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The New Coffee Room

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  3. Mildly interesting

Mildly interesting

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  • J Offline
    J Offline
    Jon
    wrote on 31 May 2023, 22:23 last edited by
    #1083

    Unlikely unless he knew Russian and Cyrillic Morse code.

    My father’s unit in Bremerhaven, who was taught Russian and whose job it was to translate Russian radio broadcasts, were probably the first or among the first.

    G 1 Reply Last reply 31 May 2023, 22:40
    • J Jon
      31 May 2023, 22:23

      Unlikely unless he knew Russian and Cyrillic Morse code.

      My father’s unit in Bremerhaven, who was taught Russian and whose job it was to translate Russian radio broadcasts, were probably the first or among the first.

      G Offline
      G Offline
      George K
      wrote on 31 May 2023, 22:40 last edited by
      #1084

      @Jon

      "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

      The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

      1 Reply Last reply
      • G Offline
        G Offline
        George K
        wrote on 31 May 2023, 22:43 last edited by
        #1085

        https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/23400/was-johnny-cash-the-first-american-to-learn-of-stalins-death


        It seems like this claim originated from Cash himself, in his 1997 autobiography (quoted here):

        The Air Force taught me the things every military service imparts to its enlisted men … plus one skill that’s pretty unusual: if you ever need to know what one Russian is signaling to another in Morse code, I’m your man. I had such a talent for that particular line of work and such a good left ear, that in Landsberg, where the United States Air Force Security Service ran radio intercept operations worldwide, I was the ace. I was who they called when the hardest jobs came up. I copied the first news of Stalin’s death. I located the signal when the first Soviet jet bomber made its first flight from Moscow to Smolensk; we all knew what to listen for, but I was the one who heard it. I couldn’t believe that Russian operator. He was sending at thirty-five words a minute by hand, a rate so fast I thought it was a machine transmitting until I heard him screw up. He was truly exceptional, but most of his comrades were fast enough to make the best Americans sound like amateurs, sloppy and slow. It didn’t matter, though.

        A later biography of Cash writes however:

        While he was, in fact, at Landsberg on March 5, 1953, the day Joseph Stalin died, his comment in Cash: The Autobiography that "I was who they called when the hardest jobs came up. I copied the first news of Stalin's death" brings a wry smile to the faces of those who worked with him. "That's nonsense," says one. "He didn't understand Russian, and if it came in code we wouldn't have been able to decipher it anyway. It created a certain aura about his skill that in my view was directly related to his celebrity."
        So: True or not?

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        1 Reply Last reply
        • J Offline
          J Offline
          Jon
          wrote on 1 Jun 2023, 03:22 last edited by Jon 6 Jan 2023, 03:23
          #1086

          There were units stationed in Bremerhaven who did this for real.

          My dad aced the entrance tests when he joined the AF. They gave him the choice between pilot school and language school. He didn’t want to be dogfighting the Chinese over Korea so he went to language school.

          The DoD contracted with the University of Syracuse to teach these smart lads Russian. It was their job, all day, 6 days a week, to learn Russian. Six months later they shipped him out to Bremerhaven and he spent 8hr shifts listening to Russian radio and transcribing.

          All of this is googlable except the presence of my Dad.

          Cash was talking shit. That’s ok. It happens.

          1 Reply Last reply
          • J Offline
            J Offline
            Jon
            wrote on 3 Jun 2023, 11:34 last edited by
            #1087

            G 1 Reply Last reply 3 Jun 2023, 11:48
            • J Jon
              3 Jun 2023, 11:34

              G Offline
              G Offline
              George K
              wrote on 3 Jun 2023, 11:48 last edited by
              #1088

              @Jon that had a high pucker factor.

              "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

              The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • B Offline
                B Offline
                bachophile
                wrote on 7 Jun 2023, 09:55 last edited by
                #1089

                Amazing nature

                G L 2 Replies Last reply 10 Jun 2023, 23:04
                • G Offline
                  G Offline
                  George K
                  wrote on 7 Jun 2023, 12:26 last edited by
                  #1090

                  Parking assistance.

                  "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                  The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • B bachophile
                    7 Jun 2023, 09:55

                    Amazing nature

                    G Offline
                    G Offline
                    George K
                    wrote on 10 Jun 2023, 23:04 last edited by
                    #1091

                    @bachophile

                    When a dam isn't available.

                    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                    T 1 Reply Last reply 11 Jun 2023, 00:45
                    • G George K
                      10 Jun 2023, 23:04

                      @bachophile

                      When a dam isn't available.

                      T Offline
                      T Offline
                      taiwan_girl
                      wrote on 11 Jun 2023, 00:45 last edited by
                      #1092

                      @George-K and they make it look so easy!

                      G 1 Reply Last reply 11 Jun 2023, 01:02
                      • T taiwan_girl
                        11 Jun 2023, 00:45

                        @George-K and they make it look so easy!

                        G Offline
                        G Offline
                        George K
                        wrote on 11 Jun 2023, 01:02 last edited by
                        #1093

                        @taiwan_girl said in Mildly interesting:

                        @George-K and they make it look so easy!

                        And no helmet!

                        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • G Offline
                          G Offline
                          George K
                          wrote on 12 Jun 2023, 14:58 last edited by
                          #1094

                          Screenshot 2023-06-12 at 9.57.36 AM.png

                          "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                          The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • G Offline
                            G Offline
                            George K
                            wrote on 13 Jun 2023, 21:17 last edited by
                            #1095

                            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                            D 1 Reply Last reply 15 Jun 2023, 10:56
                            • J Offline
                              J Offline
                              Jon
                              wrote on 15 Jun 2023, 10:54 last edited by
                              #1096

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • G George K
                                13 Jun 2023, 21:17

                                D Online
                                D Online
                                Doctor Phibes
                                wrote on 15 Jun 2023, 10:56 last edited by
                                #1097

                                @George-K said in Mildly interesting:

                                What have you achieved in the last 42 days?

                                The fucking Rubik's Cube, that's what!

                                Twice!

                                I was only joking

                                G 1 Reply Last reply 15 Jun 2023, 14:23
                                • D Doctor Phibes
                                  15 Jun 2023, 10:56

                                  @George-K said in Mildly interesting:

                                  What have you achieved in the last 42 days?

                                  The fucking Rubik's Cube, that's what!

                                  Twice!

                                  G Offline
                                  G Offline
                                  George K
                                  wrote on 15 Jun 2023, 14:23 last edited by
                                  #1098

                                  @Doctor-Phibes said in Mildly interesting:

                                  Rubik's Cube,

                                  There are some videos out there that show a pattern, when followed, solve the Rubik's cube. Are they valid?

                                  "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                  The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                  D J 2 Replies Last reply 15 Jun 2023, 14:26
                                  • G George K
                                    15 Jun 2023, 14:23

                                    @Doctor-Phibes said in Mildly interesting:

                                    Rubik's Cube,

                                    There are some videos out there that show a pattern, when followed, solve the Rubik's cube. Are they valid?

                                    D Online
                                    D Online
                                    Doctor Phibes
                                    wrote on 15 Jun 2023, 14:26 last edited by
                                    #1099

                                    @George-K said in Mildly interesting:

                                    @Doctor-Phibes said in Mildly interesting:

                                    Rubik's Cube,

                                    There are some videos out there that show a pattern, when followed, solve the Rubik's cube. Are they valid?

                                    Probably. There are mathematical solutions that apparently use Group Theory.

                                    As an engineering manager, I've determined that the best method to solve it involves taking it to pieces and putting it back together in the correct order.

                                    I was only joking

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • B bachophile
                                      7 Jun 2023, 09:55

                                      Amazing nature

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      LuFins Dad
                                      wrote on 15 Jun 2023, 16:39 last edited by
                                      #1100

                                      @bachophile said in Mildly interesting:

                                      Amazing nature

                                      Why?

                                      The Brad

                                      H 1 Reply Last reply 15 Jun 2023, 16:46
                                      • L LuFins Dad
                                        15 Jun 2023, 16:39

                                        @bachophile said in Mildly interesting:

                                        Amazing nature

                                        Why?

                                        H Offline
                                        H Offline
                                        Horace
                                        wrote on 15 Jun 2023, 16:46 last edited by
                                        #1101

                                        @LuFins-Dad said in Mildly interesting:

                                        @bachophile said in Mildly interesting:

                                        Amazing nature

                                        Why?

                                        Because it was there.

                                        Education is extremely important.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        • M Offline
                                          M Offline
                                          mark
                                          wrote on 17 Jun 2023, 19:38 last edited by
                                          #1102

                                          alt text

                                          https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoag's_Object

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