What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

In summary, the conversation consists of various discussions about documentaries, the acquisition of National Geographic by Fox, a funny manual translation, cutting sandwiches, a question about the proof of the infinitude of primes, and a realization about the similarity between PF and PDG symbols. The conversation also touches on multitasking and the uniqueness of the number two as a prime number.
  • #6,301
Star Trek.
 
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  • #6,302
I don't think @fresh_42 is going to like the approximation clock very much...

1592596542037.png
 
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  • #6,303
Love the limit of large 8.

We had a reverse clock at university - its hands and numbers went anti-clockwise. It was a perfectly good clock, but incredibly easy to misread. Exclamations of "****! I'm late for lectures! No... wait... never mind" were very common at about ten to two...
 
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  • #6,304
Incidentally, what's the ##\chi## such that ##\cos\chi\approx 1##? I tried googling "chi constant", but it turns out to be a deceased woman in California.
 
  • #6,305
Ibix said:
Incidentally, what's the ##\chi## such that ##\cos\chi\approx 1##? I tried googling "chi constant", but it turns out to be a deceased woman in California.

I think ##\chi## is just an arbitrary variable and it's using ##\cos{\chi} \approx 1 - \frac{1}{2}\chi^2 + \dots##
 
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  • #6,306
etotheipi said:
I think ##\chi## is just an arbitrary variable and it's using ##\cos{\chi} \approx 1 - \frac{1}{2}\chi^2 + \dots##
Surely it should be ##\cos(\epsilon)## then, no? Since ##\epsilon## is usually used to mean a small number.
 
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  • #6,307
Ibix said:
Surely it should be ##\cos(\epsilon)## then, no? Since ##\epsilon## is usually used to mean a small number.

Probably... though I have the suspicion whoever made this doesn't care much for convention :wink:
 
  • #6,308
And what's ##\varphi##? I was assuming the Golden Ratio, but that's about 1.6, so ##\varphi^3\approx 4##.

I do need a new clock, but I don't think I'll buy this one...
 
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  • #6,309
Ibix said:
And what's ##\varphi##? I was assuming the Golden Ratio, but that's about 1.6, so ##\varphi^3\approx 4##.

I do need a new clock, but I don't think I'll buy this one...
This one looks better:
1592599025728.jpeg
 
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  • #6,310
Ibix said:
And what's ##\varphi##? I was assuming the Golden Ratio, but that's about 1.6, so ##\varphi^3\approx 4##.

I do need a new clock, but I don't think I'll buy this one...

You're being too logical 😁

Embrace the chaos: ##\varphi \approx 2 \implies \varphi^3 \approx 8##
 
  • #6,311
Russell's paradox solved with Covid: If you don't shave yourself no one else will shave you. All barbershops are closed.
 
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  • #6,312
WWGD said:
Russell's paradox solved with Covid: If you don't shave yourself no one else will shave you. All barbershops are closed.

1592603272308.png
 
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  • #6,313
My ke yboard has kind of screwed up and three keys produce no output. I am thinking of may be creating a macro instead of just cutting and pasting the prolem keys in.
 
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  • #6,314
WWGD said:
My ke yboard has kind of screwed up and three keys produce no output. I am thinking of may be creating a macro instead of just cutting and pasting the prolem keys in.
I did this as I lost my 1 and my e.
 
  • #6,315
fresh_42 said:
I did this as I lost my 1 and my e.
...leaving you only ##\pi## and 0 to work with?
 
  • #6,316
Ibix said:
...leaving you only ##\pi## and 0 to work with?
Since I found AutoHotKey I don't bother anything. But I slowly run out of free keys. Maybe the Windows key will work beside Alt and Ctrl. Would be the first time this stupid thing is actually good for something, but I haven't figured out yet how to address it in the script.

Best of all: I eliminated Shift Lock!
 
  • #6,317
There is also , in Windows, an on-screen keyboard, a virtual keyboard that will pop up on your screen. You can access it by entering 'osk' on the search box.
 
  • #6,318
WWGD said:
There is also , in Windows, an on-screen keyboard, a virtual keyboard that will pop up on your screen. You can access it by entering 'osk' on the search box.
...unless o, s, or k is one of the broken keys.
 
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  • #6,319
Ibix said:
...unless o, s, or k is one of the broken keys.
Good point. I think 'O' may be enough, maybe 'k'. I think you can use an external one .
 
  • #6,320
Ibix said:
...unless o, s, or k is one of the broken keys.
You can find the On Screen Keyboard with a mouse (or track-pad or touchscreen). On Windows 10 it's on the Start Menu under "Windows Ease of Access".

And once you've found it, you can pin it (i.e. make a shortcut) somewhere more convenient.
 
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  • #6,321
I can attest that it's definitely Monday. o0)
 
  • #6,323


 
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  • #6,324
I can't find my files after the Indian festival "Dalit" . Coincidence?
 
  • #6,325
A not quite serious quiz:
  1. Which number should be considered the beginning of mathematics?
    0
  2. Which real number is the most important for nature?
    e
  3. Which prime is the most mysterious?
    137
  4. Which angle is the most important to mankind?
    104.45°
Who gets the vector correct?
 
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  • #6,326
1) square root of 2
2) pi
3) e
4) the right angle

Who gets the vector correct? A tensor.
 
  • #6,327
jedishrfu said:
1) square root of 2
2) pi
3) e
4) the right angle

Who gets the vector correct? A tensor.
0(4) :biggrin:
 
  • #6,328
Indian festival 'Dalit' renamed 'Ctrl+ Alt+ Dalit' in Indian Tech sector.
 
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  • #6,329
I suspect though this bit of Indian humor is racist against Dalits.
 
  • #6,330
jedishrfu said:
I suspect though this bit of Indian humor is racist against Dalits.
I don't even know what Dalits are. Would be nice if non-Westerners mock some Western names that mean different things in their countries. I think many in the West mock themselves but I unserstand the current social , political climate has everyone on edge in this regard. Still, I don't see how I am mocking neither them nor their culture with my post.
 
  • #6,331
Dalits are the untouchable class in India. They are discriminated against at all levels of society.
 
  • #6,332
jedishrfu said:
Dalits are the untouchable class in India. They are discriminated against at all levels of society.
I understand, and I don't condone it, but I don't think I was making light of that fact nor mocking them. Still, if it is better for PF, maybe better to delete it. Should I( Staff can then delete the followup posts)?
 
  • #6,333
I wasn’t suggesting that I just wanted to point it out that sometimes jokes sound funnier to people when they have a bad hidden meaning.

I remember as a kid the polish jokes that were often made which conveniently forgot about the Polish efforts to break Enigma during WW2 that gave the British the foundation they needed to carry on the task.
 
  • #6,334
jedishrfu said:
I wasn’t suggesting that I just wanted to point it out that sometimes jokes sound funnier to people when they have a bad hidden meaning.

I remember as a kid the polish jokes that were often made which conveniently forgot about the Polish efforts to break Enigma during WW2 that gave the British the foundation they needed to carry on the task.
Agreed. I have trouble in particular with "Dumb Polish" jokes, not just for the obvious reasons but because Poles have a long and distinguished record of academic accomplishment.
 
  • #6,335
My friend and I once did a Relativistic polish parody for our modern physics class. It was the barn pole paradox where he was the pole since he was Polish. I can’t remember the details but everyone laughed.
 
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