Mundane News

[Reynard]

Salmon, smoked haddock and scallops au gratin, a jacket potato and steamed, buttered greens.

*burp*

 

[Reynard]

As has been reported from the inventor of the test & Dr Fauci commented that anything over a 30 cycles was useless, others have placed the limit lower.

That's just basic mathematical theory, really. You inevitably get to a point where doing any more iterations of an experiment or calculation or process is just over-egging the pudding.

Think of it this way:

You take a piece of string and you cut it in half. And then you take one of the halves and halve that, so you now have quarters. You can cut each quarter into eighths, then eighths into sixteenths etc etc etc. You can keep on cutting those pieces into progressively smaller bits, but you get to the point where it's useless cutting them any further even though theory says you can, because in theory, you can do this infinitely. In practice, you can't. Well, unless you start fannying around with an electron microscope...

Plus, in practical situations, you have to decide what is an acceptable margin of error. Because nothing is ever perfect.

But just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean you throw good, useful data out of the window.

 

[classic33]

That's just basic mathematical theory, really. You inevitably get to a point where doing any more iterations of an experiment or calculation or process is just over-egging the pudding.

Think of it this way:

You take a piece of string and you cut it in half. And then you take one of the halves and halve that, so you now have quarters. You can cut each quarter into eighths, then eighths into sixteenths etc etc etc. You can keep on cutting those pieces into progressively smaller bits, but you get to the point where it's useless cutting them any further even though theory says you can, because in theory, you can do this infinitely. In practice, you can't. Well, unless you start fannying around with an electron microscope...

Plus, in practical situations, you have to decide what is an acceptable margin of error. Because nothing is ever perfect.

But just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean you throw good, useful data out of the window.

I can see just one problem with that. A piece of string was defined, by an American college/technology insitute, as "25% of it original length". Meaning a " piece of string" couldn't be half it's former length.

 

[Jenkins]

Fantastic set put on by She Drew The Gun tonight. Now enjoying a wind down beer.

Slight panic before I set off this morning when I couldn't find the house keys. After a 10 minute search they were located outside in the (unlocked) back door lock

 

[classic33]

We have a hailstorm here. Bouncing back up around six inches!

 

[Reynard]

I can see just one problem with that. A piece of string was defined, by an American college/technology insitute, as "25% of it original length". Meaning a " piece of string" couldn't be half it's former length.

So, can you explain why, when we're asked how long is a piece of string, the answer is always "twice as long as half?"

 

[Reynard]

Missing someone very much this evening...

 

[classic33]

So, can you explain why, when we're asked how long is a piece of string, the answer is always "twice as long as half?"

You've been getting it wrong all this time.

 

[Reynard]

You've been getting it wrong all this time.

Philosophy is the dark side, you know... Best not to go there...

 

[classic33]

Philosophy is the dark side, you know... Best not to go there...

The 25% figure was the result of, paid for, scientific research to answer the age old question of "How long...".

 

[Gravity Aided]

I may only get 2 inches of snow for my habitual midweek snowstorm for tomorrow.

 

[classic33]

I may only get 2 inches of snow for my habitual midweek snowstorm for tomorrow.

You sound disappointed.

 

[slowmotion]

Having spent a miserable few hours grappling with HMRC's Self Assessment website, I have come to the conclusion that I was never cut out for a career in accountancy.

 

[Reynard]

The 25% figure was the result of, paid for, scientific research to answer the age old question of "How long...".

Or they've digressed into string theory, where things really do start to get *really* strange...

 

[Reynard]

I have made myself a

Was the last teabag in the box. I shall have to open a new box tomorrow.