Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

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Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

tuyop posted:

Ok, this may not be the best place to ask, but I have a specific chemistry question about a reaction.

I'm working in a summer (philosophy) camp and we're running this activity: Campers are given vials full of an inert substance, one vial is full of something that is reactive but needs to be colourless and odourless. The campers mingle and exchange small amounts of liquid. At the end, the vials are tested by adding a chemical to the vials, the chemical reacts to vials with some of the reactive substance and changes colour or catches on fire or something.

I think vinegar, water, and baking soda are out. I kind of want to use sodium metal and an acid that doesn't smell, if it exists, because that will cause fire, right?

Can anyone think of two chemicals that will work the way we're intending? Obviously safety is a concern so super strong acids or bases will need us to change the activity a bit with droppers and gloves or something.

Diet coke and Mentos would be the obvious, fun one.

There was one I saw once that involved a Gummi Bear, sulfuric acid, and potassium chloride but that might be a little dangerous. Google that though; there might be a safe way to do it and the Gummi Bear adds that fun factor.

DrBouvenstein posted:

Good to know summer camp hasn't changed from when I was a kid.

Nice.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2014 18:04

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 21:59

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Same experience, but with eyebuydirect.com so probably just look on retalmenot or slickdeals and pick one based on the best promotion going. I just got a nice pair of prescription sunglasses, shipped, for about $15.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2014 19:33

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

TheAngryDrunk posted:

I'd like to connect a device to my home network that is in a spot that would make it difficult to connect with cables. Are there wireless devices that can approach wired speeds? I'm looking for something other than WiFi, if that's possible.

I think something like this is what I need, but I'm wondering if there are better options.

http://m.tigerdirect.com/products/7670959

If you're not willing to snake some ethernet cable then, yes, that is your best option for the price. I bought a $30 set last year to get a blu-ray player online in a back room and it's worked like a charm for months. Twice I've had to unplug them and reset the connection, but that might have been the fault of my cheap router or the cheap blu-ray player.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 15:02

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

mlnhd posted:

What band is depicted in this painting?

My instant thought was REO Speedwagon.

edit: You know what? I think it might be The Eagles, but with Frey, Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and Don Felder.

edit edit: OR it might be Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Joe Walsh and Don Felder but I happen to know that the original configuration I posted above first played together at Disneyland.

Very Strange Things fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Sep 17, 2014

# ¿ Sep 17, 2014 20:01

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Mak0rz posted:

I come from the Canadian east coast and lived in a house that relies on woodfire for heating most of my life. It gets pretty wet there and I can confirm that this advice is all you need. The most important thing is keeping the bottom row(s) of wood off the ground because they'll just sop up moisture from the ground and may rot and collapse the stack. That rack of yours already takes care of that, so no worries there. Even then that's only a big deal if you have stacks of a few thousand pieces of wood in your yard all year and your survival depends on them

We covered our wood only during the winter. Having your wood buried in wet snow for several months is a bit of a different problem than an occasional summer rainfall.

Mainer checking in and, same; the only thing I'll add is that he needs to make sure that rack isn't touching the house. That siding looks like it's vinyl but still.

# ¿ Oct 6, 2014 16:01

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

I would like to learn to sing this song, phonetically, and to also know the chords for guitar. Where should I even start?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGqexvEtrBo

# ¿ Oct 29, 2014 17:40

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Schweinhund posted:

not sure how accurate this is...
http://chordify.net/chords/white-eagle-how-delightful-evening-in-russia-russian-music-namusicity

Well, that's certainly a good loving start. Thanks! I just plugged this kid's guitar cover in and I can probably get a really good jump on it from there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahV96FjazDA&t=51s
http://chordify.net/chords/-1akirasan1

Is there a phoneticify.com?

# ¿ Oct 29, 2014 20:06

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Davincie posted:

whats the saying for sticking with something that is bad for you because you have/see no other options

Facebook. (tunnel vision maybe?)

# ¿ Dec 19, 2014 21:02

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

I'm having a pedantic argument with someone that I obviously want to win.
A guy I know ran an organization for many years and used an email address for both official correspondence and personal missives.
It also happens to be the email that is associated with their home internet access. The organization may or may not have paid for that internet at some time but they certainly don't now. His name is Bob now.

The address has a somewhat uncommon English word as the username. That word is also part of the name of the organization and is used informally when talking about the organization.
An analog would be if Bob worked for a French-Indian War reenactment group called the Sandusky Chroniclers and used the email address chroniclers(at)timewarner(dot)com.

He was sort of forced to resign, though the parting is mostly amicable. That email is Bob's primary (only, as far as I know) email so he is continuing to use it until someone helps him transition to a new one.

A couple weeks went by and it never got switched and he's still using it. Mostly because I was out of the country and never helped him but he said someone else is helping and it just hasn't happened.
Another person, still with the Chroniclers, is now making a stink that he needs to cancel that email or surrender it to them. Pertinent parts of two of his several emails:

quote:

"I do need to make one correction, as it was mentioned to me in your email, that this is Bobs personal account and that we shouldn't be trying to have it shut down. Unfortunately, its not Bobs account, for as long as he has the name of the Chroniclers as part of his personal email address, then its a Chroniclers account, of which he should not be making any communications"

quote:

...Bottom line, Bob still using a shared email address is preventing us from using the address as responses are returned to Bob..."

Yes, I know that Bob should have had a separate email and yes, I know that he could easily be switched over, avoiding any stink but now I'm just getting irritated with this guy emailing me making some claim on an email with an isp domain name.

Of course Bob should stop using it, and maybe it is unethical in some way to continue using it, but it's still his choice right?
He could choose to use it as much as he wants for as long as he wants.

Yes, these people are all old.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2014 15:49

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

CzarChasm posted:

Huh. Didn't find that before, but it's worth a shot. Thanks very much.

There are no winners here. Here's the one question I have - Did Bob set up this email before or after being head of this organization? It doesn't really matter, but just curious.

After. He had an aol address before and used it a little during but now only uses the disputed one.

quote:

Since you aren't using real names and info, I'm going to make a more amusing example. Let's say Bob registered KKKGrandDragon @gmail.com. Lets say he uses this for both business (FAQs about being a white supremacist and keeping black people down) and personal use (signing up for recipe exchanges and sending chain mails). Now, all of a sudden, he's kicked out of the KKK for having a black friend. He's no longer the Grand Dragon of the KKK.

It doesn't matter. He still has the password and user name for that account. Yes, he's stupid for mixing his personal and business emails, but he's done so on a public domain. He is not GrandDragon @KKK.org. If the domain were set up to be @chroniclers.org and his email was info@, then yeah, you could make a stronger argument that Bob should release it. But they didn't set up a domain. They used a domain belonging to another entity, and just came up with a user name.

Guy number two (who is now Dave) has two options in this scenario - 1) Suck it up and go for KKKGrandDragon1 or 2) set up a new email with a free service so now he can be chroniclers@gmail or @yahoo or wherever. He can request, that since Bob is no longer affiliated with the group that he pass any business emails along to the new, correct address. But no, Dave cannot make Bob give up his email. It's kind of a pain in the rear end for Bob to go through, because now he has to change all his stuff, come up with a new email address, work with Time Warner, make sure all his personal contacts get the message, etc. If Bob wants to be nice, he can go through all that crap, but he doesn't have to. As long as he's not badmouthing anyone who sends him legitimate business email, or acting like he's in charge of the group still, and he's doing his best to get messages where they belong, he's fine.

Sigh. I just talked to him and he actually wants to just continue using it. It's very likely he will be badmouthing some members of the group, probably won't go out of his way to redirect mail, but he most likely would never represent himself as running the group or even being involved. I wonder where that leaves him; I know copyrights are pretty much assumed these days.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2014 20:00

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

JacquelineDempsey posted:

There's a colloquial name for these things:

http://www.autoanything.com/grille-guards/10A50168.aspx

...and I'm totally having a brain fart as to what it is. I keep thinking "cow catcher", but that's what the equivalent thing on a train is called. It's not "bull bars", either. I wanna say it's something with "deer" in it.

I call it a brush guard.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2015 21:03

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Rabbit Hill posted:

Really? Isn't the rule "whoever gets there first goes first"?

I'd go one further than the others and say Car B has an obligation to go first, so that traffic doesn't slow down because of some strange sense of morality.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2015 18:40

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Tiggum posted:

How can I clean this?

There seems to be some sort of residue on the inside (you can't see it in the picture) and I have no idea how to get in there to wipe it. I've put dishwashing liquid and hot water in there and swirled it around, but that doesn't seem to have worked.

What everyone else said, but also sand + water + vigorous swirling and shaking is a decent way to clean bottles as well.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2015 17:04

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

computer parts posted:

Who made this cup/design?

It's called "Jazz" and it's trademarked by Solo, but I've never seen a designer's name associated with it.

edit: looks like I was beaten, but that page also doesn't list a designer. It would be cool to find out, maybe, but probably not. Just some dude in-house that took something off a Trapper Keeper and put it on a cup. They probably don't even remember.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2015 03:37

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

I've never seen the Swedish, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (or whatever its title actually is) but I've seen the American one.
Movie-watching time is at a premium and my wife, who is away for a couple days, would not care to watch any Swedish films so I'm hoping to bang out the two sequels (TGW Kicked the Hornet's Nest and TGW Played With Fire) while she is gone.

Can I forego seeing the first one and just watch the next two Swedish films or should I really see that first?

Would anyone say that is it so good that I shouldn't skip it, even though I already knew the story?

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 17:32

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

dokmo posted:

Why do I picture dudes standing around a flaming garbage can when I think of doowop music? What's the connection?

I feel like I've seen that scene somewhere recently. It might have been Frank's old gang in "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" but I know I've seen it elsewhere. I'm pretty sure that style of singing started in inner cities and people did stand around burning barrels in squats and empty lots. Still do. Here's the closest analog I could find of an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tzSjtuMGOQ

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 03:13

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Golbez posted:

Yikes. So... I guess I'm probably stuck with this. Oh well, thanks.

Now for hopefully the biggest swing in topics we've had on here:

Is there a difference between taking a normal bath and a specialty tiny sitz bath for hemorrhoids? Apart from the extra time it takes to fill the bathtub, is there any clinical difference?

I doubt it, but I don't know. I just wanted to recommend Witch Hazel for your sad cornhole. Get some of that up in there with some baby wipes.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2015 17:46

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

uwaeve posted:

a backpack full of weight plates,

'Twas to be my suggestion. A couple plates in a backpack should do it. A packback with the thing that fastens across the chest would be best.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 15:59

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

Jake Snake posted:

There's a slope just outside my property line that grows super tall weeds every summer. The county is supposed to take care of it, but their solution is just to mow it twice a year. The weeds quickly grow back, and it�s too steep for me to mow myself. The slope also leads into the street, so I don�t want to use chemical weed killers.

Any ideas on how to remove them? Permanently? I live in Florida, and the weeds are mostly these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex_crispus.

You could try a shitload of white vinegar. A hardware store could sell you a sprayer for 10 bucks or so and you can get jugs of vinegar for a couple bucks a gallon.

Also, you could completely cover parts of it with cardboard, tarps, or old carpet and then it won't get any sun and die. That usually keeps the stuff away for a while.

# ¿ May 15, 2015 17:02

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

xzoto1 posted:

Someone guess what this god drat sound is. It's a radio contest being held here. No one has guessed it correctly. It's driving me crazy:

https://soundcloud.com/z953/z-fx-10

A slot machine, but just before it starts to spin?

Coin return on a pay phone?

Return key on a typewriter?

Button on a soda can dispensing machine?

# ¿ Oct 28, 2015 20:05

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 21:59

Very Strange Things: May 21, 2008

syscall girl posted:

So wait, the radio show never gave it away? Assholes.

I am on iOS so can't listen to the soundcloud or I'd throw in a guess.

xzoto1 posted:

What I meant is that no one has guessed the sound yet. There's been, like.... 30 guesses. It's only a 1 second clip.

It was chips being poured into a metal bowl.

Somebody won $18k.

http://www.z953.ca/contests/z-fx.aspx

# ¿ Nov 5, 2015 04:38

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

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