The Factory Floor

2:48 PM

Journeyman Geek

sets loose a pack of feral roombas

3

Hey guys, what's - slips on a feral roomba, falls over, breaks spine

aaaaaaagh never mind

3:11 PM

Could anyone who knows a thing about languages help with a pronunciation? I have an IPL string of ['mo:s-ha:gə] but I can't make head or tail of how to use the IPL - apparently, there's different ways of pronouncing things depending on the language (and this one is German).

3:21 PM

Do stars communicate with each other? Do the sing to each other like space whales...?

Is radiation a form of communication...? Hmmm...

Worldbuilding Meta

3:39 PM

0

Q: Ignoring questions' scopes

This is my first Meta question if there's any problem do let me know and I'll try to fix it ASAP. This is an issue I have encountered in my recent questions as well as others'. The "issue" — which might not be an issue at all depending on how the community sees it — in question is: a question wi...

@Pᴇᴛᴇ people used to believe planets made music as they revolved... can't remember if it was around the Earth or the Sun at that point...

Musica universalis

Musica universalis (literally universal music), also called Music of the spheres or Harmony of the Spheres, is an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, and planets—as a form of musica (the Medieval Latin term for music). This "music" is not usually thought to be literally audible, but a harmonic, mathematical or religious concept. The idea continued to appeal to thinkers about music until the end of the Renaissance, influencing scholars of many kinds, including humanists. Further scientific exploration has determined specific...

so I guess it's not actually audible... to humans

@DaaaahWhoosh Interesting. I read about this in a recent Kindle find ("The Winter Over") where one of the characters brought this notion up. You've now provided what must be the inspiration.

I live to serve

@DaaaahWhoosh Get off your knees, I just swept that floor!

I actually can't feel my legs

Monica Cellio

4:18 PM

@JourneymanGeek well, I was going to, but the point was to get his attention on a question someone thought he could answer -- but the question is on hold. So I'm not going to bother him with a superping right now.

Is that the same SuperPing that's used in Hunt for Red October?

Is the internet as a whole supposed to shudder when it's used?

5:16 PM

today is so strange, I feel like it's Thursday. Like, where did Thursday go?

logically, I can remember it happening. But it just doesn't feel right

I'm very glad it's Friday. I'm not feeling that great, and would have gone home, except that the other IT guy called in and they need someone here that knows how stuff works...

I'm confident I'll be feeling just like you in a couple weeks. The developer I share most of my tasks with is going to India for a month

5:57 PM

huh, I just looked up lunar rovers, and Wikipedia is telling there's only been three unmanned ones

seems weird, considering how much closer the moon is than Mars

6:10 PM

@DaaaahWhoosh The moon is kinda boring, and it's easier to learn stuff from it than it is from mars? Also the dust is pretty horrible, worse than mars.

Also, we've never actually landed anyone on the moon and it's all a big hoax because the moon doesn't actually exist. It's just an atmospheric illusion.

(/s just in case)

6:42 PM

the moon was invented by NASA to try to sell the idea that the Earth was round

see, by that point, we were getting too smart, people were figuring it out

so they put a giant sphere in the sky as 'proof'

but it turns out the Moon is flat too

they didn't fake the Moon landing, they just had to doctor the video to make things look spherical

their lies are catching up to them now

Fabby

8:01 PM

@kingledion The average distance from Earth to Mars is 225Gm, the minimum is 55Gm and the maximum is 401GM so the Earth in the 1970s might have seen everything or nothing at all...

Smoke! BRB...

8:35 PM

@DaaaahWhoosh You should get that checked

@James It's probably nothing to worry about. Just a random feral roomba attack.

@AndyD273 Man...I hear they rove in packs.

@James If you're fast and careful you can set a trap by putting a sweater on the floor to catch one, then they can be tamed to do menial housework.

They also serve as mounts for cats as they go into battle

You know how dogs feel about vacuums. The sight of a cat warrior riding into battle atop it's brave roomba steed has sent many a dog into fits of quivering fear.

2

8:52 PM

@AndyD273 The fields of catelannor have never been so clean or dog free since that great battle of the first age.

2

I can feel an epic poem coming on

2

If only I was any good at metere

9:10 PM

ok, not really a poem, but here goes:

In the time of Mr Fluffy, a great darkness came from the north, as the dog armies led by Ruffus came.

5

They came by the thousands, with their jingle toys and squeeky bones, chewing on all that lay before them.

The cat army made a stand in the fields of Catelannor, though their numbers were few, and the day seemed like it was lost.

The battle raged long, and many a cat fell, as the dogs pooped all over the place.

2

When suddenly a shout went up, and the dogs began to tremble, as Skittles and his Roombas arrived.

The howl of the vacuums drove the hounds before them, their tails tucked in shame.

The dogs were vanquised that day and never returned, while the Roomba dragoon is whispered in fear.

There once was a roomba mount | And a brave cat rode it about | They charged through the hall | And afterwards all | Agreed it was largely a rout

3

Haiku's shouldn't be allowed to exist.

Roomba-riding cats? I think I've seen them before. They are pretty cool.

@James That's a limerick

@AndyD273 Limerick's are just Irish Haiku's

9:19 PM

A haiku would be something like
Brave Cat rides Roomba
Cowardly dog flees before
See the floor sparkle

(I also provided a haiku)

@DaaaahWhoosh I knew there was a reason I didn't like you. The dessert feud is back on. Carrot cake sucks.

Haikus are hard though. They have too few syllables. I like sonnets more.

@DaaaahWhoosh You did, I missed it. I'll commit haiku in shame. I am not worthy.

3

@AndyD273 No no, you mean seppuku not haiku

9:22 PM

@James Look again

...ok that was a bit dark

At least now I know, it is not too difficult, to annoy you @James

Went through a haiku phase. High school was a very weird time. Then I got older.

Mithrandir24601

Oh to annoy @James, it is the easiest thing, just write a haiku

@DaaaahWhoosh lol

Mithrandir24601

9:28 PM

@AndyD273 :(

Now, what's really hard are drabbles. Those take a bit of work

That's a story told in exactly 100 words

Here's one of mine from a long while back. Titled "Fried in Butter"

The phone rang. I answered on the second ring.
"Serial Killers Guild, Ed speaking."
My boss answered "Ed, we have a problem. It's the Park Side Strangler. He went hunting without a license."
"That sounds bad."
"It's worse, the vic was paid up on his protection for the year, so we're going to have to pay damages to the family."
"Any special instructions?"
"None, choose your own methods, and trophies are allowed."
I hung up the phone, then grabbed my hockey mask and chain saw.

@AndyD273 I would star, but it's not gonna fit

That's ok. Gotta leave some for the other people

is there anything special about the limit? Or did someone just decide one day to make up a 'drabble' with an arbitrary amount?

"A drabble is a short work of fiction of around one hundred words in length. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in a confined space."

Kinda like haiku have a defined structure to show that you have skill.

9:43 PM

@Mithrandir24601 yeah, that was a great scene from a great show

10:02 PM

Well, I think I'm going to go home and crash. I've been feeling kinda blah today.

@AndyD273 I think that may be somewhat universal...

Have a great weekend all o/

Later Andy

Mithrandir24601

@AndyD273 Geros Ilas - get better soon