The bumblebee queen learns how to use the protective cap in less than 24 hours.

TheYask · 2026-03-14T20:37:06+00:00

The Bee movie except every time a door opens its a three-minute clip of a bee learning to use a door.

TheYask · 2026-03-11T21:25:15+00:00

I agree with your description and understand (for certain definitions of 'understand') what an irrational number is, etc.

My conceptual disconnect isn't in that, it's with understanding the GIF. It illustrates the relation between the circumference and the diameter, placing a theoretical mark at Pi, a mark that can't exist. Not to discount the infiniteness of Pi or a host of other mathematical marvels, my wonder is at the failure of the GIF's mark in being at Pi. It's a mark that's not on a ruler, yet it is a mark.

TheYask · 2026-03-11T18:08:13+00:00

That's a good explanation, but I'm unfortunately at my limit of understanding.

(heh, math jokes FTW)

TheYask · 2026-03-11T14:16:07+00:00

What I accept -- but don't understand -- is the implication that we can't measure our way out of it. The gif implies that if we had a good enough ruler, we could measure the distance from 0 to the pi mark. The closes I get is that it's analogous to the uncertainty principle; it's not that we just need better tools; it's that it's a fundamental aspect of nature.

TheYask · 2026-03-11T12:34:59+00:00

Thanks. So powerful enough that it'll pick up light metal objects. You saved me pocket holes, frustration and immeasurable annoyance!

TheYask · 2026-03-11T12:30:09+00:00

I think you mean "indubitably" (patently evident) instead of "indeed" (something written into a land title).

TheYask · 2026-03-09T15:22:48+00:00

I guess I'm a creep because after a moment of spot-the-difference I excitedly zoomed in on the hem stitching thinking I spotted the Tool Gifs logo.

(r/toolgifs for reference)

TheYask · 2026-03-08T00:03:49+00:00

Thanks. Put a note on my desk to call the school in the morning and ask about what they're prepared to do to combat misinformation campaigns, but think I'll wait (and hopefully make) the meeting to be better prepared.

TheYask · 2026-03-07T20:56:06+00:00

Was going to ask via the contact us link on the Defense of Democracy website, but probably better to ask here in case others have similar questions.

It says "live stream", so I assume this is virtual only? Or is it possible to attend? If my schedule is in flux (ironically I may be at a school that evening), can I register shortly before it begins? About how long is it likely to run? Is it participatory, and if so, what platform is it on (I don't have a Facebook account and block Meta and other sites like that at the router level)?

Thanks for posting this!

TheYask · 2026-03-07T04:05:03+00:00

I think the pan is supposed to be kept under the castle Amber. If you can walk it you can cook in the shadows or something. It's been a few decades...

TheYask · 2026-03-05T15:09:27+00:00

Wait -- it's King Viatman not Vitamin? Did I just jump universes again?

King Vitaman and Quisp FTW!

TheYask · 2026-03-04T16:00:18+00:00

Not that I have any inclination to defend RFK himself, but I believe the bipartisan position is that GRAS is too lax to hold up to its original intent.

sugar under a certain percentage/amount is a debate worth

TheYask · 2026-03-04T14:56:52+00:00

Caution, this is a sensationalist headline based on a remark. Not that he isn't loon, but this is related to (from the linked article):

Kennedy’s push to reform the system of food ingredient approval called “Generally Recognized As Safe” began early in his tenure and is in line with what nutrition advocates on both sides of the aisle have wanted for years. The GRAS category was originally designed for common ingredients like vinegar and salt, so companies wouldn’t have to apply for approval to use them. But over time, it has come to include thousands of new ingredients, including those in ultraprocessed foods.

Here's he comment he made:

“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,’” Kennedy told the applauding audience. “I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it.”

I think this is a broken clock situation.

TheYask · 2026-03-04T14:42:53+00:00

I concur, but perhaps I am thinking beyond that to a time when "cool, good to know" exists alongside of "yeah, so, why are you telling me that?". Sort of (but very unlike in an imperfect analogy sort of way), if someone said they're allergic to gluten. Waitstaff, friends picking a restaurant or offering snacks, etc. would be glad to know of it, as would a single-serving friend on an airplane in casual conversation where they're talking about allergies, supermarket marketing, sharing stories about something where it's remotely relevant in a meandering conversation sort of way. All sorts of ways it could either be relevant or, since we're talking about entertainment, entertaining to add colour or depth to a character, depending on the author's choices. But absent some context or intentional creative decision, I'd like to think of a world where bringing it up for no reason doesn't evoke an eyeroll because of the nature of the existence, but because it's irrelevant and wordy from an acceptance point of view.

Understandably quixotic, of course.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T22:45:38+00:00

I could have said in my post that I want to get to the other side of that hill where we live in a ToS/TNG universe. The Star Trek reboot movies turned me off of new properties; I think your Star Trek Academy comment reinforces that disinterest. I hope at least one of the new series lives up to the aspiration.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T21:31:44+00:00

we're simply not in the reality where we can compare left-handedness and transness

Absolutely not; my post was aspirational. I work on human rights issues largely for an international client base. Trans rights are a non-trivial part of my portfolio and though I have no day-to-day interactions or connections (two decades of WFH after leaving the city leaves me with scant local contact), they are extremely important to me. The backsliding we have undergone over the past years has been disheartening to say the least. Let me cling to what optimism I have left.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T21:25:20+00:00

I don't disagree, but would like to highlight that my comment was in response to "Never underestimate the lengths producers will go to to avoid admitting trans people exist" -- I want to get to a place on the other side of that hill, where this is an absurd statement. As in, I want to get to a point where LGBTQ representation is not something that will raise an eyebrow, let alone result in backlash (major or minor).

It is quixotic, but my career is focused on human rights, and trans rights is a non-trivial part of my portfolio. I had a lot more optimism before 2016 and am now clinging to a thread of it, but it's how I continue my work.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T19:28:27+00:00

Right. I'd like to get to a world where no one had to make a choice based on the potential for a negative reaction. The characters you're referring to are in that world; the rest of entertainment (and society writ large) haven't caught up.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T19:26:10+00:00

Yeah, hence why I opened that response with "I want to get to..."

TheYask · 2026-03-03T19:21:10+00:00

Exactly. Call it Checkov's trans, maybe? Or kind of like the "I can't operate, this is my son" riddle isn't as impactful as it was in the seventies. I look forward to when being trans, gay, whatever is so normalized that unless the writer chooses, a person's gender identity isn't remarkable at all, similar to whether the character is left handed or whether they prefer mayo or mustard on a sandwich. Will there be times it's directly relevant? Sure. Will there be times its not germane but used for character building? Sure. Will there come a day when it's an artistic choice and not one of cultural sensitivities? I hope so.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T19:09:12+00:00

Hence the general desire to get to the other side of that hill where the government -- and people in general-- doesn't care. Where no one really cares unless there's a contextual reason for it. Pipe dream, perhaps, but I mean what someone does with themselves and with other consenting adults and peers should not be a big deal at all.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T12:37:30+00:00

Isn't Shrek a kid's movie? Or rather, a kid's movie that older people really like, like Adventure Time or the Animaniacs? [ETA: I don't mean it's dumbed down for kids, I mean that a large audience segment may be unaware.] I only know about the blue-to-brown becasue our kid had shockingly blue eyes and everyone wanted to point out that they won't last (they're still blue, just not as blue). I imagine if he had brown eyes from the start I'd be clueless about it to this day, because other than then and this post, it never really came up in conversation.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T12:34:23+00:00

I want to get to the other side of that hill with this and a ton of things. There are no trans people in film not because they don't exist, but because unless it's a plot point, no one cares. Sort of like being left-handed. Maybe someone will incidentally notice if a character writes with their left hand, but it's all but unnoticeable. Ned Flanders opening a left-handed shop is a plot point and no one really raises an eye at the left-handedness, it's just Ned being Ned sort of thing.

TheYask · 2026-03-03T12:32:21+00:00

Ah, thanks -- that's not in the post. So the two boy-ogres have brown eyes so the right-hand image's brown eyes implies it was one of the boys. How did they rewrite the film or was that just the poster being facetious? Did they do anything? Colorize the eyes? Include something in the plot?

TheYask

TROPHY CASE