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  • What are those orange balls on power lines, and what do they do?

    Mostly on old power lines in old neighborhoods, there are what seem to be fiberglass balls about 2 feet in diameter that have the power line running right through the middle of them.  (I can see the shiny fiberglass weathering out of the old ones.) 

      I thought that they might be insulators to keep different phase power lines from clashing and shorting out in high winds.  I used to think that they were warnings to low flying aircraft, but some of them are so low that they would have to be real barn stormers, rather I think those might warn house-movers.  My dad even joked that they were helium floats that helped hold up long runs of power lines.  Lastly, I just kind of guessed that they might be a physical impediment to rats running from building to building. 

      I couldn't find one of my old photos of them quickly so I drew this picture in paint:

    5 AnswersEngineering2 weeks ago
  • How do you come to have no teeth at all by age 50?

    Okay, okay how does one come to have no teeth, just bare gums by age 50?  The possibilities I've thought of are these:

    (1) A guy that never, ever brushes his teeth his whole life.

    (2) Maybe the guy has a congenital gum disease like the male pattern baldness of teeth.

    (3) or he gets some kind of drastic infection at some point in his life...

      Most of the guys I've seen who have no teeth or maybe just three, are homeless, or are in and out of prison.  Either way, I've guessed that fistfights took care of the ones in the front, and taffy and sodapop took care of the ones in the back.  I can see that hard drinkers would habitually pass out every night before they could brush their teeth... I've kind of wondered what the deal is with Popeye.

    2 AnswersDental2 weeks ago
  • Might the following be the intersection of internet protocol and cancel culture?

     Alright so Twitter, and others, are blocking people who are spreading disinformation lies etc, nutbags are getting dropped left and right...(uhhh, mostly right) and so if a guy is getting blocked at every turn, can't he just run out and buy a decent gaming PC, spend a little over a thousand bucks, spring for a fixed IP address, reserve a name with the DNS and set up his own g d server?  Sure, if one is running kiddie porn or bomb making stuff, the FBI, ATF or somebody is going to kick down your door, but these big websites probably block people who make them lose ad revenue.

      The real question is will the ISP's block whack-a-doodles from even getting an internet address, (if they don't have to host it) or is the internet at large still a pretty neutral place?

  • What exactly is the relationship between surface area and available amperage in a rechargeable lead acid battery?

    Okay so I've guessed that it basically is; more surface area of the lead plates, more amperage; perhaps in a roughly linear relationship, but what I want to know are the specifics.  So in a fairly typical deep cycle lead-acid battery, there are six cells with no load each cell has a charge of about 2.23 volts, and given a load of X number of ohms, it can deliver such-and-such an amperage for a given time...but I want to know a constant, and maybe also a formula that uses Square Meters of lead plate, acid concentration, Amps under load, etc. to calculate how much surface area will deliver how much current.

    Engineering5 months ago
  • What happens if we get all the way to hurricane Omega?

    or beyond...I mean, it sounds like it would make a really great heavy metal song, but I don't think 2020 could squeeze in that many, or any year for that matter.  If we start repeatedly running out of English names, then use up the Greek alphabet then what's next.  Maybe we could wait to name them until wind speeds hit 45 knots or so.  maybe 75 kph, go metric...

    2 AnswersWeather6 months ago
  • Is the song Waltzing Matilda in the public domain yet?

    It seems as though it should be, but sometimes these things can surprise you.  There may be a way the family members can perpetuate a copyright beyond what you might expect...

    (I couldn't find anything conclusive on the web)

      If I wanted to use it as the jingle in a commercial, could I just go ahead and use it like it was Beethoven's fifth or Brahms' lullaby?

    2 AnswersClassical9 months ago
  • I know this is going to sound dumb but... what if we research asymptomatic individuals, isolate what went right, and bottle it?

    This was my approach to diet pills.  Some people are skinny and can eat whatever they want and stay thin, other people are even larger framed eat the exact same things and balloon out, so it seems as though you should instead isolate what has gone right in naturally fit people. 

      If some people can be asymptomatic, let's figure out how to extend that (or similar) protection to everybody else, eh?

    1 AnswerInfectious Diseases10 months ago
  • Why is it that Jars have the tamper-evident safety button that pops up when the seal is broken, but cans don't have it?

    Sauces, jellies, baby food, and all sorts of wet food in glass jars utilize a springy indicator "button" in the middle of the lid that changes shape when the internal vacuum is lost.  canned food is also supposed to be kept under a partial vacuum, so why don't cans have the little pop-up button?

    In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Wikipedia describes it well in this exerpt:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamper-evident_techn...

      "Jars of food items soon started appearing with a metal bubble-top lid, commonly known as a "safety button", which—like the lid of a Mason jar—popped out if the jar had ever been opened and stayed flat if the jar was in pristine condition. Customers were advised to never buy a product with a popped lid. (These lids would also pop out if the jar was contaminated by gas-producing bacteria, which was an additional safety feature.) Presumably the seal was achieved by packaging the jars in a low-pressure atmosphere, although companies were reluctant to divulge details.

    Newer jars of food tend to come with a plastic wrap around the edge of the lid, which is removed when opening, although the springy-cap designs are still in common use. "

    5 AnswersOther - Food & Drink10 months ago
  • does the Fire tablet have a youtube app or a facebook app?

    The tablet is cheap, and the selection seems both kind of wimpy AND proprietary.

    2 AnswersFacebook11 months ago
  • Hey guys what suddenly happened to the Google "create docs" app? ?

    I've gotten used to emails, Y!A answers, and even facebook posts diappearing in a puff of smoke when wou send them, never to be seen again, so anything longer than a sentence or two, I'll compose it in a text editor first then copy-paste into the online box.  In create you have the option to make a new blank document, grid, or maybe template, I had been using "Create">"Docs">"new document" to type up stuff, or to dump the contents of a block of text into the editor.

      I would save it under some cheezy filename and I didn't even know about the share/export feature until tonight.  The problem is that when I went to type up some stuff, I tried to open the app and a bar scrolled around and around and a message box said something like "checking info".  I thought it was just updating the app or something.  Then it said that I needed to sign in.  

      Okay.  Sometimes after an app has been hanging around for most of a year, and there have been a couple of low battery shutdowns, it will forget some of the information like staying logged in.  I'll just retype the info, it'll be good after a restart, and I'll type the email address and password if need be, maybe it needs a fresh start, yeah that's it...

    ...AND THEN.... |MORE

    Software12 months ago
  • There was a reggae version/cover of cat Steven's "Wild World" that got a lot of airplay in the 80's, Who did that?

    NOT maxi priest,

    NOT Jimmy Cliff either.

    It had a lot of bombastic trumpets, and heavy drums...kinda up tempo...

    2 AnswersRock and Pop1 year ago
  • The grocerystore shelves of flour were all wiped out. Was that because of survivalist, or foodie thinking?

    Everybody hoarded up white flour, and I've got to wonder whether that was a product of amateur prepper thinking about how flour was a staple food, or did the foodies think "I've finally got some time to try to my hand at some serious baking!"

      The only one that wasn't wiped out was the White Wings tortilla mix, and considering the Hispanic neighborhood, I'm surprised, they wiped out the pinto beans down to the dust at the bottom of the bin!  I wanted white flour to make a roux, but _no_beans_.  So I got tortilla mix which was still in good supply, okay for a roux, and now I'm trying to make some sweet potatoe empanadas.

      So guys, POLL :  Did you buy some white flour to survive, or to pursue some fancy baking, or some kind of combination of the two? 

      (pssst!  It's okay to post anonymously.)

    9 AnswersCooking & Recipes1 year ago
  • Don't we run the risk of doing the following with covid-19:?

    "I took the first 12 doses in a 28 day antibiotics run... and I feel great! So I'm not going to take the rest." 

      I mean, everybody that knows anything about taking antibiotics knows that you don't quit halfway through a course of antibiotics or the infection will come roaring back twice as strong, and now immune to those antibiotics.  Shouldn't we hold off until we actually know we've got this thing licked?  I mean, not just on the ropes, BEAT.  I'd propose some kind of agreement where businesses don't have to pay leases, or property taxes while this is going... 

    2 AnswersMedicine1 year ago
  • Where are the files stored offline when you make a file using Create Google Docs on an Android tablet?

    It's gotta be either the external SD card or the internal storage. What folder is it in? I want to email myself a copy.

    1 AnswerGoogle1 year ago
  • Hi!  I'm looking for the 16-bit rasterized elevation data that used to come out of the NEDS. Where'd it go?

    Years ago the USGS used to offer 10m and 30m resolution raster maps of selected terrain within the USA.  There was a rough yellow map upon which you could select a rectangle of data to download, and the edges of the box were displayed as lattitude and longitude, and you could also tweak the margins by typing in the exact coordinates.

    Once you selected your area either by mouse or typing coordinates (or both), (and you could see the dimensions of the area selected e.g. 950 by 720 units) the USGS would generate a zip file that had at least two files contained in it.  The main file was "Myfile.bin" (binary) and the other was "Myfile.hdr" (header) and there may have even been a "Myfile.dat" (data) which was a human readable output about what the bin file contained.  Myfile was just the default, you could type in "Xanadont" and get "Xanadont.bin & Xanadont.hdr"

    The bin file was ONLY the data in 16-bit format, but I succeeded in dropping it straight into a 256 color grayscale bitmap that I had sized properly, and I truncated all the data above 256 meters, and got this hauntingly beautiful grayscale shot of the mississippi valley that looked like an x-ray, but I can't find that dataset again.  USGS please help me find those data again, and guys don't just say "Here it is!" until you can actually download *.bin *.hdr files.  I've been down a lot of dead ends, and I don't want to just get a map, I want to crunch the 16 bit data through a widget I want to finish making.

  • What is the name of that Mexican candy made out of brown sugar,leche, and honey, it's soft, beige, often with a pecan pressed in on top?

    It's kind of like very sweet modeling clay in saran wrap, seems like it has sweetened condensed milk, crystallized honey, and sugar cone brown sugar.

    It's got to have some other name besides, "Mexican Candy"!

    4 AnswersEthnic Cuisine1 year ago
  • What exactly is a Non-Essential business? and do you know that when you're opening that business or is this decided on an ad-hoc basis?

    Who decides, and when?

      So like, the Essential services and businesses are staying open during the 15 day shutdown, and well, a lot of my favorite places got the designation "Essential business", e.g. Home depot, electronics shops, hardware stores...

      Do you know you are starting a non-essential business when you get your tax number?  like....

    |

                FORM TO APPLY FOR A

        703-D NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESS

    ,

    NAME OF APPLICANT _ _ _ _ _ _ __  [ _ ] _ _ _ _ _ _

    TYPE OF NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESS (CHOOSE ONE)

    [_] BAR

    [_] HOBBY SHOP

    [_] BEAUTY SALON

    [_] FITNESS GYM

    ,

    etc...etc

    ,

    So, if these shut down orders become more common...

    well, how similar are they to austerity measures?  And who's to say that these businesses could start right up again after a two or three week shutdown?  What happens if the people in charge say, "Look here guys, we did just fine without these other businesses, all we really need are groceries and repair equipment & supplies, and all the rest is fluff."  Isn't this the way a nation historically does it's belt tightening before it becomes an authoritarian state?

    3 AnswersSmall Business1 year ago
  • Hey, is the heavy D on a drop D tuned guitar the SAME "D" that's on a bass with standard tuning?  or is it an octave above or below?

    I know I should just go over there, put a guitar in drop D tuning, play that D and see if sounds like the D on a bass: E, A, D! G...compared to a guitar: D! A, D, G, B, E.  It seems about right but sometimes the tones and harmonics can be deceiving, and I want to hear an answer from somebody that has had more music theory than I.

    1 AnswerPerforming Arts1 year ago