TIL chickens can perform simple arithmetic, have basic time perception, show self-control (can delay a smaller reward for a larger one later), show object permanence (understand an object exists when out of sight; humans get at age 2), and possess transitive inference (humans achieve at age 7)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5306232/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qvqc06/til_chickens_can_perform_simple_arithmetic_have/

TIL that ejaculating at least 21 times a month may lower your risk of prostate cancer by 31%!

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/ejaculation_frequency_and_prostate_cancer
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qw5kui/til_that_ejaculating_at_least_21_times_a_month/

TIL chickens can perform simple arithmetic, have basic time perception, show self-control (can delay a smaller reward for a larger one later), show object permanence (understand an object exists when out of sight; humans get at age 2), and possess transitive inference (humans achieve at age 7)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5306232/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qvqc06/til_chickens_can_perform_simple_arithmetic_have/

TIL The Dodge Tomahawk was an "automotive sculpture" sold through the Neiman Marcus catalog about 20 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Tomahawk
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qvlw7h/til_the_dodge_tomahawk_was_an_automotive/

TIL The Dodge Tomahawk was an "automotive sculpture" sold through the Neiman Marcus catalog about 20 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Tomahawk
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qvlw7h/til_the_dodge_tomahawk_was_an_automotive/

TIL that there were at least two versions of Demolition Man: the US version had Taco Bell as the winner of the Franchise Wars and the European version had Pizza Hut.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_Man_(film)?wprov=sfti1
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qvbzoe/til_that_there_were_at_least_two_versions_of/

TIL that there were at least two versions of Demolition Man: the US version had Taco Bell as the winner of the Franchise Wars and the European version had Pizza Hut.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_Man_(film)?wprov=sfti1
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qvbzoe/til_that_there_were_at_least_two_versions_of/

TIL that the British House of Commons has provided snuff (finely ground tobacco consumed by snorting) free of charge for MPs to use during Parliamentary sessions since 1694, though no member is known to have partook of the offer since 1989

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_snuff_box
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1quo65i/til_that_the_british_house_of_commons_has/

TIL that the British House of Commons has provided snuff (finely ground tobacco consumed by snorting) free of charge for MPs to use during Parliamentary sessions since 1694, though no member is known to have partook of the offer since 1989

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_snuff_box
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1quo65i/til_that_the_british_house_of_commons_has/

#TIL that here in #Melbourne when you order coffee you can ask for a 'magic' - which I'm reliably told is a local invention and the best thing ever.

My friends, it is a small flat white.

#TIL that here in #Melbourne when you order coffee you can ask for a 'magic' - which I'm reliably told is a local invention and the best thing ever.

My friends, it is a small flat white.

#TIL that #Mirlo has funding to add basic ActivityPub federation, so their artists can be found and followed in the fediverse;

"NLNet is awarding Mirlo €40,000 to help us fund our work on decentralization.

...

Integrating a very simple version of ActivityPub (the protocol that underpins Mastodon) into Mirlo. We're being mindful that this will not be people's primary ActivityPub service, so we'll keep things simple for now."

@mirlo, 2025

https://mirlo.space/team/posts/funding-federating-mirlo/

#ActivityPub #MusicHosting

Also #TIL: #XFS file systems created before Kernel 5.10 or xfsprogs 5.15 need to be unmounted and upgraded to support 2038 timestamps:

xfs_admin -O bigtime=1 device /dev/sda1

So I was looking for ways to optimize note taking, prompted by @Sandra ‘s mention of Swedish shorthand writing. I found a lot of resources on English shorthand. Some resources on other languages. And literally no resources on Russian.

So it seems that a lot of shorthand effort was put into re-tracing the typical Cyrillic letters in more optimized ways. Called “скоропись” (literally “fast writing”) and focused on calligraphy that minimizes strokes yet still retains the overall look of the letters. I thought that this is as far as Russian writing optimization got.

But! It seems that this absence of Russian shorthand on the internet is just me searching wrong. In two ways:

• There’s no Russian term for “shorthand,” and the term used doesn’t intersect with “shorthand” really. The term used is “stenography!”

• There was a lot of effort in optimizing stenography in Russian! Here’re fun (albeit chaotic) slides mentioning all the efforts: https://en.ppt-online.org/458740

The biggest and most respected system seems to be Sokolov’s GESS. I might as well learn it!

#TIL

This week I learned, from a blind acquaintance here, that when we write in ALL CAPS in alt text, their screenreader reads it all out, *one letter at a time*.

Totally defeating the point of alt text making things accessible, right?
Needless to say, I've stopped.

Well, LOL remains LOL, of course!
#TIL

So I was looking for ways to optimize note taking, prompted by @Sandra ‘s mention of Swedish shorthand writing. I found a lot of resources on English shorthand. Some resources on other languages. And literally no resources on Russian.

So it seems that a lot of shorthand effort was put into re-tracing the typical Cyrillic letters in more optimized ways. Called “скоропись” (literally “fast writing”) and focused on calligraphy that minimizes strokes yet still retains the overall look of the letters. I thought that this is as far as Russian writing optimization got.

But! It seems that this absence of Russian shorthand on the internet is just me searching wrong. In two ways:

• There’s no Russian term for “shorthand,” and the term used doesn’t intersect with “shorthand” really. The term used is “stenography!”

• There was a lot of effort in optimizing stenography in Russian! Here’re fun (albeit chaotic) slides mentioning all the efforts: https://en.ppt-online.org/458740

The biggest and most respected system seems to be Sokolov’s GESS. I might as well learn it!

#TIL

TIL before 9/11, US airports were public social hubs where you could walk to the gate, eat at food courts, and watch planes without a ticket or ID.

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1035131619/911-travel-timeline-tsa
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qszj9b/til_before_911_us_airports_were_public_social/