Math - Old school style

I'd never really thought about it, but someone pointed out to me recently that the Romans really did have to be able to multiply using their number system, regardless of the lack of zeros it offered. Just like we memorize up to 12x12, they had to memorize what letter combinations yielded what, and from that perform long multiplication. Oy!
It is explained in greater detail here. Read on and be amazed! Or don't and be normal.

http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.98/jenkinson1.html

Red Queen

Did you ever stumble across something and find it both nothing like what you were looking for and yet very interesting?
Look up 'Red Queen' in Wikipedia. I was trying to find it if it was another name for Mary, Queen of Scotts. Instead, I find an article discussing the theory of the evolutionary arms race and the advantages of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction. This is about a month after reading an article on the fact that some scientists have created technologies that essentially allow a woman to reproduce asexually (why, and who's willing to fund stuff like this?). Plus I wonder if this is the principle upon which the game Spore is designed, where your competitors develop specializations to compete with your own specializations.
As a race, it strikes me that humans have specialized via different cultures that emphasize affinity towards a given skill. As a stereotype, Russians are very good at math and chess and other logics. Indians are very good at programming, and the Japanese at precision, repeatability and quality. Where does that place Americans? Are we good 'out of the box' thinkers? If so, and if that theory applies to this situation, does that preclude other nations from developing blue sky thinking qualities because they evolve to compete by specializing in something else?

I posed these questions to a couple of friends with whom I feel I can ask these things. They came back with:

Isn't the stereotype (real or not) cultural-based also? How much affect on the development of those specialties did the local resources have?

To which I replied:

A question for a question: How many of these stereotypes developed post world war 2, when the cultures began to shift with respect to the global nation? No longer was there the desire to conquer, but to distinguish. I would suggest that pressures of the outside world shaped perceptions of that culture as much as, if not more than, local resources.

The topic is on going.

Funny story

In an effort to come to terms with my being an 'adult', I've attempted to take a more handyman role. I've got a background basic tools, internet access, and enough small problems around me that I often feel up to the task of at least one thing. I also have the advantage of renting at the moment, so serious issues that might arise can be dealt with by calling in the landlord. Admittedly he can take a while to get back to you, but that's an 'adult' risk right?
My first task involved replacing a classic mercury based thermostat with an electronic one where you can preprogram in temperatures for different days and times. This was a complete success.
Next, I replaced the faucet in the sink as one of the handles had gotten broken off. This, also, was a complete success.
By this point I'd begun to ride high on these successes. Perhaps I am an adult after all.
Then came the shower.
Our shower has two problems with it. 1) The hot and cold on the single dial are reversed, so hot water comes out first instead of cold, contrary to both the label and showers in general and 2) it occasionally has a slow leak. We don't pay for our water, so a slow leak wouldn't bother me except for the fact that we do pay to heat the water. Each drip felt like a penny falling down the drain.
At one point my in-laws come for a visit. We, of course, warn them about the shower so they don't have to experience quite the learning curve we did. Towards the end of the trip, my father in-law points out that fixing a problem like this is often quite easy. One can remove the handle with a single screw, and hidden behind it is a dial one turns 180 degrees to reverse the hot and cold feeds, restoring it to the way it should be. This sounds simple enough, so I took it under advisement.
About 3 weeks later, I actually found myself bored in the apartment. My wife was at her Spanish class and I began to hear the dripping again. Thus began my attempt at a hat trick.
The handle came off easily enough, but the dial was not to be found. So, I naturally venture online for some guidance. Sure enough, a handyman site comments that sometimes these showers have a second cap with a little screw between you and the dial, after the handle comes off. With that knowledge in hand, I return to my task, neglecting to notice that I'm on page 2 of the instructions.
Page 1 mentions the importance of first turning off the water.
As I begin to remove the screw, a small trickle of water beads down my hand. I think nothing of it, rationalizing that maybe some water was stuck in pipe between the tub faucet and shower head. Continuing to untwist the screw the water continues to trickle out, but it's so small it's hardly noticeable.
Then I get the screw out.

boom.


Within about a tenth of a second I am completely soaked. The blast of the water has nearly knocked me over and I quickly jump out of the tub. This now geyser of fluid is ejecting what seems like a shower's worth of water 4 times a second, and all through that tiny hole. What's more, it's not spraying it into the tub. We have a fiberglass shower stall with a curved back. The water is hitting that back, slaloming out of the shower, down the bathroom door and onto the floor.
I'll admit, I was a little awed by the sheer volume of water that could be pumped through such a tiny hole. I was tempted to ponder the philosophical meaning of such a thing, but this was no metaphor, and I had to get the damn screw back into it's little hole. Alas, the force of the water made that rather difficult. Plus, if you will recall, it defaults to hot water.
Several moments later, after a multitude of burns and a complete lack of success trying to re-block the water with my little screw, I opt for a new tack. Mostly I adjust the shower curtains to stop the water from shooting out of the tub and throw down all the towels to soak up what water that has begun to pool there. I then sit down for a moment to clear my head and consider my options.
At this point, I've got about 20 minutes before my wife gets back from class and has a bit of a nervous attack, mostly directed at me, for doing something so stupid. I could try to call the landlord, but it'd take me at least 20 minutes to find his number, assuming he'll answer, and assuming he'll get over here, it's safe to say that option will result in several hours of waiting, which would probably drain several great lakes through this tiny hole.
Finally, it dawns on me that I can, if nothing else, use the original handle to twist the water flow over from hot to cold. That way, while I'm still fighting the pressure to get the screw in, at least I'm not scalding myself.
4 tries later and some more swearing, I'm able to twist the knob. This does two wonderful things 1) The water does indeed go from hot to cold and 2) water now flows out the tub faucet. Suddenly the flow out the tiny hole drops to nothing. I race to put the screw back in and reassemble the entire fixture. I then mop up what water remains on the floor and gather up the soaked towels. This done, I collapse into my chair as I hear the front door open. The wife comes in to see me completely exhausted and soaked.
We've opted to live with our hot and cold being reversed. We're moving soon anyway.

Airflow around a Godzilla!

Taken in an actual wind tunnel a few years ago, this proves that Godzilla was not designed by aerospace engineers.