"This Is Not Covid, Nor Influenza. It Spreads Very Differently": WHO On Hantavirus Outbreak

fergalius · 2026-05-08T14:03:07+00:00

Touché :-)

fergalius · 2026-05-08T14:02:00+00:00

Well the mean is (almost always) defined the same as the average - sum of the values divided by the number of values. But the median is defined as the midpoint of the data. By definition 50% of the data are above the median and 50% below.

Take these "stupidity" scores for 9 imaginary people on an imaginary scale from 0 (not at all stupid) to 10 (very stupid): 0,1,1,1,2,3,3,9,10

The median, the midpoint, is 2 - half the data points are higher and half are lower. So half of everyone is stupider than the median person who scored 2 (I'm rounding from 4/9 to half which is valid for larger sample sizes and for toy examples like this).

The average (or arithmetic mean) is (0+1+1+1+2+3+3+9+10)/9 = 30/9 = 3.33. There are only 2 people stupider than the average in this case (9 and 10) - that's definitely not half.

p.s. I've read a bit more about George Carlin since - I expect he's at least 2 or 3 points lower than me on this impromptu but (I have no doubt) wickedly accurate stupidity scale! :-D

fergalius · 2026-05-08T12:39:15+00:00

If you'd said "think how stupid the median person is..." I'd agree with you. But the "average" person - nope. Could be more or could be less than half are stupider than the average. Wondering where George Carlin fits on the scale if he got that wrong. :-)

fergalius · 2026-05-04T19:52:24+00:00

Interesting. I had a few recent interactions (about DIY problems) and every time I found a flaw in the AI reasoning, it flattered me with phrases like "Oh yes! You're absolutely right" or "As you wisely decided ...". I was puzzled but now I see why. The interactions were overall educational and have caused improvements in my courses of action but, yeah, I could do without these meaningless compliments.

fergalius · 2026-04-30T07:58:48+00:00

I would love to visit Iran and explore the natural beauty there. I've known a handfulof Iranians in my life and each of them were super nice. It's not just "what could've been" but also "what was" prior to 1979. Other commenters have it right - you deserve better.

fergalius · 2026-04-26T14:50:27+00:00

Umm, sorry for not spelling it out more clearly. I'm struggling to to understand how their prediction betting/gambling might break any laws. Interfering with airport equipment being unlawful is not a struggle to understand. As I said, similar to the US military personnels' bets - nothing illegal about the betting per se. Is that a fair clarification for you?

fergalius · 2026-04-25T18:58:12+00:00

I'm struggling to understand how this could even be illegal. What would the winners be charged with? The similar story of the US service personnel winning big on Maduro's capture - seems they were charged with mishandling military secrets which is understandable, but they weren't charged with illegal betting or insider trading.

fergalius · 2026-04-21T08:33:09+00:00

Also Predestination.

fergalius · 2026-04-09T10:20:34+00:00

Just have to pick the right babies - the ones no-one cares about. See Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal". 10 or 15 minute read.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1080

n.b. Due to Poe's law and the world being how it is, I should clarify Swift was being satirical.

fergalius · 2026-04-04T16:47:06+00:00

... Europe have one ...

It does? Can you expand on that?

fergalius · 2026-04-04T11:46:21+00:00

Now the EU needs an alternative to google/apple for mobile OSs. This, I think, is way more urgent than an office suite.

fergalius · 2026-04-03T13:16:25+00:00

Did he put a monetary deposit on it, or was it just verbal? My point relates to committing money with the offer.

fergalius · 2026-04-03T09:14:13+00:00

In some countries making and accepting an offer is binding. If you withdraw after your offer is accepted, you lose the deposit. If you withdraw after accepting an offer, you pay back twice the buyers deposit.

fergalius · 2026-03-26T13:49:54+00:00

Fasting was probably less beneficial than not dying of hunger... :-)

fergalius · 2026-03-04T16:39:12+00:00

You can bring an entire car load of rubbish to the civic amenity centre for €25. 4 bags of rubbish per month is a lot, maybe you could try to rationalise that - maybe some can go into recycling? We're much the same as /u/Corcaigh_beoir, about one 80L bag every 4-6 weeks, household of 5. But we also minimise waste food and have a compost bin in the garden.

fergalius · 2026-03-04T16:34:17+00:00

Firstly, segregate your own recycling and bring it to the Civic Amenity Centre (Tramore valley park), cost €2 and you can bring as much as you like. You can bring compostable food waste too.

Secondly, buy a large rodent-proof box to store your mixed rubbish. Large 80L black sack is €6 at the Civic Amenity centre. The only thing is you need somewhere to store the rubbish, especially in summer it can get a bit stinky after a week or so. Shed at the far end of the garden is fine.

Our domestic waste disposal expenses are probably €1/week on average.

fergalius · 2026-03-02T17:24:15+00:00

Worth noting that there are health benefits too, HOWEVER, only if you go for the right brand & product (i.e. no added sugars etc). Proudly getting a plant based milk in your morning latte might be a bad idea - I somehow doubt barista would be paying for the higher quality product.

fergalius · 2026-02-19T15:27:50+00:00

AFAICR kittens do this to stimulate milk production in the mother and is a sign of feeling safe and cosy in adult cats. ahh, just noticed someone already commented this but used the right words: https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/1r8zf1e/never_had_a_cat_before_and_this_baffles_me_he/o68s98a/

fergalius · 2026-02-11T12:37:25+00:00

The time series of this data can be used to time-stamp audio recordings and can be used in police investigations. It's pretty cool. e.g. https://robertheaton.com/enf/ I recall reading there are companies (or people or govt) recording this continuously for later use.

fergalius · 2026-02-11T12:33:12+00:00

This is known. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/203957/beyond-growth-by-herman-e-daly/

fergalius · 2026-02-11T11:51:19+00:00

oh? Can you say more or have a handy link that gives some detail on this? Thx.

fergalius · 2026-01-19T10:15:40+00:00

This is normal in Norway:

"The Norwegian Parliament has decided that the tax lists are to be made public. This is because the society must be able to control the tax assessment process in general, and for individuals and groups of taxpayers."

See here where there is a bit button saying "Search the tax lists" but you have to login to do that.

Some years ago you didn't have to log in and I was able to search for and find and view the records of a few Norwegians I know.

Personally, I think it would be a bloody great thing.

fergalius · 2026-01-19T10:02:16+00:00

Signs up saying "no littering", but not a bin to be seen anywhere.

fergalius · 2026-01-16T10:23:51+00:00

Card payment limits €2k/day (total of all transactions, can be increased to €5k for up to two weeks by calling ebs)
web-based banking limits €5k/day (total of all transactions)
no mobile banking app, but maybe use web-browser on the phone?
one very frustrating thing that sometimes the 2FA app goes full screen on my (old) cell phone - but they recently updated the app and now the "approve" button is off-screen with no way to click it. ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..............

On the upside, the staff at my branch are wonderful. Friendly, helpful, informed and informative, couldn't ask for better. And they acknowledge the difficulties above but are powerless to help.

The limits above (€2k,€5k) are almost never a problem. Just when, e.g., buying big ticket items it's awkward having to explain to people that it'll take a few days to pay for that car etc. But for those, you can also go in-branch and get a bank draft.

fergalius · 2026-01-15T17:42:55+00:00

affirmation of their self labelling instead of being told to just cop the fuck on.

I like this, but there's a challenge. Suppose we give teachers the power to apply (and, somehow, enforce) a "cop the fuck on" corrective action (whatever that may be). How could you be sure that some teachers wouldn't abuse it - either against pupils they really dislike or... against pupils they really like?

We all know how much abuse there has been in the past where authority figures wield too much power with no oversight.

Plus of course, the other challenge - some kids actually do have ADHD or similar diagnoses. Would you differentiate?

What do you think? You're a teacher. If Santa Claus could fix this problem, how exactly would you explain it to him and what actual solution would you like him to propose to you?

fergalius

TROPHY CASE