# Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=1116 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 1117 --- ## ["Blow the horn?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blow-the-horn/624829)
**Author:** [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blow-the-horn/624829 "2012-06-14T03:10:30Z")
What the heck is the derivation of the phrase “blow the horn” in a car. From the stage coach days? Perhaps today we should say, “Activate the vehicle’s warning device.” Archaic, as “dial the phone,” I suppose. --- ## [My Aunt died](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-aunt-died/625074)
**Author:** [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-aunt-died/625074 "2012-06-14T00:52:08Z")
Earlier this year I mentionedthat my aunt got a kidney transplant. Briefly, she had several health problems, but received a kidney transplant. However, numerous complications kept her stuck in bed for 6 weeks, and the … --- ## [Fairly simple math problem](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairly-simple-math-problem/624955)
**Author:** [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairly-simple-math-problem/624955 "2012-06-13T22:08:40Z")
Please don’t worry and simply solve the following system of equations. (Would be best to solve it before looking at others’ answers…) 2x÷3y = 1/3 4x÷3y = 2/3 Thanks in advance for your patience. --- ## [Airplane hours](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-hours/624735)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-hours/624735 "2012-06-13T20:37:48Z")
I like to browse airplane ads. (The SO said, ‘Why don’t you just sell all of your stuff and buy one already?’) One thing I notice about '70s Cessna 172s is that many of them have 10,000 hours or more. But '60s-vintage… --- ## [Pythagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pythagoras/625053)
**Author:** [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pythagoras/625053 "2012-06-13T20:29:45Z")
A new video from Vi Hart: http://youtu.be/X1E7I7\_r3Cw And a similar one from Numberphile: http://youtu.be/5sKah3pJnHI --- ## [American education is rock solid](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-education-is-rock-solid/624904)
**Author:** [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-education-is-rock-solid/624904 "2012-06-13T20:01:12Z")
Check out this YouTube comment. Must be a joke…right? --- ## [Car Dealership Service Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-dealership-service-fun/624938)
**Author:** [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-dealership-service-fun/624938 "2012-06-13T18:50:43Z")
Oh, the fun times to be had at a car dealership service department. I took my Saturn Astra to a local GM dealership for a cheap oil change and a new battery (which was somehow cheaper than at AutoZone). After getting d… --- ## [Stuff you finally got around to doing- post about it here!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-finally-got-around-to-doing-post-about-it-here/624035)
**Author:** [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-finally-got-around-to-doing-post-about-it-here/624035 "2012-06-13T14:53:27Z")
Yesterday, I finally got around to going through the books in our attic, packing up the ones I was willing to get rid of, and taking them to Half Price Books to sell them. I sold about 30 plastic grocery bags full of bo… --- ## [I'm HOME!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-home/624689)
**Author:** [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-home/624689 "2012-06-13T12:13:40Z")
I am home. Finally, as of Thursday. To begin at the beginning, I got sick on New Year’s Eve of last year (December 31, 2011) and went to the hospital for the first time the next day. I had a serious infection and was pu… --- ## [My First Flickr Explore Photo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-flickr-explore-photo/624389)
**Author:** [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-flickr-explore-photo/624389 "2012-06-13T03:32:08Z")
This my be the most mundane and pointless thing ever posted here but one of the Venus Transit photos I shot the other day made on Flickr Explore. This is the first time I made it on … --- ## [Mystery blood stains](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-blood-stains/624876)
**Author:** [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-blood-stains/624876 "2012-06-13T00:01:58Z")
I deliver newspapers at night, and surprisingly often you see blood on the floor in the apartment buildings - not every month, but several times per year, and it’s not like I’m working in a bad neighborhood. Usually its … --- ## [Every trivia question answered - SDMB becoming futile?!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-trivia-question-answered-sdmb-becoming-futile/624702)
**Author:** [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-trivia-question-answered-sdmb-becoming-futile/624702 "2012-06-12T20:58:03Z")
I had some great ideas for questions to ask in the General Questions section except: the questions weren’t that great after all because they had first been answered about a decade ago and subsequently been answered again… --- ## [Ten Other Things Gilbert & George Could Have Called Themselves](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-other-things-gilbert-george-could-have-called-themselves/624942)
**Author:** [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-other-things-gilbert-george-could-have-called-themselves/624942 "2012-06-12T20:26:30Z")
British art duo Gilbert & George are famous in Britain for being Gilbert & George, which just sounds fundamentally right, like Lennon & McCartney or Peters & Lee. I once asked them if they had tried going by the name Geo… --- ## [Perfect being punishes its imperfect creation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-being-punishes-its-imperfect-creation/624837)
**Author:** [@Veneriable\_Slacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Veneriable_Slacks)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-being-punishes-its-imperfect-creation/624837 "2012-06-12T20:04:28Z")
“Why would an all-powerful being create an imperfect being, then punish it for being impefect?” I saw this written in a public toilet and it caused me to flush. --- ## [Why do some people blame the victim of abuse ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-blame-the-victim-of-abuse/624525)
**Author:** [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-blame-the-victim-of-abuse/624525 "2012-06-12T18:16:27Z")
“16-year-old young girl viciously abused by boyfriend for over a month, her body as if cut by a thousand knives” It is a news article translated from Chinese to English, but I have seen stories like this before, and I… --- ## [How to unsubscribe from all my feeds in Facebook?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-unsubscribe-from-all-my-feeds-in-facebook/624892)
**Author:** [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-unsubscribe-from-all-my-feeds-in-facebook/624892 "2012-06-12T18:02:58Z")
Is there anyway to wipe my newsfeed clean? That is, I only wish to use Facebook for groups and when my friend tags me, I do not wish to see anything else that may be happening to my friends. --- ## [Visualizing fallacies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visualizing-fallacies/624930)
**Author:** [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visualizing-fallacies/624930 "2012-06-12T17:47:16Z")
I’m becoming more and more a fan of good data/information visualizations and this one on logical fallacies is nice and seems right for the Dope. :slight\_smile: --- ## [family secrets you learned when you were older.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-secrets-you-learned-when-you-were-older/623909)
**Author:** [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Replies:** 107\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-secrets-you-learned-when-you-were-older/623909 "2012-06-12T16:47:37Z")
A friend at work in his early thirties just found out he has a half sister in her mid forties. He got an email from her and thought was a prank or a scam until he saw the photo. He talked to his Mom and Dad and they wer… --- ## [Rare blue lobster found](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-blue-lobster-found/624916)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-blue-lobster-found/624916 "2012-06-12T16:19:13Z")
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/11/a-catch-straight-out-of-the-deep-blue-sea/?hpt=hp\_c3 A remarkable critter. Sure hope they end up putting it in an aquarium - it’d live longer, most likely, and more people would hav… --- ## [Beware of Dog font unchanged in 50 years](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-dog-font-unchanged-in-50-years/624835)
**Author:** [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-dog-font-unchanged-in-50-years/624835 "2012-06-12T14:52:39Z")
:smiley: What other observations from this 50 year old picture? But seriously… the Beware of Dog sign… it’s unchanged after all these years. http://www.petco.com/product/14609/Hillman-Sign-Center--Beware-of-Dog.aspx … --- ## [OH! My Brothers On The SDMB! Let us mourn for our fellow Man! Newslink](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-brothers-on-the-sdmb-let-us-mourn-for-our-fellow-man-newslink/624600)
**Author:** [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-brothers-on-the-sdmb-let-us-mourn-for-our-fellow-man-newslink/624600 "2012-06-12T12:58:12Z")
Woman accused of bare-hand castration EYYYEEEEE!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: The horror…the horror… --- ## [My cat is a LOLcat! (picture of course)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-a-lolcat-picture-of-course/624718)
**Author:** [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-a-lolcat-picture-of-course/624718 "2012-06-12T07:01:37Z")
For the last couple of days I’ve been trying to figure out where the cat pee smell in my bathroom has been coming from. Whenever I’d go in there to brush my teeth I could smell cat pee but no matter how hard I tried to l… --- ## [Wow! The latest "Bing" search engine really is quite good!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-the-latest-bing-search-engine-really-is-quite-good/624682)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-the-latest-bing-search-engine-really-is-quite-good/624682 "2012-06-12T06:40:49Z")
It’s a damned good search engine! A creditable competitor to Google. --- ## [An interesting report on the North Korean Caste System](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-report-on-the-north-korean-caste-system/624840)
**Author:** [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-report-on-the-north-korean-caste-system/624840 "2012-06-12T02:18:50Z")
There’s not really much point in me supplying an OP here, because anything I could say to describe the report is said much better in the report. Let’s just call it “everything you ever wanted to know about NK’s caste sy… --- ## [Did you ever do something that made you feel really dumb?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-do-something-that-made-you-feel-really-dumb/623950)
**Author:** [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-do-something-that-made-you-feel-really-dumb/623950 "2012-06-12T00:58:59Z")
Last night I was watching the Hub cable channel and saw a promo for “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” “Cool,” says I, and go to the program guide to set a series recording on my DVR. I’d always liked L&C,… --- ## [I finally got a hit off the 1940 Census!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-got-a-hit-off-the-1940-census/618053)
**Author:** [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-got-a-hit-off-the-1940-census/618053 "2012-06-11T22:09:59Z")
Anyone who’s tried to look up their relatives from the just-released 1940 Census knows it hasn’t been indexed and the only hope you have of finding anyone is knowing their exact address. So after hours of combing through… --- ## [Isle of Man TT 2012 Photos.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isle-of-man-tt-2012-photos/624823)
**Author:** [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isle-of-man-tt-2012-photos/624823 "2012-06-11T21:56:27Z")
My photos from this year’s TT. http://notails.com/blog/2012/06/11/manx-tt-2012/ Main website - http://notails.com --- ## [The Hayman fire in Colorado--tenth anniversary](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hayman-fire-in-colorado-tenth-anniversary/624628)
**Author:** [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hayman-fire-in-colorado-tenth-anniversary/624628 "2012-06-11T16:37:25Z")
Probably very few people outside of Colorado remember the Hayman fire. This week is the tenth anniversary of it. It remains the biggest fire in Colorado history–138,000 acres. (A little over 215 square miles.) I know… --- ## [Help finding Old Fashioned "Blowing Cloud Face" illustration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-old-fashioned-blowing-cloud-face-illustration/624778)
**Author:** [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-old-fashioned-blowing-cloud-face-illustration/624778 "2012-06-11T16:00:50Z")
Before I throw in the towel, I remembered the Straight Dope might help-I’ve been searching in vain for a very specific image- any vintage illustration of a cloud with a face, blowing wind- specifically 1800s/early 1900’s… --- ## [A petrolhead (Me) test drives the Nissan Leaf....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-petrolhead-me-test-drives-the-nissan-leaf/624331)
**Author:** [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-petrolhead-me-test-drives-the-nissan-leaf/624331 "2012-06-11T15:38:37Z")
A petrolhead test drives the Nissan Leaf… My 10 year old nephew, Logan, is writing a school report on the past, present, and future of alternative fuel vehicles, and one of the present day vehicles in his report is the … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=1115) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=1117)