The thread of learning something new every day
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The octothorpe...
... is this symbol: #
Apparently the abbreviation for the Latin words for pound weight, libra pondo, or lb (that's also something I learned today) got more and more stylised and became #.
Thus being called "the pound symbol" sometimes.
AT&T added it to it's phone keyboard because ... ummm ... they could ... and then it needed a name which some peeps and Bell Labs took upon themselves to make up and invented "octotherp", which became "Octothorpe".
And this is a shebang: #!
And the tweet that took me down this rabbit hole:
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@booboo said in The thread of learning something new every day:
The octothorpe...
... is this symbol: #
Apparently the abbreviation for the Latin words for pound weight, libra pondo, or lb (that's also something I learned today) got more and more stylised and became #.
Thus being called "the pound symbol" sometimes.
AT&T added it to it's phone keyboard because ... ummm ... they could ... and then it needed a name which some peeps and Bell Labs took upon themselves to make up and invented "octotherp", which became "Octothorpe".
And this is a shebang: #!
And the tweet that took me down this rabbit hole:
Yeah - us nerds know the shebang. First line of every shell script... just good practice.
I suspect we called it that, because we're never going to experience another " she - bang ".
Fuck, that joke's a stretch.
A root. Nerds never get a root. -
Today I learned that Kevlar was discovered after trying to create lighter materials for tyres anticipating gas shortages.
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@taniwharugby said in The thread of learning something new every day:
Today I learned that Kevlar was discovered after trying to create lighter materials for tyres anticipating gas shortages.
So the Arabs in the 70s caused the Americans to develop kevlar which they then wore when they invaded in the 2000s.
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been on a school camp with Miss TR the past few days, and one place we went, was Rupekapeka, a place I had visited several times before, however this time, we had a guide (Albert Cash is his name if the opportunity ever arises)
He was fantastic, his ancestors fought the in the final battle, and his re-telling of the story that he said had been passed through the generations was superb! THe context he gave it and the surrounding hills and tribes, fantastic (were several other classes that went there today, and there were 2 guides and those who had the same one as us thought he was awesome too)
He also said he has heard the stories from other Maori (on both sides of the battle) and they all have thier own flavour as they have been re-told over the years.
Picked up plenty of new bits from him too.
Also went to Waitangi today and saw the new Te Rau Aroha Museum (opened last year) that focuses mainly on the Māori commitment to the armed forces and Maori Battalion in WW2, was also good.
Having a guide adds so much to the visits!
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Was going to put this in the "Memes" thread but would likely get told off by @R-L (again) - maybe that could be a good thing... hmmm.
Anyway:
"Richard Dawkins turned 80 this week! Dawkins is famous for many things, not least of which is coining the term meme to represent the cultural equivalent of a gene. He argued that Darwinian principles could be extended beyond biological organisms: just like the strongest genes become widespread, so too do the strongest memes become widespread."
Always liked Dawkins stuff. Did not know that the "meme" was his term.
Like this description of him:
" Richard Dawkins FRS FRSL (born 26 March 1941)[24] is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, atheist thinker, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008."Professor for public understanding of science - good luck with that. Love it.
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@machpants said in The thread of learning something new every day:
@bones said in The thread of learning something new every day:
Once you start clapping, you never stop. The time inbetween claps just becomes longer.
Until you're dead, obviously
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I found out about a festival in Mali, where the townsfolk get water form the river and make a big old pile of mud, and then repair the cracks on the Great Mosque of Djenne, which is made of mud.
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@taniwharugby working bees are now called festivals. Something to keep in mind for the local club.
