Forum    Search    FAQ

Board index » Chat Forums » General Chat




Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 369 posts ] 
 
Author Message
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:24 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:07 am
Posts: 1505
WLM: [email protected]
Yahoo Messenger: [email protected]
Location: Out of my mind, back... never
I wouldn't know, I don't drink coffee. Tea on the other hand...

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:05 pm 
Admin of Slight Inconvenience
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:07 pm
Posts: 6057
Location: Someplace other than where I am.
Steave wrote:
I've just found out that baristas in America allegedly don't know how to make a flat white. I'm so stunned by this notion I don't even know how to phrase a question.
The "flat white" originated from Australia/New Zealand in the 1980's. It only started to show up in the UK around 2005, and then only in UK Starbucks' in 2010.

So I see why an American barista wouldn't know what you're talking about. It is basically a latte but in a smaller cup and the milk is done slightly different. But it's not very widespread outside of Australia/New Zealand what a flat white is.

Does that help you to phrase a question?

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:13 pm 
Gatekeeper of Niftiness
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2007 2:54 am
Posts: 5115
Location: Australia
Flat white is mostly coffee in water with hot milk added as opposed to a Latte which has enough water to get some coffee in the cup and then fill with as much hot milk as possible. I've just grown up with the most common notion of coffee as either black or with a dash of milk. It seems weird to me otherwise.

I also found out that apparently Ween aren't that well know in America. So odd.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:44 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 1:10 am
Posts: 1498
Location: The Gates of Hell, Planet Char, Koprulu Sector
Ok, for all of you calculus-savvy sluggites out there, I'm having a problem with one last question on a homework assignment, and I cannot figure out how to proceed,

There's the hyperboloid: 8x^2 − 8y^2 − z^2 = 8 that lies in front of the yz plane and they want me to parameterize it in terms of u and v (note: I LOATHE parameterization with a fiery, burning passion. So if you can help, please explain as if to a monkey, cause I am one when it comes to this)

I know that x will have to be greater than or equal to zero, but beyond that I'm lost... I was wondering if anyone here could help me with it and save me a trip to the Math Lab in freezing weather.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:24 am 
Member of the Fraternal Order of the Emergency Pants
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 3167
AOL: drachefly
Location: Philadelphia, PA
The idea of parametrization is to get a function which yields every point on the surface so that you can put in any values of the parameters and be guaranteed to end up on the surface. There are a few more good things that come with non-stupid/crazy parametrizations, but at base, that is what it is for. If you don't get that, I can see why it would seem evil.

In this case they've nearly done it for you, since this half-hyperboloid is directly above one plane with no doubling-up (each point on the plane corresponds 1-1 with a point on your surface). So, you can use the coordinates on that plane as your parameters, and calculate the height above that surface, and there you go.

The three components of this function are:

y(u, v) = u
z(u, v) = v
x(u, v) = something you can probably figure out, but I'm willing to help more if you need it.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:56 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Tue May 21, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 12406
Location: The things, they hurt
A question for any of you who might be materials scientists.

Why do some ceramic bowls get so bleepin' hot in the microwave oven? The bowl often gets hotter than the food.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 1:33 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 1:10 am
Posts: 1498
Location: The Gates of Hell, Planet Char, Koprulu Sector
Kea wrote:
A question for any of you who might be materials scientists.

Why do some ceramic bowls get so bleepin' hot in the microwave oven? The bowl often gets hotter than the food.


To my understanding, it's because those ceramic bowls have greater concentrations of polar molecules in them. Microwave ovens work by agitating polar molecules, where the charge distribution is uneven throughout the molecule. Water is by far the most common, but not the only one that does this. Anyways, as the molecule is agitated in the microwave, it begins to vibrate, thus getting warmer. (the actual explanation for how a microwave works is a good deal more complicated, but I don't want to ramble) In food this vibration causes the substance to heat up and cook. Now, given that a bowl or a dish surrounds the food it contains on almost every side, the energy must pass through it in order to reach the water molecules inside the food and heat them. Since a lot of your ceramic bowls are heating up faster than your food, I'd say that their chemical composition contains a heavy concentration of polar molecules that are absorbing most of the energy as it passes through the dish before it can reach the food inside, causing the bowls to heat up and not the water molecules in the food (which you want agitated).

Simply put: because of the materials that some of your bowls are made out of, they will heat up faster than your food, since they surround the and contain a large concentration of polar molecules, they will thus soak up most of the energy the microwave is pumping into the dish, allowing very little in to the food. My advice is to avoid using those bowls in the microwave, as the issue is with their chemical makeup.

Now, I'm not an expert on this sort of thing, and my knowledge of physics is limited to some High School Courses, stuff I've read on Internet Articles, XKCD, and Military Sci-Fi, so check out this article if you want to know more:

http://www.universetoday.com/45527/how- ... aves-work/

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 3:58 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Tue May 21, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 12406
Location: The things, they hurt
Man, it's been a long time since I did high school chemistry, so I'm fairly fuzzy on what a polar molecule is, though wiki is helping. I wonder what compounds in clay have a high polarity? And also, what types of clay have a lot of those compounds?

There was a brief paragraph in one wiki article which said that some ceramics are prone to something called "thermal runaway" when heated by microwaves, to the point of actually melting (!?!) although I really doubt that domestic microwave ovens can do this.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:41 pm 
Member of the Fraternal Order of the Emergency Pants
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 3167
AOL: drachefly
Location: Philadelphia, PA
It really depends. The primary material in ceramics would normally be nonpolar - Silicon Oxide, but the secondary materials can be just about anything.

A thermal runaway is when the hotter something gets, the more heat it gets. Like when a resistor heats up and its resistance rises. Well, in some circuits, that makes more and more of the voltage in the circuit falls across it, so that raises its temperature more, and so on.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:18 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sat May 25, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 2341
Location: Smack bang in the middle of Europe
A question for computer types. I've had some irritating malware on my computer for a while - the sort that eats up all your free disk space, and I can't get rid of it. I have Spybot, and I can see the crafty little buggers, but whenever I try to remove them I'm told I need administrator status, and should ask the administrator to run a scan. But I am the administrator. I've had this problem with another computer too -also running Windows 7. Anyone know how to deal with this?

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:55 am 
Gatekeeper of Niftiness
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:16 am
Posts: 9081
Location: Praise be to the sticky elastic bands of the Healing Gauze
Try restarting your computer and putting it in safe mode? That sometimes helps me when I'm trying to get rid of a pesky virus.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:04 pm 
Member of the Fraternal Order of the Emergency Pants
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2003 12:00 am
Posts: 2994
If you go to Control Panel > Add or Remove User Accounts, are you allowed in? If so, does it show your account with the word "Administrator" under it?

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:12 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sat May 25, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 2341
Location: Smack bang in the middle of Europe
AlternateTorg wrote:
If you go to Control Panel > Add or Remove User Accounts, are you allowed in? If so, does it show your account with the word "Administrator" under it?


Sorry for the slow reply - I've been away for Christmas. Yes, when I go to Add/Remove accounts it shows just one account, which is me, and underneath it says 'Administrator' and 'Password protected'.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:12 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:07 am
Posts: 1505
WLM: [email protected]
Yahoo Messenger: [email protected]
Location: Out of my mind, back... never
So, here's a question for any knitters out there. What's the difference between regular straight needles and the ones that are connected at the base?

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 12:13 am 
Evil Game Minister of DOOM!
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sun May 19, 2002 12:00 am
Posts: 1569
LobosSolos wrote:
So, here's a question for any knitters out there. What's the difference between regular straight needles and the ones that are connected at the base?


Knitter's husband here, so not 100%, but I think the connected ones are for making circles/spirals, like hats. You don't knit back and forth, you just keep going and it loops through.

Top 
   
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
 
Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 369 posts ] 

Board index » Chat Forums » General Chat


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 1 guest

 
 

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: