Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

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

Pogo the Clown: Sep 5, 2007; Spoke to the devil the other day

copy of a posted:

Car identification question!
It's bugged me for years trying to find out what kind of car is featured in this music video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew6x6sHiFaw&t=249s
Here's a really good shot of the front: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew6x6sHiFaw&t=257s

And it comes up several times in this video as well. There's never a full shot of the car, but there's a bunch of front angles and side angles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVbPvf2aYH4&t=71s

(yes judge me because i listen to fall out boy blah blah whatever who cares)

The only answer Google could find me was a '69 Buick Skylark, but that is the car featured in the beginning of the first video. The grill is completely wrong for it to be a Buick, I'm thinking it's an older Chrysler or an Oldsmobile, but I am not great with identifying older cars.
Help me out, please?

I'm not a car guy, but I'm pretty sure the one in the second video is a Lincoln Continental. I can't find the exact model but I think it's from the 70's.

Edit: Got it. Lincoln Continental 1972 4-door sedan.

Pogo the Clown fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Jan 2, 2014

# ? Jan 2, 2014 23:13

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# ? May 31, 2024 12:55

me your dad: Jul 25, 2006

regulargonzalez posted:

And even if your device name is innocuous, if they really wanted to find you they likely could via indirect means. See all the times "phone device" connects to network, match that up against who was in the office every single time it connected. See if there's any overlap in sites visited between the phone and anyone's work computer.

Cool, thanks for the added info. I'm not visiting any prohibited sites and neither am I visiting any sites with a concerning frequency. I just wanted to see if I could get off the radar completely. I make occasional visits to these forums and a few other sites during the course of a day. Likely nothing to raise alarms about but I'd rather they not see any activity outside of work. I've been using my phone on a 4G connection for the most part but that kind of sucks so it'd be nice to go on wi-fi.

I'll have to rename my devices

# ? Jan 2, 2014 23:53

Nighthand: Nov 4, 2009; what horror the gas

Flipperwaldt posted:

code:
=NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(),EOMONTH(TODAY(),0))
This will include the current day. If you don't want that, you can do this:
code:
=NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(),EOMONTH(TODAY(),0))-1
EDIT: the latter may result in -1 when it is the last day of the month and it's not a weekday. If that bothers you, try:
code:
=IF(TODAY()=EOMONTH(TODAY(),0),0,NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(),EOMONTH(TODAY(),0))-1)
Of course, whether you do that or not, you'll have to prepare for the contingency that you're going to divide by a number that could be 0.

Looks like I'll have to install the analysis toolpack addon, which the program yells at me to find the original installation source, so I'll have to dig that out. Otherwise, thanks!

# ? Jan 3, 2014 01:14

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

Nighthand posted:

Looks like I'll have to install the analysis toolpack addon, which the program yells at me to find the original installation source, so I'll have to dig that out. Otherwise, thanks!

Jesus. I know when they made this poo poo optional the two megabytes or whatever that saved on your harddrive were significant, but there hasn't been an excuse not to include it in the default install for over fifteen years.

Anyway, if you can't find the install media and you're not too dependent on vbs scripting otherwise, LibreOffice Calc is pretty much the same thing as Excel 2003. It even uses the exact same formulas. Also writes xls files. It's only a lot more annoying when it comes to conditionally formatting cells with colors.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 01:53

Nighthand: Nov 4, 2009; what horror the gas

My spreadsheet is incredibly basic, with only a couple of =SUMs, and I'm not incredibly invested in office 2003. I'm just invested in not having the stupid office 2010 control ribbon.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 02:12

Mescal: Jul 23, 2005

Flipperwaldt posted:

Jesus. I know when they made this poo poo optional the two megabytes or whatever that saved on your harddrive were significant, but there hasn't been an excuse not to include it in the default install for over fifteen years.

Anyway, if you can't find the install media and you're not too dependent on vbs scripting otherwise, LibreOffice Calc is pretty much the same thing as Excel 2003. It even uses the exact same formulas. Also writes xls files. It's only a lot more annoying when it comes to conditionally formatting cells with colors.

Is Libreoffice Calc actually good? Free software is usually great when it's original and independent, but terrible when it's an ersatz version of a specific popular commercial product. I'd like to download it if it really works well and similarly to Excel.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 04:25

uptown: May 16, 2009

I keep getting an ad for "Game of War" or something when I browse the forums on my iPhone's Safari app. I prefer Safari to the Awful App, but every time the banner ad is on the page, it automatically opens up the app store. It's really frustrating. Is there a way I can disable opening the app store?

# ? Jan 3, 2014 04:58

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

uptown posted:

I keep getting an ad for "Game of War" or something when I browse the forums on my iPhone's Safari app. I prefer Safari to the Awful App, but every time the banner ad is on the page, it automatically opens up the app store. It's really frustrating. Is there a way I can disable opening the app store?

Buy the No-Ads upgrade.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 05:01

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

Report it in the bad ads thread in QCS.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 05:29

uptown: May 16, 2009

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

Buy the No-Ads upgrade.

I don't care that there are ads, just that this one is opening up in the app store and SA doesn't use pop-ups, afaik.

stubblyhead posted:

Report it in the bad ads thread in QCS.

Will do.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 05:44

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

uptown posted:

I don't care that there are ads, just that this one is opening up in the app store and SA doesn't use pop-ups, afaik.

SA doesn't directly, but it uses ad networks and sometimes bad ads slip through. If you read that QCS thread this happens all the time, so the only way to permanently stop it from happening is to get the no-ads upgrade.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 05:50

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

What is lazy evaluation in terms of programming language? The Wikipedia article didn't make much sense to me.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 06:45

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

tuyop posted:

What is lazy evaluation in terms of programming language? The Wikipedia article didn't make much sense to me.

Let's say you have a command like:

If x = 15 and y is greater than x, do z command

Lazy evaluation will only check that x is 15, and not check if y is bigger if x is not 15.
Normal evaluation will check if y is greater than x even if it already determined x wasn't 15.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 08:08

greazeball: Feb 4, 2003

Mescal posted:

Is Libreoffice Calc actually good? Free software is usually great when it's original and independent, but terrible when it's an ersatz version of a specific popular commercial product. I'd like to download it if it really works well and similarly to Excel.

LibreOffice works fine for most things. I used Write and Calc for about 3-4 years. I'm not a power user by any means but I did a lot of stuff for work (ESL teacher) and the first semester of my master's.

With Write the shortcomings are mostly formatting issues and that it doesn't always play nice with docx files. With Calc I think there are some limitations on the scripts and formulas you can use but I never ran into issues doing budgets or other kinds of record-keeping.

IMO, the package really is a "good enough" free MS Office substitute, especially if you're in an isolated work environment and don't have to share a lot of docs between packages.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 09:28

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

greazeball posted:

LibreOffice works fine for most things.

The only issue I've ever had with it is when people insist on having stuff in MS Word format and it involves some sort of non-basic formatting, in which case it can be a pain to get the Word document to look exactly how you want it. If you can use odt format consistently or just save stuff as pdf then it's no problem at all.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 09:52

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

Nighthand posted:

My spreadsheet is incredibly basic, with only a couple of =SUMs, and I'm not incredibly invested in office 2003. I'm just invested in not having the stupid office 2010 control ribbon.

Let's be clear here, Excel is still going to be your most painless solution if you can find the install media.

Mescal posted:

Is Libreoffice Calc actually good? Free software is usually great when it's original and independent, but terrible when it's an ersatz version of a specific popular commercial product. I'd like to download it if it really works well and similarly to Excel.

It really depends on your expectations. If you're hardcore into Excel, you might get annoyed that stuff is in different places or works ever so slightly differently. Some of the more advanced stuff might even be missing still.

But if you've got to manipulate a couple of sheets with dates, numbers and strings with the built-in formulas and not depend on scripts or fancy graphs too much, you're gonna be ok and end up with files that can be exchanged with an Excel user (fingers crossed).

It's hard to give a blanket statement, because opinions may vary on what exactly is basic functionality. It's pretty good and fairly feature complete for being free. It's like 85% there, even in emulating some of Excel's quirks. Since Excel is such a complicated program, that's actually really good. It's not crashy or anything. For all its shortcomings it's also the only free alternative that's somewhat recommendable. Apart from Google Docs, which misses some other functionality, but offers the convenience of being easy to share online. But if you can miss the money for the Microsoft package, there's no point because that's such a strong standard that any deviation is going to be problematic.

If you just want to keep track of your spending or calculate solar eclipses or whatever, Calc is fine, in any case.

The Write package is something else entirely and I wouldn't recommend it for anything besides writing a letter or maybe an essay. Mostly because you're more likely to send the file to someone with Word and end up with layout problems.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 12:42

hooah: Feb 6, 2006; WTF?

I'm on well water, so we use fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash. Is it recommended to do both, or only have one fluoridated? I tried a couple Google searches, but mostly just got information about fluoridation generally.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 17:19

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

hooah posted:

I'm on well water, so we use fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash. Is it recommended to do both, or only have one fluoridated? I tried a couple Google searches, but mostly just got information about fluoridation generally.

I think it takes a whole lot of fluoride to be toxic, so toothpaste + mouthwash is probably fine.

Also: Many people who have fluoridated water use fluoridated toothpaste too, anyway, because many toothpastes are fluoridated and many people don't pay much attention to which toothpaste they buy. I'm one of those people, and I turned out fine :downs:

For alternate opinions, see Gen. Jack D Ripper.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 17:51

Trastion: Jul 24, 2003; The one and only.

hooah posted:

I'm on well water, so we use fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash. Is it recommended to do both, or only have one fluoridated? I tried a couple Google searches, but mostly just got information about fluoridation generally.

I have lived my whole life (almost 42 years now) in the first city in the US (since 1942) that added Fluoride to their water supply. I also use toothpaste and mouthwash that has Fluoride in it. I have great teeth mostly (had a lot of cavities when I was a kid because of :effort:

brushing) so i doubt it will be an issue for you.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 18:11

copy of a: Mar 13, 2010; by zen death robot

Rent-A-Cop posted:

1967 Olds Cutlass Supreme in the first video. Second video is a different car.

You should buy me a beer or something for making me watch Fallout Boy videos.

Thanks! Come on down to Florida and I will.

Pogo the Clown posted:

I'm not a car guy, but I'm pretty sure the one in the second video is a Lincoln Continental. I can't find the exact model but I think it's from the 70's.

Edit: Got it. Lincoln Continental 1972 4-door sedan.

Beer for you, too! This is definitely the car.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 18:44

hooah: Feb 6, 2006; WTF?

alnilam posted:

I think it takes a whole lot of fluoride to be toxic, so toothpaste + mouthwash is probably fine.

Also: Many people who have fluoridated water use fluoridated toothpaste too, anyway, because many toothpastes are fluoridated and many people don't pay much attention to which toothpaste they buy. I'm one of those people, and I turned out fine

For alternate opinions, see Gen. Jack D Ripper.

Trastion posted:

I have lived my whole life (almost 42 years now) in the first city in the US (since 1942) that added Fluoride to their water supply. I also use toothpaste and mouthwash that has Fluoride in it. I have great teeth mostly (had a lot of cavities when I was a kid because of brushing) so i doubt it will be an issue for you.

I was more interested in if I should use both, or if one is enough, since I've got well water. We bought un-fluoridated mouthwash, and I'm wondering if I should keep it or not.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 18:47

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

hooah posted:

I was more interested in if I should use both, or if one is enough, since I've got well water. We bought un-fluoridated mouthwash, and I'm wondering if I should keep it or not.

I would say that it should have no impact on your decision making process whatsoever.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 18:54

CzarChasm: Mar 14, 2009; I don't like it when you're watching me eat.

Traffic flow question

My city recently installed new sets of traffic lights at several intersections on one particular stretch of road, replacing existing lights. However, for one set, the flow pattern is a little 'backwards'.

Typically, in pretty much every other lighted intersection that I've ever dealt with, assuming traffic in all four directions, and cars making left turns, the left turning vehicles get green arrows first, then traffic that started in the same direction gets to go forward. Or to put it another way, two cars traveling North reach a traffic light. One is going to go straight, and the other is going to turn left, heading West. The left turning car gets the arrow and goes first, light goes green and car 2 continues North.

On this light, the North bound car goes first, the whole cycle finishes (light goes green > yellow > red) and then the left turn arrow lights.

What is the reasoning or advantages to this system? Do they use this pattern in other parts of the country/the world?

# ? Jan 3, 2014 20:56

Ice To Meet You: Mar 5, 2007

That pattern is widely used around here. The cars going straight get to go first, but if there is no traffic coming in the opposite direction, then you can make a left turn. Otherwise, you wait for the left turn arrow.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 21:05

Leal: Oct 2, 2009

I'm replacing my motherboard, the thread in SH/SC forum suggests this. I currently use one of these. So two questions:

1: I notice one is 1155 socket, the other 1150. Does that mean all the parts I bought for the 1155 wont fit on the motherboard with 1150 socket? Or am I just reading the socket numbers wrong?
2: Would I need to install drivers or do a clean install replacing the motherboard or can I just replace it, turn on the PC and everything will be fine?

# ? Jan 3, 2014 21:21

FreshFeesh: Jun 3, 2007; Drum Solo

Leal posted:

I'm replacing my motherboard, the thread in SH/SC forum suggests this. I currently use one of these. So two questions:

1: I notice one is 1155 socket, the other 1150. Does that mean all the parts I bought for the 1155 wont fit on the motherboard with 1150 socket? Or am I just reading the socket numbers wrong?
2: Would I need to install drivers or do a clean install replacing the motherboard or can I just replace it, turn on the PC and everything will be fine?

The socket refers to the CPU itself. You need to make sure your CPU socket matches or is compatible with your motherboard socket or you'll be out of luck. All other connectors (PCI, SATA, et cetera) should be compatible.

Windows really doesn't like you changing up essential components (motherboard, primary HDD, occasionally the processor) and will at best throw a lot of errors. This is due to the different drivers that are needed to make the software talk to the new hardware, versus what was previously installed. I've always backed everything up and gone with a clean install when changing out a motherboard. If you're using Windows 7 or higher the "Easy Transfer Wizard" goes a very long way to making this process as painless as possible.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 21:39

Carbon Thief: Oct 11, 2009; Diamonds aren't the only things that are forever.

How much are audio cassettes affected by cold temperatures? I received one in the mail today, and it's about -15C/5F outside. It was probably only sitting in the mailbox for a couple of hours, though.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 21:45

Leal: Oct 2, 2009

FreshFeesh posted:

The socket refers to the CPU itself. You need to make sure your CPU socket matches or is compatible with your motherboard socket or you'll be out of luck. All other connectors (PCI, SATA, et cetera) should be compatible.

Windows really doesn't like you changing up essential components (motherboard, primary HDD, occasionally the processor) and will at best throw a lot of errors. This is due to the different drivers that are needed to make the software talk to the new hardware, versus what was previously installed. I've always backed everything up and gone with a clean install when changing out a motherboard. If you're using Windows 7 or higher the "Easy Transfer Wizard" goes a very long way to making this process as painless as possible.

Is there a way to find out if a CPU is compatible? Seems I'll have to buy a new CPU, I mean I may as well upgrade instead of doing a straight replacement (especially since replacing my current motherboard with the exact same one costs more then buying the newer one)

Another dumb question: What is the best way to store old computer parts? I may as well hold onto these parts and later down the line when I replace everything build a second pc and give it to my little brother for school.

Leal fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jan 3, 2014

# ? Jan 3, 2014 22:03

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Carbon Thief posted:

How much are audio cassettes affected by cold temperatures? I received one in the mail today, and it's about -15C/5F outside. It was probably only sitting in the mailbox for a couple of hours, though.

They're unaffected by cold temperatures unless you stop dropping 'em in liquid nitrogen or something supercold like that. Putting them from very cold temperatures to be played in a hot player can cause unwanted stretches that distort audio or cause tangles though. That'd be more of a concern for something like taking it out of a freezer and putting it in a tape deck sitting in a car on a sunny summer day though.

Leal posted:

Is there a way to find out if a CPU is compatible? Seems I'll have to buy a new CPU, I mean I may as well upgrade instead of doing a straight replacement (especially since replacing my current motherboard with the exact same one costs more then buying the newer one)

Guess another dumb question: What is the best way to store old computer parts? I may as well hold onto these parts and later down the line when I replace everything build a second pc and give it to my little brother for school.

Most parts buying sites like Newegg will have tools where you tell them what motherboard or cpu you'd like to buy and they'll tell you what other things they have will be compatible.

Just keep the stuff away from heavy moisture, and preferably keep it from going below freezing or above like 120 degrees. A closest in a heated/air conditioned part of your house will be just fine.

Nintendo Kid fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Jan 3, 2014

# ? Jan 3, 2014 22:04

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

tuyop posted:

What is lazy evaluation in terms of programming language? The Wikipedia article didn't make much sense to me.

Install Windows posted:

Let's say you have a command like:

If x = 15 and y is greater than x, do z command

Lazy evaluation will only check that x is 15, and not check if y is bigger if x is not 15.
Normal evaluation will check if y is greater than x even if it already determined x wasn't 15.

What you described is referred to "short-circuiting." Lazy evaluation goes a bit further.

code:

var a = 12;
var b = 13;
var inbox = MailLibrary.login("username", "password").getInbox();
var numberOfNewMessages = inbox.filter(NEW).size();
var err = "A is: " + a " and B is: " + b;


print ( 
  if ( isEven(b) )  "I have " + numberOfNewMessages + " new messages!";
  else err;
)

In an eager language, things will happen basically in the order that the programmer writes them. Above, it'll make space to hold the variables a, b, inbox, numberOfNewMessage, err in memory, then fill in a, then b, then establish a connection to your mail server, then download your inbox and save it as inbox, then filter all of the messages, then count them and save it as numberOfNewMessages, then build up the err message, then check if b odd, and then print the err message.

In a lazy language, nothing is calculated until the program decides that it's going to need it. Like above, the computer will make room to store a, b, inbox, numberOfNewMessage, err in memory. Then it'll figure out how it would go about filling in those values if it had to. Then it'll get to the print line, where it needs to know something in order to make a decision. It'll fill in the value b, decide that b not even, and realize that it needs to know what err is. It'll look up the function it needs to perform, and start doing that. It already knows what the value for b is, but it'll need to fill in the value for a. It'll build up the err message, store that in the err slot in memory, and then print the message.

There are trade-offs on each size. In the first case, we did something incredibly expensive in computer-programming terms: we connected to an external server. That could take seconds! In the second case, we did have to spend time at the beginning, deciding roughly what it would look like to figure out each of these values, and storing that information. That'll take some memory, and a few milliseconds. If it turned out that we needed to fill in all of those values anyway, we would have wasted time and memory doing this setup first. Also, lazy-evaluation only makes sense if a named-variable cannot change once it's set (is immutable), which puts some onus on the programmer to think about these things.

# ? Jan 3, 2014 23:30

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

Wow, computers are hard. But thanks for taking the time to explain it, I think I get it now. In a lazy language does a programmer have to establish those logical links? Like find a only if b is >x or does it just know that somehow?

# ? Jan 3, 2014 23:36

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

The code itself is how the programmer establishes the logical links. None of the "find value X" are explicit - the code says "use value X", and the program doesn't calculate X until it gets to that point.

# ? Jan 4, 2014 00:20

FreshFeesh: Jun 3, 2007; Drum Solo

Leal posted:

Is there a way to find out if a CPU is compatible? Seems I'll have to buy a new CPU, I mean I may as well upgrade instead of doing a straight replacement (especially since replacing my current motherboard with the exact same one costs more then buying the newer one.

If you're currently using the linked MSI board (a 1155 socket), your current CPU is an 1155 also. Accordingly any 1155 board will be able to handle that CPU.

# ? Jan 4, 2014 01:22

Lawnie: Sep 6, 2006; That is my helmet
Give it back
you are a lion
^{It doesn't even fit}; Grimey Drawer

Why does my recently adopted shelter dog, male, have a small teal line tattooed underneath one of his back hips near his groin?

# ? Jan 4, 2014 01:49

Loopyface: Mar 22, 2003

Lawnie posted:

Why does my recently adopted shelter dog, male, have a small teal line tattooed underneath one of his back hips near his groin?

It's proof of being neutered.

# ? Jan 4, 2014 02:03

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

Lawnie posted:

Why does my recently adopted shelter dog, male, have a small teal line tattooed underneath one of his back hips near his groin?

It's to confirm that your dog is not wearing pants. You barbarian!

# ? Jan 4, 2014 02:15

sleepy gary: Jan 11, 2006

They tattoo for spays, but what's the point of tattooing for neuters when it's pretty easy to just look? In case the dog has Neuticles(R)?

# ? Jan 4, 2014 02:24

thrakkorzog: Nov 16, 2007

DNova posted:

They tattoo for spays, but what's the point of tattooing for neuters when it's pretty easy to just look? In case the dog has Neuticles(R)?

From what I understand, some dog tracking systems actually put the equipment where the testes used to be, causing the dogs to initially appear intact, even if they have been neutered. Considering that most people would prefer to not have to become experts on the difference between fake and real dog testes, tattooing the dog makes sense.

# ? Jan 4, 2014 08:48

Mescal: Jul 23, 2005

thrakkorzog posted:

From what I understand, some dog tracking systems actually put the equipment where the testes used to be, causing the dogs to initially appear intact, even if they have been neutered. Considering that most people would prefer to not have to become experts on the difference between fake and real dog testes, tattooing the dog makes sense.

Some dog tracking systems use a GPS transmitter in the shape of a left dog testicle and a GPS receiver in the shape of a right dog testicle and they put them in the dog scrotum so that we can find the dog and improve the dog's sexual confidence?

# ? Jan 4, 2014 09:09

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# ? May 31, 2024 12:55

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

When you post a link on Facebook, it lets you pick an image from the site as a preview, but is there any way to tell how it's actually going to look when it's posted? What determines if you get a square thumbnail or rectangular cropped image? With the cropped images, can you make it use a particular part of the image? I posted a link on my Facebook which had this image as its preview, and as I wrote the post it looked like it would use the top section of the image, which was fine, but then when I actually posted it what appeared was a cropped version starting just below her head, which was not how I wanted it to look.

# ? Jan 4, 2014 10:08

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

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