Fun facts

[Soapy FFC]

37 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

We tend to latch on to something obvious as our reference. I know that Princes Street and Sauchiehall Street are some way off from running East-West but I still end up thinking of their directions as the reference for navigation

I tend to think of the M9 from Edinburgh to Stirling as going East/West but I think officially it's classed as North/South, so I get confused when traffic news talks about roadworks North bound etc.

[TxRover]

2 hours ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

We tend to latch on to something obvious as our reference. I know that Princes Street and Sauchiehall Street are some way off from running East-West but I still end up thinking of their directions as the reference for navigation

on a larger scale we tend to take the East coast of England as the reference point probably because it’s a lot less crinkly than the rest of the island 

Which worked great when I was living in Lowestoft…everything was East.

The most interesting thing about flying in a smaller private plane is that low and slow over the ground often absolutely shatters your mental map of a place. Driving around an area establishes a mental map skewed based upon speed limits and terrain undulations, even if you have a physical map to look at. Seeing it from above removes those factors.

[Fullerene]

7 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Which worked great when I was living in Lowestoft…everything was West.

The most interesting thing about flying in a smaller private plane is that low and slow over the ground often absolutely shatters your mental map of a place. Driving around an area establishes a mental map skewed based upon speed limits and terrain undulations, even if you have a physical map to look at. Seeing it from above removes those factors.

FTFY

[Jives Miguel]

San Diego in USA and Tijuana in Mexico are only a 20 minute drive from one another.

 

Its very cool (to me) that 2 huge cities in 2 seperate countries are so close to one another.

 

edit: I just remembered California used to be part of Mexico, so I suppose its not actually that interesting with that in mind. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Jives Miguel

[SlipperyP]

Less American soldiers were killed on D-Day then American citizens on 9/11.

Edited August 8, 2023 by SlipperyP

[Soapy FFC]

11 minutes ago, Jives Miguel said:

San Diego in USA and Tijuana in Mexico are only a 20 minute drive from one another.

 

Its very cool (to me) that 2 huge cities in 2 seperate countries are so close to one another.

 

edit: I just remembered California used to be part of Mexico, so I suppose its not actually that interesting with that in mind. 

It's interesting using google maps street view to look at the border down that way, where you have houses either side of the fence.

[Dan Steele]

23 minutes ago, Jives Miguel said:

San Diego in USA and Tijuana in Mexico are only a 20 minute drive from one another.

Its very cool (to me) that 2 huge cities in 2 seperate countries are so close to one another.

edit: I just remembered California used to be part of Mexico, so I suppose its not actually that interesting with that in mind. 

The treaty that changed the boundary and ended the Mexican US war in 1848 saw America get more than 525,000 square miles of land, about 55% of Mexico's territory - California, Arizona, west Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. 

[welshbairn]

2 hours ago, Soapy FFC said:

I tend to think of the M9 from Edinburgh to Stirling as going East/West but I think officially it's classed as North/South, so I get confused when traffic news talks about roadworks North bound etc.

Same with the Edinburgh bypass, how is a stranger expected to know if they need to go North or South to get to the West?

[GordonD]

1 hour ago, TxRover said:

The most interesting thing about flying in a smaller private plane

 

[Melanius Mullarkey]

54 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Same with the Edinburgh bypass, how is a stranger expected to know if they need to go North or South to get to the West?

Doesn’t matter. It’s a fucking car park 99% of the time.

[TxRover]

2 hours ago, Fullerene said:

FTFY

Yea, I’m looped out of  my mind from oral surgery with sedation. Everything’s funny, at least.

[Fullerene]

7 hours ago, SlipperyP said:

Fewer American soldiers were killed on D-Day than American citizens on 9/11.

FTFY

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

Creator of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond is responsible for the career of Jeremy Clarkson.

[welshbairn]

Life expectancy is higher in Bangladesh than Mississippi, and in Thailand than both Florida and New York. Overall the US is behind Colombia.

 

[scottsdad]

The very first movie to have its own dedicated website was Star Trek Generations. 

[AnderooMFC]

Ronald Regan is partly responsible for Ellen being cancelled.

Star Trek helped elect Barack Obama.

[scottsdad]

Halfway through Ghostbusters, there is a montage when their fame is building. It includes a photo of them form the New York Times... which is from the end of the movie. 

[scottsdad]

In the Eagles song One Of These Nights, the original lyrics were

 "I've been searching for the daughter of the devil himself

I've been searching for the daughter of God"

The record company refused to release that, so "the daughter of God" was changed to "an angel in white"

[mathematics]

I have the hiccups. This isn’t the fun fact.

Ive had them for an hour. This isn’t the fun fact.

I was on the Wikipedia page for hiccups for a cure. This isn’t the fun fact.

This is the fun fact: “In one person, persistent digital rectal massage coincided with terminating intractable hiccups.”

I’m close to asking Mrs Mathematics for a persistent digital rectal massage. 

Edited March 7 by mathematics

[dagane]

One I liked

Al Bundy's star on the Hollywood walk of fame is outside a shoe shop