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Donating forks to the dining hall

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Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#151

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

bombcar wrote: post #139
Jun8 wrote: post #137

There's a common pattern in population dynamics that I've observed, which probably has a formal name: A given system with (to simplify) two types of behavior: good and bad will tolerate and self correct up to certain percentage of bad actors (call this the jerk threshold, JT) after which all participants switch to the bad behavior. Examples are line formation for a service, cutting people off in traffic, stealing fro…

They've actually had to try to make people more of a jerk in the midwest, and instruct them on why the "zipper merge" is NOT bad: https://www.dot.state.mn.us/zippermerge/ Otherwise if there's a sign that says "Left Lane Closed 10 Miles Ahead" everyone will get in the right lane for ten miles .

> everyone will get in the right lane for ten miles.

And have 10 miles to get up to speed. As opposed to the zipper merge where everyone waits til the last minute, and everyone has to come to a complete stop.

Supposing of course your observations are true. From what I can tell with the "lane closed in 10 miles", is some asshole invariably sees it as a chance to get ahead of everyone else, zooms through the left lane, almost causes an accident, and then other idiots who think he's being successful in zooming ahead imitate his behavior. You get your "zipper merge" anyway, where everyone has to come to a dead stop at the chokepoint anyway. We're not all one gigantic robotic hivemind, preparing early makes for a smoother experience for all and fewer hostile feelings.

For those who use the shoulder on the interstate who do not have genuine medical emergencies (why didn't you call the ambulance?) I propose that they bring in mobile car crushers. I'm even generous enough to let them exit the vehicle first.

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#152

Post by theodric »

wjnc wrote: post #59
jhbadger wrote: post #3

Reminds of of the replacement of "threeks" at the UW-Madison campus in the 1980s. At the time, it was common for satirical parties to win student elections and do odd things like cover the campus with plastic flamingos. One of the satirical parties was upset that the UW-Madison cafeteria didn't have true forks (with four tines) but only "threeks" (forks with three tines). So they decided to work with friends at North…

Don’t tell me “fork” and “four” are related. Did my homework: “Old English forca, force (denoting a farm implement), based on Latin furca ‘pitchfork, forked stick’; reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman French furke (also from Latin furca ).” Four in Latin is quattuor. Scared me there.

I have some Dansk (which is Finnish, because logic is for Vulcans) flatware from the 1970s which instead of having forks has threeks. Still stabs food pretty well.

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#153

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

schiem wrote: post #122
fuzzy_biscuit wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that fun fact legitimate? I know that you can get a premium for copper (see: tweakers who rip out pipes in open buildings and sell it), but the ratio here seems improbable, at least.

According to copper.orgs fact page, the "average" single family home (whatever that means) has 151 pounds of copper pipe. The current scrap price for #1 copper where I live is $2.88. That comes out to around $446. That would maybe cover the cost of the pex itself, OR the cost of fittings and tools, but probably not both.

Honestly don't know which pipe is worse. I've had to crawl underneath my house 4 times to repair pinholes, but squirrels seem to think pex is made out of some sort of heroin candy. They can't get enough. Sadly, I've never gotten any video of what they think of the relatively high pressure water at the center of this candy... might've be some small consolation.

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#155

Post by michaelcampbell »

Jun8 wrote: post #137

There's a common pattern in population dynamics that I've observed, which probably has a formal name: A given system with (to simplify) two types of behavior: good and bad will tolerate and self correct up to certain percentage of bad actors (call this the jerk threshold, JT) after which all participants switch to the bad behavior. Examples are line formation for a service, cutting people off in traffic, stealing fro…

It feels like this is happening in US politics, and has been for some time. I'm in the US so I can only speak to it, but perhaps the world over?

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#156

Post by sircastor »

Jun8 wrote: post #137

There's a common pattern in population dynamics that I've observed, which probably has a formal name: A given system with (to simplify) two types of behavior: good and bad will tolerate and self correct up to certain percentage of bad actors (call this the jerk threshold, JT) after which all participants switch to the bad behavior. Examples are line formation for a service, cutting people off in traffic, stealing fro…

The thing that really bothers me about this is that the Jerk Threshold pushes the Overton window on Jerkiness - now if you're not participating in Jerk behavior you're disrupting "The way things work" which on its own might be jerk behavior.

I grew up and live in Oregon. I've generally thought of our drivers as relatively non-aggressive. But I've seen Californians† who are aggressively merging and weaving (And if you've ever driven down in LA, you know the lay of the land). Then the Oregonians who follow suit, and then everyone is doing it.

†Oregonians have been complaining about Californians since time immemorial. It's just pure tribalism. We blame any negative change on our state as "Californians moving in". My apologies to Californians for unfairly dished blame.

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#157

Post by seabass-labrax »

mikequinlan wrote: post #95
rob74 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> auto lock is good for security Exactly... in the company where I work, propping open the door (maybe not so much the door to the building, but certainly the doors to our office) would be a sure way to get you into pretty serious trouble. Also, opening the door with your own access card for other people (although I occasionally do that for people I know).

>Exactly... in the company where I work, propping open the door (maybe not so much the door to the building, but certainly the doors to our office) would be a sure way to get you into pretty serious trouble. If it is a fire door then it can also be a fire code violation.

Many new doors in Britain have self-closing mechanisms - for instance, you can see photographs on the government guidance[1] for the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. The door naturally closes shut with a spring-loaded lever (figure 4) or chain (figure 5), but can be kept open with an electromagnet (figure 6). In case of fire, the power to all electromagnets in the building is cut so that the doors can close of their own accord.

Hopefully we can see more widespread use of these in domestic properties, where fires are still horrifically common[2] - well over 3/4 of all fire-related fatalities are in the home.

[1]: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-engla...

[2]: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-inc...

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#158

Post by master-lincoln »

myko wrote: post #149
red_admiral wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably, unless traffic is free-flowing at maximum speed, doing the zipper merge is in fact the non-jerk option.

ugh tell that to the idiots who give me the finger for zipper merging in Columbus, OH

What's the legal situation? Where I live in the EU merging lanes demands a zipper merge according to law.

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#159

Post by sircastor »

incanus77 wrote: post #144
bombcar wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've actually had to try to make people more of a jerk in the midwest, and instruct them on why the "zipper merge" is NOT bad: https://www.dot.state.mn.us/zippermerge/ Otherwise if there's a sign that says "Left Lane Closed 10 Miles Ahead" everyone will get in the right lane for ten miles .

Contrast that with Oregon, where everyone will stay in both lanes until one car length short of ten miles.

This is a pet peeve of mine, but also isn't it the most practical? Don't we want the lanes consumed as much as possible so traffic disruptions aren't distributed further back down the road?

Re: Donating forks to the dining hall

#160

Post by chickenpotpie »

marssaxman wrote: post #47

I love this spirit. In the office where I work, the main door locks whenever it closes, so the first person to arrive each morning props the door open for everyone else. Well, a new tenant moved in to one of the other units, and they started taking our doorstop. Morning after morning we had to go find it and retrieve it, for weeks! One day it occurred to me that I didn't have to complain to management, or get mainten…

It sounds like they're taking the door stop because they want the security features of the building to actually function and the other tenants are actively conprimising them
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