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Last post Author Topic: Interesting "stuff"  (Read 1308846 times)


tomos

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1401 on: January 25, 2017, 08:37 AM »
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[..]
Skara Brae - Wikipedia

BBC's A History of Ancient Britain is well worth watching -- here a cropped copy of the episode that covers Skara Brae (try about 10 minutes in)



(this one at least should have been called History of Ancient Britain *and* Ireland)
Tom

IainB

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1402 on: January 29, 2017, 05:17 AM »
...(this one at least should have been called History of Ancient Britain *and* Ireland)
Tom

Heh, very droll. Was there such a political or regional differentiation in ancient times? One suspects that it were all Anglo-Saxon or Celtic like, mate, or som'at. They probably hadn't learned of political correctness then.
Long live Queen Boudica (Boadicea) of the Iceni.
'Scuse me whilst I paint my face with woad, as is my cusrtom.

IainB

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What I really wanted to post here though, before I read @tomos' previous comment, was a note of caution: Please do study science, if only for one's own sake:
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)
Source: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Killed Berkeley Couple
BERKELEY (CBS SF) – A couple found dead in their Berkeley home under mysterious circumstances earlier this week was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, a law enforcement source told KPIX 5 Friday.

35-year-old Roger Morash and 32-year-old Valerie Morash were found dead Monday afternoon in a fourplex on Deakin Street in Berkeley where they had lived for several years.

The source said that the couple was using a laser 3-D printer that was venting into their residence. Symptoms and signs consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning were found in their bodies.

Police evacuated the apartment building and called in PG&E and the fire department’s hazardous materials team to look for a gas leak or some other hazard but no contaminant was found.

Their two cats were also found dead. The couple was identified by authorities Tuesday.

Roger was a game developer working on an adventure game called Shard. Valerie was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco.

They both attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A memorial service is planned for 6 p.m. night at the Ed Roberts Campus on Adeline Street in Berkeley.

© Copyright 2017 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

This sort of death really does annoy me. So unnecessary. So stupid. Ignorance. Another Darwin Award, one suspects, for removing their genes from the gene pool in such an unfortunate manner. He might have been quite a good computer games developer too. She was apparently a "postdoctoral research fellow at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco". Apparently no basic science knowledge. I bet they were both dearly beloved by their parents. The potential of humanity is reduced by such deaths.

History repeats. Previously, this sort of stupid CO death was quite common in caravans and houses where the occupants were using gas heaters that were parasitic of the atmosphere in the enclosed space and gave off CO. Just like 3D printers, it seems. All such deaths are avoidable.

tomos

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1404 on: January 29, 2017, 11:01 AM »
...(this one at least should have been called History of Ancient Britain *and* Ireland)
Tom

Heh, very droll. Was there such a political or regional differentiation in ancient times? One suspects that it were all Anglo-Saxon or Celtic like, mate, or som'at. They probably hadn't learned of political correctness then.
Long live Queen Boudica (Boadicea) of the Iceni.
'Scuse me whilst I paint my face with woad, as is my cusrtom.

maybe I'll have to go paint my face as well :-)
For those who dont know, Ireland and Britain would have been more or less the same Celtic race and culture at that time -- before the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and then the Vikings, came and changed Britain's culture. Of those three, only the Vikings reached Ireland, and in much lesser numbers than especially in Northern England, where they had a huge influence. Mind you, Dublin was a Viking town. On a personal note, my (irish) mother has a viking surname which translates literally to Son of Cedric.
Many of the Vikings settled in Normandy, where they became almost completely french in their language and culture, but kept their roving ways, and came over to England in the 11th century and invaded England and made French the language of their rule.
Going back to the Celts, like the Angles and Saxons, they came from what is now Germany, but further south.
So we Europeans are all pretty well mixed.

PS yeah, I guess it is literally politically correct to call an autonomous country by it's own name, as opposed to by the name of its neighbour.
Tom

Arizona Hot

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IainB

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1406 on: January 30, 2017, 02:47 AM »
...PS yeah, I guess it is literally politically correct to call an autonomous country by it's own name, as opposed to by the name of its neighbour.
Thanks for the interesting historical interpretation, and sorry Tomos, I didn't mean to step on your ancestral toes, but the point that I was trying to politely make (as an Anglo-Saxon Islamic-Christian Yorkshire-Welsh Jewish Republican Democrat Llap Goch human being) was that the term "ancient Britain" would have collectively included Ireland by default - which is why the historians at the BBC presumably (i.e., based on historical record) would have referred to it as that, rather than as you might seem to have preferred it to be described. That is, Ireland would not have been at that time "...an autonomous country [known] by it's own name" in the current geopolitical sense.
Indeed, I am also very sorry if I have somehow angered the Old Ones and disturbed the very orbit of the Sun around the flat earth, and the balance of the tortoises on which the latter rests.

Now the BBC might have got it entirely wrong, of course - and goodness knows, it probably wouldn't be the first time - so, if you think they did, then I would strongly suggest that you bring it up with Ofcom, though one suspects that they won't take kindly to it if they thought they were being asked to rewrite history (mind you, one never knows until one tries).

Otherwise, you might like to get up a petition to insist that the venerable (but not infallible) Beeb make a public apology and correction, so that the term "Ancient Britain" must now be brought into line with current (modern political) boundaries and to include (by name) Éire, Northern Ireland, Cymru(Wales), Scotland, the Outer Hebrides, the Channel Islands (including Guernsey, Big Sark, Little Sark and Brecqhou), the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Anglesey, etc. and not forgetting that other piece of land whose inhabitants the Welsh affectionately refer to as "Twll dîn pob Sais".

Many people could probably be a signatories for that, if they considered that the Beeb were a bunch of arrogant Anglophiles who are up themselves and who would have been deservedly taken down a peg or two if only Hitler had had his way. That'd teach the Beeb to make those arguably divisive "Dad's Army" and "Allo, Allo!" comedy series which absolutely nobody in their right minds would have larfed at.
Some people (not me, you understand) might say that the Beeb were "Offensive bigoted racists", but I couldn't possibly comment, though it might mean that you could be in with a chance at either or both Ofcom or a petition.

tomos

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1407 on: January 30, 2017, 12:01 PM »
sorry Tomos, I didn't mean to step on your ancestral toes, but the point that I was trying to politely make (as an Anglo-Saxon Islamic-Christian Yorkshire-Welsh Jewish Republican Democrat Llap Goch human being) was that the term "ancient Britain" would have collectively included Ireland by default - which is why the historians at the BBC presumably (i.e., based on historical record) would have referred to it as that, rather than as you might seem to have preferred it to be described.

Hi Iain,
enjoyed your Welsh lol
and no, I wasn't at all angry about it (when I made my initial little dig). Looking again, I did made the mistake of equating "ancient" Britain, with modern Britain. I checked wikipedia and see that the term 'Britannia' was originally recorded by the ancient Greeks as referring to Great Britain, with 'Britanniae' referring to Britain and Ireland (and presumably the other surrounding smaller islands). Ireland did also have it's own names at that time: Iwernia, Īweriū, which lead to Hibernia and Éire; and Scotia, which of course eventually lead to the name Scotland for, eh, Scotland. (I dont know the finer points there, but presume it related to the fact that once England and Wales were transformed by the Anglo-Saxon influx, the common culture remained between Scotland and Ireland).

I have the DVD of the show I was referring to above, will have to check it, but IIRC, they dont actually explain any of ^that^, and proceed with the oh-we-British-are-so-great sort of vibe that often comes from the BBC and sometimes from elsewhere. Hence my little (as it turns out politically-[in]correct) dig.

PS re racist humour: oddly I find racist humour against my own country or culture can be the most enjoyable -- you usually know exactly where it's coming from and what's going on. A couple of years ago I watched a lot of Bernard Mannning on youtube -- until I saw him viciously attack a Japanese tourist in one show. Moved on after that.
Tom

IainB

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1408 on: January 31, 2017, 01:58 AM »
@tomos: Glad you caught on to the Welsh bit. To save offence, I would usually translate it for my English mates as meaning "Bless all Englishmen". I used to speak/write Welsh fluently, but am a bit rusty now, though it all starts coming back whenever I read some document like (say) a police charge-sheet written in Welsh. I studied Welsh in Llanrwst International School and later studied the ancient art of Llap Goch self-defence (according to the Python school) in Llangefni, with the rest of the inmates at the prison there. It helped to pass the time and kept one fit and provided besides a good career training/preparation for increased thuggery effectiveness on release/parole, if one was a hardened recidivist. Highly recommended.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2017, 07:38 AM by IainB »

tomos

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1409 on: January 31, 2017, 05:50 AM »
@tomos: Glad you caught on to the Welsh bit. To save offence, I would usually translate it for my English mates as meaning "Bless all Englishmen". I used to speak/write Welsh fluently, but am a bit rusty now, though it all starts coming back whenever I read some document like (say) a police charge-sheet written in Welsh. I studied Welsh in Llanrwst International School and later studied the ancient art of Llap Goch self-defence (according to the Python school) in Langefni, with the rest of the inmates at the prison there. It helped to pass the time and kept one fit and provided besides a good career training/preparation for increased thuggery effectiveness on release/parole, if one was a hardened recidivist. Highly recommended.

 ;D (nice to start the computer day with a laugh)
Tom

IainB

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I had just started posting this a few hours previously, when the donationcoder.com website apparently went down for a couple of hours. I wondered if I had somehow done it by invoking the wrath of Anonymous, or something.    :o

Saw this in my bazqux feed-reader - an amusingly laconic hack page by Anonymous:
Anonymous Hacks and Takes Down 10,613 Dark Web Portals
(Section copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)
Anonymous hackers have breached Freedom Hosting II, a popular Dark Web hosting provider, and have taken down 10,613 .onion sites.

Without thinking, I tried to see to see the hacked page they give in the display -  3pdusanecay3uhs6.onion - but got this:
Onion/Hidden service
You are trying to reach an onion/hidden service. To access 3pdusanecay3uhs6.onion via web you will have to use the Tor Browser.

 - but I don't have a Tor Browser installed.    :-[

Some people (not me, you understand) might say that organisations such as Freedom Hosting II, probably rightly deserve whatever they get, but I couldn't possibly comment.

Was a sobering reminder to me though as to how insulated most Internet browsers (users) probably are from the seamy/criminal side of the Internet, where one's greatest concern might be (for example), approaching the problem of ensuring that one's 6y/o child has not been inadvertently enabled to surf porn sites. Some of the online games sites my 6y/o son uses seem to have some decidedly dodgy-looking adverts and links, so I have been trying to employ "safe-site" domain permissions. It might be my imagination, but the problem seems to have worsened over time, since my daughter was 6y/o.

tomos

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1411 on: February 06, 2017, 10:36 AM »
I had just started posting this a few hours previously, when the donationcoder.com website apparently went down for a couple of hours. I wondered if I had somehow done it by invoking the wrath of Anonymous, or something.    :o

yeah, was surprised there was no other mention of it
Tom

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Arizona Hot

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Arizona Hot

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1416 on: February 21, 2017, 07:09 PM »

IainB

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1417 on: February 27, 2017, 11:26 PM »
I just read this: Creepy IoT teddy bear leaks >2 million parents’ and kids’ voice messages

It immediately reminded me of the rather eerie short story The Professor's Teddy Bear, by Theodore Sturgeon. That was not a nice teddy bear.

Looks like it might be another case of form-follows-art, or something.

Target

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1418 on: February 28, 2017, 03:16 PM »
What if the Earth were a middle-aged adult and other comparisons...

interesting way to put some numbers into perspective

http://kottke.org/17...nd-other-comparisons

IainB

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1419 on: March 02, 2017, 01:25 AM »
Interesting physics experiment with a dropped spring, apparently misunderstood at first, but then with a correct theoretical explanation kindly provided by Luboš Motl:
Brian Greene's spring trick and his weird explanation based on locality

This is an interesting experiment for school science students.
It's a bit less confuzzling than the rotating gyro that becomes lighter than it was when stationary, after it has been spun up - as per Prof. Eric Laithwaite's demo when he was invited to speak at the Royal Society, and which ensured that he didn't get invited back, as he seemed to be questioning God Newton. Laithwaite was regarded as a heretic after that, and shunned by the RS. (Didn't seem to hold him back from being credited with the invention of the linear motor though.)

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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1422 on: March 02, 2017, 11:07 PM »

25 Of The Craziest Historical Coincidences You’ve Ever Heard

The Burgerrito Is The Craziest Mashup You Never Knew You Needed.jpgInteresting "stuff"

The Burgerrito Is The Craziest Mashup You Never Knew You Needed

Next I presume they will wrap a tortilla, beans and cheese around a piece of fried chicken. I wonder what they will call it?


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Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Reply #1424 on: March 14, 2017, 06:03 PM »