[heqmnnne] Caesar demand sustenance!

parody of the ddate calendar utility's "Grudnuk demand sustenance!".  phrase origin (and identity of Grudnuk) are unknown.

[vtaknoch] pronouncing binary numbers

list the positions of the set bits in order of decreasing significance, 0-indexed so that bit position indices correspond to the exponents of powers of 2.  stating the most significant bit first immediately gives the scale of the number, similar to place value words million, billion, etc. in decimal.

"decimal number two hundred one"
76543210
11001001 "binary number with bits 7 or 6 or 3 or 0 set"

we need a separator word between exponents (indices), or else "20 1" is ambiguous with "21":

100000000000000000010 = 2^20 + 2^1
1000000000000000000000 = 2^21

we use the separator word "or" not "and" to avoid a problem in languages (e.g., Spanish) in which the word (say) 16 is pronounced "10 and 6".  using the separator "or" is inspired by constructing binary bit masks with bitwise or.

note that "binary number with bits 0 set" is confusingly NOT 0; it is 1.  "binary number with no bits set" is zero.  "binary number with bits 1 set" is NOT 1 but 10 (base 2) or 2 (base 10).

always using "bits" even with only one bit set makes it slightly easier to programmatically decode the number from its words.

11001001.1100100100 "binary number with bits 7 or 6 or 3 or 0 or negative 1 or 2 or 5 or 8 set with significant zeros to negative 10"

fine structure constant: "scientific notation number with exponent base 2, exponent negative 7, mantissa binary number with bits negative 1 or 2 or 3 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 17 or 19 or 24 or 26 or 29 or 30 or 31 set with significant zeros to negative 33" = 2^-7 * (2^-1 + 2^-2 + 2^-3 + 2^-5 + 2^-6 + 2^-7 + 2^-8 + 2^-12 + 2^-13 + 2^-14 + 2^-15 + 2^-17 + 2^-19 + 2^-24 + 2^-26 + 2^-29 + 2^-30 + 2^-31).  not sure if the exponent should be expressed as a binary number.

fine structure constant uncertainty (future post zdlugabl): "plus or minus scientific notation number with exponent base 2, exponent negative 7, mantissa binary number with bits negative 33 or 35 set"

previously numbers in scientific notation with exponent base 2.

0 = 0 = binary number with no bits set
1 = 1 = binary number with bits 0 set
2 = 10 = binary number with bits 1 set
3 = 11 = binary number with bits 1 or 0 set
4 = 100 = binary number with bits 2 set
5 = 101 = binary number with bits 2 or 0 set
6 = 110 = binary number with bits 2 or 1 set
7 = 111 = binary number with bits 2 or 1 or 0 set
8 = 1000 = binary number with bits 3 set
9 = 1001 = binary number with bits 3 or 0 set
10 = 1010 = binary number with bits 3 or 1 set
11 = 1011 = binary number with bits 3 or 1 or 0 set
12 = 1100 = binary number with bits 3 or 2 set
13 = 1101 = binary number with bits 3 or 2 or 0 set
14 = 1110 = binary number with bits 3 or 2 or 1 set
15 = 1111 = binary number with bits 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
16 = 10000 = binary number with bits 4 set
17 = 10001 = binary number with bits 4 or 0 set
18 = 10010 = binary number with bits 4 or 1 set
19 = 10011 = binary number with bits 4 or 1 or 0 set
20 = 10100 = binary number with bits 4 or 2 set
21 = 10101 = binary number with bits 4 or 2 or 0 set
22 = 10110 = binary number with bits 4 or 2 or 1 set
23 = 10111 = binary number with bits 4 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
24 = 11000 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 set
25 = 11001 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 0 set
26 = 11010 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 1 set
27 = 11011 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
28 = 11100 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 2 set
29 = 11101 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
30 = 11110 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
31 = 11111 = binary number with bits 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
32 = 100000 = binary number with bits 5 set
33 = 100001 = binary number with bits 5 or 0 set
34 = 100010 = binary number with bits 5 or 1 set
35 = 100011 = binary number with bits 5 or 1 or 0 set
36 = 100100 = binary number with bits 5 or 2 set
37 = 100101 = binary number with bits 5 or 2 or 0 set
38 = 100110 = binary number with bits 5 or 2 or 1 set
39 = 100111 = binary number with bits 5 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
40 = 101000 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 set
41 = 101001 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 0 set
42 = 101010 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 1 set
43 = 101011 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
44 = 101100 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 2 set
45 = 101101 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
46 = 101110 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
47 = 101111 = binary number with bits 5 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
48 = 110000 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 set
49 = 110001 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 0 set
50 = 110010 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 1 set
51 = 110011 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 1 or 0 set
52 = 110100 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 2 set
53 = 110101 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 2 or 0 set
54 = 110110 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 2 or 1 set
55 = 110111 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
56 = 111000 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 set
57 = 111001 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 0 set
58 = 111010 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 1 set
59 = 111011 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
60 = 111100 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 set
61 = 111101 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
62 = 111110 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
63 = 111111 = binary number with bits 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
64 = 1000000 = binary number with bits 6 set
65 = 1000001 = binary number with bits 6 or 0 set
66 = 1000010 = binary number with bits 6 or 1 set
67 = 1000011 = binary number with bits 6 or 1 or 0 set
68 = 1000100 = binary number with bits 6 or 2 set
69 = 1000101 = binary number with bits 6 or 2 or 0 set
70 = 1000110 = binary number with bits 6 or 2 or 1 set
71 = 1000111 = binary number with bits 6 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
72 = 1001000 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 set
73 = 1001001 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 0 set
74 = 1001010 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 1 set
75 = 1001011 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
76 = 1001100 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 2 set
77 = 1001101 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
78 = 1001110 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
79 = 1001111 = binary number with bits 6 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
80 = 1010000 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 set
81 = 1010001 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 0 set
82 = 1010010 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 1 set
83 = 1010011 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 1 or 0 set
84 = 1010100 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 2 set
85 = 1010101 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 2 or 0 set
86 = 1010110 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 2 or 1 set
87 = 1010111 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
88 = 1011000 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 set
89 = 1011001 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 0 set
90 = 1011010 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 1 set
91 = 1011011 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
92 = 1011100 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 2 set
93 = 1011101 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
94 = 1011110 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
95 = 1011111 = binary number with bits 6 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
96 = 1100000 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 set
97 = 1100001 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 0 set
98 = 1100010 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 1 set
99 = 1100011 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 1 or 0 set
100 = 1100100 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 2 set
101 = 1100101 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 2 or 0 set
102 = 1100110 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 2 or 1 set
103 = 1100111 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
104 = 1101000 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 set
105 = 1101001 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 0 set
106 = 1101010 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 1 set
107 = 1101011 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
108 = 1101100 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 2 set
109 = 1101101 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
110 = 1101110 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
111 = 1101111 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
112 = 1110000 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 set
113 = 1110001 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 0 set
114 = 1110010 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 1 set
115 = 1110011 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 1 or 0 set
116 = 1110100 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 2 set
117 = 1110101 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 2 or 0 set
118 = 1110110 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 2 or 1 set
119 = 1110111 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
120 = 1111000 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 set
121 = 1111001 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 0 set
122 = 1111010 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 1 set
123 = 1111011 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 1 or 0 set
124 = 1111100 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 set
125 = 1111101 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 0 set
126 = 1111110 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 set
127 = 1111111 = binary number with bits 6 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 set
128 = 10000000 = binary number with bits 7 set

[kgfpiaxm] 12 days of Christmas at the Chicago department store

a man/woman came in for 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree from the store?

12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree he/she wanted, but while he/she was busy shopping at the store, I went to his/her house, fucked his/her wife/husband, had kids, raised kids, had grandkids, spoiled grandkids, had a long fulfilling life, and also retired from the department store.  I don't work there anymore.

I used to work in Chicago, in a department store.  I used to work in Chicago; I don't work there anymore.

(inspired by a dream.)

challenge: a double-entendre pun for each of the 12 days.

alt: the 12 days of Christmas she wanted, my 12 inches she got (originally "ruler").

[zsgrseep] electing Donald Trump is democracy functioning exactly as intended

in easily imaginable alternate timeline, Trump's supporters wage civil war attempting to gain power.  who knows whether they would have won like they did democratically in this timeline, but it definitely would have been bloody.  perhaps bleeding from radiation poisoning: perhaps everyone loses.

compared to that, we live in a pretty good timeline, as unfortunate as it is.  democracy permits (relatively) bloodless revolutions / rebellions / insurrections / uprisings.  democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

how could we have avoided both civil war and the destructiveness of Trump's regime?  the biggest destruction has been loss of trust in government, which will take centuries to restore.

[ayzrfogt] San Luis non Obispo

St. Louis, Missouri

[cyurppiq] the Ignorance Corridor

Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA want to call themselves the Knowledge Corridor.

where should the corresponding Ignorance Corridor be?

previously similar, nominating the worst of the U.S.A..

[olioocri] Mulder wants to believe Einstein

when they first meet on the X Files, Fox Mulder compliments Dana Scully on her senior thesis exploring Einstein's theory of special relativity (the twin paradox), but notes that many of his investigations defy the laws of physics.

but which X-Files cases actually violate physics including general relativity?

general relativity permits wormholes and warp drives, so aliens could easily visit Earth.

general relativity permits time travel, violation of causality, and closed timelike loops.

and of course, general relativity permits government conspiracies with the Shadow Elite.

fanfic: recurring gag: Scully: "this technically doesn't defy the laws of modern physics", calling back to the initial meeting.  along with general relativity, quantum mechanics also permits pretty bizarre stuff, albeit with astronomically low probability.

[bsmfzrep] hallucinating liquid solid

waves ripple across the surface of the water: "nice."  the waves continue rippling on the solid container of the water: "something is very wrong."

...because there's no way that the material characteristics of water match the material characteristics of the container (beach, swimming pool deck) to cause the same wave speed.  there should be refraction!

(helicopter hits a building in The Matrix.)

[ymlqbmnf] polypter

Greek roots:

helicopter = helico (spiral) + pter (wing)

tetrelix = tetr(a) (four) + (h)elix

tetrapter = tetra + pter

tetrelipter = tetr(a) + (h)eli(x) + pter

tetrelicopter = tetr(a) + (h)elico + pter

tetrahelicopter

Latin borrowed helix from Greek, so quad would not be wrong:

quadelix = quad (four) + (h)elix

not quadcopter.

[vbryynsg] Marat-Psycho mashup

the killer approaches Marion Crane as she showers.  when the shower curtain is pulled aside, Marion responds not in terror but greets a seemingly expected colleague and carries on a conversation while naked as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

should the killer be an older woman (Mother) or, gender-flipping both participants in the assassination of Marat, a man (Norman Bates)?  (curiously, the names of both murdered people start with the same 3 letters Mar.)

Marion's conversation is very repugnant (from this universe's Royalist-analogue point of view, of course), and while the killer initially pretends to go along with it, he or she eventually becomes so disgusted that he or she stabs Marion to death.  the surprise other twist is that the killer was the audience surrogate, not Marion.

[dbfdsqaq] Prince Andrew and Queen Elizabeth II

Prince Andrew does hookers, as we have learned from Jeffrey Epstein.  (realistically, this has been the norm for nobility including royalty since forever, so anyone expressing indignation is virtue signaling.)  it does suggest creating fiction of the most extreme version of a john's worst nightmare when meeting a prostitute for the first time:

"Mom?!"

perhaps Andrew tired of 12 year olds that all pimps serving nobility have purveyed since forever, and sought someone more mature.

but incest porn is popular, so maybe not the worst nightmare.  perhaps it's not a question of whether this fiction has already been written, but how many times, and who wrote it best.

add social commentary about how, despite all the shame and demotion ex-Prince Andrew has faced, it is even more shameful for a woman to be involved in prostitution.

[uqgmrnys] Israel assassinating Trump

despite Palestine's best efforts to assassinate any and all Israeli Prime Ministers, Yitzhak Rabin found himself assassinated not by them but by one of his own, for being insufficiently brutal at humanitarian crisising Palestinians.  the subsequent brutal Israeli government elected by the democracy reflected the will of the people.

perhaps Donald Trump will suffer the same ironic fate, euthanized by official or unofficial agents of Israel for being insufficiently obedient at humanitarian crisising existential threat, and also as a show of strength by those agents, those people.

inspired by: "Trump suggests a standing order to attack Iran if it assassinates him" (2026-07-11).  that article speculates a standing order to nuke Iran.

plan B, false flag attack: Israeli agents posing as or puppeteering Iranians assassinate Trump in order to cause the standing order to be executed.  many Americans would at least celebrate if Trump were assassinated; perhaps some would even participate.  are we puppets?  controlled by whom?

a different subset of Americans would at least celebrate if a Democrat president (successor to Trump) were assassinated by Israel (assassination of Democrats even more likely as Democrats support less Israel's humanitarian crisising); perhaps some would even participate.  are we puppets?

[nzsdqcms] plural of apocalypse in Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek:

nominative singular: apokalypsis
nominative dual: apokalypsei
nominative plural: apokalypseis

other declensions (other cases and numbers).

made famous by Buffy.

the English word apocalypse has been modified from the Ancient Greek word apokalypsis, so the Ancient Greek plural is not transferable to English.  therefore, it is up to English to choose how to pluralize what is now an English word according to English conventions: I'm choosing apocalypses.

(also, the meaning has changed in English: the Ancient Greek word meant only the revelation of divine knowledge, most famously about the end of the world.  the modern English meaning, ignoring pedants who insist on the ancient meaning, is the end of the world itself.)

Ancient Greek had noun numbers singular (exactly 1), dual (exactly 2 in a situation for which 2 is natural, e.g., 2 eyes), and plural (2 or more, sometimes 3 or more).  if God and Satan reveal the end of the world in separate but related apocalypses, use the dual number in this situation, not plural.  if God reveals the end of the world to many prophets, but only 2 manage to write it down, use the plural, not dual.  "plural of apocalypse" is therefore quite an interesting question (dual or plural) depending on the circumstances of the apocalypses.

note: Ancient Greek was dead by the time the Book of Revelation (a.k.a. Book of Apocalypse) was written, replaced by Biblical Greek (Koine Greek).

pendantically, a post-apocalyptic world is merely one in which how the world will end has been communicated (revealed).  the Book of Revelation exists, so we have been living in a post-apocalyptic world for 2000 years.

[gfgagoab] no shit no shat no service

doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

perhaps it needs an even less sensical third line.

shervice.

[kwuqmsbu] coffee flavors

chocolate armpit
sweaty sock stew
cream of vinegar

from "Plants vs. Zombies: Faulty Fables"

[mdbfifgm] a raft of flotsam and jetsam tenuously lashed together by seaweed and hope

antonym of "(running a) tight ship".

(cf the game "Raft")

[umxqnhxg] Schroedinger's cat of 9 lives

in the thought experiment of Schroedinger's cat, after the murder mechanism is triggered by half a photon, the box contains a cyanide capsule in a quantum superposition of unbroken and broken, and a cat in a quantum superposition of alive and dead.  it is NOT the case that the cat is either alive or dead but it's unknown which because the box is closed; rather, the cat truly is in the classically incomprehensible state of being simultaneously alive and dead.  (other experiments like quantum double slit support this.)

after the box is opened, the quantum state randomly "collapses" (Copenhagen interpretation) into precisely one of the two possibilities:

1. cyanide capsule unbroken and cat alive
2. cyanide capsule broken and cat dead

...which would be true if Schroedinger had chosen anything but a cat as his lab animal.  (why not a lab rat like any normal scientist?)

because cat, we must add the possibility of cyanide released but cat still alive (with its internal lives counter decreased by one).

also the small possibility of cyanide unreleased but cat dead of natural causes (perhaps curiosity) during the (presumably) brief experiment.

previously, superluminal action at a distance between two cats.  that experiment could end with both cats alive (one with its internal lives counter decreased by one).

[xbsevhjo] men vs. wolves

some humans, annoyed at the threat of being eaten by wolves, decide to kill them, to exterminate one or more wolf packs in the area.  when throughout history and prehistory have these 2nd and 3rd best (land) predators on the planet (1st is ants) (the commonality among all three is hunting in coordinated packs) gone head to head?  nowadays, with one side able to use nuclear weapons and habitat destruction, the fight is too one-sided.  what is least amount of technology with which the humans have been victors?  what techniques did they employ?

(tangentially, it is easy to imagine Predator from the movies defeating a bear but struggling against a pack of wolves.  against (enough) ants, not a chance.)

inspired by Robinson Crusoe battling wolves in France.  though in that story, the wolves technically were not hunting the men, only their horses, if the Monday-morning wolf expert in the story is to be believed.

but hunting even the strongest predator is likely much easier than hunting the most elusive prey.  they know how to not to be killed, which is different from knowing how to kill.

previously, men versus dragons.

[gdyflnvq] movie 2: the sequel

brashly subtitle the sequel "the sequel".

[xocnwjgn] Antigone and Romeo and Juliet

it seems likely that Sophocles's Antigone, ending with two young lovers dead in a tomb, influenced Romeo and Juliet.  perhaps Shakespeare thought to himself, "I could write this better than Sophocles".