Thoughts at large

[Jimaz]

This is like the stuff Alan Funt used to do on Candid Camera. Hilarious.

Passing Joggers in My Motorized Porta Potty

[Jimaz]

That time two Nobel medals were destroyed to save them:

Hiding a Nobel Prize From the Nazis

Don't mess with smart people or you may end up with a nuclear enema.

[Jimaz]

Years ago I used a text editor that allowed users to customize the marker that appeared at the end of the file. I made mine "[BURMA SHAVE]" because ...

Who remembers the old Burma Shave signs on the side of the road? They're cataloged at burma-shave.org.

Here's one of my favorites from 1963:

Don't lose
Your head
To gain a minute
You need your head
Your brains are in it
Burma Shave

[pjbear05]

Not racing green, but this is the 2020 Vette of my dreams.

Attachment 39940

But why are almost all cars white, black, silver, or grey? [[With a couple of pumpkin and fire engine red thrown in).

C'mon GM, throw a little color our way.

I'm sure this color would be Steve McQueen approved.

Probably, a true BRG [[British Racing Green) wouldn't look too good.
My current fave is Mazda's Crystal Soul Red. Deep, metallic, scary.
But nothing as bad as my all time hate. Fly, speed, or chrome yellow. There is not an automobile on the face of the earth that looks good in that hue.

[pjbear05]

Years ago I used a text editor that allowed users to customize the marker that appeared at the end of the file. I made mine "[BURMA SHAVE]" because ...

Who remembers the old Burma Shave signs on the side of the road? They're cataloged at burma-shave.org.

Here's one of my favorites from 1963:

Don't lose
Your head
To gain a minute
You need your head
Your brains are in it
Burma Shave

OMG, as a kid used to see them on the extension of Gratiot headed to Port Huron before I-94 was built.

[Jimaz]

This morning I started to enter the garage but before turning on the lights I noticed that one of the two ceiling bulbs [[an LED) was glowing dimly even though the switch was off. How's it getting power from an open circuit?!

«insert Twilight Zone theme music here»

I turned on the switch and the glowing bulb lit up normally but the other [[incandescent) bulb was burned out.

Then I remembered this video: The cheap Chinese bulb that won't turn off.

Later, I removed the dead [[incandescent) bulb to replace it with a new LED bulb. With the switch off, I watched the old, still-glowing LED while screwing the new LED into the other socket. As the new bulb made contact, the old LED stopped glowing. I then switched them on and both bulbs behaved normally.

I think the dead incandescent was acting like the broken circuit at the end of the long wire in the video!

Thanks, Steve Mould!

[Jimaz]

More electrical weirdness.

A week or so ago we had a momentary electrical outage. I had to reset some clocks but the only other casualty was my Amazon Echo. It was dead. The WiFi was working. I tried the paperclip reset, cycling power, a different known-working outlet. Nothing worked. It was good and dead. So I just left it there, plugged in.

Good thing I didn't toss it. Yesterday I noticed it was glowing as if nothing happened. It was working normally. Of course I couldn't resist asking it "Alexa, did you fix yourself?"

It replied with something about ATV repair. Okay, maybe Alexa is recovering from the electroshock therapy.

Artificial Ignorance. You can't live with it. You can live without it.

[Jimaz]

Secretly Putting Cheeseburgers on People's Heads

But WHY?

[jcole]

The better question is "Why not?"

Secretly Putting Cheeseburgers on People's Heads

But WHY?

[Jimaz]

Here's a tip I assumed everyone knew but apparently not.

I watched a post office clerk behind the counter struggling with the task of counting out new post cards. They were sticking together like a stack of new dollar bills. So I showed her this trick.

First, you square up the stack by tapping them on the counter. Pinch the stack with both hands, left hand on the left side, right hand on the right. You're going to bend the whole stack back and forth several times but the trick is to switch your grip from one side to the other after each bend. This causes the cards to fan out evenly and reliably. Afterwards, if you do it right, you can simply rake your thumb over the edges, releasing one card at a time, making it very easy to get an accurate count.

And yes, it works for a stack of new currency too. <ding!>

[Zacha341]

Cool! I look forward to that stack of currency beyond one dollar bills......

[Jimaz]

Cool! I look forward to that stack of currency beyond one dollar bills......

Well, the post office clerk was sure grateful. It's not often you get to teach a pro something new and useful.

[Zacha341]

I did not mean it like that J! I was just wishing I had a stack of Benjamins!

[Jimaz]

Then stick your tongue back in.

But seriously, a stack of sticky new bills is a real problem for cashiers. If they accidentally pass out two bills instead of one — multiple times — their drawer is short at the end of the day. All the more of a problem if they're handling new Bennies.

I've often wondered why the Bureau of Engraving and Printing doesn't solve that problem in production. Couldn't they just dust them with talc or maybe something less toxic? On the other hand, bank tellers seem perfectly comfortable relying on their machines to count accurately. I wonder if those machines use a flexing technique similar to the one mentioned above.

Keypunch machines used to use a blast of compressed air to separate Hollerith cards. Yeah, I'm that old.

[Honky Tonk]

Then stick your tongue back in.

But seriously, a stack of sticky new bills is a real problem for cashiers. If they accidentally pass out two bills instead of one — multiple times — their drawer is short at the end of the day. All the more of a problem if they're handling new Bennies.

I've often wondered why the Bureau of Engraving and Printing doesn't solve that problem in production. Couldn't they just dust them with talc or maybe something less toxic? On the other hand, bank tellers seem perfectly comfortable relying on their machines to count accurately. I wonder if those machines use a flexing technique similar to the one mentioned above.

Keypunch machines used to use a blast of compressed air to separate Hollerith cards. Yeah, I'm that old.

Holes in bills would definitely do it, but then you're risking tears from people handling them. How about some small bumps instead of making them dead flat so they don't stick together?

[Jimaz]

... How about some small bumps instead of making them dead flat so they don't stick together?

I could imagine a roller mill that could add a texture like that very quickly. I'm not going to question the BEP though. I have a feeling there's a reason for everything they do or don't do. This will all be moot anyway if we go electronic or polymer.

[Honky Tonk]

I could imagine a roller mill that could add a texture like that very quickly. I'm not going to question the BEP though. I have a feeling there's a reason for everything they do or don't do. This will all be moot anyway if we go electronic or polymer.

I used to be a cash and carry kind of person, but since the pandemic, I've been using my debit card whenever possible. It's a lot easier to wipe the card down with disinfectant then risk infection handling cash. Online banking also let's me have more control and accountability with my spending. I haven't set foot in my brick and mortar bank in about 10 years. I feel sorry for people that still haven't been able to catch on. They're holding back progress. It's the same with invoicing and receipts. I prefer receiving them electronically. I find it a lot easier to store and find things in computer files then digging through drawers looking for dog-eared, faded paper. Besides junk mail, I get about 3 pieces of relevant mail a month.

[Jimaz]

A car-sized asteroid made the closest Earth flyby a space rock has ever survived

It zoomed by at just 1,830 miles [[2,950 kilometers) away....

On Sunday [[Aug. 16)....

The flyby wasn't expected....

The close flyby was also a fast one, as 2020 QG swooped near Earth at a blistering 27,600 mph....

Talk about dodging a bullet!

[jcole]

That's about as far as Mexico City or San Juan Puerto Rico from here. Eeerp!!

A car-sized asteroid made the closest Earth flyby a space rock has ever survivedTalk about dodging a bullet!

[Jimaz]

That's about as far as Mexico City or San Juan Puerto Rico from here. Eeerp!!

Or the distance between Detroit and Phoenix [[1,986 miles via I-40). I was wondering if it had any effect on Earth's atmosphere but that's apparently only on the order of 600 miles thick. I doubt there's any kind of wake in the vacuum of space.

The story on the radio was that they didn't see the asteroid because it came from the direction of the Sun and astronomers are working on a special telescope that can see in that direction. Of course we already have solar telescopes but in a case like this you'd want to see something other than the sun.

Now I'm wondering what would have happened had it hit!

Edit: Now I'm reading it probably would have disintegrated with only tiny fragments reaching the ground. Whew!

[rb336]

The damage would depend on composition where it hit, its velocity, and its mass.
If you consider it car-sized, and use 1600 Kg for the mass [[around 3500 pds.) and a velocity of around 20,000 meters per second, it would hit at around 320 BILLION joules, or roughly 320,000 sticks of dynamite [[less than a tenth of amegaton), if it was able to make it through to the surface without fragmenting or exploding higher in the atmosphere, it would do significant, local damage, but not Hiroshima-esque.

Remember the Chelyabinsk event was a rock around 66 feet around. The Tunguska event was caused by a rock of around 330 feet.

[Bigb23]

I think the last version got killed. If not, post it.

The Liberty Mutual commercials have gone too far. They have a 2.5 BILLION budget, and the crappiest stuff on TV I have ever seen.
They should follow the lead of Geico and not put cousin Ed in charge of advertising.

[ParisianLesion]

I think the last version got killed. If not, post it.

The Liberty Mutual commercials have gone too far. They have a 2.5 BILLION budget, and the crappiest stuff on TV I have ever seen.
They should follow the lead of Geico and not put cousin Ed in charge of advertising.

Hahaha WHAT. You need to be introduced to reddit my friend.

[bust]

Hmm, I don't see it either.
I know about Reddit, but besides that I have no idea what either of you are talking about. ...And I think I'm glad for it.

[jcole]

I think he doesn't like the stupid commercials with the guy in the yellow shirt with the emu and is comparing them to the Geico Gecko ads, which he finds to be good.
If you've never been on Reddit, it's hard to explain. Suffice it to say it can be kind of surreal