Factoids - useless but interesting snippets

[Bill W]

On 10/10/2021 at 8:06 AM, Zombie said:

“ “Many years ago, Norris Church, the sixth (and last) wife of the novelist Norman Mailer, wrote me from their Provincetown home to complain about my misuse of the word “factoid.”

She pointed out that her husband had coined the word in his 1973 book about Marilyn Monroe, “Marilyn,” and that it meant not “an odd little fact,” but “facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority.””

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/23/opinion/just-factoids-please/

Well tough titty, Norris - or should I say Barbara? (her husband Norman Mailer told her she should change her name from Barbara Jean Davis - Factoid #1 ) - because no-one controls language (despite pitiful efforts by the Académie Française - Factoid #2 )

Anyway, that’s all by the by - here’s the factoid I wanted to post (#3 ), as officially written on the State of Virginia roadside historical marker / commemorative plaque. So it must be true!

 

I wonder if Zona appeared to her mother and told her this on Halloween.  

[Zombie]

Neither August Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868) nor Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882) invented the Möbius Strip - this Roman mosaic from about 200AD (at a Roman villa in Sentinum, now called Sassoferrato) proves it was known in the ancient world (I guess we’ll never know whether the Ancient Greeks, or Indian or Islamic mathematicians, ever figured out the mathematics).

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Zombie

[Page Scrawler]

F. Scott Fitzgerald is most famously known for his novel, The Great Gatsby. What is lesser-known about Fitzgerald: his full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. He was named in honor of his ancestor, Francis Scott Key, who penned "The Star-Spangled Banner".

[Bill W]

2 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

F. Scott Fitzgerald is most famously known for his novel, The Great Gatsby. What is lesser-known about Fitzgerald: his full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. He was named in honor of his ancestor, Francis Scott Key, who penned "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Was he also related to the Boston Fitzgeralds, primarily Homey Fitz whose grandchildren formed Joe Kennedy's clan? 

[Zombie]

Monocular stereopsis

WTF???

Yes, strange but true, you can see in 3D with just one eye 👀 …even when viewing a two-dimensional image, like the screen you’re looking at now

 

Don’t believe it?

Watch this YouTube on “full screen” setting from this link https://youtu.be/fljp-Q784r4?t=161, cover one eye with your hand (don’t think it matters which) and just look at the flowery shrub thing on the right (mute the sound, it’ll distract)

 

How/why does it happen? Because human vision works by receiving data from the eyes which do not function as cameras - it’s the processing by the brain of the eye data that creates the images we see

 

Quite a lot on the web if you search the term but this weird phenomenon does not seem to be generally accepted, known or understood

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-method-for-inducing-monocular-stereopsis-A-single-pictorial-image-is-viewed-with-one_fig2_253334388

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by Zombie

[Ron]

Jamaica is raising its minimum wage by 44% later this year to $85.00 for a 40 hour work week. Whoo hoo, let the celebrating begin.

[Zombie]

for no reason whatever  here’s a pic of Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue in Funchal, his hometown, which er.. seems to have received much admiration

and here’s another angle 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Zombie

[Bill W]

2 hours ago, Zombie said:

for no reason whatever  here’s a pic of Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue in Funchal, his hometown, which er.. seems to have received much admiration

and here’s another angle 

Everyone looks for heroes to admire.  It seems as if Fimchal, if not of Portugal, has found theirs for now.  

[Zombie]

this is Spike

he’s got 15,000 fans on Facebook

and he’s just been voted the world’s most popular “flightless bird”

Just a suggestion, Spike - if you’re planning to cash in on your newfound fame you might wanna book yourself in for a makeover and smarten yourself up a bit…  

[Bill W]

1 hour ago, Zombie said:

this is Spike

he’s got 15,000 fans on Facebook

and he’s just been voted the world’s most popular “flightless bird”

Just a suggestion, Spike - if you’re planning to cash in on your newfound fame you might wanna book yourself in for a makeover and smarten yourself up a bit…  

It doesn't say where Spike is currently residing, but with that  feather coat I hope it's somewhere cool.  I take it Spike is a juvenile, because otherwise he would have lost the feathers already.  

[Page Scrawler]

The Universe tastes like raspberries. Scientists discovered a cloud of gas particles close to the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This isn't remarkable by itself, but when they aimed a light spectrometer telescope at this particular gas cloud, it was determined that the cloud was made up of ethyl formate. Which is the compound that gives raspberries their flavor.

[Zombie]

the first Star Trek movie… Turkey style 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ömer_the_Tourist_in_Star_Trek

[Bill W]

11 minutes ago, Zombie said:

the first Star Trek movie… Turkey style 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ömer_the_Tourist_in_Star_Trek

There's no way of losing the captain in that bright yellow uniform.  

[Zombie]

1 minute ago, Bill W said:

There's no way of losing the captain in that bright yellow uniform.  

he’s lucky they didn’t give him a red one… 

[Zombie]

The “Mandela Effect”

collective false memory 

..or proof we are living in a parallel worlds computer simulation (Philip K Dick) 

So Rich Uncle Moneybags (Mr Monopoly) wears a monocle, right?
Except of course he doesn’t

…or did he??

Mr Peanut does!

so maybe it’s just a stronger brand we “remember”

And Queen didn’t end their famous song “We are the Champions” with “Of The World!” did they? 

sometimes they did!

 

[Bill W]

2 hours ago, Zombie said:

The “Mandela Effect”

collective false memory 

..or proof we are living in a parallel worlds computer simulation (Philip K Dick) 

So Rich Uncle Moneybags (Mr Monopoly) wears a monocle, right?
Except of course he doesn’t

…or did he??

Mr Peanut does!

so maybe it’s just a stronger brand we “remember”

And Queen didn’t end their famous song “We are the Champions” with “Of The World!” did they? 

sometimes they did!

 

Then maybe I'm not the only one who confuses things like this.  😵

[Zombie]

Bothy

Although small, the UK has many remote mountainous areas where the weather can suddenly get bad very quickly. A bothy is a basic shelter for anyone to use free of charge and they are found in various parts of the UK (especially Scotland). Commonly used by hikers…

...who might have a surprise encounter!

Edited September 23, 2023 by Zombie

[drpaladin]

59 minutes ago, Zombie said:

Bothy

Although small, the UK has many remote mountainous areas where the weather can suddenly get bad very quickly. A bothy is a basic shelter for anyone to use free of charge and they are found in various parts of the UK (especially Scotland). Commonly used by hikers…

...who might have a surprise encounter!

Very interesting. The property owners have little to do with them beyond allowing them to be on their land and most are maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association, a charity. By law, they can't have power, piped in water or heat.

[Bill W]

And to my utter surprise, King Charles was walking totally alone along the trail and wasn't accompanied by any protective detail, and he casually stopped to chat with the bikers.  If that was the President of the United States, he'd have a Secret Service detail with him at all times.  

Edited September 23, 2023 by Bill W

[drpaladin]

32 minutes ago, Bill W said:

And to my utter surprise, King Charles was walking totally alone along the trail and wasn't accompanied by any protective detail, and he casually stopped to chat with the bikers.  If that was the President of the United States, he'd have a Secret Service detail with him at all times.  

I recall Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip going about the estate at Balmoral alone also.

[Bill W]

1 hour ago, drpaladin said:

I recall Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip going about the estate at Balmoral alone also.

Than either the Brits are less likely to harm the royals or the country, as a whole, has less to fear or worry about.  

[drpaladin]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:38 AM, Zombie said:

The “Mandela Effect”

collective false memory 

..or proof we are living in a parallel worlds computer simulation (Philip K Dick) 

So Rich Uncle Moneybags (Mr Monopoly) wears a monocle, right?
Except of course he doesn’t

…or did he??

Mr Peanut does!

so maybe it’s just a stronger brand we “remember”

And Queen didn’t end their famous song “We are the Champions” with “Of The World!” did they? 

sometimes they did!

 

Probably one everyone gets wrong is "Heigh-Ho" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Do you sing "Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work I go?"

Nope. Not right.

 

 

[Zombie]

On 9/23/2023 at 6:36 PM, drpaladin said:

I recall Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip going about the estate at Balmoral alone also.

she would often go walking alone, just with her protection officer. You can visit Balmoral in the summer when the RF isn’t staying there and see the house, but every day throughout the year anyone can walk the numerous trails on the estate in this remote +beautiful landscape 

On one occasion HMQE was walking with her protection officer in traditional Scottish walking clothes (thick + warm +midge proof!) and met a group of Americans coming  towards them.

They stopped for a chat and the group asked the Queen if she lived in the area. She replied saying she had a house nearby.

“Have you ever met the Queen?” they asked.

“No,” she replied, pointing at her companion, “But he has.”

[Zombie]

Earth’s shadow

Sometimes, if conditions are just right, it’s possible to see the Earth’s shadow cast by the planet onto the atmosphere by the rising (or setting) Sun - seen here in this photo as the curved band of cloud (bluish) between the horizon and the pink coloured band
 

Edited October 12, 2023 by Zombie

[Zombie]

Music is tuneless 

Most hit records ever released are out of tune (and so is a bunch of “classical” music)

Modern standard tuning is based on A440 (frequency A above “middle C”).

Musicians will deviate from standard tuning if they want (eg Radiohead, No Surprises) but, that aside, keyboards (like acoustic pianos) are tuned to “equal temperament” where every chord sounds in tune but in fact every note (apart from A440) is actually out of tune 

Other instruments like strings and brass are generally tuned to “natural” harmonic intervals or (“just temperament”) because then they resonate better to produce their best sound, and chord intervals sound cleaner (fretted guitars are generally tuned like pianos) 

Problem is when keyboards are combined with other instruments it could sound like screaming cats accompanied by fingernails dragged down a blackboard…

 

So the other instrument must be retuned to match the piano / keyboards

And then there’s organs, saxophones, horns, trumpets…  

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Zombie