# Technology doesn't work that way - SamuelA's Pit Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420 "2017-12-03T00:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 80
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1581 "2019-11-21T02:53:29Z")
Who had 20 November? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1582 "2019-11-21T03:30:04Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Who had 20 November? Not I. That’s my birthday, too. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1583 "2019-11-21T03:43:32Z")
Accidental birthday presents are the best kind? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1584 "2019-11-21T03:57:51Z")
Who knew it was _just_ that easy? ---
**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:** [November 21, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1585 "2019-11-21T04:25:47Z")
Ooh, who gets the Cheetos?! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1586 "2019-11-21T05:03:32Z")
Now let’s go around the table and each of us tell what we’re thankful for… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1587 "2019-11-21T06:17:31Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Sorry guys! I’ve been on the road for a little bit. > > The udpdated list: > [del] > **SunnyDaze** (8/10 or 11 dependent on privilege restoration); > **Oredigger77** (8/13); > **Guest Starring: Id!** (8/14); > **Tripler** (8/18); > **JohnT** (8/21); > **TroutMan** (8/30); > **SlowMovingVehicle** (9/4); > **Tricoteuse** (9/13); > **Atamasama** (9/22).[/del] > > Seems we ran through this first round without a winner. I vaguely remember someone saying October though. I’ll be happy to sponsor Round #2! > > What have I missed in the meantime though? > > Tripler > **SamuelA** : With whom incompetence takes flight, and the imagination soars. Using “Price is Right” rules (a universally accepted standard), **Atamasama** is the closest without going over. Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1588 "2019-11-21T06:29:23Z")
N/m ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1589 "2019-11-21T11:03:40Z")
It just [hasn’t been a good week](https://soranews24.com/2019/11/20/nanotech-specializing-professor-from-one-of-japans-top-universities-arrested-for-panty-theft/) for skeevy nanotech advocates. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1590 "2019-11-21T14:03:20Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Using “Price is Right” rules (a universally accepted standard), **Atamasama** is the closest without going over. > > Congratulations! Thanks but I was off by two months almost to the day so I don’t think I deserve that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1591 "2019-11-21T14:35:33Z")
Well, the contest wasn’t rerun or anything, and it’s not like you’re getting a Nobel prize on a technicality - claim the victory! 😃 (You don’t really have to demand the prize. Just donate it to “a worthy family”. 🙂 ) ---
**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:** [November 21, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1592 "2019-11-21T18:04:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Well, the contest wasn’t rerun or anything, and it’s not like you’re getting a Nobel prize on a technicality - claim the victory! 😃 > > (You don’t really have to demand the prize. Just donate it to “a worthy family”. 🙂 ) Okay that works, I’ll accept virtual Cheetos then with great pride. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1593 "2019-11-21T20:05:02Z")
It’s kind of a little ironic, at least to me, that the reasons Sammy was finally banned are unrelated to the things that bugged me about him most, namely being an obnoxious know-it-all blowhard who arrogantly assumed that his microscopically tiny modicum of knowledge made him superior to any of the world’s leading subject matter experts. Solutions to the world’s greatest challenges (including immortality and climate change, of course) were always “just” a matter of following Sammy’s simple instructions, guaranteed to work. Annoying as this was, there were other sides to this bloviating twit that were much worse and that we didn’t find out about until more recently, like the fact that he was a self-admitted sex tourist and sexual predator, and rather prone to bragging about it. Then it turned out he was a racist, opining that it was plain scientific fact that black people were intellectually inferior to whites, and gratuitously throwing in words like “raghead” to describe certain other cultures. Just a few notes for those who may have forgotten. Finally, the last straw: he objects to “lowering the bar” to let women and minorities be moderators. Let’s keep up the standards here, men! And, after being cautioned not to engage again in his line of discussion about Christine Blasey Ford, accused her of purposeful verbal assault against Kavanaugh for the purpose of causing him harm! So there were many sides to Sammy. The side that I mostly engaged with was his simplistic and comically inept view of technology, but there were also a few really ugly sides that ultimately did him in. Anyone who might miss the comedy of Sammy’s simplistic technological bloviations should remember there was more to him than that. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1594 "2019-11-22T00:29:50Z")
It was SamuelA’s total creep side that bothered me the most. The crazy cryogenic nanobot whatever stuff was sometimes amusing, like watching the idiot propose stopping hurricanes with ice cubes, or the “Amy’s Baking Company” episode of _Kitchen Nightmares_. (Seriously, that episode of that show is the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen on TV.) But bragging about sex tourism with underage women (including advice about it) was what really bothered me and led me to report him. The racism was the shit icing on the asshole cake. To me it would be like Eccentric Uncle Ernie who always does stupid but amusing antics at Thanksgiving starts suddenly advocating Neo-Nazism and calling for the extermination of minorities, then starts groping your preteen cousin. It goes from “that silly guy” to “someone call the police”. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1595 "2019-11-22T01:48:08Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > But bragging about sex tourism with underage women (including advice about it) was what really bothered me and led me to report him. The racism was the shit icing on the asshole cake. Ah, fond memories of that twerp freaking out on me when I asked about the criminality of his professed actions. > [@](#): > > To me it would be like Eccentric Uncle Ernie who always does stupid but amusing antics at Thanksgiving starts suddenly advocating Neo-Nazism and calling for the extermination of minorities, then starts groping your preteen cousin. It goes from “that silly guy” to “someone call the police”. That brings to mind the old joke about calling 9-1-1 to report a killing and the operator asks when the killing happened, the caller responds with “In about five minutes from now”. I can totally see an interaction like that with that twerp in a family setting. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1596 "2019-11-22T02:24:55Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s kind of a little ironic, at least to me, that the reasons Sammy was finally banned are unrelated to the things that bugged me about him most, namely being an obnoxious know-it-all blowhard who arrogantly assumed that his microscopically tiny modicum of knowledge made him superior to any of the world’s leading subject matter experts. To be fair, though, if being an obnoxious know-it-all blowhard who arrogantly assumes that a microscopically tiny modicum of knowledge makes one superior to any of the world’s leading subject matter experts were a bannable offense in and of itself, I would probably have been kicked to the curb years ago. I’m glad the mods went by the book in finally booting him. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1597 "2019-11-22T03:05:25Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > To be fair, though, if being an obnoxious know-it-all blowhard who arrogantly assumes that a microscopically tiny modicum of knowledge makes one superior to any of the world’s leading subject matter experts were a bannable offense in and of itself, I would probably have been kicked to the curb years ago. I’m glad the mods went by the book in finally booting him. No, while it’s true that bright people tend to be informed and to have opinions on a wide range of matters, it’s also true that they know when they’re not qualified to comment. Sammy was, in his deluded mind, just the consummate expert on absolutely everything, with the special ability to show how simple technological solutions were to all the world’s problems. Which is why the word “just” figured so prominently and humorously in all his pronouncements. “Just” follow his directions, and presto, problem solved! He would dismiss as useless philosophers some of the most stellar figures credited with founding modern cognitive science, for instance, because he had learned something about neurons from an online course, so everything about human cognition was “just” something that Sammy could easily explain. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1598 "2019-11-22T03:11:07Z")
Shouldn’t this thread be locked? Seems bad form to keep bagging on a guy who was banned. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1599 "2019-11-22T03:54:44Z")
Well, color me _ **shocked!!** _ I hope this thread doesn’t get locked! We have contest winners to announce! I never really shut down the contest, and IIRC someone picked January 1st. I’m on my cellphone right now, but when I get back this weekend, I’ll dig into the thread. I echo **wolfpup** ; the kid (in his 30s) tried to impress us with his “knowledge” then turn nasty when proven wrong. Bloviated, self-righteous, arrogant, **wannabe** are appropriate adjectives. Let me get home this weekend, and I’ll dig into who won the fresh new bags of Cheetos! Tripler ‘O joy; what a glorious day!!’ ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/1600 "2019-11-22T14:37:45Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Shouldn’t this thread be locked? Seems bad form to keep bagging on a guy who was banned. How about a compromise - lock it and make it a sticky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420.md?page=79) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420.md?page=81)