# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=217 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 218 --- ## [Leaving your pc on 24/7...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-pc-on-24-7/177732)
**Author:** [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-pc-on-24-7/177732 "2003-05-27T10:33:46Z")
Some folks like to keep their machine powerd up all the time (usually with energy-saving features enabled.) They claim this saves wear-and-tear, as avoiding a power cycle is a good thing. Others only power up their sys… --- ## [toilets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/177701)
**Author:** [@bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bullets)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/177701 "2003-05-27T04:16:27Z")
i still like the old fashioned outdoor johns…give me one of those and a sears catalog and i’m happy. we had one when i was in the navy and stationed in the aleutians which was even better…it was comprised of a concrte … --- ## [Moon Landings: The Hoax that Refused to Die](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-landings-the-hoax-that-refused-to-die/173013)
**Author:** [@saintp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saintp)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-landings-the-hoax-that-refused-to-die/173013 "2003-05-27T00:39:30Z")
With reference to: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmoonhoax.html So I was sitting watching TV the other day and this documentary was on – apparently, a serious, mainstream documentary, although I didn’t catch the n… --- ## [On the Happy Hunting Grounds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-happy-hunting-grounds/173361)
**Author:** [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-happy-hunting-grounds/173361 "2003-05-25T20:20:22Z")
Wonderful piece by Bibliphage. My one comment is a pretty minor one. Having grown up in NJ (where we were taught their history), and having researched them and written about them myself for the magazine New Jersey Histo… --- ## [The Japanese are "killing us"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906)
**Author:** [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906 "2003-05-25T01:56:06Z")
I hesitate to do this, but in http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_189.html, Cecil stated that “The Japanese are killing us” in regards to the automobile market. I must ask the following: Cite? It might have been t… --- ## [Tab](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab/176533)
**Author:** [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab/176533 "2003-05-24T22:24:18Z")
What Cecil forgot to mention is that Tab is the flavor of Satan’s ass, while Diet Coke is slightly more palatable, though with definite hints of battery acid. --- ## [If two blades aren't better than one....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-two-blades-arent-better-than-one/172158)
**Author:** [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-two-blades-arent-better-than-one/172158 "2003-05-24T18:43:53Z")
are three blades any better than two? In http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_183.html Cecil mentions how the results are inconclusive as to whether or not hysteresis really works or not, and he personally thinks it’… --- ## [Has Cecil never used crayons?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-cecil-never-used-crayons/173905)
**Author:** [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-cecil-never-used-crayons/173905 "2003-05-24T18:36:22Z")
Regarding Why do car makers come up with so many meaningless car names? What’s wrong with “Sienna”? Granted, if one catches fire it could lead to some jokes but the word itself is perfectly acceptable. As to the reason… --- ## [Musical Notation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-notation/175909)
**Author:** [@adelinamz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adelinamz)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-notation/175909 "2003-05-24T07:36:43Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmusicnotes.html For the benefit of befuddled would-be musicians, I’d like to point out that there was one inaccuracy in this Staff Report (that I noted–pun intended!). The mnemonic … --- ## [EMP and HERF](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emp-and-herf/176109)
**Author:** [@ph317](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ph317)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emp-and-herf/176109 "2003-05-23T13:24:45Z")
IN this article about disabling car stereos , you bring up the idea of using EMP weaponry, but note the impracticality of detonating a nuke to create the EMP burst. You have failed to note that there is a very related e… --- ## [Feathers and Hammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feathers-and-hammers/176643)
**Author:** [@ph317](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ph317)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feathers-and-hammers/176643 "2003-05-23T11:43:36Z")
Feathers vs Hammers I have to take issue with the answer given about feathers and hammers hitting the ground simultaneously. I’m no physicist, and I could be wrong, but I think there’s an error in your logic here. To … --- ## [Why men are warmer than women](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-men-are-warmer-than-women/175920)
**Author:** [@Spruu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spruu)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-men-are-warmer-than-women/175920 "2003-05-23T01:27:31Z")
it’s the calories i’m sure that my answer is based on my profound ignorance of, well, everything, but: according to the Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator I, a 6’4" 200 pound 23 year old guy, would burn 2117 calories a d… --- ## [Why do wheels appear to rotate backwards?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheels-appear-to-rotate-backwards/151172)
**Author:** [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheels-appear-to-rotate-backwards/151172 "2003-05-22T23:45:29Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_199.html The effect is very observable in sunlight with airplane propellors. Turboprops are particularly good because they very gradually build RPM from zero so you can watch the… --- ## [Degrees Kelvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-kelvin/175917)
**Author:** [@Spruu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spruu)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-kelvin/175917 "2003-05-22T19:54:14Z")
Degrees Kelvin for your passing information (i remember this because i got it wrong on a chem test six years ago) it’s Kelvins, not degrees Kelvin. So absolute zero is zero kelvins, not zero degrees kelvin, and so on a… --- ## [Can gravity escape a black hole?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-gravity-escape-a-black-hole/175663)
**Author:** [@donaldma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donaldma)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-gravity-escape-a-black-hole/175663 "2003-05-22T17:45:30Z")
Following on from : http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgravityspeed.html If gravity travels at the speed of light and nothing escapes a black hole other than travelling faster than the speed of light then surely grav… --- ## [On the BIBLICAL Nephilim question... a speculation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-biblical-nephilim-question-a-speculation/94397)
**Author:** [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-biblical-nephilim-question-a-speculation/94397 "2003-05-21T14:36:13Z")
Since the first thread on this has degenerated into a lopsided, though passionate, debate on unorthodox theories of the origin of civilizations, I’m trying to get back to the issue as discussed in this Staff Report, and … --- ## [Black hole density](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hole-density/175166)
**Author:** [@mooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mooka)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hole-density/175166 "2003-05-21T07:05:14Z")
I’m not sure if this should be in GQ or here, but i thought i’d try here first… In this column Cecil says that the more massive the black hole, the less dense it is. A black hole with the same mass as our galaxy would … --- ## [Parthogenesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parthogenesis/176114)
**Author:** [@LowGenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LowGenius)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parthogenesis/176114 "2003-05-21T06:00:17Z")
Cecil, all: Reading through the archives and came across the aphids column (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_223.html). In this you mention that there has been “only one case of human parthogenesis.” This may b… --- ## [What are the chances of a huge meteor smashing us flat?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-of-a-huge-meteor-smashing-us-flat/175815)
**Author:** [@Paul.Streeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul.Streeter)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-of-a-huge-meteor-smashing-us-flat/175815 "2003-05-21T05:42:49Z")
I believe I read that NASA or some agency is constantly scanning the firmament looking for a meteor capable of retaining enough mass to cause a disaster on this planet, hoping to get about 20 years lead time so those who… --- ## [Nazi's and Disney](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nazis-and-disney/175929)
**Author:** [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nazis-and-disney/175929 "2003-05-21T01:18:43Z")
I was reading this Did Bugs Bunny appear in a racist cartoon during World War II? and I got interested about Disney and the rumors about their Nazi sympathies. SO I went on Kazaa and found a 10 minute video made by Walt… --- ## [If all Chinese jumped at once, would cataclysm result?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-chinese-jumped-at-once-would-cataclysm-result/139576)
**Author:** [@pojz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pojz)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-chinese-jumped-at-once-would-cataclysm-result/139576 "2003-05-20T23:00:47Z")
If all Chinese jumped at once, would cataclysm result?: "The possibility of an actual test thus being remote, I have been forced to rely on my considerable powers of inductive logic, to wit: given the principle that eve… --- ## [What's the deal with this meteor strike/dinosaur extinction connection?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-this-meteor-strike-dinosaur-extinction-connection/176359)
**Author:** [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-this-meteor-strike-dinosaur-extinction-connection/176359 "2003-05-20T19:52:59Z")
Specifically, how long has that been posited? I was under the impression that the Alvarez theory from 1980 was the first time it made the mainstream. The “Straight Dope” column is from 1976. Did Cecil scoop the Alvare… --- ## [Podunk is a real place](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podunk-is-a-real-place/176341)
**Author:** [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podunk-is-a-real-place/176341 "2003-05-20T15:09:56Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_132.html It’s a tiny little town (pretty much an intersection with some houses) near where I grew up. The USPS doesn’t recognize it as a town, because you have to have a certain … --- ## [Second most popular religion?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-popular-religion/174339)
**Author:** [@the\_spunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_spunk)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-popular-religion/174339 "2003-05-20T12:43:39Z")
I am posting in response to the Cecil’s mailbag on the most popular religion. In the article, it claims atheism to be the second most popular “religion.” The claim, “based” on the Information Please’s Almanac (1998), s… --- ## [Black hole--error or typo?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hole-error-or-typo/175646)
**Author:** [@privard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/privard)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hole-error-or-typo/175646 "2003-05-19T20:05:30Z")
In his reply on what would happen if one fell into a black hole (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_200.html) Cecil says “If our entire galaxy collapsed into an ebony aperture (I am getting tired of typing black hol… --- ## [Urinal 101 (for boys and mothers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-101-for-boys-and-mothers/174093)
**Author:** [@elestat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elestat)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-101-for-boys-and-mothers/174093 "2003-05-19T17:08:18Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030509.html Maybe the question was not about public urinal types, but simply home toilet bowls. When a boy, I had this quarrel with my mother. I used to aim the porcelain side or ba… --- ## [Speaking of bad car names: the Reliant!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-bad-car-names-the-reliant/175773)
**Author:** [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-bad-car-names-the-reliant/175773 "2003-05-18T20:20:56Z")
“Reliant” seems like a terrible name for a car. I mean, the word does NOT mean “reliable.” Actually, it means “dependent.” People want a car they can rely on. But if a car is “reliant,” well, then whether it starts is d… --- ## [feather and hammer which hits first](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feather-and-hammer-which-hits-first/175632)
**Author:** [@tate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tate)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feather-and-hammer-which-hits-first/175632 "2003-05-17T18:11:40Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgravity.html i realise that this answer was supposed to be in a vaccum (no air resistance), i’d like to point out though that if you were to add in the air (which if you were outside… --- ## [Bush Military Record](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-military-record/174856)
**Author:** [@Brain\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brain_Death)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-military-record/174856 "2003-05-17T16:52:36Z")
“A few months after the 2000 election, former Bill Clinton adviser Paul Begala said he’d done a Nexis search and found 13,641 stories about Clinton’s alleged draft dodging versus 49 about George W. Bush’s military record… --- ## [Cecil was on the dope?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-was-on-the-dope/175701)
**Author:** [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-was-on-the-dope/175701 "2003-05-16T23:12:00Z")
Here Cecil says: Maybe we could have a Perfect (doper) Master recall a few of his college days? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=216) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=218)