prev <-> next
[2015-09-16 14:24:28] - Xpovos: I think it overthinks Star Trek a bit. I'm not sure it had such a rigid philosophy early on and the article even admits that Spock seems wishy-washy on certain issues from episode to episode. -Paul
[2015-09-16 13:02:46] - Paul: I'm curious about your thoughts on this (lengthy) article. You're a far bigger Trek fan than I. http://thefederalist.com/2015/09/15/how-star-trek-explains-the-decline-of-liberalism/ -- Xpovos
[2015-09-16 12:56:29] - Huh, okay. I'm not going to say that makes sense, but I suppose I can accept it.
-Paul[2015-09-16 12:54:06] - as for the 2 "Kansas City" cities, it might be similar to Falls Church in VA, which technically there are 2 entities: "Falls Church" (where my mom lives and in Fairfax County) and "Falls Church City" (which is another city though it's nearby, but is technically part of Arlington County). - mig
[2015-09-16 12:49:22] - The Kansas City that is more familiar to people (where the Royals and Chiefs play) is indeed in Missouri. Quirk of how the borders worked out I guess? - mig
[2015-09-16 12:47:50] - Kansas City is on the border, I think there is KC in Missouri and KC in Kansas. -Daniel
[2015-09-16 12:41:27] - Wait a second, why the hell is Kansas City in Missouri!? -Paul
[2015-09-16 11:26:00] - Now I REALLY need to make sure I finish off Heart of the Swarm... -Paul
[2015-09-16 10:34:31] - It's not really a big deal. I know Blizzard has been a bit notorious to try and schedule things to steal some thunder from competitors but I don't think this is the case this time. - mig
[2015-09-16 10:30:03] - Daniel: I have to wonder if it's that big of a deal. Sure, they're both MAJOR games, but is there really that much crossover between the core gamers in each demographic? I'll be day-one on Legacy of the Void (For Auir!), but I've barely even started Fallout 3. Fallout 4 can wait. A long time. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-16 09:59:36] - I thought Fallout was Nov 11th and Starcraft said Nov 10th? But either way, still seems like an odd decision. -Daniel
[2015-09-16 09:58:00] - daniel: same day. - mig
[2015-09-16 09:03:55] - New Starcraft comes out the day before new Fallout? Interesting timing decision. -Daniel
[2015-09-15 22:01:25] - a: have you watched this yet? if not, then do so. - mig
[2015-09-15 14:51:06] - A conversation with my database people today. Them, "So we'll go ahead and add this line item to that table ... that shouldn't break anything. Then you can run that report and once you start populating the fields we'll see if anything is missing." Me, "There we go, testing in live." Them, *laughs* "Don't say that out loud." -- Xpovos
[2015-09-15 14:11:44] - in general, I'm not a fan of casual comparisons to Hitler. I understand the overall point but the silly comparison is just hard to get past. - mig
[2015-09-15 14:10:24] - daniel: take off the trailing , - mig
[2015-09-15 14:05:20] - er Sorry, the page you are requesting could not be found
[2015-09-15 14:05:12] - Did it get pulled? I click on the link and get "Article not found" -Daniel
[2015-09-15 14:04:49] - Xpovos: I think I largely agree with paragraphs 7 through 10, but largely disagree with a lot of the rest. I feel some of the time spent Obama bashing could've been better used to make his case. -Paul
[2015-09-15 14:02:36] - Xpovos: I'm only a few paragraphs in, but this guy really doesn't like Obama, huh?
-Paul[2015-09-15 12:48:03] - While I ultimately disagree with a lot of this, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/09/15/why_have_elections_128085.html, it touches on some of the ideas that Paul and I have been mentioning here recently. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-15 12:31:07] - mig: yeah i was specifically thinking about nintendo taking down a lot of mario speedrun videos lately, which seems like intuitively it should fall under fair use but maybe it doesn't - aaron
[2015-09-15 12:24:02] - wow, i found something funny on amazon today. there are actually tons of real results for "mass spectrometer". there's even a "lab spectrometer" category, hah! most of them are like $20k+ refurbished. anyways, i'm surprised people buy shit like this on amazon, but i guess it makes sense. ~a
[2015-09-15 12:20:06] - mig: I give it three months and we'll see a media storm. Possibly less. All it takes is a negative media storm and this all blows up. Maybe it's Bernie Sanders? Could be. ESPN bought one of them (FanDuels/Draft Kings) so basically that means that Disney is now a gambling company. There's hay to be made there by a busybody. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-15 11:34:06] - xpovos: a possibility, but that would create a lot of political fallout. I think it would require new legislation or amending the online gambling law but I don't know if enough congress people are going to be gung ho to fight for it. - mig
[2015-09-15 11:28:56] - mig: That's my guess as to the eventual outcome. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-15 11:22:46] - xpovos: although in this case we're talking less about regulation and more about it potentially being outright illegal. - mig
[2015-09-15 11:16:25] - xpovos: so it begins, i guess? - mig
[2015-09-15 11:06:36] - mig: Frank Pallone: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424007/house-democrat-investigate-fantasy-football-sites -- Xpovos
[2015-09-15 10:55:41] - xpovos: as if almost on cue, on the radio this morning the junkies were talking about some congressman that wanted to open up some hearings on the legality of daily fantasy leagues. I can't find much news information on that though. - mig
[2015-09-15 10:35:23] - Net Neutrality bites again? http://pjmedia.com/blog/fcc-commissioner-free-content-might-violate-agencys-internet-conduct-standard/
[2015-09-15 10:30:38] - And maybe even youtube may reconsider their aggressive auto-flagging system as well. - mig
[2015-09-15 10:30:09] - But if this makes companies wary about shotgunning takedown notices, that'll probably be a very good thing. - mig
[2015-09-15 10:25:40] - aaron: I'm not so sure it'll help many streamers. You're technically not supposed to be playing copyrighted music in the background while streaming on twitch. Youtubers might benefit though, there's been a lot of trouble with gameplay videos getting muted because of copyright claims on the music, but you could argue that is fair use. - mig
[2015-09-15 10:07:07] - and that if copyright holders don't consider "fair use" before issuing future takedown notices, they can be held liable for damages. this is great news, i've had so many random streamers and musicians and people getting baseless takedown notices lately, it's great to see courts stand up for them - aaron
[2015-09-15 10:05:09] - http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Demand-that-mother-remove-home-video-from-YouTube-6503900.php a mother sued Universal Music for issuing a youtube takedown notice on her 29-second home video of her son dancing to Prince's "let's go crazy"... a federal appeals court decided 3-0 against universal, saying they need to consider fair use, - aaron
[2015-09-14 12:59:40] - Damn it. I even told it the gmail one should be default. Stupid gmail. I might have to just remove the yahoo version. -Paul
[2015-09-14 12:54:10] - paul: you did. - mig
[2015-09-14 12:50:46] - Xpovos: I thought I sent it to you (It was an "are you interested in basketball this weekend?" email), but it's possible I accidentally sent it to your yahoo address again. -Paul
[2015-09-14 12:47:18] - Paul: Did I miss the invite for that one? I don't recall even knowing. Probably couldn't have made it, though. Sunday mornings are hard to work and by Sunday afternoon everyone's on to football. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-14 12:44:11] - Btw, shameless plug for basketball: Come and play! Good exercise outdoors and stimulating conversation! -Paul
[2015-09-14 12:43:41] - mig: Honestly? I didn't know Lin was on the Hornets now (although I would've recognized him). -Paul
[2015-09-14 12:17:16] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jeremy-lin-had-to-convince-a-hornets-security-guard-he-plays-for-the-hornets-144853609.html url kind of says it all. - mig
[2015-09-14 11:52:24] - full $1000. - mnig
[2015-09-14 11:52:19] - Though I'm certain there's some regulation already. We were talking about it at basketball yesterday and I think someone mentioned when they post prize pools for a daily league they are legally required to honor the payouts regardless of how many people actually enter. So if the league adverts a $1000 prize for 1st, and only 1 person enters, they have to pay out the
[2015-09-14 11:50:13] - xpovos: Possibly. They're in the clear for now because the law essentially says it's above board. But once we get stories about degenerates sinking their life savings for the 100+ entries a week, then I think we might start seeing the busybodies pushing for regulation, or perhaps outright banning. - mig
[2015-09-14 11:44:53] - I should note, just on the off-chance, that I'm neither advocating for or against the legalization (or criminalization) of these things; merely that their activities, particularly in the marketing arena, have no risen to a level that they're basically begging to be regulated if not made flat-out illegal. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-14 11:38:46] - "ok, so with this new information, how is poker still illegal?" essentially, because the government says so. - mig
[2015-09-14 10:09:30] - crsp
[2015-09-14 10:09:28] - i thought you were the government. paul . . . always telling me that i should care if fantasy football is legal or not. ~a
[2015-09-14 10:04:54] - a: Don't ask me. Ask the government.
-Paul[2015-09-14 09:57:27] - ha, it's like they wrote the law to make fantasy gambling legal. ok, so with this new information, how is poker still illegal? ~a
[2015-09-14 09:49:38] - a: "So unlike regular sports gambling, where you purely bet on the outcome of games, the law is classifying fantasy sports as a form of game where actual skills matter to win." -Paul
[2015-09-14 09:48:38] - a: http://www.businessinsider.com/draft-kings-not-illegal-2015-4 I'm not saying it makes sense or even that I understand it, but the fact that it's considered a "game of skill" is considered important. -Paul
[2015-09-14 09:44:57] - regardless of your answer, using this logic, wouldn't normal sport gambling be a game of skill? it's idiotic anyways, i can't think of anyone who has argued that it makes sense that only nevada is the place you can legally gamble on sports. ~a
[2015-09-14 09:44:25] - paul: gambling on a game of skill is legal? ~a
[2015-09-14 09:23:07] - Xpovos: Seconding what Miguel has said, I think there has been specific court rulings which have said that fantasy sports are a game of skill, and therefore not really gambling, and so basically totally legal. -Paul
[2015-09-13 17:04:48] - xpovos: I think fantasy sports has specific exemptions from current online gambling laws. However, yeah, if it gets bigger there could be worry-worts in the government attempting legislation. - mig
[2015-09-13 13:04:09] - -- Xpovos
[2015-09-13 13:04:04] - Paul: There's no chance Cousins is the starter for 16 games. Meanwhile, are the one-day fantasy league things just begging to be regulated? It's one thing to advertise your product, but at this point it seems like they're just screaming to get the wrong kind of notice (from their perspective). I expect we'll see some legislative pushback before this season is done.
[2015-09-13 11:27:50] - I'll go ahead and put it on the record: if the Redskins stick with Cousins all season long, then I predict 6 or more wins from them. I know it may not sound too bold, but they were 4-12 last season. This would represent a 50% (or more) improvement. -Paul
[2015-09-10 14:59:47] - mig: Maybe. I think he's better. If you take Kolb's last two years in Arizona (15 games), you have around 3,000 passing yards, 17 TDs and 11 INTs. I think I might take the over in all of those (including maybe INTs
). -Paul[2015-09-10 14:39:44] - paul: one more thing on cousins, it should also be noted teams will probably be specifically preparing him. I honestly see him as a Kevin Kolb and Billy Volek type QB. He can give you great spot starts but can't really hold up for a whole season. - mig
[2015-09-10 13:00:26] - mig: Android users could pay with their phones for long before Apple Pay was a reality. Same thing with android watches. Those things got a fraction of the attention Apple did. -Paul
[2015-09-10 12:59:45] - mig: I don't begrudge Apple for copying others, I get annoyed with the people who think it's a magical new thing that'll change lives when it's already been done before. -Paul
[2015-09-10 12:56:51] - mig: I'm not necessarily saying I think they'll win 7 games, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if they were significantly better than last season with Cousins under center. -paul
[2015-09-10 12:56:22] - mig: I give them a shot against the Bears, Jets, Bucs, Panthers and Falcons outside of division and I think they can steal two games in their division (even last year, when they sucked, they beat Dallas once and Philly once). -Paul
[2015-09-10 11:46:00] - The moral of the story is that, yes, inventing something is important, but doesn't count for much if you have an initial poor implementation and/or someone comes up with a better implementation that sells better. - mig
[2015-09-10 11:44:48] - paul: i see a lot of parallels with Apple and Blizzard. Blizzard has been notorious w/ World of Warcraft and taking popular elements from competing MMORPGs. People think it's sort of unfair, but it's a major reason why the game has been so successful. - mig
[2015-09-10 11:40:45] - paul: redskins are playing the AFC east this year, with all 4 teams having pretty killer defenses. I'm pretty sure they're going 0-4 against that (Buffalo *might* be a toss up). And I'm looking at the rest of their schedule and I just don't see a game other than @Chicago or Tampa Bay and say, "Eh they have a shot in that one." - mig
[2015-09-10 10:52:49] - http://www.cnet.com/news/the-apple-ipad-pro-event-a-good-sad-day-for-microsoft/#ftag=CAD590a51e "In three years when Apple copies this, you cockwads will think it's genius." -Paul
[2015-09-10 10:52:17] - Paul: I'm not knocking Cousins when I sad that. I think he's a fine QB, and there's definitely a strong argument for him to be the starter over RG3. From a fantasy perspective, Cousins should be decent most of the time, too. I like Cousins as a fantasy option better than at least a handful of other QBs. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-10 10:49:35] - If you look back at the games he played last year, his stats were actually pretty good. Did you know he had more TDs than INTs? This, despite the nightmare game against NY where the entire team played poorly and he threw 4 INTs trying to bring them back. His 3 INT performance was against a good Arizona defense and against Seattle, no INTs and 2 TDs. -Paul
[2015-09-10 10:48:01] - This is probably obvious based on my pick-up in fantasy football, but I actually don't think Cousins is going to be a dumpster fire for the Redskins. I think they can be 7-9 with him under center (yes, I'm aware of the record of games where he starts and finishes them). The interceptions are a huge problem, but he also moves the chains and puts up points. -Paul
[2015-09-10 10:32:57] - mig: There shouldn't be. He's not been all that effective on a consistent basis as a starter. It's also not as though the team around him has gotten significantly better, or that the team's toxic atmosphere has somehow cleared now that he's been named the starter. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-10 10:15:09] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/shutdown-corner-s-2015-nfl-predictions-124257349.html looks like there's not a lot of faith in Kirk Cousin amongst the yahoo sports punditry. - mig
[2015-09-09 17:27:02] - And yes, I am a Yahoo shareholder.
-Paul[2015-09-09 17:26:54] - http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/09/-lose-billions-from-the-irs-non-ruling.html This seems like a huge jerk move by the IRS. Isn't it their job to tell people whether something is going to be taxed or not? How fair is it to say, "We're not going to tell you if this is going to be taxable. You can try, and we might decide to tax you later"? -Paul
[2015-09-09 16:20:21] - paul: yes, trump. - mig
[2015-09-09 16:18:28] - mig: Trump, I assume? Statements like those almost make me want him to win. The country might fall apart, but it would be super amusing. -Paul
[2015-09-09 16:16:06] - mig: I had no idea Charlie Sheen was running. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-09 16:01:54] - "We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning." This might be the vaguest and silliest campaign promise ever. - mig
[2015-09-09 10:59:56] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/08/a-white-guy-named-michael-couldnt-get-his-poem-published-then-he-became-yi-fen-chou/ "A white guy named Michael couldn’t get his poem published. Then he became Yi-Fen Chou." -Paul
[2015-09-09 10:56:02] - paul: "It felt super odd, though, seeing him in a late night talk show format". Maybe that's the problem. I'm not sure there's really any differentiation between any of the late night shows that I know of (aside from maybe Conan O'Brien). It really felt like Colbert was going through the motions, aside from the opening. - mig
[2015-09-09 10:43:11] - Yeah, I was pretty disappointed. It seemed like the jokes were dumbed down and they relied too much on the humor that I didn't like from the Colbert Report (I stopped watching during the George Clooney interview). It felt super odd, though, seeing him in a late night talk show format, though, with the stand-up and band. -Paul
[2015-09-09 09:18:05] - late show was ... ok. Opening bit was clever. I don't know about the show as a whole though. Then again, I'm not a big fan of the late night show format so that might have something to do with it. - mig
[2015-09-09 07:42:43] - https://reason.com/archives/2015/09/08/behind-trumps-appeal-youre-fired an interesting theory on why trump has such appeal. I don't know if I completely buy it, but this seems to be the only theory that makes some sort of sense to me. - mig
[2015-09-08 15:16:08] - I'm a bit boggled by some of the silliness of the schemes. "Don't mind us sir, we're here with Patriots TV, there's no reason to be suspicious or anything!" - mig
[2015-09-08 14:43:10] - mig: I love that picture of "New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick discussing Spygate in 2008 and Deflategate in 2015". So random. -Paul
[2015-09-08 14:27:16] - http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13533995/split-nfl-new-england-patriots-apart wow. This is quite the revelation. - mig
[2015-09-08 13:52:14] - mig: If I recall, if Hillary wins the nomination, then I owe you $30. If she doesn't, then you owe me $50. -Paul
[2015-09-08 13:43:49] - paul: what was the bet again from last night? I need a refresher on the parameters. - mig
[2015-09-08 11:42:41] - mig: I'm not completely discounting it, but I think it's far more likely it's just a massive ego-stroking campaign by him. It would be pretty clever, though. It could've even been a plot to distract from Hilary's email server woes (we know he's friends with the Clintons). -Paul
[2015-09-08 11:25:32] - paul: I'm still considering that a possibility as long as he's doesn't seem to have any semblance of campaign spending. - mig
[2015-09-08 10:52:39] - Anybody planning on watching the Late Show with Colbert tonight? -Paul
[2015-09-08 09:57:29] - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/us/politics/republicans-fear-donald-trump-is-hardening-partys-tone-on-race.html?ref=us&_r=0 If I thought Trump was more clever, I would almost say he was intentionally trying to screw up the Republican race and throw it to the Democrats. -Paul
[2015-09-08 09:54:22] - http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/bernie-sanders-leads-hillary-clinton-9-n-h-gains-iowa-n422111 I don't necessarily believe Bernie will keep his lead, but I am getting more and more convinced that Hilary is not going to be the Democratic nominee. -Paul
[2015-09-04 17:27:25] - I'm a little stunned. Pleased, but stunned. -Paul
[2015-09-04 17:27:13] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-self-driving-cars-come-to-more-states-regulators-take-a-back-seat/2015/08/28/7a29413e-474f-11e5-8ab4-c73967a14 "No state has passed legislation to make autonomous vehicles legal since 2013, and while bills were proposed in 16 states this year, none has passed." -Paul
[2015-09-04 13:57:48] - a: i don't know the exact wording of the law, but it sounds like a marriage license can only be official with her signature. So even if the deputies did issue the licenses in defiance, it wouldn't be valid unless she personally signed them. - mig
[2015-09-04 12:49:34] - I mean, if the judge is going to be sending this woman to jail for not obeying the rule of law, it should follow that the judge would order a remedy that would follow the rule of law as well. His rationale of "i dunno if this is legal or not, but you guys can sort it out later" just seems un-judge-ly (is that a word?). - mig
[2015-09-04 12:44:06] - It seems rather odd (actually, absurd to a degree) to me the judge would suggest a resolution that he wasn't sure was allowed by KY law. - mig
[2015-09-04 12:42:30] - http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/09/a-new-legal-cloud-over-same-sex-marriage-in-kentucky/ and now there's a question of whether the licenses being issued are legitimate. Good lord, what a fucking legal mess. - mig
[2015-09-04 11:56:00] - "I'm guessing they couldn't defy her" i disagree. there's probably a hierarchy, if you receive an order from up the chain, it probably doesn't matter if it's your immediate supervisor or not. ~a
[2015-09-04 11:43:04] - mig: I don't know enough about the KY clerkship to be certain, but I'm guessing they couldn't defy her. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-04 11:42:30] - mig: Yes, it's normally someone else's workstation, but I'm on my own network account which is linked to the browser, etc. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-04 11:10:55] - xpovos: someone else was using the computer? - mig
[2015-09-04 11:06:27] - Supposedly she "ordered" her deputies not to issue licenses while in jail. I don't know how that's supposed to work. - mig
[2015-09-04 11:05:50] - xpovos: that's where I think my confusion is. Could the deputies have defied her before? - mig
[2015-09-04 10:55:25] - Meanwhile... this morning I'm logged into a computer I haven't used in months at work. I boot up IE, becuase it's a work computer and that's what we have, and there in my 'bookmark' bar is a link to an article about this Kentucky issue and how they're issuing licenses now. WTF? -- Xpovos
[2015-09-04 10:54:29] - Meanwhile, she'll probably stay in jail until she agrees to give the licenses herself, or the next general legislature meets and does impeach her. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-04 10:53:55] - mig: I think that was the intermediary between license-issuing and impeachment, which they didn't want to do because the legislature is out of session and they didn't want to have to pay for a special session. Plus, who knows if the impeachment would have passed--this is Kentucky after all. I'm honestly surprised how fast her deputies buckled. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-04 09:28:33] - curious question: if she never relents, could KY in theory keep her in jail forever? I'm thinking like in some bizarre circumstance where she is re-elected to her post and the legislature doesn't choose to impeach her. - mig
[2015-09-04 09:18:52] - xpovos: what kind of boggles me is her rationale for not resigning. (paraphrasing a bit), "If I resigned, I would have no voice for God's word." Now I've seen people in positions of power that love their authority just a little too much, but she probably takes the cake in that respect. - mig
[2015-09-03 19:50:08] - http://abcnews.go.com/US/kentucky-clerk-kim-davis-jail-deputies-expected-issue/story?id=33512610 apparently deputy clerks will now start issuing licenses. Doesn't that make sending her off to jail pointless, or is that required for the deputies to be able to issue licenses? - mig
[2015-09-03 17:46:44] - Paul: She was elected, but it was based on nepotism it seems. Her mother held the position for a generation. Her own sons work in the office. While I understand her position the whole situation smacks of corruption. Fun fact, she's a Democrat. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-03 17:45:58] - paul: yes, she was elected to her post. that's why she can't be just fired, the legislature would have to impeach her. - mig
[2015-09-03 17:30:35] - mig: It does seem a little weird that one official can gum up the works as much as she has. Is it an elected position? -Paul
[2015-09-03 16:53:46] - mig: I wasn't very impressed when I went in to get my marriage license.
-Paul[2015-09-03 14:23:13] - slight correction: apparently she is the only person authorized to grant licenses in one county. Still, my question stands. - mig
[2015-09-03 14:02:43] - So was this clerk in Kentucky (who is going to jail as of now) literally the only person with the authority to grant marriage licenses in the entire state? From what I'm reading it sounds that way, and that trying to find out how to legally issue licenses now is going to be a legislative mess. Another argument for getting the government out of marriage? - mig
[2015-09-03 09:22:38] - FWIW, a hamburger is totally a sandwich. Taco, on the other hand... -- Xpovos
[2015-09-02 13:53:53] - thats supposed to be "caused by"* not "cause my" oh well
[2015-09-02 13:53:26] - Paul: Weird edge case cause my vegetarian cheating. Also its not meat so still different. That's just a bunch of plant products between bread. Are there any sandwiches which have meat in the form of a patty? Hmmm.... -Daniel
[2015-09-02 13:32:07] - Daniel: Hmmm, fair. How about the veggie patty sandwich at subway (http://subway.co.uk/menu/subs/classic/veggie-patty-.aspx)? -Paul
[2015-09-02 13:24:31] - Paul: I'm specifically not espousing a specific rule. However I think having meat in a patty vs not seems like an important distinguishing factor. -Daniel
[2015-09-02 12:01:09] - Daniel: Right, so is it the meat that defines a sandwich for you? I guess, what's your definition of a sandwich? -Paul
[2015-09-02 11:20:36] - Paul: No meat patty on a pulled pork sandwich. So different meat style -Daniel
[2015-09-02 11:10:45] - Daniel: But what about a pulled pork sandwich? Basically the same type of bread, different type of meat, but sandwich is in the name. -Paul
[2015-09-02 11:08:48] - Bread style, meat style, those are apparently enough for them to qualify differently. -Daniel
[2015-09-02 11:08:09] - I did not select a cheeseburger as a sandwhich. Hamburgers aren't sandwiches in my head. -Daniel
[2015-09-02 11:03:13] - aaron: I get where you're coming from. I can't come up with a definition of sandwich which properly encompasses all the things I consider sandwiches (subs, hoagies, actual normal sandwiches) while excluding things that aren't (cheeseburgers, tacos, etc). -Paul
[2015-09-02 10:55:44] - daniel: like before the questions, sandwiches were sandwiches and cheeseburgers were cheeseburgers, there was no way cheeseburgers could descend from sandwiches. i don't know how to deal with this new information - aaron
[2015-09-02 10:54:04] - daniel: oh, the items are reordered every time! well, in the order they were in for me, it was like "sub/hoagie" -- okay that's obviously a sandwich, subway calls it that... "cheesesteak" -- well i guess that's basically just a sub, so that counts too... "cheeseburger" -- well that doesn't really seem like a sandwich, but i guess... TECHNICALLY.... - aaron
[2015-09-02 10:17:11] - aaron: Which part of the sandwich question was so upsetting? -Daniel
[2015-09-02 09:52:13] - mig: Also, the caption mentions chicken, and that is clearly not chicken. -Paul
[2015-09-02 09:47:35] - also, that meat is definitely not chicken, or at least any type of chicken that chipotle serves. - mig
[2015-09-02 09:46:35] - http://xkcd.com/1572/ today's xkcd has a cute survey. the sandwich question in particularly made me realize my life is a lie - aaron
[2015-09-02 09:36:56] - as an aside, that is definitely not a Chipotle burrito. rice is definitely off and Chiptole uses baskets not paper plates. Can i (or chipotle) sue ars for misrepresentation? - mig
[2015-09-02 09:14:01] - paul: goes without saying the lawsuit is utterly ridiculous, but yeah. - mig
[2015-09-02 09:09:41] - One of my employees is a Guatemalan ex-pat and he is all over this. http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/01/americas/guatemala-president-immunity-stripped/ -- Xpovos
[2015-09-02 09:02:47] - http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/09/food-chain-chipotle-sued-over-its-gmo-free-claims/ I almost feel like this is a sort of karma for Chipotle. -Paul
[2015-09-01 16:13:07] - Daniel: In that case hate is too strong a word, but that's probably more a factor of conditioning than logic. I do disapprove of the laws--but I also wear my seatbelt all the time and was instrumental in getting my grandparents to start when I was young. They never did, regardless of the laws. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 15:02:52] - xpovos: Do you hate the laws requiring seat belts? Seems the same principle but extended to a logical conclusion. -Daniel
[2015-09-01 13:55:10] - Xpovos: I'm fairly confident the cars they have now are better than human drivers, even with all their faults. -Paul
[2015-09-01 13:43:51] - As a libertarian-minded person, I hate the idea of such a law. But I wouldn't be complaining, personally. It's amazing how good those systems are. I've seen plenty of evidence they're ready to go now despite all the nay-sayers. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 12:56:30] - Daniel: Wouldn't be surprised either. -Paul
[2015-09-01 12:51:45] - Paul: It wouldn't surprise me if sometime in the next 50 years driving your own car was illegal in some capacity. Maybe you are still allowed in certain areas that for some reason can't support driverless (like a farm? or offroad? etc) but on highways and city roads have to be driverless. -Daniel
[2015-09-01 12:45:28] - Driverless cars seem like such a game changer, though. I really can't wait. I'm only half joking when I say we should just solve the problem by outlawing driving your own car and forcing everybody to go driverless.
-Paul[2015-09-01 12:44:19] - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/technology/personaltech/google-says-its-not-the-driverless-cars-fault-its-other-drivers.html?_r=0 This probably isn't news to people here, but the biggest problem with autonomous cars are human drivers. -Paul
[2015-09-01 11:40:21] - This is the bigger deal. http://catholicsay.com/pope-francis-sspx-priests-will-licitly-and-validly-absolve-sins-during-jubilee-of-mercy -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:46:42] - As far as I know the only sins reserved to the papacy for absolution all involve misconduct by priests. Usually really bad misconduct which is also publicly scandalous. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:45:34] - The potentially big deal option requires the previous statement by the press office aide to have been wrong, or at least misinformed and for abortion to have been on the list of sins so grave as to require a specific papal absolution. Not only is this not the case (to the best of my knowledge) it would be stupid to be so, and is contradicted by context. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:43:56] - So I find that potentiality to be unlikely, though a minor deal. Slightly more significant in that it might indicate a shift in tone for Francis (and not about abortion, but about politics), but in terms of the actual decision, still fairly meaningless. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:43:02] - That's the not a big deal result because that's for the Archdiocese of Rome, which is insignificant, particularly to Americans. The very minor deal is if he's acting as Pope to unilaterally delegate this authority across all dioceses. That usurps the power of his fellow bishops in a very weird way, particularly for Francis who is obsequiously ecumenical. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:41:09] - So, this article might be that Francis as the Bishop of Rome is allowing his Roman priests to absolve abortion where as previously it was reserved to the bishop. That fits with the line of the article, "many bishops have granted priests permission to forgive the sin." Whether or not to reserve or permit would be a local decision. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:39:56] - E.g. A priest soliciting sexual favors while receiving a confession is a sin so grave that it cannot be absolved by another "priest". Here we get into some difficulty in language. What we call priests are really "priests-lite", while what we call bishops are "priests", they have "the fullness of the priesthood." Don't even start asking about deacons, it's a mess.
[2015-09-01 10:38:11] - No sin is unforgiveable... the "unforgiveable sin" is despair because it leads a person to not seek forgiveness assuming it is in fact unforgiveable, which it is not. That said, there are certain particularly thorny matters for which absolution is reserved from the average priest. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:36:19] - mig: It's either not a big deal, or a very very minor deal. There is only on situation where it could possibly be a big deal, and that's not one I think is even possible, but I'd have to go read a few Canon law books. I'll explain, but it might take a few lines. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-01 10:14:57] - xpovos: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/09/01/pope-allow-priests-forgive-abortion/71502832/ is this really that big of a deal? the internet is freaking out about this today. - mig
[2015-08-31 16:07:55] - i'd ask her what it means. but you'll likely not get a response i guess. ~a
[2015-08-31 15:41:21] - a: i briefly considered that possibility. but um, no. - mig
[2015-08-31 15:30:28] - ha! or maybe she's a software engineer and that was a joke. yeah probably not. ~a
[2015-08-31 15:27:30] - profile I found on eharmony today: her listed 6 things you can't do without - "Internet, Phone, Spirit, null, TV, family". That doesn't look randomly generated or anything ... - mig
[2015-08-31 12:14:11] - http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000518335/article/tyrod-taylor-named-bills-starting-qb Go Hokies! -Paul
[2015-08-31 11:39:37] - mig: I didn't even know there had been any DLC from Dragon Age. Hmm -Daniel
[2015-08-31 11:15:29] - http://youtu.be/bUQKGFMfXx0 latest dragon age DLC trailer. I passed on the first 2, but this one actually looks interesting. - mig
[2015-08-28 16:45:34] - daniel: The last governors election in VA? Most people (I thought) were voting "not Cucinelli" as opposed to "for McAuilffe". - mig
[2015-08-28 16:27:57] - Daniel: Lots of people describe their voting habits as voting for the lesser of two evils. I would think voting for "evil" (lesser or otherwise) is generally something you don't want.
-Paul[2015-08-28 16:21:13] - Paul: People vote for candidates who best align and are electable, but I think thats different than voting for someone we don't want at all. -Daniel
[2015-08-28 16:20:04] - Paul: Who votes for what they don't want? -Daniel
[2015-08-28 15:29:20] - Although it sounds like it might originally be from Eugene Debs. -Paul
[2015-08-28 15:28:40] - http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/24/whos-getting-our-votes/print Love this quote from David Boaz: "it's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it". -Paul
[2015-08-28 10:38:48] - Of which there are much much much fewer. -Paul
[2015-08-28 10:38:28] - mig: I'm sympathetic to the "mental health resources" argument, since it sounds like a much more workable solution, but I don't think people realize what a fine line it is between somebody who might be a little quirky or anti-social (of which there are probably tens of thousands if not more in the US) and somebody ready to kill a bunch of people. -Paul
[2015-08-28 10:25:08] - paul: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bill-clinton-sought-state-department-paid-speeches-related/story?id=33369277 going back to Clinton's "republicans = teh trrists!", I thought this was a rather interesting nugget. - mig
[2015-08-28 10:15:34] - That's hardly enough to deem a person as having "mental problems" that would disqualify that person from owning a gun. - mig
[2015-08-28 10:14:10] - The "we need more mental health spending/resources/whatever" is another thing I find perplexing. In hindsight, sure, it seems like this shooter was very disturbed, but legally how are was anyone supposed to determine that from a legal sense? All that we had to go on was that he was a jerk at his job and he made a scene when he was fired ...
[2015-08-28 10:10:16] - paul: that's why I maintain this is shameless tragedy exploitation. I mean seriously, if you are going to point to a tragedy as justification for legislation, you kind of have to show how that the legislation would have prevented the tragedy. - mig
[2015-08-28 09:55:06] - http://reason.com/blog/2015/08/28/is-it-really-unclear-whether-a-backgroun Going back to the "let's pass gun laws in the wake of the murder of two reporters" story, here's another big reason why I'm skeptical. The laws proposed in the wake of such shootings almost never would've actually have prevented them. -Paul
[2015-08-28 09:42:17] - a: I am not taking sides in the discussion of whether or not it would reduce traffic, I just don't want to bike 25 miles and have my commute take 3x as long (according to google maps). You can have your biking on the roads when I get my self-driving car.
-Paul[2015-08-28 09:40:37] - a: "most accidents at 80mph are fatal." No argument there, but come on, most accidents aren't typically 80 mph collisions. - mig
[2015-08-28 09:40:27] - anyways, this has been fun but i totally agree with aaron's overall point: this is all a dream world hypothetical. it wouldn't work without some major changes. still, a man can dream. maybe i'll move to california, or colorado, or northern europe. ~a
[2015-08-28 09:40:06] - i've also seen that thing where they put the kid-seat the back seat-post. another where they put the kid-seat on the front handlebars. ~a
[2015-08-28 09:36:51] - aaron: parents of small children: image, other image, third image ~a
[2015-08-28 09:25:52] - daniel: i've been riding in a large group before in a city. you can fit dozens and dozens of people in the same space as one car. if you look at the "flow" of the lane: you can count how many people cross a line per second. when we get up to speed, it's like 10-20 people per second. when cars cross the same line at speed it's like 1-2 people per second. ~a
[2015-08-28 09:16:40] - daniel: imagine if, while driving through slow heavy traffic, during rush hour, you removed 14 out of every 15 cars. that's what it's like to take up 1/15th the amount of space. tell me that would make no change. ~a
[2015-08-28 09:15:02] - aaron: "fit 30-year-old men" disingenuous. some women know how to ride a bike. in the netherlands, more women cycle than men. ~a
[2015-08-28 09:12:04] - daniel: you know, now that i look at it, i think 8 is super conservative. 12 or 15 might be closer. image? ~a
[2015-08-28 09:11:02] - a: I think if all the people on 495 or 66 were suddenly on bikes there would still be traffic and accidents. People still want to get from point a to b in as little time as possible. This leads to accidents and traffic in my head. -Daniel
[2015-08-28 08:53:12] - i would say maybe half of people can replace their cars with bikes in a best case scenarios. at a bare minimum you still need roads with emergency vehicles, cars and buses. you just need less of them, and ideally separate roads. - aaron
[2015-08-28 08:52:14] - a: i think it's a servicable solution for fit 30-year-old men. i don't think it would biking to the metro would work for pregnant women, parents of small children, the elderly or obese, ambulances, fire/rescue, or hundreds of other cases. - aaron
[2015-08-28 08:50:45] - daniel: conservatively, you can fit eight or ten bikes in the same area as one car at stop-lights. do you think if we took the current road system, and build seven road systems above the current road system, it wouldn't alleviate traffic at all? ~a
[2015-08-28 08:37:00] - a: I'm not convinced that if you took all the cars off the roads but added another million bikes that it would alleviate all traffic problems but I'm not really sure there is a great way to prove that either way. -Daniel
[2015-08-27 20:27:55] - paul: totally coincidence! my friend at work and i tried to see who would get to his home first from work. his house is near mine. he was driving and gave me a 5 minute head-start. i got home 4 minutes before him! he took 26 minutes and i took 27 minutes. i think i can shave a minute off
~a[2015-08-27 20:20:13] - "higher rate of injury per accident" you haven't seen an accident on the highway i guess. most accidents at 80mph are fatal. ~a
[2015-08-27 18:51:04] - there may be less accidents overall, but I think a higher rate of injury per accident. - mig
[2015-08-27 18:47:46] - also, even with helments, leg/elbow padding, bike spills can get nasty especially at high (relatively) speeds. People getting launched from a car is a rare occurance, pretty much all bike crashes involve a biker going airborne. - mig
[2015-08-27 18:46:00] - a: isn't technology eventually going to make the emissions concern moot? - mig
[2015-08-27 17:28:48] - daniel: dc bike party is my dreams coming true. if anybody ever wants to go drunk-biking in dc with 1000 of your closest friends, let me know. next one is september 9th! ~a
[2015-08-27 17:24:38] - daniel: youtube amsterdam commuting . . . amsterdam commuting, more. ~a
[2015-08-27 17:20:07] - daniel: yes, there would be bike traffic if everybody commuted. no, we wouldn't just change the car traffic issue for bike traffic issue. bikes are much smaller, put out no emissions. assuming people wear helmets, crashes would rarely be a problem if the cars were all gone. i'm insane enough to bike on the roads and the cars aren't all gone yet. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:52:03] - a: My commute is not great.
-Paul[2015-08-27 16:44:06] - a: would there be bike traffic if everyone biked? wouldn't we just change the car traffic issue for bike traffic issue? also I can imagine more accidents since I'm not sure people would be as careful on bikes as they are in cars. -Daniel
[2015-08-27 16:38:12] - interestingly enough, google maps does say it should take 2 hours by bike (it's a shorter route if you hit up the w&od). ~a
[2015-08-27 16:35:09] - so . . . a 2 hour commute would suck, i'll admit, but wholly shit you have a crappy commute, hah. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:34:18] - well, to skew things in my favor, lets say you leave at 0800, and there's particularly heavy traffic, it should take an hour. especially if the wilson bridge spills on out (usually it spills the other way though). i think, you can easily do 8kph (that would be your 5x). i can usually average 20kph if i'm booking (2x). ~a
[2015-08-27 16:27:25] - a: Around 8:30 am? I'm a sprinter, not a distance runner.
-Paul[2015-08-27 16:25:46] - i played ultimate with you only a few days ago, so i know you're in shape
~a[2015-08-27 16:24:40] - what time do you drive to work? ~a
[2015-08-27 16:22:19] - a: I would estimate it would take me at least 5 times as long to get to work biking than it does driving. I guess I don't bike as fast as you do.
-Paul[2015-08-27 16:18:42] - during rush-hour it often takes me 30 minutes to drive to work. but . . . honestly i don't like biking to work during rush-hour either: too many cars in my way!
~a[2015-08-27 16:16:19] - mig/paul: here's an interesting data point: it takes me 20 minutes to drive to work and 30 minutes to bike to work. if there were no cars, i might be able to bike faster than i could drive. in heavy traffic areas, cars often go slower than bikes. my storage-space is a 10 minute drive and a 10 minute bike ride. with no cars, i'd definitely be able to beat 10m. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:13:35] - mig: No idea. -Paul
[2015-08-27 16:12:02] - mig: i fucking love bike-share. back when i spent more time in DC, it was so sweet. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:11:29] - dude, amy had a music thing in purcellville like a decade ago. i biked there. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:11:22] - paul: is there a bike-share thing at the Reston station? In theory he could take metro there and bike the rest of the way. Much longer than driving, but do-able I think. - mig
[2015-08-27 16:10:33] - bringing a bike on the metro is always allowed in most non-dc cities. likely dc would relent if cars up and disappeared. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:10:23] - no, biking would not take too long. my work isn't that far from your house. seriously, if i could bike in the middle of the fucking highway? and if highways were designed for biking? i'd be in heaven. yes, i would continue to come over for game-night. ~a
[2015-08-27 16:06:13] - a: Eh, what if you needed to get to my house for a game night Friday night? Biking would probably take too long, and the metro doesn't go to my house. -Paul
[2015-08-27 15:57:52] - for which purpose? 1km-100km, bike. 10km to 50km, metro. 50km to 500km, train. 500km+ plane. dca is biking distance of me and iad is biking distance of you. i'm sure, if all cars went extinct tomorrow, a few train lines would pop-up. i think other countries have pretty awesome non-car travel compared to here, honestly. ~a
[2015-08-27 15:51:14] - a: How would you travel long distances? -Paul
[2015-08-27 15:50:58] - anyways, back to reality . . . i guess cars are ok. they can be on the roads. as long as protected bike lanes keep gaining in popularity. ~a
[2015-08-27 15:48:31] - i'd gladly get rid of my car if it meant all the other cars would leave the roads too. man that would be fucking awesome. ~a
[2015-08-27 15:47:26] - a: Yeah, but it's probably in even worse condition than mine. Your statement seems a little hypocritical. Don't you drive cars on the road?
-Paul[2015-08-27 15:45:42] - pedestrians are fine, they can stay. ~a
[2015-08-27 15:45:18] - paul: ok, i hate cars in the road.
~a[2015-08-27 15:44:35] - doesn't gurkie have a bike? ~a
[2015-08-27 15:32:56] - a: Not sure I see the irony of my statement. I'm certainly not anti-bike, but I wish they wouldn't ride on roads. I'm an equal opportunity diviser, though. I hate pedestrians in the road too.
-Paul[2015-08-27 15:31:46] - a: Because I got married and had kids and my free time went to zero.
I'm game for trying one again, but I might need a new bike. -Paul[2015-08-27 14:46:46] - terrible pun headline of the day: Donors Biden their time? - mig
[2015-08-27 14:05:56] - i find cars on the road to complicate the whole biking experience. sarcastic, of course, but you do see the irony and divisiveness of your statement, right? bike-lanes, and especially protected bike-lanes, are awesome and i'm so excited that they're popping up everywhere. ~a
[2015-08-27 14:04:35] - paul: what happened to our bike rides . . . why did those stop? ~a
[2015-08-27 13:59:20] - it's probably fine in rural areas (hence why it's called Idaho stop I'm guessing) and possibly places were bike riding is far more common, but I would definitely question it where I live. - mig
[2015-08-27 13:57:21] - a: I think it's a bit questionable. For right turns I think this sort of policy is fine but there's so many stoplights I know of in the area where bikers just going straight/turning left on red lights is just a collision waiting to happen. - mig
[2015-08-27 13:32:39] - a: I know I'm in the minority, but I don't like bikes on the road at all because it just seems to complicate the whole driving experience. -Paul
[2015-08-27 13:31:38] - a: I thought about commenting on Schilling before because I didn't think his tweet was quite as bad as people were making it out to be (it seemed to be more about how small factions of a population can still cause problems and end up historically defining that population). Basically, I thought his tweet should've gotten a similar reaction to Clinton's comments. -Paul
[2015-08-27 13:21:40] - while i'm posting about biking, what are you-guy's thoughts on the Idaho stop? i'd never heard of it. despite what the article says, it's become de-facto in more places than just idaho. i feel like in a bike-heavy environment it would get pretty crazy. ~a
[2015-08-27 13:19:00] - meh, i didn't mean anything serious about it. yes, clinton and schilling were treated differently. terrorists and nazis aren't exactly the same group, so i'm not sure they should have been treated the same. ~a
[2015-08-27 13:10:41] - a: Isn't being a Muslim a choice too? Or am I misinterpreting your remarks? -Paul
[2015-08-27 13:03:47] - assholes stealing a bike in dc. ~a
[2015-08-27 13:03:19] - paul: being republican is not a choice (/s). ~a
[2015-08-27 12:51:10] - but Clinton doesn't seem to be getting the same backlash. -Paul
[2015-08-27 12:50:37] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/27/clinton-republicans-are-like-terrorist-groups-on-womens-issues/ So, Clinton compares Republicans to a terrorist group a few days after Curt Schilling compared Muslims to Nazis. They seem pretty comparable to me (I even think Schilling's comment was more defensible)... -Paul
[2015-08-27 12:13:10] - india turned off the mobile internet of 63 million people. that's the equivalent populations of california and texas combined. wow, censorship? ~a
[2015-08-27 11:42:37] - aaron: the demographic talked about here does overlap with the age range in my own searches, and we're not so far removed from it that i'd call it "another generation". Depending on who you talk to, technically we qualify as millenials. - mig
[2015-08-27 10:41:22] - aaron: "new words: tinder" yup
~a[2015-08-27 10:35:33] - mig: when it's addressing hookup culture and apps like tinder, i think the it's describing the generation after us -- so yeah our experiences are going to potentially be really different - aaron
[2015-08-27 09:53:33] - hah, nm. he covers that. "educational intermarriage is less common today than at any point over the past half century" oops. ~a
prev <-> next