Random non sequitur posts catch-all thread

^ [semi sequitur]
Starting a nap is always easiest after a huge [and extended] brunch, with [restaurant special: bottomless] mimosas.

I've had my e-mail address for almost as long as I can remember being on the internet. It's my full name, separated by an underscore, nice. I don't remember actually creating it, and I don't remember attaching any profile pictures...Or any personal information, really.

So this is the e-mail address I've used to apply for jobs, send professional e-mails, and this year, converse with my research supervisor.

The other day, while meeting in my supervisor's office, I had to e-mail him a bit of stimuli code I've written. Since I was in the room, I saw the e-mail pop up in his g-mail inbox. And...What was that? A picture of me?

Somehow...And I'm not sure when or how, my Hotmail account was linked to one of my various google accounts. These are from old bands, accounts I'd use for spam mail, just anything. A photo of me ~12 years ago with long black hair and a black flying V guitar rocking out. I was mortified to find out THIS image appears every time somebody receives an e-mail from me! I'm starting to wonder if it's the reason I wasn't receiving many replies from job applications! Ugh!

I still enjoy metal, I still enjoy playing guitar...But it's not exactly the way I wanted to present myself to academics and researchers, let alone potential employees!

And it would be cruel to leave without the image in question so...

Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/qKQ88Q6.png)

That is an awesome photo. I'd hire you immediately.

Coldstream wrote:

That is an awesome photo. I'd hire you immediately.

Seconded. Your biggest fear should be the disappointment when they meet you for the actual interview.

Whenever I see Greg Millar I'm reminded of the British comedian Eric Morecambe and not just because of the glasses.

IMAGE(http://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/images/uploaded/scaled/Eric_Morecambe_from_internet__2__s.jpg)

I didn't know if I should post in love or loathe because it's both, so non-sequitur it is.

Tequila.
Love while imbibing.
Loathe the day after.

I kind of dislike that people view it as just a party liquor that's only good for shooting. Ittastes real good if you're just sipping, so long as you don't get the extremely dirt cheap stuff. Even the lower end stuff like Jose Cuervo is good enough for sipping - much better than cheap Scotch and on par with Irish Whiskey like Jameson (and I love Jameson).

A_Unicycle wrote:
Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/qKQ88Q6.png)

Reg. Coke vs. Diet Coke?

That is truly metal.

Aaron D. wrote:

Reg. Coke vs. Diet Coke?

That is truly metal.

The oughts were a wild time.

Did you know that one out of every doggo in America doesn't get enough noms in a day. But there is hope, your donation of just 6 dollars can replace a pound of raw hamburger donated by a homeowner. Do not worry fren, even if you cannot donate money, you can still put food on edge of table instead of center, where no one can reach.

My wife has picked up Pokémon Go again. So on the way home from work she asked to stop in the park. We found a spot that seemed good, and she suggested that the car parked ahead of us was probably playing the game, too.

She told me this as I was snapping a picture with my phone. I had to explain to her that the person in question was playing a much more analog version of the game. He was fishing off an old stone bridge, which I was taking a pic of.

Problematically, the kind of Pokemon he'd catch playing that early version of the game are at an extreme disadvantage anywhere other than water.

Kind of insane how quickly we went from actually owning things to basically renting them from entertainment companies. And paying every month for it.

I know there are larger forces at work funneling us towards that so-called 'choice', but I know I *feel* like there's no need to own a library of entertainment anymore with how different the culture and my place in it feels. Fewer and fewer things feel essential, like there's less and less stuff I feel I need to have guaranteed access to.

I'm a one-and-done kind of entertainment consumer, outside of a handful of authors. Experience it once, never touch it again. In light of that, I'm delighted with the renting option.

Jonman wrote:

I'm a one-and-done kind of entertainment consumer, outside of a handful of authors. Experience it once, never touch it again. In light of that, I'm delighted with the renting option.

Same with me 100%.

All we really have left are thousands of books. But we've donated a ton of books to the YMCA's book drive the last couple times we moved, but, we still have a few bookshelves of books. Honestly, they are more for decoration than reading. I read on my iPad, and Teresa has gone almost exclusively to audiobooks.

We got rid of our collections of CDs, DVDs, and games, with just some odds and ends in storage. Yet, we have access to, and enjoy a much wider selection of media than we have at any time in our lives, for a lot less money. And now we no longer have a living room decorated with CDs, DVDs, and games we rarely play, but feel obligated to foist upon visitors. That's a plus, too.

It amuses me that Apple/Google ask my permission to use my location data on the iPad and when I say no they give search results for my immediate area anyway. "We know where you are, we were only asking to be polite. Here are results for relevant things near you."

Higgledy wrote:

It amuses me that Apple/Google ask my permission to use my location data on the iPad and when I say no they give search results for my immediate area anyway. "We know where you are, we were only asking to be polite. Here are results for relevant things near you."

You should probably need to delete your Google search and location history for this to work properly.

https://myactivity.google.com/myacti...

I've recently deleted all* Google apps, deleted all of my Google history and turned off all tracking. The last (and most difficult) to quit is Gmail.

* Except Gmail and YouTube

Great. Thanks.

Perhaps the cosmic microwave background is evidence that the universe exists inside a microwave oven and stars are just popcorn kernels waiting to pop.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

Perhaps the cosmic microwave background is evidence that the universe exists inside a microwave oven and stars are just popcorn kernels waiting to pop.

That dark matter that no-one knows what it is? It's butter.

Higgledy wrote:

It amuses me that Apple/Google ask my permission to use my location data on the iPad and when I say no they give search results for my immediate area anyway. "We know where you are, we were only asking to be polite. Here are results for relevant things near you."

When it comes to asking permission for collecting data, it generally comes down to whether the data can be used to personally identify you or not. The location data they're asking to collect is GPS data. Latitude, longitude, altitude, and time can pinpoint a specific individual. Any company operating under the GDPR has to ask for explicit permission for this these days.

Without that information, they generally return results using geoip data instead. They just look up the general area where your IP address is located and return the results for that location, and it's good enough. You can check this by connecting to a VPN, running your search, and seeing if the results come up for wherever your VPN endpoint is.

When it comes to your IP address and privacy, things get a little fuzzier. Obviously, they need your IP to communicate with you. Depending on what rules you're under (GDPR, etc.) you might be able to request to see how your IP address is used by different services and limit its usage. There are other location tracking methods as well, such as comparing the list of all WiFi SSIDs in range to a database of known SSID locations.

I made a couple of BLTs that just seemed wrong but I ate them anyway. Turns out I forgot the tomato. How could I forget the tomato when its in the name. I feel so bad for my belly. What did my belly do to deserve this. I actually cut the tomato up but just forgot to add it on. Did my belly see me forget the tomato? Was screaming, "NOO YOU ARE FORGETTING THE TOMATO".

I'm so sorry belly. And Belly when you call me you can call me Al. Call me Al.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

I made a couple of BLTs that just seemed wrong but I ate them anyway. Turns out I forgot the tomato. How could I forget the tomato when its in the name. I feel so bad for my belly. What did my belly do to deserve this. I actually cut the tomato up but just forgot to add it on. Did my belly see me forget the tomato? Was screaming, "NOO YOU ARE FORGETTING THE TOMATO".

I'm so sorry belly. And Belly when you call me you can call me Al. Call me Al.

Dude. You had a bacon sandwich. Nothing to be sad about here. Had you forgotten the bacon, I'd be calling 911 on your behalf.

deftly wrote:

There are other location tracking methods as well, such as comparing the list of all WiFi SSIDs in range to a database of known SSID locations.

There was a fun story about that from 2009 in RISKS Digest:

One day, as I was driving along the west side of Manhattan, the map suddenly
changed. A quick glance showed it to be entirely unfamiliar. Since I was
stopped at a red light, I was able to stare at the map. Surprise! My Touch
thought I had instantly teleported across the Atlantic, and was driving
along the Mediterranean coast, not far from Monte Carlo.

A look around me gave a hint to the cause of the problem. I was right next
to a large cruise ship. Obvious guess: Such ships provide WiFi services.
This one probably happened to be visiting near Monte Carlo when it made it
into Skyhook's database. Sure enough, when I had driven a couple of blocks,
the map suddenly shifted back to Manhattan.

So all these studies that they report on that if you eat _________ you're ten times more likely to get cancer, or have heart problems...

If I buy 10 lotto tickets, I'm "ten times more likely" to win the lottery than if I buy one, right? But I'm not planning my retirement on $20 worth of lotto tickets a week...

*looks at bank account* Oh, wait, yes I am.

Which brings me to one of my recent favorite Twitter accounts: @justsaysinmice

Gremlin wrote:

Which brings me to one of my recent favorite Twitter accounts: @justsaysinmice

I'm convinced that when Mice rise up and become the dominant species on Earth, they will look back in horror and wonder at the ancient human race that sacrificed so many of their ancestors but bequeathed upon Mouse-kind an immense treasure-trove of medical information that helps them to live longer and avoid diseases!

Looked up some reviews on youtube on a game that is on sell. One review was done by a virtual anime girl person. I guess that is a thing now.

I keep hearing about people having their ear holes close up if they don't wear earrings for awhile. My don't seem to close. I think I just gone two years without wearing earrings but my ear holes are still there for me to sport my decepticon earrings.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

I keep hearing about people having their ear holes close up if they don't wear earrings for awhile. My don't seem to close. I think I just gone two years without wearing earrings but my ear holes are still there for me to sport my decepticon earrings.

Depends on epithelialization. If the holes are sufficiently large and/or a sufficient epithelial layer has formed, then the surfaces won't easily close together. This is why most physicians won't try to suture a wound together if it has been open for more than about a day.