The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[mmswm]

Genetics blessed my cousin with what I've always called "Fairy Princess Hair" - red and curly and gorgeous. She got it from my grandfather who, by the time we knew him, had gone white. At first, as kids, we had no idea where the red hair was from until someone explained.

My dad keeps apologizing that I've inherited his shape. I'm a pear. My mom is about 110 pounds soaking wet. Oh well! 

Mine is thick, red, curly and nearly waist length.  My friend's 14 year old daughter declared in "mermaid hair".  Both my parents are redheads, so there was no way I was getting out of the red hair, but I'm still somewhat curious where the thickness and the curls came from.  That seems to be a freak of nature.

[Outdoor Girl]

re: the end of the world tomorrow, tonight SyFy channel is showing "The 12 Disasters of Christmas."   It's one of their made-for-TV movies, so it should be wonderfully awful.

Dang, that would almost be worth getting cable again.   

My Doomsday! 2012 Countdown Calendar says:  "Big day tomorrow.  Rest up, drink plenty of fluids.  Pick out your clothes carefully -- you may be wearing them for quite some time.  Also, set up your coffee machine tonight -- you'd hate to be fumbling with beans and grinders when Armageddon comes.

Good advice. And along those lines, this is my favorite FB status I've seen. I shameless stole it for myself:

"I think we should all wear a red shirt tomorrow...
If the world is going to end, we might as well go out in Star Trek style..."

Yup, I'm definitely wearing red tomorrow.

LOL.  I'm wearing red but it's because I wear red every Friday.  I live near a Canadian Forces base and there has been a campaign for years called 'Red Friday', asking you to wear red to support the troops.  Plus, I look good in red.   

[Ceallach]

Why are native  New Zealanders  called  "Kiwis", and does the fruit hail from there as well (and that might answer my question)   )

I assumed NZ people were named after the national bird.  I thought it applied to all NZ-ers, not just native peoples.

I don't think anybody confirmed this 100%, but yes that's true.   Kiwi is just a slang term for "New Zealander".  It doesn't apply just to Maori (who are the indigenous people of New Zealand) but to all who identify as NZers.   I've noticed my friends who are newer immigrants often take great delight in identifying themselves as "kiwis" as they adopt NZ language and culture etc.   

And yes, it's after the small flightless bird called the Kiwi which is the national emblem of New Zealand.   

[oz diva]

Kiwi fruit was originally called Chinese Gooseberry.

[Carotte]

This might not need a whole thread in the technoquette one but is there a way to convey 'complete silence' over the internet/ in a chat conversation?
I was talking on gtalk with someone who made a comment about how I wrote one word (wrong - I'm dyslexic) - he knows my problem/point of view, I know his, the only way I found to deal with it is just to not say anything back, there's not actually anything to say and I don't always trust myself to hold my tongue and say something not e-hell approved.
But well, it stops the conversation until someone go on with a new subject. Is there a magical way to handle it? just the not saying anything part - I routinely handle the fact that it's no use for him to correct me the way he does (I might start again reminding him that it can be hurtfull)

[BabylonSister]

In message boards, I've seen people conveying silence by just posting a period.

[Diane AKA Traska]

I take my cues from Manga:

"..."

[Carotte]

I take my cues from Manga:

"..."

Oh, good one, thanks!
conveys exactly the right message.

[Virg]

<crickets, crickets>

Virg

[GreenEyedHawk]

So, here's a question.  I'm watching a BBC series called "Infamous Assassinations" and I'm wondering, because it hasn't yet been explained.

What is the difference between a murder and an assassination?  I thought maybe it might be to do with premeditation but that's characteristic of murder in the first degree, at least under the legal definitions where I'm from.  When does 'murder' become 'assassination'?  Is it when the victim is someone of importance, like a political figure (Abraham Lincoln, for example) or someone famous (like John Lennon)?

[RebeccainGA]

So, here's a question.  I'm watching a BBC series called "Infamous Assassinations" and I'm wondering, because it hasn't yet been explained.

What is the difference between a murder and an assassination?  I thought maybe it might be to do with premeditation but that's characteristic of murder in the first degree, at least under the legal definitions where I'm from.  When does 'murder' become 'assassination'?  Is it when the victim is someone of importance, like a political figure (Abraham Lincoln, for example) or someone famous (like John Lennon)?

I think assassination is more when you want them to stop doing/being what/who they are. Like, if you want to stop the head of the "People for Killing Puppies and Kittens", you assassinate their leader. If you want Joe Schmo to die, you murder him.

[Jones]

I understood that an "assassination" involves a prominent person as the victim, and generally has something to do with making a statement. Not sure how correct that is, to be honest I hadn't thought about it before.

[Softly Spoken]

Wiki says:
"Assassination is the murder of a prominent person or political figure by a surprise attack, usually for payment or political reasons.

An assassination may be prompted by religious, ideological, political, or military motives; it may be carried out for the prospect of financial gain, to avenge a grievance, from the desire to acquire fame or notoriety (that is, a psychological need to garner personal public recognition), from the wish to form some kind of "relationship" with a public figure, or from the desire (or at least the willingness) to be killed or commit suicide in the act."

So I guess it depends on who and why (victim and motive). The person has to be a public or political figure. Basically I guess all assassinations are technically murders, but not all murders are assassinations. Premeditated murder of someone important = assassination.

[Tea Drinker]

So, here's a question.  I'm watching a BBC series called "Infamous Assassinations" and I'm wondering, because it hasn't yet been explained.

What is the difference between a murder and an assassination?  I thought maybe it might be to do with premeditation but that's characteristic of murder in the first degree, at least under the legal definitions where I'm from.  When does 'murder' become 'assassination'?  Is it when the victim is someone of importance, like a political figure (Abraham Lincoln, for example) or someone famous (like John Lennon)?

I think part of the difference is whether there's a personal motive. If, hypothetically, a politician was cheating on his wife, and she killed him, that wouldn't be an assassination, because the killing was basically unconnected with his being a politician.

As with many things, there are edge cases. For example, Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was officially king of Nepal for three days, after allegedly murdering most of the royal family and then shooting himself. ("Allegedly" because some Nepalis believe that he did not shoot anyone, but was one victim of a conspiracy against his family.) That killing his father made him king might cause that to be classed as an assassination; however, Dipendra was in a coma for his entire reign, and may have been dead before being declared king. (Here's a Wikipedia article about the killings.

Now I'm wondering what level of fame is needed for a killing to count as assassination, and I suspect that in most cases it's not a legal term so there are no sharp lines.

[White Dragon]

A few weeks ago, my young coworker was involved in a minor auto accident. (I mention her youth only because I was wondering if the driving technique I'm asking about is something new.)

Co-worker was driving a car with an automatic transmission. (Very relevant!)

As coworker approached an intersection with a stop sign, she slowed to stop.
Unfortunately, the road was more slippery than she had anticipated and she slid (at a low rate of speed) into the car in front of her.
Fairly straightforward and happens all the time.

What has me wondering is something coworker mentioned about the sequence of events.

She said that as she slowed to stop, she shifted into neutral. (She was in neutral when she started to slide.)

I was very surprised and asked her to repeat this.
She says that this is how she was taught - to shift into neutral at stop signs.

I've been driving for some time and have taken - and supervised - many driving courses, but I've never heard of doing this.

I can see that if you are driving a standard/manual vehicle, depressing the clutch has the effect of putting the engine into neutral and you use the brakes to slow yourself.
But I've never heard of doing it with an automatic transmission.

It actually seems to me that if the car were in gear, she might have been able to ease off the brake and "steer into the skid" and perhaps avoid the collision.

Is this something new in terms of driving technique or was my coworker the victim of questionable instruction?

(I'm not going to try to correct her driving habits, I was just confused when I heard about this.)