xkcd

by **I Am Raven** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:54 pm UTC

Ptolom wrote:penis

Siggin' that.

by **Rodion Raskolnikov** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:07 pm UTC

Woopate wrote:TIL: how often I edit out the word "basically" from everything I write. It's a bizarre patten, but almost everything I write that isn't a report has a LOT of "basically" thrown in. And I've been good at taking it out while editing without noticing. Sometimes slips through, though.

It's like I have two opposing subconcious habits that cancel out. Wierd.

I tend to go back and edit out the word "that". Its a word ~~that~~ I tend to use quite a lot, but you can normally delete it without altering the structure of the sentence. Helps if you are trying to keep the word count down.

by **addams** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:04 pm UTC

It was not today. Three or four days ago I learned that there is one pigeon that does not understand English, but, it does understands Dutch.

We ran the experiment several times. The pigeon ignores English and responds to Dutch.
Funny?

by **jillton** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:27 pm UTC

TIL that my parents actually support my chosen career-path, after years of me feeling like they were pushing me away from it.

by **PhoenixEnigma** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:29 am UTC

TIL: The Wachowski brothers ripped off the Matrix. Which isn't surprising, I suppose, but they could have at least renamed it.

by **SecondTalon** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:20 am UTC

Nah, they just had Grant Morrison's Invisibles explained to them by someone who read the first trade a year or two earlier.

by **OBrien** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:07 pm UTC

PhoenixEnigma wrote:TIL: The Wachowski brothers ripped off the Matrix. Which isn't surprising, I suppose, but they could have at least renamed it.

... TIL William Gibson didn't coin that phrase or concept.

Pretty much every Sci-Fi that has some form of internet like that calls it The Matrix, Neuromancer being the classic example. I think it's because it fits with the mathematical definition of matrices: Elements arranged in an array. I may be wrong, though.

by **shawnhcorey** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:39 pm UTC

Today I learned that privilege makes you a dick.

by **PeteP** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:54 pm UTC

TIL that I can't foe moderators, damn. Well i guess it's sensible.

by **userxp** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:41 pm UTC

shawnhcorey wrote:Today I learned that privilege makes you a dick.

There was a similar study just a few months ago.

by **Armadillo Al** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 3:37 pm UTC

Panonadin wrote:Some of the places even told me when I called to talk to HR that they have literally 164 applications to go through and they will call me back when they get to mine.

Only 164? I guess the economy is improving after all.

by **emceng** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:34 pm UTC

I wish my company could find experienced candidates. We either get people who barely know what we do, or people that are way overqualified, and expect a huge salary that's not commensurate with the proposed duties.

by **fizzgig** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:48 am UTC

TIL: Nine days in a sling is enough to make my arm not work properly anymore.

by **roband** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:06 am UTC

fizzgig wrote:TIL: Nine days in a sling is enough to make my arm not work properly anymore.

I imagine it must have not been working in order to make the decision to put it in the sling?

by **fizzgig** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:14 am UTC

Well, my collarbone is broken, so that's probably part of it... but I can't straighten it out properly, it feels really heavy and the muscles are visibly smaller than my other arm (it's my non-dominant hand though, so it's possible they were a bit smaller to start with).

by **roband** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:24 am UTC

Ah, I hadn't thought about collarbone injuries requiring a sling.

by **SlyReaper** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:40 am UTC

Arm muscles do atrophy alarmingly quickly in a sling.

by **Carlington** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:12 pm UTC

I can vouch for this. Do you have some sort of physio worked out?

by **Shro** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:46 pm UTC

roband wrote:Ah, I hadn't thought about collarbone injuries requiring a sling.

This is definitely a thing for mild hairline fractures of a collarbone.

by **roband** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:51 pm UTC

Oh I know. It just didn't occur to me as a possibility when I was typing initially

by **fizzgig** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:51 pm UTC

Carlington (The Aussie) wrote:I can vouch for this. Do you have some sort of physio worked out?

The doctor gave me a couple of exercises to do, mostly to regain/maintain mobility in my shoulder, and told me to try and leave the sling off as much as possible when I'm sitting around at home. I think I'll see how I go with that for a couple of weeks then maybe go see an actual physio. I've also been banned from cycling for 12 weeks (due to the risk of falling and reinjuring it) so I have to work out some other way of exercising and getting around. Although, to be honest, I think I'd be safer riding my bike on the bike paths around here than, say, taking up running. I can see runnning going badly.

Also, I'm pretty sure that putting the arm in a sling is pretty much standard treatment for all but the nastiest collarbone breaks around here. The only other option is surgery, and I think that's generally avoided if it's likely that the bone will heal by itself. I suspect this might be a side effect of having public health care - you end up with more conservative treatment cos the government is footing the bill.

TIaL: There's a bit of a difference between a $60 haircut and a > $100 haircut. I haven't been able to really wash/comb my (fairly long) hair for the last 9 days so I just walked into the first hairdressers I could find and begged them to wash it for me and cut it all off. It's awesome having clean hair again, but I think I might need to pay a visit to my regular hairdresser as soon as I can get myself there.

by **PM 2Ring** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 4:32 am UTC

fizzgig,

Once you're sufficiently healed, you might like to buy yourself a Powerball. They're a fun way to exercise your arms and hands. And playing with a gyroscope is Science!

by **walkerm930** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 5:08 am UTC

I had a similar injury in my collarbone, a few years ago, and one thing the doctor said was a great idea was to go swimming. It does make some sense.

by **fizzgig** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:24 pm UTC

Thanks PM 2Ring - I think I have seen those before, will look into it.

walkerm930 - how long was it until you were able to swim?

by **Xeio** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:53 pm UTC

PM 2Ring wrote:Once you're sufficiently healed, you might like to buy yourself a Powerball. They're a fun way to exercise your arms and hands. And playing with a gyroscope is ~~Science~~ Wizardry!

I'm pretty sure gyroscopes are right next to magnets on the Wizardry or Science? line.

by **Amie** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:50 am UTC

TIL: Menacing_Spike's userpic can read "I turn on my charm and 'er pants come right off". Wow, talk about late realizations.

by **Menacing Spike** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:08 am UTC

Context ->

by **Zarq** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:47 am UTC

Context for posterity

There are more of those btw.

by **clockworkmonk** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:21 pm UTC

I just learned catgut when referring to the strings of instruments means it was made from the intestinal walls of normally sheep and goats, cattle, other such animals. and definitely not cats.

by **Samik** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:43 pm UTC

Amie wrote:TIL: Menacing_Spike's userpic can read "I turn on my charm and 'er pants come right off". Wow, talk about late realizations.

Zarq wrote:There are more of those btw.

Further research has resulted in a small degree of shame at how many I can readily interpret. Time to bust out my original game boy and go on a nostalgia trip, perhaps? Maybe get in some Tetris while I'm at it...

by **ExplodingHat** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:34 pm UTC

clockworkmonk wrote:I just learned catgut when referring to the strings of instruments means it was made from the intestinal walls of normally sheep and goats, cattle, other such animals. and definitely not cats.

Think about just how many cats it would take to make a string orchestra...

by **The Scyphozoa** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:35 pm UTC

Amie wrote:TIL: Menacing_Spike's userpic can read "I turn on my charm and 'er pants come right off". Wow, talk about late realizations.

Yeah well, I still miss the Chell avatar.

(Thank you Amie for pointing that out to me, now I feel stupid. I thought it was just about a Charmander taking its own pants off.)

by **Cathy** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:32 am UTC

The Scyphozoa wrote:
Amie wrote:TIL: Menacing_Spike's userpic can read "I turn on my charm and 'er pants come right off". Wow, talk about late realizations.

Yeah well, I still miss the Chell avatar.

(Thank you Amie for pointing that out to me, now I feel stupid. I thought it was just about a Charmander taking its own pants off.)

Uh, so, me too. I feel very un-clever now!

by **existential_squirrrel** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:06 am UTC

TIL: it is possible to have x-rays be unreadable except by a radiologist. I really hope my hand isn't broken :shock:

by **Steax** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:39 am UTC

Amie wrote:TIL: Menacing_Spike's userpic can read "I turn on my charm and 'er pants come right off". Wow, talk about late realizations.

TIL.

by **SecondTalon** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:00 am UTC

by **Amie** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:03 am UTC

Zarq wrote:
There are more of those btw.

Fuck. Now I'mma go spend an entire day hunting for the rest. Thanks a lot, Zarq.

The Scyphozoa wrote:(Thank you Amie for pointing that out to me, now I feel stupid. I thought it was just about a Charmander taking its own pants off.)

It just might be... I don't know. But it can read differently as well. Weird, no?

Cathy, you have other things do take care of, like YOUR WEDDING and therefore may have a life, unlike yours truly, who spends a lot of time staring at her screen

<3

by **Steax** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:59 am UTC

SexyTalon wrote:

I initially read the second one as "cuz you poked-a-ball for it", which confused me thoroughly.

by **phlip** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:03 am UTC

I got it quickly, but only because I'd seen the Raichu one before... which is an easier one to "get", I think. As long as you're familiar with the song, of course.

Also, I don't get the third one from ST's picture... "'Cuz you need a ... ran"? "'Cuz you need Iran"? "'Cuz you knee door Anne"? I can't parse it so it makes sense...

by **Menacing Spike** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:16 am UTC

phlip wrote:I got it quickly, but only because I'd seen the Raichu one before... which is an easier one to "get", I think. As long as you're familiar with the song, of course.

Also, I don't get the third one from ST's picture... "'Cuz you need a ... ran"? "'Cuz you need Iran"? "'Cuz you knee door Anne"? I can't parse it so it makes sense...

Cuz you need no rina? What's rina?

Would work with nidoran: "cuz you need one" or "cuz you need to run", but wrong pic in that case.
Never mind unevolved nidorinas are also called nidoran. Today I remembered.

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