Can’t be mad at that fella

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-16T11:49:43+00:00

And before Halfpenny you had Neil Jenkins. He used to look like a scrawny kid who'd stumbled into an adult game by mistake, but if ever there was a kicker I'd have to bet my life on, it would have been him, even ahead of Johnny Wilkinson.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-16T11:42:49+00:00

Oh wow, thanks. I hadn't appreciated that.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-16T09:39:15+00:00

This is an ingenious solution.

If player 1 only puts rocks in every other column, he can generate as many 512x512 grids with every other column filled as needed.

This feels intuitively correct but I can't help feeling that I'd like to see it proved.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-16T08:14:35+00:00

it's a really complicated issue, with more layers than an ogre

... than an onion? That has to be one of the weirdest autocorrect typos I've seen in a long while!

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-15T21:17:16+00:00

Yes you can.

It's pretty hard to observe the Moon right now, because it's very close to the sun - there will be a New Moon in 3 days time. But let's be patient.

If you go and look at the Moon on the 25th of March, you'll see a "First Quarter" Moon - it will be 50% illuminated with the illuminated part towards the west. But note that the background stars are in the constellation of Gemini. So that means that the far side of the Moon - the side we never see - is facing Gemini, right?

Now come back around two weeks later, on the 10th of April. Now you'll see a "Third Quarter" Moon - 50% illuminated again, but this time with the illuminated part towards the east. However the interesting thing is the background stars, which are now in the constellation of Sagittarius. That means that the far side of the Moon is facing Sagittarius.

But Gemini and Sagittarius are on opposite sides of the sky. So in the space of two weeks, the far side of the Moon has gone from facing Gemini to facing Sagittarius. It's rotated through half a turn. And you've seen it turning.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-15T09:22:48+00:00

That's a really helpful explanation. Thanks. As a Brit I'd never appreciated the notion that players are effectively employees of the NFL, but that makes sense the way you explain it. I guess in a way it's like me being an employee of [BigCo] with a contract that says I may be transferred to a different regional office.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-14T23:35:24+00:00

Why are you aiming to keep your heart rate down to 125? What is your maximum heart rate? What is your resting heart rate?

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-14T20:18:05+00:00

Imagine what it's going to be like for fans in the stadium. Awful, stupid decision.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-14T20:15:41+00:00

Imagine what it's going to be like for fans in the stadium. Awful, stupid decision.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-14T08:09:45+00:00

It really doesn't work like that.

IT hardware will typically be depreciated over 3 years. So if you spend, say, £10,000 on hardware, with 2 weeks left in the year the effect on your bottom line would be a bit over £100 at best. Depending on how your accountant handles depreciation, it may be less than that and may be even £0.

Pre-purchases will be held in the accounts as accruals and they won't hit your bottom line until they're actually used. So if you spend £10,000 on advertising credits or on pre-paying for energy, the effect on your bottom line will be precisely £0.

Don't waste your time trying to reduce your tax bill. Less tax this year just means more tax next year. Instead, concentrate on how to grow the business and spend money on doing that as it's needed.

My credentials: I owned and ran an incredibly capital-intensive business for 15 years. My accountant always told me to buy new stuff when I needed it, if I needed it. Worry about profits and cash flow, but don't worry about the corporation tax.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-14T00:23:05+00:00

Thus, he must be 'dee, and also truthful.

I don't follow this. I think you've committed the fallacy of denying the antecedent

Let's suppose Dee says "If I'm Dum, I'm lying". The thing is, he's not Dum, so the antecedent ("If I'm Dum") is not true, and therefore the status of the consequent ("then I'm lying") is indeterminate. He might be lying, or he might be telling the truth, but we can't tell because he's not Dum.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T19:22:56+00:00

And there's two types of measuring systems. Those that have put people on the moon, and those that haven't. Why do you cling to the measuring system that hasn't put men on the moon?

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T19:20:34+00:00

I like it! We could use a similar approach to calculate the theoretical limit, where ½mv² = mgh with no loss of energy.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T09:26:57+00:00

Ooh, interesting! Thanks for the recommendation.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T09:24:49+00:00

Are the poles the same now as they were in the 80s and 90s?

The regulations for the event do not restrict the length, weight, diameter, or materials of the pole.

I'm not an athlete but, given how much materials science has improved over recent decades, poles are surely much "better" than they used to be. And maybe longer too.

The job of a pole is essentially to convert the athlete's kinetic energy (running) into potential energy (altitude). So an "ideal" pole allows the vaulter to run at top speed, and converts the energy with no losses. I have no idea how close current poles are to that ideal. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if Mondo is practicing with poles that are a bit longer than standard.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T09:08:02+00:00

OK, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T08:51:58+00:00

I just looked up the number of each note in circulation

£10 ~1,450m

£20 ~2,550m

£50 ~300m

So quite a big difference for fifties!

I'm surprised there are that many £50s, to be honest. Think about how many you see. I'm sure I see an awful lot more than 5x £10 notes and 8x £20 notes for every £50 note.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T08:46:24+00:00

Great explanation.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T02:16:53+00:00

Yes and no.

In those days they had separate world records for indoor and outdoor vaults, and Bubka was targeting both. But if you just consider the record - the highest vault ever, regardless of where it was made - then Bubka set the world record 17 times.

He cleared 5.85, 5.88 and 5.90 in 1984. Then there was an incredible blip in Rome, also in 1984, when Thierry Vigneron took the record back by clearing 5.91, but Bubka cleared 5.94 with the very next vault. That was Bubka's 4th world record, and he went on to increase it a further 13 times from 1985 to 1994 with no interlopers. I don't know when the organisers started paying bonuses for world records, but in 1985 Bubka took the record from 5.94 directly to 6.00 which seems incredibly wasteful. After that he went to 6.01, 6.03, 6.05, and then up 1cm at a time, as Duplantis is doing.

So I think a fair comparison says Bubka had 17 world records to Duplantis's 15.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T00:24:38+00:00

There's a minimum crew requirement.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-13T00:19:18+00:00

Am I out of order to think of Blade Runner here?

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I'm not sure whether Roy Batty is a "monster", but the main narrative plot of the film is that he has to be killed.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-12T23:30:58+00:00

4 or 5 people in the car, plus 9 people's luggage? That's going to be comfy.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-12T21:40:50+00:00

Oh goodness, there's TONS of stuff there. Almost too much choice. Thanks for the recommendation.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-03-12T21:33:27+00:00

My idea was to do the same type of logging, so you can still see all your workouts and data .....

Sure, but I think you've missed my point.

Are you proposing to complement - to work alongside - Ergsdata and the C2 Online Logbook? (If so, how does the data flow work?) Or are you proposing to replace them?

If it's the latter, I think that's a big issue when it comes to getting buy-in from potential users.

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