[ExI] discovery/ puzzle

Adrian Tymes atymes at gmail.com
Sat Jul 25 16:30:38 UTC 2020


Alright, alright...

1) Among the most useless, as even in impaired visibility conditions, if
you can see the sign you can see the end of the sidewalk.  Probably only
useful in fulfilling government/legal stuff - but as a business owner, I
can tell you this is not literally zero use.  (Now, the laws that produce
such a scenario...but I do not get to make the laws, just comply with them.)

2) A child could sit in the front seat, or perhaps it could be used for
cargo - e.g. so you don't have to lift shopping bags all the way off the
floor when getting up.

3) Hop the escalator wall and it's still useful for going up.  (You can see
the curve down at the right edge of the picture.)

4) QR codes to the videos can still be useful information.  Given the
volume, I suspect it has titles, descriptions, and preview images as well.
I question it being worth 5 pounds (or even worth the cost of the paper
it's printed on), but I know there are people far more readily hyped on
such things than I am.

5) Least useful on the list, as previously pointed out.

6) Possibly useful with further construction, e.g. the doorway to the lower
balcony will be constructed so it's useful to have the balcony there before
having a doorway that leads to open air.  Or perhaps as an attachment point
for a fire escape, or otherwise to attach improvised means of ascent or
descent.

7) Still useful as a ceremonial barrier, especially if it's mainly for
pedestrians walking on that brick area as a sidewalk.  Its short length
means drivers must be looking out for it and intentionally obey it, but
there are events and locations where most to all drivers can reasonably be
expected to do so.

8) Again, ceremonial use.  If the lawn on either side is not too wide,
anyone passing by will at least know there is a line there that means
something to someone, perhaps a property line.

9) Even if it'd be difficult to sit there, lying down and having a nap is
quite possible.  (Assuming it's not raining or otherwise weather-impaired,
but if it is you should probably be seeking shelter and not be at this
location anyway.)

10) Assuming this refers to the person in the foreground (and assuming said
person is wearing leggings at all), even if the leggings are not much of an
optical barrier they can still serve as a physical barrier, e.g. against
mosquitoes.  Optical barrier is presumably provided by the black skirt,
which is currently hiked up to allow the other woman access to the groin
area - I assume more likely for quick tailoring or similar rather than NSFW
activities, given as this is clearly a public location with multiple points
of view, but I know there are those who engage in sexual activities in
public like that, and the foreground person is apparently "going commando".

That said, the foreground legs' "leggings" are translucent enough that I
can not be certain there are leggings there, and we are not just seeing
bare legs.  If the only leggings present are those on the background lady's
legs, those seem to be functioning just as fine as most leggings, providing
optical and physical barriers.

11) Entry skipped.  It's not the most useless item in the original list,
only because it's technically not on the original list.

12) Again, potentially useful for satisfying regulations - which may
themselves be useless, but (if I was the person in charge of the store
where this sign was) if having that sign there means I don't go to jail or
get fined, the sign itself would not be useless to me.

13) Just because there is a barrier in the way does not mean this is not
the area legally designated as a bike lane.  It may illustrate substantial
thoughtlessness or even callousness on the part of those who installed the
barrier, but the lane is still the lane.  Then again, the lane ends shortly
after the barrier anyway.

14) Go forward, left, or right, and you're still on the heritage route.
This can be useful information to those exploring the route.
Alternately, if you want to not be on the route, turn around.

15) As previously explained: could note the space next to it is handicapped
(despite the lack of other markings), or could note the former site of a
handicapped spot.  Either way, almost but not completely useless, coming in
just above item 5.

16) Sinks by themselves are not useless.  It would be better to install a
privacy door in front of that toilet (unless perhaps it is more meant for
people throwing up than to receive urine and/or feces), but if you have a
bunch of people who may need to quickly wash their hands or other things,
multiple sinks are a good way to accommodate that - especially if this is
one wing of a bathroom, and other toilers are offscreen to the left and/or
right.

17) Forklifts or vehicular ladders might reach that high - or, as with item
6, it might be there to facilitate further construction.  Or if you
potentially need to drop something from up there quickly.  Also potentially
useful for throwing people out of, "you have failed me for the last time"
style, though that short of a drop will not reliably kill (you'd want at
least another story for that) and a less public location would be better.

18) Do the drawers shift horizontally, such that you could do that then
pull them out?  It looks like they are in that position because the handles
can't be pushed any further inward.

19) The white could be because of internal paneling, rather than paint,
meaning the blade is still wiping an actual window that could become
unblocked.  Or perhaps the white on the window has small holes so the
inside can see out but us on the outside can not see in.  Clearly the wiper
blade has seen recent use.

20) The reflector might only be protecting the dashboard, but that is still
protection.  It might also be more infrared than ultraviolet, e.g. making
sure the dashboard (especially the steering wheel) does not become too hot
to touch on a sunny day.  (Have you ever tried to control a car when the
steering wheel was hot enough to burn your skin?  Getting protection, and
finding relatively cooler spots on the driving wheel, help but it's simpler
if the wheel simply doesn't get that hot in the first place.)
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