Thursday Overnight Open Thread - October 30, 2025 [Doof]

What kind of mischief are you up to tonight?

Howdy Hordelings! The "mischief night" ONT is here. Or "moving night" as we called it in Charm City when I was growing up. Did you partake of Halloween-eve pranks in your neck of the woods back in the day? Do kids even do that stuff anymore? Our big things were soaping car windows, throwing eggs at houses, and the TP stuff like in the photo above. What about you?

Anyway - content below if you're into that sort of thing. Open thread otherwise.

Climate Doomsday Averted?

I think JackStraw hit the nail on the head earlier today:

>>It's quite amusing on X to see all the True Believers jumpiing out with even more wailing and catastrophism than ever before, they don't know what else to do.

I'm watching to see what Bill Gates, high priest of the climate hoax, does next. After decades of hysterical claims that we're all gonna die to drop a comment like "Ya know, maybe the climate stuff isn't so bad after all" is pretty wild.

And if Gates is changing course it's because he knows the grift is going belly up and it's time to move to the next one. I'm watching to see his next one.
Posted by: JackStraw at October 30, 2025 11:18 AM (viF8m)

Alinsky Tactic!

Cis-American -- LOVE it!!

Language is Strange

Last night's Cafe featured discussion about the word "cool" and how it has stayed in usage for decades while others haven't.

It's funny how long the word "cool" has been popular. Sixty years or more? Groovy, bitchin', rad, haven't lasted like that.

Posted by: Uncool at Any Speed at October 29, 2025 08:58 PM (oftw2)

Because those words weren't cool.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 29, 2025 09:00 PM (snZF9)

That got me thinking about words and phrases that have perplexed me for quite a while. Some of these I've mentioned in comments here at the HQ over the years.

Today's Morning Report presented an opportunity:

The 3 D's are always on the lookout. Ya never know when one or more of us is lurking.
Frankly though - most of the time we are underwhelmed. Can you at least TRY to whelm us occasionally?
Posted by: Doof at October 30, 2025 09:26 AM (QMAsf)
-----------------

Look, lets get real, we've either not had enough coffee or just getting up from a nap. We're hardly to blame for our lack of whelm.
Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (UJMvS) at October 30, 2025 09:27 AM (UJMvS)

I love that from Blake - "lack of whelm".

Then Common Tater joined in and mentioned another one that I wonder about often:

Now that I think about it, I don’t want to be over or under whelmed.

Just whelmed would be fine, thanks. Similarly, things by definition should ordinarily or properly be in “whack”, as opposed to being “out” of whack. Whack is good, though not whacked out. Like cat ladies, for example.
Posted by: Common Tater at October 30, 2025 09:30 AM (6sbxp)

Exactly! What is the opposite of "out of whack"?? "In whack"? Or just "whack"? But then what about wickety, wickety, whack?

Some others...
If one can be "discombobulated", can they be "combobulated"? Or just "bobulated"?

Recovering from an illness or medical procedure is called "recuperating". But when does one "cuperate" in the first place?

Like "whelming", I like to say that something that is OK, satisfactory, or average is "rated". Not "overrated" or "underrated" - just "rated".

Really looking for answers here, Hordelings! Also - What other ones come to mind for you?

New Version of a Brick Phone!

OK, it's just a case - but you get the point.

This Incovenient 6-Pound Phone Case Could Curb Your Smartphone Addiction

A neuroscience startup has created a 6-pound smartphone case that is so heavy and cumbersome to use that it should limit most people’s screentime by around half.

Smartphone cases are usually light and slick by design, but Matter Neuroscience decided to go the opposite way, creating perhaps the heaviest and chunkiest phone case money can buy. There was a purpose to their madness, however, as they were trying their best to create the most inconvenient smartphone case in order to make the handheld as difficult to use as possible. The stainless steel phone case weighs a whopping 6 pounds (2.7 kg), heavier than a 16-inch MacBook Pro laptop, and consists of two separate pieces that screw together around the phone.

Check out the whole thing. And if you prolific commenters drop off the "wall of shame" soon, we'll know you acquired one of these new gizmos!

DJ Doof - Random Stuff Edition

Tonight's ONT brought to you by extreme laziness

posted by Open Blogger at 09:51 PM

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