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

[WWGD]

You see how wasteful standard showering is when you see pics of Indian villagers showering using a small ( around .5 litter) bottle of water. Now multiply the difference between that and easily 10 I a Westerner uses , then by 365 , then by 80 , and the difference really adds up.

 

[Astronuc]

I just reviewed a publication entitled "Nickel and Its Alloys", NBS Monograph 106, May 1968. One reference is from 1805, and the next reference is from 1597. I had to do a double-take, since I thought it might be a typo, but sure enough the reference exists. Talk about historical background. It has to be the earliest metallurgical reference in a manuscript that I've encountered.

Andreas Libavius, "De Natura Metallorum," Frankfurt 1597, printed by Johannes Saur for Peter Kopf, 1597
https://collections.folger.edu/deta...ium-fide/bf43d050-f8d1-418e-91dd-1b90ab2cd6d4

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22464/lot/33/?category=listIn searching with the title, I found "Fundamental Concepts of Early Modern Chemistryin the Context of the Operational and Experimental Practice"
http://ftp.mpdl.mpg.de/mpiwg-berlin/data/datastreams-single/escidoc_644394+content+content.0

According to Agricola the cause of the "obscurity", the "oblivion" and the "darkness" which led science and technology to the "ruin" of the middle age was twofold. First of all facts began to be neglected and ignored. Secondly, the meanings of the Greek and Latin terms used by classical authors were misinterpreted or replaced with barbarian terms.

 

[WWGD]

Crisis:
Oatmeal coming out too watery. Solution: boil oatmeal together with water.

 

[Borg]

<minor_rant>
Build a code example for someone and days later they ask for updates but they've made a bunch of unnecessary changes like hardcoding previously dynamic variables, adding code that references files they haven't given you, and changing variable names into spanish. ay caramba...
</minor_rant>

 

[WWGD]

My own pseudo-periodic rant:
Until auto-(in)correct stops writing " Lawrence" instead of " Surely" and stops randomly capitalizing words mid-sentence, we can sleep safe knowing that A.I/Machines will not be enslaving Tuscany time soon.

 

[WWGD]

I find Queen's " We are the Champions" a bit confusing. It starts with the first person singular " I paid my dues...I've done my sentence...and bad mistakes, I've made a few...
And then the chorus switches into the plural , with " We are the Champions.."

Where did the switch take place?

 

[BillTre]

It's an individual taking part in a team event.

 

[fresh_42]

Where did the switch take place?

Impossible to say now. It took place in that stadion on this globe where it was first used to manipulate the masses.

 

[Rive]

...when you want 10m of a special cable 'measured in feet' and so set 32 pieces in the form...

...when you get 32 pieces of cable, feet long each ...

 

[WWGD]

Impossible to say now. It took place in that stadion on this globe where it was first used to manipulate the masses.

Maybe. I'm willing to give plenty of license for cool songs , and this one definitely qualifies.

 

[WWGD]

There are ads for Beatles-based movie " Get Back". Sounds interesting.

 

[Ibix]

I think it's a mini series on Netflix. Some colleagues seem to have really enjoyed it, but I haven't seen it.

 

[WWGD]

I think it's a mini series on Netflix. Some colleagues seem to have really enjoyed it, but I haven't seen it.

Thanks. I'll ' get back' to you if I see it.

 

[fresh_42]

Thanks. I'll ' get back' to you if I see it.

What the heck will you be doing in Tucson?

 

[WWGD]

What the heck will you be doing in Tucson?

Meeting JoJo in his home and buying some California grass. We will meet because , unlike he thinks, he's really not a loner.

Thanks for the softball ;).

 

[WWGD]

Kind of confusing dealing with terms with similar related meanings: Tarts, Tortes, Cakes, Pies. Lamb, Sheep, Ewe, Goat, Ram.

 

[WWGD]

Going over training videos makes me miss the old days of books.

 

[fresh_42]

Going over training videos makes me miss the old days of books.

Spoiler: Which old days?

 

[WWGD]

Spoiler: Which old days?

Last week, actually. I just remember . Embarrased.

Tensor Flow, not aerobics. Can't see how to do aerobics while watching a video. I have a PC, not a TV.

 

[fresh_42]

I have a PC, not a TV.

There are tv cards for PCs. All you need is an antenna and a free slot.

 

[Ibix]

Going over training videos makes me miss the old days of books.

Agreed. I read a lot faster than people talk, so I always find videos annoying. Automatic transcriptions help...

 

[WWGD]

Agreed. I read a lot faster than people talk, so I always find videos annoying. Automatic transcriptions help...

I may change my mind if someone comes up with an equivalent of Ctrl+ F for videos, if that were even possible.

 

[Ibix]

I may change my mind if someone comes up with an equivalent of Ctrl+ F for videos, if that were even possible.

Yeah - that's one use for the transcriptions. Videos are great for some things (GUIs, howtos for things like DIY/household maintenance), but text is so much easier to search and do random access.

 

[WWGD]

Buffet tray was covered , read "Meet Loaf". I opened it. Hello, Loaf, I'm WWGD.

 

[WWGD]

Leif Erickson weighed 180lbs. I weight 190 lbs.

That makes me larger than Leif.

 

[WWGD]

Trick to slow bread from becoming stale: put mayo or other things on top. I broke a roll into equal halves. One was left as is while I prepared a chicken sandwich on the other. The ' as is' became stale, while the ' sandwiched' one remained fresh.
How do I sign up for a Nobel Prize?

 

[collinsmark]

I just shove the whole loaf into the jar of mayonnaise from the get-go. 'Let it absorb the mayonnaisy goodness.

 

[WWGD]

I just shove the whole loaf into the jar of mayonnaise from the get-go. 'Let it absorb the mayonnaisy goodness.

Love to taste that with some fried eggs ( yech to my taste).

 

[Astronuc]

Searching back in family history, it appears that an ancestor, and possibly his son, was charged and fined for hunting after dark in one of the king's forests.

Elsewhere, one of my ancestors was born out of wedlock, given the mother's family name as the father is unknown.

 

[WWGD]

Strange situation in that I bought a lot of food , but not the combinations I need to prepare my meals. And it happened twice in a row. Now I made up for it but have a gigantic amount of good.

 

[WWGD]

Strange sale: The same product has been on sale for the same amount for like a year. I guess at some point it becomes the actual price.

 

[kyphysics]

I find people can be more attractive with face masks on. *braces for being called shallow*

Really, I don't know why. Some people I don't find as physically attractive suddenly seem more attractive with masks. I feel like it slims many people's faces or blocks out potentially asymmetric or less attractive features, while showing areas that are almost universally attractive: eyes, forehead, hair, neck, etc.

 

[valenumr]

At least he had a football team named after him, though. The Houston Eulers.

Now he is considered a Titan in his field.

 

[fresh_42]

Ugly sausages, scrambled eggs, beans in tomato sauce, bacon, toasted bread: and then they call it fast break.

 

[WWGD]

Ugly sausages, scrambled eggs, beans in tomato sauce, bacon, toasted bread: and then they call it fast break.

Guess if you scarf it down quickly.

 

[fresh_42]

Guess if you scarf it down quickly.

And cooking time?

 

[WWGD]

And cooking time?

Nuke it.

 

[fresh_42]

The point is, that the English world has the most complicated breakfast and still calls it fast. In French it is little, and in German early. Neither of them is near as time-consuming as sausages and beans or pancakes.

 

[Ibix]

I take it you are aware that it is a meal in which you break your (overnight, usually) fast - "fast" as in "not eating", not "not slow"?

 

[fresh_42]

Ramadan? No. I wasn't aware of this.

 

[valenumr]

The point is, that the English world has the most complicated breakfast and still calls it fast. In French it is little, and in German early. Neither of them is near as time-consuming as sausages and beans or pancakes.

I precook a bunch of bacon in the oven once a week. An egg take two minutes.

 

[WWGD]

My main beef ( at least recently) is the overload of the term 'Entropy' : I recently heard it mentioned in regards to how much you can deviate from the normal/standard spelling or pronunciation and still have a high probability of being understood. By this definition, English has low Entropy , in that you can mangle words and spelling and still likely be understood. The opposite in Chinese, in that slight misspellings/mispronounciations have a small chance of being understood.

I also have a beef with vegetarians. They don't like it. ;).

 

[Ibix]

The opposite in Chinese, in that slight misspellings/mispronounciations have a small chance of being understood.

In a conversation about difficulties in foreign languages, a lady who used to live in China told us that in at least one Chinese dialect the words for "nine" and "penis" differ only in intonation. She noted that if she wanted nine of something she always asked for ten and threw one away.

 

[WWGD]

In a conversation about difficulties in foreign languages, a lady who used to live in China told us that in at least one Chinese dialect the words for "nine" and "penis" differ only in intonation. She noted that if she wanted nine of something she always asked for ten and threw one away.

So what's the deal with the line: " Number Nine, Number Nine,..."?

 

[fresh_42]

So what's the deal with the line: " Number Nine, Number Nine,..."?

They don't speak Chinese in Liverpool, it only sounds that way.

 

[WWGD]

They don't speak Chinese in Liverpool, it only sounds that way.

I remember this Jamaican guy who was interviewed on TV and he was livid because they added subtitles/translation on the bottom.

 

[WWGD]

Maybe this is for anyone else but maybe @BillTre : Do viruses have gender?
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/viruses-are-there-male-female-viruses.1010478/

 

[fresh_42]

I remember this Jamaican guy who was interviewed on TV and he was livid because they added subtitles/translation on the bottom.

I just thought yesterday how amazing it is that I understand most German dialects (schwizerdütsch included) although they have barely something in common with the language taught at schools. I assume it is similar for native English speakers. I remember an interview with Amy Macdonald on a radio show or John Higgins after a Snooker match: Scottish is hard.

 

[WWGD]

I just thought yesterday how amazing it is that I understand most German dialects (schwizerdütsch included) although they have barely something in common with the language taught at schools. I assume it is similar for native English speakers. I remember an interview with Amy Macdonald on a radio show or John Higgins after a Snooker match: Scottish is hard.

And there are, I think , many dialects/accents within Scottish.

 

[Ibix]

My wife, not a native English speaker, occasionally tells me she fell in love with me because my BBC English accent made me one of the few people she could understand when she first came here. I like to think that's a compliment...