{"id":54294,"date":"2022-05-10T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T10:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=54294"},"modified":"2022-05-10T02:03:25","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T06:03:25","slug":"20-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=54294","title":{"rendered":"20 Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently (ish) Zeta Kai sent 20 questions to the Diecast. I thought that it would take too much of a show to cover them all. At the same time, these were fun softball questions and it seemed like I could get a blog post out of them. So I have appropriated these questions to try and keep the blog alive while I convalesce<\/a>. Here we go…<\/p>\n


\n1) Favorite planet in the solar system (other than Earth)?<\/b><\/p>\n

If you asked for a favorite body<\/i> then I probably would have picked one of the Galilean moons. But you asked specifically for a planet. So I’ll have to go with Mars, since that’s the easiest to stand on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2) Blue? Or Orange?<\/b><\/p>\n

Blue. I don’t even know what you’re asking about. Favorite clothing color? Decor? Lighting? Favorite Portal? The answer to all is blue.<\/p>\n

3) Do you speak any other languages? If so, which?<\/b><\/p>\n

I’ve learned seven or eight programming languages in my lifetime. I’ve also used a handful of additional scripting languages. But I’ve never bothered to learn any additional human languages. Make of that what you will.<\/p>\n

4) Favorite ice cream flavor?<\/b><\/p>\n

I pretty much only eat vanilla, although I never eat it plain. I’m a fan of putting breakfast cereal – Rice Krispies<\/i> in particular – in vanilla ice cream. Try it. It’s boss!<\/p>\n

5) What is your preferred IDE (Visual Studio, NetBeans, Eclipse, etc.)?<\/b><\/p>\n

Visual Studio, although I have very limited experience with the others. It’s not so much that I prefer it, as MSVS is the default setup for the type of work I do. (C++ and C# development on and for Windows)<\/p>\n

6) Do you have a favorite flag? If so, which?<\/b><\/p>\n

I really appreciate the Canadian maple leaf, since it helps you remember who the flag belongs to. It means the image works as both a flag and an icon. I wish more countries did that. England could have a cup of tea on their flag. France could have the Eiffel Tower. The USA would be a giant cheeseburger. Netherlands could have a windmill. China could have a boot. Russia would be a picture of shirtless Vlad. Then it would be trivial for everyone to remember and recognize the flags.<\/p>\n

7) Which lifestyle would you say is best: hunter-gatherer or agrarian?<\/b><\/p>\n

Studies make it seem like hunter-gathering is optimal for our health: We seem to live longer when we go for that sort of diet and exercise, as opposed to sitting around all winter eating slowly-spoiling starch crops. But I dunno. You can’t really form a complex society if you’re wandering around, and I’d rather be a farmer than a nomad.<\/p>\n

8) Which would you rather be killed by: a Predator or a Xenomorph?<\/b><\/p>\n

Not sure why one would be better than the other. In either case it’s a gruesome and painful death. I guess I’ll go with the Predator, since I don’t want to take the chance that I end up hosting a chestbuster. That’s a slower way to go for sure.<\/p>\n

9) Pizza? Or Sandwich?<\/b><\/p>\n

You didn’t specify what kind of sandwich, which matters a lot. A peanut butter & jelly is nothing special, but a philly steak and cheese or a meatball sub is a fine meal all by itself.<\/p>\n

Are we talking about one meal, or am I stuck with one or the other for an extended period of time? If we’re talking about a single meal, then I’ll take the pizza. If you’re asking what I want every day, then I’ll go for “sandwich” because it gives me more variety.<\/p>\n

10) What superpower would you want to have in real life?<\/b><\/p>\n

This is tricky, because it’s hard to do much with just ONE superpower.<\/p>\n

Super-strength without super-durability just gives you the power to shatter your own skeleton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Flight sounds cool, but it’s incredibly dangerous unless you also have improved durability. The urban landscape is filled with low-hanging hazards: Utility poles, tree branches, power lines, etc. It would be very easy to blunder into something at high speed during takeoff \/ landing. It looks easy when Superman does it, but I imagine a mortal is going to have a hard time keeping their eyes open when getting blasted in the face by 100mph wind. Also, given the default flying position – face-down flying head-first through the air – you’re going to spend a lot of time looking in one direction (down) while flying in another (forward) and that’s a good way to run into something at high speed.<\/p>\n

Being indestructible isn’t all that useful on its own. What am I going to do with that? I suppose I could become a fireman, and maybe once a year I’ll find myself able to run into a situation that’s too dangerous for a regular fireman and maybe save someone that couldn’t be otherwise saved?\u00a0<\/p>\n

But look, if I’m trying to pick something awesome and useful that will let me help people, then I have to ask: Is miraculous healing available<\/i>? Can I have the power to walk up to a cancer patient, put my hand on them, and fix them up? Because that would be crazy OP. Even a full-powered Superman would have a hard time saving people and improving lives faster than a healer. Cancer is going to kill over 600k people this year, just in the USA. If I heal someone once every minute, for eight hours a day, five days a week, all year, then I’ll save 120k of those people. Very few superheroes can put up those kinds of numbers, and usually only by defeating world-ending super-villains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, I think the limiting factor of my power would be basic logistics and crowd throughput. Even if I hang out at the airport, I’m not sure our transport infrastructure could deliver me 120k people in a year.A major airport handles millions of people per year. But remember that those people are going to jump on another plane to go home as soon as they’re healed. So 120k patients turns into +240k additional passengers. And all of those people need to pass through the same room. It seems like that would turn into the queue from hell and clog the place?<\/span> I don’t know. If you had one person who could heal like that, what would be the best way to bring them sick people?\u00a0<\/p>\n

If I’m not allowed to have miraculous healing, then maybe I’d take flying. Zipping around town isn’t super useful, but a flying superhero can generate thrust for free. Even without super strength, it seems like you ought to be able to put on a pressure suit and haul small payloads into orbit. You could really make yourself useful as an orbital taxi. Every trip saves you from needing to set off one of those immense rockets. <\/p>\n

But if my flying is limited to atmospheric travel, then forget it. I’ll just take a Wolverine-style self-heal. It won’t really benefit the world, but it would be nice to be personally free of injury and ailments.<\/p>\n

11) What was your favorite cartoon when you were a child?<\/b><\/p>\n