Tracy: Well-- That call -- That call means you just murdered me. Mal: No, son. You murdered yourself. I just carried the bullet a while.

'The Message'


Natter 39 and Holding  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Calli - Oct 12, 2005 7:54:30 am PDT #5506 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

Are there any rugby fans around?

What's a "hooker" in rugby terms? I ran across this headline at the Guardian and blinked a couple of times.

Former England hooker Phil Greening has retired after failing to recover from a foot injury.

I'm pretty sure it meant something other than my first couple of thoughts.


Sue - Oct 12, 2005 7:55:09 am PDT #5507 of 10002
hip deep in pie

Nevermind.


Calli - Oct 12, 2005 7:55:43 am PDT #5508 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

Thanks, Sue. I think I fixed it.


Katie M - Oct 12, 2005 7:56:17 am PDT #5509 of 10002
I was charmed (albeit somewhat perplexed) by the fannish sensibility of many of the music choices -- it's like the director was trying to vid Canada. --loligo on the Olympic Opening Ceremonies

Ah, yes, that's the confusion. Here's the situation:

Population is 2,102. All of these people were contacted, and there were 1,097 responses. For the question I'm interested in, we got a response of 96% yes and 4% no out of that 1,097. Is there any way to use those numbers put together to convince people that this 96% is likely a reasonable representation of the entire population, or is the fact that the sample isn't random going to doom any such efforts?


Jesse - Oct 12, 2005 7:58:07 am PDT #5510 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Is there any way to use those numbers put together to convince people that this 96% is likely a reasonable representation of the entire population, or is the fact that the sample isn't random going to doom any such efforts?

Dude, totally. You can make numbers like that say anything!! Unless there are statisticians who will notice the non-randomness. Even so, it's a huge sample compared to the total population, which helps make the numbers more precise.


amych - Oct 12, 2005 7:58:40 am PDT #5511 of 10002
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?

What's a "hooker" in rugby terms?

Basically, the player whose job it is to try to "hook" (grab, get control of) the ball with his/her feet when they're in the scrum (which is the chaotic-looking mob scene thing).


juliana - Oct 12, 2005 7:59:07 am PDT #5512 of 10002
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…

What's a "hooker" in rugby terms? I ran across this headline at the Guardian and blinked a couple of times.

Former England hooker Phil Greening has retired after failing to recover from a foot injury.

The one in the middle of the front line of the scrum, whose job it is to hook the ball with their feet as it gets rolled into the scrum and push it back out the tail end of the scrum. The ones to either side of the hooker are called props.


sarameg - Oct 12, 2005 8:04:43 am PDT #5513 of 10002

Someone has the plague and is hacking up a lung in the office next door. Well, at least I know now who to avoid when the killer epidemic of avian deathflu hits!


§ ita § - Oct 12, 2005 8:05:28 am PDT #5514 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Christ, I think TMI worker was just on the phone discussing his upcoming liposuction with a medical professional. Well, some surgery that's elective and involves navels. Though I think he mentioned lasers too. I went for a walk, rather than listen.


amych - Oct 12, 2005 8:05:39 am PDT #5515 of 10002
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?

Also, I can't google anything ever again, because I want to have "rugby hooker" in the search box on my address bar forever. My work efficiency has just been halved.