95 thoughts on “May 16, 2018: Bright”

1. Something seems to be going on with setting up posts this morning. I cannot schedule posts and I cannot get the tags to work. I also cannot use the "text" button to work.

   1. I was having some issue on my phone this morning too.

   2. Unusual. I did some plugin updates last night, but not WordPress. I was able to edit your post fine this morning. I don't know when joe created the Cup.

      1. This morning. Nothing major but the featured image module is completely different. Can't find a way to search for images.

         1. Okay, I see the search field on a computer now but... yeah, that's really clunky.

         2. Switching to mobile view and I don't see any difference yet. I'll need to look at it on my phone. I can't figure out what would have changed that much.

      2. Still can't get the tags to work and still can't schedule things.

         1. I tried too. Same thing.

         2. Are the panels there and they don't stick when updating the post? Or do you not have the option at all?

            1. When I tried, the New Post screen looks all the same, but nothing happens when you try to click the options JA metnioned (example: type in a tag, click "Add", but the text stays in the field and doesn't move to the tags).

               1. Exactly.

               2. Wondering if this is browser-related because I can't reproduce on Firefox. I'll continue looking into it.

                  1. I'm Chromin' (both computer and phone). Dunno about the padre.

                     1. Hmm, works on Firefox. Also, the "Set featured image" link goes to the right module. I've never seen that weird one I was sent to before.

                     2. I was on Chrome as well. I'll try something else after a while this morning.

                        1. Seems to work fine in IE, so you are right (again!).

2. So I naturally heard “Yanny,” but when I asked my ear to find “Laurel” it did that as well. So that’s settled.

   1. I tried to hear "Laurel" but can't yet.

      1. It’s definitely fainter, and I can’t hear it without Yanny trying to drown it out.

         1. I can't hear Yanny at all, no matter how hard I try.

            1. Same here.

            2. Yes. At different speeds and everything.
               At first I thought it was a trick of L/R speakers, so I played with just listening to one or the other.
               I could hear it as "Yaura", "Laura", "Yorrel", "Lauren", "Gorral" (with a really soft /g/). I can't hear an /n/ in the middle or an /i:/ at the end.

               With bird ID being my current hobby, I hear "Loral", which I pronounce differently than "Laurel". More "O".
               Which reminds me of a joke from the "Detectorists" Christmas special:

               Hello? Tony?
               Yep, hello! ... With an I.
               Pardon?
               It's Toni with an I. You were saying it with a Y.
               I wasn't!

               So "You were saying it with a [...]" is part of my dad/husband witticisms now.

               1. Oooh, that's my kind of joke. Many years ago, a friend called when I was out, and Mr. NaCl made a note for me: "Kari called."

                  Took me about five minutes to figure out it was one of my oldest friends . . . Carrie.

                  1. Was he watching a lot of MythBusters before this call?

                     1. Not that I'm aware of. Is there an episode I should know about?

                        1. One of the eponymous mythbusters is, in fact, named Kari.

                        2. All of them?

                  2. This happens to me. Damn my memory for spelling!

               2. "My girlfriend is named Lynn. She spells her name 'Lynn'. My old girlfriend's name is Lyn, too, but she spells it 'Lyn'. Every now and then I screw up, I call my new girlfriend by my old girlfriend's name, and she can tell because I don't say 'n' as long."

                  -Mitch Hedburg

                  1. One of his best.

            3. Same. And my job is to edit transcriptions of audio.

   2. "Laurel" all the way, although I'm convinced that the speakers one uses plays a part in it.

      1. I read elsewhere people suspected age. That could tie into speakers if hearing the higher frequencies leads one to hear "Yanny". Poor speakers would attenuate that into "Laurel".

         1. I recommend this: https://twitter.com/xxv/status/996462632998711297

            1. "Yanny" for both of the down links but easily "Laurel" for the three up links. Further in the thread is an article from a linguist.

            2. It's frequencies: https://twitter.com/MBoffin/status/996562598815416321

               1. I have a really good sense of smell, but for ears instead, and I can only hear Yanny.

      2. It is all about age. The older you get, the less you can hear the higher frequencies probably because membranes in the ear just aren't as flexible. I've heard of places using a loud high-pitched tone to keep kids and animals away that adults don't hear.

         1. It's the hairs being damaged. People who have attended too many concerts without hearing protection have the same problem.

            1. The 15 year old and I hear Laurel. The 11 year old and wife hear Yanny.

   3. Yep, same here. That was a fun ten seconds.

   4. I wonder, too, if there’s a correlation between audiophiles and the ability to hear both? I wish I could stop thinking about this. Hess, did you find both as well?

3. The FS1 announcers were giddy about that bunt last night.

4. Here's a survey for today:

   What level of criminal charge do you think someone should get for failing to return materials checked out from a library? How much jail time/what size of fine if convicted?(Actual value of replacing the materials: ~$650).

   'Fact Pattern 1	SelectShow
   Many of the materials were checked out by the individual's children.

   'Fact Pattern 2'	SelectShow
   The Landlord threw out the materials after making the determination that the apartment was abandoned, so it is physically impossible to return them.

   'Fact Pattern 3'	SelectShow
   The person left the apartment because they were fleeing domestic violence.

   I am genuinely curious about opinions on this.

   1. Spoiler	SelectShow
      Zero jail time. Fine would be [0, $650], but undecided on specifics.

   2. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
      0 jail time, 0 fine outside of working with the individual to pay back whatever the library charges for lost materials.

   3. Before looking at the circumstances	SelectShow
      $650 fine, loss of library privileges

      After	SelectShow
      $650 fine -- http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/09/read-reward-kids-read-books-to-pay-off-fines/

   4. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
      Zero jail, and a “fine” equal to the amount due, which then goes directly to the library, with a lot of leeway to set up a payment plan. Also, not sure how this would actually work, but have this incident noted in some kind of record, in case of future issues, but not in any sort of way that would impede the defendant from future employment, credit rating, etc.

      1. Follow up question for those who have answered:

         Would you be in agreement with a civil penalty and not a criminal one, or do you think the criminal one is important?

         1. HANK: Boomhauer, I didn't understand a word you just said. Damn legalese.

         2. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
            A criminal penalty seems to be incongruent with the purpose of a justice system. Surely the embarrassment and/or time suck of this whole process is enough of a deterrent without adding on something that's going to follow them around their whole life. I'd be in favor of no formal civil penalty either, and just have the library restrict use of library services until the person is on a payment plan.

            1. 'Spoiler'

               SelectShow

               I agree — definitely no criminal penalty for the borrower, and a strong preference for no formal civil penalty, either. Presumably the library is free to restrict the borrowing privileges until a fine is paid without the court’s approval. I’d actually prefer the borrower not be penalized by the library either, but I don’t know if that’s within the court’s purview. As for the landlord, a civil penalty seems appropriate as the landlord’s destruction of the borrowed materials was not made under duress.

         3. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
            At most a civil penalty; I see no need or benefit to a criminal one. Before reading the specific circumstances, I would have leaned toward a small additional criminal penalty as an additional disincentive, but given the specifics, it does not seem warranted to me.

   5. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
      no fine, no conviction, possible civil penalty as long as "defendant" had right to argue to allocate portion to both abuser and landlord

      1. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
         I knew I liked you.

         1. Is the library pushing this prosecution?

            1. Not sure if it's them too, but I know the prosecutor is a passionate supporter of the library. I'll say that I have otherwise found her to be a good and reasonable prosecutor, so that's part of why I'm so curious. It just strikes me as odd.

   6. 'Spoiler'

      SelectShow

      If the library materials were clearly marked, why is the landlord not being held liable for destruction of the library’s property? For the borrower: No jail time, and a fine up to, but not exceeding, the assessed value of the materials, with a flexible payment plan, a prohibition on referral to collections, and all fine money going to the library. The payment of this fine is stayed until the domestic violence allegation can substantiated. The court will refer the borrower to social services for support for victims of domestic violence. The court will refer the allegation of domestic violence to the prosecutor’s office and the appropriate police agency for investigation. If a judgement against the alleged abuser is reached, the fine is assessed to that individual. If no verdict is reached, the borrower will then pay the fine. For the landlord: No jail time, and a fine up to, but not exceeding, the assed value of the materials (which goes to the library), plus all court costs. If the fine is not paid to the clerk following the judgment (or payment arranged for in a plan), the court reserves the right to place a judgment lien against the rented property where the library materials had been found by the landlord.

      1. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
         Abuser has already been convicted. Not sure amending the sentence is a possibility (reasonably sure it's not). Ostensibly, the landlord followed all state laws regarding abandoned property. It is not clear to me how the determination of abandonment was made, but I've worked with this landlord in the past and they seem reasonable. Just bad circumstances all around.

         1. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
            How did the landlord follow state laws regarding abandoned property, given that materials borrowed from the library were the property of the library district and not the tenant?

            1. No rules requiring them to inventory and assess what was left behind and/or who it belonged to. That would be a nightmare for landlords.

               1. As a former landlord, I concur on that.
                  Big pile of stuff, left longer than required, no request to be able to pick it up: throw it out. If the books were on a nice pile, that's one thing, but having children that get books from the library, I doubt they were in a separate place where their status was clear. Might have been under couch cushions.
                  Our last renters had some stuff that may have belonged to her deceased husband's employer (a roofer).

   7. 'Spoiler'

      SelectShow

      If you've established that there was no malicious intent and have evidence to corroborate the domestic violence, I would say fines equivalent to if the defendant had returned the materials on the day she fled the apartment up to the cost of replacing the materials. Any other costs or jail time should be added to the guy she was fleeing if he gets convicted since the property damage happened during or because of a crime being committed.

   8. Is there an option of guilty with a suspended sentence, in recognition of the extenuating circumstances?

      1. I see no reason why she should plead guilty to a criminal charge in any form.

5. Castro is out for the rest of the season. If the Twins manage to get their act together and vault back into serious contention, I wonder how they’ll address this.

   1. Because of the crappiness of the AL Central (1/2 game back!!!!!11!!1!), they may want to address it now.

   2. inb4 we start missing Henry Blanco.

      1. Too late. I was already missing him.

   3. No need to address it. We have Corky Miller Bobby Wilson!

   4. They appear to distrust Garver's glove - considering that in 127 innings at catcher, he's allowed 8 wild pitches and 2 passed balls* - I can't say that I blame them.

      But obviously, Bobby Wilson isn't an option. Perhaps a trade is necessary?

      * prorates out to about 12.5 wild pitches per 200 innings, so basically, he's making our pitchers all into league leaders in wild pitches

   5. Prince Fielder would be out there playing.

   6. I'm really disappointed that no one has yet brought up that Pansy Mauer should nutt up and get back behind the plat and finally earn some of his $$$ that we paid him!!1!11!

   7. The Twins are a half-game back. How is that not serious contention?

      1. They're 18-20. They're in contention so long as Cleveland keeps sucking too.

         1. heh.

   8. I expect Jonathan Lucroy to be the Twins' main target.

      1. I was sort of thinking the same thing. He's having a nice bounce back year.

      2. He's a defensive liability too, isn't he?

         1. It's a mystery.

6. On the Twins' pregame show, they're trying to blame Lance Lynn's struggles on missing part of spring training. Sorry, guys, but it's the middle of May now. That dog won't hunt.

   1. Kinda looks like we have Mediocre Lynn on the mound today. Oh, wait, that's the only one we have.

   2. That dog won’t hunt.

      Particularly since MLBPA held its own spring training for unsigned free agents this year.

   3. I can see the argument that he got off to a bad start because of short spring training and then has been pressing because he's on a new team for the first time, etc., but a veteran MLB pitcher needs to be able to make adjustments before now. Smalley was a hitter and could tell what the pitcher was doing wrong, and it is a very common problem. It really won't matter once Santana returns. He's not going to the bullpen and Lynn is the only logical pitcher right now to lose his spot and he's making it an easy decision for the Twins. And really, it doesn't matter why he's struggling, he needs to stop it and make an adjustment.

7. Sleep update: today was a travel day (flight). Sleep total: 4 Hr 35 Min. I can pretty much bank on that. When I"m traveling the next day, I don't sleep well. I worked in the yard for an hour and a half last night and burned 1589 calories doing it. So, I had exercise, no caffeine after about 10 AM, had a beer (one!) before bed. Slept four and a half hours. Oy vey.

8. Long story short, I have an extra PS4 code for Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy. Was given the code by a rep but I already own the game. My brother does too, soooo...if you want it, say so here and I'll message you.

   1. Dang, I saw this on the sidebar and stopped reading at "I have an extra PS4", clicked on it to find out that wasn't the case.

   2. I'm sure my boys would like to try it. You can send it to my yahoo email.

      1. Done

         1. Thanks!

   3. I'm an idiot. We have a PS3, not a PS4. Will it still work?

      1. Sorry, it won’t. Assuming you haven’t redeemed, I’ll let someone else grab it.

         1. No. I haven't. Go ahead. Thanks anyways.

9. Bartolo Colon just took a line drive right in the stomach and it basically looked like this: pic.twitter.com/n0NmGqAu79

   — Graham K (@gmk7791) May 16, 2018

   1. Poor guy.

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