Roast Grumpy Old Thread- 10k posts of whinging

[ferball]

Fellow Grumpies,

Why in an empty carpark (6am local), do you park in between 2 cars?

Went to the IGA this morning to get some supplies and parked the car a spot away from the only other car in the carpark, and this knob parks straight in between my car and the only other car in the carpark?

I swear, any car I drive is a magnet for people parking right beside me

Some combination of the effects of gravity and herding behaviour.

 

[krakouers]

Some combination of the effects of gravity and herding behaviour.

Magic too?

 

[ferball]

Magic too?

Specifically car gravity. Its also what causes traffic jams and cities...

The herd behaviour thing is serious tho.

One car on its own is a potential target (for theft of car or contents). One car parked next to another is suddenly only half a target, between two others is a third of a target (tho less visible so maybe 35 - 40% target...)

This is especially the case of you are the only vehicle and you are parked reasonably closely to the shops or to a light or whatever else there is that might improve people's safety. People will park near you because safety in numbers is a real thing.

 

[Hojuman]

Specifically car gravity. Its also what causes traffic jams and cities...

The herd behaviour thing is serious tho.

One car on its own is a potential target (for theft of car or contents). One car parked next to another is suddenly only half a target, between two others is a third of a target (tho less visible so maybe 35 - 40% target...)

This is especially the case of you are the only vehicle and you are parked reasonably closely to the shops or to a light or whatever else there is that might improve people's safety. People will park near you because safety in numbers is a real thing.

Well summed up Furry

 

[krakouers]

Specifically car gravity. Its also what causes traffic jams and cities...

The herd behaviour thing is serious tho.

One car on its own is a potential target (for theft of car or contents). One car parked next to another is suddenly only half a target, between two others is a third of a target (tho less visible so maybe 35 - 40% target...)

This is especially the case of you are the only vehicle and you are parked reasonably closely to the shops or to a light or whatever else there is that might improve people's safety. People will park near you because safety in numbers is a real thing.

ferball, you astound me with knowledge like that, greatly appreciated thanks

 

[ferball]

ferball, you astound me with knowledge like that, greatly appreciated thanks

No worries.

And thanks.

 

[Gasometer]

As long as they get out and don’t dent your car with their door

 

[andana]

Fellow Grumpies,

Why in an empty carpark (6am local), do you park in between 2 cars?

Went to the IGA this morning to get some supplies and parked the car a spot away from the only other car in the carpark, and this knob parks straight in between my car and the only other car in the carpark?

I swear, any car I drive is a magnet for people parking right beside me

Just as mathematics reveals the motions of the stars and the rhythms of nature, it can also shed light on the more mundane decisions of everyday life. Where to park your car, for example, is the subject of a new look at a classic optimization problem by physicists Paul Krapivsky (Boston University) and Sidney Redner (Santa Fe Institute) published in this week's Journal of Statistical Mechanics.
The problem assumes what many of us can relate to when exhausted, encumbered, or desperate to be somewhere else: the best parking space is the one that minimizes time spent in the lot. So that space by the front door is ideal, unless you have to circle back three times to get it. In order to reduce the time spent driving around the lot AND walking across it, the efficient driver must decide whether to go for the close space, quickly park further out, or settle for something in-between.
"Mathematics allows you to make intelligent decisions," Redner says. "It allows you to approach a complex world with some insights."
In their paper, Krapivsky and Redner map three simple parking strategies onto an idealized, single row parking lot. Drivers who grab the first space available follow what the authors call a "meek" strategy. They "waste no time looking for a parking spot," leaving spots near the entrance unfilled. Those who gamble on finding a space right next to the entrance are "optimistic." They drive all the way to the entrance, then backtrack to the closest vacancy. "Prudent" drivers take the middle path. They drive past the first available space, betting on the availability of at least one other space further in. When they find the closest space between cars, they take it. If no spaces exist between the furthest parked car and the entrance, prudent drivers backtrack to the space a meek driver would have claimed straightaway.
Despite the simplicity of the three strategies, the authors had to use multiple techniques to compute their relative merits. Oddly enough, the meek strategy mirrored a dynamic seen in the microtubules that provide scaffolding within living cells. A car that parks immediately after the furthest car corresponds to a monomer glomming on to one end of the microtubule. The equation that describes a microtubule's length -- and sometimes dramatic shortening -- also described the chain of "meek" cars that accumulate at the far end of the lot.
"Sometimes there are connections between things that seem to have no connection," Redner says. "In this case, the connection to microtubule dynamics made the problem solvable."
To model the optimistic strategy, the authors wrote a differential equation. Once they began to mathematically express the scenario, they spotted a logical shortcut which greatly simplified the number
of spaces to consider.
The prudent strategy, according to Redner, was "inherently complicated" given the many spaces in play. The authors approached it by creating a simulation that allowed them to compute, on average, the average density of spots and the amount of backtracking required.
So which strategy is best? As the name suggests, the prudent strategy. Overall, it costs drivers the least amount of time, followed closely by the optimistic strategy. The meek strategy was "risibly inefficient," to quote the paper, as the many spaces it left empty created a lengthy walk to the entrance.
Redner acknowledges that the optimization problem sacrifices much real-world applicability in exchange for mathematical insight. Leaving out competition between cars, for example, or assuming cars follow a uniform strategy under each scenario, are unrealistic assumptions that the authors may address in a future model.
"If you really want to be an engineer you have to take into account how fast people are driving, the actual designs of the parking lot and spaces -- all these things," he remarks. "Once you start being completely realistic, [every parking situation is different] and you lose the possibility of explaining anything."
Still, for Redner, it's all about the joy of thinking analytically about everyday situations.
"We're living in a crowded society and we always encounter crowding phenomena in parking lots, traffic patterns, you name it," he says. "If you can look at it with the right eyes, you can account for something."

 

[Hojuman]

Sorry, but, if any kids knock on my door tonight they might cop a scary earful.

 

[andana]

Sorry, but, if any kids knock on my door tonight they might cop a scary earful.

Looks like you left the P.I. just in time

MANILA: A powerful earthquake struck central Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Thursday (Oct 31), killing at least five people and seriously damaging buildings already rattled by two previous deadly tremors.
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...ake-south-philippines-mindanao-davao-12049772

 

[Hojuman]

Looks like you left the P.I. just in time

MANILA: A powerful earthquake struck central Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Thursday (Oct 31), killing at least five people and seriously damaging buildings already rattled by two previous deadly tremors.
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...ake-south-philippines-mindanao-davao-12049772

Actually went past Pinatubo on a trip to Baguio and was reassured it hadn't blown it's lid for a few years

 

[Nate7]

Sorry, but, if any kids knock on my door tonight they might cop a scary earful.

Give us a preview!
ferball - Halloween happening in your region?

 

[Samsquanch]

Fellow Grumpies,

Why in an empty carpark (6am local), do you park in between 2 cars?

Went to the IGA this morning to get some supplies and parked the car a spot away from the only other car in the carpark, and this knob parks straight in between my car and the only other car in the carpark?

I swear, any car I drive is a magnet for people parking right beside me

Bastards do that to me at Bunnings as well. I park as far as I can from the doors, no other cars nearby, yet some Joker will park right beside me, and usually too close to the line as well.

 

[Gasometer]

Put a sign up 'Sorry out of treats'

Has worked

 

[ferball]

Just as mathematics reveals the motions of the stars and the rhythms of nature, it can also shed light on the more mundane decisions of everyday life. Where to park your car, for example, is the subject of a new look at a classic optimization problem by physicists Paul Krapivsky (Boston University) and Sidney Redner (Santa Fe Institute) published in this week's Journal of Statistical Mechanics.
The problem assumes what many of us can relate to when exhausted, encumbered, or desperate to be somewhere else: the best parking space is the one that minimizes time spent in the lot. So that space by the front door is ideal, unless you have to circle back three times to get it. In order to reduce the time spent driving around the lot AND walking across it, the efficient driver must decide whether to go for the close space, quickly park further out, or settle for something in-between.
"Mathematics allows you to make intelligent decisions," Redner says. "It allows you to approach a complex world with some insights."
In their paper, Krapivsky and Redner map three simple parking strategies onto an idealized, single row parking lot. Drivers who grab the first space available follow what the authors call a "meek" strategy. They "waste no time looking for a parking spot," leaving spots near the entrance unfilled. Those who gamble on finding a space right next to the entrance are "optimistic." They drive all the way to the entrance, then backtrack to the closest vacancy. "Prudent" drivers take the middle path. They drive past the first available space, betting on the availability of at least one other space further in. When they find the closest space between cars, they take it. If no spaces exist between the furthest parked car and the entrance, prudent drivers backtrack to the space a meek driver would have claimed straightaway.
Despite the simplicity of the three strategies, the authors had to use multiple techniques to compute their relative merits. Oddly enough, the meek strategy mirrored a dynamic seen in the microtubules that provide scaffolding within living cells. A car that parks immediately after the furthest car corresponds to a monomer glomming on to one end of the microtubule. The equation that describes a microtubule's length -- and sometimes dramatic shortening -- also described the chain of "meek" cars that accumulate at the far end of the lot.
"Sometimes there are connections between things that seem to have no connection," Redner says. "In this case, the connection to microtubule dynamics made the problem solvable."
To model the optimistic strategy, the authors wrote a differential equation. Once they began to mathematically express the scenario, they spotted a logical shortcut which greatly simplified the number
of spaces to consider.
The prudent strategy, according to Redner, was "inherently complicated" given the many spaces in play. The authors approached it by creating a simulation that allowed them to compute, on average, the average density of spots and the amount of backtracking required.
So which strategy is best? As the name suggests, the prudent strategy. Overall, it costs drivers the least amount of time, followed closely by the optimistic strategy. The meek strategy was "risibly inefficient," to quote the paper, as the many spaces it left empty created a lengthy walk to the entrance.
Redner acknowledges that the optimization problem sacrifices much real-world applicability in exchange for mathematical insight. Leaving out competition between cars, for example, or assuming cars follow a uniform strategy under each scenario, are unrealistic assumptions that the authors may address in a future model.
"If you really want to be an engineer you have to take into account how fast people are driving, the actual designs of the parking lot and spaces -- all these things," he remarks. "Once you start being completely realistic, [every parking situation is different] and you lose the possibility of explaining anything."
Still, for Redner, it's all about the joy of thinking analytically about everyday situations.
"We're living in a crowded society and we always encounter crowding phenomena in parking lots, traffic patterns, you name it," he says. "If you can look at it with the right eyes, you can account for something."

Awesome.

But i don't think its as simple as the easiest or closest space.

If you've done a self defense course and potentially feel vulnerable in public safety will be an issue. If you are a heavy choofer and keep a bong in the car parking between two cars far from the entrance provides enough cover for a few quick cones on the way to or from shopping (I knew someone who did this all the time.) You might just be a cigarette smoker (with kids) and view the walk to wherever you are going as one of the few opportunities you'll get for a durrie so always park far from the entrance.

 

[ferball]

Give us a preview!
ferball - Halloween happening in your region?

My daughter went round to a friends place and they looked for lollies. In the towns it is. Supposedly on Saturday evening in Nimbin there's a full halloween night happening for the kids. I might tag along and stop them eating any cookies or homemade fudge and brownies.

 

[Nate7]

My daughter went round to a friends place and they looked for lollies. In the towns it is. Supposedly on Saturday evening in Nimbin there's a full halloween night happening for the kids. I might tag along and stop them eating any cookies or homemade fudge and brownies.

Yeah look I'd take the "quality control" job

 

[gokangas]

Put a sign up 'Sorry out of treats'

Has worked

Or "home owner is a nudist". Usually works too.

 

[Harris 10]

I went to my neighbour’s and told him my young fella will be doing trick or treat. I gave him some lollies and small chocolate bars and said just put them in his bucket so he wasn’t inconvenienced in anyway.

The FAT F... didn’t give them all and kept them for himself.

 

[Gasometer]

I went to my neighbour’s and told him my young fella will be doing trick or treat. I gave him some lollies and small chocolate bars and said just put them in his bucket so he wasn’t inconvenienced in anyway.

The FAT F... didn’t give them all and kept them for himself.

That’s the worst post on here in nearly 4 years

Lousy

 

[Nate7]

I went to my neighbour’s and told him my young fella will be doing trick or treat. I gave him some lollies and small chocolate bars and said just put them in his bucket so he wasn’t inconvenienced in anyway.

The FAT F... didn’t give them all and kept them for himself.

Name and shame!

 

[krakouers]

I went to my neighbour’s and told him my young fella will be doing trick or treat. I gave him some lollies and small chocolate bars and said just put them in his bucket so he wasn’t inconvenienced in anyway.

The FAT F... didn’t give them all and kept them for himself.

Sorry to hear that Harris10, that’s a dog act

I got roped in through the missus so have been handing out as they come
It’s been very wet here so haven’t had to hand them out too often

 

[krakouers]

Bastards do that to me at Bunnings as well. I park as far as I can from the doors, no other cars nearby, yet some Joker will park right beside me, and usually too close to the line as well.

That’s the usual situation with me too.

Also my persona hatred is leaving f###ing trolleys all about the place, why can’t you lazy (Damien Barrett)’s put them away?

 

[see see]

Hayfever is bull… faeces

Whoever the campaigner was that thought it'd be a good idea to plant a few hundred Plane Trees in central Melbourne deserves to be water boarded.

 

[Samsquanch]

Whoever the campaigner was that thought it'd be a good idea to plant a few hundred Plane Trees in central Melbourne deserves to be water boarded.

That bastard owes me my right eye. One of those seed balls blew off one morning in a wind gust and got me directly in the eye. Ended up at the eye and ear hospital getting the seed spikes removed with my head in a clamp and the surgeon using a syringe to get them out.

No loss of sight but scarring causes blurred vision, although I still see every free the umpires miss.

Worst thing is that I damaged my other eye only a week after the eye patch from the first one was removed. Came to work with the other eye patched and everyone thought I was taking the piss.