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

[The_J]

Does anyone in France ever actually say "sacrebleu"? Why is it such a well-known phrase in the Anglosphere (or at least US)?

Haven't heard anyone say it yet, but I'm also not much around people at the moment.

 

[Hrothbern]

Astronauts train underwater for a variety of reasons. Part of it is what was said upthread - how to handle an alien environment. Part of it is to simulate weightlessness while carrying out complex tasks. And part of it is both - carrying out critical tasks which, if you don't do them correctly, on time, could result in your death because of the non-oxygen environment outside your spacesuit.

There's a TV series on BBC Earth, in which Chris Hadfield (Canadian astronaut who commanded the International Space Station for awhile, several years ago) and a couple of others are running a group of aspiring astronauts through a series of tests to see which of them would qualify to go on to the real selection process.

It's a real eye-opener, to see what kinds of physical, mental, and psychological tests these candidates are put through and how they're simultaneously assessed on leadership skills while also being assessed on their ability to be a team player.

Any candidate who fails to measure up in some aspect can be turfed at any time, and it's sometimes a very unexpected reason why they're found unsuitable. Chris Hadfield states numerous times that part of his criteria for choosing who gets asked to leave and who gets to stay is "who would I want to go to space with and have to depend on in an emergency, and who wouldn't be a detriment to how everyone gets along". He acknowledges that the latter didn't used to be as important as it is now, since the shuttle missions weren't long enough for someone to seriously annoy the others badly enough to be a danger to the mission. But since the astronauts they're training now have the potential to be picked for training for a Mars mission, they have to pay more attention to the psychological makeup of the candidates and how they interact with each other.

It sounds perhaps harsh to say
But when team result is really prio #1 you do not escape the judgments where people have a negative value for that team result despite scoring extraordinary well on some aspects.

 

[Arakhor]

Does anyone in France ever actually say "sacrebleu"? Why is it such a well-known phrase in the Anglosphere (or at least US)?

Wikipedia suggests that it's perhaps because Agatha Christie used it in her Hercule Poirot novels.

 

[cardgame]

Ballistics are very cool but also, in real world scenarios, plenty unpredictable. For example, you would imagine the 7.62x51 full-size battle rifle round to have no trouble penetrating a moderately thin tree. It gets stuck embedded in that wood far more often than the smaller and slower 5.45x39 because this ammo has a narrower tip and isn't slowed down as much by the barrier. Also trees are unique from one to another just like people.

 

[tuckerkao]

Ballistics are very cool but also, in real world scenarios, plenty unpredictable. For example, you would imagine the 7.62x51 full-size battle rifle round to have no trouble penetrating a moderately thin tree. It gets stuck embedded in that wood far more often than the smaller and slower 5.45x39 because this ammo has a narrower tip and isn't slowed down as much by the barrier. Also trees are unique from one to another just like people.

Every tree has its own unique textural patterns, every person has a unique facial structure. Even every cat has the different fur colors and patterns.

 

[Synobun]

Anyone here know of anywhere where I can get or make a custom, interactive planetary map? It's for a Warhammer 40k campaign we are going to be doing. I'm looking for something similar to this:

Spoiler Map Example :

View attachment 569224

Like I said, I'd like to be able to customize it to make my own unique planet and have it be interactive so I can show the changes in who controls what territory.

You might be able to hire a developer who can rip the art assets from the game (so you don't have to pay for art as well). I don't think you're going to be able to find an out-of-the-box interactive map like that. There are generators out there, but nothing with the functionality you're looking for AFAIK. And nothing with that level of art sophistication.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Have you seen Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator? I don't know if it can make something like what you want though.

 

[W|M]

QGIS could work but it has a somewhat steep learning curve

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I see that on Steam trading cards you can sell them for money (presumably for the Steam wallet). But do people actually buy them?

 

[Synobun]

I see that on Steam trading cards you can sell them for money (presumably for the Steam wallet). But do people actually buy them?

Yes. I've made probably $20 or so off of cards.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Yes. I've made probably $20 or so off of cards.

Do you want my cards?

 

[Synobun]

Do you want my cards?

Sell 'em and use the profits on PoE stuff.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I just made 11 cents by selling some of my spare cards!

 

[Birdjaguar]

Sell 'em and use the profits on PoE stuff.

All POE gear is traded in game for in game currency. Decorative MTXs can bought for cash through the website, but I'm not really into that.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Earlier today I was on the balcony and I saw a crow fall out of the sky and go plop dead in the parking lot. Is this common?

 

[Lexicus]

Earlier today I was on the balcony and I saw a crow fall out of the sky and go plop dead in the parking lot. Is this common?

I've never seen it.

why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I've never seen it.

why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Earlier today I was on the balcony and I saw a crow fall out of the sky and go plop dead in the parking lot. Is this common?

It could have been sick, or disoriented by something. Did you notice if anyone was shooting at it or throwing anything? Did you see it flying before it fell? If not, it might have been killed by a larger predator bird and they dropped it.

However it happened, rest in peace, crow.

I know they have a bad reputation, but they are actually very intelligent, beautiful birds.

 

[Zkribbler]

... they are actually very intelligent, beautiful birds.

True that, but the music of their bird song rivals that of a garbage disposal.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

It could have been sick, or disoriented by something. Did you notice if anyone was shooting at it or throwing anything? Did you see it flying before it fell? If not, it might have been killed by a larger predator bird and they dropped it.

No I just saw it fall and go plop. It's gone now (I didn't see if someone took it away or what happened).