The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Jenayah

6:52 AM

Daily floof, 2021/02/07: spot the intruder 😒

4

TheLethalCarrot

7:05 AM

Everything looks normal to me

Mithical

BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK bark BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK

3

TheLethalCarrot

I can’t work out if it’s a puppy or a cat. It’s something a puppy would do but the back end is very cat-like

b_jonas

8:16 AM

I don't understand why scifi.stackexchange.com/a/240281/4918 got deleted

It gives the actual correct answer, sure it's short but you don't really need a longer one, except perhaps edit in to mention where the books say “only stone in existence” or some such, and it's not self-deleted.

AncientSwordRage

9:40 AM

@TheLethalCarrot cats will surprise you like that

@b_jonas I'm guessing it went into the VLQ queue?

TheLethalCarrot

It did

Marvin

0

Q: How intelligent is the Doctor compared to other Galifreyans?

We come across several Daleks in the Whoniverse which the Doctor usually handles completely unarmed and with only his wits. And it's not only 1v1 but he always seems to find a way to handle them, no matter how many there are. Nonetheless, there was a war between the Daleks and the Galifreyans and...

doctor-who

SQB

> A moderator has deleted this post and it cannot be undeleted

TheLethalCarrot

Huh, that feels like a bug

SQB

But that was before you turned mod. Does that get applied retroactively? Or rather, does the system check if one of the delete voters is currently a mod?

TheLethalCarrot

9:53 AM

Probably the latter

SQB

Seems like a reasonable approximation.

So last night I had this continuing nightmare about the Big Rip.

Wasn't even that scary, in my dream I had just accepted that it was the end.

I remember the sun turning brown.

And that websites and other electronic communication got messed up the closer it came.

TheLethalCarrot

@SQB youtube.com/watch?v=L8c0EIvYnmE ?

SQB

Not quite as fun as that.

TheLethalCarrot

I don't even remember my dreams and here you are remembering this one is such detail

SQB

I woke up twice or so, and when I fell asleep, the dream continued.

b_jonas

10:10 AM

@TheLethalCarrot Yes, that does seem like a bug. It was deleted before you were a mod.

Marvin

0

Q: How were the Weasley's able to get the best tickets to the entire stadium in the GoF?

This has always stuck me as odd. If you recall in The Goblet of Fire, the Weasley's pick up Harry for the Quidditch world cup. This is a huge deal for the Weasley's whom were not only were able to get tickets to the event, but only tickets for guests and also they're the best tickets in the enti...

harry-potter quidditch

TheLethalCarrot

@SQB My wife can do that, she has incredibly vivid dreams pretty much every night

I had it happen once or twice when I was younger but not anymore

144

Q: Delete votes from users who later become moderators shouldn't prevent community undeletion

If you vote to undelete a post that was deleted by a moderator, you will get the message A moderator has deleted this post and it cannot be undeleted Interestingly, this extends to posts that a user voted to delete prior to becoming a moderator. For example here's a question that is in that sta...

bug moderation vote-to-delete

b_jonas

10:28 AM

@TheLethalCarrot thanks for the link

so it's a known issue that SE doesn't care about

TheLethalCarrot

Probably mostly not a problem

b_jonas

(because they're only nominally committed to building a knowledge base of Q&A, in reality they know they get more traffic for new posts)

AncientSwordRage

10:47 AM

@TheLethalCarrot still feels like a bug

TheLethalCarrot

Agreed

AncientSwordRage

ah I just saw your link

@b_jonas also, this comment by TLC is a good counter:

> Just because he had the ability to do so doesn't mean he made use of it. Is there any evidence he made use of this to become really wealthy? If so could you edit that into your answer? – TheLethalCarrot♦ Dec 11 '20

admittedly there was only 1.5hrs between the comment and the delete

b_jonas

@AncientSwordRage I don't think that comment makes too much sense. Supposing I'm a millionaire with lots of money on my bank account, I'm not going to use it to fill my mattress with banknotes and gold, because that just invites thiefs to steal it. I'm already rich just by being able to get cash when I want, and so is Flammel if he can make gold any time. He's rich even if he doesn't spend the gold and is just a hoarder.

AncientSwordRage

AND that poster has basically got no positively scored answers

b_jonas

You could of course make the excuse that the question is asking about the time after the seventh book, at which point Flamel no longer has the Stone, so Flamel is no longer known to be rich.

AncientSwordRage

10:54 AM

@b_jonas he hasn't got the gold in a bank account, its like saying someone who has a money printing machine is rich, they aren't yet

b_jonas

But you could also say the same about some of the other answers like Malfoy and/or Bellatrix.

TheLethalCarrot

He has the potential to be rich but he isn't necessarily so

AncientSwordRage

clearly he chose not to... right?

b_jonas

@AncientSwordRage No, a money printing machine would just print counterfeits that you probably can't spend, unless you're a particularly good criminal. This machine actually makes gold, in a world where wizards use gold as a currency.

@AncientSwordRage We don't know that really, he might just be discreet and avoid attention.

AncientSwordRage

@b_jonas what makes them counterfeit though?

b_jonas

10:57 AM

@AncientSwordRage I mean the real world money printing machine, not Flamel's gold. The difference is that we are no longer using gold-based currency. A machine that makes gold for very cheap in the real world would still be immensely valuable.

AncientSwordRage

@b_jonas I guess?

b_jonas

Especially if you can keep being the only one who has one, which seems to have happened in the HP universe, where nobody else is known to own a Stone, despite that other alchemists probably tried..

AncientSwordRage

but then you're talking about evaluating the price of something

b_jonas

(Afk for 15 to 60 minutes, I'm going to have a meeting.)

b_jonas

11:31 AM

@AncientSwordRage Yes, but I don't have to evaluate the economics in HP myself, because Dumbledore explicitly says "You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want!" in PS, which is the main reason why we know that the Stone can easily generate ready-to-use money.

This might be particularly lucky, because otherwise HP doesn't have a consistent enough worldbuilding that I'd try to figure out whether the Stone makes you rich, especially as we don't know much about the details of the Stone.

Perhaps I should edit the deleted answer to include that quote, as well as the quote that says only one Stone is known to exist.

TheLethalCarrot

That's not necessarily addressing the main concern with the answer though is it?

We know the Stone gives you the potential to be rich but if that potential is never utilised are you rich?

Is someone who only uses it as little as necessary rich because they have the potential to have more money?

AncientSwordRage

@b_jonas that would definitely improve it

@TheLethalCarrot like maybe he's made shed loads of galleons worth of gold, but always spent it/gave it away and never kept hold of it

TheLethalCarrot

I suppose it depends how you're defining rich

b_jonas

@AncientSwordRage Thanks. scifi.stackexchange.com/a/179036/4918 has the first quote, but I'll have to look up the other quote in the book (if it's even in the book, I think it was when they read the chocolate frog card), and I'm at work so I don't have the book with me.

ah, scifi.stackexchange.com/q/14814/4918

(No chapter number of course, so I have to look it up in the book anyway.)

oh hey, scifi.stackexchange.com/a/14961/4918 gives the chapter number too!

see, I told you scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/q/3577/4918 , SE has all the useful HP quotes already

AncientSwordRage

@b_jonas hah too true

Rand al'Thor

11:47 AM

Congratulations @alexwlchan on becoming the 19th user to break 100,000 reputation on SFF!

5

AncientSwordRage

12:31 PM

@Randal'Thor shame they're not in chat

Rand al'Thor

1:28 PM

Not really around on the site any more either :-(

Just cruising to 100,000 rep on passive upvotes.

b_jonas

@Randal'Thor Probably from Harry Potter fatigue, like me, because most good questions have been asked.

I'd say that I'll ask a question when the movie industry restarts and I can watch the next Star Wars movie, but it seems like I don't have a question about Solo, so I can't guarantee it about the next movie either.

AncientSwordRage

@Randal'Thor I have them on Twitter (from some other place entirely and it took me the longest time to put two and two together)

@b_jonas the majority that I see in the chat feed at insta-closed as dupes

b_jonas

@AncientSwordRage And the rest are just not that interesting questions.

Marvin

0

Q: Outsmarting the Devil

In the early to late 1990's, a short story made into an episode of The twilight Zone, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, or possibly The Outer Limits was the story of a man's encounter with the ultimate temptation. But I can't pinpoint the exact episode, no search engine seems to lead there. The Dev...

story-identification

AncientSwordRage

true that

b_jonas

1:41 PM

of course in retrospect, many of the questions that we asked back when they were more fresh aren't such good questions either, but we were more enthusiastic

AncientSwordRage

@b_jonas I remember those days

most of my highly-upvoted questions are from 2012

AncientSwordRage

2:51 PM

Do we have questions about Alien Catnip here?

Marvin

1

Q: What is this creature seen at the TVA in episode 1 of Loki?

In season 1 episode 1 of Loki we see a cat in the TVA. Is it a normal cat or a Flerken as shown in Captain Marvel?

marvel marvel-cinematic-universe character-identification loki-2021

Marvin

3:25 PM

3

Q: What was it in cat food that the aliens from District Nine loved so much?

In District 9 the aliens (commonly and derogatorily called 'Prawns') find cat food addictive, as per the Alien Catnip trope (warning TV Tropes link!) Was it ever revealed in or out of universe what about it was so addicting?

district-9

TheLethalCarrot

@Marvin I went against my gut here and actually found an answer for this :)

Or rather an accurate answer as of now

TheLethalCarrot

3:47 PM

@Marvin Gotta love the simple questions for hitting gold

Rand al'Thor

Yeah, pretty undeserved Great Answer badge for me :-/

AncientSwordRage

@Randal'Thor Rand, how have I got more gold badged than you?

Oh, almost all of mine are for being 'famous'?

Rand al'Thor

Well, you've been here longer than me!

Also, you've asked more than answered.

AncientSwordRage

@Randal'Thor true!

it's all true!

I confess :P

Rand al'Thor

Most of my rep comes from answers, but it's easier to get more golds from questions (a popular question can get Famous Question and Great Question, but a popular answer can only get Great Answer).

That's how Sachin has more gold badges than either of us.

And 14111 and Thaddeus have far fewer.

AncientSwordRage

3:59 PM

feels whack but makes sense

Jenayah

4:45 PM

AncientSwordRage

@Jenayah now I want Olivander to be The Doctor who's currently using a modified Chameleon Arch to give him magic powers

he knows so much about wands because they work very similar to sonic screwdrivers

Marvin

6:01 PM

1

Q: Is there an edition of Unfinished Tales with fonts used to differentiate between the editor and the author?

The book Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, written by J. R. R. Tolkien and edited by his son Christopher, contains great bulks of texts printed (more or less) exactly as J. R. R. Tolkien left them, alongside numerous notes by his son Christopher. I recall glimpsing at a copy of this b...

tolkiens-legendarium

0

Q: What is Picard’s standing in the Federation during The Next Generation TV series?

There are instances throughout the TV series of The Next Generation of Jean Luc Picard having influence amongst the upper echelons of the Federation command structure, able to get classified reports, or sway opinion on important decisions. Is this influence typical of all starship captains in the...

star-trek star-trek-tng jean-luc-picard

b_jonas

6:23 PM

@AncientSwordRage scifi.stackexchange.com/a/240281/4918 I Added the quotes. Check if it's worth to undelete now.

I'll also note that scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/217552/… there's a comment saying the same thing as the answer, and that one has comment upvotes.

AncientSwordRage

@b_jonas done, now that it's supported

I don't think it's correct, because look he 'enjoys a quiet life', no mention of actually having the wealth. But at least it can stand on the merit of its contents now

b_jonas

6:38 PM

@AncientSwordRage Thanks

DavidW

Having the ability to do something at need is not at all the same as actually doing it. He could manufacture gold, but that does not by any stretch mean he actually created large amounts of it. The potential for a thing is not the thing!

b_jonas

@AncientSwordRage Yes, it's still not a very good answer, but I don't think we'll have a really good answer for this question from the books anyway, so I think this it's at least worth to keep.

@DavidW I argued above that in this case, for a Stone that can readily make him as much money as he wants, it is the same, he still counts as wealthy.

(above as in earlier today in chat)

DavidW

And I disagree. Harry Potter can kill as many people as he wants, but that doesn't make him a mass-murderer.

b_jonas

@DavidW That's not the same thing.

We don't measure wealth in cash or gold only, liquid assets clearly count into it. So as long as Flamel did have the stone, if our knowledge of the Stone is accurate, he was wealthy.

Rand al'Thor

> Amass no more! Potter hath murdered mass.

b_jonas

6:43 PM

If you want to argue that he's probably not wealthy anymore after Philosopher's Stone, I can accept that, but the other answers mention Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, who are probably not wealthy after Deathly Hallows.

DavidW

It is exactly the same thing. Something that may exist in potentia is not the same as it existing in reality.

b_jonas

And I think if Bellatrix's displayed wealth in the quote in scifi.stackexchange.com/a/228731/4918 convinces you, then you have a rather naive view in money, and you should not go into finance trying to decide who to give loans.

DavidW

Besides, if such a thing as the Philosophers' Stone existed, and someone tried to use it to accumulate wealth, they'd probably find out what it was like to try and live on gold, after having crashed their economy.

@b_jonas When did I say that was a good answer? But it's a less bad answer.

b_jonas

@DavidW He has demonstrated properly that he can guard the stone without anyone stealing from him for centuries. As far as I know, he did spend a lot of money, just not very conspiciously. Of course he pretends to live a quiet life in Devon! That's what I'd do too if I were rich, except for the Devon part.

I specifically included the quote about "money" to show that, as far as Dumbledore knows, the stone is liquid enough, it can make you money.

DavidW

On a lighter note, I figured out an easy way to find the dog, who had wandered off, when I was too lazy to wander around and look.

b_jonas

6:48 PM

@DavidW What dog?

DavidW

Step 1: Open a jar of peanut butter.

Step 2: Turn around.

@b_jonas My dog.

Marvin

0

Q: What was the first illustrated edition of Unifinished Tales?

In 2020 a new edition of Unfinished Tales was published, illustrated by Alan Lee, John Howe, and Ted Nasmith. See here. I did not manage to find an older version of this book which was illustrated. I did, however, see that quite a few new editions of illustrated books by Tolkien were published in...

tolkiens-legendarium

SQB

Unfortunately, "peanut butter" and "your dog", reminds me of that scene from Road Trip.

Cereal Bot

7:08 PM

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Average

posted on July 02, 2021 by tech

Click here to go see the bonus panel!Hovertext: I call dibs on that button. Today's News:

Marvin

7:20 PM

0

Q: Seeking story about an ocean world, monsters attacking colonized islands, a space ship that comes to help

Seeking Short story about sea monsters attacking island colonies on an ocean planet. A space ship that comes to help and creates mutated monsters to attack the sea monster.

story-identification

SQB

7:55 PM

10

Q: Identify this story about the end of the world (possibly the Big Rip)?

I've read a story online in the past couple of years, possibly on Tor.com, involving the end of the world, which I would like to reread. A female scientist has calculated the exact moment some wave of destruction, most likely the Big Rip, will hit earth. She's awaiting that moment together with ...

story-identification

Basically, this is what I dreamed about last night. I knew it as soon as I woke up.

DavidW

8:57 PM

Was there some discussion "recently" about tags out-of-order? Top of the active page has anime before story-identification.

TheLethalCarrot

Which page?

DavidW

Active questions, but here's the question: scifi.stackexchange.com/q/221629/101407

TheLethalCarrot

Hmmm

I wonder if they tagged it with a synonym?

DavidW

No idea, and no idea how you'd tell. It should be possible to test that though, unless you're talking about a synonym that was created after the question was posted.

TheLethalCarrot

I wouldn’t know how to check it after the fact

DavidW

9:13 PM

Sigh. We need more people editing stuff. I want to answer a question, but I'm already at 5/15.

SQB

Answering is always okay and does not fall under that rule of thumb.

We want answers.

TheLethalCarrot

Aye the 5/15 is for edits only

SQB

Questions and answers are new content. We don't want old content swamp main, but new content is good.

TheLethalCarrot

@DavidW I just tested posting a question with anime and show-identification. The tags changed to story id and then anime

fez

@TheLethalCarrot can confirm. Not that quick of a delete ;)

DavidW

9:20 PM

Of course they did. They should. That old post is the odd one.

@fez URL rewriting can find it too! The experiment is immortal!

TheLethalCarrot

All tag synonyms for story id are before that question was posted too

Might have just been a bug around the time that question was posted I guess

DavidW

Can I do a test, can I, huh, can I?

SQB

Aren't tags reordered to show biggest (most questions) tag first?

DavidW

That's why this is weird.

TheLethalCarrot

@DavidW yeah it’s working as intended, just checking for a bug

SQB

9:25 PM

Perhaps anime was bigger at the time.

TheLethalCarrot

@fez I blame mobile

its from 2019, I doubt it haha

Not a merged question unless I’m missing something

unless one of you has an idea I might just chalk it up to a bug and then let it nag at me for the next few days

SQB

SE moves in mysterious ways.

DavidW

Sure, have fun. :) FWIW, I tried explicitly using the "movie-identification" tag, but it replaced it on post.

TheLethalCarrot

If it’s still bothering me on Monday I might ask in TL

Alex

10:34 PM

May 30 at 23:45, by Alex

in The Reading Room, Apr 11 at 5:10, by Alex

Fixed.

Babel fish

0

Q: Original Poems from Notes from the City of the Sun

I am interested in finding the original Chinese poems used in Notes from the City of the Sun by Bonnie S. McDougall. I know the poems are from Bei Dao, and, according to this webpage, the poems used include "生活" (translates to Living), "艺术" (translates to Art), "命运" (translates to Fate), "祖国" (tr...

poetry identification-request chinese-literature bonnie-s-mcdougall notes-from-the-city-of-the-sun

Transcript for

The Restaurant at the End of the Univ…