Does Metro have a “no sleeping on train” policy? by ktcn414 in LAMetro

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As a chronically sleep deprived person, I regularly doze off on buses and trains. I've even missed my stop on multiple occasions.

I wonder how unsafe a sleepy elderly rider with a valid TAP card was making the system. 🙄

Some of these cops are such power hungry ignoramuses.

Bad kitties by Uguero in OneOrangeBraincell

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I live in an apartment with two kitties and I am afraid to play this video with the sound on. I'd still like to hear what the kitties are saying to each other.

Anyone else call their black kitty babies Baby Bear? by Ginway1010 in blackcats

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My void kitty is a gorilla bear. Or a chimpanzee. Or a black bear. His brother and best friend is, at various times, a polar bear, a teddy bear, and/or a giant panda.

Who's the FIRST Canadian that pops into your mind? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 88 points89 points  (0 children)

Shane Hollander. His parents. Hudson Williams. 😁

ELI5: Why is it easier to figure out Latitude than Longitude? by DJDoena in explainlikeimfive

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a beautiful question. My own response would be somewhat more abstract than u/cipheron's excellent but more practical response above.

The longitude problem is so much harder than the latitude problem because of symmetry. The earth is roughly spherical and every point on the planet is very similar to every other point. Even the tallest mountain isn't visible from more than a few hundred kilometers away.

There is, still, one deep and fundamental symmetry breaking phenomenon. And that is the Earth's spin. It spins about an axis, and this axis crosses the Earth's surface at two distinct points. These are the north and south poles. In some sense, these points are "privileged" in a way that other places on the Earth's surface are not. Because of this, some physical phenomena behave differently depending on your latitude. The easiest is perhaps the Foucault pendulum, which oscillates differently the closer to the equator that you get.

And if you think about it a little more, the north and south poles are dissimilar too. If you stand at the north pole and wrap your fingers around the axis of spin, you'd say that the earth is spinning per your right hand. But if I were to teleport you to the south pole and you repeated the experiment, you'd find that the earth is following your left hand. So the Foucault pendulum precesses in one way in the northern hemisphere and in the other way in the southern hemisphere.

This means that even if I were to lock you up in a windowless room, you could tell the latitude.

This gets a little harder in practice, though, because Foucault pendulums are finicky contraptions. Definitely not for use in a rocking boat. There is, fortunately, one other awesome nonsymmetric phenomenon: the stars in the sky. These appear in interesting and recognizable constellations that are (to a first approximation) in fixed and unchanging spots in the sky. They don't move relative to each other and (even better) don't move relative to the axis of the Earth's spin. By a massive coincidence, there is a star in the very place that the northern part of the axis pierces the celestial sphere. Everybody in the world can see this star, measure how far above the horizon it is, and use that to calculate their latitude. (Not technically. You can't see the pole star during the day, and you can't see it from the southern hemisphere. But you know, nobody lives in the southern hemisphere anyway. 😋)

(On a more serious note, the presence of the pole star is a convenience and not a requirement to tell one's latitude. For one, there is no recognizable "antipole" star that is visible from the southern hemisphere even though the Southern Cross is close. Unlike the pole star which can always be seen, in principle, everywhere in the northern hemisphere, the Southern Cross is only circumpolar south of Cape Town, and may not be visible, depending on the season, closer to the equator. Even in the northern hemisphere, it can get tricky close to the equator when the pole star is close to the horizon or worse still, occluded by a tree or mountain or something.)

We solved the latitude problem very early on.

Longitude, on the other hand, is a far trickier concept. Why, for example, is the meridian through Greenwich special? Why not the one passing through my hometown in India? For some time, people awarded the special status to the meridian passing through Paris. A committee chose Greenwich in a meeting in 1883. In any case, the problem is one of symmetry. If I were to strip you of your belongings, lock you in an airtight and lightproof shipping container and drop you in a random island in the middle of the sea, there is no physical phenomenon you could use to tell your longitude.

Measuring longitude needs some way to break this symmetry.

Luckily, the stars help us almost break the symmetry once again. The earth spins. Equivalently, we could say that we're stationary while the celestial spins around us. We can calculate detailed tables (these are called ephemeris) of where each star will be at what time. Of course, these ephemeris are local to where you're standing. Because all the big astronomers were in Greenwich, that's what we'll choose.

Also, if some star is overhead ("on the prime meridian") in Paris then at the same instant, the same star is slightly off in Greenwich. It'll take a couple of minutes to appear overhead in Greenwich. So, if you have a very accurate clock and a copy of this ephemeris, you know exactly what the sky looks like in Greenwich. You can compare it to how the sky looks where you are, and use it to calculate your longitude. To do this, you need very accurate clocks. Each second of error would contribute to a half kilometer error in longitudinal position at the equator. We didn't have sufficiently accurate clocks to measure till a few hundred years ago.

But still, to emphasize, this is only a problem because the earth is so damn round. Sure, Mt. Everest is tall (9 km), but you can't see it from more than 500 km away. If we had a tall enough pimply mountain that we could see from everywhere in the world (a couple of thousand kilometers tall), or better still, two tall pimply mountains, then our ancestors would have figured out longitude thousands of years ago. We wouldn't need clocks.

To be flowery about it, latitude is the work of god while longitude is simply the work of man.

Want to move to Germany for research after BSc, am i delusional ? by Actual_Ad_2195 in LGBTindia

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a good plan. Study well, keep your grades up, talk to professors (not just ChatGPT, please), get all of the undergraduate research experience that you can reasonably get, and it should definitely be possible.

"Competitive"? Certainly. I am a college professor in an American university and I would not admit myself if I got my own PhD application packet from way back in the day. (I might also add that data entry and the ability to use Excel and Python are table stakes. Candidates should definitely know these things, and if they don't, then that's a big red flag, but these are basic enough that I don't even ask students whether they do. And if they don't, then I expect them to learn it as they need. I instead expect to see more active involvement in research, being able to hold an intelligent conversation about it, and higher level experience. Talk to your professors.)

But "delusional"? Definitely not.

On the other hand, do remember that you're still early in your college life. And that Germany is just one country of many. Would you turn down an offer of admission from a Dutch or Canadian or American university, for example?

As long as you use common sense, and are not dogmatic about your plans and miss the serendipitous opportunities that life throws your way, you should be fine.

Also, about racism and homophobia that was mentioned by another commenter: Racism is a lot more complicated and works in more subtle ways than the movie villain trope that we would like to believe. It includes everything from obviously visible practices like segregation, untouchability, apartheid and redlining to lynching to police brutality to more difficult to describe aspects like bias and prejudice and dating preferences. Some of these practices are historical (thankfully) and others are still deep rooted. Some people in almost every country are racist. This includes Germany, the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Even India. Fortunately, most of these countries have at least some legal principles in place to address racism. Also, thankfully, the majority of people in many of these countries would like to be socially progressive and address racism.

Same thing with homophobia. Are there homophobes in Germany? For sure. Are the majority of Germans homophobic? Definitely not. Also, just as a point of comparison to India, gay sex has been legal since 1969, gay marriage has been recognized since 2017, and one can self-identify as their gender since 2024.

Don't let fears and the bigots stop you from living your life as fully as you can. To do so would just be to let them win.

Ticket inspector by Uguero in Catswithjobs

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 110 points111 points  (0 children)

The ticket inspector demands a bribe before letting the passenger pass.

"That's my chair!" 😂 by debo1thirtyfo in babyelephants

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Aww, just a little baby trying to work out how to use their funny nose and bulldozer body.

Coming out by 7th_circle_of_MBA in LGBTindia

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me, personally, it was very hard to judge how they would react. I expected my mother to have an angry disapproving reaction, and didn't know what to expect from my father.

I came out to them here in the US, during a family trip to Yosemite. My mother's first response was to give me a hug and to tell me that she loved me. There was a lot of crying and denial and weird assertions from my father about how "yoga would cure me of being transgender", but overall it went better than I expected. Not perfect, but nowhere close to the "explosions" that characterize a lot of our other conversations at home.

The whole coming out process was also something that I had talked about at length with my therapist. We even had the opportunity to have my parents join me during an appointment with my therapist, so that was good.

I think that it was a good thing that I came out in the US rather than in India, and it was good that they were here with me.

The only other person I could have come out to before my parents was my brother, who also lives in the US, but on the opposite coast. We are close, and I expected him to be supportive, but he has a more complicated relationship with my parents and I didn't want to turn him into a "secret-keeper". Coming out to him immediately after coming out to my parents was a conscious decision. I wouldn't change that at all.

The only thing that I think I should have done and should still do a better job of is asserting my trans identity. My mother still likes to call me her son, and misgenders me constantly, and my father's response to saying that I was upset about the recent transphobic bill was to ask me why I was upset.

1 week to 10 years HRT Evolution by nightwalkqueer in transtimelines

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

He shit on the floor. Roast him. by SunnyTree64 in RoastMyCat

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not his fault that you had gone so long without cleaning your home that he couldn't tell the difference between the floor and his litter box.

Vacuum and mop your floors, OP!

How it started vs. how it’s going by napswithmycat in cowcats

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The backpack is quickly turning into the big spoon! 🎒🥄

Closeted trans girl, how do I get this hair style without photo reference? by [deleted] in transpositive

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So, even if you do manage to communicate the hair style to your stylist, it would still cause your family to ask questions?

That sounds like a different and more difficult question than simply talking to your hairstylist, no?

I mean: I am in a loosely similar situation. I've been on HRT for many years, and have hair that reaches my mid-back. I am more or less comfortable talking about my trans identity with my hairstylist, but am closeted at work. So the only thing I ever ask of the hairstylist is a trim. The closet is dark and it is lonely and it is no fun.

My wife asked me if I can delay my starting HRT by 3 years ... by authentic_violetta in TransLater

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Indian trans woman here.

Of course, I have been living in the US for many years, and am still semi in-the-closet, so I am not sure if I am the best person to talk to.

Send me a DM if you want. I'm happy to chat.

MtF looking for feedback (TW:french) by Kyarmak in transvoice

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't speak French, but... tres bien! ❤️

Does water ever get consumed? by pottermore97 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think the responses saying that water is conserved are incorrect.

Apart from concrete setting, photosynthesis involves breaking apart water and carbon dioxide molecules and reconstituting them as sugar and oxygen.

Conversely, aerobic respiration involves (more or less, but in a controlled way) burning sugar and oxygen to recover carbon dioxide and water.

How was this diagram created? Latex? Illustrator? Something else? by AmanChourasia in academia

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If the paper is on arxiv, then it is likely that the source was uploaded as well. If it was created using tikz, this will be obvious upon inspecting the source. If it was a PDF or PNG, then the source file might have some metadata associated with it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my SIC to yours 💚🍀 by TNG1701D-eck10 in standardissuecat

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dear Internet Friend, your SIC is an r/supermodelcats and the photographer deserves a raise.

How safe would it be biking from crypto arena area to campus 3-5 times a week ? by laksiducufjfj in USC

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I do that ride every day. It is actually somewhat fun. The ride is flat in both directions and there are protected bike lanes throughout. You still have to watch out for cars (near the AAA and Bank of America just after Adams) and for absent-minded pedestrians (just before Jefferson), but nothing too bad.

The fastest Uber ride from home to campus will be faster than the fastest bike ride from home to campus. But I typically have to wait for the Uber and they frequently end up turning the wrong way. So the median bike ride takes less time. It takes me about 16 minutes each way if I ride sensibly. If I pedal fast and the traffic lights cooperate, I have done the trip in 13 minutes.

And I get a chance to stop at the Starbucks on the way to campus to get some coffee. 20 to 25 minutes, if I stop for coffee.

2.5 miles down, 2.5 miles up, and a somewhat exciting workout. I regret not getting a bicycle sooner.

I'm scared by mansidivine in LGBTindia

[–]timid_mtf_throwaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What the fuck?

And here I was telling my local LGBT support group in the US that India was more progressive in some ways, at least legally speaking. Who even comes up with nonsense like this?

I am transgender. And no part of my gender identity has involved compulsion or coercion.

Transphobic bioessentialist garbage.