The Factory Floor

githubphagocyte

12:00 PM

Could the hazard tape you mentioned earlier be background for the tagline? Or should it be separate?

overactor

I'll work on readability

Tim B

actually yeah hazard tape behind the world in progress bit might work

Liath

@githubphagocyte you've put that open source project idea back in my head again... my DGF is gonna kill you! ;-)

Well, me!

overactor

better?

I'm tryiong to keep it simple

Liath

That looks really good

I wonder if the text is a little too dark? I don't know - I don't do UX ;)

githubphagocyte

12:10 PM

@Liath You only have to start it - you can pass administrative duties to a group of ~~gullible~~ volunteers...

Tim B

yeah the text is still hard to read

Liath

File New on GitHub! ;-)

githubphagocyte

:)

Tim B

at the moment Twelfth is on course for the bounty, unless a better answer comes in next few days

Liath

@githubphagocyte I'd be keen. But I'd want a conversation about what techs/skills/feature requests we have among us

I'm actually toying with a design for a game where there's a requirement to randomly generate solar systems/races - could link in nicely

githubphagocyte

12:11 PM

@Liath yes it makes sense to discuss it on meta first, so people know what size and scope project they are considering

Liath

Do you reckon that's the place?

Probably better than a chat... I'll post something gulp

githubphagocyte

@Liath you could ask a meta question to see if meta is the right place for it, or you could just go ahead and post it and see if it gets downvoted...

Liath

But is meta the right place to ask if a question is on topic at meta?

githubphagocyte

@Liath maybe phrase it in terms of site promotion as a free tool

overactor

@Liath We need to go deeper.

githubphagocyte

12:13 PM

@Liath meta only knows where you'd ask that...

Liath

Liath.Throws(new StackOverflowException());

2

overactor

@Liath That is soooo meta

githubphagocyte

Do we need a meta version of chat??

overactor

am I ready to post?

Liath

They look good!

githubphagocyte

12:18 PM

Yes I like both. Any chance of one with hazard tape behind the top tagline?

!hazard tape

(scaled down to fit so it doesn't take up much more room that the text)

overactor

I might give it a shot

ivy_lynx

You can of course make the text a mask and fill it with hazard tape

Liath

@githubphagocyte meta'd

overactor

who knew?

ivy_lynx

@TimB I'm forfeiting my dibs on the bounty btw - I'm writing the answer still, trying to make it work in a way that's practical - but I already have more rep than I can use, better to spread it around

githubphagocyte

12:24 PM

How useful is colour coding that nobody knows...??

ivy_lynx

@TimB btw it's one of the hardest questions to answer properly :P

@githubphagocyte @githubphagocyte @overactor yeah good point - but you can make it the same colors as the rest of the pic

@githubphagocyte @overactor to maintain a simple palette

overactor

@ivy_lynx That's what I was thinking

yellow and black would clash so badly

githubphagocyte

I was imagining the well known yellow and black so that it is instantly familiar, and clashes with the rest of the palette, that by contrast seems cohesive

Tim B

@ivy_lynx The best answer gets the bounty, I don't care who posts it :p

ivy_lynx

@TimB well I should be able to post it today, so we'll see - I think I'm capped as well :P

Tim B

12:27 PM

I just posted the third and there's 2 more at least to come

so plenty of bounty to go around

Liath

Warning... bumble bees approaching

Tim B

maybe posting the question today was a mistake, I'm already capped

ivy_lynx

@TimB Dude, you're always capped, don't worry

@TimB and I save my upvotes for when you're not

@TimB rep racing isn't fun without competition :P

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx the cap doesn't apply to bounties :)

ivy_lynx

@TimB besides, don't you go over often?

Tim B

12:29 PM

you can only go over cap from accepted answer and from bounties

overactor

@TimB, Keeping wind and ocean currents seperated from climates and perticipation seems difficult

ivy_lynx

@githubphagocyte yeah, if you're getting the bounty, if you're giving it, your cap doesn't change

Tim B

@overactor yeah, I considered if it should be one

I can change it to be one

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx yes I meant as you getting it

Tim B

but it's a huge subject

overactor

12:30 PM

I'd opt for one

even if it's huge

ivy_lynx

I'm not sure it can be one

just from trying to get erosion to work, it seems everything interacts with everything

Tim B

if you give out a 50 rep bounty you rep cap at 150 for that day :(

ivy_lynx

that's why this is more about practically doing it, rather than simulating it

Tim B

yep

ivy_lynx

that's what a computer is for, not a brain - brains suck at that

Tim B

12:31 PM

given wind/currents have a limited effect on maps

githubphagocyte

if you give out 200 rep bounty does that cap you at zero?

Tim B

maybe I should merge them

ivy_lynx

@githubphagocyte yeah it should

Tim B

@githubphagocyte yep...well technically no...you still gain the 200 and then give out the 200 - putting you back to 0...but you are 200 better off than if you never got the 200

Feeds 1352

0

Q: Could we design some open source software?

There have been a few questions about software-recomendation. It seems to me there are some big gaps in the tools out there. DokuWiki seems to be ideal for documenting a new world Graphics programs and Map creators seem to be the best option for designing the geography. There doesn't seem to ...

discussion

Tim B

12:32 PM

but if you get downvoted (for example) upvotes will still take you to 200

overactor

@TimB Yeah, it's complicated, but all effects on maps come from the consequences (i.e climates)

githubphagocyte

@TimB are there measures in place to prevent people making sneaky use of downvotes and reversals just before and just after midnight?

Tim B

right, edited

ivy_lynx

@TimB what did you change?

Tim B

it now covers precipitation and climate but removed trade routes etc

since that will be the final question on people

rough plan is: landmass->erosion->climate->biomes->people

as a series of 5 questions

@githubphagocyte there don't need to be. You rep cap each day or not depending on what happens that day.

githubphagocyte

12:39 PM

@TimB ah ok. I thought maybe downvotes just before midnight would allow moving rep above the cap from that day into the next (reduce rep just before midnight, which stays at 200, then reverse the downvote just after midnight to restore the rep that should have been lost)

It would only allow supplementing low days from capped days

ivy_lynx

@githubphagocyte the system is pretty strict - it seems to be designed to prevent people from gaining rep too fast.

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx I think that's a good thing. I was wondering if there is a loophole that needs closing, or if it's already been closed.

ivy_lynx

@githubphagocyte @githubphagocyte it's pretty elegant, as far as its safeguards are concerned - with just the rep limit being enforced strictly per day, it's not very open to abuse.

Can any of the 2k+ explain to me why my review queue has 4 items, but none appear on the review page?

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx yes, even if that loophole is open it doesn't allow very large scale transfer of rep from a capped day to the next

@ivy_lynx I think that's a network wide bug - it's been raised

ivy_lynx

@githubphagocyte ah ok

It seems that if one of your accepted answers gets un-accepted, your cap lowers :P

Yep, capped at 189

at exactly 2048 rep - now that is a sign - same day Liath posts his app proposal <3

overactor

12:57 PM

@Feeds1352 This is quite an exciting idea.

Tim B

@ivy_lynx I think it shows all reviews that need completing - even if you have personally completed them all so they don't show for you

ivy_lynx

@TimB well it's either this or a bug because it goes back and forth between 3 and 4 - no matter, I just wanted to know if I was missing somethng

Liath

I always assumed they were your edits which other people had to review

overactor

Would this make for a good question:

"How can I have a living entity many times larger than a planet?"

Or sentient entity

?

Tim B

not really :p

the answer is you can't with any currently known biology - and then from there it's just speculation as to how something like that might form

overactor

1:12 PM

@TimB That's what I feared.

It would obviously not be similar to any currently known biology

Tim B

try and scope it down it might be a good question

so design the lifeform and then ask about problems with it

for example

i.e. I have X, how does it eat, does it need to breathe, would it have its own atmosphere, etc

ivy_lynx

Try asking if you can have a worldship that's also a huge space-whale

:P

overactor

@ivy_lynx Guaranteed gold badge

"What problems would a collosal space turtle face?"

ivy_lynx

then make it misleading, to attract views from hot questions: "My whale is too big for travel - how do I scale it down?"

overactor

"My whale is not big enough for travel - how do I scale it up?"

ivy_lynx

1:16 PM

"I used magic to create a turtle, now it's causing problems by eating the universe"

2

@overactor lol, indeed

overactor

I'd click that

ivy_lynx

we need to try harder though

overactor

"Will my turtle bring about the end of the universe?"

2

ivy_lynx

"How big can a creature yet and still be able to be hard as rock?"

"If a turtle is floating in space, does it still count as carrying the world?"

these are awful

overactor

"How much does my turtle have to fart to achieve relastivistic speeds?"

2

ivy_lynx

1:19 PM

@overactor LOL toilet humor always fixes things

And that can actually have a mathematical answer

albeit a short one

Tim B

"could a hypothetical species expel gas fast enough to achieve escape velocity"

3

ivy_lynx

Meta: "Should we discourage posts about animal-based spacecraft?"

overactor

@TimB Maybe, my question is, what's the purpose of that?

ivy_lynx

@TimB That is what I'm talking about

overactor

"We're going to need a bigger butt!"

Tim B

1:22 PM

lol

overactor

How many questions about planet sized turtles will this site tolerate?

Liath

How many elephants can I balance on my turtle?

Gah... why is this dialog posting back... The other one is behaving! headbang

overactor

How many turtles can I stack on top of eachother (before it gets ridiculous)?

ivy_lynx

"If whales can fly and shoot water, can they shoot water into space?"

githubphagocyte

Can a planet with the same chemical composition as a turtle support life?

2

overactor

1:38 PM

0

Q: How do I prevent my turtle from collapsing under its own gravity?

Suppose the universe contained a species of planet sized turtles.1 How can I explain (without invoking magic) that these turtles are not spherical? If this is not possible with the laws of physics as it is, what can be changed minimally about teh laws of physics that could allow such an organism...

science-based animals

Is this okay?

ivy_lynx

Was "teh laws of physics" intentional? :P

overactor

0

Q: How big could a living thing be?

Simply put is there an upper bound for the largest possible living creature in a scientifically rational world without incorporating antigravity, magic, the force, or other physical concepts we are not aware of? In order for me to consider it living, it must respire (though not nessesaryily brea...

science-based reality-check creature-design

ivy_lynx

Oh man, have all my upvotes!

overactor

@ivy_lynx of course

shifty eyes

ivy_lynx

some poor dude actually posted a broader version of the same, at the same time

but I think both stand - there's a difference between "how do I make an object that can work" and "how can I make it work, given these conditions and handwaiving others"

overactor

1:43 PM

Yeah, his question also asks for a size limit specifically

Vulcronos

@Liath So with all your mermaid questions, when will you get around to asking what we all really want to know. How do they reproduce?

2

ivy_lynx

@Vulcronos that would be great, but I fear the answer will be that they just lay eggs or something very unsexy

@Vulcronos considering my answer to his latest question, I'd be forced to answer that

@overactor your questions are like a quantum pair - born at the same time and if combined, they cancel each other out :P

overactor

@Vulcronos Also, which way round would you rather have your merfolk spouse be?

Vulcronos

lol

ivy_lynx

A great question would be "If Mermaids lay eggs, will they have a sex drive like humans?"

Vulcronos

1:51 PM

Probably not like humans

But birds and fish still have a sex drive

It just revolves around laying and fertalizing eggs

ivy_lynx

Now that I think about it, the fish scales are what ruins everything - get rid of them and mermaids are just human whales

overactor

@ivy_lynx What are the social implications of an intelligent species that fertilize eggs outside of their bodies

ivy_lynx

@overactor You earn a gold star, nice one

overactor

@ivy_lynx I've seen human whales, they look nothing like merfolk without scales

ivy_lynx

But might be boring - tbh, most questions sound boring here until you try to answer them

overactor

1:52 PM

@ivy_lynx I might actually ask that question

Vulcronos

@overactor I have been waiting for ever for someone to ask that question

@overactor It was on one of the sites propsal questions and I had all sorts of ideas.

overactor

@Vulcronos Do you ahve an answer ready in a txt document somewhere?

ivy_lynx

I think it's valid, jokes aside

Vulcronos

@overactor Not that insane. Just a bunch of ideas

overactor

I'll formulate it

Vulcronos

1:54 PM

@overactor Of course since I am at work I don't know if I can answer immediately :p

overactor

@Vulcronos A good answer would take a while anyway

githubphagocyte

I already mentioned reproduction in my answer to the tail orientation question, but my suggestion was unrealistic...

ivy_lynx

off-topic: here's a q off the hot list: space.stackexchange.com/questions/5561/… - it's interesting how different the artist representations are, while keeping the same features present

@githubphagocyte you got downvoted?

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx no, 2 upvotes. The lack of realism is my own opinion :)

2

A: Is it more likely that merfolk would evolve with horizontal or vertical tails?

Route In order to establish what is more likely, you would need to have a rough idea of the evolutionary route they took. Thinking about this may lead you to a history that explains how they evolved naturally to look as they do, or you may decide natural evolution is unlikely to settle on that s...

ivy_lynx

dawww sheep

githubphagocyte

1:59 PM

@ivy_lynx it's only sheep in places

ivy_lynx

still cute

i see what you mean by unrealistic

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx lol yes - not likely to arise naturally and not likely to be robust even if bioengineered...

ivy_lynx

i saw it when you talked about fertilizing a human womb with a fish egg - but to be honest, considering the scope of the Q&A, I'm ok with it

more likely to produce a horrible abomination

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx yes that bit was just a tagged on aside - just turned out to be the longest section :(

ivy_lynx

but good job pointing out the evolutionary path - TimB also did, which was important - I forgot about it completely

WAT, mine has 9 votes??

githubphagocyte

2:02 PM

I think the sensible answer is "it wouldn't have scales, and it wouldn't be pretty", but I don't think that is what the question was looking for...

ivy_lynx

lol timb's has only 1 vote more - that's silly

@githubphagocyte yeah but bringing it up is important since it talks about "evolving", even if you disregard it later

my answer wasn't bad but it doesn't deserve 9 upvotes lol xD

just a bunch of pics - should've used a sexier mermaid though

githubphagocyte

@ivy_lynx it got my upvote because it takes into account current evolutionary pressure, rather than just inheriting previously evolved features.

The ideal answer would include both aspects...

Tim B

pictures get votes

known factoid

Vulcronos

Yeah they do. The cuter the better.

githubphagocyte

True. The majority of my Stack Exchange network votes are from pictures...

I should probably be ashamed

ivy_lynx

2:05 PM

lol

Liath

@Vulcronos actually I was leading up to "How could mermaids build and fly a spaceship given it has to be filled with water?"

2

ivy_lynx

well, pics aren't bad if they explain a point (although some text has to be present) - I hate code-only answers more than pic answers tbh

Vulcronos

Oh

The electronic nightmare begins

ivy_lynx

@Liath pre-emptive +1 on that

actually our views/day are rising quite rapidly

we're already at 1.8k

TimB was right

Tim B

I usually am :D

2

ivy_lynx

2:07 PM

:P

overactor

1

Q: Social implications of intelligent species that practice external fertilization

Some species that reproduce sexually, don't actually have sex as such. Instead the female might lay soft scaled eggs, which the male then fertilizes extrenally. I want to know what a society of an intelligent species that fertilizes eggs externally might look like. For this question, you may as...

society psychology reproduction

Any changes I should make?

ivy_lynx

looks proper to me

overactor

@Vulcronos have a blast :)

Vulcronos

@overactor Thanks. Quick clarifications that could go into your question. How many/how often are eggs laid? How long does it take an egg to devlop, still 9 monthish? Any special care that the egg has to have? Most species have to keep an egg warm so it can take out an individual harder than pregancy. In pregancy you can still move around a bit. With eggs you can be down and out, a permant heat warmer.

overactor

@Vulcronos I'll add some assumptions

Hmm, could I leave that open and instead clarify that these variables should be consistent with evolving into a sapient species?

Vulcronos

2:21 PM

@overactor I thought some clarification could help. But if we went with what is practical, the larger a species is the few eggs they lay.

githubphagocyte

You can already assume the hatching is after much less than 9 months - the reason mammals can afford such long gestation periods is because they can keep adding more food. With an egg all the food is included up front. You couldn't physically lay an egg if it contained 9 months' worth of food.

overactor

Maybe the young consume eachother?

githubphagocyte

Whether the eggs are abandoned or protected is important - either could develop into a sapient species

overactor

Okay, I decided to make it abandoned and lots of eggs

Tim B

lol, my related question had people flat out stating that abandoned young means non sentient

githubphagocyte

2:24 PM

Interesting :)

Tim B

you're virtually a duplicate of my question now overactor :p

githubphagocyte

Abandoned eggs needn't necessarily mean abandoned young - they could hatch out and join the flock of adults to begin learning

Humans already have an instinct to teach and help that doesn't only apply to their offspring

overactor

@TimB The species becoming more intelligent could also have brought change about abandoning eggs.

Tim B

10:10 PM

I think the fact that all answers start with "i think" and "i believe" suggests that:

5

Q: Elves in a Modern Society

Let's say you had a world much like Tolkien's Middle Earth. Elves, dwarves, orcs, and the like. Now let's say that against all odds, evil sorcerers, heroic blunders, and such that that world managed to achieve a level of technology and civilization equivalent to our own. How would Elves, specifi...

technology culture fantasy-based technological-development

is too opinion based

githubphagocyte

@TimB lol at "(in the interest of keeping the question narrow)"

Tim B

yeah it started off even broader

I might do a meta question on it, we've not had many "too opinion based"

githubphagocyte

Time to close it until it can be made more answerable?

Tim B

right, posted the question

Feeds 1352

10:25 PM

0

Q: Is this question "too opinion based"?

This question is on topic and has been narrowed a bit so is manageably broad: Elves in a Modern Society However I think it may be too opinion based and the fact that the answers start with: I believe if and I think the and I tend to agree that All reinforce that thought. D...

discussion

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