In the Lord of the Rings fandom there’s a persistent debate whether balrogs, or Durin’s Bane specifically, have wings. The text in Fellowship is ambiguous whether what it is describing are literal wings or something else wing-like.
I’m a planetary scientist so technically this is a field, you can also be into meteorites as a hobby.
Chondrule formation. These are spherical balls of formerly molten rock that solidified and clumped together to form chondrites, some of the oldest rocks in the Solar System that predate planet formation. Essentially these are nebular dust grains that formed when the Solar System was still an accretionary disk.
Except, do chondrules predate planet formation? What causes them to melt while they’re floating around? How do they overcome the kinetic barriers to agglomeration? Are the terrestrial planets, whose bulk composition is thought to be chondritic, actually composed of chondrites?
If you want to see one of the most simultaneously esoteric and bitter scientific debates, attend a chondrule formation session at a meteorite or planetary science conference. MetSoc is a great one in August, and officially I go to present my work but actually I just love the fireworks. As an achondrite person, I don’t touch this topic with a ten foot pole, but I love to watch when someone introduces a new wacky idea (space lightning? Shine from a molten Io? Extrasolar?) and you see 15 eminent greybeards rush the mic to yell their objections.
In the world of Game Collecting, the guy with potentially the largest single collection on the planet is getting rid of his collection.
The ideal plan was for it to all go to a singular museum, which was in the works and then unfortunately fell through. Problem is the next two backups also fell through. So plan D involves the collection being split up and some of it going to the Embrace Group, and some into private collections, which was seemingly both never the plan. People who donated items, thinking that they would eventually be publicly displayed, are rightfully upset. And then the rest of his fans, such as myself, are somewhat bewildered that this is how it will end after decades of amassing a collection, and then years of saying it’ll all be going to a museum.
That’s really sad, especially given the industry’s penchant for destroying its own legacy.
Why don’t people crowd fund and start a new museum?
Here’s another one: Is there a “blind community?” This may sound odd since the very fact the question exists implies there is, since blind people have to get together and discuss it. So in some ways yes of course there is, but I’m inclined to say no, at least not in the sense that a lot of people define “community”.
Blindness does not respect class, creed, or culture, so you have blind people from all over the map ideologically speaking who all approach their blindness in different ways. That’s not getting into the difference between low- vs no-vision, or born blind vs blinded later in life, or blind people who are independent vs those that lack access to proper training. I’ve run into blind people who don’t like hanging out with other blind people IRL because the spectrum ranges from “can’t even pick yourself up when you trip without help” to “flies around the country alone with no problem.”
I think the question exists because we look at deaf people who unambiguously have cultures and languages unique to them when we don’t really have that.
Ope, as someone hard of hearing, I’m sorry y’all don’t have community. It makes sense why we make them so often and y’all don’t, but it’s sad to see you don’t have something similar
systemd is fine for some
I understand the pushback against it being “not unix” philosophically, since it’s a large system instead of many small systems working together.
At the same time systemd is still kind of just a collection of config/script files. And as annoying as it is, the perennial “well just contribute to / code for the thing you like instead” mantra applies. init.d is falling out of favor with maintainers because they find it comparatively harder to maintain and update.
I have the vague feeling that a lot of the people that would care the most have moved to NixOS or esoteric stuff like it.
Ironically NixOS only works with systemd
D&D vs PF2 really brings out the uhh, loudest of each community
True! There was a period where I swore PF was better than 5E but then Draw Steel started posting their early system versions and I realized I was arguing for a couple of degrees of difference when the real improvement was an entirely new way of thinking.
Draw Steel isn’t for everyone or every group or especially every genre/playstyle, but I think it should force everyone playing generic fantasy style hero games like 5E and PF and 13th Age, etc to reexamine the lineage of games we’ve been used to.
It’s a different genre but I also appreciate Call of Cthulhu’s mechanics. Roll-under is a bit weird but I appreciate that you’re rolling against your own skills rather than some number set by the DM side of things. The DM just has to decide if it’s normal, hard, or very hard difficulty.
As far as a complete paradigm shift, Alice Is Missing is a fantastic game. The difficulty lies in finding three other people who can play a serious RPG about a missing child in a small town.
Lancer has been my Draw Steel. That and I love the setting and giant mechs :D
Female Space Marines. I’m gonna leave before this thread explodes.
The gif notwithstanding, I’m not enough of a 40K fan to care. Watching the nerd rage from the sidelines is fun though.
I do, however, enjoy lore and worldbuilding in general. It’s my understanding it had previously been established in several places the Astartes were male only. Were I more invested I would certainly find this decision vexing, especially in light of the fact they already have an all-female faction in the Adepta Sororitas and the fact that Astartes are massive spotlight hogs. Shining the spotlight on these other factions would kill two birds with one stone by highlighting female characters in a way that respects the lore and stemming the endless flood of space marines.
But again I’m just casually interested watching from the sidelines. I’ve never bought any models or read any tie-in novels. The only money I’ve invested are a few video games. The entirety of my knowledge comes from lengthy wiki walks and lore videos.
It’s not a lore issue for me, not exactly, more indicative of a change in fandom and corporate culture; Warhammer used to be this creative hobby you could easily put your own mark on, it was encouraged by GW in fact. Any one players Warhammer would look similar but unique to the Warhammer of another player.
Starting around the mid to late 2000s the attitude started to change, coinciding with (though not necessarily caused by) the release of the Horus Heresy books and Age of Sigmar, GW started to put more of an emphasis on lore and copyrightable content, they started to downplay customisation within the hobby and with it the tacit approval to make your own female Space Marines as you so wished.
When I see neckbeards frothing over female Space Marines it’s a disappointing reminder that the hobby has lost its personal touch, plus it’s a chance to piss them off with my Drag theme Ork warband!
After the shots of testerone the female space marines look like the male ones or vice versa!
Trans Marines!
The Grateful Dead were not a jam band , jam bands wanted to be the Grateful Dead.
And also, the mk4 platform we’re the last real VW’s ever made and anybody that thinks differently is a civilian that needs to shut the fuck up
BMX: free coaster vs cassette.
Star Trek (Voyager): Was it murder to split Tuvix back into Tuvok and Neelix?
I’ve got a long and complex possible solution to offer regarding this ethical clusterfuck, and I’m willing to elaborate if someone’s interested to hear it.
Edit (possible solution): Voyager’s database should include the Enterprise D’s information regarding Riker’s duplication incident. While Voyager’s crew already found a way to separate Tuvix, they could’ve searched for a possibility to repeat that process and then split back the copy Tuvix a few milliseconds into the original Tuvok and Neelix before said copy became self-aware.
So I was under the assumption that every time they beamed someone up or down they murdered them and an exact copy appeared elsewhere.
That’s what makes it a good story though - an ethical dilemma with no clear “right” answer.
They should have just kept replicating Tuvix with the transporter and using him as fuel.
The Riker split depended on a plant on that one particular planet. Maybe it cannot be replicated.
Fully embracing that technology would have loads of chaotic outcomes…maybe they forbade it or something? Ripe for abuse…the ability to make infinite free clones or people…
The longest and most complex solutions are usually right (yes, please share).
The trench from my bed to my toilet is three meters but I can whizz without getting up anymore
Im curious, please share
Two characters got merged into one completely new character the had traits of both, but was their own person. Decision was made to forcibly (against the new character’s wishes) undo the accident and restore the two people. In so doing the new character no longer existed.
Yes ive seen Voyager lol, I meant their solution
Thanks for trying tho
Lol should have remembered this was Lemmy.
Yes and she was right to do it. Except maybe she should have made a backup so she could have done it again
Synthesizers: digital vs analog.
Common opinion holds that analog (specifically oscillators, but also filters and even VCAs [voltage controlled amplifiers]) are warmer and more natural sounding while digital are cold and harsh.
The thing is, digital emulation of analog hardware has become virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, but there is a certain segment that refuses to believe their $5000 Minimoog can be so easily replicated by software (realistically I doubt Bob Moog could tell the difference anymore).
Of course some also choose to argue which is better, which is just ridiculous because they both have their uses depending on what kinds of music you’re composing or just what sounds you’re trying to make.
Yeah by the time you add effects, throw that synth into a full mix with other instruments, THEIR effects, and all the compression and EQing in a finished track, the only thing that matters is whether that single instrument adds what it needs to add to the whole.
Objectively, digital oscillators are better - they don’t drift unless you want them to, they stay in tune, and they can always be run through analogue filters to add imperfections (sorry, “warmth”).
But it still boils down to my first point: it’s a single part of a multi-part song. As long as it gets the job done, who cares whether it’s fluctuating voltage or zeroes & ones. It’ll be analogue on its way into the listener’s ear canal either way.
Absolutely. So much nuance is lost in a mix. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just dumb to think a $3000 synthesizer is going to sound better than a $10 plugin when you’ve got it buried amongst guitar, bass, drums, and vocals.
Lots of debates about the internal arrangement of the original series Enterprise…
- Bridge: forward facing or offset?
- Engineering: primary or secondary hull?
- Shuttlebay: short or extending under the nacelle pylons?
- How big is this ship, anyway??
I watched a video on this recently which was able to demonstrate that Engineering was shown in different locations in TOS. So the answer is, “Don’t worry about it.”
In fact, between this and the fact that the Engineering room set changed significantly between seasons 1 and 2, I’ve grown pretty partial to the idea that there are at least two and likely more rooms of a similar layout throughout the ship. Everybody wins.
Woodworking: I have mentioned this a couple times in my lectures on this platform. Festool has a tool called the Domino. It’s the shape of a biscuit joiner but it’s got a router bit that it wags like a dog’s tail. It cuts a deep, narrow, short mortise that pre-made loose biscuits fit into.
This tool is protected under patent so only Festool makes them. They sell two models, a small and a large. The small cost a thousand petrodollars.
It’s very easy to use, it makes strong joints quickly, it’s impossible to afford.
You’ll find there’s a crowd of purists who will spend that much on a chisel and won’t hear anything about it because it’s not “traditional joinery.” Floating tenons are thousands of years old, but okay. You’ve got beginners or hobbyists who can put together the basic tools and are upset when Youtubers use Dominos in projects. Most domino joints can be replaced with dowel joints, but okay. And you get the actual cabinet makers who go “I manufacture cabinets, this lets me do it faster, and time is money.” Which…fair enough.
If you don’t own a plunge router, you don’t care.
Programming and Linux. Oh boy, what to pick…
Terminal text editors: VIM vs Emacs is the main debate there. (There are others but these are ones people argue the most about)
Linux Distros: Arch, Debian, Mint, CachyOS, …
Init Systems: Systemd vs OpenRC. Honestly, probably the most toxic debate on this list.
Programming Languages: Python, Shell, but the heated one is C vs Rust
A non-exhaustive list of ones I couldn’t think of a category for:
- Tiling vs Floating Window Managers
- Chromium vs Gecko-based browsers
- Bash vs Zsh vs Fish
I love computers and Linux, but man, the amount of toxic in-fighting and gatekeeping is a real turnoff. Just use what you want. At the end of the day, we are all nerds doing what we love.
And heaven forbid you actually prefer Windows
Microsoft’s helping our case by blasting their own foot all the time, fortunately.
I’ve gotten quite into doing pub karaoke for the past three years. It started as me going to monthly nights at my local, then following that particular KJ after they cancelled future gigs with her, to befriending and following a few other hosts.
There’s three particular debates:
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Who produces the best karaoke backing tracks? There are a lot of websites/platforms that produce licensed karaoke tracks, such as Karaoke Version, Sing To The World, Sunfly, Karafun, Mr Entertainer, Zoom Karaoke and a few others. I think some can be more hit-or-miss than others. Karafun are generally good with lyric readability but their app/service is kinda shit if you don’t have an internet connection.
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Should the host get on the mic and sing at all? Some i know are the kind who like the sound of their own voice a bit too much and tend to hog the mic, but there’s also one I know who rarely if ever sings himself.
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As a host, should you play songs between singers. I can understand spacing out singers when it’s quiet, but if it’s busy and you have a few dozen singers waiting for their turn, you’re just gonna piss people off if you play full songs between each act in my opinion.
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Community - The slogan was ‘Six seasons and a movie.’
We are still waiting for our goddamned movie!
Make your own dammit. Fan edit it together
