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Questions and Answers - Part 3

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All Acting Regiment

08:25 / 05.10.07

Aye, but you can't get them anymore (except on Ebay and so on). The new standard NHS specs are trying to be "cool" but just look like something you'd wear if you were 11.

09:09 / 05.10.07

A friend of mine did this recently. He found some old specs on ebay for about £4, proper thick Ronnie Barker jobs they were too, and found a place in chiswick, i think, that will put your prescription in any old frames. I can try and get the details if you want....

All Acting Regiment

09:25 / 05.10.07

Hmm, if it's not too much trouble that would be reet useful, cheers.

10:12 / 05.10.07

I think pretty much anywhere will do glasses reglazing, but it's worth noting that there are pretty huge differences in price, and the mail-order types seem to be a lot cheaper than anywhere on the high street. I bought some frames off eBay and had them done by SelectSpecs, and they charged a fraction of what the Vision Express people quoted me.

10:15 / 05.10.07

Can you get mp3 players wot can pick up radio too? Are they expensive? I've got a cold so can't possibly face electronic shop websites: they will make my already squidgy head melt.

10:30 / 05.10.07

Ping: Most places will put lenses into frames you buy off them, or modern lightweight frames, but many of them wont do older frames or anything a bit unusual, because they dont know how to do them without damaging the lenses and/or frames (thats usually the excuse anyway).

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:59 / 05.10.07

Floop - if by radio you mean FM, most MP3 players with screens have an FM radio tuner these days, with the exception of the Ipods. The cost impact of bundling a tuner and some basic management software is pretty minimal. So, it depends how much storage space you want, whether you want an internal battery or external batteries - that kind of thing.

I had, briefly, a Sansa m230 - these things are now far enough back in the release cycle to be pretty inexpensive. Powered by an external battery, so a bit bulky - I replaced it with a Creative Zen Stone, because my gym is underground and the radio was therefore not much use. Above ground, though, the reception was pretty good.

18:23 / 05.10.07

I've been trying to figure it out, but I just can't think of a good enough reason; My landlord wants my PPS number. I've asked him why, but he wasn't very forthcoming with an answer. I can only guess that he wants it as some sort of proof of my identity, but then he's already seen my student card and I don't have any problem paying the rent so far. This is my third week in the house and I'm a little hesitant to hand it over, on the off chance that he can do something dodgy with it.

He wasn't accredited by the Student Housing department, so that's another reason to be cautious about it. I'm worried he'll threaten me with eviction, or ignore any requests or complaints I might have if I don't let him know it. Any people out there have any inkling why he might need it?

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

18:28 / 05.10.07

Are you renting legally? Have you signed a lease?

My first instinct would be to call your local renting housing authority and the student rental office, if only to establish a paper trail if he decides to get snarky down the road.

18:33 / 05.10.07

Yeah, it's all legal and leased up and everything, but I've heard absolute horror stories from other students about landlords not signed up with the college. I wouldn't normally rent from somebody not with the college, but there was a huge accomodation shortage this year, with several student appartment complexes closed down or sold off.

I'll check with Student's Union next week. I meant to check with them this evening but they close up early for the weekend.

19:22 / 05.10.07

AAR: Having been down that road before, there's a site called www.retrospecs.co.uk which has a large selection of frames, and I believe they can also put in lenses up to a certain level of prescription, though of course you can just order the frames and go to your nearest (or cheapest) optician (which is what I did). Probably a bit more expensive than ebay mind. If you really want to look like Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr, you can even search by celebrity I believe.

All Acting Regiment

20:45 / 05.10.07

Ah! Gracis!

01:27 / 08.10.07

figure this out and explain in a step by step manner plz.

Compute dy/dx if y = cos(3x)e^(-x^2).

06:11 / 08.10.07

What´s the reason for the minus in front of the x²?

07:37 / 08.10.07

I have no clue. But supposedly the answer is

dy/dx=-3sin(3x)e^(-x^2)-2xcos(3x)e^(-x^2)

with an explanation given by

y=cos(3x)e^(-x^2)
y=f(x)g(x)
dy/dx=f'(x)g(x) + f(x)g'(x)
f(x) = cos(3x)
f'(x)=3sin(3x)
g(x)= e^(-x^2)
g'(x) = -2xe^(-x^2)
therefore dy/dx=-3sin(3x)e^(-x^2)-2xcos(3x)e^(-x^2)

08:58 / 09.10.07

Yeah - the differential of a product of two functions of the same variable - call them u(x) and v(x) for example so you want d(uv)/dx - is the differential of the first bit times the second bit, plus the differential of the second bit times the first bit: u(dv/dx) plus v(du/dx). That's the product rule. Your worked solution uses f(x) and g(x) to represent the two parts of the original function.

First part, df/dx where f= cos(3x)

Differential of cosax = -asinax is a standard result that you should learn, hence that result.

Second part, differential with respect to x of g = e^(-x^2) by the chain rule:

The chain rule: if y is a function of u and u is a function of x then the differential of y with respect to x is (dy/du)*(du/dx).

So here that would mean y=e^u , where u = f(x) = -x^2

First we do du/dx = -2x

then dy/du = e^u

(differential of e^x = e^x is another standard result you should learn)

hence dy/dx = -2x * e^u , which is -2x * e^(-x^2)

Mash those together according to the product rule above to get the full result.

My hot tip for learning maths stuff if you're interested is, do as many simple examples as you can bear to. What you're aiming for is building smooth neural pathways so you barely have to think about what you're doing. I prefer to do lots of examples at the reasonably easy level and build up very gradually, because I work best when I feel calm and confident rather than when I'm feeling daunted.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

18:22 / 12.10.07

So is lime and coconut a really really good drink, or a really really shitty one?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

18:39 / 12.10.07

It's not really about a drink of lime and coconut, Matt.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

19:08 / 12.10.07

Wh-wh-whaaaaa?!?

But Kermit the Frog sang it! With a flipper ache!

Is this one of those drug things?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:19 / 12.10.07

The way I heard it, it refers to the practice of treating coca leaves with lime juice to liberate the active alkaloids. I could have been mislead, of course.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:31 / 12.10.07

Oh wow. Just googled "lime coca" and found some awesome stuff. Turns out that it's not lime juice, it's lime, as in the caustic alkaline substance. Click here for awesomeness.

19:38 / 12.10.07

It was written by Harry Nilsson in 1971 (it's not an old traditional song), and has been connected to everything from abortion to Chow Yun-Fat.

19:42 / 12.10.07

Oh, and lime is also an ingredient in paan masala.

(That "abortion" link actually goes to a fun story about somebody's mom. In Peru.)

Less searchable M0rd4nt

20:06 / 12.10.07

I think we're all missing the important point, which is that these guys are making plugs of coca leaves and hugely caustic burn-your-face-off lime, and chewing them like it's no big deal. This is an epic degree of awesomeness.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

20:10 / 12.10.07

That would explain the belly ache, I suppose.

20:13 / 12.10.07

I personally think it's about chasing pina coladas with margaritas.

But you know, it's a song with three lines and one chord.

One.

Infinitely iterable.

20:26 / 12.10.07

MY FACE! OH GOD, MY FACE!

08:31 / 16.10.07

Contact Lenses

I've got toric lenses from Dolland & Aitchison. Haven't worn them since I got 'em a month ago. Are the little lines supposed to go top & bottom (north - south) or left & right (east - west)?

11:10 / 16.10.07

Can anyone suggest/recommend a butchers in the Vauxhall area of London?

11:15 / 16.10.07

I don't know Vauxhall that well but if you don't mind travelling to Clapham Junction then A Dove & Son, 71 Northcote Road (About 10 minutes walk from Clapham Junction Station) are excellent.

11:19 / 16.10.07

it's not quite Vauxhall but it's not far: in Clapham Common, there's Moen's which my gastrofriends tell me is superb: Take a butcher's at this

11:38 / 16.10.07

south london-y sorts of lithers spend their lunch hours in the Q&A thread, I see... clapham it is, one or the other...

19:20 / 17.10.07

How the hell do you deal with stealth bigots?

I was there, after the Environmental Society meeting of my college, in the bar with the rest of the group and a new member saunters up to me. He's perfectly amicable, makes a few jokes, is really friendly and warm and then..BAM..he makes his first racist joke. It then spirals into anti-semitism and homophobia and I'm left rocking back and forth in my chair. I was unsure of how to deal with him, because, before that I really quite liked him. He's gonna be there at the rest of the meetings because he's quite environmentally aware and determined, and I don't really want to just blank him. Is there a softly softly approach that I could take to make him aware that I find his jokes really offensive (other than not laughing, which didn't put a stop to him). I really hate confrontation too..

I should probably just blank him from now on, shouldn't I?

19:22 / 17.10.07

Llamas, I would suggest you privately mention your discomfort to him. Maybe offer a few words about why.

19:28 / 17.10.07

It's probably what I'll end up doing. Thing is, even when I'm immensely offended by what people say, I loathe making them aware of it. I always like people being perfectly comfortable in their surroundings, even to the detriment of my own comfort. I'm a big old doormat in other words. Why he thought the enviro-soc would be a suitable airing ground for his Jim Davidson jokes is beyond me though.

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