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A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

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Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#41

Post by Someone »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #40
Someone wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

”I have always counted it as a step if my foot-in-the-air lands on a different level than the other foot.” That algorithm doesn’t count steps of a stair, it counts the number of steps you take to go up (or down) a staircase. Those are different if you follow this nerd’s way, which, by the way, has benefits other than making it easier to count stairs. It’s a fairly easy way to get some strength training. I think every…

Would taking two steps at a time in this was possibly cause more knee-joint wear?

It increases forces on the joint, but I think the benefits of having stronger muscles more than compensate for that. That will be dependent on various factors, though (leg length, fitness, weight, tiredness, to mention a few. I rarely do three anymore, and go back to one sometimes)

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#42

Post by scoot »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #34
edanm wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating! Why is that the standard?

I guess if you divide the standard ceiling height with a comfortable step size you get 13

Reminded me of this video [1] talking about the fact that there are signs in London tube stations claiming the stairs are equivalent to 15 floors, regardless of the number of steps.

The number of floors is roughly correct for Covent Garden, so I guess it's possible that the original typesetter changed the number of steps, but forgot to change the number of floors.

[1] https://youtu.be/pBTvmrRGlbE?t=516

Incidental anecdote: While searching for this video, which I'd seen a year or so ago, I googled "tube 15 floors sign", but didn't see a reference to it, so I opened YouTube instead, and there, in recommended videos, was a video about the tube... by the same person that made the video above. It was a short hop to find the correct video.

It had never occurred to me that Google personalize youtube searches based on your google searches.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#43

Post by alexfoo »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #34
edanm wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating! Why is that the standard?

I guess if you divide the standard ceiling height with a comfortable step size you get 13

The ceiling height is not the same as the floor height of the next storey up.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#44

Post by modells »

Also, a nerd’s way to walk on the plane is to ignore sidewalk or other markings and cut a straight of a line to the destination as possible.

Depending on jurisdictions and “no cops, no stops,” ignore traffic signals while focusing on actual traffic. Waiting for a crosswalk signal is like waiting for Godot... giving autonomy over to a machine and a waste of life.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#45

Post by modells »

js2 wrote: post #5

Yes, but do you start at 0 or 1? Also, is the last step you take onto the floor/landing counted? And when going down, do you use negative numbers? So many questions left unanswered. I feel you aren't a true stair counting nerd afterall. :-)

Subterranean floors should be numbered negatively.

And, why not number floors using binary or hex?

;)

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#47

Post by sriku »

modells wrote: post #45
js2 wrote: post #5

Yes, but do you start at 0 or 1? Also, is the last step you take onto the floor/landing counted? And when going down, do you use negative numbers? So many questions left unanswered. I feel you aren't a true stair counting nerd afterall. :-)

Subterranean floors should be numbered negatively. And, why not number floors using binary or hex? ;)

In India, not only are ground floors often numbered 0, subterranean ones are in many places numbered -1, -2.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#48

Post by orf »

tvanantwerp wrote: post #7

I'm the type of person who quantifies a lot of information from my everyday life, but it has never occurred to me to count the number of steps on flights of stairs that I climb. Quantification isn't a costless activity, and knowing numbers of steps just doesn't seem useful. I'm content to remain ignorant of these data.

Isn't he cost of typing that statement out is less than the cost of counting N stairs, where N is usually pretty small?

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#49

Post by salutonmundo »

modells wrote: post #44

Also, a nerd’s way to walk on the plane is to ignore sidewalk or other markings and cut a straight of a line to the destination as possible. Depending on jurisdictions and “no cops, no stops,” ignore traffic signals while focusing on actual traffic. Waiting for a crosswalk signal is like waiting for Godot... giving autonomy over to a machine and a waste of life.

Heh, there are plenty of places in my area that require crossing a street to get to a sidewalk. I usually end up walking down the wrong side of the street until traffic clears enough for me to cross. Efficiency!
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