Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

A consequence of cucumbers

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

The words do not have to be perfect.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

Motown is Joe-Town!

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Virtual Hurltual

Virtual Hurltual

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Has anyone tried the Google Cardboard DIY virtual reality thingy? If so, did it make you puke?

I ask because I’m trying to find out why my daughter and I are throwing up. I’ve almost ruled out food poisoning from supper because my husband had the same thing we did, and he’s fine.

But shortly after supper and prior to the onset of nausea, we were playing with the Cardboard thing and had both tried the kaleidoscope virtual reality app while spinning around in a swivel chair. I think that’s what did it.

Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    MomSense

    I don’t know but I have it too. My kids had a stomach bug yesterday that I figured was too much pizza in the middle of the night. I was wrong. Headache. Nausea. Fatigue.

    Going to bed.

  3. 3.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Has anyone tried the Google Cardboard DIY virtual reality thingy?

    Yes.

    If so, did it make you puke?

    No. But I just looked at Google Earth and didn’t spin around in my chair.

    ETA: It worked fine on my Note3(1920×1080) but you could see the pixels. It didn’t work on my Note Edge or Madame’s GS6 where I got double vision on some stuff.

  4. 4.

    katie5

    I’ve tried VR with a regular visor and got naseous. A certain percentage of people (can’t remember, anywhere from 5-20%) get ill looking at virtual reality.

    I also get very seasick, which might be related.

  5. 5.

    Ruviana

    I have benign positional vertigo and I couldn’t even read about the chair-sp*nning thing without beginning to get queasy. I vote yes.

  6. 6.

    ruemara

    I had an incredible shitshow of a first day with the new leadership (+ old leadership). I’d like to puke. Then scream. Then resort to violence.

  8. 8.

    Scamp Dog

    Hasbro made one, and it went nowhere. Some of the online marketing material said that they’d soon be coming out with software for outside developers to use, and it never showed up. I was kind of ticked off, I bought one and thought it was great. I still have it, but it requires a cover that matches your phone, and I have an iPhone 6s now, which I’m sure won’t fit.

  11. 11.

    jl

    Betty, how much of this stuff do you just make up, anyway?

    Well, if this one is real, hope you both feel better soon.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    Okay, how many of us actually think somebody hacked into Holly Jones’ Facebook account and wrote those vile things without her knowledge or permission?

    Anyone? Hands?

  13. 13.

    JCJ

    @Ruviana:

    I have benign positional vertigo and I couldn’t even read about the chair-sp*nning thing without beginning to get queasy.

    I have that as well. I can slowly turn around a chair once if I’m feeling well.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    Sue the chair manufacturer.

    /Ambulance Chasers, LLC

    Sure you didn’t accidentally navigate to bingeandpurge.com?

  15. 15.

    Ruviana

    @SiubhanDuinne: Lol! I just came back from reading the link to ask this very question! How is it that rude comments are always committed by hackers stealing your social media?

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    It must be contagious from contact with Balloon Juice. I threw up my dinner last night too.

  23. 23.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    The person the Star talked to was a different person with the same name who got some of the spillover. IIRC, Jones is still one of the top 10 most common last names in the US.

  24. 24.

    BruceFromOhio

    I ask because I’m trying to find out why my daughter and I are throwing up.

    Oh, that is unfortunate.

    But shortly after supper and prior to the onset of nausea, we were playing with the Cardboard thing and had both tried the kaleidoscope virtual reality app while spinning around in a swivel chair.

    You’ve probably overloaded your visual cortex with the secret neurosynthesis programming the Google aliens have penetrated into each and every virtual visual map. You are fortunate, as other victims have spontaneously combusted, leaving no trace of their crimes save a whisper of ash and some ozone.

    Actually, the two things are most likely completely unrelated, merely coincidental. To be certain, I suggest repeating the exposure after every meal. Three or four more trials ought to do it.

  27. 27.

    Felonius Monk

    @schrodinger’s cat: Pizza dough recipe? Yes, several. But lately I’ve been lazy and been buying frozen dough at the market made by Portland Pie. They have several flavors and I think it’s pretty good. Runs about $2.50 and makes a huge pie.

    If you’re over in the Berkshires, you should be able to get it at BigY.

    I’ll also dig out a recipe for you.

  28. 28.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    @efgoldman: It’s not like my metro area is Times Square, but does anyone else want to know how many folks it takes to ring up a $700 tab at that Indianapolis place, even on NYE? The photos in the article are not of a very ritzy place, rather a nice honest-seeing pub.

    Also,,how long til this lady (the complainant) is retconned into a hipster?

  31. 31.

    Randy P

    @efgoldman: The response from the owner was great.

    I completely buy Ms. Jones story that her account was hacked by someone who knew how much her bill was and about her interactions with the server and manager.

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    @NotMax:

    I have an uncommon first name paired with an uncommon last name. If I ever fuck up big on the internet, all of the vitriol will be coming straight to my inbox.

  33. 33.

    BruceFromOhio

    @ruemara: I’m sorry you have to endure that, putting up with sucky leadership is a constant chore sometimes. In an effort to strike balance in the world, today was my new hires’ first day, and I tried to make it as easy as possible. The team is looking forward to a busy 2016, and the new person brings a lot to the table that will help us hit some big targets. I hope some of that positive energy settles in your world. Temba, his arms wide.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, too, Betty — my internet diagnosis for you is also norovirus. If so, I’m sorry, because it sucks and lasts for, like, a week

  35. 35.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Dunno if this has been mentioned yet (you people talk too much ;-):

    John Sepulvado on the Bundy’s brand of Mormonism:

    “I’m Captain Moroni, from Utah.”

    That’s how one militiaman at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge responded to OPB’s Amanda Peacher when she asked for his name.

    That name is not a silly response to deflect responsibility: In many ways, it encapsulates a deeply intertwined anti-federal sentiment mixed with Mormon symbolism. Captain Moroni is a crucial figure in the Church of Latter-day Saints. He’s also a heroic figure for anti-federalist extremists.

    In the modern day west, Captain Moroni has become one of several powerful symbols for the Bundy militia’s anti-governmental extremism.

    They seem to believe that this conflict will end the way the first Captain Moroni (“Moron-eye”) defeated a bad king and saved the people by writing stirring words and not firing a shot.

    Matt Novak on how Oregon’s first constitution was explicitly racist to an amazing degree:

    When Oregon was granted statehood in 1859, it was the only state in the Union admitted with a constitution that forbade black people from living, working, or owning property there. It was illegal for black people even to move to the state until 1926. Oregon’s founding is part of the forgotten history of racism in the American west.

    Both are good reads, if you haven’t seen them yet.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    Roommate of a friend grew so tired of having to spell out his last name (or have people mispronounce it) that he legally changed both his middle and last names to be identical to his first name.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne

    Just to lighten the mood a bit, G feels that Neil Gaiman understands his life after Gaiman posted the following on Facebook today:

    “It’s my first day at work after having the baby. Take a photo of me going to work,” said my wife.

    “I’m not actually wearing any trousers,” I said.

    “Oh, don’t worry. It’s warm outside today,” she told me. And I didn’t have the heart to point out that there are other reasons why people wear trousers in public, so I took the photo.

    (Note: I don’t even have the excuse of having a baby when I say things like that.)

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Some people might call you selfish or self-centered. You’d say that you just have firm opinions about what you want and how you want it (and when and in what color). You are surprisingly competitive, and you can’t stand taking second place to anyone, for any reason. Your darkest secret is that — despite all evidence to the contrary — you’re sort of a big softie underneath that frequently cold exterior, but since you probably only show that side of yourself to about two people, it’s unlikely to become public knowledge.

    My father’s butler likes me.

    ETA: You are the people who deal with me. You tell me.

  45. 45.

    mclaren

    This is arguably one of the more important articles in recent years. It explains why suburbs are financially unsustainable, and wind up generating exponentiating costs that ripple out to the city, county and state level to create vast unfunded liabilities that end up impoverishing future generations. To a significant extent, this explains why the post-1970s financial condition of cities and states has so badly deteriorated, and why the deterioration is worst in the the largest states like California and New York city:

    The Suburbs Will Die: One Man’s Fight to Fix the American Dream — Engineer Charles Marohn worked his whole life trying to make his community better—until the day he realized he was ruining it.

    Marohn primarily takes issue with the financial structure of the suburbs. The amount of tax revenue their low-density setup generates, he says, doesn’t come close to paying for the cost of maintaining the vast and costly infrastructure systems, so the only way to keep the machine going is to keep adding and growing. “The public yield from the suburban development pattern is ridiculously low,” he says. One of the most popular articles on the Strong Towns Web site is a five-part series Marohn wrote likening American suburban development to a giant Ponzi scheme.

    Here’s what he means. The way suburban development usually works is that a town lays the pipes, plumbing, and infrastructure for housing development—often getting big loans from the government to do so—and soon after a developer appears and offers to build homes on it. Developers usually fund most of the cost of the infrastructure because they make their money back from the sale of the homes. The short-term cost to the city or town, therefore, is very low: it gets a cash infusion from whichever entity fronted the costs, and the city gets to keep all the revenue from property taxes. The thinking is that either taxes will cover the maintenance costs, or the city will keep growing and generate enough future cash flow to cover the obligations. But the tax revenue at low suburban densities isn’t nearly enough to pay the bills; in Marohn’s estimation, property taxes at suburban densities bring in anywhere from 4 cents to 65 cents for every dollar of liability. Most suburban municipalities, he says, are therefore unable to pay the maintenance costs of their infrastructure, let alone replace things when they inevitably wear out after twenty to twenty-five years. The only way to survive is to keep growing or take on more debt, or both. “It is a ridiculously unproductive system,” he says.

    Marohn points out that while this has been an issue as long as there have been suburbs, the problem has become more acute with each additional “life cycle” of suburban infrastructure (the point at which the systems need to be replaced—funded by debt, more growth, or both). Most U.S. suburbs are now on their third life cycle, and infrastructure systems have only become more bloated, inefficient, and costly. “When people say we’re living beyond our means, they’re usually talking about a forty-inch TV instead of a twenty-inch TV,” he says. “This is like pennies compared to the dollars we’ve spent on the way we’ve arranged ourselves across the landscape.”

    Source: op. cit.

    If you want to know where a lot of the white rage that fuels Trump’s campaign is coming from, this is a large part of it. If you want to know where Larry Summers’ “secular stagnation” starts, look here. This death spiral of endless growth that doesn’t pay for itself is unsustainable, and after three life-cycles of suburban growth (1950s-2010s) quite a few cities and counties and states across the U.S. are on the verge of collapse. Add in the inevitably rising costs of gasoline, and you’ve got a recipe for major decline in America because the very basis of our socioeconomic system, the way we’ve laid out our housing, is falling apart and simply can’t be economically sustained.

  46. 46.

    ? Martin

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
    3 cups all-purpose flour
    3/4 cup milk
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1/2 cup lukewarm water
    1 1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 pinch sugar

    Everything but the water in your mixer, mix it up, add the water slowly until the dough balls up. Take it out and knead it for a few minutes (I have a kneading attachment for my Kitchen Aid and just use it for the entire operation). Either ball it up and freeze for later, or ball it up and let it rise about 2 hours. If you freeze it, I usually take it out about 4-5 hours ahead and let it slowly thaw/rise.

    Julia Child, known spy and french pizza expert. I don’t really have anything to compare it to – it’s pretty much the only recipe I’ve ever used but I like it.

  48. 48.

    JustRuss

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    It was illegal for black people even to move to the state until 1926.

    From what I’ve read, this was one of those laws that stayed on the books long after it ceased to be enforced. Still horrific, of course.

  52. 52.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m Mrs. Hughes?

    About half of the questions I couldn’t answer (e.g. I don’t stream anything, I don’t know Marvell comics, etc., get off my lawn) so I wouldn’t take the results as accurate. :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (INTJ/ISTJ at one point in time, supposedly, IIRC…)

  55. 55.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: I will take the quiz tomorrow. I do have shades of Mary myself. I was pretty mean to my brother when we were growing up and I was my father’s favorite too and I am the oldest child.

    I hope I outgrown some of those unpleasant characteristics now.

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne

    @srv:

    IOW, a guy calling himself “Fluffy Unicorn” doesn’t understand why he’s getting mocked from coast to coast.

  58. 58.

    dogwood

    Well, Ryan Bundy is now saying they’ll leave Camp Winnipesaukee peacefully if the people of Burns ask them to. The Sheriff asked them to leave, but he doesn’t speak for the people you see. Bundy hopes to have a meeting with the community ASAP. Maybe at the community meeting they can negotiate to stay long enough to get the snacks the lovers of Liberty are sending.

  60. 60.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @JustRuss: Dunno. The Census numbers for selected cities in several states (116 page .pdf) seems to show that the black population in Portland didn’t start to increase until after 1940.

    Portland black population:
    1960 – 15,637 (4.2% of total)
    1950 – 9,529 (2.6%)
    1940 – 1,931 (0.6%)
    1930 – 1,559 (0.5%)
    1920 – 1,556 (0.6%)
    1910 – 1,045 (0.5%)
    1900 – 775 (0.9%)

    The other cities listed had tiny black populations until about 1960.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott. [cut]

  61. 61.

    jl

    @dogwood: Hopeful sign that these hopeless losers realize that they are hopeless losers and no one (reactionary hacks, media con men and GOP pols) they need to support them gives a rat’s ass. I guess the beer didn’t last as long as expected.

    Funny that in their fantasy pretend world of US history and law, that the county sheriff is the only Constitutionally recognized lawful authority in each county. But, gosh the good sheriff of Harney county told them to scram and they say the good sheriff can go pound sand and bug off.

    Assholes. They are probably pissing their pants now because this time it is likely they will be brought up on some charges after they leave. Were they beered up or high when they pulled this stunt? I wonder if that is a possibility.

  62. 62.

    Anne Laurie

    @katie5:

    I also get very seasick, which might be related.

    I have, no lie, been known to get sick on high-rise elevators (once even on a three-story escalator). Even though I always take a double dose of Bonine & put on my Seabands in advance, 3D movies give me a fierce headache. Every time someone tells me I should try some rilly kewl virtual reality device, I find a way to avoid doing so!

  65. 65.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    @Mnemosyne: “He’s surrounded by men who play with toy ponies; he’s in the least amount of danger possible!”

    Oh, and unless things have greatly changed, I am Daisy on Downton Abbey from the last year I took the ,quiz.

  66. 66.

    dogwood

    @jl:
    They were delusional when they went to Harney county for a big showdown. They were sure that the Hammond situation had created a community ripe for revolt, and they were just the fellows to lead it. They roamed around the county for days looking for followers and came up empty. I think they holed up at the wildlife preserve out of frustration and disappointment as much as anything else.

  67. 67.

    different-church-lady

    the Google Cardboard DIY virtual reality thingy

    Sometimes I’m convinced someone is rearranging the words on my screen at random.

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Satby: And here I was thinking it interesting that everyone seemed to be coming up with different people, you snotty bitch.

  75. 75.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Satby: FWIW the Mary thing that most resonates for me (aside from being the elder child and having family history and expectations put on me – which I have always accepted willingly), is the (((Spoiler Alert)!!!!)) declaration that she would, in the words of the Lemonheads. “rather be alone than pretend.“

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @ruemara: Sorry to hear that. Work can change on a dime and suddenly your whole world can be turned upside down.

    This must be part of what you alluded to in your card? I am waiting for the update with baited breath!

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