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🔗 Skid Row
Skid Row is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. The area is also known as Central City East.
As of a 2019 count, the population of the district was 4,757. Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (about 2,783) of homeless people in the United States and has been known for its condensed homeless population since the 1930s. Its long history of police raids, targeted city initiatives, and homelessness advocacy make it one of the most notable districts in Los Angeles.
Covering fifty city blocks (2.71 sq mi) immediately east of downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row is bordered by Third Street to the north, Seventh Street to the south, Alameda Street to the east, and Main Street to the west.
Discussed on
- "Skid Row" | 2020-05-25 | 54 Upvotes 31 Comments
🔗 Intelligent Disobedience
Intelligent disobedience occurs where a service animal trained to help a disabled person goes directly against the owner's instructions in an effort to make a better decision. This behavior is a part of the dog's training and is central to a service animal's success on the job. The concept of intelligent disobedience has been in use and a common part of service animals' training since at least 1936.
Discussed on
- "Intelligent Disobedience" | 2020-05-25 | 212 Upvotes 84 Comments
🔗 Two capacitor paradox
The two capacitor paradox or capacitor paradox is a paradox, or counterintuitive thought experiment, in electric circuit theory. The thought experiment is usually described as follows: Two identical capacitors are connected in parallel with an open switch between them. One of the capacitors is charged with a voltage of , the other is uncharged. When the switch is closed, some of the charge on the first capacitor flows into the second, reducing the voltage on the first and increasing the voltage on the second. When a steady state is reached and the current goes to zero, the voltage on the two capacitors must be equal since they are connected together. Since they both have the same capacitance the charge will be divided equally between the capacitors so each capacitor will have a charge of and a voltage of . At the beginning of the experiment the total initial energy in the circuit is the energy stored in the charged capacitor:
- .
At the end of the experiment the final energy is equal to the sum of the energy in the two capacitors
Thus the final energy is equal to half of the initial energy . Where did the other half of the initial energy go?
Discussed on
- "Two capacitor paradox" | 2020-05-25 | 438 Upvotes 169 Comments
🔗 Founder's Syndrome
Founder's syndrome (also founderitis) is the difficulty faced by organizations where one or more founders maintain disproportionate power and influence following the effective initial establishment of the project, leading to a wide range of problems for the organization. The passion and charisma of the founder(s), sources of the initial creativity and productivity of the organization, become limiting or destructive factors. The syndrome occurs in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. It may simply limit further growth and success of the project, or it may lead to bitter factionalism and divisions as the scale of demands made on the organization increases, or it may result in outright failure. There are ways in which a founder or organization can respond and grow beyond this situation.
Discussed on
- "Founder's Syndrome" | 2020-05-25 | 70 Upvotes 66 Comments
🔗 Pelorus Jack
Pelorus Jack (fl. 1888 – April 1912) was a Risso's dolphin that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand, between 1888 and 1912. Pelorus Jack was usually spotted in Admiralty Bay between Cape Francis and Collinet Point, near French Pass, a notoriously dangerous channel used by ships travelling between Wellington and Nelson.
Pelorus Jack was shot at from a passing ship, and was later protected by a 1904 New Zealand law.
Discussed on
- "Pelorus Jack" | 2020-05-25 | 187 Upvotes 30 Comments
🔗 Pantai Remis Landslide
The Pantai Remis landslide was a rock fall and flood that occurred on 21 October 1993, near Pantai Remis in Perak, Malaysia. The landslide took place in an abandoned open cast tin mine (in a region of the state well known for its tin mining industry) close to the Strait of Malacca. Video footage shows the rapid collapse of the working face closest the sea, allowing complete flooding of the mine and forming a new cove measuring approximately 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi).
Discussed on
- "Pantai Remis Landslide" | 2020-05-24 | 41 Upvotes 24 Comments
🔗 The Great Plague of Marseille
The Great Plague of Marseille was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in western Europe. Arriving in Marseille, France in 1720, the disease killed a total of 100,000 people: 50,000 in the city during the next two years and another 50,000 to the north in surrounding provinces and towns.
While economic activity took only a few years to recover, as trade expanded to the West Indies and Latin America, it was not until 1765 that the population returned to its pre-1720 level.
Discussed on
- "The Great Plague of Marseille" | 2020-05-24 | 29 Upvotes 14 Comments
🔗 Norton Commander
Norton Commander (NC) is a discontinued prototypical orthodox file manager (OFM), written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing (later acquired in 1990 by the Symantec corporation). NC provides a text-based user interface for managing files on top of MS-DOS. It was officially produced between 1986 and 1998. The last MS-DOS version of Norton Commander, 5.51, was released on July 1, 1998.
A related product, Norton Desktop, a graphical shell for MS-DOS and Windows, succeeded Norton Commander. It came in two variants, Norton Desktop for DOS and Norton Desktop for Windows.
Discussed on
- "Norton Commander" | 2020-05-22 | 35 Upvotes 51 Comments
🔗 McLibel Case
McDonald's Corporation v Steel & Morris [1997] EWHC QB 366, known as "the McLibel case", was an English lawsuit for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris (often referred to as "The McLibel Two") over a factsheet critical of the company. Each of two hearings in English courts found some of the leaflet's contested claims to be libellous and others to be true.
The original case lasted nearly ten years which, according to the BBC, made it the longest-running libel case in English history. McDonald's announced it did not plan to collect the £40,000 it was awarded by the courts. Following the decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in Steel & Morris v United Kingdom the pair had been denied a fair trial, in breach of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair trial) and their conduct should have been protected by Article 10 of the Convention, which protects the right to freedom of expression. The court awarded a judgement of £57,000 against the UK government. McDonald's itself was not involved in, or a party to, this action, as applications to the ECHR are independent cases filed against the relevant state.
Franny Armstrong and Ken Loach made a documentary film, McLibel, about the case.
Discussed on
- "McLibel Case" | 2020-05-21 | 69 Upvotes 26 Comments
🔗 Polywater
Polywater was a hypothesized polymerized form of water that was the subject of much scientific controversy during the late 1960s. By 1969 the popular press had taken notice and sparked fears of a "polywater gap" in the US.
Increased press attention also brought with it increased scientific attention, and as early as 1970 doubts about its authenticity were being circulated. By 1973 it was found to be illusory, being just water with any number of common organic compounds contaminating it.
Today, polywater is best known as an example of pathological science.
Discussed on
- "Polywater" | 2020-05-20 | 49 Upvotes 1 Comments