English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

1:14 AM

@RegDwight ħey you should get ʃtealthy ŋiaq: he is pretty awesome. çomplete mission 66 before turn 9 to win him. ɪf you use ɱawcor, ɑsylum, and an action card to help him, you should get it in a few tries. P.ʃ. ɪ am testing this ɪPɑ program, which is why ɪ am typing weird capitals. ɪ need a quick way to turn it on and off.

Robusto

11:44 AM

@RegDwight — Thanks for pointing me to this terrific answer. Also, voted to close the dupe.

@RegDwight: Here's another answer of no substance:

1

A: What is the origin of the knock-knock joke?

From the Uncyclopedia: The creation of the knock knock joke can be traced back to England, around 1032, near the end of the "Comedic Dark Age". Many court jesters were losing their popularity around that time; the latest addition of fools (disfigured people rambling like complete idiots) quic...

The article linked is a joke itself.

Mr. Disappointment

12:12 PM

@Robusto The other answer isn't thought through at all, either.

Robusto

There are two other answers.

Mr. Disappointment

Exclude yours from the conversation.

Robusto

Ah. OK. Yeah, the other one seems in some ways non-responsive, but when I looked I found a lot of sources invoking Shakespeare.

Mr. Disappointment

Mhm, the 'definitely Shakespeare' attitude with no reasoning does not rub off well on me.

Rub off well on me <-- that ain't right, right?

Robusto

You could say it rubs you the wrong way.

Or doesn't sit well with you.

Mr. Disappointment

12:26 PM

Ya, that!

Either way, it's an unsubstantiated claim that I simply won't swallow.

RegDwight

1:48 PM

@Robusto Thanks for voting, and hey, you should be thanking nohat.

Also, in case you haven't already, do check out that Language Log post I linked to in a comment.

@Cerberus: We're under attack. Halp appreciated. Yesterday's BT deck works fine on average.

I gotta go fetch some comestibles in the mean time.

MrHen

2:33 PM

Hmm... two questions have popped up asking "when do I use this?"

Would it be better to ask, "What does this mean?"

Robusto

2:44 PM

@RegDwight — I thanked @nohat with an upvote. I thanked you for pointing out a post I might otherwise not have seen.

@Martha — I'm going to start thwacking you every time you stick baby pix into The Incomprehensible Room.

Mr. Disappointment

AAaaah, I'm stuck in a loop!

WTF defeat? I defy that!

Cerberus

3:19 PM

What!?

@MrDisappointment Who is defeating you?

Mr. Disappointment

@Cerberus M13: Some apathetic, futuristic drone; she could pass for Russian.

Cerberus

I see...

And on which battlefield is she engaging in these illegal activities?

Mr. Disappointment

One moment. She's taking me to school, again...

Ya, so, it's the Cyprion map.

Cerberus

Which mission?

Mr. Disappointment

I've managed to get 66% of the way through, but I've used like three or four full bars of energy doing so. Mission 13.

She can heal, and deal power enhancement cards.

Thing is, I'm not sure I can get a better variety of cards at this point; I'm only eligible for the advancement the main game has given me to this point, and so ought to be able to do with that, one would have thought.

POW! Right in the kisser!

Get some, bitch!

RegDwight

3:55 PM

@Robusto Yeah I know, I just had to say something upon entering the room — it would have been awkward to just ping Cerberus and disappear again, totally ignoring your pings.

So, um, put it in your pipe and smoke it. Also, sioux me.

@MrDisappointment Russians don't need no apathetic drones. Them has humans for that.

MrHen

4:09 PM

Hey, so silly question... how do I edit my deck in that game?

@RegDwight; @Cerberus

Cerberus

Hey!

Sorry.

@MrHen: You click on a card below to add it (if you have space), click on a card in the deck to remove it again.

MrHen

How do I get into "Deck Edit" mode?

Cerberus

With the commander, you can just click on the new commander you want.

Oh, click on the deck twice.

On the Home tab (within the flash game).

MrHen

ah

okay

Cerberus

@MrDisappointment So how is the mission going? Slapped the bitch?

@RegDwight Okay it seems we are ahead by a comfy margin now.

MrHen

4:16 PM

Okay, I figured it out. For some reason, my commander's art isn't displaying

So I just have a black box

If I click on the frame I can get into the deck

:P

Cerberus

Huh?

That is odd!

Which browser?

MrHen

Chrome

Cerberus

By the way it will be cool when you and Mr. D get the good cards: then we can be the über awesome EL&U Faction and destroy the universe.

MrHen

Mac OS

@Cerberus :D

Cerberus

Oh, I've never had problems in Chrome.

Could it be some add-on?

MrHen

4:20 PM

"We will kill you! (And correct your grammar.)"

@Cerberus Add-block?

Cerberus

@MrHen Yes!

Oh, could be: I use Adblock Plus on FF, though—never tried it on Chrome.

MrHen

Hm, I turned off AdBlock... we'll see if that helps :P

Eh, reloading the page worked

Cerberus

Worked?

The black space if disappearing?

MrHen

Yeah, I can see the commander now

Cerberus

So it was Adblock?

You should be able to disable it only on that page.

MrHen

4:24 PM

I did

but I suspect it was just a loading bug :P

Cerberus

Yeah could be.

MrHen

4:46 PM

Yeah, this game is fun ^.^

RegDwight

4:59 PM

@MrHen Happens to me all the time. Well, not all the time, but like every second day. Loading problems, I guess, because I've observed it both at home (Chrome/Vista/no extentions) and at work (FF/Ubuntu/no AddBlock, only Firebug and a couple other things, but usually all disabled). Just give it a minute or so, eventually the images do load.

MrHen

mmk, thx

RegDwight

(Me, I'm impatient, I've actually played a few mission battles where for the first three-four turns I couldn't see any images, only the numbers, on any of the cards being played.)

@Cerberus Yup, I helped a bit, too, but now I'm saving stamina for the next war (unless these guys wake up in the last 30 minutes and attack us again).

Cerberus

@RegDwight Hmm good idea.

RegDwight

My defense deck still kinda sucks.

Cerberus

Really?

What is it?

I have fallen back on my old rush-strike deck.

RegDwight

5:09 PM

I mean, those 31 losses, I already had like 20 when I noticed the war.

Cerberus

Yeah, that's the way it goes.

I probably had some too.

This is what Im using now.

RegDwight

@Cerberus I change it all the time, when I notice that the current one sucks in the war at hand, in the hopes that the next one will suck less.

ATM I'm using my attack deck from the Tartarus Raid as my defense deck.

Cerberus

Hmm what is it?

(Non-Zizorz-user!)

RegDwight

Obviously, this is not a defense deck at all.

But the last one I used didn't work out any better, judging by the numbers.

It had all kinds of 4/4 tanks and 3/7 and 4/5 cards in it and stuff.

Right now I am contemplating whether I should use my freshly minted Siege-on-Kor deck as my defense deck henceforth.

Cerberus

Hmm this one looks all right; but once the opponents figure out that you're using so many IIs, they will be able to make a counter deck.

RegDwight

5:14 PM

Cerberus

Hmm interesting...

RegDwight

@Cerberus That's why I usually switch my defense decks at least once per war.

Cerberus

I see the focus on Siege.

I often switch them too...

RegDwight

Yeah, obviously I would ease up a little bit in that department.

Basically it has zero attack. It mostly attacks through Strike.

Cerberus

I actually have no idea how to assess decks that I haven't played myself.

RegDwight

5:16 PM

But it's pretty much undestroyable.

The battles take forever, literally like 60 turns, but I win.

Cerberus

By the way, our anti-Colossus decks work well against some opponents as well (though not our current ones).

50 is max, hehe.

RegDwight

Um, not in the raids, methinks.

But I dunno for sure.

Cerberus

I think it is... I remember being time-outed in a Raid...

RegDwight

I just know what a typical 30-turn battle looks like, and the Siege on Kor ones take thrice that long.

Cerberus

Hmm...

RegDwight

5:18 PM

@Cerberus Whoa, really?

Cerberus

Yeah I think so...

RegDwight

Perhaps I'll just pay attention.

I'm still on that raid.

Cerberus

Well, my memory is notoriously bad.

RegDwight

Right!

But that's no guarantee that mine is any better.

Cerberus

So I think I should shut up.

Considering your quoting abilities in this chat, I trust yours better than mine.

RegDwight

5:19 PM

Anyhows, I figure since we're only two people, it is ridiculously easy to adapt to our decks no matter what we use, so I will continue switching decks mid-term.

Cerberus

Yeah switching is good, I think.

Or we should be using radically different decks?

Too bad neither of us has the cards to make a good wall deck.

RegDwight

It's just that I would like some more direct feedback on what works and what doesn't. Or any feedback at all, actually.

Cerberus

So would I!

You can battle yourself, of course.

RegDwight

@Cerberus I do have plenty of walls, but how do I combine them into something meaningful?

Cerberus

You need the right kind of walls.

RegDwight

5:21 PM

@Cerberus Well, again, given enough dedication, I beat all my decks.

Cerberus

And the broad definition of walls includes silos, which I lack.

RegDwight

Right. I do have one.

Cerberus

Really? I have absolutely no idea how I could beat my strike rush deck, except with lots of Evade, which I don't have.

You also need several Earthquake Generators.

And several regenerating walls.

RegDwight

I also see a Tesla Cannon in the Elite Store, which I can't wait to possess, but 25WB sure sounds like a rip-off.

Cerberus

I have one...

RegDwight

5:23 PM

Those guys using Silos usually throw in a Tesla or two for good measure.

Cerberus

It's too slow for serious offensive battle. But could be used in wall defense deck.

RegDwight

... which is what we're talking about :P

Cerberus

Yes. But the core of the famous wall-block deck are the Silos, I think, because they don't have walls: they can't be blasted apart by regular attack.

RegDwight

20 minutes left, 1056:1508. Looks promising.

I think I'll go work on that raid some more.

Cerberus

I think the problem is that you need so many siege units to reliably beat a wall deck (3? 4?) as to make your deck mediocre at best against defending strike-rushers.

RegDwight

5:25 PM

Oh, and

that Niaq thing.

I gave up on it.

Cerberus

Yeah. Get it.

What?

RegDwight

I spent like 220 reps, to no avail.

Cerberus

It took me only 4 tries!

Do you have Mawcor, Asylum?

RegDwight

Yes, yes,

Mawcor, Asylum 2x, Chaos Wave or what have you.

Robusto

@Cerberus — What is strike-rushing? Is that like zerging?

Cerberus

5:27 PM

First turn, Mawcor. Second turn, airtsrike/asylum, third turn, your remaining card.

RegDwight

Yes. I've checked the Wikia, too. And they happened to discuss it in the chat around that time, too. I still need luck.

Cerberus

@Robusto Normally a card attacks the card opposite to it; but strike attacks a random card. So can be quite powerful, because several attacks hitting one card is much better than all attacks evenly spread out over the opposing cards.

Robusto

Uh-huh. Sounds like zerging.

Cerberus

@RegDwight Yeah you need luck. You need flurry the first or second turn; and, if they have a flyer, you need luck in hitting it.

RegDwight

I even won a few times, just not by turn 9.

Robusto

5:29 PM

Rush (video games)

In video games, rushing is analogous to the human wave attack in real-world ground warfare, in which speed and surprise are used to overwhelm and/or cripple an enemy before they achieve effective buildups of sizable defensive and/or expansionist capabilities. In real-time strategy (RTS), real-time tactical (RTT), squad-based tactical shooter (TS), and team-based first-person shooter (FPS) computer games, a rush is an all-in fast attack or preemptive strike intended to overwhelm an unprepared opponent. In massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter (MMOFPS), this also describes the ...

RegDwight

The thing is, it costs 22 each time.

Cerberus

@Robusto I think the rush part is similar, yes, but not so much the striking.

@RegDwight Yeah I think you've just been very unlucky. That sucks.

RegDwight

And I'm in a raid right now, which ends in a few hours, so I figure my money is better spent there.

Cerberus

Sure.

But keep it in mind.

I remember Warcraft; it was great fun.

MrHen

Do you guys have a Faction?

RegDwight

5:30 PM

@Cerberus Of course I will, the Niaq was in at least one of those three unbeatable decks I noted.

Robusto

I totally don't need to get involved in a game I can play at work. Must abstain.

Cerberus

@MrHen Yup!

RegDwight

Yes we do.

Cerberus

@Robusto But that's the beauty of it!

MrHen

@Cerberus What happens if I join?

Should I wait a bit?

RegDwight

5:31 PM

Which level are you? I can post the invite link right now, but if you don't have decent cards, I would (have to) wait before actually letting you in.

Mr. Disappointmen is on hold, too.

Cerberus

@MrHen The thing is, you won't be able to accomplish anything until you get good cards. So you are welcome to apply, and we will admit you eventually, when you get the cards.

MrHen

Ah, no worries

RegDwight

kongregate.com/games/synapticon/…

MrHen

I don't really know what all of it means yet

Cerberus

Click that.

RegDwight

5:32 PM

And wait for the game to load.

Cerberus

It would be an honour for us to receive your application.

RegDwight

You will be taken to the correct tab automatically.

MrHen

Mmk

Cerberus

You don't need to do anything else.

MrHen

Game loaded... nothing interesting yet...

Robusto

5:33 PM

Get thee behind me!

Gigili

Excuse me , how can a user earn editor badge ?

Cerberus

@Reg: I think they have been trying to attack us and failed. I think I gained a couples of points on the passive.

RegDwight

@Gigili By editing a post just once.

It may not be CW or your own post.

Cerberus

Editing someone else's post?

Ah, yes.

RegDwight

@Cerberus YEs, that's what I'm looking at right now.

Gigili

5:34 PM

@RegDwight I've checked it , "First edit. " but I've edited over 89379832 posts!

RegDwight

@Gigili And that's why you actually have that badge

Cerberus

@Rob: How long will you be able to resist our seductive wooing? You know you will eventually be forced to join the game.

Robusto

@Gigili — You've been busy.

@Cerberus — LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA LA LA

RegDwight

@Cerberus Nah, we won't coerce anyone into anything.

Especially not people who actually have a life, you know.

Cerberus

@Rob: One good thing about this game is that you will only be able to play four of the highest missions every 100 minutes, and a mission takes about 3 minutes.

RegDwight

5:36 PM

Cause then they will drop out in favor of their wives and sons and whatnot, and we will have to kick them.

Cerberus

So you will do a few missions, wait for an hour, do a couple more, etc.

@RegDwight A what?

RegDwight

Translation: you will no longer have a life.

Cerberus

@Robusto Better stock up on wax...

RegDwight

@Cerberus Yes, sorry. Translation: you will no longer have a what.

Cerberus

Exactly.

Robusto

5:37 PM

I'll no longer have a what?

Cerberus

Perhaps Gigi will be so kind as to tie Robusto to the mast?

RegDwight

Jun 21 at 12:02, by RegDwight

What is the difference between a what and a normal hat?

Cerberus

Hey, one thing I don't get:

RegDwight

A million dollars.

Gigili

@RegDwight Boah, I got this message when I edit posts and I'm sure the edit is useful .. "This edit will be visible only to you until it is peer reviewed"

Cerberus

5:39 PM

Sometimes I keep losing against certain deck while you seem to be defeating steadily, while at other times I get a better ratio. Why is this?

@Gigili 3000 reputation.

That's what you need for free edits.

MrHen

So what do I get for messing around in the arena?

RegDwight

@MrHen You unlock some bonus cards, plus you train yourself against an infinite number of decks.

MrHen

mmk

RegDwight

@Gigili Are you talking about right here right now? Cause I don't see any unapproved edits.

Gigili

@Cerberus Aha, sounds unreachable for someone like me. anyway, thanks.

RegDwight

5:41 PM

@MrHen Look under Store -> Rewards -> Arena.

Gigili

@RegDwight GL&U

RegDwight

@Gigili Ah, okay. Stupid me was looking at ELU.

MrHen

@RegDwight Ah, okay

Cerberus

Silly.

Robusto

@Cerberus — But I can still hear those sirens singing ...

Cerberus

5:42 PM

Well, then there's only one thing you can do...

Open your heart and follow them to their cave!

Jerk the rudders!

Robusto

If you haven't heard this, it's worth a listen:

progarchives.com/album.asp?id=19520

Free download too.

Cerberus

Nice.

Gigili

@RegDwight Thanks for your help.

RegDwight

Not at all.

Robusto

Maybe I spoke too soon. The "free" part looks like a com-on.

Gigili

5:44 PM

@RegDwight Thanks for your help.

RegDwight

You're welcome.

Robusto

Anyway, I was going to ask the Greek doggy if the choral pronunciation of Odysseus was correct. They say Oh-day-sooss.

Cerberus

Certainly not correct in classical Greek pronunciation!

More like ŏ-düs-sĕws.

Robusto

I didn't think so.

Is the final /s/ vocalized of sibilant?

Cerberus

Ehm I'm not sure, but I think just /s/, so voiceless. Perhaps it depends on what comes after, vowel or consonant.

Both /s/ and /z/ are sibilants, you know.

Robusto

5:49 PM

Shh!

Cerberus

That, too.

Robusto

I had an Avant Garde recording of Bedford's "The Great Birds" and "Oh now the drenched land awakes!" on vinyl, but I loaned it out and never got it back. That sucks.

Cerberus

Can't you write a note asking whether this girl still has it?

Robusto

It's complicated.

Cerberus

Hmm...

So is Avant Garde a label or studio or something?

Robusto

5:55 PM

It was an imprint of Deutsche Grammophon

Cerberus

OK.

RegDwight

I have started another war. One of them uses Irradiated Infantry with Silos and three Strikes; another one a Xeno deck with Invasion Coordinator, at least five flying cards, and the Silos; and another one a well-balanced Imperial deck with lots of fast cards and Poseidon.

Cerberus

You could perhaps get another copy somewhere...

Robusto

Their modern music label. Their "archaic" music label was called Archiv.

I've tried.

OOP

Cerberus

@RegDwight Wow, thanks for the info.

@RegDwight That sounds like a difficult batch to counter.

RegDwight

5:56 PM

Wait, they have a fourth player. All BT.

Robusto

@Cerberus: Here's a link: wolffifth.blogspot.com/2011/03/…

RegDwight

@Cerberus Well, I am still playing that BT deck of mine, and so far it's 130/35 on Surge, and it would have been 130/20 if I didn't push it. It kinda sucks against the Irradiated clown, but is working fine against the rest. So far.

Cerberus

@Robusto Is that the same recording you lost?

Robusto

Exactly.

I'd pay $100 to get it back. Seriously, a fantastic album, with really great vocal performances.

Cerberus

@RegDwight Hmm the first two decks I faced went down all right, though one might have bested me had not my Evade blocked his Tiamat.

@Robusto Hmm... you really couldn't write her?

Robusto

6:01 PM

It's way more complicated than that. I don't even know how I would find her. This was many years ago.

Cerberus

@Robusto Okay, so it is the exact same recording as what I'm listening to now from your link?

Robusto

ZOMG. I didn't notice the download link!!!!

HAHAHAHA!!!

Cerberus

You gotta be kidding...

Robusto

Wait, it's not an MP3. It's a FLAC file???

Cerberus

I was preparing a talk about the overratedness of vinyl covers and original booklets...

Yes, Flac.

Download VLC player if you can't play it.

Robusto

6:05 PM

So I can't put it on my iPod?

RegDwight

Lol.

Cerberus

Get over Apple.

Robusto

FFFFFUUUUUUUUUU....

Cerberus

Or convert it.

Download Oxelon if you want to convert it to mp3.

RegDwight

Me gotta reboot. Stupid updates. Laterz.

Cerberus

6:07 PM

Has a handy context menu so you can right-click on a file and covert it, without finding out how this or that program worked again.

@RegDwight Good luck...

Robusto

I just Googled that link to show you the cover. Didn't realize there was a download there.

Does Oxelon work on Mac? Doesn't matter, I can boot up Windows and convert it.

Cerberus

Nope Oxelon doesn't seem to have Mac version.

But I'm sure there are converters for mac; it's just that this one is so extremely convenient, what with its right-click option.

@Robusto Would you prefer paying the $100 in cash or digitally?

Cerberus

6:32 PM

Check this site:

utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/ielex/X/E.html

Very easy to look up Proto-Indo-European roots from English words.

You can also use it to look up the roots of words in other languages, modern or old.

Gigili

7:57 PM

Some people I have to do with frequently call music that plays in radio "Weichspülmusik", like

Diese Weichspülmusik möchte ich jetzt nicht hören.

I always wonder what that means. Can anyone please clarify?

Anyone can explain the sentence?

+ Please !

Is it "some people call [...]"?

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…