invincibility, garlic, and powers of two

[da]

The first thing anyone said to me yesterday morning was "I've seen two people killed right here." Salt and pepper beard, bike helmet. We were waiting for the light to change at the edge of the University, and had just watched a young guy, no helmet, bike out in front of a car. We chatted a bit. He's been working here for 20 years.

Today my jacket smells wonderful, like garlic and onions. Last night I made a convert to the joys of Spanish Potato Tortilla. It's a really easy recipe, except for the next-to-last step of "when it's half-way set in the middle, flip it onto a plate then slide it back into the pan." Which is always much easier than it sounds. I'm thinking about making an Instructable.com video or something, because tortilla's just too tasty to not share.

Finally: I like when powers of two show up in the day-to-day (what, me, geek?). Dan pointed out to me recently that miles-to-km is much more accurate at 8/5 than 3/2. On my commute this morning I had a (very small) realization that if your miles happen to be a power of two, you always get powers-of-two on both sides. And it's an easy calculation: multiply by 16 (bit-shift right 4) and divide by 10. So: more accurate than 3/2, quicker if you remember your bit-shifts, and more satisfying numbers too. 160 miles? 256 km. (only 1.49km off the real value). Going the other way, km-to-mile is divide by 16 and multiply by 10. 1024 km? 640 miles. See? Satisfying. At least, if you're me. :)

Comments

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

Look at the first word of your title. Try to pronounce it. Correct the typo. :-)

[insaint.livejournal.com]

Now all I need is to learn my bit shifts. ;)

[psychedelicbike.livejournal.com]

I don't see the problem here:

In - vinca - bility

It's the property of certain soil types that make it impossible to grow woody herbs of the family Apocynaceae. I didn't really see how it applied to his topic, but I suppose that roads which you drive on are certainly invincable.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

If well-sized, you flip tortilla a la española when its 7/8 done. Usually this is achieved by putting a plate over the pan, turning it out, then sliding it back in until just set, resulting in a nicely-browned top.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Oh, and don't forget the manchego, else the flavour will be all off. Cheddar just does not makea a good substitute.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm always surprised when I go to Waterloo or Montreal (well, okay, in Montreal it's not as surprising because it seems in line with the overall life sense there) and so *few* cyclists wear helmets.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

In Pennsylvania, most bikers don't wear helmets. That was the case in Maryland, too, until their helmet law was passed. Some 30 states here don't have helmet laws.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

d'oh- firefox's underline-spellcheck let me down; it doesn't work for regular input fields, only textboxes. ;)

gnee

[dawn-guy.livejournal.com]

miles : kilometers :: hexadecimal : decimal

[mynatt.livejournal.com]

Ontario has one which only applies if you're under 16, and Quebec doesn't have one, which I think is ridiculous. I figure any society with state-sponsored health care has the right to nag you to put your helmet on. Here in Montreal, very few people wear them, which is just dumb. (Me, I wear a helmet and a reflective vest.)

[mynatt.livejournal.com]

Heh, it's true. I think it's dumb that here in Montreal almost no-one wears helmets, but it doesn't really surprise me, either.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh it's a wonderfully fun operation, the turning. My favourite part is after it's gotten back in the pan, tucking the edges under to neaten things up. :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not (heresy!?), our tortilla is cheeseless. Oil, potatoes, onions, garlic, egg, salt, and pepper.

One of these days, I'll visit España and get the real deal. :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Heh. Back in the day, computers didn't have fancy compilers, I had to etch the bits by hand...

Seriously, I don't divide by 16 in my head very well. but for any power of two under 65535, I can divide by two four times. :)

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Heresy, no, somehow a rather Wrong, though, and i declare that as a certified member of Team Wrong.

If you find yourself/selves going to Madrid, do let me know; i've friends there i may be able to arrange a rendez-vous, ar conjunto if you'd rather, with. I know at least one of the pair speaks English and French.

Re: gnee

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Miles are a myth - just put them out of your mind, thing of happy things, and go back to sleep.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

For some reason, my brain just told me, "Damn the Sumerians, full speed ahead."

Probably had something to do with counting base 60, but I'm not even sure.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

Well, OK, heresy would be with chicken, instead of egg.

Hm- or maybe with, also with cheese, which might be very tasty. :)

I would very much like to visit Almodovar's city- almost as much as I want to see Barcelona. Heh. You're making me want to plan a trip to Spain. :)

[kraig.livejournal.com]

Should the government be allowed to nag you to do other things too?
* smoking (but it makes a buttload off taxes)
* drinking alcohol (ditto)
* diet - cut out fatty foods? red meat?
etc.

While I agree in principle, it's a very shady line that leads us back down the road to leper colonies. ("See Billy? That's where all the smokers live. They're evil because they deliberately poison themselves. Let us now drive away over the speed limit in our perfectly legal SUV that gets worse mileage than a main battle tank. But we paid our carbon taxes, so it's ok.") I exaggerate a bit for comic and dramatic effect, but there is a line and I'm not sure where it should be drawn.

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I do believe that "freedom" arguments start to hit walls when people other than the "victimless victim" are victimized. (As an example, I really hate when bicyclists don't use lights at night on the trail between the university and our house, because I need to know they're there.)

Seat belt laws are to me the "purest" example of restrictions of freedom that can be justified (reluctantly) on the basis of the freedom restriction being damn small, relative to the public health benefit. But it's definitely a slippery thing to grab.

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

Too close to chicken quiche. You and merle_ are talking too much!

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

As I said before, I'm a syncretist- Layer and laid, equally holy.

Chicken quiche sounds tasty right now.

Heh, and google ads are trying to show me a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup, and an ad for "www.chicken-house.co.uk: automatic chicken door."

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

For me from a purely physics standpoint, bike helmets fall in the same category as seat-belts. They won't save you if you get t-boned by a dumptruck, but their cost (mussed-up hair; remembering to bring the helmet with you; slightly awkward hat-wearing if it's cold out; headgear with straps under the chin) is grossly out-weighed by their benefit.

Drop a head from six feet onto concrete, moving sideways at anywhere from 10-45kph. With no helmet, it *will* have severe concussion at minimum; with helmet, it *might* have minor or no concussion.

Since even the safest bicyclist why cycles regularly is destined to hit their head sooner or later (because the safest cyclist still has to deal with the rest of us bozos ;)
it seems to me an easy sell that it should be on the same side of the line as seat-belts for cars. But then, I don't care about hat hair or wearing straps, and four years ago I did fall and hit my head, and was fortunate enough to only scrape up my arms and legs a bit.

[mynatt.livejournal.com]

I understand your point, and in general I think they ought to be allowed to nag me more than outright forbid me to do things. Here, we're not allowed to smoke in workplaces (including bars), or be served alcohol if we're already smashed, and that's definitely okay by me. I don't want to move that fine line very far, but I would like to include some pressure to wear bike helmets, at least for children.

Also, I feel strongly about this because my helmet has saved me from a skull fracture, at least twice. (You should have seen the helmet afterwards.)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

In the "things to think about" department: so far as I know, there are no laws specifically forbidding people from cutting in line.

I wonder whether "gentle societal suasion" might be a strong enough impulse to get adults to wear helmets.

This morning, I saw a guy slowly biking up the left side of the ring road. He thanked me when I warned him how dangerous it was, and immediately moved to the right.