The Happiness Thread

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Cogito, Nov 20, 2010.

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  1. alittlehumbugcalledShe

    alittlehumbugcalledShe Active Member

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    I think of our dearest solar system as a giant colon. It contains all the shit that has ever existed, all the shit that currently exists, and all the shit that will exist.
     
  2. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Random Thought hereā€”did you know the spiral galaxies are centered on black holes? It's apparently why they spin. You know, like a toilet being flushed... o_O
     
  3. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Gotcha. That makes sense. Not sure how to crunch the equations, but it seems as if would be the apparent diameter of a single distant star, measured in (fractions of) arc-seconds, multiplied by the surface area of a half-sphere calculated in arc-seconds. No idea what that would be, but there's a shit load of room there. 10 to the 19th--10 billion billion--is a very large number.

    Interesting thing about your thought experiment is that the same number would apply to any vantage on Earth, assuming you're not correcting for visual obstructions along the horizon, like trees, mountains, and the neighboring houses. And I think that would apply to any vantage on any celestial body assuming there is no noticeable curvature of the planetary surface to add a few degrees to regular 360x180 field of view.

    Of course, if you were floating in space, you'd have a full spherical field of view aside from whatever your physical body obstructed.

    ETA: apparently the angular diameter of Betelgeuse on Orion's shoulder, which is very "large," well defined, and easy to measure, is .047 arc seconds... so yeah, you could fit a butt-ton of them. The Sun and Moon are right around half a degree, I think, which is, what? 1800 arc seconds?

    ETA2: So that would be 36K Betelgeuses in a single line across the diameter of the sun?

    ETA3: and almost 13 million (1.3 x 10^7) in a 180 degree field of view overheard from horizon to horizon.

    Jeezum... rabbit hole!
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2021
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  4. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Aw c'mon man! Quit makin' like Einstein and whip up some mostaccioli 'er sup'm! :supergrin:

    I didn't know you were one of those smart people that make the rest of us look bad. :nosleep:
     
  5. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    My sentimentals eggzackly :)
     
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  6. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    I could be totally wrong on the math. Won't attest to any of that.

    Angular diameter, however, is the proper unit of measure. Basically you count compass degrees (sub-measured in arc minutes and arc seconds) across the sky to see how "big" something is instead of measuring inches and feet, which would be impossible. The moon as a visible object occupies about half a degree of the sky. Same thing applies to a tiny ass star, which you can figure out if you have the right instruments. Get that number right, and you're ready to start counting. And adding some giant exponents together. I think the sun fires something like 10 to the 25th Joules in energy. Multiply that by humbug's 19th power stars and you start getting the big numbers. Shit gets real when you a slap 30th power onto something.
     
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  7. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    It makes me ridiculously happy when I get one of those emails from Amazon Prime delivery showing a package sitting on my porch. Even if I already brought it in, there's just something so cool about seeing a photo the driver just snapped of your porch with new stuff there, like a present to be opened. It's like a hit of crack.
     
  8. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Quickly followed by a Nest or Ring camera video of a porch pirate jacking it from the stoop. Cops caught one shitbag down the road from me who had like 100 boxes in his house.
     
  9. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Never had that happen, but sometimes a new mail carrier or delivery driver will deliver it to the wrong address. Most neighbors in this little subdivision are kind enough to being it around (and I always do it when I get their packages or mail). Occasionally though somebody can't be bothered.
     
  10. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    It's out of control around here. Assholes follow the Prime trucks from street to street and jack everything a few minutes after it gets delivered. They've got it down like Clockers to evade the home cameras too. Hats, hoodies, all black clothing, head down... can't tell gender, race, age, anything.

    Side note: my cop buddies tell me more than half of their murders get solved through Nest and Ring footage.
     
  11. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Hazards of the big city life I guess. I love the burbs.
     
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  12. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Sounds like you need more than a camera:

    [​IMG]
     
  13. alittlehumbugcalledShe

    alittlehumbugcalledShe Active Member

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    I auditioned for a short film last week and got my first ever callback yesterday!! Not bad for only being like 3 months into seriously focusing on acting, so I'm thrilled!! But it's not like I've got the role yet so we'll have to wait and see.
     
  14. ruskaya

    ruskaya Contributor Contributor

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    still, it is something to feel proud and psyched about! congrats!
     
  15. Platina

    Platina Member

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    So after four months, I got my PC running again last night after blowing compressed air into one of the fans I overlooked while it was turned on!!

    Ummm....great that I found out the cause, four months late, but if I have to keep doing that every time I want to use the PC, we're gonna have a problem. Too bad I can't afford to take it in and have it looked at.
     
  16. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Is it just a wonky fan? Those are cheap are easy to install.
     
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  17. EFMingo

    EFMingo A Modern Dinosaur Supporter Contributor

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    Even the processor fans are easy swaps. Of all the things to break in a PC, fans are some of the easiest swaps. Necessary too as you cook components if you dont. The only time they can be real trouble is on a video card.
     
  18. Platina

    Platina Member

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    I don't know, really. At first, I thought it was a fan adapter issue, which I ended up needing to replace anyway since the cord was split, don't know how that happened, then I thought it was a power supply issue which would've been expensive as crud to fix, I'm sure, then I assumed it was the electricity in the house...just...all kinds of possible causes were in my head. It stumped me for a long time, why my PC would suddenly give out. I cleaned the dust out, reset CMOS, moved it from room to room to test it, as that helped last time, bought a new fan adapter...and then I find out last night all it needed was a boost of air to a fan I forgot about at the time.

    Although now I'm concerned as to why the fan stopped in the first place. Again, I could've sworn I tried that trick before and it didn't work.

    Yeah, on one laptop, the fan quit working and the laptop would remain on no more than 10 minutes at most before it shut off. One blast of air and the fan would run smoothly after that, but then the whole thing died completely just a couple weeks ago. It was old anyway, so it had to be expected.

    So yeah, that's my happiness for the day: got my PC back up and running, although I'm not keeping my hopes up that it remains operational.
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2021
  19. Dogberry's Watch

    Dogberry's Watch Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    Got my first dose of the vaccine today and while the side effects feel like my arms weigh 800 pounds, I've not felt this relaxed in forever. Almost feels like I'm high.
     
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  20. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Sounds like you've got better vaccines over there...
     
  21. Dogberry's Watch

    Dogberry's Watch Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    Darlin', I tell you what, it knocked me out really hard a little while later, hahaha. I feel like I can sleep for a few days.
     
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  22. alittlehumbugcalledShe

    alittlehumbugcalledShe Active Member

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    Holy shit.. I had to just re-read this chapter I'm working on, in order to fit the next bit in and make sure it flows correctly, etc. So I haven't read this stuff in like 3 weeks.

    And oh my god.. it's gorgeous. It's breathtaking. There are a couple of moments I might edit/delete because it detracts from the overall 'music' of the writing (it's almost like gut instinct?? but it works like dissonance), but Jesus Christ -- wow.

    It's taken me so long to get to a point where I almost forget that I wrote something while I'm reading it. Like, this is something I've been wanting to read all my life, and it's the kind of thing where you really get swept away in the details. Which I was aiming for, but didn't expect to get that feeling already. Oh, man. I haven't felt this way about a book in a long, long time, and now I'm sitting with something that makes me feel that way again. And I made it. After many years of writing crap in high school and university and getting nowhere. I'm so desperate to show you all, but I know that ultimately I can't, and I'm literally dying here.

    The book isn't even finished yet. I gotta keep going or I'll never get to read it all the way through.
     
  23. Historical Science

    Historical Science Contributor Contributor

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    I've always put humor in my work but my current WIP is a full-on black comedy and it's been tough. It requires so much rewriting and editing to nail that dry, sarcastic tone. But feedback has been great and people are finding it funny on a language and conceptual level which feels fucking good. That's all.
     
  24. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I've got to get my story all written and then go over it again to add tone, I think.
     
  25. Historical Science

    Historical Science Contributor Contributor

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    Agreed, but this WIP is my creative thesis for school so I have to continually submit pages to the professor which puts a lot more pressure to make this 1st draft decently polished. It makes for slower writing but about to hit the 50,000 mark at the end of this 2nd semester so I'm in decent shape. It'd be easier if my thesis was all my homework haha but lots of other papers and next semester I need to design a course and teach 15 hours which has me as nervous as excited.
     
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