The Stupid Questions Thread [Archive]

SilverKnight

03-29-2005, 11:11 PM

Now, I want to say right now that I don't intend this to be idiotic spam, but I've had a few random questions in my head that nobody seems to know the answers to. For instance, my questions are this:

1) What does "retcon" mean in terms of storytelling, and what is it short for?
2) Why did intenet 'spam' get its name?
3) What do you call that thing doctors use to take your blood-pressure?

So and and so forth. None of these questions are deserving an entire thread, so I decided to take it upon myself to create a thread to house any kind of question that doesn't require an overly huge debate or answer. If this really gets stupid, feel free to lock it, though I'd like to keep this on the straight-and-narrow. You'll never know when a stupid question will pop into my head that needs asking. :D

HumanoidTyphoon

03-29-2005, 11:36 PM

Retroactive Continuity. When you are telling a story and stop to reveal past events that change a persons interpretation of another part of the story.

I've read the origin of spam but it's too complicated for me to remember.

The blood pressure thing is an aneroid monitor.

guinaevere

03-29-2005, 11:38 PM

1) What does "retcon" mean in terms of storytelling, and what is it short for?It is short for Retroactive Continuity. Basically, it is a method in storytelling which explains a current storyline by writing from an earlier perspective. If that makes any sense.

It's often for getting an author out of a plot or fix where otherwise he can't get out of. the main character is locked in a cell and no one can help him out. So the author will write a bit about how the main character always brings along a set of skeleton keys ever since that mess in Argentina.

2) Why did intenet 'spam' get its name?I do not know this for a fact, but my understanding when I worked with BBN was that it was related to the Monty Python sketch where everything on the menu was Spam. And all the fans do the Terry Jones pepperpot voice, "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam...!!" Lots of crap that no one wants or would ask for.

Ed Liu

03-30-2005, 10:09 AM

Mr Cat Dog

03-30-2005, 10:14 AM

In answer to number 2, some people think spam is an acronym for "Stupid/Short Pointless Annoying Messages". It also may derive from the foodstuff that is a combination of cheap chopped pork and ham.

guinaevere

03-30-2005, 12:44 PM

Etymology of "spam" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29#Etymology) meaning electronic junk. Surprisingly, it crops up earlier than you'd think it would have.Heavens, UCE goes back HOW far?!?

In the 1980s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s) the term was adopted to describe certain abusive users who frequented BBSs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_Board_System) and MUDs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD), who would repeat "SPAM" a huge number of times to scroll other users' text off the screen.Wow, that brought a flood of memories back!!

Fone Bone

03-30-2005, 04:47 PM

Why are there ten hot dogs in a package, but only eight in a package of hot dog buns?

Whatever happened to Welcome Back Kotter's Gabe Kaplan?

What were the Oscar winners for Best Picture from 2000 on? I've forgotten two of them and it's been driving me crazy.

mikestorm

03-30-2005, 07:46 PM

The term 'spam' is said to have originated from a Monty Python sketch. The sketch origin takes place in a restaurant where all the dishes on the menu include the canned luncheon meat SPAM. When the waitress reads out the menu a group of Vikings sing a chorus of "spam, spam, spam... " louder and louder, drowning out other conversation.

The term probably started to be used to describe unsolicited commercial mail because it drowns out legitimate mail. The pork industry clearly is upset by this reference and has repeatedly tried to have the word changed.

Source: http://online-privacy-security.com/spam-origin.php

90'sCartoonMan

03-31-2005, 01:15 AM

Why are there ten hot dogs in a package, but only eight in a package of hot dog buns?
I've always thought it was either to get you to buy two packages of buns or just because they're owned by different companies and don't have to do the thing that makes sense?

How come whenever you get kicked offline from America Online it's called WAOL? Is there a WCompuServe? And so forth...

guinaevere

04-10-2005, 08:47 PM

I don't have the answers to Fone's or 90'sCartoonMan's questions, but I have one of my own.

How do ants survive when it rains? Don't their mounds get flooded? How do they breathe under water?

sun

04-10-2005, 09:05 PM

Howdy,

Wikipedia definition of "retcon." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retcon) I think it's more accurate to say it's any story element that changes past history that wasn't intended by the original creator. One of the better known comic book retcons would be the resurrection of Jean Grey after her death as Dark Phoenix.

Etymology of "spam" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29#Etymology) meaning electronic junk. Surprisingly, it crops up earlier than you'd think it would have.

-- Ed/Ace
Spam had an earlier meaning..somekind of lunch meat,that was at the very bottom of the meat ladder..was fed to WWII troops. it was sold, and may still be sold in stores.....English is so strange, that some words, have so many meanings, that it is unbelieveable...Also, English is dirivitive from 8 or 9 other languages..It is clearly the hardest language for person from another person to learn..Similiar to an adult, from the USA speaking fluent English trying to learn Chinese, Korean, or Japanese...

HumanoidTyphoon

04-10-2005, 10:04 PM

How do ants survive when it rains? Don't their mounds get flooded? How do they breathe under water?Some ants make sure to build in areas that don't hold water or dry quickly. Sometimes they have tunnels that are out of reach of the water. Some ants leave their nest and float oin the water creating a raft for the Queen. A lot of them don't make it.

BluFire1213

04-10-2005, 11:35 PM

well,...some of these questions aren't that stupid u know... i meen one time someone asked me if JELLO was a fruit!...hmmm...interesting..:p

randomguy

04-11-2005, 12:37 AM

Spam had an earlier meaning..somekind of lunch meat,that was at the very bottom of the meat ladder..was fed to WWII troops. it was sold, and may still be sold in stores.....Yeah, Spam the lunch meat is still widely available. There's a festival dedicated to it here in Austin, called Spamarama (http://www.spamarama.com/). The stuff is gross, but it has a following.

On a sidenote, the makers of Spam (Hormel) actually sued a number of spammers a while ago, if I can remember correctly. They claimed the widespread use of "spam" in the context of junk e-mails had devalued their trademark, which is probably accurate. I'll come back and edit this post when/if I can find a link.

And Fone, the Oscar winners from 2000 on are Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. No clue on the other questions though.

Artimus Gigan

04-11-2005, 12:51 AM

There is also now a Monty Python Special Edition Spam that is currently out and also the new comedy musical "Spamalot".

Fone Bone

04-11-2005, 11:45 AM

And Fone, the Oscar winners from 2000 on are Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. No clue on the other questions though.Thank you very much!

ToOn~g@l

04-11-2005, 03:10 PM

Okay here's my dumb question.

Who's the oldest member here?

I just want to know for some reason.

NozeNuggets

04-11-2005, 04:29 PM

Do phone banks make money?

Fatneck

04-11-2005, 07:54 PM

Why are there ten hot dogs in a package, but only eight in a package of hot dog buns? http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_350.html
this site provides the best explanation I've heard on the matter.

IHow come whenever you get kicked offline from America Online it's called WAOL? Is there a WCompuServe? And so forth... Waol, wcompuserve,etc. means Windows AOL, Windows Compuserve, etc. That message tells you specific program that's causing you problems.

Artimus Gigan

04-11-2005, 10:42 PM

Ok I have one...

What band sings the song that goes "Groundcontrol to major Tom"?

also what's the official title of that song?

randomguy

04-11-2005, 10:57 PM

What band sings the song that goes "Groundcontrol to major Tom"?

also what's the official title of that song?
It's sung by David Bowie, and the official title is "Ground Control to Major Tom".

Artimus Gigan

04-11-2005, 10:59 PM

It's sung by David Bowie, and the official title is "Ground Control to Major Tom".Thanks, it's been bothering me all day....

I kept thinking David Lucas, and I knew that didn't seem right...

guinaevere

04-12-2005, 12:37 AM

Some ants make sure to build in areas that don't hold water or dry quickly. Sometimes they have tunnels that are out of reach of the water. Some ants leave their nest and float oin the water creating a raft for the Queen. A lot of them don't make it. ...but but but! ...There are weeks on end when it rains, and the water runs UNDERground. Those ant mounds are flooded. It don't make any sense.

It's sung by David Bowie, and the official title is "Ground Control to Major Tom". As much as I love Bowie, I prefer the Peter Schilling Major Tom song.

Interesting fact, my boss at BBN was David Bowie. But he never put out an album named Ziggy Stardust. At least, I'm *this* certain he didn't.

90'sCartoonMan

04-12-2005, 12:39 AM

Waol, wcompuserve,etc. means Windows AOL, Windows Compuserve, etc. That message tells you specific program that's causing you problems.
Thanks...although that's not nearly as hilarious as I thought it would be. I'm assuming Mozilla isn't a giant dinosaur creature named Moe?

Who's the oldest member here?
I know it's not me, but I'd like to know that and who has the most posts. Oooh, I wonder what the average age of Toon Zone users are.

Artimus Gigan

04-12-2005, 12:40 AM

!!! ...but but but! ...There are weeks on end when it rains, and the water runs UNDERground. Those ant mounds are flooded. It don't make any sense.Air pockets are incorporated into the caverns

so while some tunnels do flood, alot of the chambers are spared from ever getting wet...

not to mention the ground usualy absrobs the water fairly quickly...

Kury Wagner

04-12-2005, 12:48 AM

I'd like to know that and who has the most posts. That'd be Jim Harvey with 13,320. And Duke has the second most posts with 11,411.

guinaevere

04-12-2005, 12:52 AM

Because I'm not buying the airpocket theory.

:sighs: Fine, make me look it up myself...

From the Madsci Network (http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2004-06/1088260918.Zo.r.html).

<snip>[Ants] breathe through spiracles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiracle) in their abdomen. They close off then spiricals to keep the water out and can remain in water for a while.

Yes, maybe depending on the temperature they might last a couple of weeks in a kind of suspended animation condition. They sort of shut down for a while till the flood waters recede and then start to come out of it. <snip>

Delthayre

04-12-2005, 01:04 AM

It's sung by David Bowie, and the official title is "Ground Control to Major Tom".
Actually I think it's real title is Space Oddity

PressureCooker

04-12-2005, 01:32 AM

Actually I think it's real title is Space Oddity
Yup. I second that one. I used the title as the title to one of my chapters on a fanfic.

"I'm floating in a tin-can"

randomguy

04-12-2005, 01:36 AM

Actually I think it's real title is Space Oddity
Right you are. The first lyrics site I visited listed it as "Ground Control to Major Tom", but that was obviously wrong.

D'oh.

Shnay

04-12-2005, 04:37 PM

Here's something I've wondered about, but never bothered to Google for myself. When a quote which contains some sort of grammatical mistake or an odd word choice in it is reported by a newspaper (or other outlets), it is usually indicated that the quote is correct by adding [sic] after the odd word or phrase. My guess would be it has some sort of Latin origin, perhaps meaning "as is" or something. Anyone know where [sic] comes from. "I really wants [sic] to know."

HumanoidTyphoon

04-12-2005, 05:26 PM

randomguy

04-12-2005, 05:30 PM

Just means Said In Content.
Thanks goodness. I've been wondering about that one for quite a while, so it's nice to know.

I've got one: how do you pronounce jingoism? Pronounced like it reads, it sounds a bit odd, but I'm not sure how else you could say it.

Delthayre

04-12-2005, 05:38 PM

Just means Said In Content.
Actually, it comes from Latin sicut 'just as'. Thus my one year of Latin taken in my senior year of high school in lieu of a math class have proved its worth.

Shnay

04-12-2005, 07:05 PM

Thanks for confiming my guess, Del. I expected you would be the one to answer that question. :)

Artimus Gigan

04-12-2005, 11:29 PM

Ok I have another one(and would prefer if someone answered it quickly)

If you chugged 2 liters of Cool Mint Listerine Mouthwash, would it kill you?

90'sCartoonMan

04-13-2005, 12:12 AM

That'd be Jim Harvey with 13,320. And Duke has the second most posts with 11,411.
Thanks, guy.

Another stupid question...how come you can't count some?

Fone Bone

04-13-2005, 12:45 PM

Ok I have another one(and would prefer if someone answered it quickly)

If you chugged 2 liters of Cool Mint Listerine Mouthwash, would it kill you?Yes. Looks at time of post. Gigan. GIGAN?

Captain Zechs

04-13-2005, 01:00 PM

Welll here is my stupid question:

Why is there a stupid question thread?

haha lol

Artimus Gigan

04-13-2005, 06:33 PM

Yes. Looks at time of post. Gigan. GIGAN?You were wrong Fone Bone...you were wrong...

best $1000 bucks I ever made....now they'll think twice about betting...especialy because they didn't see the label saying..."Alcohol Free"

ShadowOfAGhost

04-14-2005, 09:41 PM

here's one... what is the purpose of the uvula (the thing that hangs at the back of your throat)

Fone Bone

04-15-2005, 06:25 AM

here's one... what is the purpose of the uvula (the thing that hangs at the back of your throat)It regulates swallowing if I'm not mistaken. People would probably swallow their tongues without it, I think I remembered learning in school.

Shnay

04-15-2005, 04:42 PM

People would probably swallow their tongues without it, I think I remembered learning in school.I don't know what they're for myself, but I don't think this part's true. I'm pretty sure there's a procedure to have it removed (I think it's to help breathing, but I could be wrong) and the tongue stays in place just fine.

I have another stupid question, if anyone's still interested in this thread:

Violent video games have lead me to believe that shotguns have a very short range of fire. I also know that one of the types of shells some shotguns can use is called "buckshot" and spreads a lot of little pellets over a wide area when fired. I would assume the name buckshot came because it is used to shoot bucks, but could you really get close enough to a buck to actually hit it? Is the range on these guns longer than I've been lead to believe, or can a good hunter really get close enough to kill deer with such a close range weapon?

I've actually got a few more, but I want to see if anyone still feels like playing along before I start throwing all my dumb queries out there.

ShadowOfAGhost

04-15-2005, 05:04 PM

lets see... I think I can answer that one.

in video games it is made to believe that shotguns have a range of about 15 feet, but this is not really true. yes, shotguns fire in a cone shape, but even at about 25' the spread is only about 5" or so. and keep in mind, all those pellets still move at a high velocity as a bullet, so they are still incredibly dangerous. I could easily see being able to take out a deer from about 40-50 yards with a shotgun.

on a related note, the length of a shotgun barrell also impacts how the cone of shot spreads. with a sawed-off shotgun, the barrell is significantly shorter, so the cone is significantly wider. at the same range of 25' where a regular shotgun might have a 5" spread, a sawed off shotgun would likely have a diameter closer to 12".

Ed Liu

04-15-2005, 05:10 PM

Howdy,

Violent video games have lead me to believe that shotguns have a very short range of fire. I also know that one of the types of shells some shotguns can use is called "buckshot" and spreads a lot of little pellets over a wide area when fired. I would assume the name buckshot came because it is used to shoot bucks, but could you really get close enough to a buck to actually hit it? Is the range on these guns longer than I've been lead to believe, or can a good hunter really get close enough to kill deer with such a close range weapon?
Short answer: yeah.

Longer answer: Check Wikipedia's entry on shotguns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckshot). Apparently, deer are usually pegged with shotguns within 25m (about 80 feet), which is a lot longer range than most video game shotguns. However, according to the article, buckshot is losing ground in favor of more efficient single-shot slug shotgun rounds, which presumably make a more humane and less messy kill. Someone who actually hunts will be able to talk a lot more authoritatively on that, though.

-- Ed/Ace

ShadowOfAGhost

04-15-2005, 05:13 PM

yeah, I just had a when-needed job at a gun range. I quit because if you have ever worked as a trap boy (setting up clay pidgeons) especially with a moterized launcher, you know how monotonous the work is.

HumanoidTyphoon

04-15-2005, 06:13 PM

here's one... what is the purpose of the uvula (the thing that hangs at the back of your throat)It helps to form certian sounds. It can be removed to prevent sleep apnea(and I think snoring) which is when the air way is blocked and a person can't breath for short periods of time.

Delthayre

04-15-2005, 06:43 PM

Yes, without the uvula millions of Germans would have to resort to trilling their <r>s on their alveolum (well, not the syllable-final ones, those are actually vowels)! To say nothing of the French.

Fone Bone

04-16-2005, 08:07 AM

It helps to form certian sounds. It can be removed to prevent sleep apnea(and I think snoring) which is when the air way is blocked and a person can't breath for short periods of time.My bad. I really should have known this as I HAVE sleep apnea (when you stop breathing while you sleep). I was probably thinking of the epigulotis.

ShadowOfAGhost

04-16-2005, 08:34 AM

epiglotis is the thing that covers the windpipewhen you swallow so food doesn't enter.

Elven Moon

04-16-2005, 10:30 AM

How do Cat and Dog from Cat-Dog go to the bathroom? For that matter, how are they even able to GO?

If someone doesn't hear a sound, that doesn't mean sound doesn't exist, it just isn't... heard. So, how can someone argue otherwise?

Who invented the concept of the clock and time?

Fone Bone

04-16-2005, 10:37 AM

How do Cat and Dog from Cat-Dog go to the bathroom? For that matter, how are they even able to GO? Ever see the South Park where everyone poops out of their mouths? Like that.

If someone doesn't hear a sound, that doesn't mean sound doesn't exist, it just isn't... heard. So, how can someone argue otherwise?Because they are stupid.

Who invented the concept of the clock and time?Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast.

Kagetsu

04-16-2005, 07:45 PM

If someone doesn't hear a sound, that doesn't mean sound doesn't exist, it just isn't... heard. So, how can someone argue otherwise?

Who invented the concept of the clock and time? The sound issue is just about the deffinition of the word sound.

a particular auditory impression : TONE (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=tone) b : the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing c : mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves in a material medium (as air) and is the objective cause of hearing It must be heard to be a sound, just really picky

I think the oldest known clock beyond a sundial was a water clock. I believe it was used to wake monks for early prayer, but I can't find anything online about it at the moment.

Oh about shotguns, the length of the barrel only affect the burn time of the powder, the choke at the end adjusts the spread, improved cylinder, close and wide, to full, long and tight. Shot ranges in size from 11 to 000, smaller pellets kill more effectively at close range because there are more of them but they slow quickly, large pellets fly farther but there are fewer of them.