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PaperclipPerfector  12hr ago (text post)   564 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 24, 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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  • Websites listing fan conventions: 1 (including a hidden list of adults-only fan conventions), 2 (apparently poorly translated from French)

  • Websites listing professional conferences: 1, 2, 3

Do you think anybody would attend a meetup on the topic of nonconsensual editing? (This is approximately half a joke.)

My vomit-inducing custom house is approximately three-fourths complete.

  • Photograph 1: Apparently, in plumbing the modern practice is to divvy up all the water pipes through a "manifold" (like a circuit-breaker box), which looks pretty cool.

  • Photograph 2: Spray-foam insulation

  • Photograph 3: Behold! A boring beige box!

Which variations of the cylindrical equal-area projection are your favorite?

I am inclined to pick Behrmann (standard parallels ±30 °, so that exactly half of the map's area is stretched vertically and half is squashed vertically; aspect ratio ∼2.4) and Smyth/Craster (aspect ratio 2∶1; standard parallels ∼±37 °).

Which variations of the cylindrical equal-area projection are your favorite?

None, all of them should be illegal and punishable by getting run over by a steamroller.

That's a rather harsh response. What are your preferred map projections, then? (They had better not be compromise projections.)

None! None! Map projections are madness! Use satellite imagery, or globes, or just go outside and look at the world with your own eyes! Maps should not attempt to show two sides of a sphere at once! It's unnatural!

I'll pencil you down as "myriahedral projection" (gnomonic onto a zillion-faced polyhedron).

Yeah OK, I can live with that. Not actually make meaningful use of it, but at least it doesn't require the malfeasant who drew the map to be struck by lightning.

Still, I'd prefer just taking that projection and wrap it back around a sphere. Pardon, around a polyhedron.

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