Random Thoughts

Which way does the microwave plate spin?

2009-05-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

I've been wondering this since childhood. Why does the turntable sometimes spin clockwise and sometimes counterclockwise? I finally decided to research the answer. It's because of the AC synchronous motor that it uses. It's an inexpensive type of motor that offers constant rotation speed. Thing is, on this motor, if no special starting mechanism is provided, the direction is random (it depends on where it last stopped and on the phase of the AC current the moment it gets restarted). Mystery solved!

1 earpiece = 1, 2 earpieces = 4

2009-05-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is just an empirical measurement, but I'm quite sure that when listening to some music using only one earpiece the perceived volume is 1/4 than when using 2 -- not half.

I think this makes some sense, as the second channel adds one dimension to the sound, turning something mono-dimensional into bi-dimensional (the sound may come from anywhere on the plane where we stand).

Things that your computer can do as it shuts down

2009-04-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I talk about anything technical, but I'm going to make an exception for something that I'm quite proud of. On Windows XP, you can initiate the shutdown process from a batch file. And this batch file can become your shutdown script. For instance:

update the antivirus
trigger a backup of important files
defragment the hard disk
shutdown -s -t 20 -c "Script completed, shutting down."

This has proven quite useful, as these shutdown tasks now get always executed, and they can take as much time as they need, as the computer is shutting itself down anyway.

Strong contrast

2009-02-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

I know it's not very efficient, and it might break things, but on trains I like the window open and the curtain down. I like the heater on and the windshield a tad open. Sun and rain.

Alphabet letters

2009-02-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

Can't help but read them. That's why we see them everywhere we look, even on the back of a chair.

Earliest memory

2009-02-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

I believe this is a memory from my fourth birthday -- or at least this is what I've always convinced myself of.

I was playing with streamers left over from "Carnival" and I sort of made a volcano out of dirt in my grandma's garden. I don't think I really intended to make a volcano... it just "turned out" that way.

Marketing mystery

2009-01-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

Who is the genius behind this?

50% vegetarian

2009-01-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

A few people/movements suggest eating vegetarian at least one day a week, e.g.: "Vegetarian Wednesday, or David Suzuki's "Nature Challenge".

I find this quite sympthomatic of a North American meat-centric culture.

I'm Italian, and Italian cuisine has plenty of meat-free dishes -- we don't call them vegetarian options, we call them: garlic and oil pasta, eggplant Parmigiana, Margherita pizza, fresh tomatoes pasta.

So, for me it's not hard to take it one step further: I don't eat any meat for breakfast or supper, but I do eat some meat for lunch.

Whether this makes me 50% vegetarian or not, I'm quite proud of it.

Minimum energy

2009-01-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

One good thing about the snow is that it lets us see what portion of our streets we really need. Similarly, it's interesting to observe cow-paths and the people-created walking paths in urban parks.

One good example that I remember is this little park in front of the Milan's Polytechnic University. Here is the original image from Google Maps.

All of these examples follow just one simple rule: minimum energy.

shortest walk: connect common origins and common destinations
physical constraints: avoid obstacles (e.g. trees, light poles, puddles)
reinforcement: previously created paths offer clean, compacted soil

Perhaps landscape architects should let people find these natural paths? One could even decide to leave the park without any paved paths for a few months, then pave the acceptable ones and block off those that are undesired.

Strange math?

2008-09-30T23:47:00.001-07:00

Sometimes even simple math is all but intuitive. Would you guess that one third plus half of one third equals to one half?

Becomes obvious when doubled (2/3 + 1/3 = 1).

We are the lottery winners

2008-04-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

We are always surprised to see even numbers, as if they were less likely than non even ones. The cashier is always surprised when the total with taxes comes to 40 dollars even. But other numbers surprise us too -- the other day I saw a gas station sign with "Gas:123.4 - Propane:78.9", and I freaked out!

The reason why we care so much about even numbers, or progressions, or palindromes is that we consider them special. And they definitely are, if only because they're easier to remember.

Another special number is obviously the one on the lottery ticket that we just bought. If it does get extracted, then we'd be more than just surprised. Most of us would start thinking of destiny and fate.

The thing is that when a special number turns out of random chance we tend to mystify the situation as if something equally special must have contributed to it happening. In reality, in all fair cases, nothing contributed... it was just chance. We're only having that thought after the fact. And after the fact the probability of something that did happen is 100%.

This expands to the transcendental. What are the odds that, of all possible combinations of elements, we ended up with an Earth that allowed the development of intelligent forms of life? The odds are 100% because it did happen. For how unlikely that that is, we wouldn't be wondering about it if we weren't here. We are the lottery winners!

Wish I was taping...

2008-03-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish there was a VCR hooked up to my eyes... So many good pictures that a camera would never have the time to take. Like yesterday, when within 10 minutes a little girl on a glass elevator with her mom and sister was looking lost while fogging the glass underneath her nose in the shape of an almond; when, just outside, a square faced kid was very happy to be in her mom's 'backpack' carrier bouncing up and down as if he was horseback riding; and when a novice driver was looking intense with her pointy tongue sticking out of her mouth right after backing up too fast and slamming on the brakes when trying to get a big sedan with 2 wheels on the sidewalk out of a parking stall. Well, fortunately at least we have photographic memory.

No thirteenth floor, sorry

2008-03-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Isn't this close to the stupidest thing ever?

The first 5 minutes of the day

2008-03-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

I wrote about this before. I think when I wake up in the morning I am temporarily slightly smarter. I am able to connect things that didn't appear related, I am able to realize that there is a problem with something that I'm doing, I am able to find a solution.

However, when I try to implement the idea, I usually realize that it can't be used as is, things are more complicated and wouldn't actually work.

This brings me to the conclusion that the first 5 minutes of the day I am able to think without too many preconceptions, go back to the source of the problem, find the 'ideal solution.' Then of course the ideal solution has to deal with the complexity of reality, but it still helps.

So many questions

2008-02-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Do birds sometimes fly just for fun?
Do trees of the same kind talk with each other? They bloom together, their leaves fall together... Are they twins?
Does anybody actually read book introductions?
Can street lights spontaneously go out and then come back on?
How come cars' bumpers are not all at the same height?
How come do I rush to close the MS Calculator right after each use?
Why do over 50% of kids under 10 have wheels under their shoes these days?

When the escalator is not working...

2008-01-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

...why do I stutter on the first steps? I have a few theories:

The first steps have variable rise -- in normal stairways the rise is constant.
The expectation that it should move is violated -- the disbelief may be confusing.
The treads are striped -- this may give visual disorientation.

Best Before

2008-01-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one still finding cryptic expiry dates on products?
This one (click to zoom out) is particularly bad. Thanks to Google I was able to figure out that 334 is November 31st, 12:48 is probably when it was packed, but I still don't know the year.

Chewing gum

2008-01-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

Not sure why, but when I'm chewing a gum I feel about 10% tougher.

Does the act of chewing boost confidence? Just like with cigarettes for smokers...

Is it the mechanical action per se, or does it recall a stereotype created by the media?

RSS and Atom feeds

2007-12-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

I must be looking for an audience, this blog now also has a classic RSS feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/paolor
As well as the standard Atom feed:
http://paolor.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Given that I don't post that regularly, perhaps this can save somebody a trip :)

Known faces?

2007-12-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's a sign that I'm working too much, but can anybody explain how come every time I see somebody walking down the street at first I think I recognize some co-worker?
But it gets worse. Sometimes even just seeing a sweater or shirt in a store instantly reminds me of somebody at work that wears that kind sweater or shirt.

Signs that we're getting old

2007-12-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

The good

The old tube TVs don't whistle anymore, can't really hear that.
The watch doesn't collect scratches anymore, can't really see them.
If we buy something we don't need to open the box while still driving home.

The bad

It's now relatively hard to pick up a penny from the floor.
It's now very hard to remember how to adjust the stove clock for daylight savings.
If we buy something we don't need to open the box while still driving home.

Bigger schemes

2007-12-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

It's hard to step back and look at the big picture, it's much easier to be just like the stupid spider who works all night weaving its marvelous web... on my doorway.

Things that I hate

2007-12-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

When the power plug presents itself the other way around (big pin by the small hole.)
When the handrail of the escalator runs too fast (why is it never too slow?)
On bank machines when the side buttons don't line up with the grid on the screen.
When paying debit when I don't understand where the stripe is supposed to go.
Realizing that the staple that came out of the stapler last time I used it was actually the last staple in the stapler by finding myself with two sheets of paper badly bent in the corner as opposed to stapled together.
Sticky labels that won't come off or that come off by leaving all of their glue on the thing.
Any labels on underwear.
Being overdressed, especially when carrying bags.
During ads on TV, every time they use the word "Introducing..."
When I'm typing in my browser and the cursor pops to the beginning of the text box, just because the page is done loading.
When I accidentally hit the "insert" key and all of a sudden I start overwriting myself (who needs to overtype anyway?)
When I mumble something right before biting my sandwich and the person I'm talking with goes "Uh?" when I'm now chewing and I can't talk.

Thinking over -- this isn't really a blog

2007-12-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia, a blog is a "web log", an online diary where entries are written in chronological order.

This blog is for me more of a place where to write down stupid things, so that they stop rambling in my head. However, before I publish something, I always try to think it over for a while. Take these posts for instance, some of them have been in the drafts for weeks before making their way to the blog; some of them never made it. So no, I'm technically not a blogger.

People that I hate, cont'd

2007-11-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

People that talk very loud even if they're standing 2 feet apart from each other.
People that spend an awful lot of time perfecting their coffee's cream and sugar levels when a line of people is waiting behind them; especially when they repeatedly taste the intermediate product.
People that play with their keys or with anything that makes an unnecessary noise while they wait.
People that walk around continuously snapping their fingers to make sounds.
People on the elevator dangerously standing by the door with their bags, wondering why the door doesn't close.
People that don't drive forward on the left turn lane when you're behind them and you know that there should be room for at least two cars.