Everything posted by TheVat
-
What are you listening to right now?
I've wondered if architect Robert Venturi was inspired by the line in that song about building a staircase going nowhere "just for show." His famous house (built for his mother) in Philadelphia, had such a staircase. Finishing touches on the house were done in 1964, the same year that Fiddler opened on Broadway.
-
Is it obscene ?
93, on that list...seemed understandable why it's rare. In the county of Berkshire, in England, there is a place called Soggy Bottom. (it was also a fictitious locale in Louisiana, in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?) https://mapcarta.com/N1246380035
-
Is it obscene ?
deleted (just clicked the link, and I see the caption writer made the same joke, so I deleted) Some of the town store names could be potentially amusing. Dildo Appliance Dildo Electric Dildo Construction Let me restate here: every store with the town in its name is going to be amusing.
-
Mars rover
Plus one from me, too, to Npts for seeing the next step.
- Mars rover
-
Mars rover
- Mars rover
- Mars rover
Ah, thanks. Now I see the actual problem.- Mars rover
Finally figured out how to get hide button to work on tablet.- What are you listening to right now?
Thanks. That had completely escaped my attention. 😜- Canadian term for 'U.S. house' ?
Something like a California bungalow or Chicago bungalow, then, but broader in its geographic designation? Say, for example, some house was called a Yankee Saltbox. As an architecture buff, I admit I'm stumped. That Woody Guthrie phrase just ran through my head, Little boxes made of ticky tacky...- What are you listening to right now?
Video unavailable in US. I found (on our golden coast) this unblocked version. (sighs)(wipes steam from spectacles)- Canadian term for 'U.S. house' ?
I can think of American locations that are in architectural styles, like Prairie School or Cape Cod or California bungalow. (that last also called American Craftsman)- What are some cases (if any) of people coming back from the dead?
There are pharmaceuticals that can mimic brain death. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22292975/ As MigL said, those who are truly dead, where the brain has begun to decompose (usually about six minutes after the heart has stopped, though can be longer where the body was hypothermic), are permanently dead. The connectome, the synaptic connections that make a brain function, breaks apart quickly, and that decisively ends life as a sentient organism. Some tissues survive longer, but that is not tissue that makes you you.- Canadian term for 'U.S. house' ?
Was it "Foursquare" by any chance? We used to live in one.- Transforming the taste of foods with humming or singing?
Again, post hoc fallacy. And ridiculous. Consider more ordinary causal explanations - e.g. cats often throw up. Overeating, chewing on plants, hairballs, the small child next door slipping them cake frosting, or whatever. In this case, you happened to notice it and decided to take a coincidence as supportive of your crackpot theory while ignoring all the times the cat eats and doesn't throw up, or throws up when no one has hummed at his food.- What is the Purpose of Life ?
Heretic! It is the invention of chocolate which is the sacred apotheosis of snacks! I believe the correct forms are mentioned in Beetlejuice.- How does ChatGPT work?
Facts are sometimes like neutrinos: they pass right through people with zero interaction. I agree that many equivalences that are drawn, most notably with artificial neural nets, are not warranted. I would also note that we can distinguish between simulations of a process and an actual process - e.g. when a computer simulates a thunderstorm, water doesn't gush from its hardware nor does it shoot deadly electrical discharges at us. That said, information is a little different from a bit of nasty weather. Machines can process information, they aren't simulating processing information. Information processing is a genuine causal power of computing devices. The same, we presume, is true of other people's brains. So I am drawn to Integrated Information Theory, in which a system's consciousness (what it is like subjectively) is conjectured to be identical to its causal properties (what it is like objectively). If we can fully uncover the causal properties of a brain, there would seem no obstacle in principle to designing a machine with the same causal properties. (and I agree that present digital computers do not have such causal properties) I append a relevant snatch from the wiki article.... IIT "starts with consciousness" (accepts the existence of our own consciousness as certain) and reasons about the properties that a postulated physical substrate would need to have in order to account for it. The ability to perform this jump from phenomenology to mechanism rests on IIT's assumption that if the formal properties of a conscious experience can be fully accounted for by an underlying physical system, then the properties of the physical system must be constrained by the properties of the experience. The limitations on the physical system for consciousness to exist are unknown and consciousness may exist on a spectrum, as implied by studies involving split brain patients[10] and conscious patients with large amounts of brain matter missing.[11] Specifically, IIT moves from phenomenology to mechanism by attempting to identify the essential properties of conscious experience (dubbed "axioms") and, from there, the essential properties of conscious physical systems (dubbed "postulates").- Is ketone IQ legit?
Not really. Your liver produces any ketones that you need, which are called endogenous ketones. Exogenous ketones (i.e. supplements) are a scam, and consuming large quantities could even impair your natural production of endogenous ketones. If you want to induce ketosis (high ketone production, when the liver breaks down fatty acids), then that happens naturally when you eat mostly protein and fatty acids and have very restricted carb intake. Also, approach ketosis diets with great caution. They are often low in important fiber and certain vitamin groups that are found in complex carbs. Such diets are an extreme approach, sometimes recommended for serious chronic conditions. For the rest of us: complex carbs are GOOD. And their fiber helps us feel full and have a healthy gut, as well as providing steady energy throughout our day.- Does eating eggs increase cholesterol? What are the latest scientific studies/data suggesting?
Arterial plaque formation is a slow process of decades, and one reason it can be ultimately deadly is precisely because you don't "feel it" over any short-term period. If you ate something and felt sluggish or "huffing and puffing," that has more to do with short-term factors which may or may not be from your food. Sleep habits, blood sugar, moods, social interactions, hydration, hormone levels, sugar or simple carb intakes, overall recent meal size, and many others factors can influence performance on a given day. Do not be deceived by the power of suggestion. If some popular source on the Web tells you a certain food will make you tired, the human mind can easily talk itself into experiencing it that way. Stick with peer-reviewed science and remember that infamous logical fallacy which can fool even the smartest people: post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Or, put another way, correlation is not causation.- Is a moral free market possible?
Don't have link atm, but David Brooks has a great essay in The Atlantic on the conflicts between our individual freedom and autonomy, and our obligations to community and the common good. I recommend it. If the mag gives you any paywall crap, LMK and I'll send you a screenshot later.- Does eating eggs increase cholesterol? What are the latest scientific studies/data suggesting?
Atherosclerotic plaque is not an event that you observe in some short-term cause/effect way. That is sort of like saying you notice your bones are thinner after you skip milk for breakfast. (this is a "drive by" post so please excuse any duplication if others have already pointed this out)- How to, Choose the right grease trap treatment?
IIRC, Stockard Channing was the Grease tramp.- How to, Choose the right grease trap treatment?
Do you have one that traps the excess grease from Spam? It just runs everywhere and we are nearly helpless!!!- Puzzle for the Day
Yep. POSSIBLE SPOILER MY TABLET CAN'T ACCESS THE HIDDEN EYE BUTTON SORRY One has to see there are two kinds of revolving, one with respect to circle B and one with respect to us, looking down on the page. It's a nice frame of reference puzzle. END SPOILER - Mars rover
Important Information
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.