Ben and I both know how much cash you get from the “Bank Error In Your Favor” card in Monopoly. We don’t know how we can possibly actually know that.
Archive for November, 2006
Trivia
Thursday, November 30th, 2006Paul on compliments
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
Paul: I defer to Joe on that [Japanese language], because he's way awesomer at the language than I am. Joe: No... Paul: Yeah, he's even got the whole cultural thing down where he can't accept a compliment. Joe: No... I got that from you!! Paul: No...
Ben on bus errors
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006As my program walks cheerfully off the end of an array and blows up yet again
Joe, stop taking the lemming approach to memory access
Ryan on difficulty settings
Friday, November 24th, 2006
Starting our inaugural game of Wii Golf <Jeff> Expert!! <Ryan> I would consider no other difficulty.
Dad on conglomerates
Friday, November 24th, 2006
Mom and Dad discuss how Tia Rosa-branded bread is actually made by Sara Lee. <Dad> Who's Thomas'? <Mom> Thomas' is Thomas'. <Dad> Ahh, nothin' is nothin' anymore!
DJ on weekend boundaries
Monday, November 20th, 2006
3:05am <krel> why the heck is everyone else awake? <DJCapelis> because while I'm awake it's still the weekend but the moment I go to sleep it's monday again.
Eric on targetted advertising
Sunday, November 5th, 2006
<eric> you know how sometimes there are pop-up advertisements that know where you are logged on from in the world? » like "Meet hot girls in San Diego" » which now for me say "Meet hot girls in Tokyo" » So if you log in from Vatican City, does it say "Meet barely legal girls in Vatican City TONIGHT!" ?
Mechanics and electromagnetism, together at last in neurobiochemistry
Sunday, November 5th, 2006Potassium, sodium, chlorine, and calcium ions in nerve cells have osmotic and electrostatic forces acting on them. Normally they can’t cross the cell membrane, but when ion channels open they rush into/out of the cell trying to reach osmotic equilibrium, and carrying their charge with them. This changes the cell’s voltage with respect to the environment; this is how the neuron fires.
The tendency of these ions to flow is actually a chemical effect, not an electrical one: osmosis is the primary driver. But the tendency to flow in this way can be quantified and calculated exactly like a voltage difference across very high resistance. Even though the ions want to flow to equalize this so-called voltage differential, ordinarily they can’t.
It’s potential potential, in the fullest physics sense of both words.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love cognitive science.
upd 8 nov: revised first para, sorry for bumping everyone’s rss feeds
Ben on ASL
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
<kelsey> You know how you say "heart" in sign language? <ben> Very quietly?