# Things You Shouldn't Need To Tell People **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674 "2021-07-04T19:29:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/83 "2021-07-07T19:09:50Z")
And that cyclist who stopped _ **beyond** _ the thick white line, he didn’t do that just to be an asshole - he did it because most of the time the sensors won’t detect him. So he gave _ **you** _ the chance to make the lights change. Now, just be a good motorist and do what @John_DiFool told you. (Nope, they won’t - they just glare at you. Sigh.) j ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/84 "2021-07-07T20:51:36Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > So what _do_ you consider ‘archival’? Your summary seems to say “nothing is”. Paper and ink. Preferably well-organized, and in a container that is at least somewhat weather-resistant. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/85 "2021-07-07T20:54:47Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Paper and ink. Preferably well-organized, and in a container that is at least somewhat weather-resistant. Well, if you want to go _that_ route, I recommend stone inscriptions. Can’t beat those for longevity. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/86 "2021-07-07T22:44:42Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Paper and ink. Preferably well-organized, and in a container that is at least somewhat weather-resistant. While paper does indeed last a very long time in the proper conditions, its also very fragile. Microfilm is the way to go. That shit lasts a thousand years and all you need to read it is a light source and a magnifying glass. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/87 "2021-07-07T23:28:06Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > . I do it regularly. I know. Hence why this thread is titled “Things You Shouldn’t Need to Tell People.” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/88 "2021-07-07T23:53:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > And don’t eat while you are on the phone. And–for the love of god–don’t use the toilet when you are on the phone. The last thing I want to hear is a loud grunt from you as you strain to defecate and then the plop of a turd falling into the toilet water. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/89 "2021-07-08T01:40:48Z")
Two things: 1. If you’re in public and your cellphone rings, step away, lower your voice and have your conversation in private. I don’t need to be in line at the supermarket, listening to you yammer away about your real estate deals. If you do, I reserve the right to talk loudly next to you about open bedsores and make fart noises. 2. The Illuminati does not email you invitations to join them. They send tall, pale men dressed in black suits. Tripler I’m never too old to make fart noises around people like that. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/90 "2021-07-08T01:55:00Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Tripler > I’m never too old to make fart noises around people like that. With your mouth, hands or your butt? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/91 "2021-07-08T02:03:56Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Tripler](#): > > > > Tripler > > I’m never too old to make fart noises around people like that. > > With your mouth, hands or your butt? - You know those guys who play multiple instruments all at once…? ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/92 "2021-07-08T02:08:42Z")
… I’ll pass on borrowing that trumpet, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/93 "2021-07-08T03:37:10Z")
In terms of what I think of archival, decades or centuries, in a completely recoverable state, for digital an exact bit for bit copy of the original, then no. There’s no digital archival media. The longest lasting proven media is LTO tape with up to an estimated 30 year life when kept in proper storage conditions. There’s a possibility that M-Disc optical disc claims of 100 to 1000 years longevity may be true, but it has yet to shown as it’s only been around since 2009 and well within the real world lifespan of 1st tier DVDs and Blu-Ray writable disks. Posters often say, “But my disks read fine!”. That doesn’t mean they’re bit accurate as all storage devices have built in error correction that can fail when the errors become too many. In the case of audio CDs, a program like Exact Audio Copy (EAC) can be set to attempt to get as bit accurate a copy as possible, hammering away until either the preset settings or your settings tell the program to stop. I initially posted as a joke on another forum that the only archival method of retaining a bit for bit archive would be to type/print the binary code on paper or better yet, vellum. Giving it some thought, I realized and have others agree that it’s not as insane as it may seem. Assuming it’s readable, either by a machine or human, the exact audio, video, document, software could be reproduced exactly as the day it was written or printed. The catch being, having the software that can properly playback, view or execute the code. But instructions for that could also be added to the document. Backup, backup, backup! Even oral tradition is a backup, passed from generation to generation, hopefully as faithful to the original as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/94 "2021-07-08T04:38:23Z")
When I started, my tutor had his PhD project on a tape at the computer center. Because it represented several years of his life, he had personally bought another tape from the computer center, which they kept in their backup storage area. Because it was important to him, he had kept, in a corner of his office on the other side of the campus, the original punched cards from which the code and data had been loaded, in case a freak accident destroyed the computer center and its backup storage. So it was with a strange feeling that I later read, at another university, that the punch card readers were being decommissioned, and that any user who had anything important on a punch card deck should bring it in and get it loaded, because soon your ultimate backup - stable and universal - would be irretrievably lost. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/95 "2021-07-08T04:42:06Z")
“Do not stand in the damn doorway!” ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/96 "2021-07-08T04:46:06Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > There’s no digital archival media. The only real way to guarantee that digital data will be available in the future is to continuously move it to new media, as the state of the art changes. I have data that was first recorded to old 9 track tape, and over time has migrated to 8mm, DAT, and then to just existing “live” on hard disks at multiple locations. Similar with subject interviews that were recorded on VHS in the 80s and 90s, then copied to DVDs, which were then converted to mp4 files, and migrated into typical RAID and backup storage. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/97 "2021-07-08T04:57:26Z")
Spend less than you earn, ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/98 "2021-07-08T05:03:01Z")
Straying off topic, but I agree absolutely! Check, verify by doing a CRC check and generate a HASH for future reference, and copy to new media at least every few years. I do disagree with converting your DVDs (mpeg-2) to .mp4, unless you mean remuxing the mpeg-2 into an .mp4 container. As I stated above, IMO digital archival is a bit for bit copy of the original, restorable to the data in its original state. Also, punch cards are still viable for bit for bit data recovery. The issue is finding a reader, which as stated above were decommissioned and destroyed or fell into disrepair. This is an interesting thread about creating an optical punch card reader: [https://www.electronicspoint.com/forums/threads/optical-punch-card-reader.248897/](https://www.electronicspoint.com/forums/threads/optical-punch-card-reader.248897/) Since the punches translate into binary, you could handtype what the punches represent into a compiler and recreate the data. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/99 "2021-07-08T05:19:12Z")
Do NOT cut bagels by slicing inward towards the web of your thumb. Bagels cut funny- they give all of a sudden. > [@BrickBat](#): > > Another one I’ve heard is when they say the number to you out of whack with the expected grouping of numbers: Area code…exchange…last four. So instead of _one two three_ …short pause… _four five six_ … short pause… _seven eight nine ten_ , they’ll say something like _one two_ … short pause… _three four five_ … short pause… _six seven_ … short pause… _eight nine ten_ . My brain can’t parse that. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Do not eat the moldy cheese. Especially not the green mold cream cheese. Most molds you can scrape off hard cheese and it is fine. Cream cheese, however, is the opposite of hard. > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > And that cyclist who stopped _ **beyond** _ the thick white line, he didn’t do that just to be an asshole - he did it because most of the time the sensors won’t detect him. So he gave _ **you** _ the chance to make the lights change. On that note, do not stop so far back you do not set off the sensor. Do not leave large gaps between your car when stopped. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/100 "2021-07-08T05:37:44Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I do disagree with converting your DVDs (mpeg-2) to .mp4, unless you mean remuxing the mpeg-2 into an .mp4 container. As I stated above, IMO digital archival is a bit for bit copy of the original, restorable to the data in its original state. In this particular case there is no bit for bit copy, because the original data is analog. The DVDs exist at the quality created by consumer VHS to DVD converters, because getting back to the title of this thread, _budgets are a thing_. Using deinterlacing and speckle filters to convert the DVD’s mpeg2 files to h264 produced videos that look better than the original VHS or DVDs. And the mp4s were saved with hashes on a check summing filesystem, and backed up to a different location. Tieing it back to the OP, I’ll restate what I said above, sometimes monetary considerations force a compromise. The inverse may also be true, too, sometimes doing something half-assed is _worse_ than not doing it at all. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/101 "2021-07-08T08:44:48Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > “Do not stand in the damn doorway!” And do not just stand there when you get off the escalator! ---
**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:** [July 8, 2021, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/102 "2021-07-08T10:26:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Most molds you can scrape off hard cheese and it is fine. True; with hard cheeses you can remove the moldy part and eat the rest. However, unless it’s a cheese that’s supposed to have that mold, don’t eat the moldy part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674.md?page=6)