hmakholm left over Monica

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Discussion on question by JonathanRee…

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May 24, 2023 18:30

This pretty much guarantees that you'll need daily housekeeping for the bed not to look like a bomb crater -- I don't know if they use special tools for wrapping the bed unsleepably tight each day? -- whereas it would take only a few seconds for a guest to lay a covered duvet out nicely on the bed himself because the actual sheet is then still tucked in.

hmakholm left over Monica

May 24, 2023 18:30

What gets me is not so much the sheet and the blanket coming out of alignment (though that is annoying too), but that hotels invariably seem to tuck all layers of the sandwich tight under the mattress, such that when you pull the blanket and top sheet out (such that there's actually space for you underneath), the bottom sheet comes completely loose too.

Hmm, I think there's room to be confused about whether the OP does need to leave the transit area during his layover or not -- in other words, are flights between Turkey and North Cyprus treated as domestic or international? [My rudimentary understanding of international relations and Turkey's position WRT the Cyprus problem suggests they would insist those flights are international, but I don't know that.]

Henning Makholm

Sep 15, 2019 14:10

I must confess the economics of the situation confuses me. Based on my own experience, even having a place to sleep for 3 months in the UK would be more expensive than just about any flight back to the US. (That assumes that the OP is resident in the US which he hasn't said).

Henning Makholm

Sep 15, 2019 13:18

Could someone give a quick opinion of travel.stackexchange.com/a/146828/16947? The OP's reaction confuses me; am I crossing any lines?

$Mathematics$ Discussion on question by Hulkster: T…

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Henning Makholm

Sep 18, 2019 18:33

I think the main issue with the plan, however, is that it is not at all clear that the determinant of a matrix found in this way will be unique.

Henning Makholm

Sep 18, 2019 18:33

But you still won't be able to get every matrix into a diagonal form -- how would you deal with $({}^1_1\,{}^0_0)$ by column operations alone, for example?

Henning Makholm

Sep 18, 2019 18:33

There may be some misunderstanding -- you're not envisaging that the diagonal matrix has to be similar to the original matrix, are you? Describing it as "adding columns" sounds to me like you're doing column operations only, and then what you're doing is not diagonalization.

Discussion on answer by Henning Makho…

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Henning Makholm

Sep 18, 2019 03:53

@BritishSam: I don't know exactly how the automated gates work, but I imagine they can direct travelers to a landing interview with a human IO based on some undisclosed screening criteria that take API into account -- for example, whether the traveller is arriving on a return or one-way ticket.

Discussion on answer by peterh: Is th…

Imported from a comment discussion on astronomy.stackexchange....

Henning Makholm

Sep 11, 2019 17:14

There are several different kinds of "cosmological horizons" (as explained in the Wikipedia article you link to), only some of which shrink due to accelerating expansion. I think the one most relevant for these purposes is the particle horizon, which keeps moving outwards no matter the acceleration, though in some FRW universes the number of galaxies inside the particle horizon will tend towards a finite limit. (In contrast, I think the cosmological event horizon is thought to be contracting).

Discussion on answer by DJClayworth: …

Imported from a comment discussion on workplace.stackexchange....

Henning Makholm

Sep 2, 2019 14:20

In tech startups it's not unheard of for a founder-CEO to (by choice) step laterally to a position of more purely technical leadership, bringing in someone else to do the hard lifting of actually running the business. But then they're usually a major shareholder too, and won't really become subordinate to the new CEO.

Discussion on answer by MechMK1: Is t…

Imported from a comment discussion on security.stackexchange.c...

Henning Makholm

Aug 31, 2019 09:10

Hmm, is there a security benefit of using 4uR=?1YFFY1 over 4uR=?x1F3Yi#9ENGINE, which would avoid the cumbersome letter-by-letter translation for the user?

Discussion on question by AIwithstick…

Imported from a comment discussion on worldbuilding.stackexcha...

Henning Makholm

Aug 19, 2019 19:18

Does allowing them to breathe make them master airbenders?

Discussion on question by Mitsuko: Wh…

Imported from a comment discussion on english.stackexchange.co...

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

@Mari-LouA: Look in particular to the added drivel about "these traits come together for a reason" where the OP seems to pretty directly suggest (as an assumed fact) that there is some kind of deep psychological failing that leads some women to not wear makeup, not visit beauty salons, or go to pubs alone.

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

@Mari-LouA: It is fairly clear to me that the OP wants, specificially, a pejorative word. The sentence you quote, "In other words, how are such women commonly or idiomatically called in English" pretty directly contains an assertion that "such women" is a meaningful category, and a clear expectation that English would have an idiomatic way to be pejorative towards that category too.

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

@Mari-LouA: The OP is implicitly asserting an opinion by expecting the reader to agree that the traits he lists adds up to something that English ought to have a pejorative word for.

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

@Mari-LouA: In fact I do find the post offensive, since the way it is phrased seems to presuppose that the reader will immediately understand and agree understand that the listed traits add up to something that should be socially censured. People can be misogynic jerks, yes -- but when they start talking to me (as a generic reader) like of course I'm a misogynic jerk too, then I get offended enough to downvote that supposition. I downvote it proudly and then feel I have done my part, however small, in not letting it look like that kind of attitude towards women is socially acceptable.

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

@Mari-LouA: Downvotes and such are probably because people find it disgustingly misogynic to suggest that one needs a pejorative word for a woman who doesn't care about beauty salons, has the impudence to go to town alone, etc.

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

@Ben: Well, if her shoes are muddy, the trait appears to say that she is so obsessively attached to those shoes that she can't bear to take them off and will go to ridiculously cumbersome lengths to avoid needing to part with them for even a moment. That still doesn't fit the other traits, I think.

Henning Makholm

Jul 17, 2019 01:19

Most of those traits sounds like a reasonably sensible woman who doesn't obsess about irrelevancies. There ought to be more of them. But how does the third part fit with the other traits? Somehow she's so afraid of dirt on her carpets that she'll crawl around on her hands and knees rather than just walk?

$Mathematics$ Discussion on question by Eastcoastda…

Imported from a comment discussion on math.stackexchange.com/q...

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:04

@Eastcoastdancer: Are there complex numbers later in the book? The whole construction looks like it might be intended to be used as a "familiar" analogue to the construction of $\mathbb C$ from $\mathbb R$ later on. But if it appears without any motivating discussion, it might not work well for that purpose ...

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:04

An an aside, I wonder if "${<}{\bullet}$" is supposed to represent a circled $<$, so it matches with $\oplus$ and $\otimes$. Apparently \oless doesn't exist, and Detexify doesn't seem to know the symbol either.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:04

There's not much to prove there -- it holds for any two numbers $x,y$ in $\mathbb Q$ that exactly one of $x<y$, $x>y$ or $x=y$ holds. It doesn't matter that you happen to have gotten $x$ as $|a-c|(a-c)$ and $y$ as $|d-b|(d-b)$.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:04

The point of the definition is that "$s+t\phi \mathrel{{<}\bullet} u+v\phi$" is an abbreviation for $|s-u|(s-u) < 2|v-t|(v-t)$.

$Mathematics$ Discussion on answer by Henning Makho…

Imported from a comment discussion on math.stackexchange.com/q...

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary: The last equality in that chain does not hold. It is generally not the case that $\lim 2^{f(n)} = 2^{\lim f(n)}$ when we're talking about cardinals.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary: No, that is not correct. In general you cannot count functions by taking a limit of the count of smaller function spaces.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary: yes.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@miracle173: I'm not sure that's even true in any useful sense. When I'm saying that a particular limit "is" $\aleph_0$ above, then that's presupposing that we've already decided to take the limit in the context of cardinalities rather than the context of the extended real line. (I'm making this supposition because the OP was already speaking of countable and uncountable, which is something the extended real line cannot even express).

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary, yes, because the value of the fraction is always $1$.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary: Yes, that is the same as the first displayed formula in this answer. (Of if it isn't, then I have misunderstood what you mean by $N(n)$).

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

You can reasonably speak about $N(\aleph_0)$ (note no $\to$ sign here). That would be $2^{\aleph_0}$, which may or may not be the same as $\aleph_1$ depending on whether the continuum hypothesis holds.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary: Perhaps a further point of confusion is that you think you can say "as $n\to\infty$" without talking about a limit? You can't. The $\to\infty$ notation is part of the limit concept and it only makes sense to use it as part of talking about a limit.

Henning Makholm

Jul 9, 2019 18:03

@Elementary: $\lim_{n\to\infty} N(n)$ is $\aleph_0$ which is definitely different from $\aleph_1$.

Discussion on answer by Peter: How do…

Imported from a comment discussion on security.stackexchange.c...

Henning Makholm

Jul 5, 2019 18:46

Fingerprint scans, retina scans, and so forth, are somewhat difficult to keep secret, though. And practically impossible to change if adversaries gain access to them.

Discussion on question by user99628: …

Imported from a comment discussion on travel.stackexchange.com...

Henning Makholm

Jul 2, 2019 13:16

@WeatherVane: One man's "being cheated by a school" is another man's "deliberately choosing a sham college that you know will not require attendance or study effort, such that you can work instead, without qualifying for a full-time work visa".

Discussion on answer by Snow: Employe…

Imported from a comment discussion on workplace.stackexchange....

Henning Makholm

Jun 20, 2019 18:17

@Namoshek: Asking for such a statement to be signed probably has the practical effect of making former employees less likely to kick up a (futile in any case) fuss if they later decide they don't like it.

Discussion on question by Israel Mubo…

Imported from a comment discussion on travel.stackexchange.com...

Henning Makholm

May 30, 2019 18:24

@ChrisH: "Incidentals" sounds like they're talking about checking into a hotel that wants a card on file for e.g. minibar usage or meals charged to the room. But it would be desirable for the OP to clarify that explicitly.

Discussion on answer by Henning Makho…

Imported from a comment discussion on travel.stackexchange.com...

Henning Makholm

May 12, 2019 23:28

@Mark: Judging from the writing on the power brick (which says in Danish, Finnish, and Swedish that a grounded outlet must be used), the plug on the cord that came with it is probably type F (Schuko) or K (Danish 3-pin). No amount of forcing or violence will make either of those engage with a US socket.

Discussion on question by gsamaras: W…

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Henning Makholm

May 12, 2019 23:25

If his workplace is somewhere away from the passenger terminals, the restaurants there may not be easily reachable. But in that case "reachable by foot" is extremely vague and depends heavily on where at the airport the workplace is.

Henning Makholm

May 12, 2019 23:25

Why is bringing lunch from home not an option?

Discussion on question by Fab von Bel…

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Henning Makholm

May 2, 2019 03:12

@dave_thompson_085: I think you overestimate how far from Earth the ISS is. It's in low earth orbit, about 400 km above sea level. You can see pretty far from that altitude, but not anywhere near half of the earth -- more like 1/30 of the earth's surface at any one time.

$Mathematics$ Mathematics

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Henning Makholm

Apr 26, 2019 01:15

Hmm, has the "hot meta posts" sidebar always been so ... yellow?

Discussion on answer by Henning Makho…

Imported from a comment discussion on travel.stackexchange.com...

Henning Makholm

Apr 2, 2019 20:19

@hymub: Because the airline does not guarantee the connection when the tickets are bought separately. As you have noticed yourself, they want additional payment for that guarantee.

Henning Makholm

Apr 2, 2019 20:19

@hymub: Then the airline still won't be fined for having transported a passenger they shouldn't, like they would if the passenger didn't have a guaranteed onwards connection.

$Mathematics$ Discussion on answer by fleablood: Do…

Imported from a comment discussion on math.stackexchange.com/q...

Henning Makholm

Mar 23, 2019 13:00

@fleablood: One approach is to start by ignoring (say) all the right interval endpoints, then argue that there are countably many of them and make space for them in the full interval at the end by a Hilberts-hotel argument on $\{1/n\mid n\in\mathbb N\}$.

Henning Makholm

Mar 23, 2019 13:00

@ArturoMagidin: That gets you into the same problem, because $\frac23$ is in the Cantor set too, and for that you need the expansion $0.2000..._3$ rather than $0.1222..._3$. It really is better to leave it at the bare "if there exists an expansion without $1$s".

Henning Makholm

Mar 23, 2019 13:00

Yes, you said that. And you shouldn't have said it, because that convention makes your claim "if $x=\sum b_i 3^{−i}$ is in the Cantor set then none of the $b_i=1$" false.

Henning Makholm

Mar 23, 2019 13:00

@fleablood: How about $1/9 = 0.01_3 = 0.00222..._3$, then? You need the second expansion to see that it's in the Cantor set.

Henning Makholm

Mar 23, 2019 13:00

Even countable subsets don't necessarily have "next" numbers --- e.g. $\mathbb Q$.