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Logic dictates that all WIGOs should be consolidated into a singular portal

This discussion was moved to RationalWiki:Proposed WIGO merger. - π 11:10, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Animal Farm

I bought it yesterday started reading it at about 11.15 this evening (Tuesday) and finished reading it at about 2.20 this morning (Wednesday) without leaving my bed. Even for a piss break. I've never read it before and it was an amazing depiction of how the Soviet Union must have been under Stalin. Unfortunately, I remember Human mentioning a while ago about things in real life which remind you of Conservapedia, and several motifs in Animal Farm made me think ANDY ANDY ANDY! Most of all the general idea of being a mindless slave and not being able to think for yourself. SJ ^Debaser 01:47, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

No that is how Andy wants his editors to be. - π 02:05, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

No conservative shall take idiot-pills to excess. ListenerX^TalkerX 02:21, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

I like that you namechecked me. Hi :) ħuman 03:59, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

No conservative should block another user without cause. Hi Human! :) SJ ^Debaser 13:05, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

I recommend 1984 next. Corry 00:07, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I thought 1984 was much better than Animal Farm, since Orwell is slightly more speculative in 1984, whereas in Animal Farm he is just trying to pound the message into your head. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 00:11, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Follow it with Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451. Ace^McWicked 00:13, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

And also A Clockwork Orange. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 00:16, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I bought 1984 when I bought Animal Farm the other day and yes, it's next. I want to start reading it now, but it's 1.45AM again (i'm turning into an insomniac at uni) and I just want to watch a DVD. I also had the opportunity for a cigarette earlier (over a week smoke free now) and my stupid shitting pissing fucking bastarding housemates physically blocked me from the beautiful Irish girl offering me one. SJ ^Debaser 00:45, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Couldn't you have have just said "Oh I only smoke after sex. So I guess you can offer me one later"? Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 08:16, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Ah DUDE what a line haha! That's gonna get me slapped tomorrow :) SJ ^Debaser 20:01, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Death penalty or not?

Posted this on Aces page but thought it could be of greater interest. Its 17 pages but well worth a read. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann/ Rad McCool 09:31, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

All civilised countries have stopped using the death penalty. Bob Soles 09:57, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

<reads article> Whelp, fuck. --Yossie^{Spring in Fialta} 16:40, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Farrakhan and swine flu vaccine - oh good grief

Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam is at it again [1]. H1N1 swine flu vaccine was designed to kill people and cull the excess population: "The Earth can't take 6.5 billion people. We just can't feed that many. So what are you going to do? Kill as many as you can. We have to develop a science that kills them and makes it look as though they died from some disease". Secret Squirrel 10:42, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

"EEEEEE-EFFICIENCY AND PROGRESS IS OURS ONCE MORE... NOW THAT WE HAVE A NEUT-ER-ON BOMB... IT'S NICE AND QUICK AND CLEAN AND GETS THINGS DONE..." SJ ^Debaser 20:06, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

You UKers

I wrote a section on the aSK Support for creation and evolution talk page wondering about what it would be like to live in Iceland (the highest country surveyed for acceptance of evolution). But, you UKers are right up there. What's it like living in a country that isn't 40% whackos (i.e. nutters)? --Edgerunner⁷⁶_{Your views are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter} 12:41, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Bitter at coming second to bloody Iceland. Bob Soles 12:48, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

(EC)Pretty sweet; lovely churches everywhere (wouldn't swap them for the world), it's nice to think of vicars as an integral part of village life (even though having lived in villages all my life I haven't had much to do with them), but I don't think anyone really cares about Christian/atheist, including the vicars; for instance, the vicar at my college graduated in Phys Natsci and recently threw a buffet for the Natscis including the biologicals. Which reminds me, he hands out free donuts and tea on thursdays.... EddyP 12:49, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

The hell? Canada's not even on the list? --Kels 12:58, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Generally I try and stay out of the whole creation/evolution debate as I don't know all the facts, but I think it's for the reason that we don't have religious bigots shoving Christianity down our throats that I myself am relatively tolerant of religion. The rightwingers in America are just too extreme to be taken seriously which is why there seems to be a much sharper divide between religious and nonbelievers. SJ ^Debaser 13:13, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

That's true, but it depends on where you live. In middle America, the people are kind and respectful but when religion and evolution are discussed they can get nasty. Middle America is also where most of the real crazies live. In the more secular side of America, people actually acknowledge that there are multiple religions, and religious bigots are looked down upon. But, as teh Andy proves, crazies live there too. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 14:19, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Turn it on its head and ask, "what's it like living in a country where 40% of the population are wackos" heh. But seriously, it's pretty alright. Can't say I've experienced the "other side" enough to draw a valid comparison, though. I suppose the main difference is that the English, by and large, consider stuff like televangelism to be vulgar, street preachers to be crazy, and the whole culture wars thing brought up by fox to be hot air. The UK public seems to have this in-built cynicism that I think acts as a defence against any form of hype, particularly the religious hype that has to go with evangelism and creationism. ^postate 14:36, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Not having lived in the US it's a bit hard to answer. I sometimes talk about creationism in the US in my classes in Spain and my students simply don't believe me when I tell them that some 50% of the US believes that the world is only 10,000 years old. For them it's like claiming that the world is flat.--Bob^{Not Jim} 14:41, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

What you have to realise is that whatever answer people give in a survey of that kind, it only actually affects the day-to-day life of a tiny, tiny minority. Most people just don't think about it that much. The raging controversy in the US, with court cases and demonstrations and people up in arms, seems really alien to me as a Brit.-- Kriss Akabusi^{AAAWOOOGAAAR!!1} 14:47, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

PS There is this one guy who stands on a soapbox in the town centre on Saturdays and shouts about the falsehood of evolution. He is American, coincidentally, and most people tend to just ignore him. Except once when someone else turned up with a microphone and speakers and started arguing with him, but I don't think the discussion really resolved anything much.-- Kriss Akabusi^{AAAWOOOGAAAR!!1} 14:50, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

The problem with Iceland is the elves. See here.

Awesome! Article needed!-- Kriss Akabusi^{AAAWOOOGAAAR!!1} 15:04, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Even an Elf school--Bob^{Not Jim} 15:20, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

"Middle America is also where most of the real crazies live." That is the South, actually... ListenerX^TalkerX 15:49, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

And in California they're just crazy in a different way. Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 16:00, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I forgot California. Proportionately fewer of the kooks out there do not go about picking fights with the State, hence are not noticed so much. ListenerX^TalkerX 16:03, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

UD) if memory serves there was a Bishop of the CofE who didn't believe in God. Durham? Jenkins? memory going! ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 16:04, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

link ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 16:06, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Only an atheist would swear in a sermon! ListenerX^TalkerX 16:11, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Shortly after he (Jenkins) was bishoperised or whatever, York Minster was struck , & badly damaged, by lightning. Wrath of God? (again it's only my memory - I might be wrong. ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 16:16, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I would be more likely to stick it to Thor, going off at the Archdiocese of York because they had not been preaching enough about the Thunder of God, or something along those lines. (The term is "consecrated.") ListenerX^TalkerX 16:23, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

It's a great irony that the UK is a largely secular society where religion isn't involved much in political issues, despite having an official state church which is still involved in government, while the USA has constitutional commitment to separation of church & state, but can't debate any political or scientific issue without it getting muddied with religion. Weaseloid^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 21:59, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Just imagine if the USA didn't have a constitutional separation of church and state. *shudders* Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 22:10, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

What would probably happen then is that the State church would be a moderating factor; dissenting churches have always been more radical (which means, in the case of Christianity, crazy). The former State churches here (Congregational and Episcopal) are today among the most liberal denominations.

There is much talk of State churches spouting State interests from the pulpit in the place of sound doctrine; one can see this as a failing, or they can see it as a way for churchmen to keep their heads out of the clouds. ListenerX^TalkerX 04:10, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

You're right about the irony Weasloid, with a separation of church and state we end up with a free market in religion, which is probably why it is so successful. Here in the UK we have a state religion which is largely ineffectual, because as free-marketeers know the government can't run anything.  Lily ^{Inspirate me.} 06:51, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

New study gives insight into the power of minority extremists

"Moderately conservative people who belong to the Republican Party, for example, may believe that people with extremely conservative views represent their party, because those are the opinions they hear most often. However, that may not be true." Interesting article about a study conducted by smoking-hot Kimberly Rios Morrison of Ohio State University. 17:31, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

"People with relatively extreme opinions may be more willing to publicly share their views than those with more moderate views." Uh, when did this reporter start channelling Captain Obvious? ListenerX^TalkerX 17:34, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't seem that obvious to me - I would expect the more extreme to keep their traps shut, in general. Of course, the last 30 years of US politics has encouraged the most extreme on the right, at least, to trumpet their views far and wide. ħuman 20:23, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

It seems to come down to people being more comfortable sharing their views if they believe that there is a significant number of people sharing those views. Presumably that would also apply to people with moderate views, although extremists are a bit easier to notice. --^{Ask me about your mother} 20:32, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I find it obvious; extremists are so rabid and obsessed with their political views that they can do nothing but caterwaul about them, never mind if anyone else shares them or not. ListenerX^TalkerX 04:01, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Lexicon

Reading All the President's Men again, and I got to thinking - what a good thing it took place at the Watergate. We'd look a bit silly referring to scandals as "Iran-Park Hyatt" or "Travel-Holiday Inn". --PsygremlinSprich! 17:47, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

The "gate" meme is quite handy to tack onto scandals (It's not just the internet, MC). I was watching some of those New World Order conspiracy videos on YouTube recently and evidently the Watergate Hotel is owned by the Catholic Church or perhaps the Illuminati.  Lily ^{Inspirate me.} 17:59, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I always wondered if smaller scandals prior to Watergate were referred to as "travel-dome", or "Iran-contra-teapot"... Anyway, I think the reason the meme has grown so strongly is the very fact that "gate" is an easy suffix to tack onto anything. ħuman 20:25, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Curling up in a ball and crying for the future of humanity

co2isgreen.net Yorick^Crass. 18:34, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Don't give up hope yet. It might be a Poe. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 21:18, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

No, it ain't a Poe. Notice all the earnest stuff urging readers to write to Senate about it. See also this blog/report in the Guardian. Unsurprisingly the "CO2 is Green" group is founded & funded by carbon fuel industry fatcats, & it's applying for tax exempt status. We should probably have an article on it at RW if we don't already. Weaseloid^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 22:19, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

In that case, I weep for our future as well. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 22:31, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

At first I thought it was a Poe because it read like something I would make up with my friends. Then I realized that they were actually advertising on the television and billboards where I live. I can only hope there are not enough gullible people to believe this, but living in Montana I know that is a pipe dream. Yorick^{Doing public school work} 04:00, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

It's amazing that people still can't get their heads around very simple facts. YES, CO2 is "the food of the planet, dontchaknow" and I'm yet to come across any biologist that says it isn't very important. But pizza is also a nice food for a human; and if you stuff your face with enough pizza you die. Same principle; more of something good isn't necessarily better. Really, is this actually that difficult to grasp? ^postate 11:47, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Not cool

After a botched firmware upgrade, my router was sitting there flashing at me. Don't ask me how I stuffed it up, I don't really know what I could have done wrong, these Netgears are usually pretty good with upgrades. Anyway, I did the factory-reset thing which got it to work again for some reason; whatever the stuffup was, it can't have been too bad because I don't have a paperweight instead of a router.
The downside of my router working again was that in the face of "oh em gee, I'm gonna have to shell out $100 for another one", I forgot to secure my wifi after the reset. Wonderful, I'm only about ten days into my cycle and I've already had all my bandwidth leeched. Now I get to spend the rest of the cycle on a 64k shaped connection. Lovely. -Redback^{OMG, someone get the Raid!} 20:25, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Meh, I guess you'll have to put up with pr0n that doesn't move until the end of the month. Can't you just go and beat up all your neighbors who nicked your bandwidth? Crundy^{Talk nerdy to me} 11:54, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Books

Has anyone read Snake Oil 101? I came across it on Amazon and wondered if it was any good.  Lily ^{Inspirate me.} 20:31, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Seems an odd topic for an author who writes mostly about art. Aboriginal Noise ^{Oh, what a lovely tea party!} 21:17, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Humorous BON wandalism

Are they trying to send us a secret message? ħuman 23:31, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Is that the random junk appearing from a range of IP addresses? Been wondering if it's even worth vandal binning them, since I assume they're hitting proxies or using Tor, so probably not worth playing whack-a-mole with them? --^{Ask me about your mother} 23:34, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

(EC; stupid ISP) I usually only bin the IP if it's used for vandalism more than once. -- Nx / talk 23:57, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I figured those were some kind of bot, since they were inserting random nonsensical messages that looked like they had been cut and pasted from various websites. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 23:52, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

On second thought, maybe not. Tetronian ^{you're clueless} 00:37, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Maybe the Schlafly quote generator got a friend to visit us? ħuman 00:39, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

We have had worse. Ignore it, they will get bored eventually. - π 04:26, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Vodka is for drinking, not for...

10 things vodka is good for besides drinking--Thanatos 02:29, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Whatever you're linking to isn't there anymore. Weaseloid^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 18:50, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Has this come up yet?

I am having trouble tracing this story to get down to whats going on. tmtoulouse 07:00, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Just sounds like the anti-vaccination crowd jumping on anything they can get their hands on. ^postate 11:39, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Also, speaking of vaccines. Someone forwarded this to me. Wondering what people think about it. The Cochrane Review that it cites can be found here - I find it noteworthy that, despite mentioning it and extensively citing the author as proof that vaccines are a "cult-like" scam, they didn't link to it even though they have linked to a few other things (although these are glorified adverts for someone's book). ^postate 13:08, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Selling water

Round the Horne on BBC7 (Repeat from 1967! repeated @ 12:00 & 19:00 today) had a skit on the ridiculous idea of selling water on TV ads. If they could see it now! ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 08:20, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Oh bona! Mr Horne, bona. I listened to RTH with my parents when I was too young to really appreciate the late, great Kenneth Williams. Bob Soles 11:26, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Ditto. That and the wonderful Jest (or was it just?) a Minute. PsygremlinTala! 11:30, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Just A Minute is still going on (and on, and on...). Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 11:40, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Griffin on Question Time

Discussion here by the looks of it... SJ ^Debaser 11:56, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

WND poll fun

From here. Ok, so the charge is to "[s]ound off on Sunstein's call to abolish government sanctioning of marriage". What I would consider the "libertarian" option ("Marriage is a personal commitment - government has nothing to do with it") is sitting at 4%. The backwards-ass, anti-libertarian, fear mongering option ("A strong institution of marriage and family is an antidote to nanny-state government - no wonder Sunstein wants it marginalized" - i.e., stop the government nanny-state with government nannying) is the clear winner. I absolutely love these people. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 12:57, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm... attacking WND with a vote bot would be sooooo worth it. Immoral and wrong, but certainly worth it. ^postate 13:03, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

It's crossed my mind. You could probably get a mention on the front page out of it too. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 13:09, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Actually, on second thoughts, the last thing we need is adding fuel to the persecution complex fire... Still, one might just be worth it. ^postate 13:17, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I don't know if their persecution complex could get worse. "Soundoff: What do you think of internet terrorists' attempts to silence conservative free speech?" Can you imagine the options? ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 13:22, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I can imagine, but I don't want to. ^postate 13:25, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Teh flood gates are Breaking. ORLY?

Star Dentist ORLY TAITZ Pulls a Andy.

You can see that the Google search shows 4,390,000 articles about omnipotent current speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and 4,550,000 articles about Eligibility attorney Orly Taitz. They can’t hold the line, the flood gates are broken, the truth about Obama’s illegitimacy to presidency is pouring into main street, the public is rising against this puppet of the Wall street, against the Kenyan usurper, the minutemen are rising.

http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/?p=5221

Boy, If CAPS LOCK DAY ever need a mascot...

Why does she refer to herself as Orly Taitz Esquire? I was brought up that Esquire was the male form of Miss. Bob Soles 14:02, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

It's what some very pretentious lawyers call themselves. Andy does it, too. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 14:04, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I believe it's a US thing as I've never seen it in the UK and the only people who seem to use it are lawyers when writing to their clients (in my experience). Originally I thought Any was just being pretentious when he put Esq. after his name but looking it up on Google it appears to be general practice for US legalites. I followed up on that as one of the things that my father taught me was not to use pretentious titles. One of his pet hates was people who insist on being called "Mister" or introduce themselves as "Mister Smith" as if mister was something special. Consequently I always give my full name when people ask rather than saying "Mr. Khant". Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} (Mr.) 18:23, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I think it's just considered pretentious and vulgar to use that sort of thing unnecessarily in the UK. Hence why we were all "Andrew Schlafly Esq.' WTF?" And of course, people only use them when they know they're meaningless, hence why very few Profs or Docs use their titles unless they come from diploma mills and just want to sound fancier than they are. ^postate 19:53, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Bryan college

Just glancing at this place ('cause that's where this guy went) and I'm reminded of:

"I'm not applying there."

"Why not?"

"I looked at the prospectus & there's not a black face to be seen."

"Hadn't realised you were so principled!"

"Oh, it's not principles; but I wouldn't go to a place that can't afford Photoshop."

Was it someone on here who said it or have I read it elsewhere on t'web? ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 18:30, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

In their revolving header gallery (3 of 8) there is a fairly attractive lady of colour. Tokenism? Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 18:43, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I must have a blind spot: I'm still not sure she's not white. (could almost be a young me!) ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 18:47, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

She ain't white. But she's real fine. 18:49, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I guess they could have found someone with darker skin-tone. Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 19:10, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I suspect any place with a bullshit major such as "origins studies" might have diversity issues. Sterile brick wall

Daily Telegraph

For those who do not read the non-CP WIGOs there is a new one in WIGO:Blogs which is pretty much culled from our series on Internet Laws. We get a few linkbacks for some of them (but not all, even for those which are RW specific). Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 19:07, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

4 links in one article ain't bad. If any Telegraph readers come here though they'll probably have adverse reactions. ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 19:22, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Good point... Tell 'em Telegraph "CRICKET!!!" ^postate 19:33, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Who the hell was Rob Pommer? Word educated Hoover! 19:40, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Cracker? ^postate 19:47, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

@toast:If any Telegraph readers come here though they'll probably have adverse reactions - but at least they'll know how to make tea properly. Totnesmartin 20:03, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Can we have a wikipedia article now? Ace^McWicked 21:12, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I dare someone with some street cred on WP to suggest that. Word educated Hoover! 21:29, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking the same thing, but remember the guys who were mostly against it (and Poe's Law) were pretty much all over it and had Trent banned for a week or something. I'm liking the comments, that one from "Steve Foley" is either taking it all too seriously (in which case I pity them) or trying to take the piss out of people who take it seriously (and failed, thus I still pity them). Still, some of the other proposals are pretty good. ^postate 11:46, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I love the fact Ken is now internationally famous. - π 12:18, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I let him know on his aSoK talk page. Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 12:36, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

We need to get an article on Skitt’s Law. - π 13:01, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Done. If I knew they were going to do that, I'd have actually coined my own law, I definitely have one formulated. ^postate 13:14, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I want one of those

Also from the Torygraph - Dyson's latest invention, the bladeless fan. Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 19:28, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Fuck that asshole and his crazy-awesome inventions I can't afford. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 19:33, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Funny time of year to launch a fan. Aylesburymartin 19:36, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I saw that a while ago. Hasn't it got a fan in the base to give the airflow a start? "The Air Multiplier works by sucking in one unit of air at the base, and pushing it out at speed through a thin gap in the fan's ring." I don't think it's what it sort of claims to be. (bernouli^(?) effect springs to mind)^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 19:41, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Indeed, it seems like it changes the place where the fan actually is. It's not like it's some other mechanism such as a screw. Like the AirBlade, that wasn't really anything new, it was just a normal bloody hand dryer with the power cranked up to 11. ^postate 19:49, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

He's really hung up about all this buffeting from a normal fan. I hope I don't start to notice it. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 19:51, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

My (many) fans often buffet me, sometimes I can't walk down the street unbuffeted - bloody paparazzi. ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 19:55, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Last minute holloween costume ideas

I need some. Preferably in the next 8 minutes. Thanks. ^{— Sincerely, Neveruse513 / Talk / Block} 21:24, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Last year my 11th hour Halloween costume, believe it or not, was Alger Hiss. I just dressed as 50's as possible (suit, thin tie, fedora, cigarette) and wrote CONFIDENTIAL on a manila folder with random papers in it. Some people actually figured out who I was.

I was really hammered before going to this halloween party a few years back, cant remember what I on but I remember hunting around my bedroom (which was a fucking nightmare of mess) and ended up grabbing some of the filthy porno I had lying around and tying it to my chest with a network cable. My costume - Internet Porn. Thought it was pretty clever for guy who was barely functioning. Ace^McWicked 21:33, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Is a sheet with a couple of eye-holes too obvious?  Lily ^{Inspirate me.} 22:16, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Hey, you don't want to show up at the party in the same outfit as Ed Poor. 23:42, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I'd go with the lost camper. Some dirty jeans, a dirty coat, a hat and a flashlight, maybe a little fake blood and your all set--Thanatos 22:58, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Hype how you will be a ninja, or a pirate or a hacker or some shit, then come dressed as a Catholic cardinal. When people start going WTF?, scream at them "NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!111!1!1!". Lulz should insue if British people are nearby --The Emperor _{Kneel before Zod!} 03:04, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

A sheet with three holes - one at the crotch. You're an Orthodox Jewish rapist ghost.--Tom Moore^{fiat justitia} 03:39, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Anyone seen this nutball shit?

I know Ann "Horse-Face" Coulter is a loon but this takes the cake...Ace^McWicked 21:50, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

John Wilkes Booth was hardly a liberal. Timothy McVeigh belong to a far-right Christian Identity movement. - π 22:15, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Who was the guy who shouted her down and said "YOU are a hate crime"? I want to shake his hand and tell him that next time around he has my blessing to break her already deformed nose. If you want something deliberately inflammatory while simultaneously outright wrong, you can't go much further that that bitch. ^postate 11:05, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Oh boy, this is a good one.

For the Star Wars fans among us... ĴαʊΆʃÇä₰ why me? 04:20, 24 October 2009 (UTC) [2]

Forgive me if I don't roll on the floor in fits of laughter, I guess it must be an age thing. (From someone who saw Star Wars on its first release at the Odeon, Leicester Square.) Генгис^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 07:00, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Too many YouTube transclusions?

I don't know what others think about this, but personally I think that YouTube transclusion thing is getting used waaayy too much here at the Saloon bar.

I can see its advantage in a few RW articles where a video is really relevant, but in the bar it's just seems like an attention-hogging waste of space. In a lot of cases the threads that start with a video don't provoke much of a discussion anyway (just look further up this page) but they take up more space on the page than a lot of other sections. Can't we go back to just posting links to YouTube?

Alternatively, just put one video up at the top of the page, as a kind of bar-room TV, and change the tape periodically evey few days. That way if people want to comment on it, they can start a discussion below, but if they don't, it would be easy to ignore, like the jukebox.

Any thoughts? Weaseloid^{Methinks it is a Weasel} 10:12, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

One YouTube transclusion is one too many. ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 10:17, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I will never open this page on my phone or laptop. When I asked Trent to install this extension it was more to look at clogo and rebuttals on YouTube a la Banana fallacy. A link that says "check out this video here" is just as effective and doesn't cost us nearly as much CPU time and bandwidth. - π 10:25, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

That was the original intention, but like any novelty feature, it'll get overused. Linking to YouTube is much better anyway as with the embedded things you can't use YouTube's features like ratings, comments or the "see also" bits. If some one wants to exercise AUTHORITA and cut them down, that's fine by me. ^postate 11:01, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I think you have a good point, links are the way to go. Javasca₧ is writing a comment 14:31, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I have exercised authoritae -- Nx / talk 14:59, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Ye gods, you'd think we were living in an age of 800bps modems, not an age where everyone wanders round with a 1.5Mbps+ broadband connection in their pockets. What exactly is the problem with putting a video on this page? I don't get it. The flash is always cached, so if you don't click play it doesn't take any time to load. --JeevesMkII ^{The gentleman's gentleman at the other site} 16:59, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Funny, I seem to remember that the main point of your complaint about my old sig was that the 5 people who don't have decent browsers wouldn't be able to tell who I was. Word educated Hoover! 17:43, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I've never reached 500 kbs. I dream of a decent broadsband connection. I'm downloading a 863 MB file now - it's varying between 3 & 11 hours estimated. ^{I am eating} _& honey^chat 17:05, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

It's not the connection speed that's the problem, it's flash itself. -- Nx / talk 17:14, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

UTC) Let me see if I understand. Between me going to bed at maybe 130 this morning and staggering back from brunch someone managed to discern consensus of the mob and disable embedded YouTube videos. WHAT THE FUCK. Issues like this don't get raised and resolved within 12 hours. This is an issue that could much more effectively been dealt with by discussing a policy change rather than enforcing a small number of users' will by fiat and without anything even remotely approaching adequate consideration by the community at large. I agree that embedding videos should be done sparingly on high traffic pages for any number of reasons including those mentioned. But what I do on my userpage or post on my pals' talkpages is none of your fucking business. Don't like embedded videos or my taste in electro and hip hop? Ok then make a point of avoiding my userspace and Ace, Human, Rad, etc's talkpages. This situation was handled really poorly. 17:36, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

It was on the saloon bar -- Nx / talk 17:49, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Nx, please fix embedded video pending a real consensus on the issue. A policy change is always preferable to removing functionality from the wiki. 18:08, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I already have -- Nx / talk 18:25, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Scienceblogs is down

Anybody know what's happening? Corry 14:55, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Aren't they upgrading because of problems with the commenting? - π 14:56, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

That's what I am assuming. Also I am assuming that they intended to perform the upgrade in the middle of the night and it's taking longer than they thought. The webpage is a bit of a mess. Corry 15:02, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

RandomSelection

I've modified Extension:RandomSelection (the <choose> thing) so that it doesn't disable the cache. This means that random stuff will remain the same until you purge the cache of a page. Your signatures will still work as expected (see this), but they won't change when you refresh the page (unless someone else has edited or purged the page). For cases when you want a refresh to produce a new random option, you can use the uncached parameter (e.g. the casino). -- Nx / talk 18:43, 24 October 2009 (UTC)