patrick.net

indigenous says

You equate the theory of relativity to playing solitare while people wait in a long line?

Uh, yeah, The Theory of Relativity is kind of a big deal compared to crappy customer service.

indigenous says

Any idea where this is?

Is that a serious question?
If it isn't India then it's a neighborhood that has a large Indian population. Usually for those neighborhoods, there is not difference between there or home.

thunderlips11 says

indigenous says

It is hard to top the hubris of a "public servant."

Hey, if Einstein hadn't been goofing off at the Swiss Patent Department, we wouldn't have the Theory of Relativity.

If you have a source for that, I would be curious to read it. As far as I know, Einstein worked seriously at the patent office, where he was eminently qualified for his job, and did his other work on his own time.

Regarding the woman playing solitaire in the photo, it's interesting to see how some people presume guilt without knowing the circumstances. The photo appears to have been taken probably in India more than a decade ago. Indian infrastructure is notoriously overloaded. It is conceivable that the phone lines or computer network might have been down, leaving everyone with no choice but to wait. You could probably find similar photos of exchange pit traders waiting for a bell to ring, they work hard when the exchange is open but at other times they wait. It is a Faux News / Republican meme to blame government workers while paradoxically extolling the military, but any combat veteran can tell you there is a lot of "hurry up and wait" in that job, including playing cards between battles. The photo is funny but it doesn't have necessarily a larger meaning about whole categories of people, the "other side" can present a photo like this one the same way:

The placard seems to have been printed and carried by stereotypically ignorant Tea Party Republicans who don't realize Medicare was always a government program, but the placard might be a false flag attack, and in any event it doesn't mean everyone in the larger group is that ignorant. Similarly, I like the film festival ad for GoneDoggyGone.com.

This is what it's really for:
http:/.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/243553-so-what-is-this-tank-catapult-solved/

zzyzzx says

This is why taking a physics class is important. Conservation of momentum and kinetic energy are important. Impulse = momentum or Ft = mv is a linear relationship whereas KE = mv^2 is not. Hence, a little momentum can give a lot of kinetic energy to a low-mass hamster. The velocity of the big ball is not reflective of the velocity the hamster will be launched at.

Right. Perhaps someone could re-brand the "for dummies" book series. For example, it could be called

"Basic Science for Republicans"

Some of the titles could beL

"Heat-trapping properties of CO2 (for Republicans)"

"Hydrogen (H2) -- why it doesn't just come out of you water pipe (for Republicans)"

There are endless possibilities.

zzyzzx says

Stop fucking bears.

mmmarvel says

That is such a Creed (from The Office) thing to say.

Dan8267 says

mmmarvel says

That is such a Creed (from The Office) thing to say.

I love The Office.

zzyzzx says

Thank God for the porn industry, or we might drop down to #10.

Ceffer says

Thank God for the porn industry, or we might drop down to #10.

Their mandatory testing and length of suspension on infection is so stringent that it's very likely not them.

indigenous says

Any idea where this is?

India.

Safety First

curious2 says

If you have a source for that, I would be curious to read it. As far as I know, Einstein worked seriously at the patent office, where he was eminently qualified for his job, and did his other work on his own time.

Ist Hier:

When Einstein was asked how things functioned in the Patent Office, he replied that above all one must be able to express clearly and correctly the wording of the original patent from the description of the discovery and the patentee's claims. The work was not particularly exciting and apart from one or two exceptions it was rather soul destroying. In any case one had to sit every day for eight hours on a stool and in return for that one was given a decent wage.
...
Einstein felt free; free of academic authority and rules, and thus the Patent Office was a comfortable place for Einstein the free-thinker to hatch his most beautiful theories.
Rudolf Kayser, Einstein's son in-law writes in his biography on Einstein, "He soon discovered that he could find time to devote to his own scientific studies if he did his work in less time. But discretion was necessary, for though authorities may find slow work satisfactory, the saving of time for personal pursuits is officially forbidden.
Worried, Einstein saw to it that the small sheets of paper on which he wrote and figured vanished into his desk - drawer as soon as he heard footsteps approaching behind his door. If he had been discovered, he would have been ridiculed as well as harmed. The Director [Friedrich Haller] would have laughed at him in addition to being angry; he was too great a positivist to think much of speculative science".
...
It appears that Einstein used to write his notes on "small sheets of papers", because later one of the students at the University of Zurich described him entering class with
notes "the size of a visiting card on which he had scribbled what he wanted to tell us". On these papers Einstein very likely wrote his path breaking 1905 papers;
and these small sheets of papers the size of visiting cards could perfectly enter his desk-drawer without being discovered by Haller.

Wörk ist der Key to SücceB, nein? Nein Göofing üff.

(Switzerland is rumored to be Germany, on Steroids):