Wapsi Square Forum

Oh, yeah, I'm not referencing how law was carried out in that whole thing. I'm talking about the psychology.

GlytchMeister wrote:'Round these parts, we get exploding roads. Potholes appear instantaneously with a BANG.

Usually happens to concrete roads, they don't bend like asphalt.

Hereabout the roads sometimes just disappear during temperature extremes, because the mountainside decided that it wanted to relocate itself to a different area.

When Mother Nature decides she wants some landscaping done, she DOES NOT do so in half measures.

For what it's worth, from my enlistment in the Air Force in 1975 up through my retirement in 1999, the Law of Armed Conflict was a regular topic of recurring training. Due to situations like Mai Lai, Nuremburg, Saipan, Manchuria, and many others, lots of emphasis was placed on not just what but how you defend something, and the orders you can reject and how to do it. The Uniform Code of Military Justice accounts for actions and circumstances where this might happen.

So, no - the military is not a bunch of mindless drones, regardless of however '60s/'70s military movies one sees. The parody is far from reality.

Consider Dr. Strangelove. It may be possible under extremely odd circumstances for a single commander to actually give a "Go" order, but he'd have to do it through several layers of counter confirmation which would challenge him at every step, and have a room full of people with sidearms to back up the counter claim. Even if that did get out, the airborne commander cannot "Go" without dual confirmation from different sources to both Arm and Deliver the weapon.

In short, even if Maj Kong got second source confirmation to begin his attack track, he violated standing orders by not getting confirming authority to release. Dramatic, yes, funny, very yes, but Kubric got it 180 degrees wrong at the end.

Oh - the War Room? Compared to the 8th AF Command Post, it was just a bit overdone. Just a bit.

Today I saw the most ridiculously customised car that I've seen in a good long while. At first, I actually thought that it had been in some horrible accident and was just being driven along to someplace where it could be towed or repaired. It's amazing how much money people will spend to take a decent automobile, make it practically undriveable, and drastically reduce its parts' lifetime.

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

"No, it's not as amazing as you may think.

It's true, he codes really quickly. Unfortunately, he never documents the code, his indentation style is inconsistent, he mixes CamelCase and multi_word_underlined identifiers in the same data structures, and he absolutely refuses to back up his work regularly.

He'll probably never be anything more than an over-eager script kitty."

Went to the Houston Comic-Palooza with a couple of friends today, and a good time was had by all. I picked up a few little things, cool figures of Lupin III, Jigen and Inspector Zenigata.

The thing I'd have gotten if I could have afforded it was the Aliens signature package. Almost all of the surviving actors and actresses from Aliens were there, and for a mere $300 (American) you would not only get one signature from each, but you got pushed to the head of the line and VIP seating for the 35th anniversary panel. (being a Wapsi fan, Jeanette Goldstein would have been the single autograph I'd have gotten)

But the mostest coolest thing I got is a Bernie Wrightson print of Ba'man and Swamp Thing. Signed by the artist! He sat at a table in the artists section of the dealers room, pleasantly signing items (up to 10 for free, just a buck each after). I had the chance to thank him for the wonderful artwork I've admired almost my whole life and shake his hand.
That was kind of nice after seeing the commercialization of all the other guests autographs.
And I got to shake Bernie Wrightson's hand...

I have a good feeling someone is trying to catfish me.

For those who don't know what that means, it's when someone uses a false identity to get someone else into a relationship, sometimes to con them out of money, or just because they're mean.

Problem is, I can't verify anything other than that her cell phone was activated in El Paso. That's the problem with using a phone for internet; mobile versions of search engines won't let me do an image search.

Jabberwonky wrote:Went to the Houston Comic-Palooza with a couple of friends today, and a good time was had by all. I picked up a few little things, cool figures of Lupin III, Jigen and Inspector Zenigata.

The thing I'd have gotten if I could have afforded it was the Aliens signature package. Almost all of the surviving actors and actresses from Aliens were there, and for a mere $300 (American) you would not only get one signature from each, but you got pushed to the head of the line and VIP seating for the 35th anniversary panel. (being a Wapsi fan, Jeanette Goldstein would have been the single autograph I'd have gotten)

But the mostest coolest thing I got is a Bernie Wrightson print of Ba'man and Swamp Thing.

Wrightson cropped.png

Signed by the artist!

Signature.png

He sat at a table in the artists section of the dealers room, pleasantly signing items (up to 10 for free, just a buck each after). I had the chance to thank him for the wonderful artwork I've admired almost my whole life and shake his hand.
That was kind of nice after seeing the commercialization of all the other guests autographs.
And I got to shake Bernie Wrightson's hand...

Sweet.

I had been looking forward to sliding by early to beat the crowds, but life got in the way. Mebbe next year.

Attempted to go last year, arrived mid-day, lines were so miserably long that I blew it off and went home. My previous visit was a few years back when it was a little smaller and less well attended.

Ah, the joys of people setting off noise-maker fireworks repeatedly at two o'clock in the morning. The locals here keep telling me that I need more of the Bible in my life. . .so according to Biblical lex talionis, I believe that I have the moral right—nay, the moral imperative--to track down the culprits, set them alight, and then launch them screaming into the sky.

Alkarii wrote:I have a good feeling someone is trying to catfish me.

For those who don't know what that means, it's when someone uses a false identity to get someone else into a relationship, sometimes to con them out of money, or just because they're mean.

Problem is, I can't verify anything other than that her cell phone was activated in El Paso. That's the problem with using a phone for internet; mobile versions of search engines won't let me do an image search.

It might be a good idea to not send her any expensive engagement rings just yet, then.

Oh, I wasn't even thinking of doing that. What I'm expecting is to get a message saying "Oh, could yo wire me some money to get back to the states?"

She says she's an antique dealer, and for some business related reason is in Nigeria (and that was not even the first red flag), but who becomes an antique dealer at 31? Isn't that something you start doing in your fifties? Granted, it could be a family business. Now, one of her profile pics show her wearing a soccer jersey that says Qatar, but the picture has one of those frames that you add into it with software, saying "I [heart] Barça," which I think means Barcelona.

But, again, going to watch Qatar's soccer team play against (presumably) Spain's team might be something one could save money to do if you have a business.

Still, considering that the first thing she says after thanking me for accepting a friend request is immediately talking about what she values in a relationship.

Soooo... Yeah, I'm gonna let her have plenty of opportunities to raise more red flags, and see what happens. But I'm not wiring money. I'll need a good excuse, maybe something about either a bad experience, or maybe claim that I think I'm under surveillance by federal agents without a clear idea why.

Alkarii wrote:She says she's an antique dealer, and for some business related reason is in Nigeria (and that was not even the first red flag), but who becomes an antique dealer at 31?

Monica Villarreal?

Alkarii wrote:That's the problem with using a phone for internet; mobile versions of search engines won't let me do an image search.

??? I have an image-search app on my phone.

Warrl wrote:

Alkarii wrote:That's the problem with using a phone for internet; mobile versions of search engines won't let me do an image search.

??? I have an image-search app on my phone.

???x2
I have safari on my phone, and I can totally use google images. It just eats data a little bit faster than text when I don't have wifi. I can even play YouTube and other videos on it, but I never do (because that eats a whole LOT of data).

So here I am, taking shelter from mole-crab sized hail under an improvised bamboo canopy, and I'm still able to connect (poorly) to the online world. The marvels of technology. Or possibly of an unrecognised patch of sentient bamboo that wants to be sure it gets its Netflix.

Catawampus wrote:So here I am, taking shelter from mole-crab sized hail under an improvised bamboo canopy, and I'm still able to connect (poorly) to the online world. The marvels of technology. Or possibly of an unrecognised patch of sentient bamboo that wants to be sure it gets its Netflix.

Your life is an endless font of entertainment, simply due to how interesting it is...

How does sentient bamboo deal with pandas?

Typeminer wrote:How does sentient bamboo deal with pandas?

Pretty much the same way that sentient humans deal with vampires... only different.

In the case of sentient bamboo, they'd wait where they were (of course) until they could lure in a cow... and then capture and sacrifice it.

When the panda arrived... the bamboo would drive a steak through its heart.

I would think sentient bamboo would be armed in the event of a panda attack. Everyone knows bamboo shoots.