No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. What? Look, somebody's got to have some damn perspective around here. Boom. Sooner or later... Boom!
Saturday, April 06
Good News, Everyone
Terraria looks set to get a new update after a year in the doldrums - and it has turtles!
Torment: Tides of Numenera is closing in on becoming the best-funded computer game on Kickstarter, ever.
GOG are selling the whole suite of recent D&D computer games - Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Dragon Shard, that Temple of Elemental Evil thing and Demon Stone, plus all expansion packs - for up to 80% off. $21.10 gets you the complete bundle, over 200 hours of top-notch adventuring... And 100 hours of so-so adventuring (the original campaigns of both Neverwinter Nights games are a bit stodgy, but the expansions pick up dramatically).
There's also bad news, but you can get that anywhere.
Today in Sydney it was precisely the melting point of Ice-9*, thus averting global fictitious ocean freezy disaster.
It was also, apparently, precisely the melting point of my network switch, because it did. This proved quite inconvenient.**
Fortunately, we've now had a "cool change" come through. They call it that because it's shorter than "not technically a hurricane".***
* 45.8C / 114.4F. In other words, far too hot.
** Probably not the only thing that melted; my internet access went out, and then my local network started having problems. Now that it's cooled down, both are fine again, but it made for a frustrating day.
*** Wind speeds of 72km/h gusting over 100km/h - and the temperature where I live dropped from 38C to 24C in three minutes.
1
25 degrees F in three minutes? That's a fairly decent temperature gradient, yeah. I've experienced similar, but I live in the midwestern US... we'll go from 95 F to 75 F in a few minutes a couple-three times per summer.
Always involved is a massive relocation of dampness from sky to ground, and occasionally accompanied by tornadoes.
I don't recommend it, m'self.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Saturday, January 19 2013 10:59 AM (cymHZ)
Something to do while waiting for the database to come back up.
One. Google Maps seems uninclined to trace a route across the Panama Canal, despite there being at least four road crossings. So I couldn't do Anchorage to Ushuaia as I'd originally planned.
Two. Not really recommended to travellers unless you are accompanied by a TV crew and an armed escort, but interesting.
Three. For that perfect combination of relaxed safety and utter insanity.
1
Google seems perfectly happy to plot a route across the canal via the Gatun locks, the Bridge of the Americas, or the Pan American highway. What it won't do is get you through the Darien, which is more or less accurate, getting a vehicle through there requires you to go off road, get local assistance through the swamp, not get kidnapped by the FARC or the ELN, etc..
I'm curious what you consider the fourth crossing. When I was there between 92-94, you pretty much only crossed at the Bridge of the Americas. The Centennial bridge didn't exist yet, and while you could cross at the Gatun locks, the highways on the northern/Atlantic coast didn't connect to anything. The Miraflores locks technically have a crossing, but it was pretty much only for official use, and it doesn't appear to be connected anymore.
Posted by: David at Friday, December 07 2012 07:16 AM (Lf1Ga)
2
Ah, is that what it is. Thanks for the note; I didn't look closely enough.
The other crossing I had in mind was indeed the Miraflores locks. Google Maps will generally route through any even theoretically viable connection, so I was surprised when it stopped dead.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, December 07 2012 10:46 AM (PiXy!)
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Having looked closer, you're absolutely right. Thanks!
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, December 07 2012 05:27 PM (PiXy!)
The correct answer is "Four and a half billion years." "Four billion years", "Five billion years", and even just "Billions of years" are also acceptable.
Posted by: dkallen99 at Wednesday, November 21 2012 05:57 AM (2lHZP)
4
Marco Rubio was asked how old he thought the Earth was, and he weaseled. While the question doesn't go directly to policy, basic scientific knowledge is vitally important in our politicians - and sadly lacking.
As Slate has noted, Obama weaseled in just the same way in response to a very similar question in 2008. It's not a partisan issue; it's a weasel issue.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Wednesday, November 21 2012 01:30 PM (PiXy!)
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Don't know about you, but if I were a politician and some reporter asked me how old the Earth is, I'd say it was created out of nothing last Tuesday.
Basic scientific knowledge is as important for a politician as knowledge of policy issues is for a scientist - namely, not much. Scientists can and do carry out their jobs with only a layman's understanding of politics, or even while believing in crank political theories which are patently ridiculous; likewise, politicians can and do perform with honor while believing in crank theories of physics. When a question doesn't go directly to policy, a politician's answer to it should be of only academic interest.
Posted by: Michael Brazier at Thursday, November 22 2012 09:16 AM (9BgEE)
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When homeopathic remedies (i.e. water) receive special protection under law, when the teaching of evolution is under sustained attack more than 80 years after Scopes, when vaccination, which transformed the face of public health, is under assault, when global warming is, if the models are accurate, the biggest issue facing us today - no, you are simply wrong.
Politics doesn't matter at all in science, not at the level of theory and experiment (though of course it does at the level of management and funding). Your political views simply don't change the numbers.
But science is the only effective tool we have for understanding reality, so scientific literacy is critical among the political class - and in the broader population in general. Whether Rubio and Obama are ignorant of the facts, or are trying to avoid antagonising an ignorant base; either way, it's just not good enough.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thursday, November 22 2012 11:42 AM (PiXy!)
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Three out of the four things you mention are policy questions influenced by scientific arguments, not scientific knowledge. Even teaching evolution has some relevance to questions of policy - the appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains of disease is explained by that theory, and the supposed dangers of genetically modified plants are assessed with its help. So those are questions of which a politician's knowledge may be important to how he does his job.
But as I'm sure you know, reporters who ask politicians about teaching evolution aren't thinking about drug-resistant bacteria, and reporters who ask politicians how old the Earth is don't have any question of policy in mind. They are merely trying to make the politician say something which will offend a large bloc of voters. No smart politician will accept that sort of invitation without good cause.
Even on the charitable theory that politicians should be able to follow scientific arguments when they become relevant to policy questions, and that reporters have the duty to test politicians' ability to do so ... this specific question is incandescently stupid. All the politician proves by giving the right answer is that he can remember and repeat what someone else told him. You need a sustained interrogation to establish that someone is, or isn't, able to understand the sciences - and if you get an opportunity to interrogate a politician to that degree, you'd be better off asking about questions of policy anyway, because the arguments he offers will tell you all you need about his education and intellect.
Posted by: Michael Brazier at Thursday, November 22 2012 01:47 PM (34u8A)
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I agree, these were inane questions raised entirely in an attempt to trip up the politician (Rubio or Obama) and get a story out of it.
But the flip side is that these are simple factual questions, and both men simply weaseled. I don't think we should accept that. The fact that reporters are failing at their jobs should not be an excuse for candidates to waffle.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thursday, November 22 2012 02:14 PM (PiXy!)
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The other point I was making is that if telling the truth about science (or anything else) will offend large blocks of voters, then those voters need to be offended.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thursday, November 22 2012 02:22 PM (PiXy!)
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Please Pixy. Go after homeopathy all you want, but warmism has no excuse. How is global warming the biggest issue facing us today when even the modest disaster predictions haven't come to pass? "Hockey stick" turned out to be a fraud and scientific malpractice, global temperatures stopped raising 16 years ago (according to Met Office), and Arctic ice covers the largest area on record. It tells us that although the dangers of cooking the athmosphere are enormous, the probability of it happening is fairly small, because the doomsdayers were wrong in every single scare issue. And most importantly: the only way to deal with the problem is for humanity is to become more powerful, and that can only happen if humanity becomes richer. Rich enough to launch clouds of Pete Worden's deflectors, for example. Donning rags in the name of global warming will not reduce CO2 and will only damage the economy, making the humanity weaker. If there is any danger, it's warmists who doom the humanity, not those who buy SUVs!
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Friday, November 23 2012 02:42 AM (RqRa5)
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That Rubio is a weasel is fairly obvious, or was obvious long before leftists decided to focus on palinizing him. I observed it back when he pandered to illegals. Frankly there are more important targets among Repubs for those who love science: Bobby Jindal for one. Every thing with which Democrat lying lapdogs tried to smear Palin he actually did. He is a creationist who put his ideology into action to detrement of pupils in his state. But he gets a pass, while Rubio is above the fold. Why is that? Because 2016 battlefield preparation, that's why. And it's way too early, and Jindal is not out of the picture.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Friday, November 23 2012 02:48 AM (RqRa5)
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Errr... Arctic ice coverage set a record low in summer 2012. But this part I agree with 100%:
And most importantly: the only way to deal with the problem is for humanity is to become more powerful, and that can only happen if humanity becomes richer. Rich enough to launch clouds of Pete Worden's deflectors, for example. Donning rags in the name of global warming will not reduce CO2 and will only damage the economy, making the humanity weaker. If there is any danger, it's warmists who doom the humanity, not those who buy SUVs!
Destroying the economy will destroy the environment, that's guaranteed. If the "greens" were truly concerned with the environment rather than just a bunch of ageing leftist nutbiscuits wrapped up in irrational hatred of their fellow man, they'd be promoting nuclear power rather than protesting natural gas pipelines.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, November 23 2012 11:49 AM (PiXy!)
Today we find exactly how hopelessly skewed the mainstream media is.* Ace was commenting on a recent CNN poll that showed Obama and Romney in a tie - with party affiliation at D+11. Which is crazy; you'd have to have Democrat turnout at levels higher even than 2008, and at the same time have Independents splitting 2:1 in favour of Romney.
The polls and news reports are wrong, we know that. Today's the day we find out how wrong.
Update: Less wrong than I might have hoped, based on early returns. Mmf.
Update: The results are in, and while the polls may have been wrong, they weren't that wrong. It's going to be a long four years.
Meanwhile, in Australia.... Uh, we had a horse race. With actual horses.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Wednesday, November 07 2012 11:24 AM (PiXy!)
3
Latinate plurals become singularized in English over time. And that is what is happening right now with media. While some will get uppity about it they are fighting a lost cause. Get used to it folks.
PS.Not falling for the preview trap again.
Posted by: Tombei The Mist at Wednesday, November 07 2012 03:33 PM (hGCqM)
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Pixy: I did that on purpose; I'm glad you've internalized it.
Posted by: RickC at Wednesday, November 07 2012 11:16 PM (WQ6Vb)
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Alternatively: "the word media is the plural form of the word medium."
I know I must be covered with one of those.
Posted by: RickC at Wednesday, November 07 2012 11:17 PM (WQ6Vb)
Given the tenor of the questions put to Romney vs. those (not) put to Obama, the press are essentially treating Romney as though he were already president and Obama as though he were simply irrelevant.
Do they know something we don't* or are they just a bunch of brazen partisan hacks?
1
I vote for "brazen partisan hacks". Did you see that reporters discussed on open microphone what they should ask Romney to best embarrass him?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Thursday, September 13 2012 08:41 AM (+rSRq)
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Yes, they're certainly brazen partisan hacks. But they also seem to take Romney much more seriously than Obama. You don't bother with a coordinated attack plan unless you consider someone a significant threat.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, September 14 2012 02:45 AM (PiXy!)
3
This tweet sums up what I'm seeing from the other side of the world:
Latest embassy attacks in Yemen look really bad for President Romney.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, September 14 2012 02:57 AM (PiXy!)
If you're not sure whether you're in New York or Sydney, here's a tip: Find the bridge with the big stone towers at each end. If it goes down in the middle, you're in New York; if it goes up in the middle, you're in Sydney.
I was just looking for a new wallpaper after spending nearly a minute looking for an icon. While this:
Is awesome, it's far too busy to be practical. I replaced it with this:
Spectrum of a Tree
Which is beautiful and undistracting. But while searching for something suitably decorative I happened upon that very, very lost photographer.
(I'm guessing someone thought it was the Bayonne Bridge, which is at least a steel arch bridge and looks kind of similar to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the confusion grew from there. You can tell them apart as follows: The Sydney Harbour Bridge is much heavier - it carries eight lanes of traffic plus two rail lines to the Bayonne's four lanes; it has four enormous stone pylons that the Bayonne lacks; it has two mechanical spiders that run over the arch, used by the maintenance crews; it has the Australian and NSW state flags on top (a spider and one of the flags are clearly visible in the photo); and finally, it's in Sydney.)
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Monday, August 27
Better To Remain Silent...
Oh dear. Two of the jurors on the Apple v. Samsung patent trial have opened their mouths.
Can you say overturned on appeal, boys and girls?
(Some are speculating on the possibility of a mistrial. I don't know enough about the US legal system for informed comment.)
Update: Groklaw's analysis. I stopped reading Groklaw regularly after SCO burned to ashes and blew away in the wind, but they've had no shortage of material since then.
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Thursday, August 23
Spring!!
Monday the high temperature here was around 17C, with an overnight low of 4.
Today it's up past 27C with an overnight low of 14.
1
I think summer is probably over here. A week ago we had two days over 101F. Then the temperature fell like a rock. Tuesday morning I had to turn on my heat for twenty minutes because it was like a refrigerator in here. (I made the mistake of leaving one window open all night.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Friday, August 24 2012 11:57 AM (+rSRq)
1
I don't actually know that much about Tesla, but when I think of him, he's kind of the canonical example of a mad scientist. The closest you could come in the real world to the MS in the "Back to the Future movies.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Friday, August 17 2012 03:35 AM (+rSRq)
I spent half an hour last night rescuing important mail from my Gmail spam folder, and spent half an hour this morning flagging mail in my inbox as spam.**
Rescue Thunderbird. Get some top UI designers to make it really pretty, and some top coders to make it really fast. Get it on Android and iOS. And then make it seamless to use it with Yahoo mail, and make it seamless to move from Gmail or Hotmail/Outlook to Yahoo.
Thank you.
* Marissa Mayer is the new CEO of Yahoo!, formerly employee number 20 at Google.
** And missed the tick box once and had to go and rescue a critical conversation.
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* This single 8th century civil war is estimated to have killed 15% of the population of the entire planet.*** ** The mongols, by contrast, only wiped out about 10% of the people in the world. Even WWI and the Spanish Flu together couldn't break into double digits.
It's interesting how often China is on that chart.
But when it comes to WWI, it isn't really fair to designate Germany, Austria and the Ottomans as the aggressors. Everyone was champing at the bit looking forward to that war, pretty much.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Friday, July 20 2012 03:14 AM (+rSRq)
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Yeah, WWI was pretty much a suicide pact. I could add a causes column and file that one under stupidity.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, July 20 2012 11:25 AM (PiXy!)
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China's going to show up a lot on that list because it was unified long ago, because it's bigger in absolute terms than just about anyone, and because until recently, it was a Malthusian test case - it had so many people that almost all its labor had to go into low-intensity agriculture just to feed everyone, and significant disruptions in agriculture (which is among the side effects of war, heh!) were enough to cause widespread starvation.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Friday, July 20 2012 12:39 PM (pWQz4)
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Yeah, listing the axis as the aggressors in wwi is blatant entente bias. France was itching for a fight after being humiliated by Germany in 1870 and was as big an aggressor as any.
Posted by: Jason at Friday, July 20 2012 12:56 PM (6VB4r)
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Ditto on WW I. One of my old history professors described it this way: imagine a crowded room with everyone having a noose around their neck, and the guy next to him holding it.
And then somebody decided to give his rope a good, hard yank...
The war could have been stopped in 1915, but Wilson, rather than T.R. got elected (he went 3rd party). I believe (since he was instrumental in stopping the Russo-Japanese War) he could have brokered a peace... maybe.
It's one of history's significant 'what ifs'. Much mayhem and negative change resulted from that useless, bloody war.
The rise of communism not the least of it.
Posted by: CPT. Charles at Friday, July 20 2012 01:00 PM (1GunI)
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And yet, it was the Germans and Austrians that ended up actually starting the war.
Posted by: Chris at Friday, July 20 2012 01:22 PM (j6QBF)
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I doubt the An Lushan Rebellion caused that many deaths. Yes the census fell massively but most of those people simply left their homes and removed themselves from the census. Many many of them moved into what is now the more populous parts of China but back then were the thinly settled and barbaric lands. Once you were off the census you didn't have to pay taxes and taxes went up astronomically during the civil war.
Posted by: Ray at Friday, July 20 2012 01:59 PM (7v5dF)
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Ray - Good point on the An Lushan Rebellion. Not only was there massive disruption and displacement of the civilian population, but the census post-rebellion covered a smaller area. It seems implausible that two-thirds of the population actually died, as the census numbers would suggest, though clearly there was massive loss of life.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, July 20 2012 02:26 PM (PiXy!)
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@6
No they didn't. Russia did when she mobilized her army...which Keizer wilhelm begged the tsar not to do btw.
Posted by: Jason at Friday, July 20 2012 04:17 PM (6VB4r)
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As has been pointed out, the person who put this list together needs to take a history lesson. Let's follow the sequence of events. Serb extremists murder the Arch Duke Ferdinand-Austria wants retribution-Russia supports Serbs and mobilizes Army against Austro-Hungary. Germany did not want war but the Russian mobilization on her borders and the byzantine layers of treaties led to the morass. You might also like to know that the King of England, the Kaiser and the Tsar were all 1st cousins. Now let's look at the end of WWI and it's impact on WWII. The treaty of Versailles was demeaning and destructive leading to German resentment-main instigators-The French. In addition, who was the other participant in the Non-
agression pact of 1939 and helped slice up Poland- Why it's the peace-loving Joe Stalin (who also invaded Finland). This table is simple and stupid and shows why there should be a test to allow people to vote. Obama with his understanding of Economics, History, Natural Sciences and Geography would flunk.
Posted by: Vincent Walker at Friday, July 20 2012 10:08 PM (F8nGw)
1. The observation about world leaders being related is interesting, but had no effect on the arms race that preceeded WWI or the war itself. They still contended for possessions in Africa, and they still built battleships designed to fight each other.
2. The Versailles treaty was a scapegoat for the instability of Germany, which lost big in a war it entered. Mentioning the treaty is convenient. Hitler certainly thought so. What is inconvenient were the loans and aid given to Germany. Germany went from being a number of principalities to an empire with a Kaiser to a Weimar Republic to a reich in less than 70 years. That may have also been a factor. Funny how no one wants to mention that. And it was fending off communist uprisings and privation stemming from WWI and the blockade.
3. Were the interlocking treaties a major factor? Yes. But then, Britain and France had treaties with Czechoslovakia in 1938. Ask the Czechs how valuable they were. Germany could have stayed home in WWI. Instead, they launched a pre-planned offensive on two fronts.
Posted by: Blue Hen at Friday, July 20 2012 11:19 PM (6rX0K)
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Vincent - In other words, Queen Victoria caused WWI?
Oh, and if you think a post labelled "History's Bloodiest Wars And Who To Blame: A helpful guide." and listing the Influenza Virus as an aggressor in WWI should be taken seriously - then you flunk grade school reading comprehension.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, July 20 2012 11:53 PM (PiXy!)
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Pixy Misa - You are a flaming fool - as usual - George V was King of England 1910. Get your facts straight asshole. Victoria was dead.
By the way - I didn't say they started WWI - reread if you can understand anything beyond 4 letter words. It is indeed ironic that 3 first cousins were heads of state of the major players of WWI.
Posted by: Vincent Walker at Saturday, July 21 2012 02:58 AM (F8nGw)
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The Thirty Years' War might desreve a special mention, even though the large number of deaths (estimated at 8 million, give or take a few) occurred over a relatively long period. The war devastated the populations of several central European countries.
Posted by: JP at Saturday, July 21 2012 04:45 AM (m8wSv)
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Actually, George V, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II were not all first cousins to each other. George and Wilhelm were first cousins (George's father and Wilhelm's mother were siblings and children of Queen Victoria). George and Nicholas were first cousins (their mothers were sisters and daughters of King Christian IX of Denmark). Nicholas and Wilhelm were NOT first cousins - they were actually 3rd cousins through a common descent from Paul I of Russia. However, Wilhelm was first cousin to Nicholas' wife Alexandra, as Alix's mother was another daughter of Queen Victoria.
Posted by: Alia at Saturday, July 21 2012 07:55 AM (2mJE0)
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Pixy: Vincent - In other words, Queen Victoria caused WWI?
Vinny: Pixy Misa - You are a flaming fool - as usual - George V was King of England 1910.
Winner: Pixy Misa.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Saturday, July 21 2012 11:42 AM (8KjSa)
Unless you close this comment thread, it's going to keep accumulating pedantic nitpicking forever. Five years from now someone will run into it (via the magic of Google) and point out some unimportant detail that you got wrong or didn't include.
I still get letters about USS Clueless, eight years after I stopped writing it.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Saturday, July 21 2012 09:36 PM (+rSRq)
Oh, that's a shame. One of the last of the old school. But he was 91, and at least he lived long enough to see:
Uh, content warning, but that should be obvious from the title.
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Monday, April 02
Um...
This is either the most elaborate April Fool's joke I've seen in years, or the dumbest thing I've seen in... Sadly, just the past week. There's a lot of dumb in the world.
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Mr. Pixy, The 'italics' button doesn't seem to work over at AoS. At least it doesn't work if you highlight the text anc click 'I' (test here. This should be italics.) It looks like it works, but when you click 'post', it reverts to normal text.
I'm doing this one by hand. italics
Posted by: Kevin at Monday, April 02 2012 10:02 AM (3o64G)
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Weird.Both ways work on your site, but not AoS?Maybe I'm wrong and everything works fine... but I don't think so. Anyway, just a head's up.
Grats on solving spam. I'm still jazzed about that.
Posted by: Kevin at Monday, April 02 2012 10:05 AM (3o64G)
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I did another test, and italics are definitely dead in the water over there. I typed:
<pre> 119Another test... apologies. I cant get <i>italics</i> working
unless I type the html myself. <em>emphasis</em>
</pre>
and that's exactly what it looked like in the comment section, tags and all.
Posted by: Kevin at Monday, April 02 2012 10:11 AM (3o64G)
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Ok, I DIDN'T type the <pre> tags ion the original... You get what I was doing, right? Anyway, apologies for spamming you. And thanks in advance for fixing it over at AoS.
Posted by: Kevin at Monday, April 02 2012 10:14 AM (3o64G)
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Yeah, the pre was inserted by your cut and paste.
I'll have the editor fixed up this week. Been submerged with work at my day job recently, but it should be slightly easier for the next couple of weeks before I get flooded again.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Monday, April 02 2012 05:26 PM (p0Hxa)
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And yeah, I'm impressed with how well the spam filter has been working recently. The changes I made weren't that extensive, but seem to have done the trick. If it buys me the time to train up the new Bayesian/Markovian superfilter, I'm happy.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Monday, April 02 2012 05:28 PM (p0Hxa)
Okay, they're "young adult" novels, but that doesn't actually require the writing to be eye-gougingly awful. I'll stick with Terry Pratchett or Garth Nix, thanks all the same.
Amazon gets told what highlighting I do? The hell you say.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sunday, March 18 2012 09:59 AM (+rSRq)
2
Apparently yes. You can turn it off, but it sounds like its on by default.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, March 18 2012 01:39 PM (PiXy!)
3
I just looked around and I can't find anything like that. But that doesn't prove anything. It's obviously the kind of thing they don't want me to find easily.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sunday, March 18 2012 01:51 PM (+rSRq)
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From Slashdot, Home -> Settings -> Popular Highlights -> Turn Off.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, March 18 2012 02:52 PM (PiXy!)
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On my Kindle Fire, there isn't any "Popular Highlights" choice in "Settings". Probably that was in the earlier versions of the Kindle.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sunday, March 18 2012 11:09 PM (+rSRq)
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Yeah, on the Fire it's likely completely different.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Monday, March 19 2012 01:18 AM (PiXy!)
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I actually loved reading Garth Nix back when I was in sixth grade. Those were the days.
Posted by: Chelsea Rose at Friday, March 30 2012 06:21 AM (fTmKZ)
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His Old Kingdom series (Sabriel / Lirael / Abhorsen) is particularly good.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, March 30 2012 11:19 AM (PiXy!)
Does anyone remember the year - probably in the late nineties, maybe 2000 or so - when suddenly every woman in the world took to wearing orange and black and it looked like the planet had been invaded by giant anthropoid bees?
There is actually a reason I ask. Well, two reasons, one being that I can't remember.
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Sunday, March 04
You Will Believe A Sheep Can Fly
Downstream Benefits, an ABC* report on the upside of the flooding here in Eastern Oz. With flying sheep.
Residents of four towns have been evacuated as floodwaters covering an area the size of France sweep across NSW.
We don't do things by halves.
Oh yes: Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main reservoir (about two trillion litres), is expected to overflow tonight, into the already swollen Nepean River. Sydney is still on water restrictions.
As Douglas Adams wrote of a rather different president:
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.
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The science wars were a series of intellectual exchanges, between
scientific realists and postmodernist critics, about the nature of
scientific theory which took place principally in the United States in
the 1990s. The postmodernists questioned scientific objectivity, and
undertook a wide-ranging critique of the scientific method and of
scientific knowledge, across the gamut of the disciplines of cultural
studies, cultural anthropology, feminist studies, comparative
literature, media studies, and science and technology studies. The
scientific realists disintegrated them with a laser.
1
Have you ever tried to disintegrate something with a laser? Especially one from the '90s? It's not very efficient! Real scientists would use some kind of pressurized solvent spray.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Thursday, January 26 2012 11:57 AM (pWQz4)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thursday, January 26 2012 01:17 PM (PiXy!)
3
I punched holes in coins with a laser. The sound is similar to a gunshot. As the metal vapor expands into the air, it creates a similar shockwave. It's funny that we never hear such a sound effect in anime where lasers strike anything.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thursday, January 26 2012 04:49 PM (G2mwb)
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Coincidentially, my mum worked on battle lasers at some point. We had a collection of melted bricks used as a backstop in the lab. They turned into glass.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thursday, January 26 2012 04:51 PM (G2mwb)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Friday, January 27 2012 03:38 AM (+rSRq)
6
Yes. The coin was during my exploration tour of various universities.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Friday, January 27 2012 05:26 AM (G2mwb)
7
I had a buddy working in the high energy lab at Urbana-Champaign. Went to visit, ended up blowing up some business cards in the lab. Laser wasn't really amazingly powerful, but it really was interesting to see the damage - it really does explode from the inside. (Paper, so it's the water trapped within exploding into steam...)
The laser we were working with was a pulse model with a very rapid pulse, so the sound was more like a string of firecrackers.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Friday, January 27 2012 08:25 PM (GJQTS)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
08:39 PM
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Monday, December 05
Someone Forgot To Tell The Weather Fairies
It's December now. That's summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The weather right now would be considered only moderately chilly... Were itfor the middle of winter.
I prefer cool weather to hot, but seriously baby, it's cold outside.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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