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02:31

0

Q: Is it wise to close a popular but wrongly assumed question

This question was published yesterday Why is lead radioactive? and within a day it has been viewed 2000 times. From its view count alone we can assume that this question is mulled over by most people and have questions regarding the radioactivity of lead. Because the questions premise is wrong Ch...

discussion

Nicolau Saker Neto

@ron It wasn't me!

ron

03:21

@NicolauSakerNeto I knew that, thanks.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Alright, just making sure

santiago

06:21

hi @Martin

Martin

@NicolauSakerNeto What's happening here??? O.o

@santiago Hey there, how are you doing?

santiago

@Martin not too bad (considering what the doc told me)

how are you going?

Martin

I am okay... some sleeping issues, but weekend is near so I am going to be cured (or more messed up) then.

What did the doc say?

santiago

@Martin that is a weekend tradition!

Martin

ROTFL ;)

santiago

06:26

@Martin apparantly, the partial paralysis that is making my recovery slower than I like is permanent

I have about 50% use of my legs

I take that prognosis as a challenge

Martin

@santiago I am very sorry to hear that

@santiago Slowly, slowly, you can make it. One step at the time. I wish you all the best!

santiago

the car accient also damaged my spine and I copped a head injury too - the latter only causes mild deafness in one ear and some slurring of words

Martin

Apr 14 at 1:18, by Nicolau Saker Neto

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
― Calvin Coolidge

santiago

but, as I said, that prognosis is just a mere hurdle that I will overcome, as long as I keep up my training

Martin

Finally found it...

santiago

06:29

@Martin exactly! that is my motto in life

Martin

@santiago see, there you go. Just stay persistent, be optimistic.

santiago

my doctor recognises my drive and helps me push myself a little further each time (as does my personal trainer)

Martin

@santiago Having a team believing in you helps a lot.

I think I can speak for all of us here, wishing you all the best, and we are here for moral support!

santiago

exactly, the cop that got me out of the wreck also helps

Martin

Good to hear that.

santiago

06:33

many have been through worse

Martin

True. Sometimes I look back and remember how blessed I am.

santiago

as do I

Martin

As long as you find your joy in life, you can consider yourself lucky, I guess. And sometimes making small progress is the best thing ever.

santiago

it is, there are no limits asides from the limits we set for ourselves

Martin

I have to go afk for a bit, still at work, see you soon.

There, have a star for that one!

santiago

06:37

Thank you muchly! Have a great day!

Martin

07:15

@santiago :D Thanks, you too.

Oh... I guess I did flagging wrong most of the times.

13

Q: Flagging multiple comments versus flagging the whole post for moderator attention

When multiple comments in a comment thread ought to be removed (especially if they're all for the same reason), should I flag each of them individually or flag the parent post for moderator attention? I've usually adopted the former strategy - flagging each comment with the same flag reason, oft...

discussion comments flags moderator-tools comment-flags

santiago

you and me both!

Martin

07:32

You can always learn something from meta :D

santiago

indeed! I haven't joined there - but are entertained from some of the conversations therein

I am close to an 'Enlightened' badge

Martin

@santiago What question?

santiago

@Martin this one chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/28387/…

i think my first answer here

Martin

@santiago It went completely past me, now you have the badge I suppose ;)

santiago

awesome! thank you! - am very happy with that answer, as I learned the reason as I was writing it

Martin

07:49

@santiago Research is part of the fun here... there are quite some answers I posted, that I initially did not know much about. A hunch, but not knowledge... enrol the great Google-sama and off we go, answers we get...

santiago

absolutely! Google Scholar is a treasure trove!

Martin

haha... chrome extension ;)

santiago

lol, yes - I am resisting it so far..

Martin

It's very handy. I would love it if it could turn up in the right click context when you highlight text...

santiago

hmmm may have to give it a go

Martin

08:00

It works superbly. Highlight something on a page and hit the extension button and you see the top results.

santiago

that sounds ideal - I will install it in a moment

Martin

haha... i am a promoter...

they should pay me :D

santiago

send them an invoice!

Martin

Haha... I wonder if @MARamezani gave in to the sandman...

9 hours ago, by MARamezani

Screw sleeping

Martin

09:49

I really have the feeling I am stalked by a down voter recently, but subtle enough that it is not considered serial voting...

santiago

I saw that your answer was downvoted - not sure why - I upvoted it

Martin

10:12

Well, my stalker :) Thanks for the upvote.

santiago

lol - I don't think that I have downvoted anything you have written - it is great information

Martin

Hehe, thanks, I always hope I help the people.

santiago

11:35

hmmm tryiing to write an answer... not sure if I am getting it

Nicolau Saker Neto

@Martin ron did not like a downvote he got with no explanation, and since I commented on his answer I just wanted him to be clear it wasn't me

I didn't like the possibility of him being disappointed in me for something I didn't do

I look up to him a lot so I got scared!

santiago

hi @NicolauSakerNeto

Nicolau Saker Neto

Hey santiago

santiago

I am struggling a bit with an answer, but almost there, I think

MARamezani

11:54

Hullo!

santiago

hiya

am still wrestling with this answer

MARamezani

Haven't seen ya lately.

Everything ok?

santiago

mostly yes

MARamezani

@ron This hit you too? I was hit too a couple of times.

@santiago What do you mean by mostly?

@Martin I did, but in 6 a.m.

santiago

@MARamezani the partial paralysis in my legs is apparently permanent

MARamezani

11:57

@Martin You too? What's going on here?

@santiago :( That's sad.

santiago

@MARamezani nah, its a challenge

MARamezani

santiago

exactly!

MARamezani

Like that one? ^

@santiago Which guy are you in the current situation? The one on the left?

santiago

@MARamezani both!

MARamezani

11:59

o.0

Gimme some minutes. I need to pray.

Martin

@NicolauSakerNeto Thank you for the explanation, I completely understand. Ron knows a scary lot, and he is a good partner to argue with, so one should always give him the chance to do so...

@MARamezani What are you referring to? My sleep disaster?

@MARamezani Oh didn't see that, sorry

MARamezani

@Martin My sleep disaster! Hullo!

Martin

Yeah... i see

wow that was a quick prayer

MARamezani

Muslims' prayers take 10 minutes if they're slow.

We do five "shifts" of them every day.

These five shifts are compulsory.

Anything else is voluntary.

BTW @Martin how many times did you get -1d?

santiago

I think I am going to discard the answer I am writing.....

MARamezani

12:08

@NicolauSakerNeto He's like a parent to many of us!

Aaah, there's a new meta post!

Martin

@santiago nooo, why?

MARamezani

2

Q: Is it wise to close a popular but wrongly assumed question

This question was published yesterday Why is lead radioactive? and within a day it has been viewed 2000 times. From its view count alone we can assume that this question is mulled over by most people and have questions regarding the radioactivity of lead. Because the questions premise is wrong Ch...

discussion

I'm gonna answer it.

Martin

@MARamezani i don't know, i dont count

santiago

@Martin I am going to try and finish it....

Martin

but it is more often, than i would expect...

MARamezani

12:09

Someone is taking revenge on some of us.

Martin

@MARamezani I was not aware that muslim prayer is so short, but that makes sense if you do it five times a day...

@MARamezani Oh yes answer that one, I completely forgot about it

MARamezani

@Martin You a christian? (Sorry if I'm a nose-poker)

Martin

I was brought up this way, so i would answer that with a little bit

MARamezani

...sarcasm?

Martin

no, just not practising

i became too much of an scientist for religion to work on me

and there are a lot of people doing wrong in the name of their god... I don't like that

MARamezani

12:16

@Martin I very much agree. Even in this world some people call themselves Muslims and slaughter Muslims and rape Muslims and etc. (I think you know who I mean)

While we exactly have our bible saying that if one claims themselves a Muslim (not going into details) no Muslim can hurt them physically or emotionally or whatever.

Martin

@MARamezani I guess, but it's not only about Muslims, they are just the ones suffering most at the moment

MARamezani

@Martin I always separate science and religion.

Martin

that's a good way of doing it

MARamezani

Science is something humans have achieved with the power of their thought, while religion is something that they will not achieve with their mind.

santiago

alrighty I am about to post an answer...

MARamezani

12:22

Oh no!

santiago

okay, here it is chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/29219/…

MARamezani

Must....Resist....upvoting!

santiago

lol

MARamezani

I give up.

Martin

good you did not abandon this

MARamezani

12:27

^ That. ^

santiago

it was making my eye twitch

MARamezani

@santiago These are the sacrifices you have to make for $\huge{REPUTATION}$.

santiago

lol - not sure about 'huge' reputation

MARamezani

And some $\tiny{learning}$.

santiago

mind you, I do have a question... what exactly would the features of water at its triple state look like?

MARamezani

12:29

They'd look like the features of a water in its triple state. Duh!

santiago

lol, of course!

hmmm I wonder if that would be a viable question

MARamezani

It'd be too broad.

santiago

What are the properties of triple state water?

Martin

@santiago Depends on how you ask of course...

santiago

What are the optical properties of triple state water?

MARamezani

12:34

@santiago Still too broad.

santiago

What does triple state water taste like?

MARamezani

It tastes like triple state water.

Martin

hot cold but delicious

santiago

I thought triple state water would taste like chicken

MARamezani

Well, I thought it tasted like sausage, but I was wrong.

santiago

12:35

How are the spectral properties of water at its triple state and critical point differentiated?

MARamezani

...from the water at normal temperatures? That would make a nice question. -7 votes, closure, etc.

santiago

does triple state water go well with white wine?

MARamezani

Dunno. Ask white wine. But I think they had some quarrel the other day.

Martin

Everything goes well with white wine, as long as the wine is good

santiago

Can triple state water be used in an ice bucket challenge?

MARamezani

12:39

Of course.

That's what challenges are for.

(Failing)

santiago

lol, yes

hmmm how to word that question

ooh ooh ooh

"How is triple state water spectrascopically detected?"

MARamezani

Now that's something!

santiago

better wording:

"What are the spectroscopic signatures that define triple state water?"

@MARamezani how about "What are the spectroscopic signatures that differentiate triple state water from water at 1 atm?"

MARamezani

I like the latter better between the two above.

But instead of playing with your question, post it $\color{red}{ALREADY}$!

santiago

I even found a pretty picture to go with it

lol

Martin

12:59

$$\Huge\color{red}{\heartsuit}$$ Go post something positive about the serif fonts on meta!

Pretty please :D

Well of course only if you like it ;)

santiago

lol

Martin

Hey @Kurtis!

MARamezani

Hullo @Kurtis!

santiago

hi @KurtisBeavers!

MARamezani

For the record, I'm gonna first discuss the color here with @Martin, and then post my suggestion on the meta.

AFTER I get done with another meta post.

Martin

13:05

Whaaat?

MARamezani

Well I was saying there's too much green on the design. Makes me worried about getting tired of it soon.

santiago

@MARamezani @Martin I have posted the question

MARamezani

I was suggesting some dark/bright blue hue adding to the design.

Like the code: #123456

santiago

and i resisted the urge to add in any references to a triple point of water ice bucket challenge

I bet @MARamezani or @Martin are now racing to answer the question first ;p

MARamezani

@santiago I'm answering the meta thing.

Martin

13:17

Sorry, no idea of spectroscopy...

santiago

lol, multitasking

or are you thinking about a triple state water ice bucket challenge?

Kurtis Beavers

Hi @Martin @MARamezani @santiago

MARamezani

@KurtisBeavers Hullo!

Reading the log?

Kurtis Beavers

Yeah, just checking in :)

Martin

@KurtisBeavers Are you working on other sites, too? Or do you have all the time in the world to be tormented by us now?

MARamezani

13:21

Well, I think if Geoff was here, there would've been some hot discussion about how to bash the design, but not now.

Kurtis Beavers

We're working on a lot of different sites at the same time.

Some of it is cleanup on already graduated sites.

Martin

As a computational chemist, I would have it a little bit less bright, but it is nice. What are your objections @MARamezani?

Well of course maintenance is important.

Were you involved with the design change in the beta sites?

MARamezani

@Martin I love the design. That's my objection.

The color thing I purpose is just something trivial.

Kurtis Beavers

@Martin that was another designer, but we're working together to update the framework that all the sites are built upon.

MARamezani

Their work is really awesome.

santiago

13:25

I am impressed with the design

MARamezani

Ah, @Martin @santiago done:

1

A: Is it wise to close a popular but wrongly assumed question

Short answer: Yes. Long answer: I haven't seen the case here yet. But on meta.SE, you'll see some very interesting instances of...well, I recommend clicking on this: http://stackoverflow.com/search?tab=votes&q=closed%3ayes Some people there go whining about why a question with xk views and y u...

Kurtis Beavers

It's less about the visual stuff, and more about being able to easily launch new features in the future easily across the network of sites.

MARamezani

@santiago You're almost impressed with anything.

Kurtis Beavers

@santiago Thanks

MARamezani

And everything. (Kidding)

Martin

13:25

@KurtisBeavers Very good, kudos!

2

MARamezani

Guys have you noticed how meta's gone wild?

santiago

@MARamezani so true!

Martin

What do you mean?

MARamezani

@Martin We get lots of new questions in the past two days.

Martin

I am answering that now...

MARamezani

13:30

@Martin Go on. I love an ~~argument~~ discussion.

santiago

13:44

hi @ron

MARamezani

Hullo @ron!

Martin

So... done....

my opinion is on the meta...

MARamezani

Gonna read it.

ron

@MARamezani I come from a mind set where, 1) if I ask a question, I would upvote (just about) any answer just to say "thanks" and let others help sort the wheat from the chaff before I accept the best answer; 2) in my view there is a difference between an incomplete answer and a wrong answer; I might not upvote an incomplete answer, but I don't think I would down vote it either. But it was late last night and I probably made too much ado about nothing.

Hello @santiago & @MARamezani

MARamezani

@ron Think I agree. But I'm more loose on upvoting. :)

Martin

13:47

Wow @ron, that came about from nowhere

MARamezani

@ron Random downvotes strike many.

The meta.SE solution: Just ignore them.

Martin

Haha... some of them are not random, I believe that, there is a stalker ;)

But yeah, ignoring works just fine.

ron

What can I say, try to put some thought into an answer. I don't always get it right, but I try. I guess I just over react, especially when I don't believe the answer is wrong.

MARamezani

A random stalker.

ron

@Santiago I read about your accident up above. Sorry to read that. I hope you recover completely.

Martin

13:51

@ron I know exactly what you are saying. I just got the downvote on the carbonyl oxygen question

santiago

@ron thank you for that - recovery will happen, am making sure of that

Martin

and what i really dislike is, when people don't leave a comment about it

ron

I can't believe that, I thought is was a good answer and up voted

MARamezani

@Martin Yes, and making comments mandatory doesn't work.

Martin

@MARamezani Well that should not be the solution either... the voting is depending on anonymity and that is good

ron

13:53

Why are downvotes even needed. Couldn't just upvotes sort things out?

Martin

but sometimes it would be nice to know

Nicolau Saker Neto

I think downvotes are necessary

Martin

@ron thanks,

santiago

he he chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/29260/…

MARamezani

@ron They are necessary.

@NicolauSakerNeto Hullo!

Martin

13:54

@Nicolau I agree

Nicolau Saker Neto

Hello everyone

ron

why?

santiago

Hi @NicolauSakerNeto!

ron

Hello @NicolauSakerNeto

MARamezani

@ron Wrong answers get them, and that's a sign.

Dumb questions get them, and that's again a sign.

Martin

13:55

Yeah I use the for wrong answers and vlq

Nicolau Saker Neto

Differentiating disapproval and lack of an opinion either way is important in principle

ron

@MARamezani couldn't zero upvotes also be a sign?

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto Who is everyone? :)

@ron Not exactly. 1) Not everyone sees the vote counts, so a -3/+3 is =0. 2) Then all the unanswered questions have bad answers? I guess not.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Everyone! Pinging you all individually sounds unnecessary

santiago

alternatively, bad questioners could be whipped with very long polymer chains

MARamezani

13:57

@santiago Good idea. Wait...

Nicolau Saker Neto

It has been my experience that social sites with upvotes and downvotes have better content than upvotes alone

coughredditcough

And it makes sense to me

santiago

@NicolauSakerNeto have a glass of triple state water for that cough

Nicolau Saker Neto

Are you trying to sell me triple state water, now?

Is that the new fad

MARamezani

Well @Nicolau in SO, something downvoted will not appear in their home page, and won't bother anyone else. So, they basically say a No. I won't answer you dolt when they -1 something.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Out with the alkaline water, in with the triple state

santiago

13:59

@NicolauSakerNeto yes, and triple state ice bucket challenges

Martin

I have to go... nice seeing chat so busy. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Nicolau Saker Neto

Good night Martin

ron

bye Martin

santiago

have a great weekend, Martin!

Gowtham

i thought reddit had downvotes O.o hullo everyone

Nicolau Saker Neto

14:01

It did, I meant to compare it favourably to, say, Facebook

santiago

hiya Gowtham!

Nicolau Saker Neto

Or many news sites which use the FB "like" system

ron

I need to run too, see everyone next time

Nicolau Saker Neto

Bye bye ron, keep on rocking

santiago

see you later ron!

Martin

14:02

Oh and if anyone would like to join the textbook-erratum thing, that would be nice, there are a lot of votes meaning pro, but I don't know weather to extend or make a new one, weigh in with a suggestion pretty please.

MARamezani

@ron Have a nice time being downvoted!

@Martin Told you to make #chemfail.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Man, I hate how my social ineptitude keeps me from saying things until after the opportunity is gone

I wanted to back up ron a little more

I lack communication and language skills

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto [Insert backing up Ron here]

Nicolau Saker Neto

Technically that works but doesn't have much impact

MARamezani

BTW @Nicolau would you lend in a hand?

3

Q: Is it wise to close a popular but wrongly assumed question

This question was published yesterday Why is lead radioactive? and within a day it has been viewed 2000 times. From its view count alone we can assume that this question is mulled over by most people and have questions regarding the radioactivity of lead. Because the questions premise is wrong Ch...

discussion

@Mad Hullo!

I think to the above question, your help can be appreciated.

Nicolau Saker Neto

14:10

I was going to mention that part of the "popularity" was just because it was featured as a hot network question

And having a simple, short, relatable title helps garner clicks

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto Ah, yes, of course.

@NicolauSakerNeto Even a programmer goes what the...? seeing Why is lead radioactive?

Nicolau Saker Neto

Yes

MARamezani

So, would you comment or should I?

Nicolau Saker Neto

You can, but that observation doesn't really make the Meta question baseless

It's still something worth asking

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto Yes.

santiago

14:15

anyways, good people, I must go to bed - it is 12:15am tomorrow here and I have to journey to the Land of Nod, whereupon I will dream of triple state pizzas, subatomic fries and a hydrated soda

MARamezani

@santiago Don't forget triple state lols.

Have a nice lolic sleep.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Sleep well santiago

santiago

@MARamezani lololol

@NicolauSakerNeto thank you muchly!

Gowtham

i think the poplular question is badly framed. It shows very less prior effort

MARamezani

@Gowtham Yeppie. But in chemistry, you can ask everything as long as it's not homework, which bugs me.

Gowtham

14:17

If it was something along the lines of "why is such and such isotope radioactive while another is not ", then i think it would be a bbetter question

Nicolau Saker Neto

Well, sometimes it's not so much little effort as it is little background knowledge

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto Third result, Google:

google.com/…

Gowtham

@MARamezani ya , i think if the homework(like) question policy is changed to include these questions, that question is pretty much VTCed

MARamezani

> ...Lead, atomic number 82, is the heaviest element to have any isotopes stable ...

@Gowtham Don't want its change.

I just want some chemists not to be that nice.

:}

Nicolau Saker Neto

The fact that lead has stable nuclei doesn't mean it's not radioactive!

MARamezani

14:20

@NicolauSakerNeto The OP seems to miss that.

WAIT A MINUTE!

Maybe the OP was asking: Why is lead having the most stable isotope!

Nicolau Saker Neto

Possible but I don't think so

There's several ways to interpret the question, really

But the asker might not be able to put into words what they mean

MARamezani

BTW @Nicolau whaddya think about da design?

@NicolauSakerNeto Yes. That's what I thought.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Well, I only glanced over it. I'm not a very style-oriented person, so I don't feel particularly justified in putting my opinion forward since it's so weak

But it seems plenty fine to me

And I thank Kurtis for his efforts

MARamezani

Well, I was thinking there's so much green.

Nicolau Saker Neto

It matches my avatar, so I am biased

MARamezani

14:24

Imagine a horror movie when you edit all the first 15 questions, and the questions have accepted answers, and the design is mainly green.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Well if you think that's an issue, you can mention it in the Meta topic

I have no strong opinions either way

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto I think it's too trivial. And not everyone is bothered with it.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Huh, now that I realize it, I'm getting a Kurz Gesagt feeling from parts of the site design

Don't tell me one of the designers works with them, that would be awesome

MARamezani

@NicolauSakerNeto OK.

I won't tell you.

Nicolau Saker Neto

I didn't mean that literally!

It's probably just some coincidence, though

Or inspired design

MARamezani

14:32

@NicolauSakerNeto Yesterday Kurtis told me they were a team of 6 designers.

Nicolau Saker Neto

Six? Whoa

MARamezani

And 2.5 of them work on the design of betas.

Kurtis Beavers

@NicolauSakerNeto I love Kurz Gesagt's work. But no, we don't work with him.

Gowtham

can triple state of water really have some unique spectroscopic signature ? isnt the point just a dynamic equilibrium between three states. There is no 1 particular state at the point is there ?

Kurtis Beavers

2 years ago there was only one designer on the team. Now we have six, but three of them work on a different product.

Nicolau Saker Neto

14:37

Aw, no ducks

But that's fine

MARamezani

@KurtisBeavers Different product?

Kurtis Beavers

StackOverflow Careers

MARamezani

Aaah.

Gowtham

16:06

@MARamezani are you familiar with metallurgy , esp physical metallurgy

MARamezani

@Gowtham Not especially studying it, but I think I can help.

Gowtham

no , i was actually pointing to the field that answers your C to N ratio question

i will try giving an answer.

MARamezani

Okay. I earned a damn Tumbleweed for that some time ago.

@Gowtham If it's answering me, then don't worry. Use all technical jargon you can!

Gowtham

explicit answers to homework questions is not a good idea right ?

1

Q: Air contain 20% $O_2$ by volume. How many cc of air will be required for oxidation of 100cc of acetylene?

Air contain 20% $\ce{O2}$ by volume. How many cc of air will be required for oxidation of 100cc of acetylene? (a) 1064 cc(b) 212.8 cc(c) 500 cc (d) 1250 cc Answer: (d) My Solution: equation: $$\ce{2C2H2 +5O2 -> 4CO2 +2H2O}$$ From stoichiometric Calculations: 2 $\ce{C2H5}$ moles w...

homework stoichiometry

this question is probably answered if i just say cc to litre conversion. but that is a one line answer ... can i just solve it

Geoff Hutchison

17:06

@KurtisBeavers Thanks. I know I'm being pedantic, but I can just imagine various comments in the future about these nit-picky things.

The site design is great and I'm really looking forward to seeing it live. :-)

MARamezani

@GeoffHutchison Hullo!

@GeoffHutchison To be nitpicky about it again... :}

Kurtis Beavers

17:20

@GeoffHutchison That's OK. I'm sure I'm being whatever is the opposite of pedantic:)

Geoff Hutchison

@KurtisBeavers I think "designer" fills the opposite of pedantic here. :-)

Kurtis Beavers

:)

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