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Where are you? WHAT are you?!!?!?!? (off topic thread)

  • 20-04-2011 10:55pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭


    After a recent (and welcome) increase in forum activity and new members I thought it might be nice to have a thread to pop in and say hello and tell us a bit about yourself. We can use it for off topic banter, possibly to do with palaeontology, but not especially. we can even post cool interesting news that isn't really palaeontology related.

    A few sample questions:

    How old are you?
    Where are you from / where do you live?
    What do you do for a living?
    What are your hobbies?
    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?
    What other forums do you like / recommend?


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    How old are you?
    I am 56.
    Where are you from / where do you live?
    I am from Liverpool but I now live on Angelsey in North Wales. (Father side of the family is from Dublin)
    What do you do for a living?
    I am an Avionic and Electrical technician and Supervisor repairing Aircraft at the RAF base on Anglesey.
    What are your hobbies?
    Paleontology really, astronomy, reading fiction. I also like although no longer do: shooting (pistol) and motor racing.
    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?
    A long term interest in paleontology and then I saw the title of the forum after I joined boards.ie
    What other forums do you like / recommend?
    There are two I visit as often as I visit here. Astronomy, and Oulwans and Oulfellas which I recently joined. Both are friendly (like here) and both cover different things.

    Many years ago I studied for a BSc degree in Applied Biology and the first couple of months of this covered evolution and of course dino's were mentioned, albeit quite briefly. When I was a young schoolboy of about 10 or 11 (Can't quite remember now) We had a school trip to North Wales and we went fossil hunting. I managed to find a huge complete crinoid and a pretty big brachiopod. My teacher tried to help me to collect the crinoid and smashed it to bits. I eventually forgave him.... The brachiopod I collected myself, it was part of a piece of limestone that was a part of somebody's house. So I stole a chunk of the wall near the front door.:pac: (I admit it, I am a desperately unwanted criminal)

    Your turn Galvasean.:D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Rubecula wrote: »
    How old are you?
    I am 56.
    Where are you from / where do you live?
    I am from Liverpool but I now live on Angelsey in North Wales. (Father side of the family is from Dublin)
    What do you do for a living?
    I am an Avionic and Electrical technician and Supervisor repairing Aircraft at the RAF base on Anglesey.
    What are your hobbies?
    Paleontology really, astronomy, reading fiction. I also like although no longer do: shooting (pistol) and motor racing.
    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?
    A long term interest in paleontology and then I saw the title of the forum after I joined boards.ie
    What other forums do you like / recommend?
    There are two I visit as often as I visit here. Astronomy, and Oulwans and Oulfellas which I recently joined. Both are friendly (like here) and both cover different things.

    Many years ago I studied for a BSc degree in Applied Biology and the first couple of months of this covered evolution and of course dino's were mentioned, albeit quite briefly. When I was a young schoolboy of about 10 or 11 (Can't quite remember now) We had a school trip to North Wales and we went fossil hunting. I managed to find a huge complete crinoid and a pretty big brachiopod. My teacher tried to help me to collect the crinoid and smashed it to bits. I eventually forgave him.... The brachiopod I collected myself, it was part of a piece of limestone that was a part of somebody's house. So I stole a chunk of the wall near the front door.:pac: (I admit it, I am a desperately unwanted criminal)

    Your turn Galvasean.:D




    Grew up living in Netherton Village. :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,169 ✭✭✭Alvin T. Grey


    How old are you? - 40
    Where are you from / where do you live? - Dublin originally, Derry now.
    What do you do for a living? Work for a large multi-national and thus avoid doing anything remotely resembling work.
    What are your hobbies? Two kids, 3 dogs. Who has time?
    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum? Curiosity.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Hey Kess yoright arkid?

    oh hang on thats the posh bit of Liverpool.....:pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    How old are you? 22! :D
    Where are you from / where do you live? Am I really the only one from the New World in this forum? Cool :D
    What do you do for a living? Struggling artist (it's hard but someone has to do it XD)
    What are your hobbies? Drawing, reading, listening to music, fossil hunting whenever I get the chance, taking wildlife photographs...
    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum? My eternal hunt for paleontology news.
    What other forums do you like / recommend? I really don´t visit any other forums.

    Always been obsessed with animals, including prehistoric ones. I used to imagine that the sticks and pebbles I collected in the park were dinosaur fossils and would assemble little fake skeletons with them and give them names. I dream of finding a real dinosaur one day :> (I must do that before I fulfill my other dream, which is swimming with sharks. Just in case).


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    How old are you?
    24

    Where are you from / where do you live?
    Dublin / Dublin

    What do you do for a living?
    Location Sound Recordist for TV/film

    What are your hobbies?

    Watching movies, playing video games, keeping up to date on all things prehistoric.


    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?


    I wanted to become moderator and make it prosper!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Galvasean wrote: »
    How old are you?
    24

    Where are you from / where do you live?
    Dublin / Dublin

    What do you do for a living?
    Location Sound Recordist for TV/film

    What are your hobbies?

    Watching movies, playing video games, keeping up to date on all things prehistoric.


    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?

    I wanted to become moderator and make it prosper!

    Interesting job by the sounds of it....(pun intended)

    You wanted to be a mod eh? You power crazed fool:pac::pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Rubecula wrote: »
    Hey Kess yoright arkid?

    oh hang on thats the posh bit of Liverpool.....:pac:


    Not that posh at all. :)


    Was born over here in Ireland, but my family moved back to Liverpool when I was a nipper so did everything from primary school to secondary school to college (although a bit of college time was spent in Waterford) to my first full time job in Liverpool.

    Went from there to Germany and Belgium for a few years, then back to Liverpool, then back to Germany/Belgium/Spain and a couple of short stints in other countries, then back to Ireland where I spent time in Dublin, Galway, and Cork, then back to Liverpool, and finally I ended up in Limerick where I was born. :D


    My dad, brother etc are proper scouse born and bred, but at least I have the accent which is mashed up with a bit of a German and Irish twang. Think Didi Hamman in reverse for how it sounds. :D



    How old are you?

    37

    Where are you from / where do you live?

    Think the above covers where from:) / Currently in Limerick

    What do you do for a living?

    Recently started work as a translator after being out of work for a spell, prior to that was a regional manager for a British firm.



    What are your hobbies?

    Watching movies, playing video games, music, boxing (watching and coaching), running and weight training (doing another marathon this coming Sunday), soccer (my beloved Liverpool FC), and too many other little bits and bobs to list.


    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?

    Always had an interest, and this forum has some great posters who are always posting great articles, and opinions of their own that usually get me thinking.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Not palaeontology related, but features a giant monster of sorts:
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/05/110503-giant-squid-octopus-sonar-acoustic-tests-science-whales-sound/

    Poor squid :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Ok, since the previous post was about sea creatures too... here's a pic of what they say is the biggest great white shark captured to date; it measures 5.5 meters long, beating the previous record holder (5.1 mts) and was caught off Mexico.
    The unusual thing is that he is a male (the really big great white sharks are usually females); the scientists nicknamed him Apache, for reasons unknown to yours truly XD

    biggest-male-shark-caught-live_35337_600x450.jpg

    I'm a little bit confused, though, for two reasons. One is that I'm sure I have seen pictures of bigger great whites; the other is that when I was a kid I used to read about how the great white could grow up to 12 meters long!! Seriously; it's in several books on animals I have. I know the size of fish and other animals is often exagerated but how did they go from 5 meters to 12??
    That's the size of a small Megalodon.

    Anyways, anything that has to do with sharks is cool in my book :>
    BTW, Apache wasn´t killed, he was just tagged and released, but I'm sure u all know how this works :D


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    Ok, since the previous post was about sea creatures too... here's a pic of what they say is the biggest great white shark captured to date; it measures 5.5 meters long, beating the previous record holder (5.1 mts) and was caught off Mexico.
    The unusual thing is that he is a male (the really big great white sharks are usually females); the scientists nicknamed him Apache, for reasons unknown to yours truly XD

    biggest-male-shark-caught-live_35337_600x450.jpg

    I'm a little bit confused, though, for two reasons. One is that I'm sure I have seen pictures of bigger great whites; the other is that when I was a kid I used to read about how the great white could grow up to 12 meters long!! Seriously; it's in several books on animals I have. I know the size of fish and other animals is often exagerated but how did they go from 5 meters to 12??
    That's the size of a small Megalodon.

    Anyways, anything that has to do with sharks is cool in my book :>
    BTW, Apache wasn´t killed, he was just tagged and released, but I'm sure u all know how this works :D




    If you think you have seen pictures of bigger great whites then you are totally right.

    Apache is the biggest Great White to be caught and returned alive. He is 17 foot nine inches and weighs over 4,000 lbs.

    Bigger Great White have been caught in the past but have been killed by fishermen etc. There have been dead specimens to a tad over 20 feet who weighed between 5,000lb to 7,000lb.


    This site probably contains some of the pics you were thinking of.

    http://www.jawshark.com/great_white_recorded_sizes.html


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    That explains it. But still, I remember pictures of great white sharks being hauled alive into a ship, just like this, and they looked bigger. Maybe it's the angle of the photograph or something, I dunno.

    An impressive creature nonetheless.


  • Hosted Moderators Posts: 11,362 ✭✭✭✭Scarinae


    How old are you?
    24

    Where are you from / where do you live?
    Dublin/London

    What do you do for a living?
    I'm the editorial assistant on a Palaeontology journal. I would love to get back into science writing, however

    What are your hobbies?
    Does scuba diving count? I do it fairly infrequently, as I prefer to do it in tropical waters, but I love it. I also love camping, visiting museums, and playing Twister.

    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?
    Probably something to do with college, as I did Geology and Palaeontology was one of the topics we covered. I was still studying when this forum was started.

    What other forums do you like / recommend?
    I frequent the Ladies' Lounge and R&R, but there are a fair few others that I drift in and out of.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9 Little_Foot


    How old are you? 26

    Where are you from / where do you live? Arizona

    What do you do for a living? I work in the O.R., I'm a student, and a starving artist.

    What are your hobbies? Oh gosh, everything. Painting, sculpture, reading, collecting things (EVERYTHING), fossil hunting, astronomy, hiking, knitting, video games (which I'm terrible at!), pretty much anything that strikes my fancy.

    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum? Oh, you know. I went hiking, found a trilobite out of the blue and now I'm hooked. :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean



    Good choice of name. Enjoy the forum! :)

    Hmm, that great white in the pic above does not look 18 feet long to me... unless those men are some 8 feet tall themselves! :eek:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Galvasean wrote: »
    Good choice of name. Enjoy the forum! :)

    Hmm, that great white in the pic above does not look 18 feet long to me... unless those men are some 8 feet tall themselves! :eek:


    Verified length of 17 feet and nine inches for Apache. So ye are right, he does not look like an eighteen footer. :p


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,169 ✭✭✭Alvin T. Grey


    Kess73 wrote: »
    Verified length of 17 feet and nine inches for Apache. So ye are right, he does not look like an eighteen footer. :p

    He looks exactly like an 18 footer.

    Only slightly shorter.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    And the most amazing part is, Ancient Egyptians knew this and recognized them as different. It took scientists over 3000 years to find out, using DNA tests on both living crocs and Ancient Egyptian crocodile mummies.

    The new species is called Crocodylus suchus (suchus being old Greek for crocodile AND the name Greek gave to the Egyptian crocodile-headed god, Sobek). The common name "Sacred Crocodile" has been suggested. This was the species kept by the Egyptians in their temples dedicated to the crocodile god, who was said to be the ruthless guardian of the Nile- a powerful protective deity but also very much capable of eating the unjust.

    http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/09/14/nile-crocodile-is-actually-two-species-and-the-egyptians-knew-it/

    4402932605_199b4a384d.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Hmmm, I think a thread merge is in order...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    So, anything that's not paleo goes in this thread?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    So, anything that's not paleo goes in this thread?

    Yeah. Just to keep things tidy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Just been reading through the thread. I seem to be the oldest here:P

    I think that makes me the forum's official living fossil:pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Some amazing photos taken recently of the rarely seen Amazonian river dolphin. Am I the only one who's reminded of an ichthyosaur? (Except for the really diminutive eyes of course)

    article-0-0E2EE91C00000578-618_634x640.jpg

    article-0-0E2EEB2A00000578-793_634x414.jpg

    article-0-0E2EEB7A00000578-430_634x377.jpg
    article-0-0E2EEAA700000578-287_306x423.jpg

    article-0-0E2EEA4000000578-494_306x423.jpg
    Interestingly, it seems that these river dolphins pee in an upside down posture, to prevent the dreaded candiru fish from being attracted by the urine and into the uretra.
    (I'm pretty sure you all have heard about the candiru fish):cool:



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    There will be no more talk of the candiru fish..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean




  • Administrators, Computer Games Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 32,532 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Mickeroo


    Just thought I'd chuck an aul post in here.....

    How old are you? 28

    Where are you from / where do you live?From Achill, Co Mayo live in Castlebar

    What do you do for a living?Student at the moment, in my final degree year studying outdoor education and geography.

    What are your hobbies? Movies, reading, computer games, guitar, comics, surfing, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking. I've a keen interest in nature and wildlife

    What brought you to the Palaeontology forum?Been a long time lurker in here, been obsessed with dinosaurs(and animals extant/extinct in general) since I was a kid, I once got to talk to Jerry Ryan about dinosaurs on school around the corner, I was never able to reach those heights again unfortunately and my attention towards dinosaurs wained during the last 15 years or so, would like to build my knowledge back up to what it was when I was a kid and I hope to do this by getting more involved with this forum. Plus its a great way to avoid working on my dissertation :D

    What other forums do you like / recommend? I'm a regular in the movies forum as Galvasean probably knows and I moderate the Surfing and Zoology(its like Paleantology but everything is alive :pac:) forums.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Must subscribe to that Zoology forum actually..


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Kayaker films BLUE WHALES up close and both above the surface and underwater.
    Blue whale footage is extremely rare!!



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