The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread ΛΕ

[Mouthwash]

Anyone here into Dark Sun? I'm getting a lot of mixed messages about the novels. Some are called great or terrible by different people, and there are a lot of complaints about them 'screwing up the canon' and how reading them will ruin it for you.

I'm not a gamer, I'm just here for the setting and/or literary value. I do read sourcebooks when they help to flesh out the setting (like Fiendish Codex).

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Anyone here into Dark Sun? I'm getting a lot of mixed messages about the novels. Some are called great or terrible by different people, and there are a lot of complaints about them 'screwing up the canon' and how reading them will ruin it for you.

I'm not a gamer, I'm just here for the setting and/or literary value. I do read sourcebooks when they help to flesh out the setting (like Fiendish Codex).

I haven't played any modules or campaigns, but I did enjoy the novels I read (most of the Prism Pentiad). A few months ago I tracked down the rest of the novels to complete my collection.

They're quite different in tone from the other AD&D novels I've read (my preferred settting is Krynn, in the Dragonlance game).

 

[cardgame]

I had organic black olives over Thanksgiving and they were a different color than what you usually get. Much lighter. Perhaps the color of a green olive as it existed in the past was different.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

We have an elderly (85+) grandmother who is very independent and lives on her own, but is starting to exhibit some signs of confusion about some things. We are trying to come together as a family and figure out some solutions to some problems to make her life easier and safer.

One of the problems is that she will forget to turn off the lights and it will keep her up at night. Then during the day she sleeps and is tired.

Has somebody used technology to deal with something like this before? I have some ideas but not sure about the right approach:

1. A smart lighting system that can be programmed and connects to the internet and can be accessed from elsewhere - Maybe something like this?
2. My sister already suggested alexa and IFTTT but isn't sure about the details or how it would work exactly
3. I am thinking that motion sensored lights in the whole house would be almost perfect maybe? If my grandmother is in a room, the light is on. If she isn't, it's off. Works perfect except for the bedroom - what to do there?
4. We could set up cameras in the house so we can monitor our grandmother and make sure that she is ok. My grandmother would be okay with any privacy concerns I believe, but we would ask her.
5. Some combination of the above.

What would you suggest? Another one of the bigger problems right now is that she gets lonely. She sees a person a day and we've set up her phone to easily call any one of us, but it's not enough. I was told some versions of Alexa have a screen and make it easy to have video chat by just saying a couple words? It seems that the screen would be small though.

Any suggestions on any of these fronts? Thank you!

Specifically on the lighting issue - I think you might be attempting to remedy the symptom but missing root cause. It sounds like your grandmother is in the beginning stages of some sort of dimensia. I would not be surprised if insomnia is a symptom of different kinds of dimensia and fixing the lights won't do much.

I do think that motion sensors wired to the lightbulbs are ideal for this situation. I think they now sell 'smart' bulbs which wirelessly connect with an Alexa, Nest or other system and a sensor suite. This means you won't have to re-wire the house, just set up what is essentially a wireless network and configure it.

It's a legal document which, unless it is tattooed on your chest, accomplishes very little.

Yes do not Resuscitate. We found it useful. After my mother's husband died, she did not want to extend her life or be kept alive just to be kept alive. The DNR acted as a notice to her caregivers and to any 911 responders that nothing should be done to prolong her life if an event happened. She did not want any trips to the ER or for those taking care of her to interfere with her dying. She was 99 at the time.

I saw you retracted but I just wanted to add that I too had a positive experience with DNR's*. By themselves they may not be of much use but when backed by a supporting family, they give the doctor legal cover to let death happen and reinforce the fact that they (kind of) have to let it happen.

Some doctors or EMT's might decide to extend life for their own reasons - sometimes even against family wishes. DNR + family wishes is a powerful combination to help make sure this doesn't happen.

*Such as one can have a 'positive experience' about someone else dying.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yeah it's a good thing to have, just be aware that they aren't magic. For example, @hobbsyoyo mentions that they "give the doctor legal cover," which is true, but sometimes EMTs might defy the DNR as referenced in 'family wishes,' which is also true That's because the EMTs are frequently put in a position where the patient can't speak, and some handy family member is saying there is a DNR...but truth is that unless the EMT sees the DNR they face potential liability. If you want the DNR to have maximum possibility of performing as expected keep copies handy so the EMTs showing up to a 911 call can be handed a copy they can keep for their own records.

This may sound like excess preparedness. There is little doubt in my mind that if I told EMTs that my mother had a DNR and they let her pass peacefully my brother is the sort who would say "hide the DNR, let's sue them." People like my brother do exist, and EMTs know they exist.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yes I agree they are not perfect.

They can also help settle intra-familial disputes. Thankfully I have never had to experience that myself but it happens that different 'factions' of a family can have differing opinions on the matter.

Edit:
Also, I like you and I hope this doesn't offend you but your brother sounds like a scumbag.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Would a DNR paper carried on the person count? I carry a list of my conditions and medications around in my bag so in case I'm ever in an accident and can't communicate they would know.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Honestly I wouldn't count on it if they can't get a hold of family to confirm it. If you're in a hospital and you've talked to the doctors then maybe, but getting picked up by EMTs and delivered to an emergency room? They're probably going to do what they can to save you.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yes I agree they are not perfect.

They can also help settle intra-familial disputes. Thankfully I have never had to experience that myself but it happens that different 'factions' of a family can have differing opinions on the matter.

Edit:
Also, I like you and I hope this doesn't offend you but your brother sounds like a scumbag.

He sounds a lot better to you than I generally think of him. Our intra-family dispute was resolved with my brother banned from California, on pain of death.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Would a DNR paper carried on the person count? I carry a list of my conditions and medications around in my bag so in case I'm ever in an accident and can't communicate they would know.

Chances are that EMTs will be taking action before they go through your bag. If you have serious life threatening allergies or are on medications that can have catastrophic interactions with stuff that is routinely used in emergency treatment you should have one of those 'life alert' bracelet things.

If you get one of those bracelets and put "DNR in my bag" on it, and back it up with a notarized copy that they could defend themselves with it would probably work.

 

[BenitoChavez]

In the following sentence which word is correct, has or have?

"The majority of Reddit ____ no idea what they are talking about."

My first instinct was has. But I saw someone use have and after thinking about it I now have no idea. One could take Reddit as a single entity and thus the singular form has would be used, or Reddit could be a collection of individuals and thus the plural form have would be used.

 

[Arakhor]

Save ambiguity and recast it in a more familiar form: "The majority of Redditors have..."

 

[MaryKB]

Your sentence should be "The majority of Reddit users have no idea what they're talking about."

 

[BenitoChavez]

After some googling I found this:

British English treats collective nouns (corporations, departments, etc.) as plural. American English treats them as singular. The size of the group is irrelevant.

So English is perfectly consistent and logical like always

 

[metatron]

In the following sentence which word is correct, has or have?

"The majority of Reddit ____ no idea what they are talking about."

My first instinct was has. But I saw someone use have and after thinking about it I now have no idea. One could take Reddit as a single entity and thus the singular form has would be used, or Reddit could be a collection of individuals and thus the plural form have would be used.

I agree with the others.

Other considerations aside the term "majority of Reddit" has to go.
That's just plain bad writing and the cause of your problem.
From context (i.e. we know what reddit is) we are all but forced to take the perspective that it is an entity.
And when are you ever talking about the "majority" of an entity? It's just weird, no matter if the entity is abstract.
Here as in most cases where one might be tempted to derp into this it is clear that the entity is made up of sub-entities, persons in this case and most cases.
So the majority you are talking about is not just some mass but it is a countable majority. We're talking some integer here.
For reaons i can not fully express this makes it even weirder.

This is not at all helped by the fact that the assumed entity itself is very weird. Like, we have to expect from context that you mean the userbase.
The users are reddit, though?
That's odd.
Suppose you wanted to comment on the totality of subway passangers in NYC.
"The majority of subway is/are..."
"The majority of MTA is/are..."
Yes, they don't contribute to the benefit you get out of the thing (typically not, anyway), but i suppose you can still see the problem even though users on reddit do.

Point being: The numerus is not the source of the problem. Mere sympton.

So English is perfectly consistent and logical like always

What you researched was about refering to the company, not the userbase.

 

[BenitoChavez]

What you researched was about refering to the company, not the userbase.

Yeah I got that. It was just a tangentially related language rule I found amusing.

 

[Mouthwash]

I haven't played any modules or campaigns, but I did enjoy the novels I read (most of the Prism Pentiad). A few months ago I tracked down the rest of the novels to complete my collection.

It's actually not bad. Usually I skip the book if the protagonist is a hulking gladiator, but there are other viewpoint characters and they get more screen time. The cliche of evil overlord versus beleaguered rebellion is kind of dragging it down, however it's still better than most Drizzt novels.

 

[sophie]

In the following sentence which word is correct, has or have?

"The majority of Reddit ____ no idea what they are talking about."

My first instinct was has. But I saw someone use have and after thinking about it I now have no idea. One could take Reddit as a single entity and thus the singular form has would be used, or Reddit could be a collection of individuals and thus the plural form have would be used.

American English speaker, and I would use "has."
"This team is the best," etc.

Things get weird in sports names. If the team's name is explicitly marked as plural, its verbs are conjugated as plural: The Patriots are the most successful football team of the last two decades. Are the Warriors ruining basketball?

But if the team name isn't marked as plural, then it is treated as a singular collective noun, e.g. with Universities: Alabama is in the College Playoff this year. Oklahoma is too. The most delightful confusion happens when referring to soccer, as you see the clear distinction between how American English handles apparently singular collective nouns vs how British English does. Look at this wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_City_F.C._supporters, you can identify where the edits are and by whom: the first sentence is

"Since their inception in 1880 by Rev. Arthur Connell and William Beastow as St. Mark's (West Gorton), Manchester City F.C. have developed a loyal, passionate and dedicated following."

while the first sentence from "Supporter Traits" reads:

"Manchester City has a large fanbase in relation to its comparative lack of success in recent years."

 

[Cutlass]

So if dojo is sort of an Anglicized word for a Japanese martial arts training hall, what would be the Anglicized word a Chinese martial arts training hall?

 

[Takhisis]

A wuguan, according to Wikipedia.