Random Thoughts Part 4 - Split Thread

[lisab]

It really annoys me that whenever I have a conversation about the existence of god, my carefully thought out and articulated argument is retorted with some generic word salad like "some things are simply not meant to be understood". I know I should just drop it but it bothers me to no end.

I had a "conversation" with a very religious coworker a while back (I should know better!). His argument: the very fact that atheists exist proves they're wrong about god.

*facepalm*

 

[Borg]

You just need to finish their sentence for them.

some things are simply not meant to be understood"

- by religious people. Which is why they resort to religion.

I had a "conversation" with a very religious coworker a while back (I should know better!). His argument: the very fact that atheists exist proves they're wrong about god.

*facepalm*

So the fact that religious people exist means that they are wrong?

 

[OmCheeto]

I had a "conversation" with a very religious coworker a while back (I should know better!). His argument: the very fact that atheists exist proves they're wrong about god.

*facepalm*

One day I asked one my religious coworkers if he believed in evolution yet. He said; "Only in your case".

I thought that was very funny.

 

[micromass]

 

[DennisN]

Two products which I could never imagine they existed... I have been waiting for them all my life... must buy... must buy...

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cartoon-Fabric-Cloth-Anti-Dust-Air-Conditioner-TV-Set-Television-TV-Remote-Control-Cover-Case-Protective/32363706162.html

Smart Bluetooth Fishing Floats Electric Light Night Balsa Bobbers Tackle Tools
EDIT: There's even a video demonstrating the Bluetooth Fishing Tool... :)

 

[WWGD]

Tried that "Sounds of running water" to help me sleep, only made me go to pee like 30 times.

 

[lisab]

Tried that "Sounds of running water" to help me sleep, only made me go to pee like 30 times.

There was a university close to where I used to live that had a beautiful library that was open extended hours. So convenient! I tried studying there a few times, but it was just too distracting -- there was a fountain in the middle of the building and you could here the tinkling no matter where you sat. Not conducive to deep thought .

 

[jobyts]

Is this DaveC426913 on a pumpkin?
http://www.amusingtime.com/images/041/funny-pumpkin-face.jpg

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Is this DaveC426913 on a pumpkin?
http://www.amusingtime.com/images/041/funny-pumpkin-face.jpg

That is Dave ? Oh...oh...uhmm.

 

[WWGD]

There was a university close to where I used to live that had a beautiful library that was open extended hours. So convenient! I tried studying there a few times, but it was just too distracting -- there was a fountain in the middle of the building and you could here the tinkling no matter where you sat. Not conducive to deep thought .

Bad idea of changing a format that works well: just peace and quiet, specially with the barage of noise and (over) stimulation in modern life.

 

[Astronuc]

System Failure! Alabama Teacher of the Year (who is apparently qualified) is told she's unqualified [by officials of the Alabama Department of Education], resigns

Corgill has Class A and B certifications to teach primary school through third grade, according to certification records provided by The Alabama Department of Education. Corgill said she started this school year at Birmingham's Oliver Elementary School teaching second grade, but shortly after the semester began, she was moved to a fifth-grade classroom.
. . . .
But Corgill — a 2015 National Teacher of the Year finalist — holds National Board Certification to teach children ages 7 to 12, a group that would include most fifth-graders. That certification is valid until November 2020, according to the National Board Certification directory.

http://news.yahoo.com/alabama-teacher-told-shes-unqualified-resigns-125621939.html

I wonder if this is a case of unqualified bureaucrats deciding a qualified professional is unqualified - because they are incompetent, or they just have an agenda to demolish the educational system.

 

[HomogenousCow]

Seems like every week some guy with an eerily casual display portrait shows up here asking weird questions.

 

[WWGD]

I always found the name " Big Foot" , whether describing a real being or not, strange. Is it really the feet that describe the (alleged) being?

 

[Enigman]

I believe it was the footprints presented as evidence of the sasquatch that garnered its name.

 

[zoobyshoe]

System Failure! Alabama Teacher of the Year (who is apparently qualified) is told she's unqualified [by officials of the Alabama Department of Education], resigns

http://news.yahoo.com/alabama-teacher-told-shes-unqualified-resigns-125621939.html

I wonder if this is a case of unqualified bureaucrats deciding a qualified professional is unqualified - because they are incompetent, or they just have an agenda to demolish the educational system.

The agenda of bureaucrats is to perpetuate the bureaucracy. In pursuit of that, they often have the effect of a cancer, damaging and even killing the host organism, in this case the educational system.

Feynman has a story about a school curriculum committee he dealt with in his book, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman." It was maddening. (It's part of the chapter called, "Judging Books by their Covers.")

 

[WWGD]

I believe it was the footprints presented as evidence of the sasquatch that garnered its name.

Good point. How about the TV show " Myth Busters" .Shouldn't it be " Myth Testers" ? The Myths sometimes hold up. Once you answer this one, I have only around 340 more to go :).

 

[zoobyshoe]

Good point. How about the TV show " Myth Busters" .Shouldn't it be " Myth Testers" ? The Myths sometimes hold up. Once you answer this one, I have only around 340 more to go :).

You are absolutely and incontrovertibly correct. It should be "Myth Testers."

 

[zoobyshoe]

Fall back!

 

[WWGD]

You are absolutely and incontrovertibly correct. It should be "Myth Testers."

Thank you, and sorry for not referring to you my other question on your relatives.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Thank you, and sorry for not referring to you my other question on your relatives.

Regardless, the answer supplied by Enigman was absolutely and incontrovertibly correct.

 

[WWGD]

Regardless, the answer supplied by Enigman was absolutely and incontrovertibly correct.

OK, and thanks for not saying " Irregardless" , seems like the new thing, have heard it a few times recently. EDIT : My point is that it is possible they could have found a short creature with really big feet. Would have been more interesting that way, I would say.

 

[zoobyshoe]

OK, and thanks for not saying " Irregardless" , seems like the new thing, have heard it a few times recently. EDIT : My point is that it is possible they could have found a short creature with really big feet. Would have been more interesting that way, I would say.

Well consider: they haven't found a tall creature with big feet. All there is is big footprints.

 

[wolram]

I bet no one has heard about the Bishops Itchington Rooligator, it is green, red and blue and travels around the country side at high speed, it is most often seen by people that partake of a hard to find mushroom.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

dunno what to generate during this weekend.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

I bet no one has heard about the Bishops Itchington Rooligator, it is green, red and blue and travels around the country side at high speed, it is most often seen by people that partake of a hard to find mushroom.

I'd think an Unrooligator would be worse, especially like the ones we had around here going "Trick or Treat!" last night.

Speaking of hallucinogens, Google Street View seems to be totally confused in your vicinity. One can get closer to the close by selecting an arrow in the opposite direction, but not very close.

 

[wolram]

I'd think an Unrooligator would be worse, especially like the ones we had around here going "Trick or Treat!" last night.

Speaking of hallucinogens, Google Street View seems to be totally confused in your vicinity. One can get closer to the close by selecting an arrow in the opposite direction, but not very close.

The close is near the church, just off Plough Lane

 

[Jonathan Scott]

The close is near the church, just off Plough Lane

Yes, so I noticed, but if I'm feeling nosey enough to try to go into it from Google Street View, I end up back on Plough Lane in a very odd state, with the only navigation directions available pointing through a house. And an arrow may appear pointing away from the close, which if I click on it goes just into the close, but any attempt to go further makes it jump back to Plough Lane! You seem to have an interesting "stealth" mechanism at work.

 

[rootone]

I've seen that kind of behaviour as well.
When street view was new I 'drove' it to outside of the apartment block I lived in at the time.
From there I could apparently continue to drive on and enter the building, but if I attempted to do that I got teleported about 100m back down the street.

 

[wolram]

Yes, so I noticed, but if I'm feeling nosey enough to try to go into it from Google Street View, I end up back on Plough Lane in a very odd state, with the only navigation directions available pointing through a house. And an arrow may appear pointing away from the close, which if I click on it goes just into the close, but any attempt to go further makes it jump back to Plough Lane! You seem to have an interesting "stealth" mechanism at work.

Here you go. only it says no 1 ours is no 5.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.2151117,-1.4340697,1351m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Works fine in satellite view but Street View still jumps back to Plough Lane. Anyway, I can't see any rooligators in the field across Plough Lane. I'll have to keep an eye out for them next time I pass by along the M40 (visiting wife's parents in Coventry).

 

[zoobyshoe]

I watching this thing on the History Channel about earthquakes in San Francisco.

They're saying if an earthquake hit it today the same magnitude and placement as the 1906 one the destruction would be just as complete, and the city would again be finished off by fires.

The official death toll of the 1906 quake was given to be 465 at the time, but research since then shows it was actually up over 3000.

 

[DiracPool]

I've dialed up some banal information for y'all in case you're sitting around bored wanting something to do. If you were to be executed, what would your last meal be? How about this one:

STEPHEN WAYNE ANDERSON
Anderson was an American murderer who was executed in California's San Quentin State Prison by lethal injection in 2002. He killed an 81-year-old piano teacher by shooting her in the face. His last meal was two grilled cheese sandwiches, one pint of cottage cheese, a hominy/corn mixture, one slice of peach pie, one pint of chocolate chip ice cream, and radishes.

I must admit, that's pretty creative. I don't think I could come up with that one. If you want some more fun learning what notable n'er do well's ate for their last meals, visit this site: http://www.brainjet.com/random/9553...60815&utm_medium=referral&pid=5396227#slide/0

 

[zoobyshoe]

I saw the movie The Prestige for the first time last night. It was a lot better than I anticipated and I was surprised by all the revelations at the ending.

The reason I avoided it for so long was because I knew Tesla was a character in the plot and I didn't want to see some Hollywood misrepresentation of him. Unfortunately, the film delivers exactly what I was afraid of. The film ascribes the invention of a certain incredible device to Tesla, a thing which he never actually invented and was never working on. That's not the fiction that bothers me. What bothered me is that in the film Tesla agrees to sell it to only one person and never publicly reveal it's existence. That is so unlike Tesla that the character presented in the film is essentially not Tesla.

Regardless, since the film, itself, is set up in the form of a magic trick, it's O.K., because it's in the nature of magic tricks that things are misrepresented.

 

[WWGD]

I watching this thing on the History Channel about earthquakes in San Francisco.

They're saying if an earthquake hit it today the same magnitude and placement as the 1906 one the destruction would be just as complete, and the city would again be finished off by fires.

The official death toll of the 1906 quake was given to be 465 at the time, but research since then shows it was actually up over 3000.

And AFAIK, it was not rebuilt up to code. Politicians gave into the pressure to rebuild quickly without changing the building codes. So you got a tinder box, a disaster in waiting.

 

[WWGD]

I wonder why so many women in these sleazy shows dealing with paternity issues put themselves in such position. They swear X fathered their child, that it could not have been anyone else, only to often find out, after the DNA tests (a man's best friend) that X is not the father of their child. And sometimes it turns out that neither of Y nor Z nor W, etc. are the father.

 

[WWGD]

I've dialed up some banal information for y'all in case you're sitting around bored wanting something to do. If you were to be executed, what would your last meal be? How about this one:

STEPHEN WAYNE ANDERSON
Anderson was an American murderer who was executed in California's San Quentin State Prison by lethal injection in 2002. He killed an 81-year-old piano teacher by shooting her in the face. His last meal was two grilled cheese sandwiches, one pint of cottage cheese, a hominy/corn mixture, one slice of peach pie, one pint of chocolate chip ice cream, and radishes.

I must admit, that's pretty creative. I don't think I could come up with that one. If you want some more fun learning what notable n'er do well's ate for their last meals, visit this site: http://www.brainjet.com/random/9553...60815&utm_medium=referral&pid=5396227#slide/0

Willing to bet no one ordered a vegetarian meal. Or not even a salad.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

 

[OmCheeto]

I am being overwhelmed, by being in too many PF "Houston, we've got a problem here" threads at once.
I wonder how long it would be, if I cut and pasted comments, from one thread to the other, before anyone noticed.
hmmmm...

 

[zoobyshoe]

And AFAIK, it was not rebuilt up to code. Politicians gave into the pressure to rebuild quickly without changing the building codes. So you got a tinder box, a disaster in waiting.

Yes, this program went into that. Right after the 1906 quake, the city put building codes into effect. So many developers refused to comply, that the city gave up on trying to enforce them. So, the city is packed full of these three story buildings that have "soft" first stories, unreinforced by any diagonal bracing. These buildings are going to skew instantly in a magnitude 8 quake, and a lot of them will collapse. Additionally, gas lines everywhere are going to break and fires will start. No fire department in the world is equipped to handle that many fires at once, so most of the city will burn down. 1906 will simply be repeated, but with a larger population.

 

[WWGD]

Always wondered why June and July are abbreviated as Jun. and Jul. How much time does one save that way, really?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Always wondered why June and July are abbreviated as Jun. and Jul. How much time does one save that way, really?

Well, it saves ink. That adds up. Over the past thousand years, those abbreviations have probably saved humanity a gallon of ink.

 

[Astronuc]

An example of someone who shouldn't own or otherwise have access to a gun.
Arizona Man Leaves Granddaughter, 5, in Desert With Loaded Gun
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/arizona-man-leaves-granddaughter-5-in-1292166895321142.html

After downing a cheeseburger and a handful of drinks Sunday evening, Paul Rater called home and ordered his wife to come get him, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says, per the Arizona Republic. But instead of his wife showing up at the South Buckeye Equestrian Center, the cops did—and hauled him into a Maricopa County jail on child endangerment and abuse charges for allegedly leaving his 5-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with a peculiar and perilous set of instructions.

“He came across multiple people and never thought he should call 911,” deputies say in the statement.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Wow, we're having quite a thunder and lightning storm here. A little while ago it was also hailing. Very unusual for San Diego.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Wow, we're having quite a thunder and lightning storm here. A little while ago it was also hailing. Very unusual for San Diego.

http://ca.gov/drought/
I think people like "wet" more than "dry". The US is almost dry. Asian countries offer best wet conditions.

 

[OmCheeto]

http://ca.gov/drought/
I think people like "wet" more than "dry". The US is almost dry. Asian countries offer best wet conditions.

I think people like to complain, no matter what the weather is.

Ignore the audio!

Stinkin' whiners...​

Our electric trains are now certified "semi-submersible safe".

 

[Silicon Waffle]

I think people like to complain, no matter what the weather is.

Ignore the audio!
​

Our electric trains are now certified "semi-submersible safe".

Complaining is human nature !
Poor the train and its operators!

 

[WWGD]

Wow, we're having quite a thunder and lightning storm here. A little while ago it was also hailing. Very unusual for San Diego.

It would behoove them to find a way of saving that water there in CA -- in the whole SW of the country for that matter..

 

[zoobyshoe]

It would behoove them to find a way of saving that water there in CA -- in the whole SW of the country for that matter..

That would be a big and expensive and complex project.

The good news is that Ca. is getting serious about desalinization of ocean water.

 

[WWGD]

That would be a big and expensive and complex project.

The good news is that Ca. is getting serious about desalinization of ocean water.

Is desalinization significantly less expensive and/or smaller, etc. though?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Is desalinization significantly less expensive and/or smaller, etc. though?

I wouldn't know about the cost comparison, but I suspect desalinization is more vetted and have read the costs are coming down as they figure out better ways to do it.