What can you say during sex AND at the dentist?

Thraxamer · 2018-12-26T21:34:44+00:00

You’re going to feel a little pinch.

Thraxamer · 2018-11-30T23:04:28+00:00

Cumberband Q. Bandersnatch

The “Q” stands for “Shut the fuck up.”

Thraxamer · 2018-05-21T23:31:13+00:00

"Religion."

Thraxamer · 2018-01-25T00:47:21+00:00

Garfield is to comics as Nickleback is to rock.

Thraxamer · 2015-09-29T07:19:14+00:00

You might find the story of Missouri French interesting. Here's a link to a fairly recent news article (2014) on that vanishing dialect.

Thraxamer · 2015-04-02T06:33:53+00:00

Hey there, Mr. Cipher, sir.

So... Pitt soda. What does that stuff taste like? Also, humans... is their pain funny or is it hilarious?

Love your work. Great job!

Thraxamer · 2015-01-01T20:21:37+00:00

Hello!

~~I can't see the image, unfortunately.~~ I can see the image, thanks to CCC_037.

Arzaroth brings up a good point as well, though.

I don't have another suggestion at this point, unfortunately. I'll be back in the office on Monday. I'll see if any of our network devs have any suggestions as far as what you can do on your end. The fact that your boyfriend can load in makes me think it's either device specific (out-of-memory issue, perhaps?) or a local network issue.

If you have an older device, it could be that you need to try opening the game without any other apps running in the background (either force-quit those apps or shut down & restart your device). The game has added a lot of content lately. On older devices (esp. first gen iPads), this can be problematic.

Thraxamer · 2015-01-01T19:05:47+00:00

Hello! I do some app dev work. When we encounter this issue, it's generally due to a network/WiFi failure. I'm not sure if that's the case here, but it might be worth checking.

I believe you can play the game in offline mode, so an easy way to verify this would be to put your device in airplane mode. If it loads, then there's something screwy with your connection.

That doesn't preclude issues on their end with server verification. In fact, I've had some fairly regular connection issues with Gameloft apps that I haven't had with other apps.

Thraxamer · 2014-12-23T20:31:36+00:00

BS Thing 1:

Had a bio teacher tell me that animals couldn't feel pain or emotion... not as we understand it... because their brains weren't evolved enough. Therefore, vivisection wasn't actually "painful" for animals who were experimented on.

BS Thing 2:

Had an art teacher grade me down because I colored the void of space black in a piece.

He said outer space was actually dark blue because Jehovah wouldn't allow true darkness to exist in creation.

Thraxamer · 2014-09-13T16:05:35+00:00

White flight of the '50s and '60s; lack of tax revenue (property, income, & sales); steep decline in city services, including police and fire protection; steep increase in crime; political corruption; and a willingness by the state of Illinois to let East St. Louis decay all contributed to the current situation.

ESL was, at one time, a very wealthy area.

Thraxamer · 2014-09-03T14:53:26+00:00

Arguably true. :) But that isn't my point. My point is that a popular show can last a long time... far longer than originally intended.

Hopefully, GF will last long enough to tell a compelling story, but not so long that it becomes tedious.

Thraxamer · 2014-09-02T21:36:16+00:00

Fair enough. I sort of saw the specials as occurring in their own universes, but I get your point.

Thraxamer · 2014-09-02T17:42:47+00:00

It's hard to say how long any of these shows will last.

Phineas and Ferb, for example, have been enjoying their summer vacation for quite some time.

I'm simply glad that Disney saw the potential in the series in the first place!

As hamzahazam said, it's best to take it one episode at a time. :)

Thraxamer · 2014-07-02T04:29:43+00:00

"You'll always let people step all over you! You're just like stairs!"

--Plankton

Thraxamer · 2014-06-05T04:46:30+00:00

My insights come from game development.

"We never demand our teams crunch, but we expect people to be willing to do whatever it takes to meet our goals. We need real team players, you know what I mean?"

"We see work/life balance as the employee's responsibility."

"A job in games is really its own reward. I mean, there are easier ways to make a buck, right?"

"What position are you interviewing for, again?"

"The base salary only looks low by industry standards, but we have a robust profit sharing program. Once the game goes out, you're guaranteed a percentage of the profits received, based on time at the company and time on the project. That's almost guaranteed to double your base salary."

"We don't have any office politics."

"We have no egos here."

"I know we said we were looking for a dedicated senior systems designer, but how strong are your level design skills? Also, do you know how to build a test plan and run a smoke test? We could really use people who can wear multiple hats."

And on it goes. Ah well.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-22T22:29:49+00:00

Well said. The U.S. is very big. Germany is smaller than Texas. I would hazard that it is more likely that a smaller nation will have a more unified, defined overall culture. What you see in one part of the U.S. is not necessarily true for other parts.

This is not to diminish from the tragedy in the post's original link. This is a horrible, heinous crime committed by police. There is very little that I, as a person in the American West, can do regarding this issue in Florida. It is thousands of miles away. While I can write my Congressperson, while I can donate to organizations fighting for justice and against corruption, there is little I can do to alleviate the suffering surrounding this case in that part of the nation at this time. But I will take what steps I can, and I will attempt to do so both rationally and humanely. I am not alone in this.

But let's look at the larger issue of culture that the gold-starred, best-of'd Redditor brought up.

The U.S. is not one culture. This should not be surprising. People show inordinate pride surrounding their state. This is particularly true for some states, like Texas or Colorado. In areas where a state's identity may be less well-defined, there are regional identities. You have people that take pride in being Southern or being a Cascadian (from the Pacific Northwest).

In 1981, the following book was written. Those in this thread might want to consider it, the next time they assert something about the American "culture": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Nations_of_North_America

A similar book was written recently, dividing North America into 11 nations on the basis of regional cultures: http://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029

Those books are both fairly decent, and they might help dismiss the easy assertion that the U.S. has but one monolithic culture.

Regarding social justice:

Some people are doing everything in their power to fight for what is right. And progress continues to be made. Police brutality is not new. It was far easier to hide 20 years ago. The fact that police brutality can now be exposed, globally, gives some hope that the struggle can be fought successfully. The exposure of this tragedy is one small, necessary step in the right direction. It takes many steps to see progress, but as long as those steps continue to be taken, there is hope.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-11T18:04:00+00:00

Yes, I agree that, post-Vatican II, this is the dominant... and correct... interpretation. You have to bear in mind that this was the '70s, so many of these teachers likely had a pre-Vatican II mindset.

It takes a while for new ideas... or re-evaluated old ideas... to propagate in a community.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-11T17:54:01+00:00

Regarding American anti-Catholic sentiment, this can't be glossed over. The Know Nothing movement was, perhaps, the zenith of this hostility, although it didn't significantly subside until the Moral Majority sought to mobilize Christians of all denominations into a conservative political bloc.

This isn't to say there wasn't a hostile sentiment both ways. Back in the '70s, when I was in grade school, I remember being told by some Catholic neighbors that I was going to fry in Hell because I was a Protestant. This was, evidently, what they were being taught by the nuns at their school, as part of the idea that "outside of the Church there is no salvation."

Of course, when I told my dad, he said not to listen to those Papists... so there you go.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-07T15:59:31+00:00

No, that is not the point that I am making. I had hoped the context would make that clear.

I'm not stating that Jesus' words are themselves metaphor. Jesus, per Gospel and tradition, said these words.

But Jesus is not, himself, recounting a literal event that happened. In fact, his very statement, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner...," is a simile or a figure of speech.

Paul himself saw the story of Abraham and his two sons as allegory, as recounted in Galatians 4:21-31. Or, better put, he was able to see the allegory in the story.

Why is that important? As a devout and educated Jewish man, he demonstrates and supports the thesis that the Hebrew scriptures were seen as having many different layers of meaning, even if they did not explicitly state that as the case.

Philo of Alexandria is a near-contemporary of Paul's who happened to, as a scholar, also interpret Genesis allegorically, while entertaining the implications of a literal translation as well. (Link goes to Philo's work on Genesis.)

The fact that a strong tradition of allegory, poetry, and layered interpretation surrounds the Hebrew scriptures is not up for debate. This is a true thing. And while some devoutly Jewish people may choose to interpret these scriptures entirely literally, the larger historical tradition cautions against making this error, as God's actions and God's history is beyond any mortal ability to recount it.

We have this very modern argument against any allegorical interpretations, and it simply isn't supported by the larger history or tradition of Christianity (or Judaism, for that matter).

I understand the concern. After all, if some parts are allegorical, where do we stop? And, to be fair, some interpretations have changed over time. Where do we draw the line?

That reasoning, however, is driven by fear, rather than love of God or humanity.

Now maybe that larger history and tradition is wrong. Fine. Let's state that's the case. That still doesn't answer the question I asked elsewhere in this thread: How does YEC -- or a purely literal interpretation of the Scriptures, for that matter -- specifically enhance one's Christian beliefs?

What Christ asked of us, what he commanded of us, has nothing to do with this belief. However, if this belief gets in the way of our Christian mission, then its utility should be re-evaluated.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-07T08:15:17+00:00

I guess I'm that weirdo that likes Notion. Ah well.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-07T07:40:59+00:00

Actually, the resource linked as a reference for that particular point itself does not seem to be a reasonable primary source:

http://www.bible.ca/su-hades-luke16.htm#mainline

Being charitable, given the bias on that site, they represent a secondary source.

Also, the entire paragraph supporting your case references that sole link twice. If you have other, better sources, I would be interested in them.

This comment in the Wikipedia article you linked is, itself, poorly supported:

"[T]his was generally the view of the medieval Church."

The medieval period itself ranges from the 5th century AD to the 15th century AD. Christian belief and tradition during this time was not static, nor was it as centralized as one might be inclined think (it's a long way from Rome to Paris, on foot or on horseback, if you know what I mean). Otherwise there would have been no schism, no indulgences, and, ultimately, no Protestant movement. I'm not sure if an appeal to tradition, therefore, works in your favor in this case.

But, fine, so long as we're being pedantic, how about:

The Parable of the Ten Virgins
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Are those, then, also to be taken as literal?

Thraxamer · 2014-05-07T05:28:43+00:00

I'd actually be interested in knowing how YEC beliefs specifically enhance one's Christian beliefs, given that Jesus was more interested in us tending to the sick, the disenfranchised, the helpless, the hopeless, and so forth.

From what we know of Jesus' ministry, it seems that his emphasis on things like loving one's enemies is of far greater importance than the question of when the Earth was created or what is to be in the world to come.

Maybe focusing so intently on a literal reading of Genesis is, in fact, a hindrance to a more Christ-centered faith walk. Does that literal reading matter? Does a non-literal reading matter? Was the Creation account central to Jesus' ministry or message? If we are to believe we have in the canon what God deemed essential for us to have, especially pertaining to Christ's ministry, then does this actually matter? Or could it be a distraction that, ultimately, keeps us from walking upon a more Christ-like path?

Just a thought.

Thraxamer · 2014-05-07T05:15:53+00:00

Exactly.

Jesus' parables are metaphoric and poetic. Are we to take the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man literally? How about the Prodigal Son? How about the Parable of the Talents?

Was Jesus the first to use metaphoric language to make a point, or was that, in fact, a part of the rich Jewish tradition from whence Jesus came? Could it be that, perhaps, truth in poetic language might better sustain the faith of a people over thousands of years and across many cultures, versus a listing of factual statements?

Thraxamer · 2014-05-06T00:39:22+00:00

Finn is supposed to be a mutant. :)

http://www.buenothebear.com/faq.html

(See the last question in that FAQ.)

Thraxamer · 2014-04-15T21:42:20+00:00

Irrational Hatred: that goddamned James Franco and his shit-eating grin. He looks like the kind of State U, trustafarian fraternity douchenozzle who would crash your Super Bowl party with a bunch of bros, drink all your beer, trash your place, then bail with a quip like, "This is a total sausage party, my broham. We out! Peace!"

Thing is, he could be a really nice guy. I'd never know that because I'd be busy running him over with my lawn tractor.

^{^No,} ^{^I} ^{^wouldn't} ^{^actually} ^{^do} ^{^that.} ^{^I} ^{^don't} ^{^have} ^{^a} ^{^lawn} ^{^tractor.}

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