Stupid is, as stupid does

[Delboy]

And as a by-product it produces Oxygen which we find quite handy

but we're not short of oxygen. no-one's going to suffocate if kinboshi doesn't plant a tree

no; but what a great idea for a game show!!

[kinboshi]

Someone mentioned carbon footprint.

What's all that off-setting your carbon footprint about? I don't understand how it's meant to work. Can someone explain so I can add it as my stupid thing?

my understanding of it is, someone plants a tree!

That's the thing I don't get.

I sort of get the idea that if you fly over to Vegas you feel guilty about all those bunnies you've killed with your needless pollution, so you invest some money in a wind farm somewhere that helps to reduce future carbon emissions.  That sort of nearly makes sense.

But this idea of planting a tree?  How does that help?  The tree is planted and grows, converting the carbon dioxide in the air into the stuff that makes the tree, so that removes some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for a while.  But then when the tree dies that carbon is released as.... carbon dioxide as it decomposes or is burnt, etc.  So how does that reduce my carbon footprint?  Or is it a credit thing, and I'm reducing my carbon footprint on credit, but when the crunch comes - someone has to pay a bit down the line?

And as a by-product it produces Oxygen which we find quite handy

So I'm not carbon offsetting, I'm oxygen generating.  I still don't see how that reduces my carbon footprint?

Also, the oxygen will be used up when the tree dies as the carbon is converted back into carbon dioxide.  So effectively I'm stealing oxygen from my children and their children?

[redarmi]

Someone mentioned carbon footprint.

What's all that off-setting your carbon footprint about? I don't understand how it's meant to work. Can someone explain so I can add it as my stupid thing?

my understanding of it is, someone plants a tree!

That's the thing I don't get.

I sort of get the idea that if you fly over to Vegas you feel guilty about all those bunnies you've killed with your needless pollution, so you invest some money in a wind farm somewhere that helps to reduce future carbon emissions.  That sort of nearly makes sense.

But this idea of planting a tree?  How does that help?  The tree is planted and grows, converting the carbon dioxide in the air into the stuff that makes the tree, so that removes some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for a while.  But then when the tree dies that carbon is released as.... carbon dioxide as it decomposes or is burnt, etc.  So how does that reduce my carbon footprint?  Or is it a credit thing, and I'm reducing my carbon footprint on credit, but when the crunch comes - someone has to pay a bit down the line?

I can honestly say that Kinboshi has blown me away in this thread.  Firstly, he has tested the toast hypothesis and found it to be not totally correct but then outlined, in some detail, the reasons why the hypothesis could still be correct.  Then he has thought about carbon offsetting right up until the point where the tree dies and then becomes carbon dioxide.  Such level of detail is clearly wasted on a poker forum.  Have you thought about applying for the job at the IMF???

[kinboshi]

And as a by-product it produces Oxygen which we find quite handy

but we're not short of oxygen. no-one's going to suffocate if kinboshi doesn't plant a tree

no; but what a great idea for a game show!!

[Claw75]

warning - slightly hysterical mini-rant to follow.

ha! i can't wait to tell my little brother about the toaster thing, yeah, coz we both like our toast done the same and I always do it on number 3, but he says i'm a loser coz it's much better to save time by doing it on number 5 and stopping it early.  who's the loser now? eh? eh?

[redarmi]

I think you should probably wait until Boshi completes his extensive work into this subject first Claw....you wouldn't want to look silly.

[Claw75]

I think you should probably wait until Boshi completes his extensive work into this subject first Claw....you wouldn't want to look silly.

i'm going to time my toaster now.  I would encourage as many people as possible to do the same so we can work out an average time for each setting and get a reasonable sample size.

[Claw75]

ok phase one of experiment complete:

setting 1 popped at 1min 15secs

setting 2 popped at 1min 57secs

I think this is a reasonable margin of error given that my toaster has a dial setting and it might not have been 100% accurately lined up with the numbers.

I'm now going to toast a piece of bread for 3 minutes on setting 3, then toast another piece of bread for 3 minutes on setting 6 and compare the density of colour.

I am then going to put butter and marmite on the toast and eat it.

[Delboy]

Claire, have you made allowances for the differing moisture contents in the bread slices?

[Claw75]

Claire, have you made allowances for the differing moisture contents in the bread slices?

i am using adjacent slices from the middle of the loaf to ensure as similar texture and consistency as possible.

First slice is in now.  I am scrapping the final step due to some blue stuff on the crusts.

[kinboshi]

Also, I hope you have let the toaster cool down to the ambient room temperature before starting another test?

[Claw75]

Hmmm - slight hiccup.  setting 3 on my toaster only went for 2mins 23seconds which seems a bit too far off the 3 minutes mark to be a reasonable margin of error.  I might be ready to call bullshit on thetank, but will wait til the second slice has been in at number 6 for 2mins 23seconds first.

[Claw75]

Also, I hope you have let the toaster cool down to the ambient room temperature before starting another test?

considered that, but decided that it still being a bit warm isn't going to make that much difference.

[Claw75]

right, i'm deffo calling bullshit.  pic to follow in a min.

so glad i didn't call my brother to stick it in his eye.

[Delboy]

Also, I hope you have let the toaster cool down to the ambient room temperature before starting another test?

considered that, but decided that it still being a bit warm isn't going to make that much difference.

makes a big difference!

Start again