The Whiteboard

user55340

12:00 AM

0

A: why pure blue is darker than pure green

Human perception isn't the same for all colors. Our eyes have different color pigments which absorb different frequencies of light. There's a bit about this over in Physics.SE: Why do green lasers appear brighter and stronger than red and blue lasers? From this question a chart is presented th...

user55340

Whee! Other SE answers.

user15026

I keep trying to find somewhere to ask why some blue lights move when I shift my head but other colours hold still

psr

user55340

@AshleyNunn chromatic aberation.

user15026

@psr hahahahhaha possibly

user15026

12:03 AM

@MichaelT What does that mean?

user55340

user55340

Our eyes are focused for the yellow (the color of the sun) is ideally in focus.

user55340

Blue is at the other end of the spectrum. So something that is blue will focus differently with the lens in our eye.

user55340

(there are many fewer blue cones outside of the center of the eye - like 1/50th the count to try to reduce this effect)

user55340

But, still, blue focuses differently than what the eye is designed for.

user55340

12:06 AM

user55340

In cameras there are ways to fix this... use another lens that has a different index of refraction to refocus the light again...

user55340

But our eyes are simple lenses.

user15026

Huh, interesting.

user41796

12:42 AM

Wait, lightning / thunder with a double thump? Haven't heard that one before.

user41796

My poor dog is not enjoying the storms tonight.

user55340

@GlenH7 echo of the thunder?

user55340

> **Cats don't have brakes**

But they can have parachutes.
It was a dark and stormy night... and one of our cats was sitting around, when suddenly surprised by a near by thunder crash. She spooks and jumps up and starts running. In the process of running from one point to another, she somehow got the handle of a plastic bag around her midsection.

Now, billowing behind her is a medium sized plastic bag. This completely throws off all of her years of learned reflexes and understanding about her body moves when she runs. Her normally tight turns around objects suddenly become a bit too tight…

user15026

oh my goodness that sounds like something that would happen here because my cat is less than bright

user41796

'Cause I like simple summaries:

Q-banned on SO means a closure **and** deletion rate of ~66%
No Q-ban gives a ~54% closure and 50% deletion rate.

Q-ban means a 1 in 9 chance of > 0 scored answer.
No Q-ban means a 2 in 7 chance of > 0 scored answer.

user41796

12:46 AM

Let's burn 'em at the stake.

user41796

@MichaelT I dunno. It was pretty close together. I'd have to guess two separate bolts of lightning very close in timing

user55340

@GlenH7 A lighting strike isn't a single bolt...

user41796

This is true. Either way, I'm guessing two separate events

user41796

I've never heard it before though, and I've seen / heard a lot of storms.

user55340

With two events you've got the possibility of two in close proximity to each other, or two that just happen to be speed of sound similar time to where you are.

user41796

12:49 AM

@MichaelT Yes! :-)

user55340

Lighting 1 (wait 5 seconds) lighting 2 (wait 1 second) thunder 1 (wait 1 second) thunder 2

user41796

Oh, and tonight's chocolate ice cream + liquor testing has been postponed in lieu of my having a sauza hornitos + grand marnier margarita tonight.

user15026

@GlenH7 That sounds tasty though. I had this for dessert tonight and it was amazing.

user41796

I have another orange curcao, and I decided to do some side by side testing. OMG is there a big difference between "good" curaçao and grand marinier

user15026

Oh?

user55340

12:52 AM

@GlenH7 absolutely.

user41796

@AshleyNunn Your desert sounds pretty damn tasty too

user15026

@GlenH7 It is soooooo good. I recommend it.

user55340

I was fortunate back at that pub being able to do experiments in cocktails (for free... though I was a very good tipper).

user41796

@AshleyNunn I'm looking over the recipe. :-)

user55340

things like "lets try lemon drops with every type of lemon liquor available"

user55340

12:54 AM

bircardi, grey goose, absolute, tuaca...

user15026

My biggest problem with cocktails is I don't know what I like and I am so like afraid I will make something that tastes awful

user55340

@AshleyNunn you need to experiment... btw, tang + absolut peach = fuzzy cosmonaut.

user15026

@MichaelT I have tang in my house!

user15026

So I am partway there!

user41796

There's a middle tier of orange curaçao that's a grade above dekuyper / whatever triple sec schnapps but the step between those and GM is pretty steep

user41796

12:57 AM

@AshleyNunn That's part of the process though

user15026

@GlenH7 I suppose so. :)

user55340

fuzzy navel = peach schnapps + OJ.
tang = astronaut.
absolut peach = vodka = Russian
tang + absolut peach = fuzzy russian astronaut = fuzzy cosmonaut.

user41796

Granted, you need to be able to afford the experiment, but it's really worthwhile

user15026

@MichaelT I like this logic.

user41796

For the salsa I made, I picked up 2 new vinegars along with the ones I had at home. And then I made several small batches so I could do side by side comparison

user15026

12:57 AM

@GlenH7 I figure if I start slow, picking up a couple things here and there, it will be okay

user41796

granted, vinegar is a lot cheaper. But it proved the point of the experiment.

user41796

I did blink a little at the price of the chambord and grand marnier last night. But I'm thinking the experiment will justify the cost.

user55340

good booze != cheap

user55340

cheap booze != good

user55340

(guy I used to work with once had vodka that came in a plastic bottle... he commented afterwards that he woke up with the same hang over for two days in a row)

user15026

1:00 AM

Yeah, that's the problem

user41796

okay, so what are "Bolacha Maria" cookies?

user41796

@MichaelT gag

user41796

are those cookies basically like vanilla wafers?

user15026

@GlenH7 They're kinda like arrowroots

user15026

so you can use arrowroot cookies instead

user15026

1:01 AM

My mom always called them baby cookies

user41796

Hmmm, not sure I've had arrowroot cookies. :-(

user41796

Okay, I bet I have but we're running into cultural naming differences.

user55340

Preferred winter drink - equal parts grand mariner + brandy

user15026

@GlenH7 They're often also called digestive cookies?

user55340

its got the right amount of 'warm' flavor to it... but its not pure brandy flavor - the orange is in there too, nicely mixed.

user15026

1:03 AM

user15026

These are what they look like.

user41796

@AshleyNunn Google says I can source them from World Market, so I should be good to go.

user41796

@MichaelT You know GM is based in brandy, right?

user55340

@GlenH7 yep.

user41796

So you're just cutting the orange aspect a smidge.

user41796

1:04 AM

Okay, just making sure. I love me my brandy and cognacs, so I hear ya on the winter drink aspect

user55340

I consider it more of a 'adding orange a bit to brandy'

user41796

BAM! go @worldengineer!!!

user41796

OK, those Natas do Céu are just over the top goodness (and wrong)

user15026

@GlenH7 They are so great. And easy. Like you really don't need a lot of stuff. (I bought this one, because I live close to this fantastic Portuguese bakery, but still.)

user55340

the 'problem' with getting an acceptable stocked bar is that it takes so many ingredients to get past the 'yea, we can do rum and coke' to 'what does this combination taste like'... and that you're then buying them in larger volumes than you can drink in one sitting... and they're not exactly cheap either.

user15026

1:10 AM

@MichaelT Yeah, I don't know if I would ever buy piles of things but I want to expand my repetoire.

user55340

Doing the minibar sized bottles doesn't help at all once you scale up beyond a certain quantity though they are nice for the specialized experiments of things you wouldn't otherwise buy.

user55340

ie - if you don't know what galliano tastes like or if you would want to get the big bottle... get the small one.

user55340

That's not exactly a small bottle for your shelf.

user55340

and you also don't use lots of it at a time...

user55340

1:12 AM

> Galliano has been formulated at both 60 proof (30% by volume) and 84.6 proof (42.3% by volume).

user41796

@MichaelT That's actually one I have no idea what it tastes like.

user55340

Oh... its wonderful.

user55340

Btw... get this book:

user55340

amazon.com/The-Bartenders-Companion-Original-Cocktails/dp/…

user55340

I found it most useful... and the bartender I experimented cocktails with also found it to be good and comprehensive.

user55340

1:14 AM

The thing to watch out for in the book... they've got instructions for infusions.

user41796

@MichaelT But that's just going to break my bank because I'll find more and more and more things I need to buy....

user55340

@GlenH7 Are you familiar with the anise flavor in liquors?

user41796

@MichaelT That one, yes.

user41796

My next older brother introduced me to proper absinthe

user55340

galliano is on the sweet end of the spectrum with lots of herbal flavors.

user41796

1:15 AM

oh!, okay. Makes a lot of sense

user55340

> Galliano has numerous natural ingredients, including vanilla, star anise, Mediterranean anise, ginger, citrus, juniper, musk yarrow, and lavender. Neutral alcohol is infused with the pressings from the herbs except vanilla. The liquid is distilled and then infused with pressed vanilla. In the final stage distilled water, refined sugar and pure neutral alcohol are blended with the base. Galliano has been formulated at both 60 proof (30% by volume) and 84.6 proof (42.3% by volume).

Galliano is sweet with vanilla-anise flavor with subtle citrus and woodsy herbal under notes. The vanilla top…

user41796

Sorry, mixed my flavors. :-)

user15026

I have the Bartending for Dummies book, I got it at a Mennonite auction sale for 10 cents

user55340

Its on that spectrum... along with sambuca (its like drinking a black jelly bean), jagermister, and anisette (haven't had that one - its at the sweet end of the spectrum)

user41796

The GM and Hornitos are fighting with my tongue to recall those flavors, but they're coming back out

user55340

1:17 AM

Saying that galliano is like absinthe is like saying that grand mariner is like triple sec... they're both orange...

user41796

@MichaelT Um, I blame the fact that I don't pour my drinks with a light hand?

user55340

it depends on what you're after and the flavors you want to bring out... some times a heavy hand is better... some times a carefully measured one is best.

user41796

Relatively certain the heavy hand was on order tonight. :-)

user55340

The cocktails that I most like tend to be three ingredient ones... and the balance of the flavors is important. You don't want the gin to overpower the apricot brandy for example.

user15026

See, if people make me drinks, I will happily try anything but I am just like nervous to try stuff on my own

user55340

1:20 AM

(Gin, OJ, Apricot Brandy - equal parts)

user41796

Although the hornitos ran at a 3:2 ratio to the GM. And it was a small glass I used for measuring

user55340

And oh... is there ever a range in just the gin flavors.

user41796

@AshleyNunn make smaller drinks to start then

user55340

You've got bombay, tanquaray...

user55340

and while both gin, those are two very different flavors.

user41796

1:21 AM

And do QA/QC at various steps in the process. I've found with my margaritas that if the sweet/sour mix isn't drinkable by itself then the liquors aren't going to help. Likewise, if the liquors don't play nicely with each other then the mixer won't save them.

user55340

Mixoligist I used to know... he liked what was known as 'pink gin' - aka 'gin and bitters'

user55340

3 dashes of bitters on the glass... add gin.

user41796

@MichaelT I'm beginning to think that bombay is not as good as the marketing would have me believe. Beefeaters (IIRC) was fairly decent too. I haven't tried many of the premium / ultra-premium gins though

user55340

A woman sat down next to him, saw him drinking something that looked fruity... asked the bartender for one of what he was having... and then spat it out when she first drank it.

user41796

1:22 AM

@WorldEngineer - epic close on that earlier question. Beat me to dropping a VTC on it.

user55340

(it looks like a cosmo... its not)

user41796

@MichaelT <sad trombone plays>

user55340

As an aside, also did that to the owner of the pub... though it was with a chambourd + gin mix IIRC.

user41796

Hmmmm.... If you weren't expecting it, I'd think the chambord would be rather unwelcome.

user55340

Here's one for @AshleyNunn ... Northern Exposure Moose Martini

user55340

1:25 AM

6 parts vodka / gin (whatever you make your martini with)
1 part Chambord
Garnish with juniper berries soaked in vermouth

user15026

Could be interesting.

user55340

@AshleyNunn it looks like a fruity drink... its not.

user41796

@MichaelT I had a chambord martini last night minus the juniper berries. That sounds really good

user55340

Pink Gin

Pink Gin is a cocktail made fashionable in England in the mid-19th century, consisting of Plymouth gin and a dash of 'pink' Angostura bitters, a dark red extract of gentian and spices, known from the 1820s at Angostura, Venezuela but now made in Trinidad and Tobago. Lemon rind is also commonly used as a garnish, with the citrus oils subtly complementing the flavour. == Origins == Pink gin is a typically English way of enjoying gin. It is widely agreed that the drink was first created by members of the Royal Navy. Plymouth gin is a 'sweet' gin, as opposed to London gin which is 'dry', and was added...

user55340

The Origins is rather amusing.

user55340

1:27 AM

As bitters is the cure for what ails you...

user41796

Just looked at the radar; we're in for a hella noisy night tonight.

user55340

I still am doubtful about some of its claims...

user41796

@MichaelT drink enough until you find out?

user55340

> It also imparts an exquisite flavor to soups, salads, vegetables, gravies, fish, meat, fruit-juices, grapefruit, mixed cut fruits, stewed prunes, steed figs, preserved fruits, jellies, sherbets, water-ices, ice-cream, sauces for puddings, hard sauces, plum pudding, mince and fruit pies, apple sauce and all similar deserts, regulating the quantity according to taste.

user55340

1:29 AM

ice cream?

user41796

@MichaelT yeah, actually I can see that.

user41796

ice cream responds really well to bitter flavors because of the sweetness

user41796

until I had sprinkled sea salt on some ice creamI would have said you were crazy.

user55340

True... though I'm still "what didn't you put in that list?"

user41796

but ice cream is pretty dang versatile from that point of view.

user55340

1:33 AM

Once saw a recipe for strawberries that involved vinegar and pepper.

user15026

@MichaelT I can see that working if you have good ripe berries

user55340

4 pints strawberries (sliced thick)
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

30 min to 1h before serving, combine ingredients and set aside at room temperature.

Place strawberries in a bowl. Serve with ice cream.

user55340

Roasted strawberries with black pepper:
2 pints strwaberries
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons vinegar

slice strawberries 1/8 inch thick. Place in bowl, sprinkle with sugar. Cover and refrigerate 1-4h.

Preheat oven 375 F. Toss strawberries with black pepper and vinegar. Place in large oven proof dish with juices. Roast for 8-10 minutes. Serve immediately.

user15026

Both of those sound yummy

user20683

Learn You Node is not very good

user20683

1:40 AM

though it might just be that I favor books over interactive spoonfeeding

user55340

Btw - try this some time: Stuffed dates wrapped with serrano ham - really good. If you can't find the serrano ham, you can switch to prosciutto.

user55340

(I'd still go for the quick bake version though)

user15026

@MichaelT I am not sure how I feel about dates

user55340

@AshleyNunn well, you find a guy and go out for an evening...

user55340

doesn't have to be a serious date... can be just a fig time instead.

user15026

1:43 AM

@MichaelT facedesk

user55340

Its really good though... the way the flavors mix is quite nice. The ham and cheese combined with some sweet flavors from the date. Very good.

user55340

That particular item is one that I often find in tapas places (oh... I miss tapas) and will compare them with.

user55340

Used to go to this restaurant often: cascalrestaurant.com/site2011/index.asp

user55340

And its summer menu... oh... ok... now I really miss it.

user55340

> Fresh Watermelon Salad– watercress, marinated cotija cheese, citrus herb vinaigrette

user55340

1:49 AM

> Grilled Serrano Ham & Date Brochette – Serrano ham wrapped dates filled with Cabrales cheese, frisee salad

user55340

> House Sangria - with fresh citrus, apples, brandy, spices, and triple sec

user55340

now I really miss it.

user55340

@GlenH7 make this some time: eatingwell.com/recipes/…

user15026

2:06 AM

I want all those things

user55340

btw, @GlenH7 a fun SO question about various forms of a hidden goto:

user55340

37

Q: Alternatives to `while (1)` to simplify branching

From time to time, I use a while(1) block to flatten a succession of if..else going out of proportion. It goes along these lines. Instead of doing: // process if (success) { // process if (success) { //process if (success) { // etc } } } I do: while (1) { // proce...

c

user55340

do
{
    // process
    if (!success) break;
    // process
    if (!success) break;
    // process
    if (!success) break;
    ...
    // No need for a break statement here
}
while(0);

user55340

@AshleyNunn when I was there, that was my typical summer dinner. I'd sit outside and relax with the sangria in the warm California evening...

user15026

@MichaelT That does sound lovely

user55340

2:12 AM

@AshleyNunn it was one of my favorite places to go. Just a few blocks from where I lived.

user55340

Another place I'd go to on occasion... it was a drive though. oplobster.com

user55340

user15026

Mmmmmmm

user55340

@Ampt btw, track you need to listen to: Pastor Mustard: Heen (Spotify link)

enderland

3:14 AM

How active is maple_shaft here? I'm trying to decide if his nomination on Workplace is serious or not, since he's basically not been on the site for 8+ months

gnat

6:59 AM

@enderland per my observations, he's quite active here. I see him handling my flags almost every day

...and I flag daily :) "helpful flags 7010"

...but not, he's not here. None of the moderators is here, apparently:

-4

Q: Report between two dates in php

date.php <?php @require_once 'config/config.php'; ?> <script> $(document).ready(function(){ $( "#startDate , #endDate" ).datepicker({ dateFormat: 'dd-mm-yy', showOn: "button", buttonImage: "images/calendar.gi...

php javascript mysql

-3

Q: Are there people to code ideas?

I wish I had the time to program every software/game/app idea I have. Sometimes I even feel they could turn out to be big rentable products. I know some stuff can be done through collaborative funding, but is there any community of programmers that would freely code a design based merely on the i...

design project-management development-process productivity copyright

-2

Q: Interesting web design projects?

I'm starting a web design club at my school next year and I need some ideas for some projects to get the kids interested. So far I have creating a rudimentary social media profile, a movie dedication page, a Halloween-themed page, an animated Christmas card, and an "advertisement." Hopefully, the...

web-development html css

...for, like, about 3-4 hours I guess...

in The Water Cooler, Mar 27 at 20:51, by Shog9

It's a frickin' volunteer position - you do it when you have the time to do it.

user41796

11:33 AM

@enderland He's reasonably active here and drops into chat every now and then. I'd consider the nomination as serious - he's not prone to frivolity that way. If anything, he may feel like there's not enough to do here and he's looking for more to take on.

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