#TodayILearned about #StalinSort, a sorting algorithm which REMOVES any members in the list that are OUT OF ORDER and SENDS THEM TO THE GULAG, never to be heard from again.
#TodayILearned that the name of the color #puce comes from French word “puce” meaning “flea”. Since fleas don’t have this color, the most likely explanation is that puce is the color of blood-stain seen on clothing or bedsheets after people have been bitten by fleas.
#TodayILearned I have #aphantasia; ask me to create a mental image of something in my head, I can’t do it, it’s just a black void. Even my dreams are conceptual. It finally explains why I struggle reading fiction because I can’t recreate the places and characters; almost as soon as the book finishes describing something I’ve forgotten it. #Today
I just came across an interesting historical concept - the so-called "Gesinde-Dienstbuch" ("Service Book for Farm Laborers").
This was a pre-printed booklet with forms that would both serve to identify maids and farmhands, and list the details of their past employment.
Such details including the residence of their employer, the duration of employment, the reasons for leaving said employment (plus testimony from the employer), and verification and comments from the local police authorities.
From what I understand, these served a similar role as referrals and employer testimonies in the modern day.
#TodayILearned that in #Python's #pathlib.Path "broken links" are not folders, so .is_folder() returns False, but then .is_file() also returns False ...
"when the part of the brain which detects familiarity de-synchronises with reality (we experience) déjà vu . . . the signal which alerts you to this weirdness: it is a type of "fact checking" for the memory system.
But repetition can do something even more uncanny and unusual.
The opposite of déjà vu is "jamais vu", when something you know to be familiar feels unreal or novel in some way"
Today I Learned what an HTTP 307 does that's subtly different from other redirect responses and that a NextJS res.redirect() uses it by default.
The 307 redirects to the new URL with the same request method (in my case POST). I was redirecting a form submit to an OAuth authorisation URL. Switching to an HTTP 303 swaps the method to GET and has sorted things out.
If you find your brain endlessly repeating a word or phrase, or a musical passage (not an earworm, just a short series of notes or musical phrase) but you don't vocalize, you might have internalized echolalia too. It seems like it's common in #autism and #ADHD, but #OCD sufferers can have it too. It doesn't get talked about as much as vocalized echolalia because it's internal (obviously).
Sometimes it manifests as humming the same musical phrase, or muttering the same words over and over. That's almost regular echolalia, but sometimes people don't realize it.
You can often help it by listening to music, but that can just put another phrase into your head. Some people have found success with meditation or mindfulness practices.
Anyway, if you get short loops stuck on your head to the point where it disrupts your other thoughts, you might talk to someone about it because it's not just you and it's not everyone. Might be a symptom of something worth looking into.
Why YSK: In many places it can take years for a case to come to trial. Judges have to make a decision in such cases to determine whether an accused person should be jailed in the interim. In recent years many jurisdictions have adopted algorithmic tools that essentially create a “risk profile” which assigns a value....
#TodayILearned that many post-WW2 buildings in England were built with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, a foam-like form of concrete that was lightweight, cheap, fire-resistant, and easy to mold.
The problem was that the air bubbles allowed moisture to reach the rebar, corroding them and weakening the structure, especially if it’s holding up the roof of a building.
#TodayILearned that the official #Thai name for Bangkok is Krung Thep, short for “Krungthepmahanakhon” (City of Angels, Great City of Immortals).
But that name is short for “Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit” (City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest), which at 168 (Latin phonetic) letters, earns it the #GuinessWorldRecord for the longest place name on earth.
(Yes, even longer than Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.)
#TodayILearned that the delicious Mexican fruit sauce #Chamoy probably derives its name and recipe from the #Philippines’ “kiamoy”, which is a fruit sauce made with the same recipe. That recipe was in turn derived from a #Hokkien#Chinese recipe brought by Chinese immigrants, who called it 鹹梅 “kiam-mui” (literally: salted plums).
As a Hokkien descendant who loves #Mexican#fruit salads, this makes me happy.
Over the last 5 decades, more than 90 of Stockholm's 100 metro stations have been decorated with mosaics or paintings by hundreds of artists. The metro system is sometimes called “the world’s longest art gallery.”
#TodayILearned: Neko is cat in Japanese, although I probably spelled that wrong. And if you add ko in front of it, koneko, it becomes my favorite word, kitten!
Stumbled across a fascinating YouTube channel about national parks (worldwide), and #TodayILearned that the US National Park Service brochure employs a design system called the #Unigrid, designed by none other than #MassimoVignelli, who said it was one of the most important projects he ever worked on -
TIL that over 60% of jurisdictions in the US use algorithmic pretrial assessment tools to help determine who should be jailed before their court date and who should not.
Why YSK: In many places it can take years for a case to come to trial. Judges have to make a decision in such cases to determine whether an accused person should be jailed in the interim. In recent years many jurisdictions have adopted algorithmic tools that essentially create a “risk profile” which assigns a value....