Octopus Overlords

I bought a flea circus from one.

When I was a wee nipper, one of my fondest memories was being able to purchase genuine Mexican jumping beans from a flea market in St. Pete, FL. For all I know, I may well have (unknowingly) violated all kind of import restrictions by bringing them back home to the UK. But for a British lad who'd never seen such curiosities before, I found them fascinating.

I had a lot of them as a child. Roses sold them in little clear plastic flip top boxes. I think they were like 2 beans for 50 cent.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 3:51 pm I wish flea markets around here had stayed the way they used to be when I was young. Up until my mid 20s .....which would put this time in the mid 1990s.........flea markets were places indoor or out where people brought their used things to sell. Used is the word. House goods, farm equipment, toys, garden and yard stuff. Whatever. It was your used junk. Flea markets were places where people brought all their yard sale items together to sell.

Then they started changing them. More and more....and it seems all there is here now....are places called flea markets but they aren't. They are ridgedly set up stalls filled with shops basically. The items are new but they are cheap junk. More cheap made than cheap sold now. Plastic, light, and well just new junk. Knockoff purses and shirts and shoes. They are places you don't really want to go or bother with.

They are NOT flea markets.

I absolutely agree. They were basically a field full of garage sales. Now they're a field full of discount socks, bins of low quality tools and dental picks, and so forth.

And phone covers/cases. You cant go out in public and toss a pebble without hitting a phone case.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 12:06 pm When is the spring Octocon?

Usually April. Hope to see you soon.

I wandered over to the GamingTrend forums this morning to see if it's even still around. Outside of the links to their main page articles, there's only been one or two posts total over the past three months.

While I really enjoy GT's review content, it made me a little sad to see how much of a ghost town the community has become.

There were a couple outages, complete with a board refresh.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:13 pm There were a couple outages, complete with a board refresh.

Yeah, I bailed after the board refresh when they lost everything.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:07 pm I wandered over to the GamingTrend forums this morning to see if it's even still around. Outside of the links to their main page articles, there's only been one or two posts total over the past three months.

While I really enjoy GT's review content, it made me a little sad to see how much of a ghost town the community has become.

The new forum sucks and the source of pretty much all posts (EngineNo9) disappeared. I haven't been there in months. I've never really cared about the content. There are a couple of youtubers that do "before you buy" vids that serve that purpose for me.

It used to be that if a forum went down, the population would migrate (for those who don't remember, when Gone Gold went down we were actually split between launching OO and just joining GamingTrend (then Console Gold.)) The problem is that forums in general are drying up in favor of social media, Reddit, Discord and so forth. It used to be that a healthy front page would bring in new blood to forums as well, but that isn't true anymore, either (remember the OO front page?)

As people leave, no new people come in.

Ayup. We're the Gunslingers and Witchers of the internet; the world is moving on without us.

I frequented the GT forum before the big crash, but I really haven't been back much since. Unfortunately, I feel that the current forum software is cumbersome (and doesn't support Tapatalk), so trying to participate became more difficult. Combine that with a huge decrease in my gaming time, and I just haven't been back. It's really a shame because it used to be a great community/forum/site.

I've kinda noticed that since Gamespot took over Gamefaqs.com (it now forwards to gamefaqs.gamespot.com) things are a little different. They took out the "hall of fame" (where I had an entry).

I wandered over to the GT forums not too long ago and was surprised to see how much of a ghost town it was. The new board/format really was the death knell for that community, I think.

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:44 pm I wandered over to the GT forums not too long ago and was surprised to see how much of a ghost town it was. The new board/format really was the death knell for that community, I think.

I am not a participant but that was my feeling as well. It was strange to see how active the content makers were making content but to see the forum so silent.

I think my friend is getting taken for a scam again, but I can't stop him.

He's been taken for a couple scams before. He's got a congenital condition and never looked normal, but that wasn't the problem. Just from when I knew him, I knew he was the victim of one of those online blackmail attacks where he may have sent a dick pix to someone on FB and had to delete his entire account unless he pay a ransom. He was also once a victim of those romance scams where he asked to borrow money from me to pay some girl in England who needs to pay her solicitor to get her inheritance. I told him it's a scam, and he ended up not paying.

I told him I am unemployed right now, and he STILL asked to borrow $100 from me. He claimed he was recruited by police to participate in a sting operation and need $100 as bait money. I told him the idea that cops can't come up with $100 themselves is RIDICULOUS, but he didn't listen. And no, I didn't lend him the money.

Are you sure he isn't the scammer?

Hahaha. Yes. The thought had crossed my mind.

Thought about the light burning on the porch of the outbuilding. Its the same compact flourecant I installed about 10 years ago. 10 years so far for a bulb thats on all day and all night all the time is pretty spectacular.

Ever have one of those days where you go to eat your dill pickle but you drop it so you pick it up ad try again and drop it and then like other times the third time you pick it up the movie Dune pops into your head where at the end Sting is going to fight Paul and he says "I WILL kill him!" and you say aloud "I WILL eat this pickle!" before biting it? Then you look around and the other people in the sub shop are looking at you holding the pickle like a knife saying that and wonder if the 50 year old fart has lost his mind? Ya me neither.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:08 am Thought about the light burning on the porch of the outbuilding. Its the same compact flourecant I installed about 10 years ago. 10 years so far for a bulb thats on all day and all night all the time is pretty spectacular.

My parents were divorced, and when I was growing up (late 1970s/early 1980s) my dad rented a room with his aunt. His aunt was born in 1918, and was living in the house that was previously her parents'.

At the top of the stairway was an incandescent bulb that was always left on. She claimed at the time that the bulb had been on for decades, and anyone entering the house was forbidden from turning it off. Maybe the house was also immune to power outages?

I haven't been in that house for almost 30 years, but it's still in the family and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the bulb was still on.

Need to rant. And that's one reason I can't stay unemployed. My dad will drive me nuts.

I am resting upstairs when my dad called me downstairs with some sort of "emergency". I ran downstairs, and he's like 'bring your phone' and I had to run upstairs again. So I asked what's up?

He said we need to check the camera. We do have one of the Amazon/Blinkx camera installed, but it's a motion camera. I know it's crap, but originally my dad said it's for security, and that wasn't a limitation for a security camera. (And Blinkx doesn't have shared access... It's admin or nothing)

Then I found out they want me to 'check the footage from 3-6 minutes ago', something about some money missing from the mahjong table. I told him the camera doesn't work this way. It's a MOTION camera. Not to mention the camera is NOT pointed at that table. In fact, it was on the GROUND last night, and I just put it back up yesterday. The sucket plate apparently lost traction and fell off.

Of course he turns it around and blame me for not ordering the right camera setup in the first place. Of not setting up the camera right. Of not keeping up with the camera. So on and so forth. He said security camera system, I ordered security camera system. How am I supposed to know he meant a continuous recording camera to monitor each of the tables?

I *can* order the right camera and all, but who's going to install it when the time comes? I can setup the machine, but who's going to climb on a ladder and screw in the cameras and connect the wires and all that? Hmmm?

Fine, I'll order the camera and the recorder. And I'll tell him he has to find an installer. I ain't doing that.

Which means this will be the THIRD camera system I've ordered. I also have a Netgear Arlo system I've yet to take out of the box as I knew the Blinkx system sucks and was about to replace it with the Arlo.

Time to sell them on Craigslist or eBay. With all the extra accessories I bought.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:46 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:44 pm I wandered over to the GT forums not too long ago and was surprised to see how much of a ghost town it was. The new board/format really was the death knell for that community, I think.

I am not a participant but that was my feeling as well. It was strange to see how active the content makers were making content but to see the forum so silent.

I still post from time to time, but yeah. Personally, I do like the software but I can see how it would turn people off. It's a side-effect of being so focused on content and ignoring the community that made it. I'd already been through something similar on another website/forum where the forum community started disappearing and all there was left were autoposted topics, something I feared would happen with GT as well. It's just not as welcoming, unfortunately.

Hrdina wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:15 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:08 am Thought about the light burning on the porch of the outbuilding. Its the same compact flourecant I installed about 10 years ago. 10 years so far for a bulb thats on all day and all night all the time is pretty spectacular.

My parents were divorced, and when I was growing up (late 1970s/early 1980s) my dad rented a room with his aunt. His aunt was born in 1918, and was living in the house that was previously her parents'.

At the top of the stairway was an incandescent bulb that was always left on. She claimed at the time that the bulb had been on for decades, and anyone entering the house was forbidden from turning it off. Maybe the house was also immune to power outages?

I haven't been in that house for almost 30 years, but it's still in the family and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the bulb was still on.

A low-wattage bulb with a thick filament can indeed last for decades. The filament is most vulnerable to the current surge when it's turned on. Your story checks out.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:14 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:46 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:44 pm I wandered over to the GT forums not too long ago and was surprised to see how much of a ghost town it was. The new board/format really was the death knell for that community, I think.

I am not a participant but that was my feeling as well. It was strange to see how active the content makers were making content but to see the forum so silent.

I still post from time to time, but yeah. Personally, I do like the software but I can see how it would turn people off. It's a side-effect of being so focused on content and ignoring the community that made it. I'd already been through something similar on another website/forum where the forum community started disappearing and all there was left were autoposted topics, something I feared would happen with GT as well. It's just not as welcoming, unfortunately.

I tried to get into it a couple of times but was repelled by the interface. It still emails me every week, and I delete the emails unopened.

I really like GT but the people here posted the exact same thing there. I saw no reason for two sites saying the same thing so I stopped going there.
I go back from time to time but its dead there.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:05 pm How am I supposed to know he meant a continuous recording camera to monitor each of the tables?

So wait, you have an underground mahjong parlor in your house? Cool!

Another one of my dad's frustrating instructions:

D: "Buy some mouse glue boards."

Me: (Hands over a pack of 2 gluebooards)

A day later.

D: "Why don't you buy the smaller kind? So wasteful using such a large glueboard on an itty-bitty mouse. "

Me: "But did you catch any?"

D: "Yes, but so wasteful!"

Me: "But these are CHEAPER than the ones I bought before..."

D: "..."

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:34 am I really like GT but the people here posted the exact same thing there. I saw no reason for two sites saying the same thing so I stopped going there.
I go back from time to time but its dead there.

Not so much of that going on now, but... it's somewhat deflating when whatever is posted is buried within tons of content-created postings making it much harder to keep up with and find.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:05 pm It used to be that if a forum went down, the population would migrate (for those who don't remember, when Gone Gold went down we were actually split between launching OO and just joining GamingTrend (then Console Gold.)) The problem is that forums in general are drying up in favor of social media, Reddit, Discord and so forth. It used to be that a healthy front page would bring in new blood to forums as well, but that isn't true anymore, either (remember the OO front page?)

As people leave, no new people come in.

Eventually it'll be just me, three bots and $iljanus.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:05 pm The problem is that forums in general are drying up in favor of social media, Reddit, Discord and so forth.

Exhibit B: PlayStation announced today that they will be nuking their forums entirely.

“Progress” sucks sometimes.

Drazzil wrote:

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:05 pm It used to be that if a forum went down, the population would migrate (for those who don't remember, when Gone Gold went down we were actually split between launching OO and just joining GamingTrend (then Console Gold.)) The problem is that forums in general are drying up in favor of social media, Reddit, Discord and so forth. It used to be that a healthy front page would bring in new blood to forums as well, but that isn't true anymore, either (remember the OO front page?)

As people leave, no new people come in.

Eventually it'll be just me, three bots and $iljanus.

But am I a human, replicant, or... other.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 8:13 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:05 pm The problem is that forums in general are drying up in favor of social media, Reddit, Discord and so forth.

Exhibit B: PlayStation announced today that they will be nuking their forums entirely.

“Progress” sucks sometimes.

Forums: the new vinyl LP.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 6:03 pm Another one of my dad's frustrating instructions:

D: "Buy some mouse glue boards."

Me: (Hands over a pack of 2 gluebooards)

those things are unbelievably inhumane

yup

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:25 amyup

I don't disagree. But it seems they are wise to the traditional mouse traps. I baited them with peanut butter and they ain't biting.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:15 pmForums: the new vinyl LP.

Not cool. Seriously, not cool.

I'm at 16. The original post suggested being a double-digit-er was some type of accomplishment. That seems unlikely to me.

I'm at 7. To me the lower the score the more life experience.

Never broken a bone, gotten a tattoo, gone zip lining, been on TV, been on a cruise, gotten a piercing, or been skydiving.

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:27 pm I'm at 16. The original post suggested being a double-digit-er was some type of accomplishment. That seems unlikely to me.

I'm at 18. Guess I don't have a life.