English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

But see, the problem with Lenin was not that he did not have the greater good in mind, but that his way of furthering it was based on silly ideas, not empirical data or a scientific approach.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 USSR were pussies. When the going got tough, they folded like a cheap ironing board.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto Pussies fold like cheap ironing boards? makes notes

Robusto

3:04 PM

@Cerberus The problem with Lenin was that he died and became Stalin.

KitFox

My point is that copyright laws are so far from the original intent as to be completely ridiculous.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Some pussies. Russian ones.

user19161

@Robusto And then there was Palin.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto Those Georgians just won't stop fcking up stuff.

Cerberus

@Robusto Yes, Lenin's totalitarianism and violence were part of the problem too. But communism itself as well.

Robusto

3:05 PM

@WillHunting Luckily she never got a chance to strut her stuff.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 You missed the last fsck which is why the word f*** got corrupted.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitFox I think you misunderstand what the original intent of any law is. Laws are made for lawyers. Not for people.

Robusto

0

Q: What is the difference between *harvesting* and *scavenging*?

I've heard this terms in the same context: energy harvesting/scavenging. But what is the difference between them and which one is the most appropriate for this context?

Gen ref.

Matt Эллен

referred

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Seriously, what laws do you know at all? Or me? Or any person? We only know stuff that is common sense. Stealing is illegal, so is murder, kidnapping, rape... but we don't know that from reading a law book. None of us have ever seen those laws. We just use common sense.

Matt Эллен

3:08 PM

right, right hides bodies

RegDwight Ѭſ道

The only people who actually read laws are people who get paid to do just that. Lawyers. And even them, they only do it on a case-by-case basis. No lawyer has read every law, or even knows of its existence.

KitFox

@RegDwightѬſ道 Don't forget not shitting in other people's spaghetti.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitFox Exactly.

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 Hmm most laws may be for cases where the situation is less clear.

KitFox

And I may be a special case insofar as I married into a family of lawyers and judges.

user19161

3:10 PM

@KitFox You should only shit in toilets actually.

Robusto

Who here has ever read a EULA from start to finish, raise your hands.

That's what I thought.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I've got it! You're Judge Judy!

KitFox

raises hand

Cerberus

@KitFox High five! My parents and brother are laywers.

KitFox

But just once, and it was for class.

Cerberus

3:10 PM

@Robusto Yeah those are BS.

Matt Эллен

@Robusto I've tried really hard to, but I keep skipping bits

Robusto

35 secs ago, by Robusto

That's what I thought.

aedia λ

Unfortunately. raises an extra hand for all the privacy policies I've read too

KitFox

@aediaλ OK, I do actually read those.

Cerberus

Yes, sometimes.

Robusto

3:11 PM

OK, let me rephrase: How many people who don't have OCD have ever read a EULA from start to finish. Raise your hands.

KitFox

But most EULAs are just boilerplate anyway.

user19161

@Robusto I at least scroll to the bottom before clicking yes.

KitFox

So I skip to the important parts.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitFox you can only know by reading them all. Which you have not.

Robusto

@KitFox How do you distinguish those from the rest?

user19161

3:12 PM

@Robusto an EULA

Cerberus

@KitFox So you think!

KitFox

shrugs and yawns

Robusto

@WillHunting Don't fricking correct me, you pineapple. I'm right, and there's an end on't.

aedia λ

@WillHunting we say yewlaah, you say... I don't know what you say out there

KitFox

@Robusto By the headers.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:12 PM

@WillHunting a yoola.

Robusto

@KitFox TL;DR

KitFox

Come on, crabby pants. You're preaching to the choir.

Matt Эллен

by now I could owe various software manufacturers so many red M&Ms

I just don't know

aedia λ

My Roomba came with a EULA

Robusto

Also first-born children, etc.

Cerberus

3:13 PM

Not the red ones!!

Matt Эллен

I know! Or rather, I don't

Cerberus

The thing is, I don't think any judge would uphold unreasonable conditions in a EULA, exactly because it is will known that nobody reads those.

user19161

@Robusto I learnt something new today. See that's the good thing about correcting others. You learn when you are wrong.

Matt Эллен

I think I have read the GPL v2 all the way through

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Cerberus somehow they don't do that for laws, though.

Cerberus

3:14 PM

Wowie.

@RegDwightѬſ道 True; but laws are meant to be reasonable in themselves.

Matt Эллен

and the MIT license too, but it's very short

Robusto

No. You learned because the embarrassment triggered all kinds of catecholamines in your brain, which activated your long-term memory neurons.

aedia λ

It was frustrating to be in a meeting with people who were all like omg haz u read the news about Google's new policies that will steal your brains and have to be like, no, I didn't read the news, I read the actual policies. And then everyone thought I was crazy. True story. looks at ground in shame

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Cerberus laws are made and passed by politicians. Who are not exactly among the most reasonable people.

Cerberus

@aediaλ Haha very nice.

Robusto

3:15 PM

@aediaλ So share. Are we all screwed?

KitFox

@aediaλ It's OK, you're among friend here.

Matt Эллен

indeed

I read it too

aedia λ

It's hardly any different than the old policies

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 Well, if you read laws, they mostly sound very reasonable.

KitFox

And contract law is...god damn it, you are all going too fast.

Matt Эллен

3:16 PM

they will share all information between all the sites they run

aedia λ

They just made it more explicit that they do that

They pretty much did it before though

Cerberus

I suspected as much...

aedia λ

It just kind of depended which services

Robusto

@Cerberus NO. They do NOT sound reasonable. They sound LEGAL, which is by definition UNREASONABLE.

Matt Эллен

ahem I might not have read the old policy

Cerberus

3:17 PM

They mostly sound reasonable to me...

Of course there are some bad laws.

KitFox

And bad laws get struck down or repealed.

Cerberus

Not always.

Matt Эллен

unless they're copyright laws

KitFox

Whatever, sourpuss.

Robusto

@KitFox No. Sometimes they get toughened.

KitFox

3:18 PM

Intellectual property laws definitely need a reboot.

Matt Эллен

yarp

Cerberus

I think part of the problem with copyright laws is also in the implementation, not the laws themselves, at least here.

KitFox

Otherwise, go ahead and be pissy. It doesn't help anything.

Robusto

@KitFox Look at the marijuana laws. Those are positively medieval.

Cerberus

@KitFox But, yes, agreed.

Matt Эллен

3:18 PM

either that or destroy the internet, so the confusion goes away!

Cerberus

@Robusto Agreed.

user19161

The anti gay sex law here was not repealed.

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting don't you also have a no spitting law?

Cerberus

@MattЭллен And we can all be permanently fixed to the RIAAnet and the Applenet with electrodes in the brain!

user19161

I kind of laughed when I heard some of the arguments.

KitFox

3:19 PM

Marijuana laws are being relaxed every day and we're well on our way to national legalization. Hardly a good example.

Cerberus

Agreed.

user19161

@MattЭллен You get a fine.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus and be charged whenever we think about protected works! brilliant!

Cerberus

But Rob has a point that there are several bad laws.

Robusto

@KitFox Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to hang from a rope until marijuana is legalized in this country.

Cerberus

3:20 PM

@MattЭллен Of course! And the Apple software corrects any confusion that may ever develop about anything.

user19161

I think I once tried a Washington apple. It was quite sour.

Cerberus

Who needs internets any more?

aedia λ

@MattЭллен you can still read archived versions of the TOS and privacy policies (and the privacy policy archive has a nifty diff thing)

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus turtle necks, glasses, gap jeans, coffee from starbucks...

Cerberus

Haha, yuck.

Matt Эллен

3:22 PM

@aediaλ ooo, nifty!

Cerberus

I hate all of those things, I think.

aedia λ

Glasses?

Matt Эллен

well, I like glasses

I don't think I have a turtle neck

Cerberus

Except that I don't know what Gap jeans actually look like. Are they anything special?

Matt Эллен

they look like normal jeans I suppose

just with a Gap label on

user19161

3:22 PM

Not sure what type of glasses you are talking about.

user19161

Glasses help us see or drink.

Matt Эллен

seeing glasses

Cerberus

I don't hate glasses in general, but I don't want to wear them (I'm wearing them now, but meh).

aedia λ

surely you don't hate glasses, blur on my screen?

puts glasses back on

Cerberus

@MattЭллен But are they somehow trendy? Or plain old? Or like Levi's?

KitFox

3:23 PM

What's wrong with specs?

Cerberus

@aediaλ Hehe no, I'm OK with other people doing things, generally. Tolerance and all.

Robusto

When you switch an Apple product from English to another language, does that make it a Pineapple?

KitFox

@Robusto Progress is slow, but it is there. Every generation is a little bit better than the last.

Cerberus

@KitFox They contract my field of view, they get in the way...

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I'm not sure. I was guessing really - I don't know how true apple geeks dress

Cerberus

3:25 PM

@KitFox Not in all respects, but I agree in general.

user19161

@MattЭллен I did not know there are true apple geeks.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Jobs's look was very ugly, bleh.

Robusto

@KitFox I know, I live in Massachusetts, remember? We have decriminalized it here. But the federal government still reserves the right to overrule that. Even under Obama, the Justice Department is going ahead full steam on that. Progress? I call it window dressing.

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting it's a category I just made up

KitFox

It is legal here, and the Feds said they have no interest in prosecuting.

Matt Эллен

3:27 PM

KitFox

Ick. Reminds me of my ex-.

aedia λ

Oh man I had a jean jacket in like 1990

It probably went well with neon

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Hmm I even like this better than his turtleneck look.

Jean jackets came back a few years ago, didn't they?

But tighter cuts.

user19161

@MattЭллен His drink looks cute. It does not go well with the serious glass.

Matt Эллен

OK! I have to go and have fun. see y'all laters!

Robusto

3:30 PM

@WillHunting For the record, my brother-in-law, who is a CS department chair at a prestigious technical university in the U.S., and has a global reputation, uses Macs exclusively. And if you think you can out-geek him, good luck. I don't even think Peter Shor could do that.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

It must hurt to be a chair.

Especially at a CS department. Them geeks is fat.

Bye Matt!

@MattЭллен Later!

@MattЭллен Cya!

@RegDwightѬſ道 It must hurt to use the same TellAJoke method over and over.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:31 PM

Fill his inbox, fill it.

Cerberus

Geeks are sensitive to status games too, as Vitaly would say.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto actually I'm quite comfy.

Robusto

You couldn't find a self-reference for that?

KitFox

I am not fat!

Cerberus

I am not a geek!

Wait...

KitFox

3:32 PM

guffaw

Cerberus

My BMI is still within the OK range.

Robusto

@Cerberus You misspelled Greek.

Cerberus

But losing 10 pounds would be perfect.

user19161

I still don't know how the proofreader badge works. I have done less than 100 reviews from user profile page but yet I got the badge.

Cerberus

@Robusto But I am!

Robusto

3:33 PM

waits while @Reg searches for self-reference

user19161

@Cerberus Anagrams to MIB and IBM.

Cerberus

bites own tail in an attempt to emulate Reg

@WillHunting And BIM, don't forget BIM.

KitFox

@WillHunting Augh.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto new war.

aedia λ

@Cerberus I would love to weigh the same and have muscle instead of this soft tummy, but uhh... that requires exercise or something. Eventually I'll get around to it right?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:34 PM

Once again you are wrong in assessing what I am and am not searching for.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Can't you count? We have two new wars. That is one more than one.

user19161

@aediaλ Too much muscle is not nice either.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto I never said there was one war. I said, and I quote: "new war".

Cerberus

@aediaλ I know...but running is actually doable for me. You can just start at any moment, from your front door.

aedia λ

@WillHunting Well considering how lazy I am, it's pretty unlikely I will look like a bodybuilder anytime soon.

Cerberus

3:35 PM

I just need to remember not to eat more in compensation.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Just because you have a new war, doesn't mean it's the only one. Aren't you from the US or something?

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 Indeed, if there are two new wars there is one new war but not exactly one new war.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@WillHunting that's not the point. Holly Golly. The point is I never said "one".

Nobody said "one new war".

user19161

@aediaλ Guys should not have too much muscle either. Athletic looks better than bodybuilder.

Cerberus

Wouldn't want you to look like this:

user19161

3:37 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 But even if you said it it could be interpreted in a way that makes it make sense.

aedia λ

@Cerberus Hahaha!

Cerberus

That's what steroids do to a unicorn.

user19161

@Cerberus What animal is that?

Cerberus

No idea...probably some extinct one.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 war is singular.

user19161

3:39 PM

I remember watching a doc that said dinosaurs are most similar to birds.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto so?

If I start a war, should I say "new wars"?

I have started exactly one.

Robusto

Really? We are going to the mat on this?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Nah.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 Now we have brought in the term exactly as well.

JSBᾶngs

@Will i'm so glad to see that you're back to bieber. i can hardly recognize you without some pop star in your avatar.

Cerberus

3:41 PM

> Elasmotherium, a very large rhino-like creature that roamed the open steppes and grasslands of central Asia in prehistoric times. Though most paleontologists agree that Elasmotherium died out in the Middle Pleistocene era, about 125,000 years ago

user19161

@JSBᾶngs Just look out for cryptic nonsensical messages!

user19161

@Robusto Mats are for losers. Use the cold hard floor.

JSBᾶngs

@Cerberus man, prehistoric times had all the best creatures

Cerberus

@JSBᾶngs I know! Bastards.

aedia λ

@WillHunting Those darn doctors! Spending their time on paleontology when they should be fixing the common cold

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:42 PM

I am fighting someone called Krustenkäse.

user19161

I wonder what life would be like if we had dragons and dinosaurs around us.

user19161

It is fine as long as they do not eat us.

Cerberus

See, there might be your problem.

JSBᾶngs

i, for one, am in favor of cloning and bringing back dinosaurs, Jurassic Park be damned

RegDwight Ѭſ道

JSBᾶngs

3:43 PM

we can just feed the dinosaurs a steady diet of lawyers.

Cerberus

aedia λ

@Cerberus Awwh, cute! Whuzzat? Turkeysaur?

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 Hmm why not TV or escalators?

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Now we're gonna pick on America. How original.

2

Cerberus

@aediaλ Spinosaurus.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:46 PM

@Robusto someone's grumpy.

Cerberus

But it is a bit of a silly impression.

Robusto

Why the eff is Amazon trying to sell me salmon, ferchrissakes?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Because that's their business model. Trying to sell people things.

Robusto

I have never tried to buy salmon online. Never.

aedia λ

Perhaps your cat learned to type?

Robusto

3:48 PM

Nor did I even know they had a seafood department.

JSBᾶngs

don't buy canned salmon. it tastes just like canned tuna, so you might as well just buy the canned tuna and save yourself the money

KitFox

Did you Google "salmon" recently?

Robusto

@aediaλ Hmm ... interesting theory. But we have two cats. Which one could it be ...

@JSBᾶngs You missed the part where I said I wasn't trying to buy salmon.

JSBᾶngs

@Robusto no, i was affirming you in your decision not to try to buy salmon

Robusto

Thank you for your support.

Cerberus

3:49 PM

@JSBᾶngs I like canned red salmon quite a bit.

JSBᾶngs

@Cerberus really?!

Cerberus

Yes.

KitFox

@JSBᾶngs Just don't use frog DNA.

Cerberus

Have you tried it?

Robusto

@Cerberus Frog DNA? You're saying it's good?

Cerberus

3:50 PM

Canned salmon is quite different from tuna anyway.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yeah it costs more.

Cerberus

@Robusto Sure. Who wouldn't want to be able to breathe through his skin?

KitFox

@Cerberus Is that the kind where they put red food coloring in the tuna and label it "red salmon"?

Cerberus

I don't know about the colouring, but it tastes different!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Cerberus Of course you would say that, seeing how you only have pores on your nose.

KitFox

3:51 PM

Robusto is really crotchety today.

Whatsamatta, @Rob?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitFox Psst. His network.

KitFox

@RegDwightѬſ道 Really? You think he's still upset about that?

Robusto

The whole frog DNA thing from Jurassic Park is just ludicrous. "There were gaps in the genome that we filled in with frog DNA." Yeah. And we'll fill in the gaps in the Windows XP code with pages from the phone book.

KitFox

I think maybe he needs some chocolate therapy.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

It's called Windows 7.

Robusto

3:53 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 That has the phone-book code in it?

KitFox

@Robusto Not really. That's fairly common.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto No. No code. Only pages.

KitFox

I mean gene splicing like that.

Robusto

We need a retrovirus that alters the genome to make politicians not stupid and/or able to harm others.

KitFox

Hmm. That's a great idea.

We could use HIV as a vector.

Robusto

3:55 PM

Fox News would disappear overnight.

KitFox

But what would we put in it?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Wolf Blitzer.

KitFox

Bolster the genes that produce mellow?

Turn them all into sex machines, so they don't feel inferior?

JSBᾶngs

@Robusto but Fox News isn't populated by politicians

KitFox

Wolf Blitzer could turn me into a sex machine.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:56 PM

@KitFox Newt already is a sex machine.

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 And you have them everywhere?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

See picture Rob posted earlier.

Robusto

It would be easy, because Republicans don't believe in genetics. "Ha ha ha," they would say. "I am as God made me. Do your worst." And then, afterwards: "Hmmmm ... maybe we should try to agree on making our country great again."

KitFox

@RegDwightѬſ道 Eww, eww. Dirty. Gross.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitFox It's the truth, though.

Cerberus

3:56 PM

@KitFox Never say that to people.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

And you are proposing more of that.

Robusto

@JSBᾶngs The perfect retrovirus would attack Fox News as well.

KitFox