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RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
12:13 AM
Ich fühle mich nicht angesprochen.
Anyhoo. I'm out for today anyhoo.
 
Vitaly
Vitaly
Night.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Wait a second, you talked to brilliant?
I miss so much stuff these days.
Well, I for one, would like to express my full support for стабильное будущее России.
I promise to dream of it in a few minutes.
Night.
 
user19161
Announcement: The ODE does not list pronunciations of common words in the print version, do not buy it!
 
user19161
Phew!
 
user19161
@sonic Yo!
 
user19161
12:26 AM
I think it is a really strange decision on the editor's part, may I say silly.
 
user19161
Over and out!
 
KitFox
KitFox
12:52 AM
Crap. I just missed @Vitaly.
And apparently everyone else.
 
user19161
@KitFox Boo!
 
KitFox
KitFox
Eeek!
 
user19161
I almost got the print version of the Oxford Dictionary of English, but luckily I discovered it omitted say the IPA of "aback"!
 
user19161
It is only one volume by the way.
 
KitFox
KitFox
Good to know.
 
user19161
1:00 AM
Why can't they just include it for completeness?
 
KitFox
KitFox
shrugs
 
user19161
The reason given: Native speakers should know the pronunciations of common words.
 
user19161
Duh, then they might as well omit the common words saying native speakers should know them.
 
KitFox
KitFox
1:12 AM
Good night, @Will!
 
user19161
@KitFox Good night!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
2:16 AM
I went to Tim Hortons to get a Roll up the Rim cup.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
2:42 AM
Darn, "please play again."
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
2:55 AM
@Kit So, this exists: cutestpaw.com/tag/cats
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Hey @sonic.
Combine rainymood.com with that song.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
Oh yeah, I have rainy mood in my bookmarks...
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Love it.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
Holy shit, we should make remix out of this!
It will fly off shelves!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Isn't it great?
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
2:58 AM
Greater then great.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Hmm...
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
Hey, if you see real carefully, the tree is actually moving on the album picture on youtube.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Huh.
Ok, I'm combining the sounds.
I shall then upload to YouTube.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
Include me in credits.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Ok.
Almost done.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
3:21 AM
Uploading.
Might still be processing.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
It says it contains content from UMG.
I can't see it.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Darn American crap.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
I tried my trusty ProxTube, but it did not work.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Darn.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
hold on... Let me hack this.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
3:30 AM
It's only available in 10 countries.
Pah.
Well, gotta run.
Physics.
 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog
Cya.
 
 
1 hour later…
user19161
4:35 AM
@Mahnax Not available.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting I know :(
The stupid Youtube won't let me steal other people's music.
 
user19161
@Mahnax No worries I can feel it in my spirit.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Haha, okay.
How have you been, @Will?
 
user19161
@Mahnax Trying to find a way out, a way to deal with certain thoughts and certain things.
 
user19161
I know not how long I will take, but I have to hang in there.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
4:41 AM
@WillHunting Cryptic, as usual, but I wish you luck as always.
 
user19161
@Mahnax Essentially my blog post now deleted summarises everything.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Yes, that's true.
 
user19161
@Mahnax You can ask me everyday how things are, but the answer will be the same. But when things are different, I will declare it in this room one day. I am not sure when it will be, if at all there is such a day.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting I sincerely hope and trust that there will be a day.
I ask out of courtesy, and because I do want to know how you've been.
 
user19161
@Mahnax Yes. You know, my "there can be miracles when you believe" may be misinterpreted by others to mean that one does nothing and hopes for good things. But what it really means is one keeps doing his best and hopes that good things will happen one day in this manner in difficult circumstances.
 
user19161
4:48 AM
That is the message of Mariah and Whitney: there can be miracles when you believe.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting That is a better way of thinking about it.
@WillHunting That song was in one of my favourite children's movies.
 
user19161
@Mahnax So you see, I often utter things which others interpret in other ways. That is why I am often misunderstood.
 
user19161
But anyway that is a nice song!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Well, I have to agree that you are often misunderstood. But it's not all bad.
@WillHunting I agree!
 
user19161
 
user19161
4:52 AM
With lyrics for you.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Ah, but I have already found it.
It is even on my iPod.
 
user19161
I just realised that the online American Heritage Dictionary is actually under a yahoo site.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
I've never heard of it.
 
user19161
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
On the other hand, cats.
 
user19161
4:57 AM
Initially I dismissed the link but realised it is the actual site.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Yahoo indeed!
Hedgehogs!
 
user19161
@Mahnax Sonic!
 
user19161
@Mahnax Kit!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
 
user19161
@Mahnax Cerberus!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
5:00 AM
@WillHunting Hehe.
 
user19161
@Mahnax I know what animal you are.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Which?
 
user19161
@Mahnax Guess guess?
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Uhm, a duck?
 
user19161
@Mahnax Python!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
5:01 AM
@WillHunting Oh, right.
I keep forgetting.
 
user19161
0
Q: What grammar and language style to be used for writing a blog post?

RPKI have some issues with the language I use while writing a blog post. What considerations are needed for style, tenses and verbs? Below is an extract from my blog post: I am struggling with stiffness in neck along with migraine from the last six years. It has worsened now. I got it X-Rayed...

tense writing-style sentence-patterns
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
I think that's more like Kit.
 
user19161
OT!
 
user19161
So this torus is generated with LaTeX.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting ?
 
user19161
5:04 AM
@Mahnax I mean the question is OT.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Yes, but what do you mean by "OT"?
 
user19161
@Mahnax Mahnax!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Ayup.
 
user19161
@Mahnax off-topic, QED.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Oh, I guess.
VTC'd.
There's you, Jasper!
You can be a duck.
 
user19161
5:07 AM
You know, I just discovered, not only is the Oxford Dictionary of English without IPA for simple words, so are the Concise OED and the Compact modern OED. WTF are they doing?
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Who knows?
 
user19161
Only the Shorter OED and the OED itself have all IPA!
 
user19161
And of course the learner's dictionaries...
 
user19161
@Mahnax Quack!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Maybe they're saving up IPA so they can have an IPA orgy in August.
@WillHunting Yes, like that.
 
user19161
5:08 AM
Note that the compact version of the OED is OED itself and is not the same as the Compact OED for modern English.
 
user19161
The former comes with a magnifying class.
 
user19161
It squeezes 20 books into one unreadable tome.
 
user19161
That's the one David has I think.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Yay, tomes!
 
user19161
Wow, maybe that is how they make lots of money from selling all the different versions!
 
user19161
5:11 AM
@Mahnax I did not know about orgies at your age.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
@WillHunting Heh.
I've never experienced one.
Nor do I intend to.
 
user19161
Americans are very lucky to have the MW collegiate, one nice volume with all pronunciations given, though not in IPA.
 
user19161
Actually the British can use it too.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
Huh.
I don't know many dictionaries.
 
user19161
Besides the different spellings and pronunciations of some words, there is no big problem.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
5:13 AM
I have a really good app on my iPod that functions as a dictionary and thesaurus.
 
user19161
@Mahnax MW collegiate is just m-w.com.
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
I should go to bed.
@WillHunting I know.
 
user19161
@Mahnax Night!
 
Mahnax
Mahnax
That is one of the few I know. Bye!
 
 
1 hour later…
Cerberus
Cerberus
6:32 AM
@Vitaly Haha, we're cute, ain't we?
She is a quick brown fox.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
6:54 AM
Operation Northwoods
Operation Northwoods was a series of false-flag proposals that originated in 1962 within the United States government, and which the Kennedy administration rejected. The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or other operatives, to commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities and elsewhere. These acts of terrorism were to be blamed on Cuba in order to create public support for a war against that nation, which had recently become communist under Fidel Castro. One part of Operation Northwoods was to "develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Fl...
Just wow. The US army wanted to bomb American cities??
And all the Chiefs-of-Staff agreed?
If it had not been for Kennedy...
> We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington.[16]
The terror campaign could be pointed at refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans en route to Florida (real or simulated). We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots, the arrest of Cuban agents and the release of prepared documents substantiating Cuban involvement, also would be …
So they would actually wound and kill people.
And the army has just gained the unlimited power to arrest anyone.
This is worse than Turkey, seriously. At least there the generals were brought to justice.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
7:41 AM
@Cerberus Which part of this is hard for you to believe?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@DavidWallace That generals would not merely contemplate wounding their own citizens in an idle moment, but actually send a full-fledged plan to the president that only needed approval.
Such a thing could not happen here, I am convinced.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
But war is a numbers game. The generals clearly believed that this would put America in a position that warranted the loss of American life.
@Cerberus By "here" you mean Europe?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@DavidWallace And that is just to absurd to even consider in a civilised country.
@DavidWallace Holland.
In eastern Europe, who knows what might happen.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
Could it happen in Germany, do you think? :-)
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
No, but I don't know any of the people who would theoretically be involved, so I can't vouch for it as here.
@DavidWallace Germany has changed 180 degrees.
It is now one of the best countries in the world.
I am willing to accept German dominance in Europe, even.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
7:48 AM
Yes, it has, and it is. But it still demonstrates what a supposedly civilised country can potentially do. Nobody is safe.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
That is quite different.
It would have been less inconceivable here in the forties.
But now?
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
Sorry, I don't see the difference. Mankind's potential for evil hasn't lessened in the last 70 years. We're still the same animal.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
Not in theory. But states and cultures have changed.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
And could just as easily change back.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
As easily?
How?
I don't see any such change here.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
7:51 AM
So you're convinced that Western Europeans are more civilised than Americans?
(... try not to forget our recent conversation about the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior ...)
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
I am only talking about this particular aspect of the state apparatus. Besides, I don't think it could happen in America now: this was 50 years or so ago.
The RW was in a foreign country.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
You and I might have to disagree on this one. I think it could easily happen in America today.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
The army's bombing American cities?
I don't think so.
Especially not with their obsession with terrorism.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
It happens if people are scared enough of something. In the 1960s, Americans were scared of Krushchev (sp?) and the hold he had over Cuba. In the 2010s, Americans are scared of Middle Eastern terrorists. Suppose, for example, if the Joint Chiefs had believed bin Laden was living somewhere in small town America. Do you think they would have hesitated to recommend bombing said town if they thought they couldn't get him any other way?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
There is no conceivable situation in which you would absolutely need to place bombs in your own territory in place where civilians go about their daily business.
For starters, it would not at all be effective. The only possible goal of such bombs can be terrorism.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
8:00 AM
True, but "absolutely need" is rather different from "would give America a strategic advantage".
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
Not that either.
You can just seal of the area.
Or send in commandos to take him out.
If he lives in a compound you cannot penetrate, you evacuate the population, then place the required explosives.
But you don't need to blow up a train or a market.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
You CAN; but if the military strategists were to believe that a bomb was the method that had the most chance of success, and also believe that they can blame it on another nation, then this is what they're likely to try.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
They would not believe that, because it is clearly useless in getting at Osama.
If he were living in some American city.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
Do you remember when USA "accidentally" bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade? Do you want to know why they did it?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
But let's say there is a terrorist making a nuclear bomb inside a building in Manhattan. Then maybe it would be a good idea (very big maybe) to throw some big bombs on the roof without warning.
Yes, I remember; but, again, not their own citizens.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
8:08 AM
OK, but if the organisation that was helping Arkan had been one that employed Americans, do you think it would have made a difference?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
8:50 AM
Oh, no: I'm talking about innocent civilians. You simply do not attack your own civilians in your own country.
@DavidWallace But the way, why didn't the Americans simply say "we bombed that office in the embassy because it was somehow used by the enemy to pass on intelligence to harm us"?
Then China would have been forced to either admit that they were doing just that, or drop it.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
9:38 AM
China would have just denied it.
Besides, it was probably just one rogue embassy worker. I doubt whether the Chinese government was aware of it.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
9:58 AM
-1
Q: British versus American English?

Ray LangenbachAnyone know how much of the world uses British versus American English?

american-english british-english
Does anyone else think that the poster believes there are only two dialects of English?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@DavidWallace Aren't there? You speak British, don't you?
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
10:20 AM
English has dialects?
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
Stick a sock in it mate, you're just shooting your mouth off. Me and my cobber from the Nacky were hanging out the paddock behind his bach with a dozen steinies, when this choice wahine like you wouldn't read about comes up, wants to korero mai. My melonheaded bro reckoned she was just after one of his cold ones and sent her packing. I say he was off his block and I sling off at him 'cos I reckon he could've been on a good thing, but he still says she was just on the grouter. Bloody oath.
2
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
That's loser talk.
Loser talk ain't a dialect.
But yeah, have a star for effort.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
I mean ... British English is my second language.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Aug 15 '11 at 15:41, by JSBᾶngs
britain has a dialectal density comparable to the neederlands, i believe. but no part of america or australia does. the only part of america that comes even close is new england
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
So ... more than two dialects then.
0
Q: What's the Australian or British way to say 'Ticket collector'?

Daniel MyasnikovI know Indians say ticket collectors while in Australia people are confused with this phrase. Please let me know how you would say that.

british-english indian-english australian-english
This amuses me.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
10:31 AM
@DavidWallace Well, more like zero dialects, seeing how the Dutch language doesn't exist.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
I'm tempted to answer "it doesn't take much to confuse an Ocker", but I might just make myself even more unpopular.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Ha.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
The Dutch language exists. It's just debatable whether they also speak Dutch in Germany and Austria.
@RegDwightѬſ道 Have you read either "They're a Weird Mob" or "Cop this lot"?
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
I don't think I have so much as heard of either.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
The first is about an Italian man who speaks excellent English, and comes to Australia expecting to be able to understand the locals. In the second, he and his Aussie mates visit Europe, where the shoe is on the other foot. Both are very funny.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
10:42 AM
Same author?
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
Yes, one is a sequel to the other.
And I've just read that there was a movie too.
but somehow, it was funnier in the book.
Yesterday, I heard someone say "I googled on the internet". I wondered where else one might google.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
I read a newspaper article once about a lady who got so enraged with something, she started a "Web-based Internet blog".
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
10:57 AM
Excellent!
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
It wasn't exactly the NYT, but still a rather major regional paper from the US.
Seattle Times or some such.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
I enjoyed the antipodes map that you posted, BTW. I never realised that there was so little land that had land at its antipodes.
I've always taken having land at my antipodes for granted.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Oh, and that wasn't in 1998 or anything. Just a couple years ago. When every granny's dog already had a blog.
@DavidWallace I just googled on the internet for "antipodes map". Wikipedia was the first hit.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
God, have I started a meme here?
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
There are so many people with so much time, and all of them are on Wikipedia.
@DavidWallace Nah, it was yesterday that I googled on the internet for that map. So not your fault.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
11:03 AM
It was clearly made by an American.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
I posted an Australian map here in chat once, but I suppose imgur has long since taken it down.
Australian world map, I mean.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
The Christian Science Monitor is the new Onion?
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
The fascinating thing about that map isn't that it's right way up; it's that it's an equal area projection, and Australia looks like it's about the largest country in the world.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Only because Russia is such a sausage.
Okay, so I'm still clicking through that CSmonitor site, and I am still undecided whether it's genuine or a joke.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
11:10 AM
@RegDwightѬſ道 Haha, come on! They did that on purpose.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
@Cerberus Of course you would put Dutchland on top of the world.
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
I did not know that Australia has more than 3/4 of the area of Canada.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
> Until now, it was widely assumed that Googling "Google" would cause Google's servers to get bogged down in a vicious circle that would rapidly cascade through the entire Internet, creating a recursion paradox that would ultimately cause data centers around the world to spectacularly explode.
This sounds like satire.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
@DavidWallace The really interesting question is whose population density is smaller.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
"Spectacularly explode".
@RegDwightѬſ道 Then again, it already is. Read a map.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
11:12 AM
@Cerberus well there are way too many explosions that simply aren't spectacular. Which is why Michael Bay got invented.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
As always your references confound me!
 
David Wallace
David Wallace
It's clearly satire. "... Other precautions probably involve not wiring explosives to its servers..."
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
@Cerberus Jerry Bruckheimer? No? Woody Allen? No? Queen Beatrix?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@DavidWallace I have that on my clipboard!
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Xblast time! Laters dudes.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
11:14 AM
@RegDwightѬſ道 I know Beatrix! And I know Allen is a director.
Bye.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwightѬſ道 This is the map they use to teach "diversity" in American schools.
To me it is just all the upside-down-walking people trying to get the upper hand. Or foot.
Queen Beatrix is a demolitions expert? Cool!
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
> By accepting Google Apps for UvA, you are giving Google the right to process data, including personal details, in any country where Google or its agents are established or have facilities, including in countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). This means your personal details may be subject to other privacy rules than the European privacy directive applied in the Netherlands, which provides an equivalent level of protection in all European countries.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Cerberus Privacy has ceased to exist. They should remove the word from dictionaries.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
So my university forces me to give Google permission to sell all my personal e-mails and data to China.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Cerberus Yes.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
11:19 AM
Yeah, it's weird.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Here's something else that's weird:
7
Q: "Close the light" — regionalism or mere oddity?

RobustoIf I want the room in darkness, and wish to announce my intent, I would say I'm going to turn off the light. But occasionally here in America I hear people say I'm going to close the light. It's happened too often to chalk up to mistake or happenstance. I'm just wondering if anyone kn...

verbs dialects non-native-english
Why would someone down-vote this question?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
People are weird.
Could be a revenge vote.
 
Robusto
Robusto
I am looking for a way to stop using Google mail. It's just too creepy to be exposed like that.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
Just write sensitive stuff in Latin.
Latin poetry.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Like passwords?
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
11:30 AM
Yes.
Which shouldn't be well-known quotations, of course.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Myself, I use an initialism theory for password creation. For example, the previous sentence could be converted to a password by taking the first letter of each word, substituting numbers where possible: M,Iuait4pc. Vary the capitalization for nouns or verbs and include punctuation. Much easier to remember a sentence than a string of meaningless letters and numbers.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
Yes, but isn't an initialism less intuitive to type?
Just typing a full sentence is for me the quickest.
I don't have to think about it.
Except that I have to leave out spaces.
0
Q: Can the accelerated scrolling be disabled in Bing Maps?

CerberusWhen, say, I drag the map to the right, the map continues to move to the right for a bit after I have let go of the mouse button. I think this is called accelerated scrolling, but correct me if I'm wrong. Is there a way to disable or fine-tune it? As it is, the acceleration makes moving around i...

scrolling bing-maps
Superuser really sucks.
I got the Tumbleweed badge for this one.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Put an OVER 9000 bounty on it.
Or just ask again. And again. And again. Until people start noticing.
Disclaimer: do not follow my advice.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@RegDwightѬſ道 The problem is also that nobody votes.
I have several accepted answers with zero votes.
And a couple with 1 vote.
The site just doesn't work.
 
Robusto
Robusto
11:47 AM
@Cerberus But password-breakers look for words and word combinations.
Anyway, gotta motor.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@Robusto I don't believe they look for sentences.
 
Vitaly
Vitaly
12:01 PM
18 hours ago, by Vitaly
@Cerberus You might want to post some comment here!
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
12:18 PM
0
Q: what it mean when we say double dose?

web designerI couldn't find an answer for that. I've read that in a message: I wish for you a double dose of health. Do we say such a thing in every day English? Is there any synonym for that?

meaning
 
Robusto
Robusto
12:54 PM
@RegDwightѬſ道 A "dose" usually refers to drugs or VD. If you say "I got a dose" it usually means a dose of the clap (i.e. gonorrhea).
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Y u tell me?
I was rather thinking along the lines of, "check a dictionary pls".
 
Robusto
Robusto
I thought you might have the clap.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
I might. But I don't.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Vitaly That's just ... adorable? While it may be someone's dream — a version of Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court that is at once more modern and more ancient — the writer ignores the very practical matter of existing power structures and struggles and civil (NB: not tribal) politics. Furthermore, it ignores the part that the tribes did play in Roman politics, especially in the election of all public offices, from consuls on down.
In other words, coming from a "good" family did matter. And wealth, while it might buy armies, did not buy them for long. Also, Roman engineering was more advanced than many people think. The city was founded on engineering, ferchrissakes. Without the invention of the aqueduct, a city of that size would have been impossible.
@RegDwightѬſ道 But you might.
 
Vitaly
Vitaly
@Robusto Um, what? The writer does not propose anything, and therefore cannot ignore anything. The writer is telling other people to attempt to solve that hypothetical problem of overtaking Rome. And presumably, those other people would need to deal with existing power structures in proposing their solutions.
And yeah, I don't see a good enough proposal yet. But that's why I'm telling @Cerberus to come there and correct them or something. He has an account on LW.
 
Robusto
Robusto
1:08 PM
@Vitaly I see that I was responding to the first responder's case. Sorry.
 
Vitaly
Vitaly
Oh OK.
 
Robusto
Robusto
I still think that chance would play a big part in any such endeavor. If you suddenly appeared with enough money ("You may start with enough money to live a patrician lifestyle for a year") that would be a very conspicuous amount of gold, and without any kind of protection what would you do with it? How would you prevent yourself from being robbed and murdered?
That's the problem with fantasies. They're just fantasies. And it is impossible to be lesswrong or lessright about them.
 
Vitaly
Vitaly
Even though they are discussing counterfactuals in that post or, as you say, fantasies, it might well serve as “an upper bound on the difficulty of an AI taking over modern civilization”.
And so proposing possible solutions to overtaking Rome has a valid practical purpose, even though not an immediate one.
 
Robusto
Robusto
The point is, there are too many variables to track and analyze. Therefore speculations like these are more masturbatory than practical. And whether you're masturbating physically or intellectually, to thoughts of human beings or human technology, the word we use to describe that is fantasy. The term "counterfactual" is at best a euphemism, and more likely a deliberate self-deception.
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
I'd disfigure the emperors face so that it was unrecognisable, so he either chooses to wear a mask, or display a disfigured face. After the people are used to this approach I kill him and completely dispose of the body, then steal the mask or disfigure my face, and assume control
 
Robusto
Robusto
1:22 PM
I would use my knowledge of genetics to create unicorns that could shoot rainbows out of their eyes.
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
you would then be emperor of the universe.
 
Robusto
Robusto
See? And all it took was unicorns. QED.
BTW, is the opposite of unicorn "multicorn" or "acorn"?
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
isn't it "horse"?
 
Robusto
Robusto
@MattЭллен If it is, then a horse is an acorn. Or an eggcorn.
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
from small horses mighty eggcorns grow
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
1:29 PM
@Robusto it's simply corn. Uncountable.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwightѬſ道 Too corny.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
We've had this exact "discussion" before.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Vitaly: Jonathan Swift satirized the LessWrong community hundreds of years ago already.
@RegDwightѬſ道 Which exact discussion?
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
This one.
@Robusto I see Jonathan Swift also made illustrations of 23-year-old Thai transsexuals that are online right now. He really was ahead of his time.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwightѬſ道 How about unicorns?
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
1:34 PM
What kind of stupid domain name is "IDateAsia" anyway? Yo mama so fat, she's dating an entire continent.
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
@RegDwightѬſ道 maybe she'd like to date Noman
 
Robusto
Robusto
@RegDwightѬſ道 "IDateAsia" is an interface, not a domain name. If you implement the IDateAsia interface, you get immediate access to billions of women.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
@MattЭллен the National Organization of Matrimonial Attorneys, Nationwide?
I'm not up to speed with this lingo stuff.
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
@RegDwightѬſ道 Noman is an island
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
With George Clooney on it?
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
1:37 PM
maybe so
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Bad edit. "Naybe" is an excellent word.
Someone should've invented it earlier.
 
Matt Эллен
Matt Эллен
:D
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
 
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
1:57 PM
@Robusto In practice the only users of that interface are bots and scams.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Whoa! It can't be!
I mean, who would create a dishonest interface?
 
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
scammers
 
Robusto
Robusto
puts hands over ears and shouts LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU
 
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
They subclassed the AsianSingleWoman object and replaced its sexy code with malicious evil code
 
Robusto
Robusto
There is no depth lower than this to which evil can descend.
 
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
2:00 PM
They implemented their evil code in VB6.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
There's still turtles a bit further down.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Turtles are not evil. Well, except for Yertle.
 
RegDwight Ѭſ道
RegDwight Ѭſ道
Them's mutant turtles. Teenage, too.
 
Robusto
Robusto
And even he learned his lesson in the end.
 
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
 
KitFox
KitFox
2:23 PM
@SonicTheHedgehog Ahhh! Overwhelmed by cuteness!
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
2:51 PM
@Vit: It is a fun experiment, and some of those suggestions might have a chance at succeeding.
Of course there are some very serious difficulties to be expected.
If you spend a lot of money, for example, publicani will try to extort as much as they can from you.
And governors or the Emperor may simply send an assassin in the deep of night, because they were very suspicious of rebellion and usurpation.
Especially in Hispania, which was notoriously rebellious.
To name a few things.
I guess the slower you go, and the more you invest in social acceptance and personal protection, the better your chances?
But it is all speculation.
 
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