Talk:3034: Features of Adulthood

2025-01-07T18:22:26Z

172.69.58.75:

No comments yet? Probably everyone's still considering the filling in of the table. As for me, I just put a load of words in about the middle name(s), but perhaps it drifts and could be cut back a lot. However, I think we do know a lot of middle names of people, especially [[2393: Presidential Middle Names|politicians]]. Or at least use their middle initials (like with "John F[itzgerald]. Kennedy"), even if we don't use their full names (like with "Harry S. Truman"... :p ). Not that I've had much experience with middle names. Don't have one myself. Knew a couple of people at school who would admit to having them (one had "Colin", the other had "Douglas"), which weren't really names given to people our age and location, so they ''must'' have been grandparental honorifics (though I'm not sure the names were right for two generations back, either... never enquired further, but maybe they were being traditional ''middle'' names, inherited but never really used). To my knowledge, neither the "Colin" nor the "Douglas" ever went on to use those in post-school life, but at least one of them also changed from their first name as their habitual name to be known by, and likely they prefered to go for something altogether new. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 03:23, 7 January 2025 (UTC)
:In Denmark middle names are common, and Kynde is actually my middle name... Many people use their second name like their first, which can be confusing in work places where the e-mail is auto generated from full name, so no one can find Nicolai, because his first name is Christian... which he never uses. Have more than one of those here at my job. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:56, 7 January 2025 (UTC)
::In Denmark middle names are necessary. Otherwise we'd be lost in a vast sea of Jens Jensen, Hans Hansen and Niels Nielsen. Min farfar Niels Peder Nielsen, hedde altid Peder, ikke Niels. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.139|13:58, 7 January 2025}}

Unexplained smells or noises: I'm trying to figure out what he means by this. I can't say that this comes up often in my adult life. Am I just deaf and {{w|Anosmia|anosmic}} (I don't think so)? Is Randall worried about gas leaks or his house creaking and falling down? What could he be referencing? [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 09:29, 7 January 2025 (UTC)
:I often smell something that others cannot or do not. So I'm completely at par with Randall here. Just now my office has a damp smell, after new people moved their things into my office replacing earlier office mates (four in the room). I'm sure it is some of their stuff that smells, but since the hole room is permeated with the smell, it has not been possible for me to find out what could cause the smell. But have tried this many times, for instance when someone leaves a citrus fruit to rot. Some people just cannot smell the fruit whereas I'm getting an instant headache from it. Also in my office, the guy with the rotten fruit, actually destroying his backpack, could not smell it, whereas other people could smell it down the hall. But inside the office it was hard to pinpoint the source as for those that could smell it is was all over the room. I could go on... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:57, 7 January 2025 (UTC)

''"In later life, a person may drop the use of middle names (or, conversely, adopt only them as the name they are known by) and the unwieldy complete set of names becomes less common, as they may be considered unprofessional and unnecessary."'' -- What? Who says middle names may be considered unprofessional? Never heard of this before. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.55.140|172.70.55.140]] 14:55, 7 January 2025 (UTC)

Just popping in to explain where this comic came from. It's an adaptation of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8l6mJQeclo|an old John Mulaney bit]] that makes the rounds every so often on social media unattributed. (Example: [[https://x.com/tmorello/status/463160714337603584|Tom Morello stealing the bit]] over ten years ago on what was then Twitter.)

2777: Noise Filter

2023-05-18T06:47:21Z

172.69.58.75: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2777
| date = May 17, 2023
| title = Noise Filter
| image = noise_filter_2x.png
| imagesize = 298x345px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Party Mode also enables the feature, but reverses the slider.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 30-YEAR-OLD BOT WITH A NOISE LEVEL SEARCH - elaborate on search engines of the type demonstrated in the comic and offer examples of the noise levels shown; also why such a filter may be desirable for 30+. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic portrays a generalized, minimalist version of a search engine's front end. The engine helps the user find things (in this case, restaurants) that conform to user preferences. Preferences shown are hours of opening, mean of review scores, price range, and current noise level. All but "current noise level" are grayed out. The user, setting the parameters for deir search, adjusts the slider to select the maximum tolerable noise level. Interestingly, the slider indicates increasing noise tolerance up to "Any", which, given that [https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/keeplistening/decibels the 'safe' noise threshold is 70 decibels or less], suggests that the person making the suggestion (Randall) has been in some pretty loud restaurants.

The caption's statement that the noise slider should automatically appear when the user reaches the age of 30 (ignoring the privacy concerns implicit in such a function) plays on the common perception that a person's ability to tolerate background noise while dining (or anywhere else) deteriorates with age. Such declines have been documented, linked to changes in the inner ear and associated nerves with aging, and can occur in the absence of other hearing-loss symptoms. The term [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.890010/full "SPiN (Speech Perception in Noise) threshold"] has been conceived to measure this loss. Other studies suggest that [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918655/ personality traits and gender, as well as age], contribute to declines in the ability to perceive speech in noise, so the trope is less precise than is indicated here, and in advertisements by health providers for hearing loss treatments.

The title text shows that Randall imagines a "Party Mode" which also includes this filter, but reversed, presumably so that a loud party won't disrupt a quiet restaurant.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A search bar with the standard magnifying glass symbol. The following word is typed in the search bar:]
:Restaurants
:[Below that, a line with the following word at its center:]
:Filters
:[For each of the options below, one or more options has been selected, which are highlighted in blue. The selected choices are shown in boldface below.]
:Hours
:Any '''Open now''' Open at…
:Rating
:'''Any''' ☆3+ ☆3.5+ ☆4+ ☆4.5+
:[The following option is entirely circled in red and the user uses a sliding bar to indicate their preference.]
:Current Noise Level
:[The bar is marked with points indicating five specific decibel levels with "Any" at the rightmost point.]
:60dB 70dB 80dB 90dB 100dB Any
:[The sliding bar is highlighted in blue to indicate that the user has chosen noise levels up to approximately 85 dB.]
:Price
:'''$''' '''$$''' $$$ $$$$

{{comic discussion}}

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Talk:3034: Features of Adulthood

2777: Noise Filter