Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 6:37:26 PM

9

Little OR’s 5th birthday was today.  A nice day...

/collapses

buzzsawmonkey 7/22/2020 6:46:35 PM

10

Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

As they say at Amazon, "many happy returns."

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 6:54:38 PM

11

Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

Happy Birthday to little OR. May be dream of dinosaurs!

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 6:55:17 PM

12

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:01:32 PM

13

Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 12:

Starts with a kid's birthday and goes on to .... "Teach the children quietly, because someday, sons and daughters will fight where we stood still"......

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 7:09:50 PM

14

In #11 Kosh's Shadow said: May be dream of dinosaurs!

They’re *almost* passé now.    Chemistry, astronomy, and anatomy are the new hotness.

doppelganglander 7/22/2020 7:10:12 PM

15

Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

He shares a birthday with Prince George and my close personal friend Alex Trebek.

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:18:30 PM

16

In #14 Occasional Reader said: They’re *almost* passé now.    Chemistry, astronomy, and anatomy are the new hotness.

In 10 years, it will be female anatomy.

Not high energy physics? I'm disappointed!

Although I had a great summer job doing software for astronomy. (Everyone there told me not to go into astronomy; no jobs. By the time I left grad school, that had changed)

I wrote software to plot data from the Uhuru x ray satellite, for Dr. Herbert Gursky

Uhuru satellite

Dr. Gursky

For added weirdness, I had somehow come up with something close to Gursky's name before I knew of the job

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 7:23:33 PM

17

In #16 Kosh's Shadow said: Not high energy physics? I'm disappointed!

FWIW, he asked me today “what’s smaller than a quark?”.

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 7:23:59 PM

18

Reply to doppelganglander in 15:

yep!

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 7:24:24 PM

19

Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 10:

+++

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:25:33 PM

20

Finally spent my stimulus money - not on toilet paper

But replacing an almost 4 year old computer that is having problems.

(I need a minimum i7 processor, 16 GB, 512 GB SSD, but would prefer 1-2 TB - software development takes a heavy-duty system)

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:26:01 PM

21

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:30:52 PM

22

In #17 Occasional Reader said: FWIW, he asked me today “what’s smaller than a quark?”.

So far, electrons and other leptons (muons, tau) have no measurable size.  But I'm not sure whether quarks have a size,either. We are getting into one of the most successful theories, quantum electrodynamics. (A toast! Three quarks for Master Mark!)

When you get to that size scale, you find that the actual particle is almost hidden behind an infinite number of virtual particles, that snap into and out of existence.

The mass of an electron, the bare mass in quantum electrodynamics, is 0, and the charge is infinite, but the virtual particles make both finite.

This is how physicists handle infinities, and it drives mathematicians nuts.

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:40:39 PM

23

OR, I will be glad to answer any questions little OR has on science. No pressure. You can ask me, and I will reply.

As he gets older, a subscription to Science News and Scientific American would be useful. I think Science News has a kid's version, too.

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 7:42:45 PM

24

Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 23:

Thanks.

He does also have an “uncle“ who is a high energy particle physicist, so that helps.

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:47:54 PM

25

In #24 Occasional Reader said: Thanks. He does also have an “uncle“ who is a high energy particle physicist, so that helps.

You;re welcome, and that is great, as I left academia because I realized I'd get nowhere in it. I saw my group's postdoc passed over for a new faculty member, and other things that made me decide academia sucks. 

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 7:51:27 PM

26

In #25 Kosh's Shadow said: academia sucks. 

And then the Obummer administration turned my part-time teaching retirement plan into trash. The school changed from having faculty that actually did use the material they were teaching into another typical BS place. 

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 5:06:29 PM

1

In #8 buzzsawmonkey said: Of course, if Kosh is in charge, his penchant for HP Lovecraft will ensure that they are Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li! Mockingbirds.

Drink those and you'll see pink shoggoths.

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 7:53:40 PM

27

I think I have just hit upon which should be the campaign theme for Trump for this election:

DESTROY... ALL... MONSTERS

Because this country truly does seem to be under attack from an astonishing variety of monsters.

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 8:16:11 PM

28

In #27 Occasional Reader said: DESTROY... ALL... MONSTERS Because this country truly does seem to be under attack from an astonishing variety of monsters.

How long before we have a "Monster Lives Matter" movement, with Cookie Monster in the forefront?

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 5:09:38 PM

2

On Twitter flagging the Star of David as a hate symbol, the updated article (link) has an update

Take it with a grain of Kosher salt (a large grain). I think the outcry caused them to relent, somewhat

The Twitter Public Policy account responded to complaints in a string of tweets on Wednesday.

We want to clarify some questions about hateful imagery on Twitter. We categorically do not consider the Star of David as a hateful symbol or hateful image. We have for some time seen the 'yellow star' or ‘yellow badge’ symbol being used by those seeking to target Jewish people.

— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) July 22, 2020

"We want to clarify some questions about hateful imagery on Twitter. We categorically do not consider the Star of David as a hateful symbol or hateful image. We have for some time seen the 'yellow star' or ‘yellow badge’ symbol being used by those seeking to target Jewish people," the company wrote. "This is a violation of the Twitter Rules, and our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits the promotion of violence against - or threats of attack towards - people on the basis of categories such as religious affiliation, race and ethnic origin."

"While the majority of cases were correctly actioned, some accounts highlighted recently were mistakes and have now been restored.
We're grateful to @antisemitism @ADL @CST_UK and others for bringing this to our attention and for their partnership in tackling antisemitism."

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 8:25:58 PM

29

Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 28:

Heh.  

King Ghidorah was a gentle giant, who was turning his life around...

buzzsawmonkey 7/22/2020 5:22:57 PM

3

Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 2:

Sounds like a craven backtrack to me.

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 5:30:04 PM

4

Pink shoggoths, pink elephants....

Baby elephants. I loved this song when I was very young and had didn't know how bad the band was

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 8:30:59 PM

30

In #29 Occasional Reader said:

Around here, there is a moving company called "Gentle Giant". I see their trucks often.

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 5:30:05 PM

5

Pink shoggoths, pink elephants....

Baby elephants. I loved this song when I was very young and had didn't know how bad the band was

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 8:31:56 PM

31

Monster Lives Matter will not burn things down. Frankenstein says "FIRE BAD"

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 5:30:36 PM

6

In #3 buzzsawmonkey said: Sounds like a craven backtrack to me.

Same here

Occasional Reader 7/22/2020 8:39:53 PM

32

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 8:56:33 PM

33

In #32 Occasional Reader said: Good night.

And may G-d bless
.(Red Skelton)

Kosh's Shadow 7/22/2020 5:30:59 PM

7

In #6 Kosh's Shadow said: n #3 buzzsawmonkey said: Sounds like a craven backtrack to me. Same here

But what do you expect from a bunch of twits?

buzzsawmonkey 7/22/2020 6:09:41 PM

8

Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 7:

I would love to see Jack Dorsey's beard set on fire.