Stuff I don't know

And maybe y'all do.


Why does syncopation work? Flint? Anybody?

I'd be glad to discuss my understanding of syncopation. First of all, syncopation is a term I haven't used in years, as it's a general term used to describe a more specific set of techniques I employ (as a drummer). But it does present an interesting question.

The short answer is: syncopation creates musical interest, by generating small instances of tension between the notes.

You asked why it works, and the answer to that is: because it sounds good. Completely subjective, I know, but that's "why" any art "works" - it is deemed by the listener/viewer/experiencer to have aesthetically pleasing qualities. Naturally, I will address how syncopation works.

Most syncopation in popular music is achieved through beat displacement. The beat being the underlying structure upon which notes are placed.

Playing "on top" of the beat is metronomic (technically perfect) time. A musician who plays "on top" of the beat can "bury the click" - the click track being an electronic metronome used in the recording studio to synchronyze the various parts of a composition. If all of the notes produced by one instrument are "on top" of the beat, there is no syncopation in the pattern. However, if other instruments are displacing beats, there can be syncopation between the instruments.

A common beat displacement is to play "behind" the beat. Motown drummers (and those whom they influenced, such as the late John Bonham of Led Zeppelin) played the backbeat of the snare "behind" the beat, that is to say, they slightly delayed striking the snare. This is how you establish a "groove" - with these displacements. Back to the subjective quality of aesthetics, the listener expects to hear a certain beat placement, but you delay the gratification, creating that small pocket of tension, or musical interest. This is especially effective when other instruments are playing "on top" of, or in some other orientation to, the beat.

Enough of that. A more advanced technique for syncopation is polyrhythm. That is to say, more than one time signature is superimposed within a pattern. For example: within the same space that one pattern strikes out eight notes, another strikes six. Obviously, the notes aren't going to be happening at the same time. That's polyrhythm. Heard more often in jazz, see: the late Elvin Jones, legendary Coltrane drummer. Drummers pride themselves on creating polyrhythm between different limbs, thus establishing syncopation between different parts of their own body!

...

I'll leave it at that. If anyone displays the slightest interest in any of this, I could go on for days.

i'm slightly interested. this seems like something you would do without knowing you're doing it......but when you lay it all out like that...it makes it so...clinical. and lame.

I don't consciously know what I'm doing, perhaps most of the time during a live playing situation, but, I'll be doing things that I practiced while knowing exactly what I was practicing. Personally, I am of the school that believe music should "breathe" ... the time should be organic. Still, you have to know what you're doing, or you're just making noise. The tools you have learned become part of your vocabulary, to be used expressively.

I usually don't notice the drumming. The exception to that is Rush. What does that guy do that's different, and what do you call that?

Chops.

Interesting concepts. Makes it more scientific and easy to understand. Thanks.

Oooh...that was really interesting. That kind of explains what it is I'm hearing when I listen to jazz....why it sounds so fundamentally different.

Finally an explanation that works for me. Thanks Flint!

For $370 you can try it with your own electronic drum kit.

Weird Harold;368154 wrote:

I usually don't notice the drumming. The exception to that is Rush. What does that guy do that's different, and what do you call that?

xoxoxoBruce;368165 wrote:

Chops.

ha ha ha ... Chops is right.

There are a few more items of note, regarding Neil Peart. Number one, for the purposes of this discussion I should point out that he plays "on top" of the beat. So, how can he be syncopated? I'll get to that shortly.

Number two, he writes the lyrics. He then "formats" the lyrics (frames them, emphasizes them) with his drum parts. You might not be conscious of all the editorial decisions he is making, but rest assured he is not just going crazy.

Number three, Rush plays in a hodge-podge of time signatures, mostly written by Lifeson and Lee. Neil is able to play something incredible regardless of whether the composition calls for odd time, or for the whole thing to shift dramatically at the drop of a hat. It's a trio, the components are limited to what three people can do, so the perception of the drumming is really coming from a combination of efforts.

…

Now, a few more thoughts I had on syncopation. Since, apparently, people are actually reading this.

How can Neil Peart or Stewart Copeland (Police) be so syncopated while sitting right "on top" of the beat? A big part of this is playing accents at a smaller subdivision than the main drive of the song. I will explain that:

Most popular music (rock, pop, rap, etc.) operates in 4/4 time, that is to say each measure (or bar) has 4 notes that occupy one-fourth of the measure. Nice and clean, it’s divided into equally spaced parts, called quarter notes. The basic "thump/whack" beat (think AC/DC) has the bass drum hitting the 1 and the 3 (the first and third quarter note), the snare hitting the 2 and the 4 (known as the backbeat).

In the basic "rock" beat (think Ringo Starr or Creedence Clearwater Revival), the high-hat taps out 8th notes; that is to say notes that occur twice as often as quarter notes. Here’s an example of 8th notes:

vocalperk;362404 wrote:

[LIST]
[*]the beatboxing went: bom ts kuh ts ts ts bu-kuh ts bom ts kuh ts ts ts bu-kuh
[*]to get the rhythm of that beat box, each syllable is equally spaced apart and "bu-kuh" is said and spaced together like one syllable
[/LIST]

The "equal spacing" is defined by 8th notes:

1.....2..3....4..5..6..7.........8
bom ts kuh ts ts ts bu-kuh ts

Now consider 16th notes, which occur twice as often as 8th notes. 16th notes are the tom part from "Wipeout" or the high-hat part from the "Shaft" theme. The tempo isn’t necessarily faster, the drummer is just playing smaller subdivisions.

Back to syncopation. If you can imagine a "framework" of subdivisions, wherein the most common subdivisions comprise the familiar pattern of the song (remember, the standard rock beat operates primarily on 8th notes, with accented quarter notes), the drummer has the option to accent any other subdivision in the course of constructing a syncopated pattern. Stewart Copeland plays his frenetic high-hat embellishments on a framework of 16th notes, on top of an 8th note pattern.

Neil Peart plays tom fills that alternate between 16th notes and 24th notes, or 8th note triplets. That is to say, on the highest tom, he plays four 16th notes, on the next tom, he plays six notes that exactly occupy the space of those four 16th notes. As he goes down the toms, it sounds as though his fill is speeding up and slowing down (it’s not). Confusing?

Triplets are groups of three notes that occupy the space of one of the standard subdivisions. Triplets are another common technique to achieve syncopation, while technically staying "on top" of the beat. But the triplets don’t have to be a repeating part of the pattern, you can pick one at random for a crazy syncopated accent. Furthermore, as triplets are three-note groups that occupy a certain space, there are quintuplets etc.

By now, you may be thinking "It’s all just math?" … Yes. It’s all just math. This is why they call Neil Peart "The Professor" …

One more item of note, regarding Neil Peart: consider that he penned the lyrics to the song Subdivisions (about subdivisions in society, and geographical subdivisions), and then played the drum parts to the song, utilizing various musical subdivisions, thus acting out parts of an extremely involved metaphor.

One more item of note, regarding Stewart Copeland: He didn’t really get along with Sting, as a person. Yet they were the rhythm section of a musical trio. This personal tension often resulted in parts that didn’t really "fit" between the bass and drums; thus creating the syncopation that made their music sound so exciting.

Great job, Flint. This is very interesting and informative.

I feel like I am back in my drum lessons when I was 10! I love it! I used to love to sit and listen to my drum teacher talk to me about this stuff and then go home and drive my parents nuts trying to get it right.

I hope my son gets as excited when he picks up an instrument and then feels this great reading a discussion about it so many years later.

Now, a few more thoughts I had on syncopation. Since, apparently, people are actually reading this.

Duuu-uh!

That's why I asked! Thanks for the helpful information. I did know what it was, technically. I did know why it worked, technically (cause it grooves, man). But that was not a very satisfying answer. Much help from you, many thanks.

what a great thread, Flint, BigV!

Heeeey... wait a minute. If none of us knows anything about it, how do we know he's not lying to us, to protect the great Syncopation Secret Conspiracy of the Secret Syncopation Secret Society?

Just kidding, good job Flint.

Hey Flint, just a question...

What do you think of Carl Palmer?

Something else I don't know... how do those foaming hand soap dispensers aerate the liquid soap?

Like this, apparently.

Heh.

Here's another explanation.

Stuff be heavier than tha' water?

Why do hot chicks like greasy assholes?

I suppose they find that lubrication helps.

Ibram;369254 wrote:

Hey Flint, just a question...

What do you think of Carl Palmer?

He's strong, a beast. Monsterous single-stroke chops, always pushing the beat.

I have a b00tleg DVD of the "Carl Palmer" band, which is an instrumental trio of Palmer and two young, unknown guys with crazy chops. They play in high gear the whole time. Palmer is one of these guys that appearantly doesn't age like regular humans.

Palmer has a whole kit made of Paiste cymbal alloy! Can you imagine how much those bass drums weigh?

My mom worships Palmer, and in fact claims that he's better than peart.
I aaaalmost agree with her, there, but... peart's better by a small but definite margin.

Stuff I don't know:

Why am I sometimes overcome with a overwhelming sense of tiredness in the mid afternoon? It's like I've been drugged. I can't keep my eyes open. This happens once or twice a week, around 1 or 2 or so. It lasts for about 15-20 minutes. The heavy energy sapping tiredness is so powerful, I almost fall asleep at my desk sometimes. I have been startled awake before. It's frightening.

Aha, so this hypnosis stuff is starting to work.[color=white]_[/color]:D[color=white]__[/color]BigV, could there be a correlation to your lunch (types of food and/or resting) or maybe some kind of crash after some caffeine (if you drink tea or coffee)?

[youtube]0ZrvES90m2c[/youtube]

One of the things that really impresses me about Carl Palmer is that he does all that with a marching-type grip for his left stick, as opposed to a matched grip. You can see it in both Flint's pic and Ibram's clip.

lots-o-syncopation here:

[youtube]Rfwcpx8ylc8[/youtube]

BigV;370523 wrote:

Stuff I don't know:

Why am I sometimes overcome with a overwhelming sense of tiredness in the mid afternoon? It's like I've been drugged. I can't keep my eyes open. This happens once or twice a week, around 1 or 2 or so. It lasts for about 15-20 minutes. The heavy energy sapping tiredness is so powerful, I almost fall asleep at my desk sometimes. I have been startled awake before. It's frightening.

You eat too many carbs. Ogg need meat diet.

Thanks, Griff. I will make some more controlled observations.

I wonder about the mechanism, the biology of it. It would be great to be able to setup that tiredness just at bedtime. I imagine it would be very restful.

Flint;368112 wrote:

Personally, I am of the school that believe music should "breathe" ... the time should be organic.

I'm thinking heartbeat should have something to do with it, too? Afterall, isn't a heartbeat a kind of polyrhythm?

BigV;370523 wrote:

...Why am I sometimes overcome with a overwhelming sense of tiredness...like I've been drugged...around 1 or 2 or so...

Are you pregnant? Happened to me every day at work when I was. I'd put my head down on my desk and take a little nap. Seriously. My boss would tell anyone who walked by that I was 'incubating'.

For real though, you should give the book "YOU, On a Diet" a browsing. It's not a 'diet' book so much as a biology lesson about how our digestive system works in concert with our brains through hormonal signals, and how the food we put into us affects that balance.

I suspect, like Griff, that your current levels of stress combined with less than ideal diet is giving you that 1:00 slump. This book does a wonderful job explaining the hormones and cycles that they go through depending on your emotions/stress/sleep/diet and how your waist and energy levels are thusly affected.

It's backed by the Discovery channel, and I personally found nothing to question in it. I am in the process of trying to get the whole family on a better diet using the stuff I learned in it.

Good luck!

BigV;374333 wrote:

I wonder about the mechanism, the biology of it. It would be great to be able to setup that tiredness just at bedtime. I imagine it would be very restful.

Hmmm... I'm betting that isn't recommended.

BigV;370523 wrote:

Stuff I don't know:

Why am I sometimes overcome with a overwhelming sense of tiredness in the mid afternoon? It's like I've been drugged. I can't keep my eyes open. This happens once or twice a week, around 1 or 2 or so. It lasts for about 15-20 minutes. The heavy energy sapping tiredness is so powerful, I almost fall asleep at my desk sometimes. I have been startled awake before. It's frightening.

maybe there was a Mexican in the woodpile?

This quote is from here.

The article discusses how a very prominent copyright attorney, Patry, praises a recent court decision. I just don't follow this paragraph. Could someone please explain to me what he means? See the article for a fuller context.

This makes no sense, Patry says.

Copyright owners are certainly entitled to use investigators to discover infringement (assuming the investigators use lawful techniques), but having authorized the investigators’ conduct they cannot then rely on that authorized conduct to prove a cause of action whose principle requirement is that the conduct be unauthorized. This is the only respect in which the Howell opinion is disappointing, but that disappointment is real and may cause real problems in future cases.

Thanks in advance.

nope - looks like lawyer [talk outta both sides of their mouths]speak.

He's saying that it's BS that the RIAA can hire an investigator to download a song the same way a pirate would and have that be proof that there is copyright infringement. The RIAA asked the investigator to download the songs, which means the investigator has been authorized to do it. Therefore it can't be infringement.

Perfect.

Thank you sir. That makes sense now. Thank you.

What does a bailiff do?

They provide comic relief for the judge.

Oh, wait...been watching too many TV court shows.

jinx;450347 wrote:

What does a bailiff do?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailiff

Bailiff (from Late Latin bajulivus, adjectival form of bajulus) is a governor or custodian (cf. bail); a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offices and duties vary greatly.

While many in the United States use the word bailiff colloquially to refer to an officer providing court security, few such officers are actually bailiffs. More often, these officers are called sheriff's deputies, marshals, or court officers. The terminology varies among (and sometimes within) the several states.

Whatever the name used, the agency providing court security is often charged with serving legal process and seizing and selling property (e.g., replevin or foreclosure). In some cases, the duties are separated between agencies in a given jurisdiction. For instance, a court officer may provide courtroom security in a jurisdiction where a sheriff handles service of process and seizures.

The judge has a bailiff. Goldfinger had Oddjob.

Weird Harold;368154 wrote:

I usually don't notice the drumming. The exception to that is Rush. What does that guy do that's different, and what do you call that?

Although Rush is the most perfect example I think you can find clear drumming in these other bands. A couple favorites of mine are :The Perfect Circle,Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins.

I always thought Animal (of the Muppets) was a pretty good drummer....he had the Mick Fleetwood attitude.

Brianna;450911 wrote:

I always thought Animal (of the Muppets) was a pretty good drummer....he had the Mick Fleetwood attitude.

oh yeah... I forgot about him!! ( animal that is)

heh heh good call

oh and stellar good artists all in Fleetwood :)


[youtube]KElBldG_hCY[/youtube]


stuff I don't know [COLOR="YellowGreen"]How'd they get the muppet to move so fast? [/COLOR]

sky--I love you.


My first husband was a drummer. sexiest thing i ever saw.

(all apologies to you sexy beast bassists out there!!)

:bass:

Brianna;450920 wrote:

sky--I love you.


My first husband was a drummer. sexiest thing i ever saw.

(all apologies to you sexy beast bassists out there!!)

:bass:

stuff I don't know.: Why? Unless you find my stupidity endearing then I accept! :joylove: and many lovely returns too! xo


I only have met guitarists soI don't know how is a drummer personality is? Is the sexy part the subjective quality? As some people find quitarists sexy? ( I don't) ( I find them my total opposite so why I attract them I have no idea)

or maybe he was just quite literally sex on a stick?

yeah, probably

Brianna;450920 wrote:

My first husband was a drummer. sexiest thing i ever saw.

(all apologies to you sexy beast bassists out there!!)

No doubt the natural reference to sexy clarinetists simply slipped your mind. :angel:

Do drummers like Blue Man Group and Stomp performances, or is there an unbearable professional compromise going on of which the rest of us are unaware?

SteveDallas;450932 wrote:

No doubt the natural reference to sexy clarinetists simply slipped your mind. :angel:

Oooooooo, yes! the clarinetist! Very sexy beasts---orally fixated no doubt
:D

Umm, not so much.

Here's something I don't know: Why the hell would somebody buy an SUV and then mince along at 3MPH over a road that's being resurfaced?

sweetwater;451361 wrote:

Do drummers like Blue Man Group and Stomp performances, or is there an unbearable professional compromise going on of which the rest of us are unaware?

I'm a drummer. I've only seen DVDs of these guys at Fry's, and I thought they were neat.

Cool gadgets; and group drumming doesn't need ultra-coordinated supermen, because you've got all these different brains controlling all these different arms and legs and instruments. All it takes is practice to get down the together-ness. Hours and hours of practice.

Although, drummers may prefer more technically-oriented group performances, like the Hip Pickles:

[youtube]kxgmIm_SgC8[/youtube]

I read a recent article about the Blue Man Group in Modern Drummer. They talked about recruiting new Blue Men, and the options were either to #1 recruit someone with theater experience who could be taught to drum, or #2 to recruit someone with drumming experience who could be taught to act. Both types of recruits have been successful, in that type of "performance art" act.

__________________

[SIZE="3"]Now, I have a question:[/SIZE]

Why is the amount that an audio amplifier boosts a signal refered to as "Volume" [SIZE="3"]???[/SIZE]

The "Volume" of what? This doesn't make sense with what the term "Volume" means in other contexts.

Flint;451423 wrote:

__________________

[SIZE="3"]Now, I have a question:[/SIZE]

Why is the amount that an audio amplifier boosts a signal refered to as "Volume" [SIZE="3"]???[/SIZE]

The "Volume" of what? This doesn't make sense with what the term "Volume" means in other contexts.

Is it because of the volume of air displaced by the speaker cone? You couldn't know that at the amp, because it depends on the frequencies in the signal; bass frequencies having a higher "volume" than tiny tweeter frequencies. Also depends on the ability of the driver to reproduce those frequencies. And the efficiency of the driver. etc.

Could it refer to the "volume" of tubes or something in some archaic technology?

It's the "volume" of graph paper under the curve when you chart the sound waves.

It certainly is more volume of air, and I guess RMS power, because it doesn't matter if it's adding volume of bass or trebly frequencies, it's adding volume of either it encounters.

I bought an olde powere ampe and it doesn't have any attenuation knob! It can only amplify and never lower volume!

BigV;370523 wrote:

Stuff I don't know:

Why am I sometimes overcome with a overwhelming sense of tiredness in the mid afternoon? It's like I've been drugged. I can't keep my eyes open. This happens once or twice a week, around 1 or 2 or so. It lasts for about 15-20 minutes. The heavy energy sapping tiredness is so powerful, I almost fall asleep at my desk sometimes. I have been startled awake before. It's frightening.

too much coffee throughout the day and not enough H2O? Circadian rhythms? Too much "night activity"? Could it be that 32 bar of cadbury fruit and nut chocolate you always eat at 2:30?

Hello again. I don't know how to extract the audio from a DVD to an mp3 file on my computer. I use iTunes with satisfactory success to rip my cds to mp3, but this didn't work for a recent acquisition of a Rick Wakeman audio DVD. There are other examples of audio on DVD that I'd like to have grace my iTunes library too, but.. I'm stuck. Any help would be appreciated.

TIA

What to make for dinner.

I have: fresh chicken breasts 6oz ea; broccoli in abundance; carrots; cheese, shredded and deli-sliced; half an onion; a single baked-potato size potato; whipped cream cheese; 6 eggs; package of bacon; lemon juice; lime juice; frozen corn; frozen peas; frozen hamburger patties; fresh garlic; scallions; dried pasta, elbow macaroni size; dried pasta, angel hair size; bread crumbs; tomato paste; sun-dried tomatoes; canned diced tomatoes; spaghetti sauce in a jar; Marie's "light" blue cheese dressing; "buffalo" sauce; half-n-half; vinegar; balsamic vinegar; malt vinegar; half a loaf of whole wheat bread; half jar of homemade blueberry jam from xoB; many spices, staples.

It must serve two

oh and mushrooms, i have fresh mushrooms

Last update, I have a can of tomato soup, a can of "98% fat-free" cream of chicken soup, some frozen cheese tortellinis (enough for one, not for two), some grated parmesan, a bear of honey, worschesteshier sauce, lowry's seasoned salt, white rice, mustard mayo relish ketchup grey poupon.

Oh, um uh, update, it only has to serve one :blush: sorry for dominating the thread.

Chicken and broccoli over pasta. Use the cream of chicken as your base throw the chicken, broccoli, cream cheese, and mushrooms into a pyrex cook covered for a while then uncovered for a while.

BigV;451775 wrote:

Hello again. I don't know how to extract the audio from a DVD to an mp3 file on my computer. I use iTunes with satisfactory success to rip my cds to mp3, but this didn't work for a recent acquisition of a Rick Wakeman audio DVD. There are other examples of audio on DVD that I'd like to have grace my iTunes library too, but.. I'm stuck. Any help would be appreciated.

TIA

Use Audacity. Free & open source. Only problem is you need to do it in real time as the DVD plays. I've actually never done it from a DVD in the drive, so that might be a problem, but hooking up the audio-out from a DVD player into your audio-in on the PC would certainly work.

UT - are you serious? Order a pizza.

glatt:

Thank you. I'll track down Audacity. I would prefer to avoid the audio out to audio in, if possible. I'm no audio snob, but that does sound like a lot of (possibly, hopefully) unnecessary digital-analog-digital conversions.

Thanks again.

c-man: hahahahaha

I don't know what the fuck is living in my dryer that keeps eating my socks, but I'm not amused...

BigV;451972 wrote:

glatt:

Thank you. I'll track down Audacity. I would prefer to avoid the audio out to audio in, if possible. I'm no audio snob, but that does sound like a lot of (possibly, hopefully) unnecessary digital-analog-digital conversions.

Thanks again.

Another possibility is Total Recorder. There's a long Cellar thread here about it. It would probably work straight from the DVD drive, but I have virtually no experience with it. There is a freeware version with limited capabilities, and a cheap full version.

BigV;451972 wrote:

Thank you. I'll track down Audacity. I would prefer to avoid the audio out to audio in, if possible.

DVDDecrypter will do it... do it in stream processing mode & uncheck all the video streams. There's one more step that you have to do to get it to save as an audio file, but I forget what that is. I'll look it up when I have a chance.

IFO mode.... enable stream processing.... uncheck all streams except the soundtrack.... go to Tools > Settings, then the Stream Processing tab... check Convert PCM to WAV. Use your favorite converter to make the WAV an MP3.

Undertoad;451806 wrote:

oh and mushrooms, i have fresh mushrooms

Ten grams of dry mushrooms is considered an heroic dose. I'm not sure of the conversion to fresh though.

Tell god I said hi!

footfootfoot;452466 wrote:

Ten grams of dry mushrooms is considered an heroic dose. I'm not sure of the conversion to fresh though.

Tell god I said hi!

Bill Hicks lives!

footfootfoot;452466 wrote:

Tell god I said hi!

Ha!

He hasn't posted for a while.

Awhile? 10pm late night. :eyebrow:
Or are you speaking of God?

I don't know why I expect people to be brighter than I expect of myself.

Do you guys know why I do that? That's annoying...

Cicero;452646 wrote:

I don't know why I expect people to be brighter than I expect of myself.

Do you guys know why I do that? That's annoying...

I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but that looks like a loaded question to me. I'll pass.

I mean God. You know, God.

Cicero;452646 wrote:

I don't know why I expect people to be brighter than I expect of myself.

Do you guys know why I do that? That's annoying...

because you have an inflated sense of...someone?

I don't know why IE scripts asks me if I want to display the 'non secure' information over the internet.

I really don't know:confused:

Sure you do, you really want to, doncha? doncha? :D

"Secure" means the information is sliced and diced in a way that it can't be reconstructed if somebody happens to intercept it between the web site and your computer.

Let's say somebody sets up a page for you to order their widgets from. And the make it secure. If their logo is sitting on a different, non-secure area, and they put that logo onto the page, the logo itself will not be encoded, even though the rest of the page still will be.

What I want to know is why the hell Yahoo has suddenly (in just the last few days) started displaying nonsecure items on their basic mail login page. I don't want to click an extra dialog box every damn time I check my email.

How would I find out the average lease price paid per acre by gas companies looking for natural gas (in NE PA specifically), how much would be a fair price/% of any gas found, and how much impact these activities would have on the land/trees/water.

Ask your local business bureau

Here's something else I don't know:

When the weatherman makes a prediction about the rain or the temperature, and it turns out to be wrong, we say the weatherman was wrong. He loses some credibility as a forecaster because of this failing.

When I make a bet on the baseball game, and I'm wrong, I have to pay up for my wrong guess. I lose.

When someone makes an estimate or a forecast and subsequently the facts turn out to be different, we say the forecast(er) was wrong.

Except in one case.

I frequently hear on the news that a company XYZ Widgets, Inc, has "missed forecasters' projections". The company is usually punished for this "failure". Why is this a special exemption from what seems to be the normal case where the *forecast* is revealed to be wrong. How is it that the facts are "wrong" in cases like this?

tia

the company isn't penalized, the shareholders are. The shareholders were holding stock set at a price felt it be appropriate for the earnings forecast. When the actual earnings beat the forecast then shareholders are usually rewarded by seeing their stock value rise to meet new valuations. When earnings fail to meet expectations then the stock price must fall to come in line with the real earnings, thus penalizing the shareholder.

At least that is the theory. Quite often you'll see share prices rise with bad news and fall with good news. The news reported by the journalists on tv and radio should be taken with a grain of salt as it is usually the news behind the news that really moves share values.

Oh, and BTW while you don't see any immediate penalty for the incorrect forecaster it is important to note that their jobs and income rely on their accuracy. If they are consistently wrong they'll be looking for a new job soon.

Pleasantly unsurprised to see you reply, l123. Thank you.

I recognized some of the pieces of the puzzle but not all, and I didn't know how they all fit together. But on the surface, this seemed inexplicably contradictory. I think it was the wording that snagged my attention: company misses expectations. Duh. Perhaps the expectations were inappropriate.

I'm glad you threw in the part about the hidden effects of wrong forecasts. Because the forecasters (in the news feeds I consume) are never identified, I can never distinguish one from the other. Your explanation makes (satisfying) sense.

Here's another one:

I went on a long hike recently, and after the second day, my toes were numb. All day. All night. Even still, a week after the end of the hike, the tips of my great toe and the tips of the next two are numb. I can move them ok, they respond to pressure, but not to light touch. The range of the unsettling effect seems to be shrinking, but very slowly.

I was kind of alarmed when this happened. The hiking was rigorous, and wet. My feet were wet during the day but managed to dry out overnight. There is some family history of diabetes, and I am overweight, but nothing like that was revealed in my July physical.

I'm trying to polish the shine on my shield of denial here... can anyone help?

Perhaps your shoes are too small and were pressing on your toes. Or, you could have a pinched nerve in your lower back (perhaps the sciatic nerve?).

What's additionally confusing - and l123 correct me on this - is that the companies themselves have a take on the number, and can send their stock down before the forecast by just saying something like "uh... that's a pretty high number... uh... the bosses' auntie says we could have trouble in our international markets...."

My ex was a very strong accountant and would talk about the pressure to "make" the number, where the companies push things around the books in order to have a bigger earnings number. Fuckin' accountants.

I do have a pair of hiking boots that crowd my toes. I left those at home for this trip though. The ones I took have plenty of room. There were many elevation changes and I could feel my feet moving forward in my boots on the longer downhills. No more than usual, though. And here we are a week later...

As for a pinched nerve. perhaps. I don't know. I'll add that to my list of possibilities.

Undertoad;474907 wrote:

What's additionally confusing - and l123 correct me on this - is that the companies themselves have a take on the number, and can send their stock down before the forecast by just saying something like "uh... that's a pretty high number... uh... the bosses' auntie says we could have trouble in our international markets...."

My ex was a very strong accountant and would talk about the pressure to "make" the number, where the companies push things around the books in order to have a bigger earnings number. Fuckin' accountants.

Yeah, that happens way too much, that's why I should have stressed the "in theory part". The truth is that companies frequently downgrade their own forecasts simply so they can beat them with the real numbers. Straight shooting has gone away as a consequence of the rise of the trader (rather than investor). Traders are looking for action and are simply buying and selling numbers rather than companies they believe in. Because of that the numbers games are constantly being pushed farther and farther. or is it further and further? hmmm.

some companies refuse to issue an earnings 'guidance' (forecast) report to reduce the speculative pricing of their equity.

yes, but any company with larger earnings than our tip mug has at least one analyst watching them and forecasting numbers.

no internal forecast; external is always up for spec.

I wonder how many CEOs/COOs, are making decisions harmful to the company long term, to satisfy the forecasters/traders, and keeping their own compensation maximized? :eyebrow:

Re: Big V's toes

Some possible causes:
pinched nerve
poor circulation caused by: (a) cold) (b) tight shoes/socks (c) diabetes? (d) smoking (e) interactive combination of the above.
The lingering numbness sounds a bit like mild frostbite (which I have never had).

My best guess is the combination of cold and perhaps tight socks caused lessened blood flow which may have caused localised nerve damage. I don't know if they'll recover on their own.

How are they going?

The numbness has receded considerably, but it is not gone completely. Thank you for asking. I think I injured them with too loose boots on the downhills from the hike. I will be much more careful in the future.

********

I'm not clear on what is meant by "the fed pumping billions into..." or in foreign markets, the national government pouring money into the system (?).

Yeah... I have a big ignorant spot on this particular news topic. Any help is appreciated.

I have another request. I recently saw a lolcat post with the text "o death where is thy sting" but... I can't find it now. Li'l help, please?

tia

Total Information Awareness???

thanks in advance

It's on this page.

Thank you, dar. [tips cap]

How do I adjust my browser (firefox) settings to enable 3rd party cookies?

tool/options/cookies

Yeah, I found it, thanks... I had to use my laptop cause I guess the version on my pc is too old to have that option. Saved $14 in shipping though...

The Meaning of Life. How do you find it on my browser?

I don't know how to post via Opera.


and
I don't know alot but I don't know what i'm missing either.

TheMercenary;513565 wrote:

The Meaning of Life. How do you find it on my browser?

Click on this link.

TheMercenary;513565 wrote:

The Meaning of Life. How do you find it on my browser?

You can supposedly find not only the meaning of life; but, an Easter egg as well by following these instructions:

http://www.eggheaven.com/eggs/games/en407

Why do we rake leaves?

Flint;624982 wrote:

Why do we rake leaves?

why does flint rake leaves?

and why do rakes leave?

Flint;624982 wrote:

Why do we rake leaves?

If you have a lot of leaves, they will kill the grass. Also, even if you don't have that many leaves, some people find them unsightly.

glatt;624997 wrote:

If you have a lot of leaves, they will kill the grass. Also, even if you don't have that many leaves, some people find them unsightly.

Leaves fall in the autumn, which is followed by winter, during which the grass is in a dormant state. If anything, the ground covering of fallen leaves should provide insulation against the cold weather. By the time the growing season begins anew, the leaves should have decomposed and will be able to function as fertilizer. One might even say that eons of evolutionary processes have designed the leaves and the ground-covering vegetation to interact in this manner. So why do we rake leaves?

By the time the growing season begins anew, the leaves should have decomposed and will be able to function as fertilizer.

But in reality, the leaves have not decomposed, and they kill the grass.

Flint;624998 wrote:

One might even say that eons of evolutionary processes have designed the leaves and the ground-covering vegetation to interact in this manner. So why do we rake leaves?

Have you ever seen grass growing in the woods? No. You haven't.

Only humans are dumb enough to plant trees over grass. But we like the carpet that grass provides and the shade that trees provide. The downside is we have to rake.

Edit: Depending on the quantity of leaves, you can also sometimes mulch them into the grass with your lawn mower. YMMV.

Don't tell me what I haven't seen!

Well you haven't seen Avatar, for one.

That is what they call a natural fact.

Clodfobble;625021 wrote:

Well you haven't seen Avatar, for one.

:biglaugha Beat me to it.

You know, not seeing Titanic hasn't kept me from knowing that the dude stood on the front of the boat and said "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" so I'm not too afraid of falling out of the critical cultural knowledge loop just because I didn't see what it would look like if Pocahontas was blue.

But Flint, it's in **~*~*~[COLOR="Blue"]3[/COLOR]~*~[COLOR="Red"]D[/COLOR]~*~*~**!!!

The only thing I've seen on live TV in the last 18 years is the superbowl and the olympics. I've seen a handful of other shows on DVD. I never suffered because I missed a popular culture reference.

I've seen grass growing in the woods. But I have never seen a lawn in the woods :P

Why do linen closets smell like linen closets?

cuz of all the linen

No, it's the closet part.

Have you ever seen linen in a closet? No. You haven't.

i might have

glatt;628323 wrote:

Have you ever seen linen in a closet? No. You haven't.

We have linen in our closet.

We have linen in our belly buttons.

that's lint.



Lanolin? like Sheeps wool?.....well..maybe next time don't wear a bra.

Flint;628279 wrote:

Why do linen closets smell like linen closets?

People say that must just be what cotton smells like. But if that is the case, why does a drawer or closet full of t-shirts, socks, or underwear not smell like a linen closet? Given the same detergent and no other variables in the environment, if you put a bunch of sheets and pillow cases in a closet, it instantly smells like a linen closet. What is that smell? It is distinct and unmistakable.

Naked ghosts looking for clothes.

Operation Repo seems staged/fake... is it?

Hello again.

Perhaps Spexxvet will hold forth here, but all helpful answers are welcome.

I am coming to terms with the onset of presbyopia. My vision has been excellent all my life, and remains good, but I can definitely see more clearly with reading glasses (for reading tasks--computer work, driving, walking around--no problem). Even the reading isn't a problem, but the smaller text, or the display on my blackberry is far sharper with my reading glasses.

I bought a few pairs at the drugstore, and I like them. I followed the instructions on the display to guide me to the right magnification and the number I settled on was +1.25.

Here is my question.

There is a very definite sweet spot for focus, 14 inches. I measured it. I'm sure I looked silly holding the ruler against my forehead and sliding my phone along it. My question, my problem is this. When I'm holding a book, or the paper, or the phone at a comfortable distance for the rest of my body, I assure you it isn't 14 inches from the bridge of my nose.

What can I do to get that maximum sharpness of focus which I like to happen farther away, say, 22 to 24 inches, the distance I like to hold my reading material from my face? I have tried the reading glasses with higher magnifications, this made the text bigger, but only at the same distance. It's all big enough, just not sharp enough at my desired distance.

TIA

I have the exact same problem. I need a little extra sharpness at arm's length. I don't want the book I'm reading to fall and slap me in the face when I finally manage to fall asleep. I need that joker out there away from my face!

Let us know if you find a cheap solution.

D=40/f, where D= dioptric power (your +1.25) and f= focal length in inches. Each .25 represents about 2 inches, when you are totally unable to accommodate. It looks as though you have some ability to accommodate, so your best bet would be to go to the store with your Blackberry and hold it at a comfortable length, then try different powers until you are comfortable. It may that you need more like a +0.75 or +0.50, but you'll be hard pressed to find less than a +1.00 in a store.

Flint;628279 wrote:

Why do linen closets smell like linen closets?

Ironing?

Your problem is called middle age. You're screwed. welcome to the glasses/contacts group.

classicman;693471 wrote:

Your problem is called middle age. You're screwed. welcome to the glasses/contacts group.

hahaha.... yeah... I knew that.

Presbyopia -- Definition:
The term presbyopia means "old eye" and is a vision condition involving the loss of the eye's ability to focus on close objects.

Spexxvet:

Thank you, sir. That is very helpful, and I will put your suggestion into play. It is helpful to know the math, and it helps me to know in which direction I should be moving.

I will report my results when I have some to report. :thumbsup:

:3_eyes: Go see an eye doc. Go soon while you still can get an appointment. :rolleyes:

Stuff I don't know, Episode #12,559: regex

Perhaps Pie will swoop in here and save the day, or anyone else whose brain is bigger and prettier than mine...

I have a long text file that contains what are essentially footers/page numbers. I hate them. I've processed the ever living f*ck out of this file, and I can't find a way to say: Please replace all instances of ###<CRLF> with nothing. That is the "page" number which runs from one to three digits, followed by a carriage return. I just want to take them out. Of course the file is full of other numeric data I must conserve. However, there are no lines that have only numbers on them except these ones I want removed.

I have a text editor that can search for extended characters, so the \r\n is working... (I think)... but I don't know how to say one or two or three digits followed by a CR should be replaced with nothing(deleted).

I have tried [CODE]+([0-9][0-9][0-9]}\r\n[/CODE] failed.

Please help.

Try: [code]^ *[01-9]* *\$[/code]

Didn't work.

Would you please explain what you've written? For example, I *think* your numeric string section is looking for leading zeroes for page numbers. I don't have any of those. They run just like a book, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13...100 101 102....etc.

I was using unix's regex (I tested using sed).

The ^ is to denote the beginning of the line.
the " *" is to include spaces. If you have tabs as well, you'd need [xy]*, where x is a space and y is a tab.
The [01-9]* catches zero or more digits. I had the leading zero because I wasn't sure whether zero was actually first in ASCII, so I included it separately from the range. It is first, so [0-9]* would work. To make sure you don't get blank lines, it probably should be [1-9][0-9]*. The first brackets are one digit, and the second are zero or more additional digits.
Then another " *" for trailing spaces.
And a \$ for the end of the line. The $ is the symbol, but I need to escape it with the backslash so it doesn't get parsed by my command line.

An updated version could be:
[code]^[ ]*[1-9][0-9]*[ ]*\$[/code]

If the syntax is different in your app, the pattern is:
[code](beginning of line marker)[whitespace characters]*[1-9][0-9]*[whitespace characters]*(end of line marker)[/code]

more stuff I don't know, regarding prefixes.

flammable and inflammable. What? Also, privation and deprivation? Why aren't these pairs opposites?

BigV;774287 wrote:

more stuff I don't know, regarding prefixes.

flammable and inflammable. What? Also, privation and deprivation? Why aren't these pairs opposites?

Because English is a lying, thieving, whoring language?

:D

yes, well, you're right, of course. I already knew that. the privation/deprivation pair is new to my awareness.

Sick and tired by the way you do
Good time papa gonna poison you
Sprinkle goofer dust all around your bed
Wake up one of these days, find your own self dead
She said you shouldnt say that
I said what did I say to make you mad this time baby?
She said umm...
I dont know
My oh my oh my
She said I dont know but my babys holding down

The woman I love has got devil in her jaw
Clothes shes wearing made out of the best of cloth
She can take em and wash em, put em upside a wall
She can throw em out a window, pick em up a little before the fall
Sometimes I think you got your habits on
She said you shouldnt say that
I said what did I say to piss you off this time baby?
She said umm...
I dont know, my oh my, I dont know
But my babys holding down

My momma told me, my momma sat down and cried
She said youre too young to have as many woman as you got
I looked at my mother dear, didnt even crack a smile
Said if woman dont kill me I dont mind dying
The woman I love, I want to wait for last
The woman I love, I have all class
Thought I warned you baby, a long time ago
Better watch your step or Im going to have to let you go
She said you shouldnt say that

I said baby
You know when you bend over I see every bit of christmas
And when you bend back Im looking right into the new year
She said honey, you know I gave up cigarettes for my new years resolution
But I didnt give up smoking
I said woman, you going to walk a mile for a camel
Or are you going to make like mr chesterfield and satisfy?
She said that all depends on what your packing
Regular or kingsize
Then she pulled out my jim beam, and to her surprise
It was every bit as hard as my canadian club
I said what now you got to say baby?
She said umm...

I dont know
My oh my oh my
I dont know
But my babys holding down

English is the result of Norman men-at-arms attempting to pick up Saxon barmaids and is no more legitimate than any of the other results.

-- H. Beam Piper

I did not know that Olympic medalists received $ prizes.--- $25K for each gold medal.
No wonder Michael Phelps took the year off after the 2008 Olympics !

How did I come upon this ?
Well, Democrat Barrack Obama and Republican Paul Ryan
BOTH DO NOT want to tax this prize money :smack:

NPR
Jacob Goldstein
8/8//12

Should We Tax Olympic Prize Money?

The basic economic idea: Taxes should be as simple as possible.
A $25,000 prize the U.S. Olympic Committee pays you for winning
a gold medal should be taxed exactly the same as $25,000
a restaurant pays you for washing dishes.

(This isn't a comment on whether taxes should be high or low.
It's only to say that, whatever the rates are, they should be applied consistently.)

The tax code is such a mess because Congress makes all these special exceptions.
They decide, say, that income you get for winning a gold medal should be
treated differently than income you get for washing dishes.

Any one exception seems reasonable.
(Where's your Olympic spirit? Of course we should waive the taxes on our Olympic champs!
It's not that much money anyway.)
But over time, these exceptions — which we call "loopholes" when we want them to seem bad — add up.
<snip>

[COLOR="DarkRed"]But of course, the Republicans DO see a major difference between
income earned via interest and dividends and income from hourly wages.[/COLOR] :rolleyes:
.

Isn't there a section for prizes from competitions in the 1040? I know I declared my $500 tapecraft win.

I read about this the other day. The US is one of only a few nations that pay for medals. One, I think it may be the Philippines, pays close to $1million for a gold.

Happy Monkey;823752 wrote:

Isn't there a section for prizes from competitions in the 1040? I know I declared my $500 tapecraft win.

You should get a deduction for being an honest person.

Rhianne;823757 wrote:

I read about this the other day. The US is one of only a few nations that pay for medals.
One, I think it may be the Philippines, pays close to $1million for a gold.

IIRC, Russia paid one champion weight-lifter a $ prize each time he set a new world record.
So, he went about improving on his own records by just a couple of kilos each time.

Sergei Bubka did that in the pole vault too, increasing the WR cm by cm, indoor and out, his records still stand.

They should pay taxes on winnings when they are allowed deductions for training expenses.

Rhianne;823757 wrote:

I think it may be the Philippines, pays close to $1million for a gold.

Yeh, but that's only worth about $10.00 in real money ;)

crone/crony is some funny/fun!

Why does the speedometer on my Honda Accord go up to 150mph?

because they use the same decal for other models that do go that fast, say, the NSX.

because what is life without dreams......?

Because there are a few people out there who will be impressed by it and it will make the difference between them buying the car and not buying the car.

$

I once took a 10-year-old Acura up to 115 mph. It seems conceivable to me that a new Accord could, in ideal conditions, get up to 150 mph. But I don't know shit about cars, so I'm sure there's some definitive reason I'm wrong about that.

I've *heard* that speedos are designed so that if you had the engine at redline in the highest gear, that is how fast you would be going. You probably can't do that because of wind drag and stuff. I think my Subaru Outback goes to 220 kph (130 mph), and there's no way a 2.5 liter engine is getting a station wagon with roof rails to that. Thank god.

They used to quote, over here at least, 'mph per 1000rpm in top gear' figures for new cars. I haven't seen that for a while though. There is a calculator somewhere on the net that I used when we were building our Westfield.

Google says there are loads of them!

Try one of these for your Outback.

http://www.car-videos.net/tools/speedrpm.asp

http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/gears/gear_calc.html

Flint;826270 wrote:

Why does the speedometer on my Honda Accord go up to 150mph?

Wishful Thinking.

And that sweep is more aesthetically pleasing than if it went up to 120.

Dear friends

I would like some help with some creative phrases, descriptions, reasons, fictions, etc, for "reason for leaving" a previous employer. I'm stumbling over this *mandatory* box on some job applications.

I don't like "I was fired."

Follow the lead of the politicians...

"I wanted to spend more time with my family/ferret/stamp collection/..., and my Supervisor agreed."

Tonight, I have settled on "I was laid off". Wikipedia was a great help here.

I hate stupid applications. Why is my high school information "mandatory"? Mandatory? How can it be relevant, never mind mandatory, ffs.

It's mandatory because your high school record is where the accumulated secret evaluations from every teacher since kindergarten reside. They'll know about that time you peed your pants in first grade. :blush:

new stuff I don't know.

background: My electric stove/range died. It has already been taken to the recycler ($30 to drop off). I have a new to me gas range, a KitchenAid. Back in the day when the electric dryer died for the last time, I called someone to extend the gas service from the furnace across the basement to the dryer, and had the appliance connector connected to the appliance. I anticipated that someday I would want to replace my electric range with a gas range and had a stub placed in the gas line as it was routed past the kitchen on the way to the dryer.

However, the "stub" is just a CSST/iron connector, iron tee, short iron nipple and cap, then onward downstream with another CSST/iron connector, and from there to the dryer waaaay over there. So the stub is just an iron break in the CSST (corrugated stainless steel) with a capped nipple. Nothing like this


**deleted/moved***

I don't have anything coming up through the floor in the kitchen. That's the part I don't know. Can/should I do the work myself to connect this range? I'll need to extend the gas line from the stub up through the floor, from there it's really easy.

Iron pipe? Flexible copper? I know I'll need a shutoff valve at the end in the kitchen. A little help, please.

ok, but first get help resizing that picture. i refuse to horizontal scroll, so I cant read your poast.

was using img tag, sorry.

[ATTACH]40847[/ATTACH]

I'm scared. call a pro.

one vote pro.

How hard can it be? Of course, if you make a mistake, the house will blow up. I know the urge to do it yourself, but that's not something I would do.

Yeah, just this once, hiring a pro for a few hundred bucks might be a good idea.

Like with a car - I'll fool with the body work and minor fittings, and on older cars even have a go at the engine, but I always got a pro to fix the brakes. Screw them up and I could die.

Hah! Brakes are super easy. I'll do brakes. But I'm afraid of gas pipes. I have a hard enough time with water pipes. Gas is under less pressure, but for God's sake man, it's gas!

It's not very difficult, iron pipe up through the floor, a gas cock(valve), then standard flex gas stove supply so you can hook it up then move the stove in place, and a drop for water trap at the stove or below the floor.

The is very low pressure so you can check for leaks with soup bubbles or a match. I'd recommend the soap. ;)

Now, here's where it can get tricky. You've got three gas eaters, furnace, stove and dryer. Each one has a BTU rating, which requires a certain amount of gas.
The pipe from the stove to the dryer has to supply enough gas so the dryer doesn't run short and flame out.
The pipe from the furnace to the stove has to carry enough to supply the stove AND the dryer.
The pipe into the furnace has to supply the furnace AND the stove AND the dryer.
That's with all three running balls out,(burners & oven on the stove) plus a little to spare.

Since you can't do much with the pressure, it's pretty much down to volume(pipe size). There's a very good chance the guy who installed the piping took that into account, as he did leave a stub for a stove. So unless you bought an outrageous gas hog stove that uses way more than normal, you're probably good.

I'm working on the assumption that when you say, " I called someone to extend the gas service...", it was a pro and not your buddy's niece's boyfriend. Also that the gas company inspected the work, which most require... if they know.

I don't want to freak you out about doing the install, just make you aware of all the players. This may have been clear as mud, but it covers the ground.

Recently in the UK a house blew up and took half the street with it, killing a little boy that was inside. The guy who fitted the gas boiler is on a manslaughter charge.

Don't mess with gas stuff. Get a professional.

Thanks all, sincerely. The decision has been made in favor of DIY. This is likely to surprise no one, except perhaps the other people on my half of the block. Then again, they got an eyefull of me every day for a few weeks when I put the roof on awhile back. I intend to keep the roof on through this project.

A new DIY thread with a construction photojournal to come. Unless you hear a boom followed by sirens.

At the moment, I have the pipes measured, cut, and threaded. The gas to the house has been turned off at the meter. I've just taken a break for lunch (prepared by Twil, yum!) and now I return to work.

I'll check in as I can. I expect the project to be done by dinner time. There's no hot water until I'm done. See you all soon.

I usually see Ts close to the tank and individual copper lines to the various appliances. Never seen appliances in sequence

That's for propane, natural gas is often sequenced if it's an efficient layout.

Right. It's been decades since I lived anywhere with natural gas. "...turned off at the meter..." should have been a clue.

Heck, move to somewhere with Coal Seam Gas and draw it straight out of your tap water. ;)

BigV;832283 wrote:

<snip>

At the moment, I have the pipes measured, cut, and threaded. The gas to the house has been turned off at the meter. I've just taken a break for lunch (prepared by Twil, yum!) and now I return to work.

I'll check in as I can. I expect the project to be done by dinner time. There's no hot water until I'm done. See you all soon.

I hope V has researched the different kinds of "pipes".
e.g., Steel vs black iron, especially the part about leaks at the connections, etc.

Is Scotland a real country?

I suppose. I mean, we let Canada be a country.

Kidding. I kid.

Lamplighter;832434 wrote:

I hope V has researched the different kinds of "pipes".
e.g., Steel vs black iron, especially the part about leaks at the connections, etc.

I just saw that link. Missed that post before.

As a DIY, I find links like that incredibly frustrating. It actually makes me a little angry. It's obviously written by someone who has no idea what they are talking about. It reads like an essay question on a test where the student doesn't remotely know the answer and just breaks out the shovel and starts tossing the manure.

There are the ever-present pipes underneath the sink or ones leading to the hot water heater. However, an in-depth look behind the walls and underneath the ground reveals that there are enough pipes to wrap around the house several times. There are HPVC, PVC, black iron and steel pipes leading everywhere.

Really? There are pipes under the sink and in the wall too? Holy shit! That's helpful. I think it's the use of "ever-present" that annoys me the most. It's just stupid filler. The pipes damn well better be ever present. You wouldn't want them getting up and walking away.

They list some pipes they have heard about, but don't mention galvanized, copper, or newer pex, which together, probably make up 90% of the plumbing out there in existing homes.

Not helpful at all.

Yes, brief and superficial, but my reference was to this part of the article...

Repairing

• [COLOR="DarkRed"]The main problem with black iron pipe
--especially in the home--is leakage at connector spots.
It requires a lot of work to fix these leaks,
which is why many people no longer use black iron pipes.[/COLOR]

Steel pipes do not have that problem because it is most often welded.
However, it is more expensive than black iron pipes or PVC.

Yeah. That's even worse. Domestic plumbing pipes are never welded. I don't know what they are talking about there. It's like they are comparing 10% of domestic plumbing situations with some industrial plumbing they heard of. And then they talk about fencing. Fencing! Like someone is maybe going to plumb their house with a bunch of fence posts. They say most houses today use PVC pipe. Ok. That's an actual fact they are giving, but PVC is most commonly used for the waste water pipes, not for the supply pipes. So that makes me wonder if they are talking about old cast iron sewer pipes.

It's just a jumble of poorly organized random bits of incomplete information.

They don't mention copper or pex anywhere in the whole article. Copper was king for a long time and is being phased out because of the cost, but is being replaced by pex (at least around here.) Neither are acceptable for gas, where the materials used by BigV are appropriate.

OK. Peace.

Peace.

I was getting a little worked up there. :o

Oh, you men and your pipes, what are we going to do with you?

;)

thanks Lamplighter for your concern. respectfully, I've found little good information from ehow.com. Even though that link says there could be leaks at the seams, another "black pipe" link on that very page says black pipe is preferred for gas because of its seamless construction. ehow just isn't very consistent or reliable in my experience.

For a project like this, I had two main research goals: one, to figure out how to do the project and two, to figure out what sources of information were reliable. I wind up doing both simultaneously. As I learn more about the how and why of the job, I can better judge the quality of the source of information. I consult lots of websites, my friends, clerks/salespeople in stores, not to mention my own eyes. In my basement, the gas comes into the house via iron pipe, for example.

I *did* read the article at your link, and a handful of others spawned from that link, so, thank you. Not all of ehow.com is junk, it just seems like it's been gathered and collated by a robot from aaaalll over the place.

Thanks again friends. :)

In my basement, the gas comes into the house via iron pipe, for example.

Mine too...

Just as in your set up, when we had our old "octopus" gas furnace replaced,
I asked that a gas line be extended so we could eventually add a gas water heater.
They used black iron pipe, and terminated it with a shut-off valve.
The workmen told they always used "black iron" pipes for natural gas.

infinite monkey;832809 wrote:

I suppose. I mean, we let Canada be a country.

Kidding. I kid.

Since when did America's hat become a country?
:D

infinite monkey;832847 wrote:

Oh, you men and your pipes, what are we going to do with you?

;)

c'mere. let me show you.


(no hobo's were harmed in this post)

plthijinx;833308 wrote:

c'mere. let me show you.


(no hobo's were harmed in this post)

No, but one apostrophe was brutally abused. ;)

glatt;832844 wrote:

Peace.

I was getting a little worked up there. :o

Rightly so, a quarter of that link was wrong, a quarter misleading, and the other half missing. :rolleyes:

plthijinx;833308 wrote:

c'mere. let me show you.


(no hobo's were harmed in this post)

How did I miss this before? You wily plt, you. :p:

Could go into the What Is This thread, but it's here, so there.

I have occasionally seen this kind of display at the top of my browser, some chinese looking text that floats above the tabs, but can't be "touched" by my mouse pointer.

Any ideas what the fuck is going on here?

Looky:
[ATTACH]50053[/ATTACH]

For a long time Google thought I spoke Portuguese. It kept asking if I wanted to translate to Portuguese. I don't know why.

That looks kind of toolbar-ish. I wouldn't care for that. WTF?

BigV;918569 wrote:

Could go into the What Is This thread, but it's here, so there.

I have occasionally seen this kind of display at the top of my browser, some chinese looking text that floats above the tabs, but can't be "touched" by my mouse pointer.

Any ideas what the fuck is going on here?

Looky:
[ATTACH]50053[/ATTACH]

I'll take Viruses and Bots for $500, Alex.

That's the most likely answer, maybe even the Daily Double.

The question remains, *what* malware is it and how do I get out from under it?

Free Chinese porn tool bar!

Correction IM, don't get MalwareBytes from Cnet, they do their own browser hijacking. Get it from ninite.com

I love ninite

OH, I didn't know that. I always thought CNET was on the up and up.

Sorry.

What does CNET actually do, or what is it that CNET does that ninite does not?

cnet usually bundles some shit you don't want with what you are actually after. ninite specifically does NOT do that. plus, you can get several things at once, and the updates are just a matter of re-running the instal file.

highly recommended.

CNET used to be good. But then their evil twin showed up and duct taped their mouth shut and threw them in the back of a van so they could take over. Now they load you up with malware.

It's sad, really.

Well I learned something new today. Thanks!

Why not go directly to Malwarebytes, he's a really nice guy.