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

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The discussion revolves around frustrations with current documentary programming, particularly criticizing the History Channel's focus on sensational topics like time travel conspiracies instead of real historical content. Participants express disappointment over National Geographic's sale to Fox, fearing a decline in quality programming. The conversation shifts to lighter topics, including humorous anecdotes about everyday life, such as a malfunctioning kitchen fan discovered to be blocked by installation instructions. There are also discussions about the challenges of understanding various dialects in Belgium, the complexities of language, and personal experiences with weather and housing in California. Members share their thoughts on food, including a peculiar dish of zucchini pancakes served with strawberry yogurt, and delve into mathematical concepts related to sandwich cutting and the properties of numbers. The thread captures a blend of serious commentary and lighthearted banter, reflecting a diverse range of interests and perspectives among participants.
  • #10,741
Borg said:
<rant>
Someone please make a television that automatically sets the volumn during commericals to 10%. The Calm Act was 'supposed' to fix this but it clearly has no teeth.
</rant>
Many years ago, I actually designed a remote control to automatically do this for me if the volume exceeded a defined limit.; or not really a remote control but a device that used the remote IR TV input to turn down the volume. I copied the signal from my regular remote.
 
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  • #10,742
Speaking of the dating scene, I find the entire tattoo craze to be unfortunate. As far as I'm concerned, you can't improve on the canvas and tattoos are just graffiti.
 
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  • #10,743
Ivan Seeking said:
Many years ago, I actually designed a remote control to automatically do this for me if the volume exceeded a defined limit.; or not really a remote control but a device that used the remote IR TV input to turn down the volume. I copied the signal from my regular remote.
Did you use a set 30 second timer to restore the volume, or some other trick?
 
  • #10,744
berkeman said:
Did you use a set 30 second timer to restore the volume, or some other trick?
IIRC, at first I just set a down timer and an up timer, along with low and high threshold values. If the volume was less than the lower limit for something like 30 seconds, it started incrementing the volume. If greater than the upper limit for a brief interval, it would start decreasing the volume; proportionate to the overshoot of the high limit.

To make it work perfectly got really trickly. But crude operation was fairly easy, There were still bugs when I threw it out with the old TV. I meant to get back to it but never did because I thought the Smart Sound technology made it moot.
 
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  • #10,745
A moot mute?
 
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  • #10,746
It seems recently, every time I tell someone of some insight I've had, they all tell me " Of course".
 
  • #10,747
WWGD said:
It seems recently, every time I tell someone of some insight I've had, they all tell me " Of course".
Well, sure they do...
 
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  • #10,748
It's 102°F here right now here in my town in Kansas with a heat index of 120°F
 
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  • #10,749
dlgoff said:
It's 102°F here right now here in my town in Kansas with a heat index of 120°F
The opposite of your/our issues February this year.
 
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  • #10,750
WWGD said:
The opposite of your/our issues February this year.
I don't remember what the temperature was then, but I'm sure it was cooler than today. The temp is now 103°F and is forecast to be this hot all this week and next week.
 
  • #10,751
dlgoff said:
I don't remember what the temperature was then, but I'm sure it was cooler than today. The temp is now 103°F and is forecast to be this hot all this week and next week.
I meant we were all complaining about the too-cold weather back then.
 
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  • #10,752
Despite having complained about it myself at times, it seems anyone with a smart phone complaining of boredom likely lacks in imagination.
 
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  • #10,753
How (un)charming when Google maps chooses to randomly switch from feet to miles when I was lost. Otherwise, a great _ free_ app.
 
  • #10,754
Rive said:
... when you start shifting some TB of old data stuck on an old USB2 external drive is the time you'll start to wholeheartedly appreciate USB3 and e-SATA :headbang:
... these times are also great to start appreciating regular and rigorous maintenance of archives.

That ' some TB' of data is ~ 15 years worth of rushed saves during reinstalls of PCs, without any merge or maintenance: some files are already duplicates of duplicates of duplicates.
Of duplicates.

I caught files with ten (?:)) copies:headbang:

... and around a million file to process 😰

Ps.: old filenames with some windows-like, newer are with unix-like character encoding...
 
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  • #10,755
I'm about yo embark in similar, at a much smaller scale, with my own PC. I have done a bit of maintenance over time, though.

I was thinking of a scheme to transfer, move programs as well, possibly by exporting the registry.
 
  • #10,756
Another hot day here. 103°F right now.
 
  • #10,757
dlgoff said:
Another hot day here. 103°F right now.
Thermometer temp, or "feels like"? Hot as hell either way...
 
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  • #10,759
PSA:
Roofers just now finishing; expect severe weather (hail again) for the Boulder/Longmont area.
 
  • #10,760
Bystander said:
PSA:
Roofers just now finishing; expect severe weather (hail again) for the Boulder/Longmont area.
Lordy! I've seen thunderstorms in the Boulder/Longmont area, and they are no joke. I hope those folks have the good sense to get off the roof when they see the clouds forming...

I've told this story already on PF, but when I first moved to the Boulder Colorado area after graduate school to work for Bell Labs in Northglen, I kept hearing on the radio in the middle of the summer that folks should be careful because thunderstorms were forming. I kept thinking, "What's the big deal, a little rain so we get wet. Why are they so concerned around here?" And then one day I saw a small thundercloud marching over an open field just hammering it with lightning bolts every few seconds, and I understood...

1690587344670.png
 
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  • #10,761
My concern was because the letters of the sign were not kept together. Warby Parker, instead of War by Parker.
 
  • #10,762
berkeman said:
Thermometer temp, or "feels like"? Hot as hell either way...
I really dislike this "feels like" thing. I'd rather they report the temp, RH, and wind. I can take it from there.
 
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  • #10,763
gmax137 said:
I really dislike this "feels like" thing.
FYI
from: https://www.acurite.com/learn/gloss..." temperature is,conditions feel to bare skin.
The "feels like" temperature is a measurement of how hot or cold it really feels like outside. The “Feels Like” temperature relies on environmental data including the ambient air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed to determine how weather conditions feel to bare skin.
 
  • #10,764
gmax137 said:
I really dislike this "feels like" thing. I'd rather they report the temp, RH, and wind. I can take it from there.
That's because you have lots of experience factoring humidity into the expected temperature, so you know already how you will "feel" at that temperature.

I'm from Northern California, I have never developed that skill. After a couple wonderful trips to Hawaii on vacation, I learned what it "feels" like there with their mildly warm temperatures but island humidity. And when I flew back to New Jersey for an interview in the early summer near the end of undergrad, hoo-boy, I learned that moderately warm/hot temperatures feel a *whole* lot different there compared to Cali. :wink:
 
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  • #10,765
Thinking this over. When I'm in the Nevada high desert, RH about 10%, I don't care how hot it is, it will never "feel like" Virginia summer 90% RH, no matter the temp. It is silly to me, to try and boil it down to a single "value."
 
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  • #10,766
So funny, I have this HUGE sense of relief. For some reason it was a personal need for the truth to come out. And now the cat is out of the bag and there is no going back. The world changed on Wednesday. The voices of reason are finally winning.
 
  • #10,768
It's so hot that the cacti are dying.
 
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  • #10,770
gmax137 said:
I really dislike this "feels like" thing.

Ivan Seeking said:
It's so hot that the cacti are dying.

Cactus : "Feels like" I'm not long for this world.
 
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