# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674 "2020-04-13T03:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 100
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1984 "2021-05-17T01:15:28Z")
Having to buy a new Roku is a lot simpler and cheaper than replacing an entire smart TV. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1985 "2021-05-17T01:25:04Z")
I think I’m very glad my TV was made right before Smart TVs started coming out. Here’s hoping it continues to be reliable, 'cause this sounds pretty damned annoying. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1986 "2021-05-17T01:30:26Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > One company plans to use NASA’s “chainmail” technology to make airless bicycle tires and – eventually – car tires. I don’t see this happening unless roads change their composition. It would be pretty hard on asphalt, especially on a hot day. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1987 "2021-05-17T04:53:47Z")
But they could finally get glowing tires! > **[Goodyear's Glowing Tires: A Golden Idea that Never Came to Fruition - Classic...](https://www.classiccarcollection.org/goodyears-glowing-tires/)** > > Classic cars boast a lot of features you don’t see in contemporary models, but did you know that at one point those features even included–well, were going to include–illuminated tires? The idea started floating around in the 50s, but nothing really... ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1988 "2021-05-17T05:23:43Z")
Re: vindaloo The name Colombo, Sri Lanka, has no connection with Christopher Columbus, although it was given its current spelling by the Portuguese in 1505. The name derives fron Sinhala worts meaning “port of the green mango”, and there are many ports in Sri Lanka with names ending with the suffix -ombo. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1989 "2021-05-17T09:23:01Z")
Here in the UK, my smart(ish) TV gets OTA updates. I know that you guys in the USofA mostly use cable, but can’t the cable companies send updates? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1990 "2021-05-17T14:01:10Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > . I know that you guys in the USofA mostly use cable, but can’t the cable companies send updates? The TV has to be setup to receive/apply them. I know I had to update the Amazon app on my Samsung Smart TV to get Prime to work, and it was a bit of a pain in the ass just to find the instructions. The overall Smart app updates itself at annoyingly often intervals, so hopefully that means it has updated its root certificates at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1991 "2021-05-17T14:03:37Z")
In my experience, the cable company sends updates for the OS and apps on the cable box, but has nothing to do with updating the OS or apps on my smart TV, game system or any other device connected to the TV. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1992 "2021-05-17T14:47:52Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Judith Love Cohen, who worked for NASA (she helped design the Abort Guidance System that rescued Apollo 13), went to work on the day she was in labor. She took a printout of the problem she was working on to the hospital with her. She called her boss and said she finished the problem. She then gave birth to a son. > > That son is actor [Jack Black](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Love_Cohen?wprov=sfti1). Cool story. My parents used to be neighbors with her ex Tom Black who worked on satellites for NASA. I only met him once but Jack Black is extremely intelligent as well. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1993 "2021-05-17T21:50:30Z")
Another animal that has litters of 4 (and 4 only) is the Tasmanian Devil. Being a marsupial, the newborns spend several months in the pouch (rather than an internal womb) permanently attached to a nipple until they develop enough to enter the outside world. However, the adult female actually gives birth to between 20 and 50 young devils, and there is a fierce competition to see which of the newborns will reach the four nipples first. The remainder die. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1994 "2021-05-18T09:31:12Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > But yes. You expect digital electronics to stop working. But TVs? Us old folks expect TVs to work, then get moved downstairs, then to the spare room … I don’t understand why anyone would buy a video monitor with any sorts of extraneous add-ons built in. Stuff like a “combo DVD player/TV”, or “smart TV with YouTube and Netflix” or other worthless dinosaurs. A monitor should be just that. A monitor and nothing else. That way, when it’s time, you can swap out whatever outdated technology is feeding a video signal to the monitor (Cable box, DVD player, LaserDisc, BetaCam, Roku, VHS player, etc.) and upgrade to the newest device. I make an exception for the vaunted TV-tuner/video monitor combo (i.e. the classic TV set) . That was utterly logical because there were no other video sources to consider at that time. Television broadcasts were all that existed. Of course at some point you will have to upgrade the monitor itself if for no other reason than because you can no longer hook things up at adequate speeds because the connectors have all changed. At that point you can move it downstairs, and then to the spare room and hook up an old $5 DVD player or an old $9 Roku box to it for your kids or your guests. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1995 "2021-05-18T09:42:42Z")
[too late to add to my post above–sorry] > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Having to buy a new Roku is a lot simpler and cheaper than replacing an entire smart TV. This is exactly what I’m talking about in the post above. I’m not digging the entire concept of a “Smart TV”. Makes more sense to combine the individual components yourself instead. Smart TV’s aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1996 "2021-05-18T10:14:50Z")
Difficult to buy something that doesn’t have smart features. No doubt they exist but they are not exactly stocked in the local electronics store, nor will they be particularly cheap. I just bought a TV and am ignoring the features. Although I did nearly buy one which had Roku as it’s operating system. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1997 "2021-05-18T11:41:25Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Makes more sense to combine the individual components yourself instead. You can do that, I can (probably) do that. My 91 year old mother, not so much. And other people, capable of doing it don’t have the desire to dig into what components to buy, nor necessarily have the space where the monitor is to put individual components. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1998 "2021-05-18T16:49:30Z")
Pardon my ignorance. Can I actually buy a 60" or 80" monitor with nil smarts? I’m not far from a tech refresh and your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1999 "2021-05-18T17:49:47Z")
You can buy a smart TV and just use the dumb parts. Not a big deal. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2000 "2021-05-18T20:48:35Z")
The part I most want to avoid is all the corporate spyware running on the TV. If it has a dumb monitor mode and I can prevent the TV from phoning home despite being on my network and have it still function as a dumb monitor I guess that’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2001 "2021-05-18T20:51:41Z")
Why would you need the TV itself on your network at all if you’re just plugging in outboard equipment (a Roku to do streaming, a media box for some movie library)? The outboard stuff is on your network, the TV just gets video and audio signals. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2002 "2021-05-18T21:18:58Z")
God point. Shoulda thought that through some more. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2003 "2021-05-18T22:21:07Z")
Tom Scott (of YouTube fame) has taught me that an early use of a microwave was to **humanely warm up small critters such as hamsters that had been frozen**. Presto, some of them actually came back to life! Alas, this only works for small creatures but not humans. However, the idea that one could be frozen indefinitely then reanimated became a Sci-Fi staple for many decades that followed, notably in _2001 a Space Odyssey_ and _Alien_. Not to mention video games like _Halo_ and _Fallout 4_. The new-to-me term for this kind of heating is “diathermy,” for which Tom nicely uses Google to teach us how it is pronounced (at 5:25 in the video link). I love his well-edited videos! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=99) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=101)