Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

violence in the media · Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:56 pm

The only time I get irritated with people using checks is at the grocery store. Especially when it appears to be elective check use.

Ted the Flayer · Post by **Ted the Flayer** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:19 pm

Red Archon wrote:Checks are so complicated. While using obsolete tools for financial transactions, the US should go all the way and have someone on horseback deliver gold coins between parties.

If such a service existed, I would use that exclusively for my financial transactions.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:10 am

So, I've got what is probably a dumb question. So, I tend to have rather...forceful coughs, and given my shitty lungs, I get them many times a year. The problem is that fairly frequently I'll feel sharp pain in my left temple after a bunch of coughs, like an icepick stabbing me.

Is this a normal thing? If not, do I need to be worried I'm gonna have my brain explode or something, or is it not a big deal?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:17 am

Ted the Flayer wrote:
Red Archon wrote:Checks are so complicated. While using obsolete tools for financial transactions, the US should go all the way and have someone on horseback deliver gold coins between parties.
If such a service existed, I would use that exclusively for my financial transactions.

If I had the money to buy a horse and a bunch of gold coins....

erik · Post by **erik** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:31 am

Meikle641 wrote:So, I've got what is probably a dumb question. So, I tend to have rather...forceful coughs, and given my shitty lungs, I get them many times a year. The problem is that fairly frequently I'll feel sharp pain in my left temple after a bunch of coughs, like an icepick stabbing me.

Is this a normal thing? If not, do I need to be worried I'm gonna have my brain explode or something, or is it not a big deal?

I hear ya on the shitty lungs. I was born with em thanks to a fucked up rib cage.

I think it's normal. At least it's happened to me before when I've had persistent bad coughs. And apparently has afflicted others as well.
Yahoo answers links below, but still, demonstrates it happens to other folks.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 409AAMxOMN
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 701AAXHFNd

When it happens to me, it feels mostly like my face is straining too hard and it goes away shortly after the coughing fit is over.

As always, there's a zillion different things that could cause a given symptom, so your doc is your best source for answers. Given that you have survived it for some time, and presuming there is no particular increase or change in presentation, I wouldn't be too concerned about brainsplosions.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:06 pm

Oh, well that's good. Thanks.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:26 am

So, I have been invited to a cocktails and dubstep party. I bought drinks to mix for cocktails, as I like playing bartender, but... what is dubstep?

It sounds like some kind of music thing. I have almost zero interest in music, so it doesn't really affect things either way, but I'm just wondering why it's so noteworthy that it's right up there in the title next to cocktails.

rampaging-poet · Post by **rampaging-poet** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:48 am

I'm no expert, but from what I can tell dubstep songs tend to be longish with very prominent rhythm sections. The idea is to have something that will sound good if you just put one or two songs on repeat for five hours straight like that guy in the dorm room below mine last year.

This remix is a dubstep version of the dungeon theme from the original Legend of Zelda. It's not my favourite genre, but I don't mind a little once in a while.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:46 pm

Thanks. I asked someone elsewhere and the answer I got was "wubwubwubwubwub". Which didn't really help.

Also, and given I did a pharmacy course I feel stupid for asking, but which of the non-narcotic "over the counter" painkillers reduces inflammation? Was it paracetamol/acetominophen, or ibuprofen-and-aspirin? Because the meds I was prescribed for the post-tooth-extraction-pain have run out, leaving just a small amount of throbbing, dull pain as the bones in the gums continue to shrink back to normal. I don't want to go take a bunch of codeine, but a mild painkiller that helps reduce the swelling could be a good idea.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:14 pm

The Great Fence Builder Speaks
Not Okay!
TGFBS

Wait, a youtube video with a non-nudity poledance isn't ok? Weird, ok, I'll keep that in mind.

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:20 pm

Ibuprofen/aspirin are the ones that reduce inflamation. Which is why they are better for inflamation/dehydration headaches.

Acetomenaphine reduces fevers better, and will help with headaches due to overheating.

Or you know

Listen to what Frank says. He is after all an actual doctor.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:39 pm

Koumei wrote:Also, and given I did a pharmacy course I feel stupid for asking, but which of the non-narcotic "over the counter" painkillers reduces inflammation? Was it paracetamol/acetominophen, or ibuprofen-and-aspirin?

Aspirin and Ibuprofen are in the class NSAID or "Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug".

-Username17

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 12:37 am

Thanks. I should have been able to remember that.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:08 am

OK, i am tired and bored . .
If Vampires burn in Sunlight . .
And Moonlight is just reflected Sunlight . .
Should they not burn at night too?

Also, if this does not work:
Look up. Into the sky. No, not the moon.
There's stars out there. Billions. Each star is a sun.
Vampires should burn at night with the power of a billion suns, right? O.o

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:31 am

Moonlight is how vampires tan.

I think there's a flaw in V;tM you can take where exceptionally bright moonlight does lethal damage. Or is that a clan weakness? Or both, who knows. But if your vampires are magic, then the moon and other stars may just not have any effect on them at all because it has to be direct from the source because magic. And if your vampires are scientific, then it's probably a matter of light intensity.

And if you combine fantasy and science into one vampire story, then you get space vampires who go out in the daylight on other planets. I feel like that's been done before, but I can't remember where. I'm confident it was retarded.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:37 am

Stahlseele wrote:Vampires should burn at night with the power of a billion suns, right? O.o

Have you ever noticed that at night it is dark and in the day it is not dark.

This should tell you everything you need to know about the relative power of "a billion suns" far away compared to one sun rather nearby.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:51 am

Where does it end then?
High Noon. Vampire under water. How deep does he have to go?
Tinted Window? Does it help?
Nowhere does it say how strong sunlight has to be for a vampire to burn.
Only that it needs to be sunlight. No mentions of only direct sunlight in most cases . .

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:49 am

Stahlseele wrote:Where does it end then?
High Noon. Vampire under water. How deep does he have to go?
Tinted Window? Does it help?
Nowhere does it say how strong sunlight has to be for a vampire to burn.
Only that it needs to be sunlight. No mentions of only direct sunlight in most cases . .

I think the general rule is if if would give a human a sunburn, it will burn a vampire.

Or at least, that's a workable rule.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:51 am

Most sources use direct sunlight. in Buffy, Spike could run around under a blanket only smoldering. In Angel, I seem to recall Angel not bursting into flames in his office, thanks to (possibly magically) tinted glass. In [shudder]Twilight[/shudder], cloudy skies are sufficient to make them not sparkle. On the other hand, it could be very cool to see heroes pull off the Egyptian Mirror Trick and dust a bunch of vampires deep underground.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:52 am

Moonlight is reflected sunlight scientifically, but not for magical purposes.

erik · Post by **erik** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:38 am

Stahlseele wrote:
PhoneLobster wrote: Have you ever noticed that at night it is dark and in the day it is not dark.
Where does it end then?

Well...

High Noon. Vampire under water. How deep does he have to go?

When it is dark. Note: some vampires aren't wild about going deep underwater either.

Tinted Window? Does it help?

When it is dark.

If it is at least as dark as dawn/dusk wherein the sun is blocked by the curvature of the earth, then probably safe. Wiser vamps would do well to not test the upper boundaries of course. And this is all assuming you are bothering with Light=deathbane vampires in the first place.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:47 am

The whole burning in sunlight thing is pretty recent and to this day a majority of fictional vampires don't do it. One of the first modern vampires (Varney the Vampire, 1847) was actually healed by moonlight.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:07 am

I could see, in a world like Oerth, where there is a god of the sun who is anti-undead, light always hurt undead, especially vampires, the damage depending on quantity. It'd be a serious hose to undead player characters, but it'd make sense storywise.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:22 pm

so, apparently I posted the wrong link. How embarrassing.

this is the link I meant to post.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:56 pm

Prak_Anima wrote:Most sources use direct sunlight. in Buffy, Spike could run around under a blanket only smoldering. In Angel, I seem to recall Angel not bursting into flames in his office, thanks to (possibly magically) tinted glass. In [shudder]Twilight[/shudder], cloudy skies are sufficient to make them not sparkle. On the other hand, it could be very cool to see heroes pull off the Egyptian Mirror Trick and dust a bunch of vampires deep underground.

Angel's office didn't have a lot of windows. The very first episode did have him bursting into flame from window light though.
There was also a kind of magic glass that was fine, but it was rare somehow. He had it in his car.