In Other News

[BeBMan]

And I'm sure everyone is glad that the following has been sorted finally

Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study finds


Australian mathematicians call into question the ‘infinite monkey theorem’ in new research on old adage

Mathematicians have called into question the old adage that a monkey typing randomly at a keyboard for long enough would eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare.

Two Australian mathematicians have deemed it misleading, working out that even if all the chimpanzees in the world were given the entire lifespan of the universe, they would “almost certainly” never pen the works of the bard.

The paper tested the “infinite monkey theorem”, a thought experiment demonstrating that an infinite amount of time can make something that is incredibly unlikely become probable, by asking what would happen if generous yet finite limits were placed on the monkey typists.

Their calculations were based on a monkey spending about 30 years typing one key a second at a keyboard with 30 keys – the letters of the English language plus some common punctuation. It found that the time it would take for a typing monkey to replicate Shakespeare’s works would be longer than the lifespan of our universe.

(snipsnap)

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/01/infinite-monkey-theorem-keyboard-tyepwriter-shakespeare-study

[Broken_Erika]

Man barred from hunting 1 year after trying to shoot squirrel, hitting town hall instead

The man was fined $3,000 after striking the town hall in St. Helens, north of Goderich

A man who tried to shoot a squirrel in his Huron County yard and ended up almost striking a person has been barred from hunting for one year and ordered to pay a fine.
The man, from St. Helens, about 30 kilometres north of Goderich, was ordered to pay $3,000 and must complete remedial training before getting another hunting licence, officials from the province's Ministry of Natural Resources wrote in a statement.
The incident happened on June 5 in the township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh. The bullet ended up hitting the town hall, officials said.
"An investigation completed in conjunction with local OPP determined that [the man] had discharged a .22-calibre rifle at a squirrel in his yard, shooting in the direction of the main intersection of Belfast Road and St. Helens Line. The bullet passed within feet of the township employee before striking the building," officials said.
The man pleaded guilty to careless hunting. The case was heard in the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/man-barred-from-hunting-1-year-after-trying-to-shoot-squirrel-hitting-town-hall-instead-1.7371254

[SlowwHand]

Good luck finding a typewriter.

[Broken_Erika]

Monkeys will never type Shakespeare, study finds

Two Australian mathematicians have called into question an old adage, that if given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pressing keys on a typewriter would eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare.
Known as the "infinite monkey theorem", the thought-experiment has long been used to explain the principles of probability and randomness.
However, a new peer-reviewed study led by Sydney-based researchers Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta has found that the time it would take for a typing monkey to replicate Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems would be longer than the lifespan of our universe.
Which means that while mathematically true, the theorem is "misleading", they say.

As well as looking at the abilities of a single monkey, the study also did a series of calculations based on the current global population of chimpanzees, which is roughly 200,000.
The results indicated that even if every chimp in the world was enlisted and able to type at a pace of one key per second until the end of the universe, they wouldn't even come close to typing out the Bard's works.
There would be a 5% chance that a single chimp would successfully type the word "bananas" in its own lifetime. And the probability of one chimp constructing a random sentence - such as "I chimp, therefore I am" - comes in at one in 10 million billion billion, the research indicates.
“It is not plausible that, even with improved typing speeds or an increase in chimpanzee populations, monkey labour will ever be a viable tool for developing non-trivial written works,” the study says.
The calculations used in the paper are based on the most widely accepted hypothesis for the end of the universe, which is the heat death theory.
Despite its name, the so-called heat death would actually be slow and cold.
In short, it's a scenario in which the universe continues to both expand and cool - while everything within it dies off, decays, and fades away.
“This finding places the theorem among other probability puzzles and paradoxes... where using the idea of infinite resources gives results that don’t match up with what we get when we consider the constraints of our universe,” Associate Prof Woodcock said in a statement about the work.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c748kmvwyv9o

[BeBMan]

Having a drink is natural:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/oct/30/alcohol-consumption-abundant-in-the-natural-world-study-finds

[Bereta_Eder]

snip snip

[Ming]

Bat escapes German zoo by hiding in visitor's jacket

By Ben Hooper



A bat escaped from Germany's Karlsruhe Zoo by hiding inside a visitor's jacket. Photo by ntrief/Pixabay.com



Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A bat escaped from a zoo in Germany by landing on a visiting woman and hiding in her clothes until she got home.

Elina Öfele, 30, said she and her young son walked through the bat cave at Karlsruhe Zoo in southwestern Germany last week, and when she got home she removed her jacket and a bat fell to the floor.

Öfele contacted an animal expert and put the bat in a box with honey water and a banana overnight to keep it fed and comfortable.

Her husband and son returned the bat to the zoo the following day.

A spokesman for the zoo said the leaf-nosed bat was returned to its habitat and is doing fine. He said it was the first time a bat had ever escaped from the zoo by stowing away with a visitor.

[Ming]

Paraglider Spots Stray Dog Chilling Atop Great Pyramid of Giza
101824*

A man flying a paramotor over the Giza Pyramid Complex on the outskirts of Cairo spotted a stray dog barking at birds from atop the 138.5-meter-tall Great Pyramid of Giza.

Marshall Mosher, a “pro adventure athlete” who travels around the world, was flying his paramotor over the pyramids of Giza on October 14 when he came across a very peculiar sight – a lone canine chilling on top of the Great Pyramid, seemingly barking at the birds flying overhead. Not exactly the kind of thing you expect to see while flying over one of the Seven Wonders of the World, so it’s no wonder that the clip he posted on his Instagram went viral almost instantly. Some users of the popular social network joked that the pooch must have been the Egyptian God Anubis, while others were worried about its well-being.



Luckily, Mosher followed up his viral video with another clip, this time shot at the foot of the pyramid. It showed both the daredevil canine and a fellow companion, and the human globetrotter explained that there are many stray dogs in the Giza area and they often climb up and down the pyramids, something that we humans are forbidden from doing.


Interestingly, tourists were once allowed to scale the ancient pyramids, but Egypt imposed a ban on the practice and offenders now risk up ti three years behind bars. The same rules apparently don’t apply to dogs…

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1847212274462728395

[Uncle Sparky]

Colombian pizza?
Better than pineapple.

[BeBMan]

A councillor has suggested using birth control as a means of limiting a local gull population.

Councillor Jill Desayrah said the number of gulls near Worcester's Elgar retail park had increased in the last year.

The birds have damaged locals' cars and homes, and disrupted people's sleep by screeching.

Desayrah said the rise in gulls in the area was "partly due" to their displacement from the city centre, where they had previously been a problem.

In July, a hawk was flown around Worcester city centre in an attempt to get the gulls to move on.

"I'm glad to see the city centre is more free of them, that's a good thing for everybody, but it's not good to see so many of them appear to be displaced here," she said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg787exdlmeo

[BeBMan]

Did this improve the pizza or not, is the question.

Or was item 40 just delivered as a raw amount of cocaine without any pizza added? That would be criminal

[Broken_Erika]

German police raid pizzeria serving side order of cocaine

Police have raided a pizzeria in western Germany which they alleged served customers a side of cocaine when they ordered item number 40 on the menu.
Authorities were tipped off about the scheme in March by food inspectors, and drug squad officers began watching the restaurant, criminal director Michael Graf von Moltke said on Monday.
When police went to detain the pizzeria manager at his apartment, the 36-year-old reportedly threw a bag of drugs out of the window, which "fell right into the arms of the police officers", Düsseldorf police said.
Police found 1.6kg (3.5lb) of cocaine, 400g (14.1oz) of cannabis and €268,000 (£223,120) in cash in the apartment.

The restaurant manager was released by police a few days later, and he reopened his restaurant and continued to sell the drug and pizza combination.
Investigators used the opportunity to explore the drug supply chain to the pizzeria, leading them to bust a drug ring in western Germany weeks later.
Around 150 officers raided two cannabis plantations - one in Mönchengladbach, to the west of Düsseldorf where 300 plants were found, and another in Solingen, to the east of the city, where 60 plants were found.
The homes and businesses of 12 suspects were also raided, resulting in the arrests of three people, including a 22-year-old suspected of being the head of the drug operation.
Police also found weapons, money and expensive watches during the raids.
The pizzeria manager was rearrested while trying to leave the country and remains in custody.
"The number 40 was one of the best-selling pizzas," Mr Moltke said.
Police have not released the name of others involved in the drug operation, or the price of the pizza and cocaine combination.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cew1wq8dr02o

[-Jrabbit]

My daughter informs me the the "not a bag of drugs" bag is actually a real product. It is marketed as a makeup bag.

[Ming]

Oregon police find bag full of drugs marked 'definitely not a bag full of drugs'
Driver and passenger arrested after search of car in Portland turns up fentanyl, methamphetamine, cash and loaded gun
Source: The Guardian


Police said they found fentanyl, oxycodone, money and a loaded gun.
Image: Portland Police Bureau Eeast Precinct

Police officers in Portland, Oregon, stopped a car Tuesday night when they noticed a bag inside that said "Definitely not a bag full of drugs". It, in fact, was – full of drugs: 79 blue fentanyl pills, three fake oxycodone tablets, and 230g of methamphetamine, to be exact.

Officers pulled over a man and a woman who were driving a stolen car near the intersection of SE 162nd Avenue and Division, according to the Portland police bureau. Inside the car, officers noticed that the Ford Taurus's ignition had been visibly tampered with – and spotted baggies of drugs.

"The driver and passenger were both arrested," said Portland police public information officer Sergeant Kevin Allen. "Inside the vehicle was a substantial number of packaged drugs, including methamphetamine and blue fentanyl pills, multiple scales, money and a loaded firearm."

Many of the baggies of drugs had been stored in a brown canvas bag reading, "Definitely not a bag full of drugs". A photo of the officers' bust – including the bag – garnered media attention on Twitter.


— PPB East Precinct (@ppbeast) October 9, 2024

The suspects – Reginald Reynolds, 35, and Mia Baggenstos, 37 – are both facing charges of drug possession and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Reynolds has been charged with delivery of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of a controlled substance in the first degree. Baggenstos faces nearly the same charges – except for possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.

In 2020, Oregon made history when it decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs (much smaller than the amounts officers found Tuesday), in an effort to redirect city funding from criminalization and toward treatment of substance-use disorders. The measure passed with high levels of public support that faltered as overdose and homelessness rates rose in the state during the Covid-19 pandemic – when fentanyl also became widely available and affordable housing less so.

In September, the state recriminalized drug possession under a Democratic-controlled legislature.

[BeBMan]

https://www.reddit.com/r/weather/comments/1fx58ml/kirks_forecast_track/

Kirk!