Random Thoughts Part 5: Time to Split Again

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The discussion revolves around various topics, including a dream about a person named Borek, reflections on the book "The Martian," and the complexities of educational systems in the US and UK. Participants share insights on the long and short scales of numbers, particularly regarding the term "billion," and discuss the differences in high school and college education between the two countries. The conversation also touches on personal anecdotes, such as perfecting a Kung Pao sauce recipe and experiences with local disturbances. Overall, the thread showcases a blend of light-hearted personal stories and deeper discussions on education and cultural differences.
  • #2,371
I went to calculate something just out of curiosity, but I saw the solar panel on my calculator needed cleaning. One thing lead to another and I ended up cleaning the whole thing; between the keys and such. Then I couldn't remember what I was going to calculate. It's been over two hours and I still can't remember.
 
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  • #2,372
Well now you have three things. One, a clean calculator. Two, an estimate of the typical time needed to clean a calculator. Three, evidence that whatever you wanted to calculate probably wasn't that critical.
 
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  • #2,373
I ain't afraid of losing my job, I'm only worried about being unable to find a new one.
 
  • #2,374
Ibix said:
I went to a conference once. One guy arrived a bit late and had forgotten to print the directions to the hotel. He got off the train, jumped into a cab and asked to be taken to the Railway Hotel. The clue is in the name, folks, and I gather that the cabbie's expression communicated that quite clearly...
Probably the same people who are surprised to see a sign in maps used to give orientation, that reads " You are Here". Then they ask: "How do they know"?
 
  • #2,375
WWGD said:
Probably the same people who are surprised to see a sign in maps used to give orientation, that reads " You are Here". Then they ask: "How do they know"?
Big Brother is watching, man!

I'm pretty smart, but am occasionally called scatter-brained. That's totally justified. The guy I was talking about goes way beyond me. He's perfectly capable of fairly detailed planning and clever problem solving if formally presented with a task. Left to his own devices he won't realize there's a problem to be solved until he's already lost the flashlight and forgotten he has two hands.
 
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  • #2,376
Once I decided to take a different route to home from uni and night fell while I was still driving. I went up a mountain with a road full of curves and I couldn't see very well. At one point I almost fell over a cliff in the mountain while taking a curve.

My heart beat increased so much, I stopped the vehicle. Took a deep breath and after a few seconds I resumed driving. This time very slowly and with the lights at max intensity.

Stuff that happens.
 
  • #2,377
Psinter said:
At one point I almost fell over a cliff in the mountain while taking a curve.
Did you happen to be speeding? Perhaps swatting a fly? :biggrin:

But seriously, that's scary. Luckily you were driving alone. If that happened while I was with someone, I'd probably scream, the driver would panic and, in the panic, accidentally hit the gas, and then we'd go off the cliff. The end. o:)
 
  • #2,378
ProfuselyQuarky said:
Did you happen to be speeding? Perhaps swatting a fly? :biggrin:

But seriously, that's scary. Luckily you were driving alone. If that happened while I was with someone, I'd probably scream, the driver would panic and, in the panic, accidentally hit the gas, and then we'd go off the cliff. The end. o:)
:DD That's comic.

I wasn't speeding. Oddly enough, when I realized I was going straight for the cliff in the curve, I hit the gas in a temporary panic, but instantly hit the break too. The temporary panic made me confuse the break with the gas. By luck, I came to a full stop before the tires and the vehicle went beyond a point of no return.

Edit: Thank goodness I wasn't in a Ferrari or a Corvette. Had I hit the gas in one of those vehicles with so much horsepower, I don't think I would have had the time to break. Given the acceleration I would have gone straight to the cliff. No funeral, straight to the pit at the bottom of the mountain. o:) :biggrin:
 
  • #2,379
WWGD said:
Probably the same people who are surprised to see a sign in maps used to give orientation, that reads " You are Here". Then they ask: "How do they know"?
:biggrin: PF = Physics Forums or Psychopath Forensics.
 
  • #2,380
Pepper Mint said:
:biggrin: PF = Physics Forums or Psychopath Forensics.
No, no. The last one is commonly known as Fox News.
 
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  • #2,381
ProfuselyQuarky said:
Did you happen to be speeding? Perhaps swatting a fly? :biggrin:

But seriously, that's scary. Luckily you were driving alone. If that happened while I was with someone, I'd probably scream, the driver would panic and, in the panic, accidentally hit the gas, and then we'd go off the cliff. The end. o:)
No, the fly came in when I was conducting a concert. Great music resulted.
 
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  • #2,382
WWGD said:
No, the fly came in when I was conducting a concert. Great music resulted.
Yeah, I've heard that you can do almost everything in the Central Park. So just a question: have there been musicians around? I mean as an intellectual man those won't be necessarily necessary. :biggrin:
 
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  • #2,383
WWGD said:
No, the fly came in when I was conducting a concert. Great music resulted.
That reminds me of this:

-a-robot-write-a-symphony-can-a-robot-turn-a-canvas-into-a-beautiful-masterpiece-can-you-quote-1.jpg


I for once have never written a symphony.
 
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  • #2,384
WWGD said:
No, the fly came in when I was conducting a concert. Great music resulted.
Eww, it is the mature figure of a disgusting maggot. You were probably using your baton to chase him away while the rest of other musical players thought you were guiding them with a totally new composition.
 
  • #2,385
WWGD said:
No, the fly came in when I was conducting a concert. Great music resulted.
A couple of weeks ago I was playing the violin in an orchestra rehearsal (in the leader/concertmaster position) and just as we were about to resume playing a huge shiny fly landed on the tip of my bow, which I noticed because of feeling the impact on the bow weight! I waved the bow around a bit but the fly clung on tightly so I held up the bow to show people (and the conductor) the reason for my strange activity. I excused myself for a moment and stood up and flicked the bow hard and heard the fly hit something, but I didn't see where it went. That was quite distracting, and great music definitely did not result.
 
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  • #2,386
Jonathan Scott said:
A couple of weeks ago I was playing the violin in an orchestra rehearsal (in the leader/concertmaster position) and just as we were about to resume playing a huge shiny fly landed on the tip of my bow, which I noticed because of feeling the impact on the bow weight! I waved the bow around a bit but the fly clung on tightly so I held up the bow to show people (and the conductor) the reason for my strange activity. I excused myself for a moment and stood up and flicked the bow hard and heard the fly hit something, but I didn't see where it went. That was quite distracting, and great music definitely did not result.
I guess I was thinking more about a cartoon with Porky Pig, where he was directing an orchestra when someone accidentally plugged his behind to an electrical outlet, i.e., he had a cable coming out of the outlet and plugged it up Porky's behind, making Porky move around like crazy. I was laughing almost nonstop like for a whole week.
 
  • #2,387
  • #2,388
  • #2,389
Borg said:
You haven't seen data.gov?
No, I will check it out, thanks.
 
  • #2,390
Counting the time til your OMG post. :oldwink:
 
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  • #2,391
Jonathan Scott said:
... a huge shiny fly landed on the tip of my bow, which I noticed because of feeling the impact on the bow weight!
That's amazing. :bow:
 
  • #2,393
World hockey championship starting today!
That's a big deal in my area :) Though our team has been playing quite bad in recent years (except for Silver in 2012), most people get excited about the event each year.
In fact, this is one of very few sport events (such as the Olympics and figure skating championships) that I ever watch on TV :p
 
  • #2,394
dlgoff said:
That's amazing. :bow:
Yet amazing things occur only once in a blue moon on PF's random thread.
It's truly sad to see conservative young people without a "seriously" positive attitude to be accepting of changes.
 
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  • #2,395
:eek: Why didn't this occur to me before? I could then walk over 30,000 miles before having to change my tennis! :-p

Source
46WopqY.jpg
 
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  • #2,396
Not going gentle into it.
 
  • #2,397
Nyquist wins the Kentucky Derby!

i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2016%2F0507%2Fr81138_1296x518_5%2D2.jpg


I had a cat named Nyquist. Actually, his full name was "Nyquist Stability Criterion for the function GH(s)," but he usually just went by Nyquist. He was an infamous cat among those who knew him. Vicious as all get out. He had utter mastery of his claws. He was quite a smart cat too. He would open doors by himself. And close the doors behind him.
 
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  • #2,398
collinsmark said:
I had a cat named Nyquist. Actually, his full name was "Nyquist Stability Criterion for the function GH(s)," but he usually just went by Nyquist.
Relevant: https://m.xkcd.com/26/
 
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  • #2,399
The tap used to open a tab in a browser seems unfortunately similar to the tap used to close it. I keep trying to do one and end up doing the other.
 
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