# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657 "2024-01-05T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 309
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6161 "2025-12-09T22:53:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Apparently if Sam Altman had had a baby 5 years ago it would have started to death because he’s too stupid to figure out how to raise one without a computer telling him what to do. Would you trust a computerless Sam Altman to raise a baby on his own? Neither would I. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6162 "2025-12-09T22:55:12Z")
Yeah he had the UV treatment. Screamed the entire time. The cause at the time was attributed to prolonged rupture of membranes - my water broke but I didn’t go into labor, so I had to be induced, and was in the hospital for a long time before he was born. And then a longer time for the treatment. This is what I mean by you don’t get a rulebook. There are too many variables to make this path predictable and smooth. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6163 "2025-12-09T23:10:08Z")
I find it hard to believe that Sam Altman wouldn’t have plenty of help with raising his kid without chatGBT. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6164 "2025-12-09T23:11:36Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > > Not even ChatGPT knows how to raise a baby. We all gotta wing it. > > It’s surprising how homo sapiens managed to raise babies for 300,000 years, before ChatGPT came up. Babies didn’t use to come with a manual. That’s one of the nice things about turning 60. You slowly start to realize that no one knows what the fuck they’re doing. We’re all white knuckling it through life. ETA - like, remember that time that thing happened and your dad came around and did that thing that worked and then the other stuff that he did things with stopped working but he came through in the end and everybody had a good time and dad was a hero? He had no fucking clue what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6165 "2025-12-09T23:24:46Z")
^ This post is full of truth. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6166 "2025-12-09T23:26:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Jaundice in newborns is actually pretty common, over half of all full term babies and 80% of premies get jaundice shortly after birth. My brother was born with jaundice. He was definitely full term. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > ETA - like, remember that time that thing happened and your dad came around and did that thing that worked and then the other stuff that he did things with stopped working but he came through in the end and everybody had a good time and dad was a hero? He had no fucking clue what he was doing. These days, I am that dad. And yes, most of the time I have no fucking clue what I am doing. (Unless I’m fixing an IT problem, because odds are that I’m doing something I’ve done many times before, but whatever I’m doing, there was once a time when I was doing it for the first time, and I had no idea what I was doing then.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6167 "2025-12-10T00:29:30Z")
Humans are adaptable. Some are even smart. That’s enough to have conquered this rock. Now comes the question of whether we can hold it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6168 "2025-12-10T00:56:45Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I find it hard to believe that Sam Altman wouldn’t have plenty of help with raising his kid without chatGBT. He probably only _sees_ his kid for fifteen minutes a day. I love when these corporate guys start talking about how hard parenting is. Like your wife isn’t absorbing 95% of the burden. Or your wife and her five servants, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6169 "2025-12-10T02:34:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’m missing something. > > Mainland China is communist. Mainland China is communist only in the same way that North Korea is a Democratic Peoples’ Republic. It’s the most capitalistic country on the planet. > [@Atamasama](#): > > These days, I am that dad. And yes, most of the time I have no fucking clue what I am doing. > > (Unless I’m fixing an IT problem, Every time I’m fixing an IT problem, I don’t know what I’m doing. I just rely on the fact that it’s a lot harder to screw up so badly that you make things worse, than most people realize. Sit down at a computer, plunk around a bit, did that solve the problem? No? Then plunk around some more. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6170 "2025-12-10T02:37:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Every time I’m fixing an IT problem, I don’t know what I’m doing. I just rely on the fact that it’s a lot harder to screw up so badly that you make things worse, than most people realize. Sit down at a computer, plunk around a bit, did that solve the problem? No? Then plunk around some more. Many times that still describes me. At work I will often tell people, I never let ignorance get in the way of a solution. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6171 "2025-12-10T02:41:35Z")
> **[Tech Support Cheat Sheet](https://xkcd.com/627/)** ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6172 "2025-12-10T03:02:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > it’s a lot harder to screw up so badly that you make things worse, than most people realize. I must be really talented, then; I managed to kill one of my email accounts in Outlook on a laptop by digging into the system to try to change one item in the settings. Even the computer shop couldn’t fix what I’d screwed up. Fortunately I have another email provider which does do fine in Outlook on that machine, and I have the first account set up to forward to that account, while avoiding messing about with Outlook on my other laptop and two desktops. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6173 "2025-12-11T02:06:42Z")
[Measure twice, cut once.](https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/12/02/million-dollar-mistake-measuring-error-costing-st-louis-taxpayers/) > In order to safely operate in all of the system’s tunnels, the trains have to be smaller than the tunnels themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6174 "2025-12-11T02:18:20Z")
Of course, that’s not the actual issue, as it says immediately after: > But you’ve also got to have a buffer in the clearance — a safety mechanism. So that with the high voltage, there’s no dangerous arcing or buildup of static electricity. > > But because of a measuring mistake, the new trains, as ordered, didn’t have enough of that buffer. And the amount that the trains need to be shrunk is pretty small. > Metro officials said the extra clearance needed is very small: less than 40 millimeters, or the diameter of a ping pong ball. So, while it’s a funny thought that they accidentally made trains bigger than the tunnels they need to go into, that isn’t what happened. They **did** make a boneheaded mistake, and measured incorrectly. But it wasn’t as boneheaded as the selective quoting implies. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6175 "2025-12-11T02:31:14Z")
Am I reading that right that they’re spending $400 million to upgrade 36 miles of track? 36 miles doesn’t sound like very much, to me… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6176 "2025-12-11T02:41:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Am I reading that right that they’re spending $400 million to upgrade 36 miles of track? The article says: > Fifty-five new trains with a price tag of more than $390 million. Many of the vehicles are as old as the system itself, officials said, speeding past their prime. They’re not upgrading tracks, they’re replacing a bunch of trains. ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6177 "2025-12-11T03:30:44Z")
Most of the cost is probably the HVAC system which has been either in development for more than three decades or the order was placed via time machine because, as the article says, it’s “made in Czechoslovakia.” ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6178 "2025-12-11T04:16:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > But it wasn’t as boneheaded as the selective quoting implies. From an engineering point of view, it sounds as boneheaded as the quote. Of course even a child could see you need the car to be less than 200 cm tall (just making up numbers here) if the tunnel is 198 cm tall, but for their engineers and such it should be as obvious. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6179 "2025-12-11T06:50:56Z")
Does the problem lie in the height or the width of the trains? Or both? Because if it’s just the height, couldn’t they just put smaller wheels on the cars? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6180 "2025-12-11T07:56:04Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Does the problem lie in the height or the width of the trains? Or both? The article said that the solution involves rebuulding the HVAC systems on top of the trains, so it seems safe to assume that it’s a height issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=308) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=310)