The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

5:34 AM

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

Any suggestions?

Lord of the Rings, I mean...

Mithrandir

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

Simpleton

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

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

Mithrandir

6:41 AM

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

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

Simpleton

7:00 AM

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

Mithrandir

:)

Mr_Green

8:59 AM

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

xkcd

1:26 PM

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

Rand al'Thor

3:15 PM

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

3

John Rennie

3:38 PM

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

Rand al'Thor

Organic Marble is close to gold too.

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

John Rennie

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

Rand al'Thor

No :-(

John Rennie

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

Rand al'Thor

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

@JohnRennie OK, that sounds reasonable.

Napoleon Wilson

3:47 PM

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

John Rennie

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

Napoleon Wilson

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

John Rennie

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

Napoleon Wilson

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

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

John Rennie

OK

Napoleon Wilson

3:51 PM

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

Rand al'Thor

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

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

Napoleon Wilson

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

Rand al'Thor

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

Napoleon Wilson

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

Rand al'Thor

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

John Rennie

3:52 PM

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

SQB

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

@JohnRennie One with more details.

John Rennie

@SQB Thanks :-)

Rand al'Thor

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

Napoleon Wilson

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

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

John Rennie

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

SQB

3:58 PM

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

John Rennie

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

Napoleon Wilson

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

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

John Rennie

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

SQB

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

@JohnRennie which one?

Napoleon Wilson

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

John Rennie

4:01 PM

12

Q: Story about a designer baby

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

story-identification

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

Rand al'Thor

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

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

Napoleon Wilson

Fine, flagged for CM review! ;-P

(no, not really.) ;-)

Pratham Arya

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

John Rennie

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

Rand al'Thor

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

John Rennie

4:09 PM

Problem Solving Strategies

General chat for high school physics. For MathJax see [here](m...

Pratham Arya

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

i will ask you there

John Rennie

:-)

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

b_jonas

5:56 PM

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

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

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

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

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

Problem Solving Strategies

Transcript for

The Restaurant at the End of the Univ…