fdlFan

6137 pts · September 7, 2018


...and pulling out my hair trying to map the maze!

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I have no experience with misophonia, so I'm afraid I can't answer your questions. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate that you responded to hearing about something new by saying, "That's really interesting, I'd like to know more!" rather than, as so many do, "ugh, that's weird, what's wrong with you?".

A lot more of that, please.

(I'm also curious about this, and I hope you get an answer to your questions!)

1 week ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 1

Fun fact: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/opinion/office-work-wfh-bosses.html

tl;dr (and non-paywalled) quote from the article: "Our new research reveals that the objection to any work from home is more likely to be driven by something else entirely: ego. Case by case, there may be good reasons for teams to work together in person. As a general rule, though, it turns out that ordering people back to the office full time is a power and status move."

1 week ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

Magic Flute.

1 week ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Diana Damrau. Amazing singer.

1 week ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

As has been said before, Michael Caine's Ebenezer Scrooge worked as well as it did for more or less the same reason, except that the comedy wasn't as central to the film. There are funny bits, of course, and it's still the Muppets, but the core story from Dickens is a serious drama. 2/2

1 week ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Absolutely: how well guest stars worked on that show depended almost entirely on how well they clicked with the muppets. Some great examples: Rita Moreno (as above--check out her entire episode), Lynda Carter, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett. I think the key thing is that the guest star has to take the muppets seriously as characters, as people, but within the context of a comedy TV show with a sense of humor that wasn't particularly sophisticated (but still funny!) 1/

1 week ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

I'm all for citing one's sources and for using primary sources, and I agree that OP should have done better at that (or indeed done it at all). But what does OP's nation of origin have to do with this?

2 weeks ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Even though it's more flexible than a rigid binary division, calling it a spectrum implies that maleness-vs-femaleness varies along a single axis, and that for any two people we can say that one is unambiguously more male than the other, or that they're in the same spot on the spectrum. The article's point is that there's more than one axis, and that it's not possible to say unambiguously that person A is more male than person B. That's not avoiding calling it a spectrum.

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Don’t get me wrong, I love XIV and I’m really looking forward to Evercold. I’m just making fun of the similar announcement the devs made about the newest Monster Hunter collab.

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Interested in checking this out? Good news, it’s easy! Step 1: create an FFXIV character. Step 2: complete the main story quest “Evercold.” (Fine print: that quest requires level 110 and completing the roughly 300 hours of story leading up to it.)

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I'm curious, how does that affect the patient's vision? I know when I go to the eye doctor and have my pupils temporarily dilated, it can be hard to read for several hours afterwards. Did, e.g., Bowie's right eye just compensate?

4 weeks ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

On the third one: what? Is there some sort of ceiling liner that the cat is standing on? Don't think I've ever seen anything like that before, although maybe they're more common in other parts of the world?

1 month ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Out of curiosity, does having the components at a whole bunch of different angles affect manufacturing costs? Like, does whoever/whatever is placing the components on the board before soldering have an easier time with right angles?

2 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I don't think we're seeing both sides of the board here. The bottom picture is just the board without any components or connectors on it. R10, for instances, is on the bottom right in both pictures.

2 months ago | Likes 29 Dislikes 0

Yeah, the fact that saturation is cranked up to 11 on the 2016 photo might have something to do with that.

2 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

#29 The first half of my dissertation title is the name of a Shakespeare play. Is that acceptable?

4 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Another commenter has suggested that since the Trump administration can violate the law without consequences, the rest of us should do likewise. I'd argue that this is a failure of the rest of the system to hold the administration accountable, not an invitation for the rest of us to do the same. 2/2

5 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

Recall that civil disobedience, as described by Thoreau, necessarily involves accepting the consequences. Thoreau didn't pay his income taxes, because he didn't want to support the Mexican-American War, which he considered to be unjust. He made that decision in the full knowledge that he would go to prison for this, and he did (until, IIRC, his aunt paid his taxes and bailed him out.) MLK Jr also spent time in prison for similar reasons. 1/

5 months ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 2

We can't require adherence to only those laws that we agree with, or laws are meaningless -- including those that protect us, or that protect those that we care about. 2/2

5 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 10

This is going to be unpopular, but it needs to be said. While I think bathroom bills like Kansas's are deeply discouraging, completely indefensible, dehumanizing, hateful, and appalling, if we allow the governor to refuse to enforce bills she doesn't like, then we open the door for people like Kim Davis in Kentucky to refuse to issue marriage certificates to people that she doesn't like. 1/

5 months ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 13

Bit of both, I think. AzgarOgly is entirely correct that the sugar crystals create different colors, just like soap bubbles. But I think the background light was also deliberately colored for some of those shots.

5 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I would argue no, tho it can take some time and effort to find a compatible group if that's what you're looking for. I can only speak to FFXIV, not WoW, but although strategy guides do appear fairly shortly after the raid releases, you can still find groups who explicitly opt for blind prog. (Also, FFXIV doesn't do public test realms like WoW does, so early strategy guides are written by or based on week-1 raiders who _have_ to go in blind.)

5 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Astroturfing is artificial grassroots: on the surface, it looks like genuine public opinion, but if you dig deeper it turns out to be influenced/encouraged/bankrolled by powerful figures who have an agenda of their own but want to make it look like it's not just them talking.

6 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

#5 Yes, Pratchett did write this, in Hogfather. However, context is crucial. Immediately after the quote: "'Yes, but people have *got* to believe that, or what's the *point*--' 'MY POINT EXACTLY.'" And a bit later on: "YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY *BECOME*?" In context, the quote is a whole lot more hopeful than it appears on its own. (Conversation between Death, in all caps and in the original quote, and his granddaughter Susan.)

9 months ago | Likes 36 Dislikes 0