Useless Knowledge

[ToaTImeLord]

Speaking of cute.

The reason why people like hugging cute things is because are minds don't know how to process the cute object so it trys to "crush" it by hugging it tightly.

[fasggbfrfesv]

Cicadas, if you are not aware, are a type of insect that cocoons and "hibernates" for a long number of years, before they all hatch at once, reproduce for the next generation, and die. Their survival strategy is that by all coming out of "hibernation" at once, they completely overwhelm all their natural predators and literally fill up their bellies, hence saving the rest from predators. What a strange behavior to come out of altruism of genes. Now here comes the cool bit: Different species of cicada hibernate for different numbers of years, always prime, to minimize years on which awakenings coincide, which save them having to compete each-other for food. Who'd have guessed that nature was capable of selecting maximin common factor algorithms?

Most American car horns honk in the key of F.

More people are killed annually by donkeys than airplane crashes.

Can I check you actually mean the key of F? What scale on F? Notes in the key of F major, perhaps? Or do you mean the tone is an F? Not trying to be pedantic sorry, just confused.

[ToaTImeLord]

In C concert it's a F.

Also welcome to BZP fellow music lover. What instrument do you play?

Edited August 5, 2017 by Chief TimeLord of Tesara

[fasggbfrfesv]

In C concert it's a F.

Also welcome to BZP fellow music lover. What instrument do you play?

Ah, righty

 

Thanks! Primarily guitar. Bass guitar is a lot of fun too. xP How about you?

[ToaTImeLord]

 

 

In C concert it's a F.

Also welcome to BZP fellow music lover. What instrument do you play?

Ah, righty

 

Thanks! Primarily guitar. Bass guitar is a lot of fun too. xP How about you?

Alto sax

Bari sax

Soprano sax

Piano

Conducting

Edited August 5, 2017 by Chief TimeLord of Tesara

[fasggbfrfesv]

 

 

In C concert it's a F.

Also welcome to BZP fellow music lover. What instrument do you play?

Ah, righty

 

Thanks! Primarily guitar. Bass guitar is a lot of fun too. xP How about you?

Alto sax

Bari sax

Soprano sax

Piano

Conducting

 

Conducting, wow, that must be hard to learn, it's not like you can just hire out an orchestra for your lessons xD

 

How did you learn piano? Can you recommend any good books? I've got some weeks of holiday left before university and I've got access to a keyboard I'd like to learn on.

[Master Inika]

More adults than children swallow laundry detergent packets.

[ToaTImeLord]

My topic in the Bionicle Based Discussion forum[/url] just became a class on why not to eat a WMKK?

Credit of metal facts go to Toa Imrukii.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In C concert it's a F.

Also welcome to BZP fellow music lover. What instrument do you play?

Ah, righty

 

Thanks! Primarily guitar. Bass guitar is a lot of fun too. xP How about you?

Alto sax

Bari sax

Soprano sax

Piano

Conducting

Conducting, wow, that must be hard to learn, it's not like you can just hire out an orchestra for your lessons xD

 

How did you learn piano? Can you recommend any good books? I've got some weeks of holiday left before university and I've got access to a keyboard I'd like to learn on.

These two books should give you a years worth of material.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0877180059/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FXKVW0341DYZHQN1P9N9&dpPl=1&dpID=51paToKguKL

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0877180202/ref=sxts_sxwds-tsp_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501936020&sr=1&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3155181382&pd_rd_wg=zbmhw&pf_rd_r=FKN4V2XZET39SEKVGTJK&pf_rd_s=mobile-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=9701&pd_rd_i=0877180202&pd_rd_w=hMgAT&pf_rd_i=piano+books&pd_rd_r=SWCZF6FW4HGVS2DE0M61&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65

Edited August 5, 2017 by Chief TimeLord of Tesara

[fasggbfrfesv]

My topic in the Bionicle Based Discussion forum[/url] just became a class on why not to eat a WMKK?

Credit of metal facts go to Toa Imrukii.

 

 

 

 

 

In C concert it's a F.

Also welcome to BZP fellow music lover. What instrument do you play?

Ah, righty

 

Thanks! Primarily guitar. Bass guitar is a lot of fun too. xP How about you?

Alto sax

Bari sax

Soprano sax

Piano

Conducting

Conducting, wow, that must be hard to learn, it's not like you can just hire out an orchestra for your lessons xD

 

How did you learn piano? Can you recommend any good books? I've got some weeks of holiday left before university and I've got access to a keyboard I'd like to learn on.

These two books should give you a years worth of material.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0877180059/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FXKVW0341DYZHQN1P9N9&dpPl=1&dpID=51paToKguKL

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0877180202/ref=sxts_sxwds-tsp_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501936020&sr=1&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3155181382&pd_rd_wg=zbmhw&pf_rd_r=FKN4V2XZET39SEKVGTJK&pf_rd_s=mobile-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=9701&pd_rd_i=0877180202&pd_rd_w=hMgAT&pf_rd_i=piano+books&pd_rd_r=SWCZF6FW4HGVS2DE0M61&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65

 

Ah, that stuff's not really gonna cut it. I had a look at material from the first few grade books a while back, it's all way too basic, let alone first grade stuff, that's hysterically simple. Don't worry, I'll find something, but thanks anyway xP I guess I'll dig out the keyboard and just start playing songs.

 

Hm, what for today? Ok, North America and South America didn't used to be joined, and both ecosystems existed pretty much independently, at-least as far as large mammals are concerned. Around 9 million years ago, ground sloths from South America started island hopping to the north; more species were able to do this by about 7 million years ago, and this exchange of species peaked at about 3 million years ago, when a land bridge joined North and South America. This event is called the "Great American Interchange". It is very interesting because it gives a clear context to the effects of biodiversity on natural selection - in all cases where both North American and South American large mammalian species filled the same role in an ecosystem, the North American species replaced the South American one, and only specialist South American species such as ant-eaters with no northern counterpart flourished in North America. The reason for this? North America was large, had a wider range of habitats, and had been attached to Eurasia previously - the result of this is that North America had much greater biodiversity, and survival was more competitive, so natural selection took place more effectively, and the North American species simply became better adapted than the South American ones, hence simply eradicating many of them when the land bridge joined their respective habitats. To give a specific example, this is why you don't see any tapirs in North America - the proto-horses of the North American planes were better adapted, and the tapirs could not compete with such a better evolved species which filled the same role in its own ecosystem. Many northern species spread to the South, but only a few specialist species such as the ant-eater spread to the North.

 

Sorry that wasn't very brief, but it's very interesting and makes for an excellent primer on biogeography.

Edited August 5, 2017 by _Kocytean_

[Eiji Hino]

• About 150 people per year are killed by falling coconuts.

The Guinness Book of World Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from libraries.

A broken clock is right two times every day.

A sneeze travels about 100 mph.

The average person walks the equivalent of three times around the world in their lifetime.

[fasggbfrfesv]

The term "swansong", meaning last creative output of an artist before death or retirement, originates from ancient Greece, and almost as long standing is the pertaining myth that some swans sing a beautiful final song before death, following a lifetime of silence. The whooper swan, which was known to the ancient Greeks, is known to make a series of notes upon death as its lungs and air cavities in the neck collapse. This is thought to have inspired the myth, and then term - I think it's a beautiful term.

 

Even if not aware of this background information, you must well know this story from Aesop's Fables, this one being evidenced as far back as the fourth century, which I remember hearing at infant school:

 

A certain rich man bought in the market a Goose and a Swan. He fed the one for his table and kept the other for the sake of its song. When the time came for killing the Goose, the cook went to get him at night, when it was dark, and he was not able to distinguish one bird from the other. By mistake he caught the Swan instead of the Goose. The Swan, threatened with death, burst forth into song and thus made himself known by his voice, and preserved his life by his melody.

[fasggbfrfesv]

The sound of a wave crashing in is caused by the pulsation of air bubbles, which are what form the white "horses".

[tahukan]

There's a train in North Korea that goes from Pyongyang directly to Moscow.

[Master Inika]

The British book and film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone​ was released and marketed in the United States as ​Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone​, as the publisher believed Americans would be uninterested in what they would assume would be a book about philosophy. As part of the dual naming, every scene in which the name of the stone is said in the film was shot twice, with the actors saying both names. Additionally, the film was released in France as (roughly translated) ​Harry Potter at Wizard School​, as traditional lore regarding the Sorcerer's Stone was widely-known and might have spoiled important plot details.

 

The other magical schools in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire​, the Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, are shown in the film as being all-boys and all-girls, respectively, to strengthen the visual contrast between them and Hogwarts. In the book, neither school is gender-specific.

 

A scene in the 2009 version of Star Trek​ of Romulan soldiers walking down a hallway was filmed in a very small hallway model. It was made to look larger by fully dressing children in the alien costumes, creating the illusion of full-grown adults walking down a much larger corridor.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Master Inika

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Useless fact: I made a new friend this week.

 

Ah, that stuff's not really gonna cut it. I had a look at material from the first few grade books a while back, it's all way too basic, let alone first grade stuff, that's hysterically simple. Don't worry, I'll find something, but thanks anyway xP I guess I'll dig out the keyboard and just start playing songs.

 

Hm, what for today? Ok, North America and South America didn't used to be joined, and both ecosystems existed pretty much independently, at-least as far as large mammals are concerned. Around 9 million years ago, ground sloths from South America started island hopping to the north; more species were able to do this by about 7 million years ago, and this exchange of species peaked at about 3 million years ago, when a land bridge joined North and South America. This event is called the "Great American Interchange". It is very interesting because it gives a clear context to the effects of biodiversity on natural selection - in all cases where both North American and South American large mammalian species filled the same role in an ecosystem, the North American species replaced the South American one, and only specialist South American species such as ant-eaters with no northern counterpart flourished in North America. The reason for this? North America was large, had a wider range of habitats, and had been attached to Eurasia previously - the result of this is that North America had much greater biodiversity, and survival was more competitive, so natural selection took place more effectively, and the North American species simply became better adapted than the South American ones, hence simply eradicating many of them when the land bridge joined their respective habitats. To give a specific example, this is why you don't see any tapirs in North America - the proto-horses of the North American planes were better adapted, and the tapirs could not compete with such a better evolved species which filled the same role in its own ecosystem. Many northern species spread to the South, but only a few specialist species such as the ant-eater spread to the North.

 

Sorry that wasn't very brief, but it's very interesting and makes for an excellent primer on biogeography.

Could giant ground sloths swim, or well enough to swim from island to island? Edited August 19, 2017 by Hyethut (Iaredios)

[ToaTImeLord]

Useless fact: I just changed my music solo three times in one week.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

The Stratovarius album, Visions of Europe - Live, was mostly recorded in Athens, Greece.

 

I find the letter C kind of annoying; like I am tempted to retype Greece above as Hellas, but most wouldn't recognize that.

There is a useless fact for ya.

Edited August 20, 2017 by Hyethut (Iaredios)

[slifer3000]

Contrary to common belief, Chimpanzees are not 6-8 times stronger than human men, and are actually only about as strong as a full grown man. They are pound for pound way stronger than men are, but in total strength are only equally as strong as men.

[Master Inika]

The 2009 animated children's film Coraline is often falsely considered a Tim Burton film due to its similarity to Burton's previous films, including a darkly whimsical tone and being animated with stop-motion. The problem was exacerbated by it being ambiguously advertised as "from the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas," Burton's most well-known animated film. However, while he was the chief creative mind on the project, Burton did not direct TNBC, Henry Selick did. Burton had nothing to do with Coraline.

[fasggbfrfesv]

The body is perfectly capable of completely processing food, all the way from consumption through to digestion, and all the rest, whilst upside down. You can thank peristalsis for that.

[PutYaGunsOn]

In the Dragon Ball Z Kai scene where they show the tokusatsu-style film of Hercule supposedly defeating Cell, the broadcast version and the DVD/Blu-Ray version are different. The broadcast version on Toonami just reuses the old Dragon Ball Z dub from the early 2000s, while the DVD/Blu-Ray version has Team Four Star of Dragon Ball Z Abridged fame dubbing that scene, with the TFS members dubbing their respective characters. The TFS-dubbed version of the scene is also filled with fandom jokes and references to the heavily censored 1990s Saban-produced dub. "Hercule" in this particular scene is dubbed by Takahata101, who simply uses his Nappa voice.

 

"Sending someone to another dimension" was Saban/Ocean Group's euphemism for death in their Dragon Ball Z dub. "Another dimension" is a euphemism for the afterlife.

 

Speaking of death euphemisms in censored anime, Yu-Gi-Oh's Shadow Realm is entirely a product of 4kids' English dub. Where the dub referenced the loser of a card duel being sent to the Shadow Realm, the original Japanese version simply had them die.

Edited August 29, 2017 by Hakura: Toa of Plasma

[Eiji Hino]

• A blue whale's heart is so big that a small child can swim through its veins.

When you yawn and stretch at the same time, you are "pandiculating."

The dot over a lowercase j or i is called a "tittle."

The metal part of a pencil is called a "ferrule."

-40 Celsius and -40 Fahrenheit are the same temperature.

A group of flamingos is called a "flamboyance."

[Electric Light Gunhaver]

I didn't post one for August! WRRYYY!

 

TVTropes has an article over masks that grant supernatural abilities to its users, and is named Mask of Power. It is one of many TVT articles that Bionicle itself has named.

Edited September 2, 2017 by Josuke Higashikata 4

[ToaTImeLord]

Most pirates with eye patches didn't wear them because they lost an eye but because it helped then see in dark rooms or at night.

[Master Inika]

Most pirates with eye patches didn't wear them because they lost an eye but because it helped then see in dark rooms or at night.

I've read about this; they wore the eyepatch so they'd always have one eye already adjusted to the darkness if they needed to quickly go belowdecks.

 

More pirate facts:

 

While some pirates did have peg legs, it made them almost completely incapable of combat and there were no captains with peg legs. Pirates who had lost a leg would more likely be the chef.

 

Pirate ships were highly egalitarian compared to the kingdoms of Europe. Racial minorities and women had far more opportunities on a ship, and captains were held responsible for their decisions. A captain who did not provide for his crew may have been marooned.

[ToaTImeLord]

There is a church of the flying spaghetti monster and it has a theory that a increase of people who dress as pirates will help stop global warming.

It was created originally as a satire for US education but soon became a religious, political, and ethical satire as well.

It currently has over 2 million active members.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Chief TimeLord of Tesara

[Eiji Hino]

• A jumbo jet uses 4000 gallons of fuel to take off.

More people are afraid of spiders than death.  Amazingly, few people are afraid of champagne corks, even though you are more likely to be killed by one than by a spider.

A crocodile can't stick its tongue out.

Because of heavy traffic congestion, Julius Caesar banned all wheeled vehicles from Rome during daylight hours.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

The Achaemenid Empire invented Ice Cream. [That would be the first and most famous Persian Empire]

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Here is a useless fact: I find it annoying when people use the term "Chinese Empire" when talking about China prior to the rise of the Nationalist and Communist parties, as if it was one continuous entity since the first Chinese Empire. Which empire? There have been plenty of states that existed in that area, many differing in government and religion, heck even a few foreign regimes like Xiongnu, Mongol Yuan, and Manchurian Qing (Ching).

 

Longest lasting states in history are the Japanese Empire (which still stands at the age of 1753 years old, though there is the famous reign of shoguns that took power and warred while the emperor was sidelined until the Meiji Restoration, and the emperor again being sidelined following World War II) and the Roman Empire (which perished at the age of 1231 uninterrupted, resurrected 61 years later then lasted for 188 years until it died as a ruling country, rebels lasting for over a century after that).

[Electric Light Gunhaver]

Katzenjammer, an American English word for hangover or uproar, comes from German, and it literally translates as "cats distress". The phrase originates from the mid 1800s and spread in popularity from the comic The Katzenjammer Kids, which was created by Rudolph Dirks and drawn by Harold Knerr, in which the mischievous twins Fritz and Hans would perform practical jokes on authority figures and their mother. The Katzenjammer Kids itself was inspired by an even older German story called Max and Moritz by Wilhelm Busch. The Katzenjammer Kids is also the first comic to ever use word bubbles to portray dialogue. 

 

[Eiji Hino]

It's probably common knowledge in the anime community at this point, but JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is filled with references to Western culture.  Many of the characters are named for famous singers and bands, such as Robert E.O. Speedwagon (REO Speedwagon), the Zeppelis (Led Zeppelin), the Pillar Men Kars, Wamuu, Esidisi, and Santana (The Cars, Wham!, AC/DC, and Santana), Jean-Pierre Polnareff (Michel Polnareff), Iggy (Iggy Pop), and more.  That's not counting the numerous musical references in Stand names from Part 4 onward, such as Red Hot Chili Pepper, Killer Queen, Heaven's Door, Spice Girl, Purple Haze, King Crimson...  The muscular physiques of early JoJos was inspired by the big, muscled action movie stars of the 80s like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.  The Part 3 character Hol Horse was born out of the creator's love of westerns.  Heck, the entire plot of Part 3 was inspired by road trip movies and Jules Vern's Around the World in 80 Days.

[Electric Light Gunhaver]

However, should you attempt to apply that to the protagonists of the series, the titular JoJos, by assuming that "JoJo" also comes from a song, you would be mistaken. Hirohiko Araki, when asked where the name JoJo came from, he answered that he wanted a name that would stick in someone's head. So he decided that it should be a repeating name. He had no name to double up on, so you chose the name of the restaurant he and his editor frequented when discussing his work as the name of his protagonist. Said restaurant was called "Jonathan's", and so, Jonathan Joestar, and all of JoJo was born.

[CHTrilogy]

BBC Radio 1 and 2 are now 50 years old!

[Electric Light Gunhaver]

The Part 3 character Hol Horse was born out of the creator's love of westerns. 

Adding to this again.

Jotaro Kujo, the protagonist of Part III: Stardust Crusaders, was inspired by famous actor Clint Eastwood. He even met with Araki and performed Kujo's signature pose.

[Eiji Hino]

To give even more JJBA trivia, Hirohiko Araki wanted to experiment with different personality archetypes for each part's JoJo.  Jonathan (Part 1) was a serious person, Joseph (Part 2) was a rude person, Jotaro (Part 3) was a high school delinquent, and so on.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

The important ingredient for Roman cement was sea salt water and volcanic ash. The former preserves its ruins under water from rapid oceanic erosion, the latter keeping structures largely intact even after 2100-600 years since first being constructed by the civilization. This is much longer lasting compared to the modern cementing method, and only recently has interest been raised in utilizing volcanic ash once more.

[ToaTImeLord]

The important ingredient for Roman cement was sea salt water and volcanic ash. The former preserves its ruins under water from rapid oceanic erosion, the latter keeping structures largely intact even after 2100-600 years since first being constructed by the civilization. This is much longer lasting compared to the modern cementing method, and only recently has interest been raised in utilizing volcanic ash once more.

Also Roman concrete doesn't produce as much heat as modern concert as it dries.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

The important ingredient for Roman cement was sea salt water and volcanic ash. The former preserves its ruins under water from rapid oceanic erosion, the latter keeping structures largely intact even after 2100-600 years since first being constructed by the civilization. This is much longer lasting compared to the modern cementing method, and only recently has interest been raised in utilizing volcanic ash once more.

Also Roman concrete doesn't produce as much heat as modern concert as it dries.

Really now? We could really use it then in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, being in a metropolis in the middle of desert can be hotter than the wild desert simply because the vast amount of concrete and asphalt soak up all the heat from the desert sun; good thing buildings provide shade and air conditioning. Before the mass settlement, this land had plenty of wild shrubs and low trees, as well as flowing rivers, but now aartificial rock layers for roads and sidewalks cover huge swathes and the rivers were dammed up for power uses by the Hoover Dam to the north.

 

"Progress demands sacrifice", I guess.

[tahukan]

Despite it being widely held as a myth the Sasquatch is a protected species in some states with laws preventing the killing or hunting of them.

[Vakama-san]

During a tour in 2013, the rock band Def Leppard played under the name "Ded Flatbird", each band member assuming a new name for the performance. They claimed to be the best Def Leppard cover band in the world.