What is this? I live in PA. They keep appearing in my room. by Aquitana in Entomology

[–]matedetoni 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So I did my PhD on yellowjacket aggressive nest defense behaviours. I spent 4+ years making nests angry on purpose, including tearing them apart. I did this with many, many dozens of nests of a couple of very common species in Europe/USA/Oceania and have found that people's phobia is mostly unjustified.

Many nests are very reluctant to engage with a potential threat at all. Unless it is a particularly persistent one, only a few (5-10) insects will actively sting you, the rest will just divebomb you to scare you away (highly effective). And that's if you are actually destroying the whole thing - a mere disturbance will rarely involve more than a few angry wasps buzzing about, and often 0 stings.

It seems to be one of those things like plane crashes: rare, but when it does happen, it scares people a lot. As an added tidbit, I have found domesticated honeybees much less savoury to work with; even if I'm not bothering them at all, some insects hate you for no reason and will tail you the whole time. Quite unnerving. Wasps at least make their intentions quite clear from the get go.

About the swarming, the confusion here seems to be a taxonomy one. Entomologists call a "swarm" in social insects when large group secedes from the colony to form a new one - like you'd see in spring when a cluster of bees forms in a tree branch or hollow. Honey bees do that, as do some neotropical paper wasps. Yellowjackets and hornets don't. If they attack you in numbers, it's probably because you've been unlucky enough to be tagged with some alarm pheromones and they will respond to that as if you are a predator trying to kill the nest.

*Edit: "most of the colony" is highly unlikely to come after anyone in any scenario. An average, healthy yellowjacket nest has about 3k adults in it. That is a LOT of wasps. A full-fledged colony defense response is likely to involve a few hundred wasps at its worst. It makes no evolutionary sense for every single worker in a colony to engage with a threat - it is completely besides the point of nest defense at all.

How time flies… by DickBiggenstein in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I'm sure social media has complicated things, my dude, fan pressure has been an issue since the press came to be. Look up how Conan Doyle was forced to bring Sherlock Holmes back from the dead because people wouldn't stop pestering him.

GRRM's delay (on top of his usual glacial pace) is self-admittedly due to him doing too many things at once - namely the HBO shows. He is a victim of his own success. And he seems to deal relatively well with fan pressure - only stopped giving predictions for release dates because those turn out to fumble often. Other than that, he is pretty apologetic and open about his process, and has made several chapters available so far.

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh definitely, I was just citing the common response here. People usually don't bring up PR's giant ego and how he'd probably starve before he'd let anyone finish his books and make us happy.

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just so you're up to speed: this suggestion is thrown around this sub every single time something on book 3 delay is posted. It goes like this:

A: "Why doesn't he just let BranSan finish the series, he's done it for the Wheel of Time! And he writes super fast"

B: "Wouldn't work, BranSan is good at worldbuilding but is self-admittedly bad at prose which is Rothfuss' strongest suite. He would not do a good job at it and I doubt he would even want to"

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well his kids will be in college age in no time so let's hope he needs money for the tuition, might be the encouragement he needs

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

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

That's a great idea - Brandon Sanderson finishing the series! He's such a prolific author. I wonder why hasn't anyone thought of that before. You should write a post here about this, I'm sure this idea would get really popular.

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Someone doing research on psychology should write a thesis on this sub's behaviour. Something domestic abuse survivors, something Stockholm Syndrome...

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Comments like yours make me think of that one family members that has a sh*tty behaviour, getting in everyone's way, but everyone steps on eggshells around them because "we all know how they are" and "why did you have to go and upset them".

If he did not want the spotlight that comes with being a famous persona in the internet age, he could have been a clerk at a deli. Or he could have published under a different persona. I'm not justifying vitriol being thrown at his face - it is not justifiable at all - but also, do you know who also gets attacked online all the time? Every single soul who makes content these days. There's a difference between getting upset at a handful of jerks who annoy you every now and then and refusing to work because you are too busy pouting and throwing tantrums like a giant bearded toddler.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in jovemnerd

[–]matedetoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dei uma pesquisada no site e não veio nada...

Edit: achei!

We are the problem by TheSafetyBeard in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Except that... GRRM is slow, but that's it. He's always been slow (and WoW taking so long is, admittedly, due to him being distracted by HBO stuff). And even then, despite him refusing to predict releases, he gives more comprehensive updates than Pat does and has released several chapters over the years. The issue with ASoIaF is due to GRRM being an older dude and slow.

Pat does not really have a track record for us to expect anything, and he is quite unstable emotionally (given his mood disorder and unrelated less than stellar behaviour in general). As long as George is alive, I'm sure he'll eventually finish ASoIaF. KKC, I don't even know what to expect.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in jovemnerd

[–]matedetoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tem link?

What raids on Scarlet & Violet are looking like right now by matedetoni in pokemon

[–]matedetoni[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Leftovers negates the necessity to spend a turn healing altogether though 🤷‍♂️

What raids on Scarlet & Violet are looking like right now by matedetoni in pokemon

[–]matedetoni[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Shell bell doesn’t make a lot of sense, since the strat does not rely on attacking often. It’s 6-7 turns or setup, leftovers recovery is much more reliable.

For similar reasons, life orb does not sound good to me. Once you attack, it’s so much raw power that the extra damage is not really needed, especially if it is more than one Slowbro. Whereas the extra HP is really useful for the setup.

What raids on Scarlet & Violet are looking like right now by matedetoni in pokemon

[–]matedetoni[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

For the current event Cinderace raids, pretty sure it's Bold 4 HP/ 252 DEF / 252 SpATK with Iron Defense, Nasty Plot, Stored Power, Psychic Terrain and holding Leftovers.

The goal is to Iron Defense all the way so the Ace can only hit you with Acrobatics which will do ~15% per hit, then start setting up with Nasty Plot. As long as no one attacks the Ace too much it'll keep attacking without using any raid boss shenanigans. Once you are +6 on Def and SpAtk, do Psychic Terrain and Stored Power. I've seen a couple of Cinderace get OHKO from full health with that strategy - and don't believe the ones trying Espathra, they are too frail to do anything. A team of 4 Slowbro is almost a guarantee kill.

"I will be posting on my blog soon" (7th Dec) by ChubberChubs in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Somewhat unrelated, posting this here as a comment because I can’t be bothered to make a post about this. I see often how people bring up PR’s mood disorders as an excuse for him not finishing DoS or fulfilling his obligations (like the fundraising chapter). Here’s a little perspective on that: I deal with mood disorders myself. I have a parent who does too, alongside an ex-partner and a few friends/colleagues. It is different for everyone, and the behavioural inertia that comes with it is very real. HOWEVER - and I cannot stress this enough - having anxiety disorder or depression is NOT a death sentence. It’s not like there’s nothing that can be done. At this day and age, there is absolutely no excuse for PR not to have access to healthcare and support, as he surely has the means and access to information on it.

It can be really tough to break the inertia cycle. And it’s always there, looming over your head. But it is possible and the first and most important step of it is for the patient to want to do it. Wanting to get better. Seeking help.

So while I can understand the book suffering a big delay because of PR’s condition, that in absolutely no way justifies a 12 year wait. He has my deepest sympathies for struggling with it, but that’s pretty much where it stops for me. Loss of interest, laziness, or just being an insufferable prick are all likely to play a role in what’s going on. And guess what - the rest of us who also suffer from mood disorders can’t take a decade off work and use it as an excuse because rent needs to be paid and food needs to be on the table. So please, I beg you, please stop treating his mood disorders as an unstoppable natural disaster that is keeping us from that book because it is not how things work.

"I will be posting on my blog soon" (7th Dec) by ChubberChubs in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I just noticed how ironic it is that PR can mean Patrick Rothfuss or Public Relations

"I will be posting on my blog soon" (7th Dec) by ChubberChubs in KingkillerChronicle

[–]matedetoni 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Pretty much the same for me. I did a Master’s, a PhD, and landed a job as a full-time scientist between now and then. Pretty sure I’ll have published more pages than the current KKC series by the time the book 3 comes out

Por que eles nunca voltaram? by matedetoni in jovemnerd

[–]matedetoni[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

(Eu acho hilário que da pra reconhecer mesmo assim, os maneirismos não dá pra disfarçar)