TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML)
-
@PleegWat said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@HardwareGeek I've heard cell phones can get pretty shouty if they can't find a cell tower to connect to. So why not install a 'fake' cell tower in the plane which just quiety tells all cell phones 'You're in an aircraft. Shut up.'
Not that easy due to the handshakes and connection testing going on. If it were a mere repeater then, no problem.
-
@MrL said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Karla said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
I've always wondered, if electronics (esp. phones) were really an issue they would have the flight attendants verify every phone was off, rather than just tell the passengers to turn them off. I can't imagine on any commercial flight there wasn't at least one passenger who didn't.
It may have been in the very early days but the cockpits are all shielded against interference now. The main reason at this point is so that people aren’t fiddling with their gadgets during take off and landing so that if something goes wrong, they can get your attention more easily. (Those two periods are the main time things can go wrong.)
I think it's more a public perception thing. People don't understand how things work, so they freak out about nothing. Phones use mysterious waves, like you know, microwaves. And you heard those interference sounds in loudspeakers caused by phones, right? So surely a phone can bring down a plane, it's just science.
It's easier to introduce a useless safety rule than to deal with panicking people all the time. See also: 'no phones' signs at gas stations.
I know someone who always turns off her phone during thunderstorm. She panicks every time I talk on the phone during one.
: Turn it off! It's so risky! You'll get struck by a lightning!
: How the fuck would that even work?
: You know... waves!The thunderstorm phone thing is just a bit of cargo culting in every day life.
-
TIL Aaron Paul was a contestant on Price is Right, got to the final showcase and just barely lost
-
As a result of possibly the weirdest thing I've ever typed into Google, TIL it's called superfetation and it really does happen.
-
Those damn race conditions!
-
@Zerosquare said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Those damn race conditions!
Who said anything about race?
-
All That She Wants is a hit song released by the famous Swedish pop group Ace of Base. The lyrics of the song are reportedly about Danish young women deliberately having affairs with men for the sole aim of getting pregnant so that they could qualify for welfare payments that the Danish government regularly gave to single mothers, hence the famous line “All she wants is another baby”. However, it is worth noting that none of the members of Ace of the Base has confirmed that this is what the song is about.
Famed producer Denniz Pop initially disliked the song when he received it from Ace of the Base. He therefore refused producing it. However, the tape got stuck in his car’s cassette tape player, thereby forcing him to listen to it every morning on his way to work until he eventually fell in love with it and decided to produce it.
-
@Zecc sadly that’s not what the song is about, at least according to an interview with the band’s frontman.
-
@Arantor One could stick that under "it is worth noting that none of the members of Ace of the Base has confirmed that this is what the song is about.", though I think it's entirely likely the meaning was added post facto by people who felt it hit close to home.
FWIW, it doesn't seem like the ultimate paragon of truth that is Wikipedia even mentions this in passing. May very well have been completely made-up by that site.
I'm too
disinterestedbusy to further research this matter.
-
@Zecc I do get amused by the various meanings people ascribe to songs that are debunked as “that wasn’t what inspired me”, but that’s always the joy of art, people can take their own meaning from it.
-
-
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Zecc I do get amused by the various meanings people ascribe to songs that are debunked as “that wasn’t what inspired me”, but that’s always the joy of art, people can take their own meaning from it.
Poor Douglas Adams and 42. He was hounded until his death about that number. Probably gave us the question he did out of spite.
-
@DogsB I like the fact that 42 in binary is 101010.
-
@Zecc said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@DogsB I like the fact that 42 in binary is 101010.
don't start.
-
@DogsB I started and finished.
I didn't have anything else to say about that.
-
Apparently there is a reason why 42 that isn’t any of the obvious ones, and apparently Stephen Fry knows, but he won’t say.
-
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Apparently there is a reason why 42 that isn’t any of the obvious ones, and apparently Stephen Fry knows, but he won’t say.
Stephen Fry is a blowhard that would say just about anything to keep himself relevant. The most likely explanation is the change he got after buying a pint of milk.
-
-
@Karla said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@hungrier said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Fuck, THIS is what I hated about English.
My teachers provided us with official/established interpretation first and then let us discuss and come up with our own. Every interpretation was good if you could justify it somehow.
This is what I loved about Polish.
-
@MrL You had good teachers.
This depends very much on whether the teacher wants to have a good discussion and lets everybody throw around ideas or just wants to present the material and call it a lesson.
-
-
@DogsB Fry and Adams were friends and if there is an actual Reason for the Answer (biiiiiiiiig if), if anyone knows it would likely be him.
That said, the reality is that it probably doesn't mean anything beyond 'what do you get if you multiply six by seven' (with the secondary joke of the universe-level cockup of the question and answer disagreeing being a later joke) - there's enough anecdotes of the radio scripts being changed and rewritten that it's entirely possible, even likely, that the 'what do you get if you multiply six by nine' gag hadn't been thought of at the time 42 was conceived of.
Also, Fry has evolved in more recent years into the worst kind of intelligensia: the kind people listen to like they know what they're talking about but really actually don't. (The Register had a particularly strained relationship with Fry after his more enthusiastic explanations of technology. - rather NSFW, be warned.)
-
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
That said, the reality is that it probably doesn't mean anything beyond 'what do you get if you multiply six by seven' (with the secondary joke of the universe-level cockup of the question and answer disagreeing being a later joke) - there's enough anecdotes of the radio scripts being changed and rewritten that it's entirely possible, even likely, that the 'what do you get if you multiply six by nine' gag hadn't been thought of at the time 42 was conceived of.
And yet there is perfection in that gag, in that it is silly, and funny, and gets into the deeper truth of things. The number of people who Just Don't Get The Joke is even funnier.
-
@dkf that's the magic at the heart of everything throughout H2G2: the skewering of society through observational satire. Virtually all of the best jokes are on that level, silly, funny yet pointing at the deeper truth of things.
-
@MrL said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
My teachers provided us with official/established interpretation first and then let us discuss and come up with our own. Every interpretation was good if you could justify it somehow.
A method which has been famously removed from classrooms in 2005 and replaced by the Cult of the Answer Key.
-
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@dkf that's the magic at the heart of everything throughout H2G2: the skewering of society through observational satire. Virtually all of the best jokes are on that level, silly, funny yet pointing at the deeper truth of things.
My eldest niece is just getting to the age where that's semi-suitable material. So of course that's one of my Christmas presents to her this year.
-
@dkf Are you wrapping it in a towel, then gifting that to her? Because I feel it is important that she should know where her towel is.
-
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@MrL said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
My teachers provided us with official/established interpretation first and then let us discuss and come up with our own. Every interpretation was good if you could justify it somehow.
A method which has been famously removed from classrooms in 2005 and replaced by the Cult of the Answer Key.
Ah, the Answer Key - near impossible to get top grade, near impossible to fail. A no brainer choice on finals.
-
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Also, Fry has evolved in more recent years into the worst kind of intelligensia: the kind people listen to like they know what they're talking about but really actually don't. (The Register had a particularly strained relationship with Fry after his more enthusiastic explanations of technology. - rather NSFW, be warned.)
Eh. The examples they cite are among the MOST accurate descriptions of technology I've seen from celebrities. On GPS he was almost completely right, except for which side sends the signal. The one about internet is... less good, to say the least, but it's more of a bad composition of unrelated facts about unrelated technologies rather than something completely out of left field like the famous "series of tubes". If 5/10 represented average knowledge of technology among general population, I'd give Fry a solid 6 - which is a pretty damn good score for someone his age.
-
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@MrL said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
My teachers provided us with official/established interpretation first and then let us discuss and come up with our own. Every interpretation was good if you could justify it somehow.
A method which has been famously removed from classrooms in 2005 and replaced by the Cult of the Answer Key.
Earlier, they may not have had an answer key, but they sure as hell had their own interpretations.
-
-
@loopback0 said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
I always thought that "earliest sunset" and "latest sunrise" were on the Winter Solstice
In North of Sweden, we get Midwinter Darkness or Polar Night. No solstice because the sun doesn't rise above the horizon.
-
@loopback0 said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
I always thought that "earliest sunset" and "latest sunrise" were on the Winter Solstice
The time from noon to noon isn't constant through the year. In northern hemisphere winter, the earth is closer to the sun, hence has higher orbital velocity, hence needs to turn slightly further for a full day/night cycle.
-
@loopback0 be right back, need to plan out how to use those extra sunlight minutes for maximum effect.
-
@Arantor said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
those extra sunlight minutes
don't bother it will just be rain for longer
-
@loopback0 said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
I always thought that "earliest sunset" and "latest sunrise" were on the Winter Solstice
I had heard about this before, but didn't realize it was such a big range (9 days on either side). Although, I guess it varies based on location
-
@hungrier must avert nerdsnipe
-
While watching a random science video on Youtube, TIL the most annoying physics notation I've ever seen.
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t). Also known as acceleration.
-
Fun fact: when you google "s umlaut", the first result is ß.
-
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t).
It may be country-specific, but it was one of the standard notations used back when I was a student.
But whoever invented it may not have considered compatibility issues with Polish diacritics
-
-
@Watson
Bastard! As if setting us up with gravity wasn't a big enough burden
-
@Zerosquare said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t).
It may be country-specific, but it was one of the standard notations used back when I was a student.
And not, for example, a?
-
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Zerosquare said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t).
It may be country-specific, but it was one of the standard notations used back when I was a student.
And not, for example, a?
Nein!
-
@Gąska what is a
mgsin
.
-
@PleegWat mass times gravity times distance times imaginary unit times refractive index. Obviously.
-
@Zerosquare said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t).
It may be country-specific, but it was one of the standard notations used back when I was a student.
But whoever invented it may not have considered compatibility issues with Polish diacritics
It’s pretty standard in physics. When asked why there’s a different notation for derivative with respect to t than with respect to anything else, the answer was “physicists ”.
-
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Zerosquare said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t).
It may be country-specific, but it was one of the standard notations used back when I was a student.
And not, for example, a?
You need to be able to express that s̈ = a.
-
And when you write differential equations (which is usually the next step after the image you posted), using a instead of s̈ would make it look like a different variable or constant, instead of a derivative of s.
-
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Zerosquare said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
@Gąska said in TIL (about the Dark Arts of HTML):
Naturally, s̈ is the second derivative of s(t).
It may be country-specific, but it was one of the standard notations used back when I was a student.
And not, for example, a?
d somewhat, but it appears you are suggesting a standard notation for acceleration specifically, and not for "second derivative".
In this notation each added dot above your variable represents one added derivation, and you might as well have x or y instead of s.
Another "standard" notation is adding ticks to the side, but that's used more where the variable represents a function of some other variable, I think.