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12:00 AM
I don't think I'd have a problem with it.
 
Hmm, my wife and my son might have a problem with it.
 
Ah, yeah.
Well, there are a few nice hotels near here. Come for a visit!
 
Come and star me now, you random starrer (someone who stars random comments).
 
@Mahnax Hmm, that won't be any time soon, I'm afraid.
 
@DavidWallace Aww, that's too bad.
Maybe I'll come visit you then.
I'll help you build a drainage system for your yard.
 
12:03 AM
Umm, yes, OK.
I don't understand it at all. My section does slope gently, so this shouldn't happen.
 
Is there some area where a puddle is formed?
 
@DavidWallace You sound uncertain. Do you underestimate my drainage-system-building skills?
 
Sorry, I was distracted. I'm sure I don't underestimate them at all.
 
That is a dangerous thing to do.
 
I think it would be more dangerous to overestimate them. Hey, Mahnax, come and dig up my lawn.
 
12:12 AM
Haha, I quite agree.
I don't think I'd trust myself to dig up a lawn, actually.
I helped build a few fences though, I'm not too bad at that.
 
Haha.
 
I can also chop wood well. I like chopping wood.
The smell of freshly chopped wood is to die for.
 
How quaint.
 
When I go to Finland in the summer, I hope I can chop some wood.
I seriously love chopping wood. I'm craving it now.
 
12:32 AM
sounds like my mom. She grew up somewhere without running water. She used to go down to the well and get water to fill the water tank in their house whenever she got mad at anyone ;p
 
@Cerberus I haven't come across any apps that don't work on rooted phones either. It's stupid because 1. DRM like that invites hackers to hack the game and 2. it punishes users who've paid for it. So it does not actually prevent copyright violations while driving away customers.
But the games industry has been doing this very thing for years now.
 
@JourneymanGeek Oh, you had a well? That's interesting.
 
Lots of games have dumb-ass DRM which punishes legit users
 
@Cerberus: my mom did, back in india
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Exactly. But the direct feedback they get in the Play Store made Square finally understand how it works, and super fast at that!
 
12:38 AM
I've known lots of people with wells. But they had electric pumps that were connected to their house's plumbing.
 
@JourneymanGeek But now she has running water?
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇: probably cause the games industry has gotten more corporatish. Its the same as movie companies believing that DRM is a panacea
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes, we have our own well in the country house.
@JourneymanGeek Yeah...
 
@Cerberus heheh yeah it's funny how the store has that effect on people. They have to try hard not to violate customer expectations or else their angriest customers will line up and picket the one storefront.
 
@Cerberus: oh, this was in the 60s. Now, ya, people have wells. In india tho, we don't have water on demand. You get water every so many days, depending. In good years every 3 days. On bad ones, every 8. Up to you to fill up your own water tank
 
12:40 AM
@JourneymanGeek Nah, the games industry has been this way forever. In the early 80s there were tons of copyprotection schemes.
 
But even Ubisoft, the greatest DRM troll of all times, now agrees that perhaps it isn't such a cool experience if you can't even save your game, it just pauses, when you lose internet access.
Nay, when you lose access to Ubi's servers!
Which happened to some users during several days, because of course there was some technical problem.
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇: some of which were amusing. They still were not nearly as annoying as say... sitting on the load screen NOT loading a DLC cause they expect you to key in a key in a BACKGROUND window.
 
Frankly, DRM wouldn't be such an issue if they could get it to actually work reliably.
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, it's fucking great!
 
or a single player game lagging cause for some reason they run it like a MMORPG
 
12:41 AM
@JourneymanGeek Ah OK.
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 That will never happen.
 
No, in the 80s you couldn't play the game until you hunted down the manual and keyed in the 3rd word of the 4th paragraph on the 84th page. Or entered the pin from the 1st column of the 34th row on a sheet that's super-dark-red with black ink, so nearly impossible to read.
@Cerberus Well, for example, Steam has some measure of DRM built in. And I have never once had any problems with it.
 
Steam is how you do it
or GOG
(who I regularly buy games from)
 
Windows Live Games, on the other hand, while being conceptually just like steam, is a frickin pain in the ass.
what's GOG
 
good ol games
 
never heard of it
 
12:44 AM
they sell older games, no DRM, with a dosbox wrapper where appropriate
 
not all games are older, but ya, their catalogue is great, and totally DRM free
 
With Steam I think you need to be able to authenticate to the steam server when Steam starts. From that point on I don't think you need to be connected. Typically the EXE of the game is linked to Steam and won't run without it. It checks for authentication.
 
You can set steam to run offline as well
you need to be online to set that
 
I guess I did have one problem: I bought "quake" on Steam and the EXEs they linked didn't actually work. But I just downloaded an open-source quake engine and pointed it at the Steam quake data files.
 
12:46 AM
games SHOULD run then tho
 
Anyway I've had Steam for 8 years and never once swore at it.
Whereas I swore at Bioshock 2's windows live gaming every time I started that game up.
Anyway, speaking of games, I'm going to go play Black Mesa.
ttyl
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Right! I remember memorizing all the flags in Pirates Gold! I didn't understand what that was for at the time.
@JourneymanGeek Hmm I used to hear people complain about it.
Have fun!
 
 
1 hour later…
2:06 AM
Hello all,
Can i ask?
 
2:17 AM
Hi.
 
Hi
 
2:42 AM
@guru Hi, what did you want to ask?
You can just ask it here, and somebody will answer eventually.
 
Hello again!
 
Hi!
I'm looking at photos of Japanese fashion.
So strange.
 
Oh dear. Get rid of that apostrophe there, if you'd please.
 
Dude, if you want strange, try watching some JRock music videos.
Men who dress up as (and look extremely similar to) women.
 
2:50 AM
@Mahnax Oops, that's Dutch. And I often forget the apostrophe in Dutch, because of English!
 
@Cerberus Yes, I know it is, actually.
 
@Mahnax But those aren't ordinary people you meet on the street.
 
In Dutch, would it be Foto's?
 
Yes.
 
@Cerberus No, they aren't.
Yay!
 
2:51 AM
The apostrophe in English marks the possessive.
In Dutch, it doesn't mark function, but pronunciation.
 
Yes.
 
So normally, plural and possessive don't use the apostrope.
 
Or a contraction.
I.e. don't.
 
Yes, but that's different.
 
Yeah, I guess.
 
2:52 AM
In foto's, -os is pronounced with a different vowel than -o, and then we need the apostrophe to make sure you pronounce the vowel as in -o.
In English, the link between spelling and pronunciation is weaker.
 
On an unrelated note, one of my friends who works at Starbucks gave me a free beverage tonight.
 
Good.
 
@Cerberus Oh, that is very interesting. I had no idea.
 
nods
 
So are some words pluralized sans apostrophe?
 
2:54 AM
@Mahnax English does that too, but only with very weird words, like d's.
@Mahnax 99 % of words get no apostrophe. Neither in plurals, nor in possessives.
Johns house.
 
@Cerberus Interesting. OK, cool!
 
Two houses.
No apostrophes.
 
We are talking about Dutch, right?
You're just translating?
 
Yes.
 
OK, good. I was thinking that you'd provide some examples in Dutch, and the English spooked me.
 
2:55 AM
Of course most plurals end in -en.
Hehe.
 
So today I found out that my library has a program that will teach you a language for free.
It's online, and it goes all the way up to teaching you good conversational speech.
I think I will try it out, for Finnish.
 
Oh, great.
Your grandparents will be glad.
 
Yes, they will be.
I want to be able to talk to them properly by the summertime, when I'll be going there to visit.
 
How is your Finnish now?
 
Er, not so great.
 
3:02 AM
Heh.
 
I can stumble through a very simple conversation.
 
That's a start.
 
Yeah. I also know the basic rules of verb conjugation, but I have no idea how to use any of the declensions (if that's the right word for it).
 
Cases?
 
Yeah, that sounds right, actually.
Not declensions.
 
3:04 AM
"The declension of who goes whose, whom."
 
Hrm.
I don't really know what all these fancy linguistic terms mean, to be honest.
 
"Latin has five classical declensions: the first declension goes filia, filiae, filiae, filiam... etc."
Those are the two ways in which declension is used.
I can explain the basic idea of what "declension" means, if you're in the mood.
It's quite simple once explained.
 
Sure, sounds good.
 
OK.
"Case" comes from "casus", which means "fall".
 
Alright.
 
3:08 AM
When a noun is in the nominative (case used for the subject, the primary case), it is said to be "straight up" (rectus).
When it is in another case, it is said to "fall".
This is an ancient metaphor.
 
Ah, I see.
 
When you decline something, you cause it to slant.
Just as in recline, clinical (pertaining to a facility with beds), etc.
So to decline a noun means to use it in cases other than the casus rectus.
 
Alright, that makes sense.
 
Declension can be the act to declining.
As in multiplication, the act of multiplicating.
Well, multiplying.
 
Haha, yes. I knew that.
 
3:12 AM
Yay! I knew you knew.
 
Cool.
 
The secondary sense of the suffix -io is "the result of the verb", as in proclamation, which can mean "the act of proclaiming" or "that which is proclaimed".
So the declension of the word who can be said to be all the oblique ("slanted") forms of the word.
 
Right.
 
So the genitive whose and the accusative/dative whom.
 
Aha, I see.
 
3:14 AM
Strictly speaking, as Tchrist said, the nominative is not a declined case.
It is rectus, after all.
But we often call all cases together the declension of a word, including the plural forms.
 
OK.
 
So you can say "I know the declension of the Finnish word x".
 
Finnish has far too many cases though.
 
Now many languages have several types of nouns, marked by what their endings look like.
@Mahnax Haha, no doubt.
 
@Cerberus Fifteen, it looks like.
@Cerberus Like Latin?
 
3:17 AM
Latin has five types of nouns. If you know how to decline one word of the first group, you can decline all words in the first group. Such a type is also often called a declension. So Latin is said to have five (main) declensions.
@Mahnax Yup.
 
Right, I knew Latin had five.
I actually had to post a comment on Facebook because of that.
 
Haha, really?
Excellent.
 
Somebody tried saying stati and I just couldn't let it slide.
 
As the plural of the noun status?
 
Er, yes.
 
3:19 AM
That is indeed an egregious mistake!
 
Would the plural form (in Latin) not be status as well?
 
The second and the fourth declensions both end in -us in the nom. singular.
The noun status is of the fourth declension, of which the plural is status; the adjective is of the second declension, which has stati.
So yes.
 
There's an adjectival status?
 
Yes. But it is not used in English.
 
Right.
 
3:21 AM
It is the past participle of sto, stare "stand", so "stood".
 
Ah, neat.
 
Duo viri stati in mensa te vocant = two men stood on a table are calling you (as in "who were standing").
I guess you wouldn't normally stand people.
 
One second, I'll be right back.
 
My explanation was finished already, hehe.
Hello, islander.
 
@Mahnax As in "status flag"?
@Cerberus You also live on an island. Just a much bigger one.
 
3:24 AM
No, that's a noun adjective, counts as a noun.
@DavidWallace I...suppose.
We prefer to call it the Continent, but sure.
 
@Cerberus You're using noun as an adjective and adjective as a noun, so I can only assume you mean that it counts as an adjective.
 
Noooo.
I know, the word is sub par.
But nothing works.
Because a noun adjective is both and adjective and a noun at the same time, you could say.
I wish there were a better term.
 
Umm, not sure. I saw only an adjective.
 
Can't we invent something that is immediately clear?
 
You want to invent a new sort of glass?
 
3:27 AM
If it can serve as a satisfactory term, why not.
 
I'm back now. Hello @David.
 
Hello, @Mahnax.
 
Hello.
Mahnax now understands the various uses of the word declension.
 
I took my computer back to the shop because it broke down. I have it back now, and Bing has become my default search engine.
 
He already knew it was restricted to nominal stems.
 
3:29 AM
@Cerberus Don't tell Tom; he won't be able to feel superior any more.
 
@DavidWallace Yay!
 
@DavidWallace It's good that it's back, but Bing is yucky.
 
@DavidWallace Somehow I don't think you need to worry about that happening.
Bing is actually not that bad.
If we didn't have Google, we would probably find Bing a fine engine.
 
@Cerberus Watch your mouth, young man (please).
 
@Cerberus And sell it to them?
 
3:31 AM
:6470315 Take it from me, he will always be able to feel that way.
@Mahnax 'Tis true!
 
gasps in horror
 
If you want to find a torrent to download Windows, for example, Bing is your friend, while Google censors most results.
At least it was that way a few months ago.
 
@Cerberus There's a torrent search engine that works quite well.
 
Yeah, I know Torentz.eu, it's nice.
I'm usually too lazy, so I simple Google it.
Yes, eu. Have a problem with that?
 
3:34 AM
It sounds a bit eu!
 
It is.
At least it doesn't sound like snoring.
Nzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
Or what have you.
.Co.nz?
 
Yes, I suppose I asked for that.
 
Indeed.
 
I am trying to make dropbox behave.
 
What does it do?
It nearly always behave well enough for me?
I am glad you have it, btw.
 
3:39 AM
Oh, I made the mistake of trying to set it up as the system admin, rather than as the user who will be using it.
 
Hmm.
Who is not yourself?
 
@Cerberus Why? I don't think I've ever shared anything with you using my installation of it.
This is the family computer.
 
And for that I am glad.
 
There are "normal" users for each of this, plus a guest, plus a sysadmin.
@Cerberus What do you mean? All my files are lovely!
 
Ehh I meant I am glad about your installation.
 
3:42 AM
Yeah, all right. If you insist.
You don't look very convincing though.
 
That's just because I'm hunrgy.
I have another 200 calories left that I am allowed to eat today!
And it's almost bed time.
 
Two oranges?
 
Are oranges really 100 kc?
So not worth it!
I could make a pancake...
Or a sandwich.
 
You could.
A large orange is 100 calories, yes.
I think.
How would I know?
 
You tell me.
200 kc is almost a pancake!
Mine are 210–280 kc.
Depending on the topping.
 
3:49 AM
Do you mean what Americans call a pancake, or what Commonwealthers call a pancake?
 
What's your kc limit for today, @Cerb?
 
@DavidWallace Not the American thing, and I have never eaten an English pancake. I'm thinking French pancakes and Dutch flensjes, which are thin.
@Mahnax 1700 kc.
My body uses about 2200 kc a day.
 
@Cerberus Ah, that's not so bad, I guess.
What're those funny Dutch things called? Abelskiver?
 
Haha what?
That doesn't ring a bell.
 
Ah, no. Danish.
Oops.
 
3:51 AM
Appelschijven, or something?
 
Æbleskiver, actually.
 
What are those?
 
Funny little donut-like things.
 
Oh...
 
Æbleskiver (Danish meaning apple slices (singular: æbleskive)) are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. The English language spelling is usually aebleskiver or ebleskiver. In the United States, a version of æbleskiver is sold with a commercially repackaged pan, branded as "Pancake Puffs". Æbleskive pan Æbleskiver are cooked on the stove top by baking in a special pan with several hemispherical indentations. The pan ...
Actually, they are pancakes.
Cooked in a weird pan.
 
3:52 AM
Ahh appelschijven, I knew it!
 
Ah, OK.
They are yummy.
 
They look like Dutch poffertjes!
Hmm poffertjes are flatter.
 
@Cerberus If you say so—I wouldn't know.
 
The pan looks similar.
Poffertjes are tiny, thick pancakes fried in lots of butter.
Eaten with powdered sugar.
And extra butter.
Poffertjes () are a traditional Dutch batter treat. Resembling small, fluffy pancakes, they are made with yeast and buckwheat flour. Unlike American pancakes, they have a light, spongy texture. Typically, poffertjes are served with powdered sugar and butter. Mainly in the colder seasons, temporary stands selling poffertjes are quite popular, and sell portions containing one or two dozen of them. Sometimes the cook prepares them freshly for you. They are sold on a small cardboard (sometimes plastic) plate and come with a small disposable fork the size of a pastry fork. Poffertjes are not...
 
Oh, they are quite similar!
 
3:56 AM
 
Yum. OK, stop, please.
 
@Mahnax A bit flatter. But you would like them.
 
I'm getting hungry.
 
So am I!
 
@Cerberus Probably!
 
3:57 AM
Wait, I already was.
So confusing.
 
confused
Yeah, you're right! It is confusing.
 
Looking at thy heart's desire is always confusing if thou canst not take it.
 

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