Persistent, Niggling Questions

[Chancellor Valium]

Originally Posted by Zeke

It comes naturally to him.

...Who are you, and what have you done with Zeke?

[Nate the Great]

No, that's a real Zeke quote, based on a real mudshark quote! Honestly, Trekkie's honor!

[Nate the Great]

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcredit.html

I'm not sure whether this belongs in the link dump thread or here, but it is a niggling question, so here goes...

To me, safety or not, just putting "Ask for Photo ID" on a card is just asking for trouble. Even if it's "technically safer," I am REALLY not in the mood to explain the logic EVERY SINGLE STINKIN' TIME! And I would have to. "How come you don't have a signature on this?" "Well, I was told that it wasn't safe..." "I'll have to summon my manager." "No, honest, this is my driver's license! I swear! Why didn't I sign the card? Well..." No, thank you.

[Chancellor Valium]

Originally Posted by Nate the Great

No, that's a real Zeke quote, based on a real mudshark quote! Honestly, Trekkie's honor!

Zeke miss a punning opportunity like that? I'm not that easy to dupe.

[Nate the Great]

Would it be alright if I just went mad now?

[PointyHairedJedi]

You're implying that you're not mad already? That's a hairy lie if I ever saw one!

[Katy Jane]

I have a question, why is there a letter that is compleatly dependent on another letter? I speak here of Qu.... why can't the letter Q just automaticly mean Qu? So that Queen would be spelled Qeen?

[Nate the Great]

You got me. But there are words that start with Q that don't have a u after it. Qat comes to mind. (Hey, I'm a Scrabbleholic, what can I say?)

[catalina_marina]

Originally Posted by Nate the Great

Why are men's and women's bicycles still in different structural styles? I doubt that there are that many women who bike in skirts anymore, and a straight bicycle bar really is stronger structurally, so what's up?

As an (Evil) Dutch Woman, I feel I should respond to this.

Women do, actually, still wear skirts sometimes. Even women like me.
More importantly, it's not necessary. Sure, it might be stronger, but it never breaks either way. At least, not until every other inch of the bike has broken down at least thrice. You're getting a new bike LONG before that ever comes close to looking like it's not in top condition.
Also, I happen to think women's bikes are easier to get on, but that might just be me being used to it.
Then there's the point that, if you borrow a bike from someone, and it's slightly too big for you, it's easier to bike on it if it's a women's bike. Less painful, too, if ever you need to stop suddenly.

[Zeke]

My Micro has been my best friend for about two years now. I bought it just for the cool tech factor -- it's barely bigger than the cartridges it plays.

Originally Posted by Chancellor Valium

Zeke miss a punning opportunity like that? I'm not that easy to dupe.

Valium is right. I've been meaning to mention this to you, Nate -- read my original post again.

[Nate the Great]

Yeah, that was nice of you to blackball ID for me, but I distinctly recall that you later acquiesed to the majority of the voters. After all, that's what the entire point of the poll was, right?

[Zeke]

You know that's not what I was pointing out. (But to answer your question, I didn't "blackball" ID permanently, I said we should keep looking. Ultimately I decided it was the best choice -- I did warn you that might happen.)

[PointyHairedJedi]

Democracy is for jerks. So, unfortunately, is every other system of government. Someone hurry up and build Colossus already!