Humor Random Comments Thread

[jedidia]

"Marketing cons people with technobabble" is a dog bites man story.

Well, I guess marketing speak can be considered technobabble. But so far I haven't heard any of them talking about "wearable holographic nano-layer catalysers".

I mean, read this stuff:

"Through a process of quantum oscillation, the 5GBioShield USB key balances and re-harmonises the disturbing frequencies arising from the electric fog induced by devices..."

"...leads to relativistic time dilation and biological quantum entanglement at the DNA level"

If you showed it to me out of context, I would naturally assume it was from a star trek or Dr. Who episode. There might as well be talk about inversing the polarity and a nodd to the turboencabulator. And now this silliness is used to sell ?

No, really, I didn't see that coming. There couldn't be a more cruel punishment for never watching space opera shows...

 

[Linguofreak]

Well, I guess marketing speak can be considered technobabble. But so far I haven't heard any of them talking about "wearable holographic nano-layer catalysers".

The buzzwords change with the scientific discoveries and engineering advancements of the day, and with the current fashions of what things sound cool, but there have always been buzzwords, and by their very nature, they've always come from the bleeding edge of science. Today it's nano-this and quantum-that, a century ago it was radioactive-this and electro-that.

Over time, the old pseudoscience is forgotten, and the actual scientific concepts it drew its technobabble from get to be understood by the general public, so they both cease to sound cool and new and cease to be effective for swindling people. But the con artists pick up new concepts in no time flat.

The Wikipedia article on quackery has photos of objects with names like "electro-metabograph" and "revigator", and makes a few references to scientology, which has its own wonderful brand of technobabble.

 

[n72.75]

I feel the need to point out that today is MJD 59000.

You all have any big plans for the upcoming 60000? It's a big round number...

 

[Urwumpe]

I feel the need to point out that today is MJD 59000.

You all have any big plans for the upcoming 60000? It's a big round number...

No idea. Its still about 3 years to it, and even my plans for next year got badly damaged by COVID-19s economic impact.

 

[n72.75]

No idea. Its still about 3 years to it, and even my plans for next year got badly damaged by COVID-19s economic impact.

Yeah, mine too. I had a honeymoon planned for September....

Don't think we'll be leaving the country any time soon.

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, mine too. I had a honeymoon planned for September....

Don't think we'll be leaving the country any time soon.

Yeah, that is especially nasty, because you usually intend to marry just once and don't want to get back into the usual every routine straight after it.



I just delay something unimportant by another year or so, which I already delayed for maybe 15 years because I needed to learn a lot of things, that university was unable to teach me...

 

[PhantomCruiser]

So.... I was surprised at work today by our new VP of Quality Assurance. Luckily I had all my PPE on (except my anti-Covid-19 mask, but I was 8 ft away from the nearest person). She's exceptionally cute. Later I heard some people referring to her as "Carol Baskin", so, maybe not?

 

[Notebook]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world...interrupts-pm-morrison-to-say-get-off-my-lawn

Quite right too, you don't walk on someone's new lawn!

 

[tl8]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world...interrupts-pm-morrison-to-say-get-off-my-lawn

Quite right too, you don't walk on someone's new lawn!

Not really sure why he is laying lawn in June. Nothing is going to happen to is until Sep at least.

---------- Post added at 09:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:23 PM ----------

Oh, don't ask me how the policy he was announcing works.

Based on the rules, I think 3 people qualify...

Still, better than the $60 Billion screwup the other week

 

[Notebook]

Isn't it December in Australia...

 

[jedidia]

Take Two gutted the studio that was making KSP2 and transferred the project and half its staff to a new studio it controls directly.
I smell microtransactions in the air. Pity, that studio had a lot of passion for the game, and I was looking forward to it. Not to mention that it's a pity that the studio stopped existing from one month to the next without any fault of their own.

 

[Urwumpe]

Take Two gutted the studio that was making KSP2 and transferred the project and half its staff to a new studio it controls directly.
I smell microtransactions in the air. Pity, that studio had a lot of passion for the game, and I was looking forward to it. Not to mention that it's a pity that the studio stopped existing from one month to the next without any fault of their own.

Some more information: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizlan...space-program-2-studios-closure/#2129e8e32d69


Yeah, it sounds like poor business manners by Take Two. Weird that Squad is not doing the development of KSP2, did Take Two buy the whole franchise?

 

[jedidia]

Weird that Squad is not doing the development of KSP2, did Take Two buy the whole franchise?

Yeah, quite a while ago, actually:
https://ir.take2games.com/news-rele...erbal-space-program?field_nir_news_date_value[min]=

What I don't quite get is how you can just unilaterally cancel a contract. I mean, what the hell are contracts for?

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, quite a while ago, actually:
https://ir.take2games.com/news-rele...erbal-space-program?field_nir_news_date_value[min]=

What I don't quite get is how you can just unilaterally cancel a contract. I mean, what the hell are contracts for?

Well, if there are (large) contract violations by the other side, you can. But this then usually results in a civil case in front of a court and lawyers negotiating how much money should flow to compensate everything.


If there are just small contract violations, you usually only threaten to cancel the whole contract, while the lawyers and managers negotiate how to get it fixed.


In case of Take Two, there could also be the third option: Take Two is simply to big to sue by a small development studio. They would run out of money before Take Two would even be forced to pay. That is one shortcoming of the legal system currently, you can't even make a big company pay the compensation written into the contract, if they don't want to.

 

[tl8]

Isn't it December in Australia...

When the grass grows? Between late Sep and March (if there is rain), you can mow it in the morning and it will need to be mowed again in the afternoon.


Luckily the rain part can be patchy at times.

 

[Marijn]

Here in NL much of the grass is already dead due to drought. This is the third year in a row. Yellow and brown grass was something you only saw once every few years in late august. Not every year from May onwards.

It makes me sad. From the air, it's easy to see that the landscape isn't prepared for this. Meadows seldom have big trees. So many animals don't have any place to hide in the shade.

 

[Urwumpe]

Here in NL much of the grass is already dead due to drought. This is the third year in a row. Yellow and brown grass was something you only saw once every few years in late august. Not every year from May onwards.

It makes me sad. From the air, it's easy to see that the landscape isn't prepared for this. Meadows seldom have big trees. So many animals don't have any place to hide in the shade.

Luckily we had a much needed break from the drought here in the past days.



Still, it looks far too bad for Germany: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=37937

 

[Linguofreak]

Yeah, quite a while ago, actually:
https://ir.take2games.com/news-rele...erbal-space-program?field_nir_news_date_value[min]=

What I don't quite get is how you can just unilaterally cancel a contract. I mean, what the hell are contracts for?

If your contract is the other guy's only source of income, where is he going to get the money to sue? Star Theory is already dead, and unless they had a large investor or creditor that wants to get their money, I can't imagine that the owners bring able to raise the money to sue (I can almost imagine the player base for the existing KSP setting up a GoFundMe for the purpose, but obviously that would go over like a lead balloon on the official forums, and in any case I can imagine the courts having some sort of legal objection to a GoFundMe'd lawsuit).

As for microtransactions, the staff leadership that came over to the new studio has remained adamant that there will be no microtransactions, and, given that, I can't really imagine Take Two managing to get microtransactions into the game without driving off both their existing development team *and* player base. That's rather cold comfort for me though, given that the shenanigans that have already happened have me fairly determined not to buy KSP2 unless the IP is sold to a more honest publisher.

 

[jedidia]

If your contract is the other guy's only source of income, where is he going to get the money to sue?

From his insurance? Which I would assume any business with some sense of self-preservation would have?

 

[Urwumpe]

From his insurance? Which I would assume any business with some sense of self-preservation would have?

You are thinking too central-european. Insurance...