Questions you've always wanted answered

[Marc Meakin]

Yeah me too

[Marc Meakin]

This
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vP7onEFBA57CEbwp7

[David Williams]

If whoever decided on the Greenwich Meridian and the International Date Line had had a sense of humour, they would have reversed them. Not only would East Anglia have been further west than Wales, it would also have been a day ahead.

[Mark James]

Why are you able to buy flight tickets months in advance but, depending on the airline, you are only able to check in and print boarding passes within 48 hours? I know most people just use their phones now but I prefer to print off the boarding pass and I would like to be able to print the return flights before I go away. And even if I am using my phone I would still prefer to be checked in for the return flight before I go.

[Gavin Chipper]

Why are you able to buy flight tickets months in advance but, depending on the airline, you are only able to check in and print boarding passes within 48 hours? I know most people just use their phones now but I prefer to print off the boarding pass and I would like to be able to print the return flights before I go away. And even if I am using my phone I would still prefer to be checked in for the return flight before I go.

I've always thought this was insane. My understanding used to be that checking in was something you do when you get to a place to show you are present and correct. But if you can do it online, why not just make it part of the booking process? Why have these two procedures that you have to do separately?

I suppose things might change with the flight from when it's booked to when it actually happens and they might have to put you on a different flight, but once you're within the last couple of days nothing should change, so the flight and your seats are locked in at that point.

[Gavin Chipper]

Is anyone else getting random happy birthday messages to people they don't know in their Facebook feed? It's always from one of my Facebook friends to one of their Facebook friends. But why's it in my feed? This only started a few days ago as far as I've noticed and it happens quite a lot now.

[Fred Mumford]

If heart attacks are more lethal for women than men, why is Mama Cass literally the only woman I can think of (famous or otherwise) who died from a heart attack?

[Gavin Chipper]

If heart attacks are more lethal for women than men, why is Mama Cass literally the only woman I can think of (famous or otherwise) who died from a heart attack?

They're less likely to have heart attacks in the first place?

[Fiona T]

Is anyone else getting random happy birthday messages to people they don't know in their Facebook feed? It's always from one of my Facebook friends to one of their Facebook friends. But why's it in my feed? This only started a few days ago as far as I've noticed and it happens quite a lot now.

Shouldn't this be in the "Questions you've wanted answered for a few days only" thread?

But no, I haven't seen this.

[Gavin Chipper]

Is anyone else getting random happy birthday messages to people they don't know in their Facebook feed? It's always from one of my Facebook friends to one of their Facebook friends. But why's it in my feed? This only started a few days ago as far as I've noticed and it happens quite a lot now.

Shouldn't this be in the "Questions you've wanted answered for a few days only" thread?

But no, I haven't seen this.

It should be, but this thread will do!

[Marc Meakin]

If heart attacks are more lethal for women than men, why is Mama Cass literally the only woman I can think of (famous or otherwise) who died from a heart attack?

Also Zsa Zsa Gabor

[Mark Deeks]

Why do you get boners in your sleep?

[Paul Anderson]

Why do you get boners in your sleep?

I imagine it's like morning glory but related to the fact we used to have two sleeps.

[Fred Mumford]

Still thinking about Mama Cass and Zsa Zsa Gabor no doubt.

[Marc Meakin]

Why do you get boners in your sleep?

Your body telling you it's time to purge

[Ian Volante]

Why do you get boners in your sleep?

I imagine it's like morning glory but related to the fact we used to have two sleeps.

I thought this had been debunked.

[Ian Volante]

Why do you get boners in your sleep?

To stop you rolling out of bed.

[Paul Anderson]

Why do you get boners in your sleep?

I imagine it's like morning glory but related to the fact we used to have two sleeps.

I thought this had been debunked.

De"bunk"ed...I see what you did there

[Mark Deeks]

Why do we get morning glory, though? If I'm having a naughty thought, that's one thing. But why, if I'm dreaming about snooker or fishing or being criticised for hours on end or Countdown or Matt Morrison or some combination thereof, do I get rock hard in the process?

[Callum Todd]

I think I once read somewhere that the leading hypothesis was that it stops you pissing yourself in your sleep.

[Mark Deeks]

If only.

[Gavin Chipper]

How did "Banksy" - aka Robin Gunningham - become a thing? The media just decided that he was and started reporting on him. This didn't come from the general public appreciating his work. There was no public consultation about this and no questioning about the quality of his work. I can only imagine that he had a friend that worked for The Guardian or something and it all went from there.

[Mark James]

Yes Gev. Now we are talking. A completely fabricated entity designed to appeal to faux anarchists as if it is in someway "sticking it to the man" but is really just another commodity to be sold to the bourgeois. I'd almost equate it to Rage against the Machine but I'd give them more credit though. I get their argument that they needed to generate the biggest audience to spread the message, although it can sound hollow when you realise they are still millionaires but at least they back it up with some decent organising. Me personally I liked the KLF burning the million dollars as performance art and no one getting it as an expression of buying into the system while still critiquing it but at least Rage sound good. Banksy has been completely coopted. The chap who egged John Prescott had more of a political message than Banksy ever had.

[Marc Meakin]

Art is so subjective.
I was appalled that KLF set light to an actual million pounds..
If it was a fake million pounds and the money was gifted to a deserving charity then it would have been genius and no vulgar.imho.
I dont have a problem with Banksy he has a good sense of humour at least and doesn't take himself seriously.
(see the last episode of The Outlaws)
Im also impressed he is involved in the court case of those that toppled the statues in Bristol.

[Gavin Chipper]

It's not that I have a specific problem with Banksy. The problem is that it was just decided by the media that he was going to be famous and revered and people just seemed to passively go along with it.

[Mark Deeks]

In cryptocurrency terms, what's data mining?

Happened upon a concise yet not especially reassuring answer for this on Twitter:

"Crypto mining is the conversion of a valuable resource into something with no intrinsic value, with no other purpose but the accumulation of wealth, all the while contributing to an existential threat to our entire global civilisation"

sweet

[Fiona T]

In cryptocurrency terms, what's data mining?

Happened upon a concise yet not especially reassuring answer for this on Twitter:

"Crypto mining is the conversion of a valuable resource into something with no intrinsic value, with no other purpose but the accumulation of wealth, all the while contributing to an existential threat to our entire global civilisation"

sweet

Nice

TBF, most of our money doesn't actually exist - it's just figures moving from one person's glorified spreadsheet to another. When you stop and think about it, the whole thing is completely crazy.

[Mark Deeks]

I have recently learned that some people stand to wipe their arse. Whyever would you do that?

[Marc Meakin]

I have recently learned that some people stand to wipe their arse. Whyever would you do that?

If you can't reach sitting down than yes.

I cant believe how popular these toilet tissues are.
Surely paper didn't need replacing

[Adam Gillard]

According to our council recycling policy, we can recycle things like ketchup bottles, jars of honey, shampoo bottles, soap dispensers etc. if they are clean but not if they are soiled.

Is it better for the environment to chuck a soiled container in the general waste or to use a load of water (some hot) cleaning out some of the trickier containers for recycling?

[Mark Deeks]

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Why am I washing out my yoghurt pot if you're just going to incinerate it?

[Gavin Chipper]

I have recently learned that some people stand to wipe their arse. Whyever would you do that?

You get different angles and can find stuff you might not have got from just the sitting position. So you need to do both, though you obviously start with sitting. Left and right handed as well.

If you haven't learnt these advanced techniques though, you would obviously do it sitting down. It would be weird just to wipe your arse standing up.

[Marc Meakin]

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Why am I washing out my yoghurt pot if you're just going to incinerate it?

Also men peeing sitting down.
Guilty as charged of that but that is more because I'm on my feet all day at work

[Mark Deeks]

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Why am I washing out my yoghurt pot if you're just going to incinerate it?

Also men peeing sitting down.
Guilty as charged of that but that is more because I'm on my feet ll day at work

I am emphatically on the record in my support for sitting down to wee.

[Ian Volante]

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Why am I washing out my yoghurt pot if you're just going to incinerate it?

Also men peeing sitting down.
Guilty as charged of that but that is more because I'm on my feet all day at work

Stop trying to cross the streams.

[Mark Deeks]

Reaction videos. Who cares?

[Ian Volante]

Reaction videos. Who cares?

I quite like them in the context of musically literate people hearing stuff I love for the first time. Just for base shock or whatever, not so much.

[Mark James]

Reaction videos. Who cares?

I quite like them in the context of musically literate people hearing stuff I love for the first time. Just for base shock or whatever, not so much.

Aye, depends on who's reacting and to what. I like stuff like the vocal coach or composer reaction videos because they're not just giving an opinion but bringing a bit of their expertise to the table and explaining what's going on.

Would highly recommend Rick Beato's "What makes this song great" series on YouTube too. He often gets access to the individual instrument tracks which he can isolate so he goes real in depth as to how the songs are created.

Also Jason Parker is a magician who reacts to other magicians, usually to acts on Penn & Teller fool us, so you're getting another opinion on how the tricks may be done. It's usually they only place you get to see the more recent acts too. It did get a bit meta once when one of the magicians made a reaction video to his reaction video but then they ended up getting in touch and had a good interview together.

[Mark Deeks]

See to me, those aren't reaction videos. Those are analysis, commentary, whatever. The ones that are just straight reaction....well, if it's not a dog getting the zoomies when seeing the owner it hasn't seen for two years, it's a tough sell on me

[Ian Volante]

See to me, those aren't reaction videos. Those are analysis, commentary, whatever. The ones that are just straight reaction....well, if it's not a dog getting the zoomies when seeing the owner it hasn't seen for two years, it's a tough sell on me

Fair enough I'd say.

[JackHurst]

Why are you able to buy flight tickets months in advance but, depending on the airline, you are only able to check in and print boarding passes within 48 hours? I know most people just use their phones now but I prefer to print off the boarding pass and I would like to be able to print the return flights before I go away. And even if I am using my phone I would still prefer to be checked in for the return flight before I go.

It's standard practise for Airlines to overbook, which you probably know already. I would imagine this somehow helps the Airlines maximize their revenue from overbookings while keeping tue probability of too many passengers suitably low.

[JackHurst]

I have recently learned that some people stand to wipe their arse. Whyever would you do that?

You get different angles and can find stuff you might not have got from just the sitting position. So you need to do both, though you obviously start with sitting. Left and right handed as well.

If you haven't learnt these advanced techniques though, you would obviously do it sitting down. It would be weird just to wipe your arse standing up.

No. You've got the full range from this sitting down position if you do it right. Sit down and hand goes between the legs, not behind.

[Ian Volante]

I have recently learned that some people stand to wipe their arse. Whyever would you do that?

You get different angles and can find stuff you might not have got from just the sitting position. So you need to do both, though you obviously start with sitting. Left and right handed as well.

If you haven't learnt these advanced techniques though, you would obviously do it sitting down. It would be weird just to wipe your arse standing up.

No. You've got the full range from this sitting down position if you do it right. Sit down and hand goes between the legs, not behind.

Not sure I've ever tried this method. Seems like my bits would be in the way.

[Gavin Chipper]

Going in from the front? Never acceptable.

[Jon O'Neill]

Going in from the front? Never acceptable.

[Ian Fitzpatrick]

You get different angles and can find stuff you might not have got from just the sitting position. So you need to do both, though you obviously start with sitting. Left and right handed as well.

If you haven't learnt these advanced techniques though, you would obviously do it sitting down. It would be weird just to wipe your arse standing up.

No. You've got the full range from this sitting down position if you do it right. Sit down and hand goes between the legs, not behind.

Not sure I've ever tried this method. Seems like my bits would be in the way.

Those who don't stand up are responsible for 99% of all broken toilet seats in the land!

[Gavin Chipper]

Why is it just assumed by the media that Jackie Weaver was in the right and why has she become some sort of "hero"?

[Fiona T]

Why is it just assumed by the media that Jackie Weaver was in the right and why has she become some sort of "hero"?

As someone who has spent many hours arguing the intricacies of governance, she was wrong. That's not to say her colleagues didn't behave appallingly, but she indeed did not "have the authority".

Still funny though

[Mark James]

What to the bots who you do see as registered users online here actually do?

[Marc Meakin]

What to the bots who you do see as registered users online here actually do?

Beta testing world domination one forum at a time

[Johnny Canuck]

How are you supposed to respond to those posts from Wordle players that just have a series of coloured squares? Is there supposed to be a way to use those to guess the word or play along yourself?

edit: to clarify, I don't have Wordle myself

[Marc Meakin]

How are you supposed to respond to those posts from Wordle players that just have a series of coloured squares? Is there supposed to be a way to use those to guess the word or play along yourself?

edit: to clarify, I don't have Wordle myself

Wordle isn't an app it's a website.
The coloured squares are just an indicator of how well you did.
Its, basically a hybtmrid of hangman and mastermind

[Gavin Chipper]

There was a presenter on the BBC News channel (or BBC News 24 as it used to be), who I think specialised in busisness/economic matters who was around in about 2001/2. Male, dark hair, probably 40ish or 30s. I think he became a bit flavour of the month for a while and I think got his own show, or at least was a main person on another show. Who was he?

I had in my mind that he might have been called Noel, but that has turned up nothing, so probably not that.

[Callum Todd]

There was a presenter on the BBC News channel (or BBC News 24 as it used to be), who I think specialised in busisness/economic matters who was around in about 2001/2. Male, dark hair, probably 40ish or 30s. I think he became a bit flavour of the month for a while and I think got his own show, or at least was a main person on another show. Who was he?

I had in my mind that he might have been called Noel, but that has turned up nothing, so probably not that.

I found this guy with a bit of searching. Is this him?

[Gavin Chipper]

There was a presenter on the BBC News channel (or BBC News 24 as it used to be), who I think specialised in busisness/economic matters who was around in about 2001/2. Male, dark hair, probably 40ish or 30s. I think he became a bit flavour of the month for a while and I think got his own show, or at least was a main person on another show. Who was he?

I had in my mind that he might have been called Noel, but that has turned up nothing, so probably not that.

I found this guy with a bit of searching. Is this him?

Yes, it seems so. Thanks!

[Callum Todd]

There was a presenter on the BBC News channel (or BBC News 24 as it used to be), who I think specialised in busisness/economic matters who was around in about 2001/2. Male, dark hair, probably 40ish or 30s. I think he became a bit flavour of the month for a while and I think got his own show, or at least was a main person on another show. Who was he?

I had in my mind that he might have been called Noel, but that has turned up nothing, so probably not that.

I found this guy with a bit of searching. Is this him?

Yes, it seems so. Thanks!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_O%27Connell

Looks like he's on Radio 4 these days

[Ian Volante]

I found this guy with a bit of searching. Is this him?

Yes, it seems so. Thanks!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_O%27Connell

Looks like he's on Radio 4 these days

I find him quite listenable.

[Gavin Chipper]

Newsreaders assuming knowledge of this sort of stuff is annoying.

Also quizmasters. On Pointless Richard Osman says things like "teams in the 2018-19 Champions League" and I have no idea what that means. I know the names of some football teams, so I could have a wild guess, but I have no idea whether I'm meant to be guessing local or national teams or whether they have to be British, European or whatever.

"And now, tonight's Champions League results. The Champions League is an annual football tournament contested by the leading clubs in Europe. Football, or association football, is a game played between two teams of eleven . . . "

Unfortunately there won't be time for any of this, because the bulletin started with
"Firstly, the latest news on Brexit. Brexit is the abbreviation commonly applied to describe the process by which the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. The European Union is . . ."

On this general topic, the Six Nations rugby is going on at the moment, but also the BBC have been going on about Scotland winning the Calcutta Cup with no explanation. But having looked it up, it seems that the winner of the Engalnd/Scotland Six Nations game also wins the Calcutta Cup. I don't think most people would know that so I consider it pretty weak journalism.

[Gavin Chipper]

How would the Queen be viewed if George VI had lived a more normal life and survived into the 1980s? She might only have been on the throne for 30 to 40 years and might be considered just another transient monarch.

[Marc Meakin]

On a similar subject, will Queen Camilla become the Queen Mother when Charles dies?