Recent posts

#21

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Syt - December 24, 2025, 11:19:45 AM

Pluribus finale. It was very much what I expected - which is not a surprise, or even a slight against the show. The show is much less about big plot reveals or teasing one thing and then doing something else than the characters, their journeys and giving you a lot of room to take it all in and digest. The acting is brilliant, cinematography, editing, sound are on point.

Watching various podcasts about the show it's interesting to see how different people connect with different things and concepts within it. It almost feels like a litmus test, or very much a show where what you get out of it depends on what you bring with you and what you put into it. Really looking forward to the second season and where they take this now.


Also, Fallout S2 Episode 2 on Prime. Quite a bit of fan service in this one. I enjoyed it, but I wonder how long they can keep all their plates spinning (Norm's plot, Lucy/Ghoul plot, Hank's plot, Maximus/Brotherhood plot, Vault 33, not to mention the various flashbacks).

It's also always fun to see Brian Thompson on screen who you know probably from ... everything (Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Terminator 1, Cobra, Three Amigos, X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek TNG & DS9 & Enterprise & Generations, Dragonheart, and much more). Usually plays villainous heavies, but seems to be quite the nice guy IRL.

#22

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Duque de Bragança - December 24, 2025, 11:15:54 AM

A proposal - the English language should switch back to traditional long form billions.
A billion is not 1000 million but a million million.

As in French.   
Milliard replaced billion long ago.

#23

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Admiral Yi - December 24, 2025, 10:38:03 AM

A billion is not 1000 million but a million million.

Hillary or Sav, tell me what this means.  I thought he wanted to change the meaning of "billion" from 1,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000.

#24

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by viper37 - December 24, 2025, 10:38:02 AM

Epstein files can be unredacted by copying and pasting them in Word.

DOGE made miracles on the US govt.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/23/politics/justice-department-redactions-review-epstein-files

#25

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Razgovory - December 24, 2025, 09:17:38 AM

In the epstein files but then removed thus confirming what we all know about the stuff that was removed.

He has real doctors hand writing but this is a letter epstein wrote to a fellow sex offender. Note the bit in the bottom right....

It appears to be a fake. That is not helping things, at all.

How exactly would a fake document get into the files?  How do they know it is fake?

The date is off, being three days after his death. The handwriting looks different.
The postmark on the envelope is Virginia, not New York. The return address is the wrong jail.
But mostly as Tonitrus said, too good to be true.

Okay, that makes sense.

#26

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Savonarola - December 24, 2025, 09:17:33 AM

The "Trump Class" is so obviously vaporwear that I am surprised even someone as dumb as Hegseth would let Trump trot that absurdity out. It features what would likely be a $20B cost, includes weapons that don't work or don't even exist, and would require a massive investment in building docks to be able to make anything that big without cancelling all the carrier builds and overhauls.  And that's not even mentioning the USN's complete incompetence in ship design that has built four failure classes in a row and hasn't developed a successful warship design since 1987.

Trump's pathological narcissism gets worse by the day.

Thanks for that, I suspected this would be the case but it is always good to get confirmation from a qualified source.

Yes, thanks Grumbler.

It's amusing that Trump wants both a Nobel Peace Prize as well as a class of battleship named after him.  Trump is obviously trying to build a legacy with this term, (the new East Wing, the Trump-Kennedy Center, The Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, Trump Accounts, The Trump Gold Card.)  It's hard not to think:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Every time he announces a new one.

#27

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Savonarola - December 24, 2025, 09:07:02 AM

Language matters.
Lots of research out there that people have trouble with large numbers and quite how much they are.
Seems a pretty decent theory that breaking down a billion into more down to earth chunks of what we are comparing it to would help cognition.

That part makes sense.  The part that doesn't make sense is your proposal, as I understand it, is not to break it down into chunks, but rather take the word we already have--billion0--and move the decimal up one place.  That would reduce the number of people in the world you hate.  That's not what you want.

There wouldn't be any billionaires if we were to change the definition of billion to what Josq is proposing, since there are not trillionaires today.

As near as I can understand what Josq is saying is that the common person will understand how large "One thousand million" is better than they understand how large "One billion" is, even though they are both 1,000,000,000.

#28

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Admiral Yi - December 24, 2025, 08:21:55 AM

Language matters.
Lots of research out there that people have trouble with large numbers and quite how much they are.
Seems a pretty decent theory that breaking down a billion into more down to earth chunks of what we are comparing it to would help cognition.

That part makes sense.  The part that doesn't make sense is your proposal, as I understand it, is not to break it down into chunks, but rather take the word we already have--billion0--and move the decimal up one place.  That would reduce the number of people in the world you hate.  That's not what you want.

#29

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by crazy canuck - December 24, 2025, 08:19:26 AM

He thinks the masses will rise up against the rich once they have a better understanding of their wealth. I think that view is flawed. Those who care already know, and those that don't care (most) will continue not to care.

The premise is that lack of care is due to a lack of understanding, and if the language is changed, the understanding will increase

#30

Off the Record / Re: What are your favorite Chr...

Last post by Josquius - December 24, 2025, 08:09:37 AM

I don't think I'd listen to a Christmas album. At Christmas I'm generally listening to very much non Christmassy songs as since Halloween I've heard more than enough Christmas songs.
There are some decent Xmas tracks that don't get radio play though I will listen to on occasion.