The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - 2018-11-14

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12:17 AM

1

Q: Jail movie with cameras installed behind prisoners' eyes; they escape using a blind prisoner

I'm trying to find an old movie, it's about a prison where prisoners have cameras installed behind their eyes to be watched, the only scene I remember is about them using a blind prisoner who did not have cameras, to build a device to help their escape.

story-identification movie

1 hour later…

1:18 AM

0

Q: Who was Daenerys referring to from this line?

I have been sold like a brood mare, I've been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled, do you know what kept me standing though all those years in exile? Faith...in myself. Most certainly, she referred to Khal Drogo. The show clearly portrayed how Daenerys Targaryen became a stuff for sale ...

game-of-thrones

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in answer, repeating words in answer (173): Where do babies come from (on the Axiom)? by yolo cucumber on scifi.SE

@SmokeDetector Is that a bot?

1:33 AM

385

Q: Can a machine be taught to flag spam automatically?

TL;DR: We did it, so... yes. What is this? Charcoal is the organization behind the SmokeDetector bot and other nice things. This bot scans new posts across the entire network for spam posts and reports them to various chatrooms where people can act on them. If a post has been created or edite...

discussion flags spam robots

How do I check what a bot does, and if it is a bot?

@CorvoAttano From its profile: I'm a bot. Ping some folks in /rooms/11540 with concerns.

detects RA too

15

Q: What is the right place to ask questions about the SmokeDetector?

SmokeDetector is a bot which is run on several sites. (I think that it is run on the sites from SO trilogy all sites - in Tavern on Meta, AskUbuntu, Math.SE, English.SE, maybe some other sites.) It seems to be a useful tool for several purposes. Occasionally, users might have questions related t...

discussion support chat scope chatbot

1:48 AM

0

Q: Is this character’s name a reference?

In the new Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, towards the end, a character is revealed who bears the name of Now, it is fairly well-known that the actor who played Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, namely Richard Harris, also played the character of Has anyone...

harry-potter names fantastic-beasts

2:18 AM

0

Q: Sci-fi book featuring insectoid aliens that had biological ships

I only remember one scene from the book, possibly two. What I remember of it is that the main bad guys were these insectoid aliens that had biological ships and other such things. The scene that I remember most vividly is where the main characters are stuck on a bug planet running through tryin...

story-identification books aliens

4 hours later…

6:32 AM

Geez what's with all the massive HP bumping

It's almost the only tag in homepage save for a couple story-ids

6:52 AM

0

Q: I dont know the title but its a alien eat people using red laser

Can you help me im watch alien envasion but i dont know the title but i have a information I rember the prothagonist have a son end the long spider robot eat him using red laser and the boy go in the stomach og long leg robot spider that all i remember That the long leg robot spider eating peo...

Ask Bellatrix

@Marvin somebody edit it, too tired and uninterested to do myself

7:22 AM

0

Q: How did the Night Queen get her title?

It is stated that there was a Nigth Queen long ago in The Age of Heroes. How and why do they call her the Nigth Queen? Is it due to the reason that the Night King and the White Walker are seemingly always togther? Or is the Nigth Queen also capable of ruling and commanding their undead troops. H...

game-of-thrones a-song-of-ice-and-fire george-r-r-martin

7:43 AM

@Jenayah That's how it should be.

But jokes aside, it's not all random edits. According to the profile, I answered six old Harry Potter questions today. And Bellatrix answered eleven. That's 17 Harry Potter questions on the homepage just from that.

wow

Would've been 18, but I decided not to post an answer that might be not serious enough.

8:32 AM

Let that poor homepage breathe :P

2

@Jenayah I'm actually about to post another answer to an old Harry Potter question.

Posted.

#FloodTheHomepageWithHarryPotter

2

Yer a flooder Harry

This is great. Just under a week ago I lamented that I need 90 more answers and my rate was only .64 answers per day. Since then I have posted 21 answers.

I may actually get there sooner than I thought.

8:53 AM

0

Q: Search for Space Movie

I am looking for a space movie I saw one night on TV like 2-3 years ago. I don't remember any person's name so it might be difficult. Also searched the entire Wikipedia and Google'd a lot but can't find a darn thing. In the beginning of the movie some starships are flying by. The movie is about ...

spaceship space space-station

I think my max no of answer were 4 and that's also not from same franchise

9:23 AM

0

Q: "Citizen of Alta on the Planet Protos"

Does anyone recall an sf programme (possibly part of a series) that I saw as a kid in the 1960s? The central character discovers a plot by aliens to take over the world. After various attempts to alert others to their presence (possibly landing himself in a mental hospital, but I can't swear to...

10:02 AM

8

Q: What book had a blind prisoner escape using a device that allowed him to see what animals saw?

I'm trying to remember a book I read in the mid to late 90's (but which I think was written in the 60's or 70's) in which the hero was a spy that got captured by his rivals, blinded and put in a prison. There he somehow manages to build a device that allows him to see what nearby animals can see...

story-identification books

^ Wow. I just ran into this old question, and it's strange because I have just read a very different sci-fi short novel about a scientist who makes a device to see through an animal's eyes.

I don't recall the author or name, but it's still on my bookshelf at home, so TODO to myself at home: look up what that book is and mention in a comment.

10:41 AM

Questions tagged with three-body-problem (needs to be renamed to the-three-body-problem), the-dark-forest, and deaths-end, also want remembrance-of-earths-past (the name of the trilogy). Conversely, some questions with just that tag, need a tag for the correct individual book.

Napoleon Wilson

Sounds supiciously similar to that useless jail sensor question that's making the rounds currently.

@NapoleonWilson ?

Napoleon Wilson

The thing with the blind guy used as cover.

No clue.

Napoleon Wilson

I'm sure you've seen it.

10:45 AM

I'm not so sure.

Napoleon Wilson

Count yourself lucky then. ;-)

wait, you've seen it?

post an answer then

Napoleon Wilson

@Jenayah The question? Yes.

eh I thought you'd seen the movie

Napoleon Wilson

I though I had, but then probably didn't.

10:59 AM

Fortress?

Napoleon Wilson

I'd rather thought Fortress 2. There was something with eyes.

But well, Wikipedia said "Meesa no be know!" and that was about 10 times the effort invested than the question was worth, so I gave up. ;-)

1

Q: Antman and the Wasp:Quantum Realm Question

How did Janet Van Dyne live in the quantum realm.. how did she get the hood the spear.. the makeup???, do they explain it in the movie??

marvel ant-man-and-the-wasp

Napoleon Wilson

Lost in the quantum realm.

Carving spears from the very makeup of reality.

11:19 AM

fortress 2 movie "blind" -"team fortress" doesn't yield much....

0

Q: Why does Heimdall send hulk back to earth?

In the opening scene, Heimdall sends hulk back to earth. But I can't understand why he would do this. Here are a a few reasons why it is not abundantly clear even after watching the whole movie as to why he did what he did. The Hulk himself does not make an appearance after that scene (Altho...

marvel-cinematic-universe avengers avengers-infinity-war

Napoleon Wilson

Rather than sending the Asgardians in bulk to earth.

Can you get hulk in bulk?

@NapoleonWilson making make-up from the Spear of Destiny.

Napoleon Wilson

Hulk seems to be a literal Bulk Being.

@SQB wouldn't scifi.stackexchange.com/q/16856/98028 need an *-order tag?

11:31 AM

@Jenayah maybe...

Napoleon Wilson

Why? Is it about Thanos' Black Order?

Lemme think for a sec.

@Jenayah better?

Napoleon Wilson

That was severely in order.

Isn't comics a bit overkill on marvel questions?

@SQB aye

@SQB no

Deffo not

11:36 AM

I mean, of course there's the MCU, but the primary domain of Marvel is comics.

If I need to make room for another tag, that is the first one to go.

It's too meta.

Napoleon Wilson

Comically meta even.

To meta!

On that very question I'd vouch in favor of leaving the comics tag

Which would you remove in its stead, then?

Napoleon Wilson

+1 for "in its stead". I didn't know English had that, it's an excellent phrase.

@SQB It doesn't seem to be a genuine suggested-order question. It's just asking what the chronological order is. There's not too much to suggest.

Do you have chronology or chronological-order?

Apparently both, with the latter being the appropriate one.

@NapoleonWilson yes we do. Done.

Napoleon Wilson

11:47 AM

Do, did, done. You missed one.

Do be do be do.

Napoleon Wilson

> Ooby-Ooby-Doo, we got some work to do now. Ister Gay, go away!

Don't do what Donny Don't does, though.

[be] OR -[be]

My friend Noe tried to kick his cocaine habit, but Noe's nose knows no noes.

Dear? The deer, they're there.

> "Why Heimdall send back Hulk? Hulk no understand. Hulk smash!"

Napoleon Wilson

...

12:15 PM

user image

Floof of the day (2018-11-14): Kawaii Thanos

Napoleon Wilson

o_O

Pretty much that, yeah.

We're Science Fiction & Fantasy. Let's have some SF&Fantasy Floof.

(For the record: yes, I'm over 5/15, but one of those is a recent question I tagged properly and another one of those is my own question).

Napoleon Wilson

Oughtn't floofs be...fluffy?

I think we've had unfluffy floofs before. ~~Snakes~~ sneks, for instance.

0

Q: Are there any differences in deaths between the comic series (The Inifinity Gauntlet) and the film (Avengers: Infinity War)

Both in the comic book series The Infinity Gauntlet and its film adaptation Avengers: Infinity Wars does Thanos Are there any differences in deaths between the two events? I'm primarily interested in named characters that exist and are seen or referenced in both the comics and the films. I'm ...

marvel marvel-cinematic-universe adaptation-comparison avengers-infinity-war the-infinity-gauntlet

12:27 PM

@SQB AVX tag

@Jenayah huh. That's the one I would remove last, seriously.

or Phoenix tag

Napoleon Wilson

Being able to handle 4D double precision is nice, but I still tend to shoo away from it for the mere fact that it isn't as ubiquitous as SSE yet, so often doesn't seem worth the hassle to implement special paths for. Though, we need double precision quite a lot, so it would sure be helpful.

Wait, what?

@NapoleonWilson Wrong room?

Napoleon Wilson

12:31 PM

Thought we switched to talking about AVX.

...not that AVX, me think :P

Anyway, I'm AFK.

Napoleon Wilson

Asterix vs. Xerxes?

Avengers vs X-Men

Napoleon Wilson

I see.

So what side do Magneto's kids fight on?

12:34 PM

dunno haven't read i tyet

Napoleon Wilson

And you dare complain about questions' tags then?! O_O

Well sure

that's called bad faith

:P

@KyloRen Yeah Kinda figured that out. You don't have to call me that in every comment though... ;-)

Napoleon Wilson

12:50 PM

Good jokes need time and persistence to really unfold their full efect. ;-)

1:06 PM

Off-site reactions on the Arkenstone thing (is the Arkenstone a Silmarli; see both this post and the previous one): giantitp.com/forums/…

Napoleon Wilson

Is Feanor greater than Sauron?

1:44 PM

Greetings, Earthlings.

@Donald.McLean greetings, Hubble guy!

2:32 PM

@Skooba, but you are agent Pena.

And why don't people even try to read a question? Just look at who asks and down-vote. Yeah I am cool with that, but this is going no-where if that is the case

@KyloRen what makes you think it's the case?

Napoleon Wilson

I'd be much more curious why people tend to interpret downvotes and comments as people not actually having read the question rather than looking for the problems pointed out to them. I see this shtick more often than people genuinely failing to read a question.

except for obvious spam I mean

I rarely even notice who asks a question.

same here

2:39 PM

aye UI isn't really made for that goal

B/c I attract down-votes, no matter the case

always remember 1 up vote = 5 down votes in terms of rep

@KyloRen it might just be the content... If you're referring to latest metas pretty sure it would have been the same score regardless of asker...

Napoleon Wilson

That's a useless formula really. Rep is about the least important factor. A downvote is about as bad as an upvote is good.

@Skooba, no it doesn't, one question up-vote is only 5 rep. So again, I ask why should I bother asking questions if that is the reward.

2:42 PM

well that is for you to answer yourself.

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen Only you can answer that and it would come down to why you ask questions in the first place.

We should reopen scifi.stackexchange.com/q/197601/98028 in light of the discussion we had with @MikeB and latest edit (cc @TheLethalCarrot)

you questions do get answered, so the reward is getting that answer

^

and the five questions you have asked in the past week are all positive scored

so I really wouldnt worry about a few errant downvotes, everyone gets them.

2:45 PM

five?

didn't you delete one? IIRC it disappeared or stuff

@Skooba, so the person who answers gets more rep and and the person who asks the question does not? I have rarely seen a question out-vote and answer and the up-vote for a question is only 5 rep. So tell me how do all of you expect to get that 10 rep per question if no asks a question?

*no-one

Napoleon Wilson

This site really doesn't seem to have a problem with voting. Many of the questions and answers get a ton of votes here, often without HNQ. There seems to be a healthy voting community in general.

@KyloRen that was a decision made early on in the days of the network. stackoverflow.blog/2011/06/13/optimizing-for-pearls-not-sand

basically the the reward for asking a question isn't rep. it is getting an answer. so to entice people to provide answers, they are worth more rep.

@NapoleonWilson, I don't see it that way, b/c I ask more questions then I answer.

and you are in the top 3% of rep holders on the site

that pretty darn good by any measure

Napoleon Wilson

2:49 PM

@KyloRen And that is a good thing to do. But I don't think questions get voted less here than answers, at least not beyond the normal differences present all across SE and resulting from a multitude of technical and psychological reasons.

@Skooba, so a one question user is conducive to a good site?

@NapoleonWilson, answers are by far more up-voted than a question.

all users who provide good content are conducive to the site. and you are one of them.

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen Yeah, there's a natural difference. But you won't tackle that, especially not by assuming this only applies to you or even this site.

@Skooba, all the same, I don't feel welcome in asking questions. I am just so indifferent , that I don't care so I still ask them knowing I will be down-voted.

Napoleon Wilson

I get that asking questions is important, and so is voting for good content we want to see more of, but you also have to beware of going overboard with encouraging askers and upvoting every kind of question just because it's...a question. (In reference to your recent meta complaint.)

@KyloRen You don't seem indifferent. ;-)

2:55 PM

0

Q: Differences between Enterprise and Defiant in DSC

During the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, we had a chance to see a schematical view of a Constitution-class vessel USS Defiant, and later "space view" of the USS Enterprise, a starship of the same class. Is there an in-universe explanation for the differences between the ships? They shou...

star-trek time-travel star-trek-discovery

0

Q: Voldemort (Tom Riddle) and Grindelwald

Recently, I had discussions with a friend where we outlined the timeline of the Harry Potter series, with a focus on Voldemort and Grindelwald, and we realized how much they overlap, time wise. This brought up questions: Since Voldemort was born in 1926ish, he would have been 17 (age of majority...

@NapoleonWilson, I KNOW it applies to me, b/c when a question of mine goes to the 'Hot Network Questions' the up-votes come in, but the moment I post, I usually get a few down-votes from the trolls and then "IF" it gains traction due to an answer being up-voted a lot it takes off from there. I call that profiling on stack.

@KyloRen you have over 200 questions with the vast majority of them being well received. If a few downvotes make you feel unwelcome I really don't know what to say to you then

And I always up-vote any and all answers that is given to me on any question I ask, no matter who. As I appreciate the fact that someone has taken the time to answer. The same is never reciprocated is most cases.

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen But then we have to make sure not to mix things up. Are you worried that people are targetting you and downvoting you for personal reasons or that questions aren't getting the appreciation they deserve?

(Or both, which are reasonable complaints, but then at least don't hide the former under the latter.)

@Skooba, Like I said , I am a dunce. I don't get the hint.

3:01 PM

@KyloRen it's not a matter of who, it's a matter of content... If an answer is VLQ it should get DVed

@@NapoleonWilson, I am not "Worried", I am saying that the site is unfair to people who ask questions.

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen See, and that's an invalid assumption that it should be reciprocated at all.

There is no personal contract of mutual gratification here. Just because someone answered your question doesn't mean they think it's good enough to get upvoted. And just because you upvote out of a personal obligation to thank people for their time (which isn't really a proper reason to upvote, mind you) doesn't mean others have to reciprocate that.

@NapoleonWilson, Why not, I took the time to ask the question, and you took the time to answer it. If that is not reciprocation, I don't know what is? Especially when rep is involved. If it were just Q & A then I would not challenge this. But it is not, people who answer get more rep than people who ask questions.

Rep isn't everything.

Napoleon Wilson

Let's get off the rep-trip, though. If you think question upvotes should give more rep, that's a reasonable complaint but one you ought to take to main meta, where it has surely been discussed before. But we're mixing things up here again.

3:07 PM

that is status-by-design, if you don't agree with it, you are free to take your questions elsewhere. but my opinion is good luck getting the quality answers you will get here.

Napoleon Wilson

Nor is complaining about the fact that questions get less upvotes than answers fruitful. There's a ton of reasons for that and neither will it solve anything regarding your specific case and your feelings of being targeted with downvotes.

also if you look at the most upvoted questions on this site you will see their answers have less votes.

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen Because time isn't everything. It's commendable when someone puts effort and time into an answer or question, but despite that it might still be...a bad answer.

Often time and effort may lead to reasonable and good answers/questions, but at the end of the day it's not directly what you're upvoted for.

@NapoleonWilson, I can't, the only place where you are supposed] to be able express your is meta, but if you express your views and it is not taken well you can't express your views. Great concept I know. @Skooba , those are very , very few and far between.

BTW, I am not fishing for upvotes, if I was, I would not take the stance I have and post what I do on meta scifi.

If fishing for upvotes worked that'd be known...

Napoleon Wilson

3:14 PM

I understand the frustration about meta, especially on sites where meta can be a little more dangerous to navigate than others, and I won't deny that you have built a history about you that might make it difficult for people to look at the essence of your concerns or that at least puts more pressure on you to be especially careful about wording your concerns. At the end of the day we're all humans and that's something that can only heal over time.

attacking a community for "bad behavior" rarely works out well

@NapoleonWilson, that is good to know, thanks for the acknowledgement.

Napoleon Wilson

But the point is, you keep mixing things up and using the bigger (and largely futile) fight for more question appreciation on SE to fight your more personal fight against perceived targeted voting. Both are reasonable concerns but mixing these up is not always helpful.

@Skooba, like I said, I don't care what people think. I am trying to get a point across. And in the past, I didn't do it very well, hence the one year unpaid vacation.

> I don't care what people think. I am trying to get a point across.

I'll admit this reads like a contradiction...

Napoleon Wilson

3:21 PM

If you have a genuine point about how questions are undervalued on SE, I strongly advise you to make these more general and shew away from trying to base them on personal examples, since it should be clear by now that this is easy to backfire and supposedly misconstrue as "being grumpy about downvotes".

@Jenayah, it doesn't when you look at the big picture. If voting was more fair, which is what I am championing then it is all worth it.

Napoleon Wilson

Though, the actual advice I would give is first trying to read up on the wealth of existing discussions about the topic on SE (for example there's many a post on 10 rep question upvotes and also general issues like why people upvote answers more than questions) and then decide if you want to continue that fight and in which way you want to do that.

@NapoleonWilson, That is the point, I can't, no one listens.

well it did read like "I don't care what people think, but I'm trying to make them think like I do"... So, yeah, contradiction in my book

Napoleon Wilson

(Same for the ages old "why you no upvote my question when answering" problem, which is by far not a new thing.)

That being said, your recent meta post about that issue seems to have been handled quite well. It got some reasonable answers. Of course there's always the danger that you might not actually like the outcome of the discussions you're inciting. But that doesn't necessarily make them fruitless.

Personally, I find accepting without upvoting the answer quite a bit more annoying. ;-)

3:27 PM

annoying is no feedback at all

@Jenayah, If I cared, why would I be back after a year ban? On top of a 6 month ban, on top of a 3 month ban. I don't care what people think of me, I just hate this system. And I should not get flagged for saying this, as it needs to be discussed.

no UV, no comment, no DV, no checkmark, no editing the Q or what... That's annoying

Napoleon Wilson

@Jenayah Meh, that can as well just be people not noticing your contribution.

@NapoleonWilson, best voted question on meta, meta.stackexchange.com/questions/293521/…

@NapoleonWilson OP gets noticed when there's a new answer

Napoleon Wilson

3:30 PM

@Jenayah True, but then again, some users just...aren't coming back.

And you're big in the ID tags, right? ;-)

@NapoleonWilson I wasn't thinking about drive-by story-id askers...

@NapoleonWilson, and I posted a reasonable question, which mind you was posted as off-topic, an off-topic question on meta-stack, what a joke. meta.stackexchange.com/questions/294622/…

rather active people who can be stalked with "last seen" indicator ;)

I don't mind (anymore) the story-id drive-bying

@KyloRen who said anything about flagging?

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen Um, it seems your question should have been posted on [meta.so], no?

@Jenayah, I get flagged , hence the bans.

Napoleon Wilson

3:32 PM

Assuming there can't ever be an off-topic, too broad or even opinionated question on meta will...turn out wrong pretty fast.

Well, can't talk about the past but right now I don't read anything flag-worthy

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen Rather than being flagged for saying you hate this system, I'd rather genuinely question why you still even participate in it then. You seem to be constantly unhappy about the very fundamentals of SE and your personal experience on it.

@NapoleonWilson, So meta is the go-to place for all site questions, but a question specific to a site is considered off-topic? How about moving the question to StackOverflow meta if that was the case. Instead it stands with the 20 down-votes and my ability to post other questions.

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen Meta is for issues pertaining to more than one site (even if not all). But per-site things are better discussed on the per-site metas. There's even a close-reason for exactly that (which has been used on your question).

Migration, though, is a different problem. For example there's the general rule to "not migrate crap" and depending on the wording or approach of questions people might not always be too inclined to migrate them. (Especially between Meta And Meta SO, I guess.)

0

Q: Anime Identification (retro anime)

If someone knows what anime these images are from please tell me. All I know is that its from a retro anime from around 1985

story-identification anime

3:40 PM

@NapoleonWilson, I can't remember which one, but a question I asked on a site specific meta was moved to meta. So why can't the same be done in reverse? As for your previous comment. So if I am not happy I should just leave then? I have the feeling that a lot of people do, which is why so many users only post one question and never come back.

and oddly enough there is a "new contributor" tag that is applied to new user now... so you were on the right track

Napoleon Wilson

@KyloRen No, not necessarily. It just feels like you're constantly struggling with the system and your fights against it seem quite futile. I don't have a say in how you spend your time (as long as it doesn't fall back on others' experiences) and if you're supposed to only do things that make you happy. If you want to continue that fight, knock yourself out. But also be aware of its futility.

well not a tag you put on the questions, but that box around the user name

I am tired and need to sleep, thanks all for the input.

It is appreciated.

g'night!

love-needed for this story-id self-answer to rise to the top scifi.stackexchange.com/a/184496/98028

Napoleon Wilson

3:53 PM

Begging for upvotes? Downvote her to hell!

it's not my answer

nor it is my question

Napoleon Wilson

Oh, well, too late, already downvoted.

as if :P

Napoleon Wilson

;-)

Nice ID question for once, though. But the answer is still a little meh.

Really no need to upvote that, +3 seems good enough for that.

It's so that the correct answer rises to the top

Napoleon Wilson

3:56 PM

That...isn't sufficient reason to upvote, though.

For story-id I'd argue that is.

Napoleon Wilson

I mean, people should be arseable to scroll half a page. ;-)

@Jenayah No! ;-)

That'd be the same as upvoting a question just because it gave you an opportunity to write an answer.

@NapoleonWilson that's... expecting a lot from some people.

Napoleon Wilson

@Jenayah SE is built on expecting things from people.

you know it and I know it but the world is full of idi... people who don't know.

Oct 24 at 14:41, by Jenayah

> Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

Napoleon Wilson

4:00 PM

@Jenayah You don't really have an obligation to help them keep on not knowing, though, especially not at the expense of the site's quality measurements.

@NapoleonWilson ho 'bout improving the answer then? :)

(can't right now but y'know)

Napoleon Wilson

Good idea, knock yourself out. ;-)

@NapoleonWilson favorited... will get around some day

Napoleon Wilson

\o/

My fav list really is a list of stuff I want to clean up some day...

@NapoleonWilson but then I expect your upvote on it once it's done ;)

Napoleon Wilson

4:02 PM

Yeah, ditto. I'm currently over 400. Need to clean that up some day.

(will try to make it worth, of course)

Napoleon Wilson

@Jenayah Well, if you let me know.

as long as it's not over 9000...

will do!

1 hour later…

5:11 PM

Spam scifi.stackexchange.com/a/198603/98028

Napoleon Wilson

For what, tartans? Looks like a normal question.

Tarzan in a tartan eating tartare?

Well it only links to a shopping site so y'know

Napoleon Wilson

5:36 PM

I do, yes.

Also known as the Black Mirror-Mythbusters scale.

1 hour later…

6:42 PM

1

Q: Science Fiction short story about learning to communicate with aliens

I'm trying to remember the name and author of a short SF story that is very similar to "The story of your life" but either is not that story or it's a different version of that story. In this story main character is a woman and these aliens come to earth and give humans a kind of ultimatum where...

story-identification science-fiction-genre

0

Q: What movie? elfin characters, visions, adventurer

I was sitting next to someone on the train who was watching a movie with subtitles. I saw a title flash for a minute - something about it being part of chronicles or something like that. The first part was a girl having a vision or dream, where she saw a castle all gray, with some sort of monste...

story-identification movie

7:06 PM

Is there a way to make multiple spaces in a line in an answer post (not a line break)?

 ? (untested)

@SQB Yeah, that works. Thanks!

Why do you want to do this?

@Jenayah Nefarious purposes.

Just kidding.

A quote from Harry Potter requires it.

Wonder which one

7:18 PM

@Jenayah Stay tuned. It should be posted in a few minutes.

8:06 PM

scifi.stackexchange.com/q/41162/98028 how could this be reworded into something less "requests for works or recommendations"?

We have a freaking barty-crouch-jr tag?!

Napoleon Wilson

Well, he's awesome.

@Jenayah Lots of questions about him.

I hate Harry Potter characters tags.

3

Imagine if we had a mad-eye-moody tag. Would you have to use both tags for every Crouch question?

STAHP IT

8:11 PM

@Jenayah We all do. But the theory is that having such tags gives people something to spend a lot of their complaints on, so they don't take it out on other things.

Great, not only HP characters tags are stupid, they're making us sheeple.

-2

Q: Dama Fortuna’s Love Potion plan

In Shrek 2, Dama Fortuna’s plan with the Love Potion was to drug Fiona with it, and have her kiss Charming so she’ll fall in love with him. However, this wouldn’t have kept her human, as she’d’ve been forced to love him, that doesn’t count as TRUE love, so what was Fortuna planning to do about T...

Personally, I don't see a need for any sub-harry-potter tags.

I guess there's a couple that are okay (quidditch, azkaban, horcrux...), when used properly, but character tags are just a big fat nope

@Jenayah They're not utterly pointless, but I don't think they add much.

8:18 PM

Granted.

don't these Shrek edits deviate from the intention?

@Alex I think we have the wrong harry-potter sub-tags.

@Jenayah put it on meta. You have my vote.

8:33 PM

@SQB no, we don't need HP books tags. :P

@SQB And my bow.

@SQB given how long they've lasted it won't change... And anyway it would be quite the pain to edit them all out

@Jenayah just merge them into harry-potter. Simple mod-action.

there's, what? A rough estimate of, say, 300 characters-tagged HP questions?

@Jenayah are you against Harry Potter book tags per se, or just because of the work it would entail?

8:37 PM

per se

Okay. Colour me surprised. I know we've discussed book tags before, but I don't recall why, then.

In the case of HP books tags, precisely because most of the time it doesn't really make sense to tag a Q with a specific book tag

except for the Tales, Fantstic Beasts etc, you get my point

dr-dolittle-1998 is apparently a "funny fantasy movie", judging by the questions.

@Jenayah I do seem to recall something other than enthusiasm from you, regarding creating the various 'ship tags for HP fan-fic.

@Jenayah how is that different for other X-ologies?

8:48 PM

@RDFozz right, "enthusiasm" wouldn't be appropriate.

@SQB whaddya mean?

There are other trilogies, tetralogies, pentalogies, hexalogies and so on, where the individual books do have individual tags.

@SQB It's "Dr. Dolittle" starring Eddie Murphy, as a veterinarian who can suddenly understand animal language, and talk to the animals he sees. Its only connections with the original Dr. Dolittle books, or the movie from the 1960s, are the title and the ability to talk to animals.

@SQB I'm not familiar with most -ologies, but the ones that I am familiar with, Harry Potter seems the least self-contained.

@RDFozz I know. I just noticed that all questions start with "Funny fantasy movie Dr Dolittle (1998)"

Going AFK, laptop is running empty.

@SQB Wouldn't want you to be mislead. As a Brit (based on "Colour me surprised"), you might have an attachment to the originals.

8:55 PM

@RDFozz Dutchy, with a preference for British English.

@SQB - Gotcha - go charge that laptop!

@SQB basically what Alex said

@Jenayah You're not familiar with most -ologies?

No, HP being the less self-contained

@Alex I don't disagree - but it's odd. I mean, LOTR has tags for the books, but feels more like a single books split in three; HP books, don't really end on cliffhangers too much (as usually, nothing too significant happens for at least a month between books).

^ also commenting on "self-contained"

9:00 PM

@RDFozz well, Voldemort might be a prick but the man respects summer vacation

4

@RDFozz I'm no expert on Lord of the Rings, but I recall seeing somewhere (here?) that it really was one book, just divided into three for publishing reasons.

@Jenayah Bwa-ha-ha!

@RDFozz and he also makes sure to strike at the end of school year, because education is important.

@Jenayah Or because he always comes up with the worst plans that require a full year to implement.

@Alex I may actually have known that - Although the first example I thought of was Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, which I read yesterday was split from one large book into a trilogy.

@Alex I admit, I lean towards the Voldy isn't necessarily the most competent villain. Although he's fearsome enough that no one uses his full name.

9:06 PM

@RDFozz Incompetent villain breeds incompetent heroes.

Or just an egotist. I mean, if you're on a first name basis with him, he's "I Am". Doesn't someone else already have that name sewn up?

On the other hand, attacking when students are exhausted because of incoming end-of-year exams is a dick move.

@Jenayah Alternatively, he's doing them a favor. Harry got to skip exams four out of six years thanks to Voldemort.

That damn slacker

@SQB it's only one user who described it that way though innit?

9:24 PM

@Jenayah yes. I find it amusing.

(On phone now).

9:39 PM

oh tis amusing indeed

the phrasing I mean, not the movie

10:28 PM

scifi.stackexchange.com/a/198619/4918 Oh great! So Bellatrix actually agrees with me in a question in which he's competent (one about Death Eaters in HP).

And he's phrased the answer better than I did.

10:55 PM

@b_jonas Not just any question - it's your question, my friend!

Oct 29 at 17:22, by TheLethalCarrot

b'dum tss

11:10 PM

@b_jonas I'm pretty sure Bellatrix is a she.

11:23 PM

:47620686 That was quick.

@Alex I learned this summer, by @b_jonas here, that some languages did not have pronouns to begin with. Hence the occasional confusion when switching to English :)

Related transcript starting here chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/45858661#45858661

@Jenayah Well that clarifies your meaning.

aye

It's cool because other languages don't have any genderless pronouns.

And English has both.

Triple even

Feminine, masculine, neutral and genderless

Mmmh... Quadruple then

11:33 PM

What's the difference between neutral and genderless?

Well neutral is "it" for objects animals and stuff

Genderless is "they" for male or female

The way I understand it at least

Funny, I was going to say the opposite.

11:50 PM

@Jenayah "They" migrated from "more than one person" to also include "one person of unspecified gender" because all the alternatives sounded even more stilted ("he/she", alternating use of "he" and "she", or "one").

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