| An email reply |
[Jan. 5th, 2008|07:22 pm] |
One of my grandparents who tends to forward crap emails sent me a missive containing this piece of bigotry:
http://community.myfoxwghp.com/blogs/cook2712/2008/01/03/Thank_goodness_POT_isnt
My reply:
Wow!!! Whoever wrote this is right, we should definitely let Mexicans in this country. They must be loaded!!! Think what a bunch of people throwing around that kind of cash would do for the economy!!
Boy, I can't wait till they meet my new girlfriend. Hope it works out.
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| Thought of the day |
[Dec. 11th, 2007|04:56 am] |
A lot of theoretical physics today deals with trying to explain the seemingly arbitrary values of the various physical constants. For instance, to calculate the gravitational force between two bodies, you multiply together their masses, divide by the square of the distance between them, multiply by a random magic number and you have the force of attraction between them.
Where did this number come from?
Why does the gravitational constant G = 6.67x10^-11 m^3/kg s^2 and not some other value?
If, instead of using kilograms, we used a unit of mass (let's call it the flam) where one flam = 1/G kilograms, then the gravitational constant would be 1, wouldn't it? Also, when we work through the units, we see that a flam can be defined as:
1 flam = 1 m^3/s^2
Thus mass can be defined in terms of distance and time and their relationship through the gravity formula, rather than being an independent unit.
The unit of energy, the Joule, is already defined in terms of mass, time, and distance.
1 Joule = 1 kg*m^2/s^2
This is why formulae dealing with energy in terms of mass, distance, and time do not involve physical constants. Nobody seems to question why accelerating a particular amount of mass to a certain velocity requires a specific quantity of energy. It seems to happen by definition.
A kilogram is defined as the mass of .001 cubic meters of water.
A meter was originally defined as 1/10000000 the distance from the north pole to the equator.
A second is 1/86400 of the time it takes the earth to make a complete rotation relative to the sun.
So it would seem that the seemingly arbitrary value of the gravititational constant (and probably other constants too) probably has more to do with the density of water, and the size and rotational period of the earth, than it does with any fundamental pecularities of the universe.
Incidentally, I weigh approximately 6.60x10^-9 m^3/s^2. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 6th, 2007|02:46 pm] |
From http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Dayton-Ohio.html
Means of transportation to work
* Drove a car alone: 49,549 (74%)
* Carpooled: 7,828 (12%)
* Bus or trolley bus: 4,636 (7%)
* Streetcar or trolley car: 12 (0%)
* Subway or elevated: 19 (0%)
* Taxi: 41 (0%)
* Motorcycle: 16 (0%)
* Bicycle: 211 (0%)
* Walked: 3,558 (5%)
* Other means: 404 (1%)
* Worked at home: 1,065 (2%)
How is this possible? Shouldn't those be zero? I think a few people misunderstood the question. |
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| Super Lotto |
[Oct. 23rd, 2007|02:16 am] |
According to my calculations, if you buy two lotto tickets, the odds of hitting the Ohio lottery jackpot are approximately 1 in 10!
Can anyone out there explain why this is? |
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| Names |
[Oct. 6th, 2007|03:50 am] |
Recently I met a neurobiologist named Brittany.
That's sort of like meeting a tow-truck driver named Antoine.
Or a cowboy named Akira.
Or a hairdresser named Earl.
Strange days. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 28th, 2007|03:40 am] |
I'm riding in the car with someone and I see a guy holding a sign by the side of the road.
"Cool!! A protestor," I say then yell at him, "Yeah!!! Fight the power!!!"
My traveling companion points out the sign says "Free Oil Change."
I yell, "Free Oil Change!! End the injustice!!" |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 20th, 2007|11:59 am] |
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I think I just accidentally earned about $13.00. |
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| These cryptic letters, they mean something |
[Sep. 20th, 2007|05:07 am] |
I noticed something interesting the other day.
It appears that the call letters for many of the local TV and radio stations have geographic or other significance.
WDTN 2 - DayToN
WHIO 7 - oHIO
WPTD 16 - Public Television Dayton
WPTO 14 - Public Television Oxford
WPFB 105.9 - Wright Patterson air Force Base
WDPR 88.1 - Dayton Public Radio
WCSU 88.9 - Central State University
WDKF 94.5 - Dayton Kettering Fairborn
WKEF 22 - Kettering Eaton Fairborn?
WYSO 91.3 - Yellow Springs Ohio
WCET 48 - Cincinnati Educational Television
WIII 64 - cIncInnatI (now WSTR)
WRGT 45 - WRiGhT Brothers (were from Dayton)
WXIX 19 - Roman numerals.
WLW 700 - World's Largest Wireless?
WLWT 5 - WLW Television
WKOI 43 - Kentucky Ohio Indiana
Weird.
Incidentally, the funniest bathroom graffiti I ever saw was a crude drawing of a five foot high upward pointing penis with the words THE BIG ONE - WLW written underneath on the inside of a stall door. |
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