No girls allowed! *narf*

[Gravekeeper]

i honestly have taken to just frigging with those types of guys now. if i get asked random quiz question, i'll reply something asinine like "i dunno, it's blue and super shiny so i like it!" in the sarcastic toddler voice.

Just commit utter sacriledge like attributing features from a famous series to a completely different rival series. If they ask you about Star Trek, babble on about Star Wars characters. If they quiz you on Nintendo, gush about how awesome that blue hedgehog was.

They may have an aneurysm but at least they'll stop talking to you.

[lordlundar]

Just commit utter sacriledge like attributing features from a famous series to a completely different rival series. If they ask you about Star Trek, babble on about Star Wars characters. If they quiz you on Nintendo, gush about how awesome that blue hedgehog was.

They may have an aneurysm but at least they'll stop talking to you.

siead, if you do this I ask one favour: PLEASE record the results.

[Chromatix]

As a railway geek myself, I can assure you that freight wagons are BORING at the best of times. They tend to get the design changed in tiny ways, and repairs made almost at random, and custom builds made for different companies for very obscure and trivial reasons, and they suffer almost criminal neglect while in use - such that no two wagons are strictly identical past the first year of service. The most sensible thing you can do is to pick an era, a region and a type of traffic, then pick one or two types of wagon to be representative. If anyone has genuinely researched and memorised much detail beyond that, they probably need help.

I personally can't even follow the variety of locomotives in the US. I've basically settled on the idea that there are two main lines of freight locos in the modern era - the EMDs and the GECs - and they come in four- or six-axle varieties, but the details of any particular loco beyond that very broad classification will depend on it's age and a large number of other factors. And then there's the early diesels and the steam locos, which are a whole other kettle of fish due to the large number of individual railway companies at that time. Passenger locos are easier to identify (since there is very little passenger traffic in the US, there's only a few types), but still not actually very interesting. American railway traffic is extremely utilitarian.

However, ask me about the internal workings of pretty much any type of railway vehicle, and I could tell you a lot. It seriously doesn't matter whether a grab handle was changed to a different shape on some particular type of wagon - it still has couplings, bogies and brakes that work like any other wagon. All of the modern diesel locos work and behave in much the same way as each other as well. There are even many generalisations that you can make about all steam locos, even though individual types of those can be incredibly different from each other. And no, the simulation programs currently on the market do *not* do a good job of representing them.

[protege]

As a railway geek myself, I can assure you that freight wagons are BORING at the best of times.

They're just a means to an end--to efficiently move cargoes and passengers from one place to another. As such, they're designed to be utilitarian and functional

The most sensible thing you can do is to pick an era, a region and a type of traffic, then pick one or two types of wagon to be representative. If anyone has genuinely researched and memorised much detail beyond that, they probably need help.

Some guys really do enjoy the research, and run their model railroads like the real thing. They have schedules, rulebooks, switch lists, and other paperwork. They might find that interesting and fun. I, on the other hand, do not. I shuffle paper around all day at work...and I'll be *damned* if I'm going to do that at home. I might know what a few of the forms are called, and possibly even have a few blank ones in my collection, but that's about it. That's where my interest ends. Filling out forms just isn't that interesting for me.

I don't consider myself less of a model railroader or "train geek." That aspect of the hobby simply isn't as appealing as building things. There's enough to like about the hobby that there shouldn't be anyone looking down at people who don't do things exactly the same. Sorry, but if I wanted that attitude...I'd join a religion

[siead_lietrathua]

siead, if you do this I ask one favour: PLEASE record the results.

tempted, very much, but i just tend to avoid such jerkery now. we'll see, con coming up in june. lol.

[HYHYBT]

Just commit utter sacriledge like attributing features from a famous series to a completely different rival series. If they ask you about Star Trek, babble on about Star Wars characters. If they quiz you on Nintendo, gush about how awesome that blue hedgehog was.

They may have an aneurysm but at least they'll stop talking to you.

I saw this on Facebook today: a photo of Patrick Stewart, next to text reading "Use the Force, Harry! --Gandalf."

I tend to run on and on if someone happens to hit a subject I know deeply. Not because I'm trying to show off (far from it) but because I'm no good at making a broad statement that I know isn't really true but is close enough, and leaving it at that, even when making it more accurate means pouring forth way more than anyone wants to hear, including more holes that need filling, and so on. It's a useful reaction when arguing within the subject against others who also know it well, but outside, possibly as aggravating, to me at least, from the speaker's point of view as from the listener's.

[Chromatix]

I saw this on Facebook today: a photo of Patrick Stewart, next to text reading "Use the Force, Harry! --Gandalf."

Was it the facepalm photo? Or would that have spoiled the irony...

[Akasa]

Was it the facepalm photo? Or would that have spoiled the irony...

Not the facepalm photo. A photo of him sitting and smiling.

[KabeRinnaul]

Not the facepalm photo. A photo of him sitting and smiling.

It's part of a rather minor meme that aims to troll geeks by intentionally mixing up an image, quote, and source.

KYM entry.

[Andara Bledin]

Really though, I don't see why anyone cares. It makes you wonder when they complain about hot chicks showing up in scantily clad outfits though.

Sour grapes, mostly. Basically, the ones complaining are either pissy because "their hobby" is being "invaded" by "non nerds" and it's threatening to them because it takes away their self-awarded special nerd-snowflake status, or they're pissy because they're skeevy bastards who get turned down for being skeevy bastards (seriously, what kind of question is that to ask anybody?) and then blame the women for being bitches because it can't possibly be their own fault they can't get any action.

Also: I don't care if a woman is objectifying herself (last I checked, booth babes weren't slaves - they signed the contracts of their own free will), that gives nobody the right to assume consent not explicitly given.