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randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Welcome to the hellish month known as August, also known as the month STR was born (which is why STR sniped the August thread). Much of this OP is shamelessly stolen from CAT INTERCEPTOR's OP for the July thread.

Ready? Here we go.

This is a chat thread for anyone who reads AI. We talk about computers, life, how much alcohol we drink, how much we spend on alcohol, how much we hate our lives, how little we get laid, take bets on how long it will take Ricco to relapse and fail a pee test at his not-so-new-anymore job, where it's finally getting hotter than the asscrack of Satan in the USA and colder than Elsa's lady parts in Australia, STR amuses us with delivery driver stories, Mad Max fan fiction and shipping Furiosa and one of the Wives, LITERALLY A FISH occasionally slam truth bombs while CAT INTERCEPTOR infects our minds and sends us all to the cycle asylum - leading an army of AI cyclists to slaughter hipsters on fixies, some of us try to avoid gun chat, wonder how the gently caress Chris Evans hasnt been reprogrammed with a baseball bat, we post cat pics, dog pics, whatever, just no penis pics (PM those to STR or CSB instead). Just imagine this as one large garage with a keg of lovely flat beer, and we're all pretending to work on some broken rear end 80s Dodge while talking poo poo about anything that comes up. Anyone who is just wandering by, stop and say hello! Most of us don't bite, and we're a pretty chilled out bunch of normal people. Except apparently when [list of topics you already know to avoid] comes up. anyway.



aw yeah check out that sweet-rear end setting - pull up a barrel and lets talk some poo poo!

ASMITH ACTUALLY HAS A FALCON, LETS GO TO HIS PALCE AND SINK HIS PISS - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3767188

I stole half of that paragraph from CAT INTERCEPTOR and LITERALLY A FISH..... and the January chat thread and I am not ashamed IN THE SLIGHTEST

Is Literally a Fish literally a fish? NEAI will be able to answer that for us shortly, and will even have a van for him! Said van may or may not ever move under its own power again, but we'll Ford that river when we come to it

Is kastein a human, or just a computer full of every possible combination of Jeep parts?

Will Pham Nuwen's 280ZX ever shift into reverse? Let's find out!

Follow the thrilling saga of (attempting to) Megasquirting a turbo VAG 5 cylinder, by CommieGIR! And other associated earlier Audi shenanigans, of course.

CSB has not one, but TWO projects for us! Shithouse vs Larger Shithouse

Is 13 inch slowly becoming more insane? Are we driving vehicles that haven't moved under their own power in decades halfway across the country with little more than basic tools and an old Camaro as a chase vehicle? Or will the chase vehicle wind up being an engine donor? Only time (and this here link) will tell!

If you don't like chatting, how about reading? Someone suggest a book, I don't read much, but I'll edit it into the post.

----

Did I mention we all have way too many cats?

Meet STR's Cat, The Dude Lebowski:



----

Rosie has found a 13 inch:



----

Below cattes belong to CAT INTERCEPTOR:

Maddie



Maddie, being a young mum bringing up a family of kittens is conservative and wants safety first for her runs for food. She is careful and wants to arrive so she understeers – she lacks front grip but thats okay that keeps her speed down. Her front paws wash out on tight corners so she reacts naturally and backs off, weight shifting to the front paws and hence more grip and tightening the line. Misses the apex but hey, she still took the corner. Rear paws dont do a lot of work

Rally Ed



Ed is light, fast, highly maneuverable and clearly has about as much oversteer as a Mk II Rothmans Escort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_iBsFxn08Y

A lack of rear grip is his problem, not having big enough paws for the amount of power he wants to put down. The front has good initial bite and he handbrakes like a champion. Much like Ari Vatenen, the speeds he tries to carry does get him unstuck and frequent crashes occur. However he is very throttle sensitive and reacts well to sudden changes of direction.

Gelignite Jack



A most curious puzzle I thought observing. He had a very different set of handling characteristics reminisent of Maddie, is a younger but quite a deal bit larger kitten than Ed, but suffers none of the understeer issues, as well as holding a far higher cornering speed and ability to accelerate. So as I was studying his handling while he was pulling max g in the kitchen that he reminded me of…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qp3srbsps

Even sounds like one too.

And in all sadness that’s how I worked out a handling issue on the WRX and came to the conclusion I had a blown strut. Since then I’ve also worked out that cat handling is indeed completely relevant to cars – and set up a mini skid pan in the kitchen to see how each cat reacts to a slippery surface. 1/3rd of a cup of water over the entraceway, a note pad and a few neat treats for cats to come running to. And indeed, Ed screams in at 10,000 rpm and slides out like a mad drifter, Maddie is relaxed and has a mild slide, while GJ keeps it flat and does a long AWD drift with the weight shift noticeable as he adjusts traction front to rear.

I’ve also been able to work out how to make the turn tighter so I can experiment with different setups, like if GJ has more castor.

Sadly no pictures as I really didnt expect this to work.

But then again this is Cat Handling by Stig



----

SEPTEMBER CHAT THREAD TITLE SHORTLIST
GUYS GUYS IT'S HERE
What's this growth on my dick exhaust?
I didn't really think I wanted kids but holy poo poo I have one now and she can't go back
I haven't wanted to skullfuck a Millennial to death.. yet
So at least a third of my piston is sitting in the exhaust

July Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3781692

June Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3778319

May Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3774153

April Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3770445

March Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3766338

Feb Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3762540

Jan Chat - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3758211

Dec 2015 MAD MAX SANTA CHAT - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3753824

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Aug 19, 2016

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Somewhat Heroic
Oct 11, 2007

(Insert Mad Max related text)



Looks like I capped off the July thread so I'll post it here.

Today was my daughters fourth birthday. We had a party with ten of her little friends yesterday. Naturally it was all princess stuffs. We had Queen Elsa come and the little girls lost their minds. It was a ton of work getting everything ready before but the actual party was pretty chill. All the girls wore their princess dresses, played some games before Elsa showed up. Then she just entertained and told them stories and sang to them. Opened some presents and then had cupcakes and cookies. It was a great time and a good time to be a dad.

For today we had some of her cousins come over. Smoked a couple of pork butts and had some mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and some rolls. This wood pellet smoker has changed my life y'all. :btroll:

CAT INTERCEPTOR
Nov 9, 2004

Basically a male Margaret Thatcher
OP is :perfect:

So we're pretending to fix a Dodge this month? I can deal with that. Do they use Imperial or metric spanners?

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Yes they do. :v:

I'm still editing catte content into the OP along with a few snarky thread links.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
How are you guys tensioning accessory belts? I keep putting off buying a belt tension gauge but I feel like it will probably have paid for itself by now.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
I was about to make a thread that just had an OP with the word "chat" typed 10,000 times.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Seat Safety Switch posted:

How are you guys tensioning accessory belts? I keep putting off buying a belt tension gauge but I feel like it will probably have paid for itself by now.

I've always just gone for my highly scientific method of "tight enough that it doesn't slip when I hit a puddle"

Rhyno posted:

I was about to make a thread that just had an OP with the word "chat" typed 10,000 times.

:goon:

angryhampster
Oct 21, 2005

I went to the zoo with my son and wife, and we had the best loving time. Seriously just a great day. Dammit man I love being a dad.



There was this majestic son of a bitch


This pretty lady is the best mother I could ask for





this f'in guy man





Seriously though, went out to Omaha to the Henry Doorly Zoo for our fifth anniversary and we had such a great time. The zoo is ranked best in the world, and it was absolutely incredible. The exhibits were really great and the park was beautiful.

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."
Why are the catte pictures broken STR?

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

some texas redneck posted:

Is 13 inch slowly becoming more insane?

"slowly"

(we love ya 14)

literally a fish
Oct 2, 2014

German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized)
Slippery Tilde
May I suggest that this month's book be "The Long Earth" by Stephen Baxter and the late Terry Pratchett? A lot of you have probably read it already but it's a really nice piece of scifi with a very unusual premise I've not run into before. Being a Pratchett book, it's also loads of fun :3:

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

nm posted:

Why are the catte pictures broken STR?

:confused:

Some of them are hosted on CT's server and timg'd, the rest are on imgur with normal img links. Which ones aren't working?

e: I'll rehost CT's pictures on imgur with regular img links and see if that fixes it for you.
e2: rehosted

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Aug 1, 2016

CAT INTERCEPTOR
Nov 9, 2004

Basically a male Margaret Thatcher
My gallery isnt https enabled and some browsers poo poo themselves

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Ah, that explains that then.

They're all on imgur with regular [img] tags now.

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."
Yay kitties!

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

literally a fish posted:

May I suggest that this month's book be "The Long Earth" by Stephen Baxter and the late Terry Pratchett? A lot of you have probably read it already but it's a really nice piece of scifi with a very unusual premise I've not run into before. Being a Pratchett book, it's also loads of fun :3:

And for those of you who wish to expand their experience by reading some real literature may I suggest the cool and good A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

The Locator
Sep 12, 2004

Out here, everything hurts.





August birthdays are of course the best birthdays.

Company is going through a lot of changes, and tomorrow morning one of the top people from the corporate office will be in town having a meeting with the entire IT group. Not really worried, but still.. there is that little tiny bit of worry whenever they have one of these sort of meetings scheduled. Hopefully that nagging worry gets put to rest tomorrow morning and I'll still be gainfully employed.

On the book thing, I'm just ignoring the book of the month thing as I've currently got a stack of about 40 books that I've gotten and not read yet. Finished one today (latest in the "Destroyermen" series by Taylor Anderson - alt history stuff) and started another one that seems pretty good so far, M.R. Forbes "Man of War". Kind of old school sci-fi aliens conquering earth stuff. Not heavy reading.

The Locator fucked around with this message at 07:12 on Aug 1, 2016

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

The Locator posted:

August birthdays are of course the best birthdays.

Yeah but I'll be one year closer to death. :argh:

The Locator
Sep 12, 2004

Out here, everything hurts.





some texas redneck posted:

Yeah but I'll be one year closer to death. :argh:

Based purely on numbers, I think you are still 15-20 years behind me though, so count your blessings! I'll be 51 on the 21st.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

You're 3 days older than my big brother.

He's old.

gently caress I am not getting any younger :(

E: Nope 1 year and 3 days. I made him older than he deserves.

literally a fish
Oct 2, 2014

German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized)
Slippery Tilde

Jimmithy posted:

And for those of you who wish to expand their experience by reading some real literature may I suggest the cool and good A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Well poo poo we didn't even get halfway down the first page before someone decided to be an elitist jerk for no reason :psyduck:

What's wrong with Pratchett? What makes The Long Earth not "real literature"? It's a book. It tells a story. It's a complex and sneaky story told in an absolutely beautifully assembled and described world with detailed characters and at least a few things you won't see coming.

Don't get me wrong, you don't have to like it, but you also don't have to insult it just because you don't like it.

P.S. STR I'M GOING TO BE IN YOUR CITY FOR LIKE FOUR HOURS ON WEDNESDAY

The Locator
Sep 12, 2004

Out here, everything hurts.





literally a fish posted:

What's wrong with Pratchett? What makes The Long Earth not "real literature"? It's a book. It tells a story. It's a complex and sneaky story told in an absolutely beautifully assembled and described world with detailed characters and at least a few things you won't see coming.

I love Pratchett's books, and have never read this one, so I think I'm going to have to add it to the queue. Thanks for the suggestion.

literally a fish
Oct 2, 2014

German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized)
Slippery Tilde
I may have come across a little more aggressive in that post than I meant to, but I object to being told that the works of one of my favorite authors are garbage :v:

It's actually a series and the 5th/final book came out this year so you can read them all if you like the first one :3

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

August is here and we've not had a summer yet. Disappointing.

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

literally a fish posted:

I may have come across a little more aggressive in that post than I meant to, but I object to being told that the works of one of my favorite authors are garbage :v:

It's actually a series and the 5th/final book came out this year so you can read them all if you like the first one :3

Relax. I was merely offering an alternative for people who don't enjoy genre fiction. I have never read Pratchett so I can't comment, although I have my suspicions. Perhaps I'll have a look at it when I'm finished with my current book so I can tell you how bad it actually is :v:

I recently suffered mild enjoyment picking apart Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which surprise surprise: it's really bad

Tomarse
Mar 7, 2001

Grr



Jimmithy posted:

And for those of you who wish to expand their experience by reading some real literature may I suggest the cool and good A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

literally a fish posted:

Well poo poo we didn't even get halfway down the first page before someone decided to be an elitist jerk for no reason :psyduck:

He had been doing so well for the last month too :( Its Corn in the fridge

I agree however that book of the month generally seems to be too serious for my liking. I prefer lighter entertainment from my reading matter.

I'm am working through 4 or 5 sci fi/fantasy books per month at the moment. Haven't read the long earth yet. Will add it to my list.

literally a fish
Oct 2, 2014

German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized)
Slippery Tilde

Jimmithy posted:

Relax. I was merely offering an alternative for people who don't enjoy genre fiction. I have never read Pratchett so I can't comment, although I have my suspicions. Perhaps I'll have a look at it when I'm finished with my current book so I can tell you how bad it actually is :v:

I recently suffered mild enjoyment picking apart Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which surprise surprise: it's really bad

Then why did you comment, gosh :v: Nah, we cool. If you've never read any Pratchett though you are really missing out, man. Discworld books are some good poo poo.

E: OH IT'S CORN THAT EXPLAINS IT THEN

Tomarse posted:

I agree however that book of the month generally seems to be too serious for my liking. I prefer lighter entertainment from my reading matter.

This is actually why I suggested The Long Earth. I knew someone would likely come along and suggest something more serious/""deep"", and it felt like it was time for something that more than two people who post here might actually read :v:

literally a fish fucked around with this message at 07:52 on Aug 1, 2016

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

Tomarse posted:

He had been doing so well for the last month too :( Its Corn in the fridge

I agree however that book of the month generally seems to be too serious for my liking. I prefer lighter entertainment from my reading matter.

I find this strange because the first book I recommended is a comedy, and the second is actually (little f) fantasy.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

literally a fish posted:

P.S. STR I'M GOING TO BE IN YOUR CITY FOR LIKE FOUR HOURS ON WEDNESDAY

Well there's some cheap hotels near the airport... :wmwink:

CAT INTERCEPTOR
Nov 9, 2004

Basically a male Margaret Thatcher
Ooooh, The Long Earth? I can talk about that, I read it and enjoyed it - interesting idea to say the least.

When I get trannny fluid off me.

spookykid
Apr 28, 2006
Am I too late to recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora? It's good. A revenge story blended with a heist blended with a bunch of poo poo.

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

Dannywilson posted:

Am I too late to recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora? It's good. A revenge story blended with a heist blended with a bunch of poo poo.

Read the blurb and actually it sounds really bad!!!

Alarbus
Mar 31, 2010
Oh hey. STR, I drove through your town last month. We were trying to get to Kansas for a wedding, and a storm cancelled our flight from DFW to ICT. And all of the flights were booked until well after the wedding, so we rented a car and flogged it. Denton seemed nice for the 10 minutes we were in it?

I thought I didn't like the new Corolla that much, but when we turned it in at ICT for the local rental, I got a Cruze, and liked that even less. Horrible ergonomics.

CommieGIR
Aug 22, 2006

The blue glow is a feature, not a bug


Pillbug
Picked up another 3D printer. Party August.

Also: If you haven't, go read Frank Herbert's Dune

Where's my introduction STR? :argh:

CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 14:03 on Aug 1, 2016

Adiabatic
Nov 18, 2007

What have you assholes done now?

Jimmithy posted:

Read the blurb and actually it sounds really bad!!!

Jimmithy what do you think of The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury? I was going to suggest that one this month but we have quite a few options already.

briefcasefullof
Sep 25, 2004
[This Space for Rent]
gently caress. It's August already?!

I get to go set my classroom up tomorrow. This year I'm teaching math and science (instead of sci and social studies). My brother in law mentioned not understanding how to convert fractions until he started using sockets. Now I'm trying to figure up a way to incorporate sockets into a math lesson for some hands on activities.

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。
I'm driving an E36 for the first time in 2 weeks.

Hype, etc.

epic bird guy
Dec 9, 2014

Hello everyone its August.

I'm going to make beer today (probably)

The Locator
Sep 12, 2004

Out here, everything hurts.





Dannywilson posted:

Am I too late to recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora? It's good. A revenge story blended with a heist blended with a bunch of poo poo.

I really liked the first book, but found it extremely difficult to get into this one. I don't recall whether I ever even finished it to be honest, it really didn't hook me at all like the first one. Some day when I get through the huge pile of books waiting to be read, I may have to go back and find it again and have another look.

Not sure about others, but for me certain types of books appeal to me at different times, and I go through phases where I'll read very different things.

I need a bigger house, this is less than half of my constantly increasing collection..

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fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

Adiabatic posted:

Jimmithy what do you think of The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury? I was going to suggest that one this month but we have quite a few options already.

That would be good i think. Short enough to give even the busiest of us a chance to finish it and sure to invite a bit more of an intellectual discourse than some of the other suggestions

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