Lurker > adjl

Revelation34 posted...

Isn't ganache technically in the same family as frosting?

Depends who you talk to. Some people will using "frosting/icing" to refer to pretty much anything you can spread or drizzle on a cake (it usually doesn't include rolled coverings like marzipan or rolled fondant), some people will mostly just use them to refer to buttercream variants. Generally speaking, if I see somebody talking about something like "frosted brownies," I presume they're just referring to brownies with buttercream on them, even though there are many other options for covering brownies that could also qualify for that label.

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deoxxys posted...

We can just set a date a few months ahead of time and say "ery one get vaccinated by this date, mkay?".

Hypothetically, but in practice, you're probably going to be better off just keeping mask mandates in effect until enough people are vaccinated to make them unnecessary. It's annoying for early adopters to basically derive no immediate benefit from their proactivity, but there's really no other way to do it safely.

Zeus posted...

The masks are mostly there to protect other people from *your* germs.

It's like a 70/30 split. "Mostly" is not an inaccurate term to use, but it is very inaccurate to suggest that masks provide no personal protection.

Zeus posted...

If you're vaccinated, you shouldn't be able to contract it in the first place let alone transmit it.

Having immunity to a pathogen does two things, primarily:

• Increases the body's ability to prevent infection, meaning a larger pathogen load is needed to cause an infection
• Increases the body's ability to fight off an infection that does take root, resulting in less severe, shorter-lived infections

For more "ordinary" illnesses, the first point is usually enough to prevent infection altogether, since you're mostly concerned with the pathogen being picked up in relatively small quantities from the environment, rather than the larger pathogen loads you see from being exposed to infected people. With an ongoing epidemic, it's a lot more likely that you'll be exposed to the pathogen load of an infected person, so the vaccine may not be adequate.

Wearing a mask, however, reduces the pathogen load to which you're exposed (this is why they've been demonstrated to reduce the severity of infections), which can help to keep it below the threshold that your immune system is able to fend off. Even so, it's still possible to be infected, in which case the mask also helps to prevent you from spreading it to others, working in concert with the vaccine making you less infectious to further reduce that risk. We will eventually get to a point where most potential spread will be between vaccinated people and the risk of infection there will be so low as to make masks pointless, but there's still benefit to be derived from wearing a mask even after being vaccinated.

All of this also ignores the cultural and enforcement considerations. It's a lot simpler and safer to enforce "wear a mask" than it is to enforce "wear a mask unless you've been vaccinated already," and telling people to wear masks is a lot more likely to be heeded if most other people are already doing so. If unvaccinated people can look around and see a few dozen people without masks, even if those people are vaccinated and can therefore justify that decision, they're going to be less willing to take the precautions they still need to take.

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

should blast through them once they meet the requirements.

And what requirements would those be?

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I once made a batch of brownies that I topped with an italian meringue, cherry compote, and a dark chocolate ganache. I... had some regrets.

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Far-Queue posted...

Don't like frosted brownies, either.

What about ones that are topped with ganache? Caramel? Compote? All of the above?

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Zeus posted...

...so what you're saying is that maybe she should reach out to Sega instead of Apple?

If you buy some chicken from the grocery store that turns out to be spoiled when you open it, do you find the processing plant that sold the chicken to the store and ask them for a refund, or do you return it to the store from which you bought it?

Apple's the one handling the transactions, so Apple's the one to contact for a refund. Apple would likely then, in turn, seek that refund back from Sega (or 70% of it, given the cut Apple takes of sales). Middlemen act as a liaison between customers and producers. There's no reason to expect that to change just because the money's flowing the other way.

Zeus posted...

...it wasn't just that she failed to secure her credit card, she didn't notice the charges for OVER SIXTY DAYS, according to your highlighted selection earlier. Did she not read her credit card statements?

If you actually read duckbear's post, she did notice the unusual charges when they happened back in July, it just took her bank until October to confirm that the charges were legitimate and she had to contact Apple, by which point Apple's 60-day window for contesting charges had passed. It was very much not a matter of her not noticing the charges for two months. If anything, it sounds like Chase dragging their heels is the main reason she can't get a refund.

Zeus posted...

Otherwise the risks here are the same risks with any other unsupervised use. If you don't monitor your kid with your credit card info, they can run up massive bills doing literally anything.

Sure, but that's why you teach your kids not to go on spending sprees in online stores, which is pretty easy. A 6-year-old isn't likely to make the same connection to virtual purchases inside a game (which is what happened here), though, thanks largely to the fact that these games very deliberately obfuscate the fact that you're spending real money to as much of an extent as they can legally get away with. Most other things they can spend enormous amounts on are also going to be tangible goods that can potentially be returned, not virtual consumable items, which has substantially less potential for harm.

Zeus posted...

Not to mention everything else the kid could have done while being unmonitored.

You seem to want to paint this as "nobody paid any attention to what this kid was doing at all," but there's no reason to believe that. Taking a look at the iPad periodically to see what the kid's doing and saying "Oh, he's playing a game. Doesn't look too violent. This seems okay" is a perfectly reasonable, non-negligent amount of supervision, yet the odds of catching the kid in the act of buying microtransactions with that level of supervision are very low. These systems are designed to make it very easy to spend money very quickly, often with interfaces that don't look any different from other in-game menus such that a casual glance isn't necessarily going to identify them as a purchase screen even if the parent does happen to check on them at the right time.

Again, this is not a surprise to Sega, nor would it be to EA, Activision, or anyone else publishing microtransaction-riddled games. They know exactly what they're doing when they design these games and their purchase systems and they very deliberately take it as far as they possibly can without being legally responsible to pay back their ill-gotten gains when somebody calls them out on it. That you're going to bat for the AAA game industry's scummy monetization practices after being so insistent in other topics that modern games are ripoffs is honestly kind of baffling.

wwinterj25 posted...

So she knows her kid has a addictive personality

Uhh, that's not what that sentence means at all, dude. That's a retrospective assessment of how her kid ended up behaving (and also a completely accurate description of the behaviours microtransaction systems aim to induce), not her acknowledging that he has always acted like a drug addict.

demonfang178 posted...

Which is why parents should invest just a little bit of time to learn about their child's hobbies.

That still wouldn't necessarily be enough. Parents should make an effort to research the harms of video gaming, but there's so much information out there on that subject that has nothing to do with predatory microtransactions that they still might not come across it. And that's without considering that, once enough parents become savvy to this particular avenue of exploitation, the industry will move on to some strategy that they're still ignorant to and exploit that until more people clue in.

Yes, parents should learn a bit about their kids' hobbies, but nonsense like this should not be a genuine risk in any activity that's popular among children. This is something you should have to be concerned about if your kid hangs around gambling websites, not if your kid likes Sonic the Hedgehog. That is is such a risk is - as I've said - nothing short of utterly despicable.

reason posted...

there should be some kind of limit on these transactions to prevent the amount of charges from becoming so high.

Yep. At the very least, anything past, say, $100 in less than a week should require the credit card information to be manually entered, and possibly automatically notify the credit card company of a suspicious transaction so the cardholder is made aware of what's happening. That would have the added bonus of forcing people whose addictive tendencies are driving them to overspend on microtransactions to pause and consider their actions, since so often "whales" are so profitable because they lose track of what they've spent.

Of course, that would mean vastly less money for companies that are rather enjoying making 50-60% of their revenue off of microtransactions, so I wouldn't expect to see it happen any time soon.

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Muscles posted...

It's not like it was a once a month thing for this kid if he can rack up 16k

You really haven't seen how some of these games are designed, have you? It doesn't take long at all to end up with an absurd bill if you lack the impulse control or money sense needed to stop yourself (and especially if you don't make the connection to real money, which I'm guessing was the case with this kid).

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Krow_Incarnate posted...

Most people who don't play video games don't know just how monetized they are aside from the upfront payment.

This is really the issue here. It's a threat that's easy enough to mitigate, but it's not a threat that most non-gamers even know (or have reason to remotely suspect) is there. People that don't follow gaming news aren't aware of the dangers microtransactions present, and the companies putting them into games clearly marketed toward kids know damn well what they're doing.

Raddest_Chad posted...

these horror stories have been making the rounds for years

They have, but they're not headlines that are going to grab the attention of anyone that doesn't already care about gaming news. Nobody reads every news article they see (there simply aren't enough hours in the day for that), and that means people don't see warnings that are buried in articles that don't interest them.

Muscles posted...

Why would you want to get your kids addicted to phones that young? They don't even need them

I'm sure you were playing video games at around that age. That the games are on a phone doesn't really change anything.

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On one hand, yes, parents should be supervising children's use of their credit cards. On the other, the fact that games have gotten to such a point that parents can be out $16k for failing to adequately supervise their child's gaming is utterly despicable. There's really no other way to describe it.

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If I were to choose between a Spiderman machine and a not-even-Spiderman machine, I'd probably pick the Spiderman machine, but as it stands I'm pretty happy without either one.

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ChimeraBlue posted...

Double edged sword.

New benefits, new problems.

Pretty much.

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Do you offer curbside pickup for people that "can't" wear masks? That's what a lot of places I've seen have been doing to make it easier to ensure that everybody in the store is masked appropriately.

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streamofthesky posted...

American healthcare is truly a wonder, eh?

Honestly, a lot of places aren't at the point where they're able to administer tests the day they're requested. American health care is still trash, but that problem is more likely with the incredible demand than anything else.

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LuciferSage posted...

For once I agree with adjl. You can make paprikash all day, but as tempting as it is to go with the breast, the thigh is the superior cut where chickens are concerned for bang for the buck.

I can't really take credit for it, since that's an actual quote from Clench (from many years ago). Personally, I'll swap between them pretty much interchangeably, usually just going for whatever's on sale or whatever I've already got in my freezer.

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Yes, but I just got back after spending two years living in a different province.

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shadowsword87 posted...

Gotta serve it with steamed chicken breasts.

Everyone knows that chicken thighs offer a superior protein-per-dollar ratio.

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Final Fantasy2389 posted...

But it makes my PC so loud to play I'm so nervous.

If you're concerned, download a hardware monitor and check your actual temps, rather than going off of fan noise. Fans running hard isn't a problem if they're able to keep your components within reasonable operating temperatures, but if they aren't, that's when you should worry about how much you're straining your machine.

At least, that's assuming they're just being loud because they're spinning hard, not because they've got loose bearings or anything else that might result in failure. If they're wearing out, then you should replace them.

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Generally, 1-2/10. I'm not a fan of naps. I don't find I fall asleep that easily during the day, and if I do, I end up disoriented and not all that rested for it. Every now and then, though, if I'm not feeling well or I'm particularly exhausted, a nap is pretty much the best possible experience and an easy 10/10.

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wwinterj25 posted...

I share my birthday with three PotD people?
https://i.imgur.com/X1qJmif.gif

I also share a birthday with 3 people (exact date with one, one year older than the other two), but none of them have posted in ages.

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BlackScythe0 posted...

Yooo someone is actually trying it. I think these people could potentially be barred from ever holding office again. That having been said the chances of that happening are pretty low, but they fucking deserve it seditious traitors.

https://twitter.com/BillPascrell/status/1337482153752453120?s=20

I'm gonna guess that one or two people will actually have their seat revoked, and the rest will immediately fall in line and beg for forgiveness.

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GanonsSpirit posted...

Good luck to Texas if they try to prop up all those deep south states with their economy alone.

"We are seceding but would still like to continue receiving the current amount of economic support please and thank you."

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Mead posted...

Lets just start wearing f***ing dresses. Were allowed to buy them. Who is stopping us?

Pretty much. If you want to wear something, unless it's overtly hostile (e.g. swastikas), just wear it. If people have a problem because it's not "the right clothes" for the bits you've got underneath, that's on them.

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Scoop poop basically as it happens (one cat has some indescribably rank poops), clean boxes and change litter weekly. We use the recycled newspaper litter, which doesn't clump, so scooping pee isn't really an option. 2 cats, 3 boxes.

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If you use a menorah to light a joint, does it become marihannukah?

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Krazy_Kirby posted...

I liked the one where it tells you to take a 15 min break every hour.... so in four hours of play time, you only get three. screw that

I mean, that is still a pretty universal recommendation to minimize eye strain and repetitive motion injuries, just as it has been for as long as video games have been around. It's just that nobody has ever really cared enough to accept it.

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deoxxys posted...

Why take a vaccine when you are still going to have to wear masks?

Because if everybody waits until everyone else is vaccinated, we're not going to get much of anywhere.

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They consist pretty much entirely of "You should read the enclosed safety booklet/check it out on our website before proceeding." The screen itself doesn't offer any actual information, that I can remember.

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Zeus posted...

That's not what a plutocracy is.

Surely not even you are going to suggest that an economic relief package that overwhelmingly benefits already-wealthy corporations more than struggling individuals isn't indicative of wealthy Americans exerting a controlling influence on government decisions.

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Mead posted...

At a lot of markets or delis you can save some money by just buying it by the chunk or by the wedge and grating it yourself

Generally speaking, if you're comparing it to "parmesan cheese product," you're still going to be paying more per unit for actual permigiano reggiano, regardless of the purchase form. It'll be cheaper and keep better if you buy it whole and grate it yourself, but "parmesan" is a very cheap knock-off.

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darkknight109 posted...

My tongue was planted firmly in cheek when I made that comment, along with the Haar recommendation. I guess it didn't really come across...

I'm a huge FE fan, but even I can freely admit that it's the series that is most grossly disproportionate when it comes to the number of characters they have in Smash versus the series' overall popularity.

Oh, okay. It can be so hard to tell when it comes to people talking about Smash characters >.>

That said, I'd enjoy seeing Haar, even if it's a given that having him riding a wyvern would make him way too big (just like Ridley).

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Zeus posted...

Topics like this just make Ducky's hypocrisy all the more apparent, considering he engages in absolutely flagrant misogyny then feigns outrage over slightly mean things said about or to other women. Maybe Ducky will make a topic complaining about himself one of these days and it'll be his harshest complaint yet =p

Oh, it's common knowledge that duckbear's a terrible person. Or at least acts like one, since I don't know how much personality he actually has besides asking the questions he thinks people will want to answer (hence the endless tide of "is she hot?").

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FatalAccident posted...

So I need to take it to get the oil changed? Or will they reset the warning?

You can change the oil yourself, and your vehicle manual should tell you how to reset the warning. If you don't want to be bothered with that, though, you can take it in. An oil change is also a good opportunity to have your vehicle checked out for other issues, so many garages will offer it as part of a general tune-up/inspection package that may be worth checking out (though this is less likely to be necessary with a really new car).

FatalAccident posted...

The car is less than 9 months old, Ive had much older cars for far longer than that and they never needed It

For typical use, I believe it's recommended that you change the oil every 6 months or so. Your older cars definitely did need it. Your new one might be okay for a bit longer than usual, since there won't be as much gunk built up in the engine to contaminate the oil, but it's still a good idea to change the oil regularly to help keep it that way.

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Not particularly helpful, but a reasonable CYA measure.

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Changing the oil entails taking the oil out and putting new oil in, not just adding more oil.

That said, an "oil change due" warning is most likely your car telling you it's time for an oil change (many modern cars will include timed service reminders like that, which mechanics will reset the timer on when they perform the service), not your car detecting that your oil needs changing. It may actually be fine with just the added oil, if you haven't been driving that much since your last change, but it's still advisable to do a change instead of just topping it up.

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Raddest_Chad posted...

That's not for the LCD though... to be fair. Yeah, they're samey, but some of them are so much better than "Sony PS4 Game" that it's absurd.

Collectively, the genre is "Shonen: The Video Game." It very much caters to teenage boys, with even the exceptionally deep ones pretty much just being "baby's first deconstruction of the human experience and/or divinity." That's not to say they never offer interesting stories (I quite enjoy many JRPG's myself), but to act like being a fan of JRPG's makes one intellectually superior to fans of any other story-oriented game is just laughable.

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Shadowbird_RH posted...

I wouldn't use his services if they were free. Betray a customer's trust once, you're tainted for life.
My advice for him: find a new line of work, particularly one where you're not in a position to be trusted in the first place - with anything.

Pretty much. The politics of the matter are irrelevant to the fact that the guy distributed the data of a customer that had trusted him with it. People really only accept that when it's child porn being handed over to police, and for good reason.

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Revelation34 posted...

Subjectively*

Technically, it is a subjective assessment to say that precision is valuable while trying to aim, as it is to say that it's better to hit targets than miss them, but I feel that said opinion is universal enough to consider it indistinguishable from objective truth.

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Judgmenl posted...

I would really like to enjoy this dry cinematic s*** targeting the lowest common denominator

Dude, you like JRPG's.

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Being a stripper, slut, or having substance abuse problems shouldn't discredit her testimony. Being actively drunk while delivering said testimony and the testimony itself being a steaming pile of nonsensical drivel do a perfectly good job of that on their own.

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Apparently all of my pictures are just over the 4 mb limit. How vexing.

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