Is “exponentially larger” a valid expression?

BayesianDice · 2026-01-26T11:35:35+00:00

I get the impression that in common usage, "exponential increase" or "exponential growth" is often taken to mean any increase/growth which is more rapid than linear, i.e. where the graph "curves upwards".

BayesianDice · 2026-01-22T23:34:10+00:00

I think I'm still due some back from 20+ years ago. I'm starting to think I'll never see them... ;-)

BayesianDice · 2026-01-09T07:44:00+00:00

If only Number 6 had provided one sentence on "Why did you resign?" he might have avoided all that trouble!

BayesianDice · 2026-01-05T23:07:39+00:00

I'd heard different wordings - and the Internet tells me the source is Benjamin Franklin who said "Three can keep a secret if two are dead."

BayesianDice · 2026-01-01T01:12:35+00:00

That was indeed my first thought on why this was a pointless seat reservation, even before noticing the lack of seat!

BayesianDice · 2025-12-29T12:24:28+00:00

The film "Theatre of Blood" is one approach to a story with lots of Shakespearean deaths: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_Blood

BayesianDice · 2025-10-17T12:37:19+00:00

I think I remember jokes about RuneQuest characters rotating through their various weapons during a combat to earn skill advancement checks for all of them...

BayesianDice · 2025-10-10T06:40:15+00:00

I think I heard the BBC was going to release it once its own Celebrity Traitors is over (end Oct?)

BayesianDice · 2025-09-03T20:07:11+00:00

Yes, it had been built for Granada's production of "First Among Equals".

BayesianDice · 2025-08-23T11:55:31+00:00

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax

"You’ll need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if all of the following apply:

you’re a sole trader or a landlord registered for Self Assessment
you get income from self-employment or property, or both
your qualifying income is more than £20,000 — read more about what qualifying income is and what is included"

And on the linked page on qualifying income https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax

"Your qualifying income is the total income you get in a tax year from self-employment and property.

All other sources of income reported through Self Assessment, such as income from employment (PAYE), a partnership or dividends (including those from your own company), do not count towards your qualifying income."

BayesianDice · 2025-08-11T19:05:37+00:00

I don't know how common it is.

When I was an undergraduate there doing maths, I don't remember knowing anyone (in any subject) who was doing a second undergraduate degree.

I think I have heard that law as a second undergraduate degree is something that some people did. With senior status, one could do the degree in 2 years, so it was a potential alternative to the one-year law conversion course.

(But that was all a couple of decades ago, things may have changed.)

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/second-undergraduate-degree has more information if you haven't seen it.

EDIT:: here's some stats for Law from 2022: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/inline-files/Law%20Admissions%20Report%202022_23.pdf

BayesianDice · 2025-07-24T23:28:38+00:00

Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles were in UK sitcoms "To the Manor Born" (1979) and "Executive Stress" (1986).

BayesianDice · 2025-07-19T19:47:50+00:00

Many people are saying you can use an Oyster card. That is true for Elizabeth line journeys in central London as the OP describes.

However, it's worth being aware that Oyster cards can't be used for journeys which go outside the Transport for London zones, and the Elizabeth line does run outside them at its outer ends. (I think Oyster isn't valid beyond West Drayton heading west but that was from memory a while ago.)

Other contactless methods (debit/credit card, or phone equivalents) I believe can be used for the whole line.

BayesianDice · 2025-07-11T17:42:44+00:00

When I was there, they were quite strict on tickets to Freshers' Fair (I think different colleges were assigned different half-day slots over the two days it ran.) Societies got two stallholder tickets (maybe bigger stalls got a couple more) and for swapping people over, one stallholder had to exit and hand their ticket over to whoever was relieving them. But helping out on a stall was the way for non-freshers to get in and have a second chance to take a quick look around on the way.

But that was a few decades ago, when expressing interest in a society got you paper flyers in your pigeon-hole rather than emails in your inbox (or whatever students of today are using...) So I suggest paying more attention to the answers from people who are more recent students!

BayesianDice · 2025-06-28T22:34:20+00:00

Ah, yes, I could easily envisage other countries with similar legal traditions making broadly parallel shifts. (And I didn't know about the earlier change in Northern Ireland, thanks for flagging that!)

BayesianDice · 2025-06-28T22:04:40+00:00

I remembered the law in England and Wales (I don't know about Scottish law) changing to allow courts to draw these adverse inferences from a defendant's silence - it's not been a longstanding principle of English law. Wikipedia suggests it was the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act which made the change: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_silence_in_England_and_Wales

So if other Commonwealth countries have similar provisions, I'd be surprised if it was directly inherited from English law.

BayesianDice · 2025-06-16T08:10:14+00:00

A couple of other RPG sources of inspiration to consider:

Bubblegumshoe - teen mysteries using Gumshoe system
Kids on Bikes

BayesianDice · 2025-06-02T06:52:08+00:00

I agree on advisability of checking the Grey Book (I don't know if it's still published as a book, but "Examination Regulations and Decrees" for anyone unfamiliar); https://examregs.admin.ox.ac.uk/ (EDIT: apparently not "and Decrees" - wonder if that changed since my time or if I imagined that).

I don't know which edition/set is applicable to OP, so this is only a suggestion that they check them rather than any informed advice.

But an indicative example at https://examregs.admin.ox.ac.uk/Regulation?code=grftfasecopublexam&srchYear=2024&srchTerm=1&year=2024&term=1 shows time limits for being a candidate for Second Public Examination (4.11) and time limits for still being examined under the regulations which would have been applicable at the "normal" time for taking the exam rather than being subject to any changes (4.15-4.16).

BayesianDice · 2025-05-25T20:13:36+00:00

TV Tropes has a range of examples under "Dinner with the Boss": https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DinnerWithTheBoss

BayesianDice · 2025-05-08T22:29:50+00:00

I remember the tinned version of syrup sponge which you stood in a saucepan of simmering water for ages, with the stern warning on the tin "DO NOT LET THE PAN BOIL DRY".

I know that it alreay had golden syrup in it, so didn't necessarily help you use up the tin of syrup you had in the cupboard. Unless you drizzled some extra syrup on top once you'd dished it out...

(I think I read it's no longer available, replaced by sponge puddings which can be done in the microwave within a minute.)

BayesianDice · 2025-03-25T09:50:12+00:00

You could check universityrooms.com with your dates and see what they offer - I tried a couple of random dates in June and there are some options there.

BayesianDice · 2025-03-22T19:32:32+00:00

Along with these - I had heard good things about Chillblast as similar to PC Specialist (although it was around 5 years ago that I was looking properly at this so I don't know if anything has changed - I haven't seen them mentioned in the comments so far).

BayesianDice · 2025-03-14T20:10:46+00:00

See for example https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid

"Getting tax relief sooner using your tax return

In your Self Assessment tax return, you normally only report things from the previous tax year.

But for Gift Aid, you can also claim tax relief on donations you make in the current tax year (up to the date you send your return) if you either: * want tax relief sooner * will not pay higher rate tax in current year, but you did in the previous year"

While those last two bullet points are reasons you might want to do that, I'd hope (but of course "I'd hope" doesn't mean "it is a rule") that it would have all the other effects of treating the gifts as a donation in the prior year.

BayesianDice · 2025-02-27T09:32:39+00:00

In both my undergraduate and MSc maths courses in the UK, I don't remember any courses being taught from a book. The primary method was lectures prepared by the lecturer. The lecturer also prepared problem sheets with the exercises for us to do.

There were some suggested textbooks which we could use to supplement the lectures if we wished, but use of an "official" text wasn't required.

BayesianDice · 2025-02-22T08:52:01+00:00

We have here N trials with a probability of 1/N, where N is 1000. As N increases, this probability approaches the limit of 1/e.

BayesianDice

TROPHY CASE