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PaperclipPerfector  10hr ago (text post)   346 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026

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.

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I would just like to let everyone know that they're now releasing Babylon 5 for free on youtube.

The plan being for one episode to be release each week, to let everyone experience how it was during the first broadcast.

I figure people need the nostalgia bomb, to remember when we actually had good science fiction on television.

Scott is allowing people to take a spin with a paid AI:

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/ama-ask-machines-anything

I went and asked my own question, but didn't think the paid AI was significantly better than the free AI I'd also asked the same question to.

I'm reading the new Malazan Karsa book: No Life Forsaken and I noticed something strange. The foreword is dedicated to Youtube book streamers and Booktok explicitly. This feels oddly tacky and off-putting. I never really thought of Steven Erikson in that light. Anyone know if this is some new weird parasocial thing authors are doing? Or is Erikson a trailblazer.

Every time I see a section of a brick-and-mortar bookshop called "booktok" I cringe.

I've heard of video games that include a little notice at the start inviting the player to stream the game on Twitch, which strikes me as tacky in the same way.

Every time I see a section of a brick-and-mortar bookshop called "booktok" I cringe.

This would make me squirm. I'm now dreading going to my local trendy Brick-and-Mortar. Yeah the game thing feels the same way, it's almost like begging for attention. It would feel actually worse if they directly thanked certain game streamers on twitch by the handles

A bill passes unanimously through US congress, regarding an issuing of coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the US. While it authorizes the 2.50 USD coin only in commemorative quantities, it also directs a study to be conducted regarding it being issued in circulating quantities.

If the latter goes through, the most valuable circulating USD coin would be worth slightly ore than the most valuable circulating EUR coin (2 EUR=2.37 USD).

Weaklings ... make a coin with value e ...

I still like my idea for a five-dollar coin better, but this would be an improvement on that status quo if it also retires nickles.

Considering the utter flop of the $1 presidential coins, I don't see the use of a $2.50 coin.

the most valuable circulating USD coin

Pedantically, aren't Double Eagles still, in theory, legal tender? They're worth far more than their face value, so I doubt anyone uses them as "currency" per se.

Another definition of "circulating" could be "its numismatic value is equal to the face value" or "has no numismatic premium". This would then exclude your objection.

Text of bill

The Secretary may mint and issue—

(A) not more than 100,000 $2.50 numismatic coins, each of which shall weigh 4.1795 grams, have a diameter of 0.425 inches [smaller than a dime], and contain not less than 90 percent gold [i. e., around 1/8 ounce];

(B) not more than 300,000 $2.50 numismatic coins, each of which shall weigh 26.73 grams, have a diameter of 1.5 inches [same as the pre-1979 dollar coin], and contain not less than 90 percent silver [i. e., around 4/5 ounce]; and

(C) not more than 750,000 $2.50 numismatic coins, each of which shall weigh 11.34 grams, have a diameter of 1.205 inches, and be minted to the specifications for half-dollar coins.

The Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Director of the United States Mint[,] shall conduct a comprehensive study to evaluate the feasibility, practicality, and potential public benefits of minting and issuing a $2.50 coin for wide circulation in the United States.

Current coins for reference

Do you prefer apples or oranges? ;-)

IMO, apples taste slightly better, but oranges obviously are far more convenient to eat if you don't have access to a knife (e. g., at work).

  • Dimly glowing brain: Handwritten letters

  • Brightly glowing brain: Typed imageboard comments

  • Galaxy brain: Handwritten imageboard comments (warning: NSFW pop-up ads)

It appears that Death Stranding 2 includes an in-game quokka hologram.

Do you prefer apples or oranges?

I just really feel like these two things cannot be compared, but I'll try.

Apple in cold weather, Oranges in warm weather.

Apples for baking and cooking, Oranges for drink flavors/additions.

Apples for toddlers and teens, Oranges for babies and pre-teens.

Apples for solitary sports snacks, Oranges for team sport snacks.

Apples mashed for sauces, oranges (or preferably clementines) preserved in water.

Apples, preferably unpeeled but quartered.

Oranges are just a bigger mess.

How the hell do you eat an orange without a knife? It's not a bloody tangerine!

Do you not have thumbnails?

Even if I didn't cut them short, tearing an orange open is just too messy.

If you're referring to the peel, I normally peel oranges directly over something to hold the peel—a trash container or a saucer at home, or a lunchbag or a napkin away from home.

If you're referring to situations where the peel sticks so tightly to the flesh that the flesh breaks and spills juice everywhere when you try to remove the peel, in my personal experience such situations are vanishingly rare.

oranges obviously are far more convenient to eat if you don't have access to a knife

A knife? Why on earth do you need a knife to eat an apple?

Eat the whole damn thing, core and all! (You have my permission to throw away the stem)

Normally one doesn't, but it can happen. My front teeth are in pretty rough shape from a great deal of neglect in my 20s, such that my dentist has warned me it's possible the teeth could break off entirely if I'm not careful. I don't wish to play with fire, so I wouldn't bite into an apple at this point. But in general I agree with you that there's not a need to cut apples to eat them.

I virtually always prefer oranges. If I can cast my net wide here and include mandarin oranges in that definition, the best ones I've had were the tangerine cultivars in Jeju Island (hallabongs, cheonhyehyangs, etc), which were just sinfully sweet and almost honey-like, I haven't ever eaten an apple that can compare with that.

Also I have never seen someone talk about eating an apple in such an autistic way as this comment of yours.

speaking of autism, I can’t enjoy oranges because of how sticky they make my hands

You aren't supposed to puncture the slices and spill the juice all over your hands.

I have never seen someone talk about eating an apple in such an autistic way as this comment of yours.

To be fair, this is in the specific context of discussing the convenience of eating an apple with vs. without a knife. I hear that some people use the knife to carve off random pieces of the apple rather than laying it on a cutting board, and other people waste time on cutting the apple into eighths rather than just quarters.

It's not irrelevant to the discussion, I just thought the vibe of the comment was funny and is the kind of unnecessarily-detailed comment about relatively mundane matters I like finding in TheMotte.

I don't cut my apples either, FWIW, since apples oxidise stupidly quickly (even just leaving them for 2-5 minutes causes light browning) and biting into a full apple is just satisfying in the way the slices aren't.

IMO, apples taste slightly better

This is heresy! You should burn at stake, you filthy witch!

IMO this is going to depend heavily on the apple cultivar. Oranges beat Red Delicious and Granny Smith hands down. Kanzi and Envy apples are much better, although I might call it close compared to mandarin oranges.

Golden Delicious (non-bruised, so hard to find), Gala, and Honeycrisp are kings among fruit.

IMO the Cosmic Crisp has earned its place in the top tier now.

Don't try to spread your applestasy! It was agreed at the Council of Citrus that the taste of oranges is superior apples.

I've always preferred oranges, in just about any context.

I don't peel or cut apples, so oranges are far less convenient.

I don't peel or cut apples

But it's so annoying!

(1) Hold the apple with its north pole facing left. Eat the temperate and tropic zones from east to west (i. e., from top to bottom, since taking bites is easier with your top incisors than with your bottom incisors).

(2) Hold the apple with its north pole facing downward. Eat the arctic zone (again, using your top incisors). After each bite, you must rotate the apple about its axis.

(3) Hold the apple with its north pole facing upward. Eat the antarctic zone. After each bite, you must rotate the apple about its axis.

This takes forever, in comparison to just cutting the apple into four quarters with eleven cuts (including core removal) and then eating it in eight bites (maybe four if it's tiny or twelve if it's huge).

You can eat the arctic and antarctic zones from the side as well, though it might depend somewhat on the type of apple (Red Delicious would make this difficult due to the thick skin and mushy flesh, but there are plenty of firmer, thinner-skinned varieties).

I once knew a guy that would eat the whole apple, core and all. Lots of apple seeds might be a poisoning concern, but I hear the core is otherwise fine, if less tasty than the rest.

Friend of mine once caught me entirely flatfooted when he just out and ate a whole kiwi, unpeeled.

That's my understanding. I know some cyanide-bearing seeds get through mostly unabsorbed unless damaged (e.g. from putting them in a blender, or chewing them), but I don't know whether apple seeds are one of them and eating any amount of cyanide isn't a great idea.

I don't recall being on a timer when I want to eat an apple.

Get a load of this guy, he doesn't even time his apples. I bet the Fastest Dump leaderboard at his house is a joke too.

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