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criticizing the History Channel's focus on sensational topics like time travel conspiracies instead of real historical content.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.
  • #1,021
zoobyshoe said:
If only they could be certain, and pinpoint when.
Details, details. :oldwink:
 
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  • #1,022
There is no documentation. You search high and low. After hours of searching you finally find something, but it is dependent on many other libraries. You still proceed to compile and all the code has been deprecated... with no replacement :doh:.

Welcome to Linux... and Android.
_________________________________________________________________________________

I have no idea of why my python installation has a file named:

torture_test.py

Just kidding. I opened it and it looks like a test for email sending.
 
  • #1,023
Psinter said:
There is no documentation. You search high and low. After hours of searching you finally find something, but it is dependent on many other libraries. You still proceed to compile and all the code has been deprecated... with no replacement :doh:.

Welcome to Linux... and Android.
i knew i should have bought woodworking tools instead of a computer
 
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  • #1,024
jim hardy said:
i knew i should have bought woodworking tools instead of a computer
:oldlaugh:

I wouldn't judge you if you do.
 
  • #1,025
Psinter said:
I wouldn't judge you if you do.
Check your PBS station for Roy Underhill's "Woodwright Shop"
http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/home/

Woodwright.jpg


there's one happy guy.
a very entertaining half hour. Sunday afternoons here.
 
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  • #1,026
jim hardy said:
Roy Underhill's "Woodwright Shop"
Love his old hand tools. I have a few myself; inherited from dad.
 
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  • #1,027
jim hardy said:
Check your PBS station for Roy Underhill's "Woodwright Shop"
http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/home/
Damn, I LOVE all those shows! Before the internet I was completely addicted to the whole gamut of carpentry/do it yourself shows that were on PBS. Norm Abrams was my hero.
 
  • #1,028
zoobyshoe said:
I LOVE all those shows!
Roy is fun he works exclusively with hand tools mostly 19th century style.
Even his lathe is foot operated, he quips "This motor stops automatically if the tool contacts flesh " .
 
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  • #1,029
Speaking of PBS

there's a great Frontlline "The Choice 2016" that was on Tuesday evening.
It's on again Sunday night at 10PM local time here (9 Eastern?)

It compares biographies of Hillary and Trump , going way back to childhood.

I found it unbiased, well presented and insightful. Held my interest for the full two hours

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/schedule/

It's worth a mention in "Breaking Down Potus " thread.
 
  • #1,030
jim hardy said:
Roy is fun he works exclusively with hand tools.
Even his lathe is foot operated, he quips "This motor stops automatically if the tool contacts flesh " .
I recall seeing him make a dining room chair from scratch completely with hand tools out of cherry. That is: he started with short lengths of cherry logs, no pre-cut lumber whatever. It was a revelation in that I suddenly completely understood how they made such great furniture in the days way back before electric power tools.

That show would have aired in the late 80's and I remember it much more vividly than the majority of things from that long ago. Given the tools, I'm still sure I could do it myself. It struck me as a very important lesson on many levels about how far a person can go with what they've got.

I say "on many levels," quite seriously. In my mind it extends to Galileo and Newton, who did extremely sophisticated things with what amounts to "hand tools."
 
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  • #1,031
zoobyshoe said:
I say "on many levels," quite seriously. In my mind it extends to Galileo and Newton, who did extremely sophisticated things with what amounts to "hand tools."

You mean telescopes? I think there's a very different motivation for creating a telescope versus creating a dining-room chair out of cherry logs. The former is mainly a scientific motivation and the latter is more of a furniture-craftsmanship motivation. Two different things, Zoobs.
 
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  • #1,032
jim hardy said:
Even his lathe is foot operated, he quips "This motor stops automatically if the tool contacts flesh " .

Haha, it took me a few glances, but now I get it. The foot is the motor. I was thinking that having a flesh detecting machine was pretty sophisticated for 19th century technology.

Btw, the punctuation (period) always goes inside the quotation mark.
 
  • #1,033
DiracPool said:
You mean telescopes?
No, I don't mean telescopes.
 
  • #1,034
jim hardy said:
It compares biographies of Hillary and Trump , going way back to childhood.

I found it unbiased, well presented and insightful. Held my interest for the full two hours
Absolutely. Sure changed my opinion of both; positively. Thank you PBS.
 
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  • #1,035
Several items on pf are localized or automatically translated into my native language. :) why not all ?
 
  • #1,036
Athens vs Sparta, then Athens vs Socrates.


Socrates became a new kind of hero, a person of conviction, one who follows the dictates of intellectual conscience. Critical thinking (the need to be critical) and self-questioning (the need to be self-critical) is paramount.
 
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  • #1,037
I am wondering if for example i have a lot of money, should I deposit it into a lot of different banks or just one ? Why and why not ?
I am thinking I am not quite misled to fish in a wrong lake because all lakes all over the world are the same - that they are where fish live. And wishing to get more fish with less baits as well as protecting the bait from getting spoiled is normal to me. If there are a lot of fish in a lake, most people will also have to think up a way or ways to not let them run away.
 
  • #1,038
jim hardy said:
Check your PBS station for Roy Underhill's "Woodwright Shop"
http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/home/
Looks like they stream it online. I'll give it a watch.
jim hardy said:
there's one happy guy.
a very entertaining half hour. Sunday afternoons here.
dlgoff said:
Love his old hand tools. I have a few myself; inherited from dad.
zoobyshoe said:
Damn, I LOVE all those shows! Before the internet I was completely addicted to the whole gamut of carpentry/do it yourself shows that were on PBS. Norm Abrams was my hero.
Do you three make wood work? I'm more interested in blacksmithing, but that looks pretty cool too. :smile:
 
  • #1,039
Psinter said:
Do you three make wood work?
I don't do wood work projects per say, but those tools really come in handy when something breaks or needing a specialty piece.
 
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  • #1,040
Psinter said:
Do you three make wood work?
I've done a fair amount of repair work over the years and also low-grade furniture making, just things like shop benches, book cases, and loft beds that are more structurally functional than attractive. It's nice to be able to construct something that fits the space you actually have, rather than have to settle for something that's not a good fit.
 
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  • #1,041
Psinter said:
Do you three make wood work?
Not as a hobby, but i do enjoy making things around the house.


These living room shelves hang from cleats so you can remove them for painting the walls, just lift them off.
i got rough cut oak at a local sawmill and planed it
the mantle was scrap pine
LivingRoom1.jpg


pardon the clutter it's what happens when packrats marry ...

Our lumberyard got a big batch of 1X12" clear oak, and Fair Anne wanted open shelves for the kitchen
...at $2.99 a board foot i couldn't resist
kitchenesized.jpg

Short lady's kitchen - she says it's first time ever she can reach 2nd shelf.
i learned how to rout a bead into the edge, wish i'd done it for the living room

i'm no woodwright . These were easy projects that came out nice.

old jim
 
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  • #1,042
dlgoff said:
I don't do wood work projects per say, but those tools really come in handy when something breaks or needing a specialty piece.
I see.
zoobyshoe said:
I've done a fair amount of repair work over the years and also low-grade furniture making, just things like shop benches, book cases, and loft beds that are more structurally functional than attractive. It's nice to be able to construct something that fits the space you actually have, rather than have to settle for something that's not a good fit.
Makes sense.
jim hardy said:
These living room shelves hang from cleats so you can remove them for painting the walls
i got rough cut oak at a local sawmill and planed it
the mantle was scrap pine

pardon the clutter it's what happens when packrats marry ...

Our lumberyard got a big batch of 1X12" clear oak, and Fair Anne wanted open shelves for the kitchen
...at $2.99 a board foot i couldn't resist

Short lady's kitchen - she says it's first time ever she can reach 2nd shelf.
i learned how to rout a bead into the edge, wish i'd done it for the living room

i'm no woodwright . These were easy projects that came out nice.

old jim
Wow that is so cool! :woot: I like it. I also like how in the kitchen the cups are hanging. The hangers are very useful.

I agree, open shelves are better than closed ones when it comes to wood (at least at my place). Even if closed ones look good. It would depend on the area, but at my place, where humidity is eternal and high, closed shelves would bring nothing but fungus regardless of wood treatment. In my opinion it is better opened like there. Also more light and space to navigate.

I like what you did.
 
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  • #1,043
Psinter said:
In my opinion it is better opened like there. Also more light and space to navigate.

Thanks Psinter .
Yes, when two packrats live in same house closed cabinets get stuffed with useless "stuff" . This way it's right in plain view so we're inclined to throw away the useless stuff instead of looking at it every day wondering "Why did we buy that?" ...
It's a small kitchen but it works well. We got one of those "kitchen design" books and placed everything near where it gets used. Bottom cabinets have deep drawers that slide out , not cabinet doors.
 
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  • #1,044
jim hardy said:
pardon the clutter it's what happens when packrats marry ...
You need more meters. Just sayin' :oldbiggrin:
 
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  • #1,045
dlgoff said:
You need more meters. Just sayin' :oldbiggrin:
Quite so.
A man can't have too many synchroscopes .
 
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  • #1,046
DiracPool said:
Btw, the punctuation (period) always goes inside the quotation mark.
That's specifically American. In British English, it normally goes outside unless it's part of what you're quoting.
 
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  • #1,047
jim hardy said:
Quite so.
A man can't have too many synchroscopes .
Of course I know what is a synchroscope... No I don't, but don't tell anyone... I'm trying to look intelligent here. (^.^)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  • "You do not have administrative privileges to end this process."
  • "This incident will be reported."
  • "This file/folder does not belong to you."
Me: "Hmmmmmmm. Let's see. Let's go over the basics again. I think you are forgetting who the owner of this computer is, dear operating system. If I tell you to self destruct, you self destruct. Capiche?"

Just kidding, but all in all I do not believe OSes are currently using AI without internet connection, yet they are getting annoying by the nano-second. The new current implementations based on: "Protect the user from itself." look very similar to sci-fi movies.

I am the rightful owner of my computer yet the OSes dare reply to me like that because of the way they were designed. Do you imagine if these companies (Microsoft, Canonical, Google, Apple) create robots with AI and sell them? The robots are probably going to say to the human who bought them:

"You do not have the authority to order me that." or "It's for your own security."

At that moment I think I will return the thinking trashcan. I want my money back.

Just a random thought that appeared when I was trying to delete a file. :biggrin:
 
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  • #1,048
:smile: All thoughtful random thoughts.
 
  • #1,049
Astronuc said:
Theranos was supposed to revolutionize blood tests. Now its CEO is banned from running labs.
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/13/11424130/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-banned

Elizabeth Holmes was going to shake up the medical industry, specifically, the blood testing segment of the industry.
Theranos CEO and founder announced today in an open letter that the company is shuttering its clinical work for good. “After many months spent assessing our strengths and addressing our weaknesses, we have moved to structure our company around the model best aligned with our core values and mission,” Holmes wrote. As part of the restructuring, the disgraced blood testing company will lay off about 340 employees, based in Arizona, California, and Pennsylvania. It will close its labs and all of its remaining Wellness Centers. Moving forward, Theranos will focus on selling its diagnostic device, the miniLab, which it debuted at a scientific conference . . . .
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...n-clinical-labs-officially-pivots-to-devices/ (fixed broken link)
 
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  • #1,050
It's funny to listen to or read certain media.
You can read that
female and male citizens protested against x

Female and male doctors should...
Female and male teachers want...

Of course, word with the appropriate suffix indicating female gender is always mentioned first. This is totally ridiculous. Of course, when you say "citizens" I know you mean both women and men!
In fact, the very idea of stressing importance of female actors exaggerates the gender inequality. As if women need constant protection and reassurance they do matter even when it's totally against normal speech and the whole article sounds funny and unnatural.
 
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