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Loya Jirga, pt 94 (sticky)

Although no term limits were ever set on Loya jirga elections, three months was the time that was mentioned most frequently by those who cared. Those three months are now up. Who wants to have another election? This might be a good time as one or two members have already left, and I will soon (moving house in a few weeks and my internet access doesn't come with me). So... new elections or keep calm and carry on? Totnesmartin (talk) 15:34, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

The who? But seriously, I've seen the LJ thing do sweet fuck all, even when I'd say it could have popped its head up and said "hi" so if you want to reopen nominations and vote for new members, I doubt I'd notice. ^{d hominem} 16:03, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Three months was the least unpolular, but really it's had nothing to do. just the existence of it has kind of kept people onside. Totnesmartin (talk) 16:16, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Such is the power of the Lethargic Jerboa, people fear to cross it. EddyP (talk) 16:24, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

I can't see any advantage in lengthy & distracting elections again at this point. How about if a Loya Jirga lasts until three months after its first actual involvement rather than just three months from being elected? Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 17:50, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

That sounds like a sensible idea. We'd better bury it in the archives before anyone notices. Totnesmartin (talk) 18:15, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

There goes my plan to sell my vote to the highest bidder. --PsyGremlinPraat! 18:18, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

How about any given Lackadaisical Jumpers lasts until it does something, and then is immediately replaced (like, within a week - ten days or so that it takes us to "vote")? ħuman 20:37, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Damn. These next two months are my "farewell tour" before I start school again, and I was hoping to be elected to the Lloya Jirga before it was up : ( Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 21:01, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

It's kind of fiddly. The Linguini Jerker is pretty much a "in case of emergency break glass" thing, and we haven't really had a serious HCM inducing event. I reckon three months is just way too short. May six months? We could say three months from the moment they do something big, but that seems to be just a clever way of getting around the original three month limit. Mind you, the clever may be a way to get this done without risking a people getting annoyed about their wiki being borked. --^{Ask me about our random string of characters} 01:01, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

If two have left (one was replaced?) and Martin is gonna have to retire, surely that opens up a chance for RA to be elected to an empty seat? ħuman 01:25, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Seconding the idea we should have a simple by-election...P-Foster (talk) 01:41, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

So let's do it! Totnesmartin (talk) 11:38, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

You have to type something in that edit box in order for people to know what the hell it's about. But you knew that, MigratedMartin. ħuman 03:46, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

I was thinking RA would do it, he wanted the job. Looks like he doesn't care after all...or anyone else for that matter. Totnesmartin (talk) 06:15, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Hey, I care! Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 00:06, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Animalversary

The holydaze template just reminded me! 'Tis almost happy thirdaversary to RationalWiki! ħuman 20:10, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

That it be. Does this mean I've properly been here for the majority of the site's lifetime and therefore technically count as old? ^{d hominem} 22:06, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes. I also notice that apparently, nobody else cares... cool. ħuman 03:15, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It may mean that RW is finally over the CP-centrism? Maybe not, but we can hope. ^{d hominem} 08:20, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It's still our anniversary. But you may be right, I might be crazy. ħuman 09:44, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I noticed the NotBK anniversary. When is the actual founding date of RW, & is it honoured with its own Holydaze thing? Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 09:56, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, it's like a week later, 5/21 or so. see Template:Holydaze and Rationalwiki:History for exactitude. ħuman 09:58, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Teh glorious history dicates 22 May... I thought it was a day later. So how will we spend our staurday night? getting gloriously drunk with a cheap goat? Totnesmartin (talk) 10:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Urgh. It seems I have done a little too much celebrating of RW's birthday. Burp. Ow. DogP^{Marmite Patrol} 16:01, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Really we should do something special. Just can't think of anything. Everybody post messages on websites where we are known? No, probably wouldn't help our reputation for being serious (such as it is.) MMMM. mmmmm Stay up all night here making silly comments? No, that's too much like any other night. MMMmmm. Abuse the Loya Jerga? Not all night though.--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 17:11, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I know, I know, we should replace the main page! Everyone with their own revamped version. That would be a great HCM. -- Nx / talk 17:40, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Nx for the win! ħuman 07:20, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I wish that I could join you for the NotBK anniversary. However, tomorrow I have my cardiac ablation operation. If you never hear from me again you'll know it didn't work. Cheers folks. Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 21:18, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Is it 3 years already? Well, you are officially an old-timer if:

1. You remember when AmesG used to be one of our most active editors (double points if you remember when he was AmesG and not Caius)
2. You voted for the original biggest idiot at Conservapedia
3. You remember when "Fun:" was "ACD:" and you know what ACD stands for
4. You wrote or added at least part of a song to Conservapedia:The Musical
5. You remember when the only WiGO we had was WiGO:CP
6. Were purged in the Night of Blunt Knives (before my time, that one)

And a bunch of others. Add more as you see fit. I'd be curious to see what the oldest timers have to add. DickTurpis (talk) 01:34, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I remember before there were WIGOs and all we had was Sid's brilliant "best of CP" page. I also remember before we had voty buttons. I also had to walk to school in three feet of snow, uphill both ways. You kids get offa my lawn!!! ħuman 07:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Need a logo

As some of you may know I'm a self-employed English teacher. I think that I need to generate a more professional image so I need a personal logo. Any artistic individuals our there who would like to experiment with creating something? My classes are normally one-to-one with executives and they are heavily biased towards improving conversational skills is that serves for inspiration. You can answer here, mail me or pop over to Teflpedia. --Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 12:23, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you have a general idea of what you'd like? ħuman 13:13, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Sadly, I'm not very artistic and have little imagination in that field. Something which has clean modern image which somehow ways "English" "teaching" "executive". Maybe words "Helping executives to communicate" though that is a bit broad.--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 14:36, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you have a brand name, or just use your own name as the business name? Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 14:54, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm not looking for a brand name, though I suppose it would be a good idea. I imagine a brand name would seem more professional - which is the objective. On the other hand it might seem a bit presumptuous. I trade under my own name at the moment.--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 15:39, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

"If English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for executives!" DeltaStar_{Senior Sysop}^{Speciationspeed!} 17:14, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, it would certainly generate some conversation I suppose, but it's not exactly what I'm after.--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 18:26, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

If you need an image for a logo, this one should be a hit. It is full of win. DickTurpis (talk) 21:36, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure who I'd attract with that image! --Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 06:28, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

"Conversational English for Executives"? No harm in having a "business name" even if it's just you. Call it ECE, make the C bigger, and voila! you've got a logo. For some reason last night I was confused and thought that it was for teflonpedia. ħuman 22:34, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

That's a pretty good idea Human. Though the letters would be CEE in that case. Executive Conversational English doesn't sound quite right. My editing skills are pretty basic. How easy would editing it be?--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 06:28, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

The more I think about this the more I like it. Three letter abbreviations tend to "feel right" to people. Using the company description/objective is obviously a good idea. Turning it into a logo makes it obvious that it's not a bit of clip art randomly found on the net. Just need to think if it's the "right" name and perhaps think about the font. Would this discussion be better on my user-page or elsewhere?--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 07:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Your talk page or email. Let this thread expire. You'll have an orange box shortly. ħuman 01:53, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I useta work at a computer training company. We had a lotta courses that were "Intro to X" with a corresponding "Intro to X for executives". The courses were identical, but the latter were very popular with the self-important clueless - David Gerard (talk) 16:35, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

WIGO menu

What is going on?
CP	Clog	Blog	World	RW	Bar
(talk)	(talk)	(talk)	(talk)	(talk)	(hic)

note: if you don't see the icons, clear your cache (e.g. shift-reload on Firefox) -- Nx / talk 18:50, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Big shout-out to Nx for getting this nifty little trick working. Would anyone be okay with replacing the AOTW nav thing with this? (also worth noting that the "bar" icon doesn't appear in the SB itself, I assume the same happens for the locations) ^{d hominem} 17:04, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Does now, I made it display the hover state. -- Nx / talk 17:17, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I say go ahead and replace it, there hasn't been a new AOTW in forever so it won't be missed. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 17:21, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Genius. ^{d hominem} 17:21, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

What are you on about? I see Nothing here. 17:23, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Clear your cache. ^{d hominem} 17:24, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

OK It's appeared. What is it? 17:25, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Armondikov, before you replace the current aotw template, you either need to create WIGO:RW, or if you want to redirect it to RWW I'll have to set up interwiki linking, because external links don't work. -- Nx / talk 17:29, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Right-o. I'll hold back a little. I have just realised that pretty much no one will know what it is if they haven't spent the last few hours working on it. ^{d hominem} 17:34, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

The front page is mostly for casual and new readers. If we want the brain icon to go somewhere useful, I'd suggest Special:Newpages - David Gerard (talk) 17:34, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It's this one that would be replaced {{AOTW Navigation}} ^{d hominem} 17:37, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Can we just put labels under each one? Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 17:44, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes and no. On the one hand, it takes away the "mystery meat navigation", on the other, it doesn't quite look as good, but this is so far just a suggestion. ^{d hominem} 17:56, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I think that looks good, and it certainly is less baffling. Like Susan, I had no idea what it was when I first saw it. That, to me, is the most important thing. But we can certainly tweak it some more if you feel like it. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 17:59, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

The reason it's not as baffling to me - and I should smack myself in the face for not realising this - is because Nx and I have been hammering away at this across the past few hours. So it makes a lot more sense once you've seen the full thing, and would make a lot more sense if that was put on the mainpage like thus. Until then, of course, it's a little mysterious. ^{d hominem} 18:04, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It looks better without the letters underneath. Don't tooltips come up for everyone? If you keep the letters, the should also link. 18:20, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Tooltips are troublesome for mobile platforms, since they won't always have the concept of mouse-over. iPhone OS won't show the tooltips. I like the idea of keeping the names underneath. --ConcernedResident ^{lockpick for the ladies} 18:39, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Those icons don't appear in Chrome (not in mine anyway). Is that fixable? If not, then include the words. Otherwise Chrome users are left wondering "What is going on?" with no links at all. Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 18:45, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

The mouseover thing is a CSS trick that Nx found. If you clear your cache - same procedure as when you tinker with your user css settings - it should work. ^{d hominem} 18:46, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

EC EC)@ CR: True, mea culpa, forgotted the phones & stuff. In passing, I just glanced at them and for a second the RW (brain) one just looked like a letter O with a patterned inside! 18:49, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Working fine for me in Chromium and Firefox - David Gerard (talk) 19:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, ignore the above. I'd just restarted my computer so assumed the cache would have been reset, but apparently not. Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 19:19, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

By the way, nice job whoever designed the icons (assuming it's Arm or Nx). I really dislike mystery meat interfaces, but these icons are certainly on the nicer end of the scale in terms of being intuitive. --ConcernedResident ^{chromosome for the ladies} 21:51, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Ditch the brain link, needs "better" hover-over text, needs links to talk pages as well, and links shouldn't show on their own pages. Otherwise, brilliant! ħuman 00:50, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Also, don't bother to replace AOTW nav - make a new template called WIGO nav, since that's what it is and AOTW is dead. How easy will it be to add AOTW (say) if we ever revive it? ħuman 01:12, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I like the flashy buttons. Aceⁱ⁹ 06:15, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Blinkenlights seduced me, too. ħuman 07:40, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, the brain link is for WIGO RW, which I'm keen to set up as it's impossible to keep track of what is happening here as things will drop off RC pretty quick. However, no one seems interested, so it will probably be dropped. I doubt this will go anywhere, though. ^{d hominem} 16:13, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Not necessarily. I think WIGO RW is an idea that could go either way: it could take off or it could flop. Try posting a few wigos to get the ball rolling, & see how it pans out. It can always be shelved later if it doesn't take. Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 17:16, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

WIGO NAV

What is going on?

World	Blogs	Clogs	Elections	The Bar
(talk)	(talk)	(talk)	(talk)	(hic)

I have set up the above template and removed the WIGO_RW reference and directed them to the current pages. If people are dead against this, please say so. If no one is interested, just ignore it and I'll grab people's attention with the traditional method; doing it anyway. Pop up text may be a possibility but I'd have to defer to Nx on that one as I'm not 100% sure how it could be done. Ideally, a mouse over would replace the "what is going on?" text with "Conservapedia" or "Blogosphere" etc. ^{d hominem} 17:18, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Popup text is possible, but the image has to be redone (e.g. currently it's not possible because if the text is under the icon, you would see the hover state). If you want me to do it, create a new image with all the icons in one row instead of two (and replacy my lame desaturated icons with your originals while you're at it.) -- Nx / talk 17:21, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

You thinking of the same trick but with the text as part of the "hover" image? ^{d hominem} 17:29, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

No, the link would contain the text (instead of being a space, i.e. empty, like it is now), shifted down 50px. This doesn't work now because with the text added the link is no longer 50x50px, so the hover state can be seen below the unhovered image. -- Nx / talk 17:38, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I think I get you. And the text appears over the icon when hovered or below like this? ^{d hominem} 17:46, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, except there's only one a tag, so when you hover the text, the icon lights up. -- Nx / talk 17:51, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Cool. When I get back from work I'll assemble another batch of icons based on this set - probably the faded rather than decoloured versions for the normal and the glow effect for the hovers as I want to see what that's like (although if anyone objects, again, let me know). Do you want them kept at 51x50 or back to 50x50 which they were originally? And you're definitely sure you need them in one row, rather than two as they are in the current version? ^{d hominem} 18:00, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I think they were 50x51px because of the shadow, I don't know, it doesn't matter (as long as they're not bigger, background images can't be resized). I need them in one row if the text is below (or above) the image, but if you want to experiment with text placement and what-not I can switch to using separate images, that works too, but it's not ideal. -- Nx / talk 18:10, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

this the one you need? It's 51px high and each icon is 50px wide, but they're spaced more than 50px apart. ^{d hominem} 19:33, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

It would be better if each icon was exactly at 50px increments. Some of them are off by 1 pixel in my sandbox, I don't know if it's the image or my numbers - there's a 3px gap between each icon, right? -- Nx / talk 20:12, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

User friendliness

I definitely don't like this. While the icons are neat, it's just not random user friendly. I think it'd be great to have as a skin for regular users who like flashier interfaces, but not for the general public. As for regular users, the missing talk links is a disadvantage. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse / Talk / Block} 18:12, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Also, why do you have to put this in common.css when it only applies to a single template that will at most be on like 10 pages? ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse / Talk / Block} 18:27, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

a) Because pseudoclasses are not available in inline css b) because the background property css url references are not allowed in wikitext. -- Nx / talk 18:33, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse / Talk / Block} 18:36, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Talk links are still an issue, of course. However, the talk pages for everything but CP are rarely ever used. ^{d hominem} 18:47, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Granted that the talk pages for everything but CP are rarely ever used, I think it'd be aesthetically more difficult to only have the TWIGO_CP link and not the others. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse / Talk / Block} 19:16, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually, to address some user friendliness issues; how friendly is the site right now for random people? The AOTW navigation template used a bit of shorthand in using "AotW" and "CP", which is baffling if you're unawre of them, as is the phrase "WIGO". However, if it's addressed on the mainpage like this the impact of random icons is lessened, and it's clear it's a shiny shorthand for users who want to get around. There are a few other things that can be done, of course, we can decrease the size of the icons further and add text to their right and have it as a vertical menu - pretty much as the left-hand menu on Facebook - for instance. ^{d hominem} 19:41, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I know it's been a lot of work but I don't like it. It's not very intuitive & I think all our editors and visitors can read. 19:47, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I like User:Nx/mainpagerevamp/buttons, but I'm still not hot on the WIGO_NAV. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse / Talk / Block} 19:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Yup! 19:59, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

The condensed navbox only really makes sense in light of that layout, but that probably won't be going on the mainpage anytime soon. Tell you what, I'll replace {{WIGO NAV}} with the contents of {{AOTW navigation}} sans the mentions of AotW. ^{d hominem} 19:57, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Icons

Science!

Pseudoscience!

Religion

While jammering about, I also came up with these two, which I like from a graphics perspective, but they're not for WIGO stuff. ^{d hominem} 19:23, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I'd just like to reiterate that my objections have nothing to do with these icons being really cool. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse / Talk / Block} 19:38, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I am aware of that. I want to implement them on the basis of "consistent branding", but I don't want to sacrifice usability so getting the objections in is good, it means we can address these usability issues soon. However, we can't fully test it out properly unless it's "all in", so perhaps the next step would be to take these over to RationalBeta and mess around there. ^{d hominem} 19:46, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Fucking Brilliant

I just wanted to say that I personally love the new icons. It gets me all around my favorite spots on the site much more easily. Junggai (talk) 22:00, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Not just the menu

User:Armondikov/gravelbox/WIGO CP, you can use the navigation icons there to reach the rest of Armondikov's sandbox. -- Nx / talk 22:26, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Do me a favor...

Could somebody do me a favor and go over to Bill Gates house and give him a good, hard hit to the face? I`ve been trying to install a new OS on my laptop for two days now... I`d do it myself, but there is this ocean between us, and I can`t swim...

Bill Gates can't be held responsible for incompetence. Keegscee (talk) 00:41, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Bashing Bill Gates is so 90s. I believe the guy you want is Steve Ballmer. Sen (talk) 01:17, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

(EC)Yes he can. It's called Microsoft.-- ^{Spirit of the Cherry Blossom} 01:18, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I always allow a full weekend plus Monday and maybe Tuesday for fresh installations/loading all my crap. Then whatever I had planned for Wednesday gets put off. Although it was low priority and a spare time thing, I think I loaded 3 versions of XP on this used laptop before getting it right, after four or five days. At least the one that worked required no interaction once it was loading. And it wasn't much work to install the light suite of programs I use on it. I was tempted to load nothing except remote desktop and just use it as a dumb terminal leeching on my office desktop, but this is a faster computer ;) ħuman 01:18, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I forgot how hard installing Windows was until I had to help the missus reinstall Vista on her laptop from a disk supplied by the laptop maker. Firstly, it takes forever, then it reboots about 10 times over, and then you need to spend a day removing all the crapware that gets installed with it. Literally a full day installing a bloody operating system. When I install Linux, it takes about half an hour, and doesn't even reboot once during the install and then only once after a kernel update. Bondurant (talk) 06:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Anyone here suffer through UOWS? World's worst interface. Want to ship a package? Please reload our software 4 times. ħuman 07:38, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I shan't name the system or the customer, but on a project I worked on previously, I had to deal with a database where strings like "XJ^TF" were actual commands. MDB (talk) 10:57, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Are you sure that the developers didn't use an esoteric language for a joke? Mindless time Phantom Hoover! 11:22, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I've just got a new laptop (there's £399.99 down the sink). Windows 7 Finding one without Windoze was impossible! Taking me some doing to get to terms with it after a couple of years with Ubuntu. 11:24, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Can't you dual-boot for the 4 things that run on Windows but not Wine? Mindless time Phantom Hoover! 11:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Probably, but I'm not computer savvy enuff to set it up <NOT></NOT> 11:58, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, the Ubuntu install CD gives an easy partitioning tool, where you just drag a slider to change the sizes. Mindless time Phantom Hoover! 19:02, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Dunnit! Now on Ubuntu! 11:54, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

No, it was just an old system that dated back to an era when "don't use a lot of memory" was a bigger consideration than "make this easy to use".

I will say that it was a health care database. We regularly created sample patients for test purposes, and it's simply amazing how many of them needed prescriptions for adult diapers and Viagra. MDB (talk) 11:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Hey, at least now you get Windows 7. A year ago you would've been forced to get one with Vista. Vulpius (talk) 11:52, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Those sort of weird-arse domain-specific languages that resemble esolangs are often from people using the interior bytecode from an inflexible system just to get stuff done. BANCStar is a typical example - David Gerard (talk) 15:13, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Dude! That's from my old website! I didn't know someone archived GeoCities! EVDebs (talk) 02:34, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

After two-and-a-half days I gave up and installed linux. Within 30 minutes (download included) I had a perfectly running system... If only it wasn`t for this god-damned database. Should have worked with open office from the beginning. Okay, no more sleep-deprived whining from me, at least not until next week. Gmb (talk) 01:03, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Withdrawal symptoms

I'm not a TV junky but I do have a small tiny problem. Breaking Bad. Middle of new season, airs Sunday nights at 10 (and 11 and 1). Last week Comcast converted some of the channels I thought I was paying for to digital-only. Thursday I went to their office and arranged to get the "digital economy" package, which covers all those and a handful more I think I'll enjoy (Stephanie Miller on news TV! Rachel Maddow on news TV!). Installer was supposed to come by this AM and wake me up, install correct filter and give me decoder box but they no-showed. I'll be able to watch a rerun later in the week if I get it all straightened out but still... Breaking Bad is my antidote/recovery cycle from Michio Kaku. I'm getting cold sweats and mild hallucinations. ħuman 01:22, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I used to have the problem with The Sopranos. Now, curiously I have it with Hells Kitchen. Aceⁱ⁹ 01:26, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Luckily, I enjoyed the three big HBO shows that begin with S on dvd, so did not risk this problem. Our local video store closed a few months ago. I feel your pain. At least, I think it's yours, it might be someone else's. Whoever's it is, I wish it would go away... ooh, Scotch! ħuman 02:18, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

My roommate and I just carted off the only TV and VCR in the house off to the electronics recycling place yesterday. All we's got here is computers. --Kels (talk) 02:41, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I wish AMC would let you watch the newest episodes online. I hate watching them on Megavideo. Tonight's Breaking Bad isn't the best I've ever seen, but the one two weeks ago was crazy good. Keegscee (talk) 02:50, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I hate when I'm the last reply in a thread. It could mean that what I said is so profound that it brings closure to the issue and requires no further comment. More likely, though, it means that what I said is so stupid or boring that to comment further would reduce yourself to my level of idiocy. Blah. Keegscee (talk) 05:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Premature Withdrawal Symptoms = being half way through the final season of The Wire, and worrying about what life will be like afterwards, which could even be next weekend. What on earth will I DO with myself then? DogP^{Marmite Patrol} 06:44, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm ok with the end of a season. I'm just junkyiing (?) over a missed ep tonight. ħuman 07:35, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

No, you opened it up to new and even dangerous possibilities. Nice work. ħuman 07:33, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Human, I think you take pride in being the last to comment on a thread. I just scrolled up the saloon bar, and you have the final say on about every other topic. Last wordism at its finest. Keegscee (talk) 08:01, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

No comment ;) ħuman 08:19, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well since I think you are in the US and you obviously have internet, aren't there alternatives on how you can watch it? Hulu has a wide range of the programs, and often the networks have something on their site where you can watch it too. Besides that, there are other ways of getting things on the internet too, and I don't think the moral implications are that dire in situations like these. --GTac (talk) 09:47, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I can watch the rerun tomorrow night, but I do not know of of these thieving methods of "watch whatever you want" that you speak of. Yet. 10:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

ELIXIO

I received an e-mail saying "You have been invited to apply for ELIXIO membership. ELIXIO is a private, exclusive and invitation-only online community, social events and information exchange network. ELIXIO members are influential leaders in the financial, fashion and luxury industries as well as academic and social leaders."

Anyone know anything about this? I'd never heard of it, but I searched around on google and the only thing I could find was a comment here which seems to confirm that it is a social networking site. Anyone have any info? EddyP (talk) 15:33, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you fit the qualfications they describe?

I know I heard an NPR story a few weeks ago about a social networking site for the wealthy, but I don't know if that's it. MDB (talk) 16:05, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

The only possible qualification could be my uni, but that would mean the invite of roughly 9000 others, who apparently don't have them. EddyP (talk) 16:12, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Presumably someone proposed you. No indication of who? 16:14, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

No clue. EddyP (talk) 16:20, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Google ELIXIO network - one of the results is actually their terms and conditions or something. Broccoli (talk) 16:30, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm in, and it still provides no clue as to who invited me. EddyP (talk) 16:50, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

It can only be my uni. Looking at other people who have joined recently, they're from the same place. EddyP (talk) 16:52, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

It's the Freemasons' new recruitment strategy. Soon you will receive another email inviting you to a private and exclusive initiation ritual. Then will come the emails calling in favours. You will be required to perform transactions and cooperate with individuals as dictated in these emails. You will not know who these increasingly threatening "invitations" are coming from and you will not ask. You will not question the orders or intentions of your new masters, you will only obey. If you value your freedom and your sanity, get out now while you still can. Wẽãšẽĩõĩď^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 18:03, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Reminds me, we had the real Freemasons creeping around the place a while ago. Building got very empty on the night of their recruitment/sounding-out/whatever-it-was meeting. Since then, several people have mysteriously vanished. Broccoli (talk) 22:47, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Screw the Freemasons. The Stonecutters are a lot more fun. "Beer busts, beer blasts, keggers, steinhoists, AA meetings, beer nights..." Or, alternatively, you could join The Ancient Mystic Society of No Homers. MDB (talk) 10:57, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Trip to New Orleans

As mentioned previously, I am in New Orleans getting ready to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. I had a good trip, save for almost getting arrested. I accidentally left a rather large pocketknife in my bag. Long story short, I put my bag in to be scanned, it goes in, and TSA agents gather around the screen for my bag. They look at it, and my bag moves forward. I go through the detector, and am told that there is a pocketknife in my bag, and if it is over 3 inches, they would have to call the police and have them arrest me. Around this time, my stomach dropped out of my body, and I started shaking all over as she looks through my bag. I know that the only pocketknife I have is longer than three inches, which does not help me calm down. She finds the knife and notices me shaking, and asks me to calm down. She tells me that she will have to confiscate the knife, but that the police are not going to be called. She asks me to be more careful about packing my bag next time, and encourages me to have a good day. Still shaking, I pack my stuff back into my bag. Very therapeutic security. ĴαʊΆʃÇä₰ no really. 03:22, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Good for you on the HfH thing. Sorry about the not realizing packing heat on a plane was a bad idea. What were you thinking, "if I have to, I can take over this plane, or at least carve a wooden model of it"? ħuman 04:37, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm guessing you don't fit the racial profile for an al-Queda terrorist... Bondurant (talk) 08:29, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Kudos on volunteering for Habitat. My Dad volunteers for them regularly (including a recent trip to N'awlins) and I donate. And it's one more example that Jimmy Carter is a damn fine human being. MDB (talk) 10:59, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

There is something terribly wrong that police can arrest someone for packing a knife. A bit of forgetfullness that doesn't even matter; after 11 September 2001 no one will be able to hijack a plane without at least a machine gun. The passengers would panic and storm the attackers. — Pietrow ☏ 14:47, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

One of the basic problems with any security issue, not just airline, is that you have to respond to the last threat. It's much more difficult to respond to the upcoming threat, because you just don't know what it is.

Of course, I've said before that the real solution to airline hijacking is to redesign planes so that the the only entrance to the cockpit is external (or at the least, put highly reinforced doors between cabin and cockpit), and then tell pilots "if your plane is hijacked, your job is to land it as soon as possible. Period. I don't care if the cute stewardess you want to shtupp tonight is screaming for her life, land the plane."

Pietrow is right, though -- airline hijacking is now a useless tactic because passengers will fight back. MDB (talk) 15:09, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

This has happened to me three times. I usually carry a knife in my rucksack when I'm hiking. I take the same bag on the plane and forget to take the knife out. They've never threatened to call the police though.--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 11:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I got threatened with a police call in Seattle for playing my guitar in the terminal. Apparently it is against the law to sing old Hippie Folk Songs (or maybe just One Tin Soldier) SirChuckB^{A product of Affirmative Action} 22:36, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Islam craziness and messiah/anti-mesiah traditions

I was doing some follow up research on some of the anti-vaccination stuff and stumbled upon some crazy Islam stuff, its connection to the anti-vax stuff is very bizarre, but then the whole thing is. It is someone claiming to be the "Mahdi" [1] [2] which I had only loosely known much about before hand. I mean I knew the basic idea but never explored it further. What became particularly interesting to me is the relationship between the various "messiah" and "anti-messiah" figures in the Christian/Islam/Jewish tradition. Now again, I knew in a loose since that they had a similar mix likely due to the same origin, but never really knew much of the details. Been reading up on it more now.

Are there people that know more about this? What is the current "vogue" theory for the last common ancestor for the three great "monotheism" of our age? Is this messiah/anti-messiah setup seen in other traditions? My religious studies is full of wholes, but this particular pattern has me intrigued now. tmtoulouse 03:26, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I know little about it. But I imagine the whole "messiah" and "anti-messiah" is a very strong narrative so undoubtedly would be conserved as religions diverged. Similar to the flood being in several cultures, it might be based on a real event that had a wide impact, but it also has a very strong narrative of destruction and rebuilding that helps carry it forwards as the scale amplifies. Other than that, I'm a little thrown on the topic as I have done next-to-nothing in the way of studying this before. ^{d hominem} 18:03, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, it has always been something I have been vaguely aware of. My curiosity starts buzzing though whenever I see this kind of seemingly conserved idea. Such a similarity can be due to several things, like a common ancestor for all the divergent religions and conservation of that one narrative point. But it could also be that there is some innate cognitive structure/processing that pushed people to create these kinds of religious events. So while the Torah, Bible and Koran all tell a tale that is descended from a Mesopotamian city-state sky god, I am just curious if a similar structure can be found in other religious belief structures with no obvious common ancestor to the great monolithic monotheism. This might help elucidate some interesting psychological processes of narrative building in humans. tmtoulouse 17:19, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Losing a job for something that has nothing to do with the job

I'm not sure how I feel about this, and I'm curious as to others' reactions.

A man named Jonathan Katz was removed from a DoE scientific team dealing with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Why?

He's the author of some extremely homophobic writings. For instance, "Guilt for their deaths is on the hands of the homosexuals and intravenous drug abusers who poisoned the blood supply. These people died so the sodomites could feel good about themselves."

On the one hand, I think. "if he's got the necessary scientific knowledge to deal with the oil spill, who cares what he thinks otherwise?" William Shockley expressed some rather vilely racist ideas after he helped invent the transistor, but that doesn't change the fact he was an electronics genius.

On the other hard, I think, "if he had written similar remarks about insert group here, he'd already be so marginalized by the scientific community he'd never have gotten the position in the first place."

Thoughts?

MDB (talk) 10:50, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I think he should be removed if his personal and publicly stated views would suggest an inability to do his job or would bring his position in to disrepute. i.e. The head of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights running a site named "I hate gooks", or the PR guy for Dell going on TV (in a private capacity) to claim that Dell computers are terrible and that he would never buy one. However, being a bigot or having some esoteric beliefs shouldn't lead to automatic exclusion. --ConcernedResident ^{Subaru for the ladies} 11:06, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

One thing to consider is the difference between government jobs and private sector jobs -- government jobs have a much higher degree of protection due to Constitutional protections of free speech. If I was a Federal employee (again. sweet FSM prevent that from happening...) and I went on TV and said "the President is a fucking moron", I could not be fired (I don't think that would fall under the Hatch Act). But as an employee of a private company, if I went on TV and said, "our CEO is a fucking moron", I'd probably be fired, posthaste. MDB (talk) 11:41, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Of course he shouldn't be dismissed for his noxious beliefs as long as they don't affect his judgement. BUT: he's part of a team, could you work with him? I don't think I could. So what to do? 12:01, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

What if he kept his beliefs to himself when in the working environment? If he remained professional, even to his gay-workers? MDB (talk) 12:05, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Tricky. If I knew of his beliefs I'd probably be confrontational. I know it'd be wrong but that's human nature, mine at least. 12:30, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, very tricky, and if he was professional on the job and never brought it up it could be a difficult decision to make (although you have to wonder if that's entirely possible, and this goes back to the idea of whether you can trust someone who prays to a higher power on a regular basis). But I think the argument about bringing the panel into ill-repute has some merit to it. Positions of power and/or responsibility can be said to be just as much about personality as ability. ^{d hominem} 12:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

You raise a valid point about positions of power and/or responsibility. Many times when professional athletes speak... ill-considered public remarks or otherwise make asses of themselves, they get in trouble because they've brought embarrassment to their team (who is also their employer.) If their locker room janitor had made similar statements, no one would really case, because he's not viewed as part of the team's "face", but when you're the quarterback or starting pitcher or whatever, what you say and do does reflect on the team. MDB (talk) 12:44, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

(outdent)As a gay, I don't think he should have been dismissed, but it's hard to shed any tears for these kinds of jerks when they support kicking out much-needed gay Arab speakers from the military for things they think/do in private. From where I sit, society gets what society deserves, and if that means more oil on our shores or less ability to fight our wars because people get all upset about things they don't have to see and that have no effect on their own lives, so be it. I'm not the one in charge. --Leotardo (talk) 14:56, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

For Earthland

"The key issue seems to be when the peripheral nervous system joins up with the cerebral cortex, the region of the brain responsible for higher thought processes such as memory, attention, thought, awareness and language. "Without this kind of sensory input you can't be aware of your surroundings or pain or be conscious," says Hugo Lagercrantz, a neonatal researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden" ... "This should have occurred by about 25 weeks of pregnancy ..." 12:28, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Bondurant (talk) 12:30, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Hee! 12:31, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

You should move this to the talk page of his essay. <disclaimer> Not responsible for hornets </disclaimer> ħuman 02:51, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I think that conclusion is still kind of a leap. It assumes that consciousness requires sensory input, and seems to equate consciousness with self-awareness. Consciousness in itself is a rather vague term and using it in connotation with neuropsychology makes it even vaguer. Sure, the baby isn't conscious of its surroundings, but does that mean it can't be conscious of itself? Also, if you are asleep you aren't conscious, but would you say that you are a creature without consciousness? I'd say having the ability to regain consciousness is more important in defining whether someone or something possesses consciousness then its current state at a specific moment in time.

That said, personally I don't think a fetus has any of that. I just think this isn't a very good argument for it. --GTac (talk) 09:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

When I'm asleep I'm still wide awake, as it were. ħuman 10:20, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I think the sleep compared to consciousness thing is a bit weak. When I am asleep, I am still sensing my surroundings - something as simple as an unusual sound will cause me to wake. Also, during part of sleeping, I am "pretending" to interact with environment, one composed of my past experiences, imagination, and weird shit that I have no idea where it comes from. A better comparison would be to a coma, I think. Sleep is not "unconsciousness", it's just a database dump. The CPU is still operating and performing expected tasks. ħuman 01:35, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

All this conciousness & self-aware stuff is rather complicated, especially when people forget that we are not talking about something that suddenly appears when the clock strikes twelve rather one day will be found to be emergent in all kinds of ways. Anyone who has partaken in a couple of alternative herbal supplements will also know that conciousness is a pretty fragile thing, depented in a whole bunch of neurons going "zit" and "zot" with each other in very specific ways, and the moment you change the settings in your neurotransmitters, or receptors, or whatever they are a little, you can get a whole other thing.

However, what I think is pretty clear, is that in order to have any kind of conciousness, you have to have a) neurons, b) axons between them, c) EEG. Regardless of wither you are awake, or you are REM sleeping or deep sleeping, or you are tripping, or you are having an epilleptic crisis, ALL of those have an EEG in the high cerebrum. Fetuses clearly don't start with that (because they don't even start with neurons) and it is at a X week where that appears. (I think that x = 20 weeks, but don't feel like explaining why) Sen (talk) 04:54, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

"alternative herbal supplements" I lolled. ħuman 05:11, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Also for Earthland: The first television advert for abortion services in the UK is to be aired next week Bondurant (talk) 06:40, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Another horror story from the liberal public school system!

A public school teacher was questioned by the Secret Service after using "how to shoot President Obama" as a geometry example.

Why am I not surprised that was in Alabama... MDB (talk) 16:08, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Meh, I wouldn't give it too much weight. Physics teachers often make jokes about students falling out of windows, etc. This isn't much different. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 19:56, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

While I agree that it may well just be a tactless example, people should be aware that this is what the Secret Service does, and it's had to expand recently because of the amount of people who are doing this seriously. ^{d hominem} 20:01, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Hell, he could have been referring to the Kennedy assassination. But still... creepy. ħuman 02:54, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Your opinions, please.

We believe you to be "committed terrorists, intent on doing harm", but we're not going to deport you, because you say you might get tortured on your return to Pakistan. DeltaStar_{Senior Sysop}^{Speciationspeed!} 21:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

This is always a tricky situation, but if they are that sure they are terrorists they should charge them, otherwise they should be set free. The deportation is a separate issue and I can't see how in good conscience return someone to a country where they would get tortured. - π 02:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

At first I thought this was about us, but then I saw the part about Pokistan... ħuman 02:56, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

The UK has an extradition agreement with the US where we will only transfer suspected murderers who have fled to the UK provided they will not be given the death penalty if found guilty. If there is a risk of a terror suspect being tortured or murdered in Pakistan or any other country, then we should uphold that standard. Innocent until proven guilty, and human rights always prevail. Bondurant (talk) 08:45, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

They've been arrested in this country for terroism charges against this country, and should therefore face a trial and prison in this country. Simply shipping them off and not caring about what happens to them is very irresponsible. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 08:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Indeed, although they haven't even been accused any crime in this country! Bondurant (talk) 09:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Wow, I didn't know they hadn't been charged with anything. That is indeed a tough one. I presume they'll just have to review their asylum applications and apply the same rules as they do for everyone. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 09:17, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I guess they could give them a choice: Deportation, or remaining in a detention centre until it is safe for them to be deported? Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 09:24, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

They haven't been charged with anything at all. Nothing. - David Gerard (talk) 10:10, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

The thing is, the security services are convinced that they're a threat, which seems like a good enough reason for the more right leaning people I've seen comment on this. However, MI5 have refused to release the evidence, even privately to a criminal court. From this we can assume one of two things; the evidence is very compelling but mentioning it would be a serious threat to national security, like a deep cover informant for instance (the UK had/has a shit load of these guys in the IRA according to *ahem* some people I know) and releasing such information, even slightly or vaguely, would risk an extremely valuable tactical advantage OR their evidence consists of "well, they look a bit foreign, m'lord". Which is most likely? I don't know, half my head is saying to trust these guys and assume the former, the other half doesn't ever want to risk even a slight chance of the government even trying to get away with the latter. ^{d hominem} 11:07, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Weird. I thought that government policy was to deliberately send such people to Pakistan in order that they be tortured. Or has that policy changed? Please consider the possibility that there may be an element of sarcasm in this comment before responding.--Bob^{Spring is sprung!} 11:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

They did try. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 11:49, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

(EC)Interesting summary of rendition via the UK - I do like David Milliband (more accurately, I don't yet have a reason to totally dislike him), but that response is a little slimy. It's kind of like "well, we don't really allow it, but if the President says "pretty please" we'll bend over and take it". ^{d hominem} 11:51, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I believe what Milliband 1 was saying there was "Look, frankly, we're America's bitch. You know it and I know it. Don't be bloody stupid." - David Gerard (talk) 13:55, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Draw Muhammad Day

Is tomorrow. I'm not sure whether to do a proper image or just do a snarky entry like so: >:-> ^{d hominem} 12:51, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh wow, I had no idea that there was such thing. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 13:20, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

We should throw the Pope in for good measure. And Jesus. And Abraham, Xenu, Brahma, Zeus, FSM, Buddha, Confucius, Darwin, PZ Myers, Joseph Smith, Quetzalcoatl, Ra, Satan, Cthulhu, Manwë, Morgoth, Wotan, Patriarch of Constantinople, and anyone else. We can depict them in one big circle jerk or something. DickTurpis (talk) 14:17, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Most other religions don't go apeshit and threaten to kill you if you draw a picture of their prophet / God(s). Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 14:20, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Which I think is the point. ^{d hominem} 14:27, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't know, have you seen the priests of Manwë? They're fucking hardcore. DickTurpis (talk) 14:35, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Also, I think Jesus jerking off on a cookie would anger some people. Probably wouldn't get us murdered though. DickTurpis (talk) 14:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

If you draw a nice picture of jesus, christians think it's cool. If you draw a nice picture of muhammad, muslims go batshit crazy because it is against islam to draw the prophet, whether you are drawing him heroically or fucking a sheep. It doesn't matter. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 14:49, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I realize that. But I still like the idea of equal opportunity disrespect. DickTurpis (talk) 14:58, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Ha! So, what are you drawing him as then? A deceitful conman who abused people's trust and superstition to get sex, money and power? Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 15:03, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

We're drawing Muhammed, not the amazingly heterosexual Ted Haggard. --ConcernedResident ^{possibility, for the ladies} 15:09, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I think I summed up just about every holy man in history (apart from the Prophet Bobby Henderson, RAmen) Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 15:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Shit! I forgot "Bob" Dobbs! DickTurpis (talk) 15:20, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually, it's not "against Islam" to depict Muhammad. Even in the strongest Islamic countries you can find depictions of Muhammad all over. It's some odd rule tacked on after the tenets of the religion were set down to prevent idolatry. Kind of like how limbo was made up by the Catholics when they realised that a "kind and loving" God was being a bit harsh when deciding to burn innocent babies. ^{d hominem} 16:34, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

How about Muhammed and his wives? --ConcernedResident ^{mad axe-murderer, for the ladies} 16:40, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Pakistan is trying to block Facebook temporarily because of this. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 07:59, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

And now YouTube. That's the spirit! If you don't like something, don't bother trying to come up with a retort, just censor it. Assfly would be proud. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 08:54, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

(Undent)Hemant Mehta has put up a nice collection of his readers' submissions at his blog. I think this one is my favourite. It would be awesome if Karajou also did one, but they probably don't want to piss off fellow fundamentalists. Röstigraben (talk) 09:35, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Whoever made this one will be dead before the end of today. Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 10:13, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

But it is an amazing piece of hard-hitting satire. Neither group condemns child-rape, but it does condemn condom use. Pretty simple, really. ^{d hominem} 11:17, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Haaaang on. Why does the bishop look like Yoda? Or is it meant to be Ratzinger? ^{d hominem} 11:18, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I will not partake

I posted that it was Draw Mohammed Day on Facebook and that people should take advantage of that fact. I subsequently got deleted by a friend of mine who is Muslim, and as such decided to take down the status and apologise to my friend. I'm behind freedom of speech 100%, but when it offends someone I care about in the way it did, I'd rather just keep my mouth shut. SJ ^Debaser 12:57, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Apropos of nothing

Today's xkcd reminds me of TK. DickTurpis (talk) 14:45, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Meh on the TK front, but the alt text (sorry, title text) is funny 'cos it's true. ^{d hominem} 16:35, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Power outage where I am. : ( And it came smack dab in the middle of a C&C session with my brother, too.

The blackout covers a quarter of the town. Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 00:16, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I am not sure whether to be embarrassed or proud that I got that joke (the xkcd one, still don't get RA's). ħuman 01:41, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Realise/Realize

On the David Frum article I quoted his wife Danielle, an American who wrote an e-mail that caused David to lose his job. I pulled the e-mail quote on the article from the London Guardian, and I just noticed that when they quoted her they changed "realize" to "realise". I doubt Danielle Frum would have been writing her e-mail with British spellings. I could see quoting an American speaking and using British spelling, but with written quotations is this standard? It struck me as odd that the Guardian would change one letter of a quoted written e-mail, but maybe it's typical in both countries? --Leotardo (talk) 00:48, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

"Realise" is not common at all in the US. It is odd that they would quote it like that, but it's a relatively minor error and I doubt very many people noticed. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 01:20, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

It is odd indeed. I "fixed" a quote once on wikipedia and it was reverted. They should have typed "reali[s]e" or "realize [sic]". ħuman 01:44, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

It's also odd that the Gaurniad bothered to try to fix the spelling at all. Or is this a different Gaurniad to the one I'm familiar with? ħuman 01:45, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I imagine it is. But if you think about what a sub-editor is doing, one of the simple things would be to give it a simple spell check. This would require loading it up into Word and looking for squiggly red lines. If you're rushed and just want it done, you're going to change the odd z to an s and might not noticed that it's a quote and therefore should be as originally written. On the other hand, the change is minor and leads to consistent spelling throughout the article, and really isn't much different - in principle - to making a translation of a quote, the meaning is still in tact but the words have changed to reflect the local language. ^{d hominem} 10:58, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Woo!!! (No, not that kind)

Just thought I'd drop in, see how everyone's doing. Oh, and I wanted to vent that I just passed my EMT-B certification!!!! Pinto's5150 ^Talk 02:09, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

P.S. We got linked again. Pinto's5150 ^Talk 02:09, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Congrats, Beans, and nice to see you around! ħuman 02:58, 20 May 2010 (UTC)