h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Are they going any faster than they would if they were just on foot? If so, that's a good invention. They could also carry passengers or luggage on that thing.

I'm guessing that the key point of that treadmill is that it's low impact, vs running on tarmac.

My Kitchen Aid mixer that does everything a kitchen machine should do, is brilliant for taking apart etc. But that is because it's really expensive and if you want things that you can take apart, you have to pay.

I've liked the coffee I've had from the capsules, and for one cup a day it would be great for me because it's also quick and easy to do first thing But I really hate the idea of landfill (which is why I only used disposable nappies when we were out and about for a long time)

Oh, the SpeedFit surely does burn more calories than plain old running as you have to push all that extra mass and it does seem to be geared up for faster travel, but it's still absolutely ridiculous.

The Eliptigo makes much more sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZs-cc2YTas

I don't think much of that treadmill. I prefer my stepper machine.

In fact I've got two. One's up in the bedroom and the other's down in the garage.

It's handy, as whenever I need some exercise, I don't have to go running up and down stairs to find it.

I use gardening as an exercise program. I walk around with a full watering can.

I'm sure a doctor can help you with that.

Ditto on gardening as an exercise program, but with me, its a lot of digging, building terraces, moving rocks and logs around to shore up terraces moving fliwerpots, struggling with garden hoses that are constantly kinking or snagging on things, etc. ....

I have a stair stepper program I'm rather proud of. Rather than spend money on a gym or home exercise equipment, when I'm at work and my bladder calls, I take a long route back to my office. The direct route is only about 50 meters away. The route I take is up and down 4 flights of stairs and takes six to seven minutes. And it costs me nothing.

As I've recently moved from the UK to Bangladesh I've discovered completely different solutions to problems. Vacuum cleaners for example which I would normally consider an excellent solution are considered an unnecessary waste. The preferred solution is to hire a maid who will sweep your floor with what appears to be a bunch of twigs. Te vacuum cleaner is considered wasteful- burning electricity needlessly (and depriving people of jobs). I'm consistently baffled by this.

The plastic problem has been solved by making plastic bags illegal- shops provide thick paper or cotton bags. The cotton bags are reused (as bags) and then cut up to make dishcloths.

"with me, its a lot of digging, building terraces, moving rocks and logs around to shore up terraces moving fliwerpots, struggling with garden hoses that are constantly kinking or snagging on things, etc. ...." [ITIWBS]

Digging? Done that.

Moving rocks? I always find rocks at the bottom of whatever holes I dig.

Moving flowerpots? Well, yes, but mainly because I keep changing my mind about where they need to go.

I avoid hoses whenever possible.

I'm annoyed by the Common Era and Before Common Era some people are using now instead of BC/AD. There's nothing particularly common about the time after year 1. Perhaps they wanted to avoid religious references, especially as Jesus may never have been born in year 1. However they could have come up with something more meaningful.

meaningful? in what way?

BC/AD is meaningful to Christians, meaningless to athiests and possibly insulting to those of other religions. BCE and CE sound fine to me.

It has meaning in the sense that you know what they are talking about. Whereas I see no reason why the time after year 1 is anymore common than the one preceding it.

it's just a way of counting...

I also disklike Common Era. Let's design a calendar based on when we think a person in the past was born, but to avoid offending people who don't think he was the Son of God, we won't say that that is what it is.

I'm an atheist and have no problem with BC and AD.

I've spent a long time believing that CE stood for Common Event. I am now better informed.

Is reading chat forums a good solution to a lack of general knowledge?

Astronomers use a sort of "Stardate" system where day 1 is some time in 4713 BC and there are no years, just days. The date of 4713 was picked because it makes a lot of the calculations of position of moon, sun etc easier, and this was a big consideration in pre-computer days. It's also handily before the first recorded history, so any ancient records of star positions can still be expressed as a positive stardate.

I think it is called the Smithsonian system; one peculiarity of it is that the day starts at 12 midday rather than 12 midnight, so that all of a night's observations would fall in the same numerical day. There's a Modified Smithsonian which starts at midnight.

Don't the jewish style start the "day" at sunset?

That seems to have been the common way in Europe as well. Hence why midsummer eve comes before midsummer day for example. Determining when midnight is was likely complicated before we had clocks.

As the dating system started in 525, and became commonly used after 800. Is it an anti Christian thing a politically correct idea BCE is just as potentially offensive.
Why change a perfectly reasonably system that has been in common use for 1200 years change for changes sake or is it the term "in the year of the Lord" that people do not like.

The majority being bullied by the minority