavy dumbells or a barbell) so I used a copy of "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 by Ron Soukup". It does the job. But I wasn't feeling too good about stepping on a book. It's part of our culture (Kerala) to treat all books with reverence and to never step on one. But the rationalist part of my mind says "what the heck it's about an old version of SQL Server anyway". I am a bit confused... Is it disrespectful to step on books ?
L'enfer, c'est les autres - Jean-Paul Sartre
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich NietzscheSahir Shah wrote:
Is it disrespectful to step on books ?
Only if you are wearing golfing shoes.
Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water
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I could not find a suitable block of wood to do a calf workout (it's done by placing your toes on a block of wood and raising your heels while holding a pair of heavy dumbells or a barbell) so I used a copy of "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 by Ron Soukup". It does the job. But I wasn't feeling too good about stepping on a book. It's part of our culture (Kerala) to treat all books with reverence and to never step on one. But the rationalist part of my mind says "what the heck it's about an old version of SQL Server anyway". I am a bit confused... Is it disrespectful to step on books ?
L'enfer, c'est les autres - Jean-Paul Sartre
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich NietzscheI don't know about disrespectful, but if you are using a paperback book those pages could shift under your feet causing you to twist your ankle and/or fall. Better to use a hard bound book.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense. -- Steve Landesberg
I am not a chatbot.
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Roger Wright wrote:
Bruce Schneier or Matt Pietrek
Hey lets not forget Jeff Richter and Charles Petzold :)
Software Kinetics Wear a hard hat it's under construction
Metro RSSI didn't, but I wanted to keep it fairly brief. While we're at it, we might want to add Chuck Babbage to the "risky" list, along with Alan Turing.
Will Rogers never met me.
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It depends on the author. Anything by Bruce Schneier or Matt Pietrek is sacred, but books by L. Ron Hubbard or Leon Uris may be safely used for anything from door stops to sanitary wipes for the outhouse. For the latter, buy the paperback versions on recycled paper, as there's less risk of paper cuts.
Will Rogers never met me.
Roger Wright wrote:
less risk of paper cuts
:laugh:
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich Nietzsche
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I don't know about disrespectful, but if you are using a paperback book those pages could shift under your feet causing you to twist your ankle and/or fall. Better to use a hard bound book.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense. -- Steve Landesberg
I am not a chatbot.
A good, thick dictionary would probably be okay, too. From what I see in print these days, I'd infer that few people have ever opened one.
Will Rogers never met me.
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I could not find a suitable block of wood to do a calf workout (it's done by placing your toes on a block of wood and raising your heels while holding a pair of heavy dumbells or a barbell) so I used a copy of "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 by Ron Soukup". It does the job. But I wasn't feeling too good about stepping on a book. It's part of our culture (Kerala) to treat all books with reverence and to never step on one. But the rationalist part of my mind says "what the heck it's about an old version of SQL Server anyway". I am a bit confused... Is it disrespectful to step on books ?
L'enfer, c'est les autres - Jean-Paul Sartre
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich NietzscheSahir Shah wrote:
calf workout
By the way, that's not a good idea, working your calf that way. It makes the veal tough.
Will Rogers never met me.
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I don't know about disrespectful, but if you are using a paperback book those pages could shift under your feet causing you to twist your ankle and/or fall. Better to use a hard bound book.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense. -- Steve Landesberg
I am not a chatbot.
Michael Bergman wrote:
those pages could shift under your feet causing you to twist your ankle
Yes, that occured to me as well, later on. I am switching to a hardbound coffee table book which looks much more stable and solid. Thx.
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich Nietzsche
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I could not find a suitable block of wood to do a calf workout (it's done by placing your toes on a block of wood and raising your heels while holding a pair of heavy dumbells or a barbell) so I used a copy of "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 by Ron Soukup". It does the job. But I wasn't feeling too good about stepping on a book. It's part of our culture (Kerala) to treat all books with reverence and to never step on one. But the rationalist part of my mind says "what the heck it's about an old version of SQL Server anyway". I am a bit confused... Is it disrespectful to step on books ?
L'enfer, c'est les autres - Jean-Paul Sartre
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich NietzscheHard to believe, but once upon a time books were written and copied by hand. Even the paper was made by hand, which made the material to write and bind a book more expensive than normal people could ever afford. Not to speak about how expensive things got when you also wanted the cover decorated or some illustrations. Books were extremely valuable and contained reserved knowledge (most people could not even read). And here in Europe many books were copied by monks for their libraries. Certainly they had a preference for religious topics, which also might have added to the way books were treated.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
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Hard to believe, but once upon a time books were written and copied by hand. Even the paper was made by hand, which made the material to write and bind a book more expensive than normal people could ever afford. Not to speak about how expensive things got when you also wanted the cover decorated or some illustrations. Books were extremely valuable and contained reserved knowledge (most people could not even read). And here in Europe many books were copied by monks for their libraries. Certainly they had a preference for religious topics, which also might have added to the way books were treated.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
They were expensive and rare, certainly, but it was worth every drachma. Books then were a lot lighter than the clay tablets we used in school.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Sahir Shah wrote:
calf workout
By the way, that's not a good idea, working your calf that way. It makes the veal tough.
Will Rogers never met me.
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They were expensive and rare, certainly, but it was worth every drachma. Books then were a lot lighter than the clay tablets we used in school.
Will Rogers never met me.
Clay tablets already were an improvement over painting things on cave walls. Did you ever try to carry your cave around with you? But it took a few thousand years to get from cave walls to clay tablets because some other projects had higher priority, like developing better weapons than simple clubs.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
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I could not find a suitable block of wood to do a calf workout (it's done by placing your toes on a block of wood and raising your heels while holding a pair of heavy dumbells or a barbell) so I used a copy of "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 by Ron Soukup". It does the job. But I wasn't feeling too good about stepping on a book. It's part of our culture (Kerala) to treat all books with reverence and to never step on one. But the rationalist part of my mind says "what the heck it's about an old version of SQL Server anyway". I am a bit confused... Is it disrespectful to step on books ?
L'enfer, c'est les autres - Jean-Paul Sartre
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein - Friedrich NietzscheDo you need someone's advice on this? I'll agree if asked by someone in the west. Who have different beliefs But you say you are from India and I'm amazed to know, you do know how much respect we give to books. Or any thing for that matter. Will you step on a Quran/Bible or whatever that is applicable to you? To me every book is means the same.
Sahir Shah wrote:
rationalist part of my mind
Make that as "damaged" excuse me if I'm over reacting. But I JUST hate what you've posted.
Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.
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Clay tablets already were an improvement over painting things on cave walls. Did you ever try to carry your cave around with you? But it took a few thousand years to get from cave walls to clay tablets because some other projects had higher priority, like developing better weapons than simple clubs.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
That wheel thingy looked interesting. Did the committee ever work out the details? I bet that we could have used that to carry caves.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Do you need someone's advice on this? I'll agree if asked by someone in the west. Who have different beliefs But you say you are from India and I'm amazed to know, you do know how much respect we give to books. Or any thing for that matter. Will you step on a Quran/Bible or whatever that is applicable to you? To me every book is means the same.
Sahir Shah wrote:
rationalist part of my mind
Make that as "damaged" excuse me if I'm over reacting. But I JUST hate what you've posted.
Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.
VuNic wrote:
I'll agree if asked by someone in the west.
Those little barbarians... :)
VuNic wrote:
Will you step on a Quran/Bible or whatever that is applicable to you?
We barbarians are extremely practical about such things, especially when stepping onto the books somehow solves a problem at hand. Our ancestors already were like that and not being struck down by Odin or Thor just encouraged them to keep it that way.
VuNic wrote:
To me every book is means the same.
Let me send you some stuff our marketing guys put on paper.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
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Do you need someone's advice on this? I'll agree if asked by someone in the west. Who have different beliefs But you say you are from India and I'm amazed to know, you do know how much respect we give to books. Or any thing for that matter. Will you step on a Quran/Bible or whatever that is applicable to you? To me every book is means the same.
Sahir Shah wrote:
rationalist part of my mind
Make that as "damaged" excuse me if I'm over reacting. But I JUST hate what you've posted.
Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.
Some books are meant to be stepped on; some authors deserve to be burned atop a pyre of their own writings. My Statistics textbook is one example. Not all things written and published are sacred; a lot of crap manages to get by the filter of good sense and taste, only to find its way to a bookshelf home it doesn't deserve. Reverence for the printed word is respectable; I, for one, have never made a mark in a book or folded a corner of a page - both are criminal acts, to my mind. But being an expert doesn't make one a writer, and many books are published these days which are deserving of no respect whatsoever. I refuse to sell my Statistics book back to the bookstore, because I cannot, in good conscience, allow it to fall into the hands of another innocent victim. When I'm done with the class in a few weeks, I plan to aerate it by making holes in it with an AK-47, so that it will burn more efficiently. No student should ever again be required to wade through this heap of crap; the authors may be fine statisticians, but they're not writers or educators, and their work does not deserve to be on anyone's required list.
Will Rogers never met me.
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VuNic wrote:
I'll agree if asked by someone in the west.
Those little barbarians... :)
VuNic wrote:
Will you step on a Quran/Bible or whatever that is applicable to you?
We barbarians are extremely practical about such things, especially when stepping onto the books somehow solves a problem at hand. Our ancestors already were like that and not being struck down by Odin or Thor just encouraged them to keep it that way.
VuNic wrote:
To me every book is means the same.
Let me send you some stuff our marketing guys put on paper.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
:laugh: :laugh: I agree completely! :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
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Some books are meant to be stepped on; some authors deserve to be burned atop a pyre of their own writings. My Statistics textbook is one example. Not all things written and published are sacred; a lot of crap manages to get by the filter of good sense and taste, only to find its way to a bookshelf home it doesn't deserve. Reverence for the printed word is respectable; I, for one, have never made a mark in a book or folded a corner of a page - both are criminal acts, to my mind. But being an expert doesn't make one a writer, and many books are published these days which are deserving of no respect whatsoever. I refuse to sell my Statistics book back to the bookstore, because I cannot, in good conscience, allow it to fall into the hands of another innocent victim. When I'm done with the class in a few weeks, I plan to aerate it by making holes in it with an AK-47, so that it will burn more efficiently. No student should ever again be required to wade through this heap of crap; the authors may be fine statisticians, but they're not writers or educators, and their work does not deserve to be on anyone's required list.
Will Rogers never met me.
Roger Wright wrote:
Some books are meant to be stepped on; some authors deserve to be burned atop a pyre of their own writings.
I agree, anyone that can spell can write a book and it doesn't make them a scholar or the book worth reading.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available. -
Do you need someone's advice on this? I'll agree if asked by someone in the west. Who have different beliefs But you say you are from India and I'm amazed to know, you do know how much respect we give to books. Or any thing for that matter. Will you step on a Quran/Bible or whatever that is applicable to you? To me every book is means the same.
Sahir Shah wrote:
rationalist part of my mind
Make that as "damaged" excuse me if I'm over reacting. But I JUST hate what you've posted.
Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.
Seriously, this is just fetishising books as objects, blown up to look like wisdom "look at the reverence we give to dead mashed trees because they contain learning". What they contain is important, and not all books are equal in that respect either.
Sort of a cross between Lawrence of Arabia and Dilbert.[^]
-Or-
A Dead ringer for Kate Winslett[^] -
That wheel thingy looked interesting. Did the committee ever work out the details? I bet that we could have used that to carry caves.
Will Rogers never met me.
As far as I know they looked at two other solutions: Some people tried to replace caves with simple constructions made out of sticks and leather hides. The idea was to put together the sticks in a certain way and then cover them with the hides. It kindof worked until it got windy and the 'cave' was blown away. That led to another version made out of whole trees or even stone. Those could not be blown away that easily anymore, but it also was far too heavy to carry around with you.
I'm invincible, I can't be vinced
