# what is your expertise **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841 "2004-04-02T03:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bee\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e480ec/32.png) [@Queen\_Bee\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bee_1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/101 "2004-04-06T04:22:59Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > My stock in trade these days seems to be as a pop-culture expert. I think I could easily challenge just about anyone here on Survivor trivia, and I’m pretty darned decent at general movie and TV trivia as well. I’ll take that Survivor trivia challenge, being a die-hard fanatic (yes, I got all the trivia questions correct on the last episode before the contestants did. I’m such a geek. One of these days, its gonna’ be me up there with paint on my face and sand in my ass. 😛 ). My area of expertise? We’re mocked as the bottom feeding degenerates of professional society – until you need us, then we’re your best friend. I’m your friendly neighborhood criminal defense attorney. Some consider us just a step above a used car salesman, although with a used car salesman, at least you get to kick the tires. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/102 "2004-04-06T04:55:34Z")
My primary interests, and therefore the things I probably know a bit more about than the Average Joe (I would not go so far as to call them “specialties”, especially since there are those more knowledgeable than I on these topics here on these boards), include evolutionary biology, taxonomy and systematics, paleontology, and dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Tanach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@Tanach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/103 "2004-04-06T05:04:19Z")
I am a mechanical engineer by education and I work in semiconductor manufacturing. As the general population knows very little about this topic I guess you could call me an expert in that. I used to be able to quote all the records from the Guiness books which served me well in “Oh yeah…” category, you know, the “Oh yeah, well what was the record for most cigarettes smoked at one time in 1976” type of comeback that only seems to make sense after a 6 pack. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/104 "2004-04-06T05:24:02Z")
The crown of Straight Dope **Magic: the Gathering** king being definitively taken, I’ll take the title of Straight Dope **Magic: the Gathering** historian. Want to know when RecurSur broke onto the tournament scene? Want to know why TurboStasis was such a catastrophic failure after its breakout performance at Regionals (until its reintroduction just before the rotation of Fifth, that is)? Ever wondered why the winter after the release of _Urza’s Saga_ sucked so much for tournament Magic? No? Well too bad, 'cause I’m your man, God help me. I’ve got miscellaneous programming things pretty well covered, too, but so does half the board so it’s hard to feel too special. Oh, and after three years on this board and a Certain Other Board, I’ve gotten pretty good at Christian apologetics. Wonderfully broadening, this place is. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/105 "2004-04-06T05:24:44Z")
I think I am one of the very few meteorologists on the board, at least ho post regularly. Of course, I have never worked a day as a professional meteorologist, so my voice counts for little there. I do know the three dimensional equation of motion in polar coordinates by heart, though. Wish I didn’t. I am a software salesman by trade. I can offer some expertise there. I was a Division 1 (Big Ten) athlete in the day. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/106 "2004-04-06T11:22:20Z")
> [@Queen Bee](#): > > I’ll take that Survivor trivia challenge, being a die-hard fanatic (yes, I got all the trivia questions correct on the last episode before the contestants did. I’m such a geek. One of these days, its gonna’ be me up there with paint on my face and sand in my ass. 😛 ). I knew **Chastain86** was a true _Survivor_ Trivia King, but I got all the answers right, too. I was quite proud of myself. Make room on the geek-bench for one more. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/107 "2004-04-06T13:08:40Z")
I’m a fair gardener, know a lot more than my flowers and herbs attest to. Cooking in general, and baking in particular. Sewing/quiltmaking[didn’t fool anyone with my cleverly-un-misleading username, huh?] Procrastinating-Grand Champion, now retired, too much work. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/108 "2004-04-06T13:31:21Z")
I guess my ‘expertise’ would be anything to do with journalism. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/109 "2004-04-06T17:29:13Z")
> [@Taran](#): > > The crown of Straight Dope **Magic: the Gathering** king being definitively taken, I’ll take the title of Straight Dope **Magic: the Gathering** historian. OK, you asked for it. To claim your title as Straight Dope MTG historian, you must answer these questions 10, arranged in increasing order of difficultly. 1. Who was the first Magic world champion? 2. What was the first set to feature color-coded expansion symbols? 3. Who invented (or at least popularized) “The Deck”? 4. What is Jamie Wakefield’s wife named? 5. What was the key card of the deck known as “white lightning”, and why did that deck vanish rather quickly? 6. What were the three pre-release cards from Tempest block? 7. What was the first expansion set to be printed in Japanese? 8. What was the combo in the deck known as “wall of boom”? 9. At some point in the history of Magic rules, the interaction between lightning bolting a creature and giant growthing it changed drastically. What was the change, and when did it occur? 10. Deck registration sheets for limited tournaments during Mirage block had the name of one card spelled wrong. What card was that, and what was the misspelling? ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/110 "2004-04-06T18:03:26Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Then perhaps, as someone with expertise in Flanders and Swann, you can answer a question that has been plaguing me: > > In **The First and Second Law** , an exchange occurrs which sounds something like this: > “I’m hot” > “That’s because you’ve been working” > “Ahh, beetle’s nothing”. > Can you explain to me what it is that sounds like “ahh, beetle’s nothing”? And what it means? Well, you didn’t ask me, and I don’t know Flanders and Swann from Stallworth and Swan, but I’ll take a whack at it anyway. Is it possible that it is “deetle” and not “beetle”? In which case, the el sound could be for the heat of fusion or vaporization, usually denoted with a script “l”. Since a change of state (such as melting ice) is a constant tempertature process, the derivative of temperature subscript “l” is zero. Or, dTl = 0 ---
**Author:** ![doomraisin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/111 "2004-04-06T18:47:02Z")
Professionally, I’m a Systems Engineer, specializing in Linux at the moment. Outside of work, I’m a musician. This is my main area of expertise, but it doesn’t pay. Specifically, I’m a bass player. 31 years of playing low notes. Lots of interests, but wouldn’t bandy about the word “expertise” in connection with any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/112 "2004-04-06T18:50:03Z")
Well I began working on computers when I was 9, so I’ve been a computer technician for almost 12 years now, and having worked in the theme parks for two years I can help explain the true secrets to Universal and Disney. Also, being a Georgia Tech student and fanatic, I’ve built a repetoire of folk lore and history of the campus. I really should be a tour guide but I haven’t signed up for it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/113 "2004-04-06T18:51:10Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > Does anyone know lots about fluid mechanics? Specifically, can you tell me what the hell they are? Sure. Fluid mechanics is the study of how fluids (like air, water, compressed gases, etc.) behave under different conditions. You use fluid mechanics when you’re looking at the aerodynamics of a vehicle, lift characteristics in an airfoil, water distribution and wastewater collection systems, pumps, carburetors, and a whole host of other things. It’s an incredibly wide ranging field, but if you have specific questions I could take a stab at them. I’m a hydrologist working in riparian and wetland restoration projects. That focus combines fluid mechanics, geomorphology (the behavior of river systems), engineering (hence the user name), biology, and public relations (especially begging for public funding) into one big pot. Basically, I try to undo some of the damage that we’ve done to creeks and rivers over the last couple of hundred years. Outside of work, I’ve got a fair amount of experience traveling, talking about and playing (American) football, and backpacking, and I can go on for hours about folk/roots music. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/114 "2004-04-06T19:54:23Z")
Areas of proficiency, if not expertise: Prince. He is actually my soul-mate, he just doesn’t know it. Newborn babies. The care and comfort of. Spelling. Also, I can make my index finger look like a little butt. My parents are very proud. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/115 "2004-04-06T20:09:43Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > 1. Who was the first Magic world champion? Zak Dolan, with the lethal Icy Manipulator/Siren’s Call combo. > [@](#): > > 1. What was the first set to feature color-coded expansion symbols? Exodus > [@](#): > > 1. Who invented (or at least popularized) “The Deck”? Brian Weismann. > [@](#): > > 1. What is Jamie Wakefield’s wife named? The Lovely Mare. No, not just “Mare”, “The Lovely Mare”. > [@](#): > > 1. What was the key card of the deck known as “white lightning”, and why did that deck vanish rather quickly? Waylay. The deck worked because the tokens lasted “until end of turn”, so by casting Waylay during your opponent’s end step, you could get 3 2/2 knights to attack with the following turn. As may be imagined, this “White Ball Lightning” took nationals by storm. This hole had been simply overlooked in the switch to sixth edition rules, and was plugged when Waylay was erratta’d to be playable only during combat. > [@](#): > > 1. What were the three pre-release cards from Tempest block? Dirtcowl Wurm, Revenant, and … Monstrous Hound? > [@](#): > > 1. What was the first expansion set to be printed in Japanese? I don’t know. Later than Fourth, but not all that much later; definitely in by Urza’s Saga. > [@](#): > > 1. What was the combo in the deck known as “wall of boom”? Wall of Roots and Magma Mine. > [@](#): > > 1. At some point in the history of Magic rules, the interaction between lightning bolting a creature and giant growthing it changed drastically. What was the change, and when did it occur? Ooh, nice one. I’m not sure exactly when this change happened (at the release of Revised, I think), but very early versions of Magic didn’t have the last-in, first-out rule. Spells played in response to one another resolved at the same time, and if the order of resolution mattered, the player of the last spell decided the order of resolution. However, the ruling at the times was that order of resolution only mattered if the two cards were trying to send their target to different zones (Giant Growth/Berserk might have had a category too), and neither Lightning Bolt nor Giant Growth send their target anywhere; they just do stuff to it. So, in Unlimited Magic Land, the two effects resolve “simultaneously” and, assuming no other effects, we get a perfectly live creature with +3/+3 and 3 damage on it, _regardless of the order in which the cards were played_. Then you get a chance to do damage prevention things, if you want. After LIFO was introduced, order mattered: Growth then Bolt kills the creature, while Bolt then Growth leaves it alive. > [@](#): > > 1. Deck registration sheets for limited tournaments during Mirage block had the name of one card spelled wrong. What card was that, and what was the misspelling? I don’t know. My guess would be Afiya Grove, since if I’ve spelled it right just now it’ll be the first time. I confess, I was thinking more of the rise and fall of metagames when I crowned myself, but I haven’t done so badly. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/116 "2004-04-06T21:35:27Z")
> [@Taran](#): > > I don’t know. Later than Fourth, but not all that much later; definitely in by Urza’s Saga. The first expansion set printed in Japanese was Mirage. The first base set was, in fact, 4th edition. > [@Taran](#): > > Wall of Roots and Magma Mine. And Stasis > [@Taran](#): > > Ooh, nice one. I’m not sure exactly when this change happened (at the release of Revised, I think), but very early versions of Magic didn’t have the last-in, first-out rule. Spells played in response to one another resolved at the same time, and if the order of resolution mattered, the player of the last spell decided the order of resolution. However, the ruling at the times was that order of resolution only mattered if the two cards were trying to send their target to different zones (Giant Growth/Berserk might have had a category too), and neither Lightning Bolt nor Giant Growth send their target anywhere; they just do stuff to it. So, in Unlimited Magic Land, the two effects resolve “simultaneously” and, assuming no other effects, we get a perfectly live creature with +3/+3 and 3 damage on it, _regardless of the order in which the cards were played_. Then you get a chance to do damage prevention things, if you want. > > After LIFO was introduced, order mattered: Growth then Bolt kills the creature, while Bolt then Growth leaves it alive. Hmmm… I _think_ you’re only partially correct here. Granted, I’m not knowledgable about rules **really** early on. For instance, I’ve heard on reasonably good authority that back in '93, Wrath of God couldn’t kill Black Knight. But the change I’m talking about occurred at the release of Mirage. Until then, players would play spells or effects, and could keep responding and responding and responding. Then, when no one had any more responses, all of the spells or abilities played would resolve in LIFO order. This was similar to the modern Stack with a few crucial differences: (1) it wasn’t called the stack. I think it was called a “batch” or something (2) Interrupts worked differently, but we’ll ignore them, as they are not relevant to the present discussion (3) Once things started resolving, one could no longer play additional spells or effects (4) (this is the relevant one) Creatures didn’t die due to lethal damage until the stack (or whatever it was called) was empty. (Similarly, players didn’t die due to \<1 life until the end of a phase). When Mirage was released, (4) was removed, but the “once things start resolving, you can’t play more effects” business was still in place. It remained there until the current rules (damage on the stack, no interrupts) came into effect, which was sometime in the middle of Urza block. > [@Taran](#): > > I don’t know. My guess would be Afiya Grove, since if I’ve spelled it right just now it’ll be the first time. The answer is **Spitting Earth** , which was listed as **Splitting Earth** > [@](#): > > I confess, I was thinking more of the rise and fall of metagames when I crowned myself, but I haven’t done so badly. Indeed, you did pretty damn well. Given that the rise and fall of metagames is one of the few areas of Magic that I don’t really care about (as I only play limited), it appears there may be room on this message board for both of us 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/117 "2004-04-06T22:08:07Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > For instance, I’ve heard on reasonably good authority that back in '93, Wrath of God couldn’t kill Black Knight. Sort of. See [here](http://web.purplefrog.com/~thoth/magic/rulings-general.html) for a Feb 1994 D’Angelo rulings summary (one of the first). The Reader’s Digest version is that the first rulebook defined five things that protection did: the three we’re familiar with plus “creatures with Prot X can’t have the damage they deal prevented by X cards” and “X cards don’t affect the creature”. This leads to some odd results, like Black Knights living through Wrath of God (and Red Ward’d creatures getting no bonus from Orcish Oriflamme). However, the tournament FAQ (from back when the DCI was just the DC) decided that these rules were broken, and scrapped the last two clauses. That said, you’re right; I’d forgotten about the timing on lethal damage. In my defense, I was about ten when Mirage was released. ::ahem:: Yep, that stuff’s my expertise. Move along, nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/118 "2004-04-07T17:13:43Z")
> [@Faucet](#): > > I notice a wide variety of topics discussed on this board and I think it’s cool how people can ask questions on a variety of topics and get answers. So I bet a lot of people that post on this board represent a speciality, such as clergy members answer religous questions, scientists answer science questions, Doctors answer medical questions, and so on. Just what I’m asking is what kind of questions would you consider your specialty based on either your career, education, or life experience. I’m a computer weenie - Database administrator, application developer, designated whipping boy for when things don’t go right, that sort of thing. I’m also a 4th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and run my own school. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/119 "2004-04-07T17:39:46Z")
I’m a land use planner by training and experience, so I suppose that I could be considered an expert on those matters. I’ve qualified as an “expert” as far as a few courts are concerned, but that only means that the attorneys agreed that I knew more about the subject than anyone else in court at that moment. I’m also well versed in Virginia history and politics. As was pointed out earlier, those of us that attended very many Grateful Dead concerts don’t tend to remember them (I’ve got ticket stubs from close to 75, but I can’t recall more than a dozen or so), but I was not only a fan of the music, but a student of the cultural and musical roots of the band as well. So, while I may not be able to tell you the last time they played “Cosmic Charlie,” I can tell you about the writing of the song, what songs influenced Hunter and Garcia to put it to paper, and why they decided against playing it again. As if you cared. ---
**Author:** ![wonderwench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/35a633/32.png) [@wonderwench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderwench)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841/120 "2004-04-07T17:43:49Z")
My areas of expertise: - Management and corporate finance - Cooking (I am a swinging cook) - Family relationships - Bunnies [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-expertise/237841.md?page=7)