Today I Learned

[jtbell]

I hate turning left, especially on certain Florida roads. [...] three rights make a left.

Try using that trick to turn left from Las Olas Blvd. onto Route A1A in Fort Lauderdale.

Of course, here you don't have to deal with opposing traffic, except for pedestrians.

 

[EnumaElish]

... or as I call it: the WOM.

Apparently as of today there's a 26-day backlog on WOM drives as multiple items have been ordered for each federal agency.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned what the lyrics to "Waltzing Matilda" mean.

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned about NASA's Space Poop Challenge:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/tech/nasa-space-poop-challenge-winner-announced-trnd/index.html

https://herox.com/SpacePoop

Apparently the winning idea is to put a little airlock in the space suit's crotch.

 

[NascentOxygen]

TIL of an attractant more alluring to mosquitoes than is carbon dioxide, and that's Limburger Cheese. Mosquitoes like it so much that it will even divert them from nearby human targets. http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-extremely-gross-reason-why-limburger-cheese-attract-1678436752

Apparently this pungent cheese reminds mozzies of plump, sweaty, exposed human feet—an ideal source for the blood they are seeking. (Well, the females are, anyway.)

Limburger inherits its characteristic foot odour from the bacteria residing between the toes of monks who during their cheese-making process traditionally pressed it with their feet.

I note that the connection between Limburger cheese and mosquitoes has been previously mentioned on PF.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

TIL that the "traditional" gift in the UK (according to someone trying to sell them, I guess) for 23rd Wedding Anniversary is silver plate. Perhaps I'll find it easier to remember the date next year, when it's musical instruments.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that the "traditional" gift in the UK (according to someone trying to sell them, I guess) for 23rd Wedding Anniversary is silver plate. Perhaps I'll find it easier to remember the date next year, when it's musical instruments.

How about a western concert flute made of silver

 

[Jonathan Scott]

How about a western concert flute made of silver

Already have a silver-plated flute, thanks (Trevor James TJ 10x) otherwise that might have done for 23rd and 24th combined.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Today I learned the... Canadian Donut Law?

I was working on some documentation for a Point of Sale device and there was an option to "enable Canadian Donut Law." The only resource that actually helped was the register documentation. Apparently there is something in Canada where certain prepared food items are taxable unless you buy a certain amount. So buying one donut to satisfy your sweet tooth is taxable, but buying a dozen to... feed your family? Nope, no tax for you brother.

I think this is perhaps a name that is used to cover a more broad law, but I don't know what it would be called.

-Dave K

 

[fresh_42]

Today I learned the... Canadian Donut Law?

I was working on some documentation for a Point of Sale device and there was an option to "enable Canadian Donut Law." The only resource that actually helped was the register documentation. Apparently there is something in Canada where certain prepared food items are taxable unless you buy a certain amount. So buying one donut to satisfy your sweet tooth is taxable, but buying a dozen to... feed your family? Nope, no tax for you brother.

I think this is perhaps a name that is used to cover a more broad law, but I don't know what it would be called.

-Dave K

Does this tax add to VAT or does it replace it?

 

[dkotschessaa]

Does this tax add to VAT or does it replace it?

I didn't know what VAT was until you asked me.

(Today I learned that that it stands for Value Added Tax).

So I don't know. Maybe I'll learn tomorrow!

 

[EnumaElish]

TIL about the so-called "minimum wage premium" "shaming notice" printed on customer bills by certain WA-state retailers (restaurant, hotel owners).

 

[Buzz Bloom]

"minimum wage premium" "shaming notice"

Hi Enuma:

Can you explain this a bit more, or perhaps provide a link to more information?

Regards,
Buzz

 

[EnumaElish]

Hi Enuma:

Can you explain this a bit more, or perhaps provide a link to more information?

Regards,
Buzz

Here it is: https://civicskunk.works/what-to-do...e-charge-on-your-bill-2183699e4186#.t71mgcp54

 

[Ibix]

Today I learned a practical effect of Bernoulli's principle: if there is a 45mph wind blowing along a street, it is difficult to open a door inwards.

 

[levadny]

TIL I write report of my practice on math madeling use Java lang. Second course of magistracy in institute.

 

[jim hardy]

I'm doing a little concrete job outside...

TIL something about cement:
NEVER NEVER EVER mix "Dap Webpatch 90 Leveling Compound " and "Level Quick Latex Primer " with concrete mix.

I had some of the above floor levelling cement and a part-bottle of the adhesion enhancing latex primer that goes with it left over from when i fixed a low spot in the hallway floor last year. (That worked out great, laminate floor i put over it is solid and no squeaks.)
Just to get rid of the leftovers i tossed them in the mixer behind an 80 lb bag of Quickrete. It's all masonry stuff, right?
I started the mixer then walked away to level the batch i'd just poured.
That took less than five minutes, about right time for the mixer to finish up without my usual "mother hen " worry wart hovering .
But
Little did i suspect that stuff makes concrete set up in about three minutes and you have to chisel it out of your cement mixer.

"Thank you, Lord, for this lesson. I guess. "

old jim

 

[COWilliam]

Today I learned that the hard part to building a Fission Reactor is not actually building one, or getting fissionable material, but finding a way to make it safe enough that you don't give yourself potentially harmful levels of radiation exposure.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

TIL about bumblebee intelligence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/science/bumblebees-insect-brains-video.html?_r=0​

 

[Buzz Bloom]

TIL (yesterday actually) about the Earth's largest flower. The source is an article in March-April 2017 issue of Harvard Magazine from interviews with Harvard Botany Professor Charles Davis. The species is Rafflesia arnoldii. The following is another article I found on line about Rafflesia.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/11/stages-of-bloom/​

The R arnoldii flower is more than three feet across. It is also the strangest flower I have ever heard about. The flower is a parasite which infects certain vines and it has no roots. It's genome shows that the species has also many times adopted genes from the host plants it has had over time.

 

[mfb]

TIL how well you can approximate e $\approx$ 2.718281828 with a few basic symbols and numbers 1 to n:

$2^{(.3+.1)^{–.4}–5^{–7.6}}$, using 1 to 7, has an error of –1.57*10^-8
$(1+2^{–76})^{4^{38}+.5}$, using 1 to 8, has an error of 3.96*10^-47
$\displaystyle \left(1+9^{-4^{7\cdot 6}} \right)^{3^{2^{85}}}$, using 1 to 9, has an error of –2.01*10^{-18,457,734,525,360,901,453,873,570}. If you write its decimal digits in 10 micrometer small letters and cover the whole surface of Earth with digits, all digits will be correct.

http://www2.stetson.edu/~efriedma/mathmagic/0804.html

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned that an ALEKS pie is not something that you eat.

 

[OCR]

Today, I learned how ignorant I am, then I read what...

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/752215811700424705/gS5sEqhi.jpg

Today, I also learned how damn stupid I am...[COLOR=#black].[/COLOR] I actually read this tripe.[COLOR=#black] ...[/COLOR]

 

[1oldman2]

TIL that Nature is doing a very interesting series, particularly relevant these days.
http://www.nature.com/news/human-migration-1.21521?WT.mc_id=SPG_NA_1703_NATSPMIGRATION_PORTFOLIO

 

[fresh_42]

Today, I learned how ignorant I am, then I read what...

Today, I also learned how damn stupid I am...[COLOR=#black].[/COLOR] I actually read this tripe.[COLOR=#black] ...[/COLOR]

What! Well-done? Never, ever. Now he's lost the already small rest of respect I had for him.

 

[mfb]

Today I learned that an ALEKS pie is not something that you eat.

As my chemistry teacher used to say: You can eat everything. Some things you can eat more than once.

If you make an ALEKS pie out of actual pie, you can eat it more than once.

 

[fresh_42]

As my chemistry teacher used to say: You can eat everything. Some things you can eat more than once.

If you make an ALEKS pie out of actual pie, you can eat it more than once.

From time to time I have to think about this fellow student of mine, who entered the break room, shaking his head saying:
"Rubbish. There are no zero divisors anywhere!"

So what is an ALEKS pie? No, not the definition. What IS it? A bunch of $e^-\, , \,\gamma$?

 

[mfb]

If you make one out of actual pie, it is a large collection of electrons, protons and neutrons.
If you make one out of steel, it is a large collection of electrons, protons and neutrons as well - but this time eating it is more challenging.

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

Over the past two weeks I learned that mechanical keyboards are awesome. I bought a reasonably priced one, and it's my favorite keyboard of all time. The action is superb. The keyboard takes up less space than my previous keyboards. I love the weight and solidity of the thing. Of course if I want to go into late-night gamer mode, which I seldom have time for, I can switch off all the room lights and switch on the red backlight.

Oh, I almost forgot. I also learned that my idea for a "physics expert system" for tokamak research and development was anticipated way back in the 1950s. Look up the Plasma Apprentice Program from Princeton. No point in reinventing the wheel. But I felt justified in my opinion that most of the theoretical work could be done by a computer. Of course it's that missing 5% or whatever it is today that prevents we humans from becoming redundant -- at least for now. But my intelligent assistant for writing papers is promising, and should help in my upcoming efforts. There's no point in adopting a Luddite attitude towards AI. It's coming, like it or not.

 

[jim hardy]

There's no point in adopting a Luddite attitude towards AI. It's coming, like it or not.

That's why we're allotted just threescore and ten, world changes more than we can stand.

But I too like mechanical keyboards

Got good headphones ?



old jim

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

Got good headphones ?



old jim

What does a good set of headphones have to do with mechanical keyboards? If you mean they are noisy, it's true the clickety-clack is a bit more than from my flimsy old plastic keyboard. To which I say TANSTAAFL.

Today's mechanical keyboards are more advanced than those clumsy old mechanical typewriters. The mechanical keyboard switches today are impressive. Actually mechanical keyboards are cool these days.

http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/an-introduction-to-cherry-mx-mechanical-switches/

I want to mention one other thing I learned today. I learned that when Windows 10 decides to update itself on my new computer, then tells me "Do not turn off your computer" because Windows is busy doing something, and I should stand by, and not dare to interrupt Windows, it is very satisfying to immediately turn off my computer. Sorry, Microsoft, but it's my computer, not yours. I will turn it off any time I please.

BTW I learned today it's not hard to disable automatic updates on Windows 10. But I am not recommending that. It's not that I'm against updates, I'm just against automatic ones. I can schedule myself to check for updates when it's convenient for me. Some people might be better off allowing Windows to update when it wants to, because if they forget about it then the updates really pile up.

Soon they will be trying to sell us computers that are hooked up to the cloud 24/7 and can't be shut off. All for "our own good" of course.

:)

 

[BillTre]

This is one of the reasons I don't like the Microsoft OS. It has poor manners. My Mac does not do that.

 

[jim hardy]

What does a good set of headphones have to do with mechanical keyboards?

Not a thing.
That recording is from the golden days of hi-fi , as good as commercial analog can be. RCA's Tony Salvatore was the recording engineer. https://www.discogs.com/artist/399562-Anthony-Salvatore

The sound of that orchestra is a treat for the ears. I hear huge differences in tone quality between my three dollar Koss, six dollar Sony, and nineteen dollar Sony headphones. Even on whatever is Youtube's audio stream .
I don't own any audiophile stuff, though.

To remaster for this disc(another Salvatore recording)
https://www.discogs.com/Arthur-Fiedler-Boston-Pops-Orchestra-Pops-Roundup/release/6409473
RCA actually dug up and restored the old Ampex tape recorder they'd used to make the 1962 original . Its sound quality will really show off a good stereo.

 

[jim hardy]

Soon they will be trying to sell us computers that are hooked up to the cloud 24/7 and can't be shut off. All for "our own good" of course.

They're in your smart TV already.

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-vizio-ftc-20170206-story.html

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

Not a thing.
That recording is from the golden days of hi-fi , as good as commercial analog can be. RCA's Tony Salvatore was the recording engineer. https://www.discogs.com/artist/399562-Anthony-Salvatore

The sound of that orchestra is a treat for the ears. I hear huge differences in tone quality between my three dollar Koss, six dollar Sony, and nineteen dollar Sony headphones. Even on whatever is Youtube's audio stream .
I don't own any audiophile stuff, though.

To remaster for this disc(another Salvatore recording)
https://www.discogs.com/Arthur-Fiedler-Boston-Pops-Orchestra-Pops-Roundup/release/6409473
RCA actually dug up and restored the old Ampex tape recorder they'd used to make the 1962 original . Its sound quality will really show off a good stereo.

Very interesting. Actually I am an audiophile, although right now I don't have a good enough system. Something for the near future I hope.

I would like to ask about people's experience with analog vs digital sound quality, but I think that's for another thread. I will just say that once I heard a very old tube radio playing some music, and it was a much warmer and richer sound (imprecise words I know) than I had ever heard from any other radio.