The Lounge

I noticed there's been discussion in this area, and I've just read this passage from my text book. I guess it made me chuckle, because I've always attributed the term 'crackpot', as slang, and not a term I'd expect to see in a text book. More to the point, it summarizes the same requirements we're used to reading, time and time again in response to a new 'theory.' It just seemed very apt, with all the recent discussion I didn't post this to provoke crackpot bashing et.c It just seemed a rather freaky (or not) coincidence that I read this passage, just an hour after reading some of the discussion in speculations.

My wife and I were talking the other day about sarcasm and she made a comment about a roommate she once had who spoke Swedish and explained how crucial the lilting cadence was. We realized that sarcasm in English is normally expressed with exaggerated tones using innocuous words ("No, he *NEVER* gets angry..."). It got us to thinking about how it works in other countries. Is sarcasm expressed the same way in other languages? Especially in languages that often use cadence and emphasis to change the meanings of words? How does your language express sarcasm?

... that you can RSS-subscribe to new posts at SFN? >:eek:

I'm putting off writing a scholarship essay, and this one was something that I've long (as in for the last 30 seconds) wondered about. So, poll ho!

Anybody else checkin' this puppy out? I'm pretty impressed with it so far. One of the things I really liked that I haven't seen much discussion about was a really cool installer feature that imported not only the bookmarks from IE but also the browser history, cookies, passwords, and so forth. Very handy. Seems like they've really raised the bar.

One of the many fantastic inventions from http://www.galonja.co.uk/galonja_shop/catalog.asp?g_s_n=crlshop Although according to most of the descriptions the normal laws of physics need to be suspended for them to work...

I ... have one thing to say about this one: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! AAAAAA!!!

Just wondered if there's a scientific term or maybe convention, that has really niggled anybody, and are sometimes unnecessary, but have been used regardless, because it's more hassle to start rewriting the terminolgy in text books, because they're now widely recognised. I guess demoting Pluto from planet status, is an example when this has been (arguably) rectified. Here's a couple of examples, off the top of my head... The direction of current, which is opposite to electron flow. EMF, electromotive force, which isn't a force. Anybody care to add to the list, and perhaps clear up some misnomers on the way ?

Extinction and the Dread of Insignificance Becker compares three great thinkers Otto Rank, Wilhelm Reich, and Carl Jung to conclude that the three provide us nothing with which to connect their conclusions except that they dissented from Freud. However, there is agreement on the answer to the fundamental question, “What causes evil in human affairs?” This agreement is also the agreement in all of the human sciences; “man wants above all to endure and prosper, to achieve immortality in some way”. Wo/man wants, above all, to reject the knowledge of mortality; s/he does so by seeking to assure immortality in some way. Mortality is connected to our animal nature…

Hi. Some supermarket gymnastics... That $16 per pound fancy 'deli' cheese, or the plain $3 per pound simple Monterey jack ? The $9.99 NY steak or the rump something meat at $ 1.25 per pound... The $0.99 catfish or the fancy $ 8.99 yellowtail... The plain 99cent bread against the same size $3.50 weird-named loaf ? Are we selecting nutritional value or pleasures? What is the nutritional difference among similar foods, is it worth the absurd $ ? Miguel

These guys are apparently getting closer to production with a $40,000 variant that does 0-60 in a still-speedy 5-6 second range and seats 4-5 adults. It probably won't look like the picture, but may still be pretty sexy. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01/tesla_motors_california_governator_grab/ As the article suggests, that may not mean a lot to Europeans, but to Americans it means a great deal. Our typical home environment for a $40,000 car buyer (the most common car buyer) is a house in the 'burbs with a full-blown garage, so overnight recharge is really no problem, and a 165-mile range is quite acceptable for the daily commute. And we sure like …

Interesting article in Slate today analyzing some numbers generated by comparing movie reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes with the box office receipts. http://www.slate.com/id/2194532/ Rotten Tomatoes aggregates reviews of hundreds (sometimes thousands) or reviewers, compiling a cumulative score for the movie. Anything 60% or higher is considered "fresh" and anything below that is "rotten" -- the idea being to help viewers decide if they should go see a movie or not (instead of having to decide based on a single review). But does it work? And are movie critics actually valuable, or are they just film snobs with no connection to the average popcorn buyer…

What national anthem(s) do you find the most melodious and inspiring? My ranking, without extensive review: 1. Czech Republic 2. Hungary 3. United Kingdom 4. Israel 5. Germany I'd have to add Chechnya's to that list too if it was actually an independent country. They have a really good anthem. It almost makes me support Chechen separatism. Let's see if anyone else is as bizarre as I am and actually responds to this.

As anyone who has seen an episode of Firefly can tell you. Firefly is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant television series ever created. How else could a television show which only aired for nine episodes, in the wrong order, aired on Friday night, was prempted by baseball, was given little to no marketing, and was pulled from the air so quickly, managed to draw in such a dedicated fan base that the dvds sales numbered among the highest of all time, a major feature film was produced, and the series is still, to this day, the highest rated television series on tv.com three years after the last episode was aired. There's a reason why the feature film based on the franchi…

Turtles and Humans Have Much in Common I had once concluded it to be natural that when confronted by a new idea humans tended to do a turtle; withdraw into their shell until the coast was clear. After some time posting in cyberspace I have modified my view somewhat. I think that we tend to display two types of turtle responses to our encounter with new ideas. The terrapin withdraws quickly into its shell and the snapping turtle hisses, spits, and snaps when such an encounter happens. I suspect that cyberspace has allowed many people to display a more vulgar attitude than they would in face-to-face encounters. I think that age is a factor in this equa…

which all pets do you own???

I've always wanted to get married. However, a week ago while I was in the library I overheard some women talking about marriage. One woman wanted to divorce her husband and her female friends were telling her things like, "Stay with him a little longer and wait for him to make more money before you divorce. Then you can get more out of him." I was horrified by the women talking about marriage as if it were a business or a scam. Then I heard one woman saying something that really scared me. She said, "Christian men are easy targets. Their religion forbids prenups and forces them to provide for their wives." The reason why this was scary was because I am a Christian man…

I can't imagine anyone in the US not aware of George Carlin's passing. I remember listening to his albums, yes actual vinyl records, growing up. I caught every single HBO special and I even watched his sit-com, if anyone remembers that. I adored him and his humor from my early teens to the present. The same stupid shit that pissed him off, pisses me off too. It felt like he was vocalizing all of my complaints, and doing it humorously. I don't know why I started this thread. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else had any particular appreciation for the fella. I was quite fond of the old dude.

Yeah, I'm bored and it's just another one of those threads...... Anyways, if you ruled the world, what would you do? Or rather, what do you wish would happen, as opposed to what would probably happen.... I could say that if I ruled the world, there would be world peace, no poverty, no pollution, etc.... but, meh, I know that's a bunch of baloney. I will be honest, if I ruled the world I would probably establish a military dictatorship.

here's a starter...

Which would you say are the most interesting threads you remember in these forums along the years ? Miguel

Does YT play the guitar in a power metal band? Does Phi for All compose jazz-reggae-trance fusion songs? Is Klaynos the lead singer of a boy band? Read all about it here! I think there was a "do you play any instrument" thread at some point in the past but not a thread like this (at least I couldn't find one after a painstaking 30 seconds of searching). Anyway, I thought it might be cool to have a thread like this, who knows what sort of insanely talented musicians have found their way to SFN. ...Also I wanted to shamelessly promote my spacesynth project Baryonic Collision (hey it even has a sciency name).

There has been, at various times, a lot of discussion about various methods of generating electricity. In various arguments, cost is discussed. I have just read in my local paper (NZ Herald) an article on this, and they quote the US Electric Power Research Institute on the following costs. These are all in US cents per kilowatt hour. Coal 6 cents. But this rises to 10 cents if carbon capture is required. Wind 10 cents Nuclear 7.5 cents Solar panel 25 cents. Obviously, there will be a lot of variability. For example : coal rises in cost if the generating plant is a long way from coal beds, requiring transport. It is also true that these rela…

I was watching BBC breakfast this morning, where a Dad and his daughter who suffers from Down Syndrome were in the studio. The topic, was these new 'Down Syndrome Dolls' see the official website below. I'll be perfectly honest, I can't put into words what to make of this, my first thoughts were it was some twisted joke, and although I love dark humour, the fact that the sentiment behind making these dolls is maybe sincere, it seems terribly misguided, and well, a bit wrong. The Dad and the daughter on the show, were equally bewildered, and just couldn't see the benefit. Thoughts...is this some rather bizarre joke ? For example, can you honestly imagine a ch…

Conservapedia numnut Andy Schlafly recently contacted Professor Richard Lenski about a recent experiment which demonstrated a novel mutation in e. coli bacteria, namely the ability to metabolize citrate: http://www.conservapedia.com/Conservapedia:Lenski_dialog And uhh, yeah, hilarity ensues...