Every single book I've ever read is just a different rearrangement of 26 characters. What are some things that, although obvious, are still somewhat amazing to you?

youshallnotpass1234 · 3 days

I hope I do this justice.

If you take a word like "act" and translate it into digits where a=1, b=2, then you'll get a number like 010319 (in regular base 10 you do 01 and 02 so 19 has the same number of places---in 26 base you use letters then can convert just like binary or hexidecimal).

Then you take that number and put a decimal in front of it get .010319. In other words, a number between zero and one which can be expressed as a decimal or fraction.

Then you take a message or a book or the bible and go letter by letter converting into this giant number which then becomes a very long, precise decimal.

You then take a toothpick and measure exactly that far into it (halfway being .5, etc.) and make your mark. BAM - you have encoded all of that information onto said toothpick.

Now I will grant you that you need some precise technology to make this happen for the measuring, the marking and the reading of the message - but we have manipulated individual molecules, so this can't be too far from reality.

tldr; an entire encyclopedia can be encoded on a single toothpick

the_wizard_guy · 7 days

I was working at an all night taco fast food joint. This nasty chick wouldn't listen to the guy in charge of our shift because we were all just "associates" or whatever they called peons. She started giving him shit, and she could have basically rolled him into a taco and ate him, so I jumped in and told her to just do it because he is in charge and even if he wasn't it's your damn job to do it anyway!

jjjwalker101 · 7 days

The Thing was amazing. (1980s)

The Road with Viggo M. Isn't horror but that movie disturbed my wife and I so much. It stayed on our minds for weeks. We would be quietly doing things around the house and then one of us would bring up something from the movie that bothered us and the other would be like yeah I can't stop thinking about that.

mehatch · 10 days

I see what you mean.

themightypierre · 18 days

Last Action Hero

Cute story. Great campy humor. Mocks the classic movie cliches.

hksteve · 19 days

Holy Shit!

Empyrean_Luminary · 1 month

You smug bastard!

kazin420 · 1 month

I was an independent contractor for a tiny company earning straight up commission only. Top sales every month. But the owner was a bit of a nazi about being on time and making a minimum number of calls, which was tracked by the phone system. Make enough calls and your commission rate was bumped an extra 5% to 20% instead of 15%. That is a lot of money.

So I collected a list of phone numbers that I kept on paper at my desk and whenever I needed a few minutes to write up some notes or read a comic (no reddit for me back then) I would dial up, say, a drive in theater and the automated service would tell me all the movie times, etc. without missing a beat.

I ALWAYS got that bonus.

The other thing was I got sick of arguing about being on time since as a contractor fuck that shit. So I told him I had irritable bowel syndrome and sometimes can't just make the drive until I'm cleaned out and that I was embarrassed about it so lets never mention this again.

We never mentioned it again.

And I took long shits without anyone saying a word. Too bad I didn't have a smart phone back then!

Anarchaeologist · 1 month

Good stuff! Lots of fun, and action. Stainless Steel Rat was also very good. This does make me think of Bil the Galactic Hero (two l's are reserved for officers only).

Hey, it's bowb your buddy week!

silentnoise · 1 month

Ummm yeah they are actually legally banned from delivering traditional mail. The USPS has a legal monopoly on that one.

silentnoise · 2 months

This may not be what you are looking for, but..

Mail delivery is better handled by FedEx right now, in competition with the USPS.

Private education is famously superior to US public education.

I almost think a better question is are there any examples of roles the government has taken over that it hasn't either fucked up or spent waaaay too much money to accomplish?

principal_gamer · 2 months

It jibes with where I live.

touristofcatan · 2 months

THIS JUST IN: STUDENTS WHO GIVE A SHIT AND TRY TO PASS EXAMS TURN OUT TO ALSO BE SMART ENOUGH TO PASS SAID EXAMS.

luftwaffles · 3 months

I watched a video of Dr. Paul where he said if his daughter had been raped he would want her immediately to get a shot of a hormone that would prevent/end conception I forget the chemical but basically he would encourage her to do that to avoid pregnancy without even knowing if conception had taken place. Sounds like a morning after pill to me, sort of.

playpianoking · 3 months

I agree with the WWMonk that this may not be a power granted to the federal govt. but reserved for the people/states. PLUS let me be the first to say that I still get fucking calls even on my cell phone from places and automated machines and I cannot even get a hold of a person to complain or find a phone # they are calling from to report.

By which I mean they're as good at enforcing this as they are at delivering mail and counting votes in Maine.

principal_gamer · 3 months

Thanks for not killing me.

SeaweedWater · 3 months

The straw poll doesn't actually mean anything other than influencing public opinion. The caucuses will still select delegates to send to the state caucus and then Tampa.

principal_gamer · 3 months

His dad said he had a really bad day and night. Maybe his vitals were back to normal and they released him.

principal_gamer · 3 months

principal_gamer · 3 months

I have a general idea and didn't get to be Principal by having reddit make all my administrative decisions for me. But I am interested in what you guys think.

principal_gamer · 3 months

What doesn't add up?

principal_gamer · 3 months

What the fuck do I work with you???

principal_gamer

TROPHY CASE

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