# Did you know that? (Surprising trivia) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341 "2012-05-09T00:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/1 "2012-05-09T00:36:46Z")
So I am in my work lab, popping in a new tape to write some data, and I think to myself, “I wonder how many people realize that we still use magnetic tape on reels as a way to store data?” So, as some of you may know, I work as an offshore data processor for a seismic research company. Our data always gets written to tape. 3592 Fujifilm tape to be precise. These tapes can store up to 250GB of data and cost over $100 bucks each, so they aren’t your grandpa’s magnetic tape, that’s for sure. This isn’t just some anachronism of our company either. This is industry standard! I suspect that at this time, all seismic data is written to tape at some point or another. Did you know that? Are you surprised, shocked, aghast? Please feel free to share your own surprising trivia too! ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/2 "2012-05-09T00:58:47Z")
Really! Is this for permanent storage? Tapes, without special storage, can degrade very quickly. I have to talk to the Geophysicists about this(I know a couple) Is there a good reason for this? Soylent Green is people ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/3 "2012-05-09T01:11:12Z")
It is THE permanent storage for our data. It’s also how the data gets transported from us to clients. Crazy stuff! The reason is probably for cost and reliability. Harddrives must fail more frequently than tapes, and the tapes must be cheaper per byte than storage. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/4 "2012-05-09T01:45:53Z")
Wow did a little research on these and the system it works with, definitely not your Dad’s two track tapeDad’s two track tape system[http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/tape/ts3500/index.html](http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/tape/ts3500/index.html) Pretty awesome, the tapes come with a 60gb flah drive and hold 300gb max on tape or 900gb compressed ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/5 "2012-05-09T01:59:04Z")
Archival storage costs are initially high for this kind of media, but given the priceless nature of the data and the fact that there is a LOT of data, I can certainly see how this is still the best way of storing archives. Nice trivia! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/6 "2012-05-09T04:01:45Z")
Okay, here’s something I learned last month which surprised me. The People’s Liberation Army doesn’t technically answer to the government of the People’s Republic of China. It’s actually the military branch of the Chinese Communist Party. As a practical matter, this makes little difference in current Chinese affairs as the Chinese Communist Party also controls the government of the PRC\*. But it would be an _interesting_ issue if there was ever any democratization in China. \*Another interesting point, however. The Communist Party is not the only legal party in the PRC. Officially, the Communist Party is just one member of the United Front coalition that runs the country, along with eight other political parties. But you can probably guess how often the other parties try to do anything that wasn’t approved by the Communist Party. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/7 "2012-05-09T04:12:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Okay, here’s something I learned last month which surprised me. > > The People’s Liberation Army doesn’t technically answer to the government of the People’s Republic of China. It’s actually the military branch of the Chinese Communist Party. > > As a practical matter, this makes little difference in current Chinese affairs as the Chinese Communist Party also controls the government of the PRC\*. But it would be an _interesting_ issue if there was ever any democratization in China. > > \*Another interesting point, however. The Communist Party is not the only legal party in the PRC. Officially, the Communist Party is just one member of the United Front coalition that runs the country, along with eight other political parties. But you can probably guess how often the other parties try to do anything that wasn’t approved by the Communist Party. That is interesting. It’d be like if the democrats and republicans had their own armies in the US, and the united states itself didn’t have a military? Is that about right? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/8 "2012-05-09T04:24:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But you can probably guess how often the other parties try to do anything that wasn’t approved by the Communist Party. Just once? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/9 "2012-05-09T04:27:52Z")
We will run dangerously low on Sitka Spruce for instrument parts (ie: guitar tops, piano parts) in the next 5 years. So if you’re in the market for mid to high end instruments… ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/10 "2012-05-09T04:59:08Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > We will run dangerously low on Sitka Spruce for instrument parts (ie: guitar tops, piano parts) in the next 5 years. So if you’re in the market for mid to high end instruments… Interesting. There are still plenty of Sitka spruce around but apparently only the old trees about 250 years old are suitable for instruments. I’ll save you enough for a piano or two. I’ve got a Sitka in the back yard that is at least 8 feet in diameter and 80 feet tall. Should be just about the right age too. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/11 "2012-05-09T05:06:27Z")
**Did you know that:** Abraham Lincoln Filed a Patent for Facebook in 1845? Or rather, for [a community newsletter](http://natestpierre.me/2012/05/08/abraham-lincoln-patent-facebook/) to inform everyone of local family status updates. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/12 "2012-05-09T05:14:53Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > We will run dangerously low on Sitka Spruce for instrument parts (ie: guitar tops, piano parts) in the next 5 years. So if you’re in the market for mid to high end instruments… The piano industry has been settling for subpar spruce for at least twenty years now. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/13 "2012-05-09T05:25:32Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > That is interesting. It’d be like if the democrats and republicans had their own armies in the US, and the united states itself didn’t have a military? Is that about right? Pretty much, except that the Chinese military is a one-party monopoly. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/14 "2012-05-09T05:34:25Z")
The Liberal Party is actually the main centre-right party of Australian politics, despite the prevailing US meaning of “liberal” as wildly leftist. The main centre-left party is the Australian Labor Party, and yes they spell their middle word in the US way, not the UK/Commonwealth way as you might expect. The third largest is the National Party (in coalition with the Liberals), who are not national at all - their previous name was the Country Party which better reflected their rural roots. So all three major Australia political parties have names that are misleading or odd in some way. ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/15 "2012-05-09T07:33:05Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > The Liberal Party is actually the main centre-right party of Australian politics, despite the prevailing US meaning of “liberal” as wildly leftist. The main centre-left party is the Australian Labor Party, and yes they spell their middle word in the US way, not the UK/Commonwealth way as you might expect. The third largest is the National Party (in coalition with the Liberals), who are not national at all - their previous name was the Country Party which better reflected their rural roots. > > So all three major Australia political parties have names that are misleading or odd in some way. Misleading to Americans only, I might add. Only in the US are liberals considered on the left, due to the large (in relation to the rest of the western world) conservative voter base and practically nonexistent social democratic base. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/16 "2012-05-09T07:41:51Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#): > > Misleading to Americans only, I might add. Only in the US are liberals considered on the left, due to the large (in relation to the rest of the western world) conservative voter base and practically nonexistent social democratic base. You could argue Canada also has a leftist Liberal party. ---
**Author:** ![medicated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@medicated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medicated)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/17 "2012-05-09T11:07:20Z")
> [@Baffle](#): > > You could argue Canada also has a leftist Liberal party. Not sure that I’d call them leftist. They’re the centre, are they not? The NDP on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/18 "2012-05-09T12:19:26Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Really! Is this for permanent storage? Tapes, without special storage, can degrade very quickly. > > I have to talk to the Geophysicists about this(I know a couple) > > Is there a good reason for this? > > Soylent Green is people Tape is an extremely common mechanism for backing up data. It is only of the past few years that storage costs had dropped enough that companies are looking to other, more obviously computer-like, methods. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/19 "2012-05-09T12:30:52Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > **Did you know that:** Abraham Lincoln Filed a Patent for Facebook in 1845? > > Or rather, for [a community newsletter](http://natestpierre.me/2012/05/08/abraham-lincoln-patent-facebook/) to inform everyone of local family status updates. Is it actually true though? Comments on that article appear to suggest this is fictional. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341/20 "2012-05-09T12:34:18Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Is it actually true though? Comments on that article appear to suggest this is fictional. I didn’t look at the comments, but I was skeptical as I read it, waiting for a reveal. I haven’t investigated deeper, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was fake or an exaggeration. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-surprising-trivia/621341.md?page=2)