Episode 010 = Heat Fighting and Typewriting

2020-08-31
00:44:18

News: Bec terrorizes young children
00:01:20–00:03:46

Bec went to Scotland for her mother-in-law's 80th birthday. She took her Oculus Quest to show her mother-in-law a safari thing. Then, she showed her niece Richie's Plank Experience and made her cry.

Update for problem 008-2
00:03:46–00:07:01

Matt finally published his video, after missing his self-imposed deadlines twice. Bec compliments the voice actor for the Geosicence Australia voice. Afterwards, he released a video on mega-favourite numbers.

Problem 010-1 = How can you keep cool when there's no air conditioning?
00:07:05–00:11:07

Problem poser: John, on Patreon
Problem solver: Bec

Problem statement

Keeping cool in the non-air-conditioned home office: When opening a window seems to let more heat in than cooling breezes, what's the best way to keep cool whilst working at home?

Solution attempt

Advice 1: On hot days, keep your curtains closed.

Advice 2: Buy a fan or an air conditioner. If you only have a fan, point it blowing over a bowl of ice, or drape a wet towel over yourself and sit in front of a fan.

Advice 3: Cover yourself in minty shower gel.

Ding

A "ding" from Bec

Problem 010-2 = How much would the Big Macadamia Nut be worth if it was an actual nut?
00:11:10–00:17:31

Problem poser: Tristan, on Twitter
Problem solver: Matt

Problem statement

Tristan made a detour and visited the Big Macadamia Nut from problem 007-1. He'd like to know what the value of the Big Macadamia Nut would be, monetarily, if it was an actual nut.

Solution attempt

The nut may be 640 times bigger than a normal one, but if you wanted to fill it, you'd need 242'144'000 normal sized nuts because the volume grows with the cube of the size. Those would be worth 11'796'480 AUD, or roughly 12 million AUD, or £6.5 million, or $8.5 million, or 7 million €. You'd have 865 tons of edible nut bits. Awaiting a reply from Tristan.

Problem 010-3 = What's the best thing to do with a spare room?
00:17:34–00:26:37

Problem poser: Mike, on Patreon
Problem solver: Bec

Problem statement

Hey Bec and Matt - I'm moving into a new house soon and I have this problem that I need solving. This house has one additional room that I don't need (an entirely new issue for someone who has lived in high cost of living cities - Sydney and London - for their whole life). What should I do with this spare room?

Solution attempt

Bec's suggestions: Turn it into a secret room with a disguised door, for all your secrets. Also, get a Murphy bed (fold-down bed) for the room, so it can be used as an emergency guest room and Matt and Bec can visit. Bec goes on a diversion on animal crossing pocket camp. She suggests Mike to get a hobby and fill the room with related items, or to find a person that needs a room and give it to them. Awaiting a reply from Matt. Listeners are encouraged to send pictures of their own secret rooms.

Note: Why are typewriters mysterious?
00:26:41–00:38:24

After talking about Bond in problem 003-1 and episode 008 (note), another listener pointed out that type writers used to have no zero, meaning you had to write Os instead. Matt has two type writers, both of which have both a zero and an o key. Neither has a one key, and you are supposed to use the lowercase l. He also once took a type writer to a lecture.

The keyboard in the first commercial typewriter patent (by the person who invented the QWERTY keyboard) has neither a one nor a zero. It also has no exclamation mark; instead, you put an apostrophe over the full stop. Bec and Matt think about other keys that could be removed. There's also a three-vertical-dots mystery key.

Note: Stacking Ferrero Rochers
00:38:27–00:41:46

After previously talking about stacking Ferrero Rochers, Bec wanted to know how many Ferrero's were in the pile. Matt insists that it should be a square pyramid, but it's actually a cone shape. Matt is not done with this problem.

Note: A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail
00:42:51–00:44:00

Matt and friends have started A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail. Of course, you can also listen to one of Bec's 69 million other podcasts.