Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]
Discussion
Einion Yrth said:
john2443 said:
When YouTube opens with an advert that has the thing to click so you can close the advert in 5,4,3,2,1 seconds, why don't the advertisers out heir name in big letter in the first 5 seconds, loads of them I've left before knowing what they're advertising.
Is it clever psychology to make you keep watching just to find out who's advertising?
Get an ad-blocker?Is it clever psychology to make you keep watching just to find out who's advertising?
Advertising has changed, they're well aware we all ignore them so, now instead of trying to say "Surf, it gets your pants clean make them smell nice" they attempt to entertain us or entice us with some mystery or other - say a video starts with a man in a scuzzy looking unground car park looking like he's up to something - you watch it because you've seen enough films to know that that setting usually leads to flashy violence or action he looks left, he looks right it's all very sinister - finally he gets into his car and lets out a sigh of relief and you see him driving off showing off the back of his jag and perhaps a little growl from the engine - the heading says "the new Jag XE - f
king nails" The message comes at the end now, when the viewer is already engaged. Most people still have their cursor hovering over the skip button, but a few with get drawn into it.
P-Jay said:
Einion Yrth said:
john2443 said:
When YouTube opens with an advert that has the thing to click so you can close the advert in 5,4,3,2,1 seconds, why don't the advertisers out heir name in big letter in the first 5 seconds, loads of them I've left before knowing what they're advertising.
Is it clever psychology to make you keep watching just to find out who's advertising?
Get an ad-blocker?Is it clever psychology to make you keep watching just to find out who's advertising?
^^ all an ad on YouTube does is pause the video whilst it runs the script for showing the ad video. The blocker simply stops said script.
Anyway, a question from me. Why, when police cars and ambulances have the same rising/falling constant tone siren, do fire engines have a completely different alternating 2 tone siren?
Anyway, a question from me. Why, when police cars and ambulances have the same rising/falling constant tone siren, do fire engines have a completely different alternating 2 tone siren?
ChemicalChaos said:
Anyway, a question from me. Why, when police cars and ambulances have the same rising/falling constant tone siren, do fire engines have a completely different alternating 2 tone siren?
Premise incorrect. Not all police cars & ambulances have the same sirens. However, if they are tending towards the same thing it'll be because of overarching standards and management in the form of Home Office and NHS/Dept. for Health.Fire authorities have no centralised body and always do their own thing anyway - it's just one of the reasons that shared control rooms don't work.
Edited by marshalla on Friday 24th April 15:43
Zelda Pinwheel said:
Today, for reasons completely mystifying, it is the 1906 hymn "To Be a Pilgrim" by John Bunyan.
I get that one sometimes, though in my case the last time I heard it was singing it in school assembly around 40 years ago!My theory (based purely in the "I reckon" school of philosophy and with no demonstrable basis whatsoever) is that certain tunes or sequences of notes somehow tie into the way our brain processes information and so are more memorable, like an identification of an already existing internal pattern.
The ideal chanson du jour is one that you only know part of one verse, so you don't get to work your way through the entire song, just the few lines you know. Over and over. Then you make an effort of will to think about something else, perhaps another tune, only to find a few minutes later you are at it again.
I had one a couple of days ago, no words, just a snatch of an electronic sound from Dogs of War (the live version).
I had one a couple of days ago, no words, just a snatch of an electronic sound from Dogs of War (the live version).
Jandywa said:
Why the car tax reminder i received through the post states that 12 months costs £285, yet when i went online to actually pay for it, it said £290. Not a huge amount of money but i can't see any reason for the discrepancy. so i am naturally pissed off.
I think they charge £5 for monthly payment and it defaults to that online now. Or something?
Jandywa said:
Why the car tax reminder i received through the post states that 12 months costs £285, yet when i went online to actually pay for it, it said £290. Not a huge amount of money but i can't see any reason for the discrepancy. so i am naturally pissed off.
Has the rate gone up since they posted the reminder? You'd have got it cheaper buying it earlier if that's the case.DickyC said:
Bank notes have the words "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five pounds" (or ten pounds, twenty pounds or fifty pounds).
What happens when you go to the Bank of England and ask for them to honour the promise and give you value of your notes?
Probably nothing, but what's to stop you walking into a jeweller and requesting that they swap it for five pounds worth of gold?What happens when you go to the Bank of England and ask for them to honour the promise and give you value of your notes?
Wouldn't you know it? I've wondered that for years and all I had to do was ask the Bank of England or, rather, look on their FAQ.
Exchanging notes with the Bank of England
What is the Bank’s “Promise to Pay”?
The words "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five [ten/twenty/fifty] pounds" date from long ago when our notes represented deposits of gold. At that time, a member of the public could exchange one of our banknotes for gold to the same value. For example, a £5 note could be exchanged for five gold coins, called sovereigns. But the value of the pound has not been linked to gold for many years, so the meaning of the promise to pay has changed. Exchange into gold is no longer possible and Bank of England notes can only be exchanged for other Bank of England notes of the same face value. Public trust in the pound is now maintained by the operation of monetary policy, the objective of which is price stability.
They don't actually say, so I may have to try it.
Exchanging notes with the Bank of England
What is the Bank’s “Promise to Pay”?
The words "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five [ten/twenty/fifty] pounds" date from long ago when our notes represented deposits of gold. At that time, a member of the public could exchange one of our banknotes for gold to the same value. For example, a £5 note could be exchanged for five gold coins, called sovereigns. But the value of the pound has not been linked to gold for many years, so the meaning of the promise to pay has changed. Exchange into gold is no longer possible and Bank of England notes can only be exchanged for other Bank of England notes of the same face value. Public trust in the pound is now maintained by the operation of monetary policy, the objective of which is price stability.
They don't actually say, so I may have to try it.
DickyC said:
They don't actually say, so I may have to try it.
What?? They do say - right there where you quoted it!"Exchange into gold is no longer possible and Bank of England notes can only be exchanged for other Bank of England notes of the same face value."
I suppose they might give you five gold-ish coins in exchange for a fiver.
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