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

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

does not compute

@ShayanJ refers to the Persian calendar. It seems March 21 2017 was 1 Farvardin 1396. Happy New Year to all those who follow the Persian Calendar.

https://www.vercalendario.info/en/calendars/persian-calendar/compare-1396.html

I should put this under What I Learned Today. I was not familiar with the Persian calendar.

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

P.S. I'm signing off just after Stardate 94830.44. Live Long and Prosper!

Although some sites differ on the exact Stardate. I have not found anything authoritative. Here is my source.

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/stardate.php

 

[OCR]

Here is my source.

Yeah, and with a typical Ferengi...[COLOR=#black].[/COLOR] $ $ $ $ [COLOR=#black]..[/COLOR] lol

 

[Borg]

How about an anti-choke , or at least an arti-choke ( which is different from an artsy choke and an artsy bloke )?

Or this?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Dang, I just recognized, that I know what a choke is.

A truly odd post.

What kind of choke are you referring to such that it should surprise you that you know what it is?

 

[fresh_42]

A truly odd post.

What kind of choke are you referring to such that it should surprise you that you know what it is?

The ones used to get a cold combustion engine started.

 

[zoobyshoe]

The ones used to get a cold combustion engine started.

I have one on my Beetle.

Why are you surprised that you know what it is?

 

[fresh_42]

Well, I rarely remember when I last used one. It wouldn't surprise me if the kids nowadays didn't get those engines started. I even know what double clutching is and how it's done.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Well, I rarely remember when I last used one. It wouldn't surprise me if the kids nowadays didn't get those engines started. I even know what double clutching is and how it's done.

It's true that a person would probably not encounter this unless they were working on a car made pre-1975 or so.

On very old cars, the choke was operated manually by pulling on a plunger that was attached by a wire to the choke plate. In newer ones, like my '72 Beetle, the choke was "automatic." It is opened slowly by a heating element that receives current as soon as the car is started. It is designed to open at about the same rate the engine warms up. Regardless, you have to "set" it, to make sure it is in the proper cold position, which is almost, but not completely, closed. You want to choke most of the air off to enrich the gas/air mixture for easy starting, but not all of the air.

Anyway, at first I thought you might be talking about something called a "choke" that might exist in some higher math, like, say, topology, that I wasn't aware of. Or some obscure thing in QM or String Theory.

 

[WWGD]

It's true that a person would probably not encounter this unless they were working on a car made pre-1975 or so.

On very old cars, the choke was operated manually by pulling on a plunger that was attached by a wire to the choke plate. In newer ones, like my '72 Beetle, the choke was "automatic." It is opened slowly by a heating element that receives current as soon as the car is started. It is designed to open at about the same rate the engine warms up. Regardless, you have to "set" it, to make sure it is in the proper cold position, which is almost, but not completely, closed. You want to choke most of the air off to enrich the gas/air mixture for easy starting, but not all of the air.

Anyway, at first I thought you might be talking about something called a "choke" that might exist in some higher math, like, say, topology, that I wasn't aware of. Or some obscure thing in QM or String Theory.

A choke is anything that intends to make you laugh. Obviously , this post is a failed attempt at one. EDIT2: Or, what someone feels like doing to me after reading the first part of this post :).

 

[zoobyshoe]

A choke is anything that intends to make you laugh. Obviously , this post is a failed attempt at one. EDIT2: Or, what someone feels like doing to me after reading the first part of this post :).

Reminds me of the Physics Bondage classic, Shirley! You're Choking Mr. Feynman!

 

[zoobyshoe]

I was backing up to pull out into the street. There was an SUV parked behind me, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to tap it. All of a sudden I heard a cracking noise, and some smallish object flew apart on the road in front of me to my left. I thought maybe I had impacted the SUV and broken the plastic cover of one of our lights, somehow launching a piece over my car.

But, when I pulled forward to look at the object, it turned out to be a cell phone. I saw no one around and can't figure out where it came from. Someone had thrown it a long way, or maybe it fell out of a plane.

 

[WWGD]

Last night was the first time in my life that someone ( I am pretty sure) was trying to mug me, demanding that I give him money. I just said no and he ultimately walked away. I just responded reflexively, without thinking it much. Maybe not too good of an idea, but I am here.

 

[WWGD]

I was backing up to pull out into the street. There was an SUV parked behind me, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to tap it. All of a sudden I heard a cracking noise, and some smallish object flew apart on the road in front of me to my left. I thought maybe I had impacted the SUV and broken the plastic cover of one of our lights, somehow launching a piece over my car.

But, when I pulled forward to look at the object, it turned out to be a cell phone. I saw no one around and can't figure out where it came from. Someone had thrown it a long way, or maybe it fell out of a plane.

How could it fall from an airplane if they don't have wndows? Wouldn't it also have cracked into thousands of tiny pieces if that was the case? I'll leave that to the Physics people around here.

 

[collinsmark]

Last night was the first time in my life that someone ( I am pretty sure) was trying to mug me, demanding that I give him money. I just said no and he ultimately walked away. I just responded reflexively, without thinking it much. Maybe not too good of an idea, but I am here.

Oh, my. That's an awful situation to be in.

 

[collinsmark]

I was backing up to pull out into the street. There was an SUV parked behind me, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to tap it. All of a sudden I heard a cracking noise, and some smallish object flew apart on the road in front of me to my left. I thought maybe I had impacted the SUV and broken the plastic cover of one of our lights, somehow launching a piece over my car.

But, when I pulled forward to look at the object, it turned out to be a cell phone. I saw no one around and can't figure out where it came from. Someone had thrown it a long way, or maybe it fell out of a plane.

How could it fall from an airplane if they don't have wndows? Wouldn't it also have cracked into thousands of tiny pieces if that was the case? I'll leave that to the Physics people around here.

 

[nuuskur]

how did the camera NOT break? :D

 

[fresh_42]

how did the camera NOT break? :D

Spoiler: Att.: Laughing fit very likely.

 

[zoobyshoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/07/18/iphone.skydive/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/iphone-falls-2500-feet/

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/man-finds-iphone-still-working-after-9-300-foot-drop-n401716

 

[nuuskur]

The middle article reads:
“I won’t be taking pictures on a plane beside an open window ever again, that’s for certain!”

Umm, right? I haven't flown in a while. Do they let you open windows now? :O

 

[zoobyshoe]

The middle article reads:
“I won’t be taking pictures on a plane beside an open window ever again, that’s for certain!”

Umm, right? I haven't flown in a while. Do they let you open windows now? :O

It was " a small Cessna aircraft," not a passenger jet.

 

[Borg]

I am a little behind in my reading and have just started reading my Jan. edition of Scientific American. I read everything including the user comments on the previous month's articles. Last night I was reading a particularly long user comment that was complete nonsense. After reading a few lines, I decided to look at the signature to see who was spewing such garbage and saw that it was a crackpot who is well known on PF!

 

[WWGD]

I am a little behind in my reading and have just started reading my Jan. edition of Scientific American. I read everything including the user comments on the previous month's articles. Last night I was reading a particularly long user comment that was complete nonsense. After reading a few lines, I decided to look at the signature to see who was spewing such garbage and saw that it was a crackpot who is well known on PF!

Don't mean to kiss up to PF, but , outside of PF there are few sites I have encountered that filter out crackpots and general unsupported ( often unsupportable ) nonsense. Good idea too, to filter out Pro- and Anti- Trump posts.

 

[WWGD]

<\RANT>I am going to snap if this (maybe just personal) trend continues. I go out to eat and when I order something (this is for low-cost self-serve places) the servers start double-guessing me: "Are you sure you want that warmed up? It is fresh". Or, " I don't think rice goes well with that dish". Seriously? I make an effort to treat everyone respectfully, specially blue-collar people ( given I was one myself for a while and because they have little power) , but I just feel like lashing out and saying: " hey, I am eating the food, not you". < /RANT>.

 

[WWGD]

Is PF finally going public with its using of robots for staff? First Jedishfru and his avatar, then the article on mentor's bios?

 

[OCR]

Is PF finally going public with its using of robots for staff? First Jedishfru and his avatar, then the article on mentor's bios?

And, indeed...

 

[Borg]

Saw this over the weekend. If only it weren't so accurate...

 

[nuuskur]

Can't trust anyone on that day. Does that imply, though, that on other days people accept things blindly?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I got a notice from the Planned Outage Department of my local utility company informing me my power would be out a few hours in a week or so. The reason given is "pole replacement."

I am intrigued by the mysterious Planned Outage Department and wonder why it was necessary to create such an entity. Why couldn't all this happen under the aegis of, say, the utility's Maintenance Department? Are outages ever planned outside of some form of maintenance? What kind of bureaucratic shenanigan is this Planned Outage Department ?

Anyway, although the outage isn't for a few days, a crew is out there today erecting the new pole, itself. The pole they're replacing, though, is a structural pole, as far as I can tell. It carries no electrical cables, just a cable to hold a different pole up, and a guy wire to ground. I'm not sure why they have to cut the power to replace it, unless it's just in case the other pole, which is carrying electrical wires, falls over during the procedure.

It's easy to see why the old pole needs replacement in any event: a palm tree took root right next to it and has been threatening to push it over for years now. I imagine they're going to remove both the old pole and the tree. Palm trees are somewhat pestiferous: they put out masses of seeds and often take root in the strip of soil between sidewalk and street, eventually pushing the sidewalk "tiles" up at an angle and cracking them. They grow well by themselves requiring no care.

 

[fresh_42]

Planned Outage Department

Wait until the Planned Short Circuit Department will contact you!

 

[WWGD]

I guessed a few , all guesses were correct , some were educated guesses, others wild guesses. From :

http://definition.org/end-quiz/

 

[WWGD]

I got a notice from the Planned Outage Department of my local utility company informing me my power would be out a few hours in a week or so. The reason given is "pole replacement."

I am intrigued by the mysterious Planned Outage Department and wonder why it was necessary to create such an entity. Why couldn't all this happen under the aegis of, say, the utility's Maintenance Department? Are outages ever planned outside of some form of maintenance? What kind of bureaucratic shenanigan is this Planned Outage Department ?

Anyway, although the outage isn't for a few days, a crew is out there today erecting the new pole, itself. The pole they're replacing, though, is a structural pole, as far as I can tell. It carries no electrical cables, just a cable to hold a different pole up, and a guy wire to ground. I'm not sure why they have to cut the power to replace it, unless it's just in case the other pole, which is carrying electrical wires, falls over during the procedure.

It's easy to see why the old pole needs replacement in any event: a palm tree took root right next to it and has been threatening to push it over for years now. I imagine they're going to remove both the old pole and the tree. Palm trees are somewhat pestiferous: they put out masses of seeds and often take root in the strip of soil between sidewalk and street, eventually pushing the sidewalk "tiles" up at an angle and cracking them. They grow well by themselves requiring no care.

A new pope? Too bad the new pope , somehow with (almost) the same name as the actor "Cliff" from Cheers, is not Polish.

 

[fresh_42]

I guessed a few , all guesses were correct , some were educated guesses, others wild guesses. From :

http://definition.org/end-quiz/

What have you done? I'm bad on American History but know everything about M*A*S*H ... what a shame!

 

[WWGD]

What have you done? I'm bad on American History but know everything about M*A*S*H ... what a shame!

I think if you just enter the address on your browser you may reach the one I linked to.

 

[fresh_42]

I think if you just enter the address on your browser you may reach the one I linked to.

I did this and had 38. Mostly wrong were American history and literature, e.g. I missed the Wright brothers flight by a year or connected the EPA with Carter.