# Lingering habits/bits of knowledge(?) -- M T W R F S U **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316 "2023-10-09T14:57:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/101 "2023-10-11T20:12:01Z")
Here is a photo of the book — definitely looks like a custom cover > **[Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Pilot's Logbook – NASA Mars Exploration](https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25845/ingenuity-mars-helicopter-pilots-logbook/)** > > This image of the official pilot’s logbook for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flights – the “Nominal Pilot’s Logbook for Planets and Moons” – was taken at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on April 19, 2021, the day of... and here is a photo of the pilot writing in it > **[Pilot Logs First Flight on Another World – NASA Mars Exploration](https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25844/pilot-logs-first-flight-on-another-world/)** > > Ingenuity Mars chief pilot Håvard Grip records data of the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter into the official pilot’s logbook for the project – the “Nominal Pilot’s Logbook for Planets and Moons.” There must be a story behind this book; I’m not convinced it’s fake. Is one of the columns headed “Mars weather conditions”? Because that narrows it down too much for a generic logbook for flights on “Planets and Moons”. The time entries appear to be in LMST (local mean solar time). Besides “Mars weather conditions”, there is a set of two columns for “Rotorcraft helicopter”, which is also pretty custom (then, under that, it has “single-engine”, which is not used in the entries we see, and “multi-engine”). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/102 "2023-10-11T20:33:01Z")
Seems obvious that they’re filling out a physical logbook so they can send it to a museum someday. Much nicer looking than some computer printout. No one’s looking at the logbook for scientific purposes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/103 "2023-10-11T20:52:39Z")
Oh, I agree it’s PR & museum fodder and pretty obviously so. I’m just wondering why they went to the trouble to create a custom logbook _and_ leave columns in their custom book that are completely inapplicable to the custom situation they’re doing on Mars. Engineers have odd senses of humor is all I can conclude. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/104 "2023-10-11T21:03:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Engineers have odd senses of humor is all I can conclude. It’s hard to go wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/105 "2023-10-11T21:12:01Z")
Makes it look more logbooky. Almost, but not quite, like it was just some off-the-shelf thing. Even aside from the “single-engine” thing, it’s not like they had to fill out the “make and model” or “aircraft ident” each time, either. But real logbooks do that, so they do it here, too. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/106 "2023-10-12T03:35:53Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I still wasn’t sure which way all the letters were supposed to face I _still_ hesitate sometimes when writing lower case B and Ds. My solution was the word ‘bed’ – it just looks like such a nice flat bed with head and footboards IF you get the B and D loops right. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/107 "2023-10-12T20:45:36Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Yeah, before computers, I wrote entire novels in print. Not cursive. I was aware you had written novels. My claim is that it is no less useful to write entire novels in “cursive” than in “print”, and I personally do not feel a need to make such distinctions or aesthetic judgements of anyone’s handwriting unless I were judging a calligraphy contest. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/108 "2023-10-12T20:50:42Z")
Cursive may be useful for some people in some circumstances but that doesn’t necessarily mean every child in every school needs to be taught how to do it. My claim has nothing to do with aesthetics. Perhaps I misunderstood your point, but it sounded like you were saying it’s still a relevant skill for most people. To which I was saying, no, it’s not strictly necessary to use cursive to write large volumes of text. If someone wants to use cursive and wants to take the time to learn it, more power to them, but I don’t think most people use it on a regular basis, beyond the occasional signature, and I’m not convinced that much would be lost if generations of schoolchildren were never taught how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/109 "2023-10-12T20:50:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I rarely used the caps lock key because I’ve pried it out of my keyboard. I was so happy when I googled “Defeat Caps Lock Key” and found out that Macs have a simple setting for that. That was after I spent a decade accidentally hitting it… . > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > And I don’t believe it’s possible to memorize all of pi. That’s why my Password Hint says “Last Six Digits of Pi”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/110 "2023-10-12T21:10:31Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > But many of my older coworkers still insert two spaces between sentences. But you see- one or two spaces doesnt matter- it affects understanding not at all. This is one of those things which has no importance at all , like which side should the TP roll hang. But people get all het up about these things. And yes, I know, in a long book, the extra space can lead to extra paper… meh. I Sometimes us “MM” for million(s) since M is 1000 in Roman. > [@wolfpup](#): > > but I don’t think I’ve ever attended an institution that gave letter grades (which to my understanding were generally A, B, C, maybe D, with pluses or minuses, and F). And that is the only way I ever saw grades. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’ve never seen the R or U as day-of-the-week abbreviations. Same here. > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > It strikes me we’re ignoring the obvious solution: Rename the conflicting days of the week! I have pointed out the hypocrisy of using CE rather than AD, while still using days of the week named after pagan gods. I get you want to take religion out, but be consistent. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Good luck finding Millennials that can read cursive or a analog clock face. Apparently only 19% of them have issues telling time like that-. [One in six people can't tell the time on a normal clock | UK News | Metro News](https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/15/one-in-six-people-cant-tell-the-time-on-a-normal-clock-18445913/#:~:text=Younger%20people%20were%20those%20who,aged%2025%20to%2035%20%E2%80%93%20struggling). And apparently it is Gen Z that cant read cursive, Mind you, it is a useless skill to all but a few people. > [@pulykamell](#): > > My kids are Gen Alpha, both under 10, and both know how to read a clock and cursive. I did not teach them. They learned in class and on YouTube, I believe. I highly doubt Millennials as a whole can’t do that. You are correct. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/111 "2023-10-12T22:06:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But you see- one or two spaces doesnt matter- it affects understanding not at all. Not in my case. When I am reviewing a report (at work) that contains two spaces, it’s a major distraction to me for some reason. I will do a global and replace all the double spaces with single spaces. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/112 "2023-10-12T22:09:07Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Not in my case. When I am reviewing a report (at work) that contains two spaces, it’s a major distraction to me for some reason. But that’s _you_. For some reason, unfathomable. I dont even notice it one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/113 "2023-10-12T22:09:55Z")
The spaces after the period are functional. Slightly more space after a period makes it more readable. It’s just that two spaces is how one did it on a monospaced typewriter, and now that word processors automatically control this spacing, it’s overkill. I get distracted & do the search-and-replace, too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/114 "2023-10-12T22:13:19Z")
Microsoft Word ignores double spaces after a period. I used to double tap the space bar out of habit. It was irritating to see only one space after a period. I finally broke my double tap habit because it was wasted effort. Word won that fight in 1993. I still think a document is more readable with 2 spaces between sentences. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/115 "2023-10-12T22:27:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I still think a document is more readable with 2 spaces between sentences. So does Donald Knuth, though you have to keep in mind the Didone font he uses in his books. The real point is, spacing around punctuation marks should be controlled by user options and not by how many times you hit the space bar, one time or six. Once should still give you the extra space if things are set up correctly. Microsoft Word may be OK for producing a business letter or something, but not for preparing a final typeset version of a long document like a book. Certainly not if you have to “fight” with the layout. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/116 "2023-10-12T23:11:25Z")
I learned cursive in school of course, but the only time I’ve written cursive in the last 40 years or so is when I write my signature. Which makes me wonder – kids these days who can’t write cursive: how do they sign things? Just print their name? Seems like that would be much easier to forge than a cursive signature. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/117 "2023-10-12T23:25:07Z")
I haven’t read cursive in at least 15 years. I had to concentrate to read this example. They made it harder with odd sentences. This would require thought in Times New Roman. I can’t read the signature. Hen scratching. 😉 Click the icon. Its a index card with writing. [![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a34ezTpFZ9k/UtolZSifMTI/AAAAAAAAFzo/pbmg8ysnm7c/s1600/handwriting+cursive18.jpg) ](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a34ezTpFZ9k/UtolZSifMTI/AAAAAAAAFzo/pbmg8ysnm7c/s1600/handwriting+cursive18.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/118 "2023-10-12T23:51:26Z")
The signature’s illegible, as many signatures are. I had no problem at all reading the rest of it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/119 "2023-10-12T23:52:56Z")
Sorry. I had no problem. I blame my youngest child, who’s now forty-something. His handwriting was and is horrendous. I worked as a temp, grading essay test answers for nearly a year. I was the one they brought answers to if no one else could read them. Thanks, son. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/120 "2023-10-13T00:14:49Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The signature’s illegible, as many signatures are. I had no problem at all reading the rest of it. Ditto. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316.md?page=7)