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

[Jonboy_t]

Dr Jekyll said:

Jonboy_t said:

Dr Jekyll said:

Jonboy_t said:

You see a coat you like for £97 but have no money on you, so you borrow £50 from friend A and £50 from friend B. You buy the coat and have £3 change, so give both friends £1 back each and keep £1 for yourself. Now, you owe them each £49, which is £98 in total. Add to that the £1 you kept for yourself and that makes £99..... So where's the other £1 gone?!?!

The £1 you kept for yourself is included in the £98 you owe, so adding the 98 and the 1 is meaningless.

So I'm £2 down? Dontgeddit

No, you have a coat you paid £97 for, and a £1 coin. On the other hand you owe £98.

To put it another way, you have borrowed £100, then paid £2 back, so you owe £98.

You are Ed Balls AICMFP.

Aha, makes sense now... ed balls? Me? I'm far too clever for that to be true, I'm afraid

[RobinBanks]

The I and I thing in English works because cases are typical of a Germanic language (of which English is one) but not used in modern English although it's bloody easy and obvious if you actually think about it.

[rohrl]

ChemicalChaos said:

Millipede didn't go to a comprehensive though. This 2-kitchened man of the people did, in fact, go to the renowned Haverstock Hill, in Hampstead. This was after attending the same primary school as Boris Johnson, and before his trip to Harvard - that other not-at-all-elitist establishment.

the man is, as usual, a lying hypocrite

I think you're barking up the wrong tree with reference to Haverstock School Matt. When Miliband went there it was Haverstock Comprehensive.

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

Haverstock wasn't full of rich kids who went on to Oxford, it had a very diverse intake. Tulisa Contastavlos (from N-Dubz) is a former pupil, as are footballers John Barnes, Joe Cole and Marlon Harewood.

Here is an article about Haverstock Comp. (as it was) from a contemporary of Ed Miliband which you might find informative.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/oct/07/ed...

[DickyC]

RobinBanks said:

The I and I thing in English works because cases are typical of a Germanic language (of which English is one) but not used in modern English although it's bloody easy and obvious if you actually think about it.

Try it first in the singular was how I was taught.

I went to state school / My brother and I went to state school.

My parents sent me to private school / My parents sent my brother and me to private school.

[scarble]

rohrl said:

I think you're barking up the wrong tree with reference to Haverstock School Matt. When Miliband went there it was Haverstock Comprehensive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haverstock_School
Haverstock wasn't full of rich kids who went on to Oxford, it had a very diverse intake. Tulisa Contastavlos (from N-Dubz) is a former pupil

Nice to see, for once, facts over vitriol, but Tulisa isn't the best example, like many of these "street" pop stars, her background isn't quite so working class as her PR agency makes out.

Contostavlos was born in Camden Town, North London, to an Irish mother, Anne Byrne (who, with her three sisters, was a member of the 1980s band Jeep)[4] and a Greek father, Plato Contostavlos (who was at one time a member of Mungo Jerry);[5] Her paternal grandfather was once a UN diplomat, whose home in Greece was close to that of Aristotle Onassis.[6]
There is controversy over how affluent the family was: "Just how “street” Tulisa’s childhood was is a matter of some dispute. In one interview her father claims that they were affluent, indeed that Tulisa was spoilt, since his own father, a UN diplomat, had a large Hampstead home and a sizeable villa in Greece. These Greek grandparents offered to pay for her to attend a private school, Plato claims, but he declined. Tulisa denies all of this."[7]

[Impasse]

Do guns used in the Armed Forces have serial/identity numbers?

[mko9]

Impasse said:

Do guns used in the Armed Forces have serial/identity numbers?

Yes

[The Don of Croy]

In Captain Scarlett why did the Mysterons project the two 'polo mint' shapes onto the background?

[scarble]

The Don of Croy said:

In Captain Scarlett why did the Mysterons project the two 'polo mint' shapes onto the background?

In the same way that you would eat a polo to clear your palette, these "optical polos" are used to clear the mind of a target for telepathic control, a process called "retrometabolism". The lights are actually xrays, being made visible for tv.

[gwm]

Why does my dog like licking nettles?

[Dr Jekyll]

How did the word 'Frame' ever get to mean 'fabricating evidence'? I've an idea it's short for 'put in the frame' but that doesn't really help.

[mko9]

I haven't always wanted to know the answer to this, it only occurred to me in the last month while I have been living in Germany. If you dub Robert Downey Jr's voice as Iron Man, are you set for life? Are you a lock for all subsequent Iron Man appearances? What about other Robert Downey Jr films, are you his German voice in all movies? And does Robert Downey Jr get any say in who dubs his voice? Likewise for Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Cruise, Samuel L. Jackson, etc, etc.

[AstonZagato]

Yes. As far as I know.

When I lived in Germany, the chaps told me they have standard dub people. The actors don't get to choose.

Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested he should do himself but wasn't allowed too as his accent is too rustic. He sounds to Germans like a West Country yokel.

[Evoluzione]

If I am sat in a car with engine off listening to the radio and then start the car, why does the radio go off and then back on again?

[marshalla]

Evoluzione said:

If I am sat in a car with engine off listening to the radio and then start the car, why does the radio go off and then back on again?

Non-essential circuits are disconnected so that more power is available from the battery to turn the engine over.

[scarble]

Don't check his profile to see his occupation
(It may simply be that the starter pulls so much current that the voltage drops below what the radio needs, particularly in older/Frencher cars)

[Dr Jekyll]

Has there ever been a joke in Star Trek? Including TNG, Voyager etc. I don't mean 'A Klingon walked into a bar.........' I just mean something intentionally funny or a good one liner as you get occasionally in James Bond or Blakes 7.

[singlecoil]

Dr Jekyll said:

Has there ever been a joke in Star Trek? Including TNG, Voyager etc. I don't mean 'A Klingon walked into a bar.........' I just mean something intentionally funny or a good one liner as you get occasionally in James Bond or Blakes 7.

There were some running gags in DS9, such as the loquacious (by reputation) Morn. And the interplay between Quark and Odo was brilliant

[Nom de ploom]

potentially stupid question but why are wind turbine blades vertical instead of horizontal?

they would be less of an eyesore perhaps? I realise that there might be a large amount of lift generated like helicopter blades but if so can they be switched round so the lift is upwards?

most of then need a motor to start them anyway...is it a question of efficient aero dynamic wind capturing that means they have to be vertical?

just a thought the other day when we were passing a load of them in north yorkshire....

[Asterix]

Nom de ploom said:

potentially stupid question but why are wind turbine blades vertical instead of horizontal?

they would be less of an eyesore perhaps? I realise that there might be a large amount of lift generated like helicopter blades but if so can they be switched round so the lift is upwards?

most of then need a motor to start them anyway...is it a question of efficient aero dynamic wind capturing that means they have to be vertical?

just a thought the other day when we were passing a load of them in north yorkshire....

Errr.... wind blows across stuff and not down or up. I have a sneaking suspicion that might be why.