Real Life and What's Happening...

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I remain unbroken. Perhaps not unbowed, but unbroken nonetheless. In different news, I got home from the bar to find my 15-year-old fast asleep in the living room sandwiched between two girls. So there's that, whatever the fuck that is. :grin: Everyone had their clothes on, so I guess I'm ok with it.
 
Toadmaster said:
The kids at my sons elementary school were allowed to dress in costume today. My wife is the costumer in the house so I was passing along the rules, no weapons, no masks... my wife started cracking up at the masks part, since they all have to wear covid masks everyday.
Worked out pretty well actually, she has a cat (covid) mask so she dug into her bag of tricks and came up with a set of cat ears and a tail (yes these are things she just has... like I said I married weird) so he was a cat for Halloween.
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I find the no weapons thing hard. I have boys, and they've never asked for a costume that didn't involve weapons. I get that no one wants replica guns in the school, sure, I'm a teacher, but is that toy lightsaber worth phoning home about? Well. I''ll tell you, I was very clear about how I felt when I fielded that call.
 
We have two pieces of machinery on my floor, one on each side, both of which have been shut down since everyone was sent home to work last year. About two hours into my day yesterday one of them begins making a noise like a screaming robot. After a bit of effort I find someone of the proper paygrade to contact maintenance about it.



The day progresses, and the sound got worse. The person I contacted forwarded me an e-mail from maintenance, saying they fixed the problem.



Apparently I was too hopeful by not specifying which machine they needed to look at, assuming the robotic screaming audible on the entire floor would draw them to the right one. They instead went to the other one and “fixed” it, though it is still deactivated.



I wrote my contact and pointed all this out, receiving no response. I’ll point to that e-mail chain if the building explodes over the weekend.
 
Nobby-W said:
New old stock Samsung S4 bought about 3 years ago. It may be the SIM card, as I transferred that across from its predecessor. I got it to replace an S3 that had died as it took the same size SIM card so I could just transfer it over. However the S3 only lasted about 4 years or so before it died completely and refused to boot one day.

S series Samsung phones are quite pricey when they're current. I don't think I would be amused to have a £700 phone crap out after 3-4 years, although I knew someone that had a S2 that lasted for much longer, so YMMV I guess. I've been buying new-old-stock phones that are just out of date so the edge comes off the price but in theory they're in effectively new condition. However, they've not had a track record of lasting so far, so I'm not sure it's been that effective. OTOH the sample size is really too small to draw inference from so maybe I'll get lucky with this one.
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Had an S4 do the same SIM card error. It was the battery being too old and bulging, thus messing with SIM card connection (S4 SIM is under the replaceable battery). Check it in profile, especially out of protective case, to notice any battery bulging. If so, cheap battery to replace (@$10), and worth doing so to avoid a fire.

S4 has some solid privacy features and fascinating privacy alt-commerce app community... May be old, but worthwhile to maintain cheaply if you can.
 
Toadmaster said:
The kids at my sons elementary school were allowed to dress in costume today. My wife is the costumer in the house so I was passing along the rules, no weapons, no masks... my wife started cracking up at the masks part, since they all have to wear covid masks everyday.
Worked out pretty well actually, she has a cat (covid) mask so she dug into her bag of tricks and came up with a set of cat ears and a tail (yes these are things she just has... like I said I married weird) so he was a cat for Halloween.
Click to expand...
Nothing wierd about it. I used to have an ottoman filled with costumes in my living room. Late nights at Bunchs house meant people might be dress in strange things.
 
The new phone just arrived and the Smartswitch app transferred the config across pretty cleanly. It even got the wallpaper photo of Mrs. Nobby-W Nobby-W of which I've lost track of the original. First impressions are better camera, much better on-screen keyboard (It's a Samsung Note 10 so quite a bit bigger than the S4) and they shipped it with a slip that makes holding it much easier. One of the annoyances of the S3 and S4 was their hair-trigger touch screens that made even holding it a bit fraught.

It's also a dual SIM card model, so I'll get it an Indonesian SIM card as well next time I get there.

All in all, fairly painless.
 
This morning I ran in a half-marathon race. I haven't been great with adding distance to my running lately, capping out a 10 miles a month ago and not doing more than 8 since, but my pace has been good on shorter runs, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up beating my previous PR by 8 minutes and finishing first in my age group.
Everything just felt right. Weather was perfect, the course was very even, not too crowded. Half way through the race, I'd been aware of this girl sort of pacing next to me, so I turned off my music and chatted with her. She had roughly the same goal as me, so from then on we stayed side by side and kept encouraging each other. Finished the last half mile at a dead sprint. She was amazing, I'd have definitely backed off on pace around mile 10 without her there.
Now I'm gonna go drink back some calories. It's a good weekend.
 
Going to a Halloween-themed backyard bbq tonight. I didn't have time or energy to pull a costume together, but I am wearing my Goblin (the band) tour t-shirt, and my Napalm Death (the band) hoodie, both of which have Halloween-appropriate art.
 
ZX
Toadmaster said:
The kids at my sons elementary school were allowed to dress in costume today. My wife is the costumer in the house so I was passing along the rules, no weapons, no masks... my wife started cracking up at the masks part, since they all have to wear covid masks everyday.
Worked out pretty well actually, she has a cat (covid) mask so she dug into her bag of tricks and came up with a set of cat ears and a tail (yes these are things she just has... like I said I married weird) so he was a cat for Halloween.
Click to expand...
My eleven year old daughter usually dresses as a Princess, Fairy or Angel but this year she has decided to be a Vampire.
 
I'm managing well enough. Money has been a struggle as most of you are well aware of now. However, they had a free adoption event at the pound and we ended up with an American dog, aka, we don't know the breed.

He has traits of Catahoula and Pit Bull. He gets along so far with my Dane. (Dog food is the one resource I will skip, everything else for honestly. One of my friends was giving me a hard time about it but two years ago, I had three dogs, and until yesterday just one.) My Dane needs a friend and we've got a bit of void because of the loss of our elderly American dog/mutt, Tesla, and our Akbash, Tetris.

The new one is now called Max, which seems to fit, he's skinny but has a HUGE head and paws. We've found he's not food aggressive so far, but greedy for it.
I Will have to grab a slow eaters bowl, my Great Dane was similar when she first got here but now is very laid back about food. Picking up mouthfuls and taking them to something higher to eat. (My other Dane ate laying down if she could, I did have her bowls lifted at first. )
 
My wife's dog and my dog are both mutts. My dog is this part basset all random hounds thing that has the body and head of a giant dog, and then the legs of a little dog with giant paws on the end. He's so doofy looking.

For a while we just had my dog. And because he was so weirdly proportioned, long and low to the ground, and I saw him every day, whenever I would see other dogs they would look weirdly tall.
 
I just tried to place a PoD order on DrivethruRPG today, and this message popped up once I confirmed my shipping address:
'Service to this destination is temporarily suspended due to Coronavirus disruptions to international shipping.'
This is too much. Damn this war :sad:
:grin:
 
Mankcam said:
I just tried to place a PoD order on DrivethruRPG today, and this message popped up once I confirmed my shipping address:
'Service to this destination is temporarily suspended due to Coronavirus disruptions to international shipping.'
This is too much. Damn this war :sad:
:grin:
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Essentials only man. Fight the good fight.

On a more serious note, now that 0 Covid is no longer an option for NZ are they changing the gameplay or is it still very tight until they can get enough shots in arms?
 
Bunch said:
Essentials only man. Fight the good fight.

On a more serious note, now that 0 Covid is no longer an option for NZ are they changing the gameplay or is it still very tight until they can get enough shots in arms?
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Still very tight, but our largest city (where most of the cases are popping up) is nearing 90% fully vaccinated. When we reach that milestone, we're switching to a new system that allows more freedom to people who can show a vax certificate.

Naturally anti-vaxxers are screaming about apartheid, but the rest of us are getting very tired of their shit.
 
spittingimage said:
Still very tight, but our largest city (where most of the cases are popping up) is nearing 90% fully vaccinated. When we reach that milestone, we're switching to a new system that allows more freedom to people who can show a vax certificate.

Naturally anti-vaxxers are screaming about apartheid, but the rest of us are getting very tired of their shit.
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What ages can get vaccinated down there?
 
spittingimage said:
Still very tight, but our largest city (where most of the cases are popping up) is nearing 90% fully vaccinated. When we reach that milestone, we're switching to a new system that allows more freedom to people who can show a vax certificate.

Naturally anti-vaxxers are screaming about apartheid, but the rest of us are getting very tired of their shit.
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We're getting tired of their shit on this side of the world too.
 
Australia is just starting to trial opening up to international flights this week to NSW, next month to VIC, and by Christmas all the other states will be opening up, including where I am here in QLD.

The vac rate is quite decent now in NSW and VIC, but lagging in the other states.

The vac rate in our state capitals is much better than in the regions, especially Sydney and Melbourne which have been compromised the most down here. The other state capitals are slowly picking up, but the smaller regions are letting the states down in regards to vac rates.

The anti-vac sentiment is partly to blame, although the usual Aussie casualness is a bigger problem, in this situation it's more apathy in the regional areas. I expect the vac rate will change as the borders open and more unvaccinated people find themselves in hospital beds. That's frustrating, but that's what it will take in the small towns and rural regions before they feel things are immediate enough for them.

But yeah, we are definately over the loud vocal minority of anti-vaxxers down here, but I won't go further down that rabbit-hole here as it moves this conversation into the socieo-political realm. Plenty of other places for me to soapbox, but not here.
 
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spittingimage said:
Naturally anti-vaxxers are screaming about apartheid, but the rest of us are getting very tired of their shit.
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Uff, there as well? And here some even feel the need to draw comparisons to WWII... *roll eyes* Meanwhile our hospitals are filling up with 75-80% unvaccinated Covid patients and we're looking at new measures being installed for the whole population. Of course, those numbers are fake news according to conspiracy-prone anti-vaxxers who keep shouting that the vaccines don't work because the vaccinated can still carry the virus and infect others with it. It is getting really tiresome and I'm just about fed up.
 
We have an actual outbreak where I live now — after eighteen months putting up with tedious restrictions despite there being no covid within 200 km. But the new premier wants to pose as a deliverer, so nothing is being done about it except to bring forward the opening-up. Sydneysiders’ Christmas holidays must go ahead come what may. It is barely even being mentioned in the press.
 
Bunch said:
What ages can get vaccinated down there?
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Twelve and up, but that's under review at the moment. The government's looking at a study that concluded that under-12s benefit from covid vaccination, so we may see the eligible age go down shortly.
3rik said:
Uff, there as well? And here some even feel the need to draw comparisons to WWII...
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Here as well. Almost like they all follow the same playbook.

Stopping myself before I get political. Happy Monday, everyone!
 
Staying in for Halloween with Mexican grilled chicken and a 12 pack of Pacifico. Traffic is heavy, there are too many drunks in Huntington Beach during holidays, and unattended small children in dark costumes darting around spike my blood pressure to dangerous levels. I could take an Uber but thanks to Covid there's nowhere to go that's worth the hassle and expense. I was hoping to game tonight but schedules didn't work out.

Fortunately we live in a 2nd story studio and will not be bothered by trick or treaters.
 
I have sympathy for anti vaxxers even though I disagree with them.

Far too often I have seen the scientific community state with utter confidence something is true. Then the media reports it with almost zero real thought or investigation as fact where only idiots would disagree. Trust science! Then they say oh we were wrong and gee isn't it great we learn from our mistakes so this time trust us!

People who are in science and media need to drop the whole trust us and say this is our best guess and we think we're right. It's more honest. It makes you less authoritative but simultaneously more trustworthy. And it's easier to reverse without looking like an ass.

I mean we have the most sped up vaccination process in history and we're telling people you're an idiot to doubt it?!? Come on! I mean i want everyone vaccinated but ignoring that and saying you're a moron if you don't think it's safe is just not being honest.

Ask people to do it because we think it's the best choice not because it's the only real choice. Acknowledge the risks.
 
I'm just sad at how divided people have become and that the division is getting people killed. I wish we could stop seeing everyone as either us or them and start seeing each other as people.
 
Giganotosaurus said:
I'm just sad at how divided people have become and that the division is getting people killed. I wish we could stop seeing everyone as either us or them and start seeing each other as people.
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Agreed. I think if it was less constant this or that, right or wrong it would be easier to get people to cross an invisible line.
 
Bunch said:
I have sympathy for anti vaxxers even though I disagree with them.

Far too often I have seen the scientific community state with utter confidence something is true. Then the media reports it with almost zero real thought or investigation as fact where only idiots would disagree. Trust science! Then they say oh we were wrong and gee isn't it great we learn from our mistakes so this time trust us!

People who are in science and media need to drop the whole trust us and say this is our best guess and we think we're right. It's more honest. It makes you less authoritative but simultaneously more trustworthy. And it's easier to reverse without looking like an ass.

I mean we have the most sped up vaccination process in history and we're telling people you're an idiot to doubt it?!? Come on! I mean i want everyone vaccinated but ignoring that and saying you're a moron if you don't think it's safe is just not being honest.

Ask people to do it because we think it's the best choice not because it's the only real choice. Acknowledge the risks.
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People are free to choose, but if they start refusing to face the consequences of their choice then that's where I get fed up. The way I see it you need to protect yourself from Covid and especially severe symptoms and hospitalization. The best way to do that is by getting vaccinated. If you don't want that you have to take other measures, like before vaccines became available: social distancing, masks, working from home, testing, etc. If you don't want that either or choose to deny the seriousness of it all, you're an idiot.
 
Bunch said:
Far too often I have seen the scientific community state with utter confidence something is true. Then the media reports it with almost zero real thought or investigation as fact where only idiots would disagree
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I would agree in the main and add a few elements.

In plenty of cases if you look at the original papers these things aren't stated with confidence. One problem is a scientific report passes through several stages before it reaches the media. The original research group, then the principal investigator who has to sum it up to some funding committee who then themselves report it to the university or funding body's PR department who then finally transmit it to the media. So you have a game of Chinese whispers going on. Furthermore that's the original media source that reports the result first. Most media sources will just be re-expressing that original report in their own words, not independently covering it.

I've known plenty of cases where the original researchers tried to get the tentative nature of the original results across or tried to get a media article changed to reflect the actual results but failed. Not because the reporters were malicious or anything but it's even hard to convey sometimes exactly what a study actually says since it depends heavily on correctly phrasing statistical concepts in everyday language. It's a well known point that scientists essentially have no training in expressing their field without jargon, but I think what's more important is that nobody learns how to convert the basic statistical language of any paper, common to all of science, into everyday words.

This is before you get into an even more basic educational problem of thinking the scientific process produces raw truth, which even plenty of scientists fall for. So there tends to be an overconfidence in "proselytising" the "rational truth".

Added to this a small number of scientists often become media "go-to experts" and thus their opinion is presented as if it were a consensus. Sometimes there is no consensus, sometimes there is but it's the opposite of what the media scientist says. The last case really annoys me as it's not uncommon for a charlatan essentially to have their ideas fail in academia and then become a minor celebrity and sell nonsense to the public.

In the last year alone I've seen (I've kept count) 56 major scientific results reported in the popular press and then when I checked the original paper on Elseviar or Springer Verlag the media report was nothing like the original paper.
 
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So I discovered my phone number hadn't transferred across to my new phone because the two factor authentication for work login stopped working. After going through the help desks of my phone company, my employer and Okta, I managed to deduce that the phone number hadn't transferred across to the new SIM card. None of the other parties involved in the transaction were any help at all except the help desk operator at work who could see that Okta thought it was sending the 2FA verification codes.

Protip: business accounts seem to get better service from phone companies.
 
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Séadna said:
I would agree in the main and add a few elements.

In plenty of cases if you look at the original papers these things aren't stated with confidence. One problem is a scientific report passes through several stages before it reaches the media. The original research group, then the principal investigator who has to sum it up to some funding committee who then themselves report it to the university or funding body's PR department who then finally transmit it to the media. So you have a game of Chinese whispers going on. Furthermore that's the original media source that reports the result first. Most media sources will just be re-expressing that original report in their own words, not independently covering it.

I've known plenty of cases where the original researchers tried to get the tentative nature of the original results across or tried to get a media article changed to reflect the actual results but failed. Not because the reporters were malicious or anything but it's even hard to convey sometimes exactly what a study actually says since it depends heavily on correctly phrasing statistical concepts in everyday language. It's a well known point that scientists essentially have no training in expressing their field without jargon, but I think what's more important is that nobody learns how to convert the basic statistical language of any paper, common to all of science, into everyday words.

This is before you get into an even more basic educational problem of thinking the scientific process produces raw truth, which even plenty of scientists fall for. So there tends to be an overconfidence in "proselytising" the "rational truth".

Added to this a small number of scientists often become media "go-to experts" and thus their opinion is presented as if it were a consensus. Sometimes there is no consensus, sometimes there is but it's the opposite of what the media scientist says. The last case really annoys me as it's not uncommon for a charlatan essentially to have their ideas fail in academia and then become a minor celebrity and sell nonsense to the public.

In the last year alone I've seen (I've kept count) 56 major scientific results reported in the popular press and then when I checked the original paper on Elseviar or Springer Verlag the media report was nothing like the original paper.
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Very true.

Here in the US I'm reminded we had one statement made with quite a bit of confidence that caused problems the rest of the pandemic. In the early weeks to keep there from being a rush on masks they put out a statement saying they were not needed except in a hospital environment. That was horrible advice. Yes the doctors needed them much more than the guy in the street but trust is what you need in the long run.
 
Bunch said:
People who are in science and media need to drop the whole trust us and say this is our best guess and we think we're right. It's more honest. It makes you less authoritative but simultaneously more trustworthy. And it's easier to reverse without looking like an ass.
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I think it's more like this -
Scientist: "We've found that in two out of five cases studied in rigorous laboratory conditions, this drug inhibits tumour growth by 3% plus or minus .4%."
Journalist: "SCIENCE DISCOVERS CANCER CURE!"
 
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