Today I Learned

[OmCheeto]

We all Google differently. The phrase "fictional species" led me to think of a Snipe Hunt. Today I learned that there is such a thing as a Snipe which is where the word sniper comes from.

hmmm... It's been a while since I've been called a "Snipe".

3. Snipe [urban dictionary]

Navy slang for crewmen who work below decks, especially in the engine room.
Used in a sentence: "The world of the aircraft carrier is largely inhabited by snipes, deck apes, airdales, and zeros."​

I have no idea how we got that name.
hmmmm...
google google google

Ah ha!

TIL:

http://navyformoms.com/group/snipemomsenginers/forum/topics/1971797:Topic:255527 [navyformomsdotcom]
Posted by Becky on June 6, 2008
...
Along about this time came an Engineer Officer by the name of John Snipes.
[...blah blah blah...]
They became known as Snipe's men and over the years as just Snipes.

 

[Lisa!]

That worried about Google? My English is not good. But I think this is what you mean.

Nope, I meant Google is worried about me!

 

[SteamKing]

hmmm... It's been a while since I've been called a "Snipe".

3. Snipe [urban dictionary]

Navy slang for crewmen who work below decks, especially in the engine room.
Used in a sentence: "The world of the aircraft carrier is largely inhabited by snipes, deck apes, airdales, and zeros."​

I have no idea how we got that name.
hmmmm...
google google google

Ah ha!

TIL:

Snipes are birds which inhabit marshy, low-lying areas near bodies of water:

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

Because of their erratic flying pattern when startled, snipes are particularly difficult to hunt with a gun, which is why "snipe hunt" stands for a difficult or impossible task.

A "sniper" is one who is especially skilled at using a gun to make a difficult shot, such as bringing down a bird which intentionally flies erratically to escape danger.

 

[OmCheeto]

Snipes are birds which inhabit marshy, low-lying areas near bodies of water:

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

Because of their erratic flying pattern when startled, snipes are particularly difficult to hunt with a gun, which is why "snipe hunt" stands for a difficult or impossible task.

A "sniper" is one who is especially skilled at using a gun to make a difficult shot, such as bringing down a bird which intentionally flies erratically to escape danger.

Ummm... I think Borg posted that. But now you've got me thinking. How did John Snipes get the surname?

google google google

Ah ha!

Snipes Early Origins [houseofnamesdotcom]
...
The name is derived from the Old English word "snaep" or the Old Norman word "snap" which means "dweller by the pasture"

This is fun.

 

[Borg]

This is fun.

I agree. It's been a crappy week for me and this is a great way to relieve the stress.

Googling the word 'sniping' led me to XKCD.

 

[OmCheeto]

I agree. It's been a crappy week for me and this is a great way to relieve the stress.

Googling the word 'sniping' led me to XKCD.

Oh. My. God.
That is tooooooo funny.

 

[Borg]

On to something new that I learned.

I wanted to review the sine rules so I Googled sin of x + y and got a 3D rotating plot.

How to Graph Equations in Google:

Tips

• To plot multiple functions together, separate the formulas with a comma.
• To explore the function in more detail, zoom in and out and pan across the plane.

Functions you can graph

• Trigonometric
• Exponential
• Logarithmic
• 3D graphs (for desktop browsers that support WebGL)

 

[nsaspook]

We all Google differently. The phrase "fictional species" led me to think of a Snipe Hunt. Today I learned that there is such a thing as a Snipe which is where the word sniper comes from.

There are other types of Snipes that live deep inside ships.

http://navyformoms.com/group/snipemomsenginers/forum/topics/1971797:Topic:255527

 

[OmCheeto]

There are other types of Snipes that live deep inside ships.

http://navyformoms.com/group/snipemomsenginers/forum/topics/1971797:Topic:255527

/me rolls eyes...

 

[nsaspook]

/me rolls eyes...

I will omit the details of the Snipe initiation rite of passage called greasing as it's not something you want to learn today.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned that the accent in the word "electrophorus" is on the third syllable: elecTROphorus. Hitherto, I thought it would be on the fourth syllable, but I watched a youtube that made me question that notion and look it up.

 

[dlgoff]

I just learned from my daughters boyfriend that he's into parkour. Here's a video him and some of his friends in Denver.

 

[OmCheeto]

I will omit the details of the Snipe initiation rite of passage called greasing as it's not something you want to learn today.

shhhhh! What happens below decks, stays below decks.

 

[nsaspook]

shhhhh! What happens below decks, stays below decks.

As it should be, we will not speak of this again.
Sometimes I had to descent to the depths of Snipedom to check the pit-sword or fathometer transducer at the bottom of the ship. It's was always done covertly while wearing a oily never washed set of ripped overalls. Once I was almost discovered but I had a big chaw of chewing tobacco that I spit on the greasy floor in the dim light causing the snipe to smile and walk away after thinking I was a fellow dweller of the dark.

This (the tobacco part) didn't really happen but I did carry a big knife in the tool bag.

I was on good terms with most of the snipes as I liked what they liked, fast girls, faster motorcycles, guns and booze so we usually partied together off the boat. There were some that did scare me, like the guy in the middle of my photo under the dip-sticks. His nickname was Elmo and he rarely came out of the hole even in port.

 

[DiracPool]

What I learned today is that society wants to compartmentalize you. So speak only within your compartment, or face the consequences...

 

[Astronuc]

When the media gets it really wrong, . . . . Oxytots - Instead of learning from the unfounded hysteria of the crack baby era, we're repeating it.
https://screen.yahoo.com/viewfinder/crack-babies-oxytots-lessons-not-120000652.html

 

[DiracPool]

When the media gets it really wrong, . . . . Oxytots - Instead of learning from the unfounded hysteria of the crack baby era, we're repeating it.

Is oxycontin still being abused? I think they worked out a fix (no pun intended) where they "disabused" the pills from being broken down in order to be injected or snorted. Junkies are clever at overcoming these prophylactic measures, but I thought we had a handle on this. As far as the Oxytots, it's a grim prospect. I recommend the book "Three dog nightmare" by Chuck Negron, lead singer of Three dog night. There's a chapter in there where his wife gave birth to his kid and she was hooked on about 200 mg of methadone a day during the whole pregnancy. The birth was a difficult one and Chuck talks about how the hospital staff looked at them like they were scum, and that's exactly the way he felt.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1580630405/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Astronuc]

Is oxycontin still being abused?

The article on crack babies lead to another article on addiction to Opana and other drugs in small rural communities and a resurgence of AIDS from the sharing of contaminated needles. Apparently abuse/addiction to prescription drugs is a significant problem in the country.
https://screen.yahoo.com/viewfinder/hiv-heartland-174014869.html

 

[Astronuc]

DIY Tractor Repair Runs Afoul Of Copyright Law
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltech...iy-tractor-repair-runs-afoul-of-copyright-law

The iconic image of the American farmer is the man or woman who works the land, milks cows and is self-reliant enough to fix the tractor. But like a lot of mechanical items, tractors are increasingly run by computer software. Now, farmers are hitting up against an obscure provision of copyright law that makes it illegal to repair machinery run by software.

There is something wrong with this.

 

[dlgoff]

There is something wrong with this.

From the article:

... He waited a day for the John Deere rep.

"The tech came out and it took him a couple hours to diagnose that there was one small sensor out. And that one small sensor, I think it was a $120 part."

The problem with this setup is that in farming timing is everything. When the soil is soft enough to till you have to go; when the crop is ripe you have to pick it.

"So if you have a small problem that does not allow your tractor to operate and you have downtime it's costing you money and a lot of stress," he says.

Sounds like this is a good reason for court order compensation?

 

[Silicon Waffle]

I learned these 10 items today.
http://www.askmen.com/top_10/dating/top-10-situations-that-make-women-want-sex.html

Uhmm I also think a woman needs sex most after she becomes outrageously jealous (e.g she saw her husband dining with someone else and got furious when he came home.)

 

[OmCheeto]

I actually learned the following on Monday, when I went on a two hour, lunchtime river cruise with my sister.
They had infotainment loudspeakers around the ship, which spewed out interesting facts and figures, half of which I was not aware of, even being a local.
Anyways, the funniest thing I learned, was regarding one of our bridges that is now being replaced.
Bridges have what is called a "sufficiency rating", which goes from 0 to 100. 100 being the best.
The bridge in question, had a sufficiency rating of 2.

I see I've mentioned the bridge at least couple of times in the past:

Cracks in Sellwood Bridge fixed … with glue

[ref PF, May 2013]

It also came up in another thread regarding taxes. Probably the most horrible thread I've ever been a part of. I shall not link to it.

Here was one person's solution as to how to properly fund bridge repairs:

Sell it to someone who will make it a toll road.

On the aforementioned river cruise, they said that all of the bridges used to be privately owned. That was in the olden days, when bridges were made of wood. So we had bridge owners, all wanting to make money, by having people going over their bridge.
According to the river cruise infotainment loudspeakers, bridges were mysteriously catching fire, around 3 am. hmmmm... (they may have embellished this, for entertainment value, but I didn't care, and laughed, quite heartily. )

 

[OCR]

In addition to the $127 million from Multnomah County, the City of Portland has agreed to provide $100 million...

Cracks in Sellwood Bridge fixed … with glue

I'll bet that 'glue" has some " Portland cement " in it too ... lol

 

[mfb]

Today I learned about the difference between a PS2 to USB adapter and a PS2 to USB converter.
Note: having electrical connections is not sufficient sometimes.

Unrelated: A Grumman F-11 Tiger shot down itself.

 

[Astronuc]

What Happens to Your Body Within an Hour of Drinking a Beer
https://www.yahoo.com/health/when-its-happy-hour-on-a-hot-summer-day-there-126690007587.html

Be well hydrated, and eat before one drinks alcohol.

 

[OmCheeto]

TIL how to teach my computer(mac) how to filter junk emails.
Shift + Command + J

I think I was supposed to have been doing this since I bought it.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Some Indonesian Muslim and local old men I met yesterday advised me to get married claiming that wives will keep their spouses from being less or completely zero homosexual.
psss...some of them are CEOs and scientists too.

 

[jim hardy]

"Rescued" one of these from local metal recycler 's crusher.

TIL the brushes in end of motor can get stuck after years of grimy buildup and lose contact so it won't run anymore.
But the brush holders come out by gently tapping from the inside.

Cleaned them up and it runs fine.

I couldn't afford one new, but it was sure worth gambling the $5 scrap price and an afternoon !

 

[Silicon Waffle]

"Rescued" one of these from local metal recycler 's crusher.

TIL the brushes in end of motor can get stuck after years of grimy buildup and lose contact so it won't run anymore.
But the brush holders come out by gently tapping from the inside.

Cleaned them up and it runs fine.

I couldn't afford one new, but it was sure worth gambling the $5 scrap price and an afternoon !

What is that used to cut ?

 

[Bystander]

Steel.