Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

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

ahleeshaa: Jan 24, 2007; "dicks"

Florida Betty posted:

I've always wondered how people can precisely time their naps. You can set an alarm, but it still takes some time to fall asleep, and there's no way to know how much before you lay down. Do people just fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow or what?

I don't think there is a way to precisely time it, but I know that if I'm taking a nap I'm pretty drat tired and can fall asleep within a few minutes. I usually just set the alarm for ~25 minutes

# ? Oct 13, 2011 23:40

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# ? May 19, 2024 17:13

Pweller: Jan 25, 2006; Whatever whateva.

tarepanda posted:

Isn't there a goon in SA-Mart selling toner on the cheap?

Didn't think to check there. Found this on the 3-4th page (though $6.99 < $52.95*0.85+s&h).

Thanks for the replies dudes. Either I'm too impatient or Wagonburner's work anecdote convinced me.
The scottish in me says give ebay a go. I figure worst case I roll the savings into half the cost of a new printer.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 00:07

Oxford Comma: Jun 26, 2011; Oxford Comma: Hey guys I want a cool big dog to show off! I want it to be ~special~ like Thor but more couch potato-like because I got babbies in the house!
Everybody: GET A LAB.
Oxford Comma: OK! (gets a a pit/catahoula mix)

Very Strange Things posted:

That's all true, but in this case they actually just release the web and let it drift in the air until the other (sticky) end catches on something.
They are throwing a grapple rather than laying a cable.

Afterwards, do they real in the excess web?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 01:40

KOTJ: Mar 16, 2007

Is it unusual for online retailers to ship goods ordered with debit cards with only an authorization (not included in the available balance) on the customer's card? I ordered and received a new jacket without the final amount having being processed/settled by the retailer. There's not even a $1.00 hold in my online banking statement--just an entry for a "temporary authorization hold" for the item cost plus shipping, with the statement "awaiting final amount from merchant."

I've had this with restaurants and gas stations before but not with any e-businesses. Is there anything I should be worried about besides maintaining sufficient balance to cover the final amount?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 02:26

SlightButSteady: Sep 13, 2007; Soiled Meat

YggiDee posted:

Is there a way to change the album art in Mp3 files en masse? My mp3 player won't display art over 100kbs, but I'm not really excited at the thought of manually modifying several thousand songs.

Yep. http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ (free)

# ? Oct 14, 2011 03:10

Robokomodo: Nov 11, 2009

What is the earliest recorded known date? We know Pompeii was wiped out in 79 AD. Alexander the Great was killed about 300 years earlier? What is the first recorded KNOWN date?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 04:20

YggiDee: Sep 12, 2007; WASP CREW

SlightButSteady posted:

Yep. http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ (free)

Thanks, but this only lets me modify album art on an individual file-by-file basis, which isn't really what I need.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 04:36

SlightButSteady: Sep 13, 2007; Soiled Meat

YggiDee posted:

Thanks, but this only lets me modify album art on an individual file-by-file basis, which isn't really what I need.

Yes it does. I just tested it.

Once you've got all the files in the list, select the ones you want, then right click the image box, select "add image", then hit save...

# ? Oct 14, 2011 04:59

Doc Faustus: Sep 6, 2005; Philippe is such an angry eater

I recently bought some leather boots/shoes, and got a blister pretty quickly. Anyone have tips for minimizing future blisters and/or breaking in the leather more quickly?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 05:08

kimbo305: Jun 9, 2007; actually, yeah, I am a little mad

Robokomodo posted:

What is the earliest recorded known date? We know Pompeii was wiped out in 79 AD. Alexander the Great was killed about 300 years earlier? What is the first recorded KNOWN date?

What does recorded mean? In a surviving original document of some sort?

e: spelling goof

kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Oct 14, 2011

# ? Oct 14, 2011 05:12

GreenBuckanneer: Sep 15, 2007

Schweinhund posted:

*You can't search archives.

What's the point of archives if you can't search in them?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 05:30

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Robokomodo posted:

What is the earliest recorded known date? We know Pompeii was wiped out in 79 AD. Alexander the Great was killed about 300 years earlier? What is the first recorded KNOWN date?

Probably around 2900 BC, since writing was first around starting in 3000 BC or so.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 05:37

YggiDee: Sep 12, 2007; WASP CREW

SlightButSteady posted:

Yes it does. I just tested it.

Once you've got all the files in the list, select the ones you want, then right click the image box, select "add image", then hit save...

Sorry, I guess I'm not explaining myself to well. This works fine if I'm trying to give each song the same album art, but they all have different images which is why I don't want to extract, shrink, and reattach each one.

edit: I've found this, but it fails to recognize my album art anyway :geno:

# ? Oct 14, 2011 05:49

Golbez: Oct 9, 2002; 1 2 3!
If you want to take a shot at me get in line, line
1 2 3!
Baby, I've had all my shots and I'm fine

trandorian posted:

Probably around 2900 BC, since writing was first around starting in 3000 BC or so.

I think what Robokomodo is asking is, what is the earliest exact date we have for any historical event? For example, one contender is the destruction of Pompeii, with several possible dates, but they are specific dates: Wikipedia says either August 24 or November 23, 79 AD. Making a quick glance at Wikipedia, I see one possible event: another incident in Pompeii, an earthquake dated to February 5, 62 AD.

However, I had a thought and realized royal lines are usually well-researched, and it says Emperor Jimmu reigned from February 18, 660 BC, to April 9, 585 BC, having been born on February 13, 711 BC. Unfortunately, since Jimmu's historiography is mostly legendary, this is difficult to confirm (especially since it would mean he lived to be 126 years old).

Actually, come to think of it, thanks to popular lore we do know one earlier date: Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. And he is generally thought to have been born on July 13, 100 BC. However, this one is 'generally'; only the date of his death is 100% concrete.

So, that means we know of an event that happened on 3/15/-44. Are there any earlier events for which we have a concrete date?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 06:23

kimbo305: Jun 9, 2007; actually, yeah, I am a little mad

Golbez posted:

So, that means we know of an event that happened on 3/15/-44. Are there any earlier events for which we have a concrete date?

Isn't all this greatly compounded by past historians' ability to transform dates into ever changing calendar systems?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 06:43

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Golbez posted:

So, that means we know of an event that happened on 3/15/-44. Are there any earlier events for which we have a concrete date?

There are tons of dates in Roman history with no reason to think they're less real than the date of Caesar's assassination.

Also remember that calendar systems have varied wildly over the millenia - prior to Caesar, the Romans handled the need for leap year by adding a whole week or month every so often!

# ? Oct 14, 2011 06:49

brylcreem: Oct 29, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Golbez posted:

So, that means we know of an event that happened on 3/15/-44. Are there any earlier events for which we have a concrete date?

~~Astrological~~ Astronomical events recorded by the Chinese? I seem to recall that Halley's Comet was found in ancient Chinese writings (yep, Wikipedia says 240 BC).

Although I don't know if that qualifies as an "event".

e: :downs:

brylcreem fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Oct 14, 2011

# ? Oct 14, 2011 07:45

greazeball: Feb 4, 2003

trandorian posted:

There are tons of dates in Roman history with no reason to think they're less real than the date of Caesar's assassination.

Also remember that calendar systems have varied wildly over the millenia - prior to Caesar, the Romans handled the need for leap year by adding a whole week or month every so often!

Before Julius and Augustus, there were only 10 months!

# ? Oct 14, 2011 09:42

Jonny 290: May 5, 2005; [ASK] me about OS/2 Warp

I missed putting away a sack of groceries and left a prepackaged (still sealed) pork tenderloin out on the kitchen counter for approximately six hours, at which time I discovered it and tossed it into the fridge.

Thumbs up or thumbs down? I'm not a cooking moron and suspect it'll be fine but would like another opinion.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 10:59

Golbez: Oct 9, 2002; 1 2 3!
If you want to take a shot at me get in line, line
1 2 3!
Baby, I've had all my shots and I'm fine

brylcreem posted:

~~Astrological~~ Astronomical events recorded by the Chinese? I seem to recall that Halley's Comet was found in ancient Chinese writings (yep, Wikipedia says 240 BC).

Although I don't know if that qualifies as an "event".

e:

I'd say that's cheating a little bit, since we know when comets, eclipses, etc. have and will happen.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 14:43

BigRed0427: Mar 23, 2007; There's no one I'd rather be than me.

So I just got a job with Best Buy's Geek Squad. I originally planned to get a job as a cashier or as a sales guy but there you go. I know there has to be a few goons who work there or use to work there so I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice or what to expect working there.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 15:17

Jeffrey Colon: Dec 13, 2007; Let's get down to brass tacks. How much for the ape?

A lot of people bringing in computers saying things like "I THINK MY ROM CHIPS ARE BUSTED! I BOUGHT THIS COMPOOTER FROM YOU SIX MONTHS AGO AND ITS ALREADY BROKEN, THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!"

(I didn't work there, but a friend did)

# ? Oct 14, 2011 15:23

Dr. Glasscock: Apr 15, 2004; HOO-DAH!!! Fatal Wiimote blow to the face, 20 points!

baquerd posted:

Do you have any flavor of linux or unix?

code:

#!/bin/bash

sleep $RANDOM
/bin/mailx -s "Random Delayed Email" [email]email.addr@whatever.com[/email] <<*
A message for a goon.
*

I was actually looking for the site I had used previously because I think it should have sent an email by now. I'm assuming the site is gone. Again, really dumb I didn't save that URL anywhere.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 17:31

baquerd: Jul 2, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

BigRed0427 posted:

So I just got a job with Best Buy's Geek Squad. I originally planned to get a job as a cashier or as a sales guy but there you go. I know there has to be a few goons who work there or use to work there so I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice or what to expect working there.

GBS thread, but still extremely pertinent:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3323091

# ? Oct 14, 2011 17:35

Captain von Trapp: Jan 23, 2006; I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it.

Golbez posted:

So, that means we know of an event that happened on 3/15/-44. Are there any earlier events for which we have a concrete date?

Yes. The Battle of Halys took place on May 28, 585 BC. We know this because it was interrupted by a solar eclipse, and those can be precisely dated via orbital mechanics. The eclipse abruptly ended the battle, when the two sides to called a truce on the assumption that the gods were angry about the war.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 19:02

MikeRabsitch: Aug 23, 2004; Show us what you got, what you got

Jonny 290 posted:

I missed putting away a sack of groceries and left a prepackaged (still sealed) pork tenderloin out on the kitchen counter for approximately six hours, at which time I discovered it and tossed it into the fridge.

Thumbs up or thumbs down? I'm not a cooking moron and suspect it'll be fine but would like another opinion.

Speaking as a bachelor, I'd probably still eat it as long as it's cooked thoroughly. If it smells gross when you do open it, I'd probably toss it however.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 19:07

revolther: May 27, 2008

I have a headphone/mic combo with the push button "dongle" that come standard with cell phones, I'd like to use them as normal headphones but my device greatly quiets them when the third "mic" ring contacts, the headphones will play normal volume until that ring contacts. Can I toss a tiny strip of electrical tape around just that ring without worry of frying my Nook Color?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 19:33

brylcreem: Oct 29, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Captain von Trapp posted:

Yes. The Battle of Halys took place on May 28, 585 BC. We know this because it was interrupted by a solar eclipse, and those can be precisely dated via orbital mechanics. The eclipse abruptly ended the battle, when the two sides to called a truce on the assumption that the gods were angry about the war.

Oh, will you look at that - astronomical events dating earthly events :chord:

(Thanks for the link, very interesting stuff!)

# ? Oct 14, 2011 20:05

Golbez: Oct 9, 2002; 1 2 3!
If you want to take a shot at me get in line, line
1 2 3!
Baby, I've had all my shots and I'm fine

Captain von Trapp posted:

Yes. The Battle of Halys took place on May 28, 585 BC. We know this because it was interrupted by a solar eclipse, and those can be precisely dated via orbital mechanics. The eclipse abruptly ended the battle, when the two sides to called a truce on the assumption that the gods were angry about the war.

brylcreem posted:

Oh, will you look at that - astronomical events dating earthly events

(Thanks for the link, very interesting stuff!)

Touche (and nice use of :chord:

). But that's an actual event we have the date for, I meant just don't say "we know an eclipse happened on May 28, 585 BC", it's more like, "we know there was a battle on May 28, 585 BC" etc.

Quoting Wikipedia: "Since the exact dates of eclipses can be calculated, the Battle of the Eclipse is the earliest historical event of which the date is known with such precision."

Superstition and ignorance suck, but it'd be nice if modern wars could be stopped by something so simple.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 21:51

Schweinhund: Oct 23, 2004

Dr. Glasscock posted:

I was actually looking for the site I had used previously because I think it should have sent an email by now. I'm assuming the site is gone. Again, really dumb I didn't save that URL anywhere.

What was the email?

# ? Oct 14, 2011 23:44

buglord: Jul 31, 2010; Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!; Buglord

I'm getting pretty tired of local radio when driving places. All my stations are repeating the songs that just finished on the other stations. I live in a small town and my options are limited to the top hip-pop mix music and Spanish radio. I could just plug in my PSP to the car and listen to music through that, but at the same time i'd like to discover some new music instead of hearing what I had on my computer.

Hows SiriusXM satellite radio? Are there other[or possibly cheaper] options? I know a few people just use their smartphone running Pandora, but I neither have a smartphone or live a town with consistent wireless coverage.

# ? Oct 14, 2011 23:55

Gravity Pike: Feb 8, 2009; I find this discussion incredibly bland and disinteresting.

Maybe HD Radio? I don't know how it's coverage compares to traditional FM - they might be identical. However, with HD Radio, you purchase the receiver, and then content is free.

# ? Oct 15, 2011 00:14

buglord: Jul 31, 2010; Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!; Buglord

Gravity Pike posted:

Maybe HD Radio? I don't know how it's coverage compares to traditional FM - they might be identical. However, with HD Radio, you purchase the receiver, and then content is free.

Actually I checked online, and according to my area i'd get 4 more Spanish stations and a Christian station. :doh:

# ? Oct 15, 2011 00:16

Pweller: Jan 25, 2006; Whatever whateva.

Avocadoes posted:

I'm getting pretty tired of local radio when driving places. All my stations are repeating the songs that just finished on the other stations. I live in a small town and my options are limited to the top hip-pop mix music and Spanish radio. I could just plug in my PSP to the car and listen to music through that, but at the same time i'd like to discover some new music instead of hearing what I had on my computer.

Hows SiriusXM satellite radio? Are there other[or possibly cheaper] options? I know a few people just use their smartphone running Pandora, but I neither have a smartphone or live a town with consistent wireless coverage.

You could also download podcasts of new music, etc.

# ? Oct 15, 2011 01:36

Coffee Wolf: Oct 12, 2007; Mmmmm Banana

Avocadoes posted:

I'm getting pretty tired of local radio

Have yo checked out the AM side yet? Around here, theres sportstalk, newstalk, radio disney, and some other stuff that comes in. I know it's usually not clear, but it's something different.

# ? Oct 15, 2011 02:03

stubblyhead: Sep 13, 2007; That is treason, Johnny!; Fun Shoe

Jonny 290 posted:

I missed putting away a sack of groceries and left a prepackaged (still sealed) pork tenderloin out on the kitchen counter for approximately six hours, at which time I discovered it and tossed it into the fridge.

Thumbs up or thumbs down? I'm not a cooking moron and suspect it'll be fine but would like another opinion.

It'll be fine. Enjoy your pork.

# ? Oct 15, 2011 05:10

Jeffrey Colon: Dec 13, 2007; Let's get down to brass tacks. How much for the ape?

If I keep my tab open at a bar but the bartender gives my card back, do I still need to close it?

# ? Oct 15, 2011 05:55

Doc Faustus: Sep 6, 2005; Philippe is such an angry eater

Jeffrey Colon posted:

If I keep my tab open at a bar but the bartender gives my card back, do I still need to close it?

It's a "yes, but..."

Yes, you need to close it. If you don't, they'll still charge your card for the full amount, but they'd like to get your signature for that. Also, unless you've been tipping with cash all night, you need to tip when you close out the tab.

# ? Oct 15, 2011 06:57

Mr. Tetsuo: Jun 6, 2011; And just once, before I die, I'd like to be Supreme Overlord of Earth. So rebel, my little ones, and conquer the planet!

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

How quickly can DNS change?
When I ping mail.global.frontbridge.com, I get different addresses, and even different subnets in the span of 30 seconds. It's a Microsoft-hosted mail server and I think they're doing this for some kind of load balancing, but we get failures for one of the IPs. How in the hell do they do that?

To answer you first question, depends on how the dns server is implemented. If it's a stock Bind, you have simple round robin as stated before. But there are tons of other options. At work there is an in house DNS solution that spits responses based on the proximity of the destination server and the requester (we used an Akamai service until a few years ago).

As for the different subnets in the responses for that address, if you whois them they all belong to Microsoft (meaning, they could well be machines on the same physical location).

# ? Oct 15, 2011 07:35

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# ? May 19, 2024 17:13

Loopyface: Mar 22, 2003

Jeffrey Colon posted:

If I keep my tab open at a bar but the bartender gives my card back, do I still need to close it?

If you're planning on tipping, which you absolutely should, you need to close it.

# ? Oct 15, 2011 09:12

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

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