What have you learned today?

[Xprimentyl]

There was an all-female metal band called Rockbitch. They performed nude, did sex acts on stage, and at their concerts, they would throw condoms out into the crowd; whoever got the "golden condom," male or female, was invited backstage to have sex with the band.

 

[Gordon_4]

Jensen Huang and Lisa Su, respectively the ceo's of Nvidia and AMD, are related. His grandfather and her mother are siblings.

This puts the recent bouts of one up-manship between the two brands in a very different yet hilarious light.

 

[Worgen]

Today I found out the weird history of how the word 'gay' came to mean homosexual.

How ‘Gay’ Came to Mean ‘Homosexual’

Today I found out how ‘gay’ came to mean ‘homosexual’. The word “gay” seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French word ‘gai’, which in turn was probably derived from a Germanic word, though that isn’t completely known. The word’s original meaning...

www.todayifoundout.com

 

[Drathnoxis]

That you can hide the latest posts sidebar on the Escapist. Now I don't need to look at any posts from current events, because that's all the sidebar was good for.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Is it generally legal and where to buy a ticket?

Legal? Don't know, but the band disbanded in the early 2000s, so the issue is a moot one. Besides, they're ostensibly in their mid-50s now; formed in the early '80s, so give them their 20s +30 years. The appeal of being mauled by cougars isn't quite as appealing as having been mauled by the feral cats they were. Also, would you really want to? I mean +30 years later, how many shows would you have missed? Sloppy seconds is one thing; sloppy several hundredths is something else and nothing to brag about and nothing desirable.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

https://www.makeuseof.com/nikola-teslas-best-inventions/amp/

Wasn't aware how many of his contributions were still in use today.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I learned what a "Boodle Fight" is. It's basically a Filipino smorgasbord where a bunch of food is prepared and everyone stands around the table eating.

Listen, get yourself some Filipino friends ASAP. We had two Filipino women (long-time friends of my girlfriend) stay with us for the weekend, and these women literally kicked us out of our own kitchen and prepared some of the most amazing food I've ever put in my mouth. I couldn't tell you what half of it was, but every bite was delicious.

 

[09philj]

I learned about how in WW2 the German armed forces issued a lot of their personnel with pure crystal meth as a stimulant and the Americans and British decided to copy them. (Although the British exercised a lot more oversight in its distribution and only game it to pilots.) A lot of German and American soldiers therefore ended up addicted to meth. Apparently the USAF still does this today which is how two pilots high on meth killed four Canadian soldiers in a friendly fire incident in 2002.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I learned about how in WW2 the German armed forces issued a lot of their personnel with pure crystal meth as a stimulant and the Americans and British decided to copy them. (Although the British exercised a lot more oversight in its distribution and only game it to pilots.) A lot of German and American soldiers therefore ended up addicted to meth. Apparently the USAF still does this today which is how two pilots high on meth killed four Canadian soldiers in a friendly fire incident in 2002.

The British precautionary measure was to only give it to pilots? I don't know how meth works, but as with most substances that affect behavior and judgment, it would seem a pilot would be the last person I'd give something like that to. Also, if true, it was a terrible idea across the board for all countries involved; what ever happened to a nice cup of coffee or a good night's rest? Seems the leap to meth was a bit extreme. Simpler times, I guess; "simple" as in Simple Jack from Tropic Thunder, chasing butterflies with a hammer.

 

[09philj]

The British precautionary measure was to only give it to pilots? I don't know how meth works, but as with most substances that affect behavior and judgment, it would seem a pilot would be the last person I'd give something like that to. Also, if true, it was a terrible idea across the board for all countries involved; what ever happened to a nice cup of coffee or a good night's rest? Seems the leap to meth was a bit extreme. Simpler times, I guess; "simple" as in Simple Jack from Tropic Thunder, chasing butterflies with a hammer.

Pilots got regular rest but also needed to be on call at a moment's notice and sometimes had to fly quite long hours, hence giving them a stimulant if they were a little groggy, but it could only be issued by a medical officer, unlike in the Wehrmacht where everyone had it all the time. Everyone involved realised fairly quickly that having your troops all addicted to meth was a bad idea and stopped, except for the USAF.

 

[Dalisclock]

I learned about how in WW2 the German armed forces issued a lot of their personnel with pure crystal meth as a stimulant and the Americans and British decided to copy them. (Although the British exercised a lot more oversight in its distribution and only game it to pilots.) A lot of German and American soldiers therefore ended up addicted to meth. Apparently the USAF still does this today which is how two pilots high on meth killed four Canadian soldiers in a friendly fire incident in 2002.

It's funny. A German friend of mine mentioned this a few days ago and my response was "What? Why have I never heard of this before?"

 

[Xprimentyl]

Pilots got regular rest but also needed to be on call at a moment's notice and sometimes had to fly quite long hours, hence giving them a stimulant if they were a little groggy, but it could only be issued by a medical officer, unlike in the Wehrmacht where everyone had it all the time. Everyone involved realised fairly quickly that having your troops all addicted to meth was a bad idea and stopped, except for the USAF.

If Breaking Bad taught me anything, it was that meth isn't a stimulant, but educating oneself via popular entertainment probably isn't the most efficient method. Still, doping your troops sounds like a broken and bad idea in ANY version of reality.

 

[Baffle]

If Breaking Bad taught me anything, it was that meth isn't a stimulant, but educating oneself via popular entertainment probably isn't the most efficient method. Still, doping your troops sounds like a broken and bad idea in ANY version of reality.

AFAIK, meth is a strong stimulant, but you've got to keep taking it to stay up (that is, it isn't a slow-burn drug).

 

[Xprimentyl]

AFAIK, meth is a strong stimulant, but you've got to keep taking it to stay up (that is, it isn't a slow-burn drug).

I always thought meth had more of a heroine sort of effect, i.e.: a stupor-inducing euphoria, but never having tried anything that severe, my knowledge of such things is limited.

 

[Dalisclock]

I've been reading a book about the Delphic Oracle and so far it's been talking about how the Lore is actually fairly inconsistent. THe whole "Getting high off fumes and raving incoherently" isn't mentioned at all until the Roman era and often these accounts are from Christians, who strangely enough, did not have a high opinion of the divination. There's still no actual explanation for exactly how the Oracle was meant to do her divinition so this secret was apparently kept very well.

Apparently it was also customary to ask the Oracle questions in a manner such as "Is it better to do to X or Y?" or "Who is the best god to pray to before doing Z?". Asking Direct questions such as "How can I win this war?" was apparently highly unusual. Croesus of Lydia apparently sent Envoys to her and all the other oracles and asked them "What is King Croesus doing at this exact moment?"(and apparently all the envoys were meant to present the question to all the oracles at the same time) to see which oracle got it the most correct.

So that was interesting.

 

[Agema]

Yeah, the avocados require way too much water, so plantations in general aren't great for the environment and particularly disruptive in areas where they wouldn't normally grow.

Funny thing I found out and hadn't known before: all those vineyards in lovely plains which are great agricultural land is a waste of good land. Grape vines grow well on crappy hillsides and don't need to occupy primo arable real estate.

I suspect, however, growing them on hillsides makes them much harder to pick, as that's frequently industrially done by machines which will much prefer smooth, level terrain.

 

[Kae]

Funny thing I found out and hadn't known before: all those vineyards in lovely plains which are great agricultural land is a waste of good land. Grape vines grow well on crappy hillsides and don't need to occupy primo arable real estate.

I suspect, however, growing them on hillsides makes them much harder to pick, as that's frequently industrially done by machines which will much prefer smooth, level terrain.

Interesting, I didn't know that, but now I understand why the grape farms are where they are on Enseneda, regardless even if that is the case and I agree they could be better used for something else, we cannot deny how much logistically easier it is to conduct the farming operation in plains rather than a hill, so it's not like I do not understand why it happens.

 

[Agema]

I always thought meth had more of a heroine sort of effect, i.e.: a stupor-inducing euphoria, but never having tried anything that severe, my knowledge of such things is limited.

Nope, meth is a stimulant. Amphetamines are very similar in effect to cocaine.

The trick with meth is that it can be smoked and achieve an extremely rapid absorption, which plus ready access to the central nervous system means it delivers a bgger, faster high (heroin and crack cocaine highly effective for the same reason). Amphetamines normally last a few hours, although of course if you've had a whopping high at the start, this might make the later phase comparatively less interesting.

 

[Terminal Blue]

The British precautionary measure was to only give it to pilots? I don't know how meth works, but as with most substances that affect behavior and judgment, it would seem a pilot would be the last person I'd give something like that to.

As someone who is essentially taking amphetamines most days now. At controlled doses, they don't really affect judgement at all. In fact, they can measurably improve cognitive performance. For me as someone with ADHD, I don't really feel anything at all, it's just replacing the neurotransmitters I don't get enough of naturally so the only effect is that I'm more emotionally stable and have more motivation and concentration. For someone without ADHD the effects would be a bit different, but neurotypical people take ADHD meds (which are essentially low doses of slow-acting amphetamines) in order to study all the time because they do improve cognitive performance for a lot of people.

I think the whole "meth is not a stimulant" thing probably comes from the fact that stimulants don't always make you want to run through walls, in fact stimulants can make you feel more relaxed and calm. It kind of depends what exactly they're doing to your nervous system and what the dosage is. When people use stimulants recreationally they typically want to feel high and euphoric all the time, but that's generally not the case when you're using them in other contexts.

Using meth on soldiers was probably a bad idea though.

Drugs which work like amphetamines are also used as diet pills. In fact, amphetamines used to be very common in diet pills before they became controlled substances. It's one reason why women in the 1950s were so skinny.

 

[Satinavian]

Funny thing I found out and hadn't known before: all those vineyards in lovely plains which are great agricultural land is a waste of good land. Grape vines grow well on crappy hillsides and don't need to occupy primo arable real estate.

I suspect, however, growing them on hillsides makes them much harder to pick, as that's frequently industrially done by machines which will much prefer smooth, level terrain.

I was always under the impression that nearly all vinyards are on hillsides. At least that is how it is done in pretty much every wine region i have ever visited. I suppose it can be done on plains, but is that really that common ?