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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: More Stuff

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Weird.  I just spent ten minutes or more trying to post a comment to an article on The Daily Beast.
 
The article was a piece on what the writer considers to be the death f (meaningful) satire.
 
So i remembered a lovely quote and tried to post it as a comment:
 
"Satire is what closes on Saturday night." - George S Kaufman, 1937
I used exactly that wording.
 
It automatically went into moderation.
 
A fair amount of fiddling - which may, eventually, result in about five slightly different versions of the comment appearing - finally led to this version successfully getting through without going into moderation hell:
 
"Satire is what closes on S*t*rday night." - George S Kaufman, 1937
I wonder why "Saturday" is a potential no-no?
 
(Referring to a mixed drink as a "cocktail" will get you tossed into "pending" status, too ... but "Saturday"?)
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Dave
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Post by Dave »

Hmmm. Strike out a bunch of letters from "Saturday night" and you are left with "Satan".

I don't know whether that means the auto-moderation filter system is infested by demons, written by a deranged fundamentalist, or both :?
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Hansontoons
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Re: More Stuff

Post by Hansontoons »

Dave wrote:Hmmm. Strike out a bunch of letters from "Saturday night" and you are left with "Satan".

I don't know whether that means the auto-moderation filter system is infested by demons, written by a deranged fundamentalist, or both :?
Or "turd".

There are too many people that wish to inflict their hysterics on the rest of us. But then that would start an entirely different rant, so I think I'll finish my beer and go walk the dog. At least dogs don't care for a whole lot. Love and food about covers it. And the occasional cat to chase.
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lake_wrangler
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Re: More Stuff

Post by lake_wrangler »

Seen as the signature of a member of the Hammockforums.net:
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: More Stuff

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

lake_wrangler wrote:Seen as the signature of a member of the Hammockforums.net:
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
Ow. Love it.

I can think of other bands...
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Alkarii
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Post by Alkarii »

Dude, there's a customer I've seen often who I swear looks like Dave Grohl.
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Post by jwhouk »

If my posting seems a little erratic in the near future, it is because I am installing Windows Ten.

Pray for me...
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GlytchMeister
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Post by GlytchMeister »

jwhouk wrote:If my posting seems a little erratic in the near future, it is because I am installing Windows Ten.

Pray for me...
From what I've heard, it's supposed to be a pretty major improvement, and the install process is pretty painless. I'm going to be doing the same thing fairly soon...
I'm not stupid, of course. I will be backing up everything onto an external hard drive.
After Vista, I have no faith in Windows.
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scantrontb
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Post by scantrontb »

GlytchMeister wrote:I'm not stupid, of course. I will be backing up everything onto an external hard drive.
After Vista, I have no faith in Windows.
bleh, after win XP... I've kinda lost interest in upgrading JUST because it's an upgrade, and probably won't do so... that is, until I'm FORCED to by various programs that i use that are no longer compatible with my current win7, or just plain work better with a newer OS... and even though I'll probably HAVE to do Win 9, I'll wait a bit before doing it, so they can get more of the bugs ironed out.
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jwhouk
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Post by jwhouk »

I was installing on the wife's laptop. My computer - running Win7 - is our main one, and I think I'm gonna back it up before doing the install.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
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GlytchMeister
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Post by GlytchMeister »

Due to... extenuating circumstances... I am upgrading my OS to Windows 10 as we speak.
So I guess I'm gonna be guinea-pigging my laptop anyway.

However, I did do a full-on backup to my external hard drive. So even if Windows 10 turns out to be Sindows 666, I'm safe.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
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lake_wrangler
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Post by lake_wrangler »

I was reading Erstwhile, when I ran across a comment below the comic in a style that sure sounded familiar... Then I read the signature, and confirmed via the username... 8-)

And yes, I was reading a webcomic when I should be already gone on a bicycle trip, but haven't finished getting ready for it...
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lake_wrangler
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Re: More Stuff

Post by lake_wrangler »

Speaking of bicycle trip, if anyone is interested in following me online, I will be keeping a journal online.
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AnotherFairportfan
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Post by AnotherFairportfan »

On Thursday i didn't have the camera along, and the tablet {which i used} does not do well in high-contrast situations.

Filming going on on the Brenau University campus:

Image

Obviously, whatever it was is set in the 1930s. I initially assumed that it was one of those cases of filming in Georgia because it's cheap and there are a lot of skilled workers here - Smoky and the Bandit went from Atlanta to Texarkana and back without ever getting more than fifty miles from Atlanta - but Kate asked around on Friday, and the film is actually (partially) set at Brenau.
 
It's a History Channel "docu-drama" about the Dare Stones. (A historical hoax involving the Lost Colony)

=====================

Facing the other direction i snapped some of the artwork that decorates the campus at odd places:

Image

==============

Also on Thursday, elsewhere:

Image
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shadowinthelight
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Post by shadowinthelight »

AnotherFairportfan wrote:Also on Thursday, elsewhere:

Image
A car dealership that caters to furries?
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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: More Stuff

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Proof Positive the world is not flat: If it were, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
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GlytchMeister
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Post by GlytchMeister »

Ok, here's a stupid, and yet surprisingly smart question, and is also an excellent example of the kinds of things that keep me up at night:
Why do Oreos get soggy?
The first thing one might think is duh, it soaks up the milk.
But think deeper.
Why does replacing air in the little voids of the Oreo cookie dough with milk make the cookie lose almost, if not all, of it's structural integrity?
Is it the added weight? That can't be it, because I can hold an Oreo by the edge and put many metal coins on the other end before it snaps.
Is the milk somehow reversing the chemical reactions that occur within the dough when it is being baked? I doubt it, because that would require some sort of activation energy and a subsequent exothermic or endothermic reaction. Basically, heat transfer would occur, and I'd notice that sort of thing happening if it was going on in my mouth. Not least because of my sensitive teeth.
So what the heck is going on?
...
Afterthought: this also applies to things like wet paper and breakfast cereal that wasn't eaten fast enough.
Afterafterthought: I didn't think this belongs in it's own thread, because... C'mon, soggy Oreos? I was stretching it with my hot dog buns thread.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
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shadowinthelight
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Post by shadowinthelight »

The author of this was obviously British but it addresses the question.

Why do biscuits go soggy quicker in milky tea?
Biscuit dunking duration was actually the subject of a proper scientific study in recent years. It was done by Len Fisher who is based at the University of Bristol. He published his findings in his book "How to dunk a biscuit". The reason the nation's favourite snack goes soft when you dunk it in anything is because biscuits are largely made of starch molecules (that’s the flour), which are long chains of molecules. Between them are sugar crystals that stick them together along with some fat as well.

When you put the biscuit in something hot like hot tea the heat melts the fat. Also the water soaks into the holes between the molecules and dissolves the sugar. This makes the whole structure become very weak and the biscuit falls apart.

Different biscuits with different physical properties and dimensions have different "dunking times" - in other words how long it takes before biscuit-meltdown occurs. For Rich Tea the dunking time is about four seconds. Digestives last longer, they can tolerate up to ten seconds of dunk before they start to fall apart. The only difference they found between the milky tea and non-milky tea was the flavour. They found that milky tea makes the biscuit flavour much more intense.

The reason, probably, is because milk has got a lot of fat in it unless you’re drinking liquid water (the white skimmed stuff). The fat intensifies the fat-soluble flavours in the biscuit, helps them to evaporate and go up your nose. You’ll get more flavour and more retro-aroma, as it’s called, from a biscuit dunked in milky tea than one dunked in black tea. The only possible exception I can think is that perhaps the fat in the milk is helping to liquefy the fat in the biscuit a little bit faster.

Another possibility is that it could be down to the surfactants in the milk. In order to keep the fat suspended, milk contains chemicals called surfactants. These behave a bit like washing-up liquid, which lifts fat off your washing-up by making oils dissolve. A consequence of surfactant action is that reduce the surface tension in the water so that could mean that the water can get into the biscuit quicker. If it’s absorbed faster it will have more time to dissolve the sugar. Therefore the dunking time for a given biscuit in a cup of tea made with full-fat milk might be lower!
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GlytchMeister
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Post by GlytchMeister »

Yup.
The best I could find on google (which kept trying to tell me how long I should dunk my cookies and how fast my cereal goes soggy) was via "Why is wet paper weak?"
Answer: hydrogen bonds.
Paper is made up of cellulose. These long chain molecules are held to each other with hydrogen bonds. Water, being polar! and having hydrogen bonding capabilities itself, interrupts and steals those hydrogen bonds, breaking up the paper.
Flour is also mainly cellulose, and flour is a big part of dough.
I don't know if Oreos use real flour or even real cellulose, but I bet the same action is happening.
Also, the sugar and fat dissolving probably contributes a lot, seeing as it's a freakin oreo.

Speakin of Oreos, I hope someone got fired for coming up with this "Oreo Thins" crap.
Diet Oreos? Are you kidding me?
If you are of the Oreo-eating disposition, you are likely not overly concerned with weight or you are ok with working the calories off.
*Walks away, grumbling to self about the sheer audacity and absurdity of diet Oreos.*
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Post by Sgt. Howard »

lake_wrangler wrote:I was reading Erstwhile, when I ran across a comment below the comic in a style that sure sounded familiar... Then I read the signature, and confirmed via the username... 8-)

And yes, I was reading a webcomic when I should be already gone on a bicycle trip, but haven't finished getting ready for it...
Nolo contendre
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the Old Sgt.
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