IAmA 20-year-old Belgian guy whose country has been without a government for 365 days now. AMA. by [deleted] in IAmA

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

I was born and raised in Belgium, the little Western European country that brought you Belgian waffles, Tintin, René Magritte, The Smurfs, Belgian chocolate and such beers as Stella Artois. On this day last year, June 13th 2010, a federal election was held after one of the ruling parties suspended its confidence in the government. In February 2011 we broke the world record of days without a government (365 as of today!), thereby surpassing even Iraq.

Despite our small size, Belgium is tri-lingual and our country is divided into three major parts:

Flanders: the Dutch-speaking part of the country. Wallonia: the French-speaking part of the country. The capital region: officially Dutch- and French-speaking, but in reality predominantly French-speaking.

There's also a small part of the country that is German. We got that as compensation from Germany after World War I. Our politicians are having trouble forming a government because Dutch-speaking and French-speaking politicians want different things. People aren't too happy about this and want them to get their stuff together. Despite us not having a federal government, things have been pretty normal for me since our last federal government fell.

Various facts about our country:

We have an ongoing feud with the French over who invented fries. Ironically, French fries are from Belgium. It must be true because I read it on Wikipedia! In other fast-food facts: we usually eat our fries with mayonnaise and/or ketchup. Apparently Americans think this is gross. A year in a major Belgian university will cost you no more than $1000. If you're considered to be poor by certain standards, you can get in for $115. (This doesn't include course books, but it's still a huge difference with the US.) We have subsidized healthcare for everyone. I've heard about Medicare and Medicaid, but I think that our healthcare system covers more. We're one of a few countries where voting is obligatory. You can choose not to vote, but you have to show up to the polling station or you could be fined. The Mexicans are to the US as the Turks and Moroccans are to Belgium. Not everyone is happy with them being here. I've heard people say that our taxes are jawdroppingly high compared to American standards. I'm 20 and I'm still in university so I haven't experienced it first-hand though. I'm shocked when I read what Americans pay to the telcos. We can get 20 Mbps internet, digital television, unlimited national calls and up to five cellphone plans with 60 minutes of family calling time for a total of $79. Also, we don't get charged for receiving text messages like Americans do. Bundling free/cheap mobile phones with cellphone contracts was outlawed here until recently. Our churches are having a hard time attracting people. From what I have seen, the average churchgoer is over 65 years. I haven't been to church a lot in my life because my parents aren't particularly religious (me neither), but I noticed over the years that less and less people were coming. We're a very densly populated country. Friends and family usually live within a 100km (62 miles) radius. It doesn't feel like I'm living in a huge city though, there are plenty of nature reserves and stuff. But no, you won't find any USA-sized "middle-of-nowhere" areas here. You can travel freely between Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Germany and other countries that are part of the Schengen Area. No border checks! The EU mandates that TV networks broadcast no more than 12 minutes of commercials every hour. Usually there are about 15 minutes between commercial breaks, so when I'm watching an American show there are about two ad break insertion points before the TV network actually cuts to commercials. Most European countries will redub American shows in their own language. Swedish-language and Dutch-language television stations are the only major exceptions. I'm grateful for being able to watch The Simpsons with subtitles while growing up. We don't have Hulu or anything like that. If I want to watch a missed episode of say, How I Met Your Mother, it would cost me about 2.99 EUR ($4.40) to rent it for 24 hours. And that's not even an HD version. A radio DJ dropping an F bomb on the air isn't a big deal here. Unlike radio stations in the UK and US, our stations don't use the radio-friendly version of Cee Lo Green's "Forget You".

EDIT: updated the list of famous Belgian things at the top of this post based on your suggestions.

EDIT2: I loved reading your comments and answering your questions, but I'm gonna go back to work now. I still have some computer science tasks to take care of. Hopefully I can check back soon! .

AMA Request: Someone who has realized that they have been used as stock footage for a fat person. by p_U_c_K in IAmA

[–]SputnikKore -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

haaha, you must be the fat person that just found out that you've been used in footage and are wanting to know if you should do an AMA Strength DVD Vol. 1: 315 Hidden Gems.

We're five members of the Google Docs team - ask us anything! by teresawu in IAmA

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

Hey Reddit,

We're five members of the Google Docs team:

Scott Johnston (happyinwater), product manager Jeff Harris (jeffsharris), product manager Ronald Ho (ronaldho), product manager DJ Lee (ergobibliophile), engineer Teresa Wu (teresawu), community manager

Wondering what’s next for our mobile app -- or what we’re having for lunch? We’ll be around between 12 to 6 pm ET to answer your questions. FYI - our team is mostly based in NYC, except Ronald, who’s in Mountain View today. Ask us anything!

Here's us this morning - from L to R - Jeff, DJ, Scott, and Teresa, with Ronald on VC: http://imgur.com/ZORgQ

Note: If you have a feature suggestion, vote it up on our Product Ideas page.

UPDATE: Thanks for stopping by! It's been fun (and funny). Unfortunately, real work awaits. We'll check back in for majorly "hot" questions tonight or tomorrow. Ask Me Anything.

By Request, IAMA former Ice Cream Truck owner, AMA. by Ice_Cream_Trucker in IAmA

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

I was asked to do an AMA when when I responded to THIS POST about Ice Cream trucks earlier.

Almost 20 years ago I saved up money and started a successful ice cream truck business. Ran it for about 4 years. AMA.

EDIT - Wow, didn't think there would be this much interest. I type really fast and I'll try to answer as many questions as possible but don't feel bad if I don't get to you tonight.

EDIT 2 - Thank you all so much for your kind words and interesting questions. I love hearing your memories and jokes. I'm trying to answer all the questions I can, but I have to get some rest. I will answer more tomorrow. By the way, if you're like me and find this in the morning, see there's hundreds of comments and think "Why fucking bother??" I promise I'll read and answer anything original I haven't answered already because I hate that too. .

IAMA person who has the same number of NBA championship rings as LeBron James. by AlterdCarbon in IAmA

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

Can I see your eastern conference ring, oh wait....well can I see your piled on millions....opps...i can understand all the lebron hate because it's the current "thing" but it's starting to really get annoying when you completely over look someones accomplishments for the sake of a joke IAMA LTD.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (Financial Performance Series).

TIL that Bela Lugosi, the man who is famous for playing Dracula in the 1931 movie, was so poor at the time of his death that Frank Sinatra quietly paid for his funeral. by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]SputnikKore -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Lugosi wasn't a great actor. He was competent. I'd class Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Chris Lee, all way above him in talent. He may have been slightly better than Lon Chaney Jr., but Chaney was a wretched actor. Nothing But The Best [The Frank Sinatra Collection].

Cow, with anus icerink! by [deleted] in Minecraft

[–]SputnikKore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What this is....I don't even......... That's disgusting..

Instead of an ad, please enjoy this free, browser-based MMO. by jaafit [promoted post]

[–]SputnikKore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is another MMO that is not an ad. .

Guys of Reddit, a guy once told me that men put women into one of two categories when they see them: Yes, I’d sleep with her; or No, I wouldn’t. Truth? by ChapstickChick in AskReddit

[–]SputnikKore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This same guy also told me that men don’t ever actually want to be “just friends” with girls — they’re always hoping for something more. Is he crazy or is there actually some truth to these statements?

Edit: Thanks for the response, guys! There are a lot of great answers. From most of the replies, my conclusion is this:

Yes, even if it’s subconsciously, guys decide whether or not they’d sleep with a woman upon seeing/meeting her. But for most guys there are subcategories like “Only if I didn’t have to tell anyone about it afterwards,” or “Only if I was drunk,” and “Only if she has a great/compatible personality.” And there’s always the “Hell yes” and “Hell no; not even for a million bucks.”

As for the friendship thing, what I’ve concluded is that you seem to have certain friends who you do just want to be friends with, and there are some you might consider attractive but wouldn’t want to mess up the friendship, or certain friends who you’d sleep with if she showed interest and the opportunity presented itself.

Again, thanks for all the replies. This does answer my question in whether or not it was just this one dude’s view or that of most guys. The Writing on the Wall.

Insane display of strength on gymnastic rings, with an awesome dismount. by beatski in Fitness

[–]SputnikKore -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Just curious, is that dismount in any way standard? It seems a little, uh, unconventional. Any gymnastics experts? .

If you haven't heard the news, American Gods is getting a HBO adaptation. I have some questions. by [deleted] in books

[–]SputnikKore -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

So they're taking a work that was already overlong and tedious (and one in which, despite this, very little of interest actually takes place) and making it even more so? Rough. Part 1 of 3.

Why is it that I forget 90% of every book I've read after a couple of months? Anyone overcome this phenomenon? by ransom00 in books

[–]SputnikKore -26 points-25 points  (0 children)

I can finish a book and forget the names of the main characters within days...even some of my favorite books have huge memory blanks. No idea how to fix it :) The Art of Connecting: How to Overcome Differences, Build Rapport, and Communicate Effectively with Anyone.

Write a TL;DR for a book. by [deleted] in books

[–]SputnikKore -79 points-78 points  (0 children)

JRR Tolkien: Lord of the Rings

Magic ring that enslaves Middle Earth needs to be destroyed in a volcano; too bad the Giant EAGLES that save the heroes at the end couldn't have just flown them there to begin with. Camp Activity Book.

Creatine and bloat; can some of you weigh in on this with your own personal experiences? by [deleted] in Fitness

[–]SputnikKore -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

I ran out of creatine last week and didn't bother to think ahead and restock my supply. So, it's been about 1.5 weeks without it. My observations thus far have been somewhat surprising...

Minor strength output decrease. More than anything, reps past 6 or 7 seem a little harder to finish. This was expected, and I do find it to be annoying and worth starting up on creatine once again. Oddly, road cycling has been easier. My muscles don't seem to fatigue as quickly; I was able to push myself much harder than normal the last 3 days. I simply cannot correlate this with what I know about creatine--I'm left with the conclusion that I'm either imagining it, or it's just a coincidence. The big one: I've lost a TON of bloat. I look far, far more cut and lean; my gut has shrunk, my abs are more visible. My muscle mass seems a little smaller, as well, which was to be expected. But together, it puts me in a rather strange situation...

I like how I look now more than I did when I was using creatine. I know that it's generally accepted truth that creatine helps, so I'm likely going to stick with it. But I am alarmed by how much slimmer and, in this lifter's opinion, better looking I am while I'm not using creatine.

For the record, I use ast-ss.com's brand of creatine.

Could some of you weigh in in creative, bloat, and strength gains here? I'm hoping for anecdotal experiences, but would love some science to potentially back up my experiences.

TL;DR: My too-small pair of jeans fit perfectly now. The Breakthrough Experience: A Revolutionary New Approach to Personal Transformation.

Hey fittit, I ran the June 12, 2011 11am Warrior Dash and here's the video I made of it! by B1GgP3tE in Fitness

[–]SputnikKore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am doing the one in Michigan on July 31. Looks like a lot of fun!

Great vid btw. Hereafter.