[QUOTE=LaurV;415896]Bwhaa, haa, that was a good one. And this is the post whoring thread.
We know what a [URL="https://yppedia.puzzlepirates.com/Dirk"]dirk [/URL]is, since we played puzzlepirates for a while. We still have a (pay once, stay for life) account there, but need some efforts to remember the password... One of our favorite [URL="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=MMORPG"]WTORTRPG[/URL]* ever.


-----
* wto stands for "wasting time online", and rt is "real time".[/QUOTE]

LOL. Glad you like.

The verses I posted earlier came from an old 1940's book [URL="http://www.amazon.com/treasury-laughter-Consisting-memorable-devastating/dp/B0007DVYTQ"]A Treasury of Laughter[/URL] which I found on my Aunt's bookshelf. As a young child there was very little for me to do there when the family was visiting (50 years ago, long before computers), and I remember discovering and reading through this book. Some of the verses I still remember.

Actually, this was very much better that visiting my Grandmother. There were only about two books in the house. One was [URL="http://smile.amazon.com/Amy-Vanderbilts-complete-book-etiquette/dp/B0007I885Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447302022&sr=1-2&keywords=etiquette+vanderbilt"]Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette[/URL]. In this I read such helpful chapters as "dealing with servants".

Whew! Amy Vanderbilt!

I am not sure if [URL="http://ruthlessrhymes.com/category/harry_graham"]this[/URL] is the original, but there are a lot of horrible verses, including versions of ones I recited.

I vaguely remember something about Nursery Rhymes for Horrid Children, or some such.

EDIT: WooHoo! Post 100! :w00t:

Source this quote
 

The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.

I looked up a Japanese word just now and learned about a form of Japanese verbal comedic entertainment that sort of fits the flow here at the moment:
[QUOTE]An example from Yonezawa Hikohachi's collection:[INDENT]A man faints in a bathing tub. In the great confusion following, a doctor arrives who takes his pulse and calmly gives the instructions: "Pull the plug and let the water out." Once the water has flowed completely out of the tub he says: "Fine. Now put a lid on it and carry the guy to the cemetery."[/INDENT]For the poor man is already dead. The joke becomes clearer when one notes that a Japanese traditional bathing tub is shaped like a coffin.[/QUOTE]
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakugo[/url]
[QUOTE]Rakugo (落語?, literally "fallen words") is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone storyteller (落語家 rakugoka?) sits on stage, called Kōza (高座?). Using only a paper fan (扇子 sensu?) and a small cloth (手拭 tenugui?) as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical story. The story always involves the dialogue of two or more characters, the difference between the characters depicted only through change in pitch, tone, and a slight turn of the head.[/QUOTE]

There once was a limerick by me,
Which didn't rhyme at all,
It didn't have those two lines in the middle which are shorter than the others,
Or scansion at all,
That limerick by me.
And it had one line too many.

[QUOTE=kladner;415903]The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I couldn't identify it without cheating. It reminded me of this.
[QUOTE]Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west; then paused, and, after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south, south-east, east. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Brian-E;415968]There once was a limerick by me,
Which didn't rhyme at all,
It didn't have those two lines in the middle which are shorter than the others,
Or scansion at all,
That limerick by me.
And it had one line too many.[/QUOTE]
[strike]Genial![/strike] (sorry Serge :P) Brilliant!
I kinda had similar idea when I read (yesterday) the[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_%28poetry%29#Variations"] wiki page[/URL] (after the thingies started here, I went to "research") and I found inside about "anti-limericks", a concept new to me.
But I didn't know how to put it in words, your phrasing is indeed brilliant, I love it!
(googled for "scansion")

[QUOTE=only_human;415971]Sorry, I couldn't identify it without cheating. It reminded me of this.[/QUOTE]
It was kind of cheating on my part to pull a verse from the middle of the poem, which has no serious clues in it. I was drilled in memorization when I was young, so I can pull out all sorts of obscurities.
[B][URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Hesperus"]The Wreck of the Hesperus[/URL][/B]


By [URL="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/henry-wadsworth-longfellow"] Henry Wadsworth Longfellow[/URL] [INDENT]It was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughtèr,
To bear him company.

Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,
Her cheeks like the dawn of day,
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,
That ope in the month of May.

The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.

Then up and spake an old Sailòr,
Had sailed to the Spanish Main,
"I pray thee, put into yonder port,
For I fear a hurricane.

"Last night, the moon had a golden ring,
And to-night no moon we see!"
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.

Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the Northeast,
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.

Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable's length.

"Come hither! come hither! my little daughtèr,
And do not tremble so;
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow."

He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat
Against the stinging blast;
He cut a rope from a broken spar,
And bound her to the mast.

"O father! I hear the church-bells ring,
Oh say, what may it be?"
"'T is a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!" —
And he steered for the open sea.

"O father! I hear the sound of guns,
Oh say, what may it be?"
"Some ship in distress, that cannot live
In such an angry sea!"

"O father! I see a gleaming light,
Oh say, what may it be?"
But the father answered never a word,
A frozen corpse was he.

Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,
With his face turned to the skies,
The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow
On his fixed and glassy eyes.

Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed
That savèd she might be;
And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave
On the Lake of Galilee.

And fast through the midnight dark and drear,
Through the whistling sleet and snow,
Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept
Tow'rds the reef of Norman's Woe.

And ever the fitful gusts between
A sound came from the land;
It was the sound of the trampling surf
On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.

The breakers were right beneath her bows,
She drifted a dreary wreck,
And a whooping billow swept the crew
Like icicles from her deck.

She struck where the white and fleecy waves
Looked soft as carded wool,
But the cruel rocks, they gored her side
Like the horns of an angry bull.

Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,
With the masts went by the board;
Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,
Ho! ho! the breakers roared!

At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach,
A fisherman stood aghast,
To see the form of a maiden fair,
Lashed close to a drifting mast.

The salt sea was frozen on her breast,
The salt tears in her eyes;
And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed,
On the billows fall and rise.

Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
In the midnight and the snow!
Christ save us all from a death like this,
On the reef of Norman's Woe!
[/INDENT]

Following Wiki links 01
 

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun[/url]

Following Wiki links 00
 

[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment[/URL]

[QUOTE=Brian-E;415968]There once was a limerick by me,
Which didn't rhyme at all,
It didn't have those two lines in the middle which are shorter than the others,
Or scansion at all,
That limerick by me.
And it had one line too many.[/QUOTE]
LOLOL! Genial! :razz:

Two Lasses of Birmingham 01
 

I sing of two lases of Birminghan
And this is the scandal concerning them-
They lifted the frock
And diddled the ****
Of the bishop as he was confirming them.

[QUOTE=only_human;415916]I looked up a Japanese word just now and learned about a form of Japanese verbal comedic entertainment that sort of fits the flow here at the moment:
[QUOTE]An example from Yonezawa Hikohachi's collection:[INDENT]A man faints in a bathing tub. In the great confusion following, a doctor arrives who takes his pulse and calmly gives the instructions: "Pull the plug and let the water out." Once the water has flowed completely out of the tub he says: "Fine. Now put a lid on it and carry the guy to the cemetery."[/INDENT]For the poor man is already dead. The joke becomes clearer when one notes that a Japanese traditional bathing tub is shaped like a coffin.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

I once farted in a wooden bathing tub,
A noisy punctuation of my rub-a-dub-dub,
The thunderous bubble,
Caused me great toil and trouble,
So I started writing a limerick about it, but now I see you said not fart but 'faint',
And what should have become a memorable poetical work of art - well, it ain't.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;416024]I once farted in a wooden bathing tub,
A noisy punctuation of my rub-a-dub-dub,
The thunderous bubble,
Caused me great toil and trouble,
So I started writing a limerick about it, but now I see you said not fart but 'faint',
And what should have become a memorable poetical work of art - well, it ain't.[/QUOTE]
:tu:

Two Lasses of Birmingham 02
 

But the bishop was nobody's fool
He'd been to a large public school
He whipped off his britches
And diddled those b*****s
With a ten inch Episscopal tool.

Alas, alas for Uncle Joe;
He's gone beyond the stars.
I miss him, oh, I miss him so.
He had such good cigars.

A girl who weighed many an oz.,
Used language I will not pronoz.
Her brother one day
Pulled her chair right away.
He wanted to see if she'd boz.

[QUOTE=Chuck;416128]A girl who weighed many an oz.,
Used language I will not pronoz.
Her brother one day
Pulled her chair right away.
He wanted to see if she'd boz.[/QUOTE]
LOLOLOL! :rofl:

Two Lasses of Birmingham 03
 

But that didn't bother those two
They said, as the bishop withdrew
The vicar is quicker, and slicker, and thicker,
And longer and stronger than you.

There once was a man from Nantucket
Twice forty eight and not yet interred
He went up a hill
It was worth it

[url]http://i.imgur.com/C0bLohU.gif[/url]

:mike:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]119: 7 17[/COLOR][/SIZE]

From Retina's link on transistors, which is truly mind-blowing, for me, comes this link on capacitors, and asides on inductors:
[url]http://amasci.com/emotor/cap1.html[/url]

reprise
 

Oh Mother Dear
What have we here
That looks like strawberry jam
Hush, hush, my boy
It's just your pa
Run over by a tram.

Down Among the Dead Men
 

[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Among_the_Dead_Men_%28song%29"]This is a drinking song.[/URL] The 'dead men' referred to are empty bottles under the table. Hence, "Down among the dead men let him lie" translates as "If you don't agree with us, may you pass out drunk and slide under the table."

I have taken liberties with the lyrics to suit my orientation. Substitute 'woman' for 'cutie', if you are an originalist. I also changed 'rights' in the last verse, to 'rites'. :smile:

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Here's a health to the Queen, and a lasting peace
May faction end and wealth increase.
Come, let us drink it while we have breath,
For there's no drinking after death.
And he that will this health deny,
Down among the dead men,down among the dead men,
Down, down, down, down;
Down among the dead men let him lie!
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
Let charming beauty's health go round,
With whom celestial joys are found.
And may confusion yet pursue,
That senseless cutie-hating crew.
And he who'd cuties' health deny,
Down among the dead men,down among the dead men,
Down, down, down, down;
Down among the dead men let him lie!
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
In smiling Bacchus' joys I'll roll,
Deny no pleasures to my soul.
Let Bacchus' health round briskly move,
For Bacchus is the friend of love.
And he that would this health deny,
Down among the dead men,down among the dead men,
Down, down, down, down;
Down among the dead men let him lie
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]May love and wine their rites maintain,
And their united pleasures reign.
While Bacchus' treasure crowns the board,
We'll sing the joy that both afford.
And they that won't with us comply,
Down among the dead men,down among the dead men,
Down, down, down, down;
Down among the dead men let them lie!


(Note: High dynamic range. You need the volume up to hear the quiet parts, which carry most of the message.)
[YOUTUBE]dnkuVuzkiUg[/YOUTUBE][/FONT]

I will carry on here from the [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=16103&page=44"]RIP thread[/URL], regarding the death of [URL="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/technology/gene-amdahl-pioneer-of-mainframe-computing-dies-at-92.html?_r=0"]Gene Amdahl[/URL], and my comments on my father's involvement with the IBM 360 (model 50, I think, early on.) He spent long extra hours in Fortran classes to transition from the analog geophysical equipment at Exxon (né Humble Oil). He would turn over his programs to punch-card operators, and maybe the next day he would find out if it crashed, or not. This might have been in 64-66, when I was 11 to 13. He was still commuting 60+ miles roundtrip to Houston, then, from where we lived, halfway to Galveston.

Anyway, this is the model I remember him working with:
[url]https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PP2050.html[/url]

The New Decade Volcano Program No. 1 – Ioto, Japan
 

The New Decade Volcano Program, is a project of people involved with the website VolcanoCafe.org. The site seems to be Iceland-based. The aim of the program is to investigate and determine what they see as the ten most dangerous volcanoes in the world. In particular, they look at explosive volcanoes near, or in, densely populated areas, where casualties could exceed one million.
[URL="http://www.volcanocafe.org/the-new-decade-volcano-program-no-1-ioto-japan/"]
Ioto, the first on the list, is also known as Iwo Jima[/URL]. The island is part of a large caldera complex, much of it submarine, which lies in mega-tsunami distance of Tokyo (1h39m), Shanghai (2h48m), and Luzon, Philippines (2h50m).
[QUOTE]
Some of the most destructive and disruptive eruptions in human history have been from volcanic islands where the collapse of the edifice has allowed water to come into contact with the upper magma chamber, something that has compounded the magnitude of the eruptions manifold. [/QUOTE]
Note that the main body of the text is a fictional projection of how a multiple-cubic-kilometer eruption, caldera collapse, and subsequent explosion as the sea rushes in might play out. However, there is plenty of data, even in the story part, to support the hazardous nature of this volcanic island.

My Dad's Geophysical Career
 

[QUOTE] I will carry on here from the [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=16103&page=44"]RIP thread[/URL], regarding the death of [URL="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/technology/gene-amdahl-pioneer-of-mainframe-computing-dies-at-92.html?_r=0"]Gene Amdahl[/URL], and my comments on my father's involvement with the IBM 360 (model 50, I think, early on.) He spent long extra hours in Fortran classes to transition from the analog geophysical equipment at Exxon (né Humble Oil).[/QUOTE]His earlier employment with Humble Oil included being the seismograph operator, kind of the crew chief, in the swamps of Louisiana, where he was one of two outsiders with a crew of Cajuns. The way the Cajuns put it was, "A bunch of coon-asses. and two horses' asses."

However, his job: riding around on boats, in oil-company-dredged canals through the swamps and marshes, and overseeing the setting off of dynamite charges (it may have been TNT, which, of course, changes the equation.)

As I remember his stories, the oil exploration crews were supposed to be limited to 40 lb charges. There was a State of Louisiana Inspector on board, whom my Dad said, "Sat in the shade and drank." The Humble Oil crew was setting off several times the limit, on occasion, and the Inspector might rouse himself enough to say something like, "That was a big one." He, and his superiors to the highest levels in the State were, of course, firmly in the pockets of the OilCos.

EDIT: In other words, he unwittingly participated in some of the prelude to the Katrina catastrophe, by helping destroy the wetland barriers protecting the Gulf Coast. However, [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River%E2%80%93Gulf_Outlet_Canal"]the canal, MR-GO[/URL], which the Corps of Engineers dredged from the Gulf into NO, did the greatest immediate damage by giving the Storm Surge free passage.

[QUOTE]The [B]Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal[/B] (abbreviated as MRGO or MR-GO) is a 76 mi (122 km) channel constructed by the [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Corps_of_Engineers"]United States Army Corps of Engineers[/URL] at the direction of Congress in the mid-20th century that provided a shorter route between the [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico"]Gulf of Mexico[/URL] and [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans"]New Orleans[/URL]' inner harbor [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Canal"]Industrial Canal[/URL] via the [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway"]Intracoastal Waterway[/URL].[/QUOTE]Still, exploration and drilling in the Louisiana swamps, combined with the locking-and-damming of the Mississippi, destroyed the buffer zone. The silt of Big Muddy was greatly reduced, and canals were dredged through the vegetation which bound that silt, so that every storm eats away at the coast, which is no longer replenished by the Mississippi floods.

Instead, the silt which is not impounded clogging lock and dam installations, along with a glut of fertilizer runoff, is channeled swiftly into the Gulf of Mexico, where it makes beaches brown, and creates ever-growing oxygen-depleted dead zones.

This is really ironic, since my father was a bird-lover, who undoubtedly saw many wonders, as well as difficulties, during this phase of his geophysical career. And this for a history major, who also was the Master Sergent chief of a ground crew for a recon squadron in North Africa. He was strongly recommended by his superior for OCS, which he turned down.

I will continue my Katrina story, as I experienced it, in another post. :smile:

We took 15 minutes of video to get 10 seconds of action.

[YOUTUBE]_7zdD2hu4vc[/YOUTUBE]

:mike:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]126: 2 3 3 7[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;416748]We took 15 minutes of video to get 10 seconds of action.


:mike:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]126: 2 3 3 7[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]
He still moves like a puppy. How's he doing?

[QUOTE=kladner;416751]How's he doing?[/QUOTE]Pretty good. He isn't house trained (yet) so that makes things interesting.

:poop:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]128: 2 2 2 2 2 2 2[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Friday night funny: What's in a name?

Received a small airmail parcel today containing some replacement attachments for my Dremel moto-tool ... package was addressed from the Chinese industrial city of Shenzen, specifically the "Fuming Manufacturing Park". So they name them after the average air quality, then?

[QUOTE=Brian-E;415968]There once was a limerick by me,
Which didn't rhyme at all,
It didn't have those two lines in the middle which are shorter than the others,
Or scansion at all,
That limerick by me.
And it had one line too many.[/QUOTE]

I needed a rhyme for antidisestablishmentarianism.
But the closest I could find was floccinaucinihilipilification.
So I invented the word antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianism.
And then took a vacation.

:tu:

[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34856379"]Stark images[/URL] of Shackleton's struggle -BBC
[QUOTE]For the first time, Hurley's images have been scanned digitally direct from the original glass plates on which they were taken - revealing details never seen before. The mid-ground and background in each shot is crisper and sharper. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;416748]We took 15 minutes of video to get 10 seconds of action.[/QUOTE]
When I saw that title I was sure you are talking about Ronda's last match.
During the weight ins, when I saw how cocky she was, I prayed to my all gods she would get beaten hard. Which she did.
Kinda pity, we kinda liked her...
We don't know yet if it is all about money, as all money were against Holly, and some people make/made huge money from betting, we like to believe it was not arranged and she got it for good. This will make the future more interesting... (and we don't like the betting sharks too much...)

[QUOTE=davar55;416768]So I invented the word antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianism.
[/QUOTE]
You forgot antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianismization... :razz:
That is the process to join the antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianism movement.

Color Temperature
 

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;416756]Pretty good. He isn't house trained (yet) so that makes things interesting.

:poop::leaving:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]128: 2 2 2 2 2 2 2[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]
About the video- there should be a setting on your camera for color temperature. It is likely set to Daylight (5000K), but being shot in warm-tone light sources. It should be possible to have more natural-looking coloration, without the intense yellow cast. This is the sort of thing that might well be set in a menu. If you find the setting, and it is an option, try Auto White Balance. In the dog scene, Incandescent (2700K-3000K) setting would render colors much better.

The color can also be corrected, to some extent, even in fairly basic, and free, video editing programs. :smile:

[QUOTE=LaurV;416827]You forgot antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianismization... :razz:
That is the process to join the antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianism movement.[/QUOTE]

Cool.

I of course neglected to give my definition of the first word.

But your extended word is certainly defined correctly in terms of the first word.

Very nice. :smile:

[QUOTE=kladner;416832]The color can also be corrected, to some extent, even in fairly basic, and free, video editing programs. :smile:[/QUOTE]The program we are using has options to adjust the color but we have yet to figure it out. (We haven't tried reading the documentation yet.)

We learned how to render cheesy titles today. (The bone in the video is a [URL="http://www.nylabone.com/dog-101/chew-style-guide/"]Nylabone[/URL].)

[YOUTUBE]_FZ0Gc0UPTU[/YOUTUBE]

:mike:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]137: 137[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;416892]The program we are using has options to adjust the color but we have yet to figure it out. (We haven't tried reading the documentation yet.)

We learned how to render cheesy titles today. (The bone in the video is a [URL="http://www.nylabone.com/dog-101/chew-style-guide/"]Nylabone[/URL].)

:mike:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]137: 137[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]
Aw! That's sooooo cute!

For colors, adjust the Yellow-Blue axis towards the Blue until things are closer to normal, then play with Magenta-Green to reduce the overall warmth of the image. Correctly perceiving colors from an image standpoint takes practice. In small amounts, Yellow and Green can be confusing.

One important point: Only ever adjust 2 of the three complimentary color pairs. Doing all three is like turning up all the bands on a graphic equalizer. Some parts of your changes will cancel each other.

There was once a thread entitled something like "One Word Posts" in which each entry was
supposed to relate to the previous entry.and contain a single word. Someone got in trouble
for posting too often too fast, in particular hundreds of times in a short period - the content
met the criteria of the thread, but was too temptingly easy to create.

This thread is a better idea, and its post content signal-to-noise ratio, while lower than in that
one-word-post thread (relative to the thread's purpose description), has a higher absolute
content per post quantification. Still, with the forum maturity we've all now gained, perhaps
this old thread can be restored, or better still, a new thread could combine both ideas by
requiring a one-word connection from post to post (mod can impose continuity) as well as
some related content to keep us honest. That way, we have a connectivity between posts,
and a prod for new post-to-post-relevant content. Could speed up the climb to 1000 posts.
And once we reach that "limit", we should move ourselves kit-and-caboodle to another
similarly categorized and named thread. It's hard to know where we're going, but we
definitely know how to get there.

Duolingo added Russian lessons for English speakers about a week ago. Serious language learners (more so than I, anyway) may benefit by also using the Memrise website for vocabulary drills.

The Duolingo site currently has a bug in which choosing to be given sentences in the Cyrillic alphabet can only be selected from a desktop computer browser, but once that selection is made, it is retained for tablet browser sessions.

Here is my profile: [url]https://www.duolingo.com/only_human[/url]
They don't breakdown statistics like they used to but language levels are viewable in a scrollable window on the far right.

My current impression of Russian is that spoken words run together much like in French and don't glottaly stop the way German or Tagalog does. One polyglot said that French sentences feel like they linger in the air after being spoken.

My college experience with Japanese was that using a Roman alphabet for the first semester was a crutch that wasted much time and hindered future progress.

[QUOTE=only_human;416948]
My college experience with Japanese was that using a Roman alphabet for the first semester was a crutch that wasted much time and hindered future progress.[/QUOTE]
Subscribing to this. Valid a lot for Thai. You can learn it much faster if you learn the alphabet first, to be able to read the things around you, like street signs, advertising, blah blah. My current problem with Thai is the vocabulary, or more exactly, its absence. For a while I could read anything (newspapers, etc) but I could not understand anything. Or almost. I learned the alphabet and reading rules like one would learn the Ascii or Morse codes. But vocabulary means a lot of practice, which, behind the vegetables market and restricted work-related stuff in the office... nothing. But once you know to read, you learn new words very fast, at least because you remember how they look when they are written.

I get a kick out of hearing "OK" in otherwise unintelligible languages.
[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12503686"]How 'OK' took over the world[/URL]

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK[/url]

[QUOTE]Serious language learners (more so than I, anyway) may benefit by also using the Memrise website for vocabulary drills.[/QUOTE]

I'll have to check that out. Repetitive drills are incredibly valuable, not only for vocabulary, but for grammar. I long for the same background in Spanish that I have for French: hours of language lab tapes.

One thousand posts is M in latin numerals.

We don't really want non-sequitors like what I just posted, do we?
Maybe this thread and its like need more direction...

[QUOTE=davar55;417021]One thousand posts is M in latin numerals.

We don't really want non-sequitors like what I just posted, do we?
Maybe this thread and its like need more direction...[/QUOTE]

The entire point of the thread was to be directionless. (Does that qualify as a direction?)

[QUOTE=davar55;417021]One thousand posts is M in latin numerals.

We don't really want non-sequitors like what I just posted, do we?
Maybe this thread and its like need more direction...[/QUOTE]
There is this idea of a rabbit garden. I'm not sure if it worked that well in practice, but the scheme would be that when a farmer fenced in his vegetables he would set aside a plot of crops with lower security that he intended to be a distraction and easier for the rabbits to get into so that they'd be less likely to be destructive to the main harvest.

Now the rabbits have their own point of view, of course and the farmer doesn't really want them computing Fibonacci numbers and moving into the main garden; well, it depends on the farmer, of course.

These rabbits can watch Ratatouille or Wallace And Gromit or plan missions like the Fantastic Mr. Fox or commiserate with flying chickens but how fast they work through their garden is just one of many things to think about and not necessarily as important as stopping to smell the roses.

Drunk sailors...
 

Don't know where to post this, ran into it randomly, it is not funny, but not sad either. Well, a bit funny. And a bit sad too..

[URL]http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article.php?id=550521[/URL]

Actually, it was not randomly, I was searching for "plagiarism", as RDS directed me in the "number theory" thread, because I didn't see any freaking connection with the subject discussed there. Then I run into some articles saying "linking to original material is not plagiarism", anyhow, it doesn't matter. The website above had a nice article about plagiarism in Russian universities - one is 5 thesis backed up by the rectors is plagiarized, I didn't link that article, just thinking that the situation is the same in Romanian universities too.

Then from a link to another I ran into the funny/not funny thing about the drunk sailor... Avast me hearties! Obviously, he had to walk the plank after that...

A political cartoon from the drunken sailor sidebar. The title is Putin's Russia, and I have no clue what it is supposed to mean that two guys a fencing with woodpeckers, instead of foils.

Another dose of vulcanology
 

Lurking in Plain Sight – [URL="http://www.volcanocafe.org/lurking-in-plain-sight-apoyeke-ndvp-2/"]Apoyeque, NewDecadeVolcanoProject #2[/URL]

Again, the NDVP attempts to select volcanoes with the likelihood of causing catastrophic human casualties. This particular volcano is part of a complex either very near to, or within the city of Managua, Nicaragua. There is also a caldera lake with the potential of submarine eruptions, which could be especially bad for the city of 2M+ inhabitants.

Beautiful location, though.

[QUOTE=kladner;417072]A political cartoon from the drunken sailor sidebar. The title is Putin's Russia, and I have no clue what it is supposed to mean that two guys a fencing with woodpeckers, instead of foils.[/QUOTE]
It means that fencing with vegetarian hotdogs would be harder to portray.
[QUOTE=kladner;417074]Lurking in Plain Sight – [URL="http://www.volcanocafe.org/lurking-in-plain-sight-apoyeke-ndvp-2/"]Apoyeque, NewDecadeVolcanoProject #2[/URL]

Again, the NDVP attempts to select volcanoes with the likelihood of causing catastrophic human casualties. This particular volcano is part of a complex either very near to, or within the city of Managua, Nicaragua. There is also a caldera lake with the potential of submarine eruptions, which could be especially bad for the city of 2M+ inhabitants.

Beautiful location, though.[/QUOTE]
After looking at the pretty pictures I then wondered if blasting a canal through a caldera might be a bad idea.
[URL="http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/dream-of-nicaragua-canal-with-iowa-ties-still-alive-despite/article_d1bbbfba-4fed-562b-bbd8-ce9059fbe5fa.html"]Dream of Nicaragua canal — with Iowa ties— still alive despite critics[/URL]

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_Canal[/url]

We salute Oracle's/Sun's [URL="https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads"]VirtualBox 5[/URL]. It fixes an USB bug which was very bothering for us. And it has a nicer splash screen :razz:

[QUOTE=davar55;417021]One thousand posts is M in latin numerals.
We don't really want non-sequitors like what I just posted, do we?
Maybe this thread and its like need more direction...[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Dubslow;417052]The entire point of the thread was to be directionless. (Does that qualify as a direction?)[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=only_human;417060]There is this idea of a rabbit garden. I'm not sure if it worked that well in practice, but the scheme would be that when a farmer fenced in his vegetables he would set aside a plot of crops with lower security that he intended to be a distraction and easier for the rabbits to get into so that they'd be less likely to be destructive to the main harvest.
Now the rabbits have their own point of view, of course and the farmer doesn't really want them computing Fibonacci numbers and moving into the main garden; well, it depends on the farmer, of course.
These rabbits can watch Ratatouille or Wallace And Gromit or plan missions like the Fantastic Mr. Fox or commiserate with flying chickens but how fast they work through their garden is just one of many things to think about and not necessarily as important as stopping to smell the roses.[/QUOTE]

I see. It's not how fast, but the route. And it meanders. No rush; no problem.

[QUOTE=davar55;417117]I see. It's not how fast, but the route. And it meanders. No rush; no problem.[/QUOTE]

Arguably the more directions we go in the faster we'll get there, but I like to think we're enjoying the journey as much or more than the destination itself :smile:

[QUOTE]After looking at the pretty pictures I then wondered if blasting a canal through a caldera might be a bad idea.[/QUOTE]

I am working on a more extensive answer.

However, Wiki says that Lake Nicaragua, as opposed to Lake Managua, is of tectonic origin. Still, there are at least two volcanoes on an island. In fact, just because the lake is not a caldera (still not sure on this) does not preclude it containing such. Besides, it is suggested that may be the product of rifting, which, in combination with the subduction happening along the volcanic arc of which this area is a part, can certainly enhance the chances of volcanic activity. Rifting would mean that the crust is thinner there, so the hot stuff could break through more easily.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/voGJyFt.gif[/url]

:mike:

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]155: 5 31[/COLOR][/SIZE]

OH NO!! I have bought Thai noodle sauce by mistake....
 

The little yellow can which contains the Masaman curry paste I always buy looks very similar to the Thai noodle sauce. The noodle sauce can must have been in the wrong place on the shelf at the Asian grocery since I just picked up six yellow cans.

I'm not sure what the noodle sauce will be like. I see that the first listed ingredient is cobia fish. I guess I could try it with some rice.

WarGames for real: How one 1983 exercise nearly triggered WWIII
Newly released documents reveal the [URL="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/wargames-for-real-how-one-1983-exercise-nearly-triggered-wwiii/"]KGB software model that forecasted mushroom clouds.[/URL]

But with Saint Ronny posturing, and all, maybe it wasn't that hard to imagine.

[QUOTE]"Let's play Global Thermonuclear War."
Thirty-two years ago, just months after the release of the movie[I] WarGames[/I], the world came the closest it ever has to nuclear Armageddon. In the movie version of a global near-death experience, a teenage hacker messing around with an artificial intelligence program that just happened to control the American nuclear missile force unleashes chaos. In reality, a very different computer program run by the Soviets fed growing paranoia about the intentions of the United States, very nearly triggering a nuclear war. The software in question was a KGB computer model constructed as part of Operation RYAN (РЯН), details of which were obtained from Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB's London section chief who was at the same time spying for Britain's MI6. Named for an acronym for "Nuclear Missile Attack" (Ракетное Ядерное Нападение), RYAN was an intelligence operation started in 1981 to help the intelligence agency forecast if the US and its allies were planning a nuclear strike. The KGB believed that by analyzing quantitative data from intelligence on US and NATO activities relative to the Soviet Union, they could predict when a sneak attack was most likely.


As it turned out, Exercise Able Archer '83 triggered that forecast. The war game, which was staged over two weeks in November of 1983, simulated the procedures that NATO would go through prior to a nuclear launch. Many of these procedures and tactics were things the Soviets had never seen, and the whole exercise came after a series of feints by US and NATO forces to size up Soviet defenses and the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983. So as Soviet leaders monitored the exercise and considered the current climate, they put one and one together. Able Archer, according to Soviet leadership at least, must have been a cover for a genuine surprise attack planned by the US, then led by a president possibly insane enough to do it.


While some studies, including an analysis some 12 years ago by historian Fritz Earth, have [URL="https://web.archive.org/web/20060724160027/http:/www.isn.ethz.ch/php/documents/collection_17/texts/ermarth.pdf"]downplayed the actual Soviet response to Able Archer[/URL], a [URL="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb533-The-Able-Archer-War-Scare-Declassified-PFIAB-Report-Released/"]newly published declassified 1990 report[/URL] from the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) to President George H. W. Bush obtained by the [URL="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/"]National Security Archive[/URL] suggests that the danger was all too real. The document was classified as Top Secret with the code word UMBRA, denoting the most sensitive compartment of classified material, and it cites data from sources that to this day remain highly classified. When combined with [URL="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB426/"]previously released [/URL]CIA, [URL="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB426/images/fischersidebyside.png"]National Security Agency (NSA), [/URL]and Defense Department documents, this PFIAB report shows that only the illness of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov—and the instincts of one mid-level Soviet officer—may have prevented a nuclear launch.
[/QUOTE]

Swapping the internet for screws. We have to seal a screw in one of our products so the end customer won't be able to open it (like the warranty labels, but we don't like labels, as they are not "accidental removing" proofed. One can accidentally rub the label off. We studied a way to put some wax or plastic on top of the screw and then hot-stamp it. This is nice, but then we will have trouble with wax contamination, melting more than wanted from the plastic case, whatever. Somebody suggested to use "one way screws".

Now, you will laugh the lungs out of yourselves, if I tell you I had no freaking idea what that is. I am not a mechanical guy by education, in spite of the fact that I can handle Autocad better than most professionals (this includes AutoLisp programming), and I am very good in designing mechanical and optical complex parts (like LCD modules, backlights, moving parts, like gears, mechanical assemblies, etc). For the hack of me, I could not imagine what a "one way screw" is, when I heard the term. I imagined some complex part with crickets and complexity close to a spaceship: how do you screw it inside, but not being able to unscrew it? That was impossible! If you can put the screwdriver on it and turn it right, then what would forbid you to turn it left?

Anyhow, after 10 seconds of google search I laugh at myself, and moved on. The best things are the simple things. These [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#One-way"]one-way screws[/URL] are a type of "[URL="http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/inffastener/infoneway.html"]security screws[/URL]" and are actually very common. The head of the screw is helicoidal, and you can not get enough grip with the screwdriver when you turn it in reverse, especially if the screw is buried in a hole, and the case is plastic, you will first damage everything, before being able to take the screw out. There exist very specialized tools to take them out, but that is a different [STRIKE]screw[/STRIKE] story all together.

Why I posted here? Well, during those 10 seconds of search I found [URL="https://steamedup.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/chopsticks-screwdrivers-and-majority-privilege/"]this link[/URL], and said "look! this is perfect for our ho-pourri thread"... And I wanted to let you know about it... (well I confess that I was actually thinking to put it in the thread about politics, or gays, or whatever, but don't tell that to anybody!)

What do you think?

edit: and no, I am not left handed! :razz:

[QUOTE=LaurV;417457]Why I posted here? Well, during those 10 seconds of search I found [URL="https://steamedup.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/chopsticks-screwdrivers-and-majority-privilege/"]this link[/URL], and said "look! this is perfect for our ho-pourri thread"... And I wanted to let you know about it... (well I confess that I was actually thinking to put it in the thread about politics, or gays, or whatever, but don't tell that to anybody!)

What do you think?

edit: and no, I am not left handed! :razz:[/QUOTE]
They make a good point while being entertaining instead of simply lecturing people for being oblivious to receiving pervasive privileges.

[QUOTE=LaurV;417457]Swapping the internet for screws. We have to seal a screw in one of our products so the end customer won't be able to open it (like the warranty labels, but we don't like labels, as they are not "accidental removing" proofed. One can accidentally rub the label off. We studied a way to put some wax or plastic on top of the screw and then hot-stamp it. This is nice, but then we will have trouble with wax contamination, melting more than wanted from the plastic case, whatever. Somebody suggested to use "one way screws".
Now, you will laugh the lungs out of yourselves, if I tell you I had no freaking idea what that is. I am not a mechanical guy by education, in spite of the fact that I can handle Autocad better than most professionals (this includes AutoLisp programming), and I am very good in designing mechanical and optical complex parts (like LCD modules, backlights, moving parts, like gears, mechanical assemblies, etc). For the hack of me, I could not imagine what a "one way screw" is, when I heard the term. I imagined some complex part with crickets and complexity close to a spaceship: how do you screw it inside, but not being able to unscrew it? That was impossible! If you can put the screwdriver on it and turn it right, then what would forbid you to turn it left?
Anyhow, after 10 seconds of google search I laugh at myself, and moved on. The best things are the simple things. These [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#One-way"]one-way screws[/URL] are a type of "[URL="http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/inffastener/infoneway.html"]security screws[/URL]" and are actually very common. The head of the screw is helicoidal, and you can not get enough grip with the screwdriver when you turn it in reverse, especially if the screw is buried in a hole, and the case is plastic, you will first damage everything, before being able to take the screw out. There exist very specialized tools to take them out, but that is a different [STRIKE]screw[/STRIKE] story all together.
Why I posted here? Well, during those 10 seconds of search I found [URL="https://steamedup.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/chopsticks-screwdrivers-and-majority-privilege/"]this link[/URL], and said "look! this is perfect for our ho-pourri thread"... And I wanted to let you know about it... (well I confess that I was actually thinking to put it in the thread about politics, or gays, or whatever, but don't tell that to anybody!)
What do you think?
edit: and no, I am not left handed! :razz:[/QUOTE]

Now I'll have to add anti-handed-ness to my list of biases prevalent; but it goes both ways - I expect some lefties are
biased aginst we north-paws for our right-handed societal decisions, but some of us righties are a bit jealous of their
adaptive artistic skills. In the end, our society must and should and does adjust to the valuable situation of having both
handednesses around. It is evolutionarily beneficial to humanity to have had a skewed-to-the-right preponderance,
just so long as we and they themselves provide for the inclusivity of lefties and righties.

No one is biased against the ambidextrous. Perhaps they should include the rest of us in their capabilities.

I've been wanting this feature forever:
Kindle Fire OS 5 "Bellini"
[QUOTE]Read faster with Word Runner
New—Word Runner is a fun new way to read faster. It keeps your eyes focused on the center of the page and brings each word right to where your eyes already are. With dynamic pacing, Word Runner automatically slows down for difficult words, punctuation, and paragraph breaks. And when you first start reading, it gradually builds up to the speed you choose. If you miss something, just tap and hold the screen to activate the "brake." It instantly pauses Word Runner and lets you easily scroll back and pick up wherever you’d like.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=davar55;416768]I needed a rhyme for antidisestablishmentarianism.
But the closest I could find was floccinaucinihilipilification.
So I invented the word antidisuncategorizabilizationalismophobiatizinglynessmentarianism.
And then took a vacation.[/QUOTE]

I think I may need another vacation ! :smile:

[QUOTE=davar55;417730]I think I may need another vacation ! :smile:[/QUOTE]

Doesn't everyone, always? :wink:

[QUOTE=kladner;417738]Doesn't everyone, always? :wink:[/QUOTE]

I am retired and on permanent vacation.

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]165: 3 5 11[/COLOR][/SIZE]

The [STRIKE]stars[/STRIKE] slashes aligned today

[code][Worker #2 Dec 1 08:12] Iteration: 1120000 / 35019287 [3.19%], ms/iter: 20.985, ETA: 8d 05:36
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[Worker #3 Dec 1 08:28] Iteration: 1350000 / 35017979 [3.85%], ms/iter: 21.781, ETA: 8d 11:41
[Worker #4 Dec 1 08:30] Iteration: 140000 / 35019563 [0.39%], ms/iter: 21.140, ETA: 8d 12:49
[Worker #2 Dec 1 08:30] Iteration: 1170000 / 35019287 [3.34%], ms/iter: 21.008, ETA: 8d 05:31
[Worker #1 Dec 1 08:31] Iteration: 34220000 / 34961783 [97.87%], ms/iter: 21.444, ETA: 04:25:06
[Worker #3 Dec 1 08:32] Iteration: 1360000 / 35017979 [3.88%], ms/iter: 21.762, ETA: 8d 11:27[/code]

When I'm sixty-four: world's oldest tracked bird returns to refuge with mate
 

I had known that large parrots could live to great age. It is wonderful to find that there are other long-lived avians.

"The world’s [URL="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/30/worlds-oldest-tracked-bird-wisdom-laysan-albatross-midway-atoll"]oldest living tracked bird[/URL] has returned to US soil to lay an egg at the sprightly age of 64."

[QUOTE]Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was spotted at the [URL="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/"]Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge[/URL] with a mate, following a year’s absence. It’s expected that Wisdom will use the world’s largest nesting albatross colony, located north-west of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, to raise another chick.


The new arrival complements an impressive brood; researchers estimate that Wisdom has raised as many as 36 chicks in her lifetime. Wisdom was first tagged with a band in 1956. Given that Laysan albatross do not return to breed until they are at least five years old, it’s estimated that Wisdom is 64 years old, although she could be older.
[/QUOTE]

The telemarketer "YES"
 

This afternoon I received a telemarketing call offering to do a "free" energy audit and save me untold sums on electricity. I had seen a clip on youtube where the person being called simply answered "yes" to anything that was said.

This worked remarkably well and caused extreme annoyance to the caller. They put me on hold twice (perhaps to seek guidance on how to proceed with the script). They finally hung up.

I don't know if this would work with the "Microsoft security department" calling to tell me they have detected a virus, but it would be worth a try.

I would be very leery of a yes script. I've had trick questions that ask if I understand a statement and they interpret it to mean that I approve an automatically charged pointless "service."

[QUOTE=only_human;417980]I would be very leery of a yes script. I've had trick questions that ask if I understand a statement and they interpret it to mean that I approve an automatically charged pointless "service."[/QUOTE]

I would change tactics if anything like that ever happened. All this caller had was name/address/phone from public records.

[QUOTE=Chuck;418003]I would change tactics if anything like that ever happened. All this caller had was name/address/phone from public records.[/QUOTE]
One of things my brother liked to do was in an enthusiastic voice tell them:
"I'm gonna send you a million billion dollars!!"

[QUOTE=only_human;418004]One of things my brother liked to do was in an enthusiastic voice tell them:
"I'm gonna send you a million billion dollars!!"[/QUOTE]

How much is that in binary dollars? :smile:

AC Traction vs DC Traction
 

Traction, in this context, refers to the ability of electric motors on railroad locomotives to effectively transfer power from the source to the load.
[url]http://www.republiclocomotive.com/ac_traction_vs_dc_traction.html[/url]
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][QUOTE][/SIZE][/FONT][LEFT][LEFT]The AC (alternating current) Drive, also known as Variable Frequency Drive, has been the standard in industry for many years. While it has been used in locomotives for over two decades (especially in Europe), it has only been recently that the price of the drives has allowed them to be used in most of the new diesel-electric locomotives in the United States.[/LEFT][/LEFT]

AC traction for locomotives is a major improvement over the old DC systems. The primary advantages of AC traction are adhesion levels up to 100% greater than DC and much higher reliability and reduced maintenance requirements of AC traction motors.

The tractive effort of a locomotive (whether AC or DC) is defined by the equations:

[CENTER][CENTER]Tractive effort = Weight on drivers x Adhesion[/CENTER][/CENTER]
[CENTER][CENTER]Adhesion = Coefficient of friction x Locomotive adhesion variable[/CENTER][/CENTER]
[CENTER][CENTER] [/CENTER][/CENTER]
The friction coefficient between wheel and rail is usually in the range of .40 to .45 for relatively clean, dry rail in reasonable condition and is essentially the same for all locomotives. The locomotive adhesion variable represents the ability of the locomotive to convert the available friction into usable friction at the wheel rail interface. It varies dramatically from about .45 for old DC units to about .90 for modern AC units. This variable incorporates many factors including electrical design, control systems, truck type and wheel conditions.


[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][SIZE=2]First generation DC locomotives such as SW1200s, GP9s, SD40s, and GE center cabs typically have adhesion levels of 18% to 20%. More modern units with adhesion control such as SD60s and Dash 8s have adhesion levels of 25% to 27%. The newer AC traction units such as the SD80MAC and the C44AC are usually rated at 37% to 39% adhesion. Thus, the newer locomotives have about twice the adhesion of the older units and the Class I railroads are, in fact, typically replacing two older units with a single new AC unit.[/QUOTE][/SIZE]
[/SIZE][/FONT]

[QUOTE=davar55;418134]How much is that in binary dollars? :smile:[/QUOTE]
Ha! This is a good "devil's dictionary" entry!
Binary dollars: money that you have them, or you don't have them.

[url]http://time.com/4138154/wild-boar-herd-of-cows/[/url]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]175: 5 5 7[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;418493][URL]http://time.com/4138154/wild-boar-herd-of-cows/[/URL]
[SIZE=1][COLOR=White]175: 5 5 7[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

So the cows don't find him boarish, and he isn't cowed by them. :smile:

[QUOTE=kladner;418503]So the cows don't find him boarish, and he isn't cowed by them. :smile:[/QUOTE]

Must be because of ruminations on the Big Boar Theory.

:smile:

[QUOTE=davar55;418535]Must be because of ruminations on the Big Boar Theory.[/QUOTE]

It is interesting...

Last night on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC's) broadcast they announced they were shutting down the comments section because of a very few people polluting the comments.

Apparently only a few people (and/or perhaps bots) were making the comments section so negative that no one wanted to read them, including the original authors.

I found this interesting...

And I took pride in the fact that we here at MersenneForum.org can fight off what national news agencies apper not to be able to.

The CBC guests explained that it would cost too much to have editors monitoring and moderating the comments.

Hmmmm....

Impolite Canadians?? How can this be?

[QUOTE=jwaltos;418540]Impolite Canadians?? How can this be?[/QUOTE]

Sorry....

[QUOTE=davar55;418535]Must be because of ruminations on the Big Boar Theory.

:smile:[/QUOTE]

Well, we do know that cows often, if not continuously, ruminate. :kladner:
(Sorry, no cow smileys available. I have to make do with a yak, and a yakety yak.) :blahblahblah:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;414543]:mike:

[SIZE=1]Start = 20151102 @ 0156 UTC
Previous Record = None.

[COLOR=White] 1: 1[/COLOR]
[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

not to wreck the thread but depending on what you call a record the PARI commands thread didn't take more than 37 days to blow past 1000 posts I just checked now that I have 97 posts per page to easily check for dollar sign threads.

[QUOTE=kladner;418549]Sorry, no cow smileys available[/QUOTE]
We have, but they are Thai style... sorry for it...
And may not exactly be a cow... :razz:
[ATTACH]13519[/ATTACH]

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35038060/police-in-america-say-a-burglar-was-eaten-by-an-alligator-after-hiding-in-a-lake"][SIZE=3]Police in America say a burglar was eaten by an alligator after hiding in a lake[/SIZE] [/URL]

[QUOTE]They say the victim, who may have hidden as officers investigated reports of two suspicious men in the Florida community of Barefoot Bay, was probably killed by the three-metre reptile.


The dead man's body was found by sheriffs' divers in a nearby lake 10 days after the incident.
The injuries were consistent with an alligator attack.
[/QUOTE]

[URL]http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150323-opossums-snakes-snakebites-venom-health-world-science/[/URL]

:mike:

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[QUOTE=Xyzzy;418703][URL]http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150323-opossums-snakes-snakebites-venom-health-world-science/[/URL]

:mike:[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Other mammals, such as ground squirrels and [U][B]honey badgers[/B][/U], also have natural immunity to venom.[/QUOTE]Yay!
[YOUTUBE]4r7wHMg5Yjg[/YOUTUBE]

[url]http://i.imgur.com/q8wV2WY.gif[/url]

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.

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Reminds me that the Big Bare Theory is just like the Emperor's New Clothes -
not really there and waiting for some kid to expose it.

.

Is it bad that at first, while very quickly glancing over the whole thing, I thought it said "yo ma ma" instead of "Yo-Yo Ma"?

[QUOTE=Dubslow;419031]Is it bad that at first, while very quickly glancing over the whole thing, I thought it said "yo ma ma" instead of "Yo-Yo Ma"?[/QUOTE]
Nah. Amusing, though. :smile:

Following on from LaurV's joke [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?p=419063#post419063"]here[/URL]-

I heard that in the Soviet days, a guy in Moscow goes to order a new car.

He completes all the paperwork. Then he is told, "OK. Car will be delivered in ten years."

He asks, "Will that be in morning or afternoon?"

The bureaucrats are stunned, and ask, "What does it matter? Is ten years from now."

The citizen cries out, [SPOILER]"You don't understand! Plumber is coming in morning!"[/SPOILER] :max:

[URL="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/12/tokyos-drone-squad-will-deploy-10ft-drones-armed-with-nets-to-police-the-sky/"][SIZE=2]Tokyo’s drone squad will deploy 10-foot drones armed with nets to police the sky[/SIZE][/URL]

[QUOTE]In an effort to enforce no-fly-zones across the city, Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department is launching a drone squad. [URL="http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/tokyo-police-to-launch-drone-squad"]According to [I]Japan Today[/I][/URL] (via [I][URL="http://www.popsci.com/tokyo-police-form-anti-drone-squad"]Popular Science[/URL][/I]), the squad will patrol no-fly-zones and "will search for the operators and order them to ground the drones."


If an operator fails to comply, police will scramble large drones up to 10 feet long armed with cameras and nets to take down the unwanted machines. There's no word yet on whether said tactics will be accompanied by a perfectly-timed blast of [I]The A-Team[/I] theme tune, though—we can but dream.
[/QUOTE]

My partner anticipates a rise in anti-drone technology, such as devices firing nets, or even Silly String bombs, to bring down pesky, intrusive drones.

Obviously, the Tokyo police want to capture illicit drones, not cause them to crash in the city.