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

[Keith_McClary]

That's nearly reassuring.

 

[WWGD]

Some utilities are metered like water and electricity. Others, such as sewage, are charged at a flat rate, regardless of consumption. The internet is like a sewer.

Best thing about the Internet: It gives everybody a voice.

Worse thing about the Internet: It gives everybody a voice.

 

[fresh_42]

I remember reading that water treatment plants in many places register a non-trivial presence of caffeine in their reserves. Would be interesting to conduct a poll here in PF on the matter.

I have only basil and absolutely no idea how much coffee it drinks over the day when I'm not looking.

 

[gmax137]

Interviewing for an internship related to computational modelling... they send me a 30 page research paper at 11pm and ask for a report on it by - wait for it - 6pm tomorrow.

I had a friend who flew out the day before a job interview. A couple of the employees took him out to dinner, which involved cocktails, wine with the food, then after dinner drinks. Around 11 PM they told him he was to give a presentation "to the senior staff" at 9 AM the next morning. He did get the job.

 

[WWGD]

Wonder if it's really necessary to enter your email to unsubscribe from some email feed or they just want to verify yours is an actual email account.

 

[WWGD]

Interviewing for an internship related to computational modelling... they send me a 30 page research paper at 11pm and ask for a report on it by - wait for it - 6pm tomorrow.

Any news?

 

[ergospherical]

Any news?

Nope, got it done though.

 

[WWGD]

Modern witchcraft? Google has an 'Undo' feature for sent emails (I think it lasts just a few seconds, though).

 

[DrGreg]

Modern witchcraft? Google has an 'Undo' feature for sent emails (I think it lasts just a few seconds, though).

Microsoft Outlook can also do this (with no time limit) but I think it works only for internal Outlook-to-Outlook emails within an organisation, and it happens only after the recipient has logged into Outlook but before they have read the message. (It's called "recall" rather than "undo".)

 

[WWGD]

Microsoft Outlook can also do this (with no time limit) but I think it works only for internal Outlook-to-Outlook emails within an organisation, and it happens only after the recipient has logged into Outlook but before they have read the message. (It's called "recall" rather than "undo".)

Is Outlook the company that owns Hotmail? Never figured out the connection between the two.

 

[ergospherical]

I was so stressed this afternoon that I ate a whole head of broccoli from the fridge, completely raw, like a drumstick. There's something vaguely satisfying about the crunchy texture, although lots of the tiny, hairy green bits got stuck in my throat and I couldn't stop coughing for about 15 minutes.

 

[fresh_42]

At least healthy.

 

[gmax137]

lots of the tiny, hairy green bits got stuck in my throat and I couldn't stop coughing for about 15 minutes.

Apply cold beer. Have it ready before starting in on the broccoli.

 

[Jodo]

That's a big pipe fitting!

View attachment 297722

Haha yes, that is a big T section. Unsure what that dude is doing ( can't be welding, he has no helmet ) but he better hurry up! Clock on the wall says it's almost 3! Breaktime

 

[WWGD]

Issues not yet settled by philosophers:

Oxbridge or Cambford ?

Cro-muffin or Muffsant ?

Where's the Beef?

 

[BillTre]

Haha yes, that is a big T section. Unsure what that dude is doing ( can't be welding, he has no helmet ) but he better hurry up! Clock on the wall says it's almost 3! Breaktime

I think he is a fabricator doing plastic welding (helmet not required).

 

[fresh_42]

Today, 195 years ago:

$\dagger\;$ Pierre-Simon Laplace
$\dagger\;$ Alessandro Volta

 

[ergospherical]

Music is just a lie made up by big keyboard to sell more keyboards.

 

[nuuskur]

but what a beautiful lie it is

 

[Hamiltonian]

Most 20th century physicists have such tragic life stories :(

 

[ergospherical]

I stumbled across a replica of that fishing game that used to be in the ski lodge in Club Penguin, and it made my heart very happy.

 

[Frabjous]

Most 20th century physicists have such tragic life stories :(

In another thread, I just learned of Schwarzschild’s fate. Over the age of 40, he volunteered for World War I and died of a disease caught on the Eastern Front. It was on the Eastern front that he came up with his analytical solution to Einstein’s field equations.

 

[WWGD]

Galois died at 21, in a duel over politics. Can't imagine a Mathematician dying that way today.

 

[fresh_42]

Galois died at 21, in a duel over politics. Can't imagine a Mathematician dying that way today.

Ever started a discussion on constructivism?

 

[WWGD]

Ever started a discussion on constructivism?

Yes, but Brouwer ( Sp?) was not around. Edit: Nor the new crazy guy in YouTube (NJ Wildberger).

 

[WWGD]

Wow, EWF still playing; just saw an ad for a concert. 5 guys singing and some other 400 on stage dancing.

 

[Hamiltonian]

I stumbled across a replica of that fishing game that used to be in the ski lodge in Club Penguin, and it made my heart very happy.

View attachment 298056

those were simpler times:')

also I think the original game was re-launched a few years ago(there were rumors that it was because of Musk's tweet)

 

[Hamiltonian]

In another thread, I just learned of Schwarzschild’s fate. Over the age of 40, he volunteered for World War I and died of a disease caught on the Eastern Front. It was on the Eastern front that he came up with his analytical solution to Einstein’s field equations.

Max Planck's younger son Erwin got arrested for involvement in the attempted assassination of Hitler. For which he was executed.
Fritz Haber gave up his religion, helped the Nazi's create the very gas that was used to kill his family members. He died alone in a hotel. At the end of his life, he repented for using his mind and his talents for waging war.
there are so many more Ludwig Boltzmann, Tesla, Turing, Schwarzschild even Einstein had a very hard time in his early years.

 

[WWGD]

Notes to self:
1)Trying to see when I'll get a chance to use the line:
"Er, I'm Vegan, Walter!"

2)It's Yo-Yo-Ma, not
Yo-Ma-Ma.

 

[ergospherical]

Watching this it's almost impossible to believe that MPW and Gordon used to be teacher and prodigée; the approaches couldn't be more different.

 

[nuuskur]

I personally don't like it when the chefs are commenting aggressively during the cooking. Keep the talking to a minimum, I can see what you are doing

Chef Wang on youtube is a great watch.

 

[WWGD]

I personally don't like it when the chefs are commenting aggressively during the cooking. Keep the talking to a minimum, I can see what you are doing

Chef Wang on youtube is a great watch.

I guess that means Ramsay's not on your watch list.

 

[Klystron]

Galois died at 21, in a duel over politics. Can't imagine a Mathematician dying that way today.

The histories I have read describe a love triangle. Galois and the skilled swordsman who ended his life shared the affections of a young woman.

 

[ergospherical]

If you're writing a cover letter to a professor, is it too heavy-handed to mention that you've read a book that they wrote? On the one hand it's completely true (and I read it a fair while ago), but one worries that they'd suspect you're full of it and only googled them a couple of minutes before you sat down to write to them.

 

[BillTre]

If you're writing a cover letter to a professor, is it too heavy-handed to mention that you've read a book that they wrote? On the one hand it's completely true (and I read it a fair while ago), but one worries that they'd suspect you're full of it and just googled them a couple of minutes before you sat down to write to them.

Is it relevant to why you are seeing them?
If they suspect your BS'ing, but are ready for questions, it could be a good thing.

 

[WWGD]

The histories I have read describe a love triangle. Galois and the skilled swordsman who ended his life shared the affections of a young woman.

Maybe a bit of both? Don't know the story at that level of detail, I admit.

 

[ergospherical]

Very much so, yes. It's a summer placement in a fairly specific area of astrophysics research in which he's an authority. I think it would be nice to mention that I've used his text but it's harder than it first seems to do so with tact...

 

[BillTre]

Slip a reference to it, into a conversation when talking about some subject the book covers:
"stars, like defined in your book".

 

[fresh_42]

If you're writing a cover letter to a professor, is it too heavy-handed to mention that you've read a book that they wrote?

Do me a favor, Jay. Do not mention the errors.

 

[WWGD]

Very much so, yes. It's a summer placement in a fairly specific area of astrophysics research in which he's an authority. I think it would be nice to mention that I've used his text but it's harder than it first seems to do so with tact...

I know Physics as if I had used Ramsey's cookbooks as my textbook ;).

 

[BillTre]

In a book from Oxford University Press:
under the:

"© author name 2021"
was
"The moral rights of the author have been asserted"

What does that mean?

 

[gmax137]

@BillTre
see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights

 

[Astronuc]

Praxair ( now Linde I believe )

Yep. "In 2018, Praxair merged with Linde AG to form Linde plc. The Praxair name was discontinued on September 1, 2020."
https://www.linde.com/news-media/pr...n-praxair-and-linde-ag-successfully-completed

A little bit of history. https://www.unioncarbide.com/history.html
1917 - Union Carbide & Carbon Corporation is incorporated on November 1, 1917 and acquires the stock of: Linde Air Products Co. (Linde's US subsidiary); National Carbon Co., Inc.; Prest-O-Lite Co., Inc.; and Union Carbide Company (formed in 1898).
1992 - Union Carbide Industrial Gases is spun-off as an independent company. Its name changes to Praxair, Inc.

https://www.linde.com/about-linde/corporate-heritage
As a result of WWI, Linde lost its US subsidiary through expropriation.

A bit of trivia - The AOD process was invented in 1954 by the Lindé Division of The Union Carbide Corporation.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02667991 (requires purchase)
https://www.lindeus.com/industries/metal-production/argon-oxygen-decarburization-aod

 

[Astronuc]

Another piece of technical trivia - At BNSF, the forecast calls for clearer wind data
https://www.bnsf.com/news-media/railtalk/safety/wind-app.html

In Southern California, the dry, hot winds are called Santa Ana. On the eastern slope of the Continental Divide in Montana, where the temperature is cooler, they’re known as Chinooks. No matter the name or origin, winds that deliver hurricane-like gusts pose significant safety concerns to our crews and trains, which operate through these and other susceptible regions.

At certain speeds and conditions, wind can be strong enough to knock unloaded coal and grain cars off the track. Stacked, empty containers can act like a sail, literally lifting the cars. Damaging winds can also blow down power lines and trees or propel other obstructions into a train or its path.

Much like tractor trailers that get blown over on a highway in a heavy cross wind.

 

[ergospherical]

It’s sad but also hilarious how brands try to hijack special dates and holidays. Gifts should be whimsical, but instead you face a barrage of

This Mother’s Day, show how much you really care… with this 79cc 4-stroke petrol engine lawnmower, now £399 for limited time only!

 

[Astronuc]

Wonder Bird Flies Thousands of Miles, Non-Stop, as Part of an Epic Migration​

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scie...es-thousands-miles-without-resting-180979248/

 

[WWGD]

It’s sad but also hilarious how brands try to hijack special dates and holidays. Gifts should be whimsical, but instead you face a barrage of

This Mother’s Day, show how much you really care… with this 79cc 4-stroke petrol engine lawnmower, now £399 for limited time only!

We will all likely hear/see mention of Pi day (3/14) soon. I've tried to popularize $$\sqrt 10 $$; 3/16, to no avail.

 

[ergospherical]

We will all likely hear/see mention of Pi day (3/14) soon. I've tried to popularize $$\sqrt 10 $$; 3/16, to no avail.

We're also in the midst of British Pie week (the edible variety). I got a nice chicken & leek one from the cafeteria yesterday to celebrate! I do hope they're cooking cottage pie today...

 

[WWGD]

We're also in the midst of British Pie week (the edible variety). I got a nice chicken & leek one from the cafeteria yesterday to celebrate! I do hope they're cooking cottage pie today...

You got it a week early? Do you like the blood pies?

 

[WWGD]

Though note that this year, the approximation 3.1622 is particularly good, better than 3.1422 is to $ \pi$