The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXVIII

[warpus]

It's just that these cards are so cheesy and over the top that they'll know I'm doing it because of what happened. So I have the option of making it even cheesier, or I could write a standard greeting in Polish, or I could write a personalized message in English, or it could be a joke about the text that's written there - in the case of my dad for example it says "making traditions and memories", I can put in a reference to the lemon vodka he always makes (which is a fine tradition).. I have more ideas still..

So it's not that I don't know how to write stuff.. I don't know which of the things I want to w--

I HAVE JUST FIGURED IT ALL OUT.

This is going to be the best Christmas ever.

 

[Takhisis]

Raves thread is that way --->

 

[warpus]

I answered my own question and got excited at the sudden eureka *shrug*

Next question: Why do moths have powdery wings?

 

[Borachio]

Dunno.

The powder is actually tiny scales made from modified hairs. Moths, like butterflies, belong to the order Lepidoptera, which means 'scale wing'. The scales are pigmented but they also contribute to the pattern on the wings by diffracting light through a complex microscopic structure of ribs and holes. A 2005 study at Princeton University in the US found that the scales showed differences in their structure that depended on their location on the wing and were independent of colour. It's possible they play a role in thermoregulation or modifying the airflow over the wing. If the scales do assist flight, the effect is subtle. Butterflies and moths don't actually need the scales to fly, but their wings are very delicate and if you handle them enough to rub the scales off, you'll probably also damage the wings in the process.

http://www.sciencefocus.com/qa/whats-powder-moths-wings

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Does the [RD] designation on threads mean anything anymore or what?

 

[Borachio]

Yes. I think so. I tend to shy away from being quite so flippant when I remember that it's an RD thread.

 

[Cutlass]

Does the [RD] designation on threads mean anything anymore or what?

Sure it does. Or it would, if OT had a moderator from time to time.

 

[James Stuart]

Sure it does. Or it would, if OT had a moderator from time to time.

I've discovered that the entire Colosseum only has a moderator when I'm being infracted. This is regardless of what anybody else is doing in any other thread.

 

[Cutlass]

I've discovered that the entire Colosseum only has a moderator when I'm being infracted. This is regardless of what anybody else is doing in any other thread.

Well, that happens too. But OT has had a consistent problem with irregular moderation, and that largely stems from the fact that there are rarely many moderators active, and so much of what goes on isn't seen. And while I think the OT mods are individually good people trying to do a good job, and I've liked most of them on a personal level, the fact is that there is very rarely complete coverage, and that results in spotty and inconsistent coverage.

 

[James Stuart]

Well, that happens too. But OT has had a consistent problem with irregular moderation, and that largely stems from the fact that there are rarely many moderators active, and so much of what goes on isn't seen. And while I think the OT mods are individually good people trying to do a good job, and I've liked most of them on a personal level, the fact is that there is very rarely complete coverage, and that results in spotty and inconsistent coverage.

Who knew they were AOL?

 

[Borachio]

So, what's happening with the plummeting oil price? Good Thing? Bad Thing?

And is the stuff edible? Because if it gets any cheaper, I shall be considering eating it.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

 

[James Stuart]

How does one go about getting one of those proxy I.P. addresses? I know there's a website called Tor, but I just don't understand the actual mechanics of the internet well enough to know what exactly it does.

 

[The_J]

Either:
If it's for serious bussiness, then use the tor browser (it's a package with a customized firefox and the whole tor stuff, auto configured, just google it).
If it's for non-serious stuff, then check the IPs on hidemyass (or any other list with proxies), and put them in the proxy configurations in your browser (FF that would be settings -> advanced -> network -> configure how FF connects to the internet).

How Tor works:
It's basically a parallel internet. You connect to it, and everyone can only see that you're connected to Tor. Via Tor you get connected to the other websites. Everyone then can only see that someone in Tor connects to that website.
Imagine that someone with a helicopter observes the underground transportation in a city. Someone goes into the underground, and that someone leaves the underground somewhere, and he'll have changed dresses in between. You can't be sure if it's the same person, unless you observe the whole underground (which still nobody can...yet).
For a simple proxy: The same, just that there's only one point in between, and not a whole network. In contrast to Tor this is easy to observe for the e.g. NSA, and even if you're not trying to evade the big enemies, most of the proxy owners will cooperate with the authorities, because they know what's going on on their proxy, and are therefore liable. So not for serious stuff. In Tor nobody knows, because there's a whole chain of anonymus connections, so you don't know what's going on.

 

[James Stuart]

Either:
If it's for serious bussiness, then use the tor browser (it's a package with a customized firefox and the whole tor stuff, auto configured, just google it).
If it's for non-serious stuff, then check the IPs on hidemyass (or any other list with proxies), and put them in the proxy configurations in your browser (FF that would be settings -> advanced -> network -> configure how FF connects to the internet).

How Tor works:
It's basically a parallel internet. You connect to it, and everyone can only see that you're connected to Tor. Via Tor you get connected to the other websites. Everyone then can only see that someone in Tor connects to that website.
Imagine that someone with a helicopter observes the underground transportation in a city. Someone goes into the underground, and that someone leaves the underground somewhere, and he'll have changed dresses in between. You can't be sure if it's the same person, unless you observe the whole underground (which still nobody can...yet).
For a simple proxy: The same, just that there's only one point in between, and not a whole network. In contrast to Tor this is easy to observe for the e.g. NSA, and even if you're not trying to evade the big enemies, most of the proxy owners will cooperate with the authorities, because they know what's going on on their proxy, and are therefore liable. So not for serious stuff. In Tor nobody knows, because there's a whole chain of anonymus connections, so you don't know what's going on.

My primary method of accessing the internet is my iiPad, which uses Safari.Will the Tor or hidemyass methods work on that browser?

 

[The_J]

Tor: Depends on if it's available for the i-devices (unlikely, don't think Apple will let it into the app store).
Proxy in safari: Yeah, that should work, all the browsers should have the settings to add some proxy (but don't ask me how for Safari, don't know that; but I'm sure instructions should be google-ble).

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Have there been any reports of UAVs being sold to terrorist groups?

 

[Zelig]

Yeah, tor's not going to work on non-jailbroken iOS at all.

 

[dutchfire]

Does the [RD] designation on threads mean anything anymore or what?

We don't have the time to read every thread in OT (and I don't think I would particularly enjoy reading every post in every thread...). If you feel that a particular RD thread needs our attention, please report a post there and we will have a look.

 

[sophie]

We don't have the time to read every thread in OT (and I don't think I would particularly enjoy reading every post in every thread...). If you feel that a particular RD thread needs our attention, please report a post there and we will have a look.

Just the result of no moderation in OT.

 

[Samez]

Have there been any reports of UAVs being sold to terrorist groups?

In the last Palestine-Israel conflict this year DIYs drones have been used. The parts were probably just bought on a random online store.
I haven't heard anything about large UAVs (predator size) being sold, but this would probably not be made public anyway.