totm nov 2023 Thread to discuss negative things in a very general way, just see where it goes y'know?

[Pthigrivi]

Wow I'll um, have to digest all that. 

13 hours ago, Superfluous J said:

While Gandalf was my first thought, I don't really think that's reasonable. We'll see, though.

I kinda thought it may be Sauron reborn. I mean, some version of him has to get friendly enough with everybody to gift them a bunch of rings, right? Or am I remembering that all wrong? Sauron gave away a bunch of rings of power and everybody was like "oh man that's awesome thanks dude you did us a solid" and then he was like "oh yeah by the way I have the ring that controls all of them and you're so boned now" and they were all like "dude what the what man that sucks"

Yeah I mean for sure there's some doubt there. He seems deeply confused, which might be a long con or re-entry disorientation in either case. He talks to the fireflies, which is very Gandalf, but then they die? So? Hmmm

 

[StrandedonEarth]

My birthday had always been marred by the fact that it is the last possible day for the first day of school to land on in BC. Now I will always remember the date of the Queen's death, for it also happened on my birthday...

[Superfluous J]

18 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

My birthday had always been marred by the fact that it is the last possible day for the first day of school to land on in BC. Now I will always remember the date of the Queen's death, for it also happened on my birthday...

My friend was busy on his birthday in 2001 so we all planned to go out to dinner the next day... September 11th.

[Nuke]

turn on the nfl kickoff game to see ozzy at half time. needless to say i dont like sports. i tune in expecting to see a performance, perhaps an homage to the queen. so halftime rolls around. they show ozzy for 2 seconds and then preempt the performance and proceed to talk about the events of the first half. i dont blame the nfl, its the damn network. im sick and tired of the american media trying to deny that metal exists. metal is performed in every country on all 7 continents (metallica once did a show for the penguins/scientists) by people of every race, religion, etc. its a global phenomenon. even mom was liquided off about it. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Nuke

[TheSaint]

1 hour ago, Superfluous J said:

My friend was busy on his birthday in 2001 so we all planned to go out to dinner the next day... September 11th.

I have a friend whose birthday falls on 9/11. We do our best to go out of our way for him every year.

1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said:

My birthday had always been marred by the fact that it is the last possible day for the first day of school to land on in BC. Now I will always remember the date of the Queen's death, for it also happened on my birthday...

Well, happy birthday, good sir!

[Gargamel]

2 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

My birthday had always been marred by the fact that it is the last possible day for the first day of school to land on in BC. Now I will always remember the date of the Queen's death, for it also happened on my birthday...

Don't worry, nobody remembers the dates most monarchs died.  

[KSK]

On 9/6/2022 at 3:51 PM, Pthigrivi said:

Am I the only one who thinks the new LOTR show is actually kinda good? 

Nope - and thank Jeb that I've finally found somebody else who likes it too! 

I know Lord of the Rings reasonably well but the times I've tried to read the Silmarillion I bounced off it.  Rings of Power has inspired me to give it another go. So no, I don't know all the First Age lore, but I do know, for example, how Celebrimbor is likely to fit into all of this.  And incidentally, whoever is playing him in RoP has got the character down cold in my opinion. The Celebrimbor we see on screen seems like exactly the kind of person that would... well do the stuff he does in the source material. For that matter, I can totally see RoP's Elendil going on to do what he does in the source material.

I thought the sets and CGI for Numenor were great. Very much their own thing but tying in nicely (aesthetically speaking) to Minas Tirith from the Peter Jackson films. Which makes sense of course but it didn't have to be that way and it's nice that it was. 

I liked the way the Harfoot storyline progressed in Part III. And yes, I thought it was entirely consistent with the 'everyone stays on the track, nobody gets left behind' mantra from the previous parts. I liked the reason why Durin was so salty in Part II and watching Elrond come to terms with that reason and apologise.

I'm quite comfortable with RoP being an adaptation given the length of time that's passed since the source material was written and the amount that society has changed since then. Besides:

"Yet some things there are that they cannot see, neither alone nor taking counsel together;  for to none but himself has Iluvatar revealed all that he has in store, and in every age there come forth things that are new and have no foretelling, for they do not proceed from the past."

If it's good enough for the Ainur, it's good enough for me.  

Thanks for the opportunity to enthuse about the show, folks. The wider internet has been distinctly depressing in that regard so far.

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by KSK

[Pthigrivi]

7 hours ago, KSK said:

For that matter, I can totally see RoP's Elendil going on to do what he does in the source material.

Yeah among the very subtle but clever references is “the sea is always right”, which alludes to Ulmo, Tolkien’s benevolent god of rivers and oceans, who seems the only of the valar to take an active role in looking after the elves and men of middle earth before the defeat of Morgoth. Galadriel is also right that Numenor was a gift to men for aiding elves in that last battle, but that victory came about only because Earendil and Elwing (Elrond’s parents) both born of half-elf lineages, sailed to Valinor to ask for the Valar’s aid. Numenor itself was founded by Elrond’s brother Elros who chose to be human.

As an architect I always love seeing what they do with these sets and cities. Numenor seems based on the Minoan and Mycenaean styles of ancient Crete, which makes a lot of sense compared to the later Roman and Byzantine styles we see in Gondor. 

Again though I don’t blame you for putting down the Silmarillion. It defeated me a few times. I recommend listening to a companion podcast like Corey Olsen’s Silmarillion Seminar. It made the whole thing much easier to understand and gave a lot more depth for me. Its quite old though now and you might find a better one.

https://tolkienprofessor.com/lectures/courses/silmarillion-seminar/

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Pthigrivi

[KSK]

That looks very interesting - cheers! Will give it a go and see if I get along with it.

Finished Chapter 7 of Quenta last night.  Suspect I'll need to find a map of First Age Middle-earth (and probably re-read whilst making notes) to make more sense of which group of Elves went where and what they've decided to call themselves.  

Also, Feanor needs a slap. Pity there aren't many around who would dare.  Skilled and mighty he may be but he's also one arrogant SOB.

Edit:  Moving back on topic, I'm thinking that Meteor Man is a new character, probably some other Maiar, and will play a similar role in the Second Age to the one that the Istari did in the Third.  He might be Gandalf but if that turns out to be the case, please remind me to take an internet break for a week or two because the commentary will be heading (further) south in a hurry.

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by KSK

[DDE]

Allow me to interrupt this discussion to bring forward an absolute sensation (not).

https://t-me.translate.goog/s/kpnauka?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Quote

Not fake: the Chinese Moon probe has found a mineral source of infinite energy. The Communist Party has immediately approved three new flights

Finally, it became clear what the Chinese moon rovers were looking for on the far side of the moon. The trophy was an ordinary-looking mineral, which was called Changesite (seen in the phoro). It is stuffed with Helium-5. In fact, this stone is a battery. It is easy to build a device: you put a stone inside, like firewood in a stove, and you get energy. For now - for the future lunar station. But this source of clean energy is also needed by Earth, which is dying from greenhouse gas emissions.

Why is this miracle there, and only on the dark side? Solar wind and open space. The moon on the side that is turned away from us is bathed in interplanetary radiation. It was thay which saturated the breed with the most valuable Helium-5. Usually it is rare enough to count individual molecules. And here nature enriched the lunar soil with helium for billions of years.

 

[kerbiloid]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptonite

[AlamoVampire]

Ads. Unskippable ads on youtube. At first it was one. Then 2. Now on some videos (just now while watching adam savage restore this massive vintage lathe drill chuck i was forced to sit through 4 of them where only the 4th could be skipped after watching part of it) there are as many as 10 ads in a row. Im sorry but I want to watch content I choose to watch and not upwards of 2-3 minutes of ads for stuff i neither want nor need nor frankly care about. No. I do not wish to feed google any more data than absolutely mandatory and I sure as the sun rise do not want to pay them for premium services. 
201609132022

[Superfluous J]

10 hours ago, DDE said:

Not fake

I mean it says it right there and we all know you can't say that if it's not true.

21 minutes ago, AlamoVampire said:

Unskippable ads on youtube

Weird I skip them all the time. So often I forget they're there, even.

https://adblockultimate.net/

[AlamoVampire]

@Superfluous J how i wish the PS5 had such tools. 
 

012709142022

[Superfluous J]

36 minutes ago, AlamoVampire said:

@Superfluous J how i wish the PS5 had such tools. 
 

012709142022

Yikes that's a sad way to watch YouTube. Consider me in agreement that that's a negative thing.

[AlamoVampire]

13 minutes ago, Superfluous J said:

Yikes that's a sad way to watch YouTube. Consider me in agreement that that's a negative thing.

Watching YT on the PS5 is generally positive (i can lounge out fully reclined and not be hunched over my computer desk. The snuggles with my kitty fully splayed out in all her furry glory is great too!) but its the ads that are the negative. Wouldnt be soo bad if not for ads that are… illegal in non US areas. (Rx meds for example) and others of a uh nature revolving things better left unsaid so yeah  

022209142022

[Superfluous J]

Somewhere around a decade ago or so my ISP was throttling YouTube TERRIBLY to the point it was unwatchable. I installed a downloader tool on my browser (and exactly which tool has changed over time but I've been using "Easy Youtube Video Downloader" for years now) to download the videos onto my computer. Then I installed and configured Plex so I can watch (and delete) them on any screen in my house (though it's easiest with a Roku). I almost never actually watch videos on YouTube anymore, just download them and watch them later.

These days it's not throttled at all but I still do it mostly because of ads.

Not that I'm suggesting it. It's a decent amount of work to set up and configure. But that's how much I hate ads

Edited September 14, 2022 by Superfluous J

[DDE]

6 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

Ads. Unskippable ads on youtube. At first it was one. Then 2. Now on some videos (just now while watching adam savage restore this massive vintage lathe drill chuck i was forced to sit through 4 of them where only the 4th could be skipped after watching part of it) there are as many as 10 ads in a row. Im sorry but I want to watch content I choose to watch and not upwards of 2-3 minutes of ads for stuff i neither want nor need nor frankly care about.

Find a Russian proxy server. Might get region-locked out of some videos, but the entire Youtube will be ads-free.

...not sure if you can on a PS5, though.

[AlamoVampire]

@DDE sadly no, its not possible.

025009152022

[tater]

My Rover needs work—The V8 has a poorly designed timing chain guide/tensioner. Suffice it to say it's a very expensive repair—but I have too many miles on the vehicle to have benefitted from the class action they had for this design flaw, and buying a new vehicle right now is stupid because everything was broken by idiots for 2 years (for zero benefit). Sigh.

That's not the negative thing.

They gave me a loaner Discovery Sport. OK. Loads of new fancy features like massaging seats (heated and cooled), giant glass roof, etc. OK, sure, whatever. The gear stick... is perhaps the worst thing I have ever seen. It's a self-centering little thing. So if you did sport mode, and wanted to shift, bump it up/down to shift. My old one does that—once you move the thing left into sport mode. Otherwise it's the usual, Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive (then left for Sport, with up/down for shifting). This one is just R-N-D, then left for Sport... except it self centers. Park is a BUTTON. So you're in Park, start the thing, and you have to push the under the shifter knob button, then push it FORWARD to get into reverse. WT-literal-F? Then push the same button and pull down for Drive... and it pops to straight up and down. There is no mechanical feel that you have done anything. You literally have to look at it to make sure. Or the dashboard. Incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid UI. The other Rovers have the same now. If someone gave me a Defender right now as a gift, I would sell it just because of the shifter. I think I'm supposed to see the new cars and want one. Poor salesmanship in this case, now I hate them. Then I'm driving it tonight, and the high beams came on by themselves and turned off by themselves when a car was coming—way later than I would have. I almost never put high beams on, so I'm trying to figure out how to turn this off before I blind someone. It also has that garbage eco mode that shuts the engine down when you stop, say at a light. How about NO. Not ever. I was making an unprotected left turn vs a lot of traffic, and the %$#@%$#@%$# car turned off, then when I punched it there's like a second delay while it restarts the engine. No, no, no, no , no. I figured out how to turn it off, but it resets every time you start the car. It needs to be possible to kill that setting with fire.

 

PS—touch screens have a place, but real buttons for some controls should always be there.

Edited September 23, 2022 by tater

[Hotel26]

1 hour ago, tater said:

I almost never put high beams on, so I'm trying to figure out how to turn this off before I blind someone.

This hits either a chord or a nerve with me.  ("Easy, boy, easy!")

(You are completely right (and a gentleman besides).)

"If you can see their headlights pointed at you -- no matter what the distance -- they can see your headlights^[1].  I am now quite clearly referring only to the 97% of cases in which the road between you is straight and you are head-on.

So, now the question becomes: at what distance do your headlights become uncomfortable for the other driver?  And the answer is, "you can never know what only s/he can know".

(Road laws generally stipulate a distance, but how well can you judge that distance, and at night, and given the distinct possibility that the regulations are out-of-date with advanced lighting technology?)

I would further argue, you do not need your high beams on at this point, since your low beams will show you enough about the surface of the oncoming road and the lights of the opposing car will show you where the general direction of the road is.  Therefore: it's highly preferable to dip one's headlights, immediately another car is directly oncoming -- at any distance.

Obviously, personal prudence may override any general rule of thumb and specific terrain/surface/driving conditions impose their own dictates in less usual circumstances..  Drive safely.

[1] i.e. your headlights are now in their eyes!

Edited September 23, 2022 by Hotel26

[tater]

10 minutes ago, Hotel26 said:

I would further argue, you do not need your headlights on at this point, since your low beams will show you enough about the surface of the oncoming road and the lights of the opposing car will show you were the general direction of the road is.  Therefore: it's highly preferable to dip one's headlights, immediately another car is directly oncoming -- at any distance.

Here in New Mexico, sight lines in most places are quite long. In my neighborhood, substantially shorter (windy, hilly). We also have no street lights up here (street lights are a non-starter for me, if they ever put any up, I'd literally shoot them out). Regardless, I only very rarely out high beams on up here. If I am driving the sportier car, I will, just to make sure no deer (I hit one with the Rover right near my street, luckily it was almost more like she hit me, I was about to turn left onto my street, barely moving). Never on with another car visible—unless they come down with theirs ablaze, then I give them a blast for being rude

I grew up in suburban Connecticut close to NY. Densely wooded, incredibly narrow and curvy roads. As a kid we all drove... like maniacs. If Mario Andretti was 16 and driving mom's Volvo station wagon, lol. We always used high beams on those roads to be able to see the next curves (we were driving way too fast for low beams). What we'd do is look for the lights of oncoming cars in the trees though—see any, off go the highs, never round a corner and blind someone. Ever. Actually, we'd often drop the highs right before a curve to check the trees for oncoming lights—if there were none, then we could pick a better line through the curve.

Anyway, yeah, a pet peeve of mine to blast high beams. So dumb that this is somehow a setting.

[AlamoVampire]

I live in an area where there are white tail deer, opossums, raccoons, skunks and coyotes and small (i think they are at least) foxes and the odd armadillo that can randomly be on the road. Cats too. High beams are a safety thing in my eyes so that critters are easy to see. But the bad part are those who have high beams on coming at you or directly behind you, especially in areas with tons of street lights and refuse to turn them down to lows. High beams need to be used responsibly imho.

004609232022

[TheSaint]

2 hours ago, tater said:

My Rover needs work—The V8 has a poorly designed timing chain guide/tensioner. Suffice it to say it's a very expensive repair—but I have too many miles on the vehicle to have benefitted from the class action they had for this design flaw, and buying a new vehicle right now is stupid because everything was broken by idiots for 2 years (for zero benefit). Sigh.

That's not the negative thing.

They gave me a loaner Discovery Sport. OK. Loads of new fancy features like massaging seats (heated and cooled), giant glass roof, etc. OK, sure, whatever. The gear stick... is perhaps the worst thing I have ever seen. It's a self-centering little thing. So if you did sport mode, and wanted to shift, bump it up/down to shift. My old one does that—once you move the thing left into sport mode. Otherwise it's the usual, Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive (then left for Sport, with up/down for shifting). This one is just R-N-D, then left for Sport... except it self centers. Park is a BUTTON. So you're in Park, start the thing, and you have to push the under the shifter knob button, then push it FORWARD to get into reverse. WT-literal-F? Then push the same button and pull down for Drive... and it pops to straight up and down. There is no mechanical feel that you have done anything. You literally have to look at it to make sure. Or the dashboard. Incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid UI. The other Rovers have the same now. If someone gave me a Defender right now as a gift, I would sell it just because of the shifter. I think I'm supposed to see the new cars and want one. Poor salesmanship in this case, now I hate them. Then I'm driving it tonight, and the high beams came on by themselves and turned off by themselves when a car was coming—way later than I would have. I almost never put high beams on, so I'm trying to figure out how to turn this off before I blind someone. It also has that garbage eco mode that shuts the engine down when you stop, say at a light. How about NO. Not ever. I was making an unprotected left turn vs a lot of traffic, and the %$#@%$#@%$# car turned off, then when I punched it there's like a second delay while it restarts the engine. No, no, no, no , no. I figured out how to turn it off, but it resets every time you start the car. It needs to be possible to kill that setting with fire.

 

PS—touch screens have a place, but real buttons for some controls should always be there.

One thing I learned when we started to look for a replacement for my wife's 2007 Pilot a couple of years ago: New cars are awful. The newer, the awfuler. In their ongoing effort to create new features to charge more money for, they have begun to treat new car buyers like they are idiot children. I've never been a classic car enthusiast before, but the automakers are really trying to make me into one.

[AlamoVampire]

2 hours ago, TheSaint said:

In their ongoing effort to create new features to charge more money for, they have begun to treat new car buyers like they are idiot children.

I hate this fact so so much. I hate the fact features that remove us from the equation of driving are lauded with thunderous applause. Features that cars should not now or EVER have unless humans are 100% removed from having ANY direct driving input beyond target destination address being given:

Lane departure alarms, lane departure systems that attempt to force the car back into the lane, self driving, autopilot, summon to your car to you (where it drives on its own to reach you), blind spot indicators, auto braking (where if it thinks youre at risk to impacting the car ahead, but that risks you getting rear ended), parking assist.
 

These features I have listed create a false sense of security which creates complacency which leads to recklessness and carelessness. I hate it.

041409232022