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 Posted: Jun 07, 2012 - 02:28 PM |
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Joined: Feb 19, 2001
Posts: 26115
Location: Wisconsin USA
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You are anonymous to the rest of the world, not to the people in the meetings themselves.
Now, let's ease up and remember the spirit of the joke--the comic tells the joke and our immediate reaction is the contradiction. Of course, further thought uncovers the reality.
Other than that it is more personal etc. it is really the same as in USA we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway. |
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Posted: Jun 07, 2012 - 03:03 PM |
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Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 18761
Location: Lund, Sweden
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The requirement on a good story is not that it is true, burt that it is ... good.
An example used by a Swedish author (Fritiof Nilsson "Piraten"):
Quote:
A man lit a match and used it to get light down the fuel tank filling pipe to see if there was petrol in the tank. There was...
The physical effect that is the funny part here (i.e. flames, burnt eyebrows etc) is actually likely to be much more intense for a tank that is almost empty than one that is fullt topped up. In an almost empty tank there will be a lot of fuel vapor + air mix. In the topped up tank there will be almost none.
But still the fun goes away if we change just one word..
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A man lit a match and used it to get light down the fuel tank filling pipe to see if there was petrol in the tank. There wasn't...
..it's superficially not that funny anymore.
BTW, Torby: Your current footer is really funny. Borge was half-geniuos! |
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Posted: Jun 07, 2012 - 03:20 PM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 4042
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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Seemed appropriate given the trouble I've been having playing with strings in C
Much enjoy Borge. Not just a great comedian, but a great pianist too. |
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Discursive design,
Torby
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
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Posted: Jun 07, 2012 - 06:20 PM |
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Joined: Sep 20, 2003
Posts: 4115
Location: Surrey, England
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Whas that an intentional supplementary joke(the strings/C/piano reference), or was it an accidental(# or
b)? |
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Posted: Jun 07, 2012 - 08:35 PM |
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Joined: Feb 19, 2001
Posts: 26115
Location: Wisconsin USA
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Quote:
or was it an accidental(#
Ouch.
But wasn't C# developed on purpose? (C++ would be one step "more" than C, right? And that would make C# a half-step "higher"?) |
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Posted: Jun 07, 2012 - 10:05 PM |
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Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 18761
Location: Lund, Sweden
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Posted: Jun 08, 2012 - 06:41 AM |
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Joined: Jan 03, 2006
Posts: 4447
Location: Hemel Hemsptead, UK
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| I quaver, waiting for the next pun from you crotchetty old fogeys... and hoping it doesn't fall flat! |
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Neil Barnes
www.nailed-barnacle.co.uk
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Posted: Jun 08, 2012 - 08:34 AM |
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Joined: Sep 20, 2003
Posts: 4115
Location: Surrey, England
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| Stop it, I can't breve from trying to stave off the laughter! |
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Posted: Jun 08, 2012 - 02:13 PM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 4042
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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| That's great, Neil! |
_________________
Discursive design,
Torby
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
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Posted: Jun 09, 2012 - 02:21 AM |
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Joined: Jan 03, 2004
Posts: 1639
Location: Apalachin, NY, USA
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 - 06:53 PM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 4042
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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Let me guess before looking:
Drop the barometer and time how long it takes to fall?
Neils Bohr! Oh! Love it. |
_________________
Discursive design,
Torby
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 - 07:19 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 62954
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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Quote:
Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer.
I used to have a Casio barometer watch and I used to work in a 10 storey building. While not HUGELY accurate the watch was enough to measure the building height to within about 5-10 feet.
Cliff
(most pilots know that pressure varies by 1" of mercury(~ 30 mb) per 1000 feet) |
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 - 07:29 PM |
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Joined: Jan 03, 2006
Posts: 4447
Location: Hemel Hemsptead, UK
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Only close to the ground, of course. There's only three or four inches of mercury between 70,000 and 100,000 feet.
<blush> My foray into space exploration has been temporarily curtailed by a signed sixteen bit altitude display... got to 32k feet and started coming down again!
It's on its way back from Spain for some polishing for the software, then take two. |
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Neil Barnes
www.nailed-barnacle.co.uk
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 - 09:48 PM |
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Joined: Feb 19, 2001
Posts: 26115
Location: Wisconsin USA
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Quote:
Let me guess before looking:
Offer to give the barometer to the building manager in exchange for the building height. |
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 - 10:00 PM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 4042
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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barnacle wrote:
Only close to the ground, of course. There's only three or four inches of mercury between 70,000 and 100,000 feet.
<blush> My foray into space exploration has been temporarily curtailed by a signed sixteen bit altitude display... got to 32k feet and started coming down again!
It's on its way back from Spain for some polishing for the software, then take two.
Nope! Get to 32767 feet, then go one more and find yourself 32 thousand feet under ground. |
_________________
Discursive design,
Torby
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
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Posted: Jun 12, 2012 - 06:51 AM |
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Joined: Jan 03, 2006
Posts: 4447
Location: Hemel Hemsptead, UK
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Nope, you find yourself coming down. The display routine changes sign if the input is negative, but at five digits there isn't room to display the minus sign, so it didn't.
It was originally designed on the assumption that (a) I might want to know how far below the top of a mountain was and (b) I was unlikely to be above breathable air... |
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Neil Barnes
www.nailed-barnacle.co.uk
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Posted: Jun 12, 2012 - 08:51 AM |
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Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 18761
Location: Lund, Sweden
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| Get a reasonably accurate measurement of the length of the barometer. While using a very long ladder, and the barometer as a yardstick, measure the height of the building in Barometers. Multiply that number with the length of the barometer and you have the height of the building. |
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Posted: Jun 12, 2012 - 02:32 PM |
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Joined: Feb 19, 2001
Posts: 26115
Location: Wisconsin USA
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Hold the barometer at arm's length. Back away from the building until the barometer and the building appear to be the same height. Measure the height of the barometer, the distance from eye to barometer, and the distance from eye to building. Calculate building height. No shadow needed.  |
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Posted: Jun 12, 2012 - 03:37 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 62954
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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Quote:
. Measure the height of the barometer,
Isn't this why God put thumbs on the end of our arms? No need for a barometer and once you know your thumb and arm length they remain pretty static (unless something terrible occurs!). |
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Posted: Jun 12, 2012 - 06:13 PM |
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Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 18761
Location: Lund, Sweden
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Quote:
Isn't this why God put thumbs on the end of our arms?
You're really going out on a limb here, Cliff.. |
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