Violet, resistance is futile.

Science is full of facts and numbers and formulæ and things to remember. Keeping it all straight can be a chore, even for the geniuses. As a result, over time people have developed interesting ways of remembering the order of things in groups and categories.

Cross-stitch reminder of resistor codes, courtesy of Adafruit.

Another way of remembering the color values:

First two (or three) digits: Bad boys rape our good girls, but Violet gives willingly – get some now ->

Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Gold, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey, White (gold, silver and none refer to the tolerance band)

Resistors can be ever more complicated than in the early days when this mnemonic was developed. Six-band resistors have three significant digits, a multiplier, a tolerance band, and a temperature coefficient.

339Ω with a 1% tolerance.

39 kΩ with a 10% tolerance

Mnemonics are a good way of remembering other things as well. Most of us became good friends with Roy G. Biv in school:

Partial rainbow over Utah Lake, Mt. Timpanogos in the background. The order of colors in a rainbow are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

There are numerous mnemonics for remembering the order of the planets in the solar system; my favorite is found in Robert A Heinlein’s Have Space Suit, Will Travel: Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest (he used “T” for Terra, and included the “A” for Asteroids.)

And for what it’s worth, to Hell with the AIU. Pluto may be smaller than some of the other TNU’s and dwarf planets out there, but it was part of the solar system since Tombaugh discovered it, and by the dessicated skull of Mogg’s grandfather, there it stays. Randall Munroe of XKCD fame disagrees, and I give him mad props for being a genius, but as far as I’m concerned,

Huge selection of mnemonics here.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Ice Cream Parlors

April 1974. Columbus, Indiana. “General view of soda fountain area — Zaharako Bros. Ice Cream Parlor, 329 Washington Street. Family-run ice cream and confectionery business operating since 1900. This parlor was a major social center in Columbus for the first 50 years. Known for its elaborate interior and ice cream still made by the Zaharako family. Mexican onyx soda fountains purchased 1905; extra counter added 1949; store front modernized 1959.” 5×7 negative by Jack E. Boucher, Historic American Buildings Survey. Found at Shorpy.

Around 1917 – Ice cream store on High Street in Holyoke, MA. My father is the young man in the background, his older brother to the right. Flanking them are Carlo Paoli and Adolf Paoli, both brothers of my grandmother, who owned the store.

Work-at-home Scams

Received today in my inbox an email from a cousin, with a link to this website: http://worldwide%5Bdash%5Dworkathomeblog.com/job%5Bdash%5Dreport/index.html (I have obfuscated the link so it’s not clickable, but left it intact in case you want to see what’s there.)

My cousin, of course, did not send me this email – her account was hacked.

Would you consider it safe and ethical to deal with a company that advertises in this fashion? No? Well, you’re not alone. Just have a look here and see what kind of tactics this company uses to extract hard-earned cash from the wallets of desperate people.

Red flag No. 2: Try to leave the page or close your browser and this is what you get:

Any website that uses this technique is highly suspect, and I would never do business with any enterprise that employes mousejacking or browser exploits of this nature.

These scams just keep reinventing themselves with different names, on different servers. As soon as the heat gets too intense, they change names, IP addresses, and off they go again. They have no product, benefit only the people who developed the scam, and effectively steal thousands of dollars a day from folks looking for a way out of their financial desperation.

Stay away from them, and warn your loved ones.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Universal Truths

These have been floating around the Internet for a while, but they gave me a smile.


1) Triangular sandwiches taste better than square ones.
2) At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.
3) One of the most awkward things that can happen in a bar is when your beer-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.
4) You’ve never been quite sure whether it’s ok to eat green potato chips.
5) Everyone who grew up in the 80’s has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator.
6) Reading when you’re drunk is horrible.
7) Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
8) You’re never quite sure whether it’s against the law or not to have a fire in your back yard.
10) Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.
11) You never know where to look when eating a banana.
12) Its impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.
13) Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly.
14) Rummaging in an overgrown garden will always turn up a bouncy ball.
15) You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.
16) Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.
17) The most embarrassing thing you can do as schoolchild is to call your teacher mom or dad.
18) The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the first given opportunity.
19) Some days you see lots of people on crutches.
20) Every guy has at some stage while taking a pee flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.
21) Old women with mobile phones look wrong!
22) Its impossible to look cool while picking up a Frisbee.
23) Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.
24) You never ever run out of salt.
25) Old ladies can eat more than you think.
26) You can’t respect a man who carries a dog.
27) There’s no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you’ve got your hand or head stuck in something.
28) No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers.
29) Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.
30) The most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.
31) People who don’t drive slam car doors too hard.
32) You’ve turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood specifically to stir paint with.
33) Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose.
34) Bricks are horrible to carry.
35) In every plate of french fries there is a bad fry.

The Old Wolf has *snrk* spoken.

Racism the Way We See It

A 1994 documentary, now approaching 20 years old, depicting how young Native Americans perceive racism. I would not be going out on a limb to say that the same film could be made today.

Racism exists. It cannot be denied, or covered up, or excused. It is tied to the same mechanism that drives bullying, in the family, the schoolyard, or the workplace. Racism rears its head when people deny their better nature and look for mechanisms to justify their behavior. It is fed by the “us vs. them” dichotomy.

In a world that works for everyone, with no one left out, there is no room for hatred or cruelty. Despite all our technological advances as a race (and here I mean the human race), in some ways we are still scrabbling about in the mud. If we are to reach the stars, these weak and foolish tendencies must be rooted out of the global psyche.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Chinese Turtle Farm

A post in Teresa Burritt’s Frog Blog coincides nicely with some photos sent me by an old High School buddy of mine, who now lives in China. Shown here are two pictures from a set he took during a recent visit to a friend’s home. This particular farmer also raises frogs, lizards, and the insects which feed them, as well as producing home-made rice alcohol.

Backyard Turtle Tanks

Turtles are washed off as the farmer drains and refills the tank.

GIF files that made me laugh

“Nine out of ten voices in my head tell me that life lived without laughter is a sin. The other one is just crazy.”
-Wolfington X. Analemma

This guy just learned the meaning of Karma.

Instant comfort.

Attack Roomba™

Bang!

Unclear on the concept.

Again. And Again. And Again.

I can relate to this. What’s more, we have a kitten and that’s just about right.

The Old Wolf has spoken.