Re: Counting

1

I'm with Jammies. Also this is why I suck at math and figuring out deadlines and similar instructions. For example if something is due by the 20th, does that mean I have to get it in before the 20th, i.e. the 19th, or can I turn it in on the 20th, I always have to think this through and I'm never totally sure of the answer. I suck.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 7:56 PM
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2

The correct answer is: in what inertial frame?

Some of the CS conferences I submitted papers to used to set the deadline at 11:59PM Samoa time, which I feel is too cute by half. Of course you also had to figure in how much of an extension they would offer at the last minute once the heavyweight procrastinators started working the refs.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 8:18 PM
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3

Does this mean your drains actually had 13 inches of tubes?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 8:32 PM
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4

It's a good thing Zeno's paradox only applies to distance, not time, or Christmas would never come.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 8:42 PM
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5

Reminds me of this Seinfeld bit.

Speaking of counting down days until Christmas, I do not recommend an Advent calendar for a three-year-old. It's like a tantrum-a-day calendar.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 8:57 PM
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6

Jammies believes tomorrow is two days away?


Posted by: Mr. F | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 8:58 PM
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7

That reminds me. The boy didn't take the Starburst in the "21" slot. It's mine by default.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 8:59 PM
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8

Jammies stopped counting on Christmas Eve. As it is evening, Jammies believes tomorrow is zero days away.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:03 PM
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9

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow.
You're never a day a-waaaaay.


Posted by: Opinionated Annie | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:05 PM
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10

Great. Now I'm earwormed.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:08 PM
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11

4: Zeno's paradoxes apply to anything you try to model as continuous. It's easy to fix, though; you just have to formalize real analysis.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:10 PM
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12

I forgot calculus.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:11 PM
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13

Of course Jammies is right you bunch of tards Christmas challenged commenters. Look at a calendar and check your Christmas traditions FFS. End of business day doesn't count for Christmas you godless fucking holiday killers. It's all about Christmas morning. Adjust your math accordingly.


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:12 PM
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14

13: I agree on the morning bit, but he's still applying the floor function misleadingly. So let's say "Christmas morning" starts at 6:00am Friday, and "Monday evening" means 8:00pm Monday. That's 82 hours, or 3.417 days. To call that only 3 days is to gloss over 0.417 days of waiting, which, for a child in the days before Christmas, is a merciless lie.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:17 PM
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15

Just like "Santa."


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:20 PM
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16

I count using calendar boxes, as though days are discrete. Then you cross from one box to another when you sleep. You stop counting when you land on the day you're aiming for.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:20 PM
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17

Heebie is surely correct, but Jammies' answers seem more in the spirit of things.


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:23 PM
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18

Whenever I count smallish sets, I say "ah-ha-ha" between the numbers, like Count von Count.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:24 PM
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19

You really should help yourself to that Starburst.


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:26 PM
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20

Wait does this mean heebie actually has 5 children and she's been hiding child 0 from us????


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:30 PM
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21

Having a child 0 makes the pointer arithmetic come out more cleanly.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:36 PM
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22

During my long unemployment, I remember spending a while writing a nice, customized cover letter and revising my resume for a job whose ad said it closed on the 31st of the month. I thought this meant end of business on the 31st day of the month. I discovered, I think on the night of the 30th, in my timezone, or maybe the next morning, that it actually closed at midnight on the 31st, meaning you really had to apply on or before the 30th. Jerks.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:46 PM
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23

Tomorrow is just a day you haven't met.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 9:49 PM
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24

It's now tomorrow in the eastern time zone.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 10:40 PM
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25

22: "... and we have so many applications, of such high quality, that we can set yours on fire just to prove that we're pedants."


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 10:47 PM
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26

16 is 100% correct.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 11:05 PM
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27

Maybe Jammies is Jewish.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-21-15 11:49 PM
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28

Patiently explain that he (she? I've lost track) has asked an ill-formed question.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 5:39 AM
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29

Jammies is the cat.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 6:06 AM
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30

I just want Christmas to be over already.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 6:24 AM
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31

The war on Christmas.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 6:34 AM
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32

I would be first in line at the recruitment office, if any such thing actually existed.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 6:51 AM
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33

From the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Rule 6 - Computing and Extending Time;
(a) Computing Time. The following rules apply in computing any time period specified in these rules, in any local rule or court order, or in any statute that does not specify a method of computing time.

(1) Period Stated in Days or a Longer Unit. When the period is stated in days or a longer unit of time:

(A) exclude the day of the event that triggers the period;

(B) count every day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays; and

(C) include the last day of the period . . .

Heebie's approach is correct. Jammie's approach is Against the Law.


Posted by: unimaginative | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 7:31 AM
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34

The government controls time. How long before it drafts people for the war on Christmas?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 7:35 AM
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35

I have no idea what 33 is trying to say. Aren't A and C the same day? I truly suck at this.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 7:42 AM
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36

A is saying "Don't count Monday". C is saying "Count Friday".


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 7:53 AM
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37

Time is a flat circle. The time between now and Christmas doubly so.


Posted by: My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 7:54 AM
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38

Siri says (today, Tuesday) that it's two days until Christmas.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 8:05 AM
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39

Time is a river, flowing into nowhere.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 8:10 AM
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40

Time is just another word for nothing left to time.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 8:11 AM
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41

EARTH HAS 4 CORNER SIMULTANEOUS 4-DAY TIME CUBE IN ONLY 24 HOUR ROTATION, SO CHRISTMAS IS 11 DAYS AWAY.


Posted by: OPINIONATED GENE RAY | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 8:13 AM
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42

Siri says (today, Tuesday) that it's two days until Christmas.

Does she say it's zero days to Wednesday?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 8:41 AM
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43

Christmas is the 25th, right?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 8:41 AM
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44

Christmas begins at sundown on the 24th. Geez, nosflow.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 9:08 AM
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45

Does she say it's zero days to Wednesday?

Effectively. She says it's 13 hours and 47 minutes until then.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 9:12 AM
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46

As a result of global climate change, Christmas season has been growing longer and longer. In the late 19th century it lasted 12 days. By the 1950s it grew to an entire month, beginning immediately after Thanksgiving. Now it begins soon after Halloween. Scientists estimate that if current trends continue, by the year 2100 Christmas season will begin in July. A broad coalition of scientists, politicians, and concerned citizens have called for action to halt and reverse the effects of climate change, so that one day Christmas season will be restored to its original 12-day span; this is known as the "War on Christmas."


Posted by: My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 9:24 AM
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47

Partly because AB is a Christmas skeptic, and partly because I fear getting tired of Christmas (because of its ever-earlier ubiquity), I approach it sort of warily, like a snake on the path--best not to look too closely, just approach it casually.

But I really love Christmas, and most of its aspects, and I kind o think I'm giving it short shrift. Like, it'll be mostly over by Saturday, and I won't be sated. Oh well.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 9:37 AM
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48

Is it Christmas yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyWBsLYAkaE


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 9:40 AM
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49

Content/format notes: video, musical, stop motion/puppet crocheted creature, English, charming.


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 9:43 AM
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50

You gotta respect the holiday.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5ysfQjKKi70


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:26 AM
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51

My boyfriend was playing some carols on Sunday. I was about to object, but realized that it is actually reasonable to play carols within the week of Christmas. Not for one single day post-Christmas, though.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:30 AM
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52

Christmas is a season running from the evening of December 24 through January 6.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:33 AM
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53

48/49: I was expecting an exhortation to do all my shopping at wal-mart.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:34 AM
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54

Rule 6 is one of my favorite legal things. It is so irritating when other parts of various governments don't use Rule 6.


Posted by: Bave | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:36 AM
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55

This is where the annoyingly twee concept of "sleeps" comes in useful. On Monday, at any time during the waking hours, it's clearly 4 sleeps until Christmas. (Which means Christmas morning, seeing as we're not crazy Europeans who start opening presents on Christmas Eve.) But I could never bring myself to say sleeps, and heebie is clearly just right.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:57 AM
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56

We're going on holiday for Christmas, and our trip starts in about half a sleep, as we have to get up at about 3 am tomorrow. Ffs.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 10:58 AM
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51: I don't play Carols after Epiphany either.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 11:01 AM
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58

Strange observation: Orbitz sends out travel alert texts using the same number as the Whole Foods near GWU uses to let you know your sandwich is done.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 11:05 AM
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Delay of flight. Wind on the receiving field (JFK). 330 minute penalty on connection.

I'll get into Boston much later than expected. Then I take a train (2nd to last for the day) to the boonies.


Posted by: md 20/400 | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 12:14 PM
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51: I heard carolers in my neighborhood last Saturday night. I decided not to file a noise complaint.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 12:37 PM
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61

See? I'm hardly a Grinch at all. My heart has grown two whole sizes.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 1:11 PM
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62

In Detroit, the police ride bikes through the airport. Or this one guy is innovating.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 1:20 PM
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63

I go to church with my wife for Christmas dinner, but I leave before the singing starts.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 2:08 PM
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64

I let the kids open presents for Christmas, but I leave before the crying starts.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 3:36 PM
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65

Don't they sing at the opening of church.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 3:54 PM
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66

Unless ogged's diet has taken a surprising turn, I'd hardly describe Christmas service as "dinner".


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 4:21 PM
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67

Waffle House!


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-22-15 5:19 PM
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Unless ogged's diet has taken a surprising turn, I'd hardly describe Christmas service as "dinner".

Indeed—a wafer-thin slice of Jesus' body and a sip of his blood would be more properly termed an amuse bouche.


Posted by: My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 12-23-15 7:35 AM
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