Did you know ?

[danielf]

Originally Posted by scastle

Does anyone know why we use the "QWERTY" layout for keyboards, and not the more logical alphabetical layout?

Well, apparently the first generation of typewriters had an alphabetical layout. However the mechanism inside the typewriter could not keep up with the typist and jammed repeatedly. The Qwerty layout was designed to slow typists to the point where the mechanism could cope without jamming.

Computer keyboards could cope with the speed of human typists easily, but keep the same layout purely because it is now standard.

I was going to post this, but you beat me to it. It is true. Specifically, the hammers on old typewriters would get 'tangled up'. For now, we are stuck with one of the slowest keyboards possible. Several alternatives have been suggested since (promising ones allow you to type whole syllables in one go rather than individual letters), but since we're used to QWERTY, we seem to stick with it.

On a related note: there's several numeric keypads around. Phones usually have 1 2 3 as the top row, but calculators often have 1 2 3 as the bottom row (or left column). Neither of them is better ergonomically, but mixing them does increase error rates.

The alarm control panel in my house has only two rows 0-4 and 5-9. Silly engineers....

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by Mal

False according to snopes

Ah....but that might be true of horse/rider statues in the UK. Just 'cos the US ones don't conform doesn't mean that the UK ones don't as well

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Ramrod

Ah....but that might be true of horse/rider statues in the UK. Just 'cos the US ones don't conform doesn't mean that the UK ones don't as well

Yeah, I did notice that all the examples were American. Could be a tradition which didn't travel across.

[iadom]

This could be apocryphal ( that looks wrong but I have checked) but apparently the word posh is supposed to come from the time when the hoi pollio, sailed out east. To get the best of the sun they would insist on their cabins being Port Out -Starboard Home.

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by iadom

This could be apocryphal ( that looks wrong but I have checked) but apparently the word posh is supposed to come from the time when the hoi pollio, sailed out east. To get the best of the sun they would insist on their cabins being Port Out -Starboard Home.

That's what I thought, but....



This is supposed to be the legend printed on tickets of passengers on P&O (Peninsula and Orient) passenger vessels when travelling between UK and India in the days of the Raj. Britain and India are both in the northern hemisphere so the port (left-hand side) berths were mostly in the shade when travelling out (easterly) and the starboard ones when coming back. So the best and most expensive berths were POSH, hence the term. A very plausible and attractive explanation, but this does appear to be an idea that was dreamed up retrospectively to match an existing meaning. P&O say they have never issued such tickets and, although many tickets from that era still exist, no 'POSH' ones have been found. Numerous letters and literary works also remain from the British Raj but nothing has been found which confirms the word being used in that context. The word doesn't seem to have been used in print before a Punch cartoon dated 1918. The term was used from the mid 19th century to mean a dandy and that is the more likely derivation for the current meaning.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

I believe this is because gasses become less soluable as the water becomes more solid (colder), hence why you can get bubbles in ice cubes

I can answer this one, its because of the Hydrogen bonds that are formed, and the shape of the crystal that is formed when water freezes. Basically the water molecules are closer together when liquid than when solid. A drawing can show it better, I'll have to dig one out I did for an assignment.

Edit - diagram in the attached PDF

[Nikko]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Men can have multiple orgasms

Come again?

I've always heard it said that according to some law of aerodynamics (or something) - a bumble bee should not be able to fly.

[iadom]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

That's what I thought, but....



This is supposed to be the legend printed on tickets of passengers on P&O (Peninsula and Orient) passenger vessels when travelling between UK and India in the days of the Raj. Britain and India are both in the northern hemisphere so the port (left-hand side) berths were mostly in the shade when travelling out (easterly) and the starboard ones when coming back. So the best and most expensive berths were POSH, hence the term. A very plausible and attractive explanation, but this does appear to be an idea that was dreamed up retrospectively to match an existing meaning. P&O say they have never issued such tickets and, although many tickets from that era still exist, no 'POSH' ones have been found. Numerous letters and literary works also remain from the British Raj but nothing has been found which confirms the word being used in that context. The word doesn't seem to have been used in print before a Punch cartoon dated 1918. The term was used from the mid 19th century to mean a dandy and that is the more likely derivation for the current meaning.

right smart arse now tell me what becks means

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by Pem

I've always heard it said that according to some law of aerodynamics (or something) - a bumble bee should not be able to fly.

That was before they actually studied how a bumble bee flies.

[Marge]

Originally Posted by iadom

right smart arse now tell me what becks means

Becks = gorgeous hunky sexy minxster

and I like post 38

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Debsy42

Becks = gorgeous hunky sexy minxster

and I like post 38

Wouldn't you prefer women to have multiple orgasms?

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by Nikko

Come again?

Is that a pun???

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Men can have multiple orgasms

True... I know .....

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by scastle

Wouldn't you prefer women to have multiple orgasms?

Nothing beats simultanious multiple orgasms