site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   864 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 5, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Gorilla Tape's one of those things that seems like a marketing scheme -- I'm not very impressed by Gorilla Glue -- but it's genuinely worth keeping around. Some other fun options:

  • VHB tape. Doesn't have any of the nice benefits like easy reapplication or simple tear. It just sticks things together, and never lets go, and it's just freakishly strong and vibration-resistant. Temperature cycles, weather conditions, high winds, literal fire, doesn't care. I have bent quarter-inch aluminum plate trying to remove things that had been stuck on with (too much) VHB: outside of some careful solvent use, the only real safe way to remove the stuff is to saw it off, and it will leave residue.
  • Gaffers. Yes, it's hilariously expensive for glorified duct tape. If you absolutely, positively, need it to last less than six months on any smooth surface, and come off without leaving residue no matter how absorbent the surface material, there's no competitor.
  • Camper Mounting Tape. This is a fun one because it's useless for adhering two things together. What it does do is provide an easy, fast, seal. Waterproofing? Slap. Vibration dampening? Slap. Need a weak vacuum to hold overnight? Slap.
  • Self-fusing silicone tape. It can't replace every possible use for vinyl or pvc electrical tape -- it's very bad for sealing off actual connectors, or for small areas, or anywhere you can't wrap fully around the surface -- but >90% of situations, it's just so much more reliable for long-term application and several times more pleasant to actually work with. Zero residue, great UV and chemical resistance.

If you guys aren't familiar with Leukotape, it may interest you. Non-elastic medical tape that actually stays stuck to skin. Typical off-brand drugstore stuff sweats off in maybe a couple hours, for me, but I've had Leukotape stay on for five days (I realize this probably wasn't a good idea) and take out some hair when I pulled it off.

I need to look that up locally because I need to mark my skin for about a week at a time and uh, it turns out even permanent marker (the kind that doesn't smear off from surfaces) doesn't really cut it. Next day it was a blurry mess.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats