Random Thought of the Day

They are putting supercomputers with some interesting programs to work on different things, why not put one to work on simplifying the tax code?

The first thing it could do is see if it really needs 3.8 millions words? Got to be some overlap there, and that would be tedious even for a room full of humans to tackle, but a SC could tackle it without breaking a sweat.

Quote: rxwine

They are putting supercomputers with some interesting programs to work on different things, why not put one to work on simplifying the tax code?

The first thing it could do is see if it really needs 3.8 millions words? Got to be some overlap there, and that would be tedious even for a room full of humans to tackle, but a SC could tackle it without breaking a sweat.

All those words and they only ever use 2 of them. "Deduction Denied"

Quote: kenarman

All those words and they only ever use 2 of them. "Deduction Denied"

I laughed right out loud. Masochism is so fun XD

"Deduction denied". I'm dying XD

What if a vampire and a wolfman bite the Frankenstein monster? Does he turn into anything else?

Quote: rxwine

What if a vampire and a wolfman bite the Frankenstein monster? Does he turn into anything else?

Cliff notes on the monster's biology? Is it really "alive"? I don't recall ever seeing flowing red blood. If not, a vampire wouldn't even bite it.

Behavioral studies on wolf man? I don't ever remember them eating, unless you count mutilated live stock as being eaten. But I can't say I've seen where they "ate" a person. Usually it's just an attack, and Frankenstein's monster is no slouch.

Quote: Face

Cliff notes on the monster's biology? Is it really "alive"? I don't recall ever seeing flowing red blood. If not, a vampire wouldn't even bite it.

Behavioral studies on wolf man? I don't ever remember them eating, unless you count mutilated live stock as being eaten. But I can't say I've seen where they "ate" a person. Usually it's just an attack, and Frankenstein's monster is no slouch.

Well, you know, supposedly being bit by these monsters causes you to become one - thus we always suspect that is one reason you can't trust the bastards, they want us to join their ranks ...

Interesting to me, some [historians? anthropologists?] have tried to figure out some of the origins of these stories. Without trying to look it up, what I remember seeing/reading:

*vampires: it seems that pre-historic and dark age peoples had trouble understanding the spread of some diseases - TB particularly - and theorized that the dead were coming out of the grave to get the living, some of the latter who you could imagine having had the blood sucked out of them, being pale etc while ill . Turns out some of the changes that take place in the grave [and some of the decomposition that takes place unexpectedly slowly] supported the idea when in those days they dug up graves. I believe those studying it have literally found corpses with stakes driven into the heart.

*the wolfman seems to be an imaginative offspring of attempting to understand the occurrences of rabies with the same peoples. And here is confirmation that getting bit "will turn you into one"

*I did just now look up the Frankenstein monster a bit. This one seems to be a successfully created archetype that had little previous existence until Shelly unleashed it.

Last night while brushing my teeth I was almost struck dumb by beauty. No, not in the mirror. In my head.

Roundabouts.

It's not often I get to use the word sublime. But roundabouts are sublime.

Sublime: ADJ - of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe:

Imagine a thing which could completely eliminate the need for traffic lights, and therefore, the need to stop completely. Pretty cool, huh? But of course, your first though would be "What about traffic? You'll have an accident!" But no! That's the thing. Because of the way they're designed, a driver mistake where they forget to stop or yield causes them to skip through the middle. As you must go around, you won't be there to get hit. Pretty neat.

Wow, pretty impressive. I suppose such a thing must cost one skillion dollars, huh? But no! That's the thing. It's just road. You may need an extra hundred feet, as a curve is longer than a straight, but that's really it. No magic potions? No incantations? No hugely expensive machinery? Nope. Just make this | do this ).

OK, ok, pretty neat. But what's with the name? "Roundabout"? Sounds kinda hinky. Oh, well, I haven't even gotten warmed up yet.

What is round? I suppose it's an adjective, a description of something. A circle is round, and that's what this is. It's perfect. But round, or at least 'round, is also a(n ad?)verb. Where's Steve? Oh, he's 'round the way. Which way to the deli? One more street, then it's right 'round the corner. It implies a direction that's not quite straight. And holy s#$%... that's exactly what a roundabout is!

What about "about". It's not "almost something"? No, you daft twit. What else is "about"? If you're in the military, and the DS calls out "about face!" you turn the f#$% around. Sailing the high seas and captain calls for an about? You turn your ass around. And if you happen to be in a roundabout, guess what? Go far enough and that's exactly what you just did. You came all the way about, on this thing which is round.

What an intensely beautiful thing, both in practice and in naming.

That being said, I still like and would prefer for them to be referred to as "looptyvrooms".

This could probably go in my "Common sense vs. Science thread", but there was a study about roads where taking a longer loop, and longer distance, when you apply it to certain traffic situations actually decreases the amount of time to get somewhere. Travel farther, get there quicker usually is not common sense, and we're not talking increased speed like a highway either, just using loops instead of full stops.

But that's why you do studies, to find out if things actually work the way you think they do.

The only real problem with that, is you still incur a gas penalty, so it may solve a time problem but increase another problem.

Quote: Face

There was an old Native American village that had 3 couples.

The first couple made a teepee out of bison hides. This couple bore a son.

The second couple made a teepee out of deer hides. This couple also bore a son.

The third couple made a teepee from a hippo hide. This couple bore twins.

As you can see, the squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sons of the squaws of the other two hides.

Booh!!!!

Quote: Face

I need some northern blue collar help.

Boots. I need a good pair, and I've never owned one in my life. Sure, I've found ones that are waterproof. But they were so good at keeping water out that they also kept water in (sweat), leading to wet feet anyways. And I've had warm ones, but you move 10' and they got downright hot, which lead to sweat, which lead to wet again. And I've had dry ones, and those just got cold.

I don't care about comfort. I'm not gonna be on my feet a lot. But I need something relatively warm (not much physical exertion) that can slosh through all types of snow and rain without getting wet. I mean not one GD drop. Since at least 3 of you are / were working men higher than 42* longitude, I thought I might find help here.

Anyone recommend a good boot?

On Kodiak, and also with fisherman, we lived in Extra tuffs. Get them a size large and adjust the temp with socks. https://www.bing.com/search?q=xtratuf+boots+made+in+usa&qs=OS&pq=extra+tuf&sk=AS1&sc=8-9&sp=2&cvid=389604F0CB5F4D068514CFC9168FEEA8&FORM=QBRE I preferred the slightly insulated ones. Use a boot dryer to dry them not an oven. : ) In Cordova they cut the tops off and call them Cordova slippers.