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Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, I consider myself a flight enthusiast, I love planes and everything about them. I've recently taken up flying RC planes, which brings me to my question: Are there any good parks close to BYU that have open spaces with not too many trees and such? I currently fly in a baseball diamond next to my apartment but have had some bad luck with fences, semi tight spaces, and field light poles. Also, when is the wind the weakest during the day on average? - Maverick
ADear Maverick, This link will give you a list of Provo City parks on Google Maps. Clicking on each one in turn will take you to a map of it, where you can click on the "Satellite" option and zoom-in to see just how many trees are there. From what I can see, it looks like Provost Park (629 S 1000 E) or Riverview Park (4620 N 300 W) might be good options. This PDF takes about five years to load and includes some nifty little tables that have the average wind velocity (by month and hour) for anemometers located at the Point of the Mountain and Provo Canyon (pages 164 and 170, respectively). Granted, the data is a little aged, but, unlike history, I don't think that the data will have changed so much as to make the study irrelevant. It seems that the wind is weakest between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (based on the Provo Canyon anemometer). The Point of the Mountain had a pretty even distribution, with wind speeds at their weakest between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. and peaking between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. I guess you'll just have to experiment with the two sets of hours--the Point of the Mountain is a little further away than Provo Canyon, but the canyon is...well, a canyon. Have fun! ⋯Anomalous Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, In some kind of end of the world or guerilla warfare scenario, who's the first writer you want on your team? Or who's the writer you'd least like to have coming after you? Any major evil genius candidates? Basically, who's the most dangerous writer, and why? -Chuck
ADear Chuck, The first writer I'd want on my side would probably be Sauron. He is the lord of darkness after all. He and Waldorf are always together, too, so it's like having two writers as one ally. I've always suspected that Humble Master runs a secret ninja school, so I definitely wouldn't want him and his minions coming after me. And I've always been kind of terrified that Curious Physics Minor could banish me to an inescapable internet abyss with a simple snap of his fingers. So yes, my vote for evil genius candidate goes to him. But, who's the most dangerous writer? Hobbes. Have you seen the way he attacks Calvin every time he comes home? -Sky Bones ADear Chuck and Sky Bones, Don't forget Hobbes' Death Squad. For that reason alone, Hobbes is my answer to every question you just asked. - The Black Sheep ADear Chuck, I would pick the Sentry. First off, that guy has no soul; he never ever smiles. He is cool as a cucumber under fire and all that training he gets watching cameras at the library has got to be worth something. Plus he is in the army or something. I would take the Sentry over Hobbes and his sissy "Death" "Squad" any way! Dr. Smeed Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, I have a friend who was in a church commercial that aired before each session of the most recent General Conference. I didn't get to see the commercial. Do you know of any place I can look to see them (I have no idea what the content of the commercial consists of, so I can't YouTube it)? Thanks for your help! - Happy
ADear Happy, That's pretty spiffy that your friend was in a commercial! Unfortunately though, there does not appear to be any website database created to look up recent LDS commercials, especially the ones that air during General Conference. Perhaps you could get a little more information from you friend in order to help you on your quest. Good luck, Marzipan Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, My husband and I are in the market for a new mattress. I've heard a lot of great things about memory foam mattresses. I've also heard they are too hard (we like plush mattresses), and that after a few months of sleeping on them, your body leaves a permanent indent in the mattress. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'd actually love it if you could recommend a mattress (memory foam or traditional). You're all awesome! - Sleepy
ADear Sleepy, It doesn't look like many of us have really firm opinions on mattresses. My guess is that most of us are too young and poor to have such opinions. Sorry about that. I will give you the second best thing, which is the opinion of the masses, thanks to the internet. According to consumersearch.com, "owners of memory foam mattresses are more likely to report satisfaction with their bedding than owners of innerspring mattresses, but a significant number (about 20 percent) of owners say they dislike memory foam because it is too firm, too hot, or too hard to move on." Other drawbacks listed on the site are that they can smell bad when they are new and they are really heavy. Memory foam mattresses are more reportedly more durable, though. Traditional innerspring mattresses (especially ones with a pillow top) are rated really high, too, as long as you spend $800+ on one. They "retain less body heat and come in a wider range of firmnesses" than other types of mattresses. However, if you're a light sleeper they could transfer too much motion, and they are less durable than other types of mattresses and should supposedly be replaced every eight to ten years. Another option is latex foam mattresses, which is like memory foam but is springier and not as hot. It's durable and eco-friendly but it is more expensive than other mattresses. Then, of course, there are air mattresses like the Select Comfort Sleep Number bed, which I'll allow you to read about on your own. This page will link you to more articles and reviews of mattresses than you could possibly need. And if all else fails, Google, Google again! - The Black Sheep ADear Sleepy, I will relate to you what The Heartless Siren and I discovered during our mattress search a few months ago. We went to several places and searched the Internet to learn about mattresses and try to find what we liked. Unfortunately, a lot of our searching went like this: [lie down] "How's it feel?" "Like a mattress." If you're looking at Tempur-Pedic mattresses, those are dang comfy and very soft. We tried a few and liked how they felt, but they're also incredibly expensive. From what we understood during our shopping the Tempur-Pedic mattresses would actually sag less over time than a spring mattress and the warranty reflects that. The Tempur-Pedic 20-year warranty covers:
For comparison the Simmons 10-year warranty on their spring mattresses only takes effect for indentations greater than 1.5 inches (I couldn't find specific details for Serta or Sealy). I was also quite turned-off to the idea of purchasing a Sealy, Serta, or Simmons mattress because they, apparently, play a game with their distributors by selling the same mattresses under different names so that it makes it harder to price-shop. Since we're both at least half-time side-sleepers we decided we wanted to try a foam mattress so that we wouldn't have to deal with springs digging into our hips. We ended up going with a foam mattress and a box spring from Ikea. It was certainly cheaper than the Tempur-Pedic options (similarly priced to the cheaper spring mattresses) and works nicely for us. One thing to take into account is that the foam mattress will hold more of your heat, which results in the bed feeling warmer than with a spring mattress. So, if you're looking for a foam option on the cheap, I'd recommend looking into the Ikea mattresses. We got the Sultan Flokenes with the Sultan Atna box spring. The most important thing when shopping for a mattress, of course, is to go to the store and lie on them for a bit. You'll notice some things you like and don't like, and once you get the obviously noticeable stuff taken care of you can base your decision on price. -Curious Physics Minor Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, In room 445 of the MARB there are small white boxes with red LED's and a black circular window hanging from certain points on the ceiling. They have two Ethernet cables that connect to them as well. What are they? - Curious
ADear Curious, They're infrared receivers for the iClickers used in many large science classes. -Yellow Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, I have class in one of the large auditorium rooms on the second (400's) floor of the MARB. I usually never get good WiFi coverage in the room during class. But one day I came early to study before everyone had gotten there, and I had amazing WiFi (5 bars). But as more and more students came into the room, it got progressively worse. I thought radio waves weren't affected that much by people. Can you explain why this happens? - Interweb-er
ADear Interweb-er, The radio waves used by wireless internet connections shouldn't be significantly affected by the presence of other people. However, they will be affected by the laptops, iPhones, and other wireless devices that those people bring with them that are trying to communicate on the same frequency with the same router that you are. Really, you just need to build a time machine and go back to a class 5 years ago. You'd have very little interference back then. Then again, I don't think you'd have wireless access in the MARB five years ago either. -Yellow Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board - Last week someone asked about using baking soda to brush teeth, wanting to know if it was good or bad, because they had heard both. Well, after reading that question, I got my oil changed, and the mechanic recommended a transmission flush. He said that the manufacturer recommends it be done at 60,000 miles, and my van has 66,000. I told him that I was not prepared to pay the 99 dollars he was asking, so I would think about it and maybe do it next time. So, I have been researching it, and am really confused. First of all, in the car manual, there is no mention of a transmission flush in the maintenance section. Also, online people either say it is a great idea, or say it is a horrible idea. In fact, I found one post from someone claiming they own a transmission shop, and he or she says they never do a transmission flush because it can be so bad. Do any of you have any experience with this, or know someone who does? I am all for preventative maintenance, but with this I am really confused. - Not wanting to spend a lot of money unless it is worth it
ADear informed consumer, I got in touch with a gearhead friend of mine, "RicoSuave," and he was more than helpful about your situation. I'd trust his advice. After all, he's got awesome abs.
There you go. His quick summary was to say that "Flushes are different from simple fluid changes. Simple fluid replacements are what the manufacturer recommends, not flushes. If a mechanic wants to use a machine to do his 'flush,' don't let him. They have been known to damage transmissions. Tell him to just drain and refill. Most manufacturers recommend you change the transmission fluid every 60k miles." -Cognoscente Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, Could you explain API code to me in layman's terms? -Gnarkill
ADear Gnarkill, An API is an "Application Programming Interface." In other words, it's the interface through which one program talks to another. If, for example, I'm writing a program and I need to get access to the internet, I need to ask the operating system (Windows 7, etc.) for permission to access the internet. That's because the operating system is in charge of coordinating access to network resources. But the operating system doesn't speak English, so I can't just say "Hey Windows, please let me talk to theboard.byu.edu." These are computers, not people. Instead, the authors of an operating system like Windows will provide a specific way for a program to request such things. This is the "application programming interface" we were talking about earlier; it's the interface by which my program talks to another program (Windows, in this case.) There are lots of things that a program might request from the operating system, and the API generally refers to the collection of all the different requests a program might make from the operating system. An API doesn't have to be defined by the operating system, though. For example, if I were writing a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, I'd need to have some way to talk to Photoshop. Luckily, Adobe has published a set of interfaces (an API) which my plugin can use to talk to Photoshop. The API tells me what Photoshop will understand and what it won't. An API can also be dependent on the programming language. For example, while programs written in C++ usually talk directly to the operating system, a program written in Java actually talks to an intermediate translator called the Java Virtual Machine. In order to talk to Java, I have to use the interface it has defined; its API. You can see Java's API here. If you write a Java program using the functions defined on that page, you're guaranteed that it will work. If you don't, it probably won't, because Java won't know what you're talking about. Incidentally, this whole issue of APIs is essentially why a program written for OS X won't run on Windows and vice versa. OS X expects to be be talked to in one way, and Windows expects to talk in another. It's somewhat like trying to speak French to a Japanese person, or Japanese to a French person. You might make all the right sounds, but if the other person doesn't know what those sounds mean, it won't do you any good at all. Incidentally, the virtual machine "translator" used by Java is meant partially to resolve this very issue; there's actually a separate translator for OS X and for Windows, but since both of them "speak" Java, my Java program can talk to whatever translator happens to be around and it will in turn talk to the operating system as expected. I've tried to keep things fairly simple here, and thus I'm glossing over all sorts of details and making a few statements that technically aren't quite true, but they're close enough to true that by the time you know the difference, you won't need to ask this question anyway. -Yellow Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, This may be impossible to answer on the limited information I'm about to offer, but you're pretty much my last hope as my searching skills have not availed me. There is a print of a painting that I would like to acquire. The painting is not spectacular but must have been somewhat popular back in the day as the two places that I have ever seen it were in my great grandmother's home in Mississippi and my adopted grandparent's home in South Carolina. So, I am assuming that it was mass produced at one time, possibly sometime between the 50's and 80's. It could not have been made later than that as nearly all my memories are from visiting my great grandmother as a child back in the early 1980's. (Also, my mother remembers loving the painting as a child also and she was born in 1957.) The painting/print depicted a woman walking down or just standing on a staircase that wrapped around the left side of the picture. At the bottom of the staircase possibly slightly to the right is a grand piano. I do not remember if there is anyone at the piano. All I can seem to recall is the woman on the stairs in a fancy dress and the piano. I also remember the colors of the painting were of a blue green nature. It was not a brightly colored painting...very subdued in color and design. My great grandmother kept the painting in her "fancy room" as my mother referred to it. When we would go to visit for the holidays all the festivities were held in the kitchen and den, but I was allowed to go into the "fancy room" and sit on the little couch and pretend. I would stare at the painting every time I went and make up stories about it. For that reason the painting has very sentimental meaning to me. It reminds me of my great grandmother who passed away this year at 103 years of age. She had been in nursing home for nearly 15 years because of very aggressive Alzheimers. No one seems to know what became of the print as most of her things were done away with over the years to pay for the nursing home. Additionally, the print that hung in my adopted grandparent's home is also lost to me. They were an older couple who were our neighbors when I was child. They loved my family and went with my brother and I to all our school grandparent functions, but they had their own children and grandchildren who I do not know and the painting/print (if they decided to keep it) belongs to them. I have no way of finding out what the title of the painting is or who painted it or how to find an old print like that. Any information that you may be able to give me would be greatly appreciated. I called everyone I know and search through countless prints on sites that claim to sell old prints. It was not popular enough to still be desirable today but it must have been mass produced and fairly cheap to end up in the homes of two beloved farming families in two different states. Please help. I can't stop thinking and constantly dreaming about the painting and my deceased loved ones. - The Artist
ADear Artist, The information you've provided isn't quite enough to find the painting, but I do have some suggestions that I hope help you in your search. You mentioned that you've talked to everyone you know and looked at many different websites; I think you should take your search a step further and contact some kind of art expert. I found a website called bestpriceart.com that may interest you. It has not only a search index for paintings, but a way to contact the people in charge of the site for those looking for very obscure pieces of artwork. You can give them all the information you possibly can about your mysterious painting, and they'll let you know if they are able to find it or not. If they are able to get you more information, you can use that to locate and purchase your print. You could also get in contact with art dealers in your town (or even in the towns where your relatives are from, in case region plays a factor); they must have different art databases and techniques to search for artwork in order to help their clients. Even if they can't find it either, they might have further ideas for you to springboard from as well. I wish you the best of luck in your search. I really do. Marzipan Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, How many courses can I repeat at BYU? Are there limits to this? For example, I'd like to repeat anywhere from one to forty different classes. Where if ever is there a limit placed on this? - Fretful Failer
ADear Fs, You can retake pretty much any courses at BYU! "Pretty much any" means most. If your class name has an -R suffix (ex. ENGL 218R) then you cannot replace your original grade. Otherwise, you can retake any class a number of times. According to this question and answer you can retake a class more than twice, no problem, and your grade will be replaced just like that. As I said, the only limit is when you take an -R class, which has some different stipulations. If you are worried about the number of classes you need to retake, or are not sure which ones you should retake, talk with an advisor at the University Advisement Center in the WILK. -Mico Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, Lately, more like this semester and last Winter, I've hated school. I like my major courses okay, and I've done well in some of them, so that's not the issue. I just constantly feel weighed down, and like I don't belong here. I do my best by attending all of my classes, taking notes, studying, doing my reading, etc. But I still can't keep up or do well. My best is a C. And I hate it. I always did well in high school, so it's been hard to accept. I've been diagnosed with severe depression. It didn't start because of my classes (I had an eating disorder until last year when I went to counseling for help), but my classes are making it worse. I'm on medication, have seen a counselor off and on in the Wilk for the last year, and my husband helps considerably. But it's still really bad. I beat up myself a lot, and just can't understand why I can't do better. It gets so bad that I end up thinking that I'm just not smart enough to be here. Now my question- is school for everyone? Our church leaders have told everyone to get a good education, and I'm trying. I'm a junior, and still have about two years left. I know it would be great to have a degree, but sometimes I think ahead to the future and don't know if I'd be able to pass all my classes, especially my 300 and 400 level courses, in order to get the degree. I can't take time off because I have to graduate at the same time as my husband. When he's done, he'll be off to medical school. Plus, my family would be extremely angry and disappointed in me for dropping out of school, and I know they wouldn't be understanding. But I really don't know if I belong here, especially if it's making my depression worse. Sincerely, Lost in the dark of her books
ADear Lost, School is not for everyone - but an education most definitely is. I know of a lot of people who have had happy and successful lives without a college diploma, but I will just mention the two I know best. I recently became friends with a woman who went to BYU and, somewhat similar to yourself, she found out that school and classes were not having the most positive influence in her life. If anything, they were making things more difficult. She dropped out of BYU and studied a trade on her own. She got married at some point in there, and from what I can tell she does not regret leaving school for something more suited to her own needs. The other example is my older brother. After he returned home from his mission he quickly realized that his charisma was a great asset when it came to being a door-to-door salesman. Yes, I know, such a returned missionary cliché, but for him it made sense. He got married and came to the conclusion that not only was he making a great deal of money, but that this was something for which he did not need a college education. He had struggled for a long time with school and grades, and so knowing that he could be successful in a field where a college diploma isn't mandatory was a great revelation. One of the things I love about both these people is that they have not stopped learning and seeking an education. It does not matter if you are in school, you can still educate yourself about whatever interests you. When the Church leaders say "get an education!" they mean you should seek truth, and you should try to understand the world in which you live. Not everyone has the opportunity to go to college, and not everyone's method of learning is compatible with a college lifestyle. I wish you the best of luck in finding a way to learn about the world without stressing too much. A small suggestion is to take a semester off school and do an internship in the field you are most interested in. Maybe you can find out whether or not you need a diploma for that career path, and decide if the classes are worth it. A degree is a good investment, but so is hard-won experience. The most important thing is to continue learning and growing, not having a diploma with your name on it. -Mico ADear Lost in the dark of her books, I agree with what Mico said and I don't really feel the need to comment any more on that, but the part about your family broke my heart, not least because of a situation I'm going through right now. Our families and parents want what is best for us but at times like these it can be so hard to manage those relationships. I'd encourage you to think about what is best to do for you in your situation and do it, and hope that your family will come around without too many negative moments first. They love you, and they will come around. Do what you need to do and trust them to still like you when it's over. Best of luck, strong lady. I hope that whatever you decide turns out for the best. - The Black Sheep Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, I understand that the lunar cycle comes from the shadow of the earth cast from the sun onto the moon and that the moon can be seen during the day because the reflection of the light of the sun off the moon is bright enough to be seen during the day. So here's my question: on days that it's clear enough to see the moon during the day (and thus both the moon and the sun are visible over the horizon), why is the moon still consistent with the lunar cycle (appearing as a crescent)? It would seem that if both the sun and the moon were above the horizon, the earth is not in the way to cast a shadow and thus the moon should always appear full when visible during the day. -Experienced stargazer, amateur astronomer
ADear confused,
No, no, no, no, no. The shadow of the Earth causes a lunar eclipse when it happens to pass over the Moon. The lunar cycle is simply due to the moon being a sphere, and when lit from one side a sphere will always be half in shadow. How full the moon appears to you depends only upon where the Sun, Moon, and you are. Wikipedia has a good explanation with graphics on their Lunar Phase entry. -Curious Physics Minor Back to top QDear 100 Hour Board, What is the Church's policy on married people, who are separated and planning to divorce but not yet divorced, dating other people? Personal opinions? - kool-aid
ADear kool-aid- On my mission, I worked with a man returning from inactivity who happened to be divorcing his non-member wife at the same time. He was counseled by our bishop not to date until his divorce was final, which is part of the reason he continued to come to the family ward I was serving in. Lacking a copy of the Church Handbook of Instructions as I do, I don't know if this is official policy, but it's doubtless a good idea. If it helps at all, the guy is now part of a happy temple marriage and doing great. It's a pretty inspiring story, overall. -Foreman ADear kool-aid, In general, I'd recommend waiting until the divorce is final. Until the divorce has actually happened, it's always possible that the couple will get back together, and in such a situation, having dated other people may cause problems, especially if it was done without the knowledge of the other party. This is, of course, very general advice. Specific situations would call for specific advice, which I cannot give. But in general, I just don't think it's a good idea for someone who's technically married to be dating someone else. If nothing else, I would feel really awkward being the other half of the date. -Yellow Back to top CDear Twitch Finger, Wow. Actually, Marzipan, that PDF you linked to explicitly says on page 1 that dealers are prohibited from selling handguns to anyone under 21 years of age. That is federal law by which all federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs which includes ALL gun shops) are obligated to abide if they wish to retain their licenses. Private transfers are a different matter and this may be where confusion entered into the mix. At 18 years of age, you can legally own and possess a handgun and are welcome to purchase one in a private transaction (not at a gun show, not through an FFL). In other words, don't go into a gun shop and attempt to purchase a firearm. Check with friends, classifieds, and other sources for a private sale. While the information Legal Community Against Violence provided was accurate, I'd suggest you instead check out Oregon Firearms Foundation (the first Google return for "oregon firearms laws") for more information specific to Oregon from gun owners in Oregon rather than from a national gun control advocacy group that is generally opposed to firearms ownership. -Pa Grape
Back to top CDear 100 Hour Board, I thought I'd add a few thoughts to yesterday's Board Question #53939 My husband and I have been married for almost 5 years this December. By no means does this make me an expert, but I do have experience in this area. My husband's parents are not LDS. Mine aren't either, but that's neither here nor there. Because of their lack of religious interest, it can be very awkward to balance church obligations with time spent with them. Joining the Church can still be a sore spot for them. So, when we were first married, we called them 4 times a week. He'd call for advice, recommendations, sometimes even approval for decisions that were actually none of their business. It seriously aggravated me. When I brought up the subject, he explained how hard of a time they had and that he didn't want to cause any resentment. Now, their resentment would be inappropriate and ill-placed, but would occur nevertheless. I could understand that. When we moved to my husband's home state to be closer to them (we had their grandson at this point), it became even more difficult. But in being close to them, I saw that my husband was right. They were quick to judge and to automatically blame an early marriage, church obligations, our silly notion of prayer for any hardships we faced. UNLESS, we went to them for advice, ideas, etc. Then, they felt like we still valued their roles in their life. So, there are my thoughts about parent loyalty. My husband knows it's an issue and we have spent the last 5 years gaining our independence. But realize, up until marrying you, they were the source of all that. It's not like he can flip a lightswitch on and remember to think of you first. It doesn't mean he doesn't adore you and love you deeply. He's just in a habit that needs to be broken. Nagging or deflating him will not help this situation. Gentle reminders and understanding will go much further. Time also helps. As far as callings go, I was in the same boat. When we first moved back to his home state, he was immediately called as the Ward Mission Leader. It was so hard. We were baptizing 1-2 converts a month and so he was gone a lot. I'll be honest and say that I was not a supportive wife. I complained, rolled my eyes, cried, yelled when he would go out instead of spending time with me (he was also working on his Master's so I hardly go to see him). His calling was already hard enough. I made it immensely worse. Thanks to my lack of faith and lack of dependence on the Lord, he asked to be released. When that day came, I never felt more ashamed of myself. I knew that had I been more supportive, he would have never done that. A few weeks later he was called into the Elders Quorum Presidency. The Lord had already chastised me for my actions. I vowed not to act that way again. Although it was difficult at first, letting him and helping him to magnify his calling actually became easier because I was given Divine help to cope and endure. -Happily Married....even if I suck at it-
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