Search found 2585 matches
- Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:17 pm UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
I get the sense that humanity's bad experience with genetic engineering gets generalized into an overall discomfort with anything much like transhumanism. And the transporters can already be used to de-age someone with the help of just a DNA sample of all things to solve an episode conflict, which b...
- Wed Sep 12, 2018 6:24 pm UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
Yeah, that's fair. And I was aware of the stated limitations, enough that I'm aware of Scotty using a special cycled buffer to store himself and a crewmate and even that turning out to work only for him (IIRC?) while having considered the possibility that in a replicated bag of potato chips, all the...
- Fri Sep 07, 2018 5:12 am UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
Which, to be fair, is because the transporters never made sense with the rest of the technology anyway and were shoved in for filming convenience in the original series with the explanation following. They and the replicators are both limited to doing the one job they're assigned, despite the fact t...
- Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:54 am UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
I'm not sure that I'm not referring to that. I don't really know what you mean. Junk like this . In that example the blogger is really just grappling with the Ship of Theseus problem in a really naive way and ultimately decides that it counts as the same ship as long as you replace the boards one a...
- Thu Sep 06, 2018 1:59 am UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
But the value of a person is not the personhood of a person. This part of the discussion was only about the personhood of a person, and the idiocy of trying to append broader concerns about human value to a rigid and well defined concept that has its own, separate meaning. I don't know how "pe...
- Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:47 pm UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
They don't have a coherent ideology. I suppose you would need to be philosophically literate to understand why these are not arguments from personal incredulity. Lawl Edit: You are right on one count though, which is that people could think of software that replicates them without actually being co...
- Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:50 am UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
- Replies: 50
- Views: 7421
Re: A dragon confronts the Terasem movement
This is like, mostly arguments from personal incredulity, and it's a little hard to follow in places without knowing what this Terasem thing is. I admit I was kinda hoping that reading it would explain a bit of their ideology instead of spending most of the time indirectly describing yours. This is ...
- Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:39 pm UTC
- Forum: Science
- Topic: Formal definition of genetic fitness
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2515
Re: Formal definition of genetic fitness
Shit, you're right, sorry. Hell, even missing the spoiler, I should have realized it's the same math in reverse. Sorry.
- Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:44 pm UTC
- Forum: Science
- Topic: Formal definition of genetic fitness
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2515
Re: Formal definition of genetic fitness
There's that happened with with North American cat species having selection pressure for larger body size because it's better competition for mates while pressing them to an unsustainable size to actually live on the available prey species - long enough term to certainly seem like an advantage. I ki...
- Thu Aug 02, 2018 1:41 pm UTC
- Forum: Science
- Topic: Miscellaneous Science Questions
- Replies: 2904
- Views: 677474
Re: Miscellaneous Science Questions
I've noticed something similar for ages but never got around to actually investigating the effect. When I stir my instant coffee into a cup of microwaved hot water, the clinking of the spoon against the porcelain mug starts at a higher frequency and drops to a lower frequency as I stir. Not much .....
- Sun Aug 06, 2017 8:19 pm UTC
- Forum: Science
- Topic: Science-based what-if questions
- Replies: 622
- Views: 109866
Re: Science-based what-if questions
Well, I think only the power source itself is magical, not everything else we attach to it.
- Sun Aug 06, 2017 10:39 am UTC
- Forum: Science
- Topic: Science-based what-if questions
- Replies: 622
- Views: 109866
Re: Science-based what-if questions
Yeah, if it was literally an infinite AA, you'd be limited to things like the first option. If it's made of magic and has no current limitations, internal resistance, or operating temperature range, then there's a maximum current you'll be able to draw before it vaporizes whatever contacts you devis...
- Sun Aug 06, 2017 12:33 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1871: "Bun Alert"
- Replies: 86
- Views: 13851
Re: 1871: "Bun Alert"
Yeah, it's not at all new. The people who call snakes sneks and birds birbs call rabbits buns.
- Wed Aug 02, 2017 11:20 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1871: "Bun Alert"
- Replies: 86
- Views: 13851
Re: 1871: "Bun Alert"
orthogon wrote:BrandonH66 wrote:Who saw the title and thought it would have man buns somewhere in it?
Are they the same as moobs?
Ideally not, no. They should ideally be very unlike that. But I suppose that they can converge.
- Wed Aug 02, 2017 11:13 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1870: "Emoji Movie Reviews"
- Replies: 53
- Views: 9220
Re: 1870: "Emoji Movie Reviews"
orthogon wrote:Actually it seems that's its tail, not its head!
Ah, so it contains a horse the way A contains an ox.
- Sun Jul 30, 2017 4:21 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1869: "Positive and Negative Reviews"
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5100
Re: 1869: "Positive and Negative Reviews"
Amazon's reviews are meant to be of the product, though, so that is frustrating. It could ship from all sorts of different suppliers and be on the same page, the review corresponds to the whole thing.
- Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:21 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1869: "Positive and Negative Reviews"
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5100
Re: 1869: "Positive and Negative Reviews"
Flumble wrote:No product with "smart" in its name can be any good.
I'd generally agree, but the car is quite good.
- Fri Jul 28, 2017 5:59 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
this is the worst fate
- Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:13 am UTC
- Forum: Language/Linguistics
- Topic: Miscellaneous language questions
- Replies: 579
- Views: 100501
Re: Miscellaneous language questions
I feel like that's the difference, though, that in the three listed cases, it's an established word that took on an onomatopoeic element in reference to a linguistic thing that happens to it sometimes, which seems like ... a pretty unusual phenomenon really.
- Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:08 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
What's my punishment for having my Microsoft account linked in GNOME / Ubuntu Linux?
- Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:40 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Eh, it varies with the system. Mac makes a lot of use of the desktop, it's hard to get around. Windows uses it, but it's redundant and easy to ignore once you pin the Recycle Bin to Start and turn off the icons. It's just a wallpaper by default in GNOME (though you can turn on the Windows functional...
- Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:32 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Xfce also has five years on macOS, but I wasn't using either at either time and have no idea who decided that the desktop was a good place to save scrots first. Odds are good it wasn't on the initial release of either.
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:11 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Nice! Good to know! Thanks.
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 10:27 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
People who never learned to use laptop trackpads weird me. There are a lot of tasks for which a mouse is vastly superior, but there's really no task for which a laptop in your lap, but with a mouse, makes any sense at all. I mean, I suppose there are still Thinkpads if you'd rather a clit mouse. Dra...
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:50 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Yeah, that dialog is inherited from prior versions of GNOME, and that strategy is super-common in third-party screenshot tools. It's a very sensible solution. I dunno, if you insist on doing absolutely everything with the keyboard, not a lot of typical modern GUI stuff is going to make a great deal ...
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:49 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Not for the only time, in the last week, I don't understand the arguments on a situation where I have an apparent disagreement with someone. And I do worry that it's entirely me at fault. Ask me in private/invite me onto a dedicated technical subforum thread if you really want to, but I am not poll...
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:38 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Okay, so you don't use a clipboard manager because you prefer fussing around between windows and tabs like a person who doesn't know what a clipboard manager is. Good Android apps are indeed hard to find, and I don't have a preferred image editor myself; it's exactly the kind of app where I feel And...
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 12:25 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
1, I use my clipboard a hell of a lot more than I think a lot of people do, because there are people who don't even use a fucking clipboard manager. Quite probably a majority of people. Benighted drifters all. In any case, the fact that I use it is why I don't want irrelevant features fucking it up....
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:42 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Regardless of anything else, there are a number of things about Dropbox's apparent default behaviour that I don't like... *shudder* (And that was the problem. Rather than the expected image to copypasta, it turned out to be a text link... Except it originally wasn't linked to Ctrl- (Alt-)PrintScree...
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:03 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
It's not what you're attenuated to. It is fewer and less arcane steps than all of that nonsense with your image editor, which you've been trained into by bad design and time. It is objectively, inherently, fundamentally more convenient. Edit: And cry me a security river if people are freely accessin...
- Sun Jul 16, 2017 2:10 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Take the screenshot
Open the file
Delete the file
This is not hard
Open the file
Delete the file
This is not hard
- Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:48 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
Well, by default, GNOME just spams the files into your Pictures folder. I'm 99.8% certain I remember clicking something on setting up Dropbox's capture method. If not, well, it is at least superior to whatever the fuck Windows does. Using the clipboard shouldn't even be an option, it's idiotic. Edit...
- Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:44 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1863: "Screenshots"
- Replies: 47
- Views: 8243
Re: 1863: "Screenshots"
I love how screenshots work on Windows with Dropbox installed. Just takes the shot, saves the image to a Screenshots folder in the Dropbox one, and puts up a notification. Had to set up a script to get the same behavior with the screenshot tool in GNOME (although, to be fair, at least it allows for ...
- Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:21 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1847: "Dubious Study"
- Replies: 28
- Views: 5963
Re: 1847: "Dubious Study"
If you feel the news media's purpose is to make the leading political parties happy, yes.
- Wed Jul 12, 2017 7:40 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1861: "Quantum"
- Replies: 69
- Views: 10325
Re: 1861: "Quantum"
Yeah, HUP is almost always described in "accessible" texts as that tradeoff of the precise definition of a particle's momentum vs. position, sometimes and sometimes not with the oversimplification that that's the only information we can know rather than the only information there is, and t...
- Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:09 am UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1861: "Quantum"
- Replies: 69
- Views: 10325
Re: 1861: "Quantum"
I thought it was Extended.
- Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:41 am UTC
- Forum: Language/Linguistics
- Topic: Longest Name
- Replies: 25
- Views: 8955
Re: Longest Name
Yeah, the original question we're talking about here was how much people abbreviate. Telegraph operators certainly" count", and are also a very small and not very significant number of instances in that tally.
- Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:47 pm UTC
- Forum: Individual XKCD Comic Threads
- Topic: 1859: "Sports Knowledge"
- Replies: 44
- Views: 7867
Re: 1859: "Sports Knowledge"
I would have guessed that "plus slugging" was a thing and taken "on-base" as either a modifier phrase or a noun creating a compound - comes to the same in this case for intonation purposes, with the emphasis falling really heavily on the "on" and "plus". Treat...
- Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:32 am UTC
- Forum: Language/Linguistics
- Topic: Longest Name
- Replies: 25
- Views: 8955
Re: Longest Name
The TLA particularly seems like a nineteenth and twentieth century fixation. Like, was there a point in history where newspapers were writing stories about the EIC?
- Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:53 am UTC
- Forum: Fictional Science
- Topic: What if there was a Zombie Apocalypse?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 6756
Re: What if there was a Zombie Apocalypse?
Slow undead zombies... Societal collapse would happen quickly, but more due to other people than the actual undead... I think, frankly, that most of the slow zombie genre greatly overestimates how quickly the living would be overtaken by slow zombies. I'd expect large pockets of survivors, especial...