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

[hobbsyoyo]

Is the Nintendo Switch expected to be a hot seller this holiday season? How has it been doing since it came out?

There have been Switch shortages but I believe Nintendo has ramped up production to meet demand for the holiday. Sales have been very good. I don't think they're quite at Wii levels but they're still excellent. It seems like Nintendo is becoming even more of a mobile-centric company. I wonder how much longer they will maintain the DS line? There has to be some cannibalization of sales there.

 

[shadowplay]

It's been selling well so there's no reason to think it isn't in for a strong holiday season. I doubt I'll get one but it seems cool enough.

There have been Switch shortages but I believe Nintendo has ramped up production to meet demand for the holiday. Sales have been very good. I don't think they're quite at Wii levels but they're still excellent. It seems like Nintendo is becoming even more of a mobile-centric company. I wonder how much longer they will maintain the DS line? There has to be some cannibalization of sales there.

I've been kicking around the idea of getting one. I know I want one, the thing holding me back is the price. That's a lot of money just to play the latest Mario Kart and Zelda.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

The current Mario Kart on the Switch is a remake of the Wii U Mario Kart.

 

[Snerk]

That Zelda BOTW looks great tho.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Hey, can I ask a question?

Newscasters are referring to Danica Roem as the first "openly" transgender state legislator.

But isn't that word "openly" a little off? a holdover from "openly gay"? It's not as though anyone thinks there had previously been some transgendered legislator who had managed to conceal his or her transgendered status, and now Roem is the first one who's just openly acknowledging it. She's the first transgender state legislator, period, no?

 

[Lexicus]

But isn't that word "openly" a little off? a holdover from "openly gay"? It's not as though anyone thinks there had previously been some transgendered legislator who had managed to conceal his or her transgendered status, and now Roem is the first one who's just openly acknowledging it. She's the first transgender state legislator, period, no?

No, I don't think they're using the word 'open' as a holdover from 'openly gay.' I'm not sure whether anyone really thinks there was a 'closeted' transgender legislator in the past, but it is at least a possibility.

 

[Gori the Grey]

I don't think it is a possibility. Candidates' personal histories get so much scrutiny during a campaign that a gender change could not go unremarked.

 

[Lexicus]

I don't think it is a possibility. Candidates' personal histories get so much scrutiny during a campaign that a gender change could not go unremarked.

You may well be right. Perhaps someone with more knowledge than me (not a high bar) of transgender issues could comment on this.

 

[Arakhor]

Maybe they mean someone who has actually transitioned, rather than not.

 

[sophie]

I think it's being used in a similar context to homosexuals in/out of the closet. It's both the first legislator who has publicly declared that their being trans is an inherent part of their identity, and it also allows for who-knows-how-many legislators in the past who either didn't acknowledge that part of their identity (either because they couldn't politically or because they weren't conscious to it due to cultural mores of that particular time), or didn't do so publicly to have existed. It's saying, in essence, this is the first trans legislator we know of. Remember also that this hyperawareness of the private goings-ons of public officials is a relatively modern phenomenon.

 

[Synobun]

Hey, can I ask a question?

Newscasters are referring to Danica Roem as the first "openly" transgender state legislator.

But isn't that word "openly" a little off? a holdover from "openly gay"? It's not as though anyone thinks there had previously been some transgendered legislator who had managed to conceal his or her transgendered status, and now Roem is the first one who's just openly acknowledging it. She's the first transgender state legislator, period, no?

Our understanding of being transgender is fairly recent and still poorly parsed. Go back twenty years and beyond and you'll have even less info to work off than you do today.

"Openly transgender" in this case refers to the fact that she's open about it. She has embraced 'what' she is, something rare when it comes to identity and sexuality. While being trans is different than being gay, they're closely tied together in our society because the stigma against them is often irrational and violent. This has led to politicians and other high level figures leading closeted lives where their real identity is either a rumour or something revealed after they are out of the public eye. There's been plenty of US politicians, for example, that were probably gay but that they refused to admit to until either later in their life or after death and their personal files go public.

There's a difference, IMO, between being transgender and being openly transgender when it comes to being responsible for public policy and the interests of the people. People are often not enthused by the prospect of owning their identity if it's an identity ostracized by many. In this instance, Danica is upfront about her identity. She's honest about it, she's embraced it, and it's not something she attempts to obscure or intentionally minimize. There is no "she's probably transgender" or "I heard from a friend that she's transgender". She owns it.

Edit: Which is to say that it's possible other politicians in the past have been transgender but simply never admitted it and did their best to cover it up. Physical and public transitioning is not a requirement.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Physical and public transitioning is not a requirement.

Yeah, this, plus Owen's point, is fair. There could have been politicians in the past who identified as the opposite gender, but never acted on that identification in any way. It is an acknowledged and stated dimension of her identity, so she is "open" about it.

Ok, thanks.

Follow-up question: would a transgender person in that former state--knows it about him or herself, but hasn't yet publicly disclosed it/acted on it in any way--use the term "closeted"?

 

[Narz]

How come Jewish and Judaism are spelled so differently, why isn't it Jewdiasm? I guess Juish would look odd.

 

[sophie]

Both words ultimately come from Latin (iudaeus)/Greek (Ἰουδαῖος)/Hebrew (y'hudí). The difference between the two is a matter of from which point the word entered English. Jew comes from French (via Vulgar Latin via Latin via Greek via Hebrew); Judaism comes from Latin (via Greek via Hebrew).

Basically the former had an extra 600 years of sound changes during which the d was worked out of the word.

In much the same way that video ("I see") is veo in Spanish and vois in French.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Diplomacy in CivII was mostly random anyways (same in all old games, e.g. MoO2 too).
But no, no differences. Didn't have traits, UUs, UBs, or anything else.
Civ III was the first one, IIRC.

"UU" means "unique unit", doesn't it? Units that can only be built by one faction?

Civ II: Test of Time has some of those.

We have candy bowls at work containing the bite size versions of various candy bars, you know the ones that are half the size of fun size and about a quart of regular? Anyway we have a big variety and currently there is baby ruth which I don't really like. Snickers are way better imo. I'm guessing majority of people prefer snickers as well. But it got me thinking, they have the same ingredients, nougat topped with caramel and peanuts wrapped in milk chocolate. So why do they taste so drastically different?

There are some subtle differences is you look. Baby ruth has larger peanuts, while snickers is usually peanut halves, snickers seems to have more caramel. But I think the biggest differences are these two things: Snickers has creamier chocolate while baby ruth's is more waxy. Baby ruth's chololate flakes/crumbles more when you bite it as a result. Second biggest difference is the nougat. Snickers again is creamier and they taste different but I can't explain either flavor really, they just taste like whipped, nutty chocolate.

So I think I prefer snickers on texture alone.

Thoughts?

Edit: While we're at it, what's the best candy bar? I like butterfinger.

Obviously they don't have identical ingredients, as you've pointed out the differences. And there can be a considerable difference depending on how those ingredients are mixed and prepared.

The secret to my version of Rice Krispies squares? My recipe uses peanut butter, and I boil the peanut butter (something that happened by accident one time when I wasn't watching what I was doing). The results turned out great, so I kept doing it that way. The squares stick together much better, and taste better, too.

Your last question requires a whole separate thread, because Chocolate Is Srs Bizness.

 

[Cutlass]

How do you delete your Facebook account? I don't see any options for editing it at all, except to add even more info that I don't want them to have.

 

[Arakhor]

There should be an option to disable your accounts in the settings. I haven't had an account in years, so they may have changed it since.

 

[Synobun]

How do you delete your Facebook account? I don't see any options for editing it at all, except to add even more info that I don't want them to have.

They recently decided to hide deactivation and deletion options. You can get to them by going to Settings and then to the General tab. Click on Manage Account and there will be two options at the bottom that let you deactivate your account or delete it.

Go here to permanently delete your account.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Cripes, they really want your personal information!

I rarely visit my FB account, let alone post anything. As for Twitter, someone hacked my account and signed me up to follow (it seems) every band in existence. So I nuked the account.

 

[Gori the Grey]

How much drop-off in intensity (flavor, caffeine) do you estimate there would be if you ran a Keurig pod through a Keurig for a second time?