Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[talksthetorque]

kowalski655 said:

Even worse with houses marketed at £749,950!
As if 50 quid will make any difference

Especially as Rightmove (where 80% of internet traffic to agents comes from) search from multiples of 100k/25k/10k
The749,950 house will show up in 700-750k searches but get missed in 750-800k searches, whereas the 750k house will show in both.

[tumble dryer]

In days of yore prices were rounded down to just below below the pound/shilling mark, not as was commonly believed to make the price appear cheaper, but to ensure that the customer waited for their change. This ensured that the transaction went through the till, and wasn't pocketed, while the customer waited for their change.

I can hear you thinking 'No Way'.


Way.

[Silent1]

mrtwisty said:

Borroxs said:

Does anyone actually make a donation to Wikipedia when they need to check so facts?

Have you?

Yes, several times.

" 'The sum of all human knowledge' in a format which is legal to copy, modify and redistribute to all, at no cost". Quite a laudable and important mission statement I think.

No because the amount they raise each year is more than enough to run Wikipedia for decades and so now they're spending millions on bullst like $2 million to find a guiding mission statement (or something along those lines)

Here's a good explainer: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/19/jimmy_wale...

And here's a brilliant write up by an ex Wikipedian who worked with them:
https://www.quora.com/What-happens-if-Wikipedia-fa...

Edited by Silent1 on Saturday 31st December 11:59

[ambuletz]

Why does compression ratio matter as a piece of information from a vehicles engines? watching a bike review video and they mention the usual torque, hp etc. but also mention 9:1 compression ratio. also some engines have 3 ratios? i.e 8:1:3 or something (i made that up)

[ATTAK Z]

ambuletz said:

Why does compression ratio matter as a piece of information from a vehicles engines? watching a bike review video and they mention the usual torque, hp etc. but also mention 9:1 compression ratio. also some engines have 3 ratios? i.e 8:1:3 or something (i made that up)

Higher compression ratios run on higher octane fuel ... I think

[Silent1]

ATTAK Z said:

ambuletz said:

Why does compression ratio matter as a piece of information from a vehicles engines? watching a bike review video and they mention the usual torque, hp etc. but also mention 9:1 compression ratio. also some engines have 3 ratios? i.e 8:1:3 or something (i made that up)

Higher compression ratios run on higher octane fuel ... I think

Higher compression ratios extract more power from the same volume of fuel but also increase the risk of detonating n (I think)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_ratio

[oceanview]

Now it has become popular to upgrade halogen bulbs with LED- interior, number plate bulbs, boot- how come you're not supposed to use them on the road when replacing your sidelights??

Seeing as most new cars have really bright DRLS' and powerful headlights, why is it deemed unacceptable to put LED in place of the weak, dull halogen sidelight bulbs??

I can understand it if some kids are using blue, pink etc like you do see around but, the white LED bulbs are a safety upgrade if anything and aren't blinding so I don't see (no pun intended) the problem?!!

[George29]

Who decided that the 1st of January is the starting point for a new year? Since we're are just starting another orbit around the sun, why couldn't it have been another month? I can't imagine there's an official start point?

[xjay1337]

oceanview said:

Now it has become popular to upgrade halogen bulbs with LED- interior, number plate bulbs, boot- how come you're not supposed to use them on the road when replacing your sidelights??

Seeing as most new cars have really bright DRLS' and powerful headlights, why is it deemed unacceptable to put LED in place of the weak, dull halogen sidelight bulbs??

I can understand it if some kids are using blue, pink etc like you do see around but, the white LED bulbs are a safety upgrade if anything and aren't blinding so I don't see (no pun intended) the problem?!!

That's never not been acceptable?
For headlight bulbs they would often blind and are actually poor unless you get expensive oem types but sidelights are no issues..

[torqueofthedevil]

George29 said:

Who decided that the 1st of January is the starting point for a new year? Since we're are just starting another orbit around the sun, why couldn't it have been another month? I can't imagine there's an official start point?

Julius Caesar.

The god Janus (January) was the god of beginnings and new gateways.

[TheLordJohn]

torqueofthedevil said:

Julius Caesar.

The god Janus (January) was the god of beginnings and new gateways.

Very interesting, thank you.

[Dr Jekyll]

torqueofthedevil said:

George29 said:

Who decided that the 1st of January is the starting point for a new year? Since we're are just starting another orbit around the sun, why couldn't it have been another month? I can't imagine there's an official start point?

Julius Caesar.

The god Janus (January) was the god of beginnings and new gateways.

But until 1752 the new year in England (and I think Wales) started March 25th, presumably something to do with the agricultural year roughly running from Spring to the end of winter, accountants would probably still prefer it. I always assumed the attraction of Jan 1st was something to do with winter solstice.

[227bhp]

ambuletz said:

Why does compression ratio matter as a piece of information from a vehicles engines? watching a bike review video and they mention the usual torque, hp etc. but also mention 9:1 compression ratio. also some engines have 3 ratios? i.e 8:1:3 or something (i made that up)

It's just part of the spec of the engine like anything else on the list.

The higher the static CR the higher the effiency of the engine (more power/torque per litre) and less harmful emissions.

You've probably misread the other bit, it's possibly something like 9.5:1 ie not 9, not 10, but 9.5 to 1.

As engine designers have become cleverer over the years static CR has gone up on petrol engines, it has actually come down on diesels as they realise that it creates less harmful (NOX) emissions.
Diesels have always had the fuel injected directly into the cylinder and utilised a very specific (odd) shaped piston, lately petrol engines have started doing the same - the gap between the two has narrowed significantly.

[mrtwisty]

Silent1 said:

No because the amount they raise each year is more than enough to run Wikipedia for decades and so now they're spending millions on bullst like $2 million to find a guiding mission statement (or something along those lines)

Here's a good explainer: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/19/jimmy_wale...

And here's a brilliant write up by an ex Wikipedian who worked with them:
https://www.quora.com/What-happens-if-Wikipedia-fa...

Edited by Silent1 on Saturday 31st December 11:59

Interesting opinions there, but I don't see anything that would stop me spending my whopping £2 donation next December.

Their core issue against fundraising seems to be that the 'wikipedians' aren't paid - but that would fundamentally upset the balance of power and increase the potential for bias, as would the introduction of advertising (which would eventually become necessary if funds weren't raised by voluntary subscription).

[227bhp]

Dr Jekyll said:

torqueofthedevil said:

George29 said:

Who decided that the 1st of January is the starting point for a new year? Since we're are just starting another orbit around the sun, why couldn't it have been another month? I can't imagine there's an official start point?

Julius Caesar.

The god Janus (January) was the god of beginnings and new gateways.

But until 1752 the new year in England (and I think Wales) started March 25th, presumably something to do with the agricultural year roughly running from Spring to the end of winter, accountants would probably still prefer it. I always assumed the attraction of Jan 1st was something to do with winter solstice.

But the Winter solstice isn't geographically fixed, the shortest day depends on where you are.
Then consider Chinese NY, this is floating because it's based on the Lunar calendar, like our Easter....

Edited by 227bhp on Sunday 1st January 11:32

[Dr Jekyll]

227bhp said:

But the Winter solstice isn't geographically fixed, the shortest day depends on where you are.

I agree, but it's roughly around that date (in the Northern hemisphere), making it an obvious time for some kind of celebration.

[oceanview]

xjay1337 said:

oceanview said:

Now it has become popular to upgrade halogen bulbs with LED- interior, number plate bulbs, boot- how come you're not supposed to use them on the road when replacing your sidelights??

Seeing as most new cars have really bright DRLS' and powerful headlights, why is it deemed unacceptable to put LED in place of the weak, dull halogen sidelight bulbs??

I can understand it if some kids are using blue, pink etc like you do see around but, the white LED bulbs are a safety upgrade if anything and aren't blinding so I don't see (no pun intended) the problem?!!

That's never not been acceptable?
For headlight bulbs they would often blind and are actually poor unless you get expensive oem types but sidelights are no issues..

Thats what I thought- until I saw on the box that they're for interior or off-road use only. These were Halfords items but even some of the cheap LED bulbs on the bay have this notice with them.

[Bandit110]

Am I right in thinking that a year and also a day are the only 'naturally' timed forms of time measurement? I.e, a year= 1 orbit around the sun and a day = 1 full spin of the earth and that everything else, seconds, minutes, months are made up by man?

[glazbagun]

Bandit110 said:

Am I right in thinking that a year and also a day are the only 'naturally' timed forms of time measurement? I.e, a year= 1 orbit around the sun and a day = 1 full spin of the earth and that everything else, seconds, minutes, months are made up by man?

All the rest are man made divisions of a day, but a day as we and the animals know it is a solar day which is just under 361* of rotation.

A true 360* day is called a sideral day, which only astronomers and owners of expensive clocks and watches know about.

But that said, it's still just man counting something. The current definition of a second is:

"the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom"

And everything else is a multiple of that, which is no more or less natural than waiting for the sun to be overhead.

Edited by glazbagun on Sunday 1st January 12:39

[ncbbmw]

P-Jay said:

Further to the above, have any PHer spotted any cash-free retailers yet? I'm sure I read about, or saw a story about a few on TV a while back, but I haven't seen one myself.

They can't be far off now?

I work in a car dealership and as a general rule we haven't took cash for 2 years only card payment. It was introduced to reduce costs and now we no longer have any onsite accounts staff.

95% of the time its fine but if the customer has no other way to pay we will take cash for parts or service repairs up to about £300.00 rather than them not being able to pay.

We do get the odd 'let's be awkward' type who claim not to have cards but magically produce one after a few grumbles.

From a business point of view not taking cash is great, saves a lot of time with banking and cash going missing.