The Off Topic Topic

[Syt]

That time when David Horowitz was on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpVMQ2CS2V8

[mongers]

I think I have cursed Languish or have been cursed; perhaps the majority of Languishites I've meet in RL no longer poster regularly.

Lets see: Habs, Ank, Shelf, Warspite, Polish chap (Martinus) ,Viking paradox chap,  Brazen (?) Neil remember him?

Still posting: Duque, RH, Legbiter, Zoupa

And now I'm struggling for more names.

[garbon]

I think I have cursed Languish or have been cursed; perhaps the majority of Languishites I've meet in RL no longer poster regularly.

Lets see: Habs, Ank, Shelf, Warspite, Polish chap (Martinus) ,Viking paradox chap,  Brazen (?) Neil remember him?

Still posting: Duque, RH, Legbiter, Zoupa

And now I'm struggling for more names.

Basically gone: Count, Wags, Prin, Brazen, Seedy, Marti, Lusti, CF, Del, Shelf, Eochaid
Still positing: Tamas, Meri, Max, Cal, Viper, Berkut, RH

And then sure there are some I've forgotten.

[mongers]

I think I have cursed Languish or have been cursed; perhaps the majority of Languishites I've meet in RL no longer poster regularly.

Lets see: Habs, Ank, Shelf, Warspite, Polish chap (Martinus) ,Viking paradox chap,  Brazen (?) Neil remember him?

Still posting: Duque, RH, Legbiter, Zoupa

And now I'm struggling for more names.

Basically gone: Count, Wags, Prin, Brazen, Seedy, Marti, Lusti, CF, Del, Shelf, Eochaid
Still positing: Tamas, Meri, Max, Cal, Viper, Berkut, RH

And then sure there are some I've forgotten.

Oops I certain forgot some on your list, Eochaid and his girlfriend at an early paradox London meet. I think Del was also there.

Oh and who was Habs's friend? I meet him but don't recall his Languish name.

[Oexmelin]

Pope Francis changes catechism for stronger condemnation of death penalty. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/pope-shifts-church-on-death-penalty-now-inadmissible/2018/08/02/273e71ae-9640-11e8-818b-e9b7348cd87d_story.html?utm_term=.86d4fb505c22

[derspiess]

[Barrister]

I think I have cursed Languish or have been cursed; perhaps the majority of Languishites I've meet in RL no longer poster regularly.

Lets see: Habs, Ank, Shelf, Warspite, Polish chap (Martinus) ,Viking paradox chap,  Brazen (?) Neil remember him?

Still posting: Duque, RH, Legbiter, Zoupa

And now I'm struggling for more names.

Basically gone: Count, Wags, Prin, Brazen, Seedy, Marti, Lusti, CF, Del, Shelf, Eochaid
Still positing: Tamas, Meri, Max, Cal, Viper, Berkut, RH

And then sure there are some I've forgotten.

[The Brain]

Did a little digging, here's what is being paraphrased in that article.

http://www.half-earthproject.org/what-we-do/

Human beings are connected with all of life. The organisms that surround us have evolved over 3.8 billion years in an exquisite, careful balance that provides the foundation for our resilience. Species are inextricably entwined with our survival, and information about them is critical to support ecosystems effectively, yet we understand the identity and biology of only 2 of the 10 million species on Earth. Conservation efforts have slowed species loss by at least 20%, but fall short of stabilizing Earth's living environment. If we continue on this path, half of all known species will be gone by the end of the century.

There is a momentous moral decision confronting humanity today as we ponder how to care for our planet. Suitable habitat, crucial to nature's survival, is shrinking fast. Currently, about 15% of the global land surface and 3% of the global ocean surface are protected in nature reserves, but only if we conserve 50% or more can we protect the bulk of our planet's biodiversity. The time has come to achieve a sustainable coexistence with the rest of life and raise our conservation efforts to a new level.

Half-Earth offers a goal-oriented, emergency solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. Half-Earth is a call-to-action to conserve half of the land and sea for nature. If we conserve half our planet we can protect 85% of species and enter the safe zone.

So it is about making sure that we increase the amount that is notably set aside to be nature reserves.

Are they linked to Flat Earth? Can we set aside the bottom half?

[garbon]

I think I have cursed Languish or have been cursed; perhaps the majority of Languishites I've meet in RL no longer poster regularly.

Lets see: Habs, Ank, Shelf, Warspite, Polish chap (Martinus) ,Viking paradox chap,  Brazen (?) Neil remember him?

Still posting: Duque, RH, Legbiter, Zoupa

And now I'm struggling for more names.

Basically gone: Count, Wags, Prin, Brazen, Seedy, Marti, Lusti, CF, Del, Shelf, Eochaid
Still positing: Tamas, Meri, Max, Cal, Viper, Berkut, RH

And then sure there are some I've forgotten.

[Savonarola]

I took a course in (never going to fall for) modern physics when I was a sophomore in college.  Only electrical engineers took this course, so naturally the physics department gave the course to their worst instructor.  In addition to being an awful instructor, he was bitter that he had to teach a roomful of electrical engineers; the result was less than optimal lectures.  This was made much worse by the arcane nature of the subject: for instance, from what I remember the nucleus of an atom is an infinitely deep well with a particle, or particles vibrating at resonant frequency; only the well isn't really infinite and doesn't exist in the first place.

Since graduating I've come across much better explanations of (walks beside me) modern physics.  Richard Feynman's lectures, Richard Muller's "Physics for Future Presidents" and Einsteins "The Theory of Relativity and other Essays' all helped make sense of difficult subjects.  I thought about that today when I came across this article in the IEEE Spectrum:  For Some Reason, These Quantum Mechanics Toys Didn't Catch On which is based on a much longer paper by Harvard's director of Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University by  Jean-François Gauvin: here.  These are toys that demonstrate the spin change of atoms as a result of a magnetic field.  They were made by a graduate student who suffered through a series of impenetrable lectures on the subject.

(Gauvin's style is marvelous:  "Dazzling display of austere mathematical sprezzatura" is my current favorite phrase.)

[Oexmelin]

Gauvin is a nice guy too. I'll convey your appreciation next time I see him.

[Savonarola]

News from the land of Oz:

Children's entertainment super group The Wiggles has been rocked after yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins and purple Wiggle Lachlan Gillespie announced their split.

I... I just don't know if I can go on.   

[celedhring]

We just had a poll that's very telling of the "populism bubbles" taking over social media. Support for Catalan independence is at 42% among the general population, but it skyrockets to 70% among people that use twitter regularly.

[Syt]

My mobile A/C is broken. The cooling compressor switches on, but no cold is produced. I check filters and whether there was too much condensate. There's no leaking of cooling fluid, either. It's blowing plenty of air, but the cooling isn't happening (the hose with the "exhaust" air also remains normal temperature, it should warm up).

[Iormlund]

Just arrived from my first trip to the US.

The first impression was downright terrible. Our first day we walked around San Fran Union Square. Outdated infrastructure everywhere. Everything reeked of piss and weed, and I lost count of the homeless within the first five minutes. Quite a few were shockingly young. Many had clear mental problems. Lots of shady folk and barely any police presence at all.
I've been all over Europe, and nowhere have I felt unsafe downtown at 2 pm. It was hard to make a mental connection between what I was seeing and the most powerful country on Earth. My girlfriend just shrugged and said I'm too "European" and take some things for granted.

The next day we biked to Sausalito and it was like we had stepped into another dimension.

Vegas was kind of shitty as well, but expectations were low since it's not my kind of city. Was pleasantly surprised with the Cirque du Soleil MJ show at Mandalay, though.

In between we went to Yosemite, just as the fires grew in strength. Our very nice B&B (thanks Amy!) was being covered in ash as we arrived. So, trying to salvage that part of the trip, we went down to Sequoia. Amazing place. Many people told me I should have rented a muscle car, but what I would have really enjoyed was a small two-seater (with ceramic brakes!) to drive for hours between those majestic forests.

We also visited the Grand Canyon (ok I guess) and spent some time in Monterey and the surrounding area, which while nice, was unremarkable.

I tuned into some conservative radio stations while we were cruising the Californian countryside. Having enjoyed Languish for so many years, I was forewarned, but all that talk about socialist infiltration and baby murdering was quite amusing.