Today I Learned

[symbolipoint]

who claim that their dog "doesn't like men", or "doesn't like people of color"(?!).

This leaves me completely baffled! Is your dog a racist?! The explanation must be that the owner feels unsafe around men or people of color and the dog pic

Yes that is the way a few of them are, but it is based on the dog's experiences. A dog may come to quick judgements according to how people treated him/it. One would imagine that the dog can be reconditioned also, but that would be for some canine behaviorist to explain.

 

[symbolipoint]

Smart dog. Groups of people are sheep!

THAT poetically explains many things, do you'all realize!

 

[symbolipoint]

Hahaa. "Line up people! Humor the dog please!" :)

That is a sensible way of viewing it.

 

[BillTre]

People are weird.

Dogs are color blind.
However, there are other clues they could use for distinguishing race, like their owner's reactions.

 

[vela]

Dogs are color blind.

That's now known to be a myth.

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/can-dogs-see-color/

 

[symbolipoint]

This thing of TIL-Dogs Racist or Not Like Men has already been examined or something.
You can begin some online reading here:

https://www.petguide.com/petcare/training/dog/can-dogs-be-racist/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201909/can-dogs-be-racist
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201602/is-it-possible-dog-could-be-racist

The first article, "petguide,..." tells the basic idea well enough.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that there is something called Diesel pest or maybe Diesel plague in English, I don't know. We add Bio Diesel these days and that contains bacteria. If a boat lies unused in the harbor for longer then there will grow a slimy compound at the bottom of the tank consisting of those bacteria. This slimy material diffuses into the normal part of Diesel if the boat is moved again and clogs filters and fuel lines.

(Story told by a coast guard of the Kiel channel who reported about recreational boats that get stuck in the channel because of it.)

 

[fresh_42]

Tower in Frankfurt:
"LH 343 descend on flight level 3,000"

Tower in Paris:
"AF 343 descendre au niveau de vol 3,000" $^*)$

Now, if even a modern country like France frankly ignores IATA regulations, imagine Russia, China, and the rest of the world!$^*)$ I couldn't hear whether they - at least - still use feet or even change heights into meters.

 

[symbolipoint]

Today I Learned
Windows 10 has an included video editor as part of the Photos application.
If it is sufficient, then a user might not need to try or use something like OpenShot or ShotCut or others like those.

 

[epenguin]

Once I've heard a case about a dog continuously harassing groups of guests (only groups!).
Needed an expert to clarify that it's not attacking. It's herding

But isn't herding, taught and bred for by humans, based on wolves' original clever hunting tactic?

 

[symbolipoint]

But isn't herding, taught and bred for by humans, based on wolves' original clever hunting tactic?

APPROXIMATELY so. Look for information about the various breeds and the Predatory Sequence.

 

[fresh_42]

But isn't herding, taught and bred for by humans, based on wolves' original clever hunting tactic?

 

[Borg]

Organizational consultant.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yes that is the way a few of them are, but it is based on the dog's experiences. A dog may come to quick judgements according to how people treated him/it.

This is my understanding too.

Dogs who have experienced trauma may make associations that follow them. I recall a (possibly apocryphal) story about a dog that hated coppers because of the big shiny buttons on their uniforms.

Their judgments can be 'men', or even 'dark-skinned men'. Since those are generalizations from the individual to the group, then technically yes, some dogs can be sexist and/or racist.

 

[berkeman]

TIL that Backstroke Starting Ledges have been in use in international competition since 2013. I'm not sure how I could have missed this with all the time I spend in the workout pool and watching meets, but today I was watching a Pro International swim meet from Mission Viejo in Southern California, and noticed the meet officials putting something into the water at the starting blocks before the 200m backstroke event. I did a Google search, and found that FINA made them legal in 2013 to improve backstroke starts.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL that Backstroke Starting Ledges have been in use in international competition since 2013. I'm not sure how I could have missed this with all the time I spend in the workout pool and watching meets, but today I was watching a Pro International swim meet from Mission Viejo in Southern California, and noticed the meet officials putting something into the water at the starting blocks before the 200m backstroke event. I did a Google search, and found that FINA made them legal in 2013 to improve backstroke starts.

View attachment 302453

We used the gutters that ran the perimeter of the baths when we were kids. It did the job ok. Most of those old Victorian baths are gone now, shame.

 

[pinball1970]

This is my understanding too.

Dogs who have experienced trauma may make associations that follow them. I recall a (possibly apocryphal) story about a dog that hated coppers because of the big shiny buttons on their uniforms.

Their judgments can be 'men', or even 'dark-skinned men'. Since those are generalizations from the individual to the group, then technically yes, some dogs can be sexist and/or racist.

Or just the wrong sort of movement. My friend had a Japanese Akita and we spent the day together with the kids.
No issues till we got to the house and was joking around and I put my hand on his shoulder.
The dog did not bark or growl, it silently darted across the room jumped up and bit my arm just below the shoulder.

I had a thick bikers leather on which probably stopped the bite from going through my skin.

All day today together but one move took as aggression and it pounced.
I had a bite shape bruise on my arm for a week or so.
They are aggressive dogs but are supposed to be ok with kids and strangers if trained properly.

No issues since with anyone else, I kept my distance after that.

 

[pbuk]

TIL that there is something called Diesel pest or maybe Diesel plague in English, I don't know.

We call it "Diesel bug".

 

[epenguin]

I have a childhood memory of reading in the children's Encyclopedia about something or other that Benjamin Franklin did with lightning. Another one later of the physics teacher saying he nearly got a death certificate from the experiment. But somehow I can't remember ever knowing exactly what he did beyond it involving flying a kite in a thunderstorm (on this day, Jun 10, 1752). (I just thought he captured from it some electricity in a Leyden jar and showed it did the same things electrical charges were then known to do.)

Today I learned that nobody else is quite sure either.

https://www.history.com/news/benjamin-franklin-kite-experiment-electricity

And this recounts that somebody else did get his death from such an experiment.

Franklin surely did make contributions to electrical science. Including the lightning conductor, which has surely saved many lives and much property.

What I do remember and maybe TYL is that Franklin's lightning conductors were pointed. As they came in there was a British electrician (the word 'scientist' did not yet exist) who maintained that a round ending was more efficacious protection. As the other type was the invention of an American rebel the question became political, and your choice of lightning conductor shape manifested whether you were a supporter or opponent of the Kings Government.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Hi @epenquin:

I am wondering what you use of "TYL" means. I looked at https://www.abbreviations.com/TYL and decided it was probably "Thank You Lord". Did I get it right?

Regards,
Buzz

 

[hmmm27]

"Today You Learned", IMNSHO.

 

[pasmith]

$^*)$ I couldn't hear whether they - at least - still use feet or even change heights into meters.

If that were the case, we would receive far more reports of Boeing aircraft smashing into the French countryside than we do; that's what happens if you give pilots instructions in units approximately three times the size of those used by their instruments.

 

[epenguin]

"Today You Learned", IMNSHO.

Yes. (Whatever IMSNHO is).

 

[DaveC426913]

In My Not So Humble Opinion...

 

[fresh_42]

SMS messaging shorthand ("text-message-speak"), such as using "u" for "you", "please" for "please", or "wanna" for "want to" is not acceptable.

Just saying.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just saying.

Ah but where deos one draw the line between acronyms and Textspeak?

 

[Tom.G]

Ah but where deos one draw the line between acronyms and Textspeak?

In the sand, of course. Often just before a storm of next-generation users takes over

 

[Hornbein]

In the sand, of course. Often just before a storm of next-generation users takes over

Internet haboob.

 

[mfb]

Nice illustration how misleading map projections can be

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned that turtles can breathe using their butt.

A skill essential for success in the social sciences.

 

[LCSphysicist]

I have been learning a third language!
TIL 1 that, when i forget how to say something in the language number 3, instead to immediately think how to say it on my mother language, first i pass to english, and then i pass to my first language XD.
TIL 2 Not satisfied with the fact that sometimes i joint two languages when i need to talk in another languague, now i combine three haha

 

[sbrothy]

A skill essential for success in the social sciences.

The wiki link I posted with info on hyperparasites may also be usual in that field. :)

 

[sbrothy]

The wiki link I posted with info on hyperparasites may also be usual in that field. :)

Useful of course. Useful.

 

[Oldman too]

TIL, The Voyager Spacecrafts operate with only 69 kilobytes of onboard memory and store data for transmission on what has got to be one of the oldest functioning 8-track systems in the universe.
from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/record-breaking-voyager- spacecraft -begin-to-power-down/

"To handle all these challenges, the Voyagers, each about the size of an old Volkswagen Beetle, needed some onboard intelligence. So NASA's engineers equipped the vehicles' computers with 69 kilobytes of memory, less than a hundred thousandth the capacity of a typical smartphone. In fact, the smartphone comparison is not quite right. “The Voyager computers have less memory than the key fob that opens your car door,” Spilker says. All the data collected by the spacecraft instruments would be stored on eight-track tape recorders and then sent back to Earth by a 23-watt transmitter—about the power level of a refrigerator light bulb. To compensate for the weak transmitter, both Voyagers carry 12-foot-wide dish antennas to send and receive signals."

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that Geordi, sorry, LeVar Burton was born in Germany. I only knew it from Seven of Nine, sorry, Jeri Ryan, Martin Lawrence, and Bruce Willis. Seems to be a good place to become an actor.

 

[jack action]

TIL that Geordi, sorry, LeVar Burton was born in Germany. I only knew it from Seven of Nine, sorry, Jeri Ryan, Martin Lawrence, and Bruce Willis. Seems to be a good place to become an actor.

32 218 actors were born in Germany according to IMDb.
16 174 actors were born in Canada according to IMDb.

A ratio of 1.992 for Germany.

BUT, according to worldometers.info, there are 84 310 168 Germans and 38 400 444 Canadians, a ratio of 2.1956 For Germany.

Seems to me that Canada is a better place to become an actor.

 

[fresh_42]

Seems to me that Canada is a better place to become an actor.

Maybe, although I obviously referred to US-American actors who were born in Germany. A comparison with Canada wouldn't make much sense in this respect as the industries (US and CA) are very intertwined.

 

[jack action]

Maybe, although I obviously referred to US-American actors who were born in Germany. A comparison with Canada wouldn't make much sense in this respect as the industries (US and CA) are very intertwined.

And since all your examples are children of US Army personnel stationed in Germany, a comparison with Canada wouldn't make much sense in this respect as there are no US Army bases in Canada.

 

[berkeman]

as there are no US Army bases in Canada

...that you know of. Just sayin'

 

[fresh_42]

And since all your examples are children of US Army personnel stationed in Germany, a comparison with Canada wouldn't make much sense in this respect as there are no US Army bases in Canada.

These three countries are hard to compare anyway. I think Canada and Germany have comparable societies and laws, whereas Canada and the US merely share the same continent, or as my American friend puts it: Canada is the better America.

 

[berkeman]

Canada is the better America

But a lot colder. That counts for something...

 

[fresh_42]

But a lot colder. That counts for something...

Now that you mention it. While I really like a cold continental climate, i.e. cold and low humidity, she grew up in NM and even finds her German home too cold for large parts of the year. However, she still says it. But she is a lady, which in return means that she is no big fan of the second.

 

[fresh_42]

I wonder whether e.g. Bruce Willis could become president. He isn't born on American soil, but could he have disadvantages only because his father served his country?

 

[BWV]

A useful mnemonic to remember the names of the Great Lakes

 

[symbolipoint]

BWV,
I do not understand your mnemonic. Five lakes and five L's. How does your mnemonic work?

 

[BWV]

BWV,
I do not understand your mnemonic. Five lakes and five L's. How does your mnemonic work?

There is a word for each lake in the mnemonic, as each lake starts with ‘L’, the mnemonic gives you five L words to help you remember that.

 

[Hornbein]

I wonder whether e.g. Bruce Willis could become president. He isn't born on American soil, but could he have disadvantages only because his father served his country?

John McCain was born in Panama. He was a natural US citizen.

 

[symbolipoint]

There is a word for each lake in the mnemonic, as each lake starts with ‘L’, the mnemonic gives you five L words to help you remember that.

BWV,
I do not understand your mnemonic. Five lakes and five L's. How does your mnemonic work?

There is a word for each lake in the mnemonic, as each lake starts with ‘L’, the mnemonic gives you five L words to help you remember that.

The words are: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Eeri, Ontario

None of the L's help me. The words do not show me their relative geographic positions. I miss seeing how the "Lisa likes licking lettice lightly" shows me what you want someone to see or use. What am I missing?

 

[hmmm27]

Well, it's actually spelt "lettuce".

 

[Ibix]

What am I missing?

That 80% of the reactions are laughs, I think...