I have written similarly awful formulae when I needed to get a csv to export to Google Calendars, but the program I was exporting to wasn’t using Google’s accepted csv headers.

I ended up creating a template that looked at the exported csv file, and then reformatted it in a way that Google liked (and added some extra info along the way.) I needed it to only fill text if an entry actually had info in it, and hide all the text otherwise. So that I could automatically delete empty cells and avoid a bunch of empty calendar entries when importing it into Google. The resulting formula for some of the fields was… Not great. This is what controlled the “name” of each calendar event:

It takes several different potential fields, and combines them into a single field. If there are no entries, it gets left blank.

And every single time I would get it working properly, someone would add a row or change the data validation rules, so I would have to go in and update my formulae. After the fifth or sixth time that happened, I told the person making the changes that it was his job to update the formulae. Suddenly, it stopped getting changed.

Hello FBI, this is the one

Oh, is EA the reason Popcap vanished? Honestly, if they were still around, they’d probably make some killer mobile games (if they actually sold them as complete games and not the microtransaction hell that most mobile games fall into).

I honestly hadn’t considered Blitzball. I kind of forget it exists, since I only ever slogged through it to get Wakka’s ultimate weapon and overdrives.

edit: also 2-300 hours in oldschool RuneScape lol

I have logged over 200 hours in RuneScape just this month.

It probably helps that I have a job where I can have it running next to me. At this point, it is basically just an idle game that I only need to touch every ~15 minutes to refresh my idle logout timer. Pretty much the only times it’s not running are when I’m asleep or physically away from a computer.

Hell, even when I’m away from my computer, it keeps running as long as I can touch it every now and then to stay logged in. If I’m AFK’ing slayer with aggressive enemies, I only really need to touch it to refresh my inventory or the idle timer. Even when I’m playing other games, RuneScape just runs quietly on my second monitor.

It’s just disappointing to see how drastically the series has changed. It started as a top-down strategy RPG, and now it’s just a generic hack-n-slash game. Game publishers have shied away from games like the original Dragon Age, because they want to sell as many units as possible. And they think generic hack-n-slash games sell better. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 have proved that there is still a large demand for more traditional RPGs, but the publishers simply don’t want to take the risk.

This is RuneScape for me. I take very long breaks, but always end up playing it again after not thinking about it for like a year or two.

My judgement will depend on which megaten game you no-lifed.

You can 100% the Sphere Grid in only a few hours, if you’re smart about it. My guess is they were going around using Clear Spheres to wipe unneeded spheres off the map and replace them. The default Sphere Grid doesn’t actually allow you to max your stats; You need to clear the existing +2 or +3 spheres, and replace them with +4 spheres instead.

Even then, maxing your stats doesn’t require 9999 hours. Unless OP was farming experience in Besaid Island (the starting area) it shouldn’t take that long to navigate the grid and farm enough replacement spheres.

There’s also the fact that the entire American education system is set up to teach Americans that peaceful protest is the only acceptable form of protest. History classes teach about the American revolution as if it was a fully justified break from an oppressive monarchy… And then as soon as it’s done, there’s a hard turn towards “but that was the only time violence was justified. In every other case, you’re expected to peacefully protest instead. Here, have another portrait of MLK Jr in case you forgot what he looked like.”

The Black Panthers were barely even a footnote in my history books. There weren’t any mentions of the union riots, where factory workers threatened to drag the owners out of their offices and lynch them. Because those would show that violence is effective.

Nah, Trump has said that he wants to eliminate taxes for anyone below $150k… But quickly followed up with “but only after we balance the budget”. Which is really just code for “I want to put my name on something that says <$150k doesn’t pay taxes, without actually implementing it.” And then the actual proposal landed, and it turns out they want to cut taxes by cutting it straight from social security and Medicaid.

Though knowing that a homing pigeon with a thumb drive is actually faster than the fastest Internet network on the planet

Depends on how big the flash drive is, I suppose. Need to send a 1GB file? Just make a torrent. Need to send 40TB? Yeah, that hard drive is getting driven across town.

Yeah, the EU has forced Apple to allow third-party browsers, but that was only a few months ago and there aren’t any currently available yet. Since they had been disallowed for so long, no browsers had something ready to go; writing them to be compatible with iOS will take time.

Prion diseases. In order to work properly, proteins have to be folded in a certain way. Misfolded proteins typically don’t work as they should. Prions are misfolded proteins that cause other healthy proteins to misfold when they come into contact with each other. This causes all sorts of medical issues.

Mad Cow Disease is one of the more infamous prion diseases. In humans, it manifests as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It basically causes your brain to melt, as the proteins holding it together all get misfolded. It has a 100% fatality rate, typically within 1 year of initial diagnosis. Fatal Insomnia is another prion disease, where the area of the brain that controls sleep is affected, but the body’s need for sleep still persists. You just become totally unable to fall asleep, until you fucking die from sleep deprivation.

The big issue with prion diseases is that they’re totally 100% incurable and untreatable. Once you have come into contact with the prion, you have a death timer. Prions are also extremely resilient. They aren’t destroyed by time, decomposition, fire, or even caustic chemicals. So they’ll just sit there, waiting for someone to come into contact with them.

People have been joking about it… But if RFK Jr actually comes after SSRIs, I think the whole country will very quickly light on fire.

My coworker once had a paramedic push adenosine when he started having heart arrhythmia. The main side effect for adenosine is an overwhelming feeling of impending doom. Apparently it’s to help hit the reset button on your heart… But it also just happens to make you think you’re 100% going to die in the next two seconds. Apparently it was a full blown transformative experience for him.

Speak for yourself; If I could be remembered by a fart that rattled the souls of everyone nearby, I’d die happy.

I have similar feelings about my partner. They’re constantly in and out of the doctor’s office for a variety of medical issues. It would be nice if there were at least some sort of diagnosis. Like we have family and friends say “oh it’s good that the tests for all of those things came back negative” like it somehow means her symptoms will stop since she wasn’t diagnosed. Every time I hear it, the voice in the back of my head goes “how is not knowing the best case scenario?” At least if you have a diagnosis, you can work on treating the root cause.

Honestly, as long as you can just coast across, you’ll be fine. The people who get into trouble are the ones who intentionally stop (like maybe a red light across the tracks) and then can’t start again. Even with the giant “do not stop on tracks” signs, people are just stupid and park across them anyways.

So just make sure you stop before the tracks, or that you have enough speed to get clear of them. There shouldn’t ever really be a scenario where you’re forced to actually stop on the tracks.