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[2009-10-05 10:28:10] - i think probably what reflects poorly on him the most in this was that by most accounts both obamas' speeches and the overall presentation for Chicago was considered to be very uninspiring and rather bland. there's already questions on whether his trip hurt the case for chicago more than it help, but then again, even if he gave a wonderful speech and chicago still lost...
[2009-10-05 10:26:05] - gurkie: Good thing my team did terrible so it didn't matter. I'm officially shooting for last place. -Bryan
[2009-10-05 10:17:33] - maybe the rest of the world doesn't care as much. - mig
[2009-10-05 10:15:12] - it just seems weird to me that the first round ousting of chicago is such a horrible travesty. It seems to have been implied that it would have been less so if Rio or Tokyo or Madrid. After all, they had their leaders show up and give presentations too. Of course, that could be just because most of the sources from where I've been reading are more america-centric ...
[2009-10-05 10:07:46] - or were they all from the olympics committee? ~gurkie
[2009-10-05 10:07:06] - re: Olympics... I don't think it should be considered a huge deal. While I can understand Obama going to represent his home town as one of the most well known people from Chicago, I dont think that its a reflection on him that it lost. Then again for people saying it was a waste of his time, well possibly. Were the people voting representatives from a variety of countries
[2009-10-05 09:44:06] - my three wide receivers managed to get me a nice old total of 4.5 points... Sigh ~gurkie
[2009-10-05 09:23:59] - Xpovos: But then I realized that this is actually exactly what I probably want the President to be spending most of his time on (relatively frivolous foreign things like the Olympics) instead of trying to set legislative agendas. I think it's more in line with what the founding fathers intended the presidency for anyway. -Paul
[2009-10-05 09:22:27] - Xpovos: I originally thought the same as you ("Using the political capital of the presidency on something as frivolous as the Olypmics indicates an improper understanding of the role of the office"), especially with all of the other issues he could be spending his time addressing instead. -Paul
[2009-10-05 09:21:12] - "I'm very sorry about it. We will have to spend some time evaluating what happened". It almost sounds like they are going to launch an investigation. -Paul
[2009-10-05 09:20:30] - Pierce: "I can only believe that it was an accident or a mishap of group voting. I honestly don't think there was a group that would deliberately seek to insult the U.S. president and first lady in the first round." Ok, maybe not a crime, but it seems odd that everybody is stumbling over themselves to try to explain away how Chicago came in last. -Paul
[2009-10-05 08:39:39] - donkey for a while. It's not pretty, and not why I'm pleased (see below) but it is understandable, and I do believe it's a close match, though obviously not exact, as all situations are different. It's just standard ugly politics. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-05 08:38:53] - Bringing the Olympics to Chicago was a personal, not political move, or at best a misguided and minor political move which he was being taken to task for before he failed. His failure reflects poorly on his presidential power now, his speech was awful, and he may have squandered goodwill. Now the conservatives will take extreme glee in pinning this particular tail on the
[2009-10-05 08:37:27] - pierce: On less of a policy side, which is what this is, I think a close equivilant might be 'Bush-isms'. It's an attack on the president for poor speaking skills, which then reflects poorly on the nation, and liberals often took extreme glee in using those quotes to show how 'stupid' the president was. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-05 08:35:08] - pierce: Social Security privitization, failure to find weapons of mass destruction, I could probably toss in aspects of Hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11th as well. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-05 08:29:38] - pierce: I'll try, but you'll have to accept a few that you might not consider a loss for the country, since you're also of the opinion that not having the Olympics is a loss, which I am not. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-04 13:22:49] - xpovos: can you name anything that was a loss for bush and also a loss for the country that liberals gloated about? I see a lot of partisan Obama-hate justified against the way Bush was treated but it's rarely equivalent. - pierce
[2009-10-04 07:39:29] - I'll also throw in that I may be further biased by a general disdain for the modern Olympics. I seem to recall being enthralled by the 1988 games, but since then it's been meaningless. Even with some quick research, I can't point to why. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-04 07:35:21] - I'll grant that there has been a historically wide berth for what the president chooses to do in foreign policy, but it's not necessarily precident I agree with, nor does a wide berth necessarily include something like the Olympics. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-04 07:34:14] - pierce: I'm also amazed at the rallying call it became for the 'conservatives'. The thing is, if this were Bush, I think the situation would be exactly reversed; except I'd still be opposed. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-04 01:42:31] - xpovos: meanwhile I see prominent conservatives tripping over themselves to gloat about this with no clear reason besides partisan spite. I'm not lumping you in with them, but I feel like I would need a more compelling argument to overcome my disgust at their small-mindedness. - pierce
[2009-10-04 01:39:04] - xpovos: in all honesty, more than most issues I feel like I could be fairly easily convinced that this was a misstep on Obama's part... but not one thing you said leaned me in that direction. - pierce
[2009-10-04 01:36:07] - xpovos: you're sort of right about the economic implications for chicago; being the host city doesn't always bring in enough revenue to offset the costs. but if memory serves the hosting nation almost always enjoys a significant boost in both tourism and global perception, both of which the U.S. could sorely use right now. - pierce
[2009-10-04 01:33:29] - xpovos: as for your suspicions about his motives, your guess that it might have fought for honolulu kinda undermines your reasoning that he is at the beck and call of his political connections in chicago. I'd argue that any president would have made similar strides (give or take) if their hometown was in the running as an olympic host. - pierce
[2009-10-04 01:30:33] - xpovos: and what's improper about the president campaigning for the olympics? historical precedent gives the executive office a very wide berth when it comes to foreign policy and diplomatic interactions with foreign powers... the olympics are nothing if not a distilled form of diplomacy. - pierce
[2009-10-04 01:27:51] - xpovos: what's frivolous about the olympics, exactly? I see them as a means to channel competitive nationalistic tendencies in a way that doesn't involve, you know... bullets and bombs. - pierce
[2009-10-03 23:41:10] - seems like it could be considered proper for our elected representative do the representing of our country on a global scale to other countries. the nation elected him to be the leader, so it seems like one of the jobs that falls to his position. I guess just in past it has generally been delegated. -dewey
[2009-10-03 23:39:38] - one could argue that the olympics, while temporary, bring in a boost of money and jobs to a country. sort of like a free sports complex for the hosting city as well as job/income boost to residents of the country who get the nod. so Obama was lobbying for boosted income on a global scale for the US. - dewey
[2009-10-03 19:38:29] - Of course, if you listen to many of my previous posts, having the government waste time may well be the best use of those resources, so in that sense I guess I ought to be happy as well; but then for wasting the minimum resources to get the failure necessary, rather than any other reason. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 19:37:36] - So, it's kind of like the joy I get when my fantasy football team wins. Not as much as if the Redskins won, but more than not playing a part at all. Gleeful may be overstating it, but I'll admit to listening to the radio to hear the decision and letting out a cheerful yelp when Rio was announced. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 19:36:39] - Add on what I said before about the economic reasons why it's a good thing the Olympics didn't go to Chicago, and there's a perfect storm of general ill-will from me towards the event. Michelle Obama's statements didn't help matters any. I was rooting for failure, not because I want to see Obama discredited, but because I want him to stop wasting time. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 19:35:01] - The fact that I strongly suspect that he would not have done that for any other city--save maybe Honolulu--smacks of the allegations of corruption that have sprung up around the presidency. His politically powerful friends wanted him to do this, so he did. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 19:32:54] - pierce: It will be difficult to explain, but I'll try. First, I was very opposed to the notion of Obama going in the first place. Using the political capital of the presidency on something as frivolous as the Olypmics indicates an improper understanding of the role of the office. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 19:24:59] - xpovos: what, exactly, makes you gleeful about it? - pierce
[2009-10-03 17:10:43] - pierce: I thinl Obama campaigning was a mistake. I'm conservative; no Limbaugh, but I was, and am, gleeful over the rejection. I also feel it's better for the city of Chicago. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 16:20:24] - the IOC might be oversensitive that the voting results not be construed as a slight against the U.S. or Obama personally, but I haven't seen any official sign that they are construing it that way. - pierce
[2009-10-03 15:52:13] - I haven't really seen anyone offended that they chose Rio, nothing more than simple surprise at how early Chicago was booted. No one's acting like a crime has happened. - pierce
[2009-10-03 15:50:38] - I think a big deal is being made because Obama campaigned to the IOC in person only to have his home city kicked out in the first round, and that appeals greatly to the people who like to dance on anything bad that happens to Obama. Limbaugh described himself as "gleeful", IIRC. - pierce
[2009-10-03 10:58:15] - Paul: I haven't heard much reaction yet, but after Obama went specifically to secure it, it was bound to get hyped up some more. So at least it's entertaining. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-03 07:21:44] - paul: that graph is pretty funny.
~a[2009-10-02 17:31:47] - http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-10-02-4043949806_x.htm Does anybody else think that too big a deal is being made of Chicago being knocked out first for the 2016 Olympics? This article makes it seem like some sort of crime has happened. -Paul
[2009-10-02 17:22:44] - mig: http://mises.org/images/3701/Figure1.png Thought you might get a kick out of this. -Paul
[2009-10-02 15:22:41] - mig: I wouldn't mind going to Bohemia. They have good beer there. - Stephen
[2009-10-02 15:05:44] - http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Shenanigans-Handler.aspx the shenanigans handler - aaron
[2009-10-02 14:34:19] - mig: lol! nice - aaron
[2009-10-02 14:05:17] - aaron: my favorite one was offering discount trips to bohemia. - mig
[2009-10-02 13:43:17] - stephen: yeah, that's what I'm saying... it's more natural to think of it as a collective noun and treat it as a singular. I just thought it was incorrect to do so, so I'd fight my instincts when I remembered to do so. apparently I don't have to anymore, though... thanks amy! - pierce
[2009-10-02 13:35:56] - Function: noun plural but singular or plural in construction http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data the dictionary says that's the right usage. i wonder are there more nouns that do that? -amy
[2009-10-02 13:27:32] - Pierce: Don't we usually use singular verbs for collective nouns? Sugar is sweet, not sugar are sweet. Or am I misunderstanding what you said? - Stephen
[2009-10-02 13:26:27] - Aaron: Gmail wants me to teach English in Italy. - Stephen
[2009-10-02 13:16:11] - i think it's funny how g-mail tries to target its ads when i'm talking about diplomacy, like "You never forget France - www.franceguide.com" - aaron
[2009-10-02 12:47:53] - err I just realized those two sentences seem inconsistent. I use it as plural when I remember because I know that's technically right, but I'm personally more comfortable thinking of it as a group singular. - pierce
[2009-10-02 12:47:01] - I try to use it as a plural when I remember. I see it as one of those collective nouns, like "set" or "herd". - pierce
[2009-10-02 12:29:51] - gurkie: both. ~a
[2009-10-02 11:44:22] - aaron: agree, the song is really simple but produced well. that's why i want to learn to recreate it, have been trying to recreate songs to learn production. of course i have to redo the vocals too. so i get to sing "i'm so lucky lucky," what a happy song ^_^ -amy
[2009-10-02 11:14:49] - a: When you say we use it as a singular do you mean in that sentance or in general? ~gurkie
[2009-10-02 10:10:35] - a: American ignorance using it enough that it becomes common accepted language? -Dewey
[2009-10-02 10:08:41] - a: it's so rarely used in singular form that it looks weird. but i think technically it's wrong - aaron
[2009-10-02 09:24:30] - "the data looks good" i always thought "data" was the plural of "datum", but can someone explain why we use it as a singular in sentences? ~a
[2009-10-02 06:27:37] - i also love that the hook is practically just like, disco bass + obvious drums + vocals + same synth chord over and over. kinda like sugababes' push the button, it's all in the production - everything about the song is so simple otherwise - aaron
[2009-10-02 06:25:59] - amy: oh! i'm so happy the filtered vocals are in the original version too. i think the filters are a little less harsh there - but that filter is really cool - aaron
[2009-10-02 01:36:13] - ...want to try and recreate it. which is why i wanted a copy of the song. reminds me, i should go buy the single off of amazon. then i'll have both versions ^_^ -amy
[2009-10-02 01:35:40] - aaron: aha. i didn't remember which version we heard at your place. i started listening to the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg0Pnbm8R2s 'cause that's what i found when i looked it up later. the ver you linked is the one that amazon has. the one i just linked is the ver i want... they're pretty similar but for some reason, something about this makes me... -amy
[2009-10-01 21:37:44] - amy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkgpJcapHp4 i can't remember if you were asking about the "lucky twice" song we heard - it was definitely this mix - aaron
[2009-10-01 18:19:47] - to anyone who might've been interested in pool tomorrow: it's now going to start earlier to accomodate some very pushy happy-hour folks. 4:30pm at bungalow, and if you want to head over there later that's fine but just call one of us to make sure we're still there. - pierce
[2009-10-01 16:31:33] - Gurkie: Well at least you're a slumlord now! - Stephen
[2009-10-01 15:50:49] - Ugh, money talk is scary my review is in a couple of weeks and I will be mad if they suddenly freeze raises... ~gurkie
[2009-10-01 15:11:10] - I don't know what is going to happen next year's budget, but our Union has suggested cutting holidays rather than face position cuts. I know we are all on a raise freeze also. -Dewey
[2009-10-01 15:08:53] - amy: Well, yes, the whole thought experiment does sort of break down in non-office work settings. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 15:04:37] - also any "raises" i get means potentially losing customers .p because it would mean raising the cost of lessons. hey speaking of work, i should go to it now! -amy
[2009-10-01 15:03:16] - paul: I've thought about that; I've received some really generous $$ bonuses from my company, but somehow if they were to give me just like - a Nintendo DSI or something - I'd think it was a lot more special. It's never happened that way - and anyway $$ is <3 so it's OK by me - aaron
[2009-10-01 15:02:38] - is there a 3rd option where i can get some money towards nicer health insurance? that might be nice too ^_^; -amy
[2009-10-01 15:02:18] - my job doesn't work quite the same way as being an employee, so i don't know if my input is of value, but i'd so so so take the paid time off. i don't get any paid time off, any vacations i take i either have to take out of my pay or give extra lessons for. the idea of being able to take days off and not have to reschedule lessons would be soooo helpful. actually, -amy
[2009-10-01 15:00:59] - Paul: Ouch, rough. At least I got some raise in addition to the day. I think it would take more than two days to appease me for zero raise. CPI is low, not zero or negative. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 14:58:52] - Xpovos: And I remember back when I worked for Intwine: One year, Tom and Sean bought everybody a video iPod inscribed with our names and the company. That gesture meant a lot more to me than a raise of 4 or 5 times the amount would. -Paul
[2009-10-01 14:57:23] - Xpovos: I have a similar situation. My company just recently notified everybody that there would be no yearly across the board salary increases, but to try and compensate, they threw in two more paid holidays during Christmas. -Paul
[2009-10-01 14:53:25] - aaron: Totally. And yet I still feel appeased. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 14:52:32] - xpovos: if the extra paid day is one-year-only, then it's significantly worse the raise - compounded over the course of your lifetime, the raise will work out to a lot of money - aaron
[2009-10-01 14:51:14] - a: Don't you program at work? Or did you mean TV programming, like the shows that come on? -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 14:50:06] - i don't fit in either of your categorys, i love my job, but i love the outdoors (and tv, and programming) more. in fact, i think i'd take the day off even if it was 1%. ~a
[2009-10-01 14:49:16] - Anyway, the though process came to me when our last merit raises went out. I got the max, which is still by far (far far) the lowest I've ever gotten. The management felt 'bad' so they gave us an extra paid day at the Christmas holiday this year. One year only. It's not a ton, but in a lot of ways, I like it better than if I'd gotten a -slightly- higher raise. -- Xpovo
[2009-10-01 14:47:56] - ... even if it's intrinsically worth less. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 14:47:45] - So, the raise is clearly the winner in absolute terms, but the raise is small enough and close enough to the value of a day, that it's an interesting comparison. More money (which we work for) or less work (for the same money). If you love your job, it's the money, I think. If you work to live a quality of life, then the extra time for that quality of life is preferable
[2009-10-01 14:46:13] - Paul: Yeah, the raise is worth slightly more in absolute terms. There are ~250 working days per year, depending on where you work and a variety of moveable issues. Also the raise affects your accretion of vacation time, etc. Also, though I specified the extra day would be carried forward, it's easier to take a day away (that one, or another) than to decrease pay.
[2009-10-01 14:41:39] - Xpovos: Even though the raise would be higher value monetarily, I would also probably choose the day off. -Paul
[2009-10-01 14:37:03] - i like free time and i feel like i get enough money to make ends meet, so i'd choose the day off. ~a
[2009-10-01 14:27:58] - xpovos: The raise. But I don't find my job stressful. - Stephen
[2009-10-01 14:26:59] - xpovos: i guess i'd take the day off since my company has a policy for deferring holidays, so if they choose a bad day I can be flexible about it. - mig
[2009-10-01 14:20:02] - Non-diplomacy talk... If you were given the choice between a 0.5% raise and one extra paid holiday (of the company's chosing), which would you take? Notes: this is seperate from any annual or performance raise, and you can chose one or the other and not in multiples. Assume the day off will be every year for as long as you're employed there. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 14:08:20] - bryan: in retrospect I should have tried to block you moving sev->rum but wasn't sure what the ramifications would be if I did, and I thought there might have been a good chance that stephen would have tried to block it instead with bulgaria. - mig
[2009-10-01 14:05:11] - mig: Yeah, I didn't really think you were going to support me so I don't know if me attacking you was really backstabbing or not. I knew at the time that I didn't need support anyway. -Bryan
[2009-10-01 13:59:28] - stephen: well to be honest, I was desparately trying to get andrew and bryan to think about making movements that didn't involve attacking me, which led to the lengthy conversations. There really wasn't much to talk about between us, all we really had to talk about was trieste. - mig
[2009-10-01 13:56:29] - mig: And yeah...the two people who told me the truth last turn were the ones I didn't believe (hence my defense of Serbia). And the one I did believe...clearly I am bad at reading between the lines in emails. - Stephen
[2009-10-01 13:55:14] - mig: This turn. Bryan was telling me about the conversations you, he and Andrew were having, and we were running through various scenarios together. Whereas you were more "this is what I am doing, k?", which seemed less believable at the time. I should have realized that had more to do with your communication style and less to do with your truthfulness. - Stephen
[2009-10-01 13:52:29] - stephen: on this turn or throughout the game? i think i was pretty straightforward with you what i was doing this turn and i did follow through on it. - mig
[2009-10-01 13:40:38] - xpovos: I didn't want France as a neighbor, so that played a major role. And actually, Paul and I haven't been squabbling at all, we never had an agreement to help take you out. - Stephen
[2009-10-01 13:38:53] - Mig: You need to work on your truth telling. Bryan was far more believable than you were in terms of not appearing to be going after me. - Stephen
[2009-10-01 13:34:20] - diplomacy people: I was talking to Bryan earlier today and he seemed to think he had stabbed only one person
Or at least he only told me he stabbed one person... ~gurkie[2009-10-01 13:26:17] - aaron: Immoral. mig: Yeah, I've described it as my tightrope dance here already. I'm still not sure how much has been luck, how much has been good play, and how much has just been the two of them not wanting to fight each other directly/over caution. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 13:18:33] - xpovos: i may have been a little overdramatic in my prediction fo your demise shortly after you attacked me, but i was 100% right that turkey and france would both go after you. I wasn't expecting this much squabbling between them though, which is what kept you alive. - mig
[2009-10-01 13:17:35] - xpovos: i saw you attacking vienna as too good a move to pass up. I was hoping at the very least trade off with Trieste but the developments on the other side were somewhat surprising. - mig
[2009-10-01 13:13:01] - xpovos: "worse" meaning "oh i screwed up" or "worse" meaning "oh i'm such an immoral person"? - aaron
[2009-10-01 13:00:09] - mig: And oddly, I feel worse about my actions this turn than my year one move. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 12:59:43] - mig: I still don't think my year-one stab at you has harmed me. I could be wrong, but I think the bigger factors in why I'm not as powerful as I'd like right now are an error in my calculations year two attack miscalculation and a year four retreat mis-order. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 12:48:35] - it's also odd and perhaps amusing that russia is at 8 but doesn't hold stp. - mig
[2009-10-01 12:45:28] - italy at the beginning, then turkey twice. - mig
[2009-10-01 12:43:58] - mig: Also, who was the second person to harm themselves to do harm to you? Dewey? - aaron
[2009-10-01 12:41:53] - paul: I don't think anybody, Russia included, expected Russia to be +3. I counted Russia as stabbing Austria and Turkey - but you're right, that might be inaccurate. - aaron
[2009-10-01 12:41:48] - subtitle: just to clarify, i don't sit on the ground or in a chair. i JUMP into them. ~a
[2009-10-01 12:40:32] - I dunno, i wouldn't call bryan's movement against me a backstab because we essentially were both lying to each other about what we were doing. - mig
[2009-10-01 12:38:25] - Aaron: It was definitely an eventful turn, though. I certainly did not expect Austria to be dead and for Russia to gain three supply centers. -Paul
[2009-10-01 12:37:31] - Aaron: Some of us are less amused. May Russia's new Muscovite army decide to go after StP! - Stephen
[2009-10-01 12:37:07] - Aaron: Who was the second person he back-stabbed? I only count one, and honestly, I think everybody saw Black Sea to Ankara coming... -Paul
[2009-10-01 12:35:27] - mark it as the third time this game someone has harmed themsevles (this time, mortally it looks like) to do harm to me. - mig
[2009-10-01 12:30:22] - a: oh neat! also, nobody's talking about diplomacy? this turn was crazy! i'm amused that russia successfully backstabbed two people in one year. he broke your record, paul! - aaron
[2009-10-01 12:24:28] - aaron: see all the checkboxes at the bottom of the search result page? make sure to check everything (specifically "template") and do the search again. ~a
[2009-10-01 12:21:29] - gurkie/xpovos: right. ~a
[2009-10-01 12:14:15] - gurkie: Sorry, your color is almost identicaly to amy's. And as has already been demonstrated, my brain is missing. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 12:03:09] - a: oh no. now i can never play somebody else's xbox 360. 'cause you know, you never know. .( -amy
[2009-10-01 11:55:54] - xpovos: yea its amy's link, but I did figure that out after I posted the question... ~gurkie
[2009-10-01 11:46:43] - gurkie: Your link included a T-shirt for sale explaining that "most people" know that pi ~= 3.14. Scientists are happy to approximate it to 3.14159. Any more digits and you're a dick. Said t-shirt implied a is a dick. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 11:43:20] - hmm amy's link? ~gurkie
[2009-10-01 11:42:53] - a: im confused who called you a name? ~gurkie
[2009-10-01 11:37:27] - a: why doesn't http://wiki.aporter.org/index.php?title=Template:Message_board_sigs.css&action=edit show up on wiki searches? it was really hard for me to find - aaron
[2009-10-01 11:35:13] - gurkie: it's from the book: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which turned into a movie (Blade Runner). ~a
[2009-10-01 11:31:20] - a: I meant the double posessive. The other part was intended double-entendre. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 11:28:03] - xpovos: no it's funny how you wrote it. ~a
[2009-10-01 11:27:30] - jobpovos: stop eating brains! - aaron
[2009-10-01 11:19:02] - Alright, I'm shutting up now, I can't even write a simple sentence. I'll be back in a month when my job isn't ineating my brain anymore. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 11:18:33] - a: I am too, but your's is longer. -- Xpovos
[2009-10-01 11:08:45] - i'm a dick? ~a
[2009-10-01 10:34:06] - a: ACK!!!! thats creepy! ~gurkie
[2009-10-01 09:26:29] - oh no! somebody else thought of this quote already
game snobs ~a[2009-10-01 08:13:04] - amy: ahhhahahaha. - aaron
[2009-10-01 01:01:28] - sorry, that last link doesn't work right. http://www.sharingmachine.com/index.php?item=36 -amy
[2009-10-01 01:00:28] - haha i like this one too: http://www.sharingmachine.com/index.php?comic=tfd# -amy
[2009-10-01 00:58:40] - http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/090409/spelling-bee-winners.gif this comic reminded me of "the window guy's" from achewood -amy
[2009-09-30 20:07:20] - pierce: i'll be near 38.8937,-77.4257 some time around 20091002183000-0400. ~a
[2009-09-30 17:26:47] - a: thanks. I wasn't designing for firefox... Wanted it to look good on phone. Dunno how it looks on any others than iPhone -Dewey
[2009-09-30 16:54:45] - http://aporter.org/msg/?template=Msg_iPhone for anybody who wants to see dewey's hip new mboard template - aaron
[2009-09-30 16:26:51] - dewey: hey i like your template! it has some minor problems in firefox, but it's very clean looking. ~a
[2009-09-30 16:25:20] - there's not a usb standard for scanners? like mice, keyboards, and hard-drives? ~a
[2009-09-30 16:20:28] - my scanner doesn't have 64-bit drivers so i can't use it in vista
if anybody else is thinkin of getting rid of their scanner - let me know - aaron[2009-09-30 16:02:56] - nice link aaron.
I can easily see that backfiring though, someone takes the high five motion the wrong way and decks him, or chases him down like that one guy who thought the biker was trying to steal his metro card. - pierce[2009-09-30 14:53:25] - aaron: the top related video on that was 10 toys that made you gay. which i've already seen a few times before but had to watch it again. the oozinator #1 cracks me up!! -amy
[2009-09-30 14:43:37] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMQk8Uncl9k bikes goes around high-fiving people who are hailing taxis - aaron
[2009-09-30 13:34:07] - Stephen, if I write my moves in this mindset, it'll make Tunis supporting Tunis moving to Edinborough look logical... -- Xpovos
[2009-09-30 12:43:15] - Xpovos: Hopefully your moves for this turn? - Stephen
[2009-09-30 12:29:06] - I think my brain is leaking out... what the hell am I writing here? -- Xpovos
[2009-09-30 10:30:31] - a: I searched the sub-comment and went on a search binge. I know forget the exact path, but it was in there. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-30 09:32:25] - xpovos: what brought that up? also, it seems like the message board is still the first hit (assuming you put it in quotes) ~a
[2009-09-30 08:02:29] - So "Adroid Handjob" as a google search now, unsurprisingly, takes you to the forums for fans of the Android OS. Sorry, a. Your notoriety has been short-lived. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-30 00:41:34] - Spam! - Iran
[2009-09-30 00:31:04] - email me a user-name and password and i'll create an account. anybody with an account can create accounts. sorry, but we were getting lots of spam before. ~a
[2009-09-30 00:17:59] - a: how would I go about creating a page on your wiki? - dewey
[2009-09-30 00:09:53] - dewey: the width of the page is entirely between you and your web browser. i can control the font size (hence "largeText") but the width and the zoom are not up to me. ~a
[2009-09-30 00:02:50] - paul: I feel the same way about the iphone. Landscape mode does nothing other than zoom it up a bit but doesn't change the total page width- it is still small font. It would be better if the page was displayed using limited width. -dewey
[2009-09-29 17:41:59] - title: hehehe! ~gurkie
[2009-09-29 16:28:05] - paul: largeText ~a
[2009-09-29 16:23:33] - paul: oh is it just a size issue? is the font too small? ~a
[2009-09-29 15:54:29] - Xpovos: Oh, ok. I understand now. That's weird. My browser seems to want to keep the width of the web page somewhat static and so when I am in landscape mode it basically zooms in. -Paul
[2009-09-29 15:39:13] - Paul: No. When I go to landscape the text shifts and I get more per line. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 15:19:09] - Xpovos: Do you have to manually zoom in when in landscape mode, then, in order to have the website fill up the entire screen? -paul
[2009-09-29 15:11:49] - Paul: Nope. At least not that I noticed. But like the iPhone, I have a much larger screen than you have on the Pre. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 15:09:24] - Xpovos: Interesting. Your font size doesn't change when you go to landscape mode? -Paul
[2009-09-29 15:02:49] - Paul: from my G1, the only benefit to landscape is that longer comments take up fewer lines. It's very readable in either view, though. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 14:54:42] - paul: sure, copy the content of Template:Message board to Template:Message board paul, make changes there, and then go to /msg/?template=Message_board_paul ~a
[2009-09-29 14:50:38] - mig: Huh, must be the slightly larger screen. -Paul
[2009-09-29 14:50:07] - pierce: It started Saturday, I guess. I tried for a Simpsons reference and just continued it there. Don't think it went as well as I'd hoped. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 14:49:54] - paul: i find it readable. - mig
[2009-09-29 14:46:21] - is anybody else keeping up with "two months two million" on G4? - aaron
[2009-09-29 14:45:53] - mig: Even without rotating it? I find the font to be a little small with the standard orientation. -Paul
[2009-09-29 14:43:23] - paul: it looks fine on the iphone. - mig
[2009-09-29 14:40:33] - Stephen: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ~gurkie
[2009-09-29 14:40:16] - a: Random question, have you considered making a mobile version of the message board so that people with smartphones can easily read it without having to go to landscape mode? -Paul
[2009-09-29 14:10:45] - xpovos: did I miss a memo on the use of "gay" here and the other day? - pierce
[2009-09-29 14:01:19] - a: Look at that, all caps! Totally gay. Also, you're viewing it without caps, which I guess confirms heterosexuality? -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 13:55:02] - stephen: THE BRUTAL URUGUAYAN REGIME DEMANDS THAT PEOPLE SHOW UP FOR POOL ON FRIDAY AT 6:30 AT BUNGALOW BILLIARDS IN CHANTILLY! - pierce
[2009-09-29 13:51:17] - Pierce: Get your own message board. This one is for inane Diplomacy talk! - Stephen
[2009-09-29 13:50:14] - alrighty, let's aim for pool on friday then. 6:30 at bungalow billiards in chantilly. - pierce
[2009-09-29 13:48:02] - Mig: Quite possibly. I figured it was that and/or I would face a committed Italian/Russian alliance, so I backed off. I'm just not sure if it was a wise move. - Stephen
[2009-09-29 13:45:18] - I would have been dead as well, but that's why I was banking on it not getting attacked. - mig
[2009-09-29 13:43:52] - stephen: if you had broken through to Budapest, Italy probably wouldn't be alive right now. - mig
[2009-09-29 13:43:26] - Paul: You give me credit, but for the wrong reasons. I do fear Aaron, but I didn't hate you, so your argument had the effect you wanted, but was almost unneccesary, and was beautifully misleading as well. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 13:38:55] - Xpovos: Well, my original thought was that the only person you guys (Andrew and Dewey) might fear more than you hated me was Aaron, so I tried to frame the debate so that an attack on me was a vote for Aaron.
-Paul[2009-09-29 13:38:51] - Xpovos: I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't balked at going to Budapest a few turns ago. - Stephen
[2009-09-29 13:35:49] - Paul: Yeah. Really, the last thing I expected after all your doom and gloom predictions about Aaron was for you to ally with him... when in retrospect, it also makes the most sense. So--another lesson learned.
-- Xpovos[2009-09-29 13:35:12] - Aaron: That was the plan, but you entering St. Petersburg made that one tough. - Stephen
[2009-09-29 13:34:32] - Xpovos: If I recall, our only officialy DMZ was Piedmont, right?
-Paul[2009-09-29 13:31:35] - xpovos: lol
you need to broaden your dmz!! - aaron[2009-09-29 13:31:15] - xpovos: well there usually is never a strict dmz in Tyr Sea as that would severely limit Italy's options, but I have to imagine you would have found France being there to be unnacceptable. - mig
[2009-09-29 13:28:50] - Nah, first game mig and I barely talked. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 13:28:18] - aaron: I looked at the map and played the odds in my head. I don't know how far I can trust mig, but I know pretty much how far I can trust Paul. I may be mistaken, and it's certainly less than I thought it was last game, but I elected to keep the enemy I knew, particularly given our DMZ agreements. Which, ironically, he's held so far. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 13:26:49] - Aaron: Or maybe he was harboring a more intense grudge against Miguel for his moves as Italy last game.
-Paul[2009-09-29 13:26:22] - aaron: I don't necessarily frown upon it, I just find it a little irrational to do it and believe it just makes you an easy mark. - mig
[2009-09-29 13:21:59] - paul: yes, against a german/italian alliance i would have definitely allied with you just out of self-preservation - and of course wouldn't have gone anti-russian in Fall 1901. i was very surprised when i didn't see the opening - which is to andrew's credit, since it's typically frowned upon to hold grudges/alliances from one game to the next - aaron
[2009-09-29 13:21:15] - interesting in 2008-4, Russia made a few critical errors in which he could not get rumania in 1901 due to bad movements, and lost Rumania to Turkey on an illegal order. Wonder what would have happened had that not been the case. - mig
[2009-09-29 13:15:38] - Aaron: Although I wonder what your plan would've been had that happened. You might've found yourself forced into helping me for your own good. After all, you definitely don't want Germany taking out France and boxing you in. -Paul
[2009-09-29 13:13:10] - Aaron: A German/Italian alliance with British indifference would've probably killed me, agreed. It was my #1 concern going into the game. -Paul
[2009-09-29 13:10:51] - xpovos: i think an anti-French opening would have played out very well for you. (sorry Paul) I think you and Dewey could have destroyed Paul, while Stephen and Bryan would have teamed up against the overly experienced (and hence untrustworthy) Austrian - aaron
[2009-09-29 13:08:46] - 2008-4 has what I expected is necessary: England and France going at it. Austria seems to be Italy's mortal enemy except with ruses like the one aaron and mig played last game, and Russia is a natural ally (against both Austria and Turkey), so either England or France being able to turn Eastward too easily is bad news, and both is deadly. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 13:08:18] - mig: you're right - Italy thrives on war between E/F/G and A/R/T. if those powers are ever friends enough for Turkey or France to look in Italy's direction, something has gone horribly horribly wrong - aaron
[2009-09-29 13:07:14] - France started out pretty mellow. If I could have finished off Austria, I could have stalled out Turkey better. But France+England alliance made Russia fall apart on that side which let Austria live, which has in turn wasted my resources and forced me into a very bad position... -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 13:06:06] - mig: Hey! Who's anti-Italian? -Paul
[2009-09-29 13:04:05] - it's obviously a lot harder for italy to do well when France decides to go anti-italian, which has happened the last 2 games as well. - mig
[2009-09-29 13:01:25] - What about ESPN8, the Ocho? -Paul
[2009-09-29 12:52:24] - Next Week: Barack Obama gives separate interviews to all seven ESPN television channels. - TMQ
[2009-09-29 12:50:24] - xpovos: I agree though that Italy is one of the hardest countries to play - followed by Austria and then Germany. Italy's the most defensive of the bunch, so it doesn't usually get eliminated until around 1906 - but i feel it's just as doomed long-term - aaron
[2009-09-29 12:46:20] - Looks like an early Italy/France alliance. Italy started out anti-Austrian, and Austria kamikazied into Turkey - giving Italy an easy push through Turkey and into Russia. France couldn't push past England, and the lopsided alliance ended in 1910 when Italy stabbed, taking Marseilles for the solo - aaron
[2009-09-29 12:40:38] - xpovos: http://www.diplomacy.ca/cgi-bin/dgmsstat?2008-4 - aaron
[2009-09-29 12:37:46] - dancing*. I seriously want to see a game where Italy managed a solo-victory. In the history of Diplomacy, it must have happened. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 12:30:59] - Paul: I'm just doing it to be annoying. And because things are really messy everywhere south and east of Munich. - Stephen
[2009-09-29 12:28:22] - Stephen: Feel free to take as long as you want coming up with orders for your pathetically small amount of units.
-Paul[2009-09-29 12:27:29] - Stephen: Oh, heh, I was joking about the waiting until the last second to submit orders. I assumed Aaron was against it as a tactical move and therefore I claimed that we would be doing it. -Paul
[2009-09-29 12:27:04] - paul: yes, and i won't attack you since you treated me so favorably in our first game! however, if this game turns south i'm just going to drop out. also, i'm stephen! - aaron
[2009-09-29 12:23:48] - Paul: Us minor powers have a lot more negotiating to do, as we are significantly more vulnerable. If you'd like to have some of your supply centers open to the taking, I'm sure Italy and Aaron wouldn't mind. - Stephen
[2009-09-29 12:20:15] - I feel like I've spent most of this game dacing on a tightrope. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 12:19:46] - I've been very slow with my moves this game. Part of that has been that I tend to do most of my diplomatizing via e-mail I check at work, and work has been abnormally busy... well, not entirely true, the business is expected, this is crunch time. But also I've been doing way more diplomatizing than I normally do. Maybe that's an Italian thing. -- Xpovos
[2009-09-29 11:46:11] - nm, looks like its a new email/chat/development environment... actually sounds kinda like a mix of google docs + facebook or what I currently use for work Mojo~gurkie
[2009-09-29 11:45:54] - aaron: So... per the letter I passed to you, we're waiting until the last second to put our orders in from now on, right? -Paul
[2009-09-29 11:33:38] - is google wave supposed to be a new facebook? ~gurkie
[2009-09-29 11:30:30] - Paul: car insurance is mandatory in all states. ~gurkie
[2009-09-29 11:29:50] - a: it does depend on your insurance but you are liable for the fees if you dont have it covered. I think its generally common practice to include that coverage, I know some coverages are mandatory not sure on that one. I though there was default beneficiaries if it isnt specified - spouse, children, next of kin... ~gurkie
[2009-09-29 11:28:08] - paul: Well, as with letter-passing I think it's a despicable tactic and I would never fight alongside anyone who was employing it. But it has a time and a place - aaron
[2009-09-29 11:12:15] - aaron: Heh, I am assuming you are against dragging out the game as a valid tactic? It's something I fully intended to do with the previous game until I decided I would rather just start a new game. -Paul
[2009-09-29 11:02:02] - pierce: tonight no, wednesday maybe. friday definitely. - mig
[2009-09-29 10:19:50] - a: I thought that's why it was required by law in some (most? all?) states... so that if you get into an accident and badly hurt somebody, the insurance can pay for their medical care. -Paul
[2009-09-29 10:16:35] - pierce: friday works for me too. ~a
[2009-09-29 10:16:20] - paul: i don't know. do they? is that included in liability? ~a
[2009-09-29 09:51:54] - a: I mean, don't car insurance companies have to shell out money if somebody is badly hurt in a car accident? -Paul
[2009-09-29 09:51:25] - a: I guess I'm still confused. It seems like improving the safety of cars would decrease injuries due to accidents which means they would have to pay out less during accidents. -Paul
[2009-09-29 09:50:00] - Pierce: Depending on the details, Gurkie and I would be interested. -Paul
[2009-09-29 09:44:01] - paul: you are correct (mostly). i do understand they want to protect the safety of their investment. but they're investing in the safety of the car, not the driver. i'm wondering why they would care about the driver. if the drivers die, they pay less (maybe?) or the same. ~a
[2009-09-29 09:16:30] - a: Maybe I am misunderstanding your point. You are wondering why car insurance companies want to improve the safety of cars? -Paul
[2009-09-29 09:09:56] - pierce: i'd be down for friday, as like a happy-hour kinda thing - aaron
[2009-09-29 08:43:00] - paul: sure. i don't want you to die, that doesn't mean i'm going to spend millions of dollars conducting crash tests and improving the car industry to keep you safe. i guess i don't see your point. ~a
[2009-09-29 08:38:25] - gurkie: not everybody has a beneficiary (or sometimes beneficiaries can't be found, or have died themselves). i think if no beneficiary exists, the insurance company gets to keep the money, right? or does it just go to the state? ~a
[2009-09-29 08:36:19] - pierce: i'd go tomorrow (wednesday). ~a
[2009-09-29 07:27:13] - which brings up whether deliberately not toggling, NMRing and dragging out the game is a valid tactic
you can guess my position - aaron[2009-09-29 07:25:44] - mig: http://www.diplomacy.ca/vforum/showthread.php?s=2880bb812d2676f412994112a5c76e7a&threadid=838 here's an eog-report of 2008-34 if you're still curious about the background behind that game. (it's the one where France/Russia threw the game to make sure the replacement England lost) - aaron
[2009-09-29 03:12:18] - anyone want to shoot pool tonight (tuesday)? - pierce
[2009-09-29 02:08:53] - *question
[2009-09-29 02:08:35] - okay, I went on a big facebook binge and it led me to this quesiton: did kit gramlich marry scott meddles? because there's a kit meddles that has a lot of mutual friends with me and it seems that would be a pretty coincidental name. - pierce
[2009-09-28 14:48:30] - Stephen: I was participating in the "let's kill people" conversations but only because I don't want to be the only person out of the game. -Dewey
[2009-09-28 13:48:42] - Stephen: Shhhh! -Paul
[2009-09-28 13:47:23] - a: Maybe I am missing something, but wouldn't they not want their customers to die? -Paul
[2009-09-28 13:21:13] - a/aaron: Auto Insurance covers medical bills when people are injured... I guess thats where your they pay less comes from a? I think if you are at fault and someone dies your insurance has to pay craploads to the deceased's family. But I could be wrong ~gurkie
[2009-09-28 13:09:42] - Paul: So that's what dirka dirka Muhammad jihad meant? - Stephen
[2009-09-28 13:02:17] - a: auto insurers don't pay medical bills huh? i guess that's someone else - health insurance? - aaron
[2009-09-28 12:41:40] - "conduct ... programs designed to aid in the conservation and preservation of life and property from the hazards of highway accidents" i understand they're interested in the conservation of property, but why do they care about the conservation of life? i don't think they have to pay out any extra when people die. if anything they have to pay out less. ~a
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