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3:12 AM
it's quiet in here today
All I hear is the whirring of my computer fan and the song playing in my head
 
Hello.
How was your day, @MrShinyandNew?
 
not bad
the kids were very good today
would've been nice if it wasn't raining though, we could have gone outside. but oh well
how about you? enjoying your freedom?
 
Well, being cooped up in a KFC for eight hours isn't quite freedom, but it wasn't too bad.
It was rainy for about 25 minutes here, then it got sunny again.
 
mmm Kentucky Fried Centipede
do they have the Double-Down at your location?
 
I hear that they eat centipedes in certain parts of the world.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 We have it off and on, it's a promo thing.
We had the Zinger Double Down a few months back.
 
3:21 AM
I tried it. It's ok. Too hard to eat.
 
I had one, I put it in a bun.
It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't put myself through that again.
 
the Double-Down forgets one of the most important lessons of the Sandwich: the bread is there to separate the food from your hands.
That's why they were invented, actually.
 
That's why they give you that nice, greasy little paper sleeve to hold it in!
 
And when someone hands you two scorching-hot pieces of chicken with no bun, you re-learn the Earl of Sandwich's lesson first-hand.
 
Hehe.
It sold quite well, and we still get people asking for it.
 
3:23 AM
yeah, thanks, that paper is useless. If it came in a cardboard sleeve, or if you got free tongs or an oven mitt, fine.
You know what's funny? It's no worse for you than, say, a Big Mac
 
Yeah, the paper is more a hindrance than anything.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 It gets a much worse rap though.
 
people are all like "oh, so much fat, so much sodium, wah wah wah"
I'm like "Shut up and read the labels before you start whining"
 
Yeah.
 
@Mahnax yeah, because the newspapers jumped on it and because people don't think critically.
Context: it's important, bitches!
 
I think that a 3-piece meal, in its entirety, may be worse than a Double Down meal.
I'll look into it.
 
3:25 AM
@Mahnax yeah, seriously: it's kentucky FUCKING FRIED chicken. Stop worrying about the fat content unless you eat there every day
Or do what I do: order the diet coke. Bam! guilt-free meal.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 It's looking like the 3-piece meal is worse.
Just comparing the 3 pieces of chicken and the Double down, that is.
 
@Mahnax well, don't forget to compare... what, that's excluding fries and stuff?
 
Then there's fries with both, and a "salad" with the 3-piece.
 
@Mahnax and the 3-piece is one adult portion, right?
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 It's the most commonly ordered chicken dinner.
There's more fat in the 3-piece meal.
Even if they give you a leg, a wing, and a thigh, there's still more fat, because of the salad.
 
3:29 AM
yeah. So, the point is, as unhealthy as the Double-Down might be, it's certainly not remarkable on the KFC menu or indeed on any fast food menu. It's not remarkable, it's not the worst, and it's not even all that good.
@Mahnax hahaha the salad
I ate salad-dressing today, with some salad mixed in. It's been a while, normally I don't bother, but my parents came over and brought some.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oh, "salad". We have the nerve to call that salad.
 
@simchona! how are you these days
 
Oh, hi @sim!
Haha, there was a fat, white male in the drive thru today, listening to hardcore gangsta rap.
 
@Mahnax and ordering fried chicken? what are you trying to say here, anyway? :)
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I was just recalling an observation.
 
3:35 AM
@Mahnax So will you be working full-time all summer?
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Not full-time.
Maybe close, but we'll see.
Depends on how much they need me.
 
I miss the carefree days of high-school summers
 
I can't wait to learn Russian, on the other hand!
 
So much free time I barely knew what to do with myself
 
I'm good!
Nobody's been here all day
 
3:37 AM
@simchona Are you home for the summer too?
 
@simchona Yeah, I went for an 8-hour shift, returned, and my last message was still visible by scrolling up just a little.
 
I'm actually in a new city for an internship
 
@simchona Oh, awesome!
 
what kind of internship is it?
I miss the carefree days of summer internships too :)
 
3:39 AM
Business analyst
 
I miss all my carefree days
 
Basically databases and SQL
 
Cool.
 
we should get all the ELU programmers together and start our own company
doing something awesome
 
3:40 AM
That is actually a really awesome idea.
I would help out if I could, but my programming skills are limited to Javascript, CSS, and HTML.
 
@Mahnax You're young yet, you have time to learn more.
Get your parents to buy you an iPhone developer license and teach yourself Objective C
Or get your parents to buy you an Android phone and teach yourself Java
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I could buy myself one of those licenses.
I used to make iPhone apps as a hobby.
 
(developing on Android is WAY cheaper than on iPhone... but I suspect if you have a smartphone it's an i- variety)
 
I don't have a smartphone.
 
@Mahnax what? I thought you said "limited to javascript"
 
3:43 AM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Well, that was awhile back.
 
@Mahnax there you go. and when your parents say "You're too young to have your own smartphone" you can just say "Thanks for ruining my future, mom and dad"
 
The apps were pretty simple, and I haven't done it in quite some time.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I could have my own, but I don't really want one too badly.
 
@Mahnax Well, Android development is pretty easy to get into. I think just about any android phone will serve for development. There are no fees that must be paid or anything. Until you want to publish your app, then there's a $25 fee or something.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Hm, that's not too bad.
I've got a nasty little Nokia running Symbian…
 
@Mahnax i've heard that some carriers restrict the phones so that only the official store can install apps. But I haven't come across any examples.
 
3:47 AM
But it functions and that's all I need.
 
But how do you waste your life playing Angry Birds or Cut the Rope or Fruit Ninja on that thing?
 
What if I told you… I don't.
 
psh, I bet you just borrow your friend's smartphone
 
I've got an iPod, if I want to do that sort of thing.
I usually only use it for music, though.
 
ah, ipod touch? It's like a tiny iPad...
 
3:49 AM
Yep.
Handy little device.
 
well, you can pry my Nexus S out of my cold dead fingers. Unless you're prying it out in order to put in a Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy S III.
 
priest Nexus S out of your cold dead fingers
replaces it with stale bread
 
hey, waitaminute.... I'm swiping and swiping but this bread won't unlock...
 
giggles nefariously
 
@Mahnax Android OSes are supposed to be based on desserts, not croutons
 
3:53 AM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 replaces bread with freezer-burnt brownie
 
@Mahnax That's better
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Ah, good.
I've got a few ice cream sandwiches, but you can't have any.
 
my phone already has Ice Cream Sandwich
as does my tablet
 
I replaced your phone with a freezer-burnt brownie!
 
my freezer, however, does not. It has frozen soy-dessert sandwiches, because my son is allergic to milk.
@Mahnax That brownie runs Android 4.0.4 now. I rooted it and installed Cyanogen on it.
 
3:56 AM
Oh, good.
 
that's how awesome Android is.
 
I like Android.
I like iOS too.
 
I'm sure iOS is a fine OS and that in some ways it's better than Android. But I can't stand Apple, so I can't recommend iOS.
 
Fair enough.
 
Apple and Sony. And Disney. my three nemesises.
and Viewsonic. Almost forgot them. shudder gods I hate viewsonic. But it's personal with viewsonic.
 
4:00 AM
Why Disney?
 
Disney is the biggest part of the machine that seeks to pillage the public domain for profit, whilst simultaneously destroying any future public domain.
 
Huh.
Well, I'm going to grab some food, I might come back in awhile.
Bye, for now.
 
@Mahnax yeah I should go too. It's midnight here and I have work tomorrow.
cya later
 
 
1 hour later…
5:32 AM
-2
Q: Inappropriate content

Sky DiveThe previous content found in this question is highly inappropriate in nature.

This… this is bad.
Hello @NinjaTurtle.
Thanks for getting rid of it, @waiwai.
 
Hello :)
 
How are you this evening?
 
 
3 hours later…
8:49 AM
Hullo y'all
 
9:11 AM
is this on topic?
1
Q: Pronounication of dijkstra

user1468913I am computer professional. I have heard the pronouciation of word dijkstra from various sources as 1 .di-kstra 2. diji-kstra 3. dik-stra which is correct way of pronouncing ?

I've marked it as Gen Ref, because it's easily Googlable.
 
 
2 hours later…
11:03 AM
2
Alien Language and Useage

Proposed Q&A site for alien from other planets or earthmen who interested in languages in extraterrestrial civilizations

Currently in definition.

 
It has an example question now. How... enlightening
 
The "useage" is a nice touch.
 
Oh, that is a nice touch?
That guy subscribed to ELU Lite IIRC.
The proposal creator, that is.
 
Indeed he has
 
Mmm, I see.
Well, anyway, good morning.
Getting ready to send my boy off on his trip, so bbl.
 
11:07 AM
Pekka is following it... does he like car crashes too?
@KitFox CU
 
I think Pekka just follows everything. Like I used to.
 
It's the only way to get some stupid badge or two.
 
1
Multilingual idiom mapping

Proposed Q&A site for experts in two languages who can answer questions like: "How do I say [IDIOM IN ONE LANGUAGE] in [ANOTHER LANGUAGE]?". Because language specific QnA don't have experts proficient in both languages, so the questions like these are closed as off-topic.

Currently in definition.

Off topic because they're not about the target language, not because there's not the user base
 
12:00 PM
@RegDwightΒВB What stupid badge or two?
 
Uh. Founder, I think.
You have to participate in all three phases. Beta, Commitment, and Definition.
 
Too lazy.
 
Nah, beta is the hard part. The rest is just luck: you have to get wind of the site early enough to just click "follow" and then click "commit".
 
commit? nah I'm too young to be tied down
 
@MattЭллен Just roll-back then
 
12:09 PM
We are a teeny bit mormonic, too.
 
Beat you to it @Reg :Þ
 
Oh come on Matt.
You even beat me to mentioning it here.
 
I really don't understand the question, though.
 
Nor me. I like Peter Shor's suggestion
 
12:19 PM
Yeah, I'd like to see the choice "sort by forever".
Meanwhile I'm trying to think of words in which the I is short before just one consonant and the consonant is not a V.
 
That's a start. Now get me something with a vowel following that consonant.
 
Context:
-1
A: Why is "primer" pronounced with a short "i" sound?

Ynezthe vowel in "primer" is long because there is only one consonant after it, you need two consonants to make the vowel a capital sound. eg. tiny/tinny or, pony/potty or, biter/bitter. In the old days (lol) you had to "prime" the pump before you could get water out of it, so the word is us...

Liver, river, give, and countless others are spelled with a single consonant after the I, yet the I is short. Nobody feels compelled to write livver, rivver, givve. (And don't get me started on live which constantly changes its pronunciation but never its spelling.) — RegDwight ΒВB 28 mins ago
 
12:24 PM
That's all fun and all, but I can only think of stuff ending in or containing -ive-.
 
whither?
 
Yes. Valid as far as I'm concerned. But of course someone will play the devil's advocate and tell you that TH are two consonants, not one.
 
yeah, I was wondering about that
configuration
figure
 
Ah! Very good.
 
12:28 PM
@Reg were you not taught the spelling "rule" that says that when you have vowel-consonant-vowel the first vowel sounds like the capital-letter?
 
Ligature.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 of course.
 
that's another
monitor
 
Granted, "primer" is pronunced like EYE because PRIME is prounced like EYE
 
these words are staring at me in my source code
 
I was also taught that "ea" is always pronounced as "ee", and that "I" is always followed by "shall", never by "will".
 
12:31 PM
wait... that primer question: they are saying people pronounce it like "primmer"? REALLY?!
 
there's the counter example of sighing where the i is long
 
@MattЭллен that brings up another interesting point. Nobody minds the short "i" in "monitor" because it's not stressed. A point the author of the answer has missed.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 good morning.
Delicious. Another short I. Under stress, mind you.
 
@RegDwightΒВB I see. Interesting. I always forget about stress patterns in speech.
 
I have never heard anyone say "primmer".
 
12:34 PM
validity <- another
 
It's no problem to actually pronounce give as "gaiv". It sounds funny, but it works. But if you try to pronounce monitor as "monaitor", that's like physically impossible or something. Unstressed stuff just gets reduced.
 
Yeah, unless I stress the middle bit, I can't pronounce it with a long I
@MrShinyandNew安宇 not when they mean primer, certainly. If I heard primmer I would expect someone to be comparing primmness
 
@MattЭллен Well, I dunno, apparently this is something they say in the US? But I've never heard it.
 
and to have been transported back a hundred years
 
The pimmness of their rides?
 
12:39 PM
yeah, toally pimmed
 
12:57 PM
Well that "expiring soon" question is not getting clearer, only longer.
 
Why is Nortonn S not giving up?
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 That's how I have always pronounced it.
 
@simchona he's rickrolling us.
 
@KitFox No way
 
Um, yeah.
That's how it is pronounced.
 
12:59 PM
But his suspension period hasn't changed, despite posting a smut fic and ASCII of a middle finger
 
Geez Matt is fast today.
 
@RegDwightΒВB the two answer say the same thing. I think it works now
 
@KitFox Nuh-uh.
 
I think this is a typical case of building English around your software rather than your software around English.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Uh, yeah, duh.
 
1:01 PM
Not to mention that it's the 21st century, so whenever I want to sort stuff, I just click on a tiny arrow, and when I want to reverse the sorting, I click again. Nobody reads novels just to perform a sort. Not on the Web anyway.
 
@KitFox Well, that settles it. Americans talk weird.
2
 
@RegDwightΒВB yes, I agree. I'm not sure what he hopes to achieve with this.
 
@RegDwightΒВB It depends on the UI. Some use-cases, like phones or tablets or TVs are moving away from tiny icons for stuff like that.
 
And who are you to pay attention? Go duh with Kit some more.
 
@RegDwightΒВB who's paying attention?
certainly not me
 
1:04 PM
Someone's paying? Where?
 
everyone should pay me.
 
Every other number should pay me.
 
I am not a number!
 
There are no other numbers. We are using a unary system.
 
then you already have your money
 
1:06 PM
This is how you count in unary: 1, 11, 111, 1111, 11111, 111111, 1111111, 11111111, 111111111, 1111111111, etc
 
No. This is how you count in unary. I count differently.
 
@RegDwightΒВB pfft, as if you count at all.
 
You're lucky to be able to count in unary.
 
Hell, you went on vacation and all we got was a pile of shitty EL&U questions.
 
Still.
 
Jez
1:08 PM
primer is something that primes. Therefore you should pronounce it as you would prime, with an 'r' on the end
 
I will tell you, for $ OVER 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111...
 
@Jez That's how I pronounce it
 
keep going.
 
Especially given the Lowes commercials about "paint and primer"
 
@Jez that's what I do. Mark Beadles explanation is that the books called primers don't prime.
Pronunciation doesn't follow spelling in English. Spelling is irregular and based on old pronunciations, which have since changed. The book "primer" does not come from the need to "prime" anything; it's well-documented that it comes from Latin primarius, a prayer-book. — Mark Beadles 10 hours ago
which now needs to be pronounced prImarIus
 
1:11 PM
...11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111‌​111111111111...
 
ok..I think I have the pattern now.
 
0
Q: "He gave her a gesture while leaving the room." - Is this sentence correct?

JbeanThe intended use of the sentence is for a scenario where a guy gives a positive indication (with facial expressions) to an employee before leaving the presentation room. Is the above sentence rightly used for this instance? (grammatically and figuratively).

This seems a bit proofread-y, but it's only one sentence so I'm not sure
 
yeah, I get a distinct proofreading vibe
 
If they could narrow down to a particular portion (it's probably "gave somebody a gesture") it'd be better
 
'giving someone a gesture' ... does not sound like it is a pleasant thing.
 
1:24 PM
indeed
 
anyway..I'm with @Jez and @simchona whatever it's describing (paint or books) short-i primer sounds goofy to me.
@simchona actually rereading (after giving a gesture to him in a comment), it may well be proof reading, but I don't think that matters. It is about 'giving a gesture' does it have a positive or negative impact, and as we all see, it has the connotation of a negative gesture.
are there any positive ones though?
is winking a gesture?
 
giving a gesture of goodwill?
 
Waving?
 
that's cash.
 
not necessarily
 
1:29 PM
I'd take it as goodwill (if it were a 20 or bigger).
is waving a gesture? of course, but not the first thing you'd think of.
The sentence by the OP as stated is bizarre because I really think of it as the guy happily flipping her off as he leaves.
 
0
Q: What does the grammar rule express the letters shown in the paint below?

Carlo_R.What does the grammar rule express the letters shown in the paint below? Does the message convey by the paint makes English speaker laugh? If so, why?

Are we back to explaining jokes?
I think this is TL. Nobody is ever going to search for a cartoon. Really.
 
Carlo is just finding random things on the internet that he doesn't understand, and asks here.
 
Yes, he is. Random pictures that I don't think anyone else will ever ask about.
 
ELU dumb
 
Like posting the pic of a "children's game"
@Matt I think the "gesture" question is still proofreading
 
1:37 PM
deleted already. that was fast.
 
0
Q: Tag and label difference

RezaIs there any difference in meaning and usage of "label" and "tag" words?

 
GR
 
there is only one letter similar! How can he think they are the same?
 
Yes, but in addition to that I always wonder what makes people word such questions in this way.
 
It's better than needing to explain the entire "do" and "make" verbs
 
1:39 PM
No two words mean the exact same thing. Not even "color" and "colour".
That's why they are two words as opposed to one.
 
There's also no exact opposite for everything
There should be ELU rules somewhere when people post questions
 
Oh yes. More stuff for nobody to read.
 
But...it'd be there
Like when Apple makes you "read" 2000 pages of some contract thing before you can use iTunes
We can at least say "but we put it there and you signed it"
Half can be lorem ipsum
 
Yeah, we could just have a click-through screen that tries to discourage people from posting "difference between" or "opposite of" questions
 
Well it is there. In the very first sentence on the "About" page.
 
1:42 PM
Nobody is forced to read the About page
 
Exactly.
 
We should bring back Clippy
"It looks like you're trying to ask a question about two words and their meaning. Did you mean to look at a dictionary?"
 
surely it's not so bad that clippy could fix it?
 
Clippy can fix anything if it's broke badly enough
 
@simchona hehe, I sound like clippy
 
1:43 PM
This is like every time a little girl gets kidnapped somewhere, politicians get crazy and demand stricter laws. It already is illegal to kidnap little girls. The laws are fine.
 
:D yes! that's what I think
 
It's not the laws, and not the severity of the prosecution, it's the chance of getting caught. That is everything that matters. Nothing else matters at all.
 
@RegDwightΒВB Clearly every little girl should be protected by a giant paper-clip, which asks the kidnapper "It looks as if you are trying to kidnap a little girl. Did you know this is illegal? Would you like to.... A) continue, B) go home, C) kidnap a giant paperclip?"
4
 
So, applying this to ELU, the only thing that helps is getting rid of stuff. FAQs don't help. Comments don't help. Closing and deleting help.
Uh. I mean. Not applying that Mr Shiny stuff. Applying my stuff.
 
1:47 PM
I think Clippy would have been more successful if instead of being a paper-clip he was razor-wire
 
He was like five different things. You had a choice.
 
I always picked the one that meant he didn't exist
 
It looks like you pretend I do not exist. Do you need help with that?
 
1:59 PM
0
Q: Height of Waterfall

UmeshI have mentioned below lines while describing height of waterfall. "There are series of waterfalls; some of them are 15 to 20 meters and one of them 500 meters in height. The immediate area is calm and quiet, with a clean lake and dark woods in a hilly area." Is is grammatically correct ?

More proofreading?
 

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