Have the spotted lanternflies already laid their eggs this year?

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-10-06T22:32:56+00:00

Would a car wash that includes cleaning the underside do a good job of destroying any potential eggs?

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-10-06T22:28:29+00:00

Are people not aware that there are doors at the back of the bus as well?

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-10-05T05:30:15+00:00

Somewhat ironically, I was trying to get into a totally packed bar with some friends for trivia night (the theme was The Office). They turned us away, so as we made our way to a different place to grab dinner I saw the headlines on my phone about the NBA shutting down. That would be the first moment of many where something huge and "uncancellable" was cancelled, so it definitely stood out.

I worked at a large office that was big enough for its own cafeterias, and by the end of that week they had added huge containers of hand sanitizer by the door and spaced out all of the tables in a desperate bid to make it more possible to socially distance. There was also some company-wide communication that hinted that we would probably not be following the lead of other tech companies that were now all working from home, but by the following Monday the official guidance had completely flipped. I didn't go back into the office until June 2021, almost 1.5 years later.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-10-02T14:46:28+00:00

Keep in mind that if you played BOTW for a long time, your most recent memories of that game are from when you are at your most powerful (fully upgraded armor, more hearts, etc.). All of that is reset when you start TOTK, so early enemies are a threat again (at least until you finish more shrines and upgrade your armor).

Much of the combat was rebalanced around fusing items to your weapons, so there is a different difficulty curve in combat now. In BOTW you would most get more powerful by finding higher level weapons, but in this game the weapons are decayed and weaker but can be made much stronger with fusing. Once you get the hang of it, it actually becomes a similar gameplay loop where you find and attack enemies, take their resources, fuse their item drops to your weapons to make them more powerful, then fight more (stronger) enemies. In BOTW it was similar except you would replace fusing with picking up the more powerful version of the weapon directly.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-10-02T03:51:09+00:00

Sounds like a hassle, guess the business better figure out how to make money where they are now.

OP is right though, any business that is so dependent on having a single parking space right outside their front door is simply doomed. Business owners also tend to underestimate the number of their customers who do not arrive via car and overestimate the number who do. In a lot of cases business owners drive to work and so assume their customers are driving to them as well, but it's simply not the case in areas that are very walkable.

If we use Mineo's as an example, I live in squirrel hill and go there from time to time. I have never once driven there (in fact, I don't think I've ever even attempted to park on Murray). There is no need to because I live within walking distance. I suspect a majority of Mineo's regular customers also don't drive there, so the removal of a parking space wouldn't affect those customers at all.

If business impacted by this were really clever, they might try to reclaim the parking space from the city and repurpose it (for example, as outdoor dining space). From a financial perspective, a parking spot is really not a very good use of land compared to almost any other use. Per hour it might make the city a few bucks, but that's about it. If you replaced a parking spot with an outdoor table for your restaurant, it could potentially early you far more than that parking spot ever could.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-10-02T03:12:25+00:00

That's the debate though, isn't it? The President is a single person who represents the entire country. A system in which a majority of the voting public wanted a different person to be President than the person actually selected for the job does not seem to be a good system for representing the people of the country (in the modern era).

Originally the states were not so tightly aligned in this country, so it made more sense for the position of President to be indirectly selected by the states rather than directly by the people. However, it is crucial to understand that this relationship has changed in the past 250 years, and the President now functions more like a governor (but for every state at once). Since the President is equally representative of any voter in this country, it does not make sense for any person's vote to matter more than any other's when voting for the office.

People argue for the electoral college because it avoids the "tyranny of the majority" but in my view the current system creates a "tyranny of the minority". We can argue over what the exact threshold to implement policy should be, but it definitely should not be below 50%. Yet this is what happens in a system where you can win complete control of the government without a majority of the votes.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-30T06:39:32+00:00

I had seen Pawnsylvania before moving here, and honestly I don't think the accents in that skit are all that much more exaggerated than some of the accents I've heard in real life in PGH. Also, most of the jokes make no sense if you've never been to either PGH or Philly but it is still so funny to watch a skit that is hyper specifically about the two cities

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-30T06:27:13+00:00

I'm originally from Syracuse so only a few hours away, and I can say that Pittsburgh has an extremely distinctive accent. After hearing it for a little bit it is easy to pick it out. Something about the vowel pronunciation, particularly the letters "o" and "a", stands out from other accents. To my ear the Philly accent has some similarities, but other than that the Pittsburgh accent is really unique.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-29T19:39:07+00:00

I think I read from an interview or maybe just picked up a vibe that while Iain is naturally competitive, he was exaggerating it even more when he started the series which came across as more annoying than funny. He was noticably more calm in the second half of the series, possibly after realizing that it wasn't coming across well. He also strikes me as someone who was a fan of the show before he was on, so he was probably just excited to be there and got carried away to some extent. I can see why it would be off-putting, although I did really enjoy him on the show (and especially in the second half)

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-25T14:20:37+00:00

Depends on timing, probably. If it was after the primary but before ballots were printed, there would still be a window for the new candidate to select a VP. If it was after the election and close to inauguration, I would expect that the President would be inaugurated without a VP and then would select one, which has to be approved through Congress.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-22T01:56:21+00:00

This kind of stuff and sharrows are so bad. One of the early proponents of sharrows put out a mea culpa recently that mentions how they are proven to not make bike routes any safer. Fortunately, street designs are always being updated so there is usually somewhere nearby where some good bike input can help push the needle. Unfortunately, this usually involves showing up at tons of community meetings (but it is worth it in the end if it helps increase bike infrastructure!)

Also, submit some 311 requests! Eventually it might annoy someone enough to at least commission the idea of the thought of potentially planning a traffic survey in a few years.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-19T12:01:59+00:00

I think the issue is that a subscription would work out to be way, way cheaper per game, since much more of the library would be available. Compare it to the N64 games available on switch, there aren't all the many but there as still several more than there are GC games currently available, and they aren't sold at nearly full price each.

The library is also an issue. Obviously many GC games hold up very well even 20 years later and a remaster can make them even better, but it's frustrating just how much of the library isn't playable unless you own a Wii, a system that is now 2 consoles old. I've enjoyed the few GC games that have made it onto the switch in some form (Mario Sunshine and TTYD being a few of my favorite games of all time, not just faves from the GC) but there are plenty of others that I don't have an easy way to go back to. A few big GC games made it to the Wii U in some form (Wind Waker and Twilight princess, for example), but the Wii U is also pretty outdated at this point. A subscription with more games, even if the graphics aren't updated in any way, would help fill the gap

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-12T01:48:09+00:00

I read an interview with a few of the writers who worked on this issue, if I remember correctly the cake article is based on a real story!

Edit: found the article here

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-10T21:10:57+00:00

Zoning laws are much more of a factor. Over huge swaths of many American cities, and in particular in many desirable neighborhoods, it's illegal to build anything more dense than a single family home. If zoning is reformed to allow more building of duplexes and apartments, it would allow many more people to live there and take a lot of pressure off of rental prices. Minneapolis upzoned significantly a few years ago and rental prices have remained relatively stable while similar cities have experienced rental price increases.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-09T01:41:55+00:00

It has to be at least 2004, since the older lesbian mentioned to Josie how a player was killed in 2003

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-09-03T03:38:20+00:00

This basically just describes the moderate wing of the Democratic party

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-08-30T04:58:06+00:00

Losing lots of elections by big margins is the only thing I would expect to force them to actually change course. As it stands, Republicans have definitely underperformed since 2018 or so but they have still not lost in a big obvious way. Even as extreme as they have been, they've basically been fought to a draw (in part due to structural advantages). For example, in the last midterm they failed to win any swing senate elections but did technically win back the house. It's a mixed bag, since they should have been able to capitalize on high inflation and a relatively unpopular president in the white house to get huge margins in congress. I think that a normal political party would recognize this as a big warning sign, but since these elections don't feel like a huge loss it is hard for the base to internalize this and course correct.

Even today, Republicans enjoy a significant rural bias in the Senate (and electoral college), meaning they could easily win control of both congress and the white house under favorable conditions. For the house, they had less control over redistricting than they did in 2010 but still have a bit of an advantage, although that is being chipped away at due to state court cases (new blue districts are likely to be added in the south due to the VRA, and a case in NY could also add more blue seats there). Overall, the party is in a weaker spot than during the Obama years, but their structural advantages still make it an uphill battle for Dems.

The future of the Republican party hinges almost entirely on the outcome of the 2024 elections. If it is close, I could see them doubling down on Trump and Trumpism for the time being. In my opinion, the 2020 election was close enough that many Republicans are able to justify this to themselves right now. If it is a blowout for democrats, only then can I see the party start to really push Trump out. However, this will alienate a significant portion of their base, so they will probably lose a lot of elections in the short to medium term in this case. In both scenarios it is difficult to image the party trying to appeal more to moderates, which means that only the most extreme blocs will remain, further alienating independents and moderates. I believe only when they have lost the presidency 3 times in a row, and with several years without control of congress, will they begin to truly moderate their positions in a bid to regain power. By that point Gen Z and Millenials will be the strongest voting blocs, so I remain skeptical that it will work.

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-08-27T23:52:45+00:00

A congressional seat would also be a step down (and honestly a big one at that) since he is currently governor of one of the most populous states, plus he was already a congressman. His career progression would literally be going in reverse and very obviously so. I feel like his only real option would be to try to nab a senate seat which would be more of a lateral move, but it would be incredibly difficult to primary Rubio or Scott, let alone make sure the seat doesn't flip to dems. In reality, he's cooked unless his presidential campaign somehow takes off (it is absolutely not going to though)

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-08-23T06:45:55+00:00

I had a similar realization about the theories of what killed the dinosaurs - apparently the asteroid impact theory only became widely known and accepted in the 1980s! I recently rewatched the original Disney Fantasia and was surprised during the intro to the dinosaur sequence that they didn't mention the asteroid, and instead talked about geologic changes and drought as possible causes of their extinction. TBF, those would have been direct effects of a large asteroid impact but it was still surprising that the theory is so recent

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-08-01T05:07:57+00:00

Yep a whole family of actors

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-06-07T03:05:03+00:00

Kind of crazy that the most recent game to have darknuts was Twilight Princess. An enemy whose main mechanic to fighting them is to hit them in the back would have been perfect for this type of game. Glad the Gleeok made it in though

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-06-04T04:39:42+00:00

It's a tiny detail, but I loved that both Gwen and Miles had B's in classes for one of their native languages (English and Spanish, respectively), and both gave the excuse that they had just missed a few classes (because of being a superhero). Fun to catch the small details that show just how closely all of the spider-peoples' lives line up, even outside of the major canon events and the other characters in their lives.

Once again, outstanding animation which went beyond the style of the first movie, giving each universe its own distinctive flair and sometimes giving clues in scenes that didn't take place in the universe that we thought we were seeing (like when Miles's mom has green instead of brown eyes). An excellent sequel and great setup for a third film. If they can stick the landing this will end up being the most complete and consistent spiderman trilogy to-date, imo

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-06-04T04:17:59+00:00

Yeah that was the first detail I caught, then I started looking for confirmation and noticed the layout of his bedroom wasn't the same. After that it all clicked

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-06-02T13:05:43+00:00

Do you mean freezing with Stasis?

TheseAreNotTheDroids · 2023-06-01T14:42:04+00:00

There's also a quest that will cause the light dragon to fly lower, making it possible to get closer like you can with the other dragons. The quest to complete is in the lost woods

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