Random Thoughts Part 4 - Split Thread

[jim hardy]

tell them they've reached Hannibal Lechter
Password is "Guess who's coming to Dinner"
And you'll be right over.

 

[Borg]

tell them they've reached Hannibal Lechter
Password is "Guest"

And you'll be right over.

I spent the night in a hotel that had been visited by Anthony Hopkins.
It was actually a very nice hotel.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I spent the night in a hotel that had been visited by Anthony Hopkins.
It was actually a very nice hotel.

It sounds like you're surprised he'd have stayed in a very nice hotel.

 

[Astronuc]

And now for something completely different -

Antarctica post office seeking job applicants who can dodge 'smelly penguins,' live without showering
http://news.yahoo.com/antarctica-post-office-job-port-lockroy-application-190236612.html

 

[zoobyshoe]

And now for something completely different -

Antarctica post office seeking job applicants who can dodge 'smelly penguins,' live without showering
http://news.yahoo.com/antarctica-post-office-job-port-lockroy-application-190236612.html

Current temperature at the South Pole is -51F.
http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/antarctica/south-pole[/url/

 

[Astronuc]

Current temperature at the South Pole is -51F.
http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/antarctica/south-pole[/url/

And it's Summertime!

 

[Enigman]

tell them they've reached Hannibal Lechter
Password is "Guest"

And you'll be right over.

This is getting spooky.
Two weeks ago I started reading 'Silence of the Lambs' and Lecter remarked in there that valentines was just next week.
Right now, I just put down 'Hannibal' and this post crops up.

 

[Borg]

It sounds like you're surprised he'd have stayed in a very nice hotel.

Bad phrasing on my part.

 

[lisab]

And now for something completely different -

Antarctica post office seeking job applicants who can dodge 'smelly penguins,' live without showering
http://news.yahoo.com/antarctica-post-office-job-port-lockroy-application-190236612.html

Many years ago I volunteered at the San Francisco Academy of Sciences Aquarium. A wealthy donor gave a huge monetary gift with the stipulation that a penguin display be built.

Can confirm, they are *awfully* smelly birds.

 

[Borg]

Looking for a new car for my wife. I've emailed the same question to 4 different dealers and not one has answered the question that I asked. They either respond with boilerplate platitudes or answer a question that they made up. When I correct them, they respond with some new level of misunderstanding no matter how clearly I spell it out. It's interesting how stupid they can be until it's time to roll out how much they want to charge you. Only then do they understand every nuance of the process...

 

[fluidistic]

I've read about viruses are that are closely related to the rabies's one. Some bats contain these viruses, sometimes transmitting it to humans and other animals. Unfortunately the rabies vaccines is ineffective against those viruses and death is as far as I know, unavoidable.

 

[lisab]

I've read about viruses are that are closely related to the rabies's one. Some bats contain these viruses, sometimes transmitting it to humans and other animals. Unfortunately the rabies vaccines is ineffective against those viruses and death is as far as I know, unavoidable.

I haven't heard about this - as if rabies isn't scary enough!

I had a close call with rabies years ago. We had just adopted an adorable yellow Labrador puppy named Zoe. Now, before I tell this, please note that I'm all for vaccinations. For myself, my daughter, and my animals - I get them all. But you can't get your dog vaccinated against rabies until they're 6 months old.

Zoe's face started getting a bit wonky when she was about 4 months old. It's hard to describe, but the triangle between her mouth, eyes, and ears was kind of wrinkled in a strange way on one side. I took her to the vet. He wasn't sure what was going on but he thought it was an inflammation due to a tooth coming in. He said it would be OK, it just had to resolve on its own.

A few days later, she suddenly got worse. She could barely stand and her face was very wrinkled on both sides . Her front legs were suddenly stiff and she fell down a lot. I took her back to the vet, who just about freaked out when he saw her. He called that facial wrinkling a "sardonic grin". He examined her and said she had several symptoms which could indicate rabies! Bats carry rabies where I live. And so do raccoons, and sometimes skunks.

Long story short: she didn't make it , and the necropsy showed it was tetanus that got her, not rabies.

But I did a lot of research on rabies after the vet said we were possibly exposed. My conclusion: Holy. Living. Crap. You do not want rabies. Once symptoms show, it's fatal. Well not exactly - there are three known survivors. Not good odds.

This is a quite long random thought .

 

[fluidistic]

I've got a family of bats living in my bed room, hard to explain for me where exactly. Near the window inside the wall. I don't really notice when they leave at night but they come back at around 5:30 am to 6 am generally and they make high pitched sounds that's really annoying, leaving excrement under my window every day. I've got to clean that although I know that there diseases that could be transmitted through it, like the histoplasmosis. I don't know how to get rid of them and even if I could close their entrance I'm not sure I'd do it because I may leave a baby bat inside that's going to die and then I'd get the flies and the smell, etc.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I've got a family of bats living in my bed room, hard to explain for me where exactly. Near the window inside the wall. I don't really notice when they leave at night but they come back at around 5:30 am to 6 am generally and they make high pitched sounds that's really annoying, leaving excrement under my window every day. I've got to clean that although I know that there diseases that could be transmitted through it, like the histoplasmosis. I don't know how to get rid of them and even if I could close their entrance I'm not sure I'd do it because I may leave a baby bat inside that's going to die and then I'd get the flies and the smell, etc.

Hmmm. I have a quetion. Do you ever find yourself ruminating about taking justice into your own hands? Single-handed crime fighting wearing some sort of disguise?

 

[Ibix]

This is getting spooky.
Two weeks ago I started reading 'Silence of the Lambs' and Lecter remarked in there that valentines was just next week.
Right now, I just put down 'Hannibal' and this post crops up.

Relevant:
http://bbc.com/news/technology-31302312
...and relevant in two senses. It's about our sense of randomness and coincidence, and I read it the day before I read Enigman's comment.

 

[Enigman]

Hmmm. I have a quetion. Do you ever find yourself ruminating about taking justice into your own hands? Single-handed crime fighting wearing some sort of disguise?

From the dark under-reaches of the place only known as the 'Living Room' rises a herald of Death itself, a force of nature, a fell vigilante frothing, http://r.fod4.com/s=w800,pd1/o=85/http://a.fod4.com/images/user_photos/1352817/f4b4cd2a3e4d940c271b3a95a5b2df69_original.jpg

 

[WWGD]

I couldn't tell why the guy at the entrance of the subway was insulting everyone; he didn't seem crazy at first sight: "Asswipe, Asswipe,...". It turns out he was asking people to let him in, by giving him_ a swipe_, (one must swipe the card to be allowed in) but he was mumbling "can I have a swipe", and for some reason he was putting an emphasis on the last two words.

 

[Psinter]

The other day I was shaving and like always I bleed. My friend who was passing by and saw me shaving said: "What the hell is wrong with all that blood?! You're bleeding!" The conversation went like this:

Me: "Um... Yes. That's normal."
Friend: "No. That's not normal! That's a lot of blood! Just look at you! Plus that's an expensive blade you are using, you shouldn't bleed. Is it new?"
Me: "Yes, it is new. This is the second use."
Friend: "What the..." *confused*

So I don't know. Maybe it's just impossible to shave without bleeding.

 

[zoobyshoe]

You could go stand in the subway and solicit toilet paper from strangers to stop up the bleeding.

 

[zoki85]

The other day I was shaving and like always I bleed.

That's one of the reasons why I use modern electric razor to shave.

 

[JorisL]

Erhm, I never bled back when I used a razor.
Now I switched to hair clippers and trim the stuff.

 

[Enigman]

I am going to go find a bed to jump up and down on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/b...etails-on-discovery-of-go-set-a-watchman.html
http://time.com/3700537/harper-lee-new-novel-cover/

I need a new bed.
A Long-Lost Dr. Seuss Book Is Coming Out This Summer
An historian unearthed the first unseen Sherlock Holmes story in more than 80 years

 

[zoobyshoe]

I need a new bed.
A Long-Lost Dr. Seuss Book Is Coming Out This Summer
An historian unearthed the first unseen Sherlock Holmes story in more than 80 years

If you haven't already read the Sherlock Holmes (which is online) you will be disappointed. It's not a proper story, but a short occasional piece Doyle wrote to read at a fundraiser for a bridge.

 

[Enigman]

I did read the story and it read worse than a fan-fiction but...

 

[Lisa!]

My doctor is on vacation again! He's never around when I need him...

 

[zoobyshoe]

February is very neat and tidy this year. 4 weeks exactly, starts on Sunday, ends on Saturday.

http://www.free-printable-calendar.net/February-2015.html

 

[lisab]

I need a new bed.

In keeping with the recent string of unrandom thoughts of the collective, I read this as "I need a new beard".

But I sympathize. I need a new couch and, like beds, there is no way to buy one based on online research. You have to actually sit or/and lay on it to determine if you like it. What a pain in the neck!

 

[zoki85]

Ok Snowden, you're trying too hard. Assange's star of fame will always shine brighter.

 

[Bandersnatch]

There's an invention on Indiegogo called 'Flow' that allows honey to be harvested without opening the hive.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flow-hive-honey-on-tap-directly-from-your-beehive#home

I think it's been on for a couple of days at most. It had 70k USD as the funding goal. Just now it's breaking 2 million in pledges. They got 15k just during the time it took me to read through the thing.

I know next to nothing about bee keeping, but it looks like they solved some age-old problem since apparently every single bee keeper out there wants one of those.

That's a more impressive jackpot than all the facebooks, reddits and minecrafts taken together, I think.

 

[zoobyshoe]

...but it looks like they solved some age-old problem...

It's an artificial honeycomb. Normally you have to smoke the bees out to get in there and remove the whole honeycomb by hand, and then you have to somehow separate the honey from the wax, usually by heating past the melting point of the wax.

Thing about this method is you get no beeswax. That is usually worth something in it's own right, since it makes superior candles. The smoke from beeswax candles is light and unoffensive compared to paraffin smoke, which is smelly and sooty. But maybe it's not worth the time and cost for bee keepers.

 

[JorisL]

I've seen a a beekeeper which used a rotating thingamajing to get the honey out of the honeycomb.

Now I wonder what angular velocity one needs to make that work since honey is quite viscous. At least the store bought can be.
I should write that down to find out.

I get excited very quick about such things.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I've seen a a beekeeper which used a rotating thingamajing to get the honey out of the honeycomb.

That's a good idea. Maybe that's the way it's done nowadays. Somewhere in there they have to heat the honey to pasteurize it. Or maybe only large commercial operations are required to pasteurize. Someone pasteurizes it. I've read complaints from hippie types claiming this ruins the natural health benefits.

 

[Borek]

Maybe that's the way it's done nowadays

I am almost sure I have seen centrifuges dated 190x or 191x.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I am almost sure I have seen centrifuges dated 190x or 191x.

Do you recall what they were designed for?

 

[collinsmark]

 

[OmCheeto]

Twitter can be fun, sometimes:

Feb 21
Ran into OPAG chair Candy Hansen at airport. We were chatting & person next to us commented that we were speaking entirely in acronyms
I replied that we are NASA scientists and she said "Oh? Do they make you speak in acronyms?".
Yes. Yes they do. Lol.

------------------------------
Sarah Hörst
Assistant Prof of Planetary Science @JohnsHopkins, Titan evangelist, pomeranian wrangler. Prone to #sciencedancing. Loves socks. Stridently anti-breakfast.
Baltimore, MD, USA

OPAG: Outer Planets Assessment Group, NASA?

 

[Borek]

Do you recall what they were designed for?

I am referring to specialized centrifuges for honey extraction.

Interestingly, this doesn't confirm what I remember:

http://chestofbooks.com/animals/bees/History/Invention-Of-The-Honey-Extractor-Continued.html

As a kid I used to go for vacations to district of Mazury, which - before the WWII - was part of Germany. I remember such a centrifuge in one of the neighbors houses. I remember cast iron parts with a date clearly visible, but perhaps I am mixing it with date stamped on some other device? Even if so, the centrifuge must have been made before WWII. In the houses around there were plenty of such things, and they were old. After the war farming technology was in many respects put back in time, it was many years before Polish industry was able to supply such devices, and their parts were no longer cast.

 

[Borg]

Twitter can be fun, sometimes:

And educational.
http://41.media.tumblr.com/82cf22f8ef1e89862df4f874b1e22e23/tumblr_nk95e3EFiq1qewacoo1_500.png

 

[zoobyshoe]

I am referring to specialized centrifuges for honey extraction.

Interestingly, this doesn't confirm what I remember:

http://chestofbooks.com/animals/bees/History/Invention-Of-The-Honey-Extractor-Continued.html

As a kid I used to go for vacations to district of Mazury, which - before the WWII - was part of Germany. I remember such a centrifuge in one of the neighbors houses. I remember cast iron parts with a date clearly visible, but perhaps I am mixing it with date stamped on some other device? Even if so, the centrifuge must have been made before WWII. In the houses around there were plenty of such things, and they were old. After the war farming technology was in many respects put back in time, it was many years before Polish industry was able to supply such devices, and their parts were no longer cast.

Your link points out there was a lot of honey extraction related activity in Germany as far back as 1868:

"Langstroth, among other Americans, at once recognized its value and soon had made a machine for his own use. He, apparently, first learned of the discovery through German sources, since his announcement in theAmerican Bee Journalin April, 1868, tells of 'a plan devised in Germany for emptying the honey from the comb, without injuring the comb. ' He gave a picture of his machine and an enthusiastic report of the success of the new equipment."

Later in the article another inventor, Cowan, mentions a Silesian inventor, Buhne-Lauben, showing that around 1888 some Americans are still looking to German inventors, observing what they're up to.

"In the same magazine (August 16, 1888), Mr. Cowan tells of his success with this first outfit, but explains that it was safe to extract only old combs because of damage to new combs through breakage. He then described a similar machine invented by M. Buhne-Lauben, of Schleisen. When Cowan invented reversible baskets the radial principle was dormant for many a long year."

So, from that, it's completely plausible to me some embodiment of the honey extractor was being manufactured in Germany between 1900 and 1920. In fact, it would be more surprising to find it wasn't, given the acceleration in invention/mass production at that time. Your memory is probably accurate.

 

[WWGD]

An unusual experience: I was watching MTV and they were showing...music videos?!? Seems like most of their programming nowadays is anything but: sitcoms, general contests, etc. Maybe they should rebrand.

 

[WWGD]

Interesting, windows 8.1 just warned me about the dangers of opening Outlook...which is owned by microsoft. And my spellcheck somehow knows that microsoft is capitalized, but does not do so for caracas warsaw , i.e. if I click right after righting microsoft , my computer corrects by capitalizing the m.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Interesting, windows 8.1 just warned me about the dangers of opening Outlook...which is owned by microsoft.

Apparently outlook used to be a way in for bad stuff, and still can be if you climb into lion cages at the zoo:
http://www.howtogeek.com/171993/macros-explained-why-microsoft-office-files-can-be-dangerous/

 

[JorisL]

As a programmer/developer you have to assume the end user is an absolute idiot.
In a course where we had to design an application to control several pieces of lab equipment (oscilloscope, source etc.)
First we had to make it work.

The next step was making it "student proof" as the supervisor called it.
Apparently students are great at breaking that kind of applications. I heard of one particular case where a student would do random stuff for a while and inevitably would break it. When asked how he did it, he never knew.
He could repeat it however which meant you had to watch very close what he did.

Long story short, once in a blue moon that warning might help such an idiot to avoid infection of his computer.

 

[zoobyshoe]

As a programmer/developer you have to assume the end user is an absolute idiot.

In my case this would be a good assumption. However, the vague warning it could be dangerous to open Outlook is not an idiot-friendly warning. It's just confusing: "What the hell is this? Microsoft is warning against it's own software?"

There is a definite "Curse of Knowledge" cognitive bias on the part of people who design Windows:
Curse of Knowledge: When better-informed people find it extremely difficult to think about problems from the perspective of lesser-informed people.

The Mac OS, by contrast, seems to have actually been tested and improved by exposure to idiots.

 

[WWGD]

As a programmer/developer you have to assume the end user is an absolute idiot.
In a course where we had to design an application to control several pieces of lab equipment (oscilloscope, source etc.)
First we had to make it work.

The next step was making it "student proof" as the supervisor called it.
Apparently students are great at breaking that kind of applications. I heard of one particular case where a student would do random stuff for a while and inevitably would break it. When asked how he did it, he never knew.
He could repeat it however which meant you had to watch very close what he did.

Long story short, once in a blue moon that warning might help such an idiot to avoid infection of his computer.

Now could I "break" into Outlook? I have an account , what would "break it" mean?

 

[JorisL]

zooby, I agree with the problem of vague errors.
Also as far as I know, Mac OS is tested/foolproofed better.WWGD
Well I guess the unsafe part means downloading malware in this case.
I used the other part as an anecdote to drive home the point that users are to be protected against themselves.

However, phishing mails could pose a "breaking into" risk for example.

 

[Lisa!]

 

[Silicon Waffle]

They fought to show the audience their gratitude and eagerness, not to be meant as tree climbers for better observation.

 

[zoki85]

Referring to the Mythbusters should be forbidden in threads on these forums

 

[Ibix]

I agree. Report your post at once!