Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Tue Jul 24, 2018 5:12 pm**

A propos of nothing, I always find it weird to remember that Pennsylvania has a foreign border.

Posted: **Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:36 pm**

That post of yours, Holman, is the very definition of random.

Posted: **Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:42 pm**

Holman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 5:12 pm A propos of nothing, I always find it weird to remember that Pennsylvania has a foreign border.

I love how Michigan and Minnesota made sure that Wisconsin doesn't.

Posted: **Tue Jul 24, 2018 7:02 pm**

pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:36 pm That post of yours, Holman, is the very definition of random.

I'm in the zone!!!

Posted: **Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:23 pm**

Making these cookies today because I had the ingredients for them. they've sat all night and now its time to see how they did. Actually I only had half the brown sugar. had to sub in regular. Im sure it wont matter...right.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/21969 ... e-cookies/

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:08 am**

Kitchen light switch broke when I used it. But nothing is ever easy. Easy is havign a backup switch, knowing where it is, the fuse being in the bathroom fusebox.

But nope. My way is not having a backup switch, having to get one not being used in the bathroom, and having a fuse located NOT in the easy bathroom box.

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:12 pm**

I really want some Froot Loops right now....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:26 pm**

Can we keep this thread focused on surprising state/international borders please? Thanks.

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:34 pm**

Northwest Angle

The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a part of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Except for minor surveying errors, it is the only place in the United States outside Alaska that is north of the 49th parallel, which forms the border between the U.S. and Canada from the Northwest Angle westward to the Strait of Georgia (between the state of Washington and the province of British Columbia). The land area of the Angle is separated from the rest of Minnesota by Lake of the Woods, but shares a land border with Canada.

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:39 pm**

CNN

Europe's top court has dealt Nestle a major setback in its effort to trademark the shape of the four-finger KitKat.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed an attempt by Nestle to overturn a ruling that it had not done enough to prove the chocolate bar's shape deserved legal protection.

The ECJ said the European Union Intellectual Property Office should now reconsider its decision to grant the company a trademark in the first place.
...
Nestle (NSRGF) has been fighting the trademark case for over a decade, trying to prevent other chocolate makers from replicating the shape of its iconic wafer.

The Swiss food and drink company originally secured a trademark for the shape from the European Union Intellectual Property Office in 2006. But that decision was disputed by rival confectionery firm Cadbury, which has since been acquired by Mondelez (MDLZ).
...
Even if it loses the EU trademark, Nestle can attempt to protect the shape in individual member states.

Nestle has previously secured a trademark for the KitKat shape in countries including Australia, Canada and France. Britain's High Court refused to allow Nestle to trademark the shape in 2016.

It's not the only issue that Nestle and Mondelez have sparred over in court. Nestle previously blocked an attempt by Mondelez subsidiary Cadbury to copyright a specific shade of purple.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:20 am**

Craving sweets! We're out of everything sweet except some odds and ends and sugar. Been eating a spoon full of plain sugar off and on.

But I decided to have some peanut butter balls. I don't have chocolate to cover them in but they are still great. I took and mixed 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 tablespoon butter and microwaved it for 15 seconds to melt the butter a little and soften the peanut butter. Then I mixed in 1 cup powdered sugar. A little more to taste. It tastes wonderful! Ive put it in the fridge to cool and firm up. Then they're all mine! MWAHAHAHAHA!! coughcough. Anyways they taste like a Reese's Cup without chocolate or perhaps a ball of Reese's Pieces without the hard candy shell. yum!

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:24 am**

I'm so tempter to buy one of these for $300:

A bit worried about how well the joysticks will hold up. They also have a Street Fighter one and Centipede/Missile Command/Crystal Castle/Millipede

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:53 am**

You can buy replacement joystick parts for arcade machines, but it probably will not be cheap.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:07 am**

DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:24 am I'm so tempter to buy one of these for $300:

A bit worried about how well the joysticks will hold up. They also have a Street Fighter one and Centipede/Missile Command/Crystal Castle/Millipede

Arcade version of Gauntlet and Rampage where I don't have the keep dropping quarters to see what's next. All you need to do is add that pseudo Star Trek side scroller whose name I can't remember and that would be the quarter eaters that let you continue without end of my youth.

Edit: Xenophobe

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:26 am**

DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:24 am I'm so tempter to buy one of these for $300:

A bit worried about how well the joysticks will hold up. They also have a Street Fighter one and Centipede/Missile Command/Crystal Castle/Millipede

That just went on my birthday wish list. A little concerned about it only being 4 feet tall though...playing hunched over would get a little awkward after a while. Kids would love it though.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:23 pm**

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:26 am
That just went on my birthday wish list. A little concerned about it only being 4 feet tall though...playing hunched over would get a little awkward after a while. Kids would love it though.

Yep, by the looks of it that would only put the joysticks 2 feet off the ground. Could possibly set it up on some kind of platform or box. I would definitely need to see one before purchasing.

Edit:
According to the Manufacturer's website a riser is available as an accessory. There's also one more unit coming with Final Fight/1944/Strider/Ghost n Goblins.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:01 pm**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7XlI1iQOso

Found a review which also says a riser is available. Not sure if a 17" LCD is a full sized screen and the control look a little cramped to me but my memory for the early 80s is not so great any more.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:16 pm**

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:53 am You can buy replacement joystick parts for arcade machines, but it probably will not be cheap.

Naw, they're not that expensive.

I built a USB arcade controller for my RetroPi and I went cheap and only paid $20 for the joystick and 10 buttons and the controller interface. With the enclosure and a long USB cable it was less than $50.

Sanwa brand arcade controllers and buttons are top of the line. $25 will get you a stick and another $28 will get you 12 buttons. All prices listed are from Amazon Prime.

I'd rather sit on the couch and play ALL the arcade games on a big screen than hunch over a tiny enclosure and play 5 or 6 games.

Edit to add: I still need to build a trackball controller, those are a little more involved. My wife is a Missile Command FIEND and she would love to have one in the house.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:37 pm**

some years ago i put a Sanwa stick and buttons in a Mad Catz Street Fighter IV arcade stick - it was under $20 for all of the replacement parts.

that Midway machine doesn't support four-player Gauntlet...

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:16 pm**

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:37 pm some years ago i put a Sanwa stick and buttons in a Mad Catz Street Fighter IV arcade stick - it was under $20 for all of the replacement parts.

that Midway machine doesn't support four-player Gauntlet...

Well then I want my damn quarters back!

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:12 pm**

I know theres tons of little ones like that or how people take one old cabinet and make a MAME box out of it to play tons. But if I ever won a lotto I dont play Id build me a full arcade and have all the games from the young days. Hell Im not even sure Id use it much. Maybe use it as a museum and open it to the public. But I have all the games in my head that I want. Funny I can remember those days just fine. Its last week I cant recall.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:10 am**

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:26 am
DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:24 am I'm so tempter to buy one of these for $300:

A bit worried about how well the joysticks will hold up. They also have a Street Fighter one and Centipede/Missile Command/Crystal Castle/Millipede
That just went on my birthday wish list. A little concerned about it only being 4 feet tall though...playing hunched over would get a little awkward after a while. Kids would love it though.

This place is just a few miles from my house and work sent us there for an afternoon "off." They had pretty much all the consoles and about 15 arcade machines from my youth. All those games suck now. Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man are about the only ones that hold up for me.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:15 am**

coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:10 am
Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:26 am
DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:24 am I'm so tempter to buy one of these for $300:

A bit worried about how well the joysticks will hold up. They also have a Street Fighter one and Centipede/Missile Command/Crystal Castle/Millipede
That just went on my birthday wish list. A little concerned about it only being 4 feet tall though...playing hunched over would get a little awkward after a while. Kids would love it though.
This place is just a few miles from my house and work sent us there for an afternoon "off." They had pretty much all the consoles and about 15 arcade machines from my youth. All those games suck now. Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man are about the only ones that hold up for me.

I generally tend to agree with most old arcade games, but Rampage, Gauntlet, and Joust are three that still hold up for me (along with Galaga and Smash TV). If it weren't those three specific games in this cabinet, I wouldn't have much interest.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:01 am**

Might like these Tiny Arcade machines. They are very tiny...palm of your hand. I like the Space Invaders.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:15 am**

coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:10 am
Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:26 am
DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:24 am I'm so tempter to buy one of these for $300:

A bit worried about how well the joysticks will hold up. They also have a Street Fighter one and Centipede/Missile Command/Crystal Castle/Millipede
That just went on my birthday wish list. A little concerned about it only being 4 feet tall though...playing hunched over would get a little awkward after a while. Kids would love it though.
This place is just a few miles from my house and work sent us there for an afternoon "off." They had pretty much all the consoles and about 15 arcade machines from my youth. All those games suck now. Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man are about the only ones that hold up for me.

Malwarebytes blocks that link due to phishing, FWIW.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:24 am**

LordMortis needs food... badly.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 12:28 pm**

Some people truly get me.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:17 pm**

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:23 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:15 am
coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:10 am This place is just a few miles from my house and work sent us there for an afternoon "off." They had pretty much all the consoles and about 15 arcade machines from my youth. All those games suck now. Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man are about the only ones that hold up for me.
Malwarebytes blocks that link due to phishing, FWIW.

It's the official website for the national video game museum. My work's overbearing internet filtering doesn't have any problem with the site.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:26 pm**

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:17 pm

Recognizing grown up versions of child actors... hmmm, basically the entire cast of big bang theory sums up the entirety of those I might recognize as adults.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:32 pm**

I sometimes work with Spanky from the 1994 film.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:12 pm**

For the last few days I've been seeing pictures of Tina Turner. I was shocked. I did do recognize her. I thought it was a misprint at first until I saw it at multiple sites.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:35 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:01 am Might like these Tiny Arcade machines. They are very tiny...palm of your hand. I like the Space Invaders.

i have the Galaxian one. if you're looking for arcade replicas, these aren't it... this one doesn't even have the playability of the 1983 Atari 2600 port... but they're cute.

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 5:14 pm**

I started a new job as a delivery driver (not UPS, thank God) and I found out I need knee braces... or a ton of painkillers. For the past week, even with me doing only HALF the walking (I was partnered with a fellow driver, as we shared loads), I was walking 5000-8000 steps per day, which is way more than my usual walking (honestly, about 1000). I can feel my pounds are dropping (I already fit back into my size 42 pants, whereas I usually wear 44). I just ordered the knee braces off Amazon, but they won't get here until late Monday. *sigh*

For grins, I looked up my favorite painkiller... Naproxen sodium. I just switched to Amazon's house brand, which is 40% cheaper than its competitor. (Hmmm...) I used to get 100 caplets for $8. Now I get 200 caplets for $10. I looked at the label... "do not exceed 3 tablets a day". WTF? So I looked it on on Mayo Clinic. Turns out, your body can tolerate a lot more than 3 a day. Each caplet is 220 mg, and your body can take up to 1500 mg a day. That's almost 7 tablets PER DAY. I'd imagine you have to take it with food to make sure it doesn't hurt your stomach though. For gout and arthritis in acute attacks, take 3 and hope for quick relief.

Here's to hoping I won't have to walk TOO much on Monday...

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 5:34 pm**

I was recently diagnosed with arthritis in both of my knees. The doc told me that the average amount of cartilage in the knees for a man my age (early 50's) should be about 8mm. I have 2 in the left knee and 3 in the right.

He said that down the line we'd be looking at stem cell therapy and possibly knee replacement surgery but in the meantime, he suggested I treat it with anti-inflammatory meds along with hyaluronic acid supplement.

I've been using this for a week now and it's made a huge difference. While it hasn't completely alleviated the pain, it's reduced it by a significant enough degree that I've been able to resume walking with the wife through the neighborhood.

Prior to the flare up in my knees we were doing roughly 2.5 miles every other day but that dropped to zero due to the pain. I'm now working my way back up again and hope to increase it to 3 miles per day once it cools down around here. (It's currently 108 which is a bit on the warm side to go walking around. Not when I can stay in a nice AC environment.)

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:01 pm**

Brian wrote: ↑Sat Jul 28, 2018 5:34 pm
I've been using this for a week now and it's made a huge difference. While it hasn't completely alleviated the pain, it's reduced it by a significant enough degree that I've been able to resume walking with the wife through the neighborhood.

I walk 3-4 miles 3-5 days a week (averaging 12-16 miles per week), and I have arthritis in both knees. I take glucosamine with MSM and thought that might be helping a little. My doc encouraged it even though the clinical evidence is weak, but I decided not to buy any more after my current supply runs out. It just doesn't make enough difference to justify the expense. I will try the product you recommended. I recently saw a meta-analysis that did support some efficacy for MSM and hyaluronic acid.

My doc prescribed naproxen, but I only take it when the pain gets severe. My stomach doesn't tolerate it well, and it can cause liver damage over the long haul -- especially for a beer enthusiast like myself. Unfortunately there aren't any anti-inflammatories that don't have downsides.

I've been icing my knees while I watch TV at night, which definitely reduces inflammation. Not something I'll do during the winter, but it's not too unpleasant when it's hot out.

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:04 pm**

coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:23 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:15 am
coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:10 am This place is just a few miles from my house and work sent us there for an afternoon "off." They had pretty much all the consoles and about 15 arcade machines from my youth. All those games suck now. Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man are about the only ones that hold up for me.
Malwarebytes blocks that link due to phishing, FWIW.
It's the official website for the national video game museum. My work's overbearing internet filtering doesn't have any problem with the site.

It is complaining about games4win.com. Not sure which link that's coming from and I don't put a lot of stock in it anyway. I accidentally installed Malwarebyte's premium trial.

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 7:27 pm**

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:12 pm For the last few days I've been seeing pictures of Tina Turner. I was shocked. I did do recognize her. I thought it was a misprint at first until I saw it at multiple sites.

Swiss people have a distinctive look.

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:25 pm**

I didn't know she was Swiss.

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:43 pm**

Has been for years. Five of them, to be exact.

Octopus Overlords

Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness