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April 2, 2022 8:13 AM Subscribe
Fun reads. Thanks!
posted by readyfreddy at 10:10 AM on April 2, 2022
posted by readyfreddy at 10:10 AM on April 2, 2022
The main link cannot be viewed without a log-in. Sadly.
posted by hippybear at 10:11 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:11 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thanks. Was talking about the instagram link, the first one in the FPP.
posted by hippybear at 10:21 AM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:21 AM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
My main takeaway from the article was that as a 2004 resident of Chicago the Dave Matthews Band Chicago River incident was not globally common knowledge.
posted by true at 1:40 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by true at 1:40 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Hawking Index piece suggests the average reader makes it through 25.9% of Fifty Shades of Grey before giving up.
In more common terms, this is like thirteen shades of grey.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:14 PM on April 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
In more common terms, this is like thirteen shades of grey.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:14 PM on April 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
Absolutely obsessed and charmed by the page on Games Buddha Would Not Play - the version of chess on an imaginary board and the game where you trace a letter on a friend's back!
posted by MarianHalcombe at 2:37 PM on April 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by MarianHalcombe at 2:37 PM on April 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think it's laudable that Buddha didn't want to play 'imitate deformities', but ball games as a whole seems like an overly broad exclusion.
posted by true at 3:17 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by true at 3:17 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
but ball games as a whole seems like an overly broad exclusion
leaves out half the population, dunnit?
posted by hippybear at 3:28 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
leaves out half the population, dunnit?
posted by hippybear at 3:28 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
Reading about what people got up to before wireless entertainment always puts things in perspective. Imagine how bored you have to be to guess the shape somebody made by dipping their hand in dye and smacking it against the wall.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:00 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 4:00 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Colin Furze has been documenting some Hobby Tunneling lately.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 7:34 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 7:34 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
OMFG, I just finished watching Furze’s 8-video compilation of his shed-to-house, three-year tunneling project! Then I came to MeFi to post it, and quick checked this thread first before doing so, and just saw your comment. :-/
Anyway, yes…if anyone is interested in seeing his three-year, gonzo project to build an over-engineered tunnel connecting his house to his shed and bunker (!), Furze has just reached a major milestone: the shed and house are connected as of two weeks ago!
Here is the latest video (#8), but I found the whole process fascinating.
posted by darkstar at 10:06 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Anyway, yes…if anyone is interested in seeing his three-year, gonzo project to build an over-engineered tunnel connecting his house to his shed and bunker (!), Furze has just reached a major milestone: the shed and house are connected as of two weeks ago!
Here is the latest video (#8), but I found the whole process fascinating.
posted by darkstar at 10:06 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Neat! Saving most of these for bus reading.
The Hawking Index is fascinating. To be fair, I regret having read Hawking's book. Talking to non-scientists who have read it as a speaker at pubic talks, it seems to do a terrible job at explaining anything to people who don't already know the subject. And it's a waste of time if you do know the subject. There are far better books.
But, I don't regret finishing Hawking as much as I regret having read the Great Gatsby. I enjoyed Capital in the Twenty-First Century, but you really can get the whole point from the summary on the back cover of the paperback. The details are worth writing down, but I'm not sure most of us actually need to read them. Learning that it's okay to stop reading a book or stop watching a film has been a great relief.
posted by eotvos at 7:44 AM on April 3, 2022
The Hawking Index is fascinating. To be fair, I regret having read Hawking's book. Talking to non-scientists who have read it as a speaker at pubic talks, it seems to do a terrible job at explaining anything to people who don't already know the subject. And it's a waste of time if you do know the subject. There are far better books.
But, I don't regret finishing Hawking as much as I regret having read the Great Gatsby. I enjoyed Capital in the Twenty-First Century, but you really can get the whole point from the summary on the back cover of the paperback. The details are worth writing down, but I'm not sure most of us actually need to read them. Learning that it's okay to stop reading a book or stop watching a film has been a great relief.
posted by eotvos at 7:44 AM on April 3, 2022
eotvos: I suspected this about Hawking’s book, but then again, these seem to be hard concepts for any book to get across to people who aren’t going to dedicate a good chunck of time to serious study. What are the books you would recommend? Either to do a better job at explaining to an interested public, or for a person who knows something of the subject?
But I completely agree that we should normalize not forcing yourself to finish a book that’s no longer keeping you either informed or entertained. Opportunity cost is an underrated concept.
posted by Spiegel at 8:58 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
But I completely agree that we should normalize not forcing yourself to finish a book that’s no longer keeping you either informed or entertained. Opportunity cost is an underrated concept.
posted by Spiegel at 8:58 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not so much weird as strangely surprising.
Absement
The first derivative of position with respect to time is velocity.
The second derivative is acceleration.
The third is jerk.
The fourth is snap.
The fifth is crackle.
The sixth is pop.
Going the other way, the first integral of position with respect to time is absement.
Next come absity, abseleration, abserk, absnap, absackle and absop.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:21 AM on April 5, 2022
Absement
The first derivative of position with respect to time is velocity.
The second derivative is acceleration.
The third is jerk.
The fourth is snap.
The fifth is crackle.
The sixth is pop.
Going the other way, the first integral of position with respect to time is absement.
Next come absity, abseleration, abserk, absnap, absackle and absop.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:21 AM on April 5, 2022
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posted by neuron at 9:55 AM on April 2, 2022