Mowgli1647545497

Anyone here know how to call activex com objects or controls from java? (Not j++ cuz I need it to be runnable without the microsoft's jvm, if possible)

 

I need to capture a click event in an html page. I've got a panel that encapsulates the browser (jdic) but it's interface doesn't give me access to the click events.

 

Help is appreciated. I'll buy a beer and lunch to whoever can pony up how this dang thing is done.

 

[ 03. February 2005, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

I'll see your decade and raise you two.

 

All kidding aside - I reread my own post to be sure and I didn't see where I was bashing anything. Far from it. I admit I do get zealous about overcoming hype - of any kind.

 

Hype of P51 Mustangs. Hype of Tiger Tanks. Hype of US Submarines. Hype of Japanese swords. Etc. Its like blood in the shark tank - I see it and I have a preternatural disposition to go after it.

 

So I was taking the opportunity of this thread to throw in some real data, which I haven't linked to here yet, granted, that unfortunately contradicts alot of what is accepted historical fact here in the US.

 

I am also debating the statement that japanese metallurgy was ahead of all others for 7 centuries running, and "lightyears" ahead throughout or up to the industrial revolution.

 

I'm also echoing what historians are starting to say in greater numbers, that for the past 50+ years western pop culture has been awash in misinformation and disinformation about this thats colored our perceptions, andthey are far from unbiased. It really took off in the mid seventies. I know, I watched it happen - I got swept up in it: Blindly just accepting that samurai Nihontou, specifically japanese were the epitome of the sword form and that damascus steel was better than anything else there is. Thats the the status quo in pop history today, and I like to dig deeper and uncover the truth.

 

But theres ALOT of monetary and passionate ediface in place resistent to contradictory evidence.

 

If I can find my stuff from Ewart Oakeshotte, the acknowledged expert on historical swords and swordmaking the world over (r.i.p. 2002 - I think), I'll post him. Also Richard Stein, a highly noted Japanese sword historian and authority.

 

But for now, an article in the Japan Times.

 

I'll take a bit to quote another Japanese sword authority, G. S. Murray Threipland:

"... Another consideration was climate. When the Arabs pushed into Russia, they

found that the Damascus steel swords, which were sharp and flexible in the

desert, became as brittle as glass in cold weather. So they used to rob

Viking graves for the swords, which would work in a cold climate. (Arab

swords of this era were straight and double edged, as were the European

ones). The Vikings responded by bending the sword ritually on the death of

its owner. The religious logic was that the sword had to be 'killed' upon

the death of its owner. The practical logic was by making the destruction

public, everyone would know that it was pointless to rob graves for the

sword.

It is now coming to be realised that European fighting techniques were

actually very sophisticated. Unfortunately the practice was discontinued

when it wasn't needed any more, or was changed into something else. This

was what faced the Japanese at the end of the Edo period, and dedicated

sword masters took steps to preserve their various arts. Hence, here we all

are, practising a Japanese sword art. Would we be practising kendo/iaido if

the European sword arts had been preserved? (I am not talking about fencing,

which was derived from the Small Sword of the 17-18th Centuries)"

and

...

Some of the best knowledge we have of the Vikings comes down to us from the

writings of Arab scholars, the best known of whom is Ibn Fadlan, (fl. AD

920)who journeyed with a group of Vikings (he referred to them as 'Rus", as

did other Arab scholars) who described the armaments thus:-

 

"Every Northman carries an axe, a dagger, and a sword, and without these

weapons they are never seen. Their swords are broad, with wavy lines,

and of Frankish make."

 

The wavy lines refer to the pattern welding, and echoes references to swords

in Beowulf, such as "serpent patterned blade". Also in Beowulf swords are

referred to as "Battle Ray", and "Helmet Splitter".

 

Al-Biruni (973-1051 AD) goes into great depth about sword manufacture, both

European and Middle Eastern. He praises the "wonderful blades of the Indian

smiths, with their rich patterns...." and then goes on to note that "the Rus

have found another way of producing patterns, since they find that Oriental

steel cannot withstand the cold of their winters...." He goes on to state

that the patterns on these swords are deliberately made.

 

Al-Kindi (c 9th Century AD) and the anonymous author of the 11th century

Persian geography 'Hudad al-Alem' , both describe pattern welding in great

detail, in quite poetic terms which I won't go into here.

 

Comments on the quality:-

 

Ibn Miskawaih (died c 1043 AD) records that after the waning of Scandinavian

power in one district :-

 

"....the Moslems disturbed their graves and brought out a number of swords,

which are in great demand to this day for their sharpness and excellence".

 

Finally Nasireddin al-Tusi (can't remember dates offhand) describes the

smuggling of Frankish swords to the East, the import of which was illegal at

the time. He said the going rate was 1000 Egyptian dinars. He describes

the swords as made of soft iron, but so sharp that iron cannot resist their

stroke, and so pliable that they can be bent like paper.

 

It is quite clear that the European swords of the time were of good quality,

although the various Nordic sagas also describe swords that fall short of

expectations. This happened in Japan also. There were swords made that

were good bad and indifferent.

 

 

G. S. Murray Threipland.

Treasurer, British Kendo Association

The point is - people who've studied this for decades are starting to realize - and slowly opening their mouths about it, that in fact its our lack of understanding of other cultures' ancient martial arts and technology rather than an innate superiority of one that has perhaps colored these lopsided perceptions.

 

Japanese martial history is a living history with an unbroken link to its past. Thats something a study of no other culture benefits from. And its led to drawing premature conclusions when comparing the state of ancient contemporary tech - one of which you have an unbroken link to and an abundance of existing examples of (not to mention living breathing bragging practitioners) and the other to which you have almost nothing survivng pristine examples and are only now rediscovering the breadth and depth of.

 

BTW - You're also invited to come check out a 13th century Epee d'guerre from La Rioja I've had since 1979, its pretty nice. And my friend from Aomori hasa pretty nice 17th century shoto.

 

I'll find some links or cut n paste or scan my books if I can't find em on the web.

 

I do remember one anecdote off the top of my head, and that was that following Polo's visit, both chinese and japanese swordsmen sought after, collected, and coveted european rapiers and some persian falchions.

 

[ 03. February 2005, 02:21 AM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

CTS-V in it? No. $#%& ^*^$ ## @(*&(^$ %%$#

 

I can't catch a break with that game: my last three cars have been ignored by it:

 

1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

2003 Ford SVT Cobra

2004 Cadillac CTS-V

 

Sucks to be me.

 

... and I'll still buy it the day it comes out.

Originally posted by Tenzig:

... Though in recent time they have been surpassed, their steel was superior to all else for over 7 centuries. ...

I think you're buying into a whole pile of recently rewritten history. Granted by now its overwhelmingly pervasive, almost to the point of just being accepted as fact, but is it the truth? Nope.

 

When I get home tonight I'll forward a few links - if I can find them, that may dispell some of the pop-culture-spawned misinformation surrounding this. "Pop History" I've heard it called somewhere.

 

Again, its to few people's benefit to learn the truth, mainly because who cares really, and also there's a whole industry of folks who make a buck (and often their livelyhood) by allowing such legends to grow, ala:

 

Mr X: "I deal in samurai swords - why in the world would I say anything to lower their aura."

 

Mr Y: "I teach martial arts - why in the world would I do anything to lower its aura."

 

Gimme a few hours and I'll get you some interesting reading. Did youy read the link above that I provided? You can get to a goodly amount of dispassionate material from there with a little looking too.

 

EDIT: I actually found one article without too much difficulty. Here you go.

 

[ 02. February 2005, 03:50 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

The Passat cant? Or you're saying there's none you want to?

I know we could go book it there at his place, but its more fun with more folks.

Does anyone know if we have a dyno day or some such event scheduled for this spring?

 

Does Bryan even hang out in here anymore?

 

I want to lay down a baseline and figure by spring it'll have gotten its first oil change and at least 1k miles on it, so it seems a good time.

Ohhhh. That sucks!

 

I was definitely sweating it the day I bought it - that Saturday they got roughly 4 inches at the dealership literally in the time it took to buy the car. Had to drive back in that mess. Guardrails, ditches, oncoming traffic, cars in my rearview - all seemed to beckon "hit me, lose control and come over here for a gentle meeting of the sheetmetal."

 

Great way to enjoy a first drive, eh? Sorry to hear about your Volvo, MrMeanr. I woulda sobbed like a schoolgirl.

Originally posted by MRMEANR:

DONT HIT ANY GUARD RAILS!!!! Those fuckers will jump out at you and shit.

 

That one flew right over my head.

All my vehicles run on methane I collect from pigshit fermenting in my basement.

 

True story.

Originally posted by Buck531:

Welcome to the beginning of the internet.

+5.7

 

I think I had that as a wallaper in 1996

Originally posted by Buck531:

Welcome to the beginning of the internet.

+5.7

 

I think I had that as a wallaper in 1996

lol

Congratulations on the house buy!

Originally posted by Zeitgeist:

Definitely interested in where you got it and how much.

You have a PM

Do you have to crack something open and plug that in? Or am I thinking wrong?

Oh I forgot to mention, I did alot of my searching and negotiating over emails n such. One of the finalists emailed me "lets not loose the $1,500" (referring to a cashback incentive) and in another one that he "will not loose this deal for not working the best possible numbers". Um yeah, okaaay.

 

He loosed the deal. As a rule I try to not give money to retards.

See above - editted it - and sent you a PM

 

[ 30. January 2005, 10:52 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

I traded in the SVT. Remember how I said I use my cars? The Cobra was used. I mean it was well taken care of mechanically/maintenance/etc but there was definitely more than normal wear and tear. 27,000 miles on the odo.

 

[ 30. January 2005, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Originally posted by Mallard:

I'm suprised you like the shifter though. I thought it was kinda rubbery and vague. The Cobra shifter must have been pretty bad.

It is cushy. But I think its more the placement that I really appreciate. Its back where my arm is bent using it, whereas with the Cobra I was arm straight with a little shoulder english on it to reach 5th (and I have a 34inch sleeve).

 

But you know, they probably coulda stuck a baseball bat in a bowl of mud and I woulda liked it more. I can't tell you how many 2-3 shifts I ground in the snake.

 

I will also say the pedals in this thing, if you're wanting to heel-toe, you can forget it. Ain't happening. The Cobra had it all over this for heel-toe. BUT - I now won't continue to build up my bulging leg left tricep muscle now that I'm using a clutch not made for King Kong.

3,850lbs. My seat of the pants is its slower than the Cobra. But I'm only at 113 miles on the engine so I'm still breaking it in.

 

It seems to initial turn in quicker but I think they're neck n neck on holding a turning G. A cool thing on the CTV-V is its got a G meter built into the dash below the tach - you can call up a display of instantaneous as well as peak Gs. I've hit so far .68 left turn and .64 right (gimme a break its one day old).

 

Brakes are right there - 14 inches brembos to the Cobra's 13s I think handles the extra pounds.

 

Seats could use side bolster and side lat adjustability like the Cobra's, and I'd appreciate a little longer seat for under my legs. But the overall feel is more comfortable for long rides, the lumbar is better, and the headrest is better.

 

The stereo has more doodads n stuff which is nice. I'm not going to bet its louder than the Mach460 but I haven't cranked it up. But I'd be surprised if it could keep up at high volume. Still, its a Bose so it sounds great at low to mid volumes. and its got a ton more to play with.

 

The vents are nicer, and the heating and ac controls have alot more adjustability.

 

It doesn't have a good new car smell but I think thats just the exhaust pipes getting a rude awakening on their wintertime burnin.

 

The traction control is orders of magnitude better than the orwellian system on the Cobra. I know all my Cobra brothers probably hated that thing as much as me. A cool thing on th eV is that hte control to turn TC off/on is a thumbswitch right on the steering wheel (the regular CTS's switch is in the glovebox). Lol are they giving me a hint?

 

Apparently CTS-V's suffer from wheel hop isses on launch like the Cobras, but I'm a ways from finding this out, call me back when I break it in...

 

The shifter is SO MUCH BETTER than the Cobra's it disgusting. But I think I was one of the folks that hated the Cobra's shifter and its placement more than most (I'd swapped it out in favor of a MGW unit anyway). But, I gotta ask - WTF WAS GM THINKING WITH THIS FRIGGING SKIPSHIFT?!?

 

But I really don't have alot to tell - its all first impressions and stuff. Gimme a summer.

 

Anyway thx for the thumbsup and all.

 

...Oh and that LS6 sounds sweet.

 

[ 30. January 2005, 10:04 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Cool vid. But I'l be devil's advocate and say I'm willing to bet you could put any piece of 1 inch deep tempered metal in there with a decent bevel in the front and achieve the same results. Krupp CK55? 50CrV4?

 

Originally posted by desperado:

Japanesse sword metalurgy is an art. THey were light years ahead of the US in making steel during out industral revolution and really didn't even realize it.

...

Balony. The Japanese actually sent their engineers to the US and Germany order to learn how to make high quality steel for armor for their battleships before the turn of the century.

 

I see an opportunity for dispelling some hype around japanese swords, swordsmenship, armor, and the men who used them. So I'll take it. smile.gif Too many Jean Claude Van Damme movies and sword sales on Home Shopping Network pertpetuating the myths makes kittens die.

 

Read and get angry.

 

Whole lotta dead kittens in America. Thanks Hollywood and the glut of hometown dojo gurus for that. Poor dead kittens.

 

I had a coworker from Aomori once tell me when we were chatting about junk like this that he couldn't fathom how unbelievably gullible American people are around this whole samurai&sword subject. He said there are a lot of "Barnum and Bailey" people who make a good living because of these legends. He also told me his friends used to drool over rapiers from Toledo Spain, and moorish blades...

 

[ 30. January 2005, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Originally posted by Eatonup:

That would suck. I just bought an 05 MDX on Wednesday and it's made for crappy roads and I wasn't happy about the salt trucks having their way with it last night. I would still be cussing if they abused my new CTS-V.

+1 And I was using all my old Navy swear words, oh yeah. But my mantra is "I drive my cars, no sitting in the garage getting wiped down with a diaper for them", so I guess I had to put my money where my mouth was. Still sucked though.

 

The bitch is - I woulda made it back fine before the snow hit had those "..." at the dealership not taken forever.

 

So anyway - all that stuff I used to argue on nere about Cobras being great n all. I take it all back I've joined the opposing team. I will give them all your secrets for a dolla.

 

[ 30. January 2005, 10:47 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Originally posted by Venomss:

Congrats on the acquisition.

 

I don't know much about those CTS-Vs, though. Cliff notes?

Sigma Platform

4 doors

LS6 400hp engine

Tremec T56 6speed manual

3.73 geared limited slip IRS

0.9G skidpad

4.6sec 0-60mph

13.1sec quartermile

Gobs of doodads inside

 

Trunkmonkey

Thx. I'm stupid happy with it. Black though, ugh.

 

Oh and the suede seat inserts soaks up plenty of ass-n-back sweat as you're white-knuckle sliding sideways down rt 117 in the snowy dark, cursing mother nature for her cruel sense of humor.