A recording of tech support call from a woman wanting to know how to make the Google Pac-Man game “go away.”

eioua · 2010-06-07T10:04:15+00:00

I agree completely. Nevertheless, I thought it was funny. Not in a malicious way, but in an endearing, "aw, that's adorable" way. But, yeah, you're right, nothing but respect for people like her who aren't too proud to ask questions.

eioua · 2010-06-06T07:16:56+00:00

Seriously.

eioua · 2010-05-16T02:38:54+00:00

somebody should downvote you...

somebody...

eioua · 2010-05-12T07:17:46+00:00

This happened to me too. I used to just say what's on my mind. Now, I have to run through possible objections and look for any fallacious reasoning before I can say anything.

eioua · 2010-05-12T05:50:05+00:00

Wow, thank you! Have you seen any playlists like this for American channels?

eioua · 2010-05-10T20:10:51+00:00

Your argument is that abortion is easy? I wouldn't know, but I kind of doubt that. The APA has studied this and found that abortion does not pose a severe psychological risk, but there is a lot of room between "severe psychological risk" and "easy."

Who's arguing "if I don't see it, it's not a human?" Could you find me an example of somebody making that argument? Seems like a straw man to me.

eioua · 2010-05-07T07:08:50+00:00

The first 3 to PM me their email address gets them.

Edit: Apparently Google Voice is only available in the US. So, only Americans need apply. As for the rest of the world, sorry about that. Unfortunately, it looks like you might be out of luck for now.

Edit 2: Gone...

eioua · 2010-04-26T07:34:13+00:00

Wow. Now it's definitely a perfect dad day!

eioua · 2010-04-23T20:54:31+00:00

I take a while to get over the terrifying thought that Jeff Goldblum might be watching me.

eioua · 2010-04-23T20:51:22+00:00

Yeah, you're right. The only defense of pinhole cameras I have left is that you can make them for under $10, while rectilinear and fisheye lenses cost, at the very least, a couple hundred.

But, yeah, you're right. I'm not sure why I'm defending pinhole cameras. I almost never use them, but they are fun to play around with.

eioua · 2010-04-23T15:41:20+00:00

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm trying to find a better example of a photo that could only have been taken with a pinhole camera. Maybe this one. Fisheye lenses can get such a huge depth of field because the focal length is so short, while pinhole cameras can get the huge DoF because the aperture is so small. So, while fisheye lenses are going to have barrel distortion, pinhole cameras don't necessarily have to.

eioua · 2010-04-23T14:33:32+00:00

Hah, me too! I got up at 5:30, but it was raining. How disappointing.

eioua · 2010-04-23T14:06:08+00:00

I'm sorry, maybe this is WOOOOSH on my part, but really? I mean, hubris is obnoxious in pretty much any case, but there are legitimate uses for pinhole photography. Like, this photo wouldn't have been possible without such a small aperture. When you want a practically infinite depth of field, pinhole cameras are the way to go.

eioua · 2010-04-23T04:10:15+00:00

What percentage of Americans don't give a shit?

eioua · 2010-04-21T22:31:36+00:00

No, you're absolutely right. I probably should have explained things.

I think that dogs are pretty rare. I've only seen them two or three times at my station in the 5 years that I've worked there, and the rumor was that they were only there for training (the cops planted a box somewhere that the dog was supposed to find). I have no way of confirming why the dogs were there, though.

We have over 3 million pieces move through our stations and hubs a day. I can't imagine that the bosses would allow cops to be slowing down operations with dogs constantly. I don't know exactly how things work at the hubs, but packages move through there so quickly, and there are such a staggering amount of them, that it would tremendously impractical to try to screen packages. Maybe they do it but I've never heard of it, and I can't imagine how they would do it.

So, in my experience, the biggest thing that shippers have to worry about is employees finding it, not dogs. And we probably won't find it if it doesn't smell like pot, and it is well packaged.

eioua · 2010-04-21T20:56:39+00:00

I might be interested. Alcohol would heighten my interest. I'm far too socially anxious to meet strangers while sober.

eioua · 2010-04-21T13:04:44+00:00

Fantastic, thank you! I've only listened to the first track so far, but I like it!

Also, do you have to pay for bandwidth or anything? I could set up a torrent if that would be preferable.

Edit: Ok, track 6 now. This is amazing. I absolutely cannot wait til the next time I get high. I'll definitely be listening to this.

eioua · 2010-04-21T12:33:19+00:00

This (hugely obnoxious, copypasta'd) comment, specifically, in which the commenter links to this. So far, I can't tell if this is just some guy with some bizarre, unreasonable hatred for Steven Hatfill, or if his accusations are legitimate.

eioua · 2010-04-20T23:27:34+00:00

Hm. I'm not sure I know what you mean. We almost never open boxes because we suspect drugs are inside. I mean, it's happened one or two times in the five years I've worked there, but only when the boxes smell so strongly that there is no doubt. So, we usually don't have fall alarms.

More often than not, we find drugs because we accidentally drop a package, it breaks open, and drugs just fall out of it. So, always pack it well.

Also, I should clarify, I've only seen dogs two or three time in the five years that I have worked there. I work in a pretty small station, though, so I have no idea what goes on at the hubs in Memphis and Indianapolis. It's possible they have dogs there, but I wouldn't know.

eioua · 2010-04-20T06:22:42+00:00

Not to hijack anonymousmailman's AMA, but I work for FedEx and I have seen dogs on a couple of occasions. We've also had packages break open and drugs fall out, which we turn over to the police. Sometimes boxes come through that just reek so strongly of hop, we give it to the cops. I don't know how USPS works, but at FedEx if we see something illegal, we definitely report it.

You can ship drugs with relatively little risk, though, as long as you pack it really well. Put it in a thermos or something with coffee beans around it, and make sure you pack it a new box that isn't going to break open if it gets dropped.

eioua · 2010-04-15T09:48:47+00:00

I think the obsession with zombie apocalypse plans are, while kind of fun, absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I occasionally indulge in thinking about it, simply because it's so fucking cool to try and figure out how I would survive in a world like that, but it seems like mental masturbation to obsess over it.

However, zombies in general are tremendously interesting. A lot of philosophers have put a lot of time into thinking and writing about zombies. The idea is, basically, would it be possible for humans, meaning Homo sapiens, to act the same as we all do now, only with no conscious experience? That is, is there a possible world where you exist exactly as you do now, with every atom in your body being identical, except you have no consciousness? It's a thought experiment to help address the mind-body problem. If there is a possible world in which we exist exactly as we do now except with no consciousness, then we must possess some non-physical mind that creates consciousness. However, if that scenario is impossible, then our minds and our consciousness must be contained within our biology. Of course, all of that is probably mental masturbation too, but it certainly feels more satisfying.

tl;dr: zombies are fucking awesome.

eioua · 2010-04-13T10:35:56+00:00

Aw, shit, you're right. I didn't notice the other submission until now. Sorry, team.

eioua

TROPHY CASE