Actaeon

Originally Posted By: Kelantron Around here, the (State? County?) has a little booklet that lists all the measures and candidates on the ballot, and what the sides are. Not sure if it's just a local thing or not, but I would assume it's broader since hickville JeffCo, Montana probably wouldn't come up with that. There's Ballotopedia for that. It leans libertarian, if anything, but seems generally to give good coverage. Otherwise, I'd say it's the job of the media to provide information for the system to work, but of course that's not happening.

Originally Posted By: Kelandon Voter turnout at presidential elections tends to hang out around 50-60%, and at anything else around 30-40%, so if it's a separate ballot, a ridiculously small percentage of the population actually votes on it... And that's just considering who actually votes; there's an information problem, and a signature-gathering/advertising/money problem, and.... That's a depressing, if accurate, outlook. I certainly hope that everyone out protesting at least bothered to vote. Doing so gives you a greater right to complain, I think. Myself, I'd like more to vote on, and don't entirely understand why it's usually considered so burdensome. Most likely, that's a function of youth that will wear off in time.

Andraste, TM, and myself share a birthday. I'd leave it to Aran to hammer out the actual numbers, but I think the statistics are in favor of that sort of thing when a community contains (theoretically) thousands of people. Edit: Actually, I think birthdays were part of the database at Ermarian back in the day. I don't remember which was the most common, though. Post Edit: A little browsing brought me back to this.

A brief survey of the internet found my no answer to what's probably not a terribly bright question: why are their no federal level ballot measures in the United States? Could we not handle it? Is there no precedence? Is the legislature just so good at it's job that we don't need anything of the sort? You all seem politically savvy. What am I missing?

Originally Posted By: Doctor Albert Halfmann I see you are still alive and at it, Alorael, and 'tis a sight that warms me to the cockles of my ferrety heart!. How could Alorael be otherwise? Posting neglect could result in someone claiming postcount dominance in a matter of... decades. Also nice to see you. I was (and remain) and minor poster when you faded away, but nevertheless knew your name and counted you among the major players. Edit: Just finished "At the Mountains of Madness" by HP Lovecraft. Before that, "Blood Meridian", by Cormac McCarthy. Time for something light.

No, but at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHerosJourney you'll find many that are. Careful, though. TV Tropes is one of the internet's greatest time sinks. Edit: Eliminated unnecessary bits of the URL, then added this unnecessary bit of commentary.

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd Negotiations and Love Songs - Paul Simon Harvest Moon - Neil Young Come Away With Me - Norah Jones The Softer Side of Coltrane Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone I'm with Aloreal on the classical bit. The third Brandenburg is my favorite, though it's not the one they shot into space. Tchaikovsky's 5th, Suite Bergamasque, and Chopin's nocturnes all stand out as sets of work worthy of consideration.

Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity I bet you could play Emperor's Double Entendre. Raise your eyebrows archly at some random statement, and pretend that it has an embarrassing alternate reading. How many people would admit to not catching on? Practically anything CAN be a double entendre if you make it so, though.

Originally Posted By: Dainty Us There needs to be a SW group video chat at some point. Just because y'all arguing in real time would be remarkable. Agreed. The one non-video spiderweb chat I attended was an enjoyable escapade. Also, Spiderwebbers would probably be good at postal chess. Although we tried Diplomacy once and it didn't go great. Edit: I failed in my quoting. I clearly haven't posted much since the UBB change.

I have no wish to incite a debate about the science or politics of climate change. I'm just sitting here, reflecting on the oddest spring I've seen in Western Colorado, looking out at beetle kill, and wondering if everyone else has seen things change this much. So, I know most of you haven't been around THAT long, but... How's the weather?

"Three Reasons Creators Should Never Read Their Forums" Many of you are probably already plugged into Jeff's blog. Those of you that aren't or haven't caught this round yet, might find the above interesting.

Originally Posted By: The Ratt I wanted to do a 1024 post celebration but that would mean missing the 1000 celebration which is, by some standard, the first "real" milestone. I posted at 256, and will consider 512. I think an exponential approach is a logical one when dealing with ever escalating post counts.

I'm ahead on the 3000 levels, myself. A pretty easy, pleasant semester: Physical Anthropology (~100 students) Archaeology (Ditto) Music Appreciation (Not sure Yet) Travel Writing (~12 students)

Originally Posted By: Lilith Originally Posted By: Actaeon Edit: Incidentally, there's still the possibility he might be IN Denver, even if he doesn't live there. Just like I, myself, would be in such a hypothetical situation. are you a zombie Skribraaaaainsss....

Originally Posted By: Synergy Fantastic. How many attempts did it take to catch lightning in action? You can see how the lightning is traveling from the ground up in your picture. Very cool. -S- It was one of my first shots, actually. About a second of exposure and a great deal of luck. It was about time. It seems like every time I shoot lightning it slips in the space in between exposures.

I noticed we have fairly current topics on photography and literature, but nothing to address the (potentially?) diverse musical tastes or talents of this community. I imagine something of the sort went up about the time Spiderweb got its own last.fm channel, but it'd be quite the resurrection. So what do you listen to? Artists, particular songs, genres... Alternatively, are you a musician yourself? Perhaps your fellow Spiderwebbers would like to hear your stuff.

Again, my apologies, but I fail to get the point of all separations in the metropolitan area that pretty much stretches from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. It's all connected with a host of roads and strip malls, with a few major exceptions there's very little notable cultural difference... On the other hand, I get pissed off when people say I'm from Aspen. As such, I will refrain from broad statements in the future. Edit: Incidentally, there's still the possibility he might be IN Denver, even if he doesn't live there. Just like I, myself, would be in such a hypothetical situation.

I had it in my head that he was on the Front Range somewhere. Mea culpa. Still. Muffins.

Great. Now every time I see an emo kid in Denver, I'm gonna be thinking it's Iffy. Not to mention all the muffins with faces I run into on a daily basis.

Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba Too much grinding for too little fun. Quoted to fulfill the immaturity clause for this week. Seriously, people. You're all very proper. I miss early Iffy.

How come I didn't get that email? Obviously KOL doesn't love me. That's okay, though. It's summer. Not the proper time for that level of commitment.

Indeed, why not? You're clearly not shooting for the result. Since approval of various equations is contingent on how they sync with your internal perception, the goal must be to discover the components of oldbiness and their relative effects. In such a situation, my temptation would be to work backwards, starting with an agreed upon order and examining what factors would produce such a pattern. Bad science if you're trying to prove something, but not an entirely unreasonable approach to discovering unspoken and subjective trends within a community.

The day they have one of those conventions within two or three hundred miles, I'll consider making the trip. Since Denver is not known for such events, I suspect I'll be relying on online forums for quite some time. Edit: Scratch that. Denver's the only large metropolitan area in that range, at around 200. Salt Lake's almost 400, and Santa Fe and Cheyenne hardly count, anyway. So, yeah, Denver.

Originally Posted By: Frozen Feet I'm surprised you actually bothered to include me in the list at all. <.< Likewise. Edit: Couldn't it break down to two pretty simple variables? On one axis, quantity of posts (with a minimum active period of say, two years). On the other, the totally subjective quantity "post quality" or maybe "post relevance".

That last picture (now the only picture, since my links were being squirrelly) is lightning hitting Mount Sopris at sunset. Pretty spectacular evening. The other one I feel obligated to include, since it sort of posted before, is more self explanatory: cattle drive. Colorado's quite a varied state, but my neck of the woods has cold winters and hot, but not humid, summers. I wouldn't mind a bit more moisture, but a few conifers and the occasional forest fire is a small price to pay to live in the middle of hundreds of square miles of National Forest.