| Author |
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| Zag |
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:47 am Post subject: 1 |
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This article amazed me: Black Hole and Red Dwarf Orbit Each Other Once Every 2.4 Hours
It says that the Red Dwarf is moving at 2M km/hour, which implies that the orbit's diameter is about 1.5 M km. Our sun's diameter is 1.3 M km, so the entire binary system could almost fit inside our sun. |
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| The Potter |
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:04 am Post subject: 0 |
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I think it is more about recognizing bird calls and knowing the names of what you do see. Famous birders also travel around the world seeking out our feathered friends.
I saw a few ducks and ducklings, a little black bird with an orange bill, and a few little brown birds today. |
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| Jedo the Jedi |
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 4:06 am Post subject: -1 |
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| That is pretty cool, though this is a foreign field for me. Does this mean you make lots of different bird calls? Do you think Victor will impress you with a difficult bird call? |
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| Quailman |
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:44 am Post subject: -2 |
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Those of you who have been around as long as I have know that I am heavily into birding. I tell people that I have OCBD – Obsessive Compulsive Birding Disorder. I lead an area of the Freeport (TX) Christmas Bird Count each year. This year’s count is on Sunday. I’m not a great birder; I just enjoy it a lot and was willing to take this responsibility when it came up ten years ago.
So what amazed me? I went to dinner with my family this evening – had a couple of margaritas. On the way home, my phone rings. It’s a guy from Austin who is such an excellent birder I am embarrassed to be actually speaking to him. I mean, seriously, I am not worthy. He wants to help me in my area. He said there’d be another guy with him, but I was so in awe that I didn’t catch his name. Victor Emanuel leads nature tours to the Galapagos, Borneo, the Amazon and more. I’ve never been so stressed about a stupid Christmas Bird Count. I can hardly wait to find out who the other guy is. |
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| Death Mage |
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:03 am Post subject: -3 |
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The success of the THQ Humble Bundle, a collection of games, delivered digitally via Steam, where you can set your own price, for charity.
There have been several Humble Bundles so far, but THQ is the first major studio that's taking part in it. And it's apparently been so successful that they have added games to the bundle - twice. Mind you, you have to pay above the average to get the additional games, but as of right now that average is $5.67. As a bonus, you can determine how much of your donations go to THQ, the charities, or the site itself.
I fully encourage everyone to donate. Hell, I did, and I don't even plan on playing any of the games - the ones I like on the list I already have. It's still a worthy cause. |
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| Jedo the Jedi |
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| Quailman |
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:38 pm Post subject: -5 |
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| I just found a fully grown Texas Brown Snake on my kitchen floor. It was next to the dogs' water dish. I was able to capture it and get it outside. I have no idea how it got in. My wife saw it and said it was about three times the size of one that she killed a couple of months ago (I was out of town). |
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| Buzzsaw |
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| Buzzsaw |
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 3:45 am Post subject: -7 |
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| Jedo the Jedi wrote: |
| <snip>.. Anyway, I wonder how they will let women debase themselves next? G-String Hockey? |
I think the ones truly debased and exploited are the men/fans. They promote the stereotype that guys are not classy.
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| Jedo the Jedi |
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject: -8 |
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Is this necessary? Isn't the WNBA enough?
It's definitely in response to the Lingerie Football League, but there's already a women's basketball. I actually very much support the LFL because it lets women play football, though I'm sad it is only because they made themselves "eye candy." I think a normal Arena League for Women would be cool. The shocking thing to me is just the fierceness with which they play.
Anyway, I wonder how they will let women debase themselves next? G-String Hockey? |
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| Jedo the Jedi |
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:11 pm Post subject: -9 |
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| Very cool. |
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| Zag |
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:17 pm Post subject: -10 |
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Forwarded on Facebook by Philip Hobby, a.k.a. (here) The Doctor
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| Quailman |
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 8:22 pm Post subject: -11 |
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Not today, but last Sunday. My wife and I went to the Vail Oktoberfest. On the way back we each drank a bottled water. When we got back to Denver (actually we were staying in Broomfield), we noticed that the empty bottles had compressed to about 2/3 their original volume. I don't remember where we finished them and capped the empties. We had gone through the Eisenhower Tunnel at about 11,100 ft. elevation, and Broomfield is about 5,400 ft.
I lived in Colorado for about ten years and I remember observing this, but having been gone for 18 years, it amazed me anew. |
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| The Great Crep'er |
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 6:16 pm Post subject: -12 |
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All I kept thinking as I was scrolling through empty spaces was "He forgot to put something funny here" "He forgot to put something funny here"
Spoiler: [Favorites were the lemonade guy and the very subtle Tom Sawyer reference] |
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| Zag |
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:22 am Post subject: -13 |
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| Thanks, RSA. I suspected that there was probably interesting stuff up in the sky, but wasn't patient enough to scroll all around for it. |
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| The Ragin' South Asian |
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| novice |
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| Thok |
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:05 pm Post subject: -16 |
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| Zag wrote: |
| He's outdone himself today: http://xkcd.com/1110/ This is awesome. (Click and drag the inner portion. And drag and drag. I haven't found any limits, yet.) |
I think I found the right most end (the Balloon guy asks what he will see next). It's fairly long: if you're traveling on the surface, I believe the Mario 1-1 recreation is roughly halfway.
I haven't check the underground at all. |
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| Jedo the Jedi |
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:52 am Post subject: -17 |
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| I didn't have the stamina. I went left until I found the underground, and then there were so many different ways to go that I had to quit. |
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| Scurra |
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:31 am Post subject: -18 |
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| Oh wow. Just wow. I imagine he's been working on that one for a long time. |
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| Zag |
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:20 am Post subject: -19 |
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| He's outdone himself today: http://xkcd.com/1110/ This is awesome. (Click and drag the inner portion. And drag and drag. I haven't found any limits, yet.) |
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| Scurra |
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:26 pm Post subject: -20 |
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The Paralympics Opening Ceremony.
Holy crap, that was astonishing. I thought the "official" one would be hard to top, but this pushed it pretty close. The arrival of the flame was simply breathtaking but the whole thing was full of neat moments.
"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet ... try to make sense of what you see ... be curious" |
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| Courk |
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:03 am Post subject: -21 |
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| Death Mage wrote: |
And it was delayed, because NBC wouldn't dream of showing it live, not even streaming on the 'net. No, we got a rebroadcast.
So, yea, NBC sucks. Mr. Bean, however, was hilarious. |
An edited rebroadcast, I've just found out. A tribute to the deceased, especially those from 7/7/05, was cut. |
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| Chuck |
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:02 pm Post subject: -22 |
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| 150001 is a prime number. |
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| Trojan Horse |
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:44 pm Post subject: -23 |
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I am amazed by the fact that we've just reached 150000 posts in the Off-Topic forum.
Oops. I think I just made it 150001.  |
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| Death Mage |
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:23 am Post subject: -24 |
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And it was delayed, because NBC wouldn't dream of showing it live, not even streaming on the 'net. No, we got a rebroadcast.
So, yea, NBC sucks. Mr. Bean, however, was hilarious. |
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| MNOWAX |
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:04 am Post subject: -25 |
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| Scurra wrote: |
The Olympics opening ceremony.
Holy crap. I wonder if anyone outside of the UK had the remotest chance of understanding what the hell all that was about?! I thought it was marvellous though - when even the Queen is willing to make a cameo appearance, you know it's something special.
Marina Hyde in the Guardian: "I'm still reeling that a country that can put on a show that hilariously bonkers is allowed nuclear weapons." |
it was horrible in the US, our announcers wouldn't shut the hell up about inane stupid facts about the performance, kind of what they like to do with our thanksgiving day parade floats. |
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| Scurra |
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 12:30 am Post subject: -26 |
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The Olympics opening ceremony.
Holy crap. I wonder if anyone outside of the UK had the remotest chance of understanding what the hell all that was about?! I thought it was marvellous though - when even the Queen is willing to make a cameo appearance, you know it's something special.
Marina Hyde in the Guardian: "I'm still reeling that a country that can put on a show that hilariously bonkers is allowed nuclear weapons." |
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| The Great Crep'er |
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:55 pm Post subject: -27 |
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| Scurra wrote: |
Animated GIFs
Some of these are just gorgeous It's a fine line between a still photo and a video clip: these skate along it with varying degrees of success, but they are all beautiful (I think the man reading the paper is especially fine.) |
Great find...
I wonder if that bike somewhere in the middle is a ghost bike |
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| Scurra |
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:17 pm Post subject: -28 |
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Animated GIFs
Some of these are just gorgeous It's a fine line between a still photo and a video clip: these skate along it with varying degrees of success, but they are all beautiful (I think the man reading the paper is especially fine.) |
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| Zag |
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:17 pm Post subject: -29 |
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It's interesting speculation, but two generations are not enough to have made a whole lot of difference. However, TB has been rampant throughout Europe and the British Isles for hundreds of years.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10013-cystic-fibrosis-gene-protects-against-tuberculosis.html
It seems that they are basing the correlation theory (that having a single CF gene helps protect against TB) purely on macro level statistics, and not on actually witnessing a correlation.
I find it surprising that they expect any recessive dangerous trait would have been completely eliminated if it didn't also have a positive effect. After all, it seems hard to kill off any recessive trait, once it exists, even if having the disease is 100% fatal. Even when both parents are carriers, only one-fourth of their children will die from it, and 2/3 of the rest will pass it on. I wonder if there is a social aspect to the model, that the aunts and uncles of someone who dies of the disease are also considered less likely to reproduce, even if they are mated to a non-carrier?
Anyway, grats on not being a carrier. Now there are only a billion other genetic things to worry about.
BTW, my wife is in a wheelchair because of a dominant gene! You'd think that would have been selected out a long time ago, but it usually doesn't cause any significant impairment until after reproduction age. Also, there is another gene on a completely different chromosome which seems not to do anything in normal people but has a significant effect in the severity of her disease if they do have the gene she has. Of our two kids, my daughter clearly has the gene, but her presentation of the disease is much milder than my wife's. My son does not seem to have any symptoms at all, but he has never been tested so we don't know for sure that he isn't affected but only extremely mildly. |
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| Jack_Ian |
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:36 pm Post subject: -30 |
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There's a lot of CF in Ireland.
It's thought it might have become prevalent after the TB epidemic here in the 1950's and that the gene for CF provided some protection from the TB, but it's mostly speculation. |
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| LordKinbote |
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:45 pm Post subject: -31 |
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| Courk wrote: |
| Congrats on the baby and not being a CF carrier! |
Thank you. My wife had a cousin who died of CF so it was a real concern for her, and she was not particularly happy when she found out she was a carrier. I never freaked out about it, partly because I rarely freak out about anything, and partly because I know the odds of me being a carrier were low. |
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| Courk |
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:32 am Post subject: -32 |
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| Congrats on the baby and not being a CF carrier! |
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| LordKinbote |
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:56 pm Post subject: -33 |
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| Deception wrote: |
I have a sneaking suspicion of what happened, but it requires you and your wife to have misread some crucial details about the tests you were taking (you ran more than the blood test, I assume).
Actually it requires you to be partially illiterate or perhaps a frequent user of recreational drugs; I have no good ideas of what happened. |
My wife is a doctor. She was present when my test was ordered, she knows exactly what was ordered and exactly how much it should cost, as she has ordered the same test for other people. And besides, she had the exact same test done and received a very different looking bill with a lower cost. In fact, I wouldn't have even gotten the test if hers hadn't come back positive.
All of this is a moot point...she talked with the lab today and it will NOT be $650 out of pocket for me, it will be $150. |
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| Deception |
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 7:53 pm Post subject: -34 |
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I have a sneaking suspicion of what happened, but it requires you and your wife to have misread some crucial details about the tests you were taking (you ran more than the blood test, I assume).
Actually it requires you to be partially illiterate or perhaps a frequent user of recreational drugs; I have no good ideas of what happened. |
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| Antrax |
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:23 am Post subject: -35 |
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| Congrats, LK! Also, that has got to be one of the stupidest customer service replies I've ever read about, including specialty articles about stupid customer service reps. |
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| LordKinbote |
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:58 am Post subject: -36 |
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| Deception wrote: |
Well, honestly a test like that is often ran multiple times, and if I were getting tested there's a good chance I'd want it done multiple times as well.
Although 37 seems a little much, and that's a prime number so haha I don't know what is up with that. Someone upstairs or in accounting is probably messing with you because I don't think a scientist would have ran the test 37 times in succession on the same blood sample.
Zags' response is clever though, I'd use it. |
It actually wasn't 37, I didn't count. My wife counted afterwards...one of the listed tests was run over 100 times. |
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| Deception |
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:22 am Post subject: -37 |
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Well, honestly a test like that is often ran multiple times, and if I were getting tested there's a good chance I'd want it done multiple times as well.
Although 37 seems a little much, and that's a prime number so haha I don't know what is up with that. Someone upstairs or in accounting is probably messing with you because I don't think a scientist would have ran the test 37 times in succession on the same blood sample.
Zags' response is clever though, I'd use it. |
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| LordKinbote |
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:07 am Post subject: -38 |
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| Death Mage wrote: |
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| Customer Support: Well, the test was so inexpensive that it was run multiple times. |
That CAN'T be accurate. That's like saying "Your oil change was so cheap, we repeated it a few dozen times" when you go to pick up your car a Jiffy Lube. I don't see how it's legal either. You ordered *A* blood test, not a battery of them, right? |
Single blood test, for one thing: cystic fibrosis. My wife is a carrier. Luckily I'm not, because we're due at the end of May. |
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