Today I Learned (TIL)

[Car-Guy]

For the past few months I've been learning that hemorrhoids are a real PIA.

TIL some threads/posts have TMI, butt, YMMV

Florida is the lightning capital of the United States

I knew that one... But, still interesting.

 

[skyking1]

TIL I’m not the only one who feels this way.

One could say that it has been dumbed down considerably, but still we loyal followers will roll our eyes as we watch.

 

[More Cowbell]

TIL the WI high school shop teacher who invented the Slap Bracelet back in 1983 donated 400 Slap Bracelets to replace knock-off bracelets with nude pictures beneath the cloth covers. The fakes had been distributed to students at a FL elementary school as a class prize in 2011.

 

[FlaGator]

Florida is the lightning capital of the United States

And within the state, Tampa Bay metro takes the crown of populated areas.

The area between Naples and Ft. Lauderdale has its share, but it is the Everglades. Few people, but man does it light up out there!! Felt compelled to pull into a rest stop one time on Alligator Alley (I-75). Nasty, heavy rain, horizon crackling. Sorry, no pics, was just glad to be off the road.

 

[Car-Guy]

And within the state, Tampa Bay metro takes the crown of populated areas.

The area between Naples and Ft. Lauderdale has its share, but it is the Everglades. Few people, but man does it light up out there!! Felt compelled to pull into a rest stop one time on Alligator Alley (I-75). Nasty, heavy rain, horizon crackling. Sorry, no pics, was just glad to be off the road.

"One" time I drove from Marco Island to Miami VIA Alligator Alley on a mid summer day... Man there is a whole lot of nothing on that trip. I made a big mistake to stop and take some nature pictures about mid way. I was attacked by the biggest swarm of mosquitoes I've ever encountered. Even when I rushed back to the car I bet 100+ came inside with me when I open the door. I was swatting and slapping them for the next 50 miles. Scared me to death to think about breaking down out there. How in the heck did they build that road through that area. Nothing but swamp, humidity and bugs. And very few cars on the road.

 

[DayDreaming]

TIL that there's a word for the lyrics that you think someone is singing when you can't quite make out what they're really singing: mondegreen.

Strangely enough, the word mondegreen is a mondegreen.

 

[street]

Never think you know more about tech items than a six year. They could prove you wrong.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Mondegreens, and don’t forget eggcorns. Some of the FB groups I read are so full of them I sometimes don’t know whether to laugh or just shake my head.

 

[Ronstar]

Today went to the Naval museum in Pensacola. I knew that Navy pilots trained at Great Lakes naval base near Chicago in WWII, but I didn’t know that the Navy converted 2 civilian vessels into makeshift aircraft carriers for training on Lake Michigan. They trained in Lake Michigan because the waters off the east and west coasts of the US were not safe for training due to enemy submarine activity.

Trainees had lots of crashes into the lake on takeoffs and landings. The Navy fished out the pilots, but let the planes sink to the bottom. Many years later after the war, several planes were recovered from the lake, restored by volunteers, and are now in Navy museums.

 

[mickeyd]

I have learned that one of the bad things about having so many great friends at our CCRC is that one at a time they all begin to pass (fade) away. "Old soldiers never die they just fade away" Gen MacArthur

One more passed today.

 

[Sunset]

Pay attention to the weather forecast for Halloween.

We decorated out front, and I bought a couple of bowls of chocolates for the kids to come and get.

The weather turned frigid, it snowed, and now windy and cold.

ZERO kids have been down the street, and it's 1.5 hours into the allotted hours.

 

[O2Bfree]

Today I learned that the Palace of Westminster has 2,000 clocks that need to be reset when the UK switches to Daylight Saving Time and back again. This is done by a team of two or three of the palace's clockmakers who must complete the changes over the weekend. And here I grumble about a few alarm clocks, a stove clock, and the clock in my car.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2022/11/02/clocks-daylight-saving-time-cprog-lon-orig-cb.cnn

 

[Car-Guy]

I have learned that one of the bad things about having so many great friends at our CCRC is that one at a time they all begin to pass (fade) away. "Old soldiers never die they just fade away" Gen MacArthur

One more passed today.

Once a quarter, my ex-mega corp publishes an in-memoriam PDF. Listing all the reported deaths, for its US based retirees in the past quarter, including where they died (city), their birthday and date of death. Usually it's about 300 each quarter.

I'll typically review it to see who I knew and I'll usually recognize a couple of names each quarter... It's interesting to see where folks moved to after they retired. What bothers me, about half of those that have died, are younger than me.

 

[cranberryjoe]

Today I learned why a "second" in timekeeping is called a second, and that there are also thirds and fourths and so on.

In ancient times, time was measured in hours. When more precision was required, the hour was divided into 60 small ("minute") parts, known as the first small part (or first minute part) and came to be known as the minute. Then the minute was divided a second time into 60 smaller parts, called the second small part (or second minute part), or more simply a second. Then there is the third minute part, which is the second divided into 60 parts . So a "third" is 1/60th of a second, a "fourth" is 1/60th of a third, etc.

 

[MissMolly]

Today I learned why a "second" in timekeeping is called a second, and that there are also thirds and fourths and so on.

In ancient times, time was measured in hours. When more precision was required, the hour was divided into 60 small ("minute") parts, known as the first small part (or first minute part) and came to be known as the minute. Then the minute was divided a second time into 60 smaller parts, called the second small part (or second minute part), or more simply a second. Then there is the third minute part, which is the second divided into 60 parts . So a "third" is 1/60th of a second, a "fourth" is 1/60th of a third, etc.

By any chance did it explain why they decided to divide hours into 60 parts, minutes into 60 parts and so on? Why 60? Also did it explain how it came to be that everyone in the entire world measures time in exactly the same way? We have different languages, different cultures, different religions, different beliefs, etc but we all absolutely agree on how to measure time and have done so for centuries. I find that amazing.

 

[ERD50]

Today I learned that the Palace of Westminster has 2,000 clocks that need to be reset when the UK switches to Daylight Saving Time and back again. This is done by a team of two or three of the palace's clockmakers who must complete the changes over the weekend. And here I grumble about a few alarm clocks, a stove clock, and the clock in my car.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2022/11/02/clocks-daylight-saving-time-cprog-lon-orig-cb.cnn

Amazing. I bet no one sees most them all year, just leave them be, they'll still be right half the time!

But even worse - according to this documentary, *ALL* the worlds clocks are set here:

But watch from the beginning.

but once upon a time if you wanted the
0:43
time then you had to come here
0:46
to the headquarters of time
0:48
Greenwich Clock Museum
0:53
all the clocks in the world are set from
0:55
here which must take ages

To the uninitiated, this a parody of BBC documentaries.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

By any chance did it explain why they decided to divide hours into 60 parts, minutes into 60 parts and so on? Why 60? ...

According to wiki, it was the Ancient Sumerians ~ 300BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagesimal

But why 60?

The number 60, a superior highly composite number, has twelve factors, namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60, of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers. With so many factors, many fractions involving sexagesimal numbers are simplified.

For example, one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute.

60 is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6; that is, it is the lowest common multiple of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

... Also did it explain how it came to be that everyone in the entire world measures time in exactly the same way? We have different languages, different cultures, different religions, different beliefs, etc but we all absolutely agree on how to measure time and have done so for centuries. I find that amazing.

Didn't find a clear source on this, but since the British needed accurate clocks to determine longitude to navigate, I'd assume that it just spread from there. Before those times, in most areas, only approximate time was needed, so anyone needing accurate time probably just picked up the British system. I don't think there were really any competing systems at the time.

-ERD50

 

[O2Bfree]

But even worse - according to this documentary, *ALL* the worlds clocks are set here:

But watch from the beginning.

...

To the uninitiated, this a parody of BBC documentaries.

-ERD50

I learned a new term from that insightful documentary: "middle bits".

Reminds me of the various mockumentaries starring Christopher Guest, such as This is Spinal Tap.

 

[braumeister]

Today I learned that 70% of Canadians live south of Seattle. I often forget that maps can sometimes be deceiving as well as informative.

 

[Ronstar]

Today I learned that 70% of Canadians live south of Seattle. I often forget that maps can sometimes be deceiving as well as informative.

Interesting, and could be true, but the map is deceiving because it is incorrect. Seattle is about 47.5° North Latitude. The north line of the US (Mn, ND, MT,ID, and Wa) is 49°.

The thick line on the map is not an east-west line.

No part of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba lies south of Seattle because the south line of these provinces is 49°.

The map shows this incorrectly.

 

[O2Bfree]

Today I learned about the Ross Droplet technique for coffee grinders: Adding a drop of water or a spritz of fine mist to the beans for one or two servings virtually eliminates static in the grounds so they don't stick to the container or go flitting off when you pour them. Plus it's claimed that the grounds don't stick to the grinder as much, and the videos I've watched show that's true. I'm going to try it next time I grind.

 

[pacergal]

Today I learned about the Ross Droplet technique for coffee grinders: Adding a drop of water or a spritz of fine mist to the beans for one or two servings virtually eliminates static in the grounds so they don't stick to the container or go flitting off when you pour them. Plus it's claimed that the grounds don't stick to the grinder as much, and the videos I've watched show that's true. I'm going to try it next time I grind.

I just learned that yesterday!
I am going to try it next grind, also.

 

[Winemaker]

^^^^ Yinz must be on the same news feed as me! Ilearned the same thing today.

 

[Chuckanut]

This is a bit of a tangent to the interesting discussion about how we measure time, but an interesting one I think…..

An interesting movie about clocks is the movie Longitude.

In the 18th century, without the means to measure longitude, ships were often lost at sea. England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone who could solve the problem.

An amateur clockmaker is convinced that the only way for British ships to accurately figure their longitude is high quality chronometers. The royal astronomers are not convinced as they want to use the stars and win the prize for themselves. The battle is on!

 

[Chuckanut]

Former vice president Charles Dawes won the Nobel Peace prize and wrote the melody for a hit song.

He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1925 for his relief plans after WW1. In 1912, he wrote a song called “A Melody in A Major” which was popular with piano and violin players. Later lyrics were added to the song and it rose to be the #1 pop song in the USA for a time. We know the song by its modern title: It’s All in the Game (of love). It’s the only #1 song co-written by a Vice President or Nobel prize winner.

https://youtu.be/rgxPJmMf2e0?si=uDxw_AfJ8FWno7VH