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[2015-03-19 14:39:36] - xpovos: probably not affected at all. a mandatory voting rule would probably be specific about abrogation. ~a
[2015-03-19 13:10:30] - mig: Another interesting thought, how would this affect those who have had their voting rights abrogated? E.g. felons. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-19 13:09:27] - Another constitutional consideration: Voting is generally viewed as a "right" in the courts. Making voting mandatory means it is no longer a right, but an obligation, such as paying taxes is an obligation. I don't know of any other "right" we are compelled to "enjoy". - mig
[2015-03-19 12:54:49] - States would have to make voting as easy as possible because no one is going to want to deal with the court case of someone being denied at the polls then getting fined for not voting and promptly suing the government. - mig
[2015-03-19 12:51:49] - who knows? It may be that courts decide that requiring registration may be an "undue burden" should voting be deemed mandatory. - mig
[2015-03-19 12:41:36] - mig: That's a plausible consideration, and I hadn't even started to think about applying such a mandate as an election officer. The first part of mandatory voting has to be mandatory registration, right? That would be interesting in itself. Once that's done I doubt it makes much difference on the day of elections to us, though I take your points. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-19 12:30:29] - Although would mandatory voting even be constitutional? You could make an argument that we have mandatory jury duty when you are selected to do so(though is that handled by the various states or the fed gov?), and mandatory voting would be a similar civic duty we compel on citizens. - mig
[2015-03-19 12:25:38] - meaning more votes for democrats. As a general rule of thumb, politicans don't push for electoral changes unless they're pretty confident such changes would work out in their party's favor (just look at any debate over voter ID laws or redistricting), and I imagine the case is the same here. - mig
[2015-03-19 12:24:21] - xpovos: a little conspiratorial, but I think the main reason behind this "push" for mandatory voting: If voting is deemed mandatory, then certain state governments will have a hard time justifying their "qualifications" be able to vote in federal courts. Restrictions then thrown out or repealed = more immigrants who may not be able to vote otherwise do, in turn
[2015-03-19 12:16:03] - That's obviously different for different franchisement levels. I.e. of those who are eligible to vote and chose to... if only white landed men can vote, and only those who chose to of that category do, the election would mirror the vote of all white landed men, not necessarily the same election in a universal suffrage situation. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-19 12:14:56] - Paul: Not only would that be an awful move, Obama is categorically wrong. Lots of work has gone into the study of the phenomenon of non-voting, and the end result of everyone voting is (except in extremely rare margin cases) the same as in the cases where only those who choose to vote do so. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-19 11:47:05] - In some sense, maybe I am understanding the progressive hyper-vitriol against libertarians as it gets more and more ridiculous if it's a reaction to a potential Rand Paul presidential candidacy. - mig
[2015-03-19 11:16:22] - mig: So if Paul could make it so that he just "loses badly" the black vote instead of gets massacred.... he could be very electable. -Paul
[2015-03-19 11:15:45] - mig: Yeah, it's fascinating even if you're not into Rand Paul. I remember the Cuccinelli / McAuliffe election, when people were trying to point fingers at women or hispanics for the narrow loss, when if Cuccinelli had just gotten like 20% of the black vote, he would've won. -Paul
[2015-03-19 11:01:27] - could result in an electoral shift. - mig
[2015-03-19 11:00:56] - He does bring up a very good point, however. Which is why I'll find it interesting if Rand Paul does win the nomination. Despite that rocky start with the whole CRA kerfuffle, he seems to be making a real genuine effort to reach out to the African American community with some tangible efforts at attempting criminal justice reform. I'd really be interested to if it
[2015-03-19 10:49:56] - paul: i think Stephen A is living in that world of politics where there are only 2 choices, though it's odd for him to come to that line of thinking because he does appear to be an independant. - mig
[2015-03-19 10:42:52] - paul: vote or die. literally. - mig
[2015-03-19 10:41:32] - http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-18/obama-says-mandatory-voting-would-completely-change-u-s-political-map I can see why Obama would be for this, but I can't think of many other ways to encourage me NOT to vote... -Paul
[2015-03-19 10:15:05] - http://www.mediaite.com/tv/stephen-a-smith-wishes-every-black-american-would-vote-gop-for-one-election/ I'm all for African Americans deciding not to vote Democrat for one election to show that their vote can't be taken for granted, but I don't know why they would need to vote in lock-step for Republicans. -Paul
[2015-03-18 11:48:11] - http://www.roanoke.com/sports/columns_and_blogs/blogs/andy_bitter_virginia_tech_football/sunday-links-tyrod-taylor-getting-his-chance-in-buffalo/article_a8f5171 interesting if Tyrod does win the starting gig in Buffalo. It's not too outlandish to ponder if he could beat out Cassell or Manuel. - mig
[2015-03-18 11:46:22] - paul: i'm surprised a gun enthusiast wouldn't understand why what he did was bad. But it sounds like this person may be a little unhinged, regardless. - mig
[2015-03-18 10:21:57] - mig: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/joe-biden-defense-gun-case-jeffrey-barton-116178.html You might find this story amusing, but I don't know if anybody else here will get it.
-Paul[2015-03-18 10:04:41] - paul: if that's what you want to do you need to start somewhere, I guess. I'm sure they value the experience more, especially if they're looking to fill a lead dba position. - mig
[2015-03-18 09:35:37] - mig: I hadn't. Do you think it's likely a business would consider a certification in place of real world experience? It seems like a big of a long shot... -Paul
[2015-03-18 09:25:45] - paul: have you considered getting taking certification classes for whatever database you're interested in being a dba for? That can get your foot in the door if you don't necessarily have the RL experience. - mig
[2015-03-18 09:20:32] - mig: That's what I suspected, but I've also read a few places online where people are like: "Don't waste your time and mine by applying for a job you clearly aren't qualified for". -Paul
[2015-03-18 09:10:52] - a: I've never had experience in most of the things they are looking for (although I do expect I would be able to pick it up fairly quickly). -Paul
[2015-03-18 09:10:09] - a: But I'm more talking about relatively reasonable job requirements that just aren't a great match for my skill set. I'll be blunt: it's for a database administrator/developer job and while I have a lot of experience with SQL Server (including a little bit of administrator type work 5+ years ago)... -Paul
[2015-03-18 09:07:12] - a: Fair enough, and I certainly believe that's the case when it comes to cutting edge technology or ridiculous requirements like 10 years experience in something that just came out 9 years ago... -Paul
[2015-03-18 07:58:04] - paul: if said requirement is really important they'll screen you out before you get to an actual interview. As long as you don't lie or exaggerate on your resume I don't think you'll end up in that awkward situation where everyone knows the interview is a waste of time . Worst that should happen is they just screen you outright or in a quick phone interview- mig
[2015-03-17 17:43:06] - requirement is: a deep understanding and X years of experience in some very-specific-technology-that-nobody-has-heard-of. requirement should be: learn to correctly use "private" in java before your first day, for the love of god. ~a
[2015-03-17 17:40:18] - it's probably true because the people who write the "requirements" will not be your peers. ~a
[2015-03-17 17:39:18] - ~99% of the time, required qualifications are not all actually required. this doesn't answer your question, but i'm pretty confident it's correct. ~a
[2015-03-17 17:36:38] - Question: Is it a bad idea to apply for a job for which you are clearly unqualified for? Or is it worth the chance that maybe they hire you anyway (as long as you are honest about your qualifications)? -Paul
[2015-03-17 17:18:21] - http://www.mediaite.com/online/elton-john-caught-carrying-dolce-gabbana-bag-during-boycott/ why protest boycotts usually don't work? - mig
[2015-03-17 14:35:13] - aaron: I gotta find my copy of that. I heard really good things about it and bought it for the DS. I played for about an hour and didn't get hooked and sadly never went back to it. I've got plans to eventually go back to playing my DS a little bit though... -Paul
[2015-03-17 14:29:14] - paul: yeah! 9 persons 9 hours 9 doors - aaron
[2015-03-17 11:55:08] - mig: Me neither, but I would've said the same with Obama and Hillary two elections ago. Maybe it's an obscure Senator we've never heard of or some rising star governor. -Paul
[2015-03-17 11:46:41] - paul: true, but I don't see that happening with the current crop of potentially contenders (Warren, Webb, O'Malley). - mig
[2015-03-17 11:46:23] - mig: For the Republicans, I have no idea. Rubio sounds as good a guess as anybody, but I'm worried it might actually end up being Jeb or even Rick Perry. It has to be somebody the establishment can get behind, and those three seem to fit the bill. -Paul
[2015-03-17 11:44:01] - mig: I think I might go with the field over Clinton just because it seems like she is still incredibly vulnerable despite being the overwhelming front-runner with no clear competition and she's blown big leads before. -Paul
[2015-03-17 11:35:58] - As much as I'd like to see Rand Paul, from what I've been reading his concern for potentially having to vacate his senate seat might compel him to drop out early if he doesn't have a strong initial showing. - mig
[2015-03-17 11:34:04] - paul: I'll have to go with Clinton v. Rubio at this point. Honestly, even though Clinton doesn't deserve the nomination the Dem field is just so amazingly weak. Rubio seems like the "safe" pick and has the bonus of being hispanic (Cruz is hispanic as well, but many view him as "white guy" regardless). - mig
[2015-03-17 11:10:25] - Speaking as somebody whose "Paul Ryan / Mark Warner" prediction is looking worse by the day, I think we should do new predictions for the Democratic / Republican nominees. It could be Hillary or the field for the Democrats and pretty much anybody for the Republicans. -Paul
[2015-03-17 10:45:38] - http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/hillary-clinton-email-scandal-defense-laughable-foia-116116.html "And I say that even as someone who, if she decides to run for president and is the Democratic nominee, will nevertheless vote for her next year." /sigh. - mig
[2015-03-17 10:43:20] - aaron: Is that the 9 rooms, 9 keys... or whatever? Is that the series you are talking about? -Paul
[2015-03-17 10:38:57] - paul: something like this, and you could just click any branch to see what happens if you betray the old man, and kill the doctor, but trust the student... etc etc - aaron
[2015-03-17 10:37:50] - paul: The 999 series was good about that. After you played through the game the first time, you could hold down a button and it would ultra-fast-forward the stuff you'd seen before. The sequel was even better -- the branching decision tree was shown in a GUI, and you could just pick a tree to play from that point - aaron
[2015-03-16 16:32:13] - Daniel: Maybe it would be hard to program, but I would have totally played through ME2 (and likely ME3) at least 2 or 3 more times if that was available. Never really got to play as a femshep. -Paul
[2015-03-16 16:30:31] - Daniel: I often wanted a "story-only" mode that unlocks when you beat a game where it basically removes all the combat and "fluff" side quests and basically just leaves the meatier main quests / dialog options so you can see how things play out differently in much less time. -Paul
[2015-03-16 16:23:48] - I've thought about trying to play through as a different race/gender combo to see other scenarios play out but I'll probably just youtube them given the time required just to see those. -Daniel
[2015-03-16 15:33:46] - Paul: She works from home, so I think that gives her some added freedom to game. No kids either. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-16 15:06:08] - Xpovos: Several times? I'm jealous. I haven't had the time to even consider going through a Bioware RPG several times since ME3. Sadly, I don't know if I'm really going to romance Iron Bull. Right now, he's low on my list of potential suitors.
-Paul[2015-03-16 14:59:32] - Paul: I was with a friend this weekend. She's gone through DA: Inquisition several times already and wanted to show me the results of the female Inquisitor sex scene with the Iron Bull because it was funny. Truth, it was pretty funny, so keep at it, should be worthwhile. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-16 14:33:55] - paul: maybe it's approval related. though I'm not sure what Bull approves or disapproves of. - mig
[2015-03-16 14:23:45] - mig: Yeah, and I've dealt with the Empress Celene situation (that was messy all around too). So far I've drank with Iron Bull twice (once in disguise and once with his crew) but nothing else has popped up. -Paul
[2015-03-16 14:17:04] - paul: I don't know exactly what the "trigger" is. You just have to talk with him a bunch I think. Have you finished the stuff with Varric's friend yet? - mig
[2015-03-16 13:51:54] - Daniel: I keep trying to talk to Iron Bull since I hear about how he's an awesome party member, but so far I've gotten no personal quest yet. Not sure if I'm missing something... -Paul
[2015-03-16 13:51:23] - Daniel: It wasn't so much his secret as having to break things off with him (my female inquisitor was romancing him). Felt like I completely crushed his spirit, and I blame myself, since he practically begged me to stay away. -Paul
[2015-03-16 13:33:10] - bail his ass* out
[2015-03-16 13:33:01] - I was unmoved by Blackwall's secret though I did bail his out out. Iron Bull's was the hardest personal mission by far. -Daniel
[2015-03-16 10:28:07] - and yeah, it's not the craziest thing I've heard from France, but it does seem to be the most asinine thing I've heard about. - mig
[2015-03-16 10:27:03] - paul: also I don't know in how many places those kinds of laws are in force anyways. Even some of the ABC stores here are open on sundays I've found. - mig
[2015-03-16 10:26:07] - paul: that's a little different. It's one thing to say "you can't sell this specific product on sunday" and quite another to say "you can't do any business at all on sunday." - mig
[2015-03-16 10:23:40] - mig: That's not the craziest thing I've heard about French laws. I wouldn't at all be surprised if there were similar laws in the books in certain states here. Hell, we still have lots of laws about liquor being sold on Sundays, right? -Paul
[2015-03-16 10:19:01] - You forbid people to engage in economic activity on certain days of the week and then wonder why your economy is sluggish. No wonder Europe is so fucked up. - mig
[2015-03-16 10:18:01] - "So far, Paris has only taken baby steps toward more liberalization, such as slightly increasing the number of Sundays when stores can be open." I was amazed to find out not allowing stores to be open on sunday was a thing in France, apparently. - mig
[2015-03-16 10:13:47] - http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/germany-france-europe-economy-116063.html i thought this was an interesting rundown about the seemingly never-ending economic crisis in Greece, but one sentence here really caught my eye. - mig
[2015-03-16 10:13:23] - mig: Finally found out Blackwall's secret. My inquisitor is so crushed. She should've listened to him in the first place when he warned her to stay away and that he wasn't a good man. -Paul
[2015-03-13 17:03:57] - http://www.seattlemag.com/article/why-are-so-many-seattle-restaurants-closing-lately minimum wage hikes causing job losses is a myth, amirite? - mig
[2015-03-13 14:19:16] - I wish I'd known about mailinator earlier. I probably did and forgot, though. Oh, well. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-13 14:09:06] - paul: i agree it matters way less than it used to. but it still comes up for me occasionally. bugmenot is nice too, but doesn't work as often as mailinator. ~a
[2015-03-13 13:42:43] - a: I used to use another site "bugmenot?" but it honestly doesn't seem to be as much of an issue anymore. On the rare times I'm asked to "log in", I just don't bother. -Paul
[2015-03-13 13:36:10] - paul: you don't use mailinator? it's great for any site that demands i give them an email address to see their damn page. ~a
[2015-03-13 13:33:34] - aaron: Seems fair, although I really don't know what mailinator does or why somebody would want to ban it. -Paul
[2015-03-13 13:26:00] - petty? i'm not sure i agree it's petty. i'd call it sweet delicious revenge. ~a
[2015-03-13 12:41:49] - http://mailinator.blogspot.ca/2011/05/how-to-get-gmailcom-banned-not-that-i.html the creator of "mailinator" talks about how he got some petty revenge against people who would ban mailinator e-mails, tricking them into banning gmail.com and yahoo.com e-mails as well - aaron
[2015-03-13 11:09:50] - paul: I don't know about direct power, but there's still a lot of considerable influence still there. - mig
[2015-03-13 11:07:35] - paul: considering how many dems consider her the nominee already without her officially declaring to run, I'd say probably. yes. - mig
[2015-03-13 11:04:24] - mig: Do the Clintons still wield that much power over the Democratic party? Bill has been out of office for 15 years. Hillary hasn't won an election in almost as long. -Paul
[2015-03-13 11:03:43] - and it could be the Mitt Romney problem. Clinton is deemed the "most electable". While she has flaws, she has name recognition. O'Malley wasn't really a popular governor (considering MD went for an R governor right after him). Warren's positions are too extreme. Webb I find an intriguing candidate but I'm not sure anyone outside of VA would remember him. - mig
[2015-03-13 10:56:00] - paul: possibly fear? there are stories about how politically vindictive the Clintons can be regarding intra-party rivals, I still recall how nasty the 2008 primary was. - mig
[2015-03-13 10:20:18] - http://reason.com/archives/2015/03/13/please-someone-challenge-hillary-clinton "Why Won't Anyone Challenge Hillary?" A good question. She looked similarly unstoppable 8 years ago when Obama got the nomination. A little surprising there isn't more interest in challenging her now. -paul
[2015-03-13 10:18:23] - paul: well that's the problem isn't it. Absolutely no context to this, aside from my zip code incidentally being near the headline. - mig
[2015-03-13 10:15:00] - mig: Depends. Do you live there? I can't even tell where on the Earth that is... -Paul
[2015-03-13 10:08:49] - http://i.imgur.com/8iwQOrM.jpg should i be worried? - mig
[2015-03-13 10:00:23] - Paul: Stop being such a corporate schill!
[2015-03-13 09:36:18] - mig: Netflix is streaming slow? Can't a problem with Netflix's servers or general internet congestion. It HAS to be that evil Comcast intentionally throttling me. -Paul
[2015-03-13 09:35:48] - mig: I really think a lot of the NN support (particularly among the uninformed) is based on the idea that people hate Comcast and are willing to believe Comcast is doing something evil. -Paul
[2015-03-13 09:34:21] - mig: That, and people love Google and Netflix (or at least don't hate them) while the ISPs are generally some of the most reviled companies in America. -Paul
[2015-03-13 09:33:09] - mig: Because ONLY people who don't agree with you can be corporate shills.
-Paul[2015-03-13 09:24:20] - agree with you, and don't want to bother coming up with a reasoned rebuttal.) - mig
[2015-03-13 09:24:00] - paul: also the accusations of corporate shilling are also kind of annoying, considering the big name companies that are lobbying for NN. If the anti-NN crowds are corporate shills for the ISPs, I don't see how the administration and pro-NN people aren't just corporate shills for Netflx, Google, et. all, going by how they define you as a shill (basically, they don't
[2015-03-12 11:58:56] - mig: Of course, having said that, I'm approaching this as if he's trying to win converts. Based on everything I've read, maybe that's just not possible. -Paul
[2015-03-12 11:58:24] - mig: I agree. Stylistically, Pai is a little tough for me to swallow. I wish he focused less on being clever and more on making his points. He has a lot of good material to work with, in my opinion, there's no need for veiled Obamacare references. -Paul
[2015-03-12 11:55:55] - mig: Yeah, I mean, their articles on climate change have had more dissent than this (and Ars has pretty strong feelings on climate change as well). -Paul
[2015-03-12 11:44:39] - I mean, there are some platitudes and cliches he writes that sort of make my eyes roll. - mig
[2015-03-12 11:38:39] - One criticism, however, I will add for Pajit's dissent is the focus on the President. I get the core of the argument and it is a valid argument (the President is basically pressuring a supposedly independent regulatory agency to enact regulations he personally wants), but I dislike the way it's argued. - mig
[2015-03-12 11:35:12] - paul: but yeah, ars can get pretty trashy at times in the comment section (though you find more reasonable discussion than say ... slashdot), but this is probably the worst circle jerk on ars I've seen in a while. - mig
[2015-03-12 11:31:14] - paul: why bother come up with reasoned rebuttals when you can just call someone names and declare victory? - mig
[2015-03-12 11:07:28] - I can't imagine any of those commenters have already carefully read through all 80 pages of dissent to have an actual informed opinion. Even when I disagree with the audience at Ars, I usually find them to be more knowledgeable and thoughtful than a typical internet audience, but clearly not on this topic. -Paul
[2015-03-12 11:05:50] - But I thought the comments were overwhelmingly unfairly dismissive of the dissenters. Tons of heavily up-voted comments about how the dissenters must be corporate shills (or even implications they are racist) and any comments questioning that getting heavily down-voted. -Paul
[2015-03-12 11:03:21] - http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/400-page-net-neutrality-order-includes-80-pages-of-republican-dissents/?comments=1 I'm a little saddened by the comments section of the Ars Technica article on the same topic (particularly the editor's pick for top comment). I know Ars is super supportive of NN and have always suspected it tilted a little left... -Paul
[2015-03-12 10:46:15] - http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db0312/FCC-15-24A1.pdf The actual text of the Net Neutrality rules from the FCC have finally been released. Maybe this is standard, but I find it amusing that there are 80 pages of dissent from the two dissenters and only 7 pages from the three who voted for the rules. -Paul
[2015-03-11 11:38:08] - Also, it's odd of her to claim that she won't allow her email server to be independently looked at citing personal correspondence with her husband, given that it does seem that Bill Clinton rather famously doesn't use email for communication. - mig
[2015-03-11 11:35:18] - anyways it is getting really amusing watching the pro and anti Clinton democrats starting to snipe at each other over this. A lot of the exchanges are really entertaining. - mig
[2015-03-11 11:34:08] - a: well I think there's something strange with the state dept essentially saying Clinton did nothing wrong, while at the same time citing those same practices as part of the reason to bring some pressure on that ambassador to resign. - mig
[2015-03-11 09:52:52] - a: Ah, okay. I get it. Sure, I guess there's no double-standard in that sense, but I think there is some hypocrisy to (presumably) force somebody out for doing something that you yourself are doing (when both are against the rules). -Paul
[2015-03-11 09:48:53] - no, you were right before, i was saying clinton was out of office when the "email practices" thing became public. ~a
[2015-03-11 09:44:08] - a: Oh, sorry. I misunderstood what you were saying. You were saying the Kenyan ambassador had already left? I didn't know that. I thought you were pointing out Hilary had left office. -Paul
[2015-03-11 00:14:30] - ok I honestly don't know why she was forced out. I was just saying she didn't resign over her email practices because she wasn't in office. there was no double standard. blatant or otherwise. no? ~a
[2015-03-10 17:38:01] - a: I think leaving office because you want to quit is a little different from being forced out.
-Paul[2015-03-10 17:35:19] - http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/03/10/bill-clinton-still-doesnt-use-email/ Frankly, though, the "Clinton Email" story that had me more surprised today was this one. I understand he's old, but how do you function today (presumably he heads his charitable foundation too) without using email? -Paul
[2015-03-10 17:33:33] - mig: But after awhile, you would hope that somebody might say, "Let's stop giving ammunition to people who think we're doing all this to intentionally hide stuff". -Paul
[2015-03-10 17:32:58] - mig: Not just that, but there was the big issue of finding Lois Lerner's emails because they were improperly archived, and I think there were similar things with Holder. Each instance taken individually can be written off as accidental or just a mistake... -Paul
[2015-03-10 17:31:03] - she already left office. ~a
[2015-03-10 17:19:49] - paul: yeah i just read about the kenyan ambassador who had to resign over his email practices. Thats definitely some really blantant double standards there. - mig
[2015-03-10 10:23:08] - mig: By itself, I'm not sure if it is either, but it does seem a little damning when taken in context of the discipline handed out to ambassadors who tried to use private email accounts and how the Obama administration has been less than transparent when it comes to releasing emails. -Paul
[2015-03-09 20:01:17] - i don't know if this clinton email "scandal" is really a big deal or not, but it's been providing some really great entertainment the last couple days. - mig
[2015-03-09 12:05:24] - ONLY JARAXUS CAN DESTROY JARAXUS. INFERNO! -- Xpovos
[2015-03-09 10:58:07] - 1) Mirror Entity 2) Warlock drops Jaraxus, Next turn, echo of medivh and young brewmaster the Jaraxus in play, then play them both in the 2 turns that follow. You should get a double jaraxus weapon attack on that 2nd turn. - mig
[2015-03-09 10:56:38] - yeah it's not easy to set up. The example I saw was a pretty obvious game between friends which was aided by multiple summoning portals (and possibly a hacked client). Though I do have a possible scenario if you are a mage for getting 2 jaraxus's. - mig
[2015-03-08 20:36:57] - mig: Interesting. But having Jaraxus be summoned while previously wielding a weapon has to be pretty rare. That one makes more sense to me. I mean, Jaraxus didn't attack that turn.
-- Xpovos[2015-03-08 19:32:18] - xpovos: jaraxus does the same thing with his weapon attack. - mig
[2015-03-08 16:11:12] - TIL: Shadowform gives you a second use of your hero ability on the turn. Potentially. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-07 08:30:00] - mig: Woo-hoo! Internal alpha means "Soon" TM -- Xpovos
[2015-03-06 16:09:00] - aaron: I actually haven't spoken to them yet, but I thought I might bring it up to Dewey at poker tonight. Something I think would be really neat (but impractical) is a similar type of poker table light, except it only lights up for the person whose turn it is and there is a button to have it advance. -Paul
[2015-03-06 15:59:45] - paul: dewey and dee made that awesome poker table!! you might talk to them for ideas too (although i guess you probably have already). i think they had lights for kind of a "vegas feel", i'm not sure if that's too gaudy for a board game table. but it might make sense to have some interior well lights so that you can see things better - aaron
[2015-03-06 15:44:26] - But I'm having trouble coming up with any other great ideas that would also be relatively easy to do. -Paul
[2015-03-06 15:44:08] - I also like the idea of an area on the "walls" to put pieces, whether it be shelves on the outside or just an indented felt area on top. Cupholders also seem like they would be key... -Paul
[2015-03-06 15:42:42] - I like the idea of the "vault" area (basically the table is walled so a game can be "stored" by putting a top on it) and have heard that a neoprene surface is nice for making it easy to pick up cards. -Paul
[2015-03-06 15:41:59] - I'm wondering if anybody here has any thoughts/suggestions on features that would be nice to have in such a table considering the board games we often play. -Paul
[2015-03-06 15:40:49] - So, I'm contemplating trying to make (with my dad's assistance) a gaming table somewhat along the lines of the ones found at Geek Chic (http://geekchichq.com/#category-furniture) except much much cheaper (and likely less nice). -Paul
[2015-03-06 12:03:14] - http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/05/netflix-may-already-regret-its-support-f "We might have enacted 300 pages of drastic, dubious regulations just to help a company that didn’t even want all those rules in the first place." -Paul
[2015-03-06 11:36:13] - also phone version is internal alpha. - mig
[2015-03-06 11:32:59] - new hearthstone adventure incoming: blackrock mountain. Similar to naxx, beat bosses get cards. DRAGON SYNERGY coming into the game! - mig
[2015-03-06 11:11:45] - take your age and divide by two. if, when you were THAT age, you had a kid . . . then when your kid was THAT age had a kid of their own, you'd be a grandparent today. ~a
[2015-03-04 17:40:08] - As far as what might happen if the government loses, I'm pretty sure we'd see another one of those "shutdown" escapades with each side trying to blame the other with "obstruction". - mig
[2015-03-04 17:37:56] - ultimately get the results it wants. And looking on it, I think that might ultimately be the correct ruling. - mig
[2015-03-04 17:37:22] - paul: i thought it was interesting because the point kennedy was making about the "coercive nature" of the literal reading of the exchange statute was something I didn't give much thought to (and it looks like no proponents of the plaintiffs didn't either). I'll be interested to see if it does indeed create a ruling where the government "loses" the argument but
[2015-03-04 17:27:57] - Paul: company lobbies for government regulations that are in their interest and hurt their competition? I'm shocked. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-04 17:24:36] - http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/netflix-opposes-data-cap-exemptions-except-when-it-benefits-from-them/ NN champion Netflix has no trouble violating NN principles in Australia. -Paul
[2015-03-04 16:59:32] - http://i.imgur.com/KkYCULT.png sometimes being too nice in a moba can get a little creepy. - mig
[2015-03-04 16:27:48] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAUoeqvedMo Third Age of Ultron trailer. So psyched for this movie. Going to be hard to wait. -Paul
[2015-03-04 15:00:07] - Although, it would be interesting to see how congress (and the president and the IRS) would address the whole issue if the challengers win. -Paul
[2015-03-04 14:59:29] - mig: Considering that the first Obamacare case didn't turn out well for the challengers despite how promising it looked, I don't have high hopes for this one either. If Roberts couldn't bring himself to strike down Obamacare before it was enacted, I can't see him stomaching striking it down now. -Paul
[2015-03-04 14:53:17] - I could very well see the court saying, yes, the literal reading of subsidies applying only to state exchanges is the correct interpretation, but then find that provision to be unconstitutional, and saying subsidies have to apply to all exchanges, using the medicaid expansion issue as their precedent. - mig
[2015-03-04 14:51:17] - I was looking at the banter in King v. Burrell arguments today and it came to me that the plantiffs could actually win their argument on the merits, but they may not get the results that they want. - mig
[2015-03-04 14:19:26] - a: :u :n :u :n - aaron
[2015-03-04 13:45:17] - aaron: turn that frown upside-down. ~a
[2015-03-04 13:28:09] - http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/winterstorm/ snow forecast for next 72 hours
- aaron[2015-03-04 13:15:54] - Xpovos: And he will be retiring too. Maybe I should just wait for that gig. It pays better. -Paul
[2015-03-04 12:52:54] - Hey, Paul, you'll be old enough for President this next time around. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-04 12:52:34] - Paul: I only know the PWC Board of Supervisors. AFAIK the only one that's full time is the Board Chair and he's a full-time politician. The others I'd not be surprised if they worked other jobs. I could also be wrong. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-04 12:51:26] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/veteran-fairfax-supervisor-frey-announces-retirement/2015/01/20/f733662e-a0b9-11e4-b146-577832eafcb4_story.html Oh, for the love... first my congressman (Frank Wolf) retires last election and now the supervisor of my district is retiring? The universe keeps sending me signs I should run for office.
-Paul[2015-03-04 11:23:24] - Virginia state senators only make $17k a year. I guess the Board of Supervisors is a full time job as opposed to the Virginia legislature? -Paul
[2015-03-04 11:22:50] - http://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2015/03/fairfax-county-supervisors-vote-for-pay-raise/ Wow, I need to get elected as a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. -Paul
[2015-03-04 10:58:31] - a: Hitting the big time.
Will you be getting a LinkedIn page next? -Paul[2015-03-04 10:54:55] - also, we have a webpage now. ~a
[2015-03-04 10:39:13] - hey, this is pretty cool: my company got a mention in an HP Matter slideshow. you can see screenshots of a few of our projects, see a picture of one of my coworkers, and a bunch of our devices being used in the field. ~a
[2015-03-04 09:55:58] - http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/04/bryan-singer-to-direct-moon-is-a-harsh-m This sounds like it has potential, silly new name aside... -Paul
[2015-03-04 09:20:58] - a: No problem. It's a good question. I like good questions.
I especially like it when I don't have a good answer, like this one. Thanks for the good question. -Paul[2015-03-03 19:21:11] - giving money to a terrorist organization... well, they tend to be non-governmental. And ultimately there comes a point when governments are in conflict, the country (particularly this one) tends to pick a side. If we give money to the other side, that's arguably treasonous. Treasonous speech is also typically not protected. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-03 19:19:22] - a: Heh, yeah, military always gets iffy, and honestly, this is new territory for free speech laws, so there'll be some good tests. Part of this comes down to some very basic definitions. Government has a monopoly on force (and threats of force) so giving money to a government (for military purposes) is in-line with normal behavior. But... [...] -- Xpovos
[2015-03-03 18:10:22] - btw, i should also mention that i like your responses, paul and xpovos. they were well thought out, thank you. ~a
[2015-03-03 18:09:43] - xpovos: "incitement to violence (terrorism) is unprotected" i'm not allowed to donate money to the army? ~a
[2015-03-03 17:38:43] - Seems like this would be somewhat of a grey area where things have to be taken on a case-by-case basis. Obviously donating money to ISIS at this point would be illegal, but what about something more murky like donating to the IRA back in the day? -Paul
[2015-03-03 17:30:18] - political speech is very strongly protected. incitement to violence (terrorism) is unprotected. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-03 17:29:17] - not all speech is protected. classic example is shouting "FIRE" in the crowded theatre. if some speech isn't protected, then some money transfers aren't either. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-03 17:00:07] - " but I am BIG on the idea"... -Paul
[2015-03-03 16:59:41] - a: I assume you're not asking if you currently legally can, but why you legally can't assuming the previous "facts"? It's a good question. I'm not entirely sure I'm a big proponent of the "money is speech" line of thinking, but I am but on the idea of being able to freely give money to people/causes. -Paul
[2015-03-03 16:58:25] - mig: i am serious asking, yes. ~a
[2015-03-03 16:40:59] - assuming of course if you are being semi-quasi-serious. - mig
[2015-03-03 16:40:11] - a: it is unclear whether I should dignify that ridiculous false equivalence with a response. - mig
[2015-03-03 16:37:16] - if money is speech, and free speech is protected under the 1st amendment, can i legally fund terrorists? ~a
[2015-03-03 12:14:05] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-n1vGeVIXo how to pronounce "synecdoche" - aaron
[2015-03-03 10:10:01] - http://www.wired.com/2015/03/stump-magic/ i hadn't heard of this magic "text us whatever you want and we'll get it for you" service. kind of reminds me of kgbkgb i guess, one of those "rent a human" services. interesting.... - aaron
[2015-03-03 09:49:01] - Xpovos: Privatizing the police force sounds like a good idea to me, but I've got schools as a higher priority and the postal service and liquor sales (in VA at least) as more obviously needed. -Paul
[2015-03-03 08:54:27] - http://sputniknews.com/news/20150303/1018971990.html -- Xpovos
[2015-03-02 15:30:13] - aaron: True, but I was only up against a Priest one time. And in that game I dropped big threat after big threat before finally playing Ysera, so if he'd had a MC, he'd have used it earlier almost certainly. These are very long Arena games (for me). 20+ rounds every time. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-02 15:22:59] - xpovos: well, worst case is mind control really.... then you have to burn removal and your opponent gets a dream card too - aaron
[2015-03-02 15:01:31] - mig: Noz was right out. I did consider Thermaplug for a while, but I didn't think I could control it enough and Alex seemed better, but it's hard to say for sure. I do remember giving Cairne significant thought, but obviously Ysera is just ridiculous, per my previous posts. Gruul is fine if you have nothing better. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-02 14:57:11] - xpovos: oof, yeah those are all not appealing options. Alex is pretty much the best of those 3. - mig
[2015-03-02 14:48:50] - Nozdormo and Mekgineer Thermaplug, IIRC. Ysera was up against Gruul and Cairne, I think. I might have them in different packs though. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-02 14:11:11] - what were your other options w/ alexstraza? she's usually not my first choice unless i'm in dire need for a big minion. - mig
[2015-03-02 12:15:44] - Same draft, I also have Alexstrasa, which is kind of ridiculous. But I've only drawn Alex twice and only played once. Priest healed up to 17 against my 16 damage on the board. I had him anyway, but Alex guaranteed the win that turn by basically being an 8-mana Smite. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-02 12:14:29] - mig: She's stuck in every game, either he killed me anyway, or she was with me to the end. The only problem I've had has been that as soon as she's out I'm terrified of playing a fourth minion into an MC-Tech that steals her. So that caused the games to go longer than they needed to twice. -- Xpovos
[2015-03-02 09:58:30] - xpovos: yeah her stats make her an incredible pain to remove. You're guaranteed one dream card which makes her worth it on her own (usually) and you'll get at least 2 dream cards most of the time. I think the worst case scenario is getting Ysera Awakens as your first draw and then she gets removed, which is pretty rare. - mig
[2015-03-02 01:30:50] - Drafted Ysera as a Priest. Drawn her in all five games so far (it's a control-y Arena deck so that's more reasonable). 4-1, and the 1 was a close loss. She's just ridiculous in that format. -- Xpovos
[2015-02-27 18:13:57] - mig: OK so they were talking about the dress on NPR so maybe obession is a fair word
-Daniel[2015-02-27 17:37:56] - http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/20/140-points-a-game-but-are-the-reno-bighorns-a-basketball-experiment-too-far The Kings are running a crazy experiment with their D-league team. -Paul
[2015-02-27 17:16:17] - oops. meant to add "is rare" to that. - mig
[2015-02-27 17:15:50] - daniel: i think its the running perception that politics is filled with "bad" people and finding "good ones". - mig
[2015-02-27 16:18:52] - Daniel: Maybe the implication being that most black kids aren't good? -Paul
[2015-02-27 15:54:27] - Paul: I'm not sure I get it either, he seems to be implying the kid is a "good one" but not interested in politics. -Daniel
[2015-02-27 13:13:59] - mig: Heh, this is why I would make a terrible politician. I'm not entirely sure what was wrong about what he said. Maybe it was a bit awkward, but it didn't seem condescending.. -Paul
[2015-02-27 12:47:01] - paul: yeah nimoy passing is really sad. I heard he was hospitalized a day or so ago but it wasn't clear how serious his condition was. - mig
[2015-02-27 12:44:02] - paul: I'm not so sure he was joking. - mig
[2015-02-27 12:41:45] - daniel: it's covered about half my facebook feed over yesterday and today and has shown up in almost all the sites I've read. Maybe hysteria is too strong a word but I can't think of another one. Obsession maybe? or is that still too strong. - mig
[2015-02-27 12:34:42] - mig: I'm not sure there is hysteria over the dress. Just something that almost everybody finds mildly amusing. Shallow but very broad interest. -Daniel
[2015-02-27 12:29:21] - mig: I think that actually might've been a joke, or at least I hope so, considering how many tweets he has about the dress (and the llamas). -Paul
[2015-02-27 12:25:51] - I'm not sure what's more irritating to me - the hysteria over the dress or dipshit tweets like this. - mig
[2015-02-27 12:19:41] - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/arts/television/leonard-nimoy-spock-of-star-trek-dies-at-83.html Sad.
-Paul[2015-02-27 12:13:20] - i see blue/black -Daniel
[2015-02-27 12:13:17] - i see blue/black -Daniel
[2015-02-27 11:00:12] - Aaron: Heh, I didn't even read it. I just read the news stories about it, and those focused more on the typewriter font and morse code things. -Paul
[2015-02-27 10:58:27] - paul: yeah, really surprisingly petty and meaningless. i was surprised they didn't have anything else to say other than, "these laws are old so we shouldn't have to follow them" - aaron
[2015-02-27 10:42:54] - Not to overstate how clever they were, but I just thought it was uncharacteristic snark from a big company. -Paul
[2015-02-27 10:34:25] - http://www.newsweek.com/verizon-releases-1934-typewriter-memo-dispute-net-neutrality-ruling-309777 I didn't think such a large company could be so clever.
-paul[2015-02-27 09:57:54] - aaron: I kind of agree, but I also think it's striking how different the colors look even though they are the same. -Paul
[2015-02-27 09:53:25] - paul: for the record i posted that dress BEFORE the xkcd came out! but yes, i saw today's xkcd, it really doesn't help. the colors are burned into my brain, and now i see a girl wearing a white and gold dress, in the shade, on a sunny day - aaron
[2015-02-27 09:45:26] - Although I will say, the "black" still looks more gold to me, just a darker gold (almost a brown). -Paul
[2015-02-27 09:44:55] - aaron: Did you see today's xkcd? I actually copied the image and took samples of both dresses (from his drawing), completely convinced that they couldn't be the same. Turns out they are. -Paul
[2015-02-27 09:37:30] - I don't know whether it's lighting or photoshop or something. - mig
[2015-02-27 09:36:52] - it looks white and gold to me but at certain viewing angles I can see a blue tint. There's definitely some image trickery going. - mig
[2015-02-27 09:26:26] - mig: I would ask for reasons 1-2041 but I'm worried you might actually have that many.
-Paul[2015-02-27 09:25:57] - aaron: I'm with you. The dress is obviously white and gold and I can't even see how anybody could think it's black and blue. The white has a tiny bit of blue tint to it, but the gold is DEFINITELY not black. -Paul
[2015-02-27 09:20:52] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/02/26/can-eric-holder-change-the-federal-drug-classification-of-marijuana/ reason #2042 I get really angry with this current administration. - mig
[2015-02-27 01:07:44] - It's mildly disturbing that such a profound change occurs in colors, we're used to that with other forms of optical illusions--shapes and patterns. But the colors are new for me. -- Xpovos
[2015-02-27 01:06:57] - aaron: It's been an interesting voyage for me on that dress. I initially saw it as white-gold. The white clearly had some faint blue in it, like robin-egg blue, but very light. But I was convinced there was no way that the gold could be "black". I went back to doing something else for about half an hour then saw it again and it was suddenly blue and black. -- Xpovos
[2015-02-26 23:49:08] - http://swiked.tumblr.com/post/112073818575/guys-please-help-me-is-this-dress-white-and is this dress white and gold, or black and blue? someone messaged this to me yesterday and was like, "this is OBVIOUSLY black and blue right?" and i totally can't see it their way whatsoever - aaron
[2015-02-26 16:29:58] - paul: maybe. But the fact remains that in general classifying info services is within the FCC's realm of powers. Whether they are justified in reclassifying broadband is going to be the question for the courts. - mig
[2015-02-26 16:26:32] - mig: I guess. Just seems like maybe we should have a separate agency for determining whether or not something is a utility. Otherwise, it makes the ruling seem a little silly. -Paul
[2015-02-26 16:21:34] - courts in general tend to narrow the scope of the rulings as much as they can. Even if the judges thought the internet shouldn't be regulated by the FCC period, if all it took was to just declare a procedural technicality to invalidate the original FCC plan, that's what they typically go with. - mig
[2015-02-26 16:19:24] - paul: it's not that simple. FCC said, "we can regulate the internet". The courts actually said, you can't regulate something with title 2 regulations without actually classifying broadband as title 2. - mig
[2015-02-26 16:07:30] - Not entirely sure why calling the internet a utility means the FCC can now regulate it, and if that's the case, then why the FCC has the power to decide what is and isn't a utility.
-Paul[2015-02-26 16:06:50] - mig: Well, I guess the logic just seems weird. Maybe because I don't know enough about it. FCC says it can regulate the internet. Court says no, they can't. FCC says the internet is now a utility, and so therefore they can regulate it. Everybody nods. -Paul
[2015-02-26 16:03:10] - It is like ACA in this way. Sure, the bill has become law, but there will still be legal hurdles down the road. - mig
[2015-02-26 16:02:19] - paul: there almost certainly will be a legal challenge. Whether it would go anywhere is uncertain, but as far as I know there's nothing preventing any sort of challenge in the courts. - mig
[2015-02-26 16:00:37] - I don't know if I'd call it a "loophole". If they have the authority to reclassify broadband to title 2 ultimately, then it's not really a loophole. - mig
[2015-02-26 15:59:47] - mig: Okay. It's odd that I haven't heard anything much about a possible court review. Every article I've read has made it seem like this is the final word. -Paul
[2015-02-26 15:59:05] - though it may depend on the speicifcs (which no one knows yet until the rules are made public). We do know broadband and mobile wireless aren't being subjected to the full title 2 rules and regulations, and that might stave off possible court action if it turns out to be like "half title 2" or something like that. - mig
[2015-02-26 15:57:07] - paul: there could be some question on whether the FCC has the authority to reclassify broadband to title 2, so I'd expect SCOTUS will have a word on the matter before all is said and done. - mig
[2015-02-26 15:51:37] - So is the FCC allowed to reclassify the internet as a utility and there is no legal recourse to decide if that's within their power? Doesn't that seem like a bit of a loophole? -Paul
[2015-02-26 15:50:13] - Here's one thing I don't understand about the FCC ruling on NN today. From what I know, some judge threw out the previous FCC rules on regulating the internet because, I guess, they said it was not something the FCC had the authority to regulate. -Paul
[2015-02-26 15:48:37] - Xpovos: Marijuana in DC? Police shootings? -Paul
[2015-02-26 15:29:53] - good odds that this is how Obama is remembered in 20 years, for good or ill, not healthcare. -- Xpovos
[2015-02-26 14:38:18] - a: Which is honestly a different issue altogether. -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:38:00] - a: And, honestly, in a lot of these cases it's not like the math is perfect to where we can say "subtract a few civilian deaths and add a few cop deaths". In a lot of these cases, I feel like the civilian deaths could've easily been avoided without increasing the chances of cop deaths much at all. -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:35:04] - a: Yes, being a cop is a dangerous job, and nobody wants cops to die, but everybody knows it's dangerous and people still choose to be cops. They know the risks they are taking. Being an innocent civilian walking up an apartment stairwell or playing with a toy gun in a playground shouldn't really be considered "dangerous" on the same level. -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:33:04] - a: Yeah, obviously coming up with a number is a little silly, because (like my zero for zero comment implied), there really isn't an "ideal" ratio. My argument is just that it's a little out of whack right now. -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:25:50] - "why we unintentionally seem to devalue their lives over cop lives" well while we're being callous, there does need to be a ratio. somewhere between 1:1 and 16:1. it shouldn't be 1:1 because cops are taking out tons of criminals on a regular basis. ~a
[2015-02-26 14:20:43] - a: And I don't think anybody is disputing that, but I think those victims also wanted to get home to their families, and I don't see why we unintentionally seem to devalue their lives over cop lives. -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:20:00] - a: Nobody wants to be that 1 cop death, but does anybody want to be the 16 civilian deaths? That's the part that gets me. Whenever there is a "wrongful" shooting, there is always talk about how the cops want to get home to their families at night. -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:18:52] - a: I'm not entirely sure I follow. How am I encouraging good people to now become cops? You're saying that the more dangerous a job being a cop is, the worse quality candidates they get? I suppose that's could be true, but is it worth somebody's life? -Paul
[2015-02-26 14:13:56] - paul: "It sounds callous, but it seems like we could 'save' 7 lives there". i think this math problem isn't a good one. you're unintentionally encouraging good people to not become cops: nobody wants to be that 1 cop death. it's more of a balancing act than you're making it i think. (in other words, the incentives need to be correctly balanced) ~a
[2015-02-26 13:30:27] - paul: it's not just the trigger happy thing, but it's also justification for the constant acquiring of military grade equipment, becuase america is as essentially "war zone" now, according to most police. - mig
[2015-02-26 13:04:17] - And obviously I'm kind of making up numbers. I've no idea if the percentage of "wrongful" deaths is that high or not. Like Miguel said, it's hard to compile statistics on these things. All we can go by is imperfect evidence like the article I posted. -Paul
[2015-02-26 13:03:24] - Aaron: So, for instance, instead of having 100 justified kills and 16 "wrongful" (or however you want to think about them) and 0 cop deaths. Maybe we have 100 justified kills, 8 "wrongful" deaths and 1 cop death. It sounds callous, but it seems like we could "save" 7 lives there. -Paul
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