Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

erik · Post by **erik** » Sun May 17, 2015 8:47 pm

And you probably would have been stolen from if you were a sufficient mark, thus altering your profitability.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun May 17, 2015 10:21 pm

Ancient History wrote:Wishing you got in on bitcoin at the beginning is a bit like wishing you got in on selling gas to the Nazis or slaves to plantation-owners in the colonies. Just because something is profitable does not mean you or anyone else should profit by it.

This is more extreme than I was led to believe...

I mean, a quick glance at Wikipedia informs me of some nasty uses of it, and it's economically questionable, but I want some reading material feel like that's not really enough for a comparison to the Nazis oh who am I kidding I'm just after the links to prove it.

Relevant to subject.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:13 pm

Prak wrote:Random stupid question, but assuming you had a "One free trip to any time" deal with a time machine, what would be the best way to leverage that into money in the current time period?

The best I can think is setting up an investment fund with instructions to allow a later descendant to withdraw from it at a bank you know is going to be around. Like going back to 1852 or so for Wells Fargo. But I'm sure there's something better you could do.

If butterflies are in play, then bringing something extremely valuable forward with you is a safer bet than attempting to make investments in the past.

However, if butterflies are in play doing so could lead to the Nazis winning, or Imperial Rome never falling, or something absurd like that. For Want of a Nail hits hard, and the farther back you go the harder it hits.

It's pretty eacy to wipe yourself out of existence this way, due to the sheer perfect timing necessary to combine the correct gametes to create you.

If Butterfleis aren't a problem, then you have to ask yourself why you aren't rich already. In which case you should check to make sure that future you has already done your plan before you do it.

And in any case, you're still better off bringing something forward, simply because you'd need perfect trust with the person handling your finances, which could go badly. People abscond with money all the time.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:15 pm

Since you said best and not absolutely most profitable then the overall winner is the lottery. You can pull it off without bringing anything with you physically either way. It minimizes the potential for fucking up the timeline (paradoxes and such). It arouses little to no suspicion plus you can acquire your winnings anonymously. Requires minimal research/planning. You can time it such that the payoff comes to you in the present rather than in the past so it remains firmly in your control. Pretty much the only situation it wont work is if the time travel fairy comes and makes you take a trip right this moment with no warning as you wont be able to research the winning numbers.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:28 pm

The "Right this moment" case does speak to going back to 1852 and making an account in your name when Wells Fargo is founded (or something to that effect). You can mug a guy or rob a train or something for the period funds.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:32 pm

hyzmarca wrote:And in any case, you're still better off bringing something forward, simply because you'd need perfect trust with the person handling your finances, which could go badly. People abscond with money all the time.

There exist lots of ways to have trustworthy money handlers. Usually the best way is to pay them.

But hey, while we are on the subject, someone comes back in time and gives you important, possibly even perfect, knowledge of the future and asks you to do some routine buys and sells for them. Assuming for the moment that they prove the future knowledge (even if just by telling you the winning lottery numbers in advance for like 6 straight lotteries). Are you going to betray that person?

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:49 pm

You have one shot to be fabulously wealthy... are you going to trust them?

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Mon May 18, 2015 12:22 am

Shady314 wrote:You have one shot to be fabulously wealthy... are you going to trust them?

Yes. I already do. Because I keep all my money in a bank.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Mon May 18, 2015 12:53 am

Prak wrote:The "Right this moment" case does speak to going back to 1852 and making an account in your name when Wells Fargo is founded (or something to that effect). You can mug a guy or rob a train or something for the period funds.

Not really no. For this reason.

Answers about Inactive Accounts

The Government wrote: When is an account considered inactive or unclaimed?

Generally an account is considered inactive or unclaimed when there is no customer initiated activity or contact for a period of three to five years. The specific period is based on the laws or rules of each state.

Each state has an unclaimed property program. Before sending the account balance to the state, the bank is usually required to try to contact the customer. Some banks publish the names of the account holder in a local newspaper. Some banks send a letter to the last known address of the account holder. The bank will turn over the account balance to the state if there is no contact from the account holder.

You can find more information on unclaimed property programs through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPU) at www.unclaimed.org and through your state unclaimed property office.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:10 am

Then Plan B would be to not use the banks, just mug people for period currency and bring it forward to sell. If you mug someone for an 1850s dollar, take it to a bank, or, fuck, a store, and get a bunch of pennies, each of those is worth probably $1-3000. I don't know what roman currency is worth, but it would seem that while probably more valuable, you'd raise a lot more eyebrows that way. So, yeah, go back to colonial times, mug people for a day, with modern weapons and body armour if you have the prep time, come back and sell historical artifacts that are unlikely to have Butterfly significance.

erik · Post by **erik** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:19 am

That's terrible. Lottery ticket still beats it hands down in every way imaginable. Robbing people has lots of risk, both personal and to timeline, and much less reward.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:50 am

IMO, the best way would be to go to the pre-burnt Library of Alexandria, and transcribe the lost works onto durable material. Bury them somewhere you know doesn't get dug up. Return to present, dig up.

It's probably not the most money, but it gets you literally priceless treasures and is also a great service to mankind.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:58 am

angelfromanotherpin wrote:IMO, the best way would be to go to the pre-burnt Library of Alexandria, and transcribe the lost works onto durable material. Bury them somewhere you know doesn't get dug up. Return to present, dig up.

It's probably not the most money, but it gets you literally priceless treasures and is also a great service to mankind.

But you get ONE trip apparently. Making that whole hiding them part impossible. You could consider this if you can take something back with you like an HD video camera. You also have to hope no one accosts you while you work.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Mon May 18, 2015 2:09 am

That is why I recommended retrieving them from the fire where there is a minimal chance of butterflying.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Mon May 18, 2015 5:08 am

Do I have overtime tomortow? Why the fuck can't my department tell me before I finish my regular shift at 12:30 am whether or not I have to be back in at 9 am ?

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Tue May 19, 2015 6:20 am

So, with the polls opening in like 6 hours in a primary election predicted to have under 20% turnout to elect council, controller, and judicial candidates many of whom will run unopposed in the fall. Why the fuck doesn't my union have a list of the candidates they are endorsing on their website, facebook, twitter or youtube feed? This is really low hanging fruit - you have a situation where relatively few votes can swing things, and you have a relatively large pool of undecided voters, and you've jolly well made endorsements - so why the blue hell am I having to comb through individual candidates' campaign sites to find them?

I mean some of those judicial candidates get to oversee the post 2020 gerrymandering, so it's bloody important.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue May 19, 2015 6:20 am

So, I know about dyslexia and dyscalcula. Is there a term for something along those lines, but typing?

In the last year or so, I've noticed that my fingers don't just miss keys, but will type the right keys in the wrong sequence for a word, or hit a completely wrong key seeming intentionally (but not consciously). A lot. I don't know if a dys-ia sort of thing is something that can come on later in life, but I'm really starting to wonder what the fuck is up with my brain/hands/whatever.

Count Arioch the 28th · Tue May 19, 2015 7:49 am

Completely untrained guess here, but fluency disorder? I have one, and I was told that a fluency disorder affects all forms of communication...

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue May 19, 2015 9:26 pm

Josh_Kablack wrote:So, with the polls opening in like 6 hours in a primary election predicted to have under 20% turnout to elect council, controller, and judicial candidates many of whom will run unopposed in the fall. Why the fuck doesn't my union have a list of the candidates they are endorsing on their website, facebook, twitter or youtube feed? This is really low hanging fruit - you have a situation where relatively few votes can swing things, and you have a relatively large pool of undecided voters, and you've jolly well made endorsements - so why the blue hell am I having to comb through individual candidates' campaign sites to find them?

I mean some of those judicial candidates get to oversee the post 2020 gerrymandering, so it's bloody important.

Write to them. Seriously.

TiaC · Post by **TiaC** » Wed May 20, 2015 7:08 am

Prak wrote:So, I know about dyslexia and dyscalcula. Is there a term for something along those lines, but typing?

In the last year or so, I've noticed that my fingers don't just miss keys, but will type the right keys in the wrong sequence for a word, or hit a completely wrong key seeming intentionally (but not consciously). A lot. I don't know if a dys-ia sort of thing is something that can come on later in life, but I'm really starting to wonder what the fuck is up with my brain/hands/whatever.

I'm dysgraphic, and while it's massively worse when I'm handwriting, I make a lot of typos as well. There are certain patterns I fall in and out of. At the moment, I often hold shift a bit too long and capitalize two letters and I keep writing both as bothe. However, this time next year, I'll probably have an entirely different set of common mistakes. Anyways, dysgraphia is a possibility.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed May 20, 2015 7:26 am

Weird. I don't notice any notable trouble writing, other than occasionally skipping over words, but that seems pretty similar.

Hmm... now I'm wondering if the things at play in dysgraphia might also affect typing, and maybe people suffer dysgraphia in their primary form of "writing" (ie, hand or typing) and written is just more recognized due to people having written for far longer than they've typed.

TiaC · Post by **TiaC** » Wed May 20, 2015 7:38 am

No, writing has all sorts of other problems for me. I need to concentrate on the shape of each letter to the point that I can't take dictation or even think ahead in my writing. Also, my hand cramps up in only a minute or two and I don't have any consistency in my handwriting. Overall, it's glacially slow and looks like it was written by an elementary schooler.

Do you ever write the wrong letter when distracted?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed May 20, 2015 7:55 am

Occasionally, now that I think about it.

TiaC · Post by **TiaC** » Wed May 20, 2015 9:14 am

Yeah, it feels like I'll be trying to get words out and thinking faster than I write. So my hands just skip up to where my brain is. There's intention to it like you mentioned, but it's not conscious. The right keys in wrong sequence thing is similar. You know all the keys you need to press, but your hands and your brain are moving at different speeds. With how fast typing is, a fraction of a second is all it takes to wrtie lkie tihs.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Wed May 20, 2015 2:30 pm

Russian prof proposes using supersonic jets to destroy hurricanes
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/03 ... m_squelch/

So is that totally batshit or plausible