The PodCats - Episode 19 - Clowning Around

The PodCats is back, and in this episode Jon has strong views about clowns, Dan has a lot to say about Starfield, and we all have a bit of trouble with figuring out exactly how atoms work...
The Podcats is also available over here - anchor.fm/podc...
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Fanfare for Space, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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[@majorwesjanson]

Jon with a periodic table is like a newly commissioned lieutenant with a map and a mission.

[@TypicallyThomas]

Jon, what the hell? Clowns on unicycles are legitimately one of the most ubiquitous clown tropes! I have seen one clown car in my life, and an uncountable number of clowns on unicycles, in many different countries including the UK and Ireland. What did Thatcher do to the Midlands clowns?!

[@TheGrinningViking]

She unhinged her jaw and ate all lesser clowns.

[@aurtosebaelheim5942]

To be fair, there were more clowns in that one clown car than the uncountable number of clowns on unicycles.

[@onchristieroad]

Maybe it is a regional thing? I've never really considered a clown on a unicycle before. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked by it, but I wouldn't consider it ubiquitous.

[@AgentofChaos315]

Jon believing that clowns can only do one thing ever is something

[@farshnuke]

I hate comedy and am scared of clowns and I know about clowns on unicycles.

[@nattiedraws]

It's very jon-esque

[@nattiedraws]

​@@farshnukeya hate comedy but ya come to listen to Dan and Jon? I can understand with Matt but still

[@farshnuke]

@@nattiedraws The nerds are adorable. I don't liker when Dan and Matt try to be funny because their comedy comes from cruelty. I like Jon's comedy because like the Brittass Empire the comedy comes from his sincere bungled attempt at or accidentally sincere wholesomeness. I laugh at things but a lot of comedy is just mean and Jon isn't.

[@hannah3u4i4i]

Matt screaming bloody murder and Jon just continuing to talk about starfield for like 30 seconds legitimately made me cry laughing.

[@LadyBlackmoor]

The answer to the ring question is 26. It is a problem from set theory, you can represent any combination of rings by a 5 bit number where every digit is either 0 or 1 and represents the presence or absence of one of the rings. For example 01001 means the combination that contains the second and fifth ring. Since every digit can be one of two symbols and with 5 bits the total amount of combinations is 2*2*2*2*2 = 2^5 = 32. You added the constraint that you need at least two rings so we eliminate the 5 combinations that contain only one ring and the combination that contains no rings, so 32 - 5 - 1 = 26. Sorry if I come of as a smart-ass, I just think these problems are neat

[@scragar]

You could also count possible combos the other way. 1 possibility of all rings 5 possibilities of 4 rings 10 possibilities(5choose3 = 5!/((5-3)! × 3!) = 120/12 = 10) of 3 rings 10 possibilities(5 choose 2, same answer as above because 5-3 = 2)of 2 rings Quicker to do it your way, but this working out is still handy if only to mark them off as you try.

[@tony3760758956]

Buster Keaton's parents were in the circus which is where he learnt his craft. He's basically a clown. The unicycle thing is perfect for a clown because clowns are very talented people but act silly and the contrast is why it works so well. My biggest problem with starfield is that all the companions have the same values. Their isn't enough variety of personas in the game

[@vissenekku]

There's a mod that makes Citadel DLC an actual epilogue to the game. Only changing few bits of dialogue and adverts and such to make it fit. And it's wonderful.

[@Nanolis]

Honestly with how thick Dan's glasses are, it's understandable he sees things most people don't. I bet when you look through them you can see through time and space.

[@farshnuke]

He's like Geordi

[@farshnuke]

To be fair to Jon magic matter replication is a standard in a lot of scifi the issue is as noted how the magic matter replication allows poison.

[@macattackmicmac]

Jon: Is Ytterbium even a real element? Jon: I understand how atoms work. Jon: Taking an electron from one element changes it to a different element.

[@Jboy2000000]

Next Podcats they really do need to force Jon to talk about the Classics, I absolutely adore listening to Jon talk about history.

[@ellaisplotting]

Yesssss History with Jon is my favourite! Give him a chance to shine!

[@montrealronin]

Jon, I love you, but we'll need to tackle that clown trauma at some point.

[@3PurpleSquirrels]

If starfield had been 3 maybe 4 systems with some risk and time needed to travel from planet to planet i think it would be a better game.

[@drworm73]

They wanted some realism, and realistically 2-3 solar systems means at most 2-3 inhabitable planets, 4-6 gas giants, and a horde of moons and planetoids that are just barren. I just feel like if their big space RPG was just 2-3 systems it would have been slammed for being too small.

[@andromidius]

@@drworm73 Depends how large and varied the planets were.

[@stirlinggerbic-forsyth3345]

​@drworm73 if they wanted realism, then 99% of all inhabited settlements and outposts shouldn't exist because they simply don't have a population necessary to survive. Or Capitol cities that are absolutely miniscule with no surrounding towns or farms or whatever.

[@onewhowalkedaway]

Honestly, Outer Worlds had the scale right. Just work with one system. If you crammed the amount of content that exists in Starfield into 1 system it could actually be a nicely populated space. Of course you would have to change most of the rest of the game to accommodate that

[@stirlinggerbic-forsyth3345]

@@onewhowalkedaway so basically, one map that's really dense with POI, like they did with Skyrim and Fallout 4. That's probably true. One map's worth of stuff over 1000 worlds is empty

[@andromidius]

Well holy carp, Dan actually predicted what happened in Dr Who.

[@FiXato]

Thanks for the recommendation of The Adventures of Tintin! That was a lovely animation style, and the story brought me back to watching the cartoons from my childhood in Dutch!

[@deimochi6297]

Jon have you heard about Paul’s passing? From Mitten Squad, he did a lot of lovely Fallout and Elder Scrolls challenge content among other stuff, I’ve seen posts from other Fallout KZbinrs, Schizo Elijah and Nerbit for example, I’m not sure if you knew him but I’m sure that there’s a lot of community mixing between the two channels, it’d be nice if you could make a small post about him to let everyone know and wish him luck on the next big challenge. Oh also I should mention if you’ve posted about this somewhere else I wouldn’t know, just heard the news myself and didn’t see anything in the community or video section on KZbin and in case you hadn’t heard I wanted to tell you. Rest in Peace Paul.

[@Salacyous]

Some of the people in Starfield cities have routines. Not all of them, though. And none of the shopkeepers.

[@drworm73]

Re: Outposts. I think that Bethesda read opinions and got marketing data that told them that a not-inconsiderable number of players hated the fact that FO4 required you to do even a modicum of interaction with the settlement system. I know I read a ton for very vocal complaints along those lines in the years after FO4, though that is strictly speaking bad data. BGS also knew a huge amount of the long term players loved the settlement building aspect (me included), so they HAD to include it. Their response was to make it 100% optional in Starfield. Beth seemed to get shit for that too. I feel like a lot of things were a "damned if you do..." type situation. Starship fuel was a mechanic for much of the game's development, but testing many players just found it to be getting in the way of fun. BGS coiuldn't devote resources to an aspect that they didn't have a clear idea how to fix, so they ditched it.

[@farshnuke]

A lot of hater for Preston Garvey is because he's the settlement guy and the guy who can't be wiped out. Gamers don't like having their control taken away and nerds don't like change so the guy you have less control over being an element of change probably pissed people off.

[@scragar]

For an idea of the size of human cells: The biggest human cell is the egg, around 0.12mm. If you knew where it was and had good contrast you could just about see it with the naked eye. A human skin cell is around ¼ of that size, about 0.03mm. A white blood cell is around half that size, about 0.014mm. A red blood cell is around half that size again, about 0.0075mm. A sperm cell is half of that again, about 0.004mm. In case you're wondering the COVID virus is around 0.0001mm in size, about 1/40th of the size of a sperm cell. The size of a single molecule of sugar is 0.000 001mm, or about 1/100th that of a COVID virus. The size of an atom of oxygen is 0.000 000 074mm or around 1/13th the size of a sugar molecule.

[@Lightning1998JBD]

I really enjoy the MJ missions in both games…… Also MJ got the gun from Silver Sable and then Peter improved it

[@bluehero-96]

She got a hand gun in the comics, too. This was without telling Peter, too. It went about as well as you might expect.

[@timothy8428]

In Whiterun, the buildings were bigger on the inside. In New Atlantis the buildings are bigger on the outside and there's nothing on the inside.

[@thundercheckov9782]

I had a great time listening to you guys, that cheered me up ! I now imagine Jon walking through london after this conversation, and noticing clowns on unicycles everywhere being like "what else has Tatcher taken away from us ? "

[@TheGrinningViking]

I have no idea where in America anyone spells it kart. I've lived in multiple states and never seen that outside of Mario Kart (which is made in Japan, to be fair.) I suspect Jon has neither seen clowns in a circus setting, and only as a guest appearance in TV shows where the large one off physical gag is the clown car thing. Unicycles are cheaper than mini cars with false bottoms, useful for individual clowns, and large circuses have enough for both.

[@CommissarMitch]

I have never felt more vindicated than hearing Jon be not-possitive about Starfield, a game I was hyped for but I realised was just Skyrim In Space.

[@lupolinar]

Not even that. Skyrim was fun and had exploring.

[@Rateus_Johanson]

1:06:10 Jon has not yet listed an element that isn't real. Fun fact, Ytterbium was named after Ytterby where it was first discovered (as were Yttrium, Terbium and Erbium because us chemists aren't very inventive when it comes to names I guess...) 1:14:00 Jon, have a look at fusion in stars and a look at why Iron is the most stable element (because of nucleon binding energy), it'll answer some of your questions about the conversion of elements to other elements. 1:26:05 I (for one) am shocked!

[@GregPivo87]

Jon, electrons leave & join atoms constantly. That’s not what changes what element it is. The number of protons in the nucleus is the difference between an oxygen atom and a fluorine atom. To change one into another you’re describing nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. It’s extremely difficult and dangerous, you can’t just do it as an apparatus on a space suit.

[@2oonGamer]

Ahh 3 hours of the PodCats...yes!

[@apertureemployee215]

we really need to get Jon watching some Kurzgesagt

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

jon, the moon can't crash into the earth... if it get closer it will fall apart and form rings...

[@Budehgong]

ah that sounds awesome lets do that

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

@@Budehgong answers with Joe did an episode on that and trust me, it won't be awesome.

[@TenderbitsGames]

That's a bit of a surprising take on "The Caretaker" 🤔 I felt that they made it very clear that the Doctor's problem with Danny was because he was a soldier, and he liked the white guy because he was tall and had a bow tie and foppish hair (ie Matt Smith). It was a commentary on the Doctor's shame from the Time War and his idealized version of himself as he thinks Clara would view it. To reduce that context to racism is baffling, especially as a knock to a series that includes that awful tree episode and the one where the moon is an egg 🤯

[@TenderbitsGames]

Also, I'm very glad for new Podcats 😁

[@bluehero-96]

Also, 12 kept calling Danny a P.E. teacher instead of math. It seemed uncharacteristically antagonistic, even for the Doctor. It was some of the uncharacteristic meanness that made it hard to like 12 sometimes, and shame on Moffat for doing that.

[@Smitje_0]

Fighter and then Champion is very simple in BG3, I also get like overwhelmed by all the options.

[@scragar]

We define elements based on proton count, not electrons. A fluorine atom with one less electron is a fluorine ion with a positive charge not an oxygen atom. This is also why beta decay changes elements(a neutron turns into a proton and electron, but the electron gets repelled so strongly from the nucleus it leaves the atom and keeps going until it hits something else). The element changes, but the number of electrons around it doesn't change. Carbon-14(6 protons + 8 neutron) undergoing beta decay becomes nitrogen-14(7 protons + 7 neutrons). I think you can guess based on the fact that the example of changing an element is radioactive decay how dangerous changing elements is. Adding stuff to a nucleus takes a huge amount of energy, and removing stuff releases a corresponding amount of energy(also quick note; the sun still releases energy because there's more energy in two atoms than one atom with the same combined components, it's not adding a proton to an existing hydrogen atom, it's ripping apart four hydrogen atoms to make a new helium atom which requires less energy than destroying the 4 hydrogen atoms generates). Messing with the contents of atomic nuclei is a very bad idea unless you're building a nuclear reactor.

[@Streptovarius]

Jon, why do you think unicycles exist if not for clowns? Who else would ride something so ridiculous? It's not like people would take one down to the shop for some eggs. They are meant as a performance piece. Seriously man, your argument is like saying all thespians all have only one story to tell.

[@Amazinger]

RIP headphone users every time Matt screams into his mic.

[@farshnuke]

It's the opposite of ASMR. Then again I know screamo is a genre.

[@Amazinger]

@@farshnuke It's just obnoxious. It's one of the main reasons I couldn't listen to Angry Joe anymore.

[@farshnuke]

@@Amazinger I love Mattophobia and I always listen with headphones. If you haven't already, turn on loudness equalisation. It flattens out sound so you don't get suddenly deafened.

[@thealmightysnark5878]

Oh man jon and his not getting elements and not realizing that plenty of aircraft DO have an big ol' oxygen tank stashed away in the aft cargo(sometimes 6 or 8). But you do have the oxygen generator type as well, that is true.

[@KashouWannabe]

Wow, thought you'd stopped doing these.

[@tortoiseoflegends4466]

Nah, just took a break because Dan and Matt were really busy with Dan's new book and Jon was really busy catching up after Bethesda gave him a Starfield code super late.

[@raspymorten]

LETS GOOOOO! THE LIKE! FOURTH RETURN OF THE PODCATS!!!

[@Mysterios1989]

I don't know if I am enjoying or are horrofied about Jon's scientific knowledge. No Jon - it is not electrons that define an element, different amount of electrons is the charge of an atom. The element of the atom is defined by the amount of protons in the core ...

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

Holy shit it's back.

[@XopheAdethri]

oh thank God. I was dying. I needed a new episode.

[@nattiedraws]

I literally watched tintin the day before this released. I watched it when it came out. Its so good

[@xyldkefyi]

If the order doesn't matter, there are 26 options to pick 2 or more rings from a set of five. For picking two rings, the calculation goes like this: You can pick one of five rings as first ring and one of four rings as second ring, this means you have 5*4 or 20 options. But because the order does not matter, you have to divide by two because for every pick BA there is a pick AB that is the same. For picking three rings, you can just look at it as picking 2 rings to exclude, which also leaves you with 10 more options. For picking 4 rings, you pick one ring to exclude (5 options) For picking 5 rings, there is just one option (all five) So in the end you have 10+10+5+1=26 options

[@kornaktanker7633]

I do smile at how two huge Startrek fans are moaning a Jons scifi method to turning things into other, like Trek Replicators can make actual teas and baked foods

[@farshnuke]

Yep. How is your invulnerable suit that can perfectly replicate oxygen suddenly making you poisoned that different from your ship making your console shoot out plasma because you got hit? Jon just doesn't know enough about Trek to call them out.

[@matauavatar]

I couldn't put my finger on it before, but now I've got an idea as to how to describe the podcats. Imagine Stewie from family guy, multiply it by three and have them talk about video games. The Stewies would have personalities from different eras of family guy.

[@xdeser2949]

7:57 Jon youre doing an a priori just because you don't *think* they do it doesn't mean they don't lol

[@vissenekku]

Did anyone ever play Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters? Because that game did space exploration better, in 1993. It was fun, not boring.

[@tetrisfreak]

There is a quick line about Mary Jane getting training from Silver Sable

[@MoxStash]

I was with Jon up until the wind turbine discussion

[@dominichinde8405]

And we're back.

[@meditatedgold2861]

Lmao Nvr change Jon, also juggling which clowns do is a hard skill so why not unicycle ? (At same time as well) 😄

[@wyndblayde6103]

Jon, you need to play Astro's Playroom, the way it uses the Dualsense controller is amazing.

[@Smitje_0]

Isn't 76's map 4x the size of FO4? And also super dense?

[@farshnuke]

76's map is great. If I could play it single player with mods I'd probably consider it one of my favourite games of all time.

[@harrycook9041]

Jon wtf are you talking about it, clowns on unicycles are so fucking common, unicycles so incredibly associated with clowns.

[@RobertJPalmer]

Yaaaaayyyyy!! It's back!

[@librarianseth5572]

Day 1219 of requesting Zoo Tycoon. I love how western and eastern cultures handle clowns differently. Japan was actually shocked about America and parts of Europe being scared of clowns. There's a humanities doctorate in there somewhere...

[@Rateus_Johanson]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[@RobertJPalmer]

Hey this was recorded on my birthday! Hooray!

[@QTeaFunny]

There are optical tweezers made of lasers to move atoms.

[@thomasl.townsend3191]

Disagree entirely with Dan about Starfield but I do agree with him about FNV.

[@Hendlton]

Aww... I actually liked Outer Worlds. It's the only Bethesda-type game that I actually finished. The rest of them I played half way through before getting bored and quitting. I tend to reinstall them years later, play through the first half again, get bored again and quit again. I never replayed OW, but not every game has to be infinitely replayable.

[@lighthawk2626]

Holy shit, this episode is painful... Jon, just... How? How did you even make it through elementary school? This has nothing to do with science not being your strong suit, some of your "points" are complete and utter nonsense if you apply even the smallest bit of common sense. "Solar power stops global warming"... How was global warming not a thing for the trillions of years before solar power? And thats before we talk about the energy not simply disappearing just because it hit a solar panel...

[@Budehgong]

Jon, Dan was not right about those drugs.

[@charlesfranks1902]

Well, my life is complete. I looked at The Daily Star.

[@elkudos6262]

Bears ride unicycles.

[@lupolinar]

Jon's logic is....flawed. But fun. (kind of.)

[@CommissarMitch]

Jon if chemistry was this easy we would not live in a world where there is scarcity. Are you really this thick?

[@smeg_leg]

Coriolis effect Jon!

[@CommissarMitch]

Oh Dan is spitting some facts about Starfield!

[@dem0nfr0g39]

My daughter was deeply offended that Jon did not know the Roblox game Adopt Me lol

[@timothy8428]

I remember when Ted got stoned.

[@sandy120]

man, I hope Matt hadn't ground his bud up before he dropped it.

[@wineoneone]

No I'm on Jon's side this is Clown Car the Times is wrong here.

[@h3069]

mass effect 2 > 1 > 3 objectively

[@syntheticmode]

headphone warning...there is shouting. Be warned.

[@Mysterios1989]

J-j-jon was one of the best students in his school - and was good in a STEM-subject???? Did Jon had a job where he had to smash his head repeatedly against bricks for a couple of years, or is the UK education system really that bad?

[@grimpy789]

Played over 50 hours of Fallout 4 on SteamDeck - not a single crash.

[@louispiggott5847]

Play mass effect

[@lThatLadl]

Matt is the worst

[@archbishopmactasty76]

I know its a british thing to slag off your mates but do these guys not actually like each other?