BC STRANGE THINGS

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@TubeTimeUS 5 years, 6 months ago 465 views

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let's order strange things from NIST! first up is this jar of reference peanut butter. it's only $881 per jar!

but it's no ordinary peanut butter. it's got a MSDS! and a datasheet!

ok technically it is only $881 per *three* jars.

but why would you want this peanut butter? it comes with certified amounts of particular substances in it, so it's good for calibrating equipment used in the food industry to measure regular ol' grocery store peanut butter.

but NIST has a lot more than just peanut butter. oh my. you won't believe the goodies i've seen!

here, have some breakfast cereal! it comes in a pill bottle.

it'll go well with your...uhhh...whale blubber

no, what we need is some milk. you can pick fortified or unfortified milk but sorry, it's contaminated. oh also, it's human.

all right, that's not very appetizing. let's have some meat homogenate instead. actually that's probably just wet cat food 😂

couldn't find a photo of it, but maybe we should just eat "typical diet"

after eating all of that reference material i really... uhh... 💩
yes, this is powdered sewage.

there's other urban waste products too, like this Urban Dust.

or how about some THC? yes, from marijuana. however, it's been peed out by someone and is freeze dried. how'd they collect this stuff anyway?

perhaps they have a Reference Joint, similar to this standard cigarette.

some of these substances are a bit cruder than others.

huh, it's a standard bullet and a standard shell casing

you can also buy dirt.

huh, this must be the "health food" section of the NIST store. it's only slightly more expensive than Whole Foods

anyway, feel free to browse the store yourself. https://t.co/iwmINX6RTQ

their "news and updates" section also has some amusing headlines.
https://t.co/ZU0IoxKzhZ

i just love the generic packaging. reminds me of this stuff.

oh no

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John Myles White
@johnmyleswhite

This post is pretty bizarre, but it manages to hit on so many false beliefs that I've seen hurt junior data scientists that it deserves some explicit

(1) The notion that R is well-suited to "building web applications" seems totally out of left field. I don't feel like most R loyalists think this is a good idea, but it's worth calling out that no normal company will be glad you wrote your entire web app in R.

(2) It is true that Python had some issues historically with the 2-to-3 transition, but it's not such a big deal these days. On the flip side, I have found interesting R code that doesn't run in modern R interpreters because of changes in core operations (e.g. assignment syntax).

(3) "Most of the time we only need a latest, working interpreter with the latest packages to run the code" -- this is where things get real and reveal some things that hurt data scientists. If this sentence is true, it's likely because you don't share code with coworkers.

(3) Really is a broader issue in data science: people only think of what they need to do their work if no one else existed and code was never maintained. Junior data scientists almost always operate on projects they start from scratch and don't have to maintain for long.

George Mack
@george__mack

THREAD: 15 of the most useful razors and rules I've found.

Rules of thumb that simplify decisions.

Bezos' Razors:

• If unsure what action to take, let your 80-year-old self make it.

• If unsure who to work with, pick the person that has the best chances of breaking you out of a 3rd world prison.

Skinner's Law:

• If procrastinating on an item, you only have 2 options:

1. Make the pain of not doing it greater than the pain of doing it.

2. Make the pleasure of doing it greater than the pleasure of not doing it.

Luck Razor:

• If stuck with 2 equal options, pick the one that feels like it will produce the most luck later down the line.

I used this razor to go for drinks with a stranger rather than watch Netflix.

In hindsight, it was the highest ROI decision I've ever made.

Bragging Razor:

• If someone brags about their success or happiness, assume it’s half what they claim.

• If someone downplays their success or happiness, assume it’s double what they claim.

The map is not the terrain.

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Anshul Pandey
@Anshulspiritual

Rig Ved 1.36.7

To do a Namaskaar or bow before someone means that you are humble or without pride and ego. This means that we politely bow before you since you are better than me. Pranipaat(प्राणीपात) also means the same that we respect you without any vanity.

1/9

Surrendering False pride is Namaskaar. Even in devotion or bhakti we say the same thing. We want to convey to Ishwar that we have nothing to offer but we leave all our pride and offer you ourselves without any pride in our body. You destroy all our evil karma.

2/9

We bow before you so that you assimilate us and make us that capable. Destruction of our evils and surrender is Namaskaar. Therefore we pray same thing before and after any big rituals.

3/9

तं घे॑मि॒त्था न॑म॒स्विन॒ उप॑ स्व॒राज॑मासते ।
होत्रा॑भिर॒ग्निं मनु॑षः॒ समिं॑धते तिति॒र्वांसो॒ अति॒ स्रिधः॑॥

Translation :

नमस्विनः - To bow.

स्वराजम् - Self illuminating.

तम् - His.

घ ईम् - Yours.

इत्था - This way.

उप - Upaasana.

आसते - To do.

स्त्रिधः - For enemies.

4/9

अति तितिर्वांसः - To defeat fast.

मनुषः - Yajman.

होत्राभिः - In seven numbers.

अग्निम् - Agnidev.

समिन्धते - Illuminated on all sides.

Explanation : Yajmans bow(do Namaskaar) before self illuminating Agnidev by making the offerings of Havi.

5/9

Stephen Bush
@stephenkb

Some quick thoughts on Sam Gyimah's resignation after conversations with various Conservative MPs: 1) the chances of a second referendum are a lot higher than I thought:

2) At this point, if you are a young and ambitious Tory MP it is now so overwhelmingly in your interest to vote against the withdrawal agreement. V v hard to see how Julian Smith can cap rebellion at under 100:

3) Really just to reiterate 1) Gyimah is the kind of "No, never gonna rebel" vaguely pro-EU Tory you'd need to get on side to outweigh Labour Leavers and Real Concerners.

f1talks.pl
@f1talks

According to @RadioZET_NEWS PKN Orlen (major Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer) is considering entering F1 as a fuel sponsor (supplier) and personal sponsor of Robert Kubica. #F1

Yesterday Kubica was at Orlen's headquarters and met with Polish Prime Minister. #F1