# Latest **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1551 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 1552 --- ## [What's the Big Deal About English Common Law?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-english-common-law/931592)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-english-common-law/931592 "2021-02-11T08:36:47Z")
I live in Michigan. And in Michigan, the English Common Law system is the default law and rule system, for any problem or controversy that may come up. I think states that have this system in place, actually pass a law t… --- ## [Buying a house in Arizona](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-in-arizona/932353)
**Author:** [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-in-arizona/932353 "2021-02-11T05:28:01Z")
We vacationed in Sedona and liked the area. We are thinking of selling one of our houses in Wisconsin and buying a winter home in Arizona. One of the directors at the company l sold has a winter home outside of Phoenix … --- ## [Layout problems on mobile](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/layout-problems-on-mobile/931582)
**Author:** [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/layout-problems-on-mobile/931582 "2021-02-11T04:14:33Z")
Sometimes when I’m on mobile the site becomes extra wide and doesn’t fit on the screen any more. The main text in threads is usually still sized to fit the screen, but other elements like the profile dropdown disappear h… --- ## [SDMB Book Exchange possibilities?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-exchange-possibilities/931920)
**Author:** [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-exchange-possibilities/931920 "2021-02-11T02:36:31Z")
Is anyone up for an SDMB Book Exchange? What I propose would work much like the “Secret Santa” routine used for our SDMB Christmas Gift exchange (“Secret Librarian” :grin:). I would limit it to only books personally own… --- ## [I really do not like match dot com. and the like](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-really-do-not-like-match-dot-com-and-the-like/931926)
**Author:** [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-really-do-not-like-match-dot-com-and-the-like/931926 "2021-02-11T02:13:33Z")
One recent lonely night, I stupidly signed up for a “free” membership. So, if you’re one of the men in my area who have messaged me, liked me, checked me out, winked at me or otherwise indicated an interest, I can’t do … --- ## [Another bad science fiction trope](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bad-science-fiction-trope/931532)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 198\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bad-science-fiction-trope/931532 "2021-02-11T01:59:35Z")
For some reason writers seem to think a spaceship needs to have the engines on all the time to move in space. That bastion of scientific accuracy, the Avengers series, states so explicitly in “Avengers: End Game”. In the… --- ## [Eugene Goodman, do you know the name?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eugene-goodman-do-you-know-the-name/930542)
**Author:** [@KennyT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennyT)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eugene-goodman-do-you-know-the-name/930542 "2021-02-11T01:24:49Z")
Eugene Goodman, do you know the name? Eugene Goodman: know the name, honor the man. THis undercover brother steered a mob away from the Senate Chambers–he’s a hero! --- ## [Do You Use (Know) These Slang Expressions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-know-these-slang-expressions/931293)
**Author:** [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-know-these-slang-expressions/931293 "2021-02-11T00:48:13Z")
Just curious if anyone here ever used (or still uses) these few random expressions: 831 (I love you) assvice (unsolicited help) bardcore (poem based on Shakespeare) bitgod (back in the good old days) Clark Kent job (pa… --- ## [Layered lingerie?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/layered-lingerie/368916)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/layered-lingerie/368916 "2013-04-17T17:02:03Z")
This picture shows a young woman modeling some lingerie (no nudity but semi-NSFW). The thing is that she seems to be wearing three pairs of panties and two bras. Is this just something the photographer thought of for thi… --- ## [Guitar players, advise please](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-advise-please/932416)
**Author:** [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-advise-please/932416 "2021-02-10T23:25:45Z")
So, Vaderling got 4 guitar lessons from his mom(she paid for them). She had a crappy beat up old guitar with nylon strings that broke(don’t know the specifics) when she tried to tune it. I had a cheap, not beat up, 2n… --- ## [Closing thread with 300+ responses, with no explanation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-thread-with-300-responses-with-no-explanation/932538)
**Author:** [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-thread-with-300-responses-with-no-explanation/932538 "2021-02-10T22:38:45Z")
https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-transracial-what-is-the-essential-difference/932117/315 I’m sure there was some kind of reason, but wouldn’t it have been reasonable and courteous to provide an explanation … --- ## [HAL\_INITIALIZATION\_FAILED (Also, Activating Win10 on a New Motherboard)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-initialization-failed-also-activating-win10-on-a-new-motherboard/932486)
**Author:** [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hal-initialization-failed-also-activating-win10-on-a-new-motherboard/932486 "2021-02-10T22:11:16Z")
Right off the bat I acknowledge that the problem I’m describing may not be solvable short of new hardware. But nothing ventured, &c&c&c. Anyway … The system in question is somewhat elderly (an AMD FX processor on an ASU… --- ## [Tennis balls in major events](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-balls-in-major-events/932608)
**Author:** [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-balls-in-major-events/932608 "2021-02-10T22:04:37Z")
In major events, are tennis balls reused? For example, in the Australian Open, the ball boy/girl will give a player three balls; the player will reject one or two, and keep the rest. What happens to the “rejected” ball… --- ## [How can bacteria grow in water without food](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-bacteria-grow-in-water-without-food/932419)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-bacteria-grow-in-water-without-food/932419 "2021-02-10T21:22:41Z")
I’ve been reading that with a humidifier you have to watch for growth of bacteria and algae in the tank and add additives to stop the growth. But how exactly do bacteria and algae grow in a water tank with no food? Algae… --- ## [Pink Floyd: what are "swollen hand blues?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-floyd-what-are-swollen-hand-blues/692216)
**Author:** [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-floyd-what-are-swollen-hand-blues/692216 "2021-02-10T20:30:41Z")
In Pink Floyd’s album “The Wall,” the song “Nobody Home” contains the line, “got those…swollen hand blues…”. Later on, in “Comfortably Numb,” David Gilmour sings: “When I was a child, I had a fever…my hands felt just l… --- ## [How do we play a PS4 game without having to subscribe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-play-a-ps4-game-without-having-to-subscribe/932620)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-play-a-ps4-game-without-having-to-subscribe/932620 "2021-02-10T19:26:28Z")
We’ve got a PS4. Haven’t used it for a while. Fired it up today, and every time we try to play a game from a disc (Overwatch) it takes us to a page to subscribe to PS4 stuff. We just want to play the game that we’ve a… --- ## [Somebody got some explosives from the Marines](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563 "2021-02-10T19:20:10Z")
Not much info in the brief AP article: --- ## [Dog sex and personality](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-sex-and-personality/932351)
**Author:** [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-sex-and-personality/932351 "2021-02-10T19:16:02Z")
Tried to make it a poll…total pain in the ass on this site, not worth it. Straightforward question, really… Dog personalities and sex Your opinion: assuming they are neutered as young puppies, well before any potential … --- ## [Amazon.com Question \[On Low Stock Warnings\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-com-question-on-low-stock-warnings/932213)
**Author:** [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-com-question-on-low-stock-warnings/932213 "2021-02-10T19:06:26Z")
When searching for something on Amazon I sometimes see a message in red on the right-hand box that says something like “Only 2 left in stock - order soon”. While it’s possible Amazon knows how much of a particular item … --- ## [Favourite and most-hated social media platform](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-and-most-hated-social-media-platform/932533)
**Author:** [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-and-most-hated-social-media-platform/932533 "2021-02-10T18:12:00Z")
What do you like and hate about the various social media platforms? What do you use most and what do you ignore? I’m fairly addicted to Twitter - it can be pretty vicious, but I like being able to follow people in the m… --- ## [Why does Firefox take so long sometimes to re-load pages that have already been loaded?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-take-so-long-sometimes-to-re-load-pages-that-have-already-been-loaded/932472)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-take-so-long-sometimes-to-re-load-pages-that-have-already-been-loaded/932472 "2021-02-10T17:57:41Z")
This can’t be just me, right? Every now and then I’ll have a few tabs open on Firefox, and I’ll try switching between them, and Firefox will take its own sweet time in reloading one that I’ve already loaded. It seems t… --- ## [I Have A Wordpress.com Site - Do I Need A Wordpress.org Site?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-wordpress-com-site-do-i-need-a-wordpress-org-site/932561)
**Author:** [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-wordpress-com-site-do-i-need-a-wordpress-org-site/932561 "2021-02-10T16:26:12Z")
I would like to develop a wordpress site for my business. My business is blogging, photography, recipes, and selling a few items, so the focus is not on ecommerce, but more on the blogging. All the self-help guides I’m u… --- ## [Who installs porch step railings and tub grab handles?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-installs-porch-step-railings-and-tub-grab-handles/932508)
**Author:** [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-installs-porch-step-railings-and-tub-grab-handles/932508 "2021-02-10T16:23:39Z")
What kind of professional would I call to install a handrail on concrete front porch steps? What kind of professional would I call to install tub grab handles on tile? I have found lots of railings and lots of grab ha… --- ## [Beatles on Ed Sullivan 2/9/64](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-on-ed-sullivan-2-9-64/932546)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-on-ed-sullivan-2-9-64/932546 "2021-02-10T15:58:12Z")
I recall when they were on that summer because I remember going outside after the show and it was warm in NJ. Everyone thought it was a big thing but I was young so not really into music yet . That is a USA date Feb… --- ## [What did ancient people think of "the ancients?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-people-think-of-the-ancients/930910)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-people-think-of-the-ancients/930910 "2021-02-10T15:43:48Z")
To us, the Romans from 2,000 years ago are “the ancients.” Even people from the Middle Ages are ancient, too. But to people living in the year 100 B.C., what sort of opinion did they have about people from 2000 BC? Did … --- ## [Identify this failed electronic component for me](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-failed-electronic-component-for-me/932601)
**Author:** [@TokenRing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokenRing)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-failed-electronic-component-for-me/932601 "2021-02-10T15:42:08Z")
I have a failed network switch (Netgear4 port POE FWIW) that I fancy attempting to repair. I’ve gone to the trouble of disassembling the miscreant device and have located a component on the board with signs of catastroph… --- ## [Roth conversion question: it was never a "traditional" IRA, was always taxable](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roth-conversion-question-it-was-never-a-traditional-ira-was-always-taxable/932555)
**Author:** [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roth-conversion-question-it-was-never-a-traditional-ira-was-always-taxable/932555 "2021-02-10T15:18:48Z")
Mrs. ToKnow opened a retirement account in 1998 with $8,000 post-tax money. She’s been paying taxes on the dividends (when there were any). Last April, we decided to take advantage of the downturn to convert it to a Roth… --- ## [Talk me into (or out of) an Oculus Quest 2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-into-or-out-of-an-oculus-quest-2/925638)
**Author:** [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-into-or-out-of-an-oculus-quest-2/925638 "2021-02-10T14:49:19Z")
Earlier this week my father in law was visiting for dinner, and somehow we got on the subject of VR headsets. I have to admit that it’s not something I’ve given much thought to before, but after reading some reviews I’ve… --- ## [No more Aunt Jemima](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850 "2021-02-10T14:37:25Z")
I hope they keep Uncle Ben’s perverted rice :slight\_smile: --- ## [Do you exchange phone numbers with your neighbors?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-exchange-phone-numbers-with-your-neighbors/931991)
**Author:** [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-exchange-phone-numbers-with-your-neighbors/931991 "2021-02-10T13:57:42Z")
When I was a kid (late 50s/early 60s) I remember my mom had the numbers of lots of our neighbors and they had ours. It’s not that she’d spend lots of time on the phone with any of them, but if I was babysitting for one o… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1550) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1552)