Randomness thread, part two.

[a500lbgorilla]

At the very, very

very least.

[bikes]

sorry. i have that damn justin beiber song stuck in my head.

[Jack Sawyer]

[Jack Sawyer]

[wufwugy]

^^unfuckingreal

[bikes]

WHAT THE FUCK

[rong]

That's awesome. I just need to figure out how to use this information to my advantage.

[rong]

Just went to the gym and exercised for the first time in 3 yrs. Prior to that I surfed 2 to 3 times a week. It's amazing how far my fitness level has fallen. All I did was row for 15 minutes. When I stood up my legs were like jelly. it was quite pathetic and a little embarrassing.

Tomorrow I'm gonna row for 15 mins and then have a swim.

I will be fit!

[bikes]

so legit.

[Chelle]

incoming randomness, on the randomness thread.


i've realized that potatoes are my favorite veggie.

also, yesterday morning i made biscuits, bacon, and bacon gravy from scratch. took about 2 hrs, i was close to murdering all humans near me.

also learned how to make yeast rolls from scratch as well, took my mom 15 yrs to figure everything out by herself, took me asking her how to make them, and NAILED THE FUCK OUTTA MAKIN' YEAST ROLLS, MOTHA FUCKA!

btw, potato soup with bacon is AMAZING.

fry the bacon first, take out bacon, leave the grease [ldo], add water, milk, butter, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, minced onions, turmeric, then cut the taters in 1 inch cubes, let 'em cook, add instant potatoes to thicken, add bacon, and wah-la! fucking amazing mother fuckin' potato and bacon soups.

so, hay. s'up? i like titties.

[wufwugy]

i've realized that potatoes are my favorite candy.

.

[jyms]

What Wuf said.

Potatoes aren't veggies they are 100 sugar. Nobody loves potatoes, we love what we put on the potatoes. Butter, seasoning, gravy, cheese, ketchup.... That's what we love.

[bikes]

What Wuf said.

Potatoes aren't veggies they are 100 sugar. Nobody loves potatoes, we love what we put on the potatoes. Butter, seasoning, gravy, cheese, ketchup.... That's what we love.

LOTR You keep nassty chips! - YouTube
i'm changing my response.

[Lukie]

What Wuf said.

Potatoes aren't veggies they are 100 sugar. Nobody loves potatoes, we love what we put on the potatoes. Butter, seasoning, gravy, cheese, ketchup.... That's what we love.

Would you say the same thing to an athlete, someone who does physical labor for a living, or someone who wants to gain (muscular) bodyweight?

Not everyone is overweight and underactive, and there can be good reasons to add some carbs to meals. Potatoes have real nutrition and are much better than actual sugar.

[jyms]

Would you say the same thing to an athlete, someone who does physical labor for a living, or someone who wants to gain (muscular) bodyweight?

Not everyone is overweight and underactive, and there can be good reasons to add some carbs to meals. Potatoes have real nutrition and are much better than actual sugar.

Not at all. I was just pointing out we don't love potatoes. Potatoes as a fuel source or for particular nutrients are fine. 99.9% people don't love potatoes was my point. I eat them myself, I just would never eat a plain baked potato.

[Lukie]

Not at all. I was just pointing out we don't love potatoes. Potatoes as a fuel source or for particular nutrients are fine. 99.9% people don't love potatoes was my point. I eat them myself, I just would never eat a plain baked potato.

definitely true

[Chelle]

good lord. i say something about liking potatoes, and some of y'all are all "ermergerd, is nat fewd, is candy!11!1!!"

i'm sure it could be worse. it could be like fried butter or some shit.

[Jack Sawyer]

Potato soup is amazing indeed

[boost]

Potato soup is amazing indeed

yes, but chelle's rendition sounds god awful. Instant potatoes? I don't even...

[d0zer]

yes, but chelle's rendition sounds god awful. Instant potatoes? I don't even...

Steven Reed on Weber Cooks - Rice-a-Roni - YouTube

[boost]

I love pump cheese. DON'T FUCKING JUDGE ME.

[wufwugy]

put that shit on lobster right...

[bode]

yes, but chelle's rendition sounds god awful. Instant potatoes? I don't even...

ime the potatoes thicken the soup naturally, no need for instant potatoes (gross). Also, adding a little shredded cheddar cheese at the end doesn't hurt. (along with the bacon and some green onions!)

[MadMojoMonkey]

Instant potatoes are great! I guess there could be low-quality products out there, but the good brands are well worth it.

How long has it been since you all went to college? Instant potatoes take(s) only hot water to make (you can add milk and butter if you have that stuff).
You can eat it in a hurry and/or on the go.
It keeps your stomach from growling for at least an hour.

*note: Add some beef jerky or some other portable protein source and you can make and eat your lunch in about 5 minutes.
This will keep stomach from growling for 2+ hours.

Pro Tip: add a piece of fruit to eat as you go or drink a glass of juice.

[Chelle]

Oh, forgot about the cheese bit that I added. It was about half a cup of ground Parmesan.

Oh - and I'm aware that it would already thicken a bit with the potatoes, but, I like it a bit thicker, and tbh, you can't tell there's any instant potatoes in it, because of all the spices and whatnot in it, already.

But, agreed, instant potatoes with themselves are usually gag worthy, and look similar to chunky baby vomit.

btw, I made 20 yeast rolls last night, there's like 11 left. I've had one. I think people may like them.

[boost]

Meh, I'll just stop chiming in on other's cooking failures. I was a failure at the stove too at one point. It's good to see people making and effort and actually cooking for themselves. Just keep trying to make better stuff with less and less premade/canned ingredients. It's really not that hard if you understand what you're doing and have the right tools.

[Chelle]

Boost - should start thickening it with cornstarch/milk, instead of the instant potato shit? Everything else, besides the instant potatoes isn't pre-made/canned. I'm tryin' to get better at this becoming one with my gender thing.

About a week ago, I attempted putting rice with the potato soup, and well, didn't turn out well. Put the rice in BEFORE the potatoes, 8 potatoes, btw. Ended up scorching all of it. Rice was burnt to the fucking bottom. Nearly cried.

[boost]

Just thicken it with potatoes? Potato soup is generally pureed, if you still want some of the chunks, then strain some of them out and blend the rest. I mean, that's essentially what you're doing with the instant mashed potatoes-- making really thin mashed potatoes. So why not just do it with actual potatoes?

Rice in potato soup seems a bit strange-- As for it burning, not quite sure how you accomplished that-- probably just had the flame too high before the rice could cook, so it just sank to the bottom, stuck, and burnt.

[Chelle]

Hmn, I think I'm doing it completely different. I suppose the type of soup I'm doing would be considered more of a stew more than anything else, then.

I just cut them up in about inch cubes. I've yet to puree any of them. However, I may start doing this, once I get the equipment, or I could just take half of the potatoes out, and mash them with a fork.

[boost]

Hmn, I think I'm doing it completely different. I suppose the type of soup I'm doing would be considered more of a stew more than anything else, then.

I just cut them up in about inch cubes. I've yet to puree any of them. However, I may start doing this, once I get the equipment, or I could just take half of the potatoes out, and mash them with a fork.

I think you're making soup. To be clear, the pureeing would be done after everything is cooked.

Maybe try finding recipes to work from, so you have a sort of foundation. Once you learn to make a few basic soups, it's pretty easy to figure out how to do a different main ingredient. For example, if you can make clam chowder, you can make corn chowder, salmon chowder, etc etc.

[KoRnholio]

[rpm]

hehe nice ^

[Chelle]

I think you're making soup. To be clear, the pureeing would be done after everything is cooked.

Maybe try finding recipes to work from, so you have a sort of foundation. Once you learn to make a few basic soups, it's pretty easy to figure out how to do a different main ingredient. For example, if you can make clam chowder, you can make corn chowder, salmon chowder, etc etc.

Yeah - I've kinda' just been going by the seat of my pants on the potato soup recipe. One of those trial and error things. Defiantly going to look up a few recipes to go by, now.

[dranger7070]

Find Courses by Department | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials

This is kind of cool, MIT basically letting non-mit people study their courses for free. Provides syllabus, exams, list of required readings, etc. Kind of a neat resource for some additional learning for those interested.

[Pascal]

Acxiom have a database of 3bn online consumers, updated 10bn times a month, data from which can be purchased by online companies for marketing purposes. It covers hobbies, age, whether you own a home, etc

Experian has databases covering 98% of US households with up to 1,000 data items per house

All from just clicking around the web

[bikes]

rest in peace aaron swartz co founder of reddit. and internet activist.

his last blog post
What Happens in _The Dark Knight_ (Aaron Swartz's Raw Thought)

[rong]

How the fuck is hanging yourself ever the best option?

[wufwugy]

how the fuck did this not pop up on my reddit feed?

[BooG690]

IAmArnold... Ask me anything. : IAmA

ARNOLD

[Jack Sawyer]

Wow greed

[sandstorm]

sup guys

[a500lbgorilla]

Didn't sandstorm die?

[sandstorm]

Didn't sandstorm die?

Oh my god, really? What happened?

[a500lbgorilla]

Oh my god, really? What happened?

I think he died.

[sandstorm]

I think he died.

Wow. I heard he kinda quit poker, went to a university in Sweden, spent an exchange year in California and is probably going to spend half a year in DC this spring before graduating.

What up East Coast?

[kiwiMark]

Wow. I heard he kinda quit poker, went to a university in Sweden, spent an exchange year in California and is probably going to spend half a year in DC this spring before graduating.

Sounds like you heard wrong.

[a500lbgorilla]

Sounds like you heard wrong.

I'm not surprised. I heard sandstorm was deaf.

[sandstorm]

I'm not surprised. I heard sandstorm was deaf.

I heard he didn't hear that himself.

[wufwugy]

I hypothesis that most mammals are not much less conscious than humans, if at all; they just don't express their emotions in ways we understand due to lack of vocal chords. We already know beyond a reasonable doubt that dolphins are about as smart as humans, perhaps even smarter yet still unable to express as much due to mechanical handicaps like no hands and voice boxes

[jackvance]

I hypothesis that most mammals are not much less conscious than humans, if at all; they just don't express their emotions in ways we understand due to lack of vocal chords. We already know beyond a reasonable doubt that dolphins are about as smart as humans, perhaps even smarter yet still unable to express as much due to mechanical handicaps like no hands and voice boxes

I can't agree with that, well it would depend on your exact definition of 'conscious', but humans developed their intelligence (large brains) over a relatively short period of time, mostly due to sexual selection for intelligence. And with that comes an inevitable higher sense of self-consciousness because of the ability to make longterm decisions. If dolphins had this too then they would have evolved more tools (like fins shaping into handlike things and better communicational options), as this would be selected upon.

[d0zer]

I can't agree with that, well it would depend on your exact definition of 'conscious', but humans developed their intelligence (large brains) over a relatively short period of time, mostly due to sexual selection for intelligence. And with that comes an inevitable higher sense of self-consciousness because of the ability to make longterm decisions.

Well wuff said two things, he said "conscious", and then he started talking about emotions. The mammalian emotion centers of the brain show up in a myriad of different mammals, so I think it's naive to think that many mammals don't experience emotions, but humans have a uniquely developed cerebral cortex which gives us abstract thought. Some higher animals have shows some capacity for abstract thought, but not comparable to ours.

If dolphins had this too then they would have evolved more tools (like fins shaping into handlike things and better communicational options), as this would be selected upon.

Are you saying that our hands and cellphones are an evolutionary product of our intelligence? I'm not sure that evolution works like that.

[jackvance]

Well wuff said two things, he said "conscious", and then he started talking about emotions. The mammalian emotion centers of the brain show up in a myriad of different mammals, so I think it's naive to think that many mammals don't experience emotions, but humans have a uniquely developed cerebral cortex which gives us abstract thought. Some higher animals have shows some capacity for abstract thought, but not comparable to ours.

Ofcourse they experience emotions, but lateron wuf talked about how smart dolphins are. So it's like I said in my post, depends on what 'conscious' and 'more conscious than another species' means.

Are you saying that our hands and cellphones are an evolutionary product of our intelligence? I'm not sure that evolution works like that.

No not saying that, cellphones aren't even created by evolution. The evolution of our hands came well before the cerebral explosion. Some theories even state that our ability to make and use tools with our hands played some part in said cerebral explosion. I'm just saying that if it would be a great advantage for a species to have a certain trait, then that trait (if it can be developed by random mutation or combination) will start to progate in the population of that species.

[surviva316]

I can attest that my hands and my tools often play a big role in my cerebral explosions.

[d0zer]

Ofcourse they experience emotions, but lateron wuf talked about how smart dolphins are. So it's like I said in my post, depends on what 'conscious' and 'more conscious than another species' means.

Yeah I generally agree with the idea that humans are the "smartest" species, and glorifying animal intelligence can go a bit far, but admittedly a lot of the measurements of intelligence that we've used to judge animals have been very human-centric, and may completely ignore types of intelligence that certain animals have that we either have no use for, or are unaware of. Without question, we show a favorable bias towards animals that demonstrate intelligence that's most like ours, as that is what we're most familiar with.

[a500lbgorilla]

Dolphin brains, whale brains are remarkably similar to human brains, ape brains.

But for one important difference.

The neocortex. It's the newest organ of the brain, the seat of the highest intelligence.

The human neocortex is 6 structural layers deep, each about the thickness of a playing card, and the total square inch-age of a normal handkerchief. It is wrinkled across the very top of your brain. All other primates also enjoy the blessings of 6 structural layers of the neocortex but no where near the area-space.

Dolphins, and also whales, they have 5 layers. Cats, 4. Dogs, 3. The neocortex is uniquely mammalian, so when you see a clever crow, he's clever some other way. How specifically this structure translates into the experience of being you, or the experience of being a dolphin, someone knows better than I.

But any time you're talking about consciousness, you're talking about the neocortex.

Should you like to know more, I direct you to this book right over here. On Intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Luco]

I don't care if dolphins are intelligent, what really matters is are they tasty?

[kiwiMark]

sums up my feelings on women

[Jack Sawyer]

Fun fact of the day:

In March 2012, the parody national anthem from the film, which acclaims Kazakhstan for its high-quality potassium exports and having the second cleanest prostitutes in the region, was mistakenly played at the H.H. The Amir of Kuwait International Shooting Grand Prix in Kuwait. The Gold Winning medalist, Maria Dmitrienko, stood on the dais while the entire parody was played. The team complained, and the award ceremony was restaged. The incident apparently resulted from the wrong song being downloaded from the Internet.

HIGH FIVE

[Lukie]

It never ceases to amaze me the extent that men exaggerate/flat out lie about their height*

*I personally find talking about human height in social settings to be probably the 2nd lamest topic of conversation, ahead of celebrity gossip, but it does come up sometimes. The 5'9" guy claiming to be 6'0" always gives me that (silent) wait, what? reaction.

edit: just to be clear, I think it's kind of accepted that pretty much everyone at least rounds up in regard to height. I'm talking about people who give themselves several inches, use platform shoes, blatantly lie in online profiles, etc. I think that is rather lame and disingenuous.

[d0zer]

It's just insecurity manifested as dishonesty. Women tend to like taller guys so you can't blame them.

Much worse than lying about one's height is the napoleon complex that comes out in some shorter guys, as that tends to bring some pretty anti-social personality traits. They've got something to prove and they're not about to be bullied by the tall man into anything

[boost]

It never ceases to amaze me the extent that men exaggerate/flat out lie about their height*

*I personally find talking about human height in social settings to be probably the 2nd lamest topic of conversation, ahead of celebrity gossip, but it does come up sometimes. The 5'9" guy claiming to be 6'0" always gives me that (silent) wait, what? reaction.

edit: just to be clear, I think it's kind of accepted that pretty much everyone at least rounds up in regard to height. I'm talking about people who give themselves several inches, use platform shoes, blatantly lie in online profiles, etc. I think that is rather lame and disingenuous.

I don't know.. a guy who is 5'9 wearing platforms is lame, but I can sympathize with a guy who's 5'4 wearing them. People drastically underestimate how much height matters for a guy. 6ft and average gets the girl over 5'4 and good looking all day when all else is equal.

[Lukie]

I don't know.. a guy who is 5'9 wearing platforms is lame, but I can sympathize with a guy who's 5'4 wearing them. People drastically underestimate how much height matters for a guy. 6ft and average gets the girl over 5'4 and good looking all day when all else is equal.

These are all good points. And I get it, women like tall men. I personally think that is unfair, and can sympathize for very short men, but it seems like by 'just' being short, you're better off than coming off as insecure and dishonest..... and short when you have to take your shoes off.

I don't know. It's kind of a fine line. If someone rounds up on their height and buys shoes that have a decent lift, that's cool... completely standard, really.

It's ridiculous shoes like these that cross the line, especially when you stuff your shoes with insoles and then claim to be 4-5 inches taller than you actually are that I think is very lame and dishonest:




also my original intent was to be a little more humorous and I communicated that very poorly. It was really meant to point out how we as a society bizarrely value height so much. Even professional basketball players for example, are routinely listed 2+ inches taller than they actually are (measured in shoes, then rounded up), and we can all probably agree that, Earl Boykins aside, that's probably not necessary.

[jackvance]

I don't think it's a society thing though, more like ingrained in human perception. All else being equal, taller people are seen as more trustworthy, smarter etc than shorter people. Across all cultures.

[kiwiMark]

Surely any gain you get by being taller wearing those shoes is immediately offset (and then some) by the fact that lol you're wearing those shoes

[kiwiMark]

I don't think it's a society thing though, more like ingrained in human perception. All else being equal, taller people are seen as more trustworthy, smarter etc than shorter people. Across all cultures.

This is because we evolved from trees, and the taller trees have better chances of mating with sunlight.

[a500lbgorilla]

Yeah, I can see how being 5'6 or even 5'9 could bother someone. Once you crack 5'10, you pretty much don't care until you hit 6'3 where the coin flips and all you do is talk about how tall you are and how tall that makes you.

[Lukie]

Yeah, I can see how being 5'6 or even 5'9 could bother someone. Once you crack 5'10, you pretty much don't care until you hit 6'3 where the coin flips and all you do is talk about how tall you are and how tall that makes you.

having dated a couple very tall women (6'0" and 6'1"), it came up quite a lot in social settings. i also have a male childhood friend who is currently about 6'8", and having grabbed a beer with him a few times, it was interesting to hear how most if not everybody at least made a comment about it.

[jackvance]

Yeah that is true. I'm 1m76 (little over 5'9") and my height has never come up or been an issue. But I have a friend who is on the shorter side, and we always call him by his nickname "smurf". My sister's bf is over 1m90 (6'3") and his height comes up a lot in conversation. I do notice taller guys have it easier getting girls, even had a big conversation about it not too long ago, when we went out in Holland (just about the tallest people on average in the world) and the one tall guy in our group scored a chick.

[kiwiMark]

This also depends a lot where you are in the world imo. I'm 171cm (so like 5'7") and feel average-to-short back home, shorter than average in Germany and (moreso) Netherlands, and average--to-slightly-taller here in the UK. I have absolutely no data to back this up, just how I feel walking around town etc - didn't really ever think about it till moving here from the netherlands to the UK when "what the hell I'm actually taller than a bunch of these strangers" popped up.

[kiwiMark]

A quick google suggests that how I stack the different countries against each other is pretty much correct, but that I'm definitely shorter than average everywhere. I guess this comes down to me knowing I'm secretly much taller than what worthless objective measurements tell me.

[bode]

Yeah, I can see how being 5'6 or even 5'9 could bother someone. Once you crack 5'10, you pretty much don't care until you hit 6'3 where the coin flips and all you do is talk about how tall you are and how tall that makes you.

it seems ime that 6'-6" is that magic number where people seem wtf tall. i'm 6'-4" and height rarely comes up for me, but a contractor I work with who is 6'-8" gets asked how tall he is everywhere.

[Luco]

it seems ime that 6'-6" is that magic number where people seem wtf tall. i'm 6'-4" and height rarely comes up for me, but a contractor I work with who is 6'-8" gets asked how tall he is everywhere.

I think I'm gonna spend a day in the city picking people who are 5'-10" to 6'-2" and asking them how tall they are

[boost]

So, while we are on the subject. I find it really interesting how height can be perceived in relative terms in relation to your social standing with others. I think I'm about an inch taller than my older brother, but he's my older brother and while I don't feel like he towers over me, I do feel like he's taller. Also, friends who are shorter than I am, I tend to stop noticing their height, because I respect them. Girls who I've put on a pedestal always seem to be at least my height, when this is very rarely the case. And just in general, when I'm in social situations where I'm uncomfortable, I don't feel like I'm my height at all.

Anyone else experience this?

[jackvance]

Anyone else experience this?

Yes I have noticed this phenomenon too. The first example that springs to mind was a girl expressing disbelief about my brother being taller than me, even though he is noticeably so. The only explanation I could come up with me is that me being more extraverted warped her perception.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I'm 6'1" (1.85 m) tall, so it's rare that I do not think of someone as "short". That said, I am about as tall as my older brother, but he seems taller than me. I'm also about 2 inches shorter than my younger brother, but I still think of him as my "little" brother.