Is it time for Random Thoughts - Part 4?

[lisab]

I wonder if a water exchange/pipeline , like oil pipelines, moving water between parts of the country, is a feasible project. Tho the southwest would benefit much more than other regions. I mean there is at times,
flooding in one region and extreme droughts elsewhere.

It's been considered -- not so much for water, but for coffee. I encourage you to listen:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5293443

But check the date. It must not have penciled out .

 

[HomogenousCow]

Do you ever wonder why we brush our teeth in the same room we defecate in? (I know this is not true for some countries)

 

[AlephZero]

I saw somebody riding (?) a weird bike (?) today. Looked similar to a kid's scooter, scaled up to adult size. Or a bit like a human-powered Segway. Wheels about a foot in diameter, handlebars for steering, nothing to sit on. The "rider" was "standing" on the "pedals" which were actually large diameter cranks similar to a reclining bike(*), mounted almost above the rear wheel.

He seemed to be quite happy riding it at about 30 mph.

(*) "Reclining bike" = something like this:

 

[zoobyshoe]

I saw somebody riding (?) a weird bike (?) today. Looked similar to a kid's scooter, scaled up to adult size. Or a bit like a human-powered Segway. Wheels about a foot in diameter, handlebars for steering, nothing to sit on. The "rider" was "standing" on the "pedals" which were actually large diameter cranks similar to a reclining bike(*), mounted almost above the rear wheel.

This? http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/legway_lead.jpg

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

I saw somebody riding (?) a weird bike (?) today. Looked similar to a kid's scooter, scaled up to adult size. Or a bit like a human-powered Segway. Wheels about a foot in diameter, handlebars for steering, nothing to sit on. The "rider" was "standing" on the "pedals" which were actually large diameter cranks similar to a reclining bike(*), mounted almost above the rear wheel.

He seemed to be quite happy riding it at about 30 mph.

In my hometown, whenever I go running, I typically follow the schematic of doing half my run and stopping at a local park, whereat I'll walk around until I'm ready to finish the second half of my run and return home.

One day, I was walking in the park, enjoying the scenery, when I see a ~50 year old man scooting towards me on the reclined bicycle you showed. It's an absurd contraption, and I still can't fully understand the appeal of it. What made it worse was that he gave me this smug, solipsistic smirk as he rode by me, as if I was the odd one for walking in the park, as if it was a major foresight of mine to be in public without my wheeled hammock.

 

[dkotschessaa]

I saw somebody riding (?) a weird bike (?) today. Looked similar to a kid's scooter, scaled up to adult size. Or a bit like a human-powered Segway. Wheels about a foot in diameter, handlebars for steering, nothing to sit on. The "rider" was "standing" on the "pedals" which were actually large diameter cranks similar to a reclining bike(*), mounted almost above the rear wheel.

He seemed to be quite happy riding it at about 30 mph.

(*) "Reclining bike" = something like this:

For people who aren't sure whether they want to bike or take a nap?

 

[Borek]

 

[AlephZero]

It looked similar to that, except with pedals (similar to Zooby's segway picture) close to the rear wheel, not the belt drive. And no electric motor.

 

[AlephZero]

It's an absurd contraption, and I still can't fully understand the appeal of it.

That's probably the appeal. We have a guy at work who rides a similar one. He also uses a monocle on a chain, rather than conventional spectacles.

They are supposed to be more energy efficient than conventional bikes, because of less wind resistance. The only problems are that you can't see where you are going, and motorists etc can't see you. They tend to solve the second problem by having a flag on a pole, which probably increases the wind resistance as well.

 

[lisab]

That's probably the appeal. We have a guy at work who rides a similar one. He also uses a monocle on a chain, rather than conventional spectacles.

They are supposed to be more energy efficient than conventional bikes, because of less wind resistance. The only problems are that you can't see where you are going, and motorists etc can't see you. They tend to solve the second problem by having a flag on a pole, which probably increases the wind resistance as well.

Cars can't see them easily AND their heads are at grill/bumper level. Doesn't seem too smart, IMO.

 

[Borg]

Cars can't see them easily AND their heads are at grill/bumper level. Doesn't seem too smart, IMO.

Most of the ones that I've seen have a tall flag on the back to be more visible. I still don't get the appeal though - doesn't look like you would get much exercise.

 

[WWGD]

Why do some people use the phrase "I could care less" to mean they don't care at all? Obviously I personally _could_ care less, or I would not be commenting on it.

 

[Borek]

I always thought it is "I couldn't care less"?

 

[Enigman]

Tell me about it!

 

[zoobyshoe]

Why do some people use the phrase "I could care less" to mean they don't care at all? Obviously I personally _could_ care less, or I would not be commenting on it.

While we're on the subject, explain setting off a word with underscores before and aft. Explain setting off a word with asterisks before and aft. Explain "hash marks." #explain #_ #* ##

 

[collinsmark]

While we're on the subject, explain setting off a word with underscores before and aft. Explain setting off a word with asterisks before and aft. Explain "hash marks." #explain #_ #* ##

Some of these things date back to the days before formatting was commonplace on the Internet [Edit: e.g., Usenet news, dial-up bulletin boards, etc]. When using a 1200 BAUD modem for example, you didn't want to waste precious bytes with bunches of format tags. (Eventually things changed of course, with faster connection speeds.) [Edit: these conventions didn't change the actual format of the text, they just let the reader know that there was a particular emphasis.].

Underline used to be _Underline_

Italics used to be *Italics*

I'm not sure what boldface used to be, but maybe that's the #boldface#?

For the others, I guess I don't know (or don't remember).

[Edit: now that I look at it, the tilted quality of the vertical lines in '#' would seem to make it a more logical symbol for italics, rather than the '*' symbol. And yet I distinctly remember the '*' was used for italics. Weird. This is the first time I've noticed that. Now I'm doubting everything I've ever done.]

 

[zoobyshoe]

Thanks! I had no idea any of it had ever made any sense in any context.

I hate the hash mark thing. "#" used to be read as "number". If I wanted to indicate a number two pencil, I could write, "a #2 pencil." Or I could say, "I agree with points #2 and #5, but not with the rest."

 

[collinsmark]

Apparently, Twitter has now changed the way the world views the '#' symbol, now called the "hashtag." <cringe>

I too used to call it the "number sign" or sometimes "pound sign." To this day I sort of cringe every time I have to call it a "hashtag" to be understood by others. I'm still trying, but it's a hard road for me.

 

[WWGD]

While we're on the subject, explain setting off a word with underscores before and aft. Explain setting off a word with asterisks before and aft. Explain "hash marks." #explain #_ #* ##

In some forms of Latex , _a_ becomes edited as an underline, or as a bold. When you're using ASCII, i.e., regular keyboard characters, it usually indicates you're underlining, but mostly to those who use Latex, which I admit did not make sense in this thread.

 

[WWGD]

There is this weird dude that has sat right in front of my computer in the library like 5 times already, even when the library is mostly empty. There are around 20 computers in the section I always go to (and many other--around 30 available ones-- I estimate available ones in other sections) ; 10 pairs facing each other at face level, like in :


a a a...a
|-- ------ ---|
b b b...b

With each 'a' facing a 'b' .

Even when I am alone in a 'b' side and all the 'a' computers are empty, this dude sits right in front of me.

I don't know what to tell him other than 'don't ask, don't tell', go somewhere else for a gay hookup. Or maybe this guy does not understand or is not aware of basic unwritten rules, or of how weird the whole thing comes off . If this last is the case, I wonder how he has lasted to his age --he seems to be in his 30's -- in a city that is not always forgiving to outsiders.

 

[WWGD]

Takes me a few days to recover from the end of Summer : drinking frozen drinks ( coffee, mostly) , just hanging out much of the time, no need for sweaters, jackets, slowing down on the Rat Race. Some of the best days of my life ( la-la-life...).

 

[lisab]

There's a dead fly on my windowsill. A live fly just landed near it - I wonder what it thinks.

 

[DiracPool]

I always thought it is "I couldn't care less"?

Same diff'rence..

 

[lisab]

This is for our struggling students, starting school for the first time or for the bloody n^th time:

Hang in there, boys and girls.

 

[Evo]

I always thought it is "I couldn't care less"?

"I couldn't care less" is correct.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Or maybe this guy does not understand or is not aware of basic unwritten rules...

Public Seating Rule #1: pick the remaining seat which is farthest from all presently seated.

All reasonable people know this at birth.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Why do some people use the phrase "I could care less" to mean they don't care at all? Obviously I personally _could_ care less, or I would not be commenting on it.

This is addressed in Weird Al's "Word Crimes." at 1:07. A song which he should receive some kind of award for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

 

[AlephZero]

Public Seating Rule #1: pick the remaining seat which is farthest from all presently seated.

All reasonable people know this at birth.

Maybe, but

“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.”

-- George Bermard Shaw.

 

[Medicol]

I'm wondering why we haven't found any extraterrestrial lifeforms yet. We have our own origin and are composed of chemical elements. So there should be similar lifeforms on the moon or Mars. Years ago, I heard on the radio that they shot a robots up to Mars and used Java language to analyze its images. Now all those projects seems dead. We have satellites and high tech cameras, why couldn't we catch any sights of life on another planet yet?

 

[WWGD]

Maybe, but

-- George Bermard Shaw.

Still, there are rules that make sense, some don't . Ignoring rules that make no sense or that are counterproductive can lead to positive change; ignoring rules that make sense is absurd IMHO. Seating far away makes sense; you want to let the other, someone you don't know well if at all , that you're not up to no good, and that you give them their space. Most people , I believe, want to keep some distance from total strangers .There may be exceptions in small towns, but this is NYC .
Believe me, I am no fan of rules for rules sake, but I am neither a rebel without a clue; I believe some rules have a good reason for being. I try to follow those and ignore the ones that do not.