Today I Learned

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Today I learned that cleaning a white hat can be done with bleach cleaner, but it’s important to rinse it before wearing it again. I also discovered that "oyster veneering," a woodworking technique from the late 1600s, is experiencing a minor revival despite its labor-intensive nature. Additionally, I learned that the factorial of 23 (23!) equals 25,852,016,738,884,976,640,000, which interestingly has 23 digits, a unique coincidence among factorials. I found out that medical specialists often spend less than 10 minutes with patients, and that watching TV can contribute to weight gain. Other insights included the fact that a kiss can transfer around 80 million microbes, and that bureaucracy can sometimes hinder employment opportunities. The discussion also touched on various trivia, such as the emotional sensitivity of barn owls and the complexities of gravitational lensing around black holes.
  • #2,191
Today I learned that Einstein had really nice legs
 
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  • #2,192
Today I learned that deGrasse can be SAVAGE...so funny and with a painful depth of truth lol

His defence of his statement that "Math is the language of the universe".

oh wow...and that Bill Nye can be even more so lol
Wait for his comment after deGrasse opines.

Not long after the Nye comment, Brian Greene's wife Lucy Day, answers a question regarding the importance of getting the stories of science across accurately...hmmm...I wonder if she's read his pop books lol.
 
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  • #2,193
Today I learned that it costs me as much to make a 1.35 litre pot of coffee as it does to mow my neighbors 102 m2 lawn: ≈1¢
 
  • #2,194
Today I learned quitting smoking isn't so hard.
 
  • #2,195
HAYAO said:
Today I learned quitting smoking isn't so hard.
It isn't. The hard part is not starting up again.
 
  • #2,196
Borg said:
It isn't. The hard part is not starting up again.
Well I quit smoking and now it's been more than six months, but I don't feel like starting up again.
 
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  • #2,197
Today I learned James Comey got fired.
 
  • #2,198
StevieTNZ said:
Today I learned James Comey got fired.
Really? Haven't even had the tube on today. OMG
 
  • #2,199
Today I learned that Jon Bosak, who led the creation of the XML specification, was given the xml name of xml:Father.
In appreciation for his vision and leadership and dedication the W3C XML Plenary on this 10th day of February, 2000 reserves for Jon Bosak in perpetuity the XML name "xml:Father".
:bow:
 
  • #2,200
Today I learned there is a video of some of the 1927 Solvay Conference participants. I see it was posted here in 2010.

Here is a rather beautiful video of de Broglie.

 
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  • #2,201
nitsuj said:
Today I learned that deGrasse can be SAVAGE...so funny and with a painful depth of truth lol
Didn't watch this yet (at work) but I just want to say that I admire NGT so much, not only for his intelligence, but for his charm. I have a really hard time talking to science illiterates. He does it with such grace and wit. -Dave K
 
  • #2,202
dkotschessaa said:
Didn't watch this yet (at work) but I just want to say that I admire NGT so much, not only for his intelligence, but for his charm. I have a really hard time talking to science illiterates. He does it with such grace and wit. -Dave K
I liked Pluto:

 
  • #2,203
Today I learned that when the directions tell you to remove the lid before microwaving, you better remove the lid!

20170516_172345_HDR.jpg
 
  • #2,204
TIL about the Capgras syndrome: familiar people appear unfamiliar; noted cases involve the patient not recognizing themself in the mirror.
 
  • #2,205
EnumaElish said:
TIL about the Capgras syndrome: familiar people appear unfamiliar; noted cases involve the patient not recognizing themself in the mirror.

That is absolutely terrifying.! :nb)
 
  • #2,206
Drakkith said:
Today I learned that when the directions tell you to remove the lid before microwaving, you better remove the lid!
Never will forget the day i learned never attempt to hard boil an egg in the 'wave...
 
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  • #2,207
jim hardy said:
Never will forget the day i learned never attempt to hard boil an egg in the 'wave...

That's called "texturing the walls of your microwave".
 
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  • #2,208
Today I learned that some fridge freezers have an undocumented "demo mode" where they look as if they are working but fail to cool anything, for use in the showroom. The fridge freezer in the house my student daughter is sharing stopped working, and when the repair man arrived he told them that it had somehow been switched into "demo mode" (which apparently involves pressing two buttons at the same time). At the very least they should document that, or how to get out of it! My daughter had made and stored many frozen meals as well as buying a lot of stuff the day before, but the freezer had totally thawed out for some hours so the food had to be discarded.
 
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  • #2,209
Jonathan Scott said:
Today I learned that some fridge freezers have an undocumented "demo mode" where they look as if they are working but fail to cool anything, for use in the showroom. The fridge freezer in the house my student daughter is sharing stopped working, and when the repair man arrived he told them that it had somehow been switched into "demo mode" (which apparently involves pressing two buttons at the same time). At the very least they should document that, or how to get out of it! My daughter had made and stored many frozen meals as well as buying a lot of stuff the day before, but the freezer had totally thawed out for some hours so the food had to be discarded.

Another one of the world's problems we can blame on the sales and marketing team of that company...
 
  • #2,210
dkotschessaa said:
Another one of the world's problems we can blame on the sales and marketing team of that company...
I disagree.
I lay it on the programmer who didn't make it OBVIOUSLY APPARENT to the consumer by blinking a light or scrolling a message that the cooling equipment is turned OFF and what happened to your daughter is imminent.

That's the trouble with computers. They encourage "Microthink" , a state of mind wherein one is so wrapped up in the code he's oblivious to the world around him and common sense disappears.
 
  • #2,211
jim hardy said:
That's the trouble with computers. They encourage "Microthink" , a state of mind wherein one is so wrapped up in the code he's oblivious to the world around him and common sense disappears.

Oh that's not limited to coding and computers... :rolleyes:
 
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  • #2,212
Today I learned that in C++ if you don't include a header file with your class definition inside it, you need to write the class definition ABOVE the main() function, not below it.
@phinds, I spent an hour searching around the internet and flipping through my book and I didn't find this simple fact anywhere. I finally thought about it and it solved all of my errors... :mad::oldgrumpy::headbang:
 
  • #2,213
Drakkith said:
Today I learned that in C++ if you don't include a header file with your class definition inside it, you need to write the class definition ABOVE the main() function, not below it.
@phinds, I spent an hour searching around the internet and flipping through my book and I didn't find this simple fact anywhere. I finally thought about it and it solved all of my errors... :mad::oldgrumpy::headbang:
That is a great example of the difference between a seriously experienced programmer and a relative newcomer. I know from your posts here that you are quite intelligent, so I don't mean it as any slam on you.

One of the things I used to ask programmers I was hiring, when I expected them to be experienced, was "what's the productivity factor between relatively inexperienced programmers and very experienced programmers and why?" Many of them answered almost exactly as I wanted which was "roughly ten to one because an experienced programmer not only knows a lot, he knows what he doesn't know, what questions to ask, and where to find the answers whereas an inexperienced programmer doesn't know those things." That's a simplistic point of view but surprisingly accurate.
 
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  • #2,214
phinds said:
That is a great example of the difference between a seriously experienced programmer and a relative newcomer. I know from your posts here that you are quite intelligent, so I don't mean it as any slam on you.

Oh I'm a noob programmer by all accounts. :biggrin:
Unlike science and physics, I haven't spent a large portion of the last 6 years reading up on the topic on my own. My first real exposure to programming was my C programming class last fall.
 
  • #2,215
jim hardy said:
I disagree.
I lay it on the programmer who didn't make it OBVIOUSLY APPARENT to the consumer by blinking a light or scrolling a message that the cooling equipment is turned OFF and what happened to your daughter is imminent.

I think the marketing department would never allow such a thing. :D

That's the trouble with computers. They encourage "Microthink" , a state of mind wherein one is so wrapped up in the code he's oblivious to the world around him and common sense disappears.

I've noticed at my company an extreme "literal" thinking with both coders and I.T. people. If you request a phone for a new employee, the new employee will have a phone the next day. It won't actually work or be plugged in. If you ask for a phone line for a new employee, you'll get a phone line with no phone plugged into it. If you ask for a phone and a phone line you'll get a phone plugged into a working phone line, but the phone system requires a log in, so the employee won't actually be able to make calls. I suppose they are just doing what they are asked...
 
  • #2,219
OmCheeto said:
:oldlaugh:

Someone needs to write an "insights" article on that...

:oldlaugh:
Or simply reply with what I once said to an annoying tamagotchi, which kept saying "feed me": Feed it or I will. With a hammer!
 
  • #2,220
Today I learned what a Tamagotchi is.
Or, perhaps, relearned.
I sense that at least 2 of my brain cells remember this device.
 
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