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Ask Slashdot: What Is Your New Years Eve Tradition?

Posted by Unknown on from the reading-slashdot-of-course dept.

skade88 writes "What does the Slashdot community do to celebrate New Years Eve? Does your city do something cool and unique to celebrate? Do you celebrate with fireworks in front of your house, or in your favorite MMO (WoW, Minecraft, etc.)?"

50 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. None of the above...maybe by Jetra · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Little bit of Minecraft. Some YouTube. Mostly trying to beat Ordos Missions in Dune 2000 (PC)

    1. Re:None of the above...maybe by Jetra · · Score: 2

      Thank you. I'm on the final mission and it's royally pissing me off. I can't get enough units pumped out before all three decide to fk me.

  2. DISCOVERY CHANNEL by dadelbunts · · Score: 3, Informative

    Discovery channel marathons, since i was like 10, yea im lame.

    1. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Anrego · · Score: 2

      Has discovery improved at all?

      This isn't a troll but a legitimate question. I used to love discovery, but they were going all reality TV about when I cut the cable. They also had a tendancy to play the same lineup all week which drove me crazy (I get that I can't have new content every day, but at least give me variety in the reruns!).

      Been thinking about getting cable again as it comes really cheap with an fibre internet bundle I'm looking at and I miss the whole "just watch whatever is on" experience.

    2. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by dadelbunts · · Score: 2

      Its not what it used to be no. But they show some good stuff sometimes. Sadly it has alot of shows like those dudes buildin choppers, but i do like Fast n Loud, so cant complain too much i guess. . With TLC, Discovery, Animal Planet, and History you are bound to find something you like at least sometimes. I would say get the cable. If anything you can discover a few new shows you enjoy and download them or w.e. Its good for discovering and rediscovering shows and movies.

    3. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      Since you were like, 10? So - this is the fifth year now?

      I know, you didn't deserve that, but isn't everyone here a teenage kid living in his momma's basement? ;^)

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    4. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by houghi · · Score: 2

      Been thinking about getting cable again as it comes really cheap with an fibre internet bundle I'm looking at and I miss the whole "just watch whatever is on" experience.

      Don't be tempted. It just is not worth it. You have Youtube and Vimeo and a lot of other things.
      There are several cheap devices where you can install something like xbmc.
      Next you can download almost any tv show.

      I have had a lapse back by taking cable again. I have again stopped, because it was just not worth it. Now I talk about more interesting stuff with my friends as they realize they can not just talk about the TV show that was on yesterday. I picked up reading again. Much more interesting then watching TV like a zombie.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  3. BEING AWESORME by For+a+Free+Internet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Slashdort: Today is a great day for all the readers of Slashdort, because we will make linquini and boil a Linurx in a stew of Windors. Hooraye! COMMUNISM NOW!

    --
    UNITE with the Campaign for a Free Internet because today, our future begins with tomorrow!
    1. Re:BEING AWESORME by element-o.p. · · Score: 2

      It's GNU-linquini, you insensitive clod! :P

      --
      MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
  4. The same thing we do every New Years by unreadepitaph · · Score: 5, Funny

    Get uncontrollably drunk and yell at fireworks.

    --
    My internetting is no good.
    1. Re:The same thing we do every New Years by dadelbunts · · Score: 3, Funny

      Try to take over the world!

  5. A day to relax by zvar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Today's Devil's Panties said it best I think.

    "We could stay at home and drink hot coca in our pajamas."
    I would add 'while sitting on the couch watching movies with my wife' to that though...

    1. Re:A day to relax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Yup, that's it. I've been doing it for decades. I can drink like a fish when the occasion calls for it, for many years now, but I've been drinking Hot Chocolate for a couple of decades longer.
          Also, I wax and polish the living room floor, in my jammies. It's a once a year thing, and it's done when I can do a full slide across without picking up a splinter. The first couple of days after confuses the hell out of the cat. (One year I was a little too enthusiastic, and ended up with my right knee going through the plaster on the wall. My aim has improved since then.)

  6. A vow of celibacy by erroneus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Each new year I take a vow of celibacy as my father before me and his father before him. It's a long standing family tradition.

    1. Re:A vow of celibacy by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Some people find new year resolutions hard to keep, others find them very simple.

  7. My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to scare away the evil spirits. "Haven't seen any this year, have you?" he would always ask. "Must have worked," he opined further. This story was told to a Mexican cabbie who in all seriousness replied that my father was being silly, and that all you had to do was throw water out the back door to scare evil spirits away for the year. Who knew?

    FYI, my father was an electronics engineer whose tongue was often so far in his cheek that it might have protruded from the vulgar aperture.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
    1. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by isorox · · Score: 2

      ...to scare away the evil spirits. "Haven't seen any this year, have you?" he would always ask. "Must have worked," he opined further. This story was told to a Mexican cabbie who in all seriousness replied that my father was being silly, and that all you had to do was throw water out the back door to scare evil spirits away for the year. Who knew?

      FYI, my father was an electronics engineer whose tongue was often so far in his cheek that it might have protruded from the vulgar aperture.

      Does your father realise that what comes up must come down? A bullet at terminal velocity does a lot of damage.

    2. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 2

      not anywhere near as much as a bullet going up much faster than terminal velocity... not to say it wouldn't probably hurt like hell, especially if it hit you in the head

      i doubt it would kill you

      Quote Wikipedia:
      "Between the years 1985 and 1992, doctors at the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, treated some 118 people for random falling-bullet injuries. Thirty-eight of them died." (And they have a link to a pubmed article which I don't feel to pay to see.)

      Seems like a real problem to me.

    3. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by solarissmoke · · Score: 2

      No. They showed that provided the bullet maintained a ballistic trajectory and its spin (i.e., wasn't fired vertically into the air), it could be lethal on the way down.

    4. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      fair enough... i'm sure the danger is much less than if someone shot you directly

      Don't buy lottery tickets today, it's just not your day.
      From the blurb to the article in question:
      "Most (77%) were hit in the head. The mortality rate was 32%, which is significantly higher than for all gunshot wound victims in general seen at the same medical center."

    5. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by Frankie70 · · Score: 3, Funny

      My father was killed by a random bullet fired into the air, you insensitive clod.

    6. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      So if you want to celebrate your 2nd amendment rights, do a Cheney and aim at someone, rather than doing an afghan and shooting in the air?

      Well, as my old drill sergeant said, "Do not ever pull the trigger unless you are aiming it at a target. Ever."
      What about warning shots, one of the guys asked. He was told that this applied to warning shots too - you aim and fire at the ground, and better not miss.
      The same rule held for blanks, "full family" setting, suppressive fire and empty chambers. Woe be unto any poor sod who pulled the trigger without aiming.

      I think it was a very good rule.

    7. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by beelsebob · · Score: 2

      its hard to make a judgement based on one article alone (and only the abstract for that matter since i couldn't access the rest) but based on physics and fluid dynamics the impact energy of a falling bullet is significantly lower than that of a bullet fired directly

      1) Not that much lower if it's fired at an angle upwards, rather than straight up.
      2) It's aimed at an area of the body that bullets typically aren't, which is much much more vulnerable to damage than most of the body.

      Mythbusters did this one, they found that a bullet fired straight up will come down with enough force to severely injure you and require you to visit a hospital, but not enough to actually kill you. But that a bullet fired at an angle retained enough of it's velocity to kill.

    8. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by crutchy · · Score: 2

      re: "a bullet fired at an angle retained enough of it's velocity to kill."

      yes... but a bullet travelling at terminal velocity is (technically) limited to its maximum vertical freefall velocity (assuming no external forces other than gravity, per the definition of terminal velocity), so if you're hit by a bullet travelling at an angle (after perigee on a ballistic trajectory), its likely that the bullet is travelling faster than terminal velocity (the resultant speed would be the sum of terminal vertical velocity and drag-dependent horizontal velocity vectors)

      just a nit pick, but my original reply wasn't about being hit by a bullet fired at an angle, it was in reply to a statement about a bullet travelling at terminal velocity

      a sniper round can travel a long way on a ballistic trajectory (according to wikipedia the longest kill is by an Australian this year that travelled over 2.8 km), of which most of the velocity component is horizontal, so any shot fired on a ballistic trajectory (especially a shallow one) is definitely one to avoid

  8. Pet owner by kthreadd · · Score: 5, Funny

    I spend most of the evening looking over a very scared dog.

    It would be highly appreciated if those of you using fireworks waited until midnight.

    1. Re:Pet owner by The+Sad+Nazgul · · Score: 2

      I will blow up what I want, when I want. It's not my fault your dog is a pussy.

      You are one sad, pathetic little person.

    2. Re:Pet owner by Gaygirlie · · Score: 2

      Pretty much the same here. People started shooting fireworks already at around 4pm here and the dog is so god damn scared of them that he couldn't pee or poop outside the whole evening. I just had no other choice than to let him do his stuff indoors. I'm just glad New Year's Eve happens only once a year.

  9. Waiting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    for these kinds of posts to pop up on Slashdot. And comment on them.

  10. being older and wiser... by jddeluxe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...I stay home to avoid the drunks and police...

    1. Re:being older and wiser... by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Me too. It's a tradition in my immediate family not to travel during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Those are dangerous times to be on the road, and you don't want your holiday memories to be of sitting in the emergency room or dealing with a death in the family. (Been there, did that, never again.) We take time off in January to see close relatives and May to see the ones that are further away.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  11. Our city has a "First Night" celebration.. by the_rajah · · Score: 2

    It was my first date with the woman who is now my wife. We went to it for several years when we were involved with the organization that sponsors it. This year we're staying home by the fireplace watching some TV and just generally goofing off. Not a bad way to see the new year in.

    --


    "Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
  12. Lez porn and masturbation. Same as always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I'm well paid but will die alone. So it goes.

  13. quiet one by pbjones · · Score: 2

    watch a movie 'till midnight, then hug wife, and went to bed. Boring, but I don't make a druken idiot of myself like many. By 10AM there were 10 dead in road crashes, poor start to the year.

    --
    There was an unknown error in the submission.
  14. Oliebollen & Appel flappen by ickleberry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Lekker gezond!

  15. Minecraft by dissy · · Score: 2

    I find it funny that Minecraft is mentioned, and even more so that this will be my second new year in game.

    I have a decently elaborate "dropping ball" counter made with redpower and computercraft mods, with a new addition of fireworks for this year. We plan to set it off four times tonight, once for each of the US time zones.

    Slightly better than being stuck outside in the cold and snow, especially seeing the majority of us do not have the opportunity to spend new years with family.

  16. In Bed by Mullen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In bed by 10:00p! Staying up until midnight, the most overrated tradition ever.

    --
    Linux O Muerte!
    1. Re:In Bed by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

      I'm staying up until 3 am. Why the hell should New Years be different from any other night of the year?

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  17. Two things... by jordonwii · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1. I play BZFlag. Don't know why, but it's become a tradition for me.

    2. Use a handheld spotlight I have to signal a house on one of the hills around me, ever since about 4 years ago, I randomly shined my light up there, and they signaled back.

  18. I call it "Monday Night" by RyoShin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Today is Monday, tomorrow is Tuesday. Tonight marks one complete rotation (roughly) of our planet around our sun.

    I have no idea what my community is doing, but I plan to treat it as any other night, with the exception that I get tomorrow off. As I've grown older (27, for reference) and gotten out and lived on my own I find that annual celebrations hold little meaning to me, including my own birthday. If I'm going to celebrate, it's going to be for a relevant, contemporary event. If I'm going to make changes to my life, it's going to be when I realize those changes need to be made, not some arbitrary date. If I want to get together with loved ones, I'll do it when the urge strikes (at least, in so far as those I want to spend time with are also available.)

    (Of course, I've no friends, no close relatives, and am anti-social, so my view could be skewed.)

    1. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

      It completes one complete revolution, not rotation.

      Have a care where you are.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  19. ritual cleaning by tverbeek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's dull, but I usually spend the evening at home with a bottle of wine, cleaning the house, rearranging the furniture... generally getting things ready for another fresh start on a new year. Tomorrow morning I'll probably fix pancakes, take down the holiday lights from the front porch, and... begin.

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  20. Re:12 grapes by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    I dunno, I'm having trouble coming up with a life better than that.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  21. Re:fireworks by amRadioHed · · Score: 2

    So are fireworks allowed inside your house, or are they just banned altogether?

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  22. Commit my code by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Funny

    I commit all my outstanding code. Then I wait until the next year to fix the build.

  23. What Germans do on New Year's by smittyoneeach · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Dinner for One" is THE German New Year's tradition:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1v4BYV-YvA
    I'll watch that again with the wife. Somehow it improves with repetition.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  24. Honestly? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    My recent tradition has been to spend this time debating whether or not I should go to one of the New Year's Eve parties I've been invited to (okay, okay, I only ever get invited to one). Usually I get distracted by the Internet along the way and promptly forget that it's New Year's Eve until the next day when people ask me what I did for it.

    This year though, I'll definitely go to the party. Just as soon as I get done reading through and commenting on Slashdot, of course. And then my RSS feeds.

  25. Re:New Years EVE by Sperbels · · Score: 2

    Could you use something smaller than a drake? I will be suicide ganking firework people in Jita.

  26. It is not the New Years Day tomorrow. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2
    The real new years day happens on April 14th on the day variously called Ugathi, or Puththaandu or Vishu. The month Panguni will be gone, and the new year will begin with the month of Chithrai. Curiously it does not start at midnight. These guys are very precise. It starts when the Earth completes the orbit around the sun and comes back to exactly the same location. Typically it will be something like 7AM in one April 14, then around 1PM April 14 in the next year, then it will be around 7PM of April 14 of the next year, then it will at 1AM of April 15 of next year, but the leap year would yank it back to 1 AM April 14.

    And yes, people will cook the festive dinners, offerings to the Gods etc and patiently wait for the new year to be "born" before starting the prayers. The patriarch will read the almanac that predicts how much rain there will be that year, "Measure it by the ark. Ark of 1000 cubits long and 2000 cubits wide and 500 cubits deep. 2590 arks of rain will fall this year". Let me see if I can dig up the precise time and the amount of rain for the coming New year.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  27. updating software copyright notices by tuffy · · Score: 2

    If I don't switch the numbers around on New Year's, I'm liable to forget until quite awhile later.

    --

    Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  28. Re:.. yay :) by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This. I don't have any traditions, really. The wife makes a big deal out of cooking black eyed peas and cabbage, tells us that it's good luck. I think she's just spent all the money on Christmas, and doesn't have any money left to cook a real dinner, but I'm not arguing with her.

    Mostly, I just reminisce about where I've spent previous New Year days. A bar in Daytona, hanging with bikers. Smashing through mountainous waves in the North Sea. Palma Mallorca, Spain. Indian Ocean. Adak, Alaska. Winter Harbor, Maine. Oh yeah, the bar on Long Island, where they kicked me out for asking a woman - well, let's not go there, LMAO!!

    And I wonder where all those people from my past are today, which of them are alive.

    The new year isn't the same once you pass your 50th birthday.

    Tonight, I'm just browsing the internet, hoping my dumbass kids aren't doing anything very stupid. At least I talked the youngest into leaving his motorcycle at home. He's driving my car. If he should meet a drunk, the car is much more survivable.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br