Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 11:18:24 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Stupid questions you always wanted answering

Started by Mr_Simnock, September 05, 2019, 11:59:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
Quote from: touchingcloth on September 09, 2019, 06:07:01 PM
This. Unless you've been to a war you're unqualified to pass commentary or judgement on the act of telling an unarmed person to shuffle off this mortal coil before blasting the fuck out of them with a gun.
I'm guessing you're referring to Marine A, probably not the best judgement call, but the victim was riddled with bullet holes and the danger of flying a helicopter in to rescue someone with a low chance of survival isn't the best idea really. Was he right in what he did, no, however it was more humane than letting him bleed out, which is personally what they should have done with him.

a duncandisorderly

Quote from: touchingcloth on September 09, 2019, 05:54:50 PM
^ that's an interesting point, and a better defence of analogue over digital than I think I've heard before (ITS WARMER I LIKE WARM HOT MUSIC) or any of the usual audiophile type bollocks about gold connectors and whatnot.

I wonder if your CD experience could be rescued if random vinyl noise were overlaid? Like you say, probably one for Oscillations rather than here, wouldn't want to drive Neil too loopy.

I tried adding noise to a CD I burned, along with a very slight pitch wobble. but burning it to CD 'froze' the artifacts. what I reckon is needed is summat that adds some variables on playback. also, I think I'd miss out the CD's own error correction & just make the data a bit more robust to start with.... those tiny pits & the laser are at the mercy of the plasticky transport no matter how high-end & separate power supply box you go. remember, the CD was defined by available technology over forty years ago, & tried to get 63 minutes of 16-bit audio onto a 120mm disc in a way that could be reliably mass-produced & played back on consumer-grade equipment. things have moved on since then, but the problem with digital audio remains.

I use CDs & flacs & wavs & mp3 just like everyone else, but if I want to enjoy listening to something, rather than just hearing it, I'll stick on a record, or copy the audio onto 1/4" or cassette.

EBGB

Quote from: a duncandisorderly on September 09, 2019, 06:23:53 PM
I use CDs & flacs & wavs & mp3 just like everyone else, but if I want to enjoy listening to something, rather than just hearing it, I'll stick on a record, or copy the audio onto 1/4" or cassette.
Added win: legible sleeve or insert.  I struggle to understand how it's possible really to care about music if there's buggerall extra info alongside.

a duncandisorderly

Quote from: EBGB on September 09, 2019, 06:29:37 PM
Added win: legible sleeve or insert.  I struggle to understand how it's possible really to care about music if there's buggerall extra info alongside.

yep. we've been trying to wean our audience off physical copies & onto bandcamp releases, where the duration of an album is freely adjustable, & you can upload all manner of print-out-able shite for people to chortle over or skin up on. but there are these holdouts, mostly in the US, so we have to format bandcamp releases in such a way that these folks can roll their own (CDs, this is), so to speak. even then, some of them want it doing for them. we've arrived, this week, after twenty five years of banging out CDs, at a group decision to spring for a vinyl double album. 250 copies of this opus will cost us over two grand, but fuck it. it was a good show, & all decent bands have a double-live wank, don't they? got to be done. I might get to go to abbey road for the mastering.

EBGB

Quote from: a duncandisorderly on September 09, 2019, 06:34:26 PM
yep. we've been trying to wean our audience off physical copies & onto bandcamp releases, where the duration of an album is freely adjustable, & you can upload all manner of print-out-able shite for people to chortle over or skin up on. but there are these holdouts, mostly in the US, so we have to format bandcamp releases in such a way that these folks can roll their own (CDs, this is), so to speak. even then, some of them want it doing for them. we've arrived, this week, after twenty five years of banging out CDs, at a group decision to spring for a vinyl double album. 250 copies of this opus will cost us over two grand, but fuck it. it was a good show, & all decent bands have a double-live wank, don't they? got to be done. I might get to go to abbey road for the mastering.
That was all a tad OHDEARGODTHEHOIPOLLOI, but I think I'm taking it as, vinyl's good, in the right circs.  AmIrite?

Paul Calf

Quote from: That_Boy_Marner on September 09, 2019, 06:19:03 PM
I'm guessing you're referring to Marine A, probably not the best judgement call, but the victim was riddled with bullet holes and the danger of flying a helicopter in to rescue someone with a low chance of survival isn't the best idea really. Was he right in what he did, no, however it was more humane than letting him bleed out, which is personally what they should have done with him.

Or they could have fucked off out of his fucking country and minded their own fucking business.

a duncandisorderly

Quote from: EBGB on September 09, 2019, 06:39:44 PM
That was all a tad OHDEARGODTHEHOIPOLLOI, but I think I'm taking it as, vinyl's good, in the right circs.  AmIrite?

sorry. yes. it sounds nicer, which isn't the same as better.

buzby

#97
Quote from: NoSleep on September 09, 2019, 09:04:04 AM
You can't do this with all plastics. The above mentioned are all thermoplastics that are melted down and molded or extruded. Other types, like nylon, are the result of chemical reactions, so would be more difficult to recycle.
Thermoset plastics are the type that are non-recyclable, as they rely on a chemical reaction to take their final form (such as polyester and epoxy resins or Bakelite). Nylon is a heat-mouldable polymer and as such can be easily recycled by being chipped and re-extruded, but unfortunately for many applications it has glass-fibre reinforcement added to enhance it's shock resistance (raw nylon is quite brittle), and once the fibre reinforcement is part of the blend it can't be separated, bt you can still recycle it as long as  the new application requires fibre reinforcement.

Quote from: jobotic on September 09, 2019, 10:08:12 AM
Why does milk go yellow when it's frozen then back to white when it unfreezes? Well?
It's due to the water content and dairy fats that are normally suspended in emulsion separating out as the water freezes. The fat is then more visible than it is normaly.

Quote from: NoSleep on September 09, 2019, 01:58:12 PM
CDs sounded really shit to begin with, but improvements in the technology combined with getting used to digital sound has improved my reaction to them.
Part of that is that a lot of the early CD players only had 14-bit DACs and used filtering and noise manipulation algorithms to make up the missing two bits they couldn't resolve from the data on the disc.

This came about because Philips' original spec was for 14 bits as they had 14-bit DACs already in production that were used in their professional test and measurement equipment (I posted about how Philips' early CD players worked in an Oscillations thread here). It was only once Sony joined up as partners that they pushed for an increase to 16-bit resolution and they designed their own 16-bit DAC for launch of the format. Philips had no time to design a 16-bit DAC before launch, and eventually came up with the 1-bit 'BitStream' DAC to replace their 14-bit DACs (which were also much cheaper).

The 14-bit DAC problem was also why some early CDs were mastered with pre-emphasis to try and avoid using the quantisation levels of top 2 bits of resolution, and sounded shite (pre-emphasis and principles of the 1-Bit DAC are also covered in that thread).

Also covered in that thread was a bit on the mastering process and how it changed from the vinyl era through to MP3a and streaming.

Quote from: zomgmouse on September 09, 2019, 03:23:55 PM
How the fuck has this thread gone 3 pages without any replies from buzby? What's going on?
Day job interfering with CaB, which today involved getting some software to build and produce PROM files from it, which had last been run in 1993 under DOS 3.3.

EBGB

Quote from: a duncandisorderly on September 09, 2019, 06:42:29 PM
sorry. yes. it sounds nicer, which isn't the same as better.
Get that completely.  Pleasure doesn't necessarily equate to (official) quality.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: touchingcloth on September 06, 2019, 01:14:24 AM
Coming from a church background, the stuff literalists believe about the ark is mental.

Regarding the objective lack of space, people will say that it was "kinds" of animals rather than species. How did the ark work with lions, tigers, cheetahs and leopards prowling about the place? Pair of tabby cats, mate.

Regarding the fact that they are also compelled to believe that humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time, and questions about how they avoided being eaten or capsized by ten million tons of T Rexs and the like, they'll say they took baby dinosaurs, or eggs.

On questions of what animals with restrictive carnivorous diets would have been fed, I've heard explanations that God magicked their stomachs to allow to eat veg and grains.

Even if the lions could eat oats but still fancied chowing down on a bit of zebra, some say that God also magicked the animals to behave peacefully.

I reckon it was real, though.

Those religious types were overthinking it, the ark was just one of those big cruise ships.

a duncandisorderly

Quote from: buzby on September 09, 2019, 06:48:58 PM

Day job interfering with CaB, which today involved getting some software to build and produce PROM files from it, which had last been run in 1993 under DOS 3.3.

we've all wondered what your day job is. now that we know it's interfering with C&B's back-end systems at component/ROM image level, we all feel like we're in safe hands.
don't we, everyone?

didn't know C&B went back as far as 1993 though. shock, that.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on September 09, 2019, 07:12:12 PM
Those religious types were overthinking it, the ark was just one of those big cruise ships.

Salmonella outbreak from the buffet.  Liquid shit EVERYWHERE.  The smell...

touchingcloth

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on September 09, 2019, 09:05:30 PM
Salmonella outbreak from the buffet.  Liquid shit EVERYWHERE.  The smell...

The passengers went out poo by poo, hurrah.


Paul Calf

Quote from: touchingcloth on September 06, 2019, 01:14:24 AM
Coming from a church background, the stuff literalists believe about the ark is mental.

Regarding the objective lack of space, people will say that it was "kinds" of animals rather than species. How did the ark work with lions, tigers, cheetahs and leopards prowling about the place? Pair of tabby cats, mate.

Regarding the fact that they are also compelled to believe that humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time, and questions about how they avoided being eaten or capsized by ten million tons of T Rexs and the like, they'll say they took baby dinosaurs, or eggs.

On questions of what animals with restrictive carnivorous diets would have been fed, I've heard explanations that God magicked their stomachs to allow to eat veg and grains.

Even if the lions could eat oats but still fancied chowing down on a bit of zebra, some say that God also magicked the animals to behave peacefully.

I reckon it was real, though.

If God could do all that magicking, why didn't he just magic new animals after the flood?

Twit 2


sprocket

Quote from: touchingcloth on September 08, 2019, 11:29:42 AM
While we're at it, why is the best area of the bus's mobile till to store notes anyone has been able to invent the driver's breast pocket?

Far from a stupid question, and always means since I read it this morning, but it remains shamefully unanswered in the pharmacist thread.

zomgmouse

Do phones have radiation and are they killing us with cancer when we talk with them so close to our heads, or is that just outright fearmongering?

touchingcloth

Quote from: Paul Calf on September 10, 2019, 05:42:26 AM
If God could do all that magicking, why didn't he just magic new animals after the flood?

Ahh. Don't you see? Ahh.

Paul Calf


touchingcloth

Quote from: zomgmouse on September 11, 2019, 10:17:42 AM
Do phones have radiation and are they killing us with cancer when we talk with them so close to our heads, or is that just outright fearmongering?

They have radiation, but it's of a non-ionising form meaning that in theory it's not able to degrade cells and cause cancers.

That's the theory. The practice is that they've been in widespread use for at least 20 years, and there hasn't been a significant increase in brain tumours over that period, so either they don't cause cancer or, if they do, they take a really long time to cause it.

There are no randomised controlled trials in humans due to it being essentially impossible to control for one thing, and the ethical considerations of blasting people with a form of radiation to see if they develop cancer for another. There have been studies in rats where they have been subjected to very high amounts of mobile phone-type radiation to their entire bodies for prolonged periods of time, but even those studies only show a cancer-causing effects if the data is cut in quite specific ways (a higher incidence of certain cancers but only among male rats, from memory).

zomgmouse

Quote from: touchingcloth on September 11, 2019, 10:59:38 AM
They have radiation, but it's of a non-ionising form meaning that in theory it's not able to degrade cells and cause cancers.

That's the theory. The practice is that they've been in widespread use for at least 20 years, and there hasn't been a significant increase in brain tumours over that period, so either they don't cause cancer or, if they do, they take a really long time to cause it.

There are no randomised controlled trials in humans due to it being essentially impossible to control for one thing, and the ethical considerations of blasting people with a form of radiation to see if they develop cancer for another. There have been studies in rats where they have been subjected to very high amounts of mobile phone-type radiation to their entire bodies for prolonged periods of time, but even those studies only show a cancer-causing effects if the data is cut in quite specific ways (a higher incidence of certain cancers but only among male rats, from memory).

This does not bode well for me, a male rat

buzby

Quote from: touchingcloth on September 11, 2019, 10:59:38 AM
They have radiation, but it's of a non-ionising form meaning that in theory it's not able to degrade cells and cause cancers.

That's the theory. The practice is that they've been in widespread use for at least 20 years, and there hasn't been a significant increase in brain tumours over that period, so either they don't cause cancer or, if they do, they take a really long time to cause it.
As you say, microwave radiation is non-ionising, but that's not to say it still can't cause damage or physical harm. Instead of cancer or cell mutation it can damage tissue by heating or burning. Mobile phones work in the 800-2400MHz frequency range (5G will use even higher frequencies in the 24-80GHz band). Microwave ovens operate at 2450MHZ (this is a frequency band specifically allocated by the ITU so they don't interfere with other spectrum users).

The only difference between the two is the transmitted power level. The low power levels transmitted by a  handheld device are less likely to do you any harm (though you might experience some localised tissue heating after prolonged exposure), Cell basestations however operate at much higher power levels and maintenance workers are not allowed to work in front of active antennas and have to carry EM exposure monitors if working near active antennas. If the monitor is triggered, you have to clear the area as fast as safely possible. High-power RF skin contact burns are not very nice at all, they appear as tiny burns on the skin surface, but penetrate deep into the skin and can take months to heal.

The induced heating of the organs can also cause headaches, nausea and vomiting.

At cell sites , there is a system of coloured zones with appropriate signage indicating increasing hazard levels:
Blue is used for Notice signs, typically posted at the entrance to a site:

Orange is used for Caution signs, normally at the entrance to the cabin or equipment room:

Yellow is used for Warning signs, typically posted near the RF power stage equipment cabinet, waveguide/feeder cable and tower bases:

Red is used for Danger signs, usually adjacent to the antennas

For rooftop sites, there are usually clearly marked 'No-Go' areas where the antenna beams are directed to try and prevent people walking in front of them.

touchingcloth

Your point about microwave ovens using a dedicated frequency reminds me of a story about the Parkes Observatory (famous for picking up the lunar landing video from Apollo 11, as seen in Sam Neill film the dish).

Their radio telescope used to pick up irregular short but intense bursts in the microwave spectrum, and for years they were stumped as to what their cause could be because they weren't coming from a particular part of the sky they could pinpoint. I forget the full details but after years (possibly decades) they eventually figured out that the signals were caused by impatient staff opening the door of the canteen microwave before it had pinged. They're designed to shut off when the door is open of course, but the shutting down was just slow enough that it led to a lack that the telescope could detect.

Full story here - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/05/microwave-oven-caused-mystery-signal-plaguing-radio-telescope-for-17-years

beanheadmcginty

In those dirty grumble vids all the kids watch on the internet these days, why do the gentlemen sometimes pull their todger out of the fray mid action and tap it a few times on the lady in the manner of Sooty casting a magic spell?

imitationleather

Quote from: beanheadmcginty on September 11, 2019, 08:52:54 PM
In those dirty grumble vids all the kids watch on the internet these days, why do the gentlemen sometimes pull their todger out of the fray mid action and tap it a few times on the lady in the manner of Sooty casting a magic spell?

That is how to make love.

Dex Sawash

Quote from: beanheadmcginty on September 11, 2019, 08:52:54 PM
In those dirty grumble vids all the kids watch on the internet these days, why do the gentlemen sometimes pull their todger out of the fray mid action and tap it a few times on the lady in the manner of Sooty casting a magic spell?

The end tends to  get clogged up with damp salt

touchingcloth

When I do sex my main move is tapping my todger on her, but I sometimes break off mid fray to slip it inside for a moment.

studpuppet

Quote from: EBGB on September 09, 2019, 06:54:37 PM
Pleasure doesn't necessarily equate to (official) quality.

I restate this to Mrs. S on a nightly basis, before rolling over and snoring loudly.

holyzombiejesus

I kind of know the answer to this nowadays but when I was younger I really wanted to know how cranes got to wherever they were. You never seem to see a half-built crane and I'm still not sure how they get those huge concrete balance slabs in place.