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CatBus

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Join date
18-Aug-2011
Last activity
31-Dec-2025
Posts
5,988

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Post
#1096770
Topic
Info: Subtitle font used in Star Wars (ANH, ROTJ)
Time

The size of the font, as well as its boldness and apparent color, are dependent on exposure and cropping–and this, I learned, is not consistent from film to film, nor is it even consistent from subtitle to subtitle within the same film. For example, if the subtitle was added, but then the frame was slightly cropped, that would effectively make that subtitle larger and bolder than a subtitle added to a frame that was not cropped. Similarly, the position of the subtitles within the frame could move.

The fonts I came up with were for a specific purpose–to blend when shown in sequence, but not necessarily to be identical side-by-side. They aren’t designed to be authoritative, and they don’t exactly match any subtitle–they’re more like the median representative subtitle.

IIRC, of the fonts I made, Star Wars is boldest, Jedi is less bold, and you could grab the German ROTJ font for what’s probably the least bold of them all. But they are all the same font, with variations in exposure, etc.

Keep in mind that the graphical SUP files for the alien subtitles are based on actual 35mm prints, not from the font files. While the images for Jedi were made by Harmy (who is skilled in such things), the ones for Star Wars were made by me, and have some flaws. Specifically, each individual subtitle should have some color variation within it, the ones for Star Wars don’t have much. This probably gives them more of a clipped, flat feeling (maybe could be interpreted as boldness) that you don’t see in the Jedi ones. Nevertheless they do have all the variation in size, boldness, and even variable letter forms and letter spacing that you can see in the films.

If you want to use the actual subtitles from the films, use the SUP files. They are much better, albeit not flawless (well, maybe the SUP files for Jedi are…). If you want to use the fonts, well, they’re honestly probably good enough for your purposes, and I’m not looking to improve them because they’re good enough for mine.

Post
#1096758
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

darthrush said:

CatBus said:

darthrush said:

postmodernist, speech controlling, identity-politics

Trump grabbed these things with both hands and ran the board with them. At the very least, the overwhelming success of identity politics in 2016 guarantees it a long life.

He used identity politics but he sure as hell had no problem advocating for free speech. If there was one thing I liked about trump was that he stood for free speech. That doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s an egotistical, incompetent, unqualified person for president. But he sure as hell doesn’t stand against free speech like the left does.

You must have missed the rally when he told his supporters to beat up some protesters (and then they did), and the things others have already brought up. Trump’s record on free speech is chilling. The left’s record on free speech is generally good, but you can always find exceptions – i.e. someone who doesn’t really get the nuance, and doesn’t see the difference between the (good) prohibition on school-supported prayer and the (bad) prohibition on students praying on their own.

Post
#1096718
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Warbler said:

CatBus said:

Warbler said:

and may soon have the majority of the US Supreme Court

Soon? The Supreme Court has been a reliably Republican institution for generations!

The Warren Court has left the building, modern conservative Republicans have had at least a slim majority ever since. And Warren was a Republican too, just from the era when liberal Republicans existed. The problem for the Republicans is that as the Republican party races to more-and-more conservative positions, these lifetime Republican appointees on the court seem more liberal just by keeping to the same positions that got them nominated.

The court’s current swing vote, Anthony Kennedy, is a diehard Reagan Republican. Republicans own this thing already. The trick is that by today’s Republican standards, Reagan was a Communist Kenyan Muslim.

Was it conservative when it said gays have a Constitutional right to marry?

Yes, “small government” is a central tenet of Reagan-era conservatism (Goldwater, Buckley, etc), of which conservatives like Justice Kennedy (a Reagan appointee) are a prime example. The court’s moderates and liberal joined Kennedy for obvious reasons. The conservatives who opposed it represented the more recent theocratic/autocratic branch of modern conservatism, which rejects the premise of small government either entirely or as it suits them.

The ruling was quintessential conservatism – Goldwater himself could have written the opinion and been happy with it.

Post
#1096687
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Warbler said:

and may soon have the majority of the US Supreme Court

Soon? The Supreme Court has been a reliably Republican institution for generations!

The Warren Court has left the building, modern conservative Republicans have had at least a slim majority ever since. And Warren was a Republican too, just from the era when liberal Republicans existed. The problem for the Republicans is that as the Republican party races to more-and-more conservative positions, these lifetime Republican appointees on the court seem more liberal just by keeping to the same positions that got them nominated.

The court’s current swing vote, Anthony Kennedy, is a diehard Reagan Republican. Republicans own this thing already. The trick is that by today’s Republican standards, Reagan was a Communist Kenyan Muslim.

Post
#1096667
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

darth_ender said:

How does a guy who is so far Left get to be so reasonable and willing to listen to other perspectives? 😉

When you’re on the political periphery, you take allies where you can get them, and that means listening.

Also, to be fair, if I didn’t agree (or at least disagree but understand their position) with a handful of Democratic policies, I’d say the charlatans label would work pretty well there too.

Post
#1096654
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

chyron8472 said:

darth_ender said:

I could never, ever be a Democrat, but why does the Republican Party have to suck so much?

Similarly, I could never, ever be a Republican, but why does the Democratic Party have to suck so much?

“I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat.”
–Will Rogers

It’s weird how we all can see things so differently. My take on the parties is that we have one conservative pro-business political party that’s kind of horrible, and that’s it. It’s the Democratic Party, the nation’s only remaining political party. We also have a protest party filled with clowns, charlatans, and snake-oil salesmen, but they don’t have any interest in all in government, policy, or really anything other than self-advancement (there are exceptions, but they prove the rule). So until the arrival of a second credible political party, I vote Democratic.

Post
#1096647
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

moviefreakedmind said:

Owning a gun also has nothing to do with entertainment. Wanting to shoot some kind of huge, awesome gun at targets at a range (a perfectly acceptable form of entertainment) is different from owning one.

That’s true. If you own a gun and never shoot it, you’re not getting entertainment value at all out of it. Non-shooting gun owners have them strictly for fantasy scenarios and heirlooms.

Post
#1096501
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

yhwx said:

NeverarGreat said:

After all, the right to bear arms is only in the service of a ‘well regulated’ militia.

Hasn’t this been disproven?

Nothing is ever proven. The “it’s all dependent on the well-regulated militia” legal theory lasted a while and is now no longer the standard used by the Supreme Court, which fairly recently recognized an individual right to keep & bear arms that’s not tied to the first clause of the second amendment at all. Legal theories come and go. It’s not science.

Post
#1096488
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

moviefreakedmind said:

CatBus said:

You also overlook the genuine need for self-defense in rural areas in which the police can’t get to your property in any helpful time, as well as in cities with terrible police departments and high crime rates like Detroit.

That’s covered under fantasy scenarios.

That’s not a fantasy scenario. So people that live over an hour from the nearest police station or in a place like Detroit where the police response time is almost an hour are just fucked?

It is absolutely a fantasy scenario. They are slightly more fucked with a gun than without one, but they get one anyway because the scenario where they are the big hero defending their family gives them a happy, and the scenario where that gun is ultimately used against their family doesn’t even register (although it’s approximately forty times more likely–via suicide, domestic violence, accident, criminal). And that’s not even taking into consideration that criminals are more likely to burglarize a home if they know there are guns in it due to the high resale value/easy transportation of the guns (the sign may look like it says “Protected by Smith & Wesson”, but it really says “Easily-fenced valuables inside”). Now, both scenarios are “lightning strike” rarities–for the most part, guns purchased exclusively for self-defense serve as teddy bears to help people sleep better and don’t ever actually do anything at all. But if you buy a gun to protect your family, you either didn’t consider the odds very realistically, or you don’t like your family very much.

EDIT: To make the picture less bleak, you’re not without options. It’s just that buying a gun is a stupid option. You live in a democracy, you can lobby city hall, your county council and work to get better police protection for you and your neighbors. But it’s a lot less fun, and more work, to be Mr. Smith Goes to Washington than it is to be Dirty Harry.

Post
#1096449
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

moviefreakedmind said:

Heirlooms are important; I don’t think anyone’s possessions that they’ve had for decades should be taken away, nor should collections be broken up. Heirloom also implies that it’s an antique, which is important to consider also.

Take for example someone I knew. This wasn’t exactly an heirloom, but it was “my dad just died and holy crap would you look at this?” There were many things he discovered in a little secret basement enclave, many of which were definitely illegal and probably a war crime to actually use. But I’m going to focus on the mortar right now. It was a nice mortar, great example of the period, and so on. The son (bless him) filled his father’s prized mortar with concrete. Now it still looks great on the outside, but is functionally a paperweight. Heirlooms can be similarly decommissioned, if they’re dangerous enough to warrant it.

You also overlook the genuine need for self-defense in rural areas in which the police can’t get to your property in any helpful time, as well as in cities with terrible police departments and high crime rates like Detroit.

That’s covered under fantasy scenarios.

Post
#1096410
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

moviefreakedmind said:

If you’re in favor of the government actually confiscating guns from law-abiding owners, there will be a significant amount of violence. A lot of police wouldn’t even enforce such a law.

They wouldn’t be law-abiding if they kept the guns after they were illegal, would they, and police who don’t enforce laws can easily look for more suitable jobs, right? 😉 (snark… kinda)

The complete ban is an ideal end state–I admit implementation isn’t easy and anything in between would be a good start. It could take hundreds of years–no confiscation at all, just the gradual reduction as generations don’t get new guns and the old ones slowly get destroyed. Luckily, the second amendment doesn’t protect any important rights, so nothing’s lost by its repeal. Modern gun ownership is mostly about entertainment, heirlooms, and fantasy scenarios, which can be easily managed via less dangerous means. But with a very rare practical use case of deer and varmints, which is why I’m still fine keeping basic rifles around (Winchesters, not AR-15s). As a Pest Control Amendment, I’m still all for the Second.

EDIT: Admittedly, I agree with the NRA’s interpretation of the 2nd amendment, which is why I feel it needs to be repealed ASAP. The amendment doesn’t mention guns at all, just “arms”. As written, it applies equally to handguns, machine guns, longbows, halberds, tanks, surface-to-air missiles, nuclear weapons, mustard gas, and anthrax. The second amendment says you have a right to keep and bear all of these things, all because of well-regulated militias that don’t really exist anymore but kinda sorta live on in the National Guard to some degree. With that interpretation, it’s a dangerously idiotic amendment, but frankly the other interpretations I’ve seen seem very preciously crafted with the purpose of reaching saner conclusions, rather than just interpreting it as written. The only thing protecting us from the full impact of this amendment is five justices looking the other way, and that may not last.

Post
#1096404
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Warbler said:

darth_ender said:

There are those who favor the abolition of all guns in the hands of the public (and I believe–correct me if I’m wrong–that Warbler is part of this crowd)

I’m sure I want a total ban or not. Perhaps a ban on auto and semi-auto rifles might be enough, or maybe a ban on all auto and semi-auto weapons. At the very least, I think a lot more training and psychological testing should be required before being allowed to own firearms. I also think maybe one shouldn’t allowed to own firearms if they live with someone with dangerous mental issues or if they live with someone who has a criminal record.

Screw semi-auto, I’m for a full-on handgun ban. Plus auto and semi-auto. Plus ammunition. Sure it’s unconstitutional, I’m for repeal.

Post
#1096333
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

TV’s Frink said:

CatBus said:

Jeebus said:

chyron8472 said:

What I want to know is–and I’m asking the conservatives and/or Republicans here–why in God’s name conservatives voted for Donald Trump. Not necessarily against Hillary, as she has more than enough obvious reasons to be thoroughly disliked–but in the primaries.

I know people liked him as a protest candidate against the status quo, but voting for a protest candidate is one thing; voting for Donald Trump is something completely different. So many people knew for the longest time that he cares little for anybody but himself, he’s short tempered, uneducated, listens to conspiracy theorists, and is generally out of touch with the common man.

This is a legitimate question, not a rant nor a flamebait.

I don’t think there are any Trump voters left in here.

No, we don’t even have Trump supporters brilliantly disguising themselves as Bernie supporters anymore. But people may know Trump supporters, have spoken with them in person, etc–probability favors Republicans/Conservatives knowing them, but Democrats may as well.

I met a guy who considered voting for Trump. I have no idea if he actually did or not. He thought it was all an act. A decades-long 24/7 campaign to act like a racist, incoherent asshole with no impulse control. How could a guy like that end up a multi-millionaire*? No, had to be an act. So, between Hillary and this mysterious wild card, he was really torn.

* Hint: The same way most people end up multi-millionaires. They’re born that way.

Also, he may just have been a little on the casually racist side of things (demographic: older working-class divorced white man with some pent up resentment over all kinds of things). But nah, he said that didn’t enter into it. Nosiree. Nope.

And this guy considered himself an independent. All the Republicans I know (in person) voted for Hillary.

I know a woman at work who (unprompted, believe me) told me she would be voting for Trump and then spent ten minutes tearing apart Hillary. I never did find out what Trump brought to the job.

In some ways that’s the same story as mine. Candidate A has two decades of conspiracy theories about her (and maybe there’s a chance one is even true!) and a not-so-great record as a Senator. But Candidate B is a Rorschach test, and when I look at it, I see winning!*

* That or urine-soaked sheets, they look very similar.

Post
#1096314
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Jeebus said:

chyron8472 said:

What I want to know is–and I’m asking the conservatives and/or Republicans here–why in God’s name conservatives voted for Donald Trump. Not necessarily against Hillary, as she has more than enough obvious reasons to be thoroughly disliked–but in the primaries.

I know people liked him as a protest candidate against the status quo, but voting for a protest candidate is one thing; voting for Donald Trump is something completely different. So many people knew for the longest time that he cares little for anybody but himself, he’s short tempered, uneducated, listens to conspiracy theorists, and is generally out of touch with the common man.

This is a legitimate question, not a rant nor a flamebait.

I don’t think there are any Trump voters left in here.

No, we don’t even have Trump supporters brilliantly disguising themselves as Bernie supporters anymore. But people may know Trump supporters, have spoken with them in person, etc–probability favors Republicans/Conservatives knowing them, but Democrats may as well.

I met a guy who considered voting for Trump. I have no idea if he actually did or not. He thought it was all an act. A decades-long 24/7 campaign to act like a racist, incoherent asshole with no impulse control. How could a guy like that end up a multi-millionaire*? No, had to be an act. So, between Hillary and this mysterious wild card, he was really torn.

* Hint: The same way most people end up multi-millionaires. They’re born that way.

Also, he may just have been a little on the casually racist side of things (demographic: older working-class divorced white man with some pent up resentment over all kinds of things). But nah, he said that didn’t enter into it. Nosiree. Nope.

And this guy considered himself an independent. All the Republicans I know (in person) voted for Hillary.

Post
#1096294
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

CatBus said:

chyron8472 said:

I wish someone could explain to me the appeal of Trump. Why the heck do people (still) like him? It’s like with Sarah Palin… there are people who like her, but WHY?!? I just can’t even.

  1. He’s (supposedly) rich. No doubt about it, Americans love rich people and over-the-top opulence. Why? Because 1) You have to be inherently good to be rich (Calvinism), and 2) I wanna be like that someday and I can live vicariously through their success.
  2. He’s a honey badger. Literally no shits to give about anything or anybody who’s not him. And it’s so entertaining that it’s easy to forget that this includes you.
  3. He’s unpolished. Which is how his serial lying actually makes him seem more honest to his supporters.
  4. He’s racist. It’s no coincidence he kicked off his Presidential exploration by becoming the world’s loudest birther, just as that movement was starting to reach maximum idiocy. And the hits just kept coming. And yes, this causes people to like him.
  5. He’s unqualified. Every public official leaves a trail of political decisions you can criticize. He leaves a trail of bankruptcies, fraud lawsuits, and unpaid bills, but see reason #1 for why none of that matters. He was, in the mind of far too many, a blank slate. People literally thought there was no way to predict what he’d do, which was appealing. These were the people waiting for the “pivot to the general” and then waiting for the “pivot to acting presidential” and now still “giving him a fair chance” in spite of the ongoing pileup of evidence that he’s just as bad as everyone else predicted.

Quoting myself for my take Trump’s appeal.

Post
#1096290
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

doubleofive said:

CatBus said:

darth_ender said:

Fair enough, but I do want to be clear, I favor the morning-after pill, as it prevents conception instead killing a fertilized ovum.

I am not 100% sure on this, but I think the morning-after pill prevents implantation, not conception. There’s this brief period where there’s a free-floating fertilized egg, but there’s no pregnancy because it hasn’t implanted anywhere. The morning-after pill prevents implantation, so the pregnancy never starts (thus it’s not abortion because you can’t abort a pregnancy that doesn’t exist)… BUT the egg is fertilized, and it’s lost because it can’t implant. So if fertilization is your point of no return, I think this means this is out.

The morning after pill prevents ovulation, so it only works if the woman hasn’t ovulated yet. It just delays it long enough for the sperm to die off.

IIRC, it does that, but if the woman has already ovulated, it does the former as well.

Post
#1096264
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

darth_ender said:

Fair enough, but I do want to be clear, I favor the morning-after pill, as it prevents conception instead killing a fertilized ovum.

I am not 100% sure on this, but I think the morning-after pill prevents implantation, not conception. There’s this brief period where there’s a free-floating fertilized egg, but there’s no pregnancy because it hasn’t implanted anywhere. The morning-after pill prevents implantation, so the pregnancy never starts (thus it’s not abortion because you can’t abort a pregnancy that doesn’t exist)… BUT the egg is fertilized, and it’s lost because it can’t implant. So if fertilization is your point of no return, I think this means this is out.

Post
#1096193
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

So after digesting darth_ender’s post for a bit, I’ve come to the conclusion that pro-choice is a bad label, for a different reason. While darth_ender’s position really amounts to wanting to prevent the abortion from happening (although the logic also appears to apply equally to abortions and some forms of birth control like the so-called morning-after pill), my position (and I can really only speak for myself here) is twofold: that abortion is a catch-all safety net for the woman if everything else fails, but that the ultimate goal is to prevent the woman from having to make the choice whether or not to have an abortion at all. i.e. prevent unwanted pregnancies, improve access to healthcare, promote fetal health, provide financial support, etc.

So reaching the “choice” at the end of that string of policies (or lack thereof) really in most cases marks some sort of societal failure. If the goal is to prevent the situation from ever reaching the “choice” phase, it’s hardly a pro-choice position. It’s really just the position that you prefer the legal safety net to the illegal safety net, not that you want anyone to actually get there.

It does mark some common ground, though. Although I see the choice as the final safety net in case society fails, darth_ender sees the choice itself as a failure (but is it less of a failure if it’s done illegally?). But aside from that (and I realize, it’s a big “that”), the pre-choice stuff – preventing unwanted pregnancies, improving access to healthcare, promoting fetal health, providing support for families – seems like plenty of common ground for policy ideas. And assuming these common ground policies continue to reduce the number of abortions overall as they have already done, that would be considered forward movement by both sides. Of course, there may be some friction on specifics (sex ed, access to contraception, etc), but the issue still seems way more navigable on that end.

Post
#1096135
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

…and this is why you need to be more active here, darth_ender. Not because you’ll find a lot of agreement, and not because you’ll find a satisfyingly wide range of opinions, because who am I kidding?

But because without a vocal conservative on board (and I’m intentionally excluding our libertarians because they agree with liberals half the time anyway), there’s no balance. Not the Fox News “Fair and Balanced” where bullshit is provided to balance out facts (Fo, we hardly knew ye), but real balance, where fundamental differences in values make for a consistent, logical, and fundamentally different view of the exact same facts we all share.

Thanks for the time and effort you spent spelling it out. And no I don’t agree with you, but that’s okay. I’d still be happy to invite you over for beer soda water sometime 😉

Do you think it’ll work, guys? Do you think I suckered him in? Boy I sure hope so! (maniacal liberal laugh)