Random Thoughts Part 5: Time to Split Again

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Discussion Overview

The thread features a variety of informal discussions, including personal anecdotes, reflections on dreams, cultural comparisons regarding education systems, and thoughts on numerical scales. Participants share their experiences and opinions on topics ranging from literature and dreams to educational standards in the US and UK.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share personal dreams involving a community member, Borek, and discuss interpretations of these dreams.
  • There is a discussion about the differences between the long and short scales of numerical values, particularly regarding the term "billion" and its usage in different cultures.
  • Participants express differing views on the quality of higher education in the US compared to the UK, with some asserting that American high school courses can be equivalent to university-level courses.
  • One participant mentions their experience with Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the US, arguing against the notion that American education is "dumbed down."
  • Another participant shares their experience with the discomfort of playing guitar after a long break, tying it into a creative project related to fish.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions on educational standards, with no clear consensus on whether American education is comparable to British education. The discussion on numerical scales also reveals differing interpretations and understandings among participants.

Contextual Notes

Some statements regarding educational comparisons may depend on personal experiences and regional differences in curriculum. The discussion on numerical scales highlights potential confusion stemming from varying definitions and terminologies used in different countries.

  • #151
Borg said:
Speaking of winter weather, it looks like a Big Ol Snow Storm is headed for the east coast this weekend. We've haven't gotten any for the last few years so it will be nice to have a BOSS or two pass through this winter. :oldlove:

Maybe just coincidence, but it seems next storm will be named HUGO, so we will have HUGO BOSS, the first storm with a fragrance, I guess.
 
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  • #152
WWGD said:
Someone else weird enough: celebrating his anti-birthday, the day in the year farthest from his birthday ( July 17 ). And I glazed off when he started explaining why he felt the need to celebrate it. Another ride on the subway.
No mathematician, for sure. A mathematician would have called it co-birthday.
 
  • #153
fresh_42 said:
No mathematician, for sure. A mathematician would have called it co-birthday.
I heard it named that ... at Co-KFC, the Cokernel's place, while eating Co-Chicken?
 
  • #154
WWGD said:
Maybe just coincidence, but it seems next storm will be named HUGO, so we will have HUGO BOSS, the first storm with a fragrance, I guess.
Where did you see that? Hugo was retired as a Tropical Storm name in 1989 but I don't know if it applies to Winter Storm names also. This is the list that I found on the Weather Channel's site.
2015-2016-winter-storm-names.jpg
 
  • #155
WWGD said:
I heard it named that ... at Co-KFC, the Cokernel's place, while eating Co-Chicken?
co-eating! Don't forget the co-morphisms!
 
  • #156
Borg said:
This is the list that I found on the Weather Channel's site.
Here they used to call the deep pressure systems by female and the high pressure systems by male names ... until a few years ago PC ruled in.
 
  • #157
Borg said:
Where did you see that? Hugo was retired as a Tropical Storm name in 1989 but I don't know if it applies to Winter Storm names also. This is the list that I found on the Weather Channel's site.
2015-2016-winter-storm-names.jpg
I may have just imagined it, I guess.
 
  • #158
WWGD said:
P.S: Anyone else having trouble finding the scroll bar for this page?
Seems to be there... Firefox version - 43.0.4.

Scroll bar.JPG
 
  • #159
A few weeks ago, I was in a rural area of Costa Rica, in a jungle village. It was a village with mostly indigenous people. My husband and I visited a place where they make traditional pottery. No electricity is used in making these pots: they grind the clay, spin the potting wheel, and decorate the pots all by hand; they're fired in a hand-made kiln made of horse poop and clay, heated with wood.

We wanted to buy two pots but didn't have enough cash. No problem - the guy swiped our debit card in his phone, and voila we were on our way with two beautiful pots.

Today, I drove a couple hours to a car dealership near Seattle, to buy a car. The time comes to do the deed, and -- WHOOPS! -- they don't take cards. I had to drive home and back to get my freakin' checkbook. Paper checks...they needed a paper check. Sheesh.

oh and i bought a car today :woot:.
 
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  • #160
lisab said:
oh and i bought a car today :woot:.
Congratulations!
 
  • #161
wolram said:
The Chinese people work them selves to death, and their working conditions are far below the west, it is no wonder.

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/content/wages-china

I've actually been to these factories, and they are hardly as abysmal as people are making them out to be. For most of those workers, working in factories is far better than what they'd instead be doing (subsidiary farming). Wages aren't even that low these days, far higher than in other developing countries.
 
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  • #162
OCR said:
Seems to be there... Firefox version - 43.0.4.

View attachment 94495
Scroll bar is back, fortunately, I was using Chrome, tho.
 
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  • #163
Sophia said:
Me. the scroll bar is the same colour as page background
Are you also using Chrome? Is it back?
 
  • #164
Heard that Moore's law may not still apply. Maybe this is why I cannot find a new PC with more RAM and higher processor speed for the same price as the one I bought just a year ago.
 
  • #165
After a big issue had been made on my throwing a banana peel in a tree planted in a public street, a followup ( original place where I posted is locked): plenty of cigarette buts, regular trash, animal feces... but no banana peels.
 
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  • #166
WWGD said:
Are you also using Chrome? Is it back?
I'm using firefox on Linux. But fortunately, I noticed it is the same colour as background only yesterday after reading your post. I use that small wheel on mouse to move the page so I don't need it.
 
  • #167
lisab said:
A few weeks ago, I was in a rural area of Costa Rica, in a jungle village. It was a village with mostly indigenous people. My husband and I visited a place where they make traditional pottery. No electricity is used in making these pots: they grind the clay, spin the potting wheel, and decorate the pots all by hand; they're fired in a hand-made kiln made of horse poop and clay, heated with wood.

We wanted to buy two pots but didn't have enough cash. No problem - the guy swiped our debit card in his phone, and voila we were on our way with two beautiful pots.

Today, I drove a couple hours to a car dealership near Seattle, to buy a car. The time comes to do the deed, and -- WHOOPS! -- they don't take cards. I had to drive home and back to get my freakin' checkbook. Paper checks...they needed a paper check. Sheesh.

oh and i bought a car today :woot:.
I'm not sure about the US but here only bigger shops can afford accepting credit cards. It's quite expensive and they have to pay a fee for each transaction or even some % from the transaction, I'm not sure now.
Anyway, one would expect a car seller to sacrifice a few cents or even dollars from his profit when selling a car :-)
 
  • #168
lisab said:
We wanted to buy two pots but didn't have enough cash. No problem - the guy swiped our debit card in his phone, and voila we were on our way with two beautiful pots.

Today, I drove a couple hours to a car dealership near Seattle, to buy a car. The time comes to do the deed, and -- WHOOPS! -- they don't take cards.
Love the irony in that one. Congratulations on the new car. :smile:
 
  • #169
HomogenousCow said:
I've actually been to these factories, and they are hardly as abysmal as people are making them out to be. For most of those workers, working in factories is far better than what they'd instead be doing (subsidiary farming). Wages aren't even that low these days, far higher than in other developing countries.
The parts that disturbed me were the ones about payment of wages being 'delayed', and the abandonment of middle aged and older workers. It's one thing to be officially making a certain wage but another when that wage ends up never getting paid. Also, if, upon reaching the age of 40, employers start to marginalize you, what hope do you have for the future?
 
  • #170
I was very energetic working on my slime mold lab culture and all of a sudden the alert bell rang. Now all my enthusiasm to continue the work disappears. What the...!?:):DD.
Off I go to watch TV.
 
  • #171
Meet my first bonsai trees that I got today and Murko. His left eye is not really as dark as in this picture.
There's a towel to prevent draft from the window on the trees and seeds for birds on the left side :)
Murko was investigating the bonsais very carefully for a long time and - what a relief!- finally decided he would not eat them :) (he likes my dracenas, tough, he eats them like grass if he gets a chance!)
bonsai.jpg
 
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  • #172
Silicon Waffle said:
I was very energetic working on my slime mold lab culture and all of a sudden the alert bell rang. Now all my enthusiasm to continue the work disappears. What the...!?:):DD.
Off I go to watch TV.
How did the slime mold feel about that?
 
  • #173
Krylov said:
How did the slime mold feel about that?
Nothing but my teacher is getting mad. She actually is quite schizophrenic, if you know where to turn her on.
 
  • #174
lisab said:
A few weeks ago, I was in a rural area of Costa Rica, in a jungle village. It was a village with mostly indigenous people. My husband and I visited a place where they make traditional pottery. No electricity is used in making these pots: they grind the clay, spin the potting wheel, and decorate the pots all by hand; they're fired in a hand-made kiln made of horse poop and clay, heated with wood.

We wanted to buy two pots but didn't have enough cash. No problem - the guy swiped our debit card in his phone, and voila we were on our way with two beautiful pots.

Today, I drove a couple hours to a car dealership near Seattle, to buy a car. The time comes to do the deed, and -- WHOOPS! -- they don't take cards. I had to drive home and back to get my freakin' checkbook. Paper checks...they needed a paper check. Sheesh.

oh and i bought a car today :woot:.

Congratulations. Maybe you should have paid them in pennies to show them how convenient their payment methods are. So much for pleasing the customer.
 
  • #175
WWGD said:
Congratulations. Maybe you should have paid them in pennies to show them how convenient their payment methods are. So much for pleasing the customer.
:DD
 
  • #176
I cleaned up my mess.
I am not here to get a life or introduced a new life.
 
  • #177
Silicon Waffle said:
I was very energetic working on my slime mold lab culture and all of a sudden the alert bell rang. Now all my enthusiasm to continue the work disappears. What the...!?:):DD.
Off I go to watch TV.
You obviously had your mind on other things.
 
  • #178
Evidence suggests that I was hungry last night and ate one of my contact lenses.

I don't know how that can happen. They have absolutely no nutritional value. And I'm blind as a bat without them.

It defies all logic. Yet here I am.
 
  • #179
collinsmark said:
Evidence suggests that I was hungry last night and ate one of my contact lenses.

I don't know how that can happen. They have absolutely no nutritional value. And I'm blind as a bat without them.

It defies all logic. Yet here I am.
There is a kind of nasty way to try to recover them if they are expensive.
 
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  • #180
collinsmark said:
Evidence suggests that I was hungry last night and ate one of my contact lenses.
That's very mysterious. What was the evidence?
 

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