Today I Learned

[Swamp Thing]

TIL that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency still uses 5.25 inch floppy disks to boot up its Automatic Train Control System that runs light-rail trains in the Market Street subway.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...-to-help-run-san-francisco-trains-until-2030/

There are enough expensive legacy systems operating, that someone would surely have come up with a floppy drive emulator interface that would plug into the older buses (e.g. IDE, IIRC)? You could then use a USB drive to run those old machines. This would delay the expense of redeveloping a high investment solution from scratch, of course. For example there are some very expensive microwave test instruments that are perfectly good but use obsolete operating systems and removable storage.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that Harvard has returned to requiring standardized test results in admissions applications. They observed that while such results are biased, grades and letters of recommendation and personal essays are even more biased. Daddy Warbucks could hire a coach to help Annie with that essay.

Henry Ford II got kicked out of college after he handed in his senior thesis. Within the sheets was an invoice from the writing service.

 

[BillTre]

Things are getting warmer:

 

[BillTre]

Its palindrome day:
42424, AKA 4/24/24

 

[OmCheeto]

Its palindrome day:
42424, AKA 4/24/24

That's two in 4 days: 4/20/2024 --> 4202024

 

[BillTre]

That's two in 4 days: 4/20/2024 --> 4202024

Missed that one.

 

[OmCheeto]

Missed that one.

It popped up in my 'stoner' feed.

 

[Orodruin]

Its palindrome day:
42424, AKA 4/24/24

Not if you comply with ISO standard.
2024-04-24

 

[gmax137]

Not if you comply with ISO standard.
2024-04-24

I don't.

 

[Orodruin]

I don't.

 

[berkeman]

Wow, TIL that there are specially-built/modified vehicles that are used by Storm Chasing teams here in the US:

The SRV Dominator is the name given to a series of vehicles used for Reed Timmer, as featured on the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers (SRV stands for Storm Research Vehicle). In April 2013, Timmer, designer and operator of all three Dominator vehicles, joined KFOR-TV's 4WARN Storm Team, all three vehicles collectively referred to by the station as "Dominator 4".[1]

The Dominator​

The Dominator was modified from a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe that was used during the 2008 storm chasing season and debuted in the 2009 chase season. The modifications included adding bulletproof sheet metal and transparent Lexan armor to protect against flying debris near tornadoes, and an external roll cage and racing-style safety harnesses in case of a vehicle roll.[2] The SRV is not designed to intercept (due mainly to a lack of an anchoring system as employed on the TIV 2) but is able to get as close as "humanly possible" to tornadoes. In 2009, a tornado in Aurora, Nebraska unexpectedly strengthened right over the Dominator and blew out the driver's window, when its exterior Lexan window failed to roll up. Reed Timmer and one of his passengers suffered lacerations to the face from flying glass.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_Dominator

 

[Swamp Thing]

TIL that there is a species of fish (common name : bogue) with the scientific name Boops Boops. Sadly, it's pronounced bow-ops.

 

[BillTre]

TIL that there is a species of fish (common name : bogue) with the scientific name Boops Boops. Sadly, it's pronounced bow-ops.

Don't worry there are still boobies:

 

[Hornbein]

Wow, TIL that there are specially-built/modified vehicles that are used by Storm Chasing teams here in the US:

View attachment 344339




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_Dominator

Ha! They pretend SRV is Storm Research Vehicle, but it's really Stevie Ray Vaughn.

 

[BillTre]

Here is a cool picture from orbit, from NASA via the Planetary Society, to here:

 

[Bystander]

TIL: took my introductory trip down the "OTT rabbit hole;" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-top_media_service
no wonder I've been totally baffled recovering from the stroke...something really DID happen to the world nine years ago...actually earlier, but it hadn't taken effect any real effect.

 

[pinball1970]

High lead content in Beethoven’s hair.

https://academic.oup.com/clinchem/advance-article/doi/10.1093/clinchem/hvae054/7651113?login=false


“Our findings confirm the presence of high hair lead concentrations in both the Bermann Lock (method 1, 258 µg/g; method 2, 254 µg/g) and the Halm-Thayer Lock (method 1, 380 µg/g; method 2, 369 µg/g), approximately 64- and 95- fold higher than the upper limit of the reference interval (<4 µg/g), respectively. Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proposed conversion formula of values from hair lead concentration to blood lead concentration (4), the estimate of Beethoven’s blood lead concentration would have been 69 to 71 µg/dL. Such lead levels are commonly associated with gastrointestinal and renal ailments and decreased hearing but are not considered high enough to be the sole cause of death. Suggested primary sources of lead exposure include plumbed wine, dietary factors, and medical treatments (5). Worth noting is that we also observed increased levels of arsenic and mercury in both locks of hair by approximately 13- and 4-fold compared to the reference intervals (<1 µg/g), respectively.”

 

[symbolipoint]

TIL a new word: Enshitification

A former Microsoft employee or manager described a progression of how technology companies change how they handle their technologies according to increases in advertising. Look for the YouTube channel, "Ask Leo!", and find the recent video "Why I've Stopped Using Google Search".

What seems to be a good article about this enshitification is the wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification .

 

[Hornbein]

I thought it was established that van Beethoven's deafness came from lead in cheap wine. It was used as a sweetener.

 

[pinball1970]

I thought it was established that van Beethoven's deafness came from lead in cheap wine. It was used as a sweetener.

Yes, "plumbed wine" mentioned above but also fish and glass.

 

[Borg]

TIL a new word: Enshitification

And now I have as well.

 

[gmax137]

What seems to be a good article about this enshitification is the wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification .

Interesting take on "the good old days." I would add the cable TV movie services to the list of examples. It started as "pay us $5 a month and watch movies without ads." Now it is $10 and they pipe in advertising. Ugh.

 

[Jacobes]

Java Script

 

[Drakkith]

Today I learned what happens when you forget to refill the transmission fluid in your transmission after replacing a half-shaft.

Also, if anyone has a used manual transmission for a Dodge Caliber, ship it my way.

 

[Hornbein]

Til that Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham attended San Jose State University.

 

[Tom.G]

Today I learned what happens when you forget to refill the transmission fluid in your transmission after replacing a half-shaft.

Also, if anyone has a used manual transmission for a Dodge Caliber, ship it my way.

At least you now have some 'Iron filings' for visualizing magnetic fields.

 

[BillTre]

This is a concern I have based on the occasionally overly polite drivers in Eugene, OR.

This has happened in town here with bicycles a few times, and its stupid.

 

[DaveE]

One of my related pet-peeves, learned on sailboats as a kid:

If you have the right of way, you have an obligation to use it. You may think you're being nice letting the other guy choose to go, but you're really just confusing everyone. Go, get out of my way, then I'll go. It will work best for everyone.

Oh, yea, learn those rules, too.

 

[DaveC426913]

If you have the right of way, you have an obligation to use it. You may think your being nice letting the other guy choose to go, but your really just confusing everyone. Go, get out of my way, then I'll go. It will work best for everyone.

+1

 

[Ibix]

If you have the right of way, you have an obligation to use it.

I generally agree. However, the problem is that the guy emerging can be stuck there forever if the queue in the left turn lane is replenished too quickly. So he may have to take an offered opportunity eventually. Of course, he should do so cautiously and creep-and-check out into the road - but because he wants to be nice to the guy who was nice to him he might skip that bit to emerge quicker, and that's when the trouble starts.

It would also help if the traffic on the road were alive to the possibility of a mis-timed emerge instead of blasting along at 45 right next to a queue of stationary traffic and with an empty lane to his right...

 

[DaveC426913]

It would also help if the traffic on the road were alive to the possibility of a mis-timed emerge instead of blasting along at 45 right next to a queue of stationary traffic and with an empty lane to his right...

Yes. I get very suspicious blasting along in a full lane next to a stopped lane.

Not just vehicles turning into traffic, but often simply vehicles in the stopped lane getting impatient and pulling out of the stopped lane.

My sister got zapped by this a while back. Totalled her car (she was fine). She acted like it wasn't her fault and that there was nothing she could have done. She was correct on the former but wrong on the latter.

 

[DaveE]

However, the problem is that the guy emerging can be stuck there forever if the queue in the left turn lane is replenished too quickly.

Or, he could turn right and go around to a better intersection to turn left from. Next time he can choose a better route. Then, he could write a letter to the powers that be to fix the traffic flow.

 

[Ibix]

Then, he could write a letter to the powers that be to fix the traffic flow.

...or just throw the letter in the bin, if the usual level of responsiveness of road planners on your side of the pond is the same as on ours...

 

[DaveE]

...or just throw the letter in the bin, if the usual level of responsiveness of road planners on your side of the pond is the same as on ours...

Yes, LOL. They already know.

 

[Bystander]

"Three 'rights make a left;'" you/he'll know better next time through the intersection.

 

[Ibix]

I generally agree. However, the problem is that the guy emerging can be stuck there forever if the queue in the left turn lane is replenished too quickly. So he may have to take an offered opportunity eventually. Of course, he should do so cautiously and creep-and-check out into the road - but because he wants to be nice to the guy who was nice to him he might skip that bit to emerge quicker, and that's when the trouble starts.

It would also help if the traffic on the road were alive to the possibility of a mis-timed emerge instead of blasting along at 45 right next to a queue of stationary traffic and with an empty lane to his right...

I got a couple of "skepticals" to this. In the UK, the example in the cartoon is, I think, covered by rule 173 of the Highway Code, which says to treat crossing the first carriageway and emerging onto the second one as the same as crossing one road and emerging onto a second. So there's nothing wrong with crossing to the gap in the central reservation (if your tail doesn't block the first carriageway) and then emerging on to the second carriageway just as you would emerge from a side road onto a main road with restricted view "upstream": carefully creep until you can see, giving plenty of time for vehicles on the main road to react. It would probably be better to wait for the queue to clear so you can see, but if that isn't happening any time soon it's not actually contrary to the rules of the road to go to the central reservation and emerge with care. At least, it's not contrary to the rules as written - you should certainly take the "assume the other guy's an idiot/assassin" advice in practice, and not only in this situation.

The same rule may not apply in your country (in fact, I'm pretty sure the rules are different in some places), so you may have different pressures.

And, of course, I am not a lawyer - I only play one on the internet.

 

[Flyboy]

And now, for something completely different…



… I wonder what that lava looked like. Would it appear any different than a more typical lava?

 

[Hornbein]

In Detroit the automobile companies had the leverage to dictate the layout of roads. As far as the main streets are concerned there are no left turns. To get the same effect, turn right. There is then a special U turn lane on your left.

At Taipei stoplights there is a special arrangement for the numerous motorbikes. No left turn. Turn right. At the head of the stopped waiting traffic there is a painted box reserved for motorbikes. Enter that, turn your bike around and you are ready to go straight. (Taipei is a very orderly place. It is dominated by the progeny of bureaucrats who fled the Communists. The defeated army escaped to the Golden Triangle where their descendants grow opium poppies. Violence-based order.)

 

[PeterDonis]

In Detroit the automobile companies had the leverage to dictate the layout of roads. As far as the main streets are concerned there are no left turns. To get the same effect, turn right. There is then a special U turn lane.

Yes, the famous "Michigan left". My experience when I lived in southeast Michigan was that it didn't really save any time, because you ended up waiting in the U turn lane for an opening at least as long as you would have waited to make an ordinary left turn.

 

[Hornbein]

Yes, the famous "Michigan left". My experience when I lived in southeast Michigan was that it didn't really save any time, because you ended up waiting in the U turn lane for an opening at least as long as you would have waited to make an ordinary left turn.

But while you wait you aren't blocking traffic.

 

[PeterDonis]

But while you wait you aren't blocking traffic.

Not on the original road you would have made a left on, no. But you might well end up blocking traffic on the other road when you find out that the U turn lane is backed up. I had that experience plenty of times.

 

[DaveE]

treat crossing the first carriageway and emerging onto the second one as the same as crossing one road and emerging onto a second.

Which leads to my pet peeve #2:
People that don't understand how to use the center turning lane, or why it's there if someone else wants to use it.

 

[Drakkith]

If you have the right of way, you have an obligation to use it.

My ex once decided to stay stopped when the stoplight turned green and instead waved on another car in an oncoming lane that was waiting to turn left across our path. Five to ten seconds of total confusion for everyone. Unbelievable...

 

[Tom.G]

Here in Southern California some (many, not all) drivers have begun to delay starting when a traffic light turns Green.

At first I thought this might have been a courtesy to the opposing traffic waiting to make a left turn.

Further reflection/experience highlighted a more likely reason:
They are waiting to avoid the cross-traffic drivers that try to 'Beat the Red Light' by speeding up... and barrelling through it!

 

[gmax137]

To get the same effect, turn right. There is then a special U turn lane on your left.

I saw this when I lived in New Orleans. I assimed it was a French thing.

Further reflection/experience highlighted a more likely reason:
They are waiting to avoid the cross-traffic drivers that try to 'Beat the Red Light' by speedin

Again, this too in New Orleans.

 

[PeterDonis]

They are waiting to avoid the cross-traffic drivers that try to 'Beat the Red Light' by speeding up... and barrelling through it!

On one occasion my wife would have been hit by a driver doing that if she hadn't followed the practice you describe.

 

[Hornbein]

I lived in Boston in 1974. Much disregard of traffic lights. They were taken as suggestions.

 

[BillTre]

Rumaging around LinkedIn I noticed that Veritasium has an ad for a writer/director.
Not something I expected to find.

 

[DaveC426913]

...there's nothing wrong with crossing to the gap in the central reservation (if your tail doesn't block the first carriageway) and then emerging on to the second carriageway just as you would emerge from a side road onto a main road with restricted view "upstream":

This was my take as well. In the diagram, there is room for the emerging vehicle to cross the frost half of the road. That is what I would do.

 

[jack action]

TIL that a lemon is a hybrid:

A genomic study of the lemon indicated it was a hybrid between bitter orange (sour orange) and citron.

And even the bitter orange is one:

It is probably a cross between the pomelo, Citrus maxima, and the mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata.

This means life never gave us lemons ... we made them. So making lemonade is a solution to a problem we created ourselves!

This just turned an optimistic proverb into a very pessimistic one.