Random Thought of the Day

I'm not sure where I saw the demonstration of the Universe like an expanding balloon, but that gives the wrong impression.

Matter is fairly evenly distributed. It would be more like a dust cloud as a whole.

To be even more correct, it would be more like an expanding dust cloud with only a portion of it visible. The actual size of the cloud is unknown, but from inside it we can see only so far. Kind of like standing on a high point of land. You can only see so far in any direction, even though there is more beyond your vision.

However, I stand (or sit) to be corrected. : )

Quote: rxwine

I'm not sure where I saw the demonstration of the Universe like an expanding balloon, but that gives the wrong impression.

It's an analogy. The purpose is to demonstrate that galactic clusters don't move much relative to each other, but the space between them expands. Analogies are always inexact.

My wife is on the phone screaming at Dish for inexcusable screw-ups in billing.

We had the same problem with Centurylink/Direct TV

I often say we just would not have internet and satellite/cable TV if it wasn't for her willingness to go through all this kind of crap. I would go insane, not worth it.

Quote: odiousgambit

My wife is on the phone screaming at Dish for inexcusable screw-ups in billing.

We had the same problem with Centurylink/Direct TV

I often say we just would not have internet and satellite/cable TV if it wasn't for her willingness to go through all this kind of crap. I would go insane, not worth it.

The nice thing about over-the-air digital TV, the rates never change. They show more or less commercials. That's all they can do.

Of course, you can only watch very limited broadcast, and reception is spotty, but in that weird way that digital is spotty.

Quote: rxwine

that weird way that digital is spotty.

I think I know what you are talking about ... there doesn't seem to be an accepted description for it. A nephew says it is when the signal is weak in the digital age, it means incomplete; instead of the snowy or faint TV images of yesteryear, you get pixelation errors. Digital Voids may have been how he described it; that doesn't come up on google though.

You also get voids in the sound instead of noisiness. Thank God the TV doesn't just start making weird sounds!

I have heard you get a lot of these problems with a TV that just picks up over the air broadcasts, more than with cable or satellite.

I am an "on-call" dog sitter for an acquaintance whose job involves from time to time travel upon little or no notice. while performing my dog sitting and refrigerator-raiding duties, I watch dish tv. some of the channels are pure trype but the reception seems good unless there is a rain storm or thunder storm at which time I get a Loss of signal screen that pretty much tells me to wait five minutes.

Working with Google Earth to look at some of my hunting spots and it made me review the thing about magnetic north and true north.

According to the image below, it's off about 9 degrees [edit, see below]. That's a lot.

Fortunately, using a compass, you use bearings generally by the compass and you just stick with it, so it doesn't matter. I do use handheld GPS too, though, so I must have chosen magnetic bearings as a setting or I think I would have noticed. Gotta check that.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

]

PS: my GPS makes a 9 degree adjustment for the area I see now. So I looked at the chart again and I think I did forget how far west Virginia goes, I am in fact probably very close to the 10 degree line shown. Plus, I believe it changes, the chart is for year 2000?

time to review that TeleVision Makes Dopey Children mnemonic and know about Deviation and Variation just to see if your GPS is going to lead you astray.

Man, the WOV site is being bombarded by robocrap.

Quote: rxwine

Man, the WOV site is being bombarded by robocrap.

Yeah, almost as bad as "fleastiffcrap". As a matter of fact those thread posts were foreign language gibberish... moving your mouse over them is all it would have taken to activate a download link.