Subject: random posts
User: mrbuck
Message:
It takes even longer on a bicycle but members of the Milepost Zero Bike Club, including my Dad, used to do it semi regularly. mrbuck 4 digit post
User: BuzzClik
Message:
I was chatting with a friend a couple of days ago. I mentioned the mass shooting (several dead), but he thought I was talking about another mass killing. In our state. A couple of weeks earlier. After a brief silence, we talked about something else. Now, there's been another one we probably shouldn't talk about.
User: BuzzClik
Message:
They never really left, MikeC. Four states have firing squads and three allow hanging for capital punishment. In two of the three states with hanging still on the books, capital punishment has been abolished. Firing squad is not the primary method of execution in any of the four states. With that being said, MikeC -- what is your point?
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Speaking of bikes........this is a pretty nice story - after the plane crash and all that, of course.
Link: Buddy 'n' Waylon 'n' all, including the bike
User: BuzzClik
Message:
I ran across this graphic on the internet, and I was taken by its design and the information it instantly conveys. It shows (in “word cloud” format showing number of students on campus) acceptance rates for colleges and universities across the U.S. At the far left is Harvard with a tiny acceptance rate of 4% and s small student body — relatively few people apply and only a small fraction get in. At the far right are the schools with high acceptance rates: everybody who figures out the application process will be accepted. The most interesting part of the figure for me is in the middle with the arrow showing “Most colleges”. It is near this point where 50% of students fall: half are in the schools to the left and half to the right. Digging deeper in the data, by far the most students attend schools with acceptance rates greater than 75%. The fraction of students attending schools like UNC with acceptance rates of 20% or less is really really small.
User: TNmountainman
Message:
That's about exactly the distribution I'd expect -- but I'm puzzled by the two anomalous(?) 'gaps' in same. The one just to the right of the "UNC-Chapel Hill point, and then slightly farther to the right where there's only an 'isthmus' connecting the left segment of the population from the larger right segment. I can think of 'explanations', but likely it's just the way the data is segmented into group criteria. I doubt 1-in-10 million could correctly identify that when presented as a Rorschach test image. And are there not colleges with an even lower acceptance rate than Harvard? There used to be, as I recall.
User: BuzzClik
Message:
You are correct about the gaps. They are just visual effects. I will provide a link to the more detailed figure in a moment. The context will be triggering for some, so I was hoping to get a bit o discussion in before having the post with the original link deleted. As for the low-end acceptance rates, Havahd is in a multi-way tie with other privates at 4%. UCLA has the lowest for a public institution with 11%. See link below.
Link: Acceptance data
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Looking only at the "Acceptance data" data, I find it surprising that the number of freshman applications continues to rise, but number of admittances continues to decline. It's unclear, but that may be an artifact of multiple admissions/university that don't follow thru. With the share of first-time applicants who get admitted rising, that explanation might make sense. That's a pretty comprehensive and cogent article. Glad I don't have to go through that process.....
User: TNmountainman
Message:
As to the second one...............no surprises there, and a thoughtful call to the universities themselves to follow through on initiatives. The good news is that that has already been a trend. What the article leaves out are some other confounding variables such as housing costs by locale, or more importantly, housing costs per 'category' of applicants, as just one example. But now..........with the legal leverage removed, or greatly reduced...........will the schools continue the path they've reluctantly-until-recently been on? I would guess, with likely increased public scrutiny........by and large they will.
User: BuzzClik
Message:
Application/Acceptance trends: One of the recent additions to the application process is that a prospective student can apply online to a large number of schools for minimal cost. Many, many schools have a reciprocal agreement in this regard. And, yes, the number of applications per high school kid has exploded. I witnessed this in a large family of really smart kids. The first three kids applied to only two or three schools. Number five child applied to six, and the youngest child applied to ten, and she was accepted to nine of them. As for the process itself, it has gotten really complicated. If a "first generation" child (first in the family to go to college) can navigate the application process and get accepted, they make amazing students. "Hungry" doesn't begin to cover it. Part II: State legislatures have been a driving force for all state institutions, and the impact depends on where you live. Some states have been trying to kill those initiatives, and the recent legal developments have energized them further. Other states have been rabid about going the other way. They are now looking for new ways to accomplish the same task within the new legal framework. This quote yours: "a thoughtful call to the universities themselves to follow through on initiatives" is dead on. Too many institutions have mindlessly thrown significant amounts of cash at worthless programs (mostly in the form of ineffective staff) with no follow through. The new climate is forcing a new start, and it is needed. Too many of these places have accomplished nothing over the past decade despite the platitudes and money spent. (As a side note: The recent decision is neither Armageddon nor a cure-all. This impact is not going to look at all how folks envision. I guarantee that most schools are far more concerned about NIL than this.)
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:
Of course. Who needs an edumacation when you can take "the bag" (NIL)? And while that's from a (non-random) student's perspective............their 'employer' has to cater to that role.
User: BuzzClik
Message:
What sort of NIL deal do you think Joey Chestnut has?
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:
Johnson & Wales could afford to give him some of their table scraps, pun intended, but something tells me they're not so inclined. Might clash with their Nutrition and Wellness programs. Not to mention.......they're only DIII, so......... I'm sure their are *some* opportunities out there. Does he have eligibility left? Do Ball Park or Nathan's have an accredited (not referencing the FDA) programs? Do Armour, Sysco, or Hormel? You're probably more cognizant of those opportunities than I am, what with your fancy academic papers and all. But I would suspect Joey has availed himself of whatever is available - except maybe hold the mustard.
User: redberet
Message:
Considering that it is modeled after a monolith, the project came out quite nice. Mixed use zoning is the way to go nowadays.
User: BuzzClik
Message:
A decommissioned coal-fired power plant? The clean-up must have been monumental. (At least, it should have been.)
User: TNmountainman
Message:
https://wreg.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/08/STRIPED-RACCOON-1.png
Yes, this is in TN, but Memphis - 500 miles from me. Somehow the racoon didn't get the lyrics right to the Loudon Wainwright song, methinks. Or maybe Rocky *wanted* to be such a skunk.
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Can't make this stuff up.......
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/driver-pulled-over-bull-riding-140624221.html
User: TNmountainman
Message:
"Extraterrestrial Life -- 1975", with Sagan and others......
Right now on CSPAN-2:
User: TNmountainman
Message:
I have only a slight hesitation in posting this. It's not really political - more sociological, and concerns the unpredictability of history. And I didn't think it fit in the other, Ukraine/Russia thread all that much, considering the entirety of it. But it's an *excellent* and imaginative essay:
User: outskirts
Message:
Funkanometry
Saw a short video and said this isn't real, it's ai. Googled and I was wrong. They're real.
https://youtube.com/shorts/-YlsN5osPEg?si=1aaB6BGwaN0F5If7
User: JackStraw
Message:
Is the Jardiance commercial the worst ever ?
Side effects may include life threatening infection in the perineum.
Is that the Big Story it tells ?
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Early cloning experiments showed promise, but had to be abandoned when some 'products' needed extra pedicure attention...........
User: 82nd_Airborne
Message:
Here's to karma which goes well with the cheeseheads who ran up their tab.
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Let's hope U.S. retailers have the guts to also do this:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/15/business-food/carrefour-shrinkflation-stickers/index.html
User: redberet
Message:
Until I saw that courtroom sketch of you know who, I'd never seen Jesus with a scowl, unless you want to count the time he threw the bums out of the temple.
User: BuzzClik
Message:
I am curious how many sound people have compared themselves to JC over the past 2000 years or so. Not many, I'd wager.*
An Oompa Loompa would have been more apt.
=========
*John Lennon was talking about the Beatles' popularity at the time, not attempting to draw a personal parallel.
User: TNmountainman
Message:
A really nice story for a change............
User: BuzzClik
Message:
Anyone here attend the World Superyacht Awards ceremony in Istanbul?
Don't hate them because they're beautiful. These folks are saving the world: Turning the tide: the sustainable future of superyachts.
"Saving the oceans, let alone saving the world, is a daunting task. This is why organisations such as the BLUE, REV Ocean and other conservation programmes around the world are taking bold steps to get everyone involved. And they need support not just from the yachting community, but also from the private and public sectors – including giant cruise companies and cargo ships, whose vessels have contributed much to the pollution of our seas. Saving our oceans can only be achieved by working together on a global scale. With the superyacht industry leading the way, let’s hope others follow."
That is so great.
User: rbw--3
Message:
Saving the world by only producing the carbon emissions of 4000 cars instead of 5000 per yacht? How noble of them.
User: TNmountainman
Message:
I was *gonna* go, but I'm having my helipad taken out and replaced by those new-fangled solar panel things these kids talk about. Apparently I'll then be able to use both the microwave oven and the hot tub at the same time - not that one should, of course.
User: firenzes_mother
Message:
Istanbul is so boring. I mean, yacht after yacht, party after party. After a while, it gets soooooo yesterday.
User: TNmountainman
Message:
A QUANTUM ASCENSION
"Ascension is the complex quantum mechanics governing the movement of consciousness through time and space. Consciousness is energy, as well as, energy is intelligent consciousness. When energy shifts, so does our consciousness. Time and space as we have known on planet earth is changing, and we are moving into a future timeline. Through gradual exposure to frequency activation of various stellar bodies, the planet is transformed into higher dimensional and frequency planes of existence.
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"There is no doubt the world is rapidly changing around us. Something monumental is happening, impacting our lives in increasingly intense ways. Most people are not consciously are [sic] of this yet. They continue on, often assuming more and more stress in their lives, but without stopping to wondering [sic] what might be causing it. However there are many whom have noticed the dramatic shift the world and our lives have taken in the last few years and are experiencing profound and unusual experiences within ourselves. We realise we are growing and awakening much more quickly than ever before…
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"The human body is a vital phenomenon – life – are [sic] of the same spectrum of energy of which all creation consists. The universe is you because you are one of its myriad of forms of existence. Stripping away the mystery of these cosmic forces within you increase the personal reality of self. There is no adventure greater than the exploration of self.
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[I really like this one...] "The light body is a particle of the Divine Mind, cast from the Central Sun into and through the fourth and fifth dimensional matrices in order to embody within a human being the essence of the Central Sun. The light body’s materialization begins from the seventh dimension, cascading into materiality where it settles into the first manifested being—the human heart.
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-- from a website I stumbled upon called "The Institute of Advanced Thinking". I won't provide a link, but if one is curious enough to read other 'poetic waxing' of the kind..................easy to find.
User: joeygray
Message:
Buncha mumbo jumbo. Maybe it floats somebody's boat, but mine aint a-floating.
BTW, when Kenny's gambler sings "you got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em" he gives no inkling of an idea HOW you would know either of these things. Where the heck is the Ace anybody could keep?
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Oh, joey........it's just so obvious you're not in touch with your fourth, fifth, or seventh dimensions. Much less their matrices. Maybe as "the planet is transformed into [its] higher dimensional and frequency planes of existence" you can get better in touch with "the personal reality of [your] self". There is no greater adventure, after all....
That said................I'm with you on the "hold 'em/fold 'em dilemma. (Maybe time to work on the ol' quantum ascension of the ace up the sleeve trick?)
User: rbw--3
Message:
It seems like a good time to remind everyone not to consume wild mushrooms without proper identification!
User: LunaQueenOfTheMothPeople
Message:
Oh, my. I definitely disagree.
User: redberet
Message:
Where I live, a household is allowed ten plants, I just finished trimming my sons crop. Managed 3 and a quarter pounds of cured flower. This time it was the real deal, only a couple dozen seeds out of the whole bunch. I think back on the day where any old weed was tied to a stick and presto it just got off the boat from Thailand. Sorrowful days indeed.
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:
How DARE you borrow my horse without asking!
User: GoAdoptADog!
Message:
Idk where to ask this, but anybody have any good show or movie recs?
..To save time, maybe hold off on anything too formulaic or big network cheesy unless it’s just rlly good. (Not that I don’t love a cheesy show or movie when the mood strikes, but the apps will surely suggest these anyway so no need to offer things like big bang theory or how I married your mother, hallmark movies, etc.)
if this isn’t the right place to ask feel free to direct me elsewhere or start a new thread
User: outskirts
Message:
I'm gonna watch Monty Python's the Meaning of Life on VHS
Above pic, Dylan on stage in Philly a couple days ago. That look, that's the same look I have when I'm thinking/working. Exactly the same.
User: outskirts
Message:
Got that VHS tape for 50¢ at the HUMANE SOCIETY thrift store. Also got Bonnie Raitt Road Tested for 50¢, also on VHS. In case anyone doesn't know it, you can plug your old tech into a smart TV and it will work. If you have a smart TV you know this because it tells you while it's setting itself up. I have an old DVD/VHS combo that still works. 😁
User: GoAdoptADog!
Message:
Hey I want to congrats Napkin on the masters win but idk where to do that? Just don’t want him to feel, (oh man I always accidentally pun but I swear it’s not intended..brace yourself..) um, ..forgotten.. (sigh. v sorry) if we start taking for granted he wins a lot just bc we’re used to it. It’s even more of a feat each time so just want to acknowledge.
+I’d like to give a nod to various feats on the reg. Where’s a good thread to do that? Is there already one? I don’t wanna party foul w posting too much and just dominate the forum, so I’m not gonna make one. But perhaps someone might ..so I can do my daily wows to folks? Hmmm?
User: outskirts
Message:
Put "Masters" in the search box. That first one looks like a good one to congrat napkin.