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[ChrisGreaves]

[Oh - too late...!]

No fair! You stole my reply before I'd even thought of it

[Graeme]

Chris

Can I just point out that your latest signature comment is factually incorrect. The diameter of the Observable Universe is about 93 billion light-years or 28.5 gigaparsecs or 8.8×10²⁶m.

The Universe is possibly infinite or just one of an infinite number of Universes, but no one really knows and we probably will never know.

[ChrisGreaves]

Can I just point out that your latest signature comment is factually incorrect. The diameter of the Observable Universe is about 93 billion light-years or 28.5 gigaparsecs or 8.8×10²⁶m.

Absolutely. Indeed I came close to tearing the page out of the book when I read it, but it was a work of fiction, not non-fiction, and so I left the offending page intact out of tact.

The person you ought to be yelling at is the author, one "Marian C. Diamond" who might be using the pseudonym "Skitterbug" here on Eileen's Lounge

The Universe is possibly infinite or just one of an infinite number of Universes, but no one really knows and we probably will never know.

But given those infinitivenesses, isn't the calculated probability distinctly high?
Something like the argument for life on some other planet, or the odds of getting Life out of a jumble of atoms?
Terry Bisson "They're made out of meat"

Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

Something like the argument for life on some other planet, or the odds of getting Life out of a jumble of atoms?

The chance of life on some other planet in our galaxy is extremely low but the chance of life in an infinite universe, if there is one, is certain. In fact with only 118 elements on the periodic table the number of ways they can be arranged is finite so in an infinite universe there is certain to be other Chris and Graemes, in fact an infinite number of Chris and Graemes!

[BobH]

Yes, Graeme, but have all elements that might be in the Periodic Table been discovered?

Seems to me that in an infinite universe there might just be more elements than those found on our blue orb.

[ChrisGreaves]

... so in an infinite universe there is certain to be other Chris and Graemes, in fact an infinite number of Chris and Graemes!

How will that work in practice?
Will we all be paired up with individual installations of the phpBB software? or will there be a seamless interlace so that all the "General Error SQL ERROR [ mysqli ] User eileens lounge already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections [1203] An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists." panes appear to be just the same pane in each different manifestation of Eileen's Lounge?
And if the latter, how do I know that I'm not wasting my time typing into one manifestation that you might never see if you happen to be somewhere else?

What are the chances of someone inventing robotic "bots" that could scavenge useful stuff from each of the manifestations, and would these bots cripple the system?

More investigation needed, methinks.
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Seems to me that in an infinite universe there might just be more elements than those found on our blue orb.

My understanding is that elements are found only in Africa and India, and that the numbers of droppings are dropping.
Cheers,Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

I would be pleased to inspect any other online news sources that devote their energies to news, in words, rather than click-bait images to tempt the young and immature illiterates.

I should add that on the rare occasions that I visit YouTube I find a reflex action is to seek out the "Settings" icon and ramp the speed to 1.25 by default; in some cases I can use 2x and still understand a slow-talking narrator.
This savings in time means I can now get upset at twice as many videos.
Cheers, Chris

[GeoffW]

I frequently watch Youtube videos at 2x speed - often with captions turned on in the case of funny Canadian accents.

I listen to Audiobooks at 2x speed also. I don't think I miss out on much - and it's the only way I'm going to get through the books I already have.

[ChrisGreaves]

... often with captions turned on ...

Geoff, thanks for this tip.

Now, how to set "Captions" and, say, 1.5x as defaults in YouTube?
Cheers, Chris
P.S. Actually, having a Firefox option to strip out ALL images might work. There's be a ton of "junk text" at the head and foot of each page, but a news sites headlines should be easy to spot and read. C

[GeoffW]

I don't worry about even looking at a default speed, as I will also use YouTube for music. It frequently stays at the faster speed with captions during a session, and it's not that much effort to switch it on again.

I thought you might have a commentary on the YouTube I posted!

[Graeme]

Yes, Graeme, but have all elements that might be in the Periodic Table been discovered?

Seems to me that in an infinite universe there might just be more elements than those found on our blue orb.

Martin Rees, the current Astronomical Royal, wrote an excellent book about that. The thing is, if the strong nuclear force was not the value it is then there wouldn't be any protons or neutrons but it is for as far as we can see across the Observable Universe. So the Cosmological Principle is that the Universe is uniformly isotropic and homogeneous. Further, the elements at the bottom of the Periodic Table are radioactive because they're so heavy they're unstable. If we did find any heavier elements (or make any) they would have a very short half life.

[ChrisGreaves]

I thought you might have a commentary on the YouTube I posted!

Geoff, your thinking is correct except that it is based on the assumption that I saw the link the first time I read your post; I might have been distracted by my attempt to stop home-made marmalade dripping onto the keyboard.
I have now watched the video, which I first watched a few months ago, and have made some notes about this video, and about these types of videos in general, which I will post.
Later.
Thanks for the nudge, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Martin Rees, the current Astronomical Royal, ...

A big man in his field, then? G&DR

... the elements at the bottom of the Periodic Table are radioactive because they're so heavy they're unstable.

Please and thank you, what does this mean?
My explanation would be that the heavier elements have such a large number of protons and neutrons that the surface of the nucleus enjoys a weaker nuclear force (inverse-square law) than protons and neutrons of lower atomic-number.
Is that close to the truth?
I contemplate an atom of atomic number such that the nucleus was the size of a gooseberry; such a nucleus would just DROOP apart, yes?
Thanks, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

I thought you might have a commentary on the YouTube I posted!

In general I am somewhat "down" on videos posted by excited people exclaiming how their life was incomplete until they'd seen The Wave Rock near Hyden, and/or why The Goolwa Barrage was a rip-off. Such videos are Personal Opinions, and frankly no-one's opinion, personal or otherwise, is as important as mine, and I defy anyone to transform my prejudicies. I've spent YEARS building them up...

As you and other's now I am still too ashamed to admit that I was so stupid as to spend time living in downtown Toronto before seeing the light in 2017/18/19.

And so to the specific video.
First off I was terrified that a one-time lady-friend of mine had moved to Bonavista. After first moving to Alberta. But after I'd gotten past 0m22s I realized that I was still safe here.
Most articles about Bonavista seem to contain inaccuracies, and those inaccuracies are of two sorts: (1) facts and (2) perceptions.
In the video we are told that the population of Bonavista is 4,000, but prior to this the highest number I'd been told when I arrived was 3,800, and last week I saw the population pegged at 3,100. Of course, as in anywhere, the population of what? Some folks include Spillars Cove, Elliston, Maberley etc in the count, while other rely on something else. Nonetheless 4,000 sounds healthy, but the population must be dropping steadily year by year. Twelve brick-and-mortar businesses have closed since I moved here. When a bank pulls out of town the message is "There will be NO more new business loans here; ever".

I tried running the video at 2x but Caroline still didn't sound like a Bonavistan. I could still understand her. I can't understand Ram when he slows DOWN!

Comments on the Mayor and his "Heritage Building" project: all well and good, but I'd be more impressed is he focused on bringing new business here to Bonavista. His project does employ carpenters and electricians and others, but that just makes it nigh on impossible for individuals to hire a contractor.

I noted the comment on bikes and the cafe. The cafes are open only June-September. Bonavista is more bike-friendly than Toronto, but we still have far too many pickup-truck drivers who feel that as long as their paint doesn't get scratched, it's not a collision. (Strange looks I get when I gently steer around a series of potholes that, you';d think, I ought to ride out on my saddle, whereas strong pickup trucks slow down to walking-pace to negotiate the bumps)

There's more, and I'm not in particularly bad mood, When I get truly homesick I search for videos on The Yilgarn, but those aren't how I remember The Yilgarn as an impressionable ten-year old .

Cheers, Chris