General Chat/Time-Waster Thread

[Jtrekkie]

7 hours ago, Crazy Lee said:

Who knew that Tron Guy was a whiny bitch? And I guess conservative leaning?

 

It sounded to me that he was concerned about the administration becoming increasingly politicized over the past three years, and he did so respectfully. That sounds like a valid gripe; politicizing non-political enterprises usually only serves to sow discord. 

Anyway, I have noticed that, over the past few months, that I've become somewhat.. apathetic? towards people I consider friends. Not meaning that I don't care about them, because I do. Perhaps because it feels so difficult to reach them, or that I don't know how much I can effect them positively- which is something important to me. Generally, I feel hopeless, and I realize that is a major internal contradiction but I don't exactly understand why. Even now I'm obscuring my musings so they'll exist, but are unlikely to be read.

[Fossa]

Busy times at the University, as the semester winds down, phew. Can't wait till there's some calm!

Have been doing a ton of writing(fiction) and a few great RPs; have joined too many Discord groups, and met some fun new furs, this past month. One odd thing: Most furries I gab with live in far off places, from me: England, Whales, France, Australia...a few in the US, but not as many. 

I miss popping into the games section here as much, & will spread more mischief as time allows. : )

[Victor-933]

In an attempt to get the kitten outside to be a little friendlier, I was feeding her some leftover gravy by dipping my finger in the can and letting her lick it off.

 

She kept biting my finger and trying to run off with it.

[DrGravitas]

I'm scheduled to perform my first audit of another project for The Company, by the end of this month. A fair bit sooner than I expected, but at least it fits well with my schedule for my own project. Thankfully I know this location's head auditor and he's really good for helping me out on this.

The "checklist" is really more of a list of topics they suggest I formulate questions on. Now to go learn a ton about business processes and project standards, yay! :V

[Jtrekkie]

 

Spotted in a NY swamp, Lethocerus Americanus interrupts photos and feeds on fear.

[Feelwell]

22 minutes ago, Jtrekkie said:

 

Spotted in a NY swamp, Lethocerus Americanus interrupts photos and feeds on fear.

Those things are freaking terrifying. 

 

22 hours ago, Victor-933 said:

She kept biting my finger and trying to run off with it.

Give her the finger. Who're you to say you need it more than that poor kitten?

 

In unrelated news, ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

It'd be nice if I were consistent. Being constantly stressed or constantly happy (preferably the latter), but this weird teasing of both is bugging me.

[Fossa]

I want to invent Ticklex® brand creme and spray, that applied to anyone, makes them extremely ticklish, in that spot.

Oddly, I recall Ricky loved this idea, and talked about how it might actually be done. Funny, the odd little things that make me recall him, still.

[Fraz]

59 minutes ago, Fossa-Boy said:

I want to invent Ticklex® brand creme and spray, that applied to anyone, makes them extremely ticklish, in that spot.

As a highly ticklish person, this is an act of terrorism.

[Gator]

11 hours ago, Jtrekkie said:

Spotted in a NY swamp, Lethocerus Americanus interrupts photos and feeds on fear.

[SCREAMING]

i couldn't tell what i was looking at in the pic so i googled the name and AUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO

i saw one of those at school one time i stg never again

[Crazy Lee]

On 5/3/2017 at 0:28 AM, Jtrekkie said:

It sounded to me that he was concerned about the administration becoming increasingly politicized over the past three years, and he did so respectfully. That sounds like a valid gripe; politicizing non-political enterprises usually only serves to sow discord.

It doesn't exactly sound like a valid gripe to me. And honestly, besides being on the left when it comes to LGBT culture and gender identity, I've never noticed a leftward tilt in the administration (if there is I don't see it), the panels are generally non-political except for the occasional lgbt or gender identity panel. And he can always avoid those.

Let's look at his first paragraph complaining about changes in the con:

Quote

When I paid attention, I saw that Penguicon was definitely taking the side of the social justice warrior contingent in fandom, from inviting Charlie Jane Anders and her io9 compatriot Analee Newitz as Guests of Honor to panels full of politically correct topics on gender in SF and the like,

Have no idea who those two are. But... "politically correct topics on gender", are we talking transgender? Gender fluidity? My gender is mayo? Some of that may be SJW territory but there's a lot of non-normal gender people in the geek fandoms, including people on this very board, so no surprise that pro-LGBT topics might come up at a geek and tech con. "politically correct topics on gender" sounds like he's saying "They're okay with trans people and non-gender and gender fluid people and that bothers me."

Quote

to putting up posters on “consent culture” in several places around the hotel, to lamenting that they had not been able to designate any of the hotel bathrooms as unisex.

Consent culture just means "No means no" and "don't sexually harass people, especially in cosplay." Nothing new here, plenty of cons put up signs like this. Most cons nowadays, actually. Apparently Tron Guy, being a creepy older man, doesn't understand consent.

Plus, the con for the past few years has had any-gender restrooms, which probably makes it easier for trans people to use the proper bathrooms. I am okay with this. You can STILL use your biological gender bathroom if you wish.

Later in the piece he mentions more panelists that I have never heard of, who he claims are left-leaning SJWs. He doesn't bother to explain WHAT panels he's objecting to, except that they're politically correct, and he mentions one called "Queering your fiction" which I assume means adding more LGBT people into fiction. He also mentions the harassment policy means people can be ejected for the littlest thing. I don't know either way, but I certainly hope not. He mentions the con saying "these tribes were here first, we are their guests", which is rather left wing, true. He also mentions he suggested panels and guests but none of them were used, I have a feeling the guests didn't want to come and no one wanted to do the panels... or the panels were like "Why trans people are mentally ill" or some shit.

In general, as someone who as attended that for several years I have seen almost zero politics at that con, with the exception with pro-lgbt panels, which makes sense considering the many lgbt people in geek culture. All I hear out of him is "I don't like there's a panel called Queering your Fiction, this offends my anti-queer attitude". He sounds like a cranky old anti-LGBT person. Sometimes the left takes it too far with expecting everyone to accept their gender as mayo or attack helicopter or something, but I don't see any problem with gays, trans people, or even gender fluid people even if I personally don't understand it, and I don't see a reason why they can't talk about their lgbt issues at a friendly con, or being represented as lgbt people in fiction. Without knowing what kind of panels and guests he'd rather see instead to represent his viewpoint, I could see it being guests and panels that could be anti-lgbt. It does seem like the con may be a little too welcoming of SJWs. But, there's plenty to do there that has NOTHING to do with social justice or sjw or lgbt, and no one's forcing him to partake in those panels or discussions. He can avoid them if he wishes.

[Fossa]

Its amazing how strong of a scent those little black ants have that invade the place this time of year when ya smush one: like lemon and pine.

Very pungent.

[Vallium]

Accurate

[DrDingo]

I'll tell you what's funky
Coursework.

I thought I was keeping a good pace, but I have an entire coursework project to start and finish, and only 7 days to do it. As a bonus, it's in a programming language I don't understand

I've never failed anything in my life, and I'm scared this could be the start.

[LazerMaster5]

On 5/4/2017 at 9:18 PM, Jtrekkie said:

 

Spotted in a NY swamp, Lethocerus Americanus interrupts photos and feeds on fear.

KILL IT WITH FIRE

[Vallium]

Enough nightmare fuel! I bring thee wholesome meme

 

[Fantasma]

On May 6, 2017 at 10:43 PM, Fossa said:

Its amazing how strong of a scent those little black ants have that invade the place this time of year when ya smush one: like lemon and pine.

Very pungent.

sounds like you could make an insect repellent poulstice with them.

I mean that + lavender may even repel mosquitos.... no idea how that ant juice would react with skin

[Revates]

Howlo Furriends I'm finally back to the furrums after a long set of assignments and exams and DEATH. Have we overthrown the mods in a glorious revolution yet?

[Mayonnaise]

Huh, someone tried to islamize this year's Tadau Kaamatan (Harvest Festival).

[Sarcastic Coffeecup]

Restringed my ax, it plays just fine. Time to start shaving the rust off of my fingers

[Crazy Lee]

On 5/4/2017 at 9:18 PM, Jtrekkie said:

 

Spotted in a NY swamp, Lethocerus Americanus interrupts photos and feeds on fear.

Looks like an insect trying to hump a frog.

[Vallium]

My cats new warrior cat name is Mangetail

[Vitaly]

11 hours ago, Mayonnaise said:

Huh, someone tried to islamize this year's Tadau Kaamatan (Harvest Festival).

Islamize harvest festival? "This potato isnt halal enough, prepare the stones!"

[DrGravitas]

I learned today that the project will be skipping the next build (July), which works out perfectly for my June vacation plans! Assuming nothing goes wrong with my May build items, I'll probably have just a sprinkling of investigations over the next 2 months or so \o/

[Wax]

1 hour ago, DrGravitas said:

I learned today that the project will be skipping the next build (July), which works out perfectly for my June vacation plans! Assuming nothing goes wrong with my May build items, I'll probably have just a sprinkling of investigations over the next 2 months or so \o/

I'm sure you might have alluded to it before - or even outright said it, but what is your job role again? Do you work in an agile team?

[DrGravitas]

52 minutes ago, Wax said:

I'm sure you might have alluded to it before - or even outright said it, but what is your job role again? Do you work in an agile team?

I'm technically a software consultant serving as a senior resource on a support team that also dabbles in development. So a little bit of anything they need me to XP We're technically "Waterfall with elements of Agile" which translates to "The Client likes Waterfall and The Company wants to push Agile." Amazingly, we still manage to get work done! :Y

The big reason this upcoming build was scratched was likely because other groups need to implement some major changes that basically require a short code-freeze. But, the client doesn't like those, so we don't call it that and instead draw attention to all the other things we'll do during that time. Additionally, we'll probably take on a couple larger enhancements for the build after that and use the months as extra dev time. I can think of a few enhancements I'd like to see. Namely automating some of the after-hours monitoring duties (which I'm stuck with again this week and next). I've been pushing for that for a long while and it seems the stars have aligned and I might just get to implement them!

[Wax]

27 minutes ago, DrGravitas said:

I'm technically a software consultant serving as a senior resource on a support team that also dabbles in development. So a little bit of anything they need me to XP We're technically "Waterfall with elements of Agile" which translates to "The Client likes Waterfall and The Company wants to push Agile." Amazingly, we still manage to get work done! :Y

The big reason this upcoming build was scratched was likely because other groups need to implement some major changes that basically require a short code-freeze. But, the client doesn't like those, so we don't call it that and instead draw attention to all the other things we'll do during that time. Additionally, we'll probably take on a couple larger enhancements for the build after that and use the months as extra dev time. I can think of a few enhancements I'd like to see. Namely automating some of the after-hours monitoring duties (which I'm stuck with again this week and next). I've been pushing for that for a long while and it seems the stars have aligned and I might just get to implement them!

Ah, good to know! I'm glad that lots of things are working out for you lately, work-wise!

[Lopaw]

I think I came close to letting the smoke out tonight, thankfully the tiny clip on heatsinks seem to work.

[Mayonnaise]

20 hours ago, Vitaly said:

Islamize harvest festival? "This potato isnt halal enough, prepare the stones!"

It's more like "your language, your clothing... your culture ain't our taste. please replace everyhting with arab". Them meleis should stick to west Malaysia where then can already be jailed for skipping Friday prayers. They should leave the east to booze through May.

[Victor-933]

Surfing through shortwave is neat.

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901 Live shortwave radio stream from an antenna based in the Netherlands.

 

Check out 8992.00 KHz or other HFGCS frequencies (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frequency_Global_Communications_System ) USB every half-hour on the dot for spoopy military code -- you may even catch an EAM

[Crazy Lee]

21 hours ago, DrGravitas said:

I'm technically a software consultant serving as a senior resource on a support team that also dabbles in development. So a little bit of anything they need me to XP We're technically "Waterfall with elements of Agile" which translates to "The Client likes Waterfall and The Company wants to push Agile." Amazingly, we still manage to get work done! :Y

While at a con I went to an IT panel, and while I learned quite a few things, they kept bringing up Agile and Scrum and stuff, and I'm like "I've done 2 years of computer stuff already in college and I have no idea what the fuck they're talking about."

[DrGravitas]

2 hours ago, Crazy Lee said:

While at a con I went to an IT panel, and while I learned quite a few things, they kept bringing up Agile and Scrum and stuff, and I'm like "I've done 2 years of computer stuff already in college and I have no idea what the fuck they're talking about."

My college courses didn't really cover Agile or Scrum, either. Certainly not in depth. I think I had one course in my Junior year that had a section on development methodology that may have brought up Agile. But, that was the way my degree was focused. Different degrees will cover different material in depth.

It's good that your exploring the career outside of college! They can provide you with a concentrated dose of what you need to hit the ground running, but they can't cover everything. For my part, everything I really learned about Agile and Scrum came through training I received through The Company. We had a push in our local area for building up skills in Agile and had a number of internal trainings devoted to it. Scrum is basically a flavor of Agile with its own implementation details. That I had training from an external source sponsored by the company as part of my last project's start-up efforts. Basically, the client didn't know anything about Agile development and so part of the package in doing business was a training for both our client and ourselves in Scrum. So don't feel like you're missing out on something everybody else already knows, either! Conversations with HR in the past have told me that very few graduates come out knowing anything about software development methodologies.

Of course, you don't have to (and it's in your best interest not to) wait around for some company to hand that knowledge to you. Gaining knowledge of this sort of thing is something that can help make you stand out as a new graduate. Even if the methodology itself isn't always going to be the one applied at your potential job, it give exposure to a different aspect of your profession beyond the books and highlights you as someone who's really willing to put the effort in. I would definitely spend some time discussing with your professors other areas they feel would be an asset to your future growth. Not all of them will have useful inputs, but they're are some that will be an important networking resource to you even beyond college. You just gotta reach out and form those connections. If you're interested in Scrum, maybe shoot an email to the department head and see if the department offers and resources or guidance for seeking certification.

[Wax]

52 minutes ago, DrGravitas said:

My college courses didn't really cover Agile or Scrum, either. Certainly not in depth. I think I had one course in my Junior year that had a section on development methodology that may have brought up Agile. But, that was the way my degree was focused. Different degrees will cover different material in depth.

That's really odd, because my university course has a huge focus on agile methods! Next year I'll be taking a year-long module which covers agile methods (Scrum, XP etc.) it's compulsory for those studying software development, but optional for those studying business computing (which is me, but my entire class is taking it anyway)

[DrGravitas]

4 minutes ago, Wax said:

That's really odd, because my university course has a huge focus on agile methods! Next year I'll be taking a year-long module which covers agile methods (Scrum, XP etc.) it's compulsory for those studying software development, but optional for those studying business computing (which is me, but my entire class is taking it anyway)

Exactly! Different degrees, different requirements. My degree was computer science and focused heavily on various technical aspects of the field. More over, different colleges are going to have different degree programs with different material and focuses.

[Chrysocyon]

On 1/19/2017 at 3:55 PM, Chrysocyon said:

I find it funny that the internet at my work blocks me from going to Imgur but I can browse FA just fine.

Aaaand now they recently started blocking FA. WHOOPS.

[Feelwell]

Friiiick.

I've been finding multiple splinters in my left hand and foot, and the only possibility (being wood) is my desk, but it makes no sense because I only have them in the top of my left foot.

 

Either way I spent a great time pulling them out last night, but it seems I just managed to break a couple, because my left thumb is angry when I touch it and I can feel them in my left foot.

[Faust]

1 hour ago, Feelwell said:

I've been finding multiple splinters in my left hand and foot, and the only possibility (being wood) is my desk, but it makes no sense because I only have them in the top of my left foot.

Maybe they're not wood splinters? Lots of other stuff splinters quite nastily - carbon fibre I hear is particularly bad, though depleted uranium is worse...

[Feelwell]

6 hours ago, Faust said:

Maybe they're not wood splinters? Lots of other stuff splinters quite nastily - carbon fibre I hear is particularly bad, though depleted uranium is worse...

Wow, that must be it! Must be uranium splinters from the nuclear devices I regularly tinker with. 

[Zeke]

I am getting an award for 11 years of dealing with public masturbators, heroin addicts, piss buckets, dead babies, and entitled patrons that want to trash the library. Yay me.

 

[FenrirDarkWolf]

41 minutes ago, Zeke said:

I am getting an award for 11 years of dealing with public masturbators, heroin addicts, piss buckets, dead babies, and entitled patrons that want to trash the library. Yay me.

 

...dead babies?

I didn't know libraries were so crazy

[Snagged]

31 minutes ago, FenrirDarkWolf said:

...dead babies?

I didn't know libraries were so crazy

I'm sure there's a story behind this

@Zeke please deliver

[Zeke]

1 hour ago, FenrirDarkWolf said:

...dead babies?

I didn't know libraries were so crazy

Found a miscarriage in the toilet one morning. Also found one in the  trashcan in the atrium after I smelled something that reeked of rotting meat and menstrual blood. I thought someone bought a steak or something and threw it in the garbage, along with a used tampon.

[Snagged]

1 hour ago, Zeke said:

Found a miscarriage in the toilet one morning. Also found one in the  trashcan in the atrium after I smelled something that reeked of rotting meat and menstrual blood. I thought someone bought a steak or something and threw it in the garbage, along with a used tampon.

That must not have been an easy sight to your eyes 😣

[Zeke]

2 minutes ago, Snagged said:

That must not have been an easy sight to your eyes 😣

Nope. It's even worse thinking about why the woman just tossed it into the garbage thinking no one would look inside or smell it during one of the hottest and most humid period of the summer.

[FenrirDarkWolf]

1 hour ago, Zeke said:

Found a miscarriage in the toilet one morning. Also found one in the  trashcan in the atrium after I smelled something that reeked of rotting meat and menstrual blood. I thought someone bought a steak or something and threw it in the garbage, along with a used tampon.

 

39 minutes ago, Zeke said:

Nope. It's even worse thinking about why the woman just tossed it into the garbage thinking no one would look inside or smell it during one of the hottest and most humid period of the summer.

...wow

[[null]]

1 hour ago, FenrirDarkWolf said:

 

...wow

You know what's even more disturbing? Somewhere, somehow, someone will get turned on by reading the posts you quoted.

Not me though, fortunately. They just made me feel a little hungry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[FenrirDarkWolf]

1 hour ago, [null] said:

You know what's even more disturbing? Somewhere, somehow, someone will get turned on by reading the posts you quoted.

Not me though, fortunately. They just made me feel a little hungry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ohgod

[Xaende]

19 hours ago, Faust said:

Maybe they're not wood splinters? Lots of other stuff splinters quite nastily - carbon fibre I hear is particularly bad, though depleted uranium is worse...

Depleted uranium splinters sound horrific. The worst I've had is fiberglass.

[Gator]

i had eggshell splinters once :^)

[Crazy Lee]

The cutest and most hood thing you will see all day.
 

 

[DrDingo]

It's early morning Saturday
I have coursework due Monday
I haven't done it yet

This may be one of the most stressful situations I've ever been in in my entire life
And yet I'm still wasting time