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I don't usually play favorites, but for crows I have made and exception.
This article has increased my admiration for them manyfold.
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I've always loved crows. Really, most scavenging animals. Raccoons, rats, etc. They are generally very curious and clever. They tend to have personality for days. 
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I always thought a murder is the best solution for enemies.
EDIT: of crows! A murder of crows!
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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We try to attract most birds to our yard, but we also have families of hawks nearby every year for some time now (and for a while a bald eagle). While the hawks are impressive, I wouldn't mind if they moved away. They gotta eat and all - I understand that's their nature.
It definitely means we cannot attract crows - they're in all the neighborhoods around, but they clearly have the sense to stay away from the "hawk" neighborhood.
It's amazing how you can hear them send different messages. "food here!" and - also warnings, and set up their mobbing behavior when a hawk or two are moving into their territory. They protect their own.
If you hear a mobbing going on you can take a walk and find disgruntled hawks trying to set up home.
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Depending on how you want to measure it Crows are usually the most intelligent or close to most intelligent birds. This of course is not mimicry (teaching parrots tricks) but rather in actual problem solving and learning on their own.
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I overslept by an hour this morning.
On the other hand: When (/if) I wake up at the proper time tomorrow, the daylight will give me a feeling of morning rather than mid-day 
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"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly-so." -- Douglas Adams
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that's right bro
modified 6hrs 10mins ago.
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Quote: A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
Charles Darwin
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But I did loose an hour last night, from 02:00 to 03:00! Who should I go to complain to? Darwin isn't around any more.
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Have you checked behind the fridge?
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I totally agree ... I prefer to stay in UTC+1 all year.
I think that everyone is tired of complaining about these dancing clocks ...
We need to do better
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My proposal is that we all stay in UTC. All of us, all over the world. That would simplify international contacts (and even national ones, in large countries spanning several time zones). OK, so I would set my alarm clock at 05:00 rather than 06:00. People in other parts of the world will get out of bed at 02:00 or 17:00, so what? There is no rational reason for everyone calling it 06:00 when they wake up, considering that it has 24+ different interpretations across the world.
If you feel that you have to call you wake-up time the same as the wake-up time of someone in a different part of the world, it must be because you have some communication with that fellow. In that case, a lot more problems are solved by having one unambiguous, common time reference.
In international dialogs, you have to relate to a lot more than the time zone anyway. I live in UTC+1, but if I want a net meeting with some English (i.e. UTC+0) guy, I should consider him two hours behind us: While standard working hours around here are from 08:00 to 16:00 (UTC+1), the Englishman cannot be expected to be available before 10:00 (UTC+1); standard British working hours are 09:00 to 17:00 (UTC+0).
If we could agree on UTC all over the world, we should in the same reform abandon this a.m./p.m. mess and completely switch to 24 hour format.
I have no realistic hope about this becoming a reality (even though China went from 5 to 1 time zone without much problems). People are so ingrained with getting up at 06:00 that they will refuse to change it to, say, 02:00 even if the sun is just as high on the sky as before. 02:00 is not long after midnight, and no one can persuade me to get out of bed at that time, no matter what the sun says!
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We haven't even managed to get Americans to understand the metric system in over a hundred years - changing the time of day would probably cause mass insanity. 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Do not confuse lack of adoption with lack of understanding.
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Wow ... not so fast , please let me digest the idea ...
If I am not mistaken, it can indeed help in many situations ...
Although I have one doubt about new days in this model
Yes indeed, next day happens on the whole globe at once
when 24:00:00 goes to 00:00:01, like hours, minutes and seconds now
- the model survives this little thought experiment
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We have no established tradition for the entire world switching to a new date at exactly the same absolute time. It happens at midnight, local time.
There is no need for introduce any new problems just because we label the hours differently. Here, at UTC+1, our midnight is labeled as 23:00 UTC time. That is when the date changes. If you live at UTC-6, the midnight hour in your place will be labeled 06:00 UTC; that is when your date changes, because that is your midnight. This is a close parallel to relabeling the hour when you wake up; it might feel a little strange at first, but I guess that you would soon get used to the clock saying something different from 06:00 when you wake up, and something different from 24:00 when the date changes.
On the other hand: I can imagine that a country such as the US of A could see advantages in the entire nation switching to a new date at the same UTC time. As it is now, you have at least five different times for date change.
You still could run into issues, though! I read a story about a young US couple during WW2, who were planning their wedding. This was interrupted by the groom on very short notice being called for military service. The couple decided that in case he lost his life in the war, they wanted to be married. So they had a marriage arranged over the air, with one priest on his side at his Pacific post, and another priest at the bride's side, and they exchanged their vow across the military radio connection.
This connection happened to cross the international date line. The groom survived the war. After he returned home, they always celebrated his wedding day, and her wedding day. This issue would persist even if the entire world switched to UTC.
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It didn't last long - the keytops were wearing away really quickly, 'A', 'S'. 'CTRL', 'SHIFT', '->', and '<-' were gone completely, and many others were only readable if you knew what they started out as. And when Dij pushed my coffee into it ... it was time for a change.
And last months discussion lead me to ... a DAS Keyboard 4 (MX Blue). And it's lovely.
All clicky and feedbacky, the key legends look like they'll last and the think exudes quality - from the moment you pick it up and realise it's made of actual metal instead of cheap plastic.
I find myself stroking the volume control, it just feels so good. My only criticism is the LED's: my word but they are bright! If you lean forward at the wrong angle you get a "blind spot" in your vision for a few minutes, and if you turn the lights out you get a blue circle on the ceiling bright enough to read the keyboard legends by ... 
I'm back to cherry switches again: my first lasted me over 20 years, and it was a cheapy!
This isn't, not even close - I've never spent this much on a keyboard before. Worth it though - so "Thank you" to everyone who recommended the company last month! 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I wish I could find more information about the DEC LK471-A2 -- when released etc.
It's a very nice keyboard, has been serving me well for some years now.
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My Das 5QS is love. It doesn't use cherrys and I think the lighting is different than yours.
It uses.. Omicron? Zulu switches and they have little fiberoptics in the middle of each one to transmit light to the key cap's letter/symbol (not the rest of the key)
It is not overly bright. In fact, in daylight conditions it looks pretty much painted on (except my media buttons which are backlit). At night it's not overbearing at all, just giving me enough light to where i don't have to squint at the home row in the wee hours. I use it at night, in my bedroom while himself is sleeping, so it's not overly bright.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I don't like illuminated keyboards - they look too much like "haxorz" in a movie for my taste - that's why the 4 rather than the 5: all I have are num lock, caps, and scroll lock lights. I may have to put a thin layer or two of black paint on them ...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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The Das 5QS are all and individually programmable, so you can turn them off. However, since they are double injected molded, with clear plastic forming the letters, it really requires some amount of light to be able to see the keys, even in daylight conditions.
For my part, I spent good money to keep my computer I built from being lit up like an out of season christmas tree, which seems to be all the rage these days. I understand about lighting. I feel much the same way. That having been said, I can only describe the Das 5QS reasonably lit letters/symbols as "pleasant" and "functional" - particularly since I can also change them. I have things set up so my homerow is a different color for quick access. I also have some of my keys tied to a CPU usage meter but I don't use it in practice. I just thought it was neat. The only reason I don't turn it off altogether mind you, is they don't "look" lit, at least in the daytime, and at night, it's only just enough to be pleasant. There's no bleed to your desk (except from the sides of the keyboard, which you can turn off)
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I really don't understand the need to put LED's in everything these days - what possible use was there for LED's in my headphones?* 
* The use of past tense was deliberate here, they were "persuaded" to no longer emit ... 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: what possible use was there for LED's in my headphones?
That's to help guide the sniper from across the street.
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You've been playing way too much GTA ...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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