Random Thoughts Part 4 - Split Thread

[zoobyshoe]

I think the only difference between us is that I think some of them don't want "anything" to be possible, they want a specific something to be possible. They select the school of philosophy that best supports that something. It feels like quantum woo, with pedigree.

I think we're on the same page. They want anything to be possible so that their specific thing can be possible. The more general mush, the less their specific thing is excluded in any way.

 

[WWGD]

Ultimately, this discussion on Philosophy reminds me of the guy who goes to the store
called " Only Sausages" and then leaves, complaining:" I couldn't find a single hamburger in that damn place".
You're criticizing Philosophy for not doing something it was never intended for .
Damn that hammer, I hit the shirt really hard with it for an hour and it is still not clean!

 

[HomogenousCow]

Ultimately, this discussion on Philosophy reminds me of the guy who goes to the store
called " Only Sausages" and then leaves, complaining:" I couldn't find a single hamburger in that damn place".
You're criticizing Philosophy for not doing something it was never intended for .
Damn that hammer, I hit the shirt really hard with it for an hour and it is still not clean!

It just seems to me that most of the philosophical writing that I've encountered sound like eloquent nonsense.

 

[WWGD]

It just seems to me that most of the philosophical writing that I've encountered sound like eloquent nonsense.

Yes, there are pretentious people everywhere, and tenured faculty face no real pressure to be clear, nor to publish reasonably and avoid nonsense. And this is , I think, mostly an academic discipline; I can't see many people graduating in philosophy not intending to be academics, unless they are significantly wealthy -- don't see many wanted ads for Philosophy graduates. This may be part of it.

 

[WWGD]

I was confused by seeing people from India that were, or seemed to be, Caucasians. Never seen it before. And also by this Israeli guy who has an aerobics show on TV; I assumed all the Israelis were tough guys who could build a tank with a paper clip, a piece of wood and some duct tape, given they all go to the army. And they could kill you using just their index finger.

 

[Borg]

I stood up a web server a few weeks ago and immeadiately started getting hack attempts from all over the world. So I changed the port to a very non-standard one and the hacks stopped (the script kiddies just look for servers running on port 80 or 8080). Today, I was walking past a house that I walk past every couple of weeks when I noticed that the car out front had a license plate with just four digits and they were the exact four digits that I changed my server port to. Now the question that's bothering me is - was this just an interesting coincidence or did I subconciously remember the plate number when I picked a 'random' number?

 

[DiracPool]

I assumed all the Israelis were tough guys who could build a tank with a paper clip, a piece of wood and some duct tape, given they all go to the army

That sentence inspired me to do further research around the subject of "mandatory conscription." To my astonishment, it's actually a fascinating topic as to to how different countries view and constrain their "subjects" to perform military duties, both male and female.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription

For example, in North Korea, conscription is mandatory for all males for 120 months. That's 10 years! In South Korea, mandatory conscription is 2 years. The articles I posted are interesting in the exceptions and qualifications to these standards, as well as interesting "outlier" cases as with the South Korean pop star Yoo Seung-jun

 

[WWGD]

I stood up a web server a few weeks ago and immeadiately started getting hack attempts from all over the world. So I changed the port to a very non-standard one and the hacks stopped (the script kiddies just look for servers running on port 80 or 8080). Today, I was walking past a house that I walk past every couple of weeks when I noticed that the car out front had a license plate with just four digits and they were the exact four digits that I changed my server port to. Now the question that's bothering me is - was this just an interesting coincidence or did I subconciously remember the plate number when I picked a 'random' number?

I assume neither license plate numbers nor server ports start with 0 , so the numbers are from 1000 to 9999, so if all numbers equally likely, you have 1 chance in 9000. Not so low.

EDIT: This may be a bit tricky: there are a total of 9,000x9,000=81,000,000 pairs of numbers, of which only one pair ( of the two 4-digit combinations) is a hit. But if your number is selected, then there are 9,000 possible numbers to match it with.

 

[WWGD]

That sentence inspired me to do further research around the subject of "mandatory conscription." To my astonishment, it's actually a fascinating topic as to to how different countries view and constrain their "subjects" to perform military duties, both male and female.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription

For example, in North Korea, conscription is mandatory for all males for 120 months. That's 10 years! In South Korea, mandatory conscription is 2 years. The articles I posted are interesting in the exceptions and qualifications to these standards, as well as interesting "outlier" cases as with the South Korean pop star Yoo Seung-jun

EDIT :Is that the " Gangnam Style" guy (quickly forgotten; this was a big pop hit last year)?

Seems they may need to change things in the U.S, because not enough people are volunteering.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I stood up a web server a few weeks ago and immeadiately started getting hack attempts from all over the world. So I changed the port to a very non-standard one and the hacks stopped (the script kiddies just look for servers running on port 80 or 8080). Today, I was walking past a house that I walk past every couple of weeks when I noticed that the car out front had a license plate with just four digits and they were the exact four digits that I changed my server port to. Now the question that's bothering me is - was this just an interesting coincidence or did I subconciously remember the plate number when I picked a 'random' number?

I think there's a good chance you noticed the four digits on the plate if they are a "catchy" combination. For example, I would find 2536 to be "catchy" since it's two consecutive squares. And any four digits could be "catchy" for purely personal associations, not necessarily mathematical ones.

 

[WWGD]

They have this new coffee shop where , after you slide your credit card, you have to write (with your fingers) in a screen, your name, and the tip. The options for the tip are: 15%, 20%, 25% (all pretty high, given it is self-service) , or you can explicitly select " I am leaving no tip" . Nice way of laying on the guilt. Pretty sure it has been designed to do this, to induce guilt and increase the tip amounts. I got an ugly look after I selected to leave no tip. I just received my coffee and pastry and took it to my table. What would the tip be about?

 

[Borg]

I think there's a good chance you noticed the four digits on the plate if they are a "catchy" combination. For example, I would find 2536 to be "catchy" since it's two consecutive squares. And any four digits could be "catchy" for purely personal associations, not necessarily mathematical ones.

Perhaps. Although when I was deciding, I just decided to do simple addition and subtraction to 8080 to get to the number that I chose - I changed the thousands place by one number and changed the second 80 by another number.

 

[WWGD]

Perhaps. Although when I was deciding, I just decided to do simple addition and subtraction to 8080 to get to the number that I chose - I changed the thousands place by one number and changed the second 80 by another number.

Hey, you're narrowing it down too much by giving this info away. 8 choices for first 80 and 98 choices for the second , a total of only 784 combinations.

 

[DiracPool]

They have this new coffee shop where , after you slide your credit card, you have to write (with your fingers) in a screen, your name, and the tip. The options for the tip are: 15%, 20%, 25% (all pretty high, given it is self-service) , or you can explicitly select " I am leaving no tip" . Nice way of laying on the guilt. Pretty sure it has been designed to do this, to induce guilt and increase the tip amounts. I got an ugly look after I selected to leave no tip. I just received my coffee and pastry and took it to my table. What would the tip be about?

Yeah, I have to deal with this everyday in "gratuity crazed" America. Personally, I hate leaving tips. It's not because I'm cheap, it's because of the forced social constraint that you are faced with in the USA everyday, explicitly when you just want to go out for a cup of coffee or have a sandwich at the local diner. There's always this pressure on you to tip tip tip.

The barista stand I go to typically charges me about 2 dollars and 35 cents for a 4-shot "Americano." So, I usually just give them 3 scraggly looking dollar-bill singles left over from the strip club cache I assembled the night before, and they seem to be happy with the 65 cent tip.

Every once and a while, I'll show up with no cash and they pull out the iPAD with the gratuity scam. It's basically as you stated it, $1, $2, $5. or "No tip cause you're a cheapshit"

 

[JorisL]

Hah, I knew it!

RE: Doctor who opening scene

 

[WWGD]

Yeah, I have to deal with this everyday in "gratuity crazed" America. Personally, I hate leaving tips. It's not because I'm cheap, it's because of the forced social constraint that you are faced with in the USA everyday, explicitly when you just want to go out for a cup of coffee or have a sandwich at the local diner. There's always this pressure on you to tip tip tip.

The barista stand I go to typically charges me about 2 dollars and 35 cents for a 4-shot "Americano." So, I usually just give them 3 scraggly looking dollar-bill singles left over from the strip club cache I assembled the night before, and they seem to be happy with the 65 cent tip.

Every once and a while, I'll show up with no cash and they pull out the iPAD with the gratuity scam. It's basically as you stated it, $1, $2, $5. or "No tip cause you're a cheapshit"

Agree. Are you actually waited on, i.e., do you sit at a table or counter and have things brought to you?At least if you are actually waited on and with courtesy and a good attitude. But expecting $1.25 for just handing out a pastry and a solo? Sorry, I am not in the income bracket yet where I can afford 30% tips. If I make it big some day, I will spread the good stuff around, but now, it seems a bit much.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Agree. Are you actually waited on, i.e., do you sit at a table or counter and have things brought to you?At least if you are actually waited on and with courtesy and a good attitude. But expecting $1.25 for just handing out a pastry and a solo? Sorry, I am not in the income bracket yet where I can afford 30% tips. If I make it big some day, I will spread the good stuff around, but now, it seems a bit much.

I routinely tip a dollar on a small coffee at any coffee shop that is not Starbucks. The baristas like it and often give me free refills, sometimes free coffees altogether. I don't tip at Starbucks because they are a rapacious corporation and should not be encouraged. Strangely, the baristas there sometimes give me free coffees anyway. I always pay with cash, incidentally. It's so much faster than that card swiping business.

 

[DiracPool]

The baristas like it and often give me free refills

the baristas there sometimes give me free coffees anyway

Woah, you're quite the coffee stud. I have no problem not tipping at Starbucks, either. In fact, at the drive-through by my house, they don't even have a tip jar at the window. Plus, I pay by credit card there so I don't feel compelled to give them the loose coinage change. At the local family run barista stand which I usually go to just across the street, I get a better cup of coffee, it's about half the price of Starbucks, and I feel the people there actually appreciate my business, so I give them the loose change and still get out for less than what I'd spend at Starbucks.

 

[WWGD]

I routinely tip a dollar on a small coffee at any coffee shop that is not Starbucks. The baristas like it and often give me free refills, sometimes free coffees altogether. I don't tip at Starbucks because they are a rapacious corporation and should not be encouraged. Strangely, the baristas there sometimes give me free coffees anyway. I always pay with cash, incidentally. It's so much faster than that card swiping business.

True that paying cash is faster, but it also means a lot of time wasted in trips to the ATM. It adds up over time, and it interrupts your day. I also have a non-corporate coffee shop nearby, but they close down at...4 p.m. I mean, seriously. Still, you got to give Starbucks credit for allowing you to hang out in there for 5 hrs after just a cup of coffee. And remember that the tips go to baristas, not to Starbucks, so they are the ones that are affected by the tipping, not Schultz and company.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Still, you got to give Starbucks credit for allowing you to hang out in there for 5 hrs after just a cup of coffee.

Actually, the Starbucks near me let's high school kids hang out in there for 5 hours on a free glass of water. I don't hang out inside, anyway. I have to hunt down some rock or curb to sit on outside and off the premises where I can smoke.

 

[WWGD]

Actually, the Starbucks near me let's high school kids hang out in there for 5 hours on a free glass of water. I don't hang out inside, anyway. I have to hunt down some rock or curb to sit on outside and off the premises where I can smoke.

Yikes, teenagers. Wish they'd go somewhere else, but I don't know if there is anywhere else for them to go.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Yikes, teenagers. Wish they'd go somewhere else, but I don't know if there is anywhere else for them to go.

I'm thinkin' since they have no money to buy any Starbucks but plenty of time to hang out there, they might be encouraged to seek part time employment.

 

[WWGD]

I'm thinkin' since they have no money to buy any Starbucks but plenty of time to hang out there, they might be encouraged to seek part time employment.

Or, maybe more radically, go to the Public Library to get some work done. But you got the tempting beaches there in San Diego, much more attractive than a musty old library..

 

[zoobyshoe]

Or, maybe more radically, go to the Public Library to get some work done. But you got the tempting beaches there in San Diego, much more attractive than a musty old library..

There's actually a nice library a couple blocks away, and some kids do hang out there. As for the beaches, they're far away and these Starbucks urchins don't have trolly fare.

 

[HomogenousCow]

When lab equipment breaks, do they send it over to be used in the undergrad labs? Because that would make abundant sense.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I have successfully soldered together a joule thief.

 

[Ibix]

I have successfully soldered together a joule thief.

Watt is a Joule thief?

 

[Borg]

Watt is a Joule thief?

I had to look it up as well. A Joule Thief is a circuit that's designed to use nearly all of the energy in a single-cell battery.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Holy carp. I forgot to like, come here and post for a year or so.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Watt is a Joule thief?

Yes.

 

[WWGD]

Holy carp. I forgot to like, come here and post for a year or so.

Welcome Back!

 

[zoobyshoe]

I had to look it up as well. A Joule Thief is a circuit that's designed to use nearly all of the energy in a single-cell battery.

It's not limited to single batteries, though. It's basically a 'DC transformer' circuit that takes any DC input and gives you a pulsed output at much higher voltage. So, you can operate 3 volt LED's on a battery that's been discharged to under a volt. The output pulses are in the ultrasonic frequency range, so that the light appears to be continuous and not flickering.

 

[Ibix]

Yes.

He takes them from the Volt, I presume.

Welcome back from me too.

 

[Ibix]

It's not limited to single batteries, though. It's basically a 'DC transformer' circuit that takes any DC input and gives you a pulsed output at much higher voltage. So, you can operate 3 volt LED's on a battery that's been discharged to under a volt. The output pulses are in the ultrasonic frequency range, so that the light appears to be continuous and not flickering.

Thanks, Zooby. That was fascinating. I generally cause electronics to melt if I go near them with a soldering iron, so this is totally uninformed, but that feels like an ingeneous hack to me. Is it one of those off-the-wall ideas that someone wired together in a garage somewhere? Or is there a clear development path that's just invisible to a total layman?

 

[OmCheeto]

It's not limited to single batteries, though. It's basically a 'DC transformer' circuit that takes any DC input and gives you a pulsed output at much higher voltage. So, you can operate 3 volt LED's on a battery that's been discharged to under a volt. The output pulses are in the ultrasonic frequency range, so that the light appears to be continuous and not flickering.

Yay! I have scores of zombie batteries.

Holy carp. I forgot to like, come here and post for a year or so.

That's ok. Life happens. And I have thought of you once or twice, at least, during your intermission. Anything new going on?