Today I Learned

[KingGambit]

It's the word for God in Hebrew, and their names are all phrases that refer to God somehow.

Edit: or at least, the christian canonical angels' names are so. Whether a TV series stuck to that or just decided that anything ending in -el sounded angel-y is, of course, another question.

Yes, just like IsraEL
El, here means God (Elohim?) I don't know. I'm not a Jews myself.
And I read somewhere that Isra-el, means
Fight with God (Elohim)
or
Struggle with God.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that in the most distant galaxies time appears to pass at 20% of the actual rate.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

TIL that in the most distant galaxies time appears to pass at 20% of the actual rate.

The "actual rate"? What is that? ;)

 

[PeterDonis]

The "actual rate"? What is that? ;)

I assume @Hornbein was referring to this thread:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/cosmological-time-dilation-of-high-redshift-quasars.1053780/

Please discuss further there if needed.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I assume @Hornbein was referring to this thread:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/cosmological-time-dilation-of-high-redshift-quasars.1053780/

Please discuss further there if needed.

Ah.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...temperature-on-record-as-climate-crisis-bites

And all over the country people are objecting: I've seen it hotter here before!!!!

 

[Hornbein]

And all over the country people are objecting: I've seen it hotter here before!!!!

I used to be amazed that few understand the concept of an average. Then I came to expect this.

 

[symbolipoint]

Mike Judge, the creator of the animated cartoon, "Beavis And Butthead", earned a bachelor's degree in Physics before turning to entertainments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Judge

(small grammatical edit)

 

[Hornbein]

The Mike Judge, the creator of the animated cartoon, "Beavis And Butthead", earned a bachelor's degree in Physics before turning to entertainments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Judge

Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine holds a BA in social studies from Harvard University. He publishes a regular newsletter in the New York Times. His father participated in the Mau Mau uprising. He worked as a stripper and also in the office of United States Senator Alan Cranston. Now that's versatility.

 

[strangerep]

And I read somewhere that Isra-el, means
Fight with God (Elohim)
or
Struggle with God.

I don't understand this. Why would they fight/struggle with God? Isn't he supposed to be on their side? And (in the other possible interpretation) why would an omnipotent God "fight" or "struggle" at all??

Maybe I should have posted this in the "Things That Make No Sense" thread.

 

[pinball1970]

I don't understand this. Why would they fight/struggle with God? Isn't he supposed to be on their side? And (in the other possible interpretation) why would an omnipotent God "fight" or "struggle" at all??

Maybe I should have posted this in the "Things That Make No Sense" thread.

The OT is one big struggle! Anything more than that will land me in PF prison.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL that blockbuster has its roots in war and munitions, not money, investment and marketing. "Blockbuster" is a weapon/ that can take out an entire block in an explosion.
I thought, queueing round the block to get in the cinema may have had some influence on the etymology but no.
According to wiki at least.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that blockbuster has its roots in war and munitions, not money, investment and marketing. "Blockbuster" is a weapon/ that can take out an entire block in an explosion.
I thought, queueing round the block to get in the cinema may have had some influence on the etymology but no.
According to wiki at least.

I read about that in my in histories of the blitz. Called a hit movie a blockbuster was around then too.

The bikini swimsuit was named after the Bikini atoll nuclear bomb test site.

 

[pinball1970]

I read about that in my in histories of the blitz. Called a hit movie a blockbuster was around then too.

The bikini swimsuit was named after the Bikini atoll nuclear bomb test site.

Yes that's dark. Balaclava too?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

TIL that there are about 70,000 homeless persons in Los Angeles alone.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

TIL that there are about 70,000 homeless persons in Los Angeles alone.

Some people ask why we don't just put them all in jail:

The Los Angeles County, Calif., jail system consists of 9 facilities with a rated capacity of 12,512 inmates.
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-l...ounty, Calif,rated capacity of 12,512 inmates.

 

[jack action]

Some people ask why we don't just put them all in jail:

The proper answer to this is not the rated capacity of the prison system.

The proper answer is to compare the monthly rents in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which have a median of $2,258 ($27,096 / year), and the cost of an inmate in California, which is $106,131 / year.

Making cheap housing available seems to be way cheaper and more humane. And if they need mental health support, the $79,000 difference would be better spent on psychiatry treatment than prison security.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The proper answer to this is not the rated capacity of the prison system.

The proper answer is to compare the monthly rents in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which have a median of $2,258 ($27,096 / year), and the cost of an inmate in California, which is $106,131 / year.

Making cheap housing available seems to be way cheaper and more humane. And if they need mental health support, the $79,000 difference would be better spent on psychiatry treatment than prison security.

While true, "we don't have enough cells" doesn't require an appeal to their conscience, empathy, or sense of decency.

Drug addiction and mental health issues are big drivers and are often used as justification to just arrest them all. But the math makes it easy to see that isn't even possible.

 

[symbolipoint]

The proper answer to this is not the rated capacity of the prison system.

The proper answer is to compare the monthly rents in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which have a median of $2,258 ($27,096 / year), and the cost of an inmate in California, which is $106,131 / year.

Making cheap housing available seems to be way cheaper and more humane. And if they need mental health support, the $79,000 difference would be better spent on psychiatry treatment than prison security.

I have no idea if any of that is correct, but I still like the post.

 

[Janus]

I have no idea if any of that is correct, but I still like the post.

This is basically what they do in Finland. They provide the housing. It ended up being cheaper than dealing with the issues caused by a large homeless population. It also turned out that a majority of people provided with stable living conditions ended up eventually supporting themselves. A large homeless population is not the "problem", it is a symptom of a larger societal problem.

 

[BillTre]

 

[Swamp Thing]

TIL that when Marconi Co. neded some large RF plugin inductors made for a shortwave transmitter, they turned to a maker of brass musical instruments... [44:05]

 

[kyphysics]

Do you guys think of 2% in the same way?

I believe this is 2% of your "original" money and assuming you never add a single dollar more to savings/investments.

 

[jack action]

Do you guys think of 2% in the same way?

Not saying I disagree with the idea, but anything you work for will lose value in time even if you don't use it: Food will perish, anything you build will rot (wood) or oxidize (metal), etc.

So the concept of working and enjoying the fruit of your labor only 40 years later is kind of a weird concept.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Not saying I disagree with the idea, but anything you work for will lose value in time even if you don't use it: Food will perish, anything you build will rot (wood) or oxidize (metal), etc.

So the concept of working and enjoying the fruit of your labor only 40 years later is kind of a weird concept.

Apparently he keeps his money under his bed instead of gaining interest in a bank or growing in value in an index fund.

Apparently not the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

[DaveE]

Do you guys think of 2% in the same way?

I believe this is 2% of your "original" money and assuming you never add a single dollar more to savings/investments.

The issue here is that the central banks have a difficult time with precise monetary control. Deflation is really bad for economies, and is hard to stop. So they want a buffer somewhere above zero. In the US the target used to be around 4%, but 2% is a better expectation now.

Plus economies work better when money is invested so others can use it by borrowing. Keeping it under your mattress is both stupid and not good for your neighbors.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL what palynology is,

After reading this,

https://phys.org/news/2023-07-fall-roman-empire-pollen.html

and checking here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palyn...s human uses,such example of this application.

 

[nuuskur]

 

[symbolipoint]

That Donkey & Tiger video made using "AI"; was using artificial intelligence to make the video really necessary? Interesting story anyway.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

TIL that Willie Nelson and the President's son smoked a joint on the roof of the White House back when Carter was President. Carter confirmed it.
https://consequence.net/2020/09/jimmy-carter-willie-nelson-weed-white-house/

Too funny!!! Long story but when I was much younger, my uncle had virtually unlimited access to the busses of many celebrities for weeks or months at a time. On one occasion my family took Willie's bus for a um....1000 mile test drive for a week. Sure enough, we found a weed tray under one of the bed mattresses.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL what palynology is,

After reading this,

https://phys.org/news/2023-07-fall-roman-empire-pollen.html

and checking here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palynology#:~:text=Archaeological palynology examines human uses,such example of this application.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Hmm, I could use that."

 

[Hornbein]

That Donkey & Tiger video made using "AI"; was using artificial intelligence to make the video really necessary?

No, but is anything in the arts really necessary?

What impresses me is how quickly I got sick of AI art once the novelty wore off. There's something ugly about it. But it is still in its infancy. In ten years, who knows?

I will further say that if I want art that is ugly, grotesque, and surreal -- and sometimes I do -- then AI art is unbeatable. Instant and it's free.

 

[jack action]

and [AI art is] free.

I highly doubt that.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL what a Nottingham algebra is and that
$$
\mathfrak{not}_n\cong \mathfrak{not}_\infty /\mathfrak{not}^n
$$
Good, that I'm a Forest fan.

 

[collinsmark]

and [AI art is] free.

I highly doubt that.

Well, @Hornbein might have a point here.

It goes without saying that AI is in its infancy, and that's certainly true in legal realms.

But there have been some early signs (and again, everything involving AI is "early" at this point in time) that AI generated works will not be afforded the same copyright protections as other works.

Here is an article as an example: US Copyright Office: AI Generated Works Are Not Eligible for Copyright.

So what does this mean? If an image is generated by AI (not just "AI sharpened," but wholly created such as diffusion based methods discussed in several PF threads), and you get ahold of such an image, you might be able do what you will with it and nobody's really going to stop you. At least in the US.

On the other hand, if your computer wholly generates an AI image, and some marketing department you've never heard of gets their hands on it and decides, without asking, to plaster that image on their cereal boxes, there's not much that you can do about it either.

Here's an article that's a little more recent: New US copyright rules protect only AI art with ‘human authorship’

So maybe it's kinda free? I speculate that rules and rights will become much less ambiguous in the coming years.

 

[BillTre]

There is a sea otter that steals surfboards and rides them in Santa Cruz.

No one knows why.

 

[phinds]

No one knows why.

Because it's there !

 

[DaveE]

There is a sea otter that steals surfboards and rides them in Santa Cruz.

View attachment 329220

No one knows why.

And marine mammals are protected from harassment in California, so you can't easily take your board back (so I hear).

Sea Lions basking on harbor piers can be a big problem sometimes. They are used to people and don't easily scare away.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There is a sea otter that steals surfboards and rides them in Santa Cruz.

View attachment 329220

No one knows why.

She was raised in captivity and released back into the wild so she probably has no fear of humans. And why surfboards? Maybe she got tired of body surfing. :) Or maybe she just wants a nice place to lie in the sun and knows she can chase off humans.

 

[Hornbein]

Well, @Hornbein might have a point here.

It goes without saying that AI is in its infancy, and that's certainly true in legal realms.

But there have been some early signs (and again, everything involving AI is "early" at this point in time) that AI generated works will not be afforded the same copyright protections as other works.

Here is an article as an example: US Copyright Office: AI Generated Works Are Not Eligible for Copyright.

So what does this mean? If an image is generated by AI (not just "AI sharpened," but wholly created such as diffusion based methods discussed in several PF threads), and you get ahold of such an image, you might be able do what you will with it and nobody's really going to stop you. At least in the US.

On the other hand, if your computer wholly generates an AI image, and some marketing department you've never heard of gets their hands on it and decides, without asking, to plaster that image on their cereal boxes, there's not much that you can do about it either.

Here's an article that's a little more recent: New US copyright rules protect only AI art with ‘human authorship’

So maybe it's kinda free? I speculate that rules and rights will become much less ambiguous in the coming years.

I'd guess what he had in mind is that the AI company is selling my data. But as I recall I didn't register.

 

[jack action]

So maybe it's kinda free?

I was thinking more along the line that it cost something to produce. Someone has to pay somehow.

 

[Hornbein]

And marine mammals are protected from harassment in California, so you can't easily take your board back (so I hear).

I used to surf in Santa Cruz. I lived next to Steamer Lane, where the otters hang out. They float on their backs with a little flat rock on their chest, then tap crabs against them to break the shell. Do they have a special place where they save the rock whenever they dive again?

I will say that the Santa Cruz police would greatly sympathize with a surfer retrieving a stolen board.

There is a big rock at Steamer Lane where the sea lions live. They like to doze on their backs in the ocean with their flippers sticking straight up. One time while windsurfing I almost ran into some. If I had I would have fallen off the board and gotten bitten. As it was they chased me away barking.

Once at Waddell a sea lion body surfed a wave then swam away barking. Having a good time.

A Great White bit a surfer at Davenport. His board with the tooth marks was on display at Haut surfboards. Big. He paddled to shore and survived. He was an EMT and was able to tell the surfers how to save him.

 

[jack action]

TIL about the Big Chute Marine Railway. So simple, so cool!

​

 

[wrobel]

...that the Poincare recurrence theorem is a corollary of Birkhoff's ergodic theorem...

 

[BillTre]

TIL Chipotle has an autocado, a robot machine that processes avacados.

I like the word. Its almost autocad.

 

[Swamp Thing]

Today I learned that bacteria can share useful genes with each other "on the Cloud".

 

[Rive]

I like the word. Its almost autocad.

We have an old (cold war era) joke about that

Something about Russia producing a hair cutter automate for the military, and then bragging about it for the big rival
The first question: OK, but how does it work? Not every head is the same size and shape...
The answer: well, indeed... Not for the first time... ...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

TIL that Willie Nelson and the President's son smoked a joint on the roof of the White House back when Carter was President. Carter confirmed it.
https://consequence.net/2020/09/jimmy-carter-willie-nelson-weed-white-house/

Too funny!!! Long story but when I was much younger, my uncle had virtually unlimited access to the busses of many celebrities for weeks or months at a time. On one occasion my family took Willie's bus for a um....1000 mile test drive for a week. Sure enough, we found a weed tray under one of the bed mattresses.

Reminded me of this song

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that megastar Mary Pickford sold locks of her curly hair. The curls cost $50 each, a fortune when a movie ticket was just over a nickel, and Pickford travelled with a suitcase of them. At the time of railroads and ships it wasn't unheard of to travel with twenty or so suitcases.

At a rally for The Great War she inspired the sale of five million dollars in bonds.

 

[jack action]

TIL that Willie Nelson and the President's son smoked a joint on the roof of the White House back when Carter was President. Carter confirmed it.
https://consequence.net/2020/09/jimmy-carter-willie-nelson-weed-white-house/

Too funny!!! Long story but when I was much younger, my uncle had virtually unlimited access to the busses of many celebrities for weeks or months at a time. On one occasion my family took Willie's bus for a um....1000 mile test drive for a week. Sure enough, we found a weed tray under one of the bed mattresses.

Reminded me of this song

Let me try to understand this: Something you wrote 4 days earlier reminded you of something else?