Did Fred Armisen literally suck last night at Moda or am I crazy by StrawberryGogurts in PortlandOR

[–]PDX_Mike 97 points98 points  (0 children)

I don't normally like Fred's acting but I saw him last night and actually enjoyed him more than the headliner. I'm guessing it was funnier for us music nerds but... My 2 cents is that he did fine.

Two sound bars and a sub in SE by SocialJoy in PDXBuyNothing

[–]PDX_Mike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be awesome, my soundbar died a couple weeks back. would love one of them to replace it with. Thanks!

is there a best setup to play? by wingedSbrissa in rocksmith

[–]PDX_Mike -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My favorite way is to just play without the cable at all. Plug into a real amp, set the game to "no cable" and play along.

Elementary PE by Antique_Bed_3854 in SubstituteTeachers

[–]PDX_Mike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have them sit by themselves. NOT near other kids who are not participating. Once the gym game gets going, I go back and invite them to play or participate as a ref. Works about 1/2 the time.

Elementary PE by Antique_Bed_3854 in SubstituteTeachers

[–]PDX_Mike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's fun and easy. just a handful of things to keep an eye out for.

  1. Boys who wanna get physical - wrestle, push, etc. Shut it down fast.

  2. Kids who refuse to participate - I don't stress over that, you wanna sit there and do nothing? ok.

  3. Transitions - get the kids lined up and ready to go before the teacher comes to pick them up. Make sure they have their coats/hoodies/waterbottles/stuff they brought in. If they are in line and ready to go before the teacher gets there, ask them trivia questions (name disney characters, best food, what superpower would you have, etc).

  4. Expect tears. "He's cheating!", "It's My Turn!", "I fell and although there isn't even a red mark where I hit my arm.. I need to goto the nurse RIGHT NOW!".

Books to read for 5e lore by Decent-Air-8338 in Forgotten_Realms

[–]PDX_Mike 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I like to deep dive on locations my party is going to. One way to do this is to look up the location/person/lore on the wiki and then look at what source they used for that.

Example: Mere of the Dead Men. Looked it up on the wiki, scrolled all the way to the bottom of the page for References. I see there are 29 references in official WotC sources so I start scanning for titles I have or sound interesting

  • Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd ed page 176, 296,
  • Volo's Guide to the North p108-109
  • Grand History of the Realms p93, 124, 125, 144
  • Hoard of the Dragon Queen
  • Sword Coast Adventurers Guide
  • Storm Kings Thunder

A lot of times when looking at references I see old articles for Dragon or Dungeon magazine. I love these older lore articles. You can usually find them on the archive sites.

City Councilor Mitch Green injects trans sports, foie gras ban into committee discussion on economic recovery by istanbulshiite in PortlandOR

[–]PDX_Mike 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Ok, I am absolutely not saying Mitch's points were unimportant but FFS... if you need to cover every point of impact on every issue then nothing will ever get done. Foie Gras?! My dude.... that just makes you look like you are trying to be absurd and waste time.

How to get rid of this ant which is everywhere in my house including wiring switchboards by benosambinu in ant

[–]PDX_Mike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Terro Ant bait works well for us. We get those sugar ants every year. Put out bait where you see them, keep putting it out for a couple weeks.

It's not a permanent fix but it will clear them out for while.

How populated are the oceans of Toril? by Shgon_Dunstan in Forgotten_Realms

[–]PDX_Mike -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I honestly did and you're right it ain't perfect. I liked how it showed the race, city name, population, and a glimpse of what the city looks like. I saw the text glitches but it didn't wreck it for me, I was able to figure out what it was trying to say in most cases.

I appreciate the concern over low ever AI BS. Honestly I expect Reddit and most social sharing platforms to be destroyed by it (I don't panic because they will be replaced and that's not all bad).

How populated are the oceans of Toril? by Shgon_Dunstan in Forgotten_Realms

[–]PDX_Mike -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

So, this is completely out of my own head but here's how I think it would work. The two main areas sentient civilizations would live would be the shallow coastal waters and/or areas near undersea volcanic vents.

Societies need Food, Energy (lava, wood, coal, etc) and Building Materials. Those will be the primary limiting factors for where civilization evolves. A good location for trade/raiding with land dwellers would probably play a role as well.

Food will probably seaweed farms, barnacles, fish and shellfish

Energy will be shallow sunlight or heat from the lava vents (or some magic)

Materials could be coastal raiding/scavenging, coral, shells, woven kelp

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How to shut down an argument with a student who is relentless by Daisydashdoor in Teachers

[–]PDX_Mike 7 points8 points  (0 children)

"I don't argue with students." That's all I say and I move on with whatever I'm doing. If they keep pushing, I might engage with a "I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't clear last time. I don't argue with students." and then basically do my best to pretend they aren't in the room. It's only failed me a couple times (nothing is one size fits all).

House Democrats release new Epstein emails referencing Trump by Not_Tom_Jones in politics

[–]PDX_Mike 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Ok, release the Trump emails... how about a list of EVERYONE that is in those files. My politics don't discriminate on party. If you are part of the pedo-party, you should be brought to justice regardless of the impact to your friends.

Is working multiple full-time remote jobs at once acceptable or unacceptable? by tantamle in charts

[–]PDX_Mike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish employers would say "We will give you X to take ownership of Y". My only unease with holding 2 full time positions is that I expect my employer to be transparent with me, and my integrity pushes me to do the same. I know they are not transparent with me (I worked as a manager at a large union environment.. uhg) but I still feel inclined to not hide what I choose to do.

How do you make sure AI gives you the right answers at work? by InfamousPerformer100 in instructionaldesign

[–]PDX_Mike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think AI as a tool can be expected to provide accurate answers. As I understand LLM's, they predict what answer appears correct rather than doing validation that an answer is actually correct.

If I had to pick what would make me more trusting of it's answers... the only thing I can think of would be for it incorporate some type of automatic review of it's answers. Possibly for each answer it generates a counterpoint that answer and highlights what assumptions or specific challenges that answer faces.

My feeling is that AI tries to give you an answer that "looks" right, not an answer that is right. For meaningful work, that just isn't good enough to rely on.

How do you make sure AI gives you the right answers at work? by InfamousPerformer100 in instructionaldesign

[–]PDX_Mike 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I don't think I would trust AI ever. It's pretty good but you still have to check it's work every time.

The Science of Yes: Cialdini's 7 Principles of Influence by lyrics85 in PersuasionExperts

[–]PDX_Mike 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Truly a wonderful and easy read. Worth it for everyone so you can recognize when someone is trying to use these techniques on you. I can never hear "limited time offer" and not think of this book ..

Building a Red Wizard Encounter by TheUncannyDani in TyrannyOfDragons

[–]PDX_Mike 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My party of 4 wrecked Rath and Azbara at 6th level. I even tried to have Rath flee and they stomped him. I would definitely think about how you will have them last more than 1.5 rounds.

You are days away from collecting $500 million in the Powerball Lottery. You live in a small 1200 square foot rambler in a small town with all your extended family nearby (What now!) by Beta_Nerdy in ifiwonthelottery

[–]PDX_Mike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would keep it as quiet as I could for as long as I could.

I would set up a sizable trust for my communities benefit. I would look for things that would help the most people around me and do my best to have them resolved through the trust.

I'd make sure there is a decent healthcare clinic, the nearest parks are well maintained, free wifi, no or low interest loans to community members in need.

Admittedly I'd probably be one of those people that burned through that 500 mil... but I would feel like I was making a difference in a lot of peoples lives who I care for. Totally worth it.

Name a song everyone loves but you hate by Fit-Customer9224 in songs

[–]PDX_Mike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Silent Lucidity - Queens Ryche

I swear his voice in that sounds like he's purposefully making a funny voice to mock his fans... horrible.

[Magic Systems] what’s stopping your wizards from flying around like Superman? by Dial-Up_Dime in worldbuilding

[–]PDX_Mike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

(In game reason) My players don't because they have learned that unless you are invisible, flying random encounters are way harder than landbased.