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criticizing the History Channel's focus on sensational topics like time travel conspiracies instead of real historical content.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.
  • #1,981
fresh_42 said:
Or even simpler than that: it moves → it moves slowly enough to easily be caught → no plant → no poisonous plant → hmmm, delicious. I assume people hadn't much of a choice at the time we first ate it.
Thing is, if you have the example of an otter then it makes sense that people would try crabs even when they're not starving and have no choice.
 
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  • #1,982
zoobyshoe said:
Thing is, if you have the example of an otter then it makes sense that people would try crabs even when they're not starving and have no choice.
I don't like that example, give me an otter one.
 
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  • #1,983
Birds eat a lot of crabs also.
 
  • #1,984
zoobyshoe said:
That makes sense. Even I would assume that if an otter can eat something there's a high likelihood a human could too.

If otter eats it, I otter be able to.
 
  • #1,985
WWGD said:
I don't like that example, give me an otter one.

Bah, you beat me to it.
 
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  • #1,986
dkotschessaa said:
Bah, you beat me to it.
Don't get crabby about it.
 
  • #1,987
Interesting maths: a train ticket from my home town to the place I need to visit next week, going via London, is £120. A ticket from my home town to London is £30. A ticket from London (same station) to my destination is £40. Conclusion: £30+£40=£120.

With arithmetic like that, it's no wonder the trains never run to time.
 
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  • #1,988
Still waiting to find out how I did on my topology qualifier. Took it last saturday.

pace pace pace pace pace pace pace
 
  • #1,989
dkotschessaa said:
pace pace pace pace pace pace pace
Stop it! You're going to wear a hole in the forum.

Which will change its genus.
 
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  • #1,990
Ibix said:
Stop it! You're going to wear a hole in the forum.

Which will change its genus.

It's what now?

(just kidding)

-Dave K
 
  • #1,991
dkotschessaa said:
It's what now?
You had me going for a moment - I wasn't sure I was using the term correctly. Let’s just say I probably wouldn't pass the qualifier...
 
  • #1,992
I found this to be odd:

If you watch CSI you should recognize the name Paul Guilfoyle as one of the minor, but recurring characters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Guilfoyle

But, as I was looking at the blurb for an old movie showing on Turner Classic Movies, I saw the same actor credited as a major character in a film made in 1944.

Turns out the 1944 Paul Guilfoyle is a completely different and unrelated person who died in 1961:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Guilfoyle_(actor,_born_1902)

It is such an unusual name the odds must be stacked against two separate, unrelated people with that name becoming successful at the same profession. Additionally, you'd think the more recent would have adopted a stage name to avoid any confusion with the earlier. On the other hand, maybe neither was/is famous enough for this to be a problem worth addressing.

In a completely separate coincidence, the 1944 film I was reading about is called Dark Shadows, but its plot has nothing whatever to do with the vampire story of the later soap opera and film with the same title. In the 1944 film: "A police psychiatrist is enlisted to catch a homicidal killer."
 
  • #1,993
  • #1,994
jim hardy said:
Hmmm Until just now i'd assumed Helen Hunt was a pseudonym lifted from the Hollywood hairstylist whose name you see in so many 1940's movie credits.

But i guess both are real names.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Hunt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Hunt_(hair_stylist)
I don't think I've ever noticed the hairstylist in any movie credits. (I do pay attention to the makeup artist in the case of monster movies. Jack Pierce did many of the classic 1930's monsters we still remember: Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolfman.)

Regardless, I did kind of assume "Helen Hunt" was a stage name. It seems a bit too 'simple + memorable' to not have been designed that way.

But the thing with Paul Guilfoyle is that both were/are actors, they were unrelated, and the latter did not name himself after the former.
 
  • #1,995
Current temp at the South Pole: - 86℉.
 
  • #1,996
Josh Gates never finds the buried treasure, but he always finds one of the pirates' belt buckles.
 
  • #1,997
Ibix said:
You had me going for a moment - I wasn't sure I was using the term correctly. Let’s just say I probably wouldn't pass the qualifier...

Turns out I didn't. Argh!

There was always the possibility and it is common for people to fail the first time. I was taking practice ones from 9 - 12 almost every Saturday. I had to "rehearse" when I had breakfast and ate and drank and whatnot (blood sugar condition so I had to be sure). 3 days before the test I got sick, and one day before the test the whole thing was moved up to 10:00 am due to a campus event. (Something they have never, ever done before) Won't say that is the reason for my failure but it sure didn't help.

back too the whiteboard for 4 months... in between work and online classes and baby..
 
  • #1,998
Sorry to hear that, Dave. Hope it goes better next time.
 
  • #1,999
Ditto that. Best of luck on the next one.
 
  • #2,000
dkotschessaa said:
Turns out I didn't. Argh!

There was always the possibility and it is common for people to fail the first time. I was taking practice ones from 9 - 12 almost every Saturday. I had to "rehearse" when I had breakfast and ate and drank and whatnot (blood sugar condition so I had to be sure). 3 days before the test I got sick, and one day before the test the whole thing was moved up to 10:00 am due to a campus event. (Something they have never, ever done before) Won't say that is the reason for my failure but it sure didn't help.

back too the whiteboard for 4 months... in between work and online classes and baby..
I can only imagine the disappointment :s In light of the content of some of your other work, things are still ok, no?
Best of luck next time.

Have you received any specific criticism on your test or they just said you didn't pass?
 
  • #2,001
nuuskur said:
I can only imagine the disappointment :s In light of the content of some of your other work, things are still ok, no?

Yes, the financial stress is starting to come off. The next qual is 126 days off. I think that is more than enough time to fix what I need to fix.
Best of luck next time.

Thanks.
Have you received any specific criticism on your test or they just said you didn't pass?

I think feedback is forthcoming but I don't know in what form. I'm not really able to meet with professors since I am working and it will be awhile until I've earned any days off.

-Dave K
 
  • #2,002
I get why people put signs offering rewards for finding their lost dogs. What I don't get is why they include actual pictures of their dog instead of just a general description. Can most people tell apart two different dogs of the same "family", similar size, of the same color? I mean, there two black terriers of similar size. Can you tell them apart just because one has, e.g., a smaller nose, etc?
 
  • #2,003
I had a disturbing thought: I was crossing the street with a group of people close to me, in the direction in which the cars were flowing. A car approached fast( but eventually went in a different direction.) I thought at that point: well, even if the car comes this way, I have a bunch of people right next to me that would serve as a buffer . Yikes.
 
  • #2,004
WWGD said:
I get why people put signs offering rewards for finding their lost dogs. What I don't get is why they include actual pictures of their dog instead of just a general description. Can most people tell apart two different dogs of the same "family", similar size, of the same color? I mean, there two black terriers of similar size. Can you tell them apart just because one has, e.g., a smaller nose, etc?
Personally, I am not sure what a terrier looks like, so a picture definitely helps. I don't know the names of too many dog styles. I know pit bulls because I think they have alligator faces. Dalmations have spots. German shepherds have that dangerous wolfy edge. The Irish wolf hound is really big. The golden retriever is blond and friendly. That's about it. Well, the chiuhahua. However you spell it. Sometimes I've seen a certain kind of dog and wondered if it might be a rotweiller. St. Bernard, of course. That's about it. Well, the husky. Cats are easier, there's only three styles: normal, siamese, and smash-faced. Well, there's long haired and short haired and bald, I guess.
 
  • #2,005
I don't trust groupers.
 
  • #2,006
zoobyshoe said:
I know pit bulls because I think they have alligator faces.
With that short snout ? Piranha is more like it.
 
  • #2,007
jim hardy said:
With that short snout ? Piranha is more like it.
It's the set of their eyes and the way their mouths curve up and back down at the back of the jaw.
 
  • #2,009
Had a pop-sci documentary on while I was studying and I looked up for a moment to see... Michio Kaku figure skating. Well played sir!
 
  • #2,010
Surface integrals are a work of evil. Flux here, flux there, flux everywhere!
 

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