Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Goldfinch posted:

Sorry for the kinda depressing question, but here goes: I had my cat put to sleep yesterday. I took her body home with me, but it's winter, so the ground is much too frozen to dig into and bury her. So I just took her out into the snow and sort of placed her under a tree where more snow could cover her. (I live in a very rural area)

BUT then I thought... her body is full of whatever chemical they used to put her to sleep, right? I mean, if some coyote or other wild animal comes and chews on her, are they going to get sick? Much as I want to have some ~meaningful thing~ where she returns to nature, I really don't want to be poisoning random wildlife! Could this be a problem?

I've dug a hole 3 or 4 feet deep in the winter by dumping boiling water on the ground a bunch of times while I was digging. It will just take you an hour instead of a a half hour.

# ? Jan 20, 2014 19:51

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 1, 2024 12:33

Grundulum: Feb 28, 2006

kensei posted:

It took literally two weeks for me to get my passport in December, this is the slow time of year.

What identity issues? I hope you just changed your name.

Speaking of my passport, I am going to Japan in June. Is there a place I can get a SIM card for my Verizon Droid MAXX in advance, or should I just buy a card when I get there, or? I'll be there for two weeks so I want to have some sort of communications.

Since I happen to have answered this exact question repeatedly, here's what I told people:

I posted:

Here's the information about the SIM cards

First off, if you have an iPhone 4/4S you have a micro SIM card. 5/5C/5S use a nano SIM card, which will require special treatment after purchase. If you've never noticed it before, the SIM card resides in the side of the phone, behind a small door with a spring-loaded latch. Push a paperclip into the small hole to pop out the SIM card holder.

I bought my SIM cards at Yodobashi Camera. There's definitely one in Akihabara, and probably many other places around Tokyo. Once you're in Yodobashi Camera, you can start using the phrase "data SIM card" to get pointed in the right direction, or you can hold up this picture (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polaristin/6973404710/). That's the one you want, I think. I forgot (again) to take a picture of the packaging for my SIM card before throwing it away. Either way, the important information is micro size, data only, and 1 GB/month. Should cost about 3500 yen.

After you've bought it, it needs to be activated. There are instructions in English inside the package, but it amounts to calling a phone number in Japan and entering the SIM card's ID number. Since you won't have phone service, though, you'll need to call from a Japanese phone. They card's information claims it needs to be a Japanese *cell* phone, but I can't see a reason why.

Finally, insert the activated SIM card into your phone. ~~If you have an iPhone 5+, you'll need to cut the micro SIM card down to nano size.~~

I assume you can find out what size SIM card your phone uses.

Alternately, http://www.econnectjapan.com/ is more expensive but you can get it right at Narita airport.

# ? Jan 20, 2014 20:54

kensei: Dec 27, 2007; He has come home, where he belongs. The Ancient Mariner returns to lead his first team to glory, forever and ever. Amen!

Grundulum posted:

Since I happen to have answered this exact question repeatedly, here's what I told people:

I assume you can find out what size SIM card your phone uses.

Alternately, http://www.econnectjapan.com/ is more expensive but you can get it right at Narita airport.

Thanks!

# ? Jan 20, 2014 21:04

an overdue owl: Feb 26, 2012; hoot

Are there any problems with eating peanuts in their shell, shell and all? I'm guessing the shell is just going to be extra fibre, it's not anything your body can't handle though right?

# ? Jan 20, 2014 21:08

RaoulDuke12: Nov 9, 2004; The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to those who see it coming and jump aside.

Yeah, don't overdo it though, you could get pretty backed up with enough of them in your gut.

# ? Jan 20, 2014 21:13

sleepy gary: Jan 11, 2006

an overdue owl posted:

Are there any problems with eating peanuts in their shell, shell and all? I'm guessing the shell is just going to be extra fibre, it's not anything your body can't handle though right?

Biologically no, you can eat them, but they are filthy.

# ? Jan 20, 2014 21:14

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

DNova posted:

Biologically no, you can eat them, but they are filthy.

Peanuts are pretty much my most hated food after shellfish. The FDA doesn't test for a really nasty fungus that ends up on "improperly stored" peanuts.

some website posted:

Peanuts and Aflatoxin

Peanuts are susceptible to molds and fungal invasions. Of particular concern is aflatoxin, a poison produced by a fungus called Aspergillus flavus. Although better storage and handling methods have virtually eliminated the risk of aflatoxin ingestion, aflatoxin is a known carcinogen that is twenty times more toxic than DDT and has also been linked to mental retardation and lowered intelligence. To help prevent aflatoxin ingestion, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also enforces a ruling that 20 parts per billion is the maximum of aflatoxin permitted in all foods and animal foods, including peanut butter and other peanut products.

Well, that site contradicts me but the FDA has been neutered along with the EPA and peanut farmers are running roughshod. :911:

e: they really don't test for that anymore, not trying to be hyperbolic

# ? Jan 20, 2014 21:50

an overdue owl: Feb 26, 2012; hoot

Would washing them or microwaving help or is this not the kind of stuff that can be gotten rid of easily? (I am learning many things about peanuts today, thank you)

# ? Jan 21, 2014 03:40

Mister Facetious: Apr 21, 2007; I think I died and woke up in L.A.,
I don't know how I wound up in this place...

I heard you can manually block numbers on phones now, yes?

# ? Jan 21, 2014 05:04

thrakkorzog: Nov 16, 2007

an overdue owl posted:

Would washing them or microwaving help or is this not the kind of stuff that can be gotten rid of easily? (I am learning many things about peanuts today, thank you)

Washing them wouldn't hurt.

That said, if someone really wants to eat things that aren't actual food, they might be suffering from a psychological disorder known as Pica.

Some people like to eat things that aren't food, such as peanut shells, paint chips, carpet samples, and dirt.

thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Jan 21, 2014

# ? Jan 21, 2014 09:06

an overdue owl: Feb 26, 2012; hoot

I like to eat peanut shells because I like the taste! I guess I never thought of them as not being food.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 11:20

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

thrakkorzog posted:

That said, if someone really wants to eat things that aren't actual food, they might be suffering from a psychological disorder known as Pica.

Some people like to eat things that aren't food, such as peanut shells, paint chips, carpet samples, and dirt.

I just eat peanut shells 'cause it's easier than opening them up to get the contents and then having to deal with the mess all the shells make.

tuyop posted:

Readability will apparently do this, it'll email books to your kindle and you can download articles as epubs and convert them to mobi using Calibre. I tested the email-to-kindle feature from the website once and it didn't really work, but I had also been messing around with my kindle email address so YMMV.

Uh, I created an account on Readability and I am totally lost now. I can't figure out how to get it to do anything at all. It's telling me to follow these random people, and there's a list of articles under that that are "staff picks" but there's no instructions. How do I tell it to download an entire blog and email it to my Kindle? How do I make it do anything?

Tiggum fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Jan 21, 2014

# ? Jan 21, 2014 12:01

Very Nice Eraser: May 28, 2011

an overdue owl posted:

I like to eat peanut shells because I like the taste! I guess I never thought of them as not being food.

I used to eat sunflower seeds, shell and all, because nobody told me you're supposed to shell them. While it makes for plenty of ruffage, I found that sunflower seed shells can, if not properly chewed, preserve their sharp edges all the way through your digestive tract. Ouch!

# ? Jan 21, 2014 14:42

c0ldfuse: Jun 18, 2004; The pursuit of excellence.

Mister Macys posted:

I heard you can manually block numbers on phones now, yes?

Most smartphones have the ability to block numbers. I know Android does and I'd guess iPhones can too. Look through your settings.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 15:10

kedo: Nov 27, 2007

Mister Macys posted:

I heard you can manually block numbers on phones now, yes?

Yeah, Apple finally added in the functionality with iOS 7, so maybe that's what you're thinking about? I think Android has done it for a long, long time.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 15:13

KoB: May 1, 2009

So my friend is an idiot who list his Social Security card, how long does it take to get a new one? Can he go to the SS Office and just get a new one printed or is it a long process?

# ? Jan 21, 2014 17:38

Ariza: Feb 8, 2006

KoB posted:

So my friend is an idiot who list his Social Security card, how long does it take to get a new one? Can he go to the SS Office and just get a new one printed or is it a long process?

They'll give him a printout immediately, which I've used for a driver's license and a job. They'll mail the card in a couple weeks.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 17:50

Werner-Boogle: Jan 23, 2009

Can someone explain to me how TV works in the United States?

I'm from Denmark which is a comparatively small country. Here you sign up with a provider for a certain package deal and then get the channels in that package delivered to your TV. What I'm really confused about is when people in movies/TV/on here talk about cable channels and some other thing that I can't remember now. Are there any nation-wide channels that are included in every TV providers basic package? Or is that not feasible since the USA is such a huge country? Almost all channels in Denmark are nation-wide with the exception of a few local news channels. And even then you can tune your TV to catch those if you really want the local news from the other end of the country.

What about stuff like HBO? I think I remember some people saying they couldn't get HBO in their area. How does that work? What about the other major networks like ABC and CBS and stuff? I'm also confused about when I watch stuff like 30 Rock and it says it's made by NBC. Is that just a company that makes TV shows, or is it a channel? So you can like, turn on your TV to NBC and watch NBC shows? We don't really do that in Denmark since most of the stuff is American made anyway.

And what about news? Are there any nationwide news channels and do people watch those? Or do people watch news specific to their State (with some major national stuff like politics and stuff mixed in)? Denmark only has 1 popular 24/7 news channel and that's nation-wide. Other than that the 2 major channels, that everyone has and watches, have news breaks every 1 or 2 hours, where they do like 10-15 minutes of news and then one major news show at around 9 that runs for ~20-30 minutes and sums up todays major stories + sports and weather.

Are there any TV channels that don't run commercials? A few of the most popular danish channels don't stop programs to run commercials and only have commercial breaks between programming, even if they show something really long like Lord of The Rings.
On the other end we also have channels that do commercial breaks, but when I sit down to watch an episode of the Simpsons there's only 1 commerical break in the whole show, while it seems like it's designed to have maybe 2 or 3 breaks per episode, which just seems nuts. Are your commerical breaks just super short? Because they run upto 6-7 minutes in Denmark.

Sorry for the huge amount of questions, but I've never quite been able to piece all this stuff together from the parts of american culture I'm exposed to. Thanks in advance for all answers!

Edit: Censorship! How does that work? Cause in Denmark people swear like sailors all the time on TV. They show unbleebed episodes of South Park in prime-time. How strict are channels with censoring curse-words? I get a feeling it depends on when the show is airing, like prime-time stuff has to be super conservative and not contain a bunch of swears. Is that correct at all?

Werner-Boogle fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Jan 21, 2014

# ? Jan 21, 2014 17:56

KoB: May 1, 2009

1-13ish are all available for free, theres usually some local channels in there. The additional channels are bought in big chunks typically, and are generally the same everywhere. The channel groups arent necessarily the same, but you can get 90% of the same TV anywhere in the country, you just have to pay.

There are national news networks and many have blank sections that local affiliate news stations would fill in for local news.

HBO/Showtime type channels are the only ones without commercials.

e: A typical 30 minute show is about 24 minutes with 6 minutes of commercials, usually at the beginning after the title card, in the middle, then right before or right after the credit. Sometimes it will cut for a commercial break and come back to roll credits, then jumps into the beginning/opening bit for the next show.

KoB fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Jan 21, 2014

# ? Jan 21, 2014 18:03

Ice To Meet You: Mar 5, 2007

The broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS are the important ones) have a different affiliate station in each city. So where I live, ABC is channel 7, but at my grandparents' house 50 miles to the north, ABC is channel 12. These are the free channels.
Generally, the big new shows will be shown nationwide at the same time (except on the west coast, where a lot of shows are delayed a few hours because of the time difference). Then, each affiliate will fill the rest of their schedule with local news, re-runs of old shows, and stuff like that which will be different from city to city.

The FCC can set censorship rules for the broadcast channels, but the cable channels can do whatever they want. But most of them won't show anything too explicit until after 10 PM or so.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 18:55

Neurophonic: May 2, 2009

kedo posted:

Yeah, Apple finally added in the functionality with iOS 7, so maybe that's what you're thinking about? I think Android has done it for a long, long time.

Not natively, I believe that some ROMs added the option but pretty sure that even stock Android lacked it til Jellybean.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 19:17

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

Tiggum posted:

I just eat peanut shells 'cause it's easier than opening them up to get the contents and then having to deal with the mess all the shells make.

Uh, I created an account on Readability and I am totally lost now. I can't figure out how to get it to do anything at all. It's telling me to follow these random people, and there's a list of articles under that that are "staff picks" but there's no instructions. How do I tell it to download an entire blog and email it to my Kindle? How do I make it do anything?

On the sidebar on the left, click reading list.
Copy a url from a blog.
Click the plus on the right sidebar. Paste the url in the field.
After processing, hover over the article in your reading list.
Click "share, send, download" which is the universal share icon thing above the article, right side. Or download as an ePub.
Click "send this article to your kindle".
Under settings (left sidebar) you can give it your kindle email address if it doesn't ask or the button isn't there.

Edit: oh, and you'll have to add their email to your approved kindle reading stuff in manage my kindle (the amazon site). Amazon will send you an email with the required steps.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 19:34

ElwoodCuse: Jan 11, 2004; we're puttin' the band back together

Mr. Cool Ice posted:

The broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS are the important ones) have a different affiliate station in each city. So where I live, ABC is channel 7, but at my grandparents' house 50 miles to the north, ABC is channel 12. These are the free channels.
Generally, the big new shows will be shown nationwide at the same time (except on the west coast, where a lot of shows are delayed a few hours because of the time difference). Then, each affiliate will fill the rest of their schedule with local news, re-runs of old shows, and stuff like that which will be different from city to city.

The FCC can set censorship rules for the broadcast channels, but the cable channels can do whatever they want. But most of them won't show anything too explicit until after 10 PM or so.

The FCC is specifically forbidden from enacting censorship rules. They can only punish stations that broadcast indecency after the fact in response to complaints. Which is why the system is such a mess, and has ultimately resulted in fines for things like Bono saying gently caress or Janet Jackson's breast being overturned.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 20:16

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

Mr. Cool Ice posted:

The FCC can set censorship rules for the broadcast channels, but the cable channels can do whatever they want. But most of them won't show anything too explicit until after 10 PM or so.

And this is specifically because advertisers don't want their products associated with risque stuff like foul language or human nudity. Although almost all of them think it's okay to advertise their cat food or laundry detergent in the middle of a program featuring extremely graphic murders.

ElwoodCuse posted:

The FCC is specifically forbidden from enacting censorship rules. They can only punish stations that broadcast indecency after the fact in response to complaints. Which is why the system is such a mess, and has ultimately resulted in fines for things like Bono saying gently caress or Janet Jackson's breast being overturned.

Well there you go.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 20:24

TaurusTorus: Mar 27, 2010; Grab the bullshit by the horns

Is soap-on-a-rope a thing in countries where the primary language makes it not a rhyming phrase? It always struck me that the only reason for its existence was that it rhymed.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 20:58

Flipperwaldt: Nov 11, 2011; Won't somebody think of the starving hamsters in China?

TaurusTorus posted:

Is soap-on-a-rope a thing in countries where the primary language makes it not a rhyming phrase? It always struck me that the only reason for its existence was that it rhymed.

I think I saw a bar of soap that had a rope in it, maybe twenty, twenty five years ago. I'm sure you can buy it somewhere in Belgium, if you really, really wanted it, but it's definitely not A Thing^TM here.

Bars of soap in general are a slightly dwindling affair here, in favor of stuff that comes in dispensers.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:11

Ror: Oct 21, 2010; 😸Everything's 🗞️ purrfect!💯🤟

Do all Starbucks use a completely automated milk frothing system now? I used to work there about a decade ago and I remember having to learn all the different steam techniques. I went in one recently and was really disappointed to see that even that part is hands-off now. You can really tell when you drink it too, it's just a thin froth. Is there still a manual option for skilled employees with more time on their hands?

I mostly avoid Starbucks when there is other coffee available but I used to at least take comfort that an actual person was making my drink.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:11

Werner-Boogle: Jan 23, 2009

Mr. Cool Ice posted:

The broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS are the important ones) have a different affiliate station in each city. So where I live, ABC is channel 7, but at my grandparents' house 50 miles to the north, ABC is channel 12. These are the free channels.

Are these like really free? If I moved to New York and plugged my TV in would I be able to pick up and watch those channels without paying a provider?

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:14

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

Werner-Boogle posted:

Are these like really free? If I moved to New York and plugged my TV in would I be able to pick up and watch those channels without paying a provider?

You'd need a digital antenna for an older set. Analog broadcast stopped a long time ago but the major channels are still available over the air to non-cable-havers.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:17

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

syscall girl posted:

You'd need a digital antenna for an older set. Analog broadcast stopped a long time ago but the major channels are still available over the air to non-cable-havers.

In other words yes. They come through the air directly to your TV set.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:18

greazeball: Feb 4, 2003

Werner-Boogle posted:

Can someone explain to me how TV works in the United States?

I'm from Denmark which is a comparatively small country. Here you sign up with a provider for a certain package deal and then get the channels in that package delivered to your TV. What I'm really confused about is when people in movies/TV/on here talk about cable channels and some other thing that I can't remember now. Are there any nation-wide channels that are included in every TV providers basic package? Or is that not feasible since the USA is such a huge country? Almost all channels in Denmark are nation-wide with the exception of a few local news channels. And even then you can tune your TV to catch those if you really want the local news from the other end of the country.

What about stuff like HBO? I think I remember some people saying they couldn't get HBO in their area. How does that work? What about the other major networks like ABC and CBS and stuff? I'm also confused about when I watch stuff like 30 Rock and it says it's made by NBC. Is that just a company that makes TV shows, or is it a channel? So you can like, turn on your TV to NBC and watch NBC shows? We don't really do that in Denmark since most of the stuff is American made anyway.

And what about news? Are there any nationwide news channels and do people watch those? Or do people watch news specific to their State (with some major national stuff like politics and stuff mixed in)? Denmark only has 1 popular 24/7 news channel and that's nation-wide. Other than that the 2 major channels, that everyone has and watches, have news breaks every 1 or 2 hours, where they do like 10-15 minutes of news and then one major news show at around 9 that runs for ~20-30 minutes and sums up todays major stories + sports and weather.

Are there any TV channels that don't run commercials? A few of the most popular danish channels don't stop programs to run commercials and only have commercial breaks between programming, even if they show something really long like Lord of The Rings.
On the other end we also have channels that do commercial breaks, but when I sit down to watch an episode of the Simpsons there's only 1 commerical break in the whole show, while it seems like it's designed to have maybe 2 or 3 breaks per episode, which just seems nuts. Are your commerical breaks just super short? Because they run upto 6-7 minutes in Denmark.

Sorry for the huge amount of questions, but I've never quite been able to piece all this stuff together from the parts of american culture I'm exposed to. Thanks in advance for all answers!

Edit: Censorship! How does that work? Cause in Denmark people swear like sailors all the time on TV. They show unbleebed episodes of South Park in prime-time. How strict are channels with censoring curse-words? I get a feeling it depends on when the show is airing, like prime-time stuff has to be super conservative and not contain a bunch of swears. Is that correct at all?

Another difference is that you don't set the frequency on your TV like you do in Europe. TVs come with fixed frequencies per channel (or did, before everyone got cable/digital), so that FOX3 was the same channel at everyone's house. For Americans who don't understand; TVs over here let you select presets basically, so you can choose whatever stations you want for your channels and then you just flick through them when you're done. Or again, they did before the switch to set-top boxes.

Werner-Boogle posted:

Are these like really free? If I moved to New York and plugged my TV in would I be able to pick up and watch those channels without paying a provider?

You'd get other channels too, like the one that just has reruns of Friends/Seinfeld/Simpsons/Big Bang Theory and cartoons in the afternoon plus the 24 hour psychic channel and if you're lucky the public access channel as well as PBS so you can watch Downton Abbey.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:24

Ezzer: Aug 5, 2011

I wake up every morning crushed by overwhelming existential dread. What steps can I take to liberate myself from this hellish facade we call life?

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:25

TaurusTorus: Mar 27, 2010; Grab the bullshit by the horns

Ezzer posted:

I wake up every morning crushed by overwhelming existential dread. What steps can I take to liberate myself from this hellish facade we call life?

Whisky sours and masturbation.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:34

Fork of Unknown Origins: Oct 21, 2005; Gotta Herd On?

Regarding TV channels, you can think of it in tiers.

Tier 1 is your broadcast channels. Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, and a couple others. These channels are (like others have said) free over the air. If you have a TV and plug in an antennae, then as long as you're close enough to a broadcast tower you'll get them. Some people that live in remote areas may only get a couple of these channels, or none. I'm not an expert on how these things work, but I believe they produce all or at least most of their prime-time shows. They also sometimes air shows in syndication, for example an older series that they or someone else produced that they run an episode per day. Now, each of these broadcast channels is actually it's own individual thing, so CBS in LA will be one channel with a different local news and what not while CBS in NYC will be a different one with their own local news, but the prime-time shows are aired at the same time (with some fluctuation due to time zones.)

Tier 2 is 'basic cable' (or satellite) channels. Things like TBS, ESPN, MTV, History channel, etc. Some produce a lot of their own shows and show only their shows during the day, and some also air shows in syndication. These aren't free to anyone, and you need to pay for cable or satellite service to see them. Commercials work basically the same on cable and broadcast by the way, around 3 3 minute breaks per half hour, roughly.

Tier 3 would be the 'expanded cable' channels. These are usually more specialized, like a channel just for old game shows, or a channel just for college sports. There is some overlap between tier 2 and 3 between providers, so for one provider MTV2 could be basic cable, while for the other it is expanded. These channels cost more and usually come as one big all or nothing deal, so you can't choose the game show channel and leave off the sports ones. Some providers do have bundles though, so you can for example pick the sports bundle and get extra sports channels while leaving off the rest.

Tier 4 would be the 'premium channels,' like HBO and Showtime. These channels show movies and also have generally high production value original series. You have to pay for these channels individually.

Finally there are pay per view channels. These show movies, porn and sporting events mostly. You have to pay for the individual thing you want to watch, so if I were to pay to watch a movie on one I would no longer have access to the channel once the movie is over. These aren't nearly as big as they used to be except for sporting events (mostly boxing and UFC) and, for reasons I'll never understand, porn.

For some of your other questions, yes there are national news shows (usually on broadcast,) local news shows (almost but not always on broadcast,) and national news-only channels (on basic or extended cable.) Nearly all channels show commercials; the only exception I can think of is HBO and Showtime might not, but I'm not sure on that. Broadcast channels tend to be very conservative when it comes to nudity and cursing but violence is much less restrained. Cable is allowed to show what they want although they keep it fairly conservative too because the advertisers will jump ship otherwise.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:51

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

Ezzer posted:

I wake up every morning crushed by overwhelming existential dread. What steps can I take to liberate myself from this hellish facade we call life?

Practice gratitude.

Seriously, just be thankful (and not to god or anything). Start small, feel thankful that your limbs work and that you have food. Thank the service workers in your life. Graduate to expressing thanks for the community that raised you and figure out how to honor them with the tasks of your life.

Study stoicism, develop a sense of what your life lived well looks like and practice negative visualization and hardship to keep that feeling going.

Raise a family in the ways that you find valuable, interact with people in your community and make constant little expressions of love for them. Shovel your neighbor's driveway, bake them some cookies, leave your spouse tiny notes in places. Create things of value to you and the world.

Eventually, you will die surrounded by a community of people whose lives you have touched in positive ways and you can imagine that day calmly and with a strange sense of pride knowing that you lived well, did your best, and honestly made the world slightly better than it was before you existed.

That's what I did, anyway.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 21:56

Rent-A-Cop: Oct 15, 2004; I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

Werner-Boogle posted:

Are there any nation-wide channels that are included in every TV providers basic package? Or is that not feasible since the USA is such a huge country? Almost all channels in Denmark are nation-wide with the exception of a few local news channels. And even then you can tune your TV to catch those if you really want the local news from the other end of the country.

Everybody gets broadcast channels for free. ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX are the major nationwide commercial broadcasters. Each has hundreds of local "affiliate" stations that are sort of like a franchise. They are independently owned, but air content from, and follow the rules of, the national network and are funded primarily by selling commercial time to local businesses. Think of them like McDonalds of Burger King. Independent but all basically similar with some local variation. The other big over-the-air channel is PBS. PBS is a non-profit public broadcaster that airs mostly educational material, news, documentaries, and "serious" dramas (often produced by the BBC). PBS stations are similarly independent affiliates but air no ads and are instead funded by donations from the public.

Werner-Boogle posted:

What about stuff like HBO? I think I remember some people saying they couldn't get HBO in their area. How does that work?

HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and a few others are "premium" channels. They are supported by subscription and air no ads. Most cable and satellite TV carriers have them as an option the customer must pay extra for. Originally they showed only movies, but they've branched out into making original content.

Werner-Boogle posted:

What about the other major networks like ABC and CBS and stuff? I'm also confused about when I watch stuff like 30 Rock and it says it's made by NBC. Is that just a company that makes TV shows, or is it a channel? So you can like, turn on your TV to NBC and watch NBC shows? We don't really do that in Denmark since most of the stuff is American made anyway.

The big-four national networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) are both broadcasters and producers of content. CBS, ABC and NBC were all originally radio networks and for a long time they were basically the only people making anything for TV on a national scale.

Werner-Boogle posted:

And what about news? Are there any nationwide news channels and do people watch those? Or do people watch news specific to their State (with some major national stuff like politics and stuff mixed in)? Denmark only has 1 popular 24/7 news channel and that's nation-wide. Other than that the 2 major channels, that everyone has and watches, have news breaks every 1 or 2 hours, where they do like 10-15 minutes of news and then one major news show at around 9 that runs for ~20-30 minutes and sums up todays major stories + sports and weather.

Local network affiliates produce their own local news, which they air a few times a day usually before or after their parent network's national news broadcast. The news is usually split into morning (before work) and evening (after work) segments on network stations. So if you tuned in to your local ABC affiliate before work you'd see Good Morning America (a national broadcast) either preceded or followed by Good Morning [Your City] (a local broadcast). There are also several big 24/7 national news channels on cable.

Werner-Boogle posted:

Are there any TV channels that don't run commercials? A few of the most popular danish channels don't stop programs to run commercials and only have commercial breaks between programming, even if they show something really long like Lord of The Rings. On the other end we also have channels that do commercial breaks, but when I sit down to watch an episode of the Simpsons there's only 1 commerical break in the whole show, while it seems like it's designed to have maybe 2 or 3 breaks per episode, which just seems nuts. Are your commerical breaks just super short? Because they run upto 6-7 minutes in Denmark.

Premium channels don't run any commercials at all. They may run a 1-2 minute teaser for their programming before and after a show, but they never interrupt. PBS is similar, they may run sponsor messages like "Funding for this show provided by..." and promos but usually only at the beginning or end. Everyone else runs 2-3 3 minute breaks per half hour. Sports broadcasts generally have a few planned breaks and then add in more commercials if there's a long enough break in play.

Werner-Boogle posted:

Edit: Censorship! How does that work? Cause in Denmark people swear like sailors all the time on TV. They show unbleebed episodes of South Park in prime-time. How strict are channels with censoring curse-words? I get a feeling it depends on when the show is airing, like prime-time stuff has to be super conservative and not contain a bunch of swears. Is that correct at all?

You're basically correct. Broadcast TV is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission which generally enforces "decency" rules with fines if people complain. The FCC can also revoke a license to broadcast but that rarely happens and is usually over something incredibly egregious or some kind of technical/financial/criminal issue that has nothing to do with the content of the broadcast. Cable TV can do whatever they want, but keep things pretty tame to placate advertisers. Premium channels love to go whole hog on tits, swearing and murder. (See: Spartacus: Blood on the Sand)

# ? Jan 21, 2014 23:03

Ezzer: Aug 5, 2011

tuyop posted:

That's what I did, anyway.

well I was just going to start doing more drugs, but this is a way better plan. thanks tuyop

# ? Jan 21, 2014 23:09

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

Ezzer posted:

well I was just going to start doing more drugs, but this is a way better plan. thanks tuyop

Well, I tried that. Endless travel, prescription pain killers and muscle relaxants and alcohol did nothing to alleviate the deep sense of guilt and dread that kept me up at night and colored all the pleasure in my life. I don't think it works as a solution for anyone but I wrote some pretty good poo poo on Heidegger, I guess.

# ? Jan 21, 2014 23:16

WerthersWay: Jul 21, 2009

Why do YouTube videos run so choppy and nearly unwatchable on my laptop no matter what video quality while full screen HD videos from Vimeo run perfectly?

# ? Jan 22, 2014 00:54

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 1, 2024 12:33

WerthersWay: Jul 21, 2009

Werner-Boogle posted:

I'm also confused about when I watch stuff like 30 Rock and it says it's made by NBC. Is that just a company that makes TV shows, or is it a channel? So you can like, turn on your TV to NBC and watch NBC shows? We don't really do that in Denmark since most of the stuff is American made anyway.

One thing nobody has answered yet is who MAKES TV shows, not just distributes them (AKA airs them on TV). Not every show from a network is actually made from that same network's production arm, which is HUGE when the show becomes popular and sells its syndication rights generally after 100 episodes.

For example, Modern Family is aired on ABC and makes that network lots of money through advertising sales and prestige from it having one of the highest rated and critically loved shows on TV. But ABC does not make it. 20th Century FOX makes it. And FOX is who made hundreds of millions of dollars when its syndication rights were sold a couple years ago. Other example are The Big Bang Theory (Shown on CBS, made by Warner Brothers) or The Mindy Project (Shown on FOX, made by NBC Universal).

In the example you brought up, 30 Rock, it was both distributed and produced by NBC Universal. Which means that once it sold its syndication rights, NBC Universal kept the money. Yay for Kabletown! That's why low-rated shows like 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation and Community (which is made by NBC Universal and Sony TV) stay on the air... because their parent company airs AND produces the show which means they make lots of money come season 5 or so.

WerthersWay fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jan 22, 2014

# ? Jan 22, 2014 01:05

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

«‹›2424 »