Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

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

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

DrBouvenstein posted:

The inevitable "what's your biggest weakness" question.

I don't know if I've ever actually been asked this question in an interview. Also, the resume thread had some discussion about interviews as well the last time I looked. Hope it goes well for you!

# ? Mar 6, 2013 17:49

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 13:51

Florida Betty: Sep 24, 2004

DrBouvenstein posted:

I thought about asking in the business/careers sub-forum, but I didn't see a thread for interviews and this thread will get more views/responses:

I have a job interview in a few hours...I've never considered myself great at them (does anyone?) Anyway, I've already had two phone interviews for this job, and this face-to-face interview is the last one. I really, really want this job, but there's one thing I always hate:

The inevitable "what's your biggest weakness" question. It's the biggest piece of BS in the world of job-hunting. I've read so much conflicting poo poo online. Most places say to always give those cliched "actually a positive dressed up as a weakness" answers, like:
I'm a workaholic
I'm too "detail-oriented"
I get lost in my work

I mean...it seems to me that anyone who does any interviewing at all will see right through that BS...but on the other hand, I don't really want to say something like,
Well, I can be pretty lazy...a good chunk of my time will be spent browsing SA.

The only thing I can think of is to say that sometimes I can get a little behind in my paperwork. It's a real weakness, not a fake one, but it's pretty minor.

Use a real weakness (not a huge one), but also talk about what steps you've taken to overcome it. Something like "I tend to get behind in paperwork, so I set up 15 minutes at the end of every day for filing and blah blah blah" or "I'm not much of a morning person, so I try to plan my morning before I leave work the night before."

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:09

Vitamins: May 1, 2012

Ron Don Volante posted:

I'm writing a speech for a public speech class about how sports bring people together and I'm looking for one more example. So far I've got the World War I Christmas truce where the soldiers played football and the Mandela rugby/Invictus thing. Can anybody think of another example? Anything movie-related is fine.

What about the airplane crash that killed most of the Marshall football team in 1970? The film We Are Marshall gives a pretty good account of what happened.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:12

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

I want to rip .avis from some DVDs. But I'm only borrowing these DVDs for a day, so I was thinking, rather than figuring out the avi-ripping (and make sure they all ripped properly and don't have errors etc.), I'll just make disc-images of the DVDs, since I already know how to do this.
Then, later, I can mount the image and rip the AVIs from that.

Does this plan make sense? Can you rip an AVI from a mounted image same as you could from a DVD?

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:25

mlnhd: Jun 4, 2002

alnilam posted:

Does this plan make sense? Can you rip an AVI from a mounted image same as you could from a DVD?

Yes

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:28

lushka16: Apr 8, 2003; Doctor of Love; College Slice

Tiggum posted:

You can use something like Rename Master to rename a whole lot of files all at once. That particular program is for Windows but I expect you can get similar things for other operating systems without too much trouble.

I guess renaming isn't even the issue, it's just that once the pics are taken I have to spend time figuring what to label them as. If I were able to group them first, it would take that guesswork away.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:48

EvilMayo: Dec 25, 2010; "You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

lushka16 posted:

I guess renaming isn't even the issue, it's just that once the pics are taken I have to spend time figuring what to label them as. If I were able to group them first, it would take that guesswork away.

Write down what you want to call the group and mark the date & time? Most phones follow the format: YYYY-MM-DD-(Time-stamp or counter)

# ? Mar 6, 2013 19:07

Schweinhund: Oct 23, 2004

alnilam posted:

I want to rip .avis from some DVDs. But I'm only borrowing these DVDs for a day, so I was thinking, rather than figuring out the avi-ripping (and make sure they all ripped properly and don't have errors etc.), I'll just make disc-images of the DVDs, since I already know how to do this.
Then, later, I can mount the image and rip the AVIs from that.

Does this plan make sense? Can you rip an AVI from a mounted image same as you could from a DVD?

Usually AVIs aren't ripped directly from the DVD, so you have to do that step anyway to get the VOB files onto your hard drive. As long as you have plenty of hard drive space it should be good. Most people use DVD Decrypter to do this.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 19:21

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

Schweinhund posted:

Usually AVIs aren't ripped directly from the DVD, so you have to do that step anyway to get the VOB files onto your hard drive. As long as you have plenty of hard drive space it should be good. Most people use DVD Decrypter to do this.

Looked up DVD decrypter, thanks! I'll figure out what to do with vob files later.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 20:37

Namarrgon: Dec 23, 2008; Congratulations on not getting fit in 2011!

DrBouvenstein posted:

I thought about asking in the business/careers sub-forum, but I didn't see a thread for interviews and this thread will get more views/responses:

I have a job interview in a few hours...I've never considered myself great at them (does anyone?) Anyway, I've already had two phone interviews for this job, and this face-to-face interview is the last one. I really, really want this job, but there's one thing I always hate:

The inevitable "what's your biggest weakness" question. It's the biggest piece of BS in the world of job-hunting. I've read so much conflicting poo poo online. Most places say to always give those cliched "actually a positive dressed up as a weakness" answers, like:
I'm a workaholic
I'm too "detail-oriented"
I get lost in my work

I mean...it seems to me that anyone who does any interviewing at all will see right through that BS...but on the other hand, I don't really want to say something like,
Well, I can be pretty lazy...a good chunk of my time will be spent browsing SA.

The only thing I can think of is to say that sometimes I can get a little behind in my paperwork. It's a real weakness, not a fake one, but it's pretty minor.

This what you're looking for?

I can summarise the answer to your unspoken question; it depends on the interviewer. From that thread actual inteviewers are divided; some want a 'textbook' answer and others want honesty. Unfortunately you can't know in advance who is which of the two.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 21:05

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.

Ularg posted:

Should I be compressing raw fraps footage before touching it with an editor? And is there a better place / resource on SA for this? I know of a editing thread on Creative Convention but it seemed to be tailored more towards people who have a career of it and know what they are doing than me and my dumb "I just want to make a well made YouTube thing" inexperienced questions.

If you don't get your answer outside of the editing thread on CC, we're still happy to help hobbyists/beginners over there, so don't feel like you can't post a question there. We're all very lonely.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 21:08

Big Bad Beetleborg: Apr 8, 2007; Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle.

I installed unbaby.me for facebook and now I get a settings tab that pops up every time I open my browser. How can I stop it?

# ? Mar 6, 2013 21:14

Travakian: Oct 9, 2008

I've got an old, unused Samsung Galaxy S (Vibrant), long out of warranty, and the screen & digitiser are both dead and in need of repair. Samsung redirected me to their service centre who quoted $250 for repair & shipping back. Local shops are saying $150 for parts & labour.

Now, this phone can be purchased new/like new for $150-$200, so I'm not all that keen on spending that kind of money to repair something I don't need/don't use.

What can I do with it? The phone works just fine apart from the complete lack of video display. (Can plug into a computer and use remotely). Just-- not sure what the options are with an old phone, be it donate/sell/repurpose cleverly.

Any tips? Would appreciate anything!

# ? Mar 6, 2013 22:00

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Travakian posted:

What can I do with it? The phone works just fine apart from the complete lack of video display. (Can plug into a computer and use remotely). Just-- not sure what the options are with an old phone, be it donate/sell/repurpose cleverly.

Any tips? Would appreciate anything!

About the only thing you can do with it is use it to send standard definition video out to a tv using a special cable, and use it with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard for input.

Were you ready to attempt a repair yourself, the necessary parts cost about $75. If you try to sell it as-is on eBay, you could get probably get between $20 and $50 for the phone.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 22:14

Eggplant Wizard: Jul 8, 2005; i loev catte

DrBouvenstein posted:

I thought about asking in the business/careers sub-forum, but I didn't see a thread for interviews and this thread will get more views/responses:

I have a job interview in a few hours...I've never considered myself great at them (does anyone?) Anyway, I've already had two phone interviews for this job, and this face-to-face interview is the last one. I really, really want this job, but there's one thing I always hate:

Too late now I expect, but http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3536134 is a good one.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 22:36

Mister Kingdom: Dec 14, 2005; And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

alnilam posted:

I want to rip .avis from some DVDs. But I'm only borrowing these DVDs for a day, so I was thinking, rather than figuring out the avi-ripping (and make sure they all ripped properly and don't have errors etc.), I'll just make disc-images of the DVDs, since I already know how to do this.
Then, later, I can mount the image and rip the AVIs from that.

Does this plan make sense? Can you rip an AVI from a mounted image same as you could from a DVD?

FairUse Wizard can rip from DVDs directly or from ISOs. They have a free version, but you can't control the output file size. It also can create files for iPads and other similar devices. I've been using it for years (based on a goon recommendation) and it's never failed me.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 23:39

supersteve: Jan 16, 2007; Atari Bigby - UNIVERSITY OF JAH RASTAFARI

FCKGW posted:

The best question I've heard to ask the interviewer is "What's the worst part about this job". You get a lot of insight into the company from those responses.

I like this a lot, thanks.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 01:55

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

supersteve posted:

I like this a lot, thanks.

Along the same lines, it helps to know as much as possible about the company before interviewing. They like it when you understand their business model and how you will fit in.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 02:03

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

My wife has been following the Jodie Arias murder trial very closely, but I never really hear anybody else talk about it. Is this something that's being widely followed, or is it pretty limited? I see mention on the internet and TV occasionally, but I'm not sure if that's because it has a lot of coverage or is just confirmation bias.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 03:00

Ron Don Volante: Dec 29, 2012

Sieg posted:

What about that thing from the news? Where the Down syndrome team manager got put in the game and an opposing team member passed him the ball so he could make a basket? Not quite on the scale of your other examples, but everyone likes a feel good story.

If that doesn't work there is always Rodman going to N Korea.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I decided to go with the Rodman story and Air Bud.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 03:31

ChubbyEmoBabe: Sep 6, 2003; -=|NMN|=-

stubblyhead posted:

My wife has been following the Jodie Arias murder trial very closely, but I never really hear anybody else talk about it. Is this something that's being widely followed, or is it pretty limited? I see mention on the internet and TV occasionally, but I'm not sure if that's because it has a lot of coverage or is just confirmation bias.

It's a whole mess of lies and drama.

There's a reason "Snapped" is pretty much permanently on the "Oxygen" channel.

Or: They are looking for tips on how to kill us and get away with it.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 03:51

toanoradian: May 31, 2011; The happiest waffligator

In United States, for the standard high school physics question of 'if an ice monster of mass x at temperature y makes love to a water titan of mass x+20 at temperature y+4, what is the warmth of their aftersex cuddle?' type, do you guys use Fahrenheit for the temperature?

# ? Mar 7, 2013 07:55

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

toanoradian posted:

In United States, for the standard high school physics question of 'if an ice monster of mass x at temperature y makes love to a water titan of mass x+20 at temperature y+4, what is the warmth of their aftersex cuddle?' type, do you guys=an use Fahrenheit for the temperature?

Thats nonsense. How is a water Titan 4 degrees colder than an ice monster?

# ? Mar 7, 2013 08:00

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

toanoradian posted:

In United States, for the standard high school physics question of 'if an ice monster of mass x at temperature y makes love to a water titan of mass x+20 at temperature y+4, what is the warmth of their aftersex cuddle?' type, do you guys use Fahrenheit for the temperature?

It's been a while since I did physics and thermo, but I'm pretty sure you need to do calculations like that in an absolute scale (Kelvin or Rankine) for them to be meaningful.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 08:27

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

ChubbyEmoBabe posted:

Or: They are looking for tips on how to kill us and get away with it.

Well yeah obvs, I'm just wondering how much in the public consciousness it is.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 08:32

zachol: Feb 13, 2009; Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 WATER monster you control (except this card) to Special Summon 1 WATER monster from your hand. The monster Special Summoned by this effect is destroyed if "Raging Eria" is removed from your side of the field.

toanoradian posted:

In United States, for the standard high school physics question of 'if an ice monster of mass x at temperature y makes love to a water titan of mass x+20 at temperature y+4, what is the warmth of their aftersex cuddle?' type, do you guys use Fahrenheit for the temperature?

In general when you start actually getting into word problems in physics or chemistry classes like that we use Celsius, meters, grams, etc.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 08:43

cakesmith handyman: Jul 22, 2007; Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

randyest posted:

Thats nonsense. How is a water Titan 4 degrees colder than an ice monster?

Well you fail the reading comprehension part, the ice monster is at y, the water titan is at y+4.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 09:00

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

toanoradian posted:

In United States, for the standard high school physics question of 'if an ice monster of mass x at temperature y makes love to a water titan of mass x+20 at temperature y+4, what is the warmth of their aftersex cuddle?' type, do you guys use Fahrenheit for the temperature?

Science is typically done using SI units, wherein we bemoan the United States in general for using pounds and feet. For that particular problem, I'd expect temperatures in Celsius. Physics is typically done in Celsius, while Chemistry is done in Kelvin.

I've also had undergrad-level classes where the teacher starts out with "assume gravity is 32, and that pi is exactly 3," so ymmv.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 09:03

Xenoborg: Mar 10, 2007

Also unless I'm forgetting something, the the units don't matter for that problem. You take (m1*t1+m2*t2)/(m1+m2). This gives you an answer in whatever units t1 and t2 had in the first place.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 09:09

tarepanda: Mar 26, 2011; Living the Dream

Gravity Pike posted:

I've also had undergrad-level classes where the teacher starts out with "assume gravity is 32, and that pi is exactly 3," so ymmv.

32 WHAT

# ? Mar 7, 2013 09:28

spog: Aug 7, 2004; It's your own bloody fault.

tarepanda posted:

32 WHAT

Parsecs.

Han was faster.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 10:13

Aristurtle Records: Jun 9, 2006; live at random, live as best one can

I've seen the method of cleaning sponges by wetting them and putting them in the microwave on a bunch of blogs, and I was wondering if it's safe to put a sponge with the green/black scrubby bit on the bottom in the microwave? Or is there something in that stuff that makes it not microwave safe?

# ? Mar 7, 2013 10:15

cakesmith handyman: Jul 22, 2007; Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

If it's plastic it's safe

# ? Mar 7, 2013 11:59

whiteshark12: Oct 21, 2010; How that gun even works underwater I don't know, but I bet the answer is magic.

tarepanda posted:

32 WHAT

32 elephants. :smug:

# ? Mar 7, 2013 15:55

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

toanoradian posted:

In United States, for the standard high school physics question of 'if an ice monster of mass x at temperature y makes love to a water titan of mass x+20 at temperature y+4, what is the warmth of their aftersex cuddle?' type, do you guys use Fahrenheit for the temperature?

We need to know the heat generation term from all that moving and gyrating they're doing.

In HS physics and chem, they do use metric/SI.
In AP and college classes (especially in engineering), they would occasionally throw an imperial unit problem out there because "industry," and I was always really pissed :argh:

Another fun fact: heaters in the US are often spec'd in "BTU" as if it's a rate (BTU is a lovely lovely unit of heat, like J). They'll say like "20,000 BTU." So this heater produces 20,000 BTU in its entire lifetime, and then goes kaputt? That's pretty sad. Oh, you meant BTU per HOUR? Well why didn't you say so. :eng99:

I mean you can guess they must mean BTU per something, but since I have no idea how big a BTU is, I had no basis to guess whether it was per second or per hour or what.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 16:35

brylcreem: Oct 29, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Imagine this said in an English accent by a police officer:

"You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court."

What does this mean? How am I supposed to know what I want to rely on in court? Do the courts in England really expect you to have a clear court strategy mapped out at the time of arrest?

Random link from Google: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/ebeat/myhub/crimepunishment/index.asp

# ? Mar 7, 2013 16:54

EvilMayo: Dec 25, 2010; "You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

brylcreem posted:

Imagine this said in an English accent by a police officer:

"You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your ~~defence~~ defense if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court."

What does this mean? How am I supposed to know what I want to rely on in court? Do the courts in England really expect you to have a clear court strategy mapped out at the time of arrest?

Random link from Google: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/ebeat/myhub/crimepunishment/index.asp

This sounds like a variation of Miranda Rights.
You don't have to talk.
When in court, if you provide facts that you did not tell us right now at your arrest, it may or may not reflect poorly on you.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 17:38

Xenoborg: Mar 10, 2007

brylcreem posted:

Imagine this said in an English accent by a police officer:

"You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court."

What does this mean? How am I supposed to know what I want to rely on in court? Do the courts in England really expect you to have a clear court strategy mapped out at the time of arrest?

Random link from Google: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/ebeat/myhub/crimepunishment/index.asp

It pretty much means "Tell us what happened now, don't try and invent a sorry later, or we will ask why you didn't have that story in the first place."

For instance: you are found at a murder scene covered in blood, and refuse to talk to the police. Later in court you claim you saw someone else kill the man, they are going to question why you didn't say anything at first. It doesn't mean they totally discount your later story, just that they consider it less reliable.

# ? Mar 7, 2013 17:59