Random Thoughts 7

[Hamiltonian]

 

[pinball1970]

View attachment 348844

I'm higher than guy number one.

 

[Astronuc]

'Whole House Shook': Overhead Video Shows Aftermath of Train Crashing Into Garage
https://news.yahoo.com/news/whole-house-shook-overhead-video-101605138.html

It's an unusual location, but the garage and house sit at the end of a Y, a stub track that is used for turning locomotives. Obviously, the locomotive did not stop at the end of the track but ran off the end and continued into the garage.

A resident of Niagara Falls, New York, described how her “whole house shook” after a train engine crashed into her garage – the same one that was hit by a train in the 1970s, The Buffalo News reported.

The newspaper reported the locomotive flattened most of the residential garage at Lori Morreale Harris’s home on Seneca Avenue on July 22. A train hit the same spot when her grandparents were living there in the 1970s.

 

[Mayhem]

LaTeX has a haunting quality of turning a billion typed words into half a written page.

 

[pinball1970]

I had the annual argument with the ladies in the office regarding opening the windows in summer. I like these women, they are (mostly) intelligent, educated, caring, funny, hard working professionals some of which juggle children/home life and work.
I respect that.
However, on this they become stubborn, irrational, idiotic monsters!

I took one of the tribal leaders to the pub (actually she drove but ...)
I said to her, I don't want conflict, I want peace and harmony with a little love thrown in.
She said.
"What if you are the only one who doesn't want the windows open?"

Right so, if enough of you think the earth is flat except me then we can alert the press? Sorry guys we had a meeting so you are going to have to change the text books.

 

[fresh_42]

I took one of the tribal leaders to the pub

I cannot recommend this. As for my experience: you will lose, and not only the argument.

 

[pinball1970]

I cannot recommend this. As for my experience: you will lose, and not only the argument.

It was just a lunch and a drink. She is intelligent but also a hot head who bears grudges.
She has a great work ethic and I respect her. A mixed bag but you have to trust people sometimes.

She said I am not a complete ***hole. Just when I am condescending.
I think that's just age, my son is only three years younger than her.
We are moving soon so all this will be moot.

At the moment I am just letting them open the windows, as wide as wide can be.
Peace and harmony, and a lot of heat.

 

[BillTre]

My random thought for the day:
"What happens if you use a taser on a cell phone?"

 

[jack action]

I had the annual argument with the ladies in the office regarding opening the windows in summer.

[...]

She said.
"What if you are the only one who doesn't want the windows open?"

I don't understand, normally women are always cold and want the windows closed.

But in your case, you are the one who wants the window closed? You refuse to add layers of clothing to be warm enough and prefer that the women take off pieces of clothing until ... Never mind, I got it now!

 

[Astronuc]

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alberta (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire in the Canadian Rockies that had prompted 25,000 people to flee roared into the near-deserted town of Jasper overnight with flames higher than treetops, devastating up to half of its structures, officials said Thursday.

Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta province, said from 30% to 50% of the town's structures are potentially damaged or destroyed, saying “that’s going to be a significant rebuild and significant displacement.”

https://news.yahoo.com/park-rangers-canada-search-stragglers-192420873.html

Seems like towns in western US and Canada need a more effective fire prevention/mitigation system. I've been wondering about a water storage system that could spray a curtain of water between a town and wildfire, or periodically spray a forest or brush to keep the foliage and ground moist. That of course would require millions of gallons of water.

One of my colleagues chase to stay at his house when a wildfire threatened the neighborhood. He stayed on the roof with a garden hose and sprayed the roof, fences and vegetation to prevent burning material from setting dry material on fire. He and neighbors saved several houses, as the fire burned along a gully alongside the neighborhood. Other neighborhoods weren't so fortunate.

 

[jack action]

I've been wondering about a water storage system that could spray a curtain of water between a town and wildfire, or periodically spray a forest or brush to keep the foliage and ground moist. That of course would require millions of gallons of water.

If they would begin by building permanent firebreaks around the town, it would be a good start.

 

[BillTre]

If they would begin by building permanent firebreaks around the town, it would be a good start.

View attachment 348949
View attachment 348951
View attachment 348952​

Beaver habitat makes a good fire break, but its not always possible.

 

[Astronuc]

f they would begin by building permanent firebreaks around the town, it would be a good start.

I've watched a fire spread by embers blowing ahead of the fire. A fire break might have to be one or two or three miles (3.2 to 5 km). To keep the dust down, one would have to plant succulents, which might work in S California, but would be problematic in parts of Oregon, Washington, and up in Canada, where winters get very cold.

 

[Mayhem]

Why should I complete my degree when alcohol is literally like right there?

 

[DrGreg]

one or two miles (3.2 to 5 km)

Sorry to be pedantic but that should be 1.6 to 3.2 km (not that it matters to the point you were making).

 

[Ibix]

Why should I complete my degree when alcohol is literally like right there?

To get a good job to get money to get more alcohol. It's a beer today or beer tomorrow question (in the strict Boolean sense of or).

This may not be good life advice.

 

[Mayhem]

To get a good job to get money to get more alcohol. It's a beer today or beer tomorrow question (in the strict Boolean sense of or).

This may not be good life advice.

Yet, the best motivational advice I have received, a close contender to "think of your infant daughter".

 

[Astronuc]

Sorry to be pedantic but that should be 1.6 to 3.2 km (not that it matters to the point you were making).

Correct. I was probably thinking 2 to 3 miles.

 

[Astronuc]

Porsche 911 Turbo Crashes At Almost 200 MPH During Idaho Gathering
https://news.yahoo.com/news/autos/porsche-911-turbo-crashes-almost-180000598.html

Driver and passenger are “alive but severely injured” according to someone identifying as the uncle of the passenger!

"According to the Sun Valley Tour de Force website, the fastest speed achieved in the no speed limit run was set by a Bugatti Chiron at 253.01 mph. This marked the ninth annual gathering for the charitable event."

 

[WWGD]

My friend was getting weird looks from her WhatsApp contacts. It turns out her 6 year old daughter was accessing her account in her phone and writing weird, but credibly- adult posts like " I would like to poo at the supermarket"or, " Tell that to the cheese, you fat slob".

 

[Tom.G]

That girl is either very widely read, or needs either a psychologist or an IQ test!

 

[WWGD]

That girl is either very widely read, or needs either a psychologist or an IQ test!

Yes , maybe she was somewhat older.

 

[fresh_42]

I watched a documentary about Stonehenge.

Stones here, stones there, how where they transported, where from, stones everywhere. However, the only really interesting question would be how they could afford it. Where did they take energy and time from? I don't care about the stones, I want to know where they get the resources from, not the stones.

I watched a documentary about castles.

It is always about sieges, tunnels, conquering those things, weapons, and so on. Who cares? I want to know why the conquerors didn't let the castle be a heap of ugly stones and occupied the land instead. Why bother a siege? Simply ignore that thing! Why wasn't that ever a possibility?

 

[Ibix]

Simply ignore that thing! Why wasn't that ever a possibility?

If you want to go past the castle, your logistical support may have to go back and forwards past it and be subject to raiding from the castle. If there are significant numbers of troops inside they may raid your army (and/or your supplies) from the rear at the same time as you are engaging somebody in front of you. Or they may simply note that you and your army are no longer between them and your country, which might be bad. And if you want to occupy the land you need to do so in sufficient numbers that your garrisons are all strong enough to make a go at resisting a raid from the castle, or small garrisons will get picked off one by one. In short, the problem isn't really the castle so much as the fact that it's a shelter for enemy armed forces.

Also, you may be after killing or capturing whatever's inside the castle. If you want to take the other guy's land you might want the citizens to work it - in which case your aim is not to kill too many of the citizens, just the armed forces in the castle. Or the king (or whoever) might be in there.

But if it's not defending anything you want right now and you aren't too worried about whatever the garrison might try, sure you can just ignore it. The Maginot Line during World War 2 is a modern example of doing just that - both sides largely just went round it in their offensives.

 

[fresh_42]

It doesn't cost a lot of troops to control breakouts through at most two openings and often surrounded by a moat. I simply change the aim of a siege with significantly fewer men and command the rest of them to deal with landlords where food and money are generated. It makes no sense to concentrate on locations that are basically already prisons.

 

[WWGD]

Thought @pinball1970 would like this:
https://americansongwriter.com/the-...-that-made-the-best-of-an-eventful-road-trip/

 

[WWGD]

Don't know much about 1066, about William the Conqueror? Ill bayeux a tapestry.

 

[DrGreg]

The Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry.

It's an embroidery.

 

[WWGD]

The Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry.

It's an embroidery.

Ill Bayeux some embroidery.

 

[Borg]

My wife and I went to a cloth exhibition at the museum last week and she was surprised at how long the displays were. I told her that it really weaved through the museum.

 

[Mayhem]

Mein Gott. I should have gone into engineering. Higher salary increase after 10 years (compared to academic chemistry) and and 1-2 years less school time.

Oh well, if I do a Ph.d it will be worth it anyway.

 

[fresh_42]

Whenever I think about, research, or otherwise encounter historical events, facts, or discoveries, I have to think about what a German astronomer said on TV:

The people from ten thousand years ago weren't so much different from us. They have had the same capabilities and mental awareness as us. Biology didn't evolve so much during that relatively short period. All that changed is our technological evolution and our ways of sharing information.

I think we should keep this in mind.

 

[WWGD]

I would say the increase in "Entropy/Mess" in a room from day to day is sublinear. If I clean on Sundays, but not on Monday, it won't be ( at least)twice as messy on Tuesday than it was on Monday. If I don't clean it on Monday nor Tuesday, it won't be 3x as dirty on Wednesday as it was on Monday, etc. It seems cleaning twice a week would minimize time/effort while keeping the room in reasonable condition.

 

[WWGD]

Ok, not too hard to remember: a light year is 946 trillion milles , plus 80 million miles, i.e., 946.080.000.000 a heavy year, though, I forget. I was popular in parties by remembering/memorizing that $2^{64}=18.446.744.073.709.551.616$

 

[WWGD]

Kind of surprised to see this ( alleged?) problem in the entrance exam for Cambridge Math program: Find $x$ if $8^x+ 2^x =130$ . It took me all of 2 minutes to figure it out. Just use that $8=2^3$.