It’s a silly question for any parent dad to ask, but Maddie’s daddy just had to ask it, didn’t he?
Just for the record, I have never asked either of my kids this. The answer would probably be too depressing or would put me (and them) in a very dangerous situation at home.
Safety first…
I love science, me.
But I struggled to get my head around this particular bunch of facts about Neutron Stars, which I happened across.
As you do.
A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon (5 millilitres) of its material would have a mass over 5.5×1012 kg, (5 500 000 000 000 kg) about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The resulting force of gravity is so strong that if an object were to fall from a height of one meter it would only take one microsecond (0.00001 s) to hit the surface of the neutron star, and would do so at around 2000 kilometers per second, or 7.2 million kilometers per hour (7 200 000 kph).
Always handy to have masses measured in Great Pyramids of Giza, I find.
“Hey – I have’t seen you in weeks! Wow – have you lost weight?”
“Why yes. I’ve exercising more and eating less and I’ve lost about 0.000000001636 Great Pyramids of Giza. I feel great.”
Anyway, to put that into perspective, here on earth 5 ml of water weighs 0.005 kg and an object falling from 1m would take about 0.1 sec to hit the floor and would do so at 35kph. Which you really should survive, depending on your landing position.
Personally, I’d feel less confident about coming out of a collision with the floor at 7.2 million kph unscathed.
Consider yourselves educated.
It’s a pleasure.
We had a really good MBCC meal out at Societi Brasserie in Tokai last night, where the Tall Accountant poured himself this particularly spectacular glass of beer.
I would particularly recommend their mackerel pâte with spicy chutney and the wonderfully-cooked filet au poivre.
One question that did arise, however, was around the difference between a Bistro and a Brasserie, given that Societi Brasserie is the new sister restaurant of Societi Bistro in Gardens.It turns out that aside from spelling and Scrabble scores, there are some minor, but important, differences between the two.
According to wikipedia:
A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical. [link]
while:
A brasserie is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed, upscale setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word ‘brasserie’ is also French for “brewery” and, by extension, “the brewing business”. A brasserie can be expected to have professional service, printed menus, and, traditionally, white linen — unlike a bistro which may have none of these. [link]
These definitions don’t quite fit with the similar ambience and menu at the two Cape Town Societi businesses, but with food and service like we got last night, I think we’ll happily let them off.
UPDATE: According to their website , the Brasserie I was at last night is in Constantia, not Tokai. If this is the case, Constantia is MUCH bigger than I thought. And it probably includes a golf course and a prison as well. If you stretch it still further, you might get a beach in as well.
This brief post in answer to FutureCapeTown‘s desperate request for assistance over Twitter DM spam, which seems to be an ever increasing problem:
@6000 Write a blog post about it. For the sake of our DM inbox.
Most Twitter DM (direct message) spam from your followers or followees comes from someone doing something a bit foolish, like giving their login details to an unscrupulous third party, which then (unsurprisingly) acts unscrupulously, as is the nature of the beast.
Of course, most users would baulk at the suggestion that they would ever willingly share their password with any third party, but that’s actually what you do each and every time you authorise an app to use your login.
Many (most?) apps are completely harmless in this regard, but if you authorise a dodgy app which is phishing for your details, then you only have yourself to blame. And what does a “dodgy app” look like exactly? Well, if you need me to tell you that, you’re probably in trouble already, but thankfully Twitter steps in to spare our blushes:
Be wary of any application that promises to make you money or get you followers. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Beware also of links promising free shopping vouchers, iPods, iPads and weight loss tips. And have a look at Twitter’s SpamWatch account.
So how do you know if your Twitter account has been compromised? There are a few rather obvious signs:
Have you:
If so, then yes, your account has probably been compromised. Incidentally, if you are on the receiving end of such spam, don’t click on any links therein, but do let the sender know that you received it. Then they can prevent the problem from continuing.
Right, so your account has been compromised. How do you uncompromise it?
3 quick and easy steps:
It might also be a good idea to scan your computer for malware as well, especially if the problem persists despite taking the steps above.
The best thing to do is not to be silly in the first place. You wouldn’t wander round giving your PIN code to everyone, would you? Guard your login details in the same way, stand back and watch as none of the above applies to you. And limit those dodgy links as well – report spam you receive (using the “Report Spam” button) and let Twitter admin do the rest.
Incidentally, the same rules apply to Facebook as well. You can change your password via this page and revoke dodgy apps here.
The first week back at school has gone swimmingly for the boy. But then he finds himself in familiar surroundings surrounded by familiar people. Monday was Scoop’s first day at “big school”.
Before and even during arrival at school, she was excited and upbeat. I captured this as she lined up for the first time, ready to go into class and, I guess, as the reality of the situation suddenly hit home. But there were no tears. She’s a tough little thing and by Wednesday, we were dropping her off at the front gate and she was making her own way through to the school yard – albeit with her big brother by her side.
I imagine that there will be another little dip in confidence on Monday morning, but all things considered, she’s settled really quickly and we’re proud of them both.
One quick mention for Pammie-Jane who is (health willing) going to be playing with the sharks in the waters of East London (and more!) as she attempts another ridiculous Ironman. Good Luck!