English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

A Beautiful Mind

12:42 AM

Hello @Kit, still here?

Robusto

2:24 AM

@tchrist Sí, en español.

Now I'm watching another mush-mouthed Argentinian movie.

tchrist

Good good. I’m cunterblasting.

2

Are then mushen mouthed?

They do talk differnt, that’s fer shure.

Cerberus

Hello.

La camera Espagnola, I see.

tchrist

I don't think cunterblast is Spanish.

Cerberus

You have to believe, not think.

Robusto

@tchrist Whoa. Is that a typo or are you firing for effect?

tchrist

2:28 AM

I needs must demonstrate the affliction.

Robusto

@tchrist I'm watching with the subtitles on. I can't really read Spanish as fast as they talk, but at least I get a sense of it. Still, when there's a long statement it's not that I don't understand all the words, it's that I don't even hear but three in ten.

Two or three words will rise out of the mush like raisins in the oatmeal.

tchrist

Robusto

Are there any Spanish online dictionaries as good as Beolingus is for German?

tchrist

@Cerb I want to know why the setter of type chose to curly the m on alteram when he left the one on naturam well enough alone!

@Robusto If there are, I do not know them.

@Robusto Yes, this is the problem: you can’t lex it. You don’t understand where one words stops and the next begins. I do feel your pain.

Cerberus

@tchrist Well, spelling and abbreviation were always inconsistent in manuscripts. This did not change immediately with the printing press.

tchrist

2:34 AM

Because the same thing happens to me in Portugal.

With a language I know better than you know Spanish. Just can't lex it.

Cerberus

Uniform spelling is a fairly recent aspiration for the modern languages (though not for Latin).

Another reason may be that the setter only needed to remove one letter to make the line fit.

Robusto

Still, I am encouraged at the amount I do understand. A little more than a month ago I wouldn't have understood anything.

Cerberus

By us?

tchrist

@Cerberus That’s what I was thinking: justification. The guy who wants a "modern translation" has no idea that he already has one. The person who digitized it got rid of all the old-style typesetting peculiarities.

Robusto

@Cerberus No, in Spanish.

Cerberus

2:36 AM

But we did encourage you, especially Tom, did we not?

@tchrist Which guy?

tchrist

Not orally.

Cerberus

I don't like orally encouraging people.

tchrist

Only by example.

The guy Mr Beatitude or Buttitude or whatever his name was.

Cerberus

You cunterblast.

tchrist

Is that an imperative?

Cerberus

2:38 AM

No.

It is what you do.

tchrist

I’ve finished the translation.

Cerberus

Good.

Go cunterblast Mr Buttitude.

tchrist

But I’ll be nice and use alteram not altera̛ or whatever the right diacritic is.

Cerberus

Although I think modernisation is a better word than ?translation.

tchrist

I just fixed the spellings, some of the phrasing. Replaced a few words that he wouldn’t know like adust and mollicies.

Cerberus

2:40 AM

Yes, you should always fill out abbreviations, except if your potential audience wishes to study palaeography.

And unless you aren't sure how to solve the abbreviation.

tchrist

Or using list to with the sense of quick to. Stuff like that.

Cerberus

Good.

Listless.

tchrist

I did resort to the original ms at times though, because the digitization was off.

Cerberus

Oh, there is a manuscript?

tchrist

As it were.

Cerberus

2:41 AM

Where were it?

tchrist

books.google.co.uk/…

I am sure you know what mollicies are, but what of adust?

Cerberus

So the print.

Robusto

1

Q: What's the accent of this narration?

The person narrating in the attached MP3 link sounds like a good narrator, but I was wondering what his English accent is. It's difficult for me to say because I am not a native English speaker. Is that an American accent? British, Asian, or German maybe? Here is the link to play the MP3 recor...

accent

Turns out this guy was just fucking with us. That was his voice, and he's Albanian.

tchrist

And no, it does not mean full of dust.

Cerberus

Adust, I would guess use, get used to?

Mollicies will be soft, pleasant things.

tchrist

2:42 AM

@Cerberus Sere.

Cerberus

Sere is late, but that is Latin?

tchrist

@Cerberus Quite. I knew you would now it.

It’s from adustus from adurere.

Cerberus

Burn?

tchrist

Yep.

Oh, I said sere. I meant seared. :)

Cerberus

I'd have to see it in context, of course...

Ah.

tchrist

2:43 AM

> For Tobacco being a common herbe, which (though under divers names) growes
almost every where, was first found out by some of the barbarous Indians,
to be a Preservative, or Antidot against the Pockes, a filthy disease,
whereunto these barbarous people are (as all men know) very much subject,
what through the uncleanly and adust constitution of their bodies, and what
through the intemperate heate of their Climat: so that as from them was
first brought into Christendome, that most detestable disease, so from them

Cerberus

Ah.

tchrist

"the uncleanly and adust constitution of their bodies" being those of the Indians.

Cerberus

Of course.

But that is indeed a confusing context.

tchrist

Should I admit that the King is talking about syphilis?

That is "that most detestable disease" that it was said that tobacco would treat.

Robusto

@tchrist Only if it kills you quicker than syphilis would.

tchrist

2:47 AM

The King cannot say the possessive its X or even "the X of it". He can only say "the X thereof". It is passing strange.

Cerberus

@tchrist Um he is talking about pox.

tchrist

No.

Cerberus

Surely that is not syphilis?

tchrist

The pox was before Colón.

Syphilis was attributed to the Indians, and the King may have the right of it for all we know.

Cerberus

Then why does he say "Antidot against the Pockes"?

tchrist

2:48 AM

That’s another supposed use for it.

> so that as from them was first brought into Christendome, that most detestable disease, so from them likewise was brought this use of Tobacco,

Cerberus

> 1.
a disease characterized by multiple skin pustules, as smallpox.
2.
syphilis.
3.
Also called soil rot. Plant Pathology. a disease of sweet potatoes, characterized by numerous pitlike lesions on the roots, caused by a fungus, Streptomyces ipomoea.
4.
(used interjectionally to express distaste, rejection, aversion, etc.):
A pox on you and your bright ideas!

tchrist

Smallpox was not brought by the Indians but to them.

Cerberus

I had no idea.

@tchrist That I know.

tchrist

So he cannot be talking about them bringing smallpox to Christendom.

He’s talking about a superlatively detestable disease that they brought with them.

I do not know what it was called then.

He obviously did not see fit to print its name. :)

I guess I could footnote all the Latin.

Although it is all so simple.

Cerberus

I had no idea syphilis came from your lands.

tchrist

2:53 AM

Just these:

> Fumo pereat, qui fumum vendidit
Non causam pro causa
Opus unius diei
Quilibet e populo
Sanis non est opus medico
ad purgandos Renes
habitum, alteram naturam
nemo repente fit turpissimus

I don't understand the reputation of the Wives of Dieppe, either.

Cerberus

What?

tchrist

Yeah. :)

Cerberus

By the way, don't go to the Wikipaedia article on syphilis...

Robusto

Noted.

tchrist

> And not onely meate time, but no other time nor action is exempted
from the publike use of this uncivill tricke: so as if the wives
of Diepe list to contest with this Nation for good maners their
worst maners would in all reason be found at least not so dishonest
(as ours are) in this point.

Dieppe

Dieppe (French pronunciation: [djɛp]) is a coastal community in the Arrondissement of Dieppe in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region of northern France. The population stands at 34,000. A port on the English Channel, at the mouth of the Arques river, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled beach, a 15th-century castle and the churches of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Remi. The mouth of the Scie river lies in the Canton of Dieppe-Ouest at Hautot-sur-Mer. The inhabitants of the town...

It’s on the Channel.

Robusto

2:56 AM

BTW, I checked out the duolingo German course and tested out of a few levels. I wanted to compare the pronunciation with that of the Spanish speaker. I can safely say that the German lady sounds weird in some of her pronunciations.

tchrist

I don’t understand why its wives should have been thought wanton in James’s day.

@Robusto Oh good.

"meate time" is of course now mealtime.

Publike is not pub-like but public. :)

Robusto

I think they must piece these phrases and sentences together from smaller chunks and words, and this is why they don't always flow well.

tchrist

That would suck.

You lose phrasal prosody, and other worse things, since Spanish is so strongly subject to regressive assimilation.

But at least you’re hearing a native speaker, so you know that the d in cada sounds nothing whatsoever like the d of English.

Robusto

I could be wrong, but that is what I suspect. Either that or the voice track is just ripped at 64K.

tchrist

heh

Robusto

3:00 AM

@tchrist Yes. This is true of the l and the r and the b and the ll and on and on.

tchrist

Now and then there is crossover, but rarely.

El burro has the English B.

Only because it has an L before it.

Robusto

The vowels are much different as well.

tchrist

unos burros would have the alien sound.

Robusto

The g is shifty too.

tchrist

I was worried at first for your mixing up of a/o. I had that in Germany before I studied German, and of course Hungarian is completely bonkers.

Orthographic G represents two phonemes, but each of those has two conditional allophones, so total of four phones for one grapheme.

el gringo, el auga are one pair while gillipollas, joder are the other pair.

Robusto

3:03 AM

But the more I hear, the better I can adapt. I wish there were other speakers to hear.

tchrist

Gigante has one of each phoneme.

I speak Spanish a few days a week, short conversations with the gardening/snow guy, and I use it at work for translation stuff sometimes daily, depending on what we're working on.

He used to have to bring one of his sons when he did work in our neighborhood, but then realized that if I’m around, he doesn’t have to.

I tell you: UI elements are the absolute worst for translation.

I try to use whatever Spanish-language programs or sites are using, so it’s what people are used to.

But I have no long conversations with educated people in Spanish these days. My Portuguese friend could probably do so if he pleased, given how much Spanish he's picked up over the last few years, but his English is better than most native speakers so why bother?

Must though I enjoyed reading the King’s interpone, I felt that gringo readers would need to see that as interpose, not realizing the original Latin/Spanish/Italian infinitive.

Also, he uses a toy to mean a trifle. Stuff like that.

Cerberus

3:21 AM

Hmm Slovenia has voted for gay marriage and adoption.

Not bad for former Yugoslavia!

The EU is doing well.

tchrist

They were always the most advanced of the Yugobabies.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

3:41 AM

@Matt Right. And the lady even says "BBC West Midlands".

tchrist

3:57 AM

Oh wow.

I went over 30 kilochars, so it forbad me.

My bad.

Had to post in two halves.

0

A: Where can I find a modern English version of King James’s “Counterblaste to Tobacco”?

The digitization you linked to has really done you a great service in rendering the original printed pamphlet into letters that you recognize. Otherwise you would be reading stuff like this: And really, you have to admit that the ASCII version is easier to read than that is. Still, here is a...

0

A: Where can I find a modern English version of King James’s “Counterblaste to Tobacco”?

And here is the main body of the King’s pamphlet counterblasting tobacco: A Counterblast to Tobacco King James I of England So that the manifold abuses of this vile custom of partaking of tobacco may be better espied, it is fit that you should consider both its original use and...

I didn’t footnote the Latin because I decided that would be an off-topic translation request. :)

Cerberus

@tchrist Absolutely. But look at how many Western countries still don't have gay marriage!

Like Germany, I believe?

tchrist

Look at the date.

Cerberus

@tchrist It at your characters?

tchrist

Turn back the hands of time a decade.

Maybe two.

Now look at the difference.

@Cerberus The Preface + Main were 31k.

There is a 30k posting limit.

I didn’t yank his subjunctives or -th, at least, not many of them. I did sprinkle in some should modals in front of a few of them.

Cerberus

@tchrist I only typed that to mimic your spelling thingy.

tchrist

4:06 AM

Mostly I inserted paragraph breaks. :)

Ah.

Cerberus

I have only voted your first answer up.

tchrist

Well, sure.

Cerberus

Lest the order be messed up.

tchrist

Don’t get in trouble. :)

Good thinking.

I tried to interlink them just in case.

Cerberus

Three heads know more than one.

Good.

tchrist

4:07 AM

The King uses Ordinary twice: once for the official, once for the rite. I translated both.

Cerberus

400 teachers/researchers have signed the manifesto already against the management of our university.

300 from the faculty of letters.

That is probably about half the teaching-researching staff.

The student petition has over 6000 signatures. But that one is open to all.

tchrist

Universities are no longer run pro bono publico.

Cerberus

Alas.

tchrist

They have to pay for themselves.

Cerberus

But we will turn the tide.

This is the first time in memory that the staff have joined the students en masse.

And this is only week 1.

tchrist

4:10 AM

@Cerberus Thus spake King Canute.

Cerberus

No, even Wikipaedia says the wave of "New Public Management" (turning (semi-)government entities into businesses) is past its prime..

We must push it back as fast as possible, in order for it to permanently erode as little of our academies as possible.

tchrist

Mass privatization of things like utility companies.

Cerberus

Yeah.

Also past its prime.

tchrist

Postal services.

Cerberus

Same idea all.

tchrist

4:13 AM

Self-service checkout counters at the grocer.

Cerberus

Now, postal services seem to be the only category that is functioning relatively well.

I love self-service counters, but the grocer is a business and has always been one.

Oh, and electrical companies are functioning well here, but only because they have been separated from the grid itself.

So they cannot harm the quality of our electricity.

tchrist

@Rob This reminds me how un autoservicio is not where you go to get your car fixed in Spain. :)

I intentionally used "English" spellings of things, like behoved not behooved and others many.

He used which I am sure could smel no stronglier, which I found quaint.

He also consistently writes then for modern than.

Cerberus

4:36 AM

@tchrist I like that.

I believe some people would still write slowlier.

tchrist

Only the courageous.

tchrist

5:55 AM

Cosmic Sans

Matt E. Эллен

9:10 AM

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 It's OK. more painful today for some reason. definitely on the mend :)

how's the snow?

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 it'a an interesting video :) thanks for sharing

Matt E. Эллен

10:59 AM

@tchrist some of those letters clearly have serifs. tut tut. ;)

infinitesimal

Hi @MattE.Эллен

Matt E. Эллен

hi @infinitesimal

infinitesimal

Does "motion picture" still sound wierd?

Matt E. Эллен

most definitely :D

infinitesimal

Upon the realization that it is not a picture of motion, it sounds ok to me now :-)

Matt E. Эллен

11:13 AM

well, I was having trouble with "picture show" rather than "motion picture". But only in light of Reg's mentioning of some lyrics from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

"It's just a jump to the left" as those commies would say.

Mitch

12:10 PM

A likely story

Matt E. Эллен

probability: high

Mitch

Hot-patootability- excellent!

Also, toast

Matt E. Эллен

Hot pocket: HOT

infinitesimal

12:44 PM

Similarly, @MattE.Эллен a picture show is not a show of pictures.

One could go to a picture show that is about a show of pictures :D

A dog show is a show of dogs.

But an air show is not a show of air.

Robusto

@tchrist: My daily WTF: ¿Por qué me tiraste tanto rollo?.

Robusto

1:39 PM

> You can now read 76.1% of all real Spanish text

But not that one.

Mitch

@infinitesimal a box of matches is not a box made from matches

infinitesimal

But is it a match box @Mitch?

Mitch

It might be, if of appropriate size and shape. The most experience I have with the word matchbox is with the little toy cars. What HotWHeels are version two of.

Robusto

1:54 PM

How do you pronounce 109.º as in el 109.º Congreso? The translation given just shows numbers.

Matt E. Эллен

109th?

Robusto

En español, por favor.

Matt E. Эллен

oh! um...

Mitch

ciento ... uh... nuevo ... uh ... degreso?

tchrist

centésimo-noveno

Mitch

1:58 PM

well, sure, it's easy if you know already.

tchrist

The hyphen isn’t really needed.

Robusto

@tchrist Are such number modifiers always placed before the nouns?

tchrist

@Robusto "Virtually always".

You could probably work up a contrastive difference between your tercer amigo and your amigo tercero if you really reached for it.

Robusto

Not I. Not yet.

tchrist

Be aware that some (many?) non-academic/educated native speakers will sometimes avoid the more complex ordinals and use a postfix cardinal instead. El Congreso número ciento nueve

A Beautiful Mind

2:06 PM

I use thrice all the time.

tchrist

Three numbers have short forms when they are used in front of a masculine singular noun: ciento > cien, primero > primer, tercero > tercer. The first is a cardinal, the other two are ordinals.

@ABeautifulMind Our fortunate and oft-proven valour in wars abroad and our hearty and reverent obedience to our Princes at home hath bred us a long and a thrice-happy peace.

The Master of Laketown made Thorin and Company thrice-welcome to his town.

tchrist

2:30 PM

@Robusto If you're serious about these things, just type sudo cpan -i Lingua::ES::Numeros on your Mac. It’s a tad fancy.

You don't technically need the sudo part if you already have a bunch of stuff set up for installing into your own Library, but for want of such, the sudo route is easiest.

Robusto

Do I care what mirror sites they'll set up?

tchrist

Nope.

I thought it always figured that stuff on its own now, but maybe a first-time use still lets you hand-select.

> 1=primero, primer
2=segundo
3=tercero, tercer
4=cuarto
5=quinto
6=sexto
7=séptimo
8=octavo
9=noveno
10=décimo
11=undécimo
12=duodécimo
13=decimotercero
14=decimocuarto
15=decimoquinto
16=decimosexto
17=decimoséptimo
18=decimoctavo
19=decimonoveno
20=vigésimo
21=vigésimo primero
22=vigésimo segundo
23=vigésimo tercero
24=vigésimo cuarto
30=trigésimo
31=trigésimo primero
32=trigésimo segundo
40=cuadragésimo
50=quincuagésimo
60=sexagésimo
70=septuagésimo
80=octogésimo
90=nonagésimo
100=centésimo

If you want to annoy a native speaker, get them to tell you the ordinals for 5th, 15th, 50th, 500th, 555th. :)

Some may become confused partway through that sequence. :)

rumtscho

@tchrist if you want to annoy a native speaker who had no contact with grammar since fourth degree, use the word "ordinal"

hi everybody

tchrist

@rumtscho So, you’re ordained, eh? :)

rumtscho

@tchrist certainly not! I'm an atheist.

Matt E. Эллен

2:37 PM

Hi, Dr. Nick!

tchrist

Wearing the Lady’s colours, no less.

rumtscho

The Lady? theroamingunicorn.tumblr.com?

tchrist

NB: 555th => quingentésimo quincuagésimo quinto

Robusto

Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Writing Makefile for Lingua::ES::Numeros
JREY/Lingua-ES-Numeros-0.09.tar.gz
make -- NOT OK
'YAML' not installed, will not store persistent state
Running make test
Can't test without successful make
Running make install
Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible

So I need to install YAML, or is there some other problem?

tchrist

That seems strange: the lack of YAML shouldn't get in the way. But very well, to update all possible CPAN dependencies, run "sudo cpan -i Bundle::CPAN" first, and go make coffee.

I say that because I just had to do that very thing myself, but didn't understand just why.

Robusto

2:47 PM

OK, done. But I already made coffee while the other one was supposedly building. And now I'm drinking said coffee.

tchrist

If you want ALL the number modules, there’s Task::Lingua::Any::Numbers, which installs these:

> Lingua::AF::Numbers
Lingua::BG::Numbers
Lingua::EN::Numbers
Lingua::EU::Numbers
Lingua::FR::Numbers
Lingua::HU::Numbers
Lingua::IT::Numbers
Lingua::JA::Numbers
Lingua::NL::Numbers
Lingua::PL::Numbers
Lingua::SV::Numbers
Lingua::TR::Numbers
Lingua::ZH::Numbers
Lingua::CS::Num2Word
Lingua::DE::Num2Word
Lingua::ES::Numeros
Lingua::ID::Nums2Words
Lingua::NO::Num2Word
Lingua::PT::Nums2Word
Lingua::PT::Nums2Ords
Lingua::Any::Numbers

Robusto

Y ahora estoy bebiendo el café.

tchrist

I guess that Task:: is the new Bundle::. They never tell me nuthin.

Robusto

Sure. Why not change basic terminology that people have grown accustomed to?

Well, this is failing all over the place. I must not have a recent version of Perl or something.

Warning: Prerequisite 'Perl::OSType => 1' for 'AMBS/ExtUtils-CBuilder-0.280220.tar.gz' failed when processing 'DAGOLDEN/Perl-OSType-1.008.tar.gz' with 'make => NO'. Continuing, but chances to succeed are limited.

:20364666 *** BOOTSTRAPPING Perl::OSType ***
*** BOOTSTRAPPING version ***
*** BOOTSTRAPPING Module::Metadata ***
Checking prerequisites...
  requires:
    !  CPAN::Meta is not installed
  build_requires:
    !  CPAN::Meta::YAML is not installed
    !  Parse::CPAN::Meta (1.40) is installed, but we need version >= 1.4401

tchrist

@Robusto Sería más normal decir tomando a menos que quisieras poner énfasis en el líquido mismo o en el acto de beberlo.

If "perl -v" says something over 5.5 or maybe 5.6, you should be fine.

And I know it does.

Weirdos.

Robusto

2:54 PM

@tchrist Ah, right. I actually had known that.

This is perl 5, version 12, subversion 3 (v5.12.3) built for darwin-thread-multi-2level
(with 2 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail)

My Mac is like seven years old.

tchrist

Mine, too. Well, my non-work one.

A Beautiful Mind

How long can a laptop last? Twenty years?

Robusto

So how do I update Perl?

@ABeautifulMind It is not a laptop.

tchrist

@Robusto Should not be needed. But do you use the Mac ports system? If so, "sudo port install perl" would get you up to something like 5.16, but I always get confused about how they put stuff in /opt.

A Beautiful Mind

My laptop is pretty ancient, only 2 GB RAM.

Robusto

2:58 PM

@tchrist Apparently I don't use the port system.

A Beautiful Mind

I am now using a variant of Ubuntu.

tchrist

Wait, I think I may know what's plaguing you.

I bet you didn't answer "follow" for CPAN pre-reqs.

A Beautiful Mind

I don't use Chrome, because half the time, the flash doesn't work.

tchrist

My God, it’s full of options!

A Beautiful Mind

I have not installed Linux in over four months I think. Previously, I changed every two weeks, lol.

Matt E. Эллен

3:02 PM

that sounds good

A Beautiful Mind

I will change my email next month, I think.

tchrist

tchrist% sudo cpan

cpan shell -- CPAN exploration and modules installation (v2.05)
Enter 'h' for help.

cpan[1]> o conf prerequisites_policy
    prerequisites_policy [follow]
Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items


cpan[2]> o conf prerequisites_policy follow
    prerequisites_policy [follow]
Please use 'o conf commit' to make the config permanent!


cpan[3]> o conf commit
commit: wrote '/Users/tchristi/.cpan/CPAN/MyConfig.pm'

cpan[4]> q
Lockfile removed.

@Rob I'm guessing that your prerequisites_policy is not set to follow.

A Beautiful Mind

@MattE.Эллен Oh I will be seeing the psychiatrist next next Wed.

Robusto

@tchrist May be true. I did not set my prereqs policy.

tchrist

If only you were schizophrenic, you could be seeing him right now!

Matt E. Эллен

3:04 PM

@ABeautifulMind is that double next deliberate?

tchrist

@Robusto That will get in the way of your happiness.

A Beautiful Mind

@tchrist No, I think it makes no difference. There is a long waiting list. It is a cheap public hospital, not an expensive private one.

@MattE.Эллен Yes.

tchrist

whoosh

Matt E. Эллен

good, good :)

A Beautiful Mind

@tchrist Geezis.

I can pay 100 dollars and see one immediately at the emergency department, but no point in that.

And even then, I may need to wait 3 hours, lol.

Robusto

3:07 PM

Warning: Cannot install shell, don't know what it is.
Try the command

    i /shell/

to find objects with matching identifiers.
rob-mac-2:~ rob $ i /shell/
-bash: i: command not found
rob-mac-2:~ rob $

This is seriously messed up.

tchrist

WTF?

sudo perl -MCPAN -e shell

But yeah, that's seriously messed up.

Robusto

@tchrist This got me in.

tchrist

So weird.

Robusto

unknown shell command 'cpan'. Type ? for help.

I've been using a work-supplied MacBook for so long, this old machine has been badly neglected.

tchrist

You didn't get a cpan prompt out of typing "sudo perl -MCPAN -e shell" ??

Robusto

3:13 PM

Now I won't have another MacBook until I start my new job week after next.

tchrist

No, it's not that your current one has been neglected. All of that should have worked just fine.

Robusto

@tchrist Yes, I did.

tchrist

Ah, then type "o conf"

Or all those other things.

To see: o conf prerequisites_policy

To set: o conf prerequisites_policy follow

To write: o conf commit

Or just find the damned config file and hand-edit.

So, that's why your setup was peskier than I remembered. It's because they've streamlined this a bit since then.

Robusto

cpan[5]> o conf
$CPAN::Config options from '/System/Library/Perl/5.12/CPAN/Config.pm':
commit [Commit changes to disk]
defaults [Reload defaults from disk]
help [Short help about 'o conf' usage]
init [Interactive setting of all options]

applypatch []
auto_commit [0]
build_cache [100]
build_dir [/Users/rob/.cpan/build]
build_dir_reuse [0]
build_requires_install_policy [yes]
bzip2 [/usr/bin/bzip2]
cache_metadata [1]

tchrist

But I have no idea wtf is wrong with the cpan command itself.

Says follow. Hurrumph.

Robusto

3:18 PM

Me not know neither.

@tchrist Are you running Yosemite?

tchrist

This one is 10.9.5; my ancient one whose battery is screwed is still 10.5.

cpan[1]> o conf
$CPAN::Config options from /Users/tchrist/.cpan/CPAN/MyConfig.pm:
    commit             [Commit changes to disk]
    defaults           [Reload defaults from disk]
    help               [Short help about 'o conf' usage]
    init               [Interactive setting of all options]

    applypatch         []
    auto_commit        [0]
    build_cache        [100]
    build_dir          [/Users/tchrist/.cpan/build]
    build_dir_reuse    [0]
    build_requires_install_policy [yes]

Robusto

I'm running 10.7.5

tchrist

Honest, this should not make any difference.

I am befuddled but not bemused.

I cannot imagine how, but I wonder if there is a problem with one of your selected mirrors. That shouldn't matter, but this is all odd.

I don’t recall whether www.cpan.org re-multiplexes anymore. It may not.

Robusto

Feels like the game is no longer worth the candle.

tchrist

Agree.

Robusto

3:29 PM

Looks like many of these people who are trying to use fingerprints to unlock their iPhone screens are having problems. I kinda figured this technology was not ready for prime time.

tchrist

Not surprised.

A Beautiful Mind

Fingerprints don't go well with screens.

Robusto

I just read a blog post by a former colleague who described the problem. She is perhaps the most combative personality I've ever worked with, and I actually feel pity for the poor Apple geeks who have been encountering her dissatisfaction.

She's on her fourth phone replacement. At some point Apple may find it cheaper just to buy her out.

rumtscho

@Robusto why not disable the fingerprint technology for her and tell her "use a pin"

Robusto

@rumtscho Perhaps you have me confused with someone more intrepid.

rumtscho

3:32 PM

@Robusto not you, the apple support

Robusto

I will never be the one to get between her and the object of her wrath.

@rumtscho Actually, she is technically very savvy. That only makes her more dangerous to tech support folks.

tchrist

0

A: Word for death by over eating?

The word you are looking for is planteration. It is rarely used. Gene Wolfe did so, however, in his Sword of the Lictor: “If you knew how much I am forced to eat and drink for courtesy’s sake, you’d know how much I relish the company of someone whose hospitable offers I can refuse. I don’t s...

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@MattE.Эллен I'm sorry it's more painful! :(

@Matt He's put up more information about it.

Matt E. Эллен

3:55 PM

nice! thanks :)

tchrist

I’m probably going to have to go dig up Lexicon Urthus for more.

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