Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]

[FiF]

Something that's puzzling me about the subtitles on an Amazon Prime show. Going to put it in spoiler tags as it's from Bosch season 8, just released, just in case any Bosch watchers don't want a spoiler, actually it's not much of a spoiler but you never know, some folks get touchy.


Jerry Edgar, an LAPD detective of Haitian ancestry goes to visit Mama Roux, family friend and Haitian pawn shop owner from Jerry's childhood neighbourhood.

Whilst there a customer comes in, recognises Jerry and gives him some moral support over his very questionable use of lethal force killing criminal Jacques Avril in season 7 which has been causing Jerry some mental torment. There are some exchanges in French, but some of the subtitles are, well, see for yourself. Subs in ( )

Man: Bonsoir. (sub Bonswa)
Mama: Bonsoir (sub Bonswa)

later

Mama: Au revoir Jerry (sub Orevwa Jerry)
Jerry: Au Revoir Mama (sub Orevwa Mama)

Question is this just some crap Amazon attempt at phonetic subtitles, or is it some odd Haitian Pidgin French?

It's all a bit like W1A and the BBC automatic subtitling system shambles. Need to get someone in to identify what they do well and then do less of it better. (W1A fans will get that one hopes)

[Trackdayer]

Who regulates whether cars have the fuel filler on the left or right side? Is there some method that gives us a roughly 50/50 split, to maximise efficiency at petrol stations?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Trackdayer said:

Who regulates whether cars have the fuel filler on the left or right side? Is there some method that gives us a roughly 50/50 split, to maximise efficiency at petrol stations?

What makes you think it is regulated?

[Johnspex]

Trackdayer said:

Who regulates whether cars have the fuel filler on the left or right side? Is there some method that gives us a roughly 50/50 split, to maximise efficiency at petrol stations?

Good lord! You are joking I presume.

" Mr BMW , you can't put your fuel cap on that side"
" Why not?"
" Because Mr Ford puts his on that side, and if you do that there will be queues at petrol stations because drivers are too stupid to realise the hoses will stretch to whichever side the filler is on"

That is quite the most ridiculous question I have seen on here and I've asked some daft ones myself.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Johnspex said:

Good lord! You are joking I presume.

" Mr BMW , you can't put your fuel cap on that side"
" Why not?"
" Because Mr Ford puts his on that side, and if you do that there will be queues at petrol stations because drivers are too stupid to realise the hoses will stretch to whichever side the filler is on"

That is quite the most ridiculous question I have seen on here and I've asked some daft ones myself.

[LukeBrown66]

Here is one

On the street I live on in the past few years there have been a couple of occasions where a house has been empty for some time, or been worked on.

A caravan is dumped in the front garden, and there are always cars/vans parked there at night.

Presumably builders but WTF, have they bought the house, as it can't be taking them this long to work on it, and they seem to be elsewhere during the day are these places bought by groups of Romanian (as they always seem to be) builders as lodgings almost?

They are often there for months, even half a year one time, hardly any work done on house.

I dont get it.

[AstonZagato]

Dr Jekyll said:

Abbott said:

LeadFarmer said:

Here's something I've pondered over for some time..

If two objects moved closer to each other by 50% say every 5 seconds (time isn't relevant) would they ever touch?

So if they were say 1m apart, then moved to 50 cm apart, then 25cm etc etc. Surely they would never touch, and would keep moving towards each other for ever?

Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes#A...

That's a slightly different situation. It's just saying that objects can eventually touch even though the distance to be covered can be expressed as as infinite sequence of 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 ..........

The question is about what happens if every 5 seconds (or whatever) half the remaining distance was covered, so the rate of approach keeps halving. How can there be a final 5 second move which brings the two into contact when every 5 second move explicitly doesn't cover the distance? Exactly how you define contact is irrelevant providing you are consistent.

The problem is that infinite numbers fry your brain, as one can't really handle them as a concept. Infinite time can't exist in the real world as the universe (we currently believe) eventually dies. It makes no difference to the mathematical proof below though (because of infinity) but it takes an infinite amount of time (so you can't ever say they meet at a point in time except at infinity - which is not a point but a concept).

[Clockwork Cupcake]

AstonZagato said:

The problem is that infinite numbers fry your brain, as one can't really handle them as a concept. Infinite time can't exist in the real world as the universe (we currently believe) eventually dies. It makes no difference to the mathematical proof below though (because of infinity) but it takes an infinite amount of time (so you can't ever say they meet at a point in time except at infinity - which is not a point but a concept).

Also, and I hate to bang on about this, there comes a point in an infinite series progression where it drops below the point of your measurement accuracy and becomes a real world approximation.

For example, under the Weights and Measurements Act, a 5% tolerance is allowed when drawing a pint. Thus in the "mathematicians ordering beer at a bar" joke, whilst the infinite progression will never theoretically reach 2 pints, you can see that within only a few mathematicians then it will be within the 5% tolerance for 2 pints. Hence the joke.

[nonsequitur]

Johnspex said:

Trackdayer said:

Who regulates whether cars have the fuel filler on the left or right side? Is there some method that gives us a roughly 50/50 split, to maximise efficiency at petrol stations?

Good lord! You are joking I presume.

" Mr BMW , you can't put your fuel cap on that side"
" Why not?"
" Because Mr Ford puts his on that side, and if you do that there will be queues at petrol stations because drivers are too stupid to realise the hoses will stretch to whichever side the filler is on"

That is quite the most ridiculous question I have seen on here and I've asked some daft ones myself.

That question was on University Challenge a couple of years ago. The combined brains of Oxford and Cambridge did not have a clue.

[FiF]

FiF said:

Something that's puzzling me about the subtitles on an Amazon Prime show. Going to put it in spoiler tags as it's from Bosch season 7, just released, just in case any Bosch watchers don't want a spoiler, actually it's not much of a spoiler but you never know, some folks get touchy.


Jerry Edgar, an LAPD detective of Haitian ancestry goes to visit Mama Roux, family friend and Haitian pawn shop owner from Jerry's childhood neighbourhood.

Whilst there a customer comes in, recognises Jerry and gives him some moral support over his very questionable use of lethal force killing criminal Jacques Avril in season 6 which has been causing Jerry some mental torment. There are some exchanges in French, but some of the subtitles are, well, see for yourself. Subs in ( )

Man: Bonsoir. (sub Bonswa)
Mama: Bonsoir (sub Bonswa)

later

Mama: Au revoir Jerry (sub Orevwa Jerry)
Jerry: Au Revoir Mama (sub Orevwa Mama)

Question is this just some crap Amazon attempt at phonetic subtitles, or is it some odd Haitian Creole French?

It's all a bit like W1A and the BBC automatic subtitling system shambles. Need to get someone in to identify what they do well and then do less of it better. (W1A fans will get that one hopes)

Apologies for quoting myself, managed to figure it out, and apologies also due to Amazon. The spelling of the words in the subtitles was not Amazon attempt at phonetics but genuine Creole spelling. And it's a thing in Haiti that speaking French or Creole it's a status symbol if you speak with a quality Parisian accent, sort of French equivalent of RP English.

Also edited the bit in spoilers to correct the season numbers.

[Doofus]

nonsequitur said:

That question was on University Challenge a couple of years ago. The combined brains of Oxford and Cambridge did not have a clue.

What question?

[coppernorks]

Doofus said:

What question?

If there is a regulatory body who tells car makers which side the filler hole goes on each model.
Well yes, same with ash trays, some cars dont have em.

All LHD German cars have the filler flap on the right as a car is more likely to get t-boned from the left being the
very intelligent reason.

Either way, it matters little as ditzy female drivers will invariably chose to park the wrong side of the
pump leading to much puffing, huffing and effing yanking the hose over the car to reach the fill flap, bless 'em.

Edited by coppernorks on Saturday 26th June 20:45

[Johnspex]

nonsequitur said:

Johnspex said:

Trackdayer said:

Who regulates whether cars have the fuel filler on the left or right side? Is there some method that gives us a roughly 50/50 split, to maximise efficiency at petrol stations?

Good lord! You are joking I presume.

" Mr BMW , you can't put your fuel cap on that side"
" Why not?"
" Because Mr Ford puts his on that side, and if you do that there will be queues at petrol stations because drivers are too stupid to realise the hoses will stretch to whichever side the filler is on"

That is quite the most ridiculous question I have seen on here and I've asked some daft ones myself.

That question was on University Challenge a couple of years ago. The combined brains of Oxford and Cambridge did not have a clue.

I would have thought that a man of your infinite jest would have stored that answer amongst the witless puns to pull out at dinner parties should you ever be invited to one.

[Doofus]

coppernorks said:

Doofus said:

What question?

If there is a regulatory body who tells car makers which side the filler hole goes on each model.
Well yes, same with ash trays, some cars dont have em.

All LHD German cars have the filler flap on the right as a car is more likely to get t-boned from the left being the
very intelligent reason.

Either way, it matters little as ditzy female drivers will invariably chose to park the wrong side of the
pump leading to much puffing and huffing yanking the hose over the car to reach the fill flap, bless 'em.

And they asked that on University Challenge?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

coppernorks said:

Either way, it matters little as ditzy female drivers will invariably chose to park the wrong side of the
pump leading to much puffing, huffing and effing yanking the hose over the car to reach the fill flap, bless 'em.

Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Sunday 27th June 11:45

[Tyre Smoke]

But Cupcake, you're not a ditzy female. Female.. tick, ditzy...definitely not.

[nonsequitur]

coppernorks said:

Doofus said:

What question?

If there is a regulatory body who tells car makers which side the filler hole goes on each model.
Well yes, same with ash trays, some cars dont have em.

All LHD German cars have the filler flap on the right as a car is more likely to get t-boned from the left being the
very intelligent reason.

Either way, it matters little as ditzy female drivers will invariably chose to park the wrong side of the
pump leading to much puffing, huffing and effing yanking the hose over the car to reach the fill flap, bless 'em.

Edited by coppernorks on Saturday 26th June 20:45

I think that was the answer the University Challenge teams were looking for.

[98elise]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

AstonZagato said:

The problem is that infinite numbers fry your brain, as one can't really handle them as a concept. Infinite time can't exist in the real world as the universe (we currently believe) eventually dies. It makes no difference to the mathematical proof below though (because of infinity) but it takes an infinite amount of time (so you can't ever say they meet at a point in time except at infinity - which is not a point but a concept).

Also, and I hate to bang on about this, there comes a point in an infinite series progression where it drops below the point of your measurement accuracy and becomes a real world approximation.

For example, under the Weights and Measurements Act, a 5% tolerance is allowed when drawing a pint. Thus in the "mathematicians ordering beer at a bar" joke, whilst the infinite progression will never theoretically reach 2 pints, you can see that within only a few mathematicians then it will be within the 5% tolerance for 2 pints. Hence the joke.

Agreed. It's the difference between mathematics and real world physics.

[HTP99]

Why do big companies, employ people who have never done the actual job, to come in to tell you how to do the job, usually implementing new procedures that just aren't possible in the real world, when they have no real knowledge of exactly what the job entails and the day to day trials and struggles?

[steveo3002]

HTP99 said:

Why do big companies, employ people who have never done the actual job, to come in to tell you how to do the job, usually implementing new procedures that just aren't possible in the real world, when they have no real knowledge of exactly what the job entails and the day to day trials and struggles?

not just big ones ...loads of garages ive worked at had a boss/foreman that didnt have a clue ....can u get this full respray done by lunch m8