In other news today...
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@bb36e or from the inside:
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@bb36e said in In other news today...:
@tsaukpaetra said in In other news today...:
Next life skill on the chopping block will be dialing the telephone...
I like how you see OLympic. Back in those days, the first two digits were often represented as letters to make it easier to remember. And, in most exchanges, the first two digits were optional anyway if you were calling from inside the exchange area.
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@dcon said in In other news today...:
steam-powered
Steam?
All the one I've seen have hot water. That is better than steam, because it does not need that much pressure and while the temperature difference is a bit lower¹, the higher density means also higher heat capacity.
¹ I now use just about 50°C unless its really really cold, because the boiler (condensation gas) loses efficiency above that.
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@hungrier said in In other news today...:
Bleeding a radiator tops the list of household chores young Brits can’t perform, with 69% of 18-24 year olds saying they don’t know how to do this.
I'm older than that and I don't think I've seen a radiator since I was a kid. Are they common in the UK?
Very. Recognising when they need bleeding, less so, let alone knowing what a radiator key is, and (back to the article) how to use one.
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@bulb said in In other news today...:
@dcon said in In other news today...:
steam-powered
Steam?
All the one I've seen have hot water. That is better than steam, because it does not need that much pressure and while the temperature difference is a bit lower, the higher density means also higher heat capacity.
I think so... Could be wrong... It was 40 years ago!
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@pjh said in In other news today...:
Very. Recognising when they need bleeding, less so, let alone knowing what a radiator key is, and (back to the article) how to use one.
LOL... just showed the bleeding radiator bit to the 21 yr old sitting next to me.
or 
comes closest to the "what's that then" reaction I got.
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@dcon said in In other news today...:
@bulb said in In other news today...:
@dcon said in In other news today...:
steam-powered
Steam?
All the one I've seen have hot water. That is better than steam, because it does not need that much pressure and while the temperature difference is a bit lower, the higher density means also higher heat capacity.
I think so... Could be wrong... It was 40 years ago!
They had both steam and hot water models in different areas. It was also customary to put a pan of hot water on top of the radiator to act as a humidifier.
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@pjh said in In other news today...:
LOL... just showed the bleeding radiator bit to the 21 yr old sitting next to me.
or comes closest to the "what's that then" reaction I got.Rather more worryingly, when he found out what it was and what it entailed, from Dr. Google no less, his opinion was "that's the landlord's job."
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@pjh said in In other news today...:
he found out what it was and what it entailed, from Dr. Google no less,
I've never lived in a place that was heated by a radiator, at least not since I was old enough to remember, so I have no experience bleeding one. From experience bleeding other things (e.g., brakes), I have a pretty good idea of what is likely involved, but I'd Google first to get the details right. Also to find out under what circumstances it's necessary in the first place.
@pjh said in In other news today...:
his opinion was "that's the landlord's job."
Ha, ha, no.
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@hardwaregeek said in In other news today...:
@pjh said in In other news today...:
he found out what it was and what it entailed, from Dr. Google no less,
I've never lived in a place that was heated by a radiator, at least not since I was old enough to remember, so I have no experience bleeding one. From experience bleeding other things (e.g., brakes), I have a pretty good idea of what is likely involved, but I'd Google first to get the details right. Also to find out under what circumstances it's necessary in the first place.
Assuming I'm thinking of the right process: The heating circulation system is filled with warm water. If air gets into the system (which can happen for various reasons), the heat circulation is less efficient and the system makes noise. Since the air will gather in the highest points, there are little valves you can open up to let the air out.
To bleed off the air, you simply open the valve carefully, and as soon as you see water coming out you close it again and move to the next point. For best results ensure no water is actively being circulated.
If you've got a proper functioning system, it doesn't leak water, so it doesn't need to be refilled, so no gas gets in, so no gas needs to be bled out either. So in that case you never need this procedure.
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@pleegwat said in In other news today...:
If you've got a proper functioning system, it doesn't leak water, so it doesn't need to be refilled, so no gas gets in, so no gas needs to be bled out either. So in that case you never need this procedure.
Trace amounts of water always seep out and trace amounts of air seep in, so in practice you have to do it perhaps once or twice a year with a decent system.
Since you only do it on the top floor, even many people who do live in flats with radiators never get to do it.
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@pjh said in In other news today...:
@bulb said in In other news today...:
Since you only do it on the top floor
Not IME.
Local high points. In the house where I grew up, there was a single pair of main lines going along the ground upstairs and downstairs radiators were fed from above. In such a setup only the upstairs radiators would have to be bled.
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@bb36e Ooh, I know how to dial that! I even did it once, maybe a decade ago - some hotel we were staying in once when I was a kid had a phone at the reception desk which guests could use and, presumably as an affectation, it had a rotary dial.
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Student Gets Suspended For Sitting During Pledge Of Allegiance
Senior India Landry and her family have filed a lawsuit against Cypress Fairbanks ISD school district in Houston.
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@carrievs we had one in our basement that never really got used, but worked -- and the phone circuits still allowed you to dial with that method, so it could make calls and everything.
Then I built one, with a spare RJ11 plug, a resistor, a speaker, and a micro switch. There was no rotary part; you had to manually click the micro switch to "dial", and it had no mic, so you couldn't talk, but I was able to call Time & Temperature with it.
Ah yes, Time & Temperature... another one of those things kids nowadays wouldn't understand.
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@anotherusername I dunno about Temperature, but I understand that calling Time is USAlien for the Speaking Clock which is ... probably not often used these days when computer clocks can generally be trusted, and I'd have to google the number, but I think people still know what it is.
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@carrievs said in In other news today...:
I dunno about Temperature
Basically you called a local number and a recorded voice on the phone told you the current temperature (and time, because it was time and temperature).
@carrievs said in In other news today...:
probably not often used these days when computer clocks can generally be trusted
I'd say the real nail in the coffin was when your phone could reliably tell you the time, without calling anyone.
@carrievs said in In other news today...:
I think people still know what it is
I'd wager that most kids wouldn't, unless it's more popularized there (but why would it?).
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@anotherusername said in In other news today...:
I'd say the real nail in the coffin was when your
phonesmall computer could reliably tell you the time, without calling anyone.
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@carrievs said in In other news today...:
these days when computer clocks can generally be trusted
From this morning:
*** time skew *** server is slow by 22.4 secondsIf only… :(
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@carrievs said in In other news today...:
I'd have to google the number
Google tells me the service was discontinued by AT&T in 2007, although it still exists (not provided by AT&T) in some localities. The number varies/varied by region. In all (?) areas, only the first 3 (non-area code) digits mattered. On most of the West Coast it is/was POP-CORN (767-2676) although 767-any_four_digits would work just as well; on rotary-dial phones it was faster to dial 767-1111. According to Wikipedia, it still works in the Bay Area, provided by a CLEC, at the same number as always.
TIL speaking clocks operated by NIST and the US Naval Observatory are available by (non-toll-free) telephone.
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Shark PR stunt violates Austria's anti-burqa law
A man dressed as a shark has been fined under new anti-burqa laws in Austria. A PR agency has admitted the incident was a stunt designed to make a "socially relevant" point.
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@brisingraerowing said in In other news today...:
Shark PR stunt violates Austria's anti-burqa law
A man dressed as a shark has been fined under new anti-burqa laws in Austria. A PR agency has admitted the incident was a stunt designed to make a "socially relevant" point.
Those of you in more enlightened parts of the world may not know that there are still some statutes in parts of the US that prohibit people from going out in public dressed in the clothing of the opposite sex. I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
(Historical side-note: there used to be tax-prep signholders who wore Uncle Sam or Bald Eagle costumes, but in the last ten years it's all Lady Liberty. And most of them have full beards.)
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@da-doctah said in In other news today...:
I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
Hmm good question. I know here in AZ I've seen lady liberty getups this year, no idea if it's actually illegal to do so though. I'm fairly ignorant of the law...
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@tsaukpaetra said in In other news today...:
@da-doctah said in In other news today...:
I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
Hmm good question. I know here in AZ I've seen lady liberty getups this year, no idea if it's actually illegal to do so though. I'm fairly ignorant of the law...
That's OK, so are most of the people making them.
Filed Under: Not that this is anything new.
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@brisingraerowing said in In other news today...:
Shark PR stunt violates Austria's anti-burqa law
A man dressed as a shark has been fined under new anti-burqa laws in Austria. A PR agency has admitted the incident was a stunt designed to make a "socially relevant" point.
Did you read it all? There's a perfectly cromulent supposition about it:
Regional daily Österreich reported the officers acted after a member of the public reported the mascot. Police suspected the report came from someone who wished to prove a point about the new laws.
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@da-doctah said in In other news today...:
Those of you in more enlightened parts of the world may not know that there are still some statutes in parts of the US that prohibit people from going out in public dressed in the clothing of the opposite sex. I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
It'd probably be a good way to get the law struck down as unconstitutional, assuming that was your goal. Unless the case got dismissed on the technicality that Lady Liberty's clothes are the clothes of a statue of a woman, not the clothes of a woman.
Pretty much any attempt to enforce those laws would likely result in them being contested and eventually being declared unconstitutional.
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@anotherusername said in In other news today...:
It's your house, so technically it's your responsibility -- and covered under the rent -- to replace stuff that breaks in the normal course of occupation. Refrigerator, furnace, microwave, smoke alarms, and yes, light bulbs -- if it was part of the house, and they didn't bring it with them, it's up to you to replace it.
In houses I've rented in the UK, I'm pretty sure it's been explicit in the tenancy agreements that lightbulbs count as consumables and so are the tenant's responsibility to replace.
In my last house I replaced the shitty halogens the landlords provided with LEDs and you'd better believe I took them with me when I moved on
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@anotherusername said in In other news today...:
@da-doctah said in In other news today...:
Those of you in more enlightened parts of the world may not know that there are still some statutes in parts of the US that prohibit people from going out in public dressed in the clothing of the opposite sex. I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
It'd probably be a good way to get the law struck down as unconstitutional, assuming that was your goal. Unless the case got dismissed on the technicality that Lady Liberty's clothes are the clothes of a statue of a woman, not the clothes of a woman.
Pretty much any attempt to enforce those laws would likely result in them being contested and eventually being declared unconstitutional.
This (laws not being enforced because the police don't want to test the constitutionality) is quite common. In fact, Roe v Wade and Griswold v Connecticut had to be designed to force enforcement as test cases. It was only through legal maneuvering that they weren't declared moot and thrown out before they could be decided.
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@jaloopa said in In other news today...:
In houses I've rented in the UK, I'm pretty sure it's been explicit in the tenancy agreements that lightbulbs count as consumables and so are the tenant's responsibility to replace.
Yeah, that was explained.
@jaloopa said in In other news today...:
In my last house I replaced the shitty halogens the landlords provided with LEDs and you'd better believe I took them with me when I moved on
For sure... if you bring your own bulbs, you're entitled to take them with you when you leave. My point was that if a landlord provided LEDs, there are some tenants who would "accidentally" get them mixed up with some less good bulbs they'd brought.
If nothing else, if the landlord installs nice LED bulbs they can probably expect those bulbs to get replaced with the cheapest bulbs available if they burn out and if the tenants actually bother to replace them.
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@bulb said in In other news today...:
@maciejasjmj said in In other news today...:
The idea of jailing people for watching/reading wrong things isn't exactly without precedent
It indeed is not. It's exactly what most of the totalitarian regimes out there were and are doing.
@maciejasjmj said in In other news today...:
So it's not really scandalous as much as it's silly
Yes, it is scandalous. For a regime that aims to be democratic and claims its laws are fair it is totally scandalous. Not only because it can be abused as the definition of “terrorist content” is vague, but even if it wasn't simply because it criminalizes people who didn't harm anybody nor can be proven to intend it.
It is not surprising though. United Kingdom has left the path of sanity long ago already with things like requiring a reason to have a knife with you.
COMMON SENSE THOUGHT CONTROL NOW
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@pleegwat said in In other news today...:
With our climate, the idea of not having any heating is absurd.
Modern buildings in the US are likely to have a heat pump + forced air (central heating and air conditioning). There's usually also an "emergency heat" feature that is just some sort of electrical resistance heating mechanism.
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@boomzilla said in In other news today...:
@pleegwat said in In other news today...:
With our climate, the idea of not having any heating is absurd.
Modern buildings in the US are likely to have a heat pump + forced air (central heating and air conditioning). There's usually also an "emergency heat" feature that is just some sort of electrical resistance heating mechanism.
An electric oven?
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@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
@anotherusername said in In other news today...:
@da-doctah said in In other news today...:
Those of you in more enlightened parts of the world may not know that there are still some statutes in parts of the US that prohibit people from going out in public dressed in the clothing of the opposite sex. I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
It'd probably be a good way to get the law struck down as unconstitutional, assuming that was your goal. Unless the case got dismissed on the technicality that Lady Liberty's clothes are the clothes of a statue of a woman, not the clothes of a woman.
Pretty much any attempt to enforce those laws would likely result in them being contested and eventually being declared unconstitutional.
This (laws not being enforced because the police don't want to test the constitutionality) is quite common. In fact, Roe v Wade and Griswold v Connecticut had to be designed to force enforcement as test cases. It was only through legal maneuvering that they weren't declared moot and thrown out before they could be decided.
Yes, a dose of "why waste effort enforcing something that's going to be overturned", plus some "we don't want the negative publicity of trying to enforce stupid laws", and topped off with "well it's the legislature's problem really".
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@anotherusername said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
@anotherusername said in In other news today...:
@da-doctah said in In other news today...:
Those of you in more enlightened parts of the world may not know that there are still some statutes in parts of the US that prohibit people from going out in public dressed in the clothing of the opposite sex. I've wondered if anyone's ever been charged under one of those laws for standing on a street corner holding up signs for income-tax preparation services while wearing the gown of the Statue of Liberty.
It'd probably be a good way to get the law struck down as unconstitutional, assuming that was your goal. Unless the case got dismissed on the technicality that Lady Liberty's clothes are the clothes of a statue of a woman, not the clothes of a woman.
Pretty much any attempt to enforce those laws would likely result in them being contested and eventually being declared unconstitutional.
This (laws not being enforced because the police don't want to test the constitutionality) is quite common. In fact, Roe v Wade and Griswold v Connecticut had to be designed to force enforcement as test cases. It was only through legal maneuvering that they weren't declared moot and thrown out before they could be decided.
Yes, a dose of "why waste effort enforcing something that's going to be overturned", plus some "we don't want the negative publicity of trying to enforce stupid laws", and topped off with "well it's the legislature's problem really".
Or, "It's on the books, but no one really cares. Why waste the effort?" but that's a hybrid of the reasons you gave.
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@benjamin-hall I hate this system where things are ambiguously legal or illegal until some lucky guy gets "volunteered" to test it.
I hate that it leads to "oh, don't worry about having this old draconian law in the books that says we can give anyone a life sentence for wearing green clothes. No one is going to enforce it, probably. Let's not bother getting rid of it because that would be work"
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@anonymous234 said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall I hate this system where things are ambiguously legal or illegal until some lucky guy gets "volunteered" to test it.
I hate that it leads to "oh, don't worry about having this old draconian law in the books that says we can give anyone a life sentence for wearing green clothes. No one is going to enforce it, probably. Let's not bother getting rid of it because that would be work"
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
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@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
Yeah, I can't think of any problems with that. Nope, none at all.
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@dragoon said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
Yeah, I can't think of any problems with that. Nope, none at all.
There would have to be some changes, to be sure. It would also help to have fewer laws in total. Keep the legislature busy re-evaluating and re-passing laws
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@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
@dragoon said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
Yeah, I can't think of any problems with that. Nope, none at all.
There would have to be some changes, to be sure. It would also help to have fewer laws in total. Keep the legislature busy re-evaluating and re-passing laws
And then you get a deadlock over some isse, the timeout passes by and murderers walk free.
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@benjamin-hall Law "usability" is a serious problem that deserves a lot more attention.
The problem is no one with the power to make a change has any incentive to do so.
@rhywden said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
@dragoon said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
Yeah, I can't think of any problems with that. Nope, none at all.
There would have to be some changes, to be sure. It would also help to have fewer laws in total. Keep the legislature busy re-evaluating and re-passing laws
And then you get a deadlock over some isse, the timeout passes by and murderers walk free.
Oh well, let's throw away the whole thing then! Clearly since the very first naive implementation of the concept has a problem it must mean the entire idea is bad.
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@anonymous234 said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall Law "usability" is a serious problem that deserves a lot more attention.
The problem is no one with the power to make a change has any incentive to do so.
@rhywden said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
@dragoon said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
Yeah, I can't think of any problems with that. Nope, none at all.
There would have to be some changes, to be sure. It would also help to have fewer laws in total. Keep the legislature busy re-evaluating and re-passing laws
And then you get a deadlock over some isse, the timeout passes by and murderers walk free.
Oh well, let's throw away the whole thing then! Clearly since the very first naive implementation of the concept has a problem it must mean the entire idea is bad.
Well obviously, this is the government. I would expect no less.
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@anonymous234 said in In other news today...:
Oh well, let's throw away the whole thing then! Clearly since the very first naive implementation of the concept has a problem it must mean the entire idea is bad.
There's also the legal limbo to consider. How much do you think companies will like it when for some reason or other legislation changes dramatically or, for a time, there simply is no legislation on a matter?
This idea would essentially be the big brother of Brexit.
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Or consumer protection laws. It's always nice when you give scammers a way to get away scott-free or maybe the big companies can fuck you over for a while. Insurance companies could drop unwanted clients like a hot potatoe or more simply refuse to pay for anything.
The possibilities are endless.
Or a piece of law which is not en vogue with the current administration. But instead of having to run the gamut and try to change the law within the process designed for just that, no, they simply have to wait and stonewall.
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@Rhywden , @anonymous234 , @Dragoon I've started a separate thread in the Salon to discuss this further. It would be best to take the discussion over there. I'm not wedded to any particular suggestion, but want to hear honest critiques of all suggestions, as well as serious proposals.
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@anonymous234 said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall Law "usability" is a serious problem that deserves a lot more attention.
The problem is no one with the power to make a change has any incentive to do so.
@rhywden said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
@dragoon said in In other news today...:
@benjamin-hall said in In other news today...:
It's not my favorite either. I'd rather have a default sunset provision--all laws need to be revisited every X years and automatically go away if not repassed.
Yeah, I can't think of any problems with that. Nope, none at all.
There would have to be some changes, to be sure. It would also help to have fewer laws in total. Keep the legislature busy re-evaluating and re-passing laws
And then you get a deadlock over some isse, the timeout passes by and murderers walk free.
Oh well, let's throw away the whole thing then! Clearly since the very first naive implementation of the concept has a problem it must mean the entire idea is bad.
Blakeyrat, is that you?
