What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[Psinter]

It is never too late to study. I first attended university when I was 900 thousand years old. And look at me now. I'm a successful professional.



Edit: I should have put this in the lame jokes section. I don't know why I clicked here.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Do you ever work with scratch board? It's one of my favorite mediums along with oils.

Scratch board as in this? I've used it couple times, but decided that I prefer ink/graphite on paper better. The things that can be made with it are amazing, however. Oil is a great medium, but, unfortunately, the paint smells really bad until it's dried

 

[1oldman2]

Yeah, it sounds very 'Wyoming' to me.

Close enough, they have their fair share of Elk and Bison also. (Not to mention Grizzlies)

 

[1oldman2]

Scratch board as in this?

That is the stuff, Pen and ink is awesome too. I put up with the smell of oil paint as well as the thinner and retouch varnish, its a good trade off for the effects as well as the ability to come back after a couple days and still blend colors.

 

[Astronuc]

Skydiver becomes first person to jump and land without chute
https://www.yahoo.com/news/skydiver-becomes-first-person-jump-land-without-chute-070456645--spt.html

He was in the middle on one axis (of a 100 ft x 100 ft net), but he was about to one side with about 20-25 feet to spare on the other axis. I'm glad he made it since his wife and 4 year old son were there to watch. He apparently started around 25,000 ft.

 

[Astronuc]

I've noticed that Donald Trump is looking somewhat Orange these days. Did he get that from John Boehner?

I guess in Trump's case, Orange is the new White. I wanted to use that before Steven Colbert or Jon Stewart did, but someone else has already expressed it.
https://imgflip.com/i/z7a48
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-01-14/why-is-donald-trump-orange

 

[WWGD]

That would be too easy. I assume it is the same as with "a" and "an". It is an apple, theee apple, but a university, the university.
Correct this please, if wrong.

When you finally get the pronunciation right you will probably hear coyotes howling or at least dog barking; you hit the right tone/note. Just like when Bieber sings.

 

[WWGD]

It is never too late to study. I first attended university when I was 900 thousand years old. And look at me now. I'm a successful professional.



Edit: I should have put this in the lame jokes section. I don't know why I clicked here.

Soon, you will be 910 000 years old...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Season finale of Preacher was everything I hoped for.

 

[Pepper Mint]

...
From what I can gather from Sophia's, Pepper Mint's, and Ibix's posts is that ordinarily, if the next word begins with a vowel, it is pronounced "thee" and if begins with a consonant it is pronounced "the".

Did I get it right?

That rule might become truest to the British English speakers. Pronouncing [the] as either /ðə/ or /ðɪ/ when it stands before either a consonant or vowel I think is important but isn't more important than having a real skill to explain what you would really want to utter. And for example, you may be able to listen and understand well what people from Mexico or India/Bangladesh speak in English but personally I can't. Their intonation and pronunciation are very strange to me.

 

[WWGD]

For some reason the batteries in my TV remote ended up being extremely hot. I checked and I had not left the
remote anywhere near any main source of heat like a lamp, kitchen. And it is not likely I had done so because the
remote is made of plastic and pretty likely would have melted. Still scratching my head.

 

[fresh_42]

Still scratching my head.

Someone used the transmission property of your remote for his own purposes. But the content of his additional transmissions got more and more boring right from the start, so he lost his interest and stopped transmitting.

You may now start to book your flights again.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

For some reason the batteries in my TV remote ended up being extremely hot. I checked and I had not left the
remote anywhere near any main source of heat like a lamp, kitchen. And it is not likely I had done so because the
remote is made of plastic and pretty likely would have melted. Still scratching my head.

Sounds like something shorted inside. Does it still work?

 

[WWGD]

Sounds like something shorted inside. Does it still work?

It works perfectly, thanks. And a day after the issue (I had removed the batteries , let them cool down and eventually reinserted them) batteries are at normal room temperature.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

It works perfectly, thanks. And a day after the issue (I had removed the batteries , let them cool down and eventually reinserted them) batteries are at normal room temperature.

Is this rechargeable batteries or disposable (alkaline)? The higher internal resistance of alkaline batteries makes it hard for them to get particularly hot unless they are at least nearly being shorted, and also I wouldn't expect them to last very long when being nearly shorted. I have found a remote getting warm after leaving it in a pile of stuff such that a button was being pressed all the time, but I wouldn't call that "hot".
Rechargeables can get extremely (dangerously) hot when shorted or nearly shorted.
Edit: ... and rechargeables can also get hot of course when being charged rapidly.

 

[WWGD]

Is this rechargeable batteries or disposable (alkaline)? The higher internal resistance of alkaline batteries makes it hard for them to get particularly hot unless they are at least nearly being shorted, and also I wouldn't expect them to last very long when being nearly shorted. I have found a remote getting warm after leaving it in a pile of stuff such that a button was being pressed all the time, but I wouldn't call that "hot".
Rechargeables can get extremely (dangerously) hot when shorted or nearly shorted.
Edit: ... and rechargeables can also get hot of course when being charged rapidly.

Thanks for the followup. These are standard AA alkalines. I suspect , thank to your answer, that it may have been along the lines of what you said, leaving a button pressed for a while. Just double-checked and remote is working fine.

 

[fresh_42]

I wonder, if others feel the same.
My motivation to answer questions (as far as I'm able to do so) is directly proportional to the effort made by the poster when questioning.
And of course, effort $\neq$ length. Sometimes I catch myself to set threads on watch simply to see how others deal with posts, where it's hard to find any effort at all.
Am I old fashioned?

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

The Perseid meteor shower is going to peak on the 12th of this month. Arrgggghhh. It would be incredible to see! It's best seen in the Northern Hemisphere and mid-southern latitudes...so maybe I've got a chance.

Anyone else enthusiastic about the awesomeness of this? Staying up past midnight to see a shower of meteors. What could be better?!

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Anyone else enthusiastic about the awesomeness of this? Staying up past midnight to see a shower of meteors. What could be better?!

You might need quite a bit of patience.

I saw some really great Perseids in about 1994, when I saw half a dozen bright ones going almost at the same time leaving bright trails across half of the sky. However, often it's a matter of waiting for minutes to see a little blip which you're not quite sure about, so you have to wait a few more minutes to see the next one. Most years I get to see at least one good one (turquoise tinged bright light and a bright trail lasting a few seconds).

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

You might need quite a bit of patience.

I saw some really great Perseids in about 1994, when I saw half a dozen bright ones going almost at the same time leaving bright trails across half of the sky. However, often it's a matter of waiting for minutes to see a little blip which you're not quite sure about, so you have to wait a few more minutes to see the next one. Most years I get to see at least one good one (turquoise tinged bright light and a bright trail lasting a few seconds).

I'm willing to be patient, even for one :) I live in place where light pollution makes it impossible to see anything in the sky, so this is an opportunity too good to lose.

Just started a thread for anyone who cares: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/hail-the-perseids.880813/

 

[fresh_42]

Just started a thread for anyone who cares: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/hail-the-perseids.880813/

Your title makes me shiver.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Your title makes me shiver.

Me, too, it was made in the spur of the moment. If you've got anything better, I'll change it in a flash.

EDIT: fixed it.

 

[Pepper Mint]

I want to see them showering too, (︺︹︺)

 

[fresh_42]

Just checked the caffeine level of some sorts of tea versus coffee. I wanted to find out, which of my teas has the lowest level.
I am surprised that a white tea (on average) has more than an Assam. Even green tea has. Only the Darjeeling has slightly less than Assam.
I know that caffeine and tannin aren't the same. However, I always expected the tannins to be somewhat of an indicator. Plain wrong!
It turned out that the lowest level of my teas could be found in Mate, except this isn't actually a tea.

A funny fact also showed up on my search: Starbucks' coffees aren't worth being called as such. You will have to basically drink the double amount to get the level of a real coffee.

 

[jim hardy]

Anyone else enthusiastic about the awesomeness of this? Staying up past midnight to see a shower of meteors. What could be better?!

I look forward to it every year. I live on a small lake and it's very pleasant to put on swim trunks and sit in an inner tube on the lake, away from yard lights.
Milky Way is quite visible here unlike most cities...

old jim

 

[WWGD]

Just checked the caffeine level of some sorts of tea versus coffee. I wanted to find out, which of my teas has the lowest level.
I am surprised that a white tea (on average) has more than an Assam. Even green tea has. Only the Darjeeling has slightly less than Assam.
I know that caffeine and tannin aren't the same. However, I always expected the tannins to be somewhat of an indicator. Plain wrong!
It turned out that the lowest level of my teas could be found in Mate, except this isn't actually a tea.

A funny fact also showed up on my search: Starbucks' coffees aren't worth being called as such. You will have to basically drink the double amount to get the level of a real coffee.

What is it with Saint Arbucks (St Arbucks) coffee that they have less caffeine? Is it the type of roast or something?

 

[WWGD]

Saw a talk tonight, at a B&N, By Penn Jillete , one half of the magician duo Penn and Teller. I did not know who he was before today and I thought he had something to see with Gillette razors ( I went because someone told me about it.) The guy is like 7' tall. He talked about how he lost 94 pounds and has kept them off for 17 months so far.

 

[fresh_42]

What is it with Saint Arbucks (St Arbucks) coffee that they have less caffeine? Is it the type of roast or something?

I only had a list where it's been an entry, together with a remark "(USA)".
Perhaps they think they can sell more of it this way? Reduce the danger of heart attacks and therewith the risk of being sued?
I don't know to which extend you can influence the content of caffeine by the roast. It's probably easier to use a mixture with a decaffeinated version.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

I saw some really great Perseids in about 1994, ...

By "about 1994" I now realize I meant 1993! That was an amazing year for Perseids.

 

[zoobyshoe]

He talked about how he lost 94 pounds...

He didn't "lose" them. He obscured them with smoke and mirrors, misdirection, and sleight of hand.