The Changing Definition Of 'Kilogram'
DrLudicrous writes "The NYTimes is reporting that the platinum-iridium standard mass for the kilogram is shedding at an appreciable rate -- at least compared to other reference masses. The Pt-Ir cylinder is kept in France, and measured annually, and the slight discrepancy is important because the kg is an SI base unit- thus other quantities such as the Volt are based on it. A new standard is being sought- the two frontrunners are counting the number of atoms in a perfectly spherical single crystal of silicon, and another technique uses a device known as the Watt balance."
The weirdest thing happened to me tonight. I went out to a restaurant and had a dinner with a large helping of asparagus. Later, I took a piss, and it just reaked!! Is that smell from the asparagus? If so, what causes it?
Even if you're in America and use British Imperial units, you're still in the minority. You see, America is a continent, not a country. Really, feel free to look it up in any world map, U.S. currency, or best of all, the document where the country got its name:
h tm l
http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.
"We the People of the United States...do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
If you'd like to look at some maps, here you go:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas.html
I mean, how could there be North, Central and South America when a country tries to call itself "America" all by itself? This is as silly as if France or Germany tried to call itself "Europe"... Not to mention that North America includes Canada and Mexico! (that's right people, Central America starts with Guatemala).
But I've digressed and gone off-topic enough, so mod me to oblivion.
to get around NY Times registration?
Once upon a time whilst strolling in a park near my house...I asked a geek "Do you have a girlfriend?". He responded with a very puzzled look. "A girlfriend?," he mused, "Who is the developer?". I chuckled and told him this was not an open source project. He then became slightly angry and told me "Are you trying to insult me? Only the best geeks use open source only!". I reassured him I was well aware of his integrity as a geek (white skin, clumsy, pants that are too short, lack of daily shower, etc), but a girlfriend is a female who to a male (most oftenly a male) has an intimate friendship. He gave me a very confused look. "I have never heard of such a thing.. this.. g-g-irlfriend?" He asked me, sounding very baffled. "I have heard of friends before, those pets other people have. But what is this thing you say.. Grill?". "Girl," I corrected. Then I asked him to sit down on a bench nearby so I could explain it too him, the poor, helpless thing. I told him that for human beings to reproduce, sexual intercourse must occur between a male and a female. "Perhaps you hear the trolls mention a thing called "pussy" on slashdot?". The geek burst into laughter, "Haha, you have been browsing at -1 lately, haven't you? You know that is just troll talk. Those silly trolls never have anything intelligent to say." My face turned serious. "My dear geek, are you not aware of the female population amongst you? Do you not stare in the street and want to hump a post when you pass by a hot, slim, gorgeous looking chick with a firm bust and well sculpted ass?". The geek immediately began to appear as if we was having a nervous breakdown. His glasses began to fog up and he took them off to wipe them with this linux embroidered shirt, "I think I know what you are talking about. Those things are icky. They have cooties. Get away from me!" I felt offended. "Nonsense, I pleaded! Pussy is a beautiful thing. A sacred thing." The geek would not listen and he began to cry. "STOP IT!! You are EVIL!!" He then skipped off. I walked back to my house quite sad. Why don't they listen to me I asked myself? When I got home my girlfriend opened the door. She was wearing short-shorts and a sports bra. She had been doing the thigh master for the past 30 minutes and was sweating. I could see her dark nipples underneath her slightly damp bra. Oh god I could fuck her to the moon and back. I could smell her horniness the second I took my shoes off. I chased her, both of us laughing, to our bedroom [THE FOLLOWING has been censored for the well-being of Geeks].... Six hours later, finally satisfied a little, I sat up and noticed that same Geek hiding in the trees. He had been watching us the entire time. I swear his penis had to have been the size of a fucking horse cock (not bad for a geek, i might add), and he appeared as if he had gone into a state of shock. I could see cum stains forming near the bulge of his pant zipper. I thought to myself. There is one geek, finally brought into the real world.
I wish I had come up with it myself.
Informative?
Awesome.
Seriously. What the hell.
moderator... crackhead... ass... head... crack.. fuck..
Thank you slashdot, my brain is now leaking out my ears.
kilo ? About right.
I know this is off tpoic, but it must be read by all on Slashdot as it is of immediate importance to the survival of the human race. Please read this poast to get a clearer understanding of humanity's tru nature. This is VERY iportant. PLEASE read the poast!!! THen respond kindly.
Sheesh, every time I turn on the news it's yet something else that the French have fsck'ed...
You're silly.
ASCII silly question, get a silly ANSI.
WTF? I call moderators on dope on this... 40% redundant? I couldn't care less about the karma, but find me a post that stated that the original poster should care about problems with the metric system even though he uses inches, feet, and yards because those units are defined in terms of metric units posted before mine.
I for one welcome our new SCOviet Russian overlords to whom all our base are belong.
Looked it up. (sigh)
"The first American dictionary was written by Noah Webster in 1828. At the time America was a relatively new country and Webster's particular contribution was to show that the region spoke a different dialect from Britain, and so he wrote a dictionary with many spellings differing from the standard. Many of these changes were initiated unilaterally by Webster.
Webster also argued for many "simplifications" to the idiomatic spelling of the period. Somewhat ironically, many, although not all, of his simplifications fell into common usage alongside the original versions, resulting in a situation even more confused than before.
Many words are shortened and differ from other versions of English. Words such as center are used instead of centre in other versions of English. And there are many, many other variations."
It was at 4:25am on the morning of May 27th 2003 that, after many failed attempts to resuscitate the dying OS, *BSD finally passed away. While *BSD has been in it's death throes for many months now and it's death has been foreseen for many years, this is still a very sad moment; a great loss for OS dilettante dabblers and *BSD lovers the world over. Though *BSD has passed away, it will surely be fondly remembered for years to come by users, developers, and trolls alike. Even if you didn't enjoy using *BSD, there's no denying it's contributions to popular OS culture. Truly a Berkeley icon. It will be missed :(