NerdyAarakocra

I was just reminded why I dislike romantasy novels.
No further context will be forthcoming.

That last one was a lie.

*checks notes*
I am currently using a series of convoluted tactics to access 17th Shard for the purpose procrastinating on reading House of Leaves, which I'm reading to put off finishing Gardens of the Moon, which I am reading to avoid finding a recipe for cheddar and scallion scones, which, were I looking that recipe up, I would be doing to avoid preparing for the event that I need to make the scones for.

ADHD go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

A friend trained an instance of GPT-2 on the ruleset from our Nomic game.

"Rule 1 is that takes priority over rule 1; rule 2 is not considered rule 3; and rule 4 is rule 5; but rule 7 is of general use, and rules 9 and 10 are in general circulation, as well as rule 9; the winner takes precedence over rules 10; rules 11 and 12 are rules 13 and 14; see rule 10 for more details; all rules are to be considered rules for the time being; in addition,"

Happy New Years Eve!

Or day, if you live in Australia!
Or any other area where it's past midnight when I post this!

Remember: just because our calendar system works pretty well doesn't mean that the Mayans didn't make a better one.

For those of you who don't know what Nomic is, here's a quick rundown of the main focus of a current rules debate:

Can I move the robber from Catan to my cousin? -> At what point is the spirit of a rule relevant to litigation? -> Do clauses that modify the rules that they are part of automatically operate with reflexive or universal force? -> Is there a meaningful difference between the word "give" and "move?" -> Does a rule saying that it governs one thing lose universal force with regards to other things? -> Is this game real? -> What is reality? -> Is this debate about weather the game is real or is it about the definition of reality?

2.5 hours and the creation of a new discord channel later and we haven't resolved a single one of 'em.

This is why I love Nomic.

Ookla has been seasoned!

The name on here is, of course, a The Three-Body Problem reference, for reasons that should be abundantly clear if you check my AMA. This is a blatant plug for said AMA. I need more reasons to actively engage in the community. Please help me.

On Discord, with its slightly longer username limit, I am now known as Ookla the Knight who says 'Ni!'
The reference should be clear. I am ignoring xkcd comic 16. You can't force me not to.

Sadly, some punny usernames (that was a reference that you may have gotten) that I intended to use were just too long. I'll save those for random jokes and puns in the future.

Please pretend that this sentence was a very profound and emotional conclusion.
Thanks!

Almost done with my compulsive binge read of Robert Jackson Bennett's entire body of work!

American Elsewhere deserves more love. It's the best horror novel I've read in a long while.

Shoutout to my friend who made Hadestown karaoke a requirement for voting negatively on a proposal in my game of Nomic.

The rule has since been expanded to include any stage musical, but even so.

Anyway, back to relative inactivity until Ookla season!

I have an AMA now!

I also have a Vigenere cipher.

Eoy ymd log scsjl ahz xize pepczqug olif? Tte eshmcaix mrseats ea ahzc kry, ihvqd gvu xpenrxy nznmhdt laie. Gnysoa fop frhtq-fbfymk tcms. Jhucu gdwblyr't eemlym adln wi pbseioza? Issj ahl wauyr uwb bmytr farps ppps. Ole xek if zeblrvpll tte bbhg yegivnnf pnfp wm tci SH.

Axrvudb, ahdw if a ethdel iio. M'm fisnvbc wmf isw.

Okay, who just upvoted a post I made in 2023?

As is tradition at this point, I missed my own Shardiversary!

Wahoo!

Unlike the previous two years, though, I'm not letting the occasion slip by without an SU. So, first things first: on one's Shardiversary it's customary to thank community members who have made a positive impression. The thing is, I can't just thank one or two users - this entire community has been a great space, with no exceptions. So, if you're reading this, thanks for being cool. Give yourself a pat on the back.

I joined the Shard slightly more than three years ago today, as the pandemic was wrapping up. It seems that new users are concentrated in waves here, but I didn't really join as part of one (the main 2022 wave happened later in the summer). As I've been here, the Shard has evolved considerably - new moderators, new users, new trends. But it still remains, hands down, the best online community I've joined.

I've also changed a lot over three years, both in the Real World and on here. I've got new hobbies, I write better, I'm less active shard-wise. But I still enjoy reading Cosmere, and I still intend to post here for a long time.

Again, if you've read this, if I've interacted with you at all, thank you. You help make this site such a great space.

Singing off four days after my Shardiversary,
Nerdy

Monty Python and the Holy Grail turns 50 today. On one thing I think we can all agree:

Well, before midnight, I should probably make a post for "Ancient Roman Guy got Stabbed Day."

Because of the infamy of Caesar's death and the date that it happened, many people (including myself, up until recently) make the mistake of assuming that the ides of any month is its 15th. That is not so.

The Romans measured dates by counting back (inclusively) from one of three special days in each month, those being the Kalends (the first) the Nones (the fifth*), and the Ides (the 13th*). Any date that happened to fall on one of those days would simply be rendered as that day, any date that fell directly before would be "predie" whatever the relevant day, and other dates would be signified by the phrase "ante diem" (before the day). February 11th of this year, for example, would be "Ante Diem III Ides Ian. MMDCCLVIII AUC. AUC stands for "Ab Urbe Condita," meaning "From the founding of the city." This could be abbreviated as a. d. III ids. ian, plus all of the annoying Roman Numerals for the year.

"But wait!" I hear you crying. "Why is today the Ides, if it falls on the 13th day of each month?" Well, before the Roman calendar was reformed, months had irregular lengths and it didn't make sense to have regular days to count from. As such, the Ides and Nones of March, July, October, and May fall two days later than they do in other months, coming on the 15th and 7th respectively.

Was that a huge tangent? Yes! Did it have anything to do with the life or death of Caesar? Not really! Do I care? No! I am far too tired!

Currently reading Legion. I have to start using the phrase "Infinite batmans" now.

Playing monogreen devotion on MTGA with Wicked playing on our TV. The dean of sorcery just walked in and my first thought is "Is that Taravangian or something?"

I may have a problem.

Follow for the pfp alone.

Just picked up Wind and Truth from my local bookstore.

*Deep inhale* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

NerdyAarakocra is I, and I is also Ookla the Pretender until Koloss Head-Munching Day.

Fifteen is Seven. Seven is Five. Five is Four. Four is cosmic.

---

Four is the "Cosmic Number," as it is the only number which has a letter count equal to its value. Because of this, if you take a number, count its letters, and repeat, you will eventually get to four, the only Cosmic Number.

That is, if you don't count like a deranged mathematician tormented by the Number Devil.

---

The following numbers have all been found by myself and my cousin to be able to be expressed in some manner as to be Cosmic Numbers (I loved typing that). Try to figure out how to make each of them Cosmic. They're arranged from easiest to hardest. Bonus points if you find a new Cosmic Number.

4

15

17

16 (and it's not by going through some Cosmere rabbit hole, nice try though)

8

20

30

21

29

37

201

---

Happy hunting!

I will be off the Shard for a week as of this Sunday, hopefully being back in early July.

This is relevant to nobody, but I thought some of you might want to know.

While Vin commits homicidal hat tricks, Wayne commits normal hat tricks.

Huh.

I just missed my second Shardiversary in a row.

Just 15 more to go, I guess.

O yjoml yjsy yjod od s gim voajrt. Fp upi?

Happy decrypting!

Who just upvoted a GalaxyQuest reference I made on a year-old Fadran SU?

I'm not mad, I just want to know who did it.

I just shoved my copy of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter in the face of a non-sanderfan friend today and told them to read it.

Wish me luck!