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Pete Kirkham

 Discussion on answer by James Mathai:…

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Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
Let us continue this discussion in chat.
Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
@JamesMathai Sellers put all kinds of things in their titles to get more search hits "Mdf Melamine Detachable Cloth Modern Furniture Wood Closets Cabinets Custom Bedroom Chinese White Designs Almirah Wardrobe" . Not only wouldn't I describe that wardrobe as 'detachable', I also wouldn't describe it as 'cloth', or 'Almirah'. If you look at the 'other attributes' section though, they do have 'structure: knock-down', so they do know the term. alibaba.com/product-detail/…
Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
@JamesMathai mostly, though for furniture specifically designed for repeated easy disassembly 'knockdown' is the term of art. But that word has the disadvantage that is also is used for 'cheap in price', so doesn't tend to appear in customer facing literature.
Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
@JamesMathai English is not consistent in this regard. A 'modular kitchen' is a kitchen which is composed of modules. Whether it can be decomposed back into modules without damage is not implied. 'Modular furniture' however is furniture which acts as modules, e.g. ikea.com/gb/en/p/… is composed of three bookcases. The bookcases can be rearranged. The shelves can be moved. The bookcases themselves cannot be repeatedly disassembled without damaging them.
Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
@JamesMathai there is a big difference between rearranging furniture and disassembling furniture. Modular kitchens allow you to rearrange the cabinets, (though that is not always easy due to worktops and so on). That does not imply the cabinets are easy to disassemble - having once assembled the cabinet, you rearrange it without disassembling it.
Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
Yes, the OP wants 'assemblable' but your answer says '"Modular" is the adjective used by IKEA, for furniture and kitchen, that can be assembled and disassembled" which is not true. Their use of 'Modular' does not imply disassembly (e.g. their kitchen cabinets have permanently nailed-on back panels, so cannot be disassembled without damage), and the majority of their furniture is self-assembly but not modular.
Pete Kirkham
May 27 20:30
A modular kitchen is so called because each cabinet is considered to be a module because they are a fixed set of sizes so can be swapped around; the individual items of furniture are not themselves modular, but self-assembly. The opposite of 'modular' is 'bespoke' where the cabinets are sized to suit the particular kitchen's design. I suspect Alibaba using 'detachable' for what in the UK are commonly called knockdown cabinets (i.e. capable of repeated disassembly and reassembly) is a non-idiomatic translation, though a table with detachable legs is a common type of knockdown furniture.
 

 Discussion between Pete Kirkham and J…

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Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:12
I mean, people who are searching for a "cloth wardrobe" are looking for a temporary wardrobe so might consider buying a knock-down wooden one, and 'almirah' is a type of wardrobe (albeit traditionally carved, solid wood), and people might also search for 'detachable wardrobe' if they don't know the correct term, so it's not unsurprising they are in the product title, but being in the title doesn't imply that any of those terms are correct.
Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:08
@JamesMathai Sellers put all kinds of things in their titles to get more search hits "Mdf Melamine Detachable Cloth Modern Furniture Wood Closets Cabinets Custom Bedroom Chinese White Designs Almirah Wardrobe" . Not only wouldn't I describe that wardrobe as 'detachable', I also wouldn't describe it as 'cloth', or 'Almirah'. If you look at the 'other attributes' section though, they do have 'structure: knock-down', so they do know the term. alibaba.com/product-detail/…
Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:08
@JamesMathai mostly, though for furniture specifically designed for repeated easy disassembly 'knockdown' is the term of art. But that word has the disadvantage that is also is used for 'cheap in price', so doesn't tend to appear in customer facing literature.
Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:08
@JamesMathai English is not consistent in this regard. A 'modular kitchen' is a kitchen which is composed of modules. Whether it can be decomposed back into modules without damage is not implied. 'Modular furniture' however is furniture which acts as modules, e.g. ikea.com/gb/en/p/… is composed of three bookcases. The bookcases can be rearranged. The shelves can be moved. The bookcases themselves cannot be repeatedly disassembled without damaging them.
Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:08
@JamesMathai there is a big difference between rearranging furniture and disassembling furniture. Modular kitchens allow you to rearrange the cabinets, (though that is not always easy due to worktops and so on). That does not imply the cabinets are easy to disassemble - having once assembled the cabinet, you rearrange it without disassembling it.
Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:08
Yes, the OP wants 'assemblable' but your answer says '"Modular" is the adjective used by IKEA, for furniture and kitchen, that can be assembled and disassembled" which is not true. Their use of 'Modular' does not imply disassembly (e.g. their kitchen cabinets have permanently nailed-on back panels, so cannot be disassembled without damage), and the majority of their furniture is self-assembly but not modular.
Pete Kirkham
Aug 30, 2024 10:08
A modular kitchen is so called because each cabinet is considered to be a module because they are a fixed set of sizes so can be swapped around; the individual items of furniture are not themselves modular, but self-assembly. The opposite of 'modular' is 'bespoke' where the cabinets are sized to suit the particular kitchen's design. I suspect Alibaba using 'detachable' for what in the UK are commonly called knockdown cabinets (i.e. capable of repeated disassembly and reassembly) is a non-idiomatic translation, though a table with detachable legs is a common type of knockdown furniture.
 

 Discussion on answer by JBH: Do mini-…

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Pete Kirkham
Aug 25, 2024 18:19
Given it takes 5 to 20 Joules of fossil fuel to create one Joule of food energy with typical modern agriculture, and we convert ~8 Joules of energy to heat for every Joule our muscles put out, and bicycles are not 100% efficient, efficiency based the ratio of rate of fossil fuel consumed to motive power for a person on a bicycle is not that much better than a car. The environmental gain is based on the total energy for a journey being less, and that most of the food would still be needed even if you're just sitting still instead of peddling, so the additional fossil energy used is much less.
 

 Discussion on question by Kaguyahime:…

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Pete Kirkham
Nov 27, 2023 23:27
@FumbleFingers "I don't believe for a moment that the crisps pictured were sliced from whole potatoes." Here's a machine for making them from whole potatoes youtube.com/shorts/Fdm3CzszyCc .
 

 Discussion on answer by Michael Harve…

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Pete Kirkham
Nov 27, 2023 21:41
@DKNguyen usually it's still shavings on a wood lathe. youtube.com/watch?v=mUATd-3SRRM though chips on metal lathe. (a wood lathe is a lathe for cutting wood, not a lathe made of wood)
 

 Discussion on answer by causative: Wh…

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Pete Kirkham
Apr 27, 2023 16:53
You've missed the jumping one - to a first approximation, jumping is about the ratio of stored energy vs mass, both scale with cubes, which is why a flea and a human can jump about the same height off the ground (within a factor of two, allowing for other differences).
 

 Discussion on question by blarg: Gran…

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Pete Kirkham
May 13, 2021 13:31
Goes around, comes around - I was brought up by Christians so the 'why do you call me good? no-one is good but God alone' thing applied, instead I was thanked when I did something helpful, whereas now people think they are 'good' by default even if they don't do anything helpful.
 

 Discussion on question by Theexurbmm1…

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Pete Kirkham
Nov 6, 2020 22:51
If floppy things were good for thrusting, we wouldn't have invented Viagra.
 

 Discussion on answer by ThoriumBR: Ar…

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Pete Kirkham
Jul 6, 2020 10:56
Strictly the difference in the parameters is due to the content type, not the method. Although it's very, very common to use the body for POST parameters it's not a requirement in the HTTP spec and most servers and many frameworks support URL parameters with POST, processing them in addition with the body. HTML form post changes the content type based on the method, but AJAX and non-browser HTTP clients don't have that restriction, and putting parameters in the action URL of a HTML form will still pass the parameters.
 

 Discussion on answer by Machavity: Wh…

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Pete Kirkham
Jun 22, 2020 15:18
The "transparent aluminium' you link to is not an allotrope of elemental aluminium, but a ceramic. If aluminium based ceramics are valid, then artificial sapphire is perhaps a better choice, given its ubiquity, though suffers that the process for creating it was invented in the 1800s. The glass window that your groceries are dragged over when their barcodes are scanned - synthetic sapphire, transparent aluminium oxide, as much 'transparent aluminium' as the more modern formulations.
 

 Discussion on question by Andrew: Are…

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Pete Kirkham
Jun 22, 2020 06:27
As spektr noted, type 7 problems www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2006/EECS-2006-183.pdf
 

 Discussion on answer by Lorendiac: Bo…

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Pete Kirkham
May 29, 2020 08:33
@Joshua your student's case is not uncommon, it's just that for English surnames like mine the official saying you had to use the name of your village was in the 17th or 18th century.
 

 Discussion on answer by fez: Why don'…

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Pete Kirkham
Apr 8, 2020 10:04
@Kadima what would that have to do with the radiant heat from the blade? Presumably the 'it' in 'careful not to touch it' is the blade, not the handle where any electronics are, which it is necessary to hold to use the thing.
 

 Discussion on answer by tfb: Is there…

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Pete Kirkham
Mar 29, 2020 18:46
Caecias - an old name for NE wind as it winds in a north-east direction
 

 Discussion on question by Alexei: Whi…

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Pete Kirkham
Nov 11, 2019 15:15
@M.Herzkamp (IIRC according to an analysis of coroner's records) in about half of historic duels where one combatant is recorded as having died as a result of the duel, the other combatant also died as a result of the duel.
 

 Discussion on question by stopeating:…

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Pete Kirkham
Dec 31, 2018 23:31
@alephzero no-eating has been the rule in every electronics or R&D lab that I've worked in as a software engineer. There are plenty of software jobs not in general offices.
 

 Discussion on question by doplin: Wha…

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Pete Kirkham
Jul 31, 2018 18:11
@KeithMorrison indeed "As he was working in the kitchen of his home in Basel, he spilled a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) on the kitchen table. He reached for the nearest cloth, a cotton apron, and wiped it up. He hung the apron on the stove door to dry, and as soon as it was dry, a flash occurred as the apron ignited." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose
 

 Discussion on question by norlin: Wha…

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Pete Kirkham
May 18, 2018 16:09
In the UK, we've reduced the use of copper in our lower value coins because its cost is too high due to the usefulness in electronics and small scale electrical systems (large scale electrical systems and increasingly some small scale electrical uses use aluminium as it's cheaper). So there is some precedent for changing currency because of the practical value of a metal.
 

 Discussion on answer by Gianluca: In …

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Pete Kirkham
May 4, 2018 15:50
@LorenPechtel not always, most fast sail boats can sail faster than the wind - boatsafe.com/kids/bramp1099.htm
 

 Discussion on question by why: Are Ge…

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Pete Kirkham
Mar 24, 2018 18:33
@JörgWMittag milk might be a better analogy, since humans can produce their own milk (both sexes to some extent), but you need oranges to make orange juice.
 

 Discussion on answer by RonJohn: Coul…

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Pete Kirkham
Mar 21, 2018 21:03
@RonJohn they simply mean the same momentum is transferred over a longer distance, they don't change the total momentum. Force scales with the distance the momentum is absorbed over. I agree there are lots of issues with the OP's suggestion of magic bullet stopping fabric.
Pete Kirkham
Mar 21, 2018 21:03
@RonJohn I'm not sure what point you're making. Conservation of momentum works at both ends, so as a rule of thumb, if protection can spread the impact over an area larger than that of the rifle stock used to transfer the momentum to the projectile in the first place, absorbing it won't be any worse than shooting it. Once you have something that's too powerful to hold launching it, does it really count as small arms?
Pete Kirkham
Mar 21, 2018 21:03
@JohnDovak Indeed, but we were talking about "cloth, that effectively stops any small arms fire". Small arms normally doesn't include 0.5m cannonballs (or explosives for that matter).
Pete Kirkham
Mar 21, 2018 21:03
@RonJohn yes, in the case of such materials the phase change can absorb some, then a gradual release as heat as it phases back into fluid state.
Pete Kirkham
Mar 21, 2018 21:03
@KeithMorrison the laws of physics didn't stop with Newton - imagine the cloth behaves something like a non-Newtonian fluid so acts like a ceramic plate to high speed impacts while still draping under normal use. Not entirely unlike current en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_Armor
 

 Discussion on question by gaazkam: Is…

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Pete Kirkham
Mar 15, 2018 17:02
@Fattie depends on context. "Your neck is as beautiful as an ivory tower" doesn't sound that negative. Also you could just slap on a coat of paint on any tower and it would literally be an ivory tower, since 'ivory' also means the colour. I don't know enough Hebrew to say whether the original verse meant the material or colour.
 

 Discussion on question by Ne Mo: Befo…

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Pete Kirkham
Nov 28, 2017 12:31
What do you think St Paul was doing? Or are you only counting 'Orthodox' after the schism with Rome?
 

 Discussion on question by rluks: How …

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Pete Kirkham
Oct 27, 2017 03:24
Using birds or other small animals to detect air has a long tradition in science.
 

 Discussion on question by Mario Trucc…

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Pete Kirkham
Sep 21, 2017 15:00
It happens - newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/03/…
 

 Discussion on question by ggiaquin: A…

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Pete Kirkham
Aug 17, 2017 09:14
The red billed oxpecker allegedly drinks impala milk, but I can't find a reference as to whether it actually does or whether it causes any issues to it.
 

 Discussion on question by enkrypt0r: …

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Pete Kirkham
Jul 29, 2017 20:57
@fluffy which way? In English electrical usage, an 'open' circuit is not conducting so 'off', a 'closed' contactor is conducting so 'on' but you seem to have the opposite.
 

 Discussion on answer by brhans: Boss …

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Pete Kirkham
Jul 22, 2017 15:48
@brhans there's a difference between right and requirement. For example, in the UK, the employer is required to check a job applicant's 'right to work' documents, and these must be originals and not copies. For a lot of people, the easiest valid document to use will be their passport (e.g. I don't happen to have a long form original birth certificate, only the short form copy). So while the employer doesn't have a right to see your passport, they can't employ you if you don't show them it.
 

 Discussion between Ben Aaronson and P…

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Pete Kirkham
Jul 21, 2017 14:01
(I'm off to get my lunch now)
Pete Kirkham
Jul 21, 2017 14:00
So the question is - what additional error is being found that would not be reported if the OP's scheme was in place?
Pete Kirkham
Jul 21, 2017 13:59
If we can agree that declaring and initialising a variable is equivalent to doing these as separate statements, and that declaring a variable cannot throw. It is also always safe to move a declaration upwards in a block. We then can simulate the OP's scheme by moving all declarations outside the try block. The compiler's definite assignment check knows about try/catch, so there is no additional source of error.
Pete Kirkham
Jul 21, 2017 13:58
It would be just as {int a; try { a=7;} catch { int a;}
Pete Kirkham
Jul 21, 2017 13:57
Declaring something twice in the same scope is already illegal.
Pete Kirkham
Jul 21, 2017 13:46
The compiler already tracks whether or not it is assigned to. You haven't presented a case where the OP's suggestion creates an ambiguity which is not already dealt with by the existing definite assignment mechanism, so I don't see any advantage.