h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You should hear architects talk

They've finally given up on the word "haptics" because everyone knows it now (the advertising people discovered it) but they have plenty more words where that came from...

I once witnessed an hourlong debate about what makes a door a door, where its essential door-ness comes from, which bits you could take away and still have it be a door, and whether the door in question was merely a door or a Door worthy of the title. It involved three professors, and no conclusion was reached, they just agreed to disagree.

.. haptics .. must be a typo .. I myself think it should be Hapitics

and discussions on the doorishness of doors ..

open the doors of perception and you will see

I tried to read that book as well it was one of the most boring books I've ever tried to read

Concerning door-ness:

"The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's"... "Genuine People Personalities' make interacting with objects such as doors"... "a new and exciting adventure. Or very irritating, depending on your frame of mind.

Doors will always open politely, and it will be their pleasure to serve your entrance and exit needs."

(From the BBC Cult's guide to "the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy")

I just got squeezed between the doors of the train

blame The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation

I did that .. they weren't impressed

leave it to marvin, he usually makes quite an impression

I did a Marvin act

didn't make any impression whatsoever

must be a hippo problem the twirling ears .. crocs and people don't notice hippos being annoyed

...and when they do it is usually too late

As part of my English degree, I wrote a 5 page instruction manual for a new door, in the style of those manuals you get that make something simple unnecessarily complicated.

i knew you could do it, hoggy

I was quite proud of it... it's a few years ago, but I seem to recall it was called a rotational ingression barrier...

(But there you have the crux of the matter - is a door, at its most basic, a barrier, or an opportunity?)

... a ... rotational ingression barrier ...

ah yes would this be a good time to publish that?

and is it a barrier or an opportunity? derivations of that: is it hostile? friendly? passive?

the term 'repressive tolerance' springs to mind

... repressive tolerance..?? from a rotational ingression barrier???

mm interesting

until now I never really thought of the deeper meaning of .. doors ..

we should not forget doors of pubs usually open out, not in, thus making it easier for barkeeps and bouncers to kick people out into the street