what I have learned today.

[T42]

Vroom is that way --------------------------------------------------->

[Ham]

That Formica was originally created as a replacement for mica in switches and the like.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'd always assumed the name referred to ants in some way!

[ElyDave]

Probably uses either formaldehyde or formic acid in some part of the process. 

[rafletcher]

Apparently not, it’s a contraction of “For Mica”.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Two things I learned yesterday:
That kestrels and probably some other raptors can see infrared.
That streaming a full length movie uses as much electricity as boiling 10 kettles (almost all in the datacentre rather than your home comp).

[Kim]

That streaming a full length movie uses as much electricity as boiling 10 kettles (almost all in the datacentre rather than your home comp).

BRITISH kettles or inferior leftpondian kettles?   

AIUI that energy to stream a movie figure still wins over watching it on DVD^[1], because of the physical transportation, and the embedded costs of making a dedicated video-playing device that sits around doing nothing when you aren't watching movies.

Presumably there's a break-even point for physical media that's easily achieved when your smalls watch Frozen^[2] for the eleventy-zillionth time.


_{[1] Other disc-shaped optical media are available.
[2] Other annoying Disney films are available.}

[T42]

That kestrels and probably some other raptors can see infrared.

And some women have not just red, blue & green cones in their retinae but another set that can see further into the red end of the spectrum and possibly into the near-IR range.

In raptors it's a means of finding prey...

[caerau]

Two things I learned yesterday:
That kestrels and probably some other raptors can see infrared.

Some spiders can see in the Ultraviolet also.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That streaming a full length movie uses as much electricity as boiling 10 kettles (almost all in the datacentre rather than your home comp).

BRITISH kettles or inferior leftpondian kettles?   

AIUI that energy to stream a movie figure still wins over watching it on DVD^[1], because of the physical transportation, and the embedded costs of making a dedicated video-playing device that sits around doing nothing when you aren't watching movies.

Presumably there's a break-even point for physical media that's easily achieved when your smalls watch Frozen^[2] for the eleventy-zillionth time.


_{[1] Other disc-shaped optical media are available.
[2] Other annoying Disney films are available.}

AIUI that calculation had previously concentrated on the energy used at the viewer's end for streaming and is now reckoned to have vastly underestimated the energy used at the datacentre. Though presumably at least some of that is used anyway just keeping the place going. I don't know where the balance is, but all copies of Frozen should be destroyed.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That kestrels and probably some other raptors can see infrared.

And some women have not just red, blue & green cones in their retinae but another set that can see further into the red end of the spectrum and possibly into the near-IR range.

In raptors it's a means of finding prey...

[Kim]

AIUI that calculation had previously concentrated on the energy used at the viewer's end for streaming and is now reckoned to have vastly underestimated the energy used at the datacentre. Though presumably at least some of that is used anyway just keeping the place going.

The energy used at the viewer's end's going to be a small fraction of the total, regardless.

And yes, the datacentre will use about the same amount of power if the service is idle.  Except that these things average out, and more racks of blinkenlights get installed as demand increases, so it's not unreasonable to argue that if you weren't streaming that movie, the datacentre would be proportionally smaller.

It also occurs to me that it's easier to power telecoms infrastructure with renewable energy than it is to power global transport infrastructure with it...

[Cudzoziemiec]

I wonder how it compares to going to watching at the cinema. Or television. Presumably a lot of variables: cinema – film stock or digital projection? TV – screen size, LED/plasma/CRT? I dare say all the cinema, TV, DVD and streaming watching globally uses less energy than the production of those movies and shows.

[Kim]

I wonder how it compares to going to watching at the cinema. Or television. Presumably a lot of variables: cinema – film stock or digital projection? TV – screen size, LED/plasma/CRT? I dare say all the cinema, TV, DVD and streaming watching globally uses less energy than the production of those movies and shows.

I expect the cinema uses more energy because you're heating/cooling a building which people then travel to, with the actual projecting of the film being a small part of that total.

You're probably right about production, especially when cast and crew are getting flown all over the place to do it.  I wonder how animation/VFX compares to filming actual stuff?  Less energy building things and moving people/stuff around, but instead you've got armies of people slaving away at computers for long periods.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Not to forget that a lot of animation is actual stuff. Both models (animatronics, claymation, etc) and real drawings and paintings on paper, card or transparent plastic. And there must be other types as well.

[Tim Hall]

That kestrels and probably some other raptors can see infrared.

And some women have not just red, blue & green cones in their retinae but another set that can see further into the red end of the spectrum and possibly into the near-IR range.

In raptors it's a means of finding prey...

Ah, does this mean Rudyard Kipling was onto something?

[caerau]

.... but all copies of Frozen should be destroyed.

Can't you just let this one go?

[T42]

That kestrels and probably some other raptors can see infrared.

And some women have not just red, blue & green cones in their retinae but another set that can see further into the red end of the spectrum and possibly into the near-IR range.

In raptors it's a means of finding prey...

Ah, does this mean Rudyard Kipling was onto something?

I couldn't possibly comment.

[Mrs Pingu]

Mental note: when going out for an evening's entertainment and setting the oven to automagically cook you a great chicky dinner for your return, make sure the clock is set to the correct version of BST vs GMT. #hangry

[caerau]

Well I learned today that cookers that can do that actually still exist. I haven’t seen one that can since the 1970s. A strange regression in technology whilst everything else advanced.

[Mrs Pingu]

Why is it a regression in technology?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Because it is (was thought to be) no longer available?

I think ours has that function, but if it does I've never used it. Mind you, I think it only turns itself on, not off. Hmm, that sounds too silly, must have got that wrong. Perhaps I'll read the (rather large) manual.

[Basil]

I've never used that function, even though it exists on our oven.  I assume it is for rewarming stuff rather than actual cooking, as mostly cooking involves a pre heated oven rather than a slow warming.

[Kim]

Ours can definitely do it.  I know this because every power interruption and daylight saving change results in a digression into cancelling the timer I accidentally set while working out what cryptic invocation of the buttons sets the clock.

Thanks to the combined efforts of various Western Power Distribution engineers, I've finally worked out how to do it properly.  I predict those neurons will be recycled some time in the middle of October.

I've never actually used it, thobut.  Seems redundant when you have  a) a microwave  and  b) a slow cooker, and a fire hazard if you're not actually at home.  Maybe for getting the sprouts going at audax o'clock on Christmas morning?

[Mrs Pingu]

Our oven doesn't recommend pre-heating, weirdly, not that I care when it's just baked taters. We don't have a microwave or a slow cooker. It's a function I've only used 2 or 3 times in 4 years.