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Avoraciopoctules
  Overlord
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Post by Avoraciopoctules » Mon Oct 27, 2014 8:31 pm

Does anyone know where I could find some maps of historical trade routes around the cities of Mecca and Medina after Muhammad's death (year 632 C.E.)? A general look at the physical geography would be helpful, too.
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TiaC
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Post by TiaC » Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:14 am

This is probably too zoomed out for you. https://mrgrayhistory.wikispaces.com/UNIT+2+-+ISLAM

> virgil wrote:Lovecraft didn't later add a love triangle between Dagon, Chtulhu, & the Colour-Out-of-Space; only to have it broken up through cyber-bullying by the King in Yellow.

> FrankTrollman wrote:If your enemy is fucking Gravity, are you helping or hindering it by putting things on high shelves? I don't fucking know! That's not even a thing. Your enemy can't be Gravity, because that's stupid.

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Avoraciopoctules
  Overlord
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Post by Avoraciopoctules » Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:04 am

It's not perfect, but having elevation levels and trade routes shown on the same map is actually pretty useful for my own cartographic project. Thank you!
Last edited by Avoraciopoctules on Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Lago PARANOIA
  Invincible Overlord
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Post by Lago PARANOIA » Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:25 pm

Is there a good, punchy definition of blowback that catches its nuances? The Google definition is 'the unintended adverse results of a political action or situation'. However:
[*] If a President gave a speech supporting diversity and it so incensed the Neo-nazi community that they activated their plant in the Secret Service and had him assassinated I doubt people would call that blowback.
[*] If a President gave a speech unequivocally supporting Israel's unprecedented bombing campaign of Gaza and he was later blown up in the office by Hamas people would call that blowback.
I mean, both were unintended and unforeseen, but they're not both blowback. Anyone want to take a crack at this?

> Josh Kablack wrote:Your freedom to make rulings up on the fly is in direct conflict with my freedom to interact with an internally consistent narrative. Your freedom to run/play a game without needing to understand a complex rule system is in direct conflict with my freedom to play a character whose abilities and flaws function as I intended within that ruleset. Your freedom to add and change rules in the middle of the game is in direct conflict with my ability to understand that rules system before I decided whether or not to join your game.
> In short, your entire post is dismissive of not merely my intelligence, but my agency. And I don't mean agency as a player within one of your games, I mean my agency as a person. You do not want me to be informed when I make the fundamental decisions of deciding whether to join your game or buying your rules system.

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ACOS
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Post by ACOS » Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:13 pm

> Lago PARANOIA wrote: Is there a good, punchy definition of blowback that catches its nuances?
> [...]
> Anyone want to take a crack at this?

I've always understood blowback as a function of what happens when you attempt to upset the status quo. Think Newton's 3rd Law.
/2cp
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TiaC
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Post by TiaC » Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:16 pm

> Lago PARANOIA wrote:Is there a good, punchy definition of blowback that catches its nuances? The Google definition is 'the unintended adverse results of a political action or situation'. However:
> [*] If a President gave a speech supporting diversity and it so incensed the Neo-nazi community that they activated their plant in the Secret Service and had him assassinated I doubt people would call that blowback.
> [*] If a President gave a speech unequivocally supporting Israel's unprecedented bombing campaign of Gaza and he was later blown up in the office by Hamas people would call that blowback.
> I mean, both were unintended and unforeseen, but they're not both blowback. Anyone want to take a crack at this?

Two thoughts on the difference:
One of those topics is broadly controversial, the other only cranks would object to.
Perhaps blowback only refers to actions undertaken by entities that could affect the politician without assassinating him. So, other government officials, foreign powers, and massive numbers of his constituents.
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Neeeek
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Post by Neeeek » Thu Oct 30, 2014 12:01 am

> Lago PARANOIA wrote:Is there a good, punchy definition of blowback that catches its nuances? The Google definition is 'the unintended adverse results of a political action or situation'. However:
> [*] If a President gave a speech supporting diversity and it so incensed the Neo-nazi community that they activated their plant in the Secret Service and had him assassinated I doubt people would call that blowback.
> [*] If a President gave a speech unequivocally supporting Israel's unprecedented bombing campaign of Gaza and he was later blown up in the office by Hamas people would call that blowback.

I don't know if I'd call either of those blowback. Blowback is something you see coming, for the most part. The degree to which you experience blowback might be difficult to judge upfront, but politician are pretty good at knowing who they are pissing off when they are doing something. The consequences maybe unintentional, I guess, but that doesn't make them unpredictable.
Blowback is closer to "Obama makes a speech supporting diversity and by doing so, loses his Neo-nazi supporters". Not that he has any or would care about losing them.
Blowback is probably best defined as "an expected negative or disadvantageous secondary result of an intended political action."
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile » Thu Oct 30, 2014 12:53 am

I would define blowback as the backlash against a political decision that is not organized violence. Drop the "organized" bit if you're okay with riots being classified as non-blowback.
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fectin
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Post by fectin » Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:39 am

Just say that blowback is the unintended adverse political response to a political action. That should cover you.
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hyzmarca
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Post by hyzmarca » Thu Oct 30, 2014 3:07 am

Go with the wikipedia definition. "Blowback is unintended consequences of a covert operation that are suffered by the aggressor."
That is to say, "Hey, that insane revolutionary we gave missiles to just used them to blow up a bus full of nuns" "Were they our nuns?" "Yep."
That's blowback.
The examples given wouldn't be blowback because they're the result of overt actions rather than covert.
Last edited by hyzmarca on Fri Nov 07, 2014 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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virgil
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Post by virgil » Tue Nov 04, 2014 7:45 pm

What concerns are there for a cat that will eat spicy food and oranges? The internet's not of any help, because apparently everything except dry cat food will kill them.
Come see Sprockets & Serials
How do you confuse a barbarian?
Put a greatsword a maul and a greataxe in a room and ask them to take their pick
EXPLOSIVE RUNES!
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erik
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Post by erik » Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:27 am

Waaat, internet of no help? You need to refine your google-fu.
Cats can certainly eat more than just dry food. If the spicy foods have onions/chives/garlic then keep away from cats, otherwise that and oranges are probably okay in moderation. Of course, sometimes cats may eat plants to keep themselves regular, or because they feel like throwing up all over your carpet so look forward to that.
Neither spicy eats nor oranges were included in these lists:
http://pets.webmd.com/cats/ss/slideshow ... -never-eat
http://www.thepetcollective.tv/12-human ... -for-cats/
Apparently some cats like spicy food but eating too much affects them just like people, upset stomach and what not (and their bodymass is a lot less than people, so take that into account).
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Prak
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Post by Prak » Wed Nov 05, 2014 6:21 pm

Ok, so I have a weird problem with my printer.
It prints a test page just fine, at least except for a cut off towards the bottom. But if I try to print from Word, Adobe Acrobat, or Open Office, the paper "jams" and stops advancing. I've tried two separate documents and two different computers, one of which I had to download the driver for in order to test, so it's unlikely to be driver trouble. Thoughts?
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.

> Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.

> FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
> You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.

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Prak
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Post by Prak » Thu Nov 06, 2014 2:08 am

Another one, related to the D20 campaign setting I'm prodding at:
What is the likelihood of manned planes being phased out in favour of UAVs?
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.

> Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.

> FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
> You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.

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name_here
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Post by name_here » Thu Nov 06, 2014 3:09 am

Hard to call. My bet is not soon, or at least anyone who does it isn't going to win wars against major powers that don't.
UAVs potentially have superior performance characteristics, although I don't think anyone has yet built one that actually outperforms the F-22, but they also have lots of issues. I'm not sure I trust autonomous ones to reliably decide who to shoot at, and remote-operated ones have control issues. Radio from the ground nearby is susceptible to jamming and satellite control has like a half-second lag at best which seriously undermines superior physical response time. Plus, China has demonstrated the capacity to blow up satellites and I am willing to bet lots of other people at least have blueprints for their own anti-satellite weapons. It's too early to know how exactly that's going to play out, but at least at the moment it seems like shooting satellites down is going to be easier than defending them.
Last edited by name_here on Thu Nov 06, 2014 3:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

> DSMatticus wrote:It's not just that everything you say is stupid, but that they are Gordian knots of stupid that leave me completely bewildered as to where to even begin. After hearing you speak Alexander the Great would stab you and triumphantly declare the puzzle solved.

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Prak
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Post by Prak » Thu Nov 06, 2014 3:37 am

Yeah, I did a bit of googling and an article made the point that current UAVs are slow and nearly defenseless on their own. Of course, I'm not sure what will happen in the next... oh... 100 years* or when we are able to make real AIs that qualify for personhood...
But hey, in a reskin, elves gotta have a niche, and elf qualities are damned good for pilots.
*So that's another question. I just threw out a number. In the post where I'm writing this stuff up I put in 500 years, but... there's really no reason to go that far into the future, or any guarantee that society would bear much resemblance to our current society that far into the future.
Given that this was inspired by Civilization Beyond Earth, all I'm really looking for is interstellar travel to be something they can push for when the planet is irrevocably on it's way to shit.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.

> Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.

> FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
> You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.

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radthemad4
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Post by radthemad4 » Thu Nov 06, 2014 8:50 am

> Prak wrote:I'm not sure what will happen in the next... oh... 100 years* or when we are able to make real AIs that qualify for personhood...

If you go the route of human civilization having been destroyed and rebuilt (like Futurama did, several times) you don't have to worry about Earth's actual future and current technology.
Last edited by radthemad4 on Thu Nov 06, 2014 8:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Koumei
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Post by Koumei » Fri Nov 07, 2014 4:16 am

Can anyone suggest a good picture of David Cameron that, while safe for work, paints the picture of him being a bit of a wanker? I'm up to "United Kingdom" for the posters, and it's either him or Thatcher, because if you take away the shitty conservative politicians that are ruining the country, what's left?

> Count Arioch the 28th wrote:There is NOTHING better than lesbians. Lesbians make everything better.

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Prak
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Post by Prak » Fri Nov 07, 2014 4:29 am

This seems appropriate for United Kingdom:
Alternatively, this:
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.

> Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.

> FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
> You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.

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TiaC
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Post by TiaC » Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:37 am

My thoughts ran to:
Because what's more british than funny men in drag?
or if you're boring,
Last edited by TiaC on Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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protocolfreak
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Post by protocolfreak » Fri Nov 07, 2014 8:35 am

David Cameron selfiebombing at Mandela's funeral:
The twitter PR campaign mockery:
DC in his element:
Gurning/Trying to look tough:
...drunk with schoolgirls?
Or there's always opposition leader Ed Miliband trying to eat a bacon sandwich:
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DSMatticus
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Post by DSMatticus » Fri Nov 07, 2014 9:30 am

That is by far the best picture I have ever seen of a man eating a bacon sandwich. It is the Mona Lisa of men eating bacon sandwiches. It belongs in a museum with a pretentious artsy title like "Regret."
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Stahlseele
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Post by Stahlseele » Fri Nov 07, 2014 12:36 pm

Eating Bacon Sandwich on Camera, looking like an Idiot. No Regrets, had Bacon Sandwich.
Welcome, to IronHell.

> Shrapnel wrote:

> > TFwiki wrote:Soon is the name of the region in the time-domain (familiar to all marketing departments, and to the moderators and staff of Fun Publications) which sees release of all BotCon news, club exclusives, and other fan desirables. Soon is when then will become now.
> > Peculiar properties of spacetime ensure that the perception of the magnitude of Soon is fluid and dependent, not on an individual's time-reference, but on spatial and cultural location. A marketer generally perceives Soon as a finite, known, yet unspeakable time-interval; to a fan, the interval appears greater, and may in fact approach the infinite, becoming Never. Once the interval has passed, however, a certain time-lensing effect seems to occur, and the time-interval becomes vanishingly small. We therefore see the strange result that the same fragment of spacetime may be observed, in quick succession, as Soon, Never, and All Too Quickly.

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radthemad4
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Post by radthemad4 » Fri Nov 07, 2014 7:57 pm

My term project for one of my courses is to make an interactive map of my university. My team mates made a 3D model of the campus and I'm working on a GUI and pathfinding (e.g. show some optimum paths from room X in building Y to room Z in building A via stairs, elevators, secret passages, etc.), but I'm curious about how other people have done this sort of thing. It's supposed to be a mobile app/website thing.
What terms should I google for more info, existing work, existing products, research papers, etc. on this sort of thing?
Last edited by radthemad4 on Fri Nov 07, 2014 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stahlseele
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Post by Stahlseele » Fri Nov 07, 2014 8:01 pm

Isn't that "The Salesman-Problem" ?
Welcome, to IronHell.

> Shrapnel wrote:

> > TFwiki wrote:Soon is the name of the region in the time-domain (familiar to all marketing departments, and to the moderators and staff of Fun Publications) which sees release of all BotCon news, club exclusives, and other fan desirables. Soon is when then will become now.
> > Peculiar properties of spacetime ensure that the perception of the magnitude of Soon is fluid and dependent, not on an individual's time-reference, but on spatial and cultural location. A marketer generally perceives Soon as a finite, known, yet unspeakable time-interval; to a fan, the interval appears greater, and may in fact approach the infinite, becoming Never. Once the interval has passed, however, a certain time-lensing effect seems to occur, and the time-interval becomes vanishingly small. We therefore see the strange result that the same fragment of spacetime may be observed, in quick succession, as Soon, Never, and All Too Quickly.

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