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SRM
SRM
12:03 AM
@zxyrra Regarding the "pre-history" edit... The term is usually only used for human history before writing. Stating it back to the dawn of the universe is a mis-definition, IMHO. What do others think?
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
I don't know much about definitions of history terms, but the Prehistory Wiki has the following link: "For a timeline of events in the early history of the universe and prehistoric Earth, see Timeline of prehistory."
And pre-history seems to be defined along the lines of 'the time before human writing', which means the beginning of the Universe counts?.. As I said, I don't know much about definitions of history terms, but that's what the internet says
 
SRM
SRM
I approved her edit, but I've never heard the term used to stretch that far back before.
I'm gonna look around for other sources of definition, see what I find.
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
According to the Oxford Dictionary: "The period of time before written records"
Ah - you might be thinking of human prehistory, which is split into the stone, bronze and iron ages?
 
SRM
SRM
Wikipedia, with citations, has this: The term "prehistory" can refer to the vast span of time since the beginning of the Universe or the Earth, but more often it refers to the period since life appeared on Earth, or even more specifically to the time since human-like beings appeared.[2][3]
As a tag, in particular, I don't think it has much utility unless it is limited to pre-writing humans.
I'm still searching around for others...
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
So the last one is human prehistory (according to the Cambridge dictionary)
 
SRM
SRM
12:13 AM
Cambridge dictionary: the period of human history before there were written records of events:
Prehistory: the period of human history before there were written records of events:
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
Yep
 
SRM
SRM
Mirriam Webster is also limited to humans:


Definition of prehistory
1
: the study of prehistoric humankind
2
: a history of the antecedents of an event, situation, or thing
3
: the prehistoric period of human evolution
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
Yet is also referred to as human prehistory... This is somewhat confusing...
 
SRM
SRM
I think there's a difference between "pre-history" and "prehistory". The latter is actually history before it could be written down. The former is literally before there was history.
History being "his story" (sorry, ladies)
If a tag gets edited, how many people have to approve the edit for it to go live?
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
One of the many reasons that I didn't study history (or anything before history)
 
SRM
SRM
12:16 AM
Ah... that's why we're reverting back to the Stone Age... doomed to repeat it. ;-)
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
Except I guess cosmology kind of counts as something before history?
 
SRM
SRM
Wouldn't it be funny if the Big Crunch depended upon enough sentients NOT studying cosmology so that the universe can repeat? But too many people studying cosmology causes infinite expansion...
"A strange side-effect of the observer principle..." :-)
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
Yeah, I read a paper once about that possibility of the expansion of the Universe merely being the result of us just making 'weak measurements' of distant galaxies, so observing results beyond what is reasonable as a result of postselection
I think this was it: arxiv.org/abs/1309.0773
Yep - in my own words, making a weak measurement [a rather specific type of quantum measurement with postselection] of the number of particles (photons) and then using this to make a weak measurement of the gravitational force can give a repulsive force, akin to that of the cosmological constant
 
Zxyrra
Zxyrra
@SRM Neither is technically wrong, and you are welcome to edit it to clarify.
And be careful with pronouns before you call someone a her... they may be a sir.
 
Journeyman Geek
Journeyman Geek
@Zxyrra theystory? ;p
 
 
1 hour later…
Zxyrra
Zxyrra
1:38 AM
Why does this question have 34k views but 8 upvotes - and the top answer only has ten uptotes? Seems increddddiibblllly disproportionate
 
SRM
SRM
1:53 AM
@Zxyrra My apologies... somewhere along the line, I thought you'd referred to yourself as female. I guess i got you confused with someone else. (And now I'm wondering who that person was and whether I've flipped pronouns somewhere else... sigh)
 
Zxyrra
Zxyrra
2:12 AM
@SRM Not a problem :) also as someone who edits a lot of tags you may be interested in this meta discussion
 
SRM
SRM
2:58 AM
Can we make "spy" and "espionage" synonyms?
 
Zxyrra
Zxyrra
@SRM I second that
---
What are people's thoughts on doing a "tag of the week" kinda thing? We'd vote in a meta post on obscure tags to highlight and bring attention to, with the goal of encorporating them into questions.
 
 
2 hours later…
Worldbuilding Meta
Worldbuilding Meta
5:34 AM
0
Q: (Xeno)biology cleanup

ZxyrraAccording to its tag wiki, xenobiology is a form of biology that is not familiar to science and is not found in Earthly life the wiki and its contrast with the following imply that it is about aliens. And biology is For questions about living things. Does not exclude aliens, but addit...

discussion tags
 
 
3 hours later…
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
8:35 AM
@Zxyrra we kinda did that with the forthnightly topic challenge which was eventually shut down as we have more than enough new questions every day
 
 
2 hours later…
BESW
BESW
10:45 AM
 
 
4 hours later…
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
2:24 PM
@dot_Sp0T I think the main reason we stopped the fortnightly challenge was that less people were participating, and less people were willing to keep up with posting and updating the challenge on Meta
I know I stopped participating because I became wracked by self-doubt
hmm... wracked... that doesn't feel like a real word...
ah, I guess it's also spelled 'racked'
but I like to add extra letters to things
(Otherwise I'd be known as DaWush)
 
HDE 226868
HDE 226868
@dot_Sp0T (cc @Zxyrra) Let me second @DaaaahWhoosh in saying that participation was a major part. Fewer people were writing questions - especially high-quality questions - and I know that I, at least, lost some confidence in whether the challenges were actually helping the site. I was the one responsible for proposing that we bring the challenges to WB, but I'm now an opponent of them.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
2:45 PM
they were fun and potentially useful for a while
and sometimes the questions were so bad we realized there were flaws in the system that needed to be repaired
 
HDE 226868
HDE 226868
They also had a tendency to hit the Hot Network Questions list, which could result in . . . problems.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
the HNQ list always has problems
I wonder if other sites have the same problem with the HNQ list
 
HDE 226868
HDE 226868
@DaaaahWhoosh I know a lot of mods who do not like the list at all. It think it mainly benefits smaller beta sites, as opposed to medium- and large- sized graduated sites.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
yeah, I guess it's just a matter of wanting more people when you're small, and less people when you're big
on an unrelated note, I just found out Writers SE has a 'world-building' tag
...its wiki suggests they post their question on WB.
I wonder if that implies we should have a 'writing' tag
 
Mark Gardner
Mark Gardner
3:04 PM
sounds cool. Why aren't the two SEs merged?
 
Journeyman Geek
Journeyman Geek
merging SEs almost ever happens
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
Writers and Worldbuilding? There's some overlap, but for the most part they're very different subjects
you don't have to write to worldbuild, and you don't have to worldbuild to write
 
Journeyman Geek
Journeyman Geek
that too
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
it's like SFF and Movies, if you're asking about the new Star Wars film you could probably ask in either place and get an answer, but that doesn't mean the sites should be merged
though it does seem to me like there's usually a 'best' place for a question.
like the recent worldbuilding question on Writers, it's about how much of the world you explain in your narrative. Which is something we don't really talk about on WB.
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
3:28 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh Also I don't think they really like questions about story elements. It's more about the process of writing, and includes technical writing, writing for school... Worldbuilding and writing don't overlap very much
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
nope, though I now sometimes wonder if they should overlap more
eh, but probably not
anyway, this morning I'm thinking more about my sci-fi world, and the 'magic' that makes things like artificial gravity and interstellar travel possible
I'm trying to come up with a standard way to open portals to alternate dimensions, so that you can make use of that dimension's unique properties
for instance, for artificial gravity I want there to be portals under the floor to an alternate dimension where gravity forces are stronger. A dense mass is lowered into the portal, and the gravitational pull is transferred from the portal to normalspace.
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh I feel I've read (and possibly answered) a question like that before...
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 I've brought it up in chat before
what I'm thinking about this morning is a standard 'device' that is used to open up these portals, that could be used both for antigrav and FTL travel
like, it should basically be the same thing on a different setting and maybe at a different size
so I've begun considering the logistics of FTL ships having to build portal machines every time they want to go anywhere
the way I see it, you shouldn't be able to take it with you, or at least it might be really dangerous to try
I figure the reaction can sustain itself for maybe a few seconds, which is enough time to cut the power but not enough time to collapse the emitters
but I'm trying to think if that's too much of a limitation or not
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh It might actually be a benefit
For acceleration anyway. Open a big portal 1 meter in front of the ship for 1/1000th of a second. The gravity pulls the ship forward, then the portal closes. Immediately open a new portal 1 meter in front of the ship. Do this 1000 times a second. The ship will start moving forward, but will never catch the portal be cause it's always 1 meter in front. It's like a carrot on a stick
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
3:44 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh what about an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device?
@AndyD273 on another note: everybody aboard the ship gets crushed to bits
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@dot_Sp0T Why? It could be 1 gravity
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 I guess I should be clearer. They're not using the gravity dimension for FTL travel. They're using the "there is no limit to velocity" dimension
antigrav involves leaving a portal open and having the gravity come through, FTL involves actually driving the ship into the portal
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh so you just displace the whole thing in time instead?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T uuh... maybe? no?
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh how boring
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
3:48 PM
So more of a wormhole, where you just skip the space inbetween A and B
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 no, I mean they actually travel from A to B, but in an alternate dimension where the journey takes less time
or, so I guess, yeah
instead of going A - B - C, they go A -D - C, where B is somewhere in real space and D is somewhere in quickspace
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
A scifi book I once read, on a flight to Paris I think, had FTL travel achieved by wormholes forming two-way corridors in time and location. So travelling through the wormhole you'd end up at a slightly different place in space and some 35 years back in time. Then they'd still travel at sublight and in stasis
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
I've read that in string theory, some of the higher dimensions are thought to be really small... If you could put yourself into one of them you might have to travel less distance... Of course I may not be remembering that correctly
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T I'd like to avoid time travel for now, it causes so many other problems
@AndyD273 yeah, something like that. The nature of quickspace doesn't really concern me, I'm just considering the way of getting there
namely, that you can't take the device that opens the portal into the portal
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh honestly by having another magic dimension where you can cross the same space with the same machinery in less time you're already doing time travel
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
3:53 PM
@dot_Sp0T shhhhhhhhhhh, most people don't know that
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Cowboy bebop style jump gate?
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@AndyD273 you just seriously spoilered me
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 as I recall, yes. There's a stationary gate that's open all the time you can go through. But I'm imagining also that there are ships that can generate their own temporary gates, and then leave them behind once they're done
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
The theory behind them is interesting
@dot_Sp0T Spoilers, there are space ships too
Also, I don't remember there being any cows
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
I guess what I want in my world is a case where most small colonies don't have permanent gates, so any time a war breaks out there there is a company that goes there and provides a gate for the warships to use. So the usage of gates should be useful, but not useful enough to be provided at all times
@AndyD273 there was a cowboy in one episode. I think he had a horse. But yeah, no actual cows
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
4:07 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh So if there is no gate, then the company that delivers gates has to travel slower than light?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 no, that's what I've been saying, ships can create their own gates, but they'd be single-use
you can't take it with you once you've used it, but you can take a spare so you can get back
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
gotcha
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
so either you spend money on a single-use gate, or you pay money to use a semi-permanent one
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
one idea... you could have the gates not technically need an anchor, except that they are unstable without one and so can't be used for trade routes
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
define 'anchor' and 'unstable'
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
4:17 PM
@AndyD273 MONSTER
@DaaaahWhoosh oooh sounds like my solution to interstellar travel :D
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
I guess my main problem is that I'm not an economist
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh why?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T well, that's my main problem with this FTL travel system. I don't know how to set up supply and demand in such a way that I get all the attributes I need
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh So you open a wormhole/gate/whatever on one end, but the other end isn't exactly fixed, so kinda moves around. But if you put a gate at both ends, they act as anchors so that the wormhole is steady
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh what attributes do you need and for what?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
4:24 PM
@AndyD273 what's generating the hole on the other end
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh The gate on the near end
Or one time device
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
oh, hmm
yeah, I was thinking another one-time device
or a dedicated gate
@dot_Sp0T in my world, I want there to exist ships whose main source of income is going to places other people are going and providing a service to pull them in and out of quickspace
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
It's like putting a tape measure out without a support. You can do it, but it's not steady, and could collapse. But if you have something to hook it to then you can make it as long as you have tape for and no worries about it falling down
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh so what is the issue with that..?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 yeah, I guess that works, but it sounds too complex
@dot_Sp0T if you can make your own gates, why pay for someone else's?
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
4:27 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh how do the gates exactly work/are they made?
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
I think it sounds like what you're describing? If you don't have a gate on the other end, you need to get one over there. So you have ships with one time gates that go to far systems and set up perminate gates. Once you have a gate on both ends then you can move back and forth easily.
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
U still alive whoosh?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T yes, I'm just thinking how to answer in a way that is useful
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh don't think about that; just answer in the same way as you describe it in your head - I'll filter through it, I promise :)
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 right, it's just if it's easy enough to use one-time gates you might as well just do that rather than waiting for the permanent ones
@dot_Sp0T okay, so the technology is hard to build without the infrastructure, but there are factories that can produce gates relatively cheaply once they've started. You essentially set it up, feed it a lot of power, and then it can be opened to allow passage to other dimensions. Once you cut the power, the portal closes after a short period of time
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
4:32 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh That's why I was suggesting the instability factor. Say a small ship could go through and probably not have a problem, but if you try to force something like a battle cruiser it could collapse or move very far from the destination
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh so the gate is a self-contained unit that creates a portal using external power?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 my problem is that I don't like the idea of opening a portal to quickspace also giving you a way out again. I want you to be able to go anywhere once you are in quickspace, and open a portal in there to get out
@dot_Sp0T yep, sounds about right
remove the unit or the power and the portal collapses
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh and these portals are just plain and simple doors, nothing more?
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh Then I'm not sure how you'd get out without having a gate sent STL?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T they can be.
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
4:34 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh what else can they be?
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Any misunderstanding is on my end I'm sure. Youngest got sick in the night and I had to clean her up. Still a bit fuzzy headed
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 you open a gate in quickspace calibrated to send you to realspace
@dot_Sp0T for antigrav systems there should be safegaurds to keep people from falling in
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh that make sense
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh but the antrigrav gates to somewhere else, don't they? So let's ignore them for the moment
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 as I mentioned, I want the system to be as uniform and simple as possible
@dot_Sp0T yeah, but I want the technology to be the same. So gates to quickspace and gates to neo-g-space should work on the same principles
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
4:37 PM
Are these gates one-way only? E.g. a gate in normal space does only allow you to travel from normal-space to other-space, to travel back from other-space to normal-space you need a gate in other-space - can't use the passage from normal-space the other way round?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T hmm, yeah I'm not sure about that one
I guess it should go both ways
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh just make their power consumption exponential to the size of the portal it opens. Bigger portal = more power consumption -> needs a bigger powerplant
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
So is one of your goals to make it unattractive to just use one time gates?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T so always-on permanent portals are really expensive or optimized for smaller ships, whereas single-use gates can be optimized for the size of the ship carrying them and can be turned off quickly
@AndyD273 sort of. Unattractive enough to use the permanent ones, but not enough to make it hard to go anywhere on your own
oh, wait. I have different stories set in different time periods. Maybe technology changes
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh for example, yes. The gravity gates draw so little power that they can be installed on almost any ship, while the sizes needed to allow bigger ship to pass through will require way more power :)
This will also likely end up in tube-shaped ships specialized for cheap cargo transfer
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
4:41 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh But if you use the single use gates you have to leave it behind, so using permanent gates are going to be the best option, even if you have to pay a toll to go through them
@dot_Sp0T Suppose they would end up being very long too... So similar to trains. Trains in space!
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 right... so permanent gates are great, but they cost a lot of money to keep on for long times, so they'll only get paid enough money to stay on if they're in high-traffic areas
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@AndyD273 THE GALAXY EXPRESS THREE NINE WILL TAKE YOU ON A JOURNEY, A NEVERENDING JOURNEY!
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
I wonder if you'd have ships that travel through quickspace looking for single use gates to salvage...
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 I'm definitely considering orbital janitors cleaning them up in realspace
there'd end up being a lot of them just floating around planets
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
ffs I can't paste or copy
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
4:44 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh Or have a schedule like a draw bridge for low traffic areas. The gate opens for 1 hour every day, so ships arrive in quickspace and queue up for their turn to go through
If you have the money you can pay for it to open out of schedule
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 right, but you're breaking my dreams again
I'm trying to avoid truly permanent gates, while allowing temporary permanent gates
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
sorry. Just throwing out ideas. If they are crap just ignore them
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 no, they're good, they're just plot holes
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Well, you'd want perminate gates at some places, like major ports where hundreds/thousands of ships arrive every day
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh there's another angle you could take. I initially understood your magic portals to simply boost an object passing through them up to speeds we cannot achieve otherwise (also they're transferred into a basically empty room that maps to our universe, so they do not crash into anything), passing through another gate, or just shifting back into normal-space, would then slow them down again. Thus you would pay other ships to do one-way travels where they might potentially
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
4:47 PM
At least eventually. Maybe in the later parts of the time line?
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
end up way off-target, they'd then use another expensive jump or just normal engines to move towards the real target and eventually act as beacons for the other ships to home on to in order to make more precise jumps
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 yeah, I guess I'll need to construct a history of the technology now, with supply-demand curves for the various services
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
ANd now I need to restart bc my windows is broken and I can't stand it anymore...
I'm back
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T oh yeah, actually that probably is a pretty good idea
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh it would be a drastic change though, wouldn't it?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
4:53 PM
@dot_Sp0T it would if it was replacing what I was already doing, but as an addition I think it could work
so one-time gates to get out of quickspace aren't as precise as permanent gates, because the permanent ones can be set up in relation to realspace objects
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
In a setting of mine I am going along a similar path, I've got some sort of 'Jumpcore' that is forgotten-tech found by humans and somehow they managed to activate it (or at least part of its functionality - thus I can add whatever I want whenever I want by introducing an external factor that was missing - great for spacemagic) - anyways, these cores allow for any body to be displaced in space, not in time, as long as there's enough energy fed to the system. But they're limited in amount,
there's only so many that have been found and not destroyed during the process of trying to activate them or by scientists who wanted to open them up to check their inner workings (they blow up with a few megatons or so of boom boom power when opened)
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
So there's specialised companies that lease cores from the United Mankind Space Military Whatever in order to facilitate interstellar transport (most often these are sort of huge space-stations with thousands of docking ports. Freighters and other sublight ships will attach for the jump and then detach)
And now I'm off for dinner
@AndyD273 mine's way cooler
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@dot_Sp0T This is just the one I was thinking of when I said trains in space
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
TRAINS....IN.....SPAAAAAAACE
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
4:59 PM
@dot_Sp0T Also, yours is just the music, but no visuals of the train
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@AndyD273 but mine's a superold anime
@AndyD273 yeah wrong opening
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@dot_Sp0T From before the time when the pictures moved?
Mine not only had a train, but a creepy invisible mummy
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 are you my mummy?
(I'm sorry, I'm trying to make too many references)
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
5:22 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh please lock yourself in a dusty closet
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
I'm pretty sure that of the set of all closets that lock, I am not allowed access to any of them
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh Bribing a janitor could work. You can deflect suspicion by implying that you want to commit hanky or possibly panky.
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh it's not you. It's the Dr Who reference
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T but I was making it in reference to another Doctor Who reference!
I can't avoid being meta
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh making any reference is alright. Making that reference IS NOT
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
5:36 PM
@dot_Sp0T does it get no credit for being a 9th Doctor quote?
most Whovians probably haven't even watched any of his episodes
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@DaaaahWhoosh I saw them all. It was a long time ago, and then overshadowed by David Tennant, but I did watch them
To bad the 10th doctor was the last doctor, it was a fun show.
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
5:52 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh you could probably get half a credit if you tell me what character introduced by that episode got his own tv show
 
Worldbuilding Meta
Worldbuilding Meta
0
Q: Why aren’t my spoiler markup working?

JDługoszOn Recognizable natural numbers for alien message? I used >! at the beginning of a paragraph in 3 places. Only 1 of them works! What's the problem? I went over it carefully for stray spaces, and see no difference between what works and what doesn't, or what the help states.

support
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T Can'n Jack Harkness, second most badass immortal omnisexual
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
@Mithrandir24601 Hey, so I was going to try to type up my ideas of reconciling the supernatural with the natural, as a contrast to what I typed up regarding yours, and then had my attention drawn to an answer where I already did that. In case you're interested:
3
A: How can you have dualism in Hard SF?

AndyD273Several scientific theories predict the presence of extra higher dimensions. Physics has validated (or at least not falsified) a 4 dimensional (3+1) model of space-time, and if string theory is correct then there are possibly 6+ other dimensions that make up reality, and that we have no way of de...

 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
6:14 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh granted
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
6:58 PM
@AndyD273 Nice! I like the idea of the spirit (or mind) being as a result of people being able to see and move in higher dimension
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
7:19 PM
@Mithrandir24601 Cool :)
 
PatJ
PatJ
8:00 PM
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
So, can we nominate others we think might make good mods?
 
PatJ
PatJ
@dot_Sp0T Apparently not.
Too bad!
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Just encourage them to nominate themselves, then you can vote for them
 
PatJ
PatJ
Or spoof their account and nominate them.
 
Worldbuilding Meta
Worldbuilding Meta
8:17 PM
2
Q: 2017 Community Moderator Election

CommunityThe 2017 Community Moderator Election is now underway! Community moderator elections have three phases: Nomination phase Primary phase Election phase Most elections take between two and three weeks, but this depends on how many candidates there are. Please visit the official election page a...

discussion moderators election
2
Q: 2017 Moderator Election Q&A - Questionnaire

Grace NoteIn connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&A thread for the candidates. Questions collected from an earlier thread have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as the space for the candidates to provide their answers. As noted, not every question was compiled - the ...

discussion featured election
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
8:30 PM
whoa, I just realized, do Community Promotion Ads update periodically based on the content of their Meta question?
does that mean that at any point in the year I could submit an ad somewhere, and then people would vote it up, and then it would start appearing?
 
Worldbuilding Meta
Worldbuilding Meta
8:44 PM
1
Q: How are mods selected?

Willow RexI was asked if I wanted to throw my hat in. No. I am a newbie and shocked it was just based on points. I have 706. The rep needed should be way higher! What I want to know is, 1) are current mods up for reelection or secure in their positions? 2) Do you have to nominate yourself or can you nomina...

discussion election
 
HDE 226868
HDE 226868
9:18 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh Yep. I think I got a necromancer badge on SFF meta a while back for submitting an ad later in the year that got upvoted a lot.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
well, I guess that takes some pressure off, I've been worried about not having an ad drawn up for RPG yet
I noticed today that they're now proposing to use the one I submitted for SFF, which is pretty good but wasn't intended to be used there
in fact, now that I think about it, I would kind of like to make all of WB's ads, specific to all the places we provide them
that way we can have common branding
I wonder if I'd need to create a meta question to get community support for all of them
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Dwart branded WB.SE
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh well talk about fantasizing about power
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 yeah, I could tell my grandma, she'd be really confused but maybe also proud
@dot_Sp0T the only power I have is the power to draw an adorable version of Slartibotfast
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
Nevermind that.. how do you people keep on actually finishing anything you start?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
9:33 PM
@dot_Sp0T the trick is to only start really small things
I've been trying to draw comic books, everything I try turns into some sort of 12-book epic
making ads is easy, it's just one panel
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
Well I guess I managed to do a chutney, so I should manage other things
 
Monica Cellio
Monica Cellio
@DaaaahWhoosh I think I submitted the RPG one, and I'm happy to swap in RPG-customized art for it when you have some.
If you're thinking of doing more site-targeted ads, consider creating a meta Q&A like this one from Writers:
2
Q: Let's advertise Writers.SE on other sites, 2017 edition

Monica CellioIn 2015 we made ads for Writers to submit to other sites. In 2016 the formatting requirements changed and we made just two ads, one for Worldbuilding and one for EL&U. For this year we've replaced my poor efforts on Worldbuilding with a new ad made by Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 , and Kit has resubmitted last ye...

discussion featured site-promotion
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
yeah, maybe once I get a second design done I'll make a DWArt question so people can up/downvote all my designs as I make them.
or I guess I could make it less me-specific and other people can propose designs to compete with mine
 
Monica Cellio
Monica Cellio
@DaaaahWhoosh yeah, I'd suggest writing it as if it were more general, even if nobody else proposes anything.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
9:48 PM
@MonicaCellio right, good idea, I think I will do that... though a part of me wants to de-emphasize the potential for other users to submit their own designs
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Have we had any other submissions besides yours? It doesn't look like you'll be putting yourself at a disadvantage if you open the field, and that way people won't think your trying to hog all the glory
 
Monica Cellio
Monica Cellio
@DaaaahWhoosh no need; the Dwart stands on its own. But if it turns out we've got another artistically-inclined user, keep the door open.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 about a year or two ago I remember there were a few submissions for a general WB ad
 
Monica Cellio
Monica Cellio
@DaaaahWhoosh there were, yes. I don't think any involved original art, but there were other proposals. Then SE changed the size requirements and we couldn't use those any more (and mostly people didn't remake them).
 
Mithrandir24601
Mithrandir24601
@DaaaahWhoosh Open it up and let the best aaaartiist win
(sorry)
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
9:53 PM
@Mithrandir24601 don't worry, I aaaahpreciated it
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
There's gonna be an art-off?
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T I now realize we may shortly become bitter enemies
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh to bitterest enemies! Like coffee and tea!
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T To the kind of revenge that's actually best served hot!
I assumed we were toasting there, but I just realized it's kind of hard to tell
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh You will crumble like shortbread!
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
10:01 PM
@dot_Sp0T you will flake like fresh biscuits!
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh be wary of the dark. For I will be waiting!
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
Your defeat will be as dry as good cornbread.
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
Death will only be the beginning.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
Strike me down and I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine!
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
I think we took a wrong turn there
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
10:05 PM
you took a wrong turn... right into my wheelhouse
okay yeah, maybe this should stop
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
The children of your children's children will still be talking of your defeat!
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
joke's on you, I'm not going to have any children!
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
Their whisper's buried under the shame of generations!
@DaaaahWhoosh your mind will sway!
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
never! My DNA will step boldly into oblivion, never again to be replicated in another human!
and on that day, the world shall weep, for they know there shall never be an equal to Whoosh
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh I don't see how you can take that as an achievement :/
 
AndyD273
AndyD273
10:11 PM
@dot_Sp0T Maybe he sees it as a mercy for humanity.
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@AndyD273 I do have to give the rest of you a chance to feel adequate
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh Now you're losing me
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
@dot_Sp0T what's the point of humanity once perfection has been achieved?
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
@DaaaahWhoosh I don't see how perfection can be achieved :/
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
in this current thread of conversation, I am implying that it is achieved in me
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
10:13 PM
@DaaaahWhoosh jeez! Spilled my drink because of you. Don't you ever say something like that again!
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
yeah, honestly I am beginning to feel a bit foolish. This reminds me of the persona I wore in high school
 
dot_Sp0T
dot_Sp0T
Well, it's late and I guess I need a better sleep rhythm again. I'll be off reading something and recovering from that horrible horrible joke you just made :)
See you 'round o/
 
DaaaahWhoosh
DaaaahWhoosh
o/
 
BESW
BESW
10:28 PM
 

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