Post something you think people should know

[jgraz]

Raven just posted in GD:P complaining that she doesn't learn anything here anymore.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4865226&mesg_id=4865226


Let's help her out with a few interesting fun facts.

[DarkTirade]

1. The little plastic tips on shoelaces are called aglets.

And their purpose is sinister.

[Forkboy]

2. Butterfies taste with their feet.

[Mike03]

3. Here's One: It's time to stop spending,

unless you are a billionaire or multi-multi-millionaire.

We are entering into economic and social disaster.

Another thing to learn is that we should have been spending the last two decades stocking up on things that we need, like clothing, medical and emergency supplies. And that the past two years or more, we should have been stocking up on food and water.

[malta blue]

4. Fleas can jump 130 times higher than their own height

In human terms this is equal to a 6ft. person jumping 780 ft. into the air.

[Archae]

5. Those lines under your nose?

It's called a "filtrum."

[av8rdave]

70. Douglas Adams called them "Des Moines"

He did a hilarous book in the late 80s/early 90s called "The Deeper Meaning of Liff" The book is a dictionary, where he took real place names from around the world and gave them definitions. I wish I had a copy...it was funny as hell. A few of the ones I actually remember:

Chicago: The foul smelling air that precedes a subway train

Ranfurly: The thin part of a necktie that hangs below the wider portion when the tie is knotted improperly

Scurlidge: The duckweb of snot you wind up with when sneezing into your hand

Laxobigging: The struggle to extrude a particularly large turd

ANyway, it was an entire book of those. Some were hilarious!

[Raven]

6. No, no, no, no!!! You IDIOT!!!!! (Don't I sound like someone on GD-P!)

It's NOT GD it's GD-P....get it RIGHT or get the hell OFF!!!!! How am I doing? So, you think I have a sense of HUMOR????? GODDAMNIT!!! NO WAY. And another thing...this is NOT supposed to be FUN.

[Dr. Strange]

7. Nonvanishing of the Wronskian guarantees linear indepence.

That's the state motto of Alaska.

[Raven]

8. How dare you post this without a link!!!! I don't trust you!

[Dr. Strange]

14. From the Wiki

The Wronskian can be used to determine whether a set of differentiable functions is linearly independent on a given interval:

* If the Wronskian is non-zero at some point in an interval, then the associated functions are linearly independent on the interval.

This is useful in many situations. For example, if we wish to verify that two solutions of a second-order differential equation are independent, we may use the Wronskian. Note that if the Wronskian is uniformly zero over the interval, the functions may or may not be linearly independent. A common misconception is that W = 0 everywhere implies linear dependence; the third example below shows that this is not true.

This is generally accepted by all civilized people, with the possible exception of certain Appalachian communities, creationists, and Raven.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wronskian

[Bucky]

9. If you unravel your intestines and straighten them out in a continuous line

... you die.

[Dave_Fl_50]

18. No. My Dr actually did that with mine. Colon surgery for diverticulitis

They call it excorporalizing your colon. Then they check for problems by feel.

What TMI?

[stuntcat]

36. I'm glad you've lived to tell of it!

All that matters is surviving and paying the doc's bills :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Dave_Fl_50]

57. The good old days of a top PPO. $100 for a week in the hospital

and sugery done by a specialist who did his internship and a surgical fellowship at the Mayo CLinic. He's my hereo. Incredably talented and a great guy. While was in his office waiting to have my staples out I had to wait while he was on the phone to an elderly woman who was worried about her surgery and I heard the whole conversation. He's the second person I've met who combined real brilliance with amazing warmth.

[Bucky]

80. Good Gravy, are you serious? That kinda money will barely get you an office visit.

[Dave_Fl_50]

86. That's what I paid. $100. We don't have that option anymore

It was United Healthcare PPO. Now we only get BCBS

[Robb]

10. The Wikipedia entry for "cargo cult" is a great read

...I learned that here today. :D

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing!

try it

[jgraz]

12. I don't believe you.

:P

[lost-in-nj]

13. nnooooooooooo !!!!!!!!

do not converse with the enemy!!!!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7530633




lost

[Bucky]

83. It's the second longest actually

Skepticisms is only 11 letters long. The longest word you get from alternating hands to type is Slakfjapslemvorbildudnagor, the name of my +4 vorpal dragon. God bless ya, Gary Gygax!

[KitchenWitch]

15. The little dots on dice are called pips

[Dave_Fl_50]

16. Dogs can develop an understanding of up to 165 words and

I watch too much Natural Geographic TV

[BarenakedLady]

17. Fox calls

are eerie and sound like babies screaming.

[Swede]

19. There really is no dark side of the moon.

[Ikonoklast]

26. 'Matter of , it's all dark...."

Eclipse
(Waters) 2:04

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

"There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark."

[Dave_Fl_50]

40. And another thing. Roger Waters did the music for the kids movie

"The Last Mimzie" and a version of that was in the film.

[jgraz]

20. Budgies are considered the third-smartest parrot behind African Greys and Cockatoos.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Horseshoe crabs have copper-based blood.

[flvegan]

22. Going vegan and joining a gym can save your life/increase longevity.

My work here is done.

And yeah, I can back that up.

[jgraz]

23. You just won't enjoy it as much

:P

[flvegan]

25. Won't enjoy what?

[jgraz]

27. life ;)

Sorry, dangled that participle a bit too far. It's no good being a smartass if nobody can understand you.

[flvegan]

29. I challenge your statement.

Suggesting that one might not enjoy life as much living as a vegan that frequents a gym?

Participle dangling aside, that's just plain inaccurate I think.

[jgraz]

38. It wasn't meant to be accurate, it was meant to be snarky

The two rarely overlap.

BTW, I totally agree with you on the gym thing. I don't have any experience on being a vegan, but I'm guessing you're right up to a point.

[flvegan]

47. For the record

I am a vegan, and I have multiple certifications in the realm of personal training AND sports nutrition.

3 to be exact.

[jgraz]

53. look out -- I may have to hire you ;)

Gotta get my frickin ankle rehabbed and get back to racquetball.

I'm still not giving up my once-a-month grass-fed organic humanely-raised steak. :P

[lost-in-nj]

72. ...

all up in your house?!?!?!?


ALL THREE????


:scared:

lost






:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[rakeeb]

56. the vegan at my gym seems angry all the time....

mostly about other people not being vegans and taking up too much time on some machines, and about the lack of vegan products at the counter. (Personally I work out at a gym and buy food at a Trader Joes, that's just how I roll).

[flvegan]

60. And?

I know this one white guy at my gym that acts like a total asshole, dropping weights, making noise, being a shit.

He's not a vegan, though. He's just an asshole.

[stuntcat]

28. Meat eaters are two and a half times more likely to get bowel cancer than Vegetarians

that's GOOD TIMES right there ;)

[Swede]

31. Those vegetarians sure do die healthy.

[flvegan]

32. Meat eaters are also more likely to suffer from impotence.

Talk about good times, eh?

[Dave_Fl_50]

34. See my post abouve about my colon surgery. That'll keep u off meat for a while

[jgraz]

39. I wonder what the rate is for people who only eat organic meat

Esp compared to vegetarians who eat commercial produce. :shrug:

[Dave_Fl_50]

42. Naw it's all in the fiber. Or lack of fiber in meat

[flvegan]

50. Check the science.

Organic only goes so far.

Regardless, those that only eat meat raised organically do much better than those eating factory farmed meat.

If one is going to eat meat, eat local, eat organic, eat vegetarian fed.

That's it, that's all.

[stuntcat]

52. processed stuff!

processed anything's just bound to be bad I bet.
I got no facts to post about this, it's just what I've gleaned from reading about factories too much lately :scared:

[Dave_Fl_50]

24. I'm banking on it

[flvegan]

37. I see that.

Two things:

Welcome to DU.

I'll buy you a star if you'll visit us in the veg*n group here on DU.

[Dave_Fl_50]

45. That would be deceptive. I'm not really vegetarian. I eat a tiny

bit of cow meat, a lot of fish and some chicken and turkey. I just know it's not good for me. Less and less of it as time goes on though.

[flvegan]

49. No it wouldn't be.

No deception there. I applaud any diminishing of the eating of animals.

I don't do labels so much.

[Tikki]

30. You should never approach your car without....

glancing under the car and, also, never open the car door
without looking at the back seat and floorboards.


Every time you clean your jewelry be sure to check for weak or broken clasps or prongs.


Tikki

[Dave_Fl_50]

33. Bunnies eat their own poop. They have no choice. Their digestive

system is really poor.

That's one I learned from a program about how stupid the theory of intelligent design is. I wish they played Trivial Pursuit in Las Vegas

[Amerigo Vespucci]

44. So do certain members of the Bush family, like Neil. And Jeb. They have no choice either.

I read it somewhere once.

I'll see if I can find the link.

:rofl:

[Hand]

58. WRONG!!!!!

That entire supposition--and the conclusion--were completely wrong. Much as I hate to disagree with Stephen Jay Gould, who I believe used this example a lot, it is...

Rabbits do not eat their own poop (feces). Further, their digestive system is not poor at all--in fact, it's remarkably efficient at extracting the maximum nutrition from a poor diet.

They have an organ called the cecum, which concentrates nutrients from their food--mostly grass--into a vitamin-rich substance called cecal pellets. These cecal pellets--as distinct from the fecal pellets (poops), then travel directly to the anus, where they are consumed. If you observe a bunny, you'll note that occasionally they'll stick their head between their legs and come up munching. They're consuming the cecals, which are actually very rich and sustaining. It's somewhat analogous to cows chewing their cud.

BTW, it's not hard to tell the difference between bunny fecals, which are jolly little odorless, dry, round things that make excellent fertilizer, and cecals, which are soft, squishy, and STINK! I assume that bunnies know when to go for the cecals from the odor.

And that's how this very efficient digestive system enables bunnies to thrive on an extremely austere diet.

This doesn't imply that intelligent design isn't completely stupid, of course--it's just that bunnies are the wrong example. Now, pandas, on the other hand, really do have a horribly inefficient digestive system; it's one reason they're endangered.

If you don't believe me, ask my avatar!

[Book Lover]

62. I see there is a fellow bunny lover here

I wrote out a reply mirroring just about every point you made... to see that you did all the hard work already! Thank you for doing it for the bunnies :-)

[Dave_Fl_50]

73. They eat what comes out of their butts. I think your splitting hares here

[geardaddy]

74. ouch

lol :D

[Lil Missy]

35. Never allow your feet to be higher than your ass. It's never a good thing.

And, hair doesn't grow on footballs.

[jgraz]

43. Boy, do you and I have some different life experiences

:evilgrin:

[Lil Missy]

46. LOL!

:spank:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

41. You should never eat anything bigger than your head

It's based on the same premise that cats use their whiskers as "curb feelers" and will never enter an opening more narrow than their whisker span.

Oh, you may very well see something bigger than your head and think "here comes lunch," but trust me.

Just say no.

:rofl:

[Richardo]

48. Garlic powder makes an excellent armadillo repellent.

sprinkle it around your property to keep them out of the yard, and from annoying the dogs.

[otherlander]

51. LSD was invented by the government

for the purpose of driving people insane. It's like the evil cousin of peyote.

[skygazer]

54. Tapeworm larvae are carried by fleas

If your pet has fleas, they are at risk for tapeworm.

Other interesting parasites include roundworms, hookworms and Republicans.

[x-g.o.p.er]

55. Moon's gravity is 1/6th that of earth

So on the moon, I'm not fat!!!

[racaulk]

59. Maine is the only US state that borders exactly one other state.

Maine shares a border with only New Hampshire (and Canada). Every other state borders none (Alaska and Hawaii) or two or more states.

[Zephyrbird]

61. There is a tomato called the Furry Yellow Hog

And I get to grow it this year!

So there!

Zephyr

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

63. The dot on a letter "i" isn't just a dot...

It's called a tittle.

Just thought you'd want to know. ;)

[Dr. Strange]

64. This symbol: *

is called an asterisk.

I love threads with tittles and asterisks.

[unpossibles]

66. nothing like T&A, I always say nt

[meegbear]

65. The call's are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!11!1

[Deep13]

67. America lost the War of 1812.

The Britsh agreed to most of our demands before the war. After, the peace terms were far less generous.

[YankeyMCC]

77. And perhaps more significantly

At least one guard unit from Vermont I believe, activated for Federal service to invade Canada refused to comply with what they saw as an illegal and immoral action and orders...and that was that...they just didn't go and there was nothing more done.

Unfortunately the US managed to provoke enough hostilities that the local guard units eventually felt they had to go to protect/retaliate their border communities.

[Deep13]

81. I heard about that. nt

[av8rdave]

68. You can't "loose" anything. You can, however lose things.

I've been known to lose loose change.

Just playing Grammar Nazi here...

[Richard Steele]

84. Not true. You can "loose" many things.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
Main Entry 2:
loose
Function:
verb
Inflected Form(s):
loosed; loos·ing
Date:
13th century

transitive verb
1 a: to let loose : release
b: to free from restraint

2: to make loose : untie <loose a knot>

3: to cast loose : detach

4: to let fly : discharge

5: to make less rigid, tight, or strict : relax

intransitive verb:
to let fly a missile (as an arrow) : fire

[av8rdave]

85. Right you are....I was referring to the use of the word as in to misplace or be unable to locate

[HERVEPA]

69. They are Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese

Not named after the country

[momophile]

71. Tonga was called the "Friendly Islands" by Captain Cook, however

the Tongans were planning on killing him. they just couldn't agree on a plan.

[One_Life_To_Give]

75. Boys wore dresses prior to WW1

They used to make a big deal about a boy getting his first pair of Britches. Usually around 5-8yrs of age.

[geardaddy]

76. St. Patrick wasn't born in Ireland.

He was born in Roman Britain.

[youthere]

78. If you go to Australia...The dingo will eat your baby.

BAD Dingo.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

79. If you ever miss an airplane flight through no fault of your own (illness, etc.)

you must notify the airline on the day when your flight would have taken place.

If you don't do this, your ticket becomes invalid, and you're out however many hundreds of dollars you've paid.

However, if you tell the airline on the day of the flight, your ticket is still good for 12 months from the date of purchase, although you may have to pay a rebooking fee (unless your airline contact is really, really nice).

This is what I was told when my passport hassles ALMOST prevented me from going to England last summer. I got one of those really, really nice counter agents who rebooked me for free. :-)

[Auggie]

82. Red wine with meat and white wine with fish is B.S.

[skypilot]

87. Maui is moving towards Japan...

...at a rate of about 3 inches per year.

[intaglio]

88. Barnacle Geese wer thought

to hatch from Barnacles

[applegrove]

89. To fight stagflation you have to put the economy into recession.