I Had A Random Thought...

[Badfinger]

7 hours ago, Zeusthecat said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_satiation

 

Happens a lot when you have kids...

 

That reminds me of one of my favorite medical terms, snatiation.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snatiation

 

It's when you get the sneezes after you eat.

[eot]

I have to whine a bit...

This is petty and bothers me more than it should.

 

Youtubers who record pre-written videos, but make horrible English mistakes in them. Native English speakers specifically, because I cut them less slack. Random 'whoms' where they shouldn't be are a small example of this. In writing I'll let it slide, but when it's read aloud from a script it gets under my skin. Often it's much worse though, people will abuse prepositions, put them where they don't belong, use the wrong ones etc. Sometimes they will speak pure gibberish by butchering idioms, replacing certain words seemingly at random. Like I said, I know it's petty but for me it's sometimes distracting to the point where I have to turn off the video. I think it's the fact that these videos are written, recorded and edited that makes it frustrate me so much.

[SecretAsianMan]

I just got my old graphing calculator from high school working and was far too excited by this.  I've been needing a calculator at work lately.  The one built into Windows isn't cutting it anymore and I don't like using my phone for this either.  I'm a nerdy old man.

[SecretAsianMan]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2014 at 5:10 PM, Bjorn said:

"Hoisted by my own petard" should be the title of a Thumbs podcast at some point.

 

Also, the etymology of petard means that it could be very loosely interpreted as meaning, "Lifted by my own fart."  In an alternate universe, a similar phrase could have meant that you achieved success through your own incompetence.

Sitting at work rereading this thread instead of actually working, I'm pleased to realize that three years before the podcast existed we predicted an Important If True episode.

[Bjorn]

10 hours ago, SecretAsianMan said:

Sitting at work rereading this thread instead of actually working, I'm pleased to realize that three years before the podcast existed we predicted an Important If True episode.

 

Hahahaha, nice catch!

[Gormongous]

I have an acquaintance who wrote about the types of people whom you meet at a dog park and I've been meaning to share it here for a while.

 

Quote

Types of People at the Dog Park

Type 1: The Phone-Checker

General Characteristics:
Ubiquitous and benign, this person usually meanders away from the fray and stares at an iPhone, looking up periodically to see if their dog has gone #2. 

Dog Types:
They might have any variety of dog, with a slight preference for labs.

Drawbacks:
Because they only glance upward once every three minutes, and only for a few seconds—just long enough to locate Buster and determine that he is not going #2 at that instant—this type is a large contributor to the ever-accumulating piles of un-picked-up poo.

Type 2: The Rescuer

General Characteristics:
This person is easily recognized by constant, staccato vocalization of commands that seem to have little effect on Lucas, a wretched cur with a bright yellow kerchief, who is sadistically clutching some other poor bastard's dog in his teeth. Wander too closely and you are likely to hear all about Lucas's rapid acquisition of social skills, which is remarkable considering that if Lucas was a person, he'd be serving 35-to-life for behaving that way. Often a needlessly-stressed-out graduate student in the Humanities Department capable of extreme empathy for Lucas, but no empathy for other humans.

Dog Types:
Varies, but generally big with lots of teeth, sometimes Komodo Dragons. ("Don't go too close to Lucas, he's friendly from a distance, but he'll kill you and eat both of your hands off your corpse if you touch his left ear.")

Drawbacks:
None. They are doing us all a service by rescuing Lucas the Komodo Dragon. He's a very sweet boy. Just stay away from his left ear and make sure your dog understands Lucas's body language, which is very easy to understand, you see, but the penalty is death.

Type 3: The Perimeter Walker

General Characteristics:
Unknown. Nobody has ever interacted with a Perimeter Walker. They are always walking in the distance. Even when you are standing along the perimeter of the dog park, they are never on that particular stretch of the perimeter.

Dog Types:
Generally well-behaved, often elderly dogs that stay close to their master. White golden retrievers are especially popular, also ancient wiener dogs.

Drawbacks:
Ineffable creepiness, which, in heavy fog, can cause momentary terror. Your dog ran up to them once, the Perimeter Walker appeared to say something, and your dog returned to you with the wide-eyed look of lost innocence. 

Type 4: The Shirking Father

General Characteristics:
A friendly guy in dad jeans who very generously volunteered to take the dog to the dog park while Mom manned the trenches under heavy mortar fire from three children. Affable and easily to engage in conversation. Long conversation... about anything. Definitely not trying to prolong this excruciating trip to the dog park on a sunny winter Saturday morning.

Dog Types:
Golden retriever and black lab. That's it. Usually bouncy but not aggressive. Usually named after a literary character.

Drawbacks:
None, unless you are married to him.

Type 5: The Special Tennis Ball Haver

General Characteristics:
This is the lowest form of human life at the dog park. You see, they brought a single No. 4 Wilson tennis ball. And that ball belongs to Kermit, an obese terrier of some sort. And although Kermit will occasionally retrieve the No. 4 Wilson, the Special Tennis Ball Haver will eventually throw it (always with those plastic atlatl things) too far for fat Kermit to retrieve, where it will be picked up and spirited away by another dog. For the next 30-45 minutes, the Special Tennis Ball Haver will accost every other human in the dog park to accuse them of having a dog that stole Kermit's No. 4 Wilson. ("Is your dog the black and white one? It had Kermit's ball. In its mouth.")

Dog Type:
Kermit

Drawbacks:
The major drawbacks are obvious. But then there are other drawbacks that come on strong with the passage of time. You find yourself wondering what Kermit's life is like. His life must be hell. Maybe you should save him. Once, when the Special Tennis Ball Haver was pumping another suspect for details, Kermit turned to you and whispered, in clear English, "Please kill me."

Type 6: The Beleaguered Sporting Dog Owner

General Characteristics:
This type is characterized by exhaustion. Easily identifiable by dark circles under his or her eyes. Often found staring into space or muttering to themselves. They were at the dog park when you got there an hour ago. They are still at the dog park even though you are leaving. It looks like maybe they spent the night there. Somewhere, in the distance, a bouncy spaniel frolics.

Dog Type:
Gun dogs

Drawbacks:
They constantly ask you, "How old was your dog before it calmed down?" Sometimes, "Hey, man, do you think heroin works on dogs?"

[Zeusthecat]

Somehow I found myself watching Grease last night with the volume muted and subtitles on. I learned two things:

1. It's not "Grease Lightning", it's "Greased Lightning".

2. I always hated Grease and thought it was an unbearable movie but when you can't hear anything it's actually not bad and kind of hilarious.

[WickedCestus]

On 7/20/2017 at 0:59 PM, Zeusthecat said:

Somehow I found myself watching Grease last night with the volume muted and subtitles on. I learned two things:

1. It's not "Grease Lightning", it's "Greased Lightning".

2. I always hated Grease and thought it was an unbearable movie but when you can't hear anything it's actually not bad and kind of hilarious.

 

I'm really curious how this came about.

 

This reminds me of when a friend and I watched both National Treasure movies on 1.5x speed. It's the perfect way to watch those films.

[Zeusthecat]

I came to bed and my wife still had the TV on and had dozed off with our son in the bed. I guess she had lowered the volume and  put subtitles on to not wake him up and then fell asleep.

[SecretAsianMan]

For those of you with kids (or without if you feel like answering)

 

What is an appropriate age to get piercings?  My first instinct is double digits but I guess babies get them now?

[Gormongous]

2 minutes ago, SecretAsianMan said:

For those of you with kids (or without if you feel like answering)

 

What is an appropriate age to get piercings?  My first instinct is double digits but I guess babies get them now?

 

I actually was just talking with an acquaintance who let her daughter get her ears pierced at six. She's been trying to teach her about body autonomy and consent, and her daughter's requests to get her ears pierced grew out of the whole "it's your body to do with as you want" worldview that she's been taught. She had her daughter talk to her friends and do most of the research herself (well, "herself," because she's six) and then took her there. The poor kid got one ear pierced and started screaming for them to stop. So she's got one ear pierced now, although I think they're planning to take out the stud and let it heal, and has decided on her own to wait at least another year before she's ready to try again. I guess it's been a good life lesson for her? Kids are weird.

[SecretAsianMan]

Yeah that's kind of one of the things that makes me uncomfortable about a kid getting pierced ears before they can talk.  Someone who's old enough to say they want it (even if they don't truly want it but they at least know enough to have an idea) is one thing but to make that determination for them before they can even have a base understanding is another. 

 

In all honesty I'll probably cave and let my daughter do it if she asks but I at least want her to be able to ask the question.

[jennegatron]

I got my ears pierced in ~1st grade, so I was 6. It's really on a by kid basis. I would wait until the kid is old enough to ask, and then also old enough to be responsible enough to clean their ears when they need to (which is regularly.)

 

I think some of the argument is that if you get a baby's ears pierced they won't remember the pain, and also it's easier to take care of their ears and prevent infection because they're not yet mobile or old enough to run away from you when you have cleaning solution.

 

I don't particularly ascribe to this rationale, but I can see where people are coming from. They may think they're doing their kid a favor, and if they get older and decide they don't like wearing earrings that they can just take them out, and if they change their mind again later after that, they can wear earrings again because the holes will be permanent by that point.

[Bjorn]

5 hours ago, SecretAsianMan said:

Yeah that's kind of one of the things that makes me uncomfortable about a kid getting pierced ears before they can talk.  Someone who's old enough to say they want it (even if they don't truly want it but they at least know enough to have an idea) is one thing but to make that determination for them before they can even have a base understanding is another. 

 

In all honesty I'll probably cave and let my daughter do it if she asks but I at least want her to be able to ask the question.

 

Our general attitude raising our daughter is that she was always welcome to challenge our rules, but she had to be able to make a convincing argument.  It couldn't just be, "Well I want this thing," she needed to be able to communicate her emotions and experiences better than that.  Although sometimes, "I want to feel like I'm fitting in with my friends" was actually a good enough reason for us, because fitting in with your peers matters sometimes. 

[Ben X]

2 hours ago, Bjorn said:

fitting in with your peers matters sometimes. 

 

I agree Bjorn!

[SuperBiasedMan]

@Bjorn whether intentional or not, I like reading your "Great Axe of Social Justice" user group as "Great Acts of Social Justice"

[Patrick R]

I think the worst category of actor is "Bland White Dude Lead In A Stephen King Adaptation".

 

 

 

 

[Golden Calf]

Is PUBG a roguelike?

[Cordeos]

7 hours ago, Golden Calf said:

Is PUBG a roguelike?

I would say no, there is a long history of single life multiplayer deathmatch type games. It also lacks procedurally generated levels.

[James]

I remember the excitement at Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare popularising persistence in multiplayer action games (I'm sure it existed somewhere before that, but nothing was a bigger deal back then). It's kind of funny now that if you don't have some sort of progression (beyond cosmetic items), it's so out of the ordinary it's equated with permadeath.

 

Or is there some other sense in which PUBG is roguelike-like that I'm not getting?

[TychoCelchuuu]

The random loot is much more of a roguelike feature than the "permadeath."

[SuperBiasedMan]

It has a sense of "runs" rather than matches that are permadeath adjacent.

 

Most of the time in PUBG, you think of it as going for an attempt at winning. You're hoping for good random loot and favourable circles. Preparing for what type of run it will be. Am I going to the military base to gather supplies and then boating up to settle in the far North?

 

In a multiplayer game where it's just matches, there's a lot more known knowns, compared to the known unknowns of PUBG that make it feel closer to a permadeath game even if it's just a match of a multiplayer game you're doing.

[Badfinger]

Broaching this topic here, discussed maybe a year ago on Video Games Hot Dog.

 

Is Civilization a roguelike?

[Twig]

18 minutes ago, Badfinger said:

Broaching this topic here, discussed maybe a year ago on Video Games Hot Dog.

 

Is Civilization a roguelike?

Lol that's a fun question.

 

My inclination is to say no but only because civ lets you save scum. Hmmm.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Are there any roguelikes that use traditional turn structures (like Civ) rather than, well, the ways roguelikes usually do turns?