Notices tagged with til, page 6

TIL Blue Jays can imitate the cry of a Red Tailed Hawk. Often to scare away competition from a food source.

https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/beginners/birding-faq/why-blue-jays-imitate-hawks-the-different-theories-discussed/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qwbmg1/til_blue_jays_can_imitate_the_cry_of_a_red_tailed/

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 Harland Sanders (KFC's Colonel Sanders) lost his railroad job after brawling with a coworker, got his law license, then promptly lost his law license after beating his own client in open court.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Sanders
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1quye97/til_harland_sanders_kfcs_colonel_sanders_lost_his/

TIL I learned about the Alfalfa Club dinner. It is when 200 of America’s richest and most powerful gather to honor Confederate General Robert E. Lee on his birthday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa_Club
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1quyjyy/til_i_learned_about_the_alfalfa_club_dinner_it_is/

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 #accessibility #blind #deafblind

TIL students invented a low-cost "invisibility coat" that hides the wearer from AI security cameras. It uses a camouflage pattern to trick visual recognition during the day and emits unusual heat signals to confuse infrared sensors at night.

https://www.the-independent.com/tech/invisibility-cloak-security-cameras-ai-invisdefense-b2241342.html
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qt7ayd/til_students_invented_a_lowcost_invisibility_coat/

TIL U.S. stop signs were designed to be identifiable by shape alone because many drivers had difficulty reading signs and shape recognition was considered more reliable than text.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_sign
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qsco1q/til_us_stop_signs_were_designed_to_be/

@WarnerCrocker uh … (does web search) … ok!

#TIL Candle warmer lamp:
https://lampinsider.com/how-does-a-candle-warmer-lamp-work/

#3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings
1) #TIL that our kiddo's #SFUSD school district allows middle & high schoolers a day of protest or civic action per year.
They just have to tell the school in advance.
2) The district didn't tell kids they had to, but they acknowledge that there is a #shutdown #walkout tomorrow.
3) Kiddo has been off sick but seems to be feeling better. So if she’s okay to tomorrow she can still go to #DoloresPark to protest & have another protest day to use for the next one. 😎

In my last weekly review post I had to admit that I didn’t explicitly learn anything in that week and that I wanted make more effort for learning.

To help with that, I’ve created a little tool to generate Flashcards of knowledge as printable PDF documents.

Idea is to have a bunch of knowledge as a Markdown file and then either use your favourite LLM with the provided prompt, or the provided Python script to generate a printable PDF file.

I’m starting with ‘tmux‘ as I want to learn how to use this effectively.

TIL that in the 1800 and early 1900s, women diagnosed with hysteria were sometimes treated by doctors using pelvic massage to induce a “hysterical paroxysm,” essentially an orgasm, which was believed to relieve their symptoms.

https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/medical-vibrators-treatment-female-hysteria
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qqkztn/til_that_in_the_1800_and_early_1900s_women/

TIL at the beginning of 2024, Kuwait began mass citizenship revocations by decree. By December, several high profile figures and their children lost nationality. By March 2025, around 42,000 people had been stripped of citizenship in just six months.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaiti_nationality_law?wprov=sfti1#Citizenship_revocation
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qozlk7/til_at_the_beginning_of_2024_kuwait_began_mass/

TIL Jyoti Amge is the shortest woman in the world, a title she has held since 2011, standing at a height of 62.8 cm (2 ft 3⁄4 in)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyoti_Amge
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qntmjo/til_jyoti_amge_is_the_shortest_woman_in_the_world/

TIL that some spiderlings can “balloon” hundreds of kilometres through the air by releasing silk threads, even reaching 5 km altitude, surviving for weeks in jet streams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qmnh6g/til_that_some_spiderlings_can_balloon_hundreds_of/

TIL that in 1944 US pilot Martin James Monti defected to Nazi Germany and joined the Waffen-SS. After the war, he was only charged with desertion and granted clemency, until investigators discovered his work as a Nazi propagandist, leading to a 25-year sentence for treason

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_James_Monti
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qmm0qi/til_that_in_1944_us_pilot_martin_james_monti/

TIL the most-nominated (35) and most-honored (8) woman at the Oscars was Edith Head, a costume designer who also holds the Guinness World Record for most-credited costume designer in film (432).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Head
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qn6jg1/til_the_mostnominated_35_and_mosthonored_8_woman/

TIL that in the 80’s Dolly Parton started a local program saying if two people partnered together and both graduated high school, she would give each of them $500, this dropped the dropout rates from 35% to 6%

https://imaginationlibrary.com/the-dollywood-foundation/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qn181j/til_that_in_the_80s_dolly_parton_started_a_local/

TIL in 2002, it was mathematically proven that properly comparing the wealth of nations (or of a nation to itself in the past) is impossible

https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2255113/131873_An_impossibility_theorem.pdf
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qmoaf7/til_in_2002_it_was_mathematically_proven_that/

TIL that Eminem, in addition to his biological daughter Hailie Jade, has legally adopted and had custody of Alaina (his ex-sister-in-law's daughter) and Stevie (his ex-wife's child with another father) and he also raised his younger half-brother Nathan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem#Personal_life
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qmr8dl/til_that_eminem_in_addition_to_his_biological/

TIL Richard Davis shot himself 192 times to demonstrate the effectiveness of his invention: the modern concealable bulletproof vest. Davis went from being an out-of-work pizzeria owner to running a multimillion-dollar company.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/dec/04/2nd-chance-documentary-story-of-the-man-who-shot-himself-192-times
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1qmol23/til_richard_davis_shot_himself_192_times_to/