Questions you want answered.

BadKen disappeared a while ago. Wonder if he's okay...

BadKen's posts often attracted a degree of pile-on responses. I kind-of just assumed he disappeared out of frustration.

I am also certain there's a whole crowd of people here who I don't see post regularly who are actually most active on that other side of the boards... You know the place. Kinda like Ravenholm. I don't go there anymore.

NSMike wrote:

I am also certain there's a whole crowd of people here who I don't see post regularly who are actually most active on that other side of the boards... You know the place. Kinda like Ravenholm. I don't go there anymore.

The MMO section? Yeah, bunch of freaks in there.

Farley posted on the 24th on the "X-com games that are not stupid hard" thread saying he was going to try War of the Chosen on the Switch. Maybe X-COM has taken over his life?

Ah, that's good to hear. It's kinda hard to track posts on GWJ.

Yeah when you go to recent posts by user, it sorts by the most recent thread that they have ever posted in, not their most recent post in a thread, I think. Very confusing.

Was watching Smarter Every Day video on Navy Submarines and just wondered: Who builds all these aluminum kitchens for the 12-15 Navy submarines that need them? Surely it can't be profitable? Who builds a kitchen for a nuclear sub?

Thinking about it: Probably the same profit margin of building kitchens for luxury yachts. Each one is bespoke. Each one a little different. So charge a little more? Our taxpayer dollars go to making sure the salsa rack is in the right place vis a vis the oregano on a US Navy sub.

Just got me thinking.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/jkdkP0k.png)

You have to remember that the entirety of a military vehicle is bespoke in design, especially large ones like ships and subs. Even hulls in the same class differ from each other in many ways. But they are bespoke for functionality, not luxury. The assumption with the word "bespoke" is "handcrafted for appearance" but here the meaning is "handcrafted for purpose".

Profit margins for ballistic missile subs were negotiated at 14% to 17.9% between '85 and '95. Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations For Fiscal Year 1996 and Future Years Defense Program, Volume 4, Part 2, page 49.

The profit margin on a luxury yacht is between 25% to 35%. Quora, Boating magazine and other sources give numbers in this range.

So it's about half the margin of a luxury yacht. Remember all those jokes about low bidders? Yeah, well, it makes perfect sense that the government restricts profit margins via competitive bidding and limits on contracts. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the government bureaucracy cares about how it spends it's money.

any recs for a good treadmill that doesn’t take up a ton of space (or can be folded and shoved under a bed or into a corner) and which isn’t TOO expensive so I don’t feel bad a year from now when I realize I haven’t used it in months?

EDIT: sorted it out myself. It’s really hard to find reviews of treadmills that aren’t written by content bots but I figure I can always send the thing back if it’s a lemon.

Environmentalists are protesting oil by gluing themselves to a painting painted with linseed oil. Umm... linseed oil is destroying the environment?

three seconds on google wrote:

(they were protesting UK government plans for expanded fossil fuel projects and linseed oil was not involved in any way)

But.. the painting wasn't.. petroleum based oil based petroleum oil paint petroleum based paint oil paint err. .? I understand the google says, but... why not glue themselves to a petrol station? Or a stack of tires?

Three more seconds found that the painting was one of Britain's best known artworks and they first covered the original with a modified version where the landscape it depicted was altered to have the river turned into a paved road with smokestacks and airplanes added to the background.

Almost like the material the painting was made from wasn't part of the protest at all and it was about how oil has altered the landscape. It's super weird for anyone to act like the literal paint itself factored into it at all.

I guess I must be weird along with many others. Sorry about that.

The only thing I’ve seen about this story was a 30-second clip of the protestors speaking which they played on The Majority Report today, but even in that short clip one of the protestors flatly states that they chose the painting because it’s a popular cultural artifact that he remembered seeing as a kid, but any cultural or monetary value society places on it is ultimately meaningless in the face of a looming existential threat like climate change.

Anyone ever get anxious in calm situations?

I've had this happen more than once - it's a nice evening, cool breeze, sitting outside hanging out with friends or family, absolutely nothing wrong or anything to worry about and the anxiety just floods my brain. I don't remember anything bad ever happening under those circumstances, either. It should be a perfectly normal evening that I should be able to enjoy but my insides are turning themselves over.

Yeah. These days, I associate that with the ADHD. The feeling that I should be *doing* something. Like a buzzing, almost. Frustrated, anxious, just wanting to get out and away and do *something*. Anything else.

NSMike wrote:

Anyone ever get anxious in calm situations?

I used to be like this all the time, every day, until I had some extensive therapy. Then I realized, because of my PTSD, I couldn't just be in the moment, because when I was a kid, most moments sucked, so I had to keep moving so I could move to the next moment. Going on my first cruise helped me realize I could be still, be calm, and just enjoy the moment, but therapy helped even more.

So yeah I can totally empathize with this, and if you're not in therapy, maybe some might help. Enjoying the moment and being present is sooo much better than rushing to the next moment, I feel. If I can help let me know.

If you say you agree 1000%, doesn't that mean you changed your mind 9 times?

I'm halfway through having laser cataract surgery after which I'll have 20/20 vision at distance, but due to my age still need reading glasses.

Will VR work for me now without glasses? Due to the screens being so close to my eyes I'm guessing "no" but having effectively zero experience with VR, I'm not really sure.

Laser eye surgery can only correct "distance" issues. Close (like reading) issues occur from macular degeneration and is just a condition of getting older. (warning: not an eye dr)

karmajay wrote:

Laser eye surgery can only correct "distance" issues. Close (like reading) issues occur from macular degeneration and is just a condition of getting older. (warning: not an eye dr)

Apologies, there was an errant question mark after my first sentence which I’ve corrected. I know that I still need reading glasses for up-close vision.

My question was specifically about VR and whether I’ll need glasses when using VR goggles.

Short answer: no

Long answer: maybe

A headset is putting screens half an inch from your eyes, but tricking your eyes into focusing at normal distances.

Unless your reading vision is absolutely awful, you'll be fine. I wear weak readers and no glasses for distance vision since lasik and haven't had any issues in glass-less VR.

Dumb question: Why don’t we just call it the Webb telescope instead of the JWST. I’ve heard people either say the full name as the “James Webb Space Telescope” (which is fine) or saying out the letters J,W,S, and T (which doesn’t sing well.)

Did we not always call the Hubble telescope just that?

It's like A Tribe Called Quest. You don't hear people calling them "Quest" for short. You have to say the whole thing every time.

Then how would people know the telescope isn't named after Spud Webb?

.

PaladinTom wrote:

Dumb question: Why don’t we just call it the Webb telescope instead of the JWST. I’ve heard people either say the full name as the “James Webb Space Telescope” (which is fine) or saying out the letters J,W,S, and T (which doesn’t sing well.)

Did we not always call the Hubble telescope just that?

merphle wrote:

I've been internally pronouncing "JWST" as "Juiced". As in "Yo, that space telescope is f*kin' JUICED!"

Anyone with me?

PaladinTom wrote:

Dumb question: Why don’t we just call it the Webb telescope instead of the JWST. I’ve heard people either say the full name as the “James Webb Space Telescope” (which is fine) or saying out the letters J,W,S, and T (which doesn’t sing well.)

Folks who refer to it as the JWST tend to do so because they want the name changed. I'm not the guy to summarize it properly, but a web search for "JWST naming controversy" should provide some context.

I just call it "Webb". Or "That big snappy f*cker at L2". You know. If it's a formal setting.