Today I Learned

[mfb]

Google finds a page "The Fastest Fish on Land", which claims the mudskipper would hold that record.

 

[Astronuc]

Traveling for a Living - and Learning About Life
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/what-traveling-for-a-living-taught-me-about-life-116964399152.html

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Traveling for a Living - and Learning About Life
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/what-traveling-for-a-living-taught-me-about-life-116964399152.html

But still strange, how can famous people move around all the time without that doing any harm to their own "fame" ?

 

[Enigman]

TIL that the first Flash gained his powers by inhaling the 'deadly' fumes of hard water. Comics had low standards back in the golden age...
Are mudskippers fast because of their prolonged exposure to hard water too?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Are mudskippers fast because of their prolonged exposure to hard water too?

There's no claim made at that link that they're fast, much less "the fastest fish on land." In fact, when I tried, google did not provide a link to any page that addressed the question.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned that, of all the arts, poetry is the second most despised. At least, that is the claim made by a poet who came up to me at a cafe this morning and started a conversation, intrigued that I was doing a drawing of Edgar Allan Poe.

What, then, do you suppose the most despised art is?

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Today I learned that, of all the arts, poetry is the second most despised. At least, that is the claim made by a poet who came up to me at a cafe this morning and started a conversation, intrigued that I was doing a drawing of Edgar Allan Poe.

What, then, do you suppose the most despised art is?

Not really their disrespect, maybe it's just their ignorance and negligence. Attitude toward the subject matter varies upon individuals, cultures and cultural norms.

 

[jim hardy]

What, then, do you suppose the most despised art is?

advertising.

 

[zoobyshoe]

advertising.

Afraid not.

What I learned today is that Opera is the most despised of the arts.

 

[Enigman]

Afraid not.

What I learned today is that Opera is the most despised of the arts.

Opera might be bad but poetry is verse.

 

[OmCheeto]

Opera might be bad but poetry is verse.

We definitely have a serious pundemic on our hands...

 

[nsaspook]

Opera might be bad but poetry is verse.

and so delightful.

"What medicine else can cure the fits
Of lovers when they lose their wits?
Love is a boy by poets styled
Then spare the rod and spoil the child."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudibras

 

[thankz]

"Clotrimazole works to kill individual Candida or fungal cells by altering the permeability of the fungal cell wall. It binds to phospholipids in the cell membrane and inhibits the biosynthesis of ergosterol and other sterols required for cell membrane production. This leads to the cell's death via loss of intracellular elements"

I think my scrubby roommate gave me athletes foot

 

[lisab]

Afraid not.

What I learned today is that Opera is the most despised of the arts.

Today I learned that some opera isn't too bad.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned that some opera isn't too bad.

Quod Erat Demonstratum.

 

[OmCheeto]

Today I learned why gardening in the front yard is illegal in many places.

As I was potting 3 tomato plants in the front yard, I discovered that Nanonesians are better than TV.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned there are 842 lbs of moon rocks on earth.

 

[Alex299792458]

Today I learned that the volume of a 10 dimensional cube with a edge length of 5 centimeters is going to be 48 million(48,000,000)cm^10.

 

[mfb]

Today I learned (again) how annoying a broken DNS server is. Including the inability to look for other DNS servers.

 

[jim hardy]

Today I learned (again) how annoying a broken DNS server is. Including the inability to look for other DNS servers.

today i learned a new concept - dns server
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090408_why_dns_is_broken_part_1_trust/good grief - and we rely on this stuff?

 

[OmCheeto]

today i learned a new concept - dns server
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090408_why_dns_is_broken_part_1_trust/good grief - and we rely on this stuff?

Just wait until your DSL modem goes out, and your free, coming from somewhere(?), Wi-Fi cuts you off every 3 minutes.
Argh!

Now I know how that Borg kid felt...

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/I_Borg_(episode)

 

[jim hardy]

Just wait until ...
Argh!

"Windows troubleshooter is unable to locate the problem"
so is help desk.

okay, fine...

 

[mfb]

today i learned a new concept - dns server
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090408_why_dns_is_broken_part_1_trust/good grief - and we rely on this stuff?

Some of the things you only care about when it is broken.
Turned out to be more complicated, the DNS server was certainly part of the problem but my general internet connection has other issues as well (using a different one now).

 

[Astronuc]

Austin (in Texas) is known for some weirdness, but . . .

That started Monday when a public briefing by the Army in Bastrop County, which is just east of Austin, got raucous. The poor U.S. Army colonel probably just thought he was going to give a regular briefing, but instead 200 patriots shouted him down, told him was a liar and grilled him about the imminent federal takeover of Texas and subsequent imposition of martial law.
. . . .
The idea that the Yankee military can't be trusted down here has a long and rich history in Texas. But that was a while back. Abbott's proclamation that he was going to keep his eye on these Navy SEAL and Green Beret boys did rub some of our leaders the wrong way.
. . . .
"Your letter pandering to idiots ... has left me livid," former State Rep. Todd Smith wrote Gov. Abbott. "I am horrified that I have to choose between the possibility that my Governor actually believes this stuff and the possibility that my Governor doesn't have the backbone to stand up to those who do."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpoli...ys-national-guard-to-stave-off-obama-takeover

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Today I learned that the volume of a 10 dimensional cube with a edge length of 5 centimeters is going to be 48 million(48,000,000)cm^10.

Would you care to explain how, or is it time for one of us to relearn something? I make that number to be about 5^11, not 5^10.

 

[lisab]

Austin (in Texas) is known for some weirdness, but . . .http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpoli...ys-national-guard-to-stave-off-obama-takeover

Today I learned Texas is a legitimate contender for "whackiest state". Don't look now, Florida - Texas is nipping at your heels!

 

[Astronuc]

From USGS - Harrison (Jack) Schmitt is the only USGS geologist to do field work on another planetary body.

As a member of the Apollo 17 party, he was able to conduct field surveys on the moon.

 

[Borg]

Today I learned how to set up my first map server. It was a lot easier than I expected.
https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/jshelp/intro_firstmap_amd.html

 

[thankz]

I thought it was funny some would make a muscle out of an onion.
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/106/18/10.1063/1.4917498

 

[nsaspook]

I thought it was funny some would make a muscle out of an onion.
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/106/18/10.1063/1.4917498

Chuck can still handle it.

 

[Astronuc]

George Mitchell, former US Senator, came from humble roots. Quite a story.

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-05-07/george-mitchell-the-negotiator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_J._Mitchell

 

[Astronuc]

and I learned eating chili con carne y queso y frijoles is not a good thing before cycling a distance for speed in the sun.

Best to wait several hours.

Supposedly legumes are a good thing for the carbohydrates/sugar.

 

[collinsmark]

Today I learned that the true source of the elusive "perytons" (originally hypothesized to be from extragalactic origin) is likely from impatient office workers pining for warm and tasty snacks.

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1504.02165v1.pdf

Note Figure 7, which shows the frequency of "peryton" observations peak around local lunchtime.

 

[mfb]

Peryton thread for reference

Today I learned that the true source of the elusive "perytons" (originally hypothesized to be from extragalactic origin) is likely from impatient office workers pining for warm and tasty snacks.

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1504.02165v1.pdf

Note Figure 7, which shows the frequency of "peryton" observations peak around local lunchtime.

Today I learned astronomers are busy working out the power cycle of their microwave ovens (3.5) - not for their lunch but for actual science.

Rather, we believe that the operator had selected a power level of less than 100%, causing the magnetron power to cycle on and off on a 22-second cycle, the period specied in the manufacturer's service manual and confirmed by measurement.
[...]
We conjecture that on this occasion the operator inadvertently compromised the shielding by placing conducting material in the oven, perhaps Aluminium cooking foil that became caught between the door and the body of the oven, creating a unintended antenna, but we have yet to devise an acceptable test of this scenario.

 

[Astronuc]

It's never too late - More Than 75 Years After Enrolling, 94-Year-Old Set to Graduate West Virginia University
https://gma.yahoo.com/more-75-years-enrolling-94-old-set-graduate-190737454--abc-news-lifestyle.html

He studied engineering, physical education and industrial arts, and was close to graduation when he was drafted during World War II, serving in the Army Air Corps for three and a half years, WVU said.
. . . .
Brutto returned to school in 1946 but was forced to drop out again, this time to take care of his ill wife, according to WVU. He soon started working as a machinist in various factories.