- Location
- On the sofa. (Probably)
Hermione learns a thing
- Thread starter mp3.1415player
- Start date
Is affected by, and also affects in the other direction, gravity and the em field... and can affect matter directly if manipulated but normally doesn't... well, at least that'd be consistent with HP canon and all.
Really now, they had magic interfering with electronics at various places, and dependent on location, therefore proximity. That should make it at a minimum measurable. Once someone figures out how.
... yeah, still haven't figured out how some people are able to use wooden "dowsing rods" to do things. But I've seen it done and had a digital electronic measuring device confirm some of it. Alas, my father burned out that testing gadget using it as a multimeter and misconnecting the leads. And grandma died of old age and therefore is no longer available to demonstrate the use of a dowsing rod or calibrate a new measuring device. Oh well, if I'd get a round tuit, I might deliberately rig a fluorescent tube with a mismatched ballast and try to work backwards from the em radiation that generates... because that's one type of thing she reliably found with the dowsing rod.
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- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
Well, the timing would have been a lot more critical, but a Family intervention with the Columbia deorbit failure would have also done the job.
Shifting over to the dowsing conversation, I've always suspected that ability ties into your nervous system being extra sensitive to external fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field. My maternal grandfather helped place around half the wells in the county where I grew up, and walked me through his steps for it when I was four years old. I could never get a willow rod to work for me, but I still have his set of copper rods that he gave me when he passed. I'm passable with tracking underground water, but if a pipe or electric conduit is involved, I'm around 90% accurate with my ability. Of course, considering they have a hand unit that does the same thing these days, I don't have much need to take them off the shelf very often.
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- Location
- uk
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Not to mention any of the multitude of emergencies they've had on the iss
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
While I've no really objection to more lizards, I was thinking of anyone who wanders in and is confused who and what is this 'Family' who might mess with the Space Program.
In a story about Hermione Granger... upgrading early 1990s UK.
(*cough* Omake: Shoot For The Moon *cough*)
((Why stop at the Moon?))
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- Location
- Britain
There's an idea I'm not sure is completely disproven in story yet: the H-field is a visualization aid not directly connected to the underlying physics.
This could explain a few things like the extreme similarity with electromagnetism which Hermione was studying and focusing on prior to discovery. A comparative lack of failures associated with design errors in H-field constructs as opposed to Ill thought out functionality. And apparent intuitivity in systems that are not trivial in electromagnetism like teleportation, mind alteration and apparent force projection on arbitrary distinct objects without requiring some property like charge.
It also goes a long way to explaining how HP magic functions alongside this system. Two competing visualisations allowing for different methods of manipulating the same system allowing for differing pros and cons.
If the H-field is the real underlying physics, I'd expect it to be quite detectable to the Wizards as simple interferences between spells based on proximity. They may not understand it completely, perhaps due to a lack of the math for the theory, but the idea of magical effects having shapes wherein other magic interferes would be quite noticeable and understood.
This could explain a few things like the extreme similarity with electromagnetism which Hermione was studying and focusing on prior to discovery. A comparative lack of failures associated with design errors in H-field constructs as opposed to Ill thought out functionality. And apparent intuitivity in systems that are not trivial in electromagnetism like teleportation, mind alteration and apparent force projection on arbitrary distinct objects without requiring some property like charge.
It also goes a long way to explaining how HP magic functions alongside this system. Two competing visualisations allowing for different methods of manipulating the same system allowing for differing pros and cons.
If the H-field is the real underlying physics, I'd expect it to be quite detectable to the Wizards as simple interferences between spells based on proximity. They may not understand it completely, perhaps due to a lack of the math for the theory, but the idea of magical effects having shapes wherein other magic interferes would be quite noticeable and understood.
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Poking around in my garage the other day I spotted those dowsing rods I made years ago. A couple of pieces of # 10 solid copper wire w/o insulation about 3 feet long each with a single 90 degree bend for the handles about 6 inches each. Your post made me actually go put my hands on them again for the first time in years. It seems that the one in my right hand can easily point the way to my water heater that lives in my garage. It also seems to find my service entrance from there. Very strange feeling to deliberately point the right rod off by more than 90 degrees and then just support it as it seems to swing itself around to point at a water source. To clarify, I don't 'feel' anything as it's moving other than the rod spinning in my hand without any input from me. The left rod doesn't seem to be as sensitive but does react when turning my body to follow the right hand one and does seem to reliably cross the other when I'm facing the direction of whatever source I seem to be sensing. Very cool. Very strange.
When I was in college, I spent a summer working for a horizontal drilling crew. One of my jobs was to use the cable locator to mark the underground utilities. The locator wasn't working one day, and since it was a seven hour trip to their base, the boss just got in his truck and came out with a pair of copper dowsing rods. He used the rods to locate the utilities for that day's drilling. (Note that he couldn't tell depth, only location.)
We used his flags to check depth, so the driller knew where to run the lines we were putting in.
Joe was within five inches of every line, even the two sewer lines that were over seven feet deep.
Now, I'm a bit skeptical about things, I like verification, repeatable results, etc. I asked him to show me how he did that and he did. I still have the rods he gave me in my tool box and over the years I have tried to find things with them 327 times to date.
Results? I am unable to locate pipes and utilities that don't have water running through them. However, I can locate water and sewer lines with a variation of eight inches to either side measured from center of pipe with an accuracy level of 92% at this time.
I have no idea how it works, why it works differently for different people and no idea how to run sufficiently stringent testing to write it up.
Now, Hermione doesn't have that problem yet, but I am very interested in seeing if anyone can be taught to do this, or is it limited to those people with the genetic makeup to have a muggleborn child. Could a halfblood or wizard child be taught H Field?
If using the H Field manually, without devices, is limited to those with magic capable genetics, how long will it take Oxford to figure it out, and what would it mean for wizards?
If it doesn't require magical genes, how long before it becomes something everyone is being taught? Because I would have paid almost any amount of money, and still would, to be honest, for actual telekinetic lessons that worked, even if the most I could do was bring my coffee cup to me or hold a book while I read it. Especially the book holder bit; having a way to hold my book in the bathtub that can't be jostled or upset would have saved a hundred or so books over the years.
We used his flags to check depth, so the driller knew where to run the lines we were putting in.
Joe was within five inches of every line, even the two sewer lines that were over seven feet deep.
Now, I'm a bit skeptical about things, I like verification, repeatable results, etc. I asked him to show me how he did that and he did. I still have the rods he gave me in my tool box and over the years I have tried to find things with them 327 times to date.
Results? I am unable to locate pipes and utilities that don't have water running through them. However, I can locate water and sewer lines with a variation of eight inches to either side measured from center of pipe with an accuracy level of 92% at this time.
I have no idea how it works, why it works differently for different people and no idea how to run sufficiently stringent testing to write it up.
Now, Hermione doesn't have that problem yet, but I am very interested in seeing if anyone can be taught to do this, or is it limited to those people with the genetic makeup to have a muggleborn child. Could a halfblood or wizard child be taught H Field?
If using the H Field manually, without devices, is limited to those with magic capable genetics, how long will it take Oxford to figure it out, and what would it mean for wizards?
If it doesn't require magical genes, how long before it becomes something everyone is being taught? Because I would have paid almost any amount of money, and still would, to be honest, for actual telekinetic lessons that worked, even if the most I could do was bring my coffee cup to me or hold a book while I read it. Especially the book holder bit; having a way to hold my book in the bathtub that can't be jostled or upset would have saved a hundred or so books over the years.
FullNothingness
Mostly DHMO.
While I have no particular knowledge of either dousing or piping I do know that most pipes are not laid randomly. As I'm sure you did while doing the work people lay pipes mostly in straight lines between where they come from and where they need to go absent other considerations since that is simply efficient compared to putting them in other ways. I also think they generally lay them in specific places alongside roads and the like for ease of accessibility and to keep them from intersecting current or future basements and such.
My point is that someone with a lot of experience in drilling pipes probably has pretty good idea of where the pipes are likely to be even without a dousing rod. If they follow the logic of "Where would I put a pipe?" they could be on the money pretty often. So my guess would be that a large part of the accuracy in such things comes from that experience rather than some unexplained dousing mechanism.
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- Location
- Britain
There has been some research into dowsing, there's a pretty common theme:
Once tested under double blind conditions with no other knowledge, i.e. a set of pipes buried with random ones having water, dowsing is no better than random guessing. This would tend to imply that it's mostly contextual clues combined with confirmation bias. I've seen a few note that depending on the geography it's not actually unlikely that you'll find water if you dig deep enough in a random spot.
Once tested under double blind conditions with no other knowledge, i.e. a set of pipes buried with random ones having water, dowsing is no better than random guessing. This would tend to imply that it's mostly contextual clues combined with confirmation bias. I've seen a few note that depending on the geography it's not actually unlikely that you'll find water if you dig deep enough in a random spot.
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
I'm told the secret is to have the book in a plastic bag that is thin enough to turn the pages through, and to read through. Presumably you use one of those clips used to put bags in freezers, down one side. And/or blow into the bag each time, before use, to check water-proofness?
If there is a trick as simple as this to learn TK, even if we're talking a couple of hundred hours practice to get it working well, I'm pretty sure you'd get a lot of takers.. Reliable macroscopic TK is the gold standard for psionics...
Why, if you can pick up a loada water, you wouldn't need water-filled balloons any more!
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- Location
- Upstate NY, USA
- Pronouns
- Fjf
Based on my years as a field tech, there ABSOFARKINGLOUTELY is a manual.
A very large, comprehensively written manual. It may even be in multiple volumes, having pride of place on a bookshelf.
No one has touched the manual(s) in years.
There's also a nice, easy to read User's Guide.
That's probably in the drawer of a desk of someone who retired ages ago.
If it's anything like some of the wireless panic buttons I have installed that user guide disappeared when the replacement person looked at the old desk and said 'Ew, can I get a new desk?'
Well, part of the issue would be when the system was made. Given that the 'many, many years' just has a "Don't do this" collection of notes from previous operators. Which only confirms that if there was a manual at some point, it was lost.
But it also doesn't preclude the 'manual' being what was taught operator to operator. Because it was 'obvious' what to do, who needed to write it down? Wouldn't be the first time something 'simple' gets left out because 'everyone' knows it. Heck, there's tech support stories about how basic computer functionality wasn't actually known to the person needing help.
Double checking to see when the first usage manual/user manual, it seems that it's likely possible that there was, at some point, a manual (the 'Antikythera mechanism'). And as such, I'm imagining that the Ministry's user manual is just stuck on the inside of a panel as well. Just no one bothered to open it despite trying to fix the issues the thing had. Well, either that or it was covered up to make it look 'prettier', even if it was something that wouldn't be seen at all, unless it was being worked on.
Considering modern smartphones and the associated lack of documentation?
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Yeah, there must be a manual, somewhere? Otherwise, how could they have built the thing, and tested they got it right?
You don't need a manual to build a thing. You need a manual to build the same thing again. But it's fairly likely that nobody ever did.
Remember, this thing was built by witches and/or wizards. They were probably not engineers, let alone good engineers.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Uuuuuuhhh, bitter.
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Some of us may have worked on (non-mobile phone) projects, after joining them when they were already in the "We've got real problems here, chaps", state... And, asked, where's the manual/specification that says what the project's supposed to look like... And found that this's gathering dust, and being ignored...
Bitter? Whatever would make you think that?
You don't need to be a magical to engage in... ineffective project management.
- Location
- Germany
Unless it's a fast prototype that only was intended as proof of concept (or internal use). Such thing never get a good documentation... Cause why would they? The 'customer' should never see them or use them, so we don't need waste time to write a manual.
Only said prototype ends up as the product cause it's there and was made cheaply... Including all the issues and quirks that thing has and nobody understands.
Happened when we needed a piece of Firmware and Management told us we already got the proof of concept from the supplier. That was mess...
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
To corroborate some more: I'm one of the guys who should create the manuals, and, well ... let me put it like this: I stopped reading Dilbert comics because we went past Dilbert a few years ago. Getting a rendition of your everyday experience, somewhat muted, as a comic isn't funny when there isn't any ironic exaggeration ... .
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
I hope Hermione is never in a position to hear someone in middle-management say, "Of course we're doing it right! The company hasn't failed yet, has it?".
Single-point of failure in staffing, inadequate documentation, completely unrealistic deadlines, lack of project progress review, 'who to blame, not how to fix the issues' management...
I liked, "Wish I could wave a magic wand, and make all the problems go away...".
Guess I need to blow the dust off the HLaT omake (or three) that's been fermenting, but so far the 'Aniverse' hasn't been cooperating...
Single-point of failure in staffing, inadequate documentation, completely unrealistic deadlines, lack of project progress review, 'who to blame, not how to fix the issues' management...
I liked, "Wish I could wave a magic wand, and make all the problems go away...".
Guess I need to blow the dust off the HLaT omake (or three) that's been fermenting, but so far the 'Aniverse' hasn't been cooperating...
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
One of my highlights: "The customer has signed the contract, now we have to look what we signed."
Or, all employee meeting (of the location): "Now we have realized that, when developing distributed over sites different parts of the software, we have to define interfaces."
Or ... I did mention I stopped reading Dilbert, right?
Or, all employee meeting (of the location): "Now we have realized that, when developing distributed over sites different parts of the software, we have to define interfaces."
Or ... I did mention I stopped reading Dilbert, right?
- Location
- Software
Assuming professionality or even just simple plain competence will make an ass out of you and me. But mostly you.
Partially related:
"I've just received this strange email? Do you think is a scam?"
"This is an attempt of phising. Did you click in the link?"
"Noooo"
(Spoilers: They did click in the link, and got their email hijacked)
Partially related:
"I've just received this strange email? Do you think is a scam?"
"This is an attempt of phising. Did you click in the link?"
"Noooo"
(Spoilers: They did click in the link, and got their email hijacked)
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That reminds me of one of the forum posts where someone told us that one company in England, responsible to take care about some streets, had the splendid idea to use the corporate style guide for the road signs. Even if it isn't true, it hits too close to home.