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01:00 - 19:0019:00 - 00:00

7:06 PM
@MrHen: I hope you won't take it personally that I was a bit confrontational about your question regarding closing questions...
It is just that our views are sometimes opposed on this subject.
 
Doggies three! I didn't see you sneak in.
 
@Cerberus No kidding. :P It isn't personal, but I am not sure we ever typically agree on closing stuffs.
(But I don't recall a topic on closing lately?)
 
@aedia It is Our Way—unlike the dancing and prancing requests for attention that you unicorns seem to be making upon arrival...
@MrHen You posted about the Jennifer question.
 
@Cerberus Tee hee. You know you wish you had pink sparkles and rainbows.
 
Even so!
 
7:12 PM
@Cerberus I wasn't calling for a close
 
Hmm.... no? OK.
 
My intent was more, "Ugh, this is a problem. Something should be done."
I chose to downvote.
And then open it up for discussion
 
@Cerberus Is it evening already where you are? I keep looking at the clock and hoping it's time to go, but it's barely afternoon. Boring things to get done today. No motivation. Waaah.
 
@aedia I know the problem! It is quarter past nine. But I have to study tonight, so... ehh... there's also other bad things! Right?
 
Because honestly, the Jennifer question fails any criteria I can think of for being a good question other than clarity.
 
7:17 PM
@MrHen Yeah it isn't my favourite question either, but... it will be interesting to see what others have to say.
Now I must go get groceries before the shops close.
Hasta luego!
 
@Cerberus I don't really have a problem with bad questions... but bad questions for the sake of clever titles is Evil and should be discouraged. I guess that is my point in a nutshell
@Cerberus Cheers. And to be clear, I don't take our differences personally. I am glad I can count on you to provide the other side :)
 
@MrHen Why don't you change it into "are Christopher and Jennifer etymologically related"?
@MrHen Heh, always!
Adios!
 
@Cerberus Because I don't consider it my responsibility to make changes like that simply based on my personal opinion.
 
@Cerberus Have a good night and don't forget to study ;)
 
@MrHen I didn't necessarily title it to be clever... I was genuinely curious in the relationship between the names, and I figured that other people might be too...or not
 
7:20 PM
Yeah, that's what I figured. Seems fine to me.
 
@gbutters It doesn't really matter much what the intent was. The question is a bad question. The title is the only reason it is getting upvoted.
 
@MrHen You're right, it wouldn't be nice to change someone else's title that way.
 
(No offense meant, btw.)
 
I don't think the question is bad.
It is fine.
 
@Cerberus I severely disagree.
Drawing miscellaneous correlations and then asking if they are true is bad.
 
7:22 PM
@MrHen you obviously feel strongly.
 
The reason why you wondered about the names is quite understandable (I might wonder too), and the answer was reasonably interesting to me.
 
@gbutters It isn't meant against you. I have just sifted through too many of these recently (not just here) and my patience is gone.
 
@MrHen Miscellaneous => reasonable/understandable
 
@Cerberus No. Not in this case.
Nothing about Jennifer implies the same thing about Christopher
 
@gbutters MrHen is our most critical assessor of questions. It is his function. I am usually on the opposite side.
@MrHen It does to me.
 
7:23 PM
There is a good question here somewhere, but as formed it is just a false assumption.
 
@MrHen it is not such a false assumption when looking at the -fer / -pher connection.
 
@Cerberus One syllable is not a good enough correlation to ask about similarities between names. Especially when the spelling is different.
 
Why not?
Both are common suffixes denoting "carrying".
 
@Cerberus Regardless, the more useful question is, "What is the etymology of Jennifer?"
Asking about the similarities between Christopher and Jennifer do nothing to help the future of this site.
It is a question that only matters after you hear it.
 
"What is the etymology of Jennifer?" would be implied in the question.
 
7:27 PM
@Cerberus That is the only useful part of this question.
 
Yes; so?
 
The suggestion is an assumption that is nothing more than a red herring
Which is what my original comment was
The extra stuff is chaff
 
I have no problem with that red herring. The herring is exactly what other people wondering about the same will be smelling.
 
@Cerberus I don't understand. Can you repeat with other words?
 
@MrHen I think the comparison to Christopher is what makes it a more interesting question.
 
7:28 PM
@gbutters Well, my opinion is that you are wrong.
It makes it a more catchy question
 
Other people wondering about the same will probably be led by the same false hypothesis.
 
But not more interesting
The tidbit about Christopher is interesting but it isn't an interesting question
 
It may make it easier to find.
 
I think it's good for us to know about that stuff to answer the question. If the author's question is actually about the misconception, then we'd better clear that up or we'll never have an answer to it to direct anyone else to.
 
@Cerberus Then ask about names ending in "fer"
@aedia There isn't a greater misconception
 
7:29 PM
+1 for Aedia.
 
The misconception is a one time event
That makes it a useless question
Anyway
 
@MrHen My conception was a one time event. These conceptions happen all the time.
 
I obviously feel drastic about this
@aedia I don't understand.
What conception?
 
I am not saying I'd ask this question the same way. But consider all the other questions on the site: there are a great many that contain much more chaff and false assumptions. The assumptions are also context, making it easier to understand where the question is coming from.
@aedia You don't know that. Perhaps they had been trying for a while...
 
@Cerberus Sure. The only reason this is different is that it makes a great example of what happens when a question like this has a catchy title.
Which is why I care
 
7:31 PM
@MrHen I'm joking that there are people born every day and they'll have questions that seem obvious to us and we'll end up answering some of them repeatedly.
 
@aedia Well, okay, I suppose that doesn't count.
 
@Cerberus Hah!
 
@aedia Not on SE. We are here to answer questions in a manner that helps others in the future.
 
@MrHen That is the main evil of democracy. Trying to combat it would seem hopeless.
 
My comparing Jennifer to Christopher you have reduced the scope of the question to matter only once and only to this particular comparison
 
7:32 PM
It may help others Googling "are Christopher and Jennifer related?".
 
@Cerberus Are you serious? Who else would ever care about that?
Is there some Christopher/Jennifer meme I missed?
That is exactly my point: This question is not useful.
"Names ending in -pher and -fer" is useful
"History of Jennifer" is useful
 
Christopher is just the first similar name that springs to mind.
Oh, I really have to go, shop won't be open much longer. Especially not if you have voted on it...
Later!
 
Bye!
 
Sorry to keep you.
 
@MrHen I think a far greater question for this site might be is it worth the price of alienating people to make sure the questions are the way you want them. Whenever these negative interactions happen on this site it makes me not want to visit often. That could be a really problem for keeping users. It obviously is not that bad of a question and others seem to agree. You might want to consider toning it down.
2
 
7:46 PM
@gbutters Again, none of this is meant personally toward you.
And your question is just an example
I wasn't trying to focus on you or your question so much but it seems that the conversations are sticking there
So, I apologize if it makes you feel uncomfortable or alienated.
 
@MrHen You seemed to not want to edit the title of someone else's question, but if the title is really confusing, wouldn't it be ok to add a parenthetical bit of explanation or something? I mean, you could always let the author know you've done it and suggest that they can revert or edit if you haven't got the actual question right.
 
@aedia The title is a direct result of the way the question is formed. I wouldn't be happy just editing the title; I would edit the entire question. This seems too drastic given how likely people would disagree with my opinion on the subject. (Which is turning out to be the case.)
 
8:08 PM
@MrHen: I think this matters more:
> I think a far greater question for this site might be is it worth the price of alienating people to make sure the questions are the way you want them. Whenever these negative interactions happen on this site it makes me not want to visit often. That could be a really problem for keeping users. It obviously is not that bad of a question and others seem to agree. You might want to consider toning it down. — Gbutters
 
@Cerberus: BTW, have you forgotten about that raid (not the crappy one I started, the Tartarus Swarm one)?
It appears you haven't participated in it today.
You're stuck at some 500 points.
 
@Cerberus Sure. I admit I am not being very political. But that doesn't actually address the issue. If the answer is "Well, that just the issue with catchy titles" so be it. I'll go suck my thumb in a corner and deal with it.
 
@RegDwight Ehm, oh, dear, I think I spent my energy on the new missions... and I also forgot. I'm off to visit a friend now, but will squash some more bugs when I get back! Do you think the Raid will be a success?
@MrHen Hehe, I could live with "Well, that just the issue with catchy titles" so be it. I'll go suck my thumb in a corner and deal with it.
Now I must be going again...
 
8:23 PM
@Cerberus Seems like 51:49 to me. Which is to say, we are doing well, but it's not like we don't need your support at all.
 
Oh, @Reg, are you part of the elite now? I assume the 25WB pushed you over 60?
 
Still not enough people onboard, that's the main problem.
@Cerberus Yes!
 
Yeah... maybe advertise in chat?
 
How do you know?
 
Good. Did you buy Yurchin, or whatever his name was?
 
8:24 PM
Do you see it with your mod powers or something?
 
@Cerberus Your edit to your meta answer makes things more confusing...
 
@Cerberus Oh, and... new missions? I thought you beat them all long ago.
 
I remember myself wondering some time ago how you could have amassed nearly as many WB as I had, that's why I assumed you'd be over 60 now as well.
 
BTW, an update is coming out tomorrow. We'll be able to choose if we want to play black or white.
 
@RegDwight I beat the last mission about a week ago or so; but several new missions have been added yesterday or today or so.
 
8:26 PM
But playing black will be getting you more points.
 
Dammit, I look away for ten minutes and Yoichi Oishii comes up with a softball Japanese-to-English question that already has three answers. Ain't no justice.
 
So I heard, "surge defense"...
 
@Robusto Are any of them good?
 
@Robusto I'm sorry for your loss.
 
That's the worst part. Two of them are decent. I'd have given both together.
 
8:27 PM
Okay, now I must be off (Rob can take over my stint of buffoonery).
poof
 
@Cerberus CUlaterz.
 
Whoa ... I can't possibly hope to match @Cerberus and his buffoonery.
 
@Robusto Oh well. Bad for you, good for site, I guess.
 
The group will have to settle for my distinctly inferior, non-Dutch buffoonery.
@RegDwight — Yeah, I have to feel more parental about this stuff.
 
@Robusto Don't you ever dare call your buffoonery inferior again!
 
8:28 PM
@RegDwight — But it isn't Dutch buffoonery. How can I ever hope to compete?
 
Dude, this is my last warning before I ban you for dissing yourself. Or before I give you another warning. Or something.
Oh and BTW how's your LA Noire faring?
(Don't say you beat it like ages ago.)
 
I beat it like ages ago.
 
I knew you would say that!
 
It actually was kind of a disappointment. I expected more.
 
<makes notes>
 
8:32 PM
I much prefer the Assassins' Creed series as a paradigm for sandbox games.
This was too linear, and, ultimately, too easy.
Even Red Dead Redemption was better.
 
Ever played Crackdown?
 
No. Is it good?
 
Have a look, I suppose they must have a free demo.
|genre = Sandbox-style action third-person shooter |modes = Single-player, multiplayer, cooperative modes |ratings = |platforms = Xbox 360 |media = DVD-DL |requirements = |input =Gamepad }} Crackdown 2 is a sandbox-style third-person shooter video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on Xbox 360 in July 2010 and is a direct sequel to the 2007 video game Crackdown. Gameplay The game is modeled similarly to its predecessor Crackdown, a third-person shooter in open world game play. The player character is an advanced super-powered officer...
@Robusto It's certainly not on par with Just Cause 2, but not many games are.
 
Sounds kinda like Just cause 2
Jinx!
JC2 may not be linear enough. It's a HUGE sandbox, and whenever I play it I like to just grab an attack helicopter and go rock out on one of the six billion military targets.
 
Opps, sorry, I'm actually moving some furniture around right now, so I'm a bit slow to respond.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
Well, as I said, you see a demo or an excellent deal, don't be too shy to grab it.
Oh, and here's your coke.
 
8:47 PM
In JC2 the helicopter is the most fun weapons platform. The jets go so fast your time on target isn't enough to do any serious damage unless you do strike after strike. What's fun is to use your AH-33 Topachula and playing cat-and-mouse with the SAM sites at a base, pausing to take out the helicopters they send to intercept you.
I can usually get all the SAMs and three or four helicopters before I go down in flames. Unless they send choppers while the SAMs are still operational, that is.
 
The fights in Crackdown 2 are certainly less diverse. Some are borderline boring. Also, insanely hard. So sometimes it's much more fun to just run around the place collecting orbs.
 
Yeah, there's good hard and bad hard too. Good hard is when you have to work to figure out the right strategy. Bad hard is when you get killed and have to go through an entire long set-up drive (like in GTA4) to get back to where you can try the action again.
 
I'm more of the collector guy anyhow. Donkey Kong 64 gives me the goosebumps even today. I can collect bananas, medals, blueprints, more bananas in other colors, some other stuff I can't remember, and lots of other stuff I completely forget.
 
You'd like the AC series then, I think. Plus you get to rub shoulders with the Borgias, the Medici, Macchiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci himself.
 
Wow, someone has just flagged someone, I followed the link and ended up in this room:
It's on!
 
8:58 PM
Oh god oh god oh god make it stop:
0
Q: When do you capitalize a letter in a headline?

Oren AI'm not a native English speaker, and I can't figure out what's the rule on capitalizing letters in web-forms (or anywhere else it might be used). Some random examples: In Gmail's Setting page: Maximum page size, Keyboard shortcuts (and in the same way all other headilnes are not capitalize...

I can't!! Read the question? Or the answer, it's just the way people do things. You know?
 
3
Q: When should you use "Title Case"?

JohanAre there any guidelines for when you should capitalize titles/headings or not? Should you always do this in English? I am referring to A Capitalized Heading vs A capitalized heading

 
Isn't that a dupe?
 
Whew!
 
Good thing @Reg has all those tabs open all the time.
 
I couldn't even think of the phrase "title case." I think reading all that broke me.
 
9:01 PM
@Robusto Yeah, and now Joel's voice on top of all that. It's crazy, I'm tellin ya!
Insane, even.
Feb 22 at 18:45, by RegDwight
Madness? This is ELU!
 
@RegDwight — Joel's voice?
 
The podcast.
It's on.
I'm listening to the live stream.
@aedia Hey, no prob, there's a question for that, too!
9
Q: Is there a Name for this Style of Capitalisation?

RossIt seems quite common on the web to capitalise certain words in a heading, or navigation bar, but not others. Here are some examples: Visit the Member's Page How to Format (as seen on this very website) Create a Corporate Themed Website with our Tutorial To me it seems any impor...

Oh noes.
0
Q: How will I ask this particular question?

battyMy friend is the second child of her mother. How would I ask her that apart from asking - Are you the second daughter? - like i need to ask the order of her birth.. how will i ask it?

 
Didn't we just have that?
4
Q: Framing a question to which the answer is an ordinal number

GPEnglish I am the third daughter of my parents. How to frame a question that is answered with the above sentence?

 
We have zillions of those, and what kills me and many other users (@MrHen, for one) is that most if not all of them start off with totally undescriptive titles.
1
Q: How do you say this in English?

Kirk Hammett Possible Duplicates: Framing a question to which the answer is an ordinal number How to phrase an asking sentence that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime) ? It is very common in other languages to use the literal equivalents of "How-manyth". But some how E...

 
I have a meta-question, and can't find the answer on meta:
 
9:13 PM
The most popular by far is "Framing a question".
 
Can I ask a question anonymously? So that I do get points for asking it, but it can't be searchably linked to my user name.
Does anyone know? And how to do it?
 
@Dynrepsys That is not possible.
4
Q: Can we have a feature to opt-out of "reputation"

92MGRXvmoFfCkCd1JH4p9jpZjFQRKpPersonally I dislike all the game-mechanics stuff (badges and reputation). I appreciate that others like it, but I would like there to be way to opt-out. Questions and answers would just then have the user-name with something to symbolize that this user has chosen not to participate in reputation...

Read the answers there.
 
Hm. Can I ask someone to ask it for me?
 
Sure. But in that case it's easier to just use a throwaway account.
You can post a question anonymously. But it will be linked to that anonymous profile.
 
Thanks, @RedDwight. I actually would like to opt-in to the reputation points, but not the link to the question.
 
9:17 PM
Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, too. Sorry. :P
But hey, note how I am logged in and everything, but you still don't actually know who I am IRL.
 
And you know actually, I don't really care about the points. It's just that a lot of good questions have already been asked and answered.
 
@RegDwight — Yes, but your reputation follows you wherever you go. With 3D UV glasses, people can see your SE scores floating above your head.
 
That's true, I could just use a throwaway account I guess. Kind of :-(
 
Apr 23 at 1:12, by Kosmonaut
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
 
Post a question without registering?
 
9:20 PM
0
Q: What is the difference between kiddish and childish??

battyI would like to know the difference between these words

Can I post an answer saying "one's a word, the other's not"? Please?
 
@Dynrepsys You don't need to register. But you will get a temporary account. We had users who got to 3000 reputation points without registering.
@Martha I tried that once, and got downvoted. YMMV.
 
@RegDwight Meh. I see you've posted it as a comment already.
Oh, wait, that wasn't you.
 
No, I'm referring to Robusto's comment.
 
9:24 PM
@Dynrepsys You will be "logged in", I think, with a cookie on your computer. The site will recognize you, but you can clear your cookies and you won't be logged in anymore. meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/44557/…
@Dynrepsys If you post without registering, that is.
 
@Martha Now the OP is asking whether his question should have been between "childish" and "childlike" ...
 
Moving target!
 
(One of you needs to get a handle that doesn't start with R. Because otherwise I get confused.)
 
0
Q: Is it "as God is" my witness, or "as God as" my witness?

Godfrey GuyeI have seen both "as God is my witness", which makes sense but sort of puts God in a supportive role, and "as God as my witnes", which sounds wrong to me but I don't know, might be an olde tyme phrasing that is only used in that phrase.

There
You are all my witnesses. I get virtual rep. :-)
 
I've never seen that usage. The saying is "As God is my witness ..."
 
9:27 PM
Schwas are hard. Let's go shopping!
2
 
Now that's what I call timing. The podcast is over this very second.
 
Not that WKRP is a definitive source of grammar, but it could well be source of usage.
 
He clearly says "As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly." The person who posted the clip got the spelling wrong.
 
Ah. And the many references to it.
It's weird, Google seems to consider them interchangeable too.
 
9:32 PM
@Dynrepsys — Google doesn't have an opinion. All it does is regurgitate what people link to, misspellings, typos and all.
 
Oh noes, not the oranges graph again.
 
I would imagine that Google would be pretty much useless with something that uses words like "God", "as", and "is" -- all way too common to get unpolluted results.
 
@Martha — Word.
 
Just mention BNC and COCA already.
@Dynrepsys Check out BNC and COCA.
 
From now on, let's make a rule that if you Jinx! in chat the reward can be a COCA.
 
9:36 PM
Golf thwack.
 
Wow. You went all Rory McIlroy on my ass. That was totally uncalled for.
 
It never is.
Nobody ever calls Rory McIlroy.
 
@RegDwight Just what I was gonna say.
 
@RedDwight .. ty
 
@Dynrepsys .. naa
 
9:40 PM
Nice. What's an oranges graph?
Uhhhsuming that's related.
 
May 7 at 12:36, by Robusto
BTW, I'm getting a little tired of all this argumentum ad verecundiam concerning Google NGrams. If you compare apples and oranges, you can make anything look compelling.
May 7 at 12:37, by Robusto
user image
Feb 10 at 19:21, by Robusto
Who was it said "If you torture numbers long enough they'll confess to anything?"
 
 
2 hours later…
11:58 PM
@Cerberus: dude. Like, dude! Remember that war against "Hell yeah" we (well, you, single-handedly) won four days ago? Look at the all-time rankings. They are 7th.
Mind = blown.
 
Oh? Hmm I don't really remember: what decks were they using?
And where are those rankings? Under Achievements?
 
Obviously, crappy ones. I mean, even my stats are 11/11.
Yours are 30/1.
@Cerberus "Factions" -> last tab.
 
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