TIL: Today I Learned

GasBandit

Staff member
He's one of those guys where it seems like I have to have seen him in something.

Oh! Oh! While I was typing I remembered American Psycho!

Update: And apparently Fight Club, although I don't remember him in it.
He was the blond guy Edward Norton beat the shit out of because he wanted to destroy something beautiful.[DOUBLEPOST=1457557526,1457557468][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, Jared gets that kind of treatment a lot.

 

fade

Staff member
Nov 27, 2008
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www.fadecomic.com
Temple Grandin sure is hot. :D
I've got mixed feelings about her. I think she did great things for the recognition of autism, but I also suspect she inflates her symptoms (negative and positive symptoms) for the sake of attention, given how otherwise high functioning she is.
 
Jul 23, 2009
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Today I learned that the handle "bhamv" is taken on Twitter. It's some random guy who's only ever tweeted once.

I've never used Twitter, and I don't intend to start, so this has very little effect on my life. Still though... I am bhamv, and I don't appreciate some interloper taking my identity!
 
Nov 27, 2008
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www.llandra.com
Today I learned that the handle "bhamv" is taken on Twitter. It's some random guy who's only ever tweeted once.

I've never used Twitter, and I don't intend to start, so this has very little effect on my life. Still though... I am bhamv, and I don't appreciate some interloper taking my identity!
There's a guy on youtube with the handle "tinwhistler". It's really annoying. Sure, it's not as unique a name as "bhamv", but I use it practically everywhere.

And I think he's a better tinwhistler than me, so it's doubly annoying ;)

 
Nov 27, 2008
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I learned today that Ghostwriter's creators intended for it to eventually be revealed that Ghostwriter was the spirit of a runaway slave who was killed by slave catchers while traveling the underground railroad while teaching other slaves to read. The show took place in Fort Greene, who's Presbyterian church was a stop on the railway.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I learned today that Ghostwriter's creators intended for it to eventually be revealed that Ghostwriter was the spirit of a runaway slave who was killed by slave catchers while traveling the underground railroad while teaching other slaves to read. The show took place in Fort Greene, who's Presbyterian church was a stop on the railway.
That slave was really computer savvy.
 
Dec 11, 2013
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Jersey Shore -BENNY go home!
TIL-they are developing a live action show based on the Archie comics...for the CW. And yes, it sounds just as hilariously stupid as you'd think Archie would be in a CW drama format.
It's supposed to have a Twin Peaks feel to it. Odds are it will probably be a usual CW production, but there's a part of me that curious to see if they can pull off something nuts, or so-bad-it's-good territory.
 
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Nov 29, 2008
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charlescovar.com
Probably not intentionally, but that improves the show greatly in my mind. Heh heh heh.... *DawsonArchie cryface gif* :D

...wait, was it the CW by the time Dawson's Creek ended, or what it still the WB? That station couldn't make up it's mind for a decade. UPN/My9/whateveritscalled now, too.
WB. They didn't merge with UPN to become the CW until 2006.
 

fade

Staff member
Nov 27, 2008
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www.fadecomic.com
TIL about D-VHS and D-Theater, which were 1080i digital VHS formats that preceded Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

[DOUBLEPOST=1461770868,1461770523][/DOUBLEPOST]Aww, man, yes, he has a video on the Video Disc, which no one believes me about. My dad was a huge proponent of the video disc over VHS for some reason. I don't know why, but he insisted on them. Everyone I tell this to says, "Oh, you mean Laserdiscs? No, I mean a vinyl analog video disc just like an LP--though it was in a sealed cartridge. You could pull out the "record" if you forced it open, though. You put the whole cartridge in the machine and then pulled out the case. I think Amazon Women on the Moon had a bit about Videodiscs at the beginning, but they had them out of the cases and painted silver, so they looked like Laserdiscs.

 
Dec 1, 2008
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Other Fourth Coast, USA
he has a video on the Video Disc, which no one believes me about. My dad was a huge proponent of the video disc over VHS for some reason. I don't know why, but he insisted on them. Everyone I tell this to says, "Oh, you mean Laserdiscs? No, I mean a vinyl analog video disc just like an LP--though it was in a sealed cartridge. You could pull out the "record" if you forced it open, though. You put the whole cartridge in the machine and then pulled out the case. I think Amazon Women on the Moon had a bit about Videodiscs at the beginning, but they had them out of the cases and painted silver, so they looked like Laserdiscs.
Unless my father-in-law has finally donated them, he has (had?) two players, a spare needle or two, and a stack of videodiscs that reaches about to my waist*. The movie scene you are referring to is actually about Laserdiscs, but another pirate complains that "...you can't record on 'em, and they're not compatible with [his] system." They do have a treasure chest filled with VHS cassettes that are all painted silver/gold, though (because they're supposed to be "unreleased studio masters" or some stuff).

--Patrick
*because it wasn't enough that I have my own collection of arcane technology. No, I have to move into a house where someone 30 years older'n me had already been accumulating things that were arcane when I was still in middle school!
 
May 29, 2009
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the st croix river valley
TIL about D-VHS and D-Theater, which were 1080i digital VHS formats that preceded Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

[DOUBLEPOST=1461770868,1461770523][/DOUBLEPOST]Aww, man, yes, he has a video on the Video Disc, which no one believes me about. My dad was a huge proponent of the video disc over VHS for some reason. I don't know why, but he insisted on them. Everyone I tell this to says, "Oh, you mean Laserdiscs? No, I mean a vinyl analog video disc just like an LP--though it was in a sealed cartridge. You could pull out the "record" if you forced it open, though. You put the whole cartridge in the machine and then pulled out the case. I think Amazon Women on the Moon had a bit about Videodiscs at the beginning, but they had them out of the cases and painted silver, so they looked like Laserdiscs.

this dudes stuff is really neat! I love seeing old and archaic video formats discussed.
 
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figmentPez

Staff member
Dec 6, 2008
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SE Texas
TIL about D-VHS and D-Theater, which were 1080i digital VHS formats that preceded Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

[DOUBLEPOST=1461770868,1461770523][/DOUBLEPOST]Aww, man, yes, he has a video on the Video Disc, which no one believes me about. My dad was a huge proponent of the video disc over VHS for some reason. I don't know why, but he insisted on them. Everyone I tell this to says, "Oh, you mean Laserdiscs? No, I mean a vinyl analog video disc just like an LP--though it was in a sealed cartridge. You could pull out the "record" if you forced it open, though. You put the whole cartridge in the machine and then pulled out the case. I think Amazon Women on the Moon had a bit about Videodiscs at the beginning, but they had them out of the cases and painted silver, so they looked like Laserdiscs.

Techmoan is a fantastic Youtube channel.

Another amazing format I'd never heard of, the Tefifon:



Also, Nixie Tube Watch:
 
Nov 27, 2008
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Today I learned the blonde, frosted tip twins from Canadian boyband B4-4 of the early 2000s are now called RyanDan and do adult easy listening music and....they actually have really nice voices when they aren't being auto-tuned into boyband ridiculousness. It's not my kind of music really, but they can sing.

 
Nov 26, 2008
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Murrieta, CA
So this is super late, but relating to Gwenpool:

Her name is literally Gwen Poole. She's a normal human from a normal Earth universe where Marvel comics exist. She was pulled into 616 after the last big event. Her super-power is knowing she's in a comic universe, and, as long as she acts like a major hero/main character, she can't die or get seriously injured. When she goes to a tailor to get a costume made, tailor misunderstands her name (Gwen Poole = Gwenpool), so she gets the Deadpool-ish costume.

The first issue was surprisingly funny.