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Check out the big brain on Noxhil!
What's happening when bread goes stale?
Bread staling is a change in the structure of starch. Starch is made up of two polysaccharides, called amylose and amylopectin. Starch retrogradation begins pretty much as soon as baking is complete, and amylose retrogradation is more or less complete by the time the bread is cooled. The staling part is the process of amylopectin retrogradation. During this process, the amylopectin molecules revert to their original form of crystalline granules. As a result, the bread loses moisture and cannot store quite so much again, and is as such, stale.
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This one time, at nem-x camp:
Why do people tear up/get the sniffles when crying?
There's a connection between your tear ducts and sinuses.
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Liam's fortune cookie read:
Why can't you tickle yourself, but others can tickle you?What's up with that?
I was always told that tickling is a percieved danger (Or something) and someone tickling you makes you laugh, but you tickling yourself (knowing there's no danger) fails to incite the reaction.
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Alaan's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
Why do 2 liters of pop cost less than 20 oz bottles of pop, which are far smaller than the 2 liters?
Convenience. Most stores don't refridgerate 2 Liter bottles of soda. You pay for it to be cold. Plus, most of company contests are only playable through 20oz bottles, so think of it like your entry fee.
And on the stale bread topic..
Why do people throw out stale bread, but eat toast, when it's essentially the same thing? Skaw fucked around with this message on 12-27-2004 at 07:08 AM.
Though the Technocracy stated that their main goal was to protect mankind from the horrors of reality, in practice all they managed to accomplish was to destroy human souls and become a key player in the coming about of the apocalypse. The most obvious chain of events would be the destruction of ravnous, but that could be passed off in stopping a monster on a rampage. However, if you look deeper, their lust for destruction goes beyond the bounds of sanity. In their desire to "protect mankind," they eradicated the entire spirit realm. In doing so, they destroyed the barriers between the demon's realm and earth and allowed them to roam free in earthrealm.
The technorcacy's methods to "protect mankind" are nothing but a joke. To prevent the naphandi from stealing souls, the technorcacy simply destroys them. In hosptials, they suck out people's life force and turn it into fuel to get a power source and to prevent evil from taking it. They have orbital satellites that eradicate entire worlds from afar, just because they may be a threat in the future. They do not differentiate between good or evil, they simply destroy. The only result of their actions seems to be the destruction of the human soul. More disturbingly, in order to destroy the creatures they destroy, they would have to realise that these creatures are more than just "reality deviants" and see them for what they really are. The level of power they achieve prohibits the close minded behavior they claim to be so proud of. This means the higher ups have to really know what's going on and be aware of the consequences of their actions.
So I ask, are the technocracy and the nephandi related?
Also, the traditions seem to think that their salvation may lie in the discovery of a sixth sphere. They have powers that allow them to rewrite the laws of physics and create life like a child molds clay, so what was this sixth sphere if it was ever found? What happened to them after the end of the world?
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diadem painfully thought these words up:
old World of Darkness questions:
Is the Technocracy directly influenced by the nephandi, or are they a part of that organization?
They are not part of the same organization, but they are influenced by the Nephandi on many levels.
The Technocracy believes that if they push ahead with their visions of how they want things to be, it will become reality. They don't think they need to accept anything that they don't like, because as they win, it will be forced out of reality.
This closed-minded attitude leaves them with one hell of a blind spot, which the Nephandi have learned to make good use of. The Nephandi's road to hell is easily paved with the Technocracy's good intentions.
I have no idea what the final sphere is.
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nem-x had this to say about Knight Rider:
That doesn't answer the question.
What, the crying thing?
Some tears make it into your sinuses, and loosen up/make more snot that's watery, making you get a runny nose.
Lots of other things do this as well, like eating hot liquid foods or whatever. That's why chicken soup is good for a cold, it can break up the congestion, and if you've been swallowing snot all day, it's mild enough to stay in your stomach and make you not starve to death. 
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Nobody really understood why Suddar wrote:
He wants to know why we cry, doofus.
He wanted to know why people get the sniffles when crying. I answered. 
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Suddar had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
He wants to know why we cry, doofus.
ask ah-nold. he knows now why we cry
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nem-x had this to say about Captain Planet:
Why does water come out your freakin eyes? It's not like your eyes dry up or anything.
They can, you know. Tears help prevent that.
Also, tears help wash stuff out/off of your eyes.
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Palador ChibiDragon wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
They can, you know. Tears help prevent that.Also, tears help wash stuff out/off of your eyes.
why do you cry when you are sad, i think that's what he wants to know. from an evolutionary standpoint, balling water out of your eyes does not seem like the natrual reaction to something horrible happen. in fact, it seems rather random
edit: wait, no that wasn't his question. but i want to know the answer anyhow... and hope it isn't something cheesy like "an easy to recognise nonverbal communication between a mother and her child to allow her to see that there is something wrong." diadem fucked around with this message on 12-27-2004 at 06:46 PM.
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Arrenn Lightblade painfully thought these words up:
I would like to know about crying, too. From what I understand, humans are the only animals that cry due to emotions.
Then why is it when you think of something really sad, then look into the dog's eyes...it looks like it's happening to the dog? D:
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Rodent King impressed everyone with:
Not sure about this, but could it come from infancy? Like, when we get something in our eyes as a baby, I wouldn't think we'd have the dexterity to get it out of there with our hands, likewise with our noses. Seems like crying is a good way to help fix that. *Shrug*
that was the answer i was hoping not to hear, becuase it's too obvious :-P
mothers that could help their children when there is a problem would obviously yield a much lower mortality rate
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Blackened had this to say about Pirotess:
... No, that just won't do
Well take your pick. Keep in mind that the Book of Revelations is an apocryphal CHRISTIAN text supported neither by Islam (it's sister religion) nor Judaism (it's parent religion), and is full of metaphor and hurried accounts of events that apparently span more than a millennium in less than 30 pages. Fitting in the name of Death's pale horse isn't one of those important things.
Prior to the Book of Revelations where Death is portrayed as a separate entity from the ranks of Heaven, Death was an ANGEL; actually there was a whole cadre of "Angels of Death" if you take into account certain (admittedly middle-ages) sources. Assuming for a moment you get down to brass tacks, though, there's an angel of death in Judaic texts.
Angels don't need horses.
Therefore, either you accept the fictional names given to Death's horse, or you accept Death doesn't need a horse to begin with
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
That last part I need to test out on the other DVD players in the house, including my PS2, but it is 6am and I need sleep ;(
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diadem had this to say about Duck Tales:
old World of Darkness questions:
Is the Technocracy directly influenced by the nephandi, or are they a part of that organization?Though the Technocracy stated that their main goal was to protect mankind from the horrors of reality, in practice all they managed to accomplish was to destroy human souls and become a key player in the coming about of the apocalypse. The most obvious chain of events would be the destruction of ravnous, but that could be passed off in stopping a monster on a rampage. However, if you look deeper, their lust for destruction goes beyond the bounds of sanity. In their desire to "protect mankind," they eradicated the entire spirit realm. In doing so, they destroyed the barriers between the demon's realm and earth and allowed them to roam free in earthrealm.
The technorcacy's methods to "protect mankind" are nothing but a joke. To prevent the naphandi from stealing souls, the technorcacy simply destroys them. In hosptials, they suck out people's life force and turn it into fuel to get a power source and to prevent evil from taking it. They have orbital satellites that eradicate entire worlds from afar, just because they may be a threat in the future. They do not differentiate between good or evil, they simply destroy. The only result of their actions seems to be the destruction of the human soul. More disturbingly, in order to destroy the creatures they destroy, they would have to realise that these creatures are more than just "reality deviants" and see them for what they really are. The level of power they achieve prohibits the close minded behavior they claim to be so proud of. This means the higher ups have to really know what's going on and be aware of the consequences of their actions.
So I ask, are the technocracy and the nephandi related?
Also, the traditions seem to think that their salvation may lie in the discovery of a sixth sphere. They have powers that allow them to rewrite the laws of physics and create life like a child molds clay, so what was this sixth sphere if it was ever found? What happened to them after the end of the world?
I can't answer what happened to them after the end of the world...but...
The Nephandi, Technocracy, and Marauders represent the three facets of WoD cosmology (Wyrm, Weaver, and Wyld, respectively). If you follow the cosmology, the three units originally worked in harmony. The Wyld created, the Weaver gave shape and purpose, and the Wyrm got rid of things that were unnecessary. Unfortunately, the Weaver didn't like that the Wyrm kept destroying things, so seduced it and bound the Wyrm into the Weaver's pattern. The pain of this drove the Wyrm from an agent of balance into an agent of wanton destruction.
So on a very primal level the Wyrm and the Weaver are interconnected, and thus their mage agents (the Nephandi and the Technocracy) are interconneted.
The Technocracy has long held that they are immune to either Wyrm or Wyld taint. Their ideal is embodied by Autochthonia, core Horizon Realm of the Technocracy, where absolute order rules to the benefit of all that obey. The problem is, and this is very important in understanding the Technocracy, deep down they're still reliant on mortals, and mortals can be bent, even unintentionally, by external stimuli.
The Nephandi (particularly the barabbi, or Nephandi-corrupted members of the Tecnocracy and Traditions) take great pleasure in perverting and twisting members of the other factions. Keep in mind the Wyrm is aimed at megadeath and ultimate annihilation. It can do it in an orderly fashion (Pentex, Inc, for instance, is a Wyrm-run company that plays very well into the Technocratic mindset), or it can do it chaotically and mass-destructively (Thunderwyrms, Black Spiral Dancer hives, etc). So any time you see a Technocrat acting out of genuine malice rather than cold calculation, there's a lever there for a Nephandus to use to corrupt. And once a Nephandus in, it's very difficult to ferret them out.
As for the idea the Technocracy was stealing/destroying souls, you have to keep in mind that for one thing, the Technocracy doesn't believe in them. The idea of past lives, souls, avatars, etc, don't play into the Technocracy mindset as presented in the Mage rules. The Technocracy sees things in terms of scientific potentials. An avatar manifest and speaking to a Technocrat would bewilder and worry the Technocrat in question.
The other thing is that the Technocracy had no intention of ever Awakening the entire populace. People can exist without Avatars, and in fact it makes them easier to control if you don't have spontaneous Awakening to deal with, so the Technocracy has been suppressing Avatars for a long time. The difference between the Technocracy and the Nephandi's approach to this is that the Technocracy doesn't really care what happens to an Avatar, so long as it's not part of the person in question, while the Nephandi actively seek to corrupt it then destroy or (if possible) consume it in some sort of diabolical ritual.
This is horrific to the Traditions because they, due to cooperation, DO tend to see things in terms of avatars. Even the tech-mages (Virtual Adepts and Sons of Ether) believe in the idea of avatars. A mage cut off from their Avatar is no longer capable of working magic (this is NOT the same thing as having a 0 rating in the Avatar background. The Background "Avatar" represents an unusual potent or active avatar; all mages are assumed to have an avatar active enough to allow them to work magic). The avatar represents a link to something greater; it is NOT the character's soul. Werewolves, for instance, have their own soul (that gets reincarnated), but they all have a sliver of Gaia's own avatar. Vampires have their own souls, and they all carry a sliver of Caine's own mutant avatar.
So while the Nephandi DO seek to destroy/consume both avatar and soul, the Technocracy doesn't believe in them, first of all, and thus don't quantify destroying them as being anything important, AND they actively seek to pacify uncontrolled Avatars.
As for the SIXTH sphere...I think you mean the tenth sphere of Magick. There are nine spheres (Correspondence, Life, Entropy, Prime, Matter, Time, Spirit, Forces, Mind) each with five levels of control attainable by non-Oracles. The Oracles can, in theory, tap into the sixth tier, but by the time a Mage reaches that rank, they're walking subjective reality fields, unconsciously altering the world around them just by being there, much less perceiving or actively trying to do anything to it, so Oracles (there's usually only one for each Sphere of magic) almost always end up in the Umbra/in Horizon Realms.
So if we are talking about the tenth sphere...Think of it as the Grand Unification Theory for mages. The idea is that there's these ten spheres, nine describing the facets of mortal existence, and one meta-sphere that describes the nine. The Virtual Adepts think that this last sphere could best be described as the Sphere of Information. In any case, there IS a horizon realm for the tenth sphere (just as there's a Horizon Realm for each of the other 9 spheres, one around each of the planets in the solar system, respectively), but it's around the Sun and is at last count wholly inaccessible.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
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diadem had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
that was the answer i was hoping not to hear, becuase it's too obvious :-Pmothers that could help their children when there is a problem would obviously yield a much lower mortality rate
I believe it is also just an involuntary reflex.
When a human is upset, tears start flowing. It could be something that happens in childhood that we just kept into adulthood for one very simple reason. As a baby, you got what you wanted (for the average family, especially nowadays, this is true) when you cried enough for it.
Did you know that adult cats in the wild dont meow? Its something only done in childhood for attention from their mother or guardian. In a domestic setting, a cat's meow still gives it attention, so it continues to do it.
Pvednes fucked around with this message on 01-02-2005 at 12:10 PM.
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Pvednes wrote this then went back to looking for porn:
What year did the conquistadores start wiping out the mesoamerican cultures, and how long did it take?
Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519, and defeated the Aztec's last emperor, Cuauhtemoc, in 1521, with the help of various peoples the Aztecs had screwed over. Then he razed Tenochtitlan and declared the whole place New Spain. Within a generation, the native population of Mexico was reduced from ~25 million to ~2 million.
Disclaimer: I'm just kidding, I love all living things.
The fastest draw in the Crest.
"The Internet is MY critical thinking course." -Maradon
"Gambling for the husband, an abortion for the wife and fireworks for the kids they chose to keep? Fuck you, Disneyland. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the happiest place on Earth." -JooJooFlop
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A sleep deprived Nicole stammered:
What common household items can give you a buzz? Which of these are also likely to kill you/do brain damage?
I could answer this one, but I think I'll let it pass.
Started me spazzing like crazy.
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Nicole was naked while typing this:
What common household items can give you a buzz? Which of these are also likely to kill you/do brain damage?
Try snorting Tylenol. I've never done it myself, nor do I plan to cause it ruins your sinuses, but it apparently disorientates you for a good bit.
If you want to know some OTC stuff that actually has an effect on you, shoot me a PM.
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Waisz probably says this to all the girls:
Why can't 20-year-old Canadians find booze?
It's a simple matter of getting some balls, and walking into a convenience store and buying it. It's that easy.
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Ruvyen had this to say about Captain Planet:
Can you make an effective ranged weapon out of a sock and half a brick?
If it's a good sock of decent size, then yes. You make a sling out of the sock, and load the brick into it.
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Ruvyen had this to say about Captain Planet:
Can you make an effective ranged weapon out of a sock and half a brick?
Yep. Bricks are actually pretty crushable for all their weight, so smash it up, load the pieces in the sock, twirl and let fly. Or snip the end of the sock and helicopter the thing around your head to send brick shrapnel flying everywhere.
Of course, you'd have to use a good sock, none of this 30 cents at Zellers crap.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
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Mix Waisz with water, and you get:
Why can't 20-year-old Canadians find booze?
4 letters: L-C-B-O
or
2 words: Beer-Store.
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ACES! Another post by Azakias:
Terry Pratchet?
Terry Pratchett.
Buy his books and read them all.
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Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael obviously shouldn't have said:
Heavy wool winter sock and half of a good foundation brick. Useful as a ranged weapon, and also useful if you're facing down a sourceror (not a typo, name the reference).
WTF is with you people and slings/ranged weapons?
Take brick. Put brick in sock as if brick were your foot. Take open end of sock in hand. MELEE SOME FUCKER WITH IT.
God... next you assholes will be asking how to use a sack full of doorknobs or something...
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So quoth Random Insanity Generator:
WTF is with you people and slings/ranged weapons?Take brick. Put brick in sock as if brick were your foot. Take open end of sock in hand. MELEE SOME FUCKER WITH IT.
God... next you assholes will be asking how to use a sack full of doorknobs or something...
You'll have to supply your own knobs.
