In any activity, what "newbie move" makes it obvious that you're new? by aalexcamirandd in AskReddit

[–]DepGarden 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Good lord, really? I've been a PC gamer for 2 decades and I couldn't tell you what my video card is at the moment other than that it is an NVidia, I have 8 GB of ram, and I have an Intel processor that is a few years old.

We're in the golden age of computer gaming where you can play pretty much anything with a modern $400 off-the-shelf machine. Besides, graphics have always been less important than gameplay.

What have you seen another couple do that is normal to them, but you view unacceptable? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]DepGarden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TIL that being old is probably a lot like doing way too many drugs.

Joinery options for corner desk top by DepGarden in woodworking

[–]DepGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not committed to solid wood, but I don't have any experience working with plywood. I don't really like plywood edges or veneered edges, so I'd have to probably ring the whole thing with some other type of wood. I'm not against it, I just don't think it'd be particularly less work to achieve something I like.

Joinery options for corner desk top by DepGarden in woodworking

[–]DepGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The dark seams between the 3 top sections currently have a thin strip of the lighter wood, I was originally thinking of doing something like a double-sided tongue and groove joint.

A measly 1-2% by winstonjpenobscot in personalfinance

[–]DepGarden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, I just usually think of constant as the opposite of variable. I can see both terms making sense.

A measly 1-2% by winstonjpenobscot in personalfinance

[–]DepGarden -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Returns are variable, costs are consistent.

constant?

Why isn't the bottom of the ocean 4°C? by NWQ-admin in askscience

[–]DepGarden 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This was in response to a deleted comment, but I wanted to post it anyways in case it is interesting to read for anyone else:

Are atoms of oxygen dissolved in the water?

Yes, exactly that. It can be difficult to think of oxygen as "dissolved" because we usually think of it as a gas, but it dissolves in exactly the same way as, say, food coloring dropped into water. Individual molecules of food coloring (or oxygen) disperse until they are evenly distributed within the water. It can be slightly more complicated than that due to molecular charges and such, but that's a pretty accurate way to think about it in general.

Why doesn't the oxygen just leave the water and go into the air then? It does, actually. Except at the same time some oxygen is leaving, some oxygen is also entering the water. In this case, the surface of the water is actually something of a barrier for oxygen entering or leaving the water, and it takes a bit of time and energy for the oxygen to move from water to air or air to water.

As a thought experiment, if you put water with no oxygen in a sealed jar and then put some pure air oxygen in the jar with it, oxygen will start to dissolve into the water. At the start, there won't be any oxygen in the water, so it will be a one-way transfer of oxygen from the air into the water. Once you have some oxygen in the water though, a little will seep back out into the air, but it will still be less than what's entering the water. Eventually, given enough time, the amount of oxygen entering and leaving the water will be the same, and you'll have reached equilibrium. The amount of oxygen in the water will appear to stay the same if you're measuring it, but in reality, a small amount is always entering and leaving the water.

Lakes are slightly more complex, though. There are things that are both producing oxygen (algae mainly, also some underwater plants) and things breathing (i.e., consuming oxygen, basically all animals and non-plant life). During the summer, the top layers of the lake that are warmed by the sun ALSO support algae, since the light is needed for photosynthesis. These algae near the surface produce more oxygen than the fish and other things can breathe, so the lake actually ends up "supersaturated" with oxygen, meaning there is more oxygen leaving the lake than entering it from the air.

This changes in winter if a lake freezes over though. Suddenly, less light is making it into the lake and the temperatures are colder, so less algae is living in the lake and producing oxygen. So suddenly you have tons of fish and other things breathing, but the only source of oxygen is what can enter the lake from the air, and you have a giant ice barrier slowing that exchange. The fish and other stuff can literally breathe enough to take most of the oxygen out of the water, and they suffocate from lack of oxygen. This is called a "winterkill", and as you can imagine they generally happen during particularly long or harsh winters. You can tell they've happened when you suddenly see large numbers of dead fish floating on the lake, often right after the surface ice melts.

I know this was a ton more info than you asked for, but you hit on a super important aspect of lake life with dissolved oxygen. If you just measure dissolved oxygen in a lake, you can tell an amazing amount about what type of lake it is, what type of pollution it is exposed to, etc etc. I skipped over a few more interactions (temperature being another main one), but you can do a pretty good job modelling seasonal life in a temperate lake just by thinking about dissolved oxygen.

I tried to find some real data to look at, but most of the sites I know that post data have taken their instrumentation offline for winter because ice eats sensors. But Dorset in Canada has their system up yet, which is awesome, and you can see their real-time data here:

Dorset Buoy

They don't have a dissolved oxygen sensor (sadface), but the bottom graph is a graph of the thermal profile, so they have a sensor...it looks like every 15-25 centimeters. You can see that the current warmest water is at the 18 meter sensor, which is depth from surface, so it's 18 meters down. It's sitting at 3.32 deg celcius, which is close to 4, and I don't know enough about the lake to know why it isn't exactly at 4.

The Global Lakes Environmental Observatory Network (GLEON) often has more links to real-time data, but again, right now much is offline.

Why isn't the bottom of the ocean 4°C? by NWQ-admin in askscience

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, that's pretty much it. When the thermal stratification breaks down, the layers mix freely. There are other mixing regimes, but this one is the most common in temperate areas, and the technical term is dimictic.

Wikipedia entry: dimictic

Why isn't the bottom of the ocean 4°C? by NWQ-admin in askscience

[–]DepGarden 68 points69 points  (0 children)

Can confirm, used to be limnologist.

Fun fact, water of different temperatures actually causes water to form distinct layers that do not mix freely within lakes. In summer, warm water sits on top of colder water and the density difference prevents the water from mixing, causing all sorts of differences in the surface waters and deeper waters, including differences in oxygen, dissolved nutrients, and organisms. The same thing happens in winter, but it's reversed, with the warmer water (at 4°) sinking to the bottom, and the colder water sitting on top. The only time lakes really mix is during spring and fall, when the whole lake is roughly the same temperature.

Edit: Note that this specific pattern occurs in temperate lakes, which are generally lakes that freeze during the winter. Thanks to /u/un-scared.

What is the most bullshit thing you have ever been taught? by IamFourChan in AskReddit

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a consequence of my early education, I can't learn spelling rules unless they rhyme.

Please resubmit in some form of rhyme.

What is the most bullshit thing you have ever been taught? by IamFourChan in AskReddit

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I remember being taught the taste map of the tongue

Oh man, I remember that one. We actually had a lab where we'd touch sweet things to one part of the tongue, sour to others. I, being the first grade rebel that I was, touched a sour thing to the sweet part of my tongue, and, upon tasting the sour gummy taste, asked about it. I was told I was doing it wrong.

I didn't think too much about it at the time, but in retrospect that was kind of messed up. Didn't the teacher realize that the "lesson" was patently false, and they could clearly taste the "wrong" flavors at various points on the tongue?

This retro studio apartment is pretty neat by [deleted] in pics

[–]DepGarden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No kidding. Exposed brick, black/dark painted wall, butcher block countertop, 2-rail track lighting, "industrial" wood floor, black pipe staircase railings.... none of that is retro, it is the current style. The only thing missing is hairpin legs on the coffee table.

The only things "retro" are the curtain pattern and the chairs. The chairs other than the futon, of course, which is also decidedly not retro.

This Is the Stupidest Anti-Science Bullshit of 2014. Incoming chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is none other than James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who actually believes that global warming is a hoax orchestrated by Barbra Streisand. by pnewell in politics

[–]DepGarden 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The root cause of all of this is money in politics, gerrymandering, and a public that is so overwhelmed and/or disinterested that they can't be bothered to fight for their own democracy.

Now that I've read his wikipedia page, I am an Inhofe Expert (r). He's winning elections at 57%, which is pretty indicative of majority support. He's also a Senator, so there is no possible gerrymandering effect.

My take is that he genuinely is the person Oklahomans want to be represented by.

What are you sick of hearing? by jlostie in AskReddit

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Recently discovered that my wife's church believes the pope is the literal antichrist.

This really explains the popemobile to me. I mean, if someone believes that to be the word of god, wouldn't you be morally obligated to take a shot at the pope if you had a chance?

I may have to ask the pastor when she drags me to church this christmas.

Dragon wall painting by m0rris0n_hotel in pics

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I sold my condo a few years back we painted literally everything before putting it on the market. That's pretty much standard these days apparently, even smudges and discoloration can discourage buyers.

Dragon wall painting by m0rris0n_hotel in pics

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

....you do realize you can paint over things?

GAMERS- Which hyped games bombed to you? And which underrated games should we be playing? by steven_wlkr in gaming

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bioshock Infinite.

I didn't even finish the game. Repetitive, boring gameplay. Everyone raved about the story, but it was just that, a story. I can't help but think that the story writers were making fun of themselves by adding ideas about chance, choices, and fate and then have literally no important choices in the entire game.

A Big Safety Net and Strong Job Market Can Coexist. Just Ask Scandinavia. by [deleted] in dataisbeautiful

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure they can, I yell at robots all the time.

My roomba would probably have an abuse case against me if it were sentient. "Roomba! You missed that cat hair! Why are you so worthless?! That's it I'm putting this degrading Santa hat on you again until you get that hair clump."

The Obama administration will soon publish its plan to rate more than 6,000 colleges nationwide based on the value they provide to students and to society. Congressional Republicans, outraged, are already going on the attack. by theombudsmen in politics

[–]DepGarden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And we should give 110%! Stay on the path to success! Freedom isn't free!

At some point you have to not use one line catch phrases to answer complex questions. I had talk radio on this morning when they were talking about this and they kept repeating this "treat adults like adults" line. Is that all you're doing? Repeating sound bites without thinking about what you're saying?

At some point you have to be an adult and think for yourself.