The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

This story came to me earlier today and now it's nagging at the edge of my brain. It was a short, somewhat silly, story, part of a collection that I read somewhere in the early 90s. I read it in the United States, in English, but the book very well might be quite a bit older. A young girl hears s...

Edlothiad

@ShadowWizard yes I'm climbing into a San Diego

Shadow Wizard

@Mithrandir lol!

@Edlothiad is he a cute whale?

Edlothiad

Well male whales don't have San Diego's, so...

Derpy

not Sci-Fi enough.

fixed

Mithrandir

@Derpy both of them in dresses, naturally

:P

Shadow Wizard

1:24 PM

@Mithrandir cape, not dress. (for the boy ;))

Mithrandir

@ShadowWizard nah, under the cape

Derpy

dragon-quest.org/wiki/Wayfarer%27s_clothes

Shadow Wizard

@Mithrandir that's a tunic, not a dress ;)

amazon.co.uk/Medieval-Short-Sleeves-Mens-Tunic/dp/B008OGNYFA

Boys don't wear dresses. Though my own son now wants one. :/

ArtOfCode

I say give it to him and let him decide if he still likes it when he gets mocked for it

reasons I should not be a parent, number two hundred and seventy-nine.

Shadow Wizard

lol

Think we'll let him wear it at home, but that's about it. :)

Gallifreyan

1:30 PM

Tunics are cool.

Shadow Wizard

@ArtOfCode what's reason #42?

ArtOfCode

@ShadowWizard shrug

Mithrandir

#42: Spends too much time on Smokey

Gallifreyan

0

A: What to name our new main chat room (or keep it as it is)

House on the Rock It's a real location, a slightly fictional version of which was featured in Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's a roadside tourist attraction where the Old Gods meet for their war council. Feed names could be Media - for Movies & TV Mr. Ibis - for our meta Mad Sweeney - ...

^ How is that for the name of the chat room?

Shadow Wizard

@Mithrandir not THGTTG enough! ;)

Edlothiad

1:34 PM

@Gallifreyan don't fix what's not broken

Arthur Dent

@ShadowWizard I don't think @Art pings me, but I got your ping ;) And no I don't mind - I'm easy-going and am really only offended by planet-destroying

Shadow Wizard

@Edlothiad agreed

ArtOfCode

@ArthurDent @Art should ping you

Mithrandir

@Art hmm, well did it

Shadow Wizard

@Art you got ping?

ArtOfCode

1:34 PM

bah

Arthur Dent

Ooops nvm it did ping me

Shadow Wizard

lol

Derpy

@Gallifreyan You should consider the name "Sugarcube branch 01"

Mithrandir

01-backwards

Babelfish

1

Q: What story has a man forget a very significant question?

I recall reading about a man who has solved some very significant question--The meaning of life, perhaps. But nobody ever gets to hear this profound discovery because he becomes distracted and the entire revelation is lost to him. I thought this story might have been part of Hitchhiker's Guide ...

story-identification short-stories hitchhikers-guide douglas-adams

Gallifreyan

1:35 PM

@Derpy Don't know what that is ;)

Shadow Wizard

@Derpy maybe "Deep Space Sugarcube"

Gallifreyan

@Babelfish Me, every time before I go to sleep.

Derpy

@Gallifreyan Oh, the only thing you need to know is that you get free cupcakes & muffins.

SQB

I was wondering, perhaps we should make all the cross-stack feeds come from Babelfish (to keep a bit with the theme) and make the ones from our own stack come from Ford Prefect, Arthur Dent, or something. Heart of Gold, maybe.

Or Fenchurch.

Arthur Dent

@Babelfish thanks for that question, I answered it.

Wait is babelfish a bot

Ixrec

1:43 PM

lol yes, that's the question feed

SQB

Yes, it is our feed.

Arthur Dent

oooooh I don't really understand this chat

It's a weird format

Ixrec

weird how? (this is standard SE chat stuff, the M&TV question feed bot also has a custom name and the site logo as its avatar for instance)

ArtOfCode

(hint: if a user has a negative ID, they're a bot)

Arthur Dent

I can't even see the ID

Gallifreyan

1:45 PM

I know some feeds post messages not in chat but in dropdown notifications.

Arthur Dent

I know it's custom SE, I have never been on SE chat though

Ixrec

yeah you'd have to go to its user page and look at the url to see that

ArtOfCode

@ArthurDent click profile image, hover over user profile link

Arthur Dent

Thanks Art

I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of how SE treats new users.

Gallifreyan

Why?

Edlothiad

1:47 PM

No new Tolkien for Ed :(

Shadow Wizard

@ArthurDent well, you reached this room... :)

Mithrandir

1548

Q: Could we please be a bit nicer to new users?

There is a distinct decline in the level of civility on all the sites here. Some of this is due to new users coming in and posting spam and other nonsense, but the off-topic and downvote buttons are doing a pretty good job of keeping this under control. Unfortunately, a lot of this is coming ...

discussion etiquette new-users behavior

Gallifreyan

@Mithrandir Damn, that's a lot of ridiculously upvoted comments

Ixrec

please do elaborate, I think a lot of us simply have no idea what the new user experience feels like these days

Gallifreyan

Raises flags

Ixrec

1:49 PM

all I know for sure is that the new user experience is very different depending on which SE site you're trying

Arthur Dent

I just don't like all the restrictions on reputation for doing stuff like comments. If the main purpose is to prevent spamming, why not allow reputation from one SE work for unlocking abilities on other SEs.

Mithrandir

@Gallifreyan *declines*

@ArthurDent It does

Gallifreyan

Yeah, I pretty much came and started with 100 rep. I don't think anyone even reviewed my first post.

Ixrec

@ArthurDent that's already the case, if you have 100 rep anywhere you have 100 rep everywhere

Mithrandir

That's what the association bonus is

Babelfish

1:50 PM

0

Q: Can Ego read minds?

In Guardians of the Galaxy 2 when Peter has decided to fight Ego and he keeps destroying Ego's body, Ego eventually changes to David Hasselhoff saying something along the lines of: I simply picked the form that would be most pleasing to you, would you prefer this instead? As far as I recall...

marvel marvel-cinematic-universe guardians-of-the-galaxy-2

Gallifreyan

@Ixrec That's 200.

Ixrec

gah

Arthur Dent

@Ixrec I have over 100 on this SE but can't do anything on the scifi SE

Ixrec

yeah I misremembered the number

Gallifreyan

@ArthurDent You just have to earn 45 rep on Space to be able to comment anywhere

Mithrandir

1:51 PM

@ArthurDent right, once you get 200 rep somewhere you'll automatically get 101 rep on every SE site

Shadow Wizard

@Ixrec 200 not 100

Ixrec

oh god I'm gonna get replies about this all day now

Arthur Dent

@Mit

shit

@Mithrandir that makes more sense

Mithrandir

...

Arthur Dent

@Ixrec did you know that it was 200 rep?

Ixrec

1:52 PM

I misremembered

Shadow Wizard

@Arthur the comment rep requirement is less for spam and more to prevent useless comments from clueless users. This will create tons of noise and waste everyone's time.

Gallifreyan

And get everyone Marshal badges.

Ixrec

or an excess of comments from people treating comments as...actual comments

Shadow Wizard

We have millions of useless comments as it stands, so if anyone will be able to comment, it will be much worse.

Ixrec

when they're sort of intended to be "requests for clarification"

Arthur Dent

1:53 PM

Yeah I guess. There's just been a few times where I know I can clarify something but can't because of reputation.

Mithrandir

I can give everyone some flag badges if they want

Shadow Wizard

@ArthurDent so that's a reason to participate on the site and gain some rep. :)

Ixrec

fortunately the barrier to chat entry is really low so if it really matters you can work around it by asking higher-rep people in chat to help

Shadow Wizard

@Ixrec yup, like here ;)

Ixrec

it's the users who haven't even cleared the chat entry barrier that I'm not sure what to do about

Shadow Wizard

1:55 PM

Actually to chat here one only needs to create 20 accounts. Without a single action in any of them.

Ixrec

...lol

Mithrandir

who wants some free flags

Shadow Wizard

(The total chat reputation is a simple sum.)

Arthur Dent

Well I've managed to make decent reputation on Space SE, but the barrier still exists for others. I understand the point of making it tough on new users, it just doesn't feel very welcoming.

Mithrandir

+1, very comprehensive! — Praxis Nov 8 '15 at 4:06

Arthur Dent

1:56 PM

What are flags

Gallifreyan

Or just ask a room owner to invite.

Shadow Wizard

Ixrec

@ArthurDent in this context, we can "flag" the comment Mithrandir linked as "too chatty" since it's not contributing to the conversation

Mithrandir

@ArthurDent scifi.stackexchange.com/help/flagging

Ixrec

and flags which get accepted/deemed correct by the moderators earn you progress toward certain badges

which is why people sometimes post links to such things in chat

chat users like shiny internet badges for some reason

Mithrandir

1:58 PM

+1 to you! Good answer! — djm Jun 6 '13 at 2:35

(I already have all the flagging badges.)

Arthur Dent

Oh ok cool

Mithrandir

+1 for the recent edit! — AncientSwordRage ♦ Apr 23 '12 at 8:12

Ixrec

is this your standard "comments with +1 in them" search?

Mithrandir

yes

DaaaahWhoosh

+1 good search

2

doppelgreener

1:59 PM

@DaaaahWhoosh [flags]

Mithrandir

+1, it was a good answer. — Mark Rogers Jan 13 '14 at 19:33

Ixrec

@ArthurDent there are many other kinds of flags for things like unanswerable questions or offensive chat messages so the exact meaning depends on context

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir WOOOOOW

Ixrec

but in general "flag" usually means "add something to a moderator's to-do list"

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad ?

Edlothiad

2:01 PM

@Mithrandir I'm being a new user in awe of your humble brag

SQB

@Kevin could you please unfeature scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/q/10879/19561 and feature scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/q/10928/19561 ?

Edlothiad

and unfeature the May movie night.

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad I was just disputing the claim that it was all for the badges o_o

Gallifreyan

@SQB I asked Null.

Mithrandir

+1 - brilliant as always. — Wad Cheber May 23 '15 at 23:26

Thank you for replying- great answer! +1 — Wad Cheber May 25 '15 at 1:08

Arthur Dent

2:02 PM

Ok I gotta get to work but thanks y'all for explaining stuff.

I'll be back

Shadow Wizard

@ArthurDent you better be! cya!

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir roe?

Gallifreyan

@SQB If you like the Ego tag that much, why don't you add it to all the relevant questions? :P

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad fixed

+1 Well supported answer! — Andres F. Nov 6 '13 at 16:34

doppelgreener

Is there a Movie Night List Of Movies We've Already Seen So Don't Suggest Them?

Edlothiad

2:05 PM

@Mithrandir It's gone?

Ixrec

@doppelgreener not that I'm aware of, and I don't think we're anywhere near being in danger of having that problem

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad no it's not

SQB

@Gallifreyan I just did.

Gallifreyan

WOW - the Nausicaa manga just arrived to my university library!

Edlothiad

+1 for a good reference. — Voronwë 23 mins ago

Gallifreyan

2:06 PM

@Edlothiad Actually I think this one is more sarcastic

Shadow Wizard

Room name changed to "Free Comment Flags at the End of the Universe"

3

Derpy

@ShadowWizard ........

Mithrandir

3 hours ago, by Feeds

Mithrandir has removed Shadow Wizard from the list of this room's owners.

Shadow Wizard

lol

getting Dots Shield

Edlothiad

@Gallifreyan Voronwë is not sarcastic

Gallifreyan

2:09 PM

Wait what?

What did I miss?

Mithrandir

side effect

Shadow Wizard

lol, didn't even notice :D

Gallifreyan

Woohoo, I just used my RO powers :)

Shadow Wizard

:(

Edlothiad

2 hours ago, by SQB

(It's a dDots attack)

Gallifreyan

2:11 PM

@ShadowWizard Nah, don't worry - this room will never become read-only <nod nod>

Mithrandir

+1, this is quite perfect — user8719 Jul 18 '14 at 23:21

Derpy

@Edlothiad • • 🍒 • •ᗤ ᗣ ᗣ ᗣ ᗣ

2

Mithrandir

+1 this book sounds awesome — user20155 Dec 18 '15 at 4:33

Edlothiad

@ArthurDent, guess you've got the rep to comment anywhere now :)

Mithrandir

+1 this book sounds awesome — user20155 Dec 18 '15 at 4:33

Edlothiad

2:16 PM

Everyone's coming in and flagging them so quick, they're being deleted

Mithrandir

nuuu

Ixrec

the local mods are gonna be wondering what happened

Edlothiad

@Ixrec Haha yeah, wait... What local mods? (vote Ed)

Ixrec

:37408126 the official "hotness formula" is available on MSE if you want to do the math yourself, I don't understand it well enough to guess

Edlothiad

@Ixrec It is, my script just frcked up

Mithrandir

2:19 PM

+1 Just for the last line :) — Salmononius2 Feb 10 '15 at 17:11

Edlothiad

Ok it's bothering me. @Adamant, do you really think this answer is the best on your question?

doppelgreener

@Ixrec Thanks! I have made my first entry ever. ᕦ( ⸟ ͜ʖ ⸟ )ᕥ

Edlothiad

Am I allowed to use all my flags in one day?

SQB

a-ha Cover - Take On Me (ft. Hannah Maddox)

►

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad yes

Although I probably am in no danger of that :P

Edlothiad

2:20 PM

@Mithrandir It's not like "ugh, this guy"..?

Mithrandir

+1 and accept -- thanks! :) — Slytherincess Apr 25 '12 at 22:21

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir Sorry @Sly

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad if we flag them fast enough the mods won't even see them :)

Edlothiad

Bim Bam Boom, Accepted — Edlothiad 1 hour ago

Get flagging boys

and any girls and what not

apache helicopters

etc. etc.

Mithrandir

I can flag 72 71 more comments today, started with around 90

Edlothiad

2:22 PM

How come you have so many flags? I only have 26 left

Jack B Nimble

Why are you flagging so many comments?

Edlothiad

Wait can I see ripped rooms?

@JackBNimble Because they've been naughty

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad I'm an avid flagger. You get more available flags the more flags you get marked helpful

@JackBNimble why not?

Shadow Wizard

@Edlothiad ponies. You forgot ponies

Riker

Daily floof 5/15/17

5

"I don't always floof, but when I do, I'm really floofy"

Shadow Wizard

2:24 PM

@Edlothiad the more rep and helpful flags you have, the more flags you get to cast

@Mithrandir rep too

Mithrandir

+1 for that first sentence. — ApproachingDarknessFish Mar 23 '14 at 8:47

Derpy

@Riker Is that an advertisement for the "Join NASA Space Program" campaign?

Riker

idts

Shadow Wizard

@Mithrandir yup in theory one with 5 sockpuppets 15 rep each can nuke any comment from orbit without anyone really noticing.

Mithrandir

A perfect answer! Thanks you! :] — trejder Mar 24 '14 at 6:58

Locutus of Borg

2:27 PM

@ShadowWizard socks? With rep? Aghhhh!

Shadow Wizard

I got only 1 :/

Null

@Mithrandir You're not fast enough.

Mithrandir

I can't tell if we're nuking them ourseves or bugging the mods...

...well there we go :P

Null

I don't know what my record number of flags handled in one day is, but today might set a new one.

Jack B Nimble

I have never had a sock puppet account. Probably because I am not a cheater or a fraud.

Mithrandir

2:30 PM

@JackBNimble socks can be perfectly acceptable.

Locutus of Borg

Like when they aren't used for nefarious purposes.

Shadow Wizard

@JackBNimble so how you test things that happen only to 1 rep user?

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir Both munched

Mithrandir

@Null I could go all out if you want, I was trying not to...

Jack B Nimble

What is the purpose other than artificially boosting your own posts?

Mithrandir

2:31 PM

@JackBNimble experimenting

SQB

I have never had a sock puppet account. Probably because I don't have any socks.

Jack B Nimble

@SQB I don't have any feet, all this talk about socks leaves me feeling woefully inadequate.

Shadow Wizard

@SQB you.. walk... barefoot?? ;)

Derpy

really tempted to hijack the discussion

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir Time to get data.se out

Mithrandir

2:32 PM

@Edlothiad I have been

SQB

I wear shoes. But no socks.

Shadow Wizard

@Edlothiad put that thing where it belongs! :D

Mithrandir

+1 for the excellent warning — Nacht Sep 17 '14 at 3:32

Derpy

ok, blame @ShadowWizard for referencing the other meaning of "sock"

My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas - Nothing Says Christmas Like Socks

►

Mithrandir

-

Arthur Dent

2:33 PM

@Edlothiad yep just got it!

Shadow Wizard

That was quick! @Arthur

Mithrandir

-

+1 just for the third one :) — K-H-W Jan 30 '13 at 16:17

Shadow Wizard

@Mithrandir +

Edlothiad

@ArthurDent I know ;)

Shadow Wizard

Why not delete?

Mithrandir

2:34 PM

SFF upvotes

+1 for sheet music reference — Chris Cirefice Jul 15 '14 at 5:03

+1 Great in-universe answer. — dodgethesteamroller Jul 8 '13 at 14:40

+1. Brilliant deconstruction of my assumptions :D — AncientSwordRage ♦ Apr 13 '12 at 15:53

+1 for having a separate outfit for snowqueening. — Luna Apr 17 '15 at 10:45

Edlothiad

How to get back up to 95% helpful

Mithrandir

+1 for the edit. I think that is the explanation. — Andrei Vajna II Feb 4 '11 at 16:04

Edlothiad

"You may only flag a comment every 5 seconds" Sorry mods

Mithrandir

+1 informative answer, and you're +10 so a badge! — JMFB Aug 14 '15 at 16:21

Edlothiad

This is a highly upvoted one

+1 for embiggen — Kevin Milner May 4 at 19:30

Mithrandir

2:36 PM

+1 for skippy the jedi droid — JMFB Aug 14 '15 at 16:23

+1 just for being within a month or so of my age. — JoeTaxpayer Nov 11 '15 at 15:40

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir JB doesn't care about badges

Mithrandir

+1|Good points made: you're right, as per normal! — Often Right Apr 8 '14 at 9:01

+1 brilliant. Accepting an answer will be tricky. — AncientSwordRage ♦ Oct 21 '12 at 18:41

Edlothiad

Ok we got it...

Mithrandir

Hm?

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir Ded

@Mithrandir I'm out of flags :P

Mithrandir

2:38 PM

Poor you

Edlothiad

Ye, hopefully i'll have a few more after this

Mithrandir

+1 It's an interesting point I hadn't thought of. — ike Dec 26 '13 at 17:47

I've got 58 flags left

Edlothiad

That's muy flags

Shadow Wizard

נח flags. Nice!

Mithrandir

And 700 more comment to look through

+1 Wow, you made me laugh sir - but it's so true. — Secko Jul 10 '13 at 2:19

alright, I can't look through these comments any more

I need a break

Shadow Wizard

2:43 PM

breaking @Mith

Edlothiad

Woo 3 more uplikeys to 200 rep!

DaaaahWhoosh

huh, make that two

I was just reading one of your answers

Edlothiad

1, cmon peeps!

Babelfish

0

Q: Why did Jonas decide to leave and go to Elsewhere? What would be the impact on the community and the Giver?

Why did Jonas decide to leave and go to Elsewhere? What would be the impact on the community and the Giver?

the-giver

Edlothiad

(evil blues, look away) @ArthurDent, after my little fiasco on Space.SE help me out a little here ;) eh? *nudge nudge*

doppelgreener

2:48 PM

@Babelfish i agree that's 2 wholly separate questions

@Edlothiad ...

@Edlothiad …

@Edlothiad ...

That's not an elipsis, moderators just have three eyes.

that's what they look like in the dark

Slytherincess

@Edlothiad <Confused>

Mithrandir

2:52 PM

@Slytherincess we nuked a comment of yours

Shadow Wizard

@Slytherincess he flagged one of your comments

Slytherincess

From last night?

Mithrandir

no

31 mins ago, by Mithrandir

+1 and accept -- thanks! :) — Slytherincess Apr 25 '12 at 22:21

Slytherincess

Why would that be a problematic comment? :?

Shadow Wizard

Noise

Mithrandir

2:53 PM

It's too chatty

Slytherincess

It's too chatty ... for chat?

Shadow Wizard

IMO it's proper to post them, but we better delete them after a while, when the target user saw them.

Mithrandir

No, it was on the main site

17

A: Are all the "+1" comments really necessary?

I agree, I don't like them either. I'm actually ok with flagging meaningless comments like this, since there's no actual penalty to the user when a flagged comment is removed the flagging comment process is basically 100% automated and doesn't require any mod intervention Incidentally, this ...