Ask Chromus

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Fri Feb 28, 2003 5:17 pm

Ah, now I see where I was confused. I thought that, by refering to a Turning machine, you were refering the the AI test.

Zornak · Post by **Zornak** » Fri Feb 28, 2003 9:47 pm

umm...more questions ^_^;;

Why does the mouse work when the computer is frozen?

and since I heard somewhere, dust is (supposedly) dead skin cells...so how does a house that is uninhabited for like decades have so much dust in it?

Beyonder and/or Dither: What does PHP stand for and what is it's advantages over html?

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Fri Feb 28, 2003 10:00 pm

The mouse works when the computer freezes because the program that handles interpreting the mouse movements has not frozen. When a program "freezes", it has performed an illegal operation, or is stuck in an infinite loop. Sometimes, this brings down the general operating system, but other programs are left running, like the mouse program.

Secondly, dust isn't only dead skin cells. Dust is any sort of small particles that clump together, like dead skin cells, feces, and wood bits. In uninhabited houses, dust comes from all the bugs that move in and all the random bits and peices the air brings in.

I thought this was Ask Chromus? I'm going to answer it anyways...

PHP is a recursive acronym that stands for "PHP: Hypertext Processor". PHP cannot be directly compared to HTML because PHP makes HTML. PHP can be more compared with CGI or ASP, all technologies that generate dynamic HTML. Using any of the three, you can generate a HTML file based on other things, like what you find in a database, or the contents of a file. PHP is similar to ASP in that the PHP code is put into an HTML file, where CGI outputs a brand new HTML file each time. This allows you to change only little bits and peices, instead of having to change the whole thing every time. PHP is also very similar to C, so knowing C helps in learning PHP. ASP is very similar to Visual Basic, and CGI is a group of technologies, most commonly written in Perl, which looks somewhat like a cross of BASIC and C. Whichever language you pick, make sure the server that you're hosting the files on has support for it. Past that, it's all up to you.

Post by **beyonder** » Fri Feb 28, 2003 10:06 pm

PHP stands for pre-hypertext processor. PHP genreates each page as it is requested, thus allowing for dynamic pages to be created. PHP is a server-side script language, so when your browser reads it, all it sees is plain HTML. Let's look at a simple example: the news page. When you view the news page, a script is called that loads all the news items into variables, the latest 5 of these posts are parsed and displayed in tables. When you view old news items, the same script is called, but told to start at a different point. If every news page had to be done in html, there would be many many files for it and you couldn't post through the form, but since it is php everything is moved automatically and noone ever has to touch the code(unless a bug is found...)

Post by **Pez-Man** » Sat Mar 01, 2003 12:25 am

Never doubt the Chromus, even if other people can answer it.

When your appendages fall asleep, why does it feel the way it does?

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Sat Mar 01, 2003 3:25 am

When parts of your body "fall asleep", it actually means that you're applying pressure in such a way that you are pinching your blood vessels and nerves. When this happens, some nerves don't transmit at all, and some transmit erratically. This sensation is a signal for you to change position and relieve the pressure. When you do, the nerves start to wake up again, slowly, and start re-transmitting, so you get odd sensations when those body parts "wake". The nerves associated with pain and temperature are the thinnest, and as such, wake the quickest, so you feel minor pain and a little burning at the begining.

Twilkitri · Post by **Twilkitri** » Sun Mar 02, 2003 9:11 pm

When 'they' say
"It's worse than that, it's Physics, Jim"
What is the 'that' to which 'they' are referring?

Phred · Post by **Phred** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 12:02 am

if there is a hole in the ozone layer, why dont they send a ship up there to patch it with some more ozone? its not like its doing any good to us down here, a single breath of it is enough to kill you

Zornak · Post by **Zornak** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 1:03 am

isnt the reason Antartica's so cold is cause of that hole in the ozone layer right above it?

Twilkitri · Post by **Twilkitri** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 1:30 am

Why do all continents end with the same letter they start with? (assuming that America is taken as one continent, here)

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 3:18 am

DT: Well, I'd have to know what the original context of the sentence is, but I would hazard a guess that in that specific example "that" refers to the reason mentioned before the sentence. For instance: "We can't go faster than the speed of light because our warp engine is broken." "It's worse than that. It's physics, Jim."

Phred: You're right that a single breath of ozone down here will kill you, but to make enough ozone to fix the hole would drain all US resources two times over. It's simply not feasible to make new ozone when, if we help, nature will stabalize itself. What I mean is, if we stop making chemicals that destroy the ozone layer, nature will do the rest and fix it back up. It's slow, but it works.

Zorn: Actually, a hole in the ozone layer probably wouldn't affect temperature all that much. Ozone blocks UV radiation, so less ozone means more gets through. UV radiation causes chemical reations, usually involving heat, so it would heat up. However, the same ozone that isn't preventing UV radiation from entering isn't preventing it from leaving, so more escapes. Overall, there isn't much change. The real reason Antartica is so cold is that it seldom receives any of the heat from the sun.

DT (again): Sorry to tell you, but it's all a coincedence. It simply happened to be named that way.

Twilkitri · Post by **Twilkitri** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 7:03 am

chromus wrote:DT: Well, I'd have to know what the original context of the sentence is

Well, I was talking about the general case, but oh well.

Zornak · Post by **Zornak** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 5:36 pm

What is the chemical compound for fire?

<nonsense>Why, in a country of free speech, are there phone bills?</nonsense>

Twilkitri · Post by **Twilkitri** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 6:34 pm

It's not working >< only one thing to do.

Chromus, what sort of questions should I ask chromus to totally confuse him?

Jo-chan · Post by **Jo-chan** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 9:16 pm

Zorn, that is a direct quote from my student assignment book. o_O;;

So, chro-chro, what exactly are goosebumps? Well, I know what they are, but why do we get them?