Comments | salimondo: The Gods of Capital

salimondo

The Gods of Capital

Apr 06, 2006 10:41

No one knows who will live in this cage in the future, or whether at the end of this tremendous development entirely new prophets will arise, or there will be a great rebirth of old ideas and ideals or, if neither, mechanized petrification embellished with a sort of convulsive self-importance. - Max Weber ( Read more... )

Comments 29

phygelus April 6 2006, 15:58:18 UTC

Caterpillar is well known among materials scientists for aggressively pursuing advanced metallurgy, materials characterization, and manufacturing techniques.

http://lupoleboucher.livejournal.com/32314.html?thread=431930#t431930

salimondo April 6 2006, 16:20:58 UTC

That rocks! While I was getting that paragraph together I had metal and fuel as their two strategic needs, but couldn't think of a way they were managing the metal hunger (and didn't want to bring in yet another "they have a vampire thirst for petroleum and when it dries up they die" riff -- that gets pointless fast).

Come to think of it I haven't heard any whining from CAT at all about high steel prices, when previously they've been known to yelp even if their currency exposure was going off-trend. That right there should have told me something was up with their metal supply chain. Good for them!

phygelus April 6 2006, 16:41:06 UTC

more powder metallurgy amusements
http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/find-articles.pl?&01ja0094&ME&20010122&PUBME-66.249.72.161&SME&
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3MKT/is_n99_v98/ai_9047455

salimondo April 6 2006, 16:56:35 UTC

Heh. Talk about using your "finely divided" (or even "pressed through a chamois") metals in the work -- and it seems that once again this fabulous divergent technology owes its origins to those damn Nazis. That sample hub, my god, gorgeous. You'd think it was built by clever little robots.

My ignorance of CAT's secret weapon and serious DD-boosting only points out my lazy preference for coatings over the other materials applications. Time I repaired that.

Thread 16

Nice! brendan831 April 6 2006, 16:49:59 UTC

Great post. Thanks.

Re: Nice! salimondo April 6 2006, 16:57:56 UTC

Thanks for reading. We're only a fifth of the way through the current Dow (and then the archaeology starts) so you might see more than you can stand before the end.

minniethemoocha April 6 2006, 19:31:20 UTC

I'm so glad you're back with your Monsters of Rock posts!

Great icon! salimondo April 6 2006, 19:59:37 UTC

Thanks. This one could be the equivalent of setting sail with Captain Ahab but in the meantime it gives me a reason to update. How you holding up?

Re: Great icon! minniethemoocha April 6 2006, 20:04:28 UTC

Not so much with the updating, but perhaps more in the future. A passel of my friends are moving away this summer, and the part of LJ for me that isn't altogether exhibitionistic or ranty is elegiac. That equals more writing.

My foray into creative journalism in the print media continues. Next column to be published April 18th.

Oh, good grief. I haven't done my taxes.

You're well, I trust?

Re: Great icon! salimondo April 6 2006, 20:17:18 UTC

A note of elegy is usually daring for spring and more writing would be good in general. But the LJ will give you a way to keep in touch with the absent friends!

Looking forward to the next column. Once a month is too little! And on the taxes just file for the extension, everyone else does.

I'm actually really enjoying the return of cocktail weather (minus the occasional freak snowstorm), pastels, girls in skirts and perfume. I have a tan and a lethal haircut and am not afraid to use them. To crime!

Thread 6

ayrkain April 6 2006, 22:42:34 UTC

Man, I remember Honeywell as one of the Barbarous Names my dad used to intone while teaching me The History of The Computer (those words were orally capitalized). Now, I look and see that they haven't been in the hardware industry for 15 years.

phygelus April 7 2006, 01:48:26 UTC

I still would like a Honeywell terminal or keyboard with those heavy bakelite keys and luscious Hall-effect switches that would never wear out.

dead platforms salimondo April 7 2006, 03:44:32 UTC

We were an NCR family so HON has no real visceral power to me as one of the big eight. However, we will meet the others -- the living and more interestingly the dead -- as this misbegotten series drags on. I have to admit I'm getting a little ticker crush on the HON though.

Re: dead platforms ayrkain April 21 2006, 20:45:13 UTC

Just noticed this. sagasdraumr's dad was an NCR guy. He roamed about the countryside, tinker's tools in hand, repairing cash registers and debugging code.

nobupazaya February 16 2013, 19:47:28 UTC

locals online now Go Here dld.bz/chwZN