What Have You Learned Today?

[APCs r Evil]

Huge slimy tentacles and fangs popping up out of nowhere and doing unspeakable things to people...

Yep.

Unspeakable isn't a strong enough word, though.

[Zenophas]

Every computer gaming nerd knows what happens when you contact beings from other dimensions...Huge slimy tentacles and fangs popping up out of nowhere and doing unspeakable things to people...

Go on...

[Psychedelic Rhino]

I learned of still another hole in the armor for the young earth (6000 year) believers. I do realize that armor looks like a cheese grater at this point in time in human history.

Tumbling asteroids or "Non-principal axis rotators" is an obscure field of study in astrophysics. It essentially states that any asteroid will settle down to a nice non-tumbling rotation; Principal axis rotation, (like the perfect spiral of a thrown American football) over a given time, given its material makeup and shape, no matter how extreme the initial tumble, in which a minimum age can be determined.

Two very interesting, and short (I've clipped past the intro), videos explaining ... (not too mathematically rigorous)

Tumbling asteroids 1

Tumbling asteroids 2

[Red Devil]

that whole earth-is-6,000 years-old thing stems from a mistranslation:

http://www.custance.org/Library/WFANDV/index.html

so, many billions old, but current earth age is in the thousands.


same kinda deal with, "kill"; correct translation is "murder", as in to lie in wait and kill them when they get close

etc.

[jack775544]

I learned how to plot modulus equations on a Cartesian Plane. They look pretty neat however finding x and y intercepts is a pain (you have to consider 2 answers for the modulus brackets).

[Psychedelic Rhino]

I learned how to plot modulus equations on a Cartesian Plane. They look pretty neat however finding x and y intercepts is a pain (you have to consider 2 answers for the modulus brackets).

I remember my first use was with my dad to make a parabolic template to make plywood pieces to assemble a solar reflector.

[Josiah]

I learned how to plot modulus equations on a Cartesian Plane. They look pretty neat however finding x and y intercepts is a pain (you have to consider 2 answers for the modulus brackets).

I remember my first use was with my dad to make a parabolic template to make plywood pieces to assemble a solar reflector.

and I used to think there was no applied science part of that math..................................

[Red Spot]

That when you get older you get screwed over more easilly.
Took on a new job last week. Had a meeting today with managment.
They informed me that they are going to keep me on, and let go my 54year old collegue as they prefer somebody from my age, specially with my background.

That may not all seem that bad, as if I am a better employee as my collegue. However, my collegue is basicly my mentor on this job.
In effect eventhough I got some form of jobsecurity (not even mentioning what I get payed now) and even got a compliment out of it, I do sort of feel somewhat screwed over that I know my collegue is going to get fired, while he doesnt even know it himself ...

[Zenophas]

That when you get older you get screwed over more easilly.
Took on a new job last week. Had a meeting today with managment.
They informed me that they are going to keep me on, and let go my 54year old collegue as they prefer somebody from my age, specially with my background.

That may not all seem that bad, as if I am a better employee as my collegue. However, my collegue is basicly my mentor on this job.
In effect eventhough I got some form of jobsecurity (not even mentioning what I get payed now) and even got a compliment out of it, I do sort of feel somewhat screwed over that I know my collegue is going to get fired, while he doesnt even know it himself ...

That's a downer. I would tell him.

[Ded10c]

^

[Red Spot]

It simply wont help him, and he will be informed this friday anyway.
Next to that, if he would somehow let know I told I could lose my job.
So eventhough I feel a bit screwed over by it all, and assume he will as well, the price of telling isnt really worth it.

[Nielk1]

It simply wont help him, and he will be informed this friday anyway.
Next to that, if he would somehow let know I told I could lose my job.
So eventhough I feel a bit screwed over by it all, and assume he will as well, the price of telling isnt really worth it.

People are losing jobs everywhere. It is simply impossible in the current system for a business to exist without ejecting tons of workers. He is older, his health care costs are obviously going to be higher. If this was a situation in America, this could be enough to kick him to the curb considering the insane bullshit going on with health insurance mandates here. And you as the younger have the most use to them, though they are going to do what they can to ensure you never leave and never get more than the least they can give you for your work. It just isn't feasible in this day and age to treat your employees well if you want your business to exist.

[MrTwosheds]

It just isn't feasible in this day and age to treat your employees well if you want your business to exist.

Actually it is just this sort of attitude that poisons the well of success. Clearly a company must be efficient, but treating its staff as disposable items destroys its soul, a culture of self serving survivalism will rot its ability to succeed away from the inside.
Companies are human cultures not mathematical equations. If staff see that the reward for loyalty and commitment is redundancy, they will put all their efforts into making themselves indispensable rather that making the company successful. The people the company really needed will seek a brighter future elsewhere and it will be left with a population of highly skilled position protectors who seek and destroy any newcomers who threaten their position. The company becomes a stagnant and unhappy place that is fundamentally unfit to succeed.
This dynamic is almost certainly what lies behind the current banking crisis. Competition has evolved the banks staff base down to a group of highly self-competitive position protectors, nobody was looking out for the banks real interests, just covering their own backsides from their peers. Ultimately this is a path to failure.

He is older, his health care costs are obviously going to be higher. If this was a situation in America, this could be enough to kick him to the curb considering the insane bullshit going on with health insurance mandates here.

This dynamic does not occur in the UK, a national tax funded healthcare system does not load costs directly onto employers.

[Nielk1]

Companies are human cultures not mathematical equations.

In the case of business, they are, oh so much they are. Look at Program Management, look at Earned Value Management Systems, look at C/SCSC!

Business is run by math. There is a variation of error allowed for that which cannot be mathematically certain, but the rest boils down to math. People are treated as numbers. They are not numbers, but in all cases but the smallest team is is the numbers that matter.

Businesses can in deed get better though individuals, but this is only meaningful in small groups. In large ones, any such outliers simply average out and it can all be explained by the pure math.

In America and much of the world it has become mathematically infeasible to employ another individual. This is mostly due to complex law that is meant to, supposedly, help the people, that in reality does this damage. It is claimed that the cost is not to the business but to the entire population, or more often, it is to the rich, but it is the rich that own many of the businesses that employ so many. And many of these regulations prevent even a small business from starting ans succeeding. With the definition of rich falling so rapidly, all one must do is own a business to be considered an enemy to the people. This is sickening, business owners are engines of economy and jobs, not enemies.

[MrTwosheds]

This is sickening, business owners are engines of economy and jobs, not enemies.

I agree, we have similar problems. Our government often seems to be run like its just a revenue collecting business, suppressing the economy rather than supporting it. Only this week we have some suited nobody telling us that people who do cash in hand business are costing the inland revenue £billions in lost vat. Its at 20%! Of course nobody wants to pay it! how the hell is anyone supposed to make a profit with them trying to take a 5th of your income.