The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Simpleton

05:34

In the lord of the dings universe, is it better to start from the hobbit or from the fellowship? I would like to start reading from the book that is easier to understand

Any suggestions?

Lord of the Rings, I mean...

Mithrandir

The Hobbit is definitely easier to understand, but it's a totally different feel from The Lord of the Rings.

Simpleton

@Mithrandir Oh, so... do you mean that the Hobbit is easier to read, but the Lord of the Rings is more interesting?

@Mithrandir I'll just try to start from the fellowship then...thank you

Mithrandir

06:41

@Simpleton No. The Hobbit was written as a children's book, and has a whimsical, light feel to it. The Lord of the Rings is more written for adults, and it has a darker, more serious feel.

I'd actually recommend starting with The Hobbit - it's both an easier read and comes before The Lord of the Rings chronologically.

Simpleton

07:00

@Mithrandir I'll try the hobbit first, then.

Mithrandir

:)

Mr_Green

08:59

this chat room has dark colors. looks like something dark is happening here

xkcd

13:26

Fixating on this seems unhealty. But in general, the more likely I think a crash is, the less likely one becomes, which is a strange kind of reverse placebo effect.

Rand al'Thor

15:15

Many congratulations to @JohnRennie on his story-ID gold tag badge! It's an impressive achievement and a very select group he's now joined.

3

John Rennie

15:38

@Randal'Thor thanks :-) The story IDing seems to have got very competitive recently, which is great for the OPs but not so good when you're struggling for those last few answers to get the badge :-)

Rand al'Thor

Organic Marble is close to gold too.

And of course the three existing golds (especially FuzzyBoots?) are still steaming ahead with answers.

John Rennie

@Randal'Thor re the bounty I placed on a question that I then answered myself, can the bounty be moved to a different question?

Rand al'Thor

No :-(

John Rennie

I know a bounty can be refunded before it expires because I have seen mods do this in the Physics SE. If you refund the bounty I will immediately put it on another question of mine.

Rand al'Thor

I think I could cancel the bounty and refund it to you. It's not a mod power to be overused, but I can do it in your case as long as others don't take it as an example and start abusing bounties ;-)

@JohnRennie OK, that sounds reasonable.

Napoleon Wilson

15:47

That's not to be done on a whim, though, or because the bounty turned out to not be worth it. Basically, if your bounty turns out to not get an answer, that's just tough luck. You're not buying a potential answer, you're buying attention.

John Rennie

:-) Just taking the rep back would be a bit mean spirited, but I thought immediately rebountying it would be fair enough and offer a site member a possible nice bionus.

Napoleon Wilson

@Randal'Thor It doesn't really, no.

John Rennie

@NapoleonWilson I placed a bounty on a story ID question, but then two days later found the story myself. I don't want the rep back, I want to put it o a good use on another question.

Napoleon Wilson

@JohnRennie Then open anew bounty on that other question. You still bought attention for that question, that's what you paid the reputation for.

Refunding bounties that turned out to be useless is exactly abusing the refunding mechanism.

John Rennie

OK

Napoleon Wilson

15:51

@Randal'Thor "I can do it in your case as long as others don't take it as an example and start abusing bounties" - Rereading this statement should make you reconsider in itself.

Rand al'Thor

@NapoleonWilson Bounties are usually (and certainly in this case) an attempt to attract an answer.

And there is now an answer which would be worthy of the bounty.

Napoleon Wilson

@Randal'Thor Yes, by gaining the question additional attention.

Rand al'Thor

Unfortunately, it's John's own answer, so he can't award it.

Napoleon Wilson

@Randal'Thor Maybe someone else comes a long and gives an even better answer.

Rand al'Thor

@NapoleonWilson It's an ID question; there's only one right answer.

John Rennie

15:52

@NapoleonWilson how can there be a better answer than a correct book ID?

SQB

@JohnRennie congratulations! I don't even have a silver one yet.

@JohnRennie One with more details.

John Rennie

@SQB Thanks :-)

Rand al'Thor

@NapoleonWilson I don't see why. In this case the bounty was raised in good faith and the answer found afterwards. What I wouldn't like to encourage is people asking for a bounty refund just because nobody found an answer, or starting a bounty knowing that they themselves would answer.

Napoleon Wilson

@Randal'Thor This is pretty much the same case, though. Noone doubts Jon's good intentions in any way. But I don't see how this is different from refunding a bounty because noone turned up to answer. It doesn't matter if you immediately spend the refunded reputation elsewhere, because you would actually have to spend new reputation for a new bounty.

That's just not how the bounty system works. Bounties are a gamble. You bet something to buy a question some more attention. If noone shows up, tough luck.

John Rennie

It would be nice for someone else to get the 500 rep though ...

SQB

15:58

Let's face it, it's not like you can't spare the rep.

John Rennie

I can't help feeling you're letting rules get in the way of community spirit.

Napoleon Wilson

@JohnRennie Well, that's why they can answer your question with a better answer.

@JohnRennie No, I'm letting rules get in the way of a fundamental misunderstanding and abuse of the bounty system. It may seem to you I'm arguing technicalities, but moderator abilities and the bounty system simply aren't to be abused in this way.

John Rennie

@SQB I have another question that I don't think anyone can answer because it's an obscure story, so I wasn't going to bounty it. But if I can, in effect, transfer the rep and give someone a shot at an answer I will do.

SQB

Here's an example of a story ID request where the original answer was correct but unusually terse. I added a second (CW) answer that expanded the original answer.

@JohnRennie which one?

Napoleon Wilson

Of course I can't do anything to stop Rand al'Thor from doing it anyway based on his reasonable judgment, and I won't call the "authorities" on him. If he thinks it's the right thing to do, so be it. All I'm saying is that I don't think it is.

John Rennie

16:01

12

Q: Story about a designer baby

I'm trying to remember a story about a couple who have a designer baby. The story is written in the first person as a series of letters or possibly e-mails from the baby's mother to a friend. It starts quite innocently with the mother saying how great it is that genetic diseases can be eliminate...

story-identification

It is one of the most genuinely horrific stories I have ever read, but I damned if I can remember its name or author. I'd love to find it again, but I suspect it's one of those obscure stories that will never be ID'd unless one of the site members happens to have read it recently.

Rand al'Thor

@SQB Fun fact: bounties awarded to CW answers do actually award rep to the answerer.

@NapoleonWilson It is a judgement call in the end, but thank you for your input. If I'm going to do it anyway, it's good to know beforehand that some will disapprove ;-)

Napoleon Wilson

Fine, flagged for CM review! ;-P

(no, not really.) ;-)

Pratham Arya

@JohnRennie Sir, I have a question regarding the voltage of a capacitor?

John Rennie

@PrathamArya I think that would be best asked in the Physics chat room, or if it's a JEE question in the problem solving room.

Rand al'Thor

@PrathamArya This is the Science Fiction & Fantasy room. You might be looking for Physics chat in the h bar?

John Rennie

16:09

Problem Solving Strategies

General chat for high school physics. For MathJax see meta.sta...

1

Pratham Arya

Oh sorry, I saw John Rennie dp and i thought it is physics room

i will ask you there

John Rennie

:-)

All my answers on the Physics SE are basically science fiction anyway

b_jonas

17:56

Still about Drachenreiter, I wonder if some of the human characters suspected the spy all along, but didn't say anything, because they wanted them to come clear on his own initiative and try to fix what they messed up.

@Simpleton Please see scifi.stackexchange.com/q/12854/4918 and scifi.stackexchange.com/q/15534/4918 about suggested reading order.

@Randal'Thor Wow! I never noticed as he got close to that.

@JohnRennie Is it a question where you could still expect someone else to post another useful answer that adds information?

@JohnRennie Ah no, because it's a story-id question.

Darth Vader

Hallo!

Rand al'Thor

18:19

@DarthVader Hello, welcome!

Zounds, we have a Sith in the room! :-P

Marvin

0

Q: RIP Margot Kidder, Superman Actress

Margot Kidder, whose most famous role was Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve series of Superman movies, has died at the age of 69. In addition to her on-screen work she was also famous for her voiceovers, providing the voice for Gaia in 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' and Rebecca Madison i...

discussion in-memoriam

Darth Vader

20:19

@Randal'Thor I am your father.

@Marvin ;(

Also, is that who I think it is? Is that @Derpy Hooves?

:3

b_jonas

Wow, I never noticed this one is missing the most obvious answer: scifi.stackexchange.com/q/146972/4918 "Did any witches/wizards (non-Squibs) ever choose to live as Muggles?". Free rep points for me!

I think I just read the question and assumed that someone must have answered it quickly.

@Randal'Thor I'm sort of no longer sensitive of that by now, since we have three or four high-rep users named after the Dark Lord (of Harry Potter).

Darth Vader

@b_jonas (talking to Darth Maul) Hey, Maul. Maul: What? Me: Come here, this guy seems to be fine around Sith lords. Maul: I sense his fear.

b_jonas

20:34

scifi.stackexchange.com/users/64888/the-dark-lord , scifi.stackexchange.com/users/1660/voldemort , scifi.stackexchange.com/users/54107/lord-voldemort , and as a bonus, scifi.stackexchange.com/users/80602/bellatrix

And yes, there are a few other Star Wars ones as well: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/97633/darth-vader scifi.stackexchange.com/users/68798/darthpaghius

Oh! I know why. The answer is in scifi.stackexchange.com/a/116638/4918

Darth Vader

@b_jonas ...you DO realize you just linked that to my profile, right? I suppose you meant to link it to the other me?

b_jonas

@DarthVader Ah yes, sorry. I meant to link to the other user named Darth Vader.

Darth Vader

Knew it!

b_jonas

Both have a Darth Vader head as their profile image so it's not obvious to tell them apart.

Darth Vader

Also, that notification sound was a bit odd.

Of course.

Mithrandir

20:41

@Randal'Thor What would you know? You've never watched Star Wars.

b_jonas

I wonder what I should do about this silly comment. scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/10646/…

Mithrandir

@b_jonas flag it

Darth Vader

He has a lot less reputation than me, though, since he is an imposter...

Let me see that.

Yep, don't really know anything about that.

I like Harry Potter, but I am not a MAJOR fan, like I am of Star Wars.

b_jonas

Strange... didn't we use to have a comment flag reason saying "too chatty"? Was that eliminated?

I guess that's not appropriate here anyway, so never mind.

Mithrandir

Yes. It's been merged into "no longer needed".

Darth Vader

20:43

I don't know. I joined a couple of months ago or so.

Like, 5 months?

b_jonas

Ah yes, "chatty" is just mentioned under "no longer needed". Ok.

Darth Vader

Nevermind, 2 months. I was way off.

Anyways, that is why I am glad there is a chat.

b_jonas

@Mithrandir Does that mean that if I want a series of comment to be migrated to chat, then I shouldn't choose the new "chatty" option, instead just use "moderator attention"?

Darth Vader

Otherwise, I might be flagged right now. XD

Mithrandir

@DarthVader I joined like yesterday... oh wait, that's three and a half ears ago.

Darth Vader

20:44

@Mithrandir Well. You certainly have quite the ears.

@Mithrandir Three and a half ears, to be exact.

@Mithrandir So, what is it like having three and a half ears?

b_jonas

Also, if an answer is not an answer, but could be useful as a comment or edit, such as a clarification to the question, then should I use the "moderator attention" flag?

Darth Vader

@Mithrandir ;)

Mithrandir

@b_jonas Correct. "no longer needed" will also bring it to the moderators' attention, and they can decide to migrate to chat, but it's always been that if you have a special request like that to custom flag.

Darth Vader

I have not flagged anything yet, so I can't be of much assistance.

b_jonas

@Mithrandir Ok, thank you.

Mithrandir

20:46

@b_jonas Answers that should be converted to comments should be custom flagged, yes. If it could be an edit just make the edit and VTD/flag the answer.

@DarthVader *eyeroll* my keyboard is kinda dying

also, can you please not ping me 4 times in 4 different replies in a row? thanks.

Darth Vader

@Mithrandir It's all just going to your head. Which is now 47.5% ear.

;)

Darth Vader's victory laugh.

►

b_jonas

Then there's answers to story-id saying "yes, that's the movie I was thinking of, thank you", which should be converted to green checkmarks. For those, should I leave a comment and flag for "not an answer"? Will the poster then still see the comment for the deleted answer, and see the inbox notification for the comment?

Mithrandir

@b_jonas Those should be converted to comments as a stop-gag solution, because of our duplicate policy for Story-IDs. I don't recall exactly what the timeframe is for showing notifications on deleted posts, but leaving a comment is definitely helpful in any case.

b_jonas

@Mithrandir Ok.

Darth Vader

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... How exactly do I have higher reputation and am in a higher percentage point range after joining 2 months ago than people who joined YEARS ago? Other than the obvious reason of people being inactive on the site.

Mithrandir

20:51

@DarthVader Some people don't post much.

Darth Vader

Ok then.

Well, that kind of falls under inactive.

But ok.

I am a better comedic relief than Jar Jar Binks I'd bet. ;)

Mithrandir

It took me a long time to get to my current reputation.

Darth Vader

(I DONT CARE THAT THIS JOKE IS CHEESY I MEAN) CHEESY JOKE CUZ I DONT CARE: Why is 6 afraid of 7?

Also, that is a lot of reputation, so a long time makes sense.

There aren't enough Star Wars questions for me.

Mithrandir

Well, if 7 ate 9, then how did I just type "9"?

Darth Vader

Because your key wasn't on the menu.

Mithrandir

20:57

Cheesy. Better with some pepper.

Darth Vader

Hang on. Trying to get a text image generator on.

You'll see why in a minute ;)

Mithrandir

^_*

b_jonas

Strange. So apparently in the real world, snow owls aren't supposed to live in Britain. That's a bit strange to find after reading Jules Verne and J. K. Rowling.

Darth Vader

So, I am having a bit of trouble, but here is the best I can get so far. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

b_jonas

Let me check how unambiguous the original Jules Verne text is. Maybe it allows a different species.

Darth Vader

21:03

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fudge

I give up

amflare

what the actual hell is going on in here

Darth Vader

Sorry about that.

Tried to put a text image.

Since it seems too much trouble to find a good image on this school issued Chromebook

allright lemme try with a NORMAL image

AHA!

SIEG!

So.

b_jonas

Yep, fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Les_Indes_noires/Chapitre_20 says “harfang” twice, which, if I understand correctly, is a word that applies to that species only.

Darth Vader

Anyone in the mood for, say, comedic relief?

b_jonas

Maybe Silfax brought him from abroad, already somewhat tamed. And in Harry Potter, you can just say it's magic.

Darth Vader

21:17

Jonas, what is your primary language? I don't speak whatever language that page is in, although thank you Google for Google Translate.

IT WAS IN FRENCH! Are you French? Cuz if so, that is cool.

anyone still want comedic relief

b_jonas

@DarthVader My native language is Hungarian, and I prefer Szegő György's translation of Indes noires, but this time I specifically checked the original French version of the novel to tell if it identifies the species.

Darth Vader

oh cool!

Still want some comedic relief?

Also, I speak English natively, as I am American from the USA, but I am trying to learn German, cuz I jus really like that.

Cat Cookie / SKETCH

►

comedic relief confirmed

b_jonas

@DarthVader There are some English translations of the novel at gutenberg.org/ebooks/1355 and gutenberg.org/ebooks/8990 , but I don't know if they're any good.

Since it's a Jules Verne novel, there are translations to lots of languages.

Darth Vader

Gonna look up Jules Verne now.

b_jonas

@DarthVader That sounds like you're young. Or something. I don't know. Is Jules Verne that unknown in the U. S.?

Or the U. S. is just a cover, because your profile says your location is "The Death Star, Alderaan System"

amflare

21:25

Not really. He is a common high school level author

Or at least he was when I was in high school.

Who even knows these days

b_jonas

@amflare I'm quite sure we haven't learned about Jules Verne in high school. We only learned about boring stuff.

amflare

meh *shrugs*

Darth Vader

afk for a bit

I am young, yes.

for a Sith lord who can use the Force to live after death

b_jonas

scifi.stackexchange.com/a/187583/4918 wow, nice story-id from very few details

Darth Vader

21:46

And back

So.

Comedic relief, anyone?

Pinkie Pie - I'm not giving him cake, I'm assaulting him with cake!

►

the caik is strong with this one

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Problem Solving Strategies

Transcript for

The Restaurant at the End of the Univ…