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

[Pepper Mint]

I see many people taking the photos of their faces (from their chests up) probably for some sort of cards or for public introduction and most of them never stand/sit with their shoulders facing straight against the camera but usually at an angle of 30-45^o or so. Why is that ?
For example,
http://www.streetnewsservice.org/umbraco/ImageGen.ashx?image=%2fmedia%2f2455459%2fbi_aus_a_job_for_life_.jpg&height=330&width=540&Pad=true

 

[fresh_42]

More than 45° would look unnatural and somehow "caught", less than 30° would look either like a photo for passports or driver licenses - and we all know how inconvenient they can look. Beside that a frontal view means aggressive and confrontal in terms of body language.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Oh, my bad. I didn't see the big image. Not more than 15 minutes?! You are really skilled . I like it. In all honesty you are good. And the coat looks perfect on her. Your neighbor has a good looking coat .

Thanks :) Did I mention my neighbor was a medical student, too?

Nice drawing, somewhat of a tintin vibe going on.
I wish I could draw anything but stick figures, I do draw a mean cube* though.

* to scale no less!

Yes, there's a Tintin vibe going on, it was supposed to be done with Herge's style. Tintin's the BEST And stick figures are great. Would xkcd comics be the same without them?

Belgium is a huuuuge city ...

Nooo That's insulting. Poor Tintin. Poor Belgium. Kind of funny, at the same time, though.

 

[1oldman2]

Happy fathers day!

 

[Lisa!]

Interesting! I don't see any thread about Euro 2016!

 

[fresh_42]

Interesting! I don't see any thread about Euro 2016!

To be honest: the COPA is more entertaining.

 

[Astronuc]

Congratulations to the Ford Motor Company and their engineers.

Ford completes its quest, wins Le Mans again 50 years later
http://motorsports.nbcsports.com/20...-its-quest-wins-le-mans-again-50-years-later/

Ford won about 50 years ago when Porsche and Ferrari dominated.

My favorite car is the Gulf-sponsored Porsche 917 with a top speed of up to 240 mph (390 km/h).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_917

 

[Astronuc]

The worst oil bust since the 1980s is leaving Texas and other states with newly abandoned drilling sites at a time when they have little money to plug wells. At least 60 oil producers have declared bankruptcy since 2014 as U.S. rig counts plunge to historic lows. Even with oil prices slowly creeping upward in recent weeks, energy-producing states are confronting both holes in their budgets and potentially leaking ones in the ground. In Texas alone, the roughly $165 million needed to plug nearly 10,000 abandoned wells is double the budget of the agency that regulates the industry. Texas regulators now want taxpayers to cover more of the clean-up. Wyoming and Louisiana have raised fees, ...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/oil-bust-leaves-states-massive-cleanup-39969993

The problem is not new. Energy-rich state had thousands of orphaned wells on the books for decades, particularly in Texas, where the backlog exceeded 25,000 in the early 2000s before landowners pressured lawmakers to light a fire under state regulators. Landowners are getting antsy again, as the state's Republican comptroller, Glenn Hegar, has predicted that a third of oil producers in Texas will go bankrupt this summer.

It would seem that the states need oil and gas developers to put money in an escrow account for the clean up. It shouldn't be up to taxpayers to pay for clean up the waste of private industry. They already pay for the products they purchase, and part of the purchase price should go to clean up of the process used to produce the product.

 

[fresh_42]

It shouldn't be up to taxpayers to pay for clean up the waste of private industry. They already pay for the products they purchase, and part of the purchase price should go to clean up of the process used to produce the product.

We all pay for clean up, i.e. store tons of nuclear waste. I cannot see a difference.

 

[Pepper Mint]

Interesting! I don't see any thread about Euro 2016!

And I think it is a stereotypical thought for one to think that LGBTQ people are not interested in footballs.

 

[Astronuc]

We all pay for clean up, i.e. store tons of nuclear waste. I cannot see a difference.

The cost of the cleanup and decommissioning is covered in the electric bill. The utilities pay a fee to the government to take the spent fuel and place it in a repository, but the government took the money, didn't finish the repository, and didn't take the fuel. Taxpayers are on the hook for extra fees because the utilities didn't pay.

The defense waste is a different matter. That is the responsibility of the government, which did it under contract with industry.

 

[fresh_42]

The cost of the cleanup and decommissioning is covered in the electric bill. The utilities pay a fee to the government to take the spent fuel and place it in a repository, but the government took the money, didn't finish the repository, and didn't take the fuel.

Here it's not, and if, it is by far not enough. And I claim: it can't be enough regarding the durance it has to be safely stored.
If you really prize in all cost of nuclear power plants than nobody could ever afford it.

 

[WWGD]

Interesting! I don't see any thread about Euro 2016!

Too worried about Brexit issue, maybe.

 

[WWGD]

To be honest: the COPA is more entertaining.

It is the hottest club north of Havana.

 

[fresh_42]

Too worried about Brexit issue, maybe.

I hope Brexit comes on the 25th of July in St. Etienne

 

[WWGD]

I hope Brexit comes on the 25th of July in St. Etienne

?

 

[fresh_42]

?

England (likely) vs. (still to be found) in St Etienne (about 100 miles west of CERN)

 

[Psinter]

Thanks :) Did I mention my neighbor was a medical student, too?

I don't think you did. Why? Is it because you are a medical student too? Not that it matters, I just don't understand what brings it up. Unless it is just a random thought .

Nice drawing, somewhat of a tintin vibe going on.
I wish I could draw anything but stick figures, I do draw a mean cube* though.

* to scale no less!

Yes, there's a Tintin vibe going on, it was supposed to be done with Herge's style. Tintin's the BEST And stick figures are great. Would xkcd comics be the same without them?

I didn't know what was this Tintin vibe, so I just watched a piece of an episode of Tintin to educate myself on the subject. It was funny. Two detectives with a mustache were stating the obvious (like Captain Obvious) and Tintin just ignored them . Like, he didn't even bother to reply . It was funny.
____________________________________________________________________________________
I had to use google translate to pronounce this word out loud for me: Schlüsselaustausch

And I still cannot pronounce it. So a random thought: Can you imagine a tongue-twister in German? I'd put it in a text-to-speech engine and see if it can pronounce it.

 

[collinsmark]

I had to use google translate to pronounce this word out loud for me: Schlüsselaustausch

To me, German pronunciation* was the only easy aspect of the language. German grammar, on the other, was a big challenge for me.

*(Even though I didn't recall the meaning of Schlüsselaustausch when I read your post, I could pronounce it. I did recall enough to know it has something to do with keys though. German spellers are more inclined to make compound words than are English spellers, and that aspect could sometimes throw me when asked to spell things.)

 

[fresh_42]

Can you imagine a tongue-twister in German? I'd put it in a text-to-speech engine and see if it can pronounce it.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zungenbrecher (Beispiele = Examples; audios included)

And don't think "She sells sea shells ..." is easier. Or my favorite word: clothes. Who the heck had the idea to place a "th" and an "s" directly together?

 

[Sophia]

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zungenbrecher (Beispiele = Examples; audios included)

And don't think "She sells sea shells ..." is easier. Or my favorite word: clothes. Who the heck had the idea to place a "th" and an "s" directly together?

Th sound is my favourite!
If I concentrate on each word and speak very slowly, I can pronounce it correctly. But usually, in my average speaking attempt, I just pronounce it as "t" or "d" .
However, th is a piece of cake compared to Czech ř ! I only managed to get it right several times and when my Czech friends told me it was great and I tried to repeat it, I was never successful the second time :-)

 

[fresh_42]

Th sound is my favourite!
If I concentrate on each word and speak very slowly, I can pronounce it correctly. But usually, in my average speaking attempt, I just pronounce it as "t" or "d" .
However, th is a piece of cake compared to Czech ř ! I only managed to get it right several times and when my Czech friends told me it was great and I tried to repeat it, I was never successful the second time :-)

Isn't it something like "iersh" with very little pronunciation on the "er"? Would be easier to describe in a language that doesn't abuse its letters to a random output. Have you tried Hungarian "something + y", like négy, nagy or hely?

 

[Pepper Mint]

... Or my favorite word: clothes. Who the heck had the idea to place a "th" and an "s" directly together?

I pronounce it /clo:z/ because /clo:thz/ is difficult.

 

[Sophia]

Isn't it something like "iersh" with very little pronunciation on the "er"? Would be easier to describe in a language that doesn't abuse its letters to a random output. Have you tried Hungarian "something + y", like négy, nagy or hely?

yes, that's the sound I mean :) something between r and sh
Hungarian "gy" is the same as ď in my language, so it's natural for me :)

 

[Psinter]

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zungenbrecher (Beispiele = Examples; audios included)

And don't think "She sells sea shells ..." is easier. Or my favorite word: clothes. Who the heck had the idea to place a "th" and an "s" directly together?

I just listened to it because I cannot read anything in that page .

To me, German pronunciation* was the only easy aspect of the language. German grammar, on the other, was a big challenge for me.

*(Even though I didn't recall the meaning of Schlüsselaustausch when I read your post, I could pronounce it. I did recall enough to know it has something to do with keys though. German spellers are more inclined to make compound words than are English spellers, and that aspect could sometimes throw me when asked to spell things.)

You know German? That's cool . I can count with the fingers of one hand the words I know in German .

 

[fresh_42]

I just listened to it because I cannot read anything in that page .

You wanted to feed Google Translate. So you could copy and paste any line from there. That's been my idea.

You know German? That's cool . I can count with the fingers of one hand the words I know in German .

Well, you probably know Eigenvektor. Not much of a difference. Or Ansatz. And many words which are basically the same: Substitution, Addition, Multiplikation, ... plus many latin words or very old Indo-European words which are only written slightly different.
(And by the way: Instead of trying "Schlüsselaustausch" you may well say key exchange, it's a 1:1 translation. Much more fun are the words that cannot be translated without changing their meaning or at least their connotation.)

A propos key exchange: Have a look what I've recently found on Wiki:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffie-Hellman-Schlüsselaustausch#/media/File:Alice-bob-eve.jpg

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Unless it is just a random thought .

Yes, it was. Our conversation was getting less random so I had to take drastic measures. I could never study medicine as the prospect of being a doctor is horrific.
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I used to find it funny when non-native English speakers found certain sounds difficult to make, but then I started foreign language classes and met a bunch of bilingual people at my school so now the joke's on me that I can't pronounce other language's words/sounds.

I've gotten to the point where I can understand a complete conversation in Spanish, but French was a failure, German (although a beautiful sounding language) is too hard, and Arabic is impossible. Hopefully Dutch will treat me better.
------------------------------------------------------
Random thought: The Indian population in Silicon Valley is massive. I thought that Indians going into computer science was a stereotype but I guess it's not.

 

[Psinter]

You wanted to feed Google Translate. So you could copy and paste any line from there. That's been my idea.

I was a little slow to catch up, but I did it a few moments later, after hearing the ogg file.

Well, you probably know Eigenvektor. Not much of a difference. Or Ansatz. And many words which are basically the same: Substitution, Addition, Multiplikation, ... plus many latin words or very old Indo-European words which are only written slightly different.
(And by the way: Instead of trying "Schlüsselaustausch" you may well say key exchange, it's a 1:1 translation. Much more fun are the words that cannot be translated without changing their meaning or at least their connotation.)

In German I had heard non of those words. Now I have. Thanks. The words I knew were "nein" and "mein". That was about it. Something I don't quite understand is why if it is German it says "de.wikipedia..." I thought it should say "ge.wikipedia..." Let me investigate why... google google google... Oh, I see. Look:

Some codes are chosen based on the native names of the countries. For example, Germany is assigned the alpha-2 code DE, based on its native name "Deutschland".

They are using ISO 639-1 instead of 639-2/B which is "ger".

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffie-Hellman-Schlüsselaustausch#/media/File:Alice-bob-eve.jpg

Hihi. Eve is dropping it.

Yes, it was. Our conversation was getting less random so I had to take drastic measures. I could never study medicine as the prospect of being a doctor is horrific.
------------------------------------------------------
I used to find it funny when non-native English speakers found certain sounds difficult to make, but then I started foreign language classes and met a bunch of bilingual people at my school so now the joke's on me that I can't pronounce other language's words/sounds.

I've gotten to the point where I can understand a complete conversation in Spanish, but French was a failure, German (although a beautiful sounding language) is too hard, and Arabic is impossible. Hopefully Dutch will treat me better.
------------------------------------------------------
Random thought: The Indian population in Silicon Valley is massive. I thought that Indians going into computer science was a stereotype but I guess it's not.

Now you are Profusely Random .

 

[collinsmark]

Something I don't quite understand is why if it is German it says "de.wikipedia..." I thought it should say "ge.wikipedia..." Let me investigate why... google google google... Oh, I see. Look:

Yeah, in the German tongue the German language is "Deutsch" and the country is "Deutschland." For that bit of confusion I place the blame on the English language though (probably dates back to the Romans). I mean, imagine the conversation:

Dave: Hello! I'm called Dave. How do you do?
Earl: Hello, Gerald. My name is Earl. Pleased to meet you.
Dave: Pleased to meet you too, Earl. [Pause.] But I think you misunderstood. My name's Dave.
Earl: Yeah, whatever you say, Gerald.
Dave: [Another pause.] That's Dave.
Earl: Gerald.
Dave: [Scratches head.] Are you doing this on purpose?​

 

[fresh_42]

The word "deutsch" derives from Teutonic (who lived in Jutland, Denmark) which was one of the many germanic tribes.
"Teutonic ... probably via Celtic from Proto-Germanic *theudanoz, from PIE (Proto-Indo-European) *teuta-, the common word for "people, tribe" (source also of Lithuanian tauto, Oscan touto, Old Irish tuath, Gothic þiuda, Old English þeod "people, race, nation" - http://www.etymonline.com/

Germanic is Roman. ("... from Latin Germanus (adjective and noun, plural Germani), first attested in writings of Julius Caesar, who used Germani to designate a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul, of unknown origin and considered to be neither Latin nor Germanic." - http://www.etymonline.com/)

 

[zoobyshoe]

Can you use copper tubing in a condenser for making distilled water? Will the hot water vapor react with the copper to create some nasty compound? I'm thinking of distilling sea water to make fresh drinking water. Would the sea salts react with the copper if they came in contact?

 

[fresh_42]

Construction sites here say: yes. The electrolyte property of saltwater makes copper vulnerable and supports corrosion. They recommend hot-dip fully zinc-galvanized steel.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Construction sites here say: yes. The electrolyte property of saltwater makes copper vulnerable and supports corrosion. They recommend hot-dip fully zinc-galvanized steel.

Galvanized steel is a truly miserable material in any application, if you ask me.

I think my choices are stainless steel or stainless steel, for the condenser. The problem is, it's kind of on the expensive side.

 

[fresh_42]

Galvanized steel is a truly miserable material in any application, if you ask me.

I think my choices are stainless steel or stainless steel, for the condenser. The problem is, it's kind of on the expensive side.

Where do you plan to get the energy from? I've seen in a documentary that the Israelis use capillary effects and filters instead in an industrial sized plant.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Where do you plan to get the energy from? I've seen in a documentary that the Israelis use capillary effects and filters instead in an industrial sized plant.

This would be a personal emergency still, to be employed in the event of an earthquake. It would be powered by whatever was around that would burn; most likely wood.