Confess your dumbness

[propita]

Metric conversion:
Water freezes at 32 degrees F, and 0 degrees C.
Water boils at 212 degrees F, and 100 degrees C.
One inch = 25.4mm
One liter = 33.8 fluid ounces
One gallon = 3.8 liters (according to the top of a urinal)

That's all I really need to remember.

Sometime ago, a classmate asked me how many grams were in a Lund (I have no idea why they needed to know). I said, "453.5924."

Yeah, I know that to 4 decimal places. Had to convert it for years and years at work and it was easier to memorize than look it up all the time.

 

[auntiehill]

I am completely math illiterate. It takes me forever just to figure the tip on my bill.

One of my daughters is mathematically challenged as well. I taught her this trick for tipping.

Look at the total of he bill (78.53 for example).

Drop the rightmost digit, and adjust the sign in your head (7.85).

Round up to the next dollar, it never hurts to tip a little over (8.00)

If giving 15%, half that number and add it back ( 8.00 / 2 = 4.00. 8.00 + 4.00 = 12)

20% you double it and add it back. ( 8.00 * 2 = 16.00 )

She doesn't even need the tip calculator on her phone for tips now.

I figure out what 10 percent is first because that's easy. If the bill is 70 bucks, it's 7 dollars. Then I double it. So I would give 14 about.

Usually I just guess though. :P

Sales tax here is 8.25%, so I just double that to leave a tip, adding or subtracting in relation to the service. That's pretty much the best I can do.

 

[Sigokat]

I'm currently stationed in Afghanistan. They do not recognize daylight savings time here and we are also an extra half hour ahead of other time zones. I've been here for 6 months now and I still can't figure out what time it is back home in the United States because that extra 30 minutes always throws me off.

You can type, "What time is it in....?", whatever your hometown is, into Google, and it will tell you.

Hope that helps any.

Thanks. What I actually did was just saved a time converter website to my toolbar and I click on that in the afternoon so I can see what time it is back on the east coast so I know when to call home LOL

 

[MacLeod]

Unit conversions. I have down that four quarts make a gallon. Inches - feet - yards, I'm okay there. Everything else? Frak if I know!

You'll find metric so much easier no need to convert.

Don't I know it. If only that were the case. Unfortunately, being from the States pretty much guarantees that, unless I choose to convert from an English teacher to a Science teacher (and take all the necessary classes to do so) or move out of the country, I'll have no meaningful interaction with the Metric system in my lifetime.

Well saying that the UK uses a hybrid system with a litttle of metric and imperial.

A lot of people will still give their hight in feet and inches, weight will be in stones and pounds. Though in a supermarket evertyhing is by the kilo

Long distances will be miles. I.e it's 100 miles to Glasgow. Fuel usage rates for transport is given in MPG (that's the imperial gallon ~4.5l)

Tempature is more or less given in Celsius.

You can still buy milk by the pint(well you are actually buying 568ml).

But I was one of those brought up with both systems.

Changing is not an overnight process, it can take decades. Of course some people don't like change because it's what they've always known, but it's not about us it's about our children and how it will impact on them.

 

[ITL]

Changing is not an overnight process, it can take decades. Of course some people don't like change because it's what they've always known, but it's not about us it's about our children and how it will impact on them.

I seem to recall it didn't take too long for us to get used to the decimalization of money. Mind you, even to this day my mum and dad can still calculate in the old system if you ask them to. I mean, look at this:

Two farthings = One Ha'penny. Two ha'pennies = One Penny. Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and one Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea.

Good grief!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I have this huge dumbness I need to clear up. I am not sure under what circumstances (all?) IP addresses can be seen.

When you send an email from a web based email service such as hotmail, gmail? Can it be seen by the email recipient?

When you post to a blog in the comments section? Can it be seen by the blog owner?

When you post on a forum (I realize forums may vary), can the forum owner/admin etc.. see your IP address?

 

[ITL]

^ When I was an admin of a small ProBoards forum I could see the IP in the top right corner of every post. Normal users couldn't. And a friend of mine with a blog knows exactly where his readers are viewing it from even if they don't comment!

 

[Jono]

My spelling is rubbish and my grammar is not much better.

I also say "cinnamon" instead of "synonym".

As my friends have pointing out, I never recognise when someone is hitting on me or interested in me. Is that a thing? Socially dumb or something...

 

[Portal]

I saw a sign once that said: Esta--blished. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what esta blished was. It took about 3 months before it suddenly dawned on me that it was established.

 

[scotpens]

I saw a sign once that said: Esta--blished. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what esta blished was. It took about 3 months before it suddenly dawned on me that it was established.

Reminds me of the gag at 1:07 in this Benny Hill clip:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB5dmv9WYVY[/yt]


One time I was reading an internet blog about film analysis and criticism, and an unfamiliar word kept popping up. The word was "docus," which I assumed rhymed with "focus." I wondered what the hell it meant until I realized it was pronounced "dock-yooz" -- Variety-speak for "documentaries"!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

(thanks ITL!)

There's a street here called Hotham street. I always pronounced it in my head as hot ham street. Then one day I said it out loud..

 

[RJDiogenes]

Grape: Things are affected by something. Or, things have an effect on other things.

So "affect" is passive and "effect" is active. Thanks. That's helpful.

Well, not really. The same verb can be used passively or actively.

"Nine states were affected by the hurricane." -- Passive voice.
"The hurricane affected nine states." -- Active voice.

The only time "affect" is a noun is when it means feeling or emotion, and then it's pronounced "AF-ect," with the stress on the first syllable. You seldom hear it outside the psychiatric profession.

This is about as clear as anything I've read on the use of "affect" and "effect."

The Af-ect definition I never had a problem with, actually; I worked in health care for many years. Those examples are very helpful, and thanks for the link.

An easy way to remember it in most circumstances is:

Affect = action
Effect = result

Now that's very good. I like tricks like that. The only way I can remember which is port and which is starboard is because port and left have the same number of letters.

Yeah.

You can say like "My great knowledge has AFFECTED my company." as in an action.

or

"My great knowledge has left a lasting EFFECT on my company." as a result.

More examples, excellent. Maybe now I'll finally get it through my head. Thanks everyone.

 

[Pingfah]

I used to think Eegid was a real Irish word.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

One of my daughters is mathematically challenged as well. I taught her this trick for tipping.

Look at the total of he bill (78.53 for example).

Drop the rightmost digit, and adjust the sign in your head (7.85).

Round up to the next dollar, it never hurts to tip a little over (8.00)

If giving 15%, half that number and add it back ( 8.00 / 2 = 4.00. 8.00 + 4.00 = 12)

20% you double it and add it back. ( 8.00 * 2 = 16.00 )

She doesn't even need the tip calculator on her phone for tips now.

I figure out what 10 percent is first because that's easy. If the bill is 70 bucks, it's 7 dollars. Then I double it. So I would give 14 about.

Usually I just guess though. :P

Sales tax here is 8.25%, so I just double that to leave a tip, adding or subtracting in relation to the service. That's pretty much the best I can do.

My 10% x2 rule is easiest I think.

Also because I don't know how much our tax is here. More dumbness on my part.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

I have this huge dumbness I need to clear up. I am not sure under what circumstances (all?) IP addresses can be seen.

When you send an email from a web based email service such as hotmail, gmail? Can it be seen by the email recipient?

When you post to a blog in the comments section? Can it be seen by the blog owner?

When you post on a forum (I realize forums may vary), can the forum owner/admin etc.. see your IP address?

I work at a web company and we are able to view all of our users IP addresses.

Also when you post to a blog, yes the webmaster or whoever approves the comments can see it.

You can use IP checkers after to find out the exact location of a user.

As for email recipients, no I don't believe that is revealed. However, the host (Gmail, etc.) probably has that data.

 

[scotpens]

I used to think Eegid was a real Irish word.

I used to think Tom Lehrer's "Irish Ballad" (aka "Rickety-Tickety-Tin") was an actual old Irish folk song, rather than a parody of one.

Of course, I was only 12 at the time.

 

[marksound]

I have this huge dumbness I need to clear up. I am not sure under what circumstances (all?) IP addresses can be seen.

When you send an email from a web based email service such as hotmail, gmail? Can it be seen by the email recipient?

When you post to a blog in the comments section? Can it be seen by the blog owner?

When you post on a forum (I realize forums may vary), can the forum owner/admin etc.. see your IP address?

I work at a web company and we are able to view all of our users IP addresses.

Also when you post to a blog, yes the webmaster or whoever approves the comments can see it.

You can use IP checkers after to find out the exact location of a user.

As for email recipients, no I don't believe that is revealed. However, the host (Gmail, etc.) probably has that data.

Emails that come through my website's mailer form show the sender's IP address, but I'm sure that's a function of the script. I'd have to ask my webmaster.

 

[Leviathan]

Never, EVER, agree to check if a rag smells like chloroform...

 

[iguana_tonante]

I am horrible at remembering people. Hardly it passes a day without someone smiling, waving, or greeting me, and I have absolutely no idea who they are. I have learned to live with it, and how to avoid making a fool of myself (well, mostly), but sometimes it can be quite embarrassing.

I must admit I rarely pay attention to people, so in the end it's just a mass of indistinct humanity to me.

Also, my less than perfect and highly idiosyncratic command of English is not outside the purview of dumbness, as I've been using the language for a whole bunch of years now. Not being a native speaker might cut me so slack, tho.

 

[marksound]

I never forget a face. I'm not great with getting names, and it might take me a while to pull it up, but the face is something that always clicks.

My wife laughs when we're watching tv and I say that I recognize someone. She knows I'll either remember where I saw them or look them up on IMDB.