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    #26
    Originally posted by Wouter D View Post
    Not for me. It does help that my dinner is probably also relatively early, starting at about six.
    An early lunch leaves clear time in the afternoon for some more food.

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      #27
      I'm not ready to eat lunch much before 2pm, either - but that's entirely my choosing and not any kind of convention. I mean, my youngest is usually thinking about lunch at around 11-11.30am.

      There's something to be said for eating dinner (tea, supper, whatever - let's not get into that again) at around 6-7pm, given that this gives one more time to digest before bed. (Not that I do this either.)

      Surely maths is the only 'exact' science?

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        #28
        12 is my default time for lunch. But I don't generally have breakfast.

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          #29
          On the subject of "Zelig-like" characters, the first Flashman novel predates that film by more than a decade, and the character of Harry Flashman is lifted from a novel published in 1857.

          I'm sure there must be even earlier examples too, so I don't think we need give Woody Allen too much credit here.

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            #30
            Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
            I've always thought that the are more people who would refer to things as Zelig-like than ever saw Zelig itself, me included cos I've never seen it but would still use that phrase.
            I've just finished Jonas Jonasson's The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared and described it to Mrs H as being Forest Gump-like. I've seen neither Forest Gump nor Zelig.

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              #31
              Chauncey Gardiner also predates Zelig

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                #32
                When did people start writing lead instead of led as in 'one thing lead to another'? I see it everywhere now.

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                  #33
                  Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                  .


                  1) Is there a standard name for characters in fiction like Forrest Gump or Uhtred in The Last Kingdom who are fictional characters but always seem to be near the center of historically important events? They can serve as a kind of framing device for the story or a way to offer an interesting perspective on real events. I was thinking about this because it seems to also be a thing in science fiction or fantasy where even though none of the events are historical in reality, they are historical important in the world of the story. James Holden in the Expanse series is this guy and I suppose Han Solo is like this in Star Wars. Indeed, so is Indiana Jones. Near the action, and sometimes helping to move it, but they are never the usual drivers of history like Generals, Queens, Inventors, etc.

                  Is there a name for this “trope” or convention?


                  .
                  A better example in Star Wars is C3PO and R2D2 - who seem to get everywhere. There is a name for it and like almost everything in the galaxy far far away, Lucas ripped the idea from Kurusawa. But the trope was old when Kurusawa used it.

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                    #34
                    Originally posted by ooh aah View Post
                    When getting any transport connection, knowing the minutes accurately is very important. It's what lead to standardised time during the 19th century when trains had to follow a timetable.
                    Originally posted by hobbes View Post
                    That may be the case for you dear boy, but don't forget clocks and watches became ubiquitous because of the need for timetabling trains across countries. So accuracy was paramount.
                    I have asked this question many times to many groups of people over the last few weeks, and OTF is the first place where people bring up train connections. By far the best answer I have seen.

                    Originally posted by hobbes View Post
                    The modern world is designed around accurate timekeeping.
                    Well, I've been on trains in England; let's just say that they either do their best to disprove your statement or cannot be considered part of the modern world.

                    One's mileage may vary if one lives in Japan.

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                      #35
                      Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                      When did people start writing lead instead of led as in 'one thing lead to another'? I see it everywhere now.
                      Don't ask me. I only noticed about a month ago that Black is now uppercased. It's apparently been a 'thing' for about a year, but I swear I'd never once seen it and now it's everywhere.

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                        #36
                        I'm sure it was on an OTFers twitter feed bt I recently saw a photo of a town clock in the west country that has two minute hands. One for railway/Greenwich time and the other for local solar time.

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                          #37
                          Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                          A better example in Star Wars is C3PO and R2D2 - who seem to get everywhere. There is a name for it and like almost everything in the galaxy far far away, Lucas ripped the idea from Kurusawa. But the trope was old when Kurusawa used it.
                          Good points

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                            #38
                            Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                            When did people start writing lead instead of led as in 'one thing lead to another'? I see it everywhere now.
                            Fixx earworm

                            Comment


                              #39
                              I know what you mean PT, I keep coming across the "lead" for "led" thing more and more. I mean, it's an easy mistake to make, but randomly seems to be becoming more prevalent. Or maybe these days I'm just reading more stuff assorted people have written online.

                              Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                              1) Is there a standard name for characters in fiction like Forrest Gump or Uhtred in The Last Kingdom who are fictional characters but always seem to be near the center of historically important events? They can serve as a kind of framing device for the story or a way to offer an interesting perspective on real events. I was thinking about this because it seems to also be a thing in science fiction or fantasy where even though none of the events are historical in reality, they are historical important in the world of the story. James Holden in the Expanse series is this guy and I suppose Han Solo is like this in Star Wars. Indeed, so is Indiana Jones. Near the action, and sometimes helping to move it, but they are never the usual drivers of history like Generals, Queens, Inventors, etc.

                              Is there a name for this “trope” or convention?
                              There doesn't seem to be a single consensus answer, but as is always the way TV Tropes has a trope for that, which you might enjoy browsing: Been There, Shaped History – formerly known as simply 'The Gump'*. Examples getting a look-in include, naturally, Forrest Gump and Zelig, and also Uhtred, plus the likes of the Doctor in Doctor Who and Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap. The 'Literature' subsection also includes the first example that sprang to my mind: Richard Sharpe from the Sharpe novels**/TV series, who judging by his recorded exploits apparently single-handedly won the Napoleonic Wars with his deeds everywhere from Trafalgar to Waterloo, saving the Duke of Wellington, shooting the Prince of Orange, etc. etc.

                              * Edit: Reading to the bottom of the page reveals that 'The Zelig' is also a redirect to the same trope.

                              ** Further edit: D'oh – I'd forgotten Uhtred was also created by Bernard Cornwell. So he's basically a Saxon Sharpe, isn't he?


                              On more important matters, meanwhile, I'm in the camp with the likes of Jah Womble: I don't like to eat lunch before around 2, and dinner is at around 8pm. I remember when I was in school I was delighted when lunchtimes shifted from 12 noon to 12:25, as that meant I could actually eat around 1, which seemed much more civilised.
                              Last edited by Various Artist; 02-03-2018, 16:36.

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                                #40
                                Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                                When did people start writing lead instead of led as in 'one thing lead to another'? I see it everywhere now.
                                Annoys the hell out of me. I s'pose folk confuse it with the metal, which is indeed spelt thus.

                                Idiots.

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                                  #41
                                  I suspect it's more of a mistake because of the verb to read having the read/read present/past pronunciation difference

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                                    #42
                                    There is also that, yes.

                                    They're still twunts, though.

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                                      #43
                                      Can anyone explain how Bayesian statistics works?

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                                        #44
                                        Originally posted by Various Artist View Post
                                        I know what you mean PT, I keep coming across the "lead" for "led" thing more and more. I mean, it's an easy mistake to make, but randomly seems to be becoming more prevalent. Or maybe these days I'm just reading more stuff assorted people have written online.

                                        There doesn't seem to be a single consensus answer, but as is always the way TV Tropes has a trope for that, which you might enjoy browsing: Been There, Shaped History – formerly known as simply 'The Gump'*. Examples getting a look-in include, naturally, Forrest Gump and Zelig, and also Uhtred, plus the likes of the Doctor in Doctor Who and Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap. The 'Literature' subsection also includes the first example that sprang to my mind: Richard Sharpe from the Sharpe novels**/TV series, who judging by his recorded exploits apparently single-handedly won the Napoleonic Wars with his deeds everywhere from Trafalgar to Waterloo, saving the Duke of Wellington, shooting the Prince of Orange, etc. etc.

                                        * Edit: Reading to the bottom of the page reveals that 'The Zelig' is also a redirect to the same trope.

                                        ** Further edit: D'oh – I'd forgotten Uhtred was also created by Bernard Cornwell. So he's basically a Saxon Sharpe, isn't he?


                                        On more important matters, meanwhile, I'm in the camp with the likes of Jah Womble: I don't like to eat lunch before around 2, and dinner is at around 8pm. I remember when I was in school I was delighted when lunchtimes shifted from 12 noon to 12:25, as that meant I could actually eat around 1, which seemed much more civilised.
                                        Uhtred is sorta based on a real guy, I think.

                                        Comment


                                          #45
                                          Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                          Can anyone explain how Bayesian statistics works?
                                          I'd be interested in this as well. I've seen Bayesian statistics referred to in a few places recently.

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                                            #46
                                            Can anyone explain how Bayesian statistics works?
                                            Isn't this where you write the distribution onto snooker balls and then break?

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                                              #47
                                              Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                              Can anyone explain how Bayesian statistics works?
                                              In short, it is about inferring conditional probabilities from other observable evidence. Given that we have seen thing A happen, what is the probability that thing B actually happened? For example, given we have seen that two students have produced identical answers to this question, what is the probability that they copied their answers? You need information about base rates, for a start, to feed into the calculations.

                                              David Spiegelhalter can give you a few minutes on the general idea. A key difference from classical probability work is that this is not about calculating a theoretical probability for an uncertain event (lotteries, radioactive decay), it is about finding the likelihood that a thing did happen or did not happen.

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                                                #48
                                                Originally posted by hobbes View Post
                                                Isn't this where you write the distribution onto snooker balls and then break?
                                                See the video, 3:00 in.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Originally posted by hobbes View Post
                                                  Isn't this where you write the distribution onto snooker balls and then break?
                                                  Wouldn't that be baize statistics?

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                                                    #50

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