Dear Cia Column

Dear Tex,

Hmmmm, a touchy subject, but I guess it's understandable that relatively-new players would ask that since staff banning hasn't been done in a long while.

As far as banning an existing staff member, we only had two instances of that.  One was with Dude1002746, but this was back in the old Sister Server days, and so I wasn't really fully in control of staff selection back then.  Gunia declared him to be a staff member again, he urged me to op him (since it was only players and moderators back then), I did, profanity ensued, and within two hours he was gone after Cory convinced Gunia that he should be banned.  And he was, and it wasn't until six months later that we finally let him back into the now converted Big Sister server, albeit with the clause that he will never become staff again.  

The other staff member to be banned while still a staff member was Mister_ee, who along with his disreputable friend CaptainDiggens tried to sabotage the server and bully players into joining their master's Skyscraper server.  You can still see his banning thread on the Support thread here: https://bigsister.forumotion.com/t151-mister-s-strikes .  In any case, bullying other staff members (especially underaged staff members like Ajj [at the time] and Audrey was definitely not tolerated), he was immediately stripped off his rank of Deputy and banned alongside CaptainDiggens.


Speaking of which, CaptainDiggens doesn't make the cut since he was demoted from his Deputy status first, and then banned later, albeit not too much later (say maybe a week after).  He was definitely the worst of the worst, but then we didn't technically choose either him or Mister_ee. Back then, the Deputy selection process was very lax (as they did not have the same powers as they do today), so when Ajjget surprised us all by saying she wanted them as deputies, our first reactions were almost like "ARE YOU INSANE?!", but then we took a wait-and-see approach to see if perhaps she had a spark of genius or something. But turns out we were right, and even before they were demoted and banned, she had problems controlling them, or at least CaptainDiggens. It lead me to believe she selected them more out of extortion or some false sense of friendship rather than actual merit.


And on that note, Ajjget officially retired from her position of Moderator, although before leaving she self-banned herself I guess presumably to make her dramatic exit more dramatic.  I haven't lifted that self-ban, but she is not officially banned either.

And that's pretty much it... we've had people losing their staff ranks due to inactivity (as defined by 3 months inactivity for moderators and 6 months for commissioners), including Claire, Ler, Dina and Drakenguard, but they can always come to play whenever they feel like.  And we've had people relinquish their staff ranks entirely, such as ShadowScale and Cory, although at least in the case of Shad he agreed to stay as Deputy for honorary purposes (since there's no inactivity penalty for deputies, that means he can be staff forever).  ^^

We've also had people voluntary to be demoted given how difficult some of the higher ranks can be -- most of you folks think its all fun in games here, but believe me we have to go through some serious schnitzel.  That's why I say, and it begs repeating... 

Being staff is a Responsibility, not a Reward!


--Cia

Dear cia,
you mentioned this "order 77" earlier, is it classified? If not, what is it?

Dear a4,

Yep, it's classified.  If I yell you, I'd have to kill you.  XD


--Cia

Dear Cia
If you could have three wishes (No wishing for more wishes or anything that grants you more wishes) and could do anything (cheat death, become god, etc)
What would you wish for?

Choose wisely.

(slithers back into cave)

Dear Cia,

Do you think that people are naturally born good or evil? If we were to have no societies at all, do you think it would be total chaos or no?

Dear Slayer,

Three wishes, hmmm....
It's always tricky, since I feel I generally only need one... 

To have part of my brain unlocked so I could have similar abilities like in that movie 'Phenomenon' (minus the tumor part -- I want to spend the rest of my natural life super intelligent, telepathic and wise).  ^^
I loved the idea of learning Portuguese in 30 minutes, accurately predicting earthquakes, inventing means to make a better farm in only a matter of days, photovoltaics from plants, reading peoples' minds, manipulating minor levitation, "feeling" plants and animals.  [GAWD I loved that movie!]
Something like that alone could suit all the earthly desires I could ever want, from making money, to keeping a proper relationship, to helping my family, helping society as a hold, spreading the word of good nutrition, reclaiming deserts, bettering humanity, and making a drive towards exploring the last great frontiers of space, oceans, extra dimensions, and so forth.

And all without magic... it would simply be tapping into the power of the human mind.

But just in case some things ARE impossible for even the human mind to do...

I would love some ability to either see/experience whatever happened in our distant past, or an ability to see into the outer reaches of space.  There are so many mysteries just in Earth's past alone, that it would be fascinating to have the means to see it as it really was, from how trilobites ruled the ancient oceans of Earth, to how Puma Punku was constructed, to even how my ancient Mexico really looked versus what Spanish historians and modern-day ruins might suggest.  If that's impossible, simply observing the stars like a kind of first-person telescope, traveling the universe, observing life evolve in wonderous unique forms, and gaining so much knowledge, wisdom and inspiration from my "astral" travels would be like never-ending poetry.  ^^

And as an added bit of insurance, I would want my last wish to control over my dream state.  When I sleep, I would love the option to be as conscious as I desire during my dreams, even to the point of spending hours/days/months/years in these various dream states, and all in the span of a night's sleep.  This can either be useful to rehearse, refine or perfect things in-dream so I can make them a reality IRL, or to discover that dreams are not simply random brain projections, but an actual connection to an astral plane or some other interdimensional existence.

Either way, it's quite possible that these three separate wishes may in fact be one in the same, if it turns out that space travel, time travel, dimension travel, and so forth could simply be accomplished by the ascension of the mind / soul.  But if I to choose just one, it would definitely be the first... so long as I have the means to get the process done a little faster, I'm confident I could figure out ways to achieve my other two wishes on my own, it would certainly be more fun.  ^^


--Cia

Dear Avocado,

Well good and evil are subjective concepts, so no one is born with a subjective predisposition to either one of those.  They may be born with different hormones controlling activity, destructiveness and aggression (just like how more testosterone can cause a person to be aggressive and domineering), and some may be born with brain disorders/defects that either, say, make them overly-affectionate to others (as in some cases of Down Syndrome), or, say, completely devoid of human empathy (as in the case of some psychopathic behavior).  We may treat the kind kid as good and the psycho bully as bad in this day and age, but in 300's rendition of Sparta it was the brutal kids who were good, and the good soft kids who were bottomless pit bait.  

Obviously the movie 300 was a historical fraud (being a comic book bastardization of a far more interesting historical battle), but you can easily find cases in history where good and evil were not quite what they seem today, and so humans born with different characteristics may have been valued differently by the cultures of the time.

But if we had no societies at all like the ones we know today, then chaos would depend on who we're talking about.  If you're talking us... probably since we're used to societies, and there may be some efforts and infighting to recreate society as we know it.

If you're talking humans who don't normally live in a large society or understand the concept of it, then no.  Depending on how absent society and modern technology is, they might even resume paleolithic hunter-gatherer instincts and naturally form family groups or tribes since they're still naturally-social creatures.  They may start developing culture and sooner or later get back to conceptualizing renditions of good and evil, because... cosmic duality.  XD


--Cia

Dear cia,
do you ever play any random browser games (no download required) if so, what are they?

Dear A4,...

http://king-soukutu.com/flash/rokko.html




--Cia

Dear Cia,
Which version of Minecraft did you first play?
Mine was 1.8.1 beta... I think

Dear cia, what type of cheesecake is your favorite, to be extremely specific?

Dear Slayer,

To be honest, I really don't remember.  Maybe 1.5.2, I think? I was actually relatively-noobish when I first played on Gunia's, believe it or not.  XD


--Cia

Dear A4,

Oooh! Specific food example... you're learning, my child.  :3

Well so far my favorite kind of cheesecakes is the FLOUR-LESS [more on this in a bit] pecan-crusted, dark chocolate-infused, strawberry cheesecake, just like the one I had on my birthday.  <3

Flour-less is important because of course I don't eat wheat plus this recipe really truly doesn't require it, but aside from the crust, you'd be surprised how restuarants and bakeries alike love to load their cheesecake with GOBS of flour, since it allows them to use a lot less cream cheese while equally making it very filling and addicting to their customers.  If you ever wondered why Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes are so bloaty to the point that a few bites could leave you with a tummy-ache, look no further then all that flour (and sugar) they pour into their exaggerated creations which they then resell at 2000x the price.  XD

So flour-less is important and imparts the cake with a pure, light feeling, free of all toxins, and naturally rich in healthy saturated fat so that you'll truly stop when you're satieted.  

The pecan portion is also important because I make my crusts almost entirely out of nut butters (usually almond), alnong with crushed nuts for awesome crunch.  This makes the crust surprisingly thick and resilient enough to hold all that cream cheese, while making it awesomely delightful to eat, and also accompanying the richness and fullness of the cake.... I dare say this crust is superior to any flour crust I've ever eaten before. ^^

And lastly the dark chocolate and strawberries are one of countless extras that can be added to give the cheesecake a distinct look and taste, although this combination I'm especially fond of since it resembles a black forest cake. Dark chocolate, especially nearly free of sugar, is the healthiest form of chocolate there is and imparts some heart-healthy benefits, and strawberries are delicious and have a respectable amount of vitamins (and enough sugar on their own to sweeten the cake without any added sweetener). 

This kind of cake is surprisingly healthy, nutrient-dense, and can be eaten in any part of the day, from your average dessert, to your on-the-go breakfast.  


--Cia

Dear cia:
What is your favourite Italian food?
-Mimi

Dear Mimi,

Oooh, surprisingly-tough question, all things considered. Although traditional Italian cuisine isn't exaggeratedly-carby, you wouldn't think that from the typical American take on Italian food, a la Olive Garden... one lives eats and breathes pasta, bread, pizza, and italian cookies/cakes/pastries.  In fact, up until early this year, I would have easily answered that question with "pizza" or "fetuccini alfredo" or foccaccia.

But now I have to be more creative... dig down to the roots of the cuisine, and really discover some oft-overlooked but oh so heavenly delights.  Or at least befriend old ones... I used to eat pesto once every blue moon because of its ARTERYCLOGGINGSATURATEDFAT, but since finally clearing its good name I practically eat it every day... often even in interesting variations such as parsley and cilantro based. ^^

But for food food, I would say my favourite meal dish is the Giambotta... either by itself with only vegetables, or with sausage, chicken, beef or a combination of all three.  An exquisite dish best served with a side of roasted butter glazed potatoes and some pesto.  ^^


--Cia

Dear cia,
Why is your username ciabatta if you hate bread and all gluten and wheat filled products?

Dear A4,

What a historically-illiterate question, but I guess you are still relatively new.  XD

I'm actually surprised you didn't think i was simply trying to be ironic... like someone called "Tiny" who's actually big and strong, or a dog called "Killer" who's a cute adorable chihuahua. 

But in my case, just because I hate wheat now, doesn't mean I always used to.  At one point I loved the stuff,... enough to eat it all the time, enough to name myself after my favorite bread.  I had a lot of problems back then too, but I didn't think at the time they were caused by bread... I just kept trudging along, eating whatever I wanted (except for all that HEARTCLOGGINGSATURATEDFAT), and wondering why I was sick, heavy and depressed all the time.  >v<

In short, everyone has a right to change their mind. 

I guess my name now is both a badge of shame, a cautionary tale, and a delicious irony for the new age. ^^


--Cia

Dear cia,
On the forums, what is a "sticky"?

Dear A4,

A Sticky is simply a forun topic that gets pinned to the top of the Discussion section.  So if anyone sees the makeup of the Discussion section, they'll see that the Whitelist thread is Sticky, and thus always visible at the tip of the list with all the other important Sticky threads. ^^

--Cia

Dear Cia,
What do you usually do in a fever?
(I cured mine... just yesterday... still feel a tad bit horrible)

Dear cia,
what is your favourite vacation you've gone on.
(I'm on vacation skiing right now)

Dear Slayer,

IANAD, so take this more as a hypothetical anecdote since TBH I've never actually had a standalone fever before. Whenever I do, it's usually paired with a cold or flu, and typically just one of several symptoms.  

I already discussed with Flamm ways to address cold and flu symptoms (although there might be more I want to add now), but for a regular standalone fever your main goal is simply to avoid getting your body temperature too high, due to some highly-inflammatory event affecting your body (hence why fevers often occur alongside the flu).  If that's the case, here are some things I've done to address fevers...

• I try to cool down, with things like a wet towel, light clothing, air ventilation, etc.
  
• I drink plenty of water (and plain water, not flavored water and definitely not sugar water; I might make an exception with tea, including medicinal drinks if I feel I need one).
  
• I don't eat anything... since your body is waging a war against something, diverting resources away from fighting the infection and into digesting something is counterproductive, plus it risks providing nutrients to the infectious agents; besides, I'm usually not hungry during this medical fast, and when I am I'll eat a spoonful of coconut oil (with an optional drop of oregano oil) which can be very helpful in combating the infection as well.
  
• I don't take any vitamin supplements for the same reason as above, with the exception of probiotics, prebiotics and magnesium,... basically anything that can help your gut, since that can play a big role in addressing this infection.
  
• I get plenty of rest, and generally take it easy.
  

And that about does it.  Once I feel better and am able to eat again, I start off with something basic like chicken soup with extra fat and bone, just to help toughen up my body's immune defenses.  ^^


--Cia

Dear A4,

Well I'd have to say my favorite vacation thus far was recently when I went to Las Vegas, NV -- however, given there are too many, er, personal details to that trip, I'm sorry to say I can't include why.  You'll just have to take my word for it that it was a blast.  ^^


--Cia

Dear cia,
When you said it was a blast, was it figurative or was there explosives involved.

Dear A4,

*bonks you on the head*  Figurative.  XD


--Cia