Old Weather Forum

Shore Leave => Dockside Cafe => Topic started by: studentforever on 01 January 2020, 03:54:02

Title: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 01 January 2020, 03:54:02
In Sept my brother and I visited the Deal Time Tower (just along the coast from Dover). It is now a small museum and the ball drops on the hour while the tower is open. It used to get a telegraphed instruction from the Greenwich Observatory but is now operated by a radio time signal (I think). Interesting history and some historic time pieces on display - well worth a visit if you are in the area.

http://www.dealtimeball.co.uk/
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 01 January 2020, 04:16:19
Thanks.

This is the up to-date fire map for NSW.  (https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me)
My location is near the M1 Hwy halfway between Central Coast and Newcastle (North of Sydney)
Nearest fire is at Charmhaven 14 km away south.

Some fires are generation their own PyroCumulas clouds.

I hope there is better news for you soon, Stuart, and for all in my fire-ravaged homeland.
Utterly terrifying.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 01 January 2020, 04:19:46
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3KPcJ8Fqp_rhaKmbqPguf8jxeXLLDmkSZm1W1FyysHPh6bFS0-dhVH_FB2WiCLOEFdu9GVjiwfTSV4ApgIuQPFx93d8q0qEA2kcokmSdGpbuhVaxdhUd_3-JOb3Q1Cz7kIvRtm3HvrhMRalLBiQKtzLWvgMwr8gEZN8Qnm0lQYhpML1KKaYu-7zKesNV9NSuMhnqOm6zY2k_4k07PIQRVyGq2QCrEAUFN9itPiMDbFKC0LBOEA8SipwnnSm47EvoljcGgNlCNOUj69SKmO2JkUrHWy0oczXHbTSdDkDPx9w9UqthLwI2pe09PDwmRBiYT6zpe6KPW6g6HEYlNVoW7-9koIkC1CwI06arOkhiFh_syy_XwydnTnDrAzjhp5IZ3V3tiTgcp8-t7oI33JZ3CsgCYOrsn1nl7TfeR1ohwlyNr-lGeKauspUZEod-tNRA-PgSaM98Otwgfyql--iVBsxEPpBeAn9YdDDxMDUyCJ6UdlWVvJ0N847mVi4a36HFqqqofjR09r9CB1276XT-k710lyBjTCy4qB_ZNZFqU8uJFHzfZx6LgAj623sPeQjQIiK1UZB8ytjQCLGA0UdqUdNMCTmlxunggtWTuJnZTf01Ulp0Oj8srl2T2309TMPlxAurv41yJBSjmeOob-zftHuTxyq6-B-9KZ9TpvRsiLbV6B7hwcafExE7tlM6qsPiR3EUi_kwwbhg91-i98j1gV977Ep9TUyKd6PbuF6L3ePAr_kxLQ=w844-h544-no)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 01 January 2020, 06:10:21
Happy New Year everyone - and thanks for the beautiful greeting, Caro, Joan and Randi.

Stay safe, Stuart - and thanks for the link to the useful map.  I have brothers in NSW, near Stroud, so it's good to be able to keep an eye on them.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 January 2020, 14:33:16
I suppose that this is the year of the eye.  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 01 January 2020, 16:48:58
Actually, most of it will be the Year of the Metal Rat according to the Chinese Zodiac  ;)

(https://img3.stockfresh.com/files/e/ensiferrum/m/75/10039946_stock-vector-white-metal-rat.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 January 2020, 17:08:37
2020 The year of the eye.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 01 January 2020, 17:27:26
I will certainly be keeping an EYE on what happens this year.  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 02 January 2020, 03:43:37
(A bit late but) Happy New Year!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 03 January 2020, 20:04:23
Hope you are OK Stuart!
I see it's supposed to get even worse this weekend...
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 03 January 2020, 20:33:02
41.9C at 12:20 PM your time! Very nasty! I imagine the southerly buster will help temperature-wise, but the winds will really kick up those fires. I can't say I envy you right now. We just sent a bunch more fire fighters your way. Just waiting for ScoMo to ask Justin for water bombers. We have lots.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 03 January 2020, 21:46:04
Thanks folks for your concern, I am in a reasonably safe area (at the moment) but when the wind comes from the NE then W then S then it does not help to predict where to put the fire prevention resources.
ScoMo (Scott Morrison our PM) has just announced up to AU$20M to lease water bombers so we may also help the Canadian economy.
The major concern on the east coast is that some of the big fires may join to form one.
The armed forces are being deployed to assist to help with fire prevention and some Navy ships are helping with shore side evacs from the Mallacotta fire in the East Gippsland area of Victoria.

(https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/lgHi9EPg0PYeOcdv6FdPoEKHvNw=/800x0/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fc44e3134-aa33-4506-b897-2629f800be6b)

That equates to close to the whole of Massachusetts and Vermont added together that has been burnt out since Aug 2019.

5pm TV Channel 10 claims Australia has the hottest temp on earth at 3pm Penrith was 48.9c and Canberra 44c.

 Smoke plumes  (https://twitter.com/i/status/1213399606706479104)

Thanks to all the fire fighters and support staff for their gallant efforts.  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 04 January 2020, 08:38:52
Thoughts & Prayers all around, my Friend. Stay safe.  Maybe some of our OW ships could drag icebergs your way?

Please keep in touch as able. We are all praying for you folks!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 04 January 2020, 15:58:11
Great idea Dean - I will commit all whalers to dragging icebergs immediately  8)

I've sent an urgent email to one of my best friends on PenguinWatch. She lives in Gippsland. Very worried for her  :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 05 January 2020, 06:45:14
I hope your friend is safe, Joan.

I have brothers in NSW, but at the moment not in one of the worst areas.  But one of them has just posted some terrible pictures of the sky in Auckland, which looks apocalpytic.  He's just left there to fly back home.  These are terrifying times.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 05 January 2020, 14:38:16
If anyone knows anything about the Google Fi phone plan, please send me a PM.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 07 January 2020, 10:41:53
This is fascinating - scroll down to see what you'd find at different levels of the sea.  There were some real surprises for me.

https://neal.fun/deep-sea/?fbclid=IwAR36YDoMHDkrPLktf00nubg3NAlw68d-SaHsSkCAaaQAEtYsawxHRPhQZK4
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 07 January 2020, 12:11:47
Fascinating indeed. I hadn't realised some ordinary looking beasties went so deep.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 07 January 2020, 12:19:35
That was awesome!!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 07 January 2020, 14:01:52
I like the note that you've got to the top of Mount Everest, and the page goes on and on and on...

I'd be way to afraid to go down in one of those diving craft.  :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 07 January 2020, 15:16:04
There is a lovely post on Facebook from Mallacoota Community News (a public group).

We evacuated on the HMAS Choules on Friday.
The ship kindly set up the vehicle bay for pets and their owners throughout the 30 hours.
Here are pix - it's amazing how pets bring out our humanity.


One example:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vdfhyFbNj21CDpuqbu73BEYiuzwP_5cP95xZSfIMp2NzZfvkrdssZ0wUJRHOKL5GbuZ-EuNKpqbLZVFOSL4NyHPQwHPganMD2OCA2sbL9mv312J2IUaZtK-tkRv8PcizPSk8M04VTQvyzd2I2lqk_8Qup0EHU7aKv68uYSAdj1rD1jyVOz1Lf8Gk7mVxzx8YTYiSpqHWVoT1M6EGSuLqAmy2dcoPw4DKCdXEdy74W48QLWLgo81c7eYxWZbdu-8zZqxOoFSMCk769_yoKIZu2aYwmxkf9FLjr1cOl66PLBxAsJj818doz6vU_G29i4n7vAxY4b7tZUw2ZwKjp46FzAibMjN3itWC2TyvMdYdq7Wl-l3iU9um0w9tKcX9I8L9yrC2HKwpBcFZCHEU1DFKf7l8QZpW-TWuxvxOaafFZWhpQ2mIoL9ilnTDjjM3penrF-31aL3OtMC3swN7R66VK7VpYcg56Me6AeOo5m-KK8dLToqiAgTFcReAfKG1W-AcVJK_NTRaSd7NIxs_pqir3bQsuhN4eZbb8XvSTY2NLabDO-kAPxGHy7JzUKrntHKNk9D7jcxbJOT4YRu48TI5vse4_r2W5ShAlVf1iUW2y0qmsc00qz4ve-WaEhRKP1vCPLV4jM3_gOXqtMBrTYUYU2AFJRgVMmfqxrUAsbbup5ojdbYXZ1aJLu6B9UrcAMDjHEWqWb_rtlNUoIrgl9a_jarEwfBMqEuJSAT8C9ZR9UeoF2ntjA=w574-h765-no)

HMAS Choules evacuated thousands from East Gippsland, Victoria.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 08 January 2020, 00:40:13

Happy Birthday
Kathy !


(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/39/7f/d4397fcd9829dfd5ab51a6aae242ab65.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hurlock on 08 January 2020, 00:56:48
Happy Birthday
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 08 January 2020, 03:35:41
Happy birthday Kathy!

 :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 08 January 2020, 03:38:13
 :) Happy Birthday Kathy!!  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 January 2020, 08:56:10
Happy Birthday Kathy!!


A regrettable incident has occurred - the ship's chocolate magazine has exploded
- and you've been left to tidy it up!
Outrageous!!  :o   But yummy - enjoy!  ;D ;D ;D

(https://imgur.com/JZNScMf.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 January 2020, 09:05:33
Happy Birthday, Kathy!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 08 January 2020, 09:07:18
Happy Birthday Kathy!!


A regrettable incident has occurred - the ship's chocolate magazine has exploded
- and you've been left to tidy it up!
Outrageous!!  :o   But yummy - enjoy!  ;D ;D ;D

(https://imgur.com/JZNScMf.png)

Happy birthday, Kathy - I'm happy to come and help ....  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 08 January 2020, 09:09:34
Happy Birthday Kathy!!!!

(https://i.imgur.com/Pe4VikM.jpg)     (https://i.imgur.com/w90v0mz.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 08 January 2020, 10:10:28
Inside the Billion-Dollar Battle Over .Org (https://nyti.ms/2tC4Egg)
Quote
A private equity firm wants to buy the internet domain used by nonprofits. A group of online pioneers says it is not the place to maximize profits.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 08 January 2020, 11:21:58
Happy Birthday, Kathy!

(Chocolate magazine - what an excellent idea!)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kathy on 08 January 2020, 12:51:58
Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes!

Even though I may not be around often, this group is very dear to me.

For those that may not know, I'm a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan (literally - I believe I attended games whilst in the womb :) ), so Randi's cake is always a favorite.

As for the chocolate magazine, well, I guess this quote sums the situation up best : "Ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die."
All help in cleaning up that mess is greatly appreciated!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 January 2020, 13:29:10
Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes!

Even though I may not be around often, this group is very dear to me.

For those that may not know, I'm a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan (literally - I believe I attended games whilst in the womb :) ), so Randi's cake is always a favorite.

As for the chocolate magazine, well, I guess this quote sums the situation up best : "Ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die."
All help in cleaning up that mess is greatly appreciated!

Ah - the Dallas Cowboys! Now I understand. It was so exhausting worrying about that - I better offer to help clear up the chocolate to get my strength back ;  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 09 January 2020, 05:03:04
Not one of ours but an interesting and inspiring story. Note the lifetime contribution of Henry Blogg of the RNLI who, over more than 50 years, was involved in the rescue of 873 people in a lifeboat propelled by OARS.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-50760553

The sheer guts and physical fitness required is mindblowing.

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 09 January 2020, 08:48:11
 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 09 January 2020, 13:24:59
That's 15 people per year - what an amazing chap. And impressive fitness to shift those boats for so long on oar power.  8) 8) 8) indeed!  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 09 January 2020, 13:38:18
Impressive dedication and fitness!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 09 January 2020, 13:54:35
Um...
The Issue with Tissue: How the U.S. Is Flushing Forests Away (https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-skene/issue-tissue-how-us-flushing-forests-away)
:-X
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 10 January 2020, 09:38:55
Happy Birthday
Michael


(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8c/a7/30/8ca730dfb57f4ab4ba01831d3e2455a0.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 10 January 2020, 10:46:57
Have a very happy birthday, Michael.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 January 2020, 11:27:24
Thank you.  :)

Now that I'm back from the gym, things are looking up.  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 10 January 2020, 11:49:25
Happy birthday, Michael

 (https://i.pinimg.com/564x/42/c4/85/42c48595a88391619d69e18423fcc847.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 10 January 2020, 13:04:55
 :) Happy Birthday Michael!! :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 10 January 2020, 13:18:43
Thank you.  :)

Now that I'm back from the gym, things are looking up.  ;D

And you've earned the right to make some serious inroads on these cakes ....
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 10 January 2020, 15:55:16
Happy Birthday Michael from downunder (we are just catching up)   ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 10 January 2020, 16:36:19
Happy Birthday, Michael.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 10 January 2020, 17:48:05
A very happy birthday to you Michael!
We'd be lost at sea without you ;)
(https://imgur.com/oNWAy1x.png)

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hurlock on 10 January 2020, 18:30:34
Happy Birthday
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 January 2020, 18:41:25
Thank you all! My only concern is that too many birthdays leads to dementia.  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 11 January 2020, 05:44:26
Happy Birthday, Michael!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 11 January 2020, 08:15:37
Thank you all! My only concern is that too many birthdays leads to dementia.  ;D
I think you'd need special dispensation from the moderators for that, and so far they have not been willing to offer such dispensations  ;) ;) ;D  Back to work!  8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 11 January 2020, 09:48:39
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 11 January 2020, 21:25:13
Voyagers to the 'epicenter of global warming' struggle with bears, storms and thin ice (https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/01/08/voyage-epicenter-global-warming-struggles-with-bears-storms-thin-ice/)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 January 2020, 08:56:09
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 January 2020, 09:45:29
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 January 2020, 11:51:05
Hello all...is anyone having trouble with LibreOffice Calc please?  :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 January 2020, 12:03:29
What kind of trouble?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 January 2020, 12:13:42
Thanks Michael,
It opened in safe mode yesterday when I was away from the computer sadly.  I asked to open a LibreCalc file and went off to the kitchen. When I got back it had requested a decision about repairing the file so I chose the top option (no I don't recall the words) on the basis that it was the easiest solution, and now LibreCalc won't open at all. I was using version 5.3. I tried tricking it by opening a file saved in 5.3, but still no luck. It's giving a choice to open 'LibreOffice (Safe mode)' from the list of LibreOffice functions, but still nothing doing. In the old days I'd simply uninstall the program and re-install it.  :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 January 2020, 13:01:18
I always try a reboot first. If it still doesn't open, try the uninstall/install option. Who knows, you might even get a re-install option if you select uninstall.  :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 January 2020, 14:09:01
I always try a reboot first. If it still doesn't open, try the uninstall/install option. Who knows, you might even get a re-install option if you select uninstall.  :'(

I tried all sorts of things earlier on with no luck. So I tried a 'restart', 'close and open', and it works! Were you sending it good mental vibes Michael? If so, they surely worked  ;) ;) 8)

Phew - so good to be back with it again :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 January 2020, 15:59:13
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 12 January 2020, 16:09:31
I have been using this ver for some time and it seems that it is only the user that is not stable.   ::)  ;D
Version: 6.4.0.0.beta1 (x64)

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 January 2020, 18:07:18
I have been using this ver for some time and it seems that it is only the user that is not stable.   ::)  ;D
Version: 6.4.0.0.beta1 (x64)

In my case - you are quite probably right Stuart!  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 16 January 2020, 18:33:29
RAIN, glorious RAIN, there is nothing quite like it.   :)  :)  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 16 January 2020, 20:35:00
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 17 January 2020, 02:51:29
That's good news, Stuart.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 17 January 2020, 08:16:29
...for soothing the flames.
So follow me follow,
Down to the old hollow,
where, again, we can wallow,
in glooooooooooooorious mud  ;D ;D ;D 

Delighted with this news Stuart...I do hope that it's the start of the end of the terrible fire tragedy... :D 8)

(Not sure I got the right song....but it says what I hope for ;) )
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 17 January 2020, 08:52:10
There is mud, isn't there Stuart, so you got that right, Joan! Welcome as the rain is, I don't think the people in Stuart's subdivision would be calling the mud washing down onto their streets glorious.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 17 January 2020, 15:35:53
Whilst not happy about the mud, everybody is happy to see the rain. I has put out some of the bush fires.
(For those who don't know I live in stage 1 of a to be 7 stage retirement village. There is a lot of open clay areas hence the mud.)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 18 January 2020, 08:20:43
Fair-dos Stuart, mud is no laughing matter in truth. It might just be squelchy mud covered shoes that are the result, but once land gets sodden and unstable it is no laughing matter...I hope it's not too bad then :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 23 January 2020, 14:16:13
Had my first oe in a log just now.
Had to look up e.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 23 January 2020, 14:21:27
Me too!

e - Wet Air (wet air, but without rain falling)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 23 January 2020, 18:54:54
Ummmmm...isn't that the same as standing in a cloud please? I bet I've missed something essential ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 24 January 2020, 10:28:04
I'm thinking of very thin mist/fog - or perhaps very high humidity?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 31 January 2020, 19:06:28
If you've got nothing better to do, and you feel you need a challenge:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-arctic-ultra-2020-starts-1.5445420
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 31 January 2020, 19:26:06
I don't think my chances are too good given that my rivals now have a day and a half lead :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 31 January 2020, 20:45:33
 ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 February 2020, 10:24:33
The rain is raining all around...

January was our wettest ever, based on records from the weather station at the University of Victoria.

We had 292.9 mm of precipitation, and the old record was a measly 159.6. I.e. we came close to doubling the old record, based on data from 1993. Victoria International Airport has data back to 1940, and their previous record was 238.6 mm.

Our normal monthly total is 76.7 mm. In the last 24 hours we've had 76.0!

The Pacific Weather Centre says one weather station in eastern Vancouver Island recorded nearly 300 millimetres of rain on Friday!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 February 2020, 10:50:57
We have had abnormally wet weather too.
2018 was an all time record.
2019 placed third.
2020: Year to date           3.64
      Normal year to date    2.70
      Departure from normal  +0.94
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 01 February 2020, 11:33:00
We had sun all of today - bitter wind - but sun and no rain  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 01 February 2020, 12:32:39
A good bit of sun, strong cold wind, a little sleety rain, and a beautiful sky as the sun went down - not a bad day at all.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 01 February 2020, 12:38:10
Quite a bit of rain today, more expected tomorrow and the coming week  :(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 01 February 2020, 13:22:51
The weather station at my house near Seattle recorded 219 mm in January, quite a bit less than nearby Victoria.  The official Seattle station at the airport recorded 234 mm, but not close to the record 328 mm in January, 1953.

Depending on the direction of the wind, Seattle is often in a bit of a rain shadow from the Olympic Mountains and ends up getting less rain than areas to the north and south of here.  Quillayute, over near the Washington coast and on the other side of the Olympic Mountains, had a daily record 102 mm yesterday and a total 781 mm for January.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Maikel on 02 February 2020, 10:06:29
You may already have heard, today's date 02-02-2020 is a palindrome date.
But did you know it's the 33th 33rd day of the year, with 333 days left in this
leap year?

Though rainy and windy, today's temperature here is up to a relatively warm 11?C.

Did you notice, I only had to type the digits 0, 1, 2, and 3.
Yep, fun with numbers. ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 02 February 2020, 11:51:21
According to the Beeb this morning not only is today Palindromic in the UK convention for writing numerical dates but also in the US convention.  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 02 February 2020, 13:29:28
Ooooo - I like these sorts of odd things - what fun! :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 02 February 2020, 17:22:08
According to the Beeb this morning not only is today Palindromic in the UK convention for writing numerical dates but also in the US convention.  ;D

Well good to see the US got that date right.  ;)  ;D
I liked the 33, 333days. Missed that one.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 03 February 2020, 00:35:09
Happy Birthday
Matteo !


(https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/05/a3/ce/ce/italian-themed-birthday.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hurlock on 03 February 2020, 01:43:26
Happy Birthday
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 03 February 2020, 02:13:28
Auguri, Matteo!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 03 February 2020, 03:49:00
Thank you so much everyone!  :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 03 February 2020, 07:38:42
Happy birthday, Matteo - and many more Old Weather birthdays!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 03 February 2020, 09:03:04
Happy Birthday, Matteo!

I wish you all the best for today and the rest of the year.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 03 February 2020, 12:50:44
A very happy birthday to you Matteo

Italian cheesecake - enjoy!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

(https://imgur.com/gl8Tnw3.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 03 February 2020, 14:42:30
Thank you all!! :D :D

@Joan, got indeed a cheesecake from my wife (as tasty as the one in picture, if not more :P)! How did you know?  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 03 February 2020, 15:01:43
Happy Birthday, Matteo!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 03 February 2020, 16:01:30
Thank you Hanibal! :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 03 February 2020, 18:03:21
Matteo, take a day off and relax at the Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes.  8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 04 February 2020, 09:16:36
From its short Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunathloogagamiutbingoi_Dunes) article:
Quote
Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes was declared "most difficult to pronounce" in the state of Alaska by Reader's Digest

The reference is, in turn, pointing to this document (recovered from internet wayback machine): https://web.archive.org/web/20190626021158/https://www.rd.com/culture/difficult-to-pronounce-towns/ stating also:
Quote
The name has been referred to as "unpronounceable and unexplained," and no hint as to its proper pronunciation is offered even in Donald Orth's Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, which is the leading text on Alaska Place Names.

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 04 February 2020, 09:56:14
Donald Orth's Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, which is the leading text on non-coastal Alaska Place Names.
;) ;) ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 04 February 2020, 12:29:18
You can hear many attempts at pronouncing Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes here:

https://www.pronouncekiwi.com/Nunathloogagamiutbingoi%20Dunes (https://www.pronouncekiwi.com/Nunathloogagamiutbingoi%20Dunes)

The most popular are at the top, but if you scroll down there are many more submissions.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 04 February 2020, 13:47:11
The Northland 1937 is currently on the other side of Nunivik Is. from Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes.
I came across it whilst looking around the Island for the anchorage location.
Should I ask them to ask a local?  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 04 February 2020, 13:50:19
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 04 February 2020, 13:52:26
From GeoNames

Searching GeoNames
Lat        Long         Name                                ID       Type  State

59.85222   -166.05306   Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes       5870506  BCH   AK
                        Nunathlugagamiut Dunes
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 04 February 2020, 14:09:16
I could not resist... just added the place to our db... will appear on reference soon ::) ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 04 February 2020, 17:06:13
I'm  still trying to pronounce it  ::) :o ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 07 February 2020, 11:58:22
Hope for the Arctic?  :)

http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-01-27-rewilding-arctic-could-stop-permafrost-thaw-and-reduce-climate-change-risks
or in Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/restoring-arctic-landscape-time-when-mammoths-roamed-could-protect-thawing-permafrost-opinion-1484387

( Marc saw the Reuters article and asked if I'd like to join the Arctic Climate Group at work. I said 'yes' though have little idea of what I might have thrown myself into. I'll find out more and ask Kevin for an opinion. )
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 07 February 2020, 13:24:36
Hope for the Arctic?  :)

http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-01-27-rewilding-arctic-could-stop-permafrost-thaw-and-reduce-climate-change-risks
or in Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/restoring-arctic-landscape-time-when-mammoths-roamed-could-protect-thawing-permafrost-opinion-1484387

( Marc saw the Reuters article and asked if I'd like to join the Arctic Climate Group at work. I said 'yes' though have little idea of what I might have thrown myself into. I'll find out more and ask Kevin for an opinion. )

Sounds fascinating - I love the idea of eco-engineering!  I wonder how many more of the other beasts you need to make up for the absence of mammoths?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 07 February 2020, 13:32:34
That's a good question Helen. I wondered if 'they' (DNA scientists) were going to try to re-engineer mammoths  :-\ ???
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 07 February 2020, 17:15:52
( Marc saw the Reuters article and asked if I'd like to join the Arctic Climate Group at work. I said 'yes' though have little idea of what I might have thrown myself into. I'll find out more and ask Kevin for an opinion. )

Marc has little idea of what he might have thrown himself into ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 07 February 2020, 17:41:53
( Marc saw the Reuters article and asked if I'd like to join the Arctic Climate Group at work. I said 'yes' though have little idea of what I might have thrown myself into. I'll find out more and ask Kevin for an opinion. )

Marc has little idea of what he might have thrown himself into ;)

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 07 February 2020, 19:00:41
Quote from: http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-01-27-rewilding-arctic-could-stop-permafrost-thaw-and-reduce-climate-change-risks
trampling on snow in search of winter forage, large mammals increase the amount of incoming solar energy that bounces back to space -- known as albedo.

I would think trampling on the snow would decrease the albedo :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 07 February 2020, 21:10:33
Loose snow is slightly transparent. Packed snow is more reflective. In general.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 07 February 2020, 21:21:10
Ah!
I had been thinking of a smooth surface (mirror) vs. a broken surface.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 07 February 2020, 23:09:12
Endless Night at -50 Degrees: A Look at Life on an Icebreaker (https://nyti.ms/31yNDQK)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 08 February 2020, 05:00:17
Excellent articles, Randi and Joan. Thanks for posting them!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 February 2020, 09:19:23
Endless Night at -50 Degrees: A Look at Life on an Icebreaker (https://nyti.ms/31yNDQK)

 :) :) :)  Bit different to scientific life on the Jeannette ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 08 February 2020, 09:49:02
Happy Birthday
ellensmn !


(http://www.toppin.com/images/family/smiths/nan/cakes/birthday-1.jpg)

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 February 2020, 10:11:45
Happy Birthday, Ellen!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 08 February 2020, 10:53:29
Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Hope you get to do something fun with loved ones :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hurlock on 08 February 2020, 12:15:12
Happy Birthday Ellen
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 08 February 2020, 12:29:59
Ellen:

(https://i.imgur.com/mtV7DWE.jpg)     (https://i.imgur.com/Pe4VikM.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 February 2020, 12:44:38
A very happy birthday to you Ellen

(https://imgur.com/W0YNV7J.png)

:D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ellensmn on 09 February 2020, 20:36:07
Thanks, Everyone, for the birthday wishes!  I did have a good one, down here in Silver City, New Mexico!
All those desserts look delicious!

Here is a little piece of information I've been wanting to share:
I am in Silver City, NM for my current traveling occupational therapy assignment.  One of the ways to get here is through the Black Mountains, and there is a pass called Emory Pass.  It's named for Lieutenant W. H. Emory, who chronicled the U. S. Army of the West expedition through the pass in 1846. He was a prominent surveyor and civil engineer.  Anyways, his son was W.H. Emory, Jr., the captain of the SS Bear in 1884, which I am editing!  I thought this was a bit of a coincidence, and it made me think what an adventurous family that was, to have the father exploring the United States southwest, and his son exploring into the frozen reaches of Greenland!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 09 February 2020, 20:41:57
Neat!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 09 February 2020, 22:08:14
 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 10 February 2020, 02:06:55
Big Brother is watching me.   :o

A couple weeks ago I came across a delivery of "Manila line" while transcribing, but due to the handwriting I was unsure of the word "Manila".  I was guessing the word was Manila and that line might refer to rope, but I had not heard of Manila rope.  So I did a Google search on my Linux computer and confirmed that Manila rope was commonly used on ships.

A couple days later, while playing a game on an app on my Android tablet, I was presented an ad by a rope company trying to sell me Manila rope.  Now a couple weeks later I am still getting the ad several times a day.  The app does not run in a browser.  It is a standalone app installed on the tablet.

I don't know how Big Brother made the connection between my browser query on the Linux computer and the game app on my Android tablet.  That game is the only place the ad is showing up.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Maikel on 10 February 2020, 03:28:32
You used Google's search engine, which adds your queries, i.e. interests, to your profile.
Android is an operating system created by Google, for which you have a Google account, so Google can add your activities to your profile.
The app you mention most likely uses Google AdSense to present ads to you.
The app isn't controlling the ads, Google is, based on your profile.

Now, just for fun, can you guess who your Big Brother is? ;)

Amongst many things, your Google profile will contain your IP address and location, and can thus make the link between your Linux computer and tablet to identify you, even when you aren't logged in at Google.
Perhaps check your privacy settings at Google and in your browser?

Edit:
Forgot to add, if you want to do anonymous searching, use Duck Duck Go (https://duckduckgo.com/).
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 10 February 2020, 12:29:35
Quote
Android is an operating system created by Google, for which you have a Google account

I had forgotten about the Google/Android connection.

I don't particularly mind because it tends to keep the ads more relevant for me, but I have no need for Manila rope.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 10 February 2020, 14:37:30
Quote
Android is an operating system created by Google, for which you have a Google account

I had forgotten about the Google/Android connection.

I don't particularly mind because it tends to keep the ads more relevant for me, but I have no need for Manila rope.

I'm using DuckDuckGo almost exclusively now, but when I'm stuck with Google I like to look for things like nice flowers, carpets, nice china plates. then the ads are quite fun. Manila rope though - odd, perhaps they are just trying to string you along?  ;) ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 February 2020, 15:09:38
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 10 February 2020, 19:22:04
::)

;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 11 February 2020, 02:02:49
Your not trying to pull my rope chain are you?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Thursday Next on 11 February 2020, 14:35:56
I am still trying to work out why on earth Pinterest thinks I might be interested in knitted dishcloths!  I am interested in knitting, but in the same way as life is too short to stuff a mushroom, it is also too short to knit a dishcloth!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 11 February 2020, 15:05:41
I am still trying to work out why on earth Pinterest thinks I might be interested in knitted dishcloths!  I am interested in knitting, but in the same way as life is too short to stuff a mushroom, it is also too short to knit a dishcloth!

I totally agree  :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 11 February 2020, 15:35:49
Don't tell that to my sister-in-law. She knits them and then gives them as presents.  ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 11 February 2020, 16:24:32
Here is a resource for the Bear 1884 (and other ships of the Greely Relief Expedition): https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001876933 You may notice the wonderful steel point engravings are the ones we are currently using on the homepage.

Thanks, Everyone, for the birthday wishes!  I did have a good one, down here in Silver City, New Mexico!
All those desserts look delicious!

Here is a little piece of information I've been wanting to share:
I am in Silver City, NM for my current traveling occupational therapy assignment.  One of the ways to get here is through the Black Mountains, and there is a pass called Emory Pass.  It's named for Lieutenant W. H. Emory, who chronicled the U. S. Army of the West expedition through the pass in 1846. He was a prominent surveyor and civil engineer.  Anyways, his son was W.H. Emory, Jr., the captain of the SS Bear in 1884, which I am editing!  I thought this was a bit of a coincidence, and it made me think what an adventurous family that was, to have the father exploring the United States southwest, and his son exploring into the frozen reaches of Greenland!

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 11 February 2020, 18:26:36
Dashing for my hammock - there's a picture of the rescued Greely expedition taken on Thetis with the chief officers of Bear and Thetis so I think that one chap in the picture must be Emory?  :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 11 February 2020, 19:16:07
Those are gorgeous illustrations!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 14 February 2020, 18:43:40
Record maximum temperature for Antarctica (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/13/antarctic-temperature-rises-above-20c-first-time-record?CMP=share_btn_tw)

Hottest January on Record (https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Earth-Sees-Hottest-January-on-Record-NOAA-20200213-0021.html)

Concentration of CO2 hits record high (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/12/saddest-thing-wont-be-breaking-news-concentration-co2-hits-record-high-416-ppm)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 14 February 2020, 18:48:18
:'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 15 February 2020, 06:45:08
I can't read it yet...I need a strong coffee first. I know that I'll be posting  :'( :'( :'( too. It looks like a good set to post on PW. :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 17 February 2020, 20:19:50

Google keeps a scary amount of data on you here's how to find and delete it. (https://www.cnet.com/how-to/google-keeps-a-scary-amount-of-data-on-you-heres-how-to-find-and-delete-it/)

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 18 February 2020, 13:08:56
Interesting radio programme this morning on Professor Myles Allen and his work on climate change.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fgcn

(Joan - is this your boss?)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 18 February 2020, 16:57:15
Interesting radio programme this morning on Professor Myles Allen and his work on climate change.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fgcn

(Joan - is this your boss?)

He was  :D   He is now helped by my colleague Heather. His group finally got a together-space to use on the other side of the building called, lightheartedly, Climate Towers.  8)

I'll listen to all of it later - wonderful that the interviewer is Jim Al-Khalili.  Thanks ever so for posting about it Helen :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 19 February 2020, 13:08:30
Interesting radio programme this morning on Professor Myles Allen and his work on climate change.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fgcn

(Joan - is this your boss?)
Thanks for mentioning it, Helen. I haven't managed to catch all of this series, so made sure to listen to this one.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 21 February 2020, 13:13:28
Here is a challenge if you get bored just entering place names.
Find the worlds most isolated "Bingo Hall" on Google maps.
My bid is for
Shishmareff Ira Bingo (and it is rated 5 star)
which is close to 66?15'18"N 166?04'11"W

And some local info on the settlement.
https://www.nimataradji.com/shishmarefs-climate-change (https://www.nimataradji.com/shishmarefs-climate-change)

(Northland is there 27 Aug 1937)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 21 February 2020, 14:26:28
Here is a challenge if you get bored just entering place names.
Find the worlds most isolated "Bingo Hall" on Google maps.
My bid is for
Shishmareff Ira Bingo (and it is rated 5 star)
which is close to 66?15'18"N 166?04'11"W

And some local info on the settlement.
https://www.nimataradji.com/shishmarefs-climate-change (https://www.nimataradji.com/shishmarefs-climate-change)

(Northland is there 27 Aug 1937)

Stuart - how ever did you pick up on that?  ;D ;D ;D
I've seen the name in logs before but never looked it up. What an amazing place - where-ever it is now. And so sad that their language has, effectively, vanished. Presumably Tombola/Bingo is the new entertainment around there.  :-\

I gave Ushuaia a whirl but no luck yet. I decided that Bingo on board a cruise ship doesn't count, though I suspect that it's not that popular compared to spotting penguins, seals, whales, cormorants, turkey vultures etc etc  ;) :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 21 February 2020, 17:02:31
Good (but sad) find, Stuart
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 21 February 2020, 18:42:03
What has happened to me  ::)  :-[  I have found another contender. (From Google Books not maps this time BUT the vessel was there.)
From this book. Page 214. Unalakleet Bingo Hall is mentioned.
Fast into the Night: A Woman, Her Dogs, and Their Journey North on the Iditarod Trail. By Debbie Clarke Moderow.
 on this page. (https://books.google.com.au/books?id=GgB2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214&lpg=PA214&dq=unalakleet+bingo+hall&source=bl&ots=1rtb0yagX4&sig=ACfU3U1hN3ZYly9pjrme4e1Lirn3F5mZ_A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzpd3v5OPnAhXazDgGHVM6CDUQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=unalakleet%20bingo%20hall&f=false) Looks like it could be an interesting book.

(Northland was there 31 Aug 1937.)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 21 February 2020, 18:50:35
Good to see that it was useful ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 21 February 2020, 19:06:33
I loved all the photos, but not quite enough to move back north of 60.  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 21 February 2020, 19:10:07
Well Michael it's not that far from St Michael.  ::)  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 21 February 2020, 19:29:17
This isn't on Google Maps and it depends on how you define isolated, but there is a Facebook page for a bingo hall in Barrow.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Barrow-Bingo/493881113994797 (https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Barrow-Bingo/493881113994797)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 21 February 2020, 20:33:47
Also not on Google Maps, and not true bingo halls; rather virtual bingo halls.  The cable TV in Inuvik, Northwest Territories runs a bingo channel for the town that local charities use to raise money.

https://archive.nnsl.com/2006-04/apr17_06tv.html (https://archive.nnsl.com/2006-04/apr17_06tv.html)

Inuvik residents playing TV Bingo:

http://andrea-in-inuvik.blogspot.com/2011/03/we-didnt-win-10grand.html (http://andrea-in-inuvik.blogspot.com/2011/03/we-didnt-win-10grand.html)

And in nearby Tuktoyaktuk they have Bingo Radio.

https://inuvikphil.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/tuktoyaktuk-bingo-radio/ (https://inuvikphil.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/tuktoyaktuk-bingo-radio/)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 21 February 2020, 20:52:29
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 21 February 2020, 21:02:09
Fun, but not enough to get me to move back.  ;D ;D ;D

My son spent a couple of years working on the road from Inuvik to Tuk. Even he moved down to Vancouver Island.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 21 February 2020, 23:43:41
This isn't on Google Maps and it depends on how you define isolated, but there is a Facebook page for a bingo hall in Barrow.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Barrow-Bingo/493881113994797 (https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Barrow-Bingo/493881113994797)

And, it just across the street from the Wellness Center.   8)  ;D

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 22 February 2020, 09:52:16
... just across the street from the Wellness Center.   8)  ;D

The only time I went to play Bingo was for a LifeBoat Society I got told off for shouting 'House' too late. About 150 women looked at me so severely that I never dared go back  :o  We did make a lot for the society though - about ?1000 for the night :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 February 2020, 17:38:26
We had a trivia night last night at the retirement village (our village "vs" the next door village) and raised $800 for the Rural Fire Brigade.
A good time was had by all.
No one yet has dared to mention Bingo.  :o
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 22 February 2020, 18:23:43
I suspect it was a good time for a fund raiser :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 22 February 2020, 20:17:12
Other than the Rural Fire Brigade, who won? Your village or the other one?  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 February 2020, 21:57:22
Unfortunately the Other village won the inaugural trophy.   ??? :'( :-[ :(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 23 February 2020, 17:02:36
Get me along Stuart - my Pub Quizzers were one of the top quizzers in Oxford. Asked what our respective areas of expertise were someone interjected for me. We used to do a picture round and apparently I was 'Very good at old men in wigs'.   ::)
I promise to study all sorts of Ozzie trivia before arriving  ;) ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 23 February 2020, 21:46:42
One question was 'What was missing from the original Mr Potato Head toy'.
Just for a laugh I shouted out "The potato".
It turned out to be the right answer.  :-[
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 23 February 2020, 21:48:28
Good one!  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 23 February 2020, 21:48:49
;D Well done!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 24 February 2020, 03:21:18
One question was 'What was missing from the original Mr Potato Head toy'.
Just for a laugh I shouted out "The potato".
It turned out to be the right answer.  :-[

If you promised to use a King Edwards potato did you get a crown in the kit?  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 24 February 2020, 07:42:14
And you didn't get in trouble, Stuart?
I was once with colleagues at an Irish Pub, and there was a pub quiz going on.
We didn't join in officially, but one of my colleagues shouted out an answer - and the moderator shouted back at him for breaking the rules!
Fortunately, we were able to stay and keep drinking.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 26 February 2020, 14:41:51
They told me to catch 'The Last Train To Nowhere'.   ::)

One day I might go on it, it's right of Nome.    ( here  (https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Last+Train+to+Nowhere/@64.5460563,-164.4363052,12z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x57311a2816385579:0x417531715876844c!2sNome,+AK,+USA!3b1!8m2!3d64.5011111!4d-165.4063889!3m4!1s0x5731bb4510efd4ab:0xcb1f8cd93e78ae33!8m2!3d64.5460425!4d-164.4363213)).

Just kidding about going.   ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 26 February 2020, 18:45:13
Sarah Palin was trying to build a Bridge to Nowhere, as her critics called it.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 27 February 2020, 02:32:17
Back in the 70s I was living in San Jose where we had the Monument to Nowhere.

https://blog.bayareametro.gov/posts/throwback-thursday-prank-pushed-completion-101280680-interchange-san-jose (https://blog.bayareametro.gov/posts/throwback-thursday-prank-pushed-completion-101280680-interchange-san-jose)

Funds were cut after construction began, leaving these huge concrete roadway structures, with no connection to either end, just sitting there for years.  It was quite a bizarre sight driving under them on the 101 freeway below.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 27 February 2020, 03:03:25
Google 'Maldon Dombarton rail line tunnel' and look at Images.
This is a railway line from the coast up the escarpment to the main NS rail-line.
It has a bridge to nowhere and a tunnel to nowhere (the tunnel like the bridge is only half finished.)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 27 February 2020, 07:05:29
I once stayed in a friary guest house in Papua New Guinea.  They'd worked very hard to get everything ready for us, but had run out of time to do absolutely everything.  Unfortunately one of the things they hadn't managed was to put anything beyond the emergency exit on the first floor, so there was a door, but it opened onto thin air.  Fortunately we didn't need to use it ....
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 27 February 2020, 09:08:12
  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 27 February 2020, 15:52:38
 ;D ;D ;D

Love the railway line Stuart...crazy!   8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 29 February 2020, 14:11:10
It's the 29th February - hurrah!

Every four years, on a Leap Year day, it is traditional in England for a woman to propose marriage to her intended spouse. To work out who she should propose marriage to she looks into the village well, upside down. Her friends help her lay backwards over the edge of the well, without falling in of course, and she looks into the dark water and should be able to see the face of her intended. Then off she trots to propose to her partner.

 :D   :D   :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 29 February 2020, 14:40:02
 :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 29 February 2020, 15:45:39
And of course if he says 'No' he has to buy her a present to compensate for the disappointment. Some say silk gloves, others a silk dress. Could be expensive if a few young ladies proposed - an incentive to find your own bride before the next leap year maybe.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Tegwen on 01 March 2020, 11:53:40
It's the 29th February - hurrah!

Every four years, on a Leap Year day, it is traditional in England for a woman to propose marriage to her intended spouse. To work out who she should propose marriage to she looks into the village well, upside down. Her friends help her lay backwards over the edge of the well, without falling in of course, and she looks into the dark water and should be able to see the face of her intended. Then off she trots to propose to her partner.

 :D   :D   :D

It is the fourth anniversary of my wife's proposal to me. As we dont have a village well I dont know where she saw my face. At least I ddint have to buy her anything silk.

K
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 March 2020, 12:02:51
 :) :) :)

Also:

Fruit and flowers ? which represent creativity, fertility, hope and renewal ? are the traditional material of the fourth anniversary. (US)

For the UK it's Linen or silk.

I don't recommend buying her a linen tea towel for drying the dishes after she's washed them!  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 03 March 2020, 08:59:45
Happy Birthday
espross !


(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5d/f9/26/5df92621c94707c042dba823c6fec7f1.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 03 March 2020, 09:46:31
Happy Birthday, Espross
from me, too!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 March 2020, 01:23:28
And from me to.  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 March 2020, 01:26:13
Some pics from what could be our last holiday for this year.
https://imgur.com/a/HrH410j (https://imgur.com/a/HrH410j)
The government is closing the borders between states.
We have to find a way home across 3 states.  ??? ???
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 22 March 2020, 06:19:31
Good luck with getting home, Stuart; I assume governments would rather have people back safely at home than roaming around the country, so perhaps they'll co-operate.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 22 March 2020, 08:54:53
Yes, good luck indeed. I saw in the SMH last night that New South Wales was going into lockdown.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 22 March 2020, 09:55:38
Beautiful pictures Stuart - I particularly liked the underwater limestone caves :)
I hope you are able to get home easily  :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 22 March 2020, 12:29:20
(https://n4.sdlcdn.com/imgs/a/e/i/SDL249128020_1381410471_image1-95e53.jpg)

Not that it will make any difference ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 March 2020, 13:35:23
Thanks all.
My main problem is my car will not be fixed till after the states have gone into lock down.
Still waiting for clarification re travellers trying to get home.
 :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 22 March 2020, 13:59:11
Where are you now?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 March 2020, 14:58:12
Where are you now?
Mt Gambier SA  :(

Two borders to cross to get back home.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 22 March 2020, 15:07:32
And a LONG drive!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 22 March 2020, 15:17:00
Is your car fixed then Stuart?  :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 March 2020, 15:46:50
Is your car fixed then Stuart?  :-\

Still waiting for repairer to get costing and send to Insurance Co then get parts from Melbourne (420km) and then fit and paint.
I doubt before Wednesday more likely Friday.  ???  :(  :'( 

And a LONG drive!

1400km shortest route. South Australia through Victoria to New South Wales.
If not possible that way then up to Renmark SA, then up to Broken Hill NSW and home from there. 2000km.   ???  ???  ???
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 22 March 2020, 16:37:19
Good luck Stuart.
That's a long drive via Broken Hill!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 23 March 2020, 04:34:36
Hope you get home soon, Stuart.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 23 March 2020, 11:37:56
Hope you get home soon, Stuart.

Me too! Good luck and stay healthy.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 23 March 2020, 15:21:32
Yesterday convinced the insurance co to let the smash repairer do emergency repairs.
100 mile an hour tape, cable ties, tec screws and we are on the road.
Left Mt Gambier mid day and did 330km.
Took the shortest route and we will be back in NSW before the curfew this afternoon. We can then take our time getting back. :)  :)  :)

Thanks for your thoughts.  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 23 March 2020, 15:46:05
Well done Stuart!  Your car may not be a beauty just now, but it'll look lovely on your home driveway.  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 23 March 2020, 16:45:19
That's great news, Stuart!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 23 March 2020, 17:02:59
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 23 March 2020, 17:03:36
Thanks for the update, Stuart! Glad to hear you'll make it home.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 24 March 2020, 04:50:42
Good news, Stuart - I'm glad the insurance company were willing to be flexible.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 02 April 2020, 15:34:18
Car quote just under AU$10K. Wow I was surprised how much it was for what looked like a little damage.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 02 April 2020, 15:50:15
$10K AUS = $8.64K CDN = $1.95 US.  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 02 April 2020, 15:53:34
Just got an email from Zooniverse and looks like they are doing Southern Weather Discovery Phase II and looking for starters.
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery? (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery?)

Check out the log page 34 seconds into the video.

Checked out their interface, very 'Clunky', our guys/girls have done a very good job with ours.  ;)
Do we share our data with Zooniverse to help them train their AI programme?

I would be happy to do 'Southern Weather' if you could get Zooniverse ships logs, till then
Looks like I will be staying here, sorry about that.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 02 April 2020, 15:54:40
$10K AUS = $8.64K CDN = $1.95 US.  ;D

Very funny.  :P
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 02 April 2020, 17:15:37
Car quote just under AU$10K. Wow I was surprised how much it was for what looked like a little damage.

Stuart - just remind them that you decided not to upgrade to a gold steering wheel  and hub caps during the repairs - that should get it down!  That's a nuts quote - is it because it's an insurance claim?  :o ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 02 April 2020, 21:31:01
Scientists locked in ice planned for North Pole's hazards. Then came the coronavirus. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/03/25/scientists-locked-ice-planned-north-poles-hazards-then-came-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=wp_energy_and_environment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_green)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 03 April 2020, 16:23:44
Scientists locked in ice planned for North Pole's hazards. Then came the coronavirus. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/03/25/scientists-locked-ice-planned-north-poles-hazards-then-came-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=wp_energy_and_environment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_green)

Can't access this but it looks to be a bad news item for those stranded up there  :(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 04 April 2020, 10:08:21
Car quote just under AU$10K. Wow I was surprised how much it was for what looked like a little damage.
Have several friends in the business. Part of the cost issue is that with this 'new' high tech paint you can't just use Bondo & fill in & pain the spot. Apparently you have to refinish the whole panel to a seam, hinge, end panel or whatever.  Progress??!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 06 April 2020, 15:08:31
I'm sure it'snot a new programme. Just catching this on Smithsonian Channel 'The lost ships' - it's an episode where they are attempting to find the lost German fleet of the Falkland Islands battle of WW1 - but they are not quite sure where they are. I thought that we knew! They could just have dropped us a line...  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 08 April 2020, 02:31:42
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/11633/production/_111691217_999dc1a3-1ce7-4dd0-a76d-7a38eaf16a0b.jpg)

The pink moon rises over the Shard skyscraper in London (Reuters)

Fabulous pic.  :)

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 April 2020, 12:07:16
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 April 2020, 12:47:55
Brilliant picture Caro - thanks. I looked out and it seemed white to me - and perhaps a bit bigger  :-\  Must have missed the best bit   ::)  :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 April 2020, 12:59:32
I was awakened at 3 AM by someone turning outside lights on and off and opening and closing the door to the side porch.  ::)  THAT person thought an outside light was left on, but it turned out to be just the moon.  ::)

I staggered out to the side porch to look; it was just white and high in the sky. I noted that THAT person forgot to lock the side porch door, threatening us with a potential invasion of Covid-19 zombies looking for our toilet paper.  :o :o :o

Even though I was half-asleep, security prevailed, and our house and toilet paper were safe once again.  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 08 April 2020, 13:00:55
I read that pink is for the spring flowers rather than the color of the moon.

Quote from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon Farmers' Almanacs
April: "Seed Moon", "Pink Moon", "Sprouting Grass Moon", "Pascal Moon", "Egg Moon" (c.f. "Goose-Egg" in Beard 1918), "Fish Moon", "Frog Moon", "Spring Moon", "Awakening Moon", "Sap Moon"
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 April 2020, 15:03:09
I was awakened at 3 AM by someone turning outside lights on and off and opening and closing the door to the side porch.  ::)  THAT person thought an outside light was left on, but it turned out to be just the moon.  ::)

I staggered out to the side porch to look; it was just white and high in the sky. I noted that THAT person forgot to lock the side porch door, threatening us with a potential invasion of Covid-19 zombies looking for our toilet paper.  :o :o :o

Even though I was half-asleep, security prevailed, and our house and toilet paper were safe once again.  ;D ;D ;D

Toilet paper nicking Covid Zombies - I feel a new Stephen Spielberg film coming on  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Tegwen on 09 April 2020, 04:08:40
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/11633/production/_111691217_999dc1a3-1ce7-4dd0-a76d-7a38eaf16a0b.jpg)

The pink moon rises over the Shard skyscraper in London (Reuters)

Fabulous pic.  :)

My poor wife stayed up til late to see it go pink. She didnt mention this to me so I wasnt able to tell her that it just a name for it. We looked about 11 & it was bright & not pink, but the I went to bed & she stayed up to check later.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 10 April 2020, 14:24:00
The largest Arctic ozone hole ever measured is hovering over the North Pole (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/largest-arctic-ozone-hole-ever-measured-hovering-over-north-pole?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 April 2020, 14:46:58
 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 10 April 2020, 17:42:20
I hope they know to use extra sunscreen in the north of Northern Ireland and Scotland  :o :o :o
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 12 April 2020, 04:46:15
Happy Easter!

(https://stpatrickschurchdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Coronavirus-Last-Supper-as-Zoom-meeting.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 12 April 2020, 06:54:46
Uh-huh. ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: propriome on 12 April 2020, 06:57:29
Happy Easter! ;D ;D

Hanibal, you're a little overcrowded with icons down there, aren't you? (same here, of course, until the cleaning i force myself to do every year i often can't see my desktop background ::) ;) )
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 12 April 2020, 08:47:59
Hanibal, you're a little overcrowded with icons down there, aren't you? (same here, of course, until the cleaning i force myself to do every year i often can't see my desktop background ::) ;) )

What was it Jesus said about sinners and casting stones?  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 12 April 2020, 09:28:00
Really a super find, Hanibal!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 April 2020, 11:34:26
Yes! Great image!  :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 April 2020, 17:22:21
Definitely an image for our times! Corona Easter  :o

Happy Easter everyone - and many more of them.  :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 12 April 2020, 23:20:22
I recently visited Zooniverses site where they mention training AI to read OW logs.
Do I remember correctly that OW was going to try something like that some years ago?
If so what happened?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 13 April 2020, 00:17:55
I know that they are still working on it...

I sent Kevin a message ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Gil.Compo on 13 April 2020, 19:11:48

Pommy,

On what zooniverse site did you see the mention of AI for OW logs? I want to make sure everything is linked up.

thanks,
gil
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 13 April 2020, 19:19:23
Hi Gil.

Try this link.  Zooniverse Southern Weather]  (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery/about/research)
It was for Southern Weather but still used log books like ours. I am based in Australia so is more relevant to me.
Tried it but there interface was to "Clunky' for me and sooooo sloooow.
OW programmers have done a great job on our interface.  ;)

Is OW going to get any Southern ships to complement the mass of Northern info collected?

Stuart
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 13 April 2020, 20:01:50
We should patent our system and lease it to these guys...  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 14 April 2020, 08:46:48
We should patent our system and lease it to these guys...  ;D

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 16 April 2020, 05:05:29
 Sunset over Cooranbong  (https://imgur.com/a/q4B1e6I)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 16 April 2020, 09:20:29
Impressive, though ominous sky!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 16 April 2020, 09:40:37
Very expressive sky - beautiful. Thanks Stuart.  :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 16 April 2020, 09:43:05
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 16 April 2020, 16:12:48
Very expressive sky - beautiful. Thanks Stuart.  :D

No problem. Just popped out of the house and there it was.
Not sure what type of clouds they were. Any suggestions? Sc maybe.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 16 April 2020, 17:22:51
It looks like you've got a couple of layers: mostly SC and AC and I can see a little bit of CI.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 16 April 2020, 17:58:54
It looks like you've got a couple of layers: mostly SC and AC and I can see a little bit of CI.

The benefit of working with fans of the weather  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 22 April 2020, 14:34:58
Apparently there is going to be another ship log weather project later in the year. I did some work on rainfall rescue (ye gods, they complained about the handwriting on those records!) and got an end of project update email from Ed Hawkins, the main researcher. The Met Office are planning some 19th century logs, whether merchant or royal navy wasn't clear. Keep your eyes open folks.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 22 April 2020, 14:54:13
Yes...
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 22 April 2020, 15:04:54
There's already another weather data project:
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/malcolma1/weather-100-eskdalemuir
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 22 April 2020, 15:29:40
There's already another weather data project:
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/malcolma1/weather-100-eskdalemuir

I had the briefest look yesterday, nicely messy pages, should keep people on their toes whilst transcribing...a good training ground for OW? Any one seen a very large poaching spoon - about man-sized?  ;) ;)  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 April 2020, 18:29:28
There's already another weather data project:
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/malcolma1/weather-100-eskdalemuir

and also

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 23 April 2020, 00:18:44
Happy Birthday
Sleepyowl !


(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3d/d9/f6/3dd9f6a1fe3f780235c19b038d61dc36.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 23 April 2020, 08:51:15
Happy Birthday, Sleepyowl!

I wish you all the best for this day and the rest of  the year!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 23 April 2020, 11:57:50
Happy Birthday, Sleepyowl!

Hope you get to do something fun!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 23 April 2020, 17:30:57
Have an excellent birthday Sleepyowl - and many more!

:D :D :D

(https://imgur.com/BBbZBPX.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: sleepyowl on 23 April 2020, 20:53:11
I wasn't expecting this! Thanks, everyone, for the wishes (and the beautiful cake). ;)  :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 24 April 2020, 13:49:52
I wasn't expecting this! Thanks, everyone, for the wishes (and the beautiful cake). ;)  :) :) :)
;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 24 April 2020, 13:55:19
It's World Penguin Day tomorrow and the queue for a holiday snap on the beach to send back to the folks has already started  :D

(https://imgur.com/ZDfsIl9.png)

No need for social distancing for these littl'uns  ;) :D

Anyone fancying a very brief trip to Antarctica or, fresh territory, Patagonia can find the penguins here: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/penguintom79/penguin-watch
We've got Magellanic penguins now - they live down burrows. They remind me of a computer game called splat the mole - just don't tell PW that I said that ;) ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 24 April 2020, 15:03:13
 ;D Great pic
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 24 April 2020, 15:34:33
Do you think the little group in the middle of the front row are telling the solitary penguin to get back in line?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 24 April 2020, 16:08:06
Maybe he's the Emperor inspecting his troops.  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 24 April 2020, 16:33:36
Do you think the little group in the middle of the front row are telling the solitary penguin to get back in line?

Oh yes - safety in numbers of course when you are facing up a bigger penguin than you are  :o ;D


Maybe he's the Emperor inspecting his troops.  ;D ;D ;D
::) ;D ;D ;D

If only I could photoshop an emperor into this scene - that'd cause confusion over at PW  8) ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 24 April 2020, 17:54:16
Hi Joan. This is as close as I can get to your request for an Emperor in with another group.
It has not been shopped.

(https://imgur.com/ZFl6vyD.png)

A lone Macaroni in a group of Chinstraps.
He has been in that group for many years.
I took the pic at half Moon Bay off Livingstone Is Antarctica. (as did just about all the rest of the travellers)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Maikel on 25 April 2020, 02:47:52
Do you think the little group in the middle of the front row are telling the solitary penguin to get back in line?

No, it's the wise penguin keeping to social distancing.
The rest is taken the advice of esteemed Dr. Orange, a.k.a. Donald T., at heart. ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 25 April 2020, 04:59:42
Well at least it would be quite difficult to inject yourself with disinfectant using flippers!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 25 April 2020, 09:51:26
I was going to have a big glass of bleach, but by the time I got down to the laundry room I'd forgotten why I was there.  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 25 April 2020, 11:25:13
This is cool - https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/discover-learn/history/timeline/
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 25 April 2020, 11:28:58
 8) 8) 8)

What's the status of you ice patrols this season?
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 25 April 2020, 13:03:44
I'm grounded for the foreseeable future (underlying condition). We'll get some autonomous profilers deployed one way or the other. Maybe from NOAA 56, or a USCG C-130. The upside though is more time to work on OW over the summer, and maybe not get derailed by other stuff hopefully. Our gang in DC are working at home to process CW-era logs into OW-ready format, lots going on with National Archives Foundation on E&O. Philip and Gil have made some really nice data visualizations for upcoming uses of various sort. Have look: https://oldweather.github.io/20CRv3-diagnostics/fog_videos/time_skip.html The aim is as much art as science, but there are really interesting details when you look closely.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 25 April 2020, 13:16:34
Thanks for the update and the neat video!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 25 April 2020, 14:16:50
Very cool! Thank you!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 25 April 2020, 14:47:12
It's interesting watching the black dots for ships moving.

It shows graphically the value provided by these old ship logs toward filling in the current uncertainty in the earlier years.

I'm amazed at the willingness of the log keepers to so fastidiously record the weather data.  They must have thought the logs would just be put in a warehouse somewhere never to be viewed again.  Most of them probably felt like what's the point in doing all of this extra work.  How could they have imagined a future with computers so capable of assembling and analyzing the data from the logs.  Scientists at the time must have had some hope that such capabilities may eventually evolve; although they were likely doing some work with the data, tediously assembling the data from the logs.  They didn't even have electronic calculators.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 25 April 2020, 18:14:15
I know that  the US Navy set up keeping weather records in about 1840 as a part of trying to assess the weather.  I'm not so sure about the whalers. I wondered if that might be to do with insurance claims when ships got into trouble/lost things/sank.  :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 25 April 2020, 19:48:40
It's worth a look at the Introduction to Maury's 1855 ed. of the Physical Geography of the Sea: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/miun.aja7087.0001.001?urlappend=%3Bseq=9
Here we see the plan for one of the first (and wildly successful) 'crowdsourced' scientific efforts in history. We are still benefiting...   
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 25 April 2020, 20:20:52
Very interesting. Very very interesting!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 25 April 2020, 20:55:39
That certainly explains their motivation.  It looks like they were already seeing benefits not long after recording began. 
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 26 April 2020, 02:21:55
The dates seem to correlate with the start of the Met Office local weather recording, the rainfall data part has just been digitised. It seems that our 19th century ancestors really were inspired amateurs. Many of the early physicists and chemists were 'amateurs'. I audio recorded a biography of Cavendish (whose name is commemorated in the Physics Labs of Cambridge University) for the RNIB, his son, the author, recounted that, after dinner, his father and (male) guests would retire to the laboratory for some experiments and on occasions the author was permitted to attend with the adults. He recounts borrowing equipment from the Royal Society. It was a fascinating read and I hadn't realised how much physical science had been developed by amateurs with enough money to fund their hobby- Cavendish even employed his own specialist technician to build his apparatus.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 26 April 2020, 07:00:25
It's worth a look at the Introduction to Maury's 1855 ed. of the Physical Geography of the Sea: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/miun.aja7087.0001.001?urlappend=%3Bseq=9
Here we see the plan for one of the first (and wildly successful) 'crowdsourced' scientific efforts in history. We are still benefiting...   
8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 26 April 2020, 10:11:18
The Canadian Weather Service started in 1871. I was on my Meteorologist's Training Course in 1971, the 100th anniversary. In those days the weather service did their own training. It was a nine month course given to people with a B Sc. in Physics and Math.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 26 April 2020, 10:29:07
There are other interesting strands that run from William Scoresby Jr, the whaling captain of Whitby. One, his letter about changes he'd seen in the Greenland ice to Jos. Banks (Royal Society) spurred the first series of Arctic voyages by the Royal Navy in 1818 (which were well-equipped for science); and two, Herman Melville essentially plagiarized his 'Account of the Arctic Regions' in Moby Dick. There are whole chapters that might not even pass the standard checks now applied to undergraduate essays.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 26 April 2020, 12:24:28
It's worth a look at the Introduction to Maury's 1855 ed. of the Physical Geography of the Sea: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/miun.aja7087.0001.001?urlappend=%3Bseq=9
Here we see the plan for one of the first (and wildly successful) 'crowdsourced' scientific efforts in history. We are still benefiting...   
8) 8) 8)
I'll add my  8) 8) 8) to that jil :D  There's a lot to digest in that book.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 26 April 2020, 14:34:16
?Thus the air, with its actinometry, presents itself in the light of a thermal adjustment, by which the land and sea are prevented from becoming seething hot, and by which they are enabled to perform their wonderful offices with certainty and regularity.? 

Maury, M. Fontaine. (1861). The physical geography of the sea, and its meteorology. 8th ed., rev. and greatly enl. New York: Harper & brothers.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 26 April 2020, 14:55:12
It's a shame that no-one writes like that anymore.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 26 April 2020, 15:49:30
I wonder what Maury would make of the mess we are in now?  :-[ :-\ :(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 27 April 2020, 15:25:47
Well, here's a rabbit hole: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/169775349
See note, inside front cover.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 27 April 2020, 15:35:26
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/saranac.htm ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 27 April 2020, 17:47:15
Sounds like some curious business going on there, Kevin  :o

I found an article about her after she went down. It's - um - perhaps 'very honest' about the poor old girl...
From the Sydney Morning Herald:

'THE WRECK OF THE SARANAC.
The loss of the United States man-of-war Saranac, on the Northern Pacific coast, which was reported last week, will, says the New York Times, " be noted as the first disaster which our navy has suffered for a long time. We have not so many vessels that we can well spare any; but the Saranac was not among the useful craft which constitute the working force now in service. Carrying 11 guns, of the old-fashioned side-wheel model, and never a fast sailer, the Saranac had no real value in the navy, except that she could carry the flag into foreign harbours, and keep up an appearance of naval power which she never could have enforced. As such, the vessel is a loss.'

 :-[ ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 27 April 2020, 17:53:17
From Wikipedia

Quote
Saranac continued to protect American commerce and interests until ending her longest period in commission on 25 January 1869. Recommissioned on 27 January 1870, the veteran ship resumed operations along the United States West Coast. She operated in that region until she was wrecked at 8.40 a.m. on 18 June 1875 on the submerged Ripple Rock in Seymour Narrows[2] off Campbell River, British Columbia, while on a mission to collect natural curiosities for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Her bow was immediately run into the Vancouver Island shore and made fast with a hawser to a tree, but within an hour she had sunk completely from sight. Lieutenant Commander Sanders, with the pilot and thirteen men, made their way on foot to Victoria.[1] The 173 officers and men of Saranac were brought from Victoria to San Francisco by the SS Pacific. They arrived 1 July 1875 and were landed at Mare Island.[3]

She was a first in many ways. From Wikipedia:

Quote
The first known large ship to fall prey to Ripple Rock was the sidewheel steamer Saranac in 1875, as it was heading north to Alaska.[8] At least 20 large and 100 smaller vessels were badly damaged or sunk between then and 1958. At least 110 people drowned in these accidents.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 28 April 2020, 11:52:33
Something to see about Ben Nevis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-C7sOH4jio
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 28 April 2020, 13:40:09
 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 28 April 2020, 15:22:16
Something to see about Ben Nevis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-C7sOH4jio

Very good indeed - and I watched the next few pieces as well. The crying Emperor penguin chick got me...  :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 28 April 2020, 15:38:14
Hi Joan. This is as close as I can get to your request for an Emperor in with another group.
It has not been shopped.

(https://imgur.com/ZFl6vyD.png)

A lone Macaroni in a group of Chinstraps.
He has been in that group for many years.
I took the pic at half Moon Bay off Livingstone Is Antarctica. (as did just about all the rest of the travellers)

Sorry Stuart - I missed this one!  :(  Got to say - the Macaroni has vastly improved the local hair-do's. Looks freshly Macassared into place ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 30 April 2020, 16:26:28
LibraCalc Ver 6.4.3.2 is now out.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 30 April 2020, 16:39:08
Unless you are adventurous, we do not recommend the "If you're a technology enthusiast, early adopter or power user, this version is for you!" version of LibreOffice for OWA.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 30 April 2020, 16:57:37
I will let you know how it goes.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 30 April 2020, 17:15:41
https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2020/04/30/over-650-newly-digitized-navy-logbooks-in-the-national-archives-catalog/
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 30 April 2020, 17:42:19
(https://attipscast.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/skotan_thumbs_up_smileygreen.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 30 April 2020, 19:34:51
(https://attipscast.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/skotan_thumbs_up_smileygreen.png)

x 2  ;D ;D ;D

The writing is exquisite. So beautiful!  :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 30 April 2020, 19:51:16
X 3
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 30 April 2020, 20:00:12
Looks like they had a list to Port from 00-04 then then to Starboard for the rest of the day.  ;D
https://i1.wp.com/text-message.blogs.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hartford-001-050.jpg?ssl=1 (https://i1.wp.com/text-message.blogs.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hartford-001-050.jpg?ssl=1)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 30 April 2020, 20:45:28
Looks like they had a list to Port from 00-04 then then to Starboard for the rest of the day.  ;D
https://i1.wp.com/text-message.blogs.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hartford-001-050.jpg
;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 30 April 2020, 20:54:35
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 30 April 2020, 21:07:19
According to accounts they were having trouble elevating the guns sufficiently.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 30 April 2020, 21:35:18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hartford_(1858)#Civil_War,_1861%E2%80%931875
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 01 May 2020, 06:54:44
UK National Archives is offering free downloads to registered users while lockdown continues.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Enrol at the top of the page if you haven't done so already.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 01 May 2020, 09:01:27
Happy May Day/St Walburga's Day everyone. Here's some virtual exercise to celebrate: https://www.youtube.com/embed/9Bgp9nbm7jM    :)

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 May 2020, 09:34:37
Now I'm dizzy!   ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 May 2020, 10:28:46
It does have that effect ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 01 May 2020, 11:00:57
I remember these fabulous crows dancing the sun up on Dartmoor in 2016.  ;D

https://youtube.com/embed/UqVpXe5_GUQ
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 01 May 2020, 12:31:41
Great!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 May 2020, 12:56:40
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 May 2020, 14:16:25
(http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/4ib/65b/4ib65bk9T.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 01 May 2020, 18:32:16
Love the Beltane crows - very cool  8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 03 May 2020, 05:52:52
Two men and a dog chasing an Arctic dream in a lifeboat (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52395200)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 03 May 2020, 09:20:43
8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 03 May 2020, 10:03:58
 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 03 May 2020, 16:33:00
Fantastic journey. Loved Shackleton checking out the route through the porthole :)  8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 03 May 2020, 16:46:18
Fantastic journey. Loved Shackleton checking out the route through the porthole :)  8) 8) 8)
Yes that was my favourite pic too
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 06 May 2020, 01:29:51
If any of the vessels have trouble with there chronometers keeping time on a long voyage they could try one of these.
http://longnow.org/clock/ (http://longnow.org/clock/) and from that site
http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html (http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 06 May 2020, 13:12:01
If any of the vessels have trouble with there chronometers keeping time on a long voyage they could try one of these.
http://longnow.org/clock/ (http://longnow.org/clock/) and from that site
http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html (http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html)

That's amazing...I've sent it to the President of the Oxford University Cave Club who will be fascinated by this. Nice find Stuart :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 07 May 2020, 18:45:54
One for Joan.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/under-antarctica-frozen-beauty-exotic-creatures-penguins/ (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/under-antarctica-frozen-beauty-exotic-creatures-penguins/)

(I hope the link works for others as I am a NG subscriber)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 07 May 2020, 18:50:33
It works for me. Great pictures!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 07 May 2020, 18:59:43
Fabulous pictures!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 07 May 2020, 19:39:30
Breathtaking - quite breathtaking  :D :D :D  Thanks Stuart  :D
I'll post this on PenguinWatch tomorrow. It fascinating to see what they get to see when they are diving. And I loved the trip on the whale.  8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 08 May 2020, 00:53:43
Happy Birthday
d0cent !


(https://www.cakepicturegallery.com/d/1756006-2/Russian+Wafer+Birthday+Cake+with+Walnuts+on+Top.JPG)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 May 2020, 09:28:54
Yes, Happy Birthday d0cent!!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 08 May 2020, 11:35:27
Great pictures and article, Stuart! Thanks for posting.

Oh, and Happy Birthday d0cent!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 May 2020, 13:57:35
The other day a journalist from Switzerland got in touch with me to ask questions about Old Weather. (She had seen the Reuters article, which sparked her curiosity.) Among other things she wanted to know how many peer reviewed academic papers used our work. I had no idea, so I forwarded her question to our three scientists, Gil, Kevin and Philip.

Gil answered and copied me on his reply. I was AMAZED by his answer:

Quote
Starting with the NOAA-CIRES 20th Century Reanalysis version 2c described in Giese et al. 2016 and further in detail in Slivinski et al. 2019

    Slivinski, L. C., Compo, G. P., Whitaker, J. S., Sardeshmukh, P. D., Giese, B. S., McColl, C., Allan, R., Yin, X., Vose, R., Titchner, H., Kennedy, J., Spencer, L. J., Ashcroft, L., Br?nnimann, S., Brunet, M., Camuffo, D., Cornes, R., Cram, T. A., Crouthamel, R., Dom?nguez‐Castro, F., Freeman, J. E., Gergis, J., Hawkins, E., Jones, P. D., Jourdain, S., Kaplan, A., Kubota, H., Le Blancq, F., Lee, T., Lorrey, A., Luterbacher, J., Maugeri, M., Mock, C. J., Moore, G. K., Przybylak, R., Pudmenzky, C., Reason, C., Slonosky, V. C., Smith, C., Tinz, B., Trewin, B., Valente, M. A., Wang, X. L., Wilkinson, C., Wood, K. and Wyszyński, P. (2019), Towards a more reliable historical reanalysis: Improvements for version 3 of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis system. Q J R Meteorol Soc. ; 145; 2876? 2908. doi:10.1002/qj.3598.
    Giese, B.S., H.F. Seidel, G.P. Compo, and P.D. Sardeshmukh, 2016: An ensemble of ocean reanalyses for 1815-2013 with sparse observational input. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 121, 6891-6910, doi:10.1002/2016JC012079.

and the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation with sparse input version 3 described in Giese et al. 2016, Oldweather data have been used in hundreds of studies via these synthesizing datasets.

Additionally, even more Old Weather data have been used in the new NOAA-CIRES-DOE 20th Century Reanalysis version 3 (also documented in Slivinski et al. 2019). See go.usa.gov/XTd. The Old Weather data are also included in the International Surface Pressure Databank versions 3 and 4 (see, https://reanalyses.org/observations/international-surface-pressure-databank ).

The original 20th Century Reanalysis Project paper Compo et al. 2011 continues to be cited for the use of 20CRv2c, and it gets about 100-200 citations or more a year . So, assuming those have used 20CRv2c since 2015, that would be about 500 papers.  (My link to the Web of Knowledge isn't working from home, otherwise I would get you a more precise number).

There are probably more, but I think at least 500 papers via the synthesizing "reanalysis" datasets is a reasonable estimate.

The public can access the atmospheric fields derived from these data at go.usa.gov/XTd.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 08 May 2020, 14:53:16
Well, it seems our input is useful!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 08 May 2020, 16:15:57
That that kind of info makes it worth getting up for.
and
Happy Birthday d0cent.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 08 May 2020, 16:25:15
500 papers. This is good.  ;D




Happy birthday d0cent!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 08 May 2020, 16:29:35
Glad my new log entry ink colour is only green and not yellow
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 08 May 2020, 17:03:36
500 papers, several hundred citations a year and multiple databanks! WOW!

That is indeed very motivating!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 08 May 2020, 17:34:14
And the Schweiger et al. sea-ice paper is now the 2nd most read J of Climate paper of the past year. The work you do makes all this possible.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 May 2020, 18:03:28
And a very Happy Birthday from me too d0cent!!!

:D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 May 2020, 18:09:26
And the Schweiger et al. sea-ice paper is now the 2nd most read J of Climate paper of the past year. The work you do makes all this possible.

Oh wow - what an awesome project this is!   :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 09 May 2020, 19:24:59
A ray of sunshine for Mothers day.

(https://i.imgur.com/vlctUE0.jpg)

Enjoy the day.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 10 May 2020, 18:31:09
Very fine crepuscular rays, Stuart - definitely lovely for the mums :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 May 2020, 19:47:56
Nice photo, Stuart. Good identification, Joan!  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 10 May 2020, 21:09:27
I thought they were anticrepuscular rays as they were in the morning and shone upwards from the rising sun.  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 May 2020, 21:46:38
Yeah, but you're in the other hemisphere, so summer here is winter there, morning there is evening here. East is West and South is North. Water goes the other way round the drain but still leaves a ring in the bathtub, but here it's on the inside, and there it's on the outside.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 11 May 2020, 00:06:38
Yeah, but you're in the other hemisphere, so summer here is winter there, morning there is evening here. East is West and South is North. Water goes the other way round the drain but still leaves a ring in the bathtub, but here it's on the inside, and there it's on the outside.

Yes.   ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: d0cent on 11 May 2020, 13:35:31
Yes, Happy Birthday d0cent!!!
Thank you all  ;D
Randy even found russian "happy-birthday-postcard", hehe. :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 11 May 2020, 14:46:23
Yeah, but you're in the other hemisphere, so summer here is winter there, morning there is evening here. East is West and South is North. Water goes the other way round the drain but still leaves a ring in the bathtub, but here it's on the inside, and there it's on the outside.

Yes.   ;)

Oh crumbs - didn't even think about Aunty Crepuscular  :o
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 12 May 2020, 09:01:45
Yeah, but you're in the other hemisphere, so summer here is winter there, morning there is evening here. East is West and South is North. Water goes the other way round the drain but still leaves a ring in the bathtub, but here it's on the inside, and there it's on the outside.

And Up is Down and Down is Up and Left is Right - but who's confused??!! ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 May 2020, 09:56:21
Yeah, but you're in the other hemisphere, so summer here is winter there, morning there is evening here. East is West and South is North. Water goes the other way round the drain but still leaves a ring in the bathtub, but here it's on the inside, and there it's on the outside.

And Up is Down and Down is Up and Left is Right - but who's confused??!! ;)

Not me - I've spent years chasing my own tail in ever decreasing circles, you can't get lost doing that ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 12 May 2020, 09:58:00
BBC's Andrew Cotter commentates penguin parade on Australia's Phillip Island

Voiceover narrates fairy penguin's high-stakes waddle from shoreline to burrows in parade that used to attract thousands of visitors nightly
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ed4lKSF-sVg

Sent to me by my observant sister, Helen :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 May 2020, 10:31:15
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 12 May 2020, 12:29:43
What Andrew Cotter does during lockdown:
https://youtube.com/embed/26FIEX6muAo
 ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 12 May 2020, 13:17:48
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 12 May 2020, 17:47:09
BBC's Andrew Cotter commentates penguin parade on Australia's Phillip Island

Voiceover narrates fairy penguin's high-stakes waddle from shoreline to burrows in parade that used to attract thousands of visitors nightly
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ed4lKSF-sVg

Sent to me by my observant sister, Helen :)

Believe it of not that clip was on one of the Australian TV channels yesterday.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 13 May 2020, 05:00:07
What Andrew Cotter does during lockdown:
https://youtube.com/embed/26FIEX6muAo
 ;D
Excellent!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 13 May 2020, 13:15:54
Neat! - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3201a.ct006156
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 13 May 2020, 13:29:22
 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 13 May 2020, 19:29:38
Neat! - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3201a.ct006156

Whaling fleet in missing sea shock horror.
Whaling Captain says "No one knew that you could pull the plug on the Behring. Business-wise we may be in dire straits this season."  ;) ;D ;D (Every pun intended)

(https://imgur.com/bqglss8.png)

Nice jigsaw Kevin!  :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 13 May 2020, 19:42:45
A bit more practical: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/169051082
There are three versions.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 13 May 2020, 20:19:59
 :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 13 May 2020, 21:10:08
:) :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 14 May 2020, 18:42:24
A bit more practical: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/169051082
There are three versions.

I love these maps.   :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 14 May 2020, 20:31:05
Until the navigators are using them to get their Lat/Longs!  :'( :'( :'(   ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 15 May 2020, 19:18:23
Until the navigators are using them to get their Lat/Longs!  :'( :'( :'(   ;D ;D ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 18 May 2020, 05:08:44
A couple of links from our local broadcaster about Climate Change.
Does this look familiar in your country?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-17/climate-change-action-has-been-missing-hot-mess-richard-aedy/12200196 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-17/climate-change-action-has-been-missing-hot-mess-richard-aedy/12200196)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-18/four-corners-climate-change-public-servants-reveal-anger/12235180 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-18/four-corners-climate-change-public-servants-reveal-anger/12235180)

Hope the links work OS.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 18 May 2020, 10:13:11
Good articles :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 18 May 2020, 12:12:56
 :'( :'( :'(

Same here. Lot of nice words on all the issues: climate change, poverty, reconciliation with the First Nations etc etc, and for every nice words three reasons why we can't: money, fear of change and loss of power.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 18 May 2020, 17:59:23
Well said Michael.  :D  The white elephant in the room is the mix of rich owners of the oil/coal/gas business, and those who make profit from crushing our environment.  And we don't have a planet parliament where nature can speak to defend herself.  The work of the IPCC is very important. I just hope that they can make enough headway in good time. :-[ :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kathy on 18 May 2020, 23:23:24
The proper response to our current situation:

I'm giving up eating chocolate for a month...

Sorry, bad punctuation -

I'm giving up. Eating chocolate for a month!

(As I eat fudge.)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 18 May 2020, 23:55:18
Sounds like a good plan to me ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 19 May 2020, 09:23:19
Me too!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 19 May 2020, 09:51:34
The proper response to our current situation:

I'm giving up eating chocolate for a month...

Sorry, bad punctuation -

I'm giving up. Eating chocolate for a month!

(As I eat fudge.)

I've seen:

I'm giving up drinking for a month...

Sorry, bad punctuation -

I'm giving up. Drinking for a month!     ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Kevin on 19 May 2020, 19:28:07
One can drink and eat chocolate at the same time.

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 19 May 2020, 19:46:25
That's a good point Kevin :D

Ah the happy power of theobromine. Apparently it reduces blood pressure for a period of time after the consumption of a bar of good chocolate (white chocolate doesn't count, sorry).  So anyone suffering from corona cabin fever should probably indulge in a bar of choco about every two hours.  ;) ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 19 May 2020, 20:26:08
On it! It makes more sense than injecting oneself with Lysol.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 20 May 2020, 10:04:54
On it! It makes more sense than injecting oneself with Lysol.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I had a quick think about the anti-malarial treatment. Given that I can't just summon up the hooch that Trump got, I may have to rely on quinine in tonic water, with ice and a slice with a few cherries and a small paper umbrella in it.  ::) ;) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 20 May 2020, 12:22:12
I recommend adding a splash of gin. The alcohol is a powerful disinfectant and combined with the quinine the virus will get hit with a double whammy!  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 20 May 2020, 12:43:37
As I have moved to Scotland I feel I should put in a word for the local sovereign remedy produced in many distilleries nationwide. It is an acquired taste which I have never acquired but my grandmother always reckoned that the efficacy of medicines could be reckoned by their aversive taste. The local hooch does have the advantage of supporting the exchequer which is complaining of short rations as well.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 20 May 2020, 12:48:01
Mmmmmm, G&T, shame I've just made a cup of tea. However I think I'll save that thought for later. :)

Update - having the G&T now  :) :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 20 May 2020, 17:52:20
Ah jil - you're onto a good thing there. My nana said that tea was a sovereign remedy. Sadly it had to be strong, black, and have about 6 sugars in it. However I have used it now and then and it has been good. The incentive to avoid a second cup can produce an improvement very rapidly.  ;) ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 21 May 2020, 01:50:56
A bit of left field fun.  ::)

I thought the  Swindon Magic Roundabout  (https://youtube.com/embed/s3Vd7dr33o8)was hard to negotiate.

This intersection does not any instructions.
 Meskel Square, the nerve centre of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  (https://www.youtube.com/embed/UEIn8GJIg0E?rel=0)

Anyone for a cuppa (pale orange in colour) after surviving that one.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 21 May 2020, 02:52:53
Swindon looks 8) once you get the hang of it, but Addis Ababa is :o

During vacations in the Canary Islands and Mallorca, we noticed there are almost no traffic lights at all, and only in the big cities.
Everywhere else just uses roundabouts - nothing complex like Swindon, just simple circles with no more than four branches.
I think my dad really enjoyed it!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 21 May 2020, 04:45:00
I've been round the Swindon one, I remember being really glad I wasn't driving!

All I can say about the Addis one, there are some very brave pedestrians there.

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 21 May 2020, 09:40:17
Wow!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 21 May 2020, 19:21:12
A bit of left field fun.  ::)

I thought the  Swindon Magic Roundabout  (https://youtube.com/embed/s3Vd7dr33o8)was hard to negotiate.
Been there, done that several times, got the scratch-and-sniff t-shirt. First trip over was about 2.30 one Monday morning after a long, and absolutely nuts, caving trip on Mendip with some novices who were - um - a bit over challenged by the sport. The M4 was closed so we were redirected through Swindon. I was driving the Yellow Van (about the size of supermarket home-delivery vans) and suddenly the sign for the Magic Roundabout came up. I yelled at my co-pilot 'What the Dickens do I do with this thing?'. He coolly replied 'At this time in the morning? Just drive straight across it'. He meant to circle across the roundabouts using the centre circle.  I just drove straight over the roundabouts without puncturing the tyres. For the next mile I was sure that we'd have the Boys in Blue chasing us. Luckily they were probably tucked up in bed, as we should have been!  ::) ::) ;D

This intersection does not any instructions.
 Meskel Square, the nerve centre of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  (https://www.youtube.com/embed/UEIn8GJIg0E?rel=0)
Oh mad mad mad - and the pedestrians crossing all over the place. One section of zebra crossing only goes half way across that side of the road. Amazing that no-one crashed.  :o

Anyone for a cuppa (pale orange in colour) after surviving that one.
I'll take a double please!  :o ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 21 May 2020, 22:19:37
What You Should Be Drinking, According to Your Favourite Game of Thrones House
House Arryn: Two Fingers of Whiskey
House Baratheon: Bacardi 151, Everclear or High-Proof Liquor.
House Greyjoy: Single-Serve Ale
House Lannister: Mulled Wine
House Martell: Classic Sangria
House Stark: Spiked Hot Cocoa
House Targaryen: Fireball
House Tully: Fishbowl
House Tyrell: Mimosa

Credits https://spoonuniversity.com/
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 22 May 2020, 15:05:36
Happy Birthday
Tegwen !


(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/eb/30/41/eb30412dc81c716398074b3498133427.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 22 May 2020, 15:09:20
Yes, indeed!

Happy Birthday, tegwen, and many more!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 22 May 2020, 16:46:19
Happy birthday Keith!  ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 May 2020, 17:12:20
Have a great day Keith.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 22 May 2020, 17:13:42
Northwind 1948
Jan 1 1948 starts a new year with this ditty in the log book.

Port side berth Baker, Pier Ninety One,
at the Naval station of Washington,
taking on water and power and phone from shore,
The Icebreaker Northwind lies moored as before.
Early in the morning at eight and thirty,
Checked magazines and small arms, none were dirty.
Nothing more to report this watch I fear,
except to wish all - A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Looks like this could be a fun voyage.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 22 May 2020, 17:20:42
Happy Birthday, Keith!

Great poetical find, Stuart!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 22 May 2020, 18:11:37
Happy Birthday, Keith!

Great find, Stuart - didn't we have a topic specifically for those? I seem to remember there were a few others we found...
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 22 May 2020, 18:16:17
Great find, Stuart - didn't we have a topic specifically for those? I seem to remember there were a few others we found...

Yup!
The Letters, Humor, and Art of Old Weather Logbooks (https://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=4249.0)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 23 May 2020, 13:16:31
A slightly belated ...

:D :D :D Happy Birthday Tegwen :D :D :D

(https://imgur.com/NQchUHW.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 23 May 2020, 13:43:41
Here's an interview (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/return-home-finally-in-sight-for-arctic-researchers-stranded-because-of-covid-19-1.5578445) with one of the scientists on the Polarstern which is frozen in the Arctic Ocean ice.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 23 May 2020, 14:04:37
Neat - Thanks for posting it!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 23 May 2020, 17:37:16
Thanks Michael :D

Looks safer than the Jeannette  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 26 May 2020, 19:39:24
How the Blob Is Warming BC's Fjords (https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/05/26/Blob-Warms-BC-Fjords/)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 27 May 2020, 00:10:44
Maybe the future OWers will transcribe about the Blob event in the ships logs.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 30 May 2020, 05:49:49

Happy Birthday browndogger

and congratulations for finishing your exams! ;)

(https://imgur.com/M8nDuvv.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 30 May 2020, 11:08:55
Happy Birthday
browndogger !


(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8c/a2/15/8ca215492bf837d246352c0b1cff5463.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 30 May 2020, 13:35:40
Happy Birthday BrownDogger!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 June 2020, 00:23:35
Happy Birthday
Helen J !


(https://www.queeky.com/sites/default/files/images/Nun%20Birthday.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 01 June 2020, 02:38:59
Thank you Randi - if I can't get a haircut sometime soon I may have to start wearing a wimple.  Though I don't think I have quite as many wrinkles as this ....  ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 01 June 2020, 03:07:52
Happy birthday Helen!

xx
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 01 June 2020, 03:13:48
Happy Birthday, Helen!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 01 June 2020, 04:15:59
Happy Birthday Helen!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 01 June 2020, 05:03:10
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Helen

etc  (smilly for you as my MS Edge will not give me icons)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Thursday Next on 01 June 2020, 14:45:45
Happy Birthday, Helen!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 01 June 2020, 15:28:46

A very Happy Birthday to you Helen

;D ;D ;D

(https://imgur.com/rlVADiH.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 June 2020, 16:10:42
(Well done, Joan!!!)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 01 June 2020, 16:43:00
Happy Birthday, Helen!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Dean on 01 June 2020, 17:41:28
Dear Helen:

(https://i.imgur.com/mtV7DWE.jpg)      (https://i.imgur.com/Pe4VikM.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 June 2020, 17:46:21
This man travels 14 hours by boat to bring food to his neighbors in Alaska each week (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/20/this-man-travels-14-hours-by-boat-bring-food-his-neighbors-alaska-each-week/)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 01 June 2020, 19:52:50
This man travels 14 hours by boat to bring food to his neighbors in Alaska each week (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/20/this-man-travels-14-hours-by-boat-bring-food-his-neighbors-alaska-each-week/)

Deserves a huge round of applause!!! :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Helen J on 02 June 2020, 10:25:19
Thank you all for your birthday greetings - special round of applause to Joan for that wonderful ship.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 06 June 2020, 11:45:59
Today would have been Craig's birthday...
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 06 June 2020, 12:13:51
 :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 06 June 2020, 12:31:15
 Happy birthday Craig. Wish you were still here to blow the candles out  :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Bob on 06 June 2020, 13:19:28
Remembering you, Craig.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 06 June 2020, 16:02:08
Very much wish you were still here, Craig. You were gone too soon.  :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 07 June 2020, 11:58:21
The NY Times article describing our project says: "How cool would it be to know the exact date and time and place that your great-great-great-grandfather stood on the deck of the Bear to record the frigid weather off the Alaskan coast?"

One might ask how cool it would be to know the exact date and time and place that your great-great-great-grandfather went AWOL and was hauled back forcibly to the Bear at a cost of $10 to the US Treasury.  ;D

;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 07 June 2020, 12:01:47
 :) :) :)

I do miss him!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 07 June 2020, 15:44:26
 Thanks for still making me chortle at the sailors' antics Craig :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 07 June 2020, 16:42:56
Absolutely nothing to do with anything on this forum, just a bit of fun.

Your laugh of the day. Her expression (or lack of) is so funny. They have to have incredible strength to do this. The highlight of the traditional circus acts is Die Maiers, a German duo of clowns. Theo Sabine Maier, dressed in a fussy maid's outfit with an inextricable small purse, does one of the best deadpan acts since Buster Keaton, and she's joined by her geeky-looking husband Joachim Mohr to perform the funniest and most surprising trapeze act within memory. (LA Stage Time)

https://vimeo.com/30014163 (https://vimeo.com/30014163)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 07 June 2020, 18:45:56
That was brilliant, especially the way she kept in character the entire time.  :) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 08 June 2020, 08:53:45
That was excellent fun Stuart. Amazing skills. It reminded me of Buster Keaton too :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 08 June 2020, 12:32:48
Here's another thing just for fun, that has absolutely nothing to do with OW:

24/7 livestream of astronauts working on the ISS (https://www.youtube.com/embed/DDU-rZs-Ic4)

I'm gonna play it on my personal computer while working tomorrow - that'll be something nice to look at while waiting for apps to startup/compile/whatever.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 08 June 2020, 12:36:39
 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 08 June 2020, 19:47:08
Here's another thing just for fun, that has absolutely nothing to do with OW:

24/7 livestream of astronauts working on the ISS (https://www.youtube.com/embed/DDU-rZs-Ic4)

I'm gonna play it on my personal computer while working tomorrow - that'll be something nice to look at while waiting for apps to startup/compile/whatever.

One could get dizzy watching that for some time. 
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 10 June 2020, 05:17:24
Whilst looking for info on weather front symbols I came across the BBC school education site.
 a 101 to weather symbols  (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zstcv9q/revision/1)

May be some help for old and new OWs alike.

I have to turn everything around but that is the price I to pay for being in the Southern hemisphere.  ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 10 June 2020, 09:39:43
 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 10 June 2020, 17:59:54
The BBC site is great - had to laugh at the first diagram showing where our UK weather types come in from. All weather systems lead to Rhome  ::)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 10 June 2020, 18:27:13
The BBC site is great - had to laugh at the first diagram showing where our UK weather types come in from. All weather systems lead to Rhome  ::)

Well Joan, I have to say I got a Very Warm welcome at your Home.  (Thanks) :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 11 June 2020, 05:56:20
The BBC site is great - had to laugh at the first diagram showing where our UK weather types come in from. All weather systems lead to Rhome  ::)

Well Joan, I have to say I got a Very Warm welcome at your Home.  (Thanks) :)

Awww - thanks Stuart - you were the perfect guest ;D The spiders webs have never recovered you'll be glad to hear ;)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 12 June 2020, 16:31:17
(I hope I have the right day.) Its the 13th today and coming up to it your way.

Happy Birthday Hanibal.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 12 June 2020, 16:35:13
(You have the right day, but it isn't the 13th yet here ;D)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 13 June 2020, 00:22:46
Happy Birthday
Hanibal94 !


(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/43C2txUCmt0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 13 June 2020, 10:07:06
Happy Birthday, Hanibal!!!

You keep us almost as young as you are! I'm glad you're on the team.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Bob on 13 June 2020, 12:59:41
Happy Birthday, Hanibal!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 13 June 2020, 13:22:27

Everyone on OW has come together to celebrate your birthday Hanibal!!

In the lower left corner Lord FlowerWater has requested a dish of the best water from the vase with which to write your card...

;D ;D ;D

(https://imgur.com/PvLLUVH.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Thursday Next on 13 June 2020, 15:53:34
Happy Birthday, Hanibal!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ellensmn on 13 June 2020, 17:44:32
Happy, happy Birthday, Hanibal!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 13 June 2020, 18:35:42
Quote from: https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/threads/12th-of-june-today-in-naval-history-naval-maritime-events-in-history.2104/post-33149
1881 - The sinking of the USS Jeannette - ex. HMS Pandora.

I would never have imagined that a ship would have such an effect on me. The glorious, but very sad, history of the Jeannette took me by storm, and still does. George Melville's book 'In the Lena Delta' is a scorching read about the expedition and the fate of them and those wonderful log books. :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 15 June 2020, 10:55:05
Thanks very much for the birthday wishes, everyone!

I've been going through old PMs - all the way back to 2013! - which has made me reflect on how long I've been with this project and community, and how much I've grown - from good things and bad things alike.
It's been great! I am proud to be part of this, and to have stuck with it for so long.
Even now, with a full-time job and other commitments, I am still determined to keep on contributing.

- Hanibal94
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 15 June 2020, 11:28:03
(http://clipart-library.com/images/pcqrkpXKi.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 15 June 2020, 11:30:30
It's been a joy watching you mature and take your place in the adult world where you can further develop your talents. You contributed a lot to earlier phases of OW and helped those of us who are less au fait with the latest quirks in internet provision. Especially once you realised how clueless some of us are and how much you have to specify before we know which keys to hit you have been a great resource. I'm sure you will stay around for a bit longer and, the internet being as it is, tip us off about the latest threats or explain the latest 'upgrade'.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 15 June 2020, 13:58:38
:-[ :-[ :-[


Belated
Happy Birthday
BrianG !


(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MH1ZJeKTQUY/TrvnCPQKWiI/AAAAAAAAAIs/gCxbjcdQoec/s1600/IMG_0791.JPG)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 15 June 2020, 15:39:13
Happy Birthday, Brian G!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 15 June 2020, 15:53:45


And a very happy belated birthday from me too Briang!

;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 15 June 2020, 23:34:16
Hope you had a great day Brian.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 15 June 2020, 23:35:56
Some nice Nat Geo pics.

 100-Year-Old Photos  (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/07/antarctica-expedition-archive-larsen-c/)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 16 June 2020, 10:04:44
Some nice Nat Geo pics.

 100-Year-Old Photos  (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/07/antarctica-expedition-archive-larsen-c/)

Great photos by Ponting :D  Sweet to see the Adelie penguins  8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 16 June 2020, 13:55:49
Very nice!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: briang on 19 June 2020, 08:38:11
Thank you all!

Very cool photos, thank you for sharing.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 22 June 2020, 10:14:28
Hottest Arctic Temperature recorded (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/21/arctic-temperature-record-siberia/).
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 22 June 2020, 17:33:22
Hottest Arctic Temperature recorded (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/21/arctic-temperature-record-siberia/).

 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

(https://i.imgur.com/7l4oQ2v.png?1.png)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 25 June 2020, 19:19:01
For those of you on Alaska duty, I thought this article about the Cape Spencer Light Station (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Spencer_Light_(Alaska)) would be interesting. I found it so. Goodness knows, Storis spends a lot of time supplying this station.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Maikel on 26 June 2020, 10:00:14
Maybe a bit before our log-books, right area, though. :)

Alaskan volcano sealed the fate of the Roman Republic, led to rise of the Empire

Alaska's Okmok volcano eruption in 43 B.C. had far-reaching impacts on climate in the Mediterranean, leading to famine and social disruption in the Roman Republic.

https://www.livescience.com/okmok-volcano-roman-republic-collapse.html
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 26 June 2020, 10:32:17
Very interesting, thanks for posting!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 29 June 2020, 11:06:04
Life in a city full of moose (https://weather.com/safety/news/2020-06-12-living-in-a-city-full-of-moose)

I really enjoyed this - quite a contrast to where I live, where it's rare and exciting to see a hedgehog!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 29 June 2020, 11:12:35
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 01 July 2020, 11:19:43
Fish eggs can hatch after being eaten and pooped out by ducks (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fish-eggs-can-hatch-after-being-eaten-pooped-out-ducks?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines) ;)
Quote
It's been an "open question for centuries how these isolated water bodies can be populated by fish," says fish biologist Patricia Burkhardt-Holm of the University of Basel in Switzerland, who was not involved with the work. This study shows one way that water birds may disperse fish, she says.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 02 July 2020, 08:52:09
Life in a city full of moose (https://weather.com/safety/news/2020-06-12-living-in-a-city-full-of-moose)

I really enjoyed this - quite a contrast to where I live, where it's rare and exciting to see a hedgehog!

Loved the moose by the sprinkler ;D  Pah! Hedgehogs? Got loads of them. Like mooses they can run faster than me, but they tend not to rush you and, if they do attack, you can quickly dodge behind a watering-can to save yourself  ;) ;) 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 05 July 2020, 00:09:14
Happy Birthday
Pommy Stuart !


(http://www.bakinglanguage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/birthday-cake-2.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 05 July 2020, 02:07:13
Happy Birthday, Stuart!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 05 July 2020, 03:43:04
Have a great birthday, Stuart!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 05 July 2020, 04:21:53
Many happies, Stuart   :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 05 July 2020, 07:22:52
Thanks to all.  :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 05 July 2020, 08:44:20
Happy Birthday, Stuart!!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Bob on 05 July 2020, 12:24:47
Happy Birthday, Stuart!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 05 July 2020, 14:08:35
  Happy Birthday Stuart, me old Salt

(https://imgur.com/2iMYrcv.png)

Thought you ought to eat a pasty before starting on all of that delicious birthday cake from Randi! Don't let the seagull get it!  ;) ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: mecordova on 06 July 2020, 10:55:00
Happy Birthday Stuart!!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 16 July 2020, 16:35:48
For those of you with a nostalgic view of lighthouses shed a tear

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-53263525
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 16 July 2020, 17:55:42
 :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 17 July 2020, 09:26:49
I'm sure that we visited that lighthouse when I was little. In fact it might be the very lighthouse that made me love them so much   :)

:'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: studentforever on 18 July 2020, 00:48:05
The latest update on Orfordness

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-53441631
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 18 July 2020, 08:28:43
I hope it goes smoothly.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 18 July 2020, 09:28:18
The virtual walk up the tower was fun :)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Caro on 19 July 2020, 07:02:40
Happy birthday Dean!

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 19 July 2020, 08:18:21

Happy Birthday
Dean !


(https://i.imgur.com/HXKEJUZ.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/kURjQ7T.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/aVXZ1jZ.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/mtV7DWE.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/Pe4VikM.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 19 July 2020, 09:15:12
Happy Birthday, Dean!!!

Hope it's a good one!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 19 July 2020, 09:29:19
Happy Birthday, Dean!
I hope you have many more!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 19 July 2020, 09:39:29
Happy Birthday Dean!
Hope you have a whale-sized, fun filled day!

(https://imgur.com/vpcqH9Q.png)

:D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 19 July 2020, 11:06:09
Happy Birthday, Dean!
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 19 July 2020, 11:54:53
From the National Snow & Ice Data Center

Quote
By July 15, 2020, Arctic sea ice extent was at a record low over the period of satellite observations for this time of year. The Siberian heat wave this past spring initiated early ice retreat along the Russian coast, leading to very low sea ice extent in the Laptev and Barents Seas. The Northern Sea route appears to be nearly open.

On July 15, Arctic sea ice extent stood at 7.51 million square kilometers (2.90 million square miles), 330,000 square kilometers (127,000 square miles) below the record for July 15, set in 2011. This places extent at the lowest level for this time of year on the satellite record.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 19 July 2020, 16:55:53
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 21 July 2020, 09:52:27
Today would have been Hurlock's birthday...
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 21 July 2020, 10:51:05
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

(https://d3d00swyhr67nd.cloudfront.net/w800h800/collection/OU/CHCH/OU_CHCH_JBS_220-001.jpg)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 21 July 2020, 13:11:39
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 21 July 2020, 13:53:45
What a lovely picture hanibal. Reminiscence of an old friend, Hurlock  :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( 
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 24 July 2020, 23:57:15
Nothing to do with sailing but a wonderful farewell to the last Qantas 747.

(https://i.imgur.com/su75fHs.jpg)

Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 25 July 2020, 07:09:14
Another airline was ditching 747s - can't recall who. Well --the planet will give a big cheer if that means less fuel use  8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 25 July 2020, 08:37:00
Another airline was ditching 747s - can't recall who. Well --the planet will give a big cheer if that means less fuel use  8)

Several are or have done it: KLM, Air France, and British Airways. Probably more.
Other old planes are also being retired sooner, like the A340 and A380.
But Lufthansa will be sticking with their more modern 747s (AKA 747-8) for now
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Michael on 25 July 2020, 09:00:57
 8)
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 28 July 2020, 20:57:07
Anybody having trouble with Google maps?
I am entering the like of
52 57n, 144 40w
and getting
Google Maps can't find 52 57n, 144 40w or anything below 60N

It will work with such as
62 57n, 144 40w

Noticed it only today that it does not like below the 60s
I have cleared the Chrome Cache and re booted. Same problem.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Randi on 28 July 2020, 21:17:10
59 57n, 144 40w gives me Alaska

58 57n, 144 40w gives me 58th St Pittsburgh, PA

Using Firefox

I never tried this before with Google maps, so I don't know if it is a change.



59 00n, 144 40w gives me Google Maps can't find 59 00n, 144 40w
59n, 144 40w gives me Google Maps can't find 59n, 144 40w
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 28 July 2020, 21:35:05
Tried in Firefox, same, no show.

Cut and pasted your data just to make sure my entry was correct.

 ??? ???
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 29 July 2020, 02:32:46
Anybody having trouble with Google maps?
I am entering the like of
52 57n, 144 40w
and getting
Google Maps can't find 52 57n, 144 40w or anything below 60N

It will work with such as
62 57n, 144 40w

Noticed it only today that it does not like below the 60s
I have cleared the Chrome Cache and re booted. Same problem.

I get the same results with both Firefox and Chrome on Linux.   :-\
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Maikel on 29 July 2020, 02:52:41
As an alternative, Bing Maps still works.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Hanibal94 on 29 July 2020, 08:39:15
OpenStreetMap works too, but only if you enter it like this:
52 57 N, 144 40 W

Or like this:
52 57N, 144 40W

I've reproduced the problem on Chrome and Firefox on Windows 10 and macOS, and Safari on macOS as well. Haven't seen it before either, but it has been some time since I last used online maps to find a place.
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: ggordon on 29 July 2020, 12:31:47
Based on this post in the Google support forum, it looks like this problem has existed for over a year.  Responders suggest using a different format to enter the coordinates.

https://support.google.com/maps/thread/5707572?hl=en
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 29 July 2020, 18:40:20
Thanks Gordon.
Ever since joining OW I have been using Maps to follow the voyages when I have trouble reading the places.
It has only happened to me this week.   ???

53 50 20, 156 12 50 gave me Sobolevsky District, Kamchatka Krai, Russia
53 50 20, -156 12 50 gave me a field in Neukalen, Germany and showed on google as 53?50'20.0"N 12?50'00.0"E  53.838889, 12.833333

(Can OW get the ships log transcribers to enter in decimal format?   ::)  )
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 29 July 2020, 21:38:25
This works.

https://wego.here.com/ (https://wego.here.com/)

Enter in Lat, long and it converts to decimal for you
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: Pommy Stuart on 30 July 2020, 01:37:13
Dead Penguins - who knew?
 
Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica?  Where do they all go?

Wonder no more!  It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird and lives an extremely ordered and complex life.  Penguins are extremely committed to their family and will mate for life, as well as maintain a form of compassionate contact with their offspring throughout the remainder of their life.

If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and their social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using only their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into, and buried.
After packing the ice back in the hole, the male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing:






"Freeze a jolly good fellow."
"Freeze a jolly good fellow."

You really didn't believe that I know anything about penguins, did you?

It's so easy to fool OLD people!

I am sorry, an urge came over me that made me do it!!!

Oh, quit whining; I fell for it, too...
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: jil on 30 July 2020, 03:52:08
 ;D
Title: Re: Chat - 2020
Post by: AvastMH on 30 July 2020, 09:06:19

The old ones are the best ones Stuart!
 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I'm going to ask Tom Hart to set up a few cameras to see how many penguins it takes too dig those burial sites.  Not sure how the younger penguin volunteers on PW will take to it, but it is, after all, just part of life's rich pageant.  ;) ;D ;D