the most useless uses for useful powers

[Kadrok]

Attaining the tenth heightening so you an awaken using your dingy and stained whites in order to make them beautifully white and remove those stubborn stains.

You win the internet. This is so amazing not just because it is a boring use of a really useful power, but because it is so decadent. You'd have to get 49999 people to essentially turn over a portion of their soul to you, all because you were frustrated with the limitations of bleach.

[Shardlet]

Ok, so this one is based on Kurkistan's premise that it will be discovered that cadmium and bendalloy bubbles can be anchored to a selected position.  I also make the additional assumption that the person burning the metal can be outside of an existing bubble (whether they stepped out or formed the bubble with them excluded is largely irrelevant).  Also, consider the metal cost.  So here it is:

 

Putting up a bendalloy bubble around your stove or oven when cooking dinner so you daon't have to wait for it to cook.

 

Or,

 

Putting up a cadmium bubble around food that is almost to its expiration date to make it last.

 

Edit: nevermind it wouldn't work.

 

Quote

Q.Zas678- I’ve got a question kind of based off of the train fight. If you have a time bubble, and you were to make it while you are on the train, would the time bubble move with the train, or would it stay at the same spot relative to the planet?
A. Time bubbles don’t move, so it would pull you out of it, then it would vanish.
Q. (Mi’chelle)- If you were to pop up a time bubble and someone were to be stuck halfway in and halfway out, would they go splooch?
A. No, they would be in the time bubble. The time bubbles will move with the planet but not with the train.
Q. Yeah, I always thought it was relative to the person creating the time bubble.
A. No, you’ll see Wayne create one, then he’ll walk up to the perimeter, but if he leaves it, it ruins the time bubble.
Q. Zas678- So is that because it’s linked up to the spiritual gravitational bond between the planet?
A. Yes, and you’re digging very deeply into stuff that I now can’t answer. Time bubbles have some weirdness to them that I don’t want to dig in too deeply, but yes

 

Edited July 26, 2013 by Shardlet

[Observer]

I would suppose that considering that the Allomancers that told Vin that Pewter was the only metal that could be burned while sleeping/unconscious were the same ones who did not know about the presence of the other 7 metals, then there were a few gaps in their knowledge where they were unable to conduct safe experiments due to the presence of the Lord Ruler's Seekers.

 

Maybe more of the things we were told by them are untrue.

 

Well, I'm pretty sure that Spook just finished digesting the Tin while he was asleep. Pewter and other surival-enhancing metals would be the only sleep-burned ones.

[Kurkistan]

No, Spook burned Tin while sleeping--I surmise that this was due to his body's real need for it if it was to function "normally".

Edited July 26, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Duskshard]

I'm pretty sure it specifically says that normally pewter is the only metal that can be burned when you're unconscious.  

 

Vin was burning pewter and tin unconsciously when marsh first detected her messing with his emotions. 

[Chromium Compounder]

Vin was burning pewter and tin unconsciously when marsh first detected her messing with his emotions. 

 

Doing something unconsciously (without consciously making the decision to do so and without knowing you are doing so) isn't the same as doing it while unconscious (asleep).  

Edited July 26, 2013 by Chromium Compounder

[Chromium Compounder]

Brass Compounding to pop popcorn.

[Chromium Compounder]

Storing Spiritual Connection in Duralumin to get some me time. 

[Duskshard]

Doing something unconsciously (without consciously making the decision to do so and without knowing you are doing so) isn't the same as doing it while unconscious (asleep).  

 

How is it different? Whether you're awake or asleep your not consciously burning metals.  

[Chromium Compounder]

Using a Hemalurgic Spike to steal Feruchemical Nicrosil.

[Chromium Compounder]

How is it different? Whether you're awake or asleep your not consciously burning metals.  

 

 

I think it would make more sense if the word unconsciously were replaced with instinctively.  No one ever said you can't burn a metal without realizing it.  They said you can't do it in your sleep (apart from pewter).

 

Her body, or perhaps her spirit or her subconscious, knows what the metals are for, and she was using them with those purposes without realizing it.  This would explain why it's said that under normal circumstances only pewter can be burned in your sleep.  Your body or whatever knows that pewter will help you heal, so even if you're asleep it will use it to do so.  Other metals are essentially useless when you're asleep, whether you're injured or not.  

 

Perhaps if you were exceedingly tired and you had brass you might soothe people around you to leave you alone while you were asleep, but that's pretty complicated and abstract.  Burning pewter to heal is simple.

[Duskshard]

That's just semantics, if you're burning metals unconsciously, whether you're asleep or awake, it's the same thing as burning them instinctively, asleep or awake.

 

When you're awake you're likely to burn more metals instinctively because more metals are of use to you, but as you said, pewter is about the only metal to give you benefits while you sleep so it stands to reason that those who can burn it do so instinctively in their sleep.

 

While other metals that aren't of use while you sleep aren't burned. That doesn't mean that these other metals can't be burned instinctively while you sleep, just that there's no reason for you're body to burn them. For someone like Spook however who's body has become reliant on burning tin, it would be beneficial to him for his body to burn tin while he sleeps.   

[Shardlet]

When Vin soothed Marsh she did so intentionally.  She viewed it as using 'her luck', but she was intentionally burning her metals.  A change in vocabulary or a lack of understanding does not change the nature of the action.  However, none of this has anything to do with useless uses of useful powers.  I recommend beginning a new thread to discuss this further.

[Duskshard]

When Vin soothed Marsh she did so intentionally.  She viewed it as using 'her luck', but she was intentionally burning her metals.  A change in vocabulary or a lack of understanding does not change the nature of the action.  However, none of this has anything to do with useless uses of useful powers.  I recommend beginning a new thread to discuss this further.

 

I never said that she didn't, now did I. I said he detected her using tin and pewter instinctively,  

[Pechvarry]

Burning bronze to detect your bronze.

[Kurkistan]

You'll know if you're in a coppercloud, in that case.

[Observer]

Command breakdown a Lifeless and program it to do the chicken dance if somebody says a 36 syllable word.

[Chromium Compounder]

Burning bronze to detect your bronze.

Useless, but it wouldn't work.  Bronze only lets you detect pulses from other people.

[Windborne Sword]

Give a Lifeless a 2056 bit-esque encryption phrase as it's command phrase and than lose the note with the command phrase. 

Edited July 27, 2013 by Windborne Sword

[Pgibby8]

Burn atium to always know when slaps are coming in ERS (egyptian war, egyptian rat slap, egyptian rat screw, whatever you want to call it).

Hm... maybe a bit too useful, but considering how rare atium is...

[Observer]

Hehe, just burn the Atium all game long, even during your own turn when you know you won't get a slap. In fact, add duralumin to it to see how long the game will go!

[Pechvarry]

Health & fitness nut who compounds bendalloy for the challenge.

[Observer]

Compund fortune so you can draw the Queen of Hearts and the Ace of Spades at the perfect times during your conversations.

[Kurkistan]

Useless, but it wouldn't work.  Bronze only lets you detect pulses from other people.

 

I'm not so sure. What if Seekers don't hear their own pulses for the same reason that Tineyes aren't deafened by their own heartbeats: they just naturally filter it out? Just as I imagine a Tineye could hear themselves if they wanted to, I can't see why a Seeker shouldn't be able to detect the pulses they're sending out.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Pechvarry]

Use AonDor to teleport yourself somewhere AonDor doesn't work.

 

Oh wait...