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

[BillTre]

Could be, but I already carry one and it's full to the hilt.

Bigger pack or sling things (like coats) through the straps.

 

[WWGD]

Bigger pack or sling things (like coats) through the straps.

Could be too. I heard some companies make "modular" clothes that you can put together or remove easily, a sort of "clothes Lego".

 

[WWGD]

Could be too. I heard some companies make "modular" clothes that you can put together or remove easily, a sort of "clothes Lego".

Maybe you can eat them too. Wasnt there a slogan "Lego my Eggo". I tried it, but almost choked on the Lego ;).

 

[BillTre]

You should have made a waffle out of the Legos® before trying to eat them.

 

[WWGD]

You should have made a waffle out of the Legos® before trying to eat them.

What makes you think I didn't? ;).

 

[Astronuc]

Be prepared and don't do stupid sh*t!

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180913-a-frozen-graveyard-the-sad-tales-of-antarcticas-deaths

 

[WWGD]

The teens are over and now we're into perfect vision : 2020. Happy New Year to all. And the usual cheesy joke: "Talk to you next year" .

 

[Matterwave]

The teens are over and now we're into perfect vision : 2020. Happy New Year to all. And the usual cheesy joke: "Talk to you next year" .

"next decade" - FTFY

 

[WWGD]

"next decade" - FTFY

Good point. Edit: But we'll never had back the " See you next millenium " from 12/31/99.

 

[fresh_42]

Next decade starts in a year, not today. Same as next millenium started on 12/31/00. There was no year 0.

 

[Matterwave]

Next decade starts in a year, not today. Same as next millenium started on 12/31/00. There was no year 0.

Eh, the delineation of a "decade" is somewhat arbitrary anyways. Since most people refer to the decade as 10-19 inclusive (the 2010's) then I think I'm good :D

 

[fresh_42]

Eh, the delineation of a "decade" is somewhat arbitrary anyways. Since most people refer to the decade as 10-19 inclusive (the 2010's) then I think I'm good :D

Yes, but it's wrong. Ten is ***0.

The 80s are 1980 - 1989, the decade is 1981 - 1990.

 

[Matterwave]

Yes, but it's wrong. Ten is ***0.

The 80s are 1980 - 1989, the decade is 1981 - 1990.

I'll just quote wikipedia:

"Any period of ten years is a decade, and there is no 'official' legal nor administrative start or end point,[1][2] so it can be any arbitrary span of ten years. "

"The frequently used method to refer to decades is the cardinal method, which groups years based on their shared tens digit, such as the nineteen-sixties (1960s) referring to the period from 1960 to 1969.[4][5]"

"The rarer ordinal decade counts years beginning with the year AD 1, as the Gregorian calendar counts ordinally rather than cardinally, and hence there was no year zero. For example, the term 196th decade spans the years from 1951 to 1960. "

So I choose the cardinal method rather than the ordinal method. This is the way. :)

 

[Ibix]

I choose the cardinal method this year and the ordinal next year. Two end-of-decade parties - what's not to like?

 

[WWGD]

Next decade starts in a year, not today. Same as next millenium started on 12/31/00. There was no year 0.

I thought people were really confused back then: We're in 3BC and next year is 2BC? Who is C?

 

[WWGD]

Next decade starts in a year, not today. Same as next millenium started on 12/31/00. There was no year 0.

So we went from -1 to 1? As long as I have my Pannetonne (Sp?) I am ok.

 

[Ibix]

I thought people were really confused back then: We're in 3BC and next year is 2BC? Who is C?

We'll soon C?

 

[WWGD]

We'll soon C?

Not the one I'd like 2B. Not even in 4D *

 

[WWGD]

Re 4D:
I felt guilty and did not take my friends money on a bet that I can watch movies in 4D --
the apartment of another friend.

 

[fresh_42]

So we went from -1 to 1? As long as I have my Pannetonne (Sp?) I am ok.

Yes.

 

[WWGD]

Yes.

Like a Complex log, a discontinuity at the origin.

 

[fresh_42]

Like a Complex log, a discontinuity at the origin.

Only proof that $0$ isn't a natural number! It was the first pure mathematical discovery.

 

[WWGD]

Only proof that $0$ isn't a natural number! It was the first pure mathematical discovery.

"Pure"?

 

[fresh_42]

Pure in the sense that some Indians a couple of thousand years ago suddenly decided to count something that isn't there!

 

[WWGD]

Pure in the sense that some Indians a couple of thousand years ago suddenly decided to count something that isn't there!

But it seems you can say something similar about negative integers and ultimately the Reals.

 

[fresh_42]

But it seems you can say something similar about negative integers and ultimately the Reals.

Yes, but zero was first. The integers were probably discovered by an ancient bookie.

 

[WWGD]

Yes, but zero was first. The integers were probably discovered by an ancient bookie.

I guess it is the type of stuff in what's his name's book, fluffernutter's Godel , Escher, Bach (Im on my phone, hard to search and come back). Ill get to it some day I hope. Edit: Make that Hofstatder ( a mouthful) instead of fluffernutter.

 

[WWGD]

Kind of weird phrase: Sidney and Cindy in Disney.

 

[WWGD]

Kind of strange that now they have the acronym STEAM : Science, Technology, Arts and Mathematics. Nothing against art, just not clear on how/if it belongs in the selection.

 

[fresh_42]

Kind of strange that now they have the acronym STEAM : Science, Technology, Arts and Mathematics. Nothing against art, just not clear on how/if it belongs in the selection.

Guess it's because you missed the E(scher).

 

[WWGD]

Guess it's because you missed the E(scher).

STEEAM?
How fluffernutter of me.
Wonder if Escherichia Coli derives from someone named Escher.
Du hast a similar acronym to STEM/STEAM auf Deutschland?

 

[fresh_42]

MINT. Mathematics, Informatics (=CS), Natural Science and Technic.

I think it's not as frequently used as STEM is. We, too, have this abbreviation syndrom, but not so extensively as Americans with their abundance of 3-Letter codes. I wonder, whether that was an IVT OF IBM or PRV OBS.

 

[WWGD]

MINT. Mathematics, Informatics (=CS), Natural Science and Technic.

I think it's not as frequently used as STEM is. We, too, have this abbreviation syndrom, but not so extensively as Americans with their abundance of 3-Letter codes. I wonder, whether that was an IVT OF IBM or PRV OBS.

Report that to the SAA then!
Edit: SAA: Society Against Abbreviations.

 

[WWGD]

MINT. Mathematics, Informatics (=CS), Natural Science and Technic.

I think it's not as frequently used as STEM is. We, too, have this abbreviation syndrom, but not so extensively as Americans with their abundance of 3-Letter codes. I wonder, whether that was an IVT OF IBM or PRV OBS.

The more time goes by, the more information out there, the larger the number of acronyms and these may start ( absurdly) being longer, 4-, maybe 5 letters long. Maybe you can use this: number of acronyms, their length, to measure comolexity of a society/culture; bet there weren't so many even 50 years ago.

 

[fresh_42]

Maybe you can use this: number of acronyms, their length, to measure comolexity of a society/culture; bet there weren't so many even 50 years ago.

Yes, that's definitely a paradoxon. One should think that the total number of 3 letter abbreviations is bounded from above, but it obviously isn't!

 

[nuuskur]

At 12 o clock midnight countless pets fled. This fireworks business is redundant me thinks

 

[fresh_42]

At 12 o clock midnight countless pets fled. This fireworks business is redundant me thinks

It is as redundant as any other faith.

 

[WWGD]

It is as redundant as any other faith.

Faith? Is it a religious thing?

 

[WWGD]

At 12 o clock midnight countless pets fled. This fireworks business is redundant me thinks

A similar mess a while back when River Dance played with all the hard and loud shoe-tapping, there was a massive stampede of rats. Imagine you're a rat, doing whatever it is they do and for a few hours, without notice, you hear a loud, massive tapping noise. I bet they believed the end was near and fled in masse like crazy. A sort of modern version of the Pied Piper.

 

[fresh_42]

Depends on the definition. The loud noise is assumed to scare off all evil demons.

 

[WWGD]

Depends on the definition. The loud noise is assumed to scare off all evil demons.

Is that the motivation for the fireworks? I guess Riverdance would not do it?

 

[WWGD]

Now that I mentioned rats I read a theory that the plague was caused in part because of the killing of black cats , a predator of rats, because black cats were considered evil.

 

[fresh_42]

That doesn't solve the problem as ...

A similar mess a while back when River Dance played with all the hard and loud shoe-tapping, there was a massive stampede of rats.

Not sure whether this is the reason for fireworks, it is for the noise on carnival, so I assume it is similar on new year.

 

[WWGD]

That doesn't solve the problem as ...

Not sure whether this is the reason for fireworks, it is for the noise on carnival, so I assume it is similar on new year.

I don't think it would have an effect on rats since the noise would be too far away for them to be affected. But when rats are underground and nearby, the tapping is heard much more loudly.

 

[WWGD]

Seems there is now a year 2038 problem because of register overflow in some software using January 1 1970 as a default date I think. At least we have time and the experience of the whole Y2k thing now.

 

[fresh_42]

And unix systems are by far less critical than all the mainframes in 2K have been.

 

[WWGD]

And unix systems are by far less critical than all the mainframes in 2K have been.

How do you mean? They're not used for essential applications?

 

[fresh_42]

Do you know any mainframes using UNIX? Banks, air traffic, communication etc? A few computers aren't the problem, the big mainframes are. I don't expect any problems. The big IBM machines from the 70s and 80s were the problem in 2000.

 

[WWGD]

Do you know any mainframes using UNIX? Banks, air traffic, communication etc? A few computers aren't the problem, the big mainframes are. I don't expect any problems. The big IBM machines from the 70s and 80s were the problem in 2000.

Ok, good points. Still, now you have embedded systems where users may not be aware they are using, like cars, etc. which I assume was less the case back then.How do you check for any/all potential embedded problems?

 

[fresh_42]

Yes, this can be the case. But nobody cares if some cars don't work or individual computers crash, or a JAVA application won't work. PP (persönliches Pech; personal bad luck, but PP sounds better than PBL).

I think all big systems have been checked already, and if someone replaced the Y2K bug by the corresponding UNIX bug, then they really deserve to fail. The rest are small client server applications, which only can cause local failures. So what?