Is it time for Random Thoughts - Part 4?

[collinsmark]

Been re-watching the Star Trek: Voyager series.

Season 4, episode 10, is titled, "Random Thoughts"

 

[DiracPool]

Been re-watching the Star Trek: Voyager series.

Season 4, episode 10, is titled, "Random Thoughts"

Do they have that on Netflix? I finally took the plunge and cut the cord. Got rid of cable (well, Directv). It was hard to do, but I justified it by buying a new 40-inch 120hz motion corrected 1080p 3D TV (Samsung of course) and a chromecast dongle. And I'll probably add a Roku 2. I also bought a centurylink c1000 modem so I didn't have to rent anymore, and it gives me 40 meg throughput. Now my entire entertainment bill monthly is down to $29.95 + 8.99 for Netflix. I got a Plex account so I can stream youtube videos all day long for free.

Best thing is, NO commercials, and instead of watching Survivorman on the science channel and naked dating on MTV, I'm watching opencourseware lectures from MIT all day

 

[Enigman]

I am

 

[collinsmark]

Me too, presently.

 

[AlephZero]

The related verb is to google, which has several meanings.

Hmm... I've never heard the verb or the past participle used in the context of cricket, and I've been playing and watching it since I was a kid. I don't see any references for those assertions on the wikipedia page.

Googly and the related term Chinaman are not much used these days. The modern terms are "wrong 'un" (since the ball spins the opposite way to what you expect), "nip-backer" (with the same significance) or "Doosra" (which AFAIK is Hindi for "the other one").

"Chinaman" might have been killed by political correctness, but "Chinese cut" survives as a description of a batting stroke that was effective but not in the way the player intended.

 

[dlgoff]

Miller wrote some great, classic stuff. Still, I go with Benny Goodman as the master of the big band sound.

Oh yea. I agree. I have his vinyl also.

 

[OmCheeto]

I'm kinda at the moment. My kitchen has not been this clean and uncluttered since I bought my house 25 years ago.

Though, the weather forecast for tomorrow says that we will break our high temperature record set back in 1965. It's supposed to be 109°F tomorrow.

I may be by the end of the day.

109°F in Oregon is equivalent to about 600°F on the Texas temperature scale.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Hmm... I've never heard the verb or the past participle used in the context of cricket, and I've been playing and watching it since I was a kid. I don't see any references for those assertions on the wikipedia page.

I encountered it used that way back in the 1970's. I first heard the word "google" in a play by British playwright, Harold Pinter called "No Man's Land," which was written in 1974. It is used in a short speech full of cricket terms (none of which I, as an American, understood), by a character called Spooner, who is described as being in his sixties. Spooner's cricket days would have been in the 1930's. Maybe the term was already archaic when Pinter wrote the play.

Forward to 16:42

[YouTube]Wd6iKPkXMqY[/Youtube]

 

[martix]

Random thought #986
What if the scientific community collectively conspired on a report saying there are vast reserves of oil on Mars. We would there in a year flat! :)

 

[AlephZero]

Spooner's cricket days would have been in the 1930's. Maybe the term was already archaic when Pinter wrote the play.

I guessed it might have been used (possibly humorously) in the era of Jeeves and Wooster, which seems fairly consistent with the Spooner.

 

[Borg]

Random thought #986
What if the scientific community collectively conspired on a report saying there are vast reserves of oil on Mars. We would there in a year flat! :)

Then why aren't we headed for Titan and its vast hydrocarbon lakes on the surface?

 

[DennisN]

The shortest-known abstract for a serious scientific paper? Only 2 words:

Original link: http://twitter.com/pickover/status/461178350321430530/photo/1

 

[zoobyshoe]

I guessed it might have been used (possibly humorously) in the era of Jeeves and Wooster, which seems fairly consistent with the Spooner.

This makes sense. I can imagine someone inventing the verb "to google," meaning 'to effect a googly' in cricket, to be funny. It is definitely the sort of thing Spooner would do.

Still have to wonder about whomever wrote the Wiki article, though.

 

[edward]

This makes sense. I can imagine someone inventing the verb "to google," meaning 'to effect a googly' in cricket, to be funny. It is definitely the sort of thing Spooner would do.

Still have to wonder about whomever wrote the Wiki article, though.

I always thought Google was named after Barney Google.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L92shk1aTu8

 

[zoobyshoe]

I always thought Google was named after Barney Google.

I thought it was named after Brother Hieronymous O'Google, the famous medieval scribe and researcher.

 

[zoobyshoe]

You have one chance to count the number of times the letter F appears in the following sentence:

“Fin­ished files are the result of years of sci­en­tific study com­bined with the expe­ri­ence of years.”

 

[lisab]

You have one chance to count the number of times the letter F appears in the following sentence:

“Fin­ished files are the result of years of sci­en­tific study com­bined with the expe­ri­ence of years.”

Once.

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

Once.

Good catch.

 

[micromass]

Good catch.

Yep, you just got owned.

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

Yep, you just got owned.

I don't petty myself with such sultry games. I find complimenting those who do, yields a more productive labor force.


Right as I was about to reply "six," Lisab's comment saved me.

 

[zoobyshoe]

No, it's not about case sensitivity, if that's what you're thinking. Six would have been correct. The puzzle's about the fact people usually become blind to the F in "of" because it's pronounced as "V".

 

[OmCheeto]

New Poll Shows Ebola More Popular Than Congress

I know the disease could kill me, but I feel like its way more active and more in touch with humans than any [BLEEP!] member of Congress

I love polls.

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

No, it's not about case sensitivity, if that's what you're thinking. Six would have been correct. The puzzle's about the fact people usually become blind to the F in "of" because it's pronounced as "V".

Yep, you just got owned.

 

[lisab]

I'm kinda at the moment. My kitchen has not been this clean and uncluttered since I bought my house 25 years ago.

Though, the weather forecast for tomorrow says that we will break our high temperature record set back in 1965. It's supposed to be 109°F tomorrow.

I may be by the end of the day.

109°F in Oregon is equivalent to about 600°F on the Texas temperature scale.

Whoa, you guys down there topped us by a good 10 degrees! Hang on though - we're on the downside. Gwad how I miss the rain!

So...is heat good for sciatica?

 

[B. Elliott]

The humidity in the southeast is ridiculous right now.

 

[OmCheeto]

Whoa, you guys down there topped us by a good 10 degrees! Hang on though - we're on the downside. Gwad how I miss the rain!

We missed the predicted target by a whole 10°F. It was only 99°F today. I was ready for the worst though. I turned my AC on this morning about 9 am. 500 watts! Kept the house at a comfortable 75°F. My bedroom is an ice box though.

So...is heat good for sciatica?

I haven't been woken up by it in at least a week. But this morning, at around 6:30 am, she came a knockin'... Subsequently, I've noticed no back pain. Might be the beer though. (hic!)

The humidity in the southeast is ridiculous right now.

It was so humid here today, it spontaneously started raining. I heard at least 8 drops fall, and one hit my leg.

ps. I was just thinking of you. Do you know what an "MG" is? And were you guys still cursing the electricians back aft when they messed up the 400 Hz system?

 

[OmCheeto]

...Gwad how I miss the rain!
...

That reminds me. Yesterday, I was watering a patch of wannabe-lawn which I seeded a couple of days ago, when I noticed something moving underneath some laurel bush roots, which I had removed a few days before, from the location of the aforementioned new patch of future lawn.

Anyways, it was a mole. I have never seen a mole get out of its hole and go surface foraging like that. I think he may have been looking for my feral cat's watering dish.

It is very extraordinarily dry around here.

ps. The mole also did some shallow excavating in the new patch of lawn area. I suppose it's a good thing, as after I read the instructions on the grass seed bag, I discovered that I had done nothing correct. Though I am keeping it well watered, as the cats decided that the new 400 ft² patch of dry dirt makes a really nice new kitty litter box. The new neighbor's dog, named SpongeBob, also likes to poop there. I'm not sure I like SpongeBob. And from his sideways glances, I think the feeling is mutual.

 

[Modest Learner]

Random Thought: Silas Marner by George Eliot is one of the few classics that I really like. I am currently reading it.

 

[dkotschessaa]

My wife keeps buying canned goods she doesn't plan on eating ever.

Her: What are those?
Me: Peas. They were in the pantry.
Her: Eeew!
Me: But you bought them! Remember?
Her: Yeah, for hurricane supplies!
Me: Ok, so what if there was a hurricane?
Her: But there isn't ever a hurricane!

 

[zoobyshoe]

Shark week.

 

[WWGD]

Shark week.

According to the commercial, sharks have a week named after/ dedicated to, the world's most interesting man.

 

[DiracPool]

I was thinking about this line by Wheeler today from his GR book:

The fact that all free-float observers agree on the wristwatch time τ earns it
the label invariant. Invariant means that all observers calculate the same
value, independent of reference frame. In relativity every invariant quantity
is a diamond, to be treasured.

http://www.eftaylor.com/general.html

What an interesting and welcomed break from an otherwise staid, scientific discourse, complete with the off-rigor implements of simile and emotional awe. Specifically, usage of the words, "earn," "Diamond," and "treasured." That means something.

 

[BobG]

In the course of the committee's investigations, it had been discovered,
to everyone's dismay, that the Law of Averages had never been incorporated
into the body of federal jurisprudence, and though the upholders
of States' Rights rebelled violently, the oversight was at once corrected,
both by Constitutional amendment and by a law...

(The Law, Robert M. Coates)

 

[OmCheeto]

In the course of the committee's investigations, it had been discovered,
to everyone's dismay, that the Law of Averages had never been incorporated
into the body of federal jurisprudence, and though the upholders
of States' Rights rebelled violently, the oversight was at once corrected,
both by Constitutional amendment and by a law...

(The Law, Robert M. Coates)

Wow. You must be really old. My magazine collection only goes back to the mid seventies.

 

[zoobyshoe]

In the course of the committee's investigations, it had been discovered,
to everyone's dismay, that the Law of Averages had never been incorporated
into the body of federal jurisprudence, and though the upholders
of States' Rights rebelled violently, the oversight was at once corrected,
both by Constitutional amendment and by a law...

(The Law, Robert M. Coates)

So, what is the Law of Averages? Is the crime being average or not being average?