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Cake day: June 8th, 2023

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  • Some might say it’s giving finger counting too much thought, others might say it’s a tangent too serious for dad jokes, I say… the efficiency gains seem to come from a change in technique for how a count is stored.

    Base-10 finger counting technique just accumulates, the number of fingers held up is the count.

    Base-12 uses a pointer (your thumb) to point to a value (a knuckles or finger segment).

    Base-2 uses a finger up or down to show a place value as one or zero.

    You could tattoo numbers on your forearm so all five fingers from your other hand could point to a value for up to five more places to point.




  • Someone else who knows how to finger count in base-12 and binary!

    I think the binary one I learned as a joke, show someone they are number four.

    The base-12 was an explanation for how the ancient Sumerians finger counted, using the other hand’s fingers for groups of 12, leading to base 60 (5×12).

    I have the same problem with binary counting practically though, and using a modified Sumerian system (both hands to 12) gets you to 144, which is plenty for anything where finger counting is actually useful.

    One other thing, I use the finger bones rather than the knuckles, little easier but same idea.


  • Other than newsprint (and maybe bond) almost all pulp & paper products seem to be only increasing in demand. It’s just that new mills are being built overseas.

    In BC though, between beetle kill and forest fires, fibre has gotten a little tight, although there is still enough to export whole logs.

    Depressingly, Canfor just idled one of their Prince George mills (Northwood IIRC), joining a long list of mills that have closed over the last few years.

    Curiously, the nitrocellulose they talk about in the article comes from the"Red Liquor" process (IIRC), and the last mill in BC that used that process was Port Alice which closed a few years ago as will. And IIRC the mill was sold to a Chinese company as well. Skeena Cellulose in Prince Rupert was originally built in WW2 just for gun cotton manufacture, although all their Red Liquor digesters were idled years before they shut down (around 20-25 years ago IIRC).




  • Arguably one of Canada’s greatest contributions to WW2 was our production of the CanPat trucks.

    “Amateurs talk strategy; professionals talk logistics” was the quote from Gen. Omar Bradley IIRC, and I imagine in any conflict we become embroiled in (or wish to dissuade someone else from becoming embroiled in) we can contribute greatly to the logistics side.

    I’d like to see a Canadian version of the US’ Army Corps of Engineers. Right now, it could help with natural disasters, and could also help with infrastructure projects. In a conflict, they could prove invaluable in actually getting fuel and supplies to the conflict zone.

    Coastal patrol and Arctic patrol are two other areas where I think Canada has to stand alone to some extent.









  • In BC’s case, we have passed legislation to move to permanent Daylight Saving Time… when Washington State, Oregon, and California do. The hold up is that US Federal law allows the states to stay on Standard time, and stop switching to Daylight Saving Time, but not the other way around. It has been before Congress a few years now, but the US isn’t really good at getting things done, and this is low priority.

    Technically we (BC) could just go ahead and do it. Or Washington, Oregon, and California could all just stick with Standard Time instead of Daylight Saving Time^1.


    ^1 I really don’t care, PDT or PST. All arguments about “I like an extra hour of sun in the morning/evening” are pointless. The numbers are made up, and we can change start and end times. Do the kids need an extra hour in the morning for sleep according to the latest study? Set the school start times an hour later. Changing the clock against which all these times are measured is like changing rulers instead of using different measurements.

    Ever notice how touristy places have seasonal hours? It’s possible. Just stop changing the clocks instead of setting different times.

    I have profound technical reasons to hate the time change. You know how you cell phone automagically changes the time? It’s not magic, and it comes with technical consequences in Industrial Automation.

    Also, large organizations. North America and Europe start and stop DST on different dates (thanks Bush). The northern and southern hemisphere start and stop DST in different directions. On top of that, most countries don’t change the clocks. There’s a reason you’ll see references to UTC on the Internet.