What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[WWGD]

Replace "x" by "\times": $5.977 \times 10^{24} \, \textrm{kg}$

Thanks. I had done that initially but it did not render. Maybe it takes a few seconds?

 

[fresh_42]

Thanks. I had done that initially but it did not render. Maybe it takes a few seconds?

No. It takes a reload of the page.

 

[WWGD]

No. It takes a reload of the page.

Danke. Don't know how to do it from my Android. Will wait to get on my PC.

If your name was Sean, I would say Danke Sean~ Dankeshoen.

 

[fresh_42]

Danke. Don't know how to do it from my Android. Will wait to get on my PC.

If your name was Sean, I would say Danke Sean~ Dankeshoen.

Ouch!

 

[kyphysics]

I've lost my sense of taste (and have some body aches and sniffles - could be the result of sprained neck and just common cold).

*wonders if there are any common "non-COVID" causes to be aware of for taste loss?*

 

[PeroK]

And that article does a segue to how the Earth was weighed, and to the invention of those Contour Lines on a map.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211007-how-a-scottish-mountain-weighed-the-planet

The summit of Schiehallion, March 2010:

 

[fresh_42]

Do we have a TIR (today I recognized/remembered) thread somewhere?

I remembered that I carry a silver dollar in my wallet with me around.

I recognized that Céline Dion sounds like a construction worker. Is that Québec slang? And why is it far less vulgar if she sings french?

 

[WWGD]

Do we have a TIR (today I recognized/remembered) thread somewhere?

I remembered that I carry a silver dollar in my wallet with me around.

I recognized that Céline Dion sounds like a construction worker. Is that Québec slang? And why is it far less vulgar if she sings french?

Maybe Ctrl+F? I can't play Celine because for miles dogs start howling nonstop.

 

[fresh_42]

Maybe Ctrl+F? I can't play Celine because for miles dogs start howling nonstop.

Yeah, normally I prefer soprano over contralto. But I guess that Callas won't be any better considering the dogs.

 

[WWGD]

Yeah, normally I prefer soprano over contralto. But I guess that Callas won't be any better considering the dogs.

I hear dogs were confined as they were being tested for Covid. They were cleared , after which WHO led the dogs out.

 

[kyphysics]

Is there a law of diminishing returns associated with Blu-Ray discs and players vs. DVDs (and players)?

The picture quality is better on Blu-Rays just as the resolution is better on a DVD vs. a VHS tape. Yes, Blu-Rays usually cost more than DVDs (not always), but they are not as widely adopted. And that has a feedback loop into less content being printed on Blu-Rays, which means there is even less reason to buy them vs. DVDs.

But, what's the reason for this? Is it that the marginal improvement in picture quality is not worth the cost?

 

[kyphysics]

Also, why do record stores still exist (even if rare), but not VHS tape stores? People still collect records in the age of CDs and digital copies of music. Why one medium and not others?

 

[WWGD]

I believe there are a few blockbusters stores still open. I think they rent vhs tapes, don't they?

 

[Keith_McClary]

VHS tape

I had to fire up the VHS because someone wanted to watch an ancient tape of a school play. Took me quite a few minutes to remember how get it working.

 

[jedishrfu]

Every new thing introduced to the market goes through a period of being better than everything else and consumers deciding if it’s better enough. The VHS and Betamax wars for dominance bear out how one technology gets adopted over another..

 

[WWGD]

Every new thing introduced to the market goes through a period of being better than everything else and consumers deciding if it’s better enough. The VHS and Betamax wars for dominance bear out how one technology gets adopted over another..

Isn't that what they call the product life cycle?

 

[ergospherical]

There's something rather therapeutic about watching people wrecking their bakes...

 

[jedishrfu]

@ergospherical Sadly your video playback has been blocked in the US based on copyright grounds.

 

[PeroK]

@ergospherical Sadly your video playback has been blocked in the US based on copyright grounds.

If you're disappointed to miss The Great British Bake Off, then the TV schedules in the US must be worse than I imagined.

 

[jedishrfu]

Its not the TV schedules, it was someone posted it on youtube which blocked it on copyright grounds.

Now that know the name, I guess I can find the video or something similar from the official youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+great+british+bake+off

 

[fresh_42]

Now that know the name, I guess I can find the video or something similar.

Don't. Flipping a pot of dough isn't worth it.

 

[WWGD]

You'd think the CD drive in a Windows HP could be opened manually. Not quite.

 

[gmax137]

Windows HP

what's a "HP" ??

 

[fresh_42]

what's a "HP" ??

Guess Hewlett Packard.

 

[gmax137]

My CD drives had a small pinhole that I could poke a paperclip into, to force an eject. Also in Windows explorer, select the drive and "eject"

Are those not working, @WWGD ?

 

[WWGD]

My CD drives had a small pinhole that I could poke a paperclip into, to force an eject. Also in Windows explorer, select the drive and "eject"

Are those not working, @WWGD ?

It was for a gig.
I could determine there was a CD Drive from the File Explorer, but did not see an option to eject. Will check Windows Explorer next time. It seems you can eject the drive by going to ' Options'. I was not even aware ' Options' was an option ;).
And, yes, HP stands for Hewlett Packard.

 

[kyphysics]

Every new thing introduced to the market goes through a period of being better than everything else and consumers deciding if it’s better enough. The VHS and Betamax wars for dominance bear out how one technology gets adopted over another..

For me, it was a price/quality thing.

I just didn't find Blu-rays worth it over DVDs for the price/quality difference.

I'm curious, though, why some people still buy and collect records. Is there a unique sound they like from them? Are they like collectible "antiques" that may have future rare art-like value? etc.

 

[jedishrfu]

REcord collecting is somewhat of a retro thing. I always felt they were to easy to ruin just by bumping the record player and having the needle skitter across the record zippppp.

 

[WWGD]

I still can't tell the difference between a Latin Square and a Sudoku ( of same size, of course)

 

[Mayhem]

this is my learning curve. Basically I'm super stupid for 2 months, then something clicks and I have a quasi-exponential growth in understanding. Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Borg]

Yes but the slope isn't usually that large.

 

[valenumr]

View attachment 292115
this is my learning curve. Basically I'm super stupid for 2 months, then something clicks and I have a quasi-exponential growth in understanding. Anyone else feel this way?

That's me for sure.i struggles with diff eq, for example, until my roommate (pretty smart smart physicist working on his doctorate), clearly explained the integrating factor method to me. About a month worth of head scratching all came together in an instant.

 

[valenumr]

I was thrown off by a question while tutoring, around an hour ago. Sharp kid, while doing the standard proof of the infinitude of primes, the student asked me: if we did not consider 2 to be a prime, how would we change the proof, since the product ##$$p_1p_2...p_k +1$$ ## will always be even? I will just tell him that I leave it as an exercise for him. EDIT: I just suggested that we may just add 2 to the product , instead of one, but I am feeling too lazy to make this into a through argument.

Hmmm. Interesting thought, but why does it matter? The product of any number of primes is by definition not prime. Two is interesting as a prime by the fact that it is the only even prime, but it's also not that interesting.

 

[Keith_McClary]

learning curve

Sometimes I got to that point and thought "Oh, I get it. I'll work out the details later."

 

[WWGD]

Hmmm. Interesting thought, but why does it matter? The product of any number of primes is by definition not prime. Two is interesting as a prime by the fact that it is the only even prime, but it's also not that interesting.

But notice I am adding 1 after the product: #p_1p_2...p_k +1#