increased fuel consumption of spinning down and then spinning back up

wastes a tremendous amount of fuel to spin down/up again

I think a flywheel mechanical energy storage system could both serve as a way to store energy and as a way to manipulate the rotation while preserving rotational energy. To slow down the rotation, transfer the rotational energy to a flywheel, and then transfer it back when you need to go back to speed. That adds some mechanical complexity but it creates a more efficient way to control rotation. Plus with electric motors and solar panels, that should be possible to manage without using any propellant fuel.

And the “I guess” guy.

Maybe other intelligent life forms don’t make the same assumptions that we do that lead to the statement that there are two “apples,” and maybe mathematics isn’t universal.

That just shows that “Apple” isn’t necessarily universal, and doesn’t actually disprove the universality of the concept of “two.”

There are a ton of different physical ways to represent the Fibonacci sequence, for example, and I would imagine the first contact looks for ways to find the mutually understood medium by both sides: raised symbols, pulses of radiation, pulses of vibrations, physical pebbles arranged in a line, physical pebbles manipulated over a timeline, etc.

Once we establish a common medium, we’d explore mutual understanding of prime numbers, approximations of pi/e/phi, and things like that.

You can swallow things while dangling upside down. The esophagus is strong enough to work against gravity.

But liquids are a little bit more difficult, because they tend to flow in unexpected places in the mouth/sinuses/nose before trying to swallow.

The children yearn for the Voight-Kampff test.

30 minutes each time

Jim, would you like a sex metaphor or a nature metaphor?

this would not work

You assume the goal is to actually try to date or fuck. It’s not. The goal is to intimidate and degrade, to make someone else uncomfortable. So viewed through that lens, it works.

Not to mention, the acrylamide is formed from the amino acids naturally present in the grains, which is what this whole article is about.

listen to really old music

Hey! Fuck you for pointing out this song didn’t come out within the last decade!

Don’t count on it. Instant Pot managed to sell so many units they’re in what seems like almost every kitchen. And then that was that, because everyone already had one, so their sales volume plummeted and they went bankrupt. I still use mine all the time, but the original company went away.

Back in the day you called a repairman.

That guy’s time is worth probably $30/hour, so if you want to use up his 8 hour day you’d better be willing to pay $240, plus parts, plus the gas money of driving his truck to your home, plus the cost of keeping those parts on hand and the truck available.

Or if it’s something he knows is only a half day job, then he can book something else so that he only really needs to charge you $120.

Now that a lot of these appliances are like $500, it’s pretty hard to justify the cost of professional repair.

50 years ago, when the price of an appliance was something like 50 hours of a repairman’s hourly wage, it made a lot of sense for most issues to be fixed by a professional. Now that these appliances are worth like 15-20 worker hours, it’s much harder to justify.

It’s also a point of friction in the Sopranos episode “Rat Pack,” at the funeral of Carmine Sr., with an Opus Dei rosary used by Johnny Sack to convey to Carmine Jr. (while they were maneuvering for succession) that he didn’t know his dad as well as he thought he did. Opus Dei’s background as a secretive organization is part of the tone of that interaction.

The cardinality of this infinite board is the same as a board with infinite number of rows, though, so same same.

Yup, gardeners are encouraged to cut off the tops of basil so that it doesn’t flower (and then it doesn’t turn woody).

And don’t believe the old wives tale that the Van Allen Belt will prevent transmission.

Lemme tell you about Gambia’s relationship with Senegal

Most of the stuff in this thread

We probably need to talk about what one’s definition of “rich” is. I suspect the commenters in this thread are all over the place.

When I was growing up, my idea of rich was private schools and McMansions and overseas vacations and new BMWs for 16th birthdays, basically the kind of lifestyle accessible to only the top 5%.

But now, 20+ years later, I’ve been around 0.1%ers, desensitized to upper middle class stuff that the things I used to believe were signifiers of wealth barely register for me anymore. I’ve also been around descendants of former 0.1%ers who carry some cultural baggage from their families despite having “only” ordinary upper middle class income.

I read this thread and wonder where each commenter sits in how they evaluate richness.

I assume in your city, $4/month/sq ft isn’t considered “crazy expensive,” though. In a place like San Francisco or New York, a $2000/month apartment that is 500 square feet wouldn’t register as anything notable.

If it’s not considered “crazy expensive,” people wouldn’t assume you’re crazy rich just by living there.

There are all sorts of filters:

• Expensive clubs. Members only associations like country clubs can skew towards the ultra rich. Yacht clubs and polo clubs are kinda an extreme version of this, but there are all sorts of organizations where the membership can be assumed to be rich.
• Expensive hobbies. Wine tasting, skiing, golfing, boating, horse stuff, biking, and traveling/vacations can range from the slightly expensive to prices that only the ultra rich can afford.
• Related to both of the above, expensive places. If you’re skiing in an expensive resort town, and hanging out in the lobby of a $2000/night hotel, you’ll probably only see employees of these places or other very rich people. Some have even layers beyond that, like an exclusive members only club in an expensive area, or a separate lounge for only people lodging in the most expensive rooms in the hotel. Or if you’re at a private jet airport, and weather causes delays and cancellations, standing around in the terminal might allow you to mingle with other private jet people. Or if you live in a crazy expensive neighborhood or building, your neighbors are pretty much guaranteed to be rich.
• Third party verification. Networking, introduction by mutual friends/acquaintances, even social media or dating apps where you have to prove your status/wealth.

It’s not all or nothing, either. Some places have a disproportionately high number of rich people but aren’t necessarily exclusive to the rich (private schools, certain types of clubs, certain types of activities/hobbies, public parks/restaurants/libraries/museums in rich areas). So a lot of rich people do mingle with the middle class, but often will feel comfortable letting their guard down more or less in particular places or in particular groups.