# Latest **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=331&state=tracking [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 332 --- ## [Patrick O'Brian fans: Did you like the movie "Master and Commander"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-obrian-fans-did-you-like-the-movie-master-and-commander/348922)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-obrian-fans-did-you-like-the-movie-master-and-commander/348922 "2025-04-22T19:49:44Z")
Why or why not? And do you think they’ll make another? (I hear the first didn’t exactly rule the box office). I enjoyed the movie very much, having read none of the books before. Since then, I’ve read “HMS Surprise” … --- ## [A bizarrely random death…](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bizarrely-random-death/1017195)
**Author:** [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Replies:** 96\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bizarrely-random-death/1017195 "2025-04-22T19:49:34Z")
When your time is up, I suppose it’s your time to exit this world. This happened yesterday near San Francisco. A driver was killed on I-680 when he was struck by a tire near Stone Valley Road in Alamo. The tire came off… --- ## [These “tells” that give away knockoff merchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-tells-that-give-away-knockoff-merchandise/1014850)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 154\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-tells-that-give-away-knockoff-merchandise/1014850 "2025-04-22T18:19:30Z")
I’m to understand that there are these signs that a designer product, such as a Gucci bag or a Rolex watch or Air Jordans or what have you, is a knockoff. Perhaps the knockoff second hand on your fake Rolex stops and sta… --- ## [ISP won't provide data usage stats?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isp-wont-provide-data-usage-stats/1017317)
**Author:** [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isp-wont-provide-data-usage-stats/1017317 "2025-04-22T18:17:22Z")
I’m contemplating moving to a new ISP but there’s a catch. They have a data cap. Exceed that cap and they slow you down, like WAY down. My current ISP has no data cap that I’m aware of so I never needed to know how mu… --- ## [How much trouble is New Zealand in? Will fleeing Americans save them?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-trouble-is-new-zealand-in-will-fleeing-americans-save-them/1017237)
**Author:** [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-trouble-is-new-zealand-in-will-fleeing-americans-save-them/1017237 "2025-04-22T18:13:46Z")
Listened to a podcast today discussing their net outflow of people, in particular a brain drain. Lots to Australia but not only. Plus their birth rate is low and dropping:1.56. That’s not a great combination. I understa… --- ## [The current second Trump administration: a compendium of non-horrors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-non-horrors/1017338)
**Author:** [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-non-horrors/1017338 "2025-04-22T17:15:41Z")
Not sure where to put this, so I made a new thread. DHS Secretary Noem’s purse stolen at Easter dinner with family in D.C. So far, just a dog bites man non-story. But see what I’m bolding: What? How could they miss … --- ## [Flearthers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flearthers/1017216)
**Author:** [@XSIV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XSIV)\ **Replies:** 99\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flearthers/1017216 "2025-04-22T16:27:52Z")
Greetings, first time poster here and I haven’t formally introduced myself to the community if there is a specific place to do so because I am in a rush to get this particular issue posted while it’s fresh in my memory. … --- ## [The Toadies in the Cabinet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-toadies-in-the-cabinet/1017225)
**Author:** [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-toadies-in-the-cabinet/1017225 "2025-04-22T16:16:27Z")
Continuing the discussion from The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues: There is a question that I have been considering for some time now, and I have not come with answers that satisfy me. By the descript… --- ## [Feature in Need of Refinement: # new posts bubble](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feature-in-need-of-refinement-new-posts-bubble/1017365)
**Author:** [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feature-in-need-of-refinement-new-posts-bubble/1017365 "2025-04-22T15:19:58Z")
I bring up threads I’ve posted to previously. Viewing them in a list, I right-click any that I want to revisit and see where the conversation has gone since last peek. After I do that, the thread in list view shows a b… --- ## [NJ Senator Menendez indicted on multiple corruption charges {2023-09-22} - Convicted on all counts on July 16, 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544)
**Author:** [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Replies:** 385\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544 "2025-04-22T13:26:54Z")
He has been indicted in the past and escaped due to a hung jury. Some of his charges: The three-count indictment, which also charges the senator’s wife and three New Jersey businessmen, accuses him of using his offici… --- ## [Help me not get so upset about this celeb meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-get-so-upset-about-this-celeb-meltdown/1017204)
**Author:** [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-get-so-upset-about-this-celeb-meltdown/1017204 "2025-04-22T13:09:40Z")
Okay, you may have heard about Haley Joel Osment getting arrested for being obnoxiously drunk. And having cocaine on him. And making an anti-Semitic slur. Gah. I hope that’s all of it; it’s just been unfolding for the p… --- ## [Companion (2025 Movie)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-2025-movie/1017359)
**Author:** [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-2025-movie/1017359 "2025-04-22T13:08:15Z")
I had heard vaguely good things about this movie that came out earlier this year and noticed it was on Max so I watched. It was good. It stars Jack Quaid and is about a weekend he and his girlfriend spend with a group of… --- ## [Cheating on the Texas Lottery](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheating-on-the-texas-lottery/1017255)
**Author:** [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Replies:** 81\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheating-on-the-texas-lottery/1017255 "2025-04-22T10:56:42Z")
Today’s New York Times has a story of how a cabal from Europe managed to win the Texas lottery. -=Link=- In 2023 Colossus Bets from Europe, aided an American firm bought 26 million one-dollar tickets covering most or pe… --- ## [OK, planning to get a puppy (black lab)-do's and don'ts?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-planning-to-get-a-puppy-black-lab-dos-and-donts/1016869)
**Author:** [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-planning-to-get-a-puppy-black-lab-dos-and-donts/1016869 "2025-04-22T09:27:47Z")
I had a black lab for 11 years, Dickens (1985-1996), but after that I moved into an apartment in a city \[Jacksonville\] which as far as wide open public spaces are concerned is pretty lacking. \[When I had my dog he could … --- ## [Odd new recent behavior of my browser on this version of Discourse](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-new-recent-behavior-of-my-browser-on-this-version-of-discourse/1017333)
**Author:** [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-new-recent-behavior-of-my-browser-on-this-version-of-discourse/1017333 "2025-04-22T04:35:41Z")
The sequence doesn’t happen all that often, so the first couple of times I brushed it off as a fluke. now it’s clearly happening every time. To wit: if someone replies to one of my posts while I’m still on the Board, I … --- ## [Remember this 1960’s drivers’ safety PSA?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-this-1960-s-drivers-safety-psa/942184)
**Author:** [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-this-1960-s-drivers-safety-psa/942184 "2025-04-22T04:21:35Z")
POV through the windshield driving on a highway: Voiceover “Guess who (man’s name/woman’s name ran into the other day?” -Head-on collision into another car with two passengers- “(different man’s name/woman’s name)” I… --- ## [EXCEL Help once again. Updating a list to include data from each cell in a hyperlink](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-once-again-updating-a-list-to-include-data-from-each-cell-in-a-hyperlink/1017344)
**Author:** [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-once-again-updating-a-list-to-include-data-from-each-cell-in-a-hyperlink/1017344 "2025-04-22T04:13:35Z")
What’s the fastest way to do this? Bonus points if it can be done without a script. I have a list in Column A. Suppose each cell in that column has a random 5 digit number. In Column B, I’d like to have a hyperlink stri… --- ## [Is debt collection company a good business model?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-debt-collection-company-a-good-business-model/1016486)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-debt-collection-company-a-good-business-model/1016486 "2025-04-22T00:40:28Z")
In my own limited experience people who have defaulted on a loan or credit card are not in the slightest bit inclined to accept an offer from a collection company for a smaller amount. They walked away from one company a… --- ## [Rilchiam, the only sister \*ohne kinder\*](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rilchiam-the-only-sister-ohne-kinder/1017228)
**Author:** [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rilchiam-the-only-sister-ohne-kinder/1017228 "2025-04-22T00:27:21Z")
Thread title is from Fear of Flying. Isadora is the second of four daughters. All the others have multiple children, and she is “the only sister ohne kinder”. Without children, as if you didn’t know. I’m the third of thr… --- ## [What's the deal with these "super telescopes" one sees ads for?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-these-super-telescopes-one-sees-ads-for/1017330)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-these-super-telescopes-one-sees-ads-for/1017330 "2025-04-21T22:57:32Z")
If you’ve seen these you know what I mean: a handheld telescope/monocular that can zoom in on someone on a mountaintop fifteen miles away. Since I presume that a workaround for the basic laws of optics hasn’t been devise… --- ## [Jewish Dopers - what do you think of gilgul (reincarnation)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-dopers-what-do-you-think-of-gilgul-reincarnation/1017157)
**Author:** [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-dopers-what-do-you-think-of-gilgul-reincarnation/1017157 "2025-04-21T22:46:22Z")
As some of you might know from my MPSIMS thread, I’ve taken an interest in Jewish mysticism recently and I’m just a few days away from starting a ritual from a medieval grimoire inspired by Kabbalah. As part of this, I’v… --- ## [How to reduce Gmail storage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-reduce-gmail-storage/1017242)
**Author:** [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-reduce-gmail-storage/1017242 "2025-04-21T22:41:37Z")
I got a message saying I am out of storage and must pay for more within one month or be locked out. How can I clean out my gmail/google storage? I already have the last 20 years of photos and videos i want on a SSHD an… --- ## [So... why do bunnies lay eggs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-do-bunnies-lay-eggs/1017263)
**Author:** [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-do-bunnies-lay-eggs/1017263 "2025-04-21T19:26:29Z")
I get that Easter in the US is a hodgepodge of Christian beliefs and pagan fertility festivals. But how did the rabbit and the eggs come together into a unified symbol? You don’t often see one without the other now. Sur… --- ## [How all did the founding fathers screw up democracy, and what still needs to be done to fix it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-all-did-the-founding-fathers-screw-up-democracy-and-what-still-needs-to-be-done-to-fix-it/1005960)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 155\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-all-did-the-founding-fathers-screw-up-democracy-and-what-still-needs-to-be-done-to-fix-it/1005960 "2025-04-21T19:12:03Z")
I don’t have a very high opinion of the founding fathers. From what I see, they were young aristocrats who wanted an aristocratic democratic system. As a result we’ve had to spend the last 240 years fixing the damage the… --- ## [Trouble with an older game called Nox](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-an-older-game-called-nox/1017277)
**Author:** [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-with-an-older-game-called-nox/1017277 "2025-04-21T18:24:15Z")
I got it from GOG and started it up. The introductory cinematic seemed to work all right, but then the main title screen began flickering and the mouse was unresponsive. The game is set to work with Windows 98 and I have… --- ## [Trans activists deface statue of womens rights advocate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trans-activists-deface-statue-of-womens-rights-advocate/1017233)
**Author:** [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trans-activists-deface-statue-of-womens-rights-advocate/1017233 "2025-04-21T16:01:41Z")
This seems a bit paradoxical to me? They are attacking a symbol of a champion of a formerly disenfranchised group of people who now have an equal right to vote. What are they thinking? --- ## [Has a TV show ever switched from single camera to multi camera (or vice versa) during its run?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-tv-show-ever-switched-from-single-camera-to-multi-camera-or-vice-versa-during-its-run/1017310)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-tv-show-ever-switched-from-single-camera-to-multi-camera-or-vice-versa-during-its-run/1017310 "2025-04-21T15:53:19Z")
I have vague memories of a TV show ditching the live audience and going to single-camera during its run, but I’ll be damned if I can think of it. Has this ever happened? --- ## [SF stories or series where the 'science' was basically magic?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076)
**Author:** [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Replies:** 113\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076 "2025-04-21T14:06:02Z")
I’m thinking of Blish’s Cities in Flight books, which I loved when much younger. Lots of ‘sciency’ names, like Dirac and Bethe in the narrative But the Spindizzy breaks… well, conservation of energy, conservation of mo… --- ## [Pope Francis is on "absolute rest" for bronchitis: Feb 2025](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368)
**Author:** [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Replies:** 120\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368 "2025-04-21T13:53:20Z")
I’m not Catholic, but I do know that his health has been faltering in recent years. There’s some chatter that he’s actually terminally ill; we’ll find out eventually. --- ## [Which font makes the best I beam answered](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-font-makes-the-best-i-beam-answered/1017299)
**Author:** [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-font-makes-the-best-i-beam-answered/1017299 "2025-04-21T13:24:02Z")
No only that, but which letter makes the best I beam: I found this both fun and informative Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=330&state=tracking) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=332&state=tracking)