Petty Things That Get On Your Nerves...

[hk blues]

9 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

I did this stuff when doing computer studies at school, so I guess there are folk out there who use it for some reason or another. And as I said earlier, it came up in the Star Trek 25th Anniversary computer game. 

I remember doing factorising equations at school and one of my classmates doing his nut in asking why we were learning it as nobody would ever use it in real life. I have been using them for 20 years.

Isn't there something to be said for the argument that such complex Maths has no place in basic education and should be reserved purely for those who have a specific interest in it?  Arithmetic has a real-life application but (much) less so Maths beyond the very basic stuff.  

[coprolite]

14 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Why bother though? We all understand the decimal system just fine and anyone who doesn't is hardly likely to understand something even more complex. 

Alternatively, we should move over to the Chinese system where every number has its own unique character. 

Computers don't understand decimal though. They work on binary. 

Humans don't work on binary so well, but binary doesn't convert well to decimal. Starting a new "level" in hexadecimal coincides with a place value in binary. 0F to 10 is 1111 to 10000, 1F to 20 is 11111 to 100000. I guess it's harder to make typos and easier to spot them if you're typing something more easy to read than a jumble of 1s and zeros. 

I'd be in favour of reinstating the old babylonian base 64 numbers. Far more elegant symmetry than our ape digit based system. 

[hk blues]

Just now, coprolite said:

Computers don't understand decimal though. They work on binary. 

Humans don't work on binary so well, but binary doesn't convert well to decimal. Starting a new "level" in hexadecimal coincides with a place value in binary. 0F to 10 is 1111 to 10000, 1F to 20 is 11111 to 100000. I guess it's harder to make typos and easier to spot them if you're typing something more easy to read than a jumble of 1s and zeros. 

I'd be in favour of reinstating the old babylonian base 64 numbers. Far more elegant symmetry than our ape digit based system. 

[welshbairn]

5 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Isn't there something to be said for the argument that such complex Maths has no place in basic education and should be reserved purely for those who have a specific interest in it?  Arithmetic has a real-life application but (much) less so Maths beyond the very basic stuff.  

Algebra and trigonometry have all sorts of real life applications. It's much easier if you learn the basics at school than starting from scratch if you need to use triangulation for a diy project or work later on, for example.

[hk blues]

Just now, welshbairn said:

Algebra and trigonometry have all sorts of real life applications. It's much easier if you learn the basics at school than starting from scratch if you need to use triangulation for a diy project or work later on, for example.

Agreed - that's why I said include the basics.

That said, I think it's exaggerated how useful such stuff is in later life - I can only recall it being useful once when I was fitting some moulding and needed to work out an angle.  And, it was so long ago that I had studied it there was no way I was remembering so a call to the old man was required.

 

[welshbairn]

4 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Agreed - that's why I said include the basics.

That said, I think it's exaggerated how useful such stuff is in later life - I can only recall it being useful once when I was fitting some moulding and needed to work out an angle.  And, it was so long ago that I had studied it there was no way I was remembering so a call to the old man was required.

 

I was rubbish at it at school so I'd have no chance working it out now. I couldn't get past needing to know why and how mathematical things work instead of just following the procedure to find the answer. Approaching infinity my arse, what's all that about?!? 

[coprolite]

Our maths teaching in the UK is well behind other countries. I think Indian schools teach trigonometry to ten year olds. 

I went to the first lecture for an advanced econometrics module at university. Me and my (Scottish) friend were lost after about three minutes and sat there looking perplexed while a load of greek and chinese students nodded along and followed proper mad scientist type equations and asked intelligent questions. I think only one brit stayed in that class.

[hk blues]

33 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Our maths teaching in the UK is well behind other countries. I think Indian schools teach trigonometry to ten year olds. 

I went to the first lecture for an advanced econometrics module at university. Me and my (Scottish) friend were lost after about three minutes and sat there looking perplexed while a load of greek and chinese students nodded along and followed proper mad scientist type equations and asked intelligent questions. I think only one brit stayed in that class.

You did well to make it to 3 minutes! 

[Florentine_Pogen]

5 hours ago, coprolite said:

Computers don't understand decimal though. They work on binary. 

Humans don't work on binary so well, but binary doesn't convert well to decimal. Starting a new "level" in hexadecimal coincides with a place value in binary. 0F to 10 is 1111 to 10000, 1F to 20 is 11111 to 100000. I guess it's harder to make typos and easier to spot them if you're typing something more easy to read than a jumble of 1s and zeros. 

I'd be in favour of reinstating the old babylonian base 64 numbers. Far more elegant symmetry than our ape digit based system. 

 

[Silvio Tattiescone]

I remember my maths teacher telling us we wouldn't always have a calculator in our pockets.

 

Aye, ye were wrang about that anaw you paedo p***k.

[philpy]

Edinburgh and it's constant fucking roadworks. My neighbour fell and hurt his shoulder so took him to A&E. - danderhall, no through road towards the hospital,  the wisp - closed at one end for nine weeks.

[Guest]

Edinburgh and it's constant fucking roadworks. My neighbour fell and hurt his shoulder so took him to A&E. - danderhall, no through road towards the hospital,  the wisp - closed at one end for nine weeks.

The whole of Edinburgh is an absolute farce at the moment, pop up over night roadworks with no warning all over the place

[Mark Connolly]

Just now, Empty It said:

10 minutes ago, philpy said:

Edinburgh and it's constant fucking roadworks. My neighbour fell and hurt his shoulder so took him to A&E. - danderhall, no through road towards the hospital,  the wisp - closed at one end for nine weeks.

The whole of Edinburgh is an absolute farce at the moment, pop up over night roadworks with no warning all over the place

Same in Glasgow.

Though to be fair, their ability to close multiple main roads in the same location at the same time is top quality trolling

[Guest]

Same in Glasgow.
Though to be fair, their ability to close multiple main roads in the same location at the same time is top quality trolling

Same with Edinburgh, coordinate it so if there would be any obvious diversion to miss the roadworks ensure they're closed completely.

[Lyle Lanley]

12 minutes ago, Empty It said:

22 minutes ago, philpy said:

Edinburgh and it's constant fucking roadworks. My neighbour fell and hurt his shoulder so took him to A&E. - danderhall, no through road towards the hospital,  the wisp - closed at one end for nine weeks.

The whole of Edinburgh is an absolute farce at the moment, pop up over night roadworks with no warning all over the place

It's quicker to walk anywhere in the city centre than waiting for a bus these days in Edinburgh. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Lyle Lanley

[pozbaird]

3 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

Same in Glasgow.

Though to be fair, their ability to close multiple main roads in the same location at the same time is top quality trolling

The M8 bridge repairs with associated lane closures at the Charing X underpass are a belter - pretty sure I read something recently where they said they will go on for another four, maybe it was forty, years. They don’t know how to fix the problem apparently. I’m no civil engineer, so I could be talking out my cakehole here (as usual), but surely to Christ they can fix a bridge. No-one is asking them to cure cancer, land a man on Mars, or get St Mirren into the top 6. It’s a road and bridge that has been there since the late 1960s.

Get it fcuking fixed you useless kunts, and don’t take four fcuking years to do it. You’re supposed to know about these things.
 

There. That’s my take on it, ill-informed or otherwise.

[Guest]

The M8 bridge repairs with associated lane closures at the Charing X underpass are a belter - pretty sure I read something recently where they said they will go on for another four, maybe it was forty, years. They don’t know how to fix the problem apparently. I’m no civil engineer, so I could be talking out my cakehole here (as usual), but surely to Christ they can fix a bridge. No-one is asking them to cure cancer, land a man on Mars, or get St Mirren into the top 6. It’s a road and bridge that has been there since the late 1960s.
Get it fcuking fixed you useless kunts, and don’t take four fcuking years to do it. You’re supposed to know about these things.
 
There. That’s my take on it, ill-informed or otherwise.

You're missing the main obstacle here which is getting roadworkers to actually do something.

[pozbaird]

1 minute ago, Empty It said:

7 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

The M8 bridge repairs with associated lane closures at the Charing X underpass are a belter - pretty sure I read something recently where they said they will go on for another four, maybe it was forty, years. They don’t know how to fix the problem apparently. I’m no civil engineer, so I could be talking out my cakehole here (as usual), but surely to Christ they can fix a bridge. No-one is asking them to cure cancer, land a man on Mars, or get St Mirren into the top 6. It’s a road and bridge that has been there since the late 1960s.
Get it fcuking fixed you useless kunts, and don’t take four fcuking years to do it. You’re supposed to know about these things.
 
There. That’s my take on it, ill-informed or otherwise.

You're missing the main obstacle here which is getting roadworkers to actually do something.

Damn. Forgot about that. See the big pillars holding the M8 up? Can’t they just put some massive jubilee clips around them and tighten them?

Boosh, job’s a good un’. For my next trick I’m going to sort out the Edinburgh Tram extension and awarding contracts to build ferries without anyone at Holyrood bothering about the small print…. I’ll be back in five minutes on these.

[Mark Connolly]

4 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

Damn. Forgot about that. See the big pillars holding the M8 up? Can’t they just put some massive jubilee clips around them and tighten them?

Boosh, job’s a good un’. For my next trick I’m going to sort out the Edinburgh Tram extension and awarding contracts to build ferries without anyone at Holyrood bothering about the small print…. I’ll be back in five minutes on these.

I walked under the underpass at Chinatown yesterday, and the only 3 workies there were having a competition to see who could chuck an empty can of coke from inside the fence to the outside, while standing on the outside and reaching through with a set of litter pickers.

It was hugely impressive, but not exactly moving the project forward

[Loonytoons]

It's quicker to walk anywhere in the city centre than waiting for a bus these days in Edinburgh. 

I was down that way for a couple of days last week. Have the trams stopped (or ever started) running on Princes Street?