Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

[Draco_Argentum]

Fvck was the wordfilter for fuck.

[Cynic]

1. Has there been a study done on the effects of Gossip on the chemical/neural balances of the brain? If so where can I find some evidence/paper on this.

2. What chemicals are released and changed in a stimulant rush?

[Username17]

1. Has there been a study done on the effects of Gossip on the chemical/neural balances of the brain? If so where can I find some evidence/paper on this.

I have no idea what you mean by this.

2. What chemicals are released and changed in a stimulant rush?

There is no single chemical that represents a stimulant rush, because there are multiple methods of producing that effect. For example: Caffeine inhibits the destruction of cyclic AMP, which in turn is an up-regulator of the process of popping sugar out of glycogen storage. In short: it doesn't really release anything, it just gives you more endurance through the medium of making your body's own "we need more energy now" signals last longer. On the flip side, Methamphetamine triggers the release of epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine.

But this in general is why mixing stimulants (or depressants) is frowned upon. Since they often have dissimilar mechanisms of action, the effects of combining them are often dangerously unpredictable, and in any case non-linear.

-Username17

[Ganbare Gincun]

I loathe de-lacquering carbon steel woks. Anyone have a better method then heating up oil and scrubbing the damned thing down a few times with #2 steel wool and chopsticks?

[Crissa]

You shouldn't need to? Just apply heat to carbonize it. A professional kitchen would use a blowtorch.

-Crissa

[Meikle641]

Could rent a torch for like, plumbing or something. That'd probably do it well enough.

[The Vigilante]

So yeah, how nearsighted and astigmatic can you be before you actually need glasses ?

I think I do need them but if I can save a couple hundreds by waiting for it to get actually worse and then buying them, that would be neat.

My prescription reads a follows :

	SPHERE	CYL	AXIS
O.D.	-0.50	-1.00	160
O.S.	-0.75	-0.75	180

edit : I might be wrong about the AXIS column, it might be the other way around, IE O.D : 180, O.S : 160. I don't have my prescription on me. I'm 100% sure about the rest though.

[Prak]

So, I've noticed that I've been having trouble recognizing numbers properly recently. As in thinking 1200 when the number is 12,000 or thinking four sets of five and three tallies is 28, not 23. And I keep doing it with different stuff.

Is there some kind of brain chemical imbalance that could be causing this? Or am I just not paying attention?

[Maj]

Why is popcorn non GMO?

[Zinegata]

Because it's the corn that's actually a GMO?

Popcorn is more the result of a particular way of preparing and cooking corn. Unless you properly dry the corn and cook it via a specialized machine, you won't really get the sort of popcorn that you can eat while watching a movie. Without this special drying and cooking process, you'll get a really soggy piece of white fluff.

Some types of corn are indeed better poppers than others however. The one most-often used commercially (and is also classified as popcorn) is Zea mays var. everta. Like all types of corn however, it's one of the most genetically tinkered plants on the planet. Maybe not with genesplicing, but definitely via selective breeding.

(Also, read Guns, Germs, and Steel to find out how corn started out as a tiny, virtually inedible plant to the preferred staple crop of the Americas before the Europeans arrived due to years to selective breeding)

[Maj]

Because it's the corn that's actually a GMO?

That's what I'm trying to say, I guess... The corn that makes popcorn isn't GMO. In fact, there's no GMO corn that's used to make popcorn.

Which just seems weird to me.

(Also, read Guns, Germs, and Steel to find out how corn started out as a tiny, virtually inedible plant to the preferred staple crop of the Americas before the Europeans arrived due to years to selective breeding)

Way ahead of you there, hon.

[Zinegata]

Well, from what I understand the current commercial strain (Zea mays var. everta) is already fantastically good for popcorn, so little GMO tinkering is needed.

Instead, they tinkered with the process of making popcorn - i.e. experimenting with the drying process, improving the popcorn machines, etc. Because that's apparently how you make better popcorn for eating.

Note though that some drying processes involve not-so-nice chemicals, which raises health concerns more worrying than GMO problems.

[Koumei]

Right, first thing is gaming related but not so massive as to require its own thread:

What's the deal with point-buy (or possibly just 32PB)? It seems the Den uses the assumption of Elite Array for any theoretical thing, which is fair enough I suppose, but we don't actually use it in games. Everywhere else, from games I play IRL to forum games to the old WotC CO boards, assume a point-buy, usually 32.

Apparently that's evil and wicked, though. Any reason? Exactly what does it ruin? I'm a fan of it being a standard as it means I can make a character by myself without someone needing to witness my rolls (and for RPoL, without having to apply with a concept, then get accepted, then roll using the inbuilt roller and finally make a character a month after I first applied to the game).

And 32 seems reasonably generous, which I feel is good.

Also I hate randomness in general - I build characters so that there's the smallest chance of the RNG fucking them, why the fuck would I want the RNG fucking me right at the very beginning?

---

Secondly, seeing as this is clearly the medical forum: I recently developed a painful lump over my tailbone. At first I thought I had just bumped it, but it has really swollen up with a pink mark. Last I checked it was even sort of shiny at the surface... I guess the best comparison would be an infected finger due to nail-biting, where it swells up and goes pink/red and shiny where all the puss is contained.

Anyway, it's super-painful, I can't sit properly or lie on my back, and today every step was painful (with pain spreading across the tops of my buttocks similar to what you'd expect from a bruise due to falling over) and then my legs started getting numb and not moving properly.

Some codeine reduced the pain and apparently stopped the numbness, but I'm just a little worried that it might be more than "a nasty bump". Mostly paranoia due to my dad having cancerous lymphoma cells in his spine that made his legs all numb, before they killed it all off with chemo.

[RobbyPants]

As for the point-buy, I think the two biggest complaints against it are that it doesn't "feel organic", in that everyone has even-numbered stats, and it's really easy to abuse if you only rely on one or two stats (like casters).

Other than that, I prefer it to rolling in the strictest sense of the word, but I do like the idea of everyone rolling up sets of stats, which are available for anyone to use.

There are pros and cons to each system, so you'll never please everyone.

[Koumei]

Regarding the even numbered stats, the whole "Two points needed for that +1" thing is fucking stupid anyway. I'd prefer if the game didn't use ability scores, only the modifiers, and thus a +1 always meant something.

At any rate, for my N1 game I ended up rolling 4 statlines and letting the players choose from them (there was an awesome one, a good one that was not quite as good but has nothing under 10, and two average/poor ones). That way players all had numbers to choose from right there, rather than rolling it themselves, and by the same token it didn't have the heresy of point buy.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Secondly, seeing as this is clearly the medical forum: I recently developed a painful lump over my tailbone. At first I thought I had just bumped it, but it has really swollen up with a pink mark. Last I checked it was even sort of shiny at the surface... I guess the best comparison would be an infected finger due to nail-biting, where it swells up and goes pink/red and shiny where all the puss is contained.

Anyway, it's super-painful, I can't sit properly or lie on my back, and today every step was painful (with pain spreading across the tops of my buttocks similar to what you'd expect from a bruise due to falling over) and then my legs started getting numb and not moving properly.

Some codeine reduced the pain and apparently stopped the numbness, but I'm just a little worried that it might be more than "a nasty bump". Mostly paranoia due to my dad having cancerous lymphoma cells in his spine that made his legs all numb, before they killed it all off with chemo.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

It sounds very similar to caudal cyst. Which is painful to the extreme, but not dangerous per se. Still, I would see a doctor and get an opinion that actually matters.

[Username17]

32 Point Buy is actually about what you'd get simply rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest (after you use the "hopeless characters" rule).

And Point Buys in general really hose MAD classes, because it charges you twice as much to get two sixteens as it does to give you only 1. If people want non-Wizard characters to not fail at life, Point Buy of any value is not an option.

-Username17

[Maj]

Still, I would see a doctor

I may not have a lot of faith in medical professionals in general, but your kind of situation is what they're for. I second this recommendation.

[Koumei]

Well I went to the doctor, and it turns out it's an infection. So she lanced and drained it - resulting in a syringe full of ugly puss. I should have taken a photo with my phone to show everyone!

And now I'm on antibiotics and good painkillers, and magnesium sulphate-glycerol paste. That initial lancing really helped though, already I can sit down again.

[Ganbare Gincun]

Well I went to the doctor, and it turns out it's an infection. So she lanced and drained it - resulting in a syringe full of ugly puss. I should have taken a photo with my phone to show everyone!

HA HA HA no that's ok.

[The Vigilante]

Why do people put Apple stickers on their PC laptops ?

[Ganbare Gincun]

Why do people put Apple stickers on their PC laptops ?

Because they are Mac owners that resent the fact that they were assigned a work laptop that has Windows on it. Because, you know, Macs are totally super cool and only empty-headed nitwits would ever choose a PC over a Mac. Mind you, the cost of a Mac would easily be double or triple that of a PC, and none of the software that they need to do their jobs actually runs on a Mac, but those are only minor details.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Relevant youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JixbzFjv_cU

[virgil]

I thought it was done for the irony. If I had an amish sticker, I'd use that on my laptop, PC or Mac.

[Orca]

I once stuck an apple sticker on the PC of a workmate who hates Apple to annoy him.