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12:00 AM
Not all native speakers can tell an ſ from an f, though.
And not all books are Winnie the Pooh.
Knowing how to order fries or being able to laugh at TV shows is not the same as reading comprehension.
i'm not saying everyone here is a bonafide expert, but most of us are a darn site better than google's original OCR readings
That much is true.
Per my comment to hugo's answer here, it's hard to see how anything other than a cagey eye would detect that it was a misreading of eager eye
prolly an unfair Q, seeing you not actually native english, but i'm pretty sure a "cagey eye" can be validly understood as a "careful, watchful eye", no?
yes - just ran search in google books - of course it can!
anyway - time for me to roll a spliff and watch Dirk Gently.... cya!
12:14 AM
CU. I'm off as well. And I think this question was my first encounter with the word.
it won't be the last. nitey-nite!
12:40 AM
Damn, I was going to swoop in, but Reg got there first.
2
Q: What is the difference between "I have become X" and "I am become X?"

Maxpm Possible Duplicate: Is it acceptable to use “is become” instead of “has become”? I am become the Encapsulator. I have become the Encapsulator. Until someone in the Stack Overflow chatroom mentioned it, I have never considered the first version to be...

Gah. And now the OP accepts the answer that speculates that this is a wrong translation!
Facepalm.
Well sorry, now I have to delete it.
Poor fluffy owl.
Hover Pods are evil.
Also, Wasteland Skimmers.
12:59 AM
He also hasn't upvoted the original answer by Kosmo.
I don't understand people.
Aren't they actually interested in an answer?
People are stupid.
But the whole point of asking a question is to become smarter, no?
No. Ask Vitaly. He'll explain it.
Well Vitaly can't become smarter, so he's excused.
No, I meant Vitaly could explain the point of asking a question.
> There is too many!
WTF is wrong with people?
1:03 AM
Vitaly is way too busy single-handedly handing singularity's ass right back to it.
That's from one of the WMT dialog boxes in the new release.
I don't feel like disturbing.
What?
How so?
Who?
Where?
@KitFox serves you right for reading it.
How does that even sound right to someone?
That's the thing that bothers me.
1:05 AM
There's + plural is perfectly grammatical nowadays.
There's, not "there is"
Kogoth, the Consumer = sneaky subliminal marketing?
@KitFox Exactly. But you don't use contractions in formal writing.
Someone wanted to sound sophisticated.
headdesk
Well I am fairly certain that's the explanation.
I bet you several tögrög he would write "ai not", too.
So they figured "That sounds completely wrong, but my English is horrific, so it must be right and sophisticated."
1:08 AM
It doesn't sound wrong.
Otherwise they wouldn't be using it in the first place.
Yes, it does. It sounds stupid and unnatural.
It sounds like someone who doesn't know how to speak.
8
A: Is "there're" (similar to "there's") a correct contraction?

Jon PurdyThere're is common in speech, at least in certain dialects, but you'll rarely see it written. If I were being pedantic, I'd advise you to use there are in your example, because there is is definitely wrong, so there's could be considered wrong as well. But a huge number of English speakers, even ...

And again "there's" doesn't bother me as much as "there is."
But writing!
Next thing you tell me, we are allowed to end sentences prepositions in!
grumpy face
You're worse than the dentist.
Oh, sorry. Your wurse then the dentist.
Lots of peoples does it that way, so that makes it rite.
1:13 AM
Well don't look at me. I haven't written that shit. I am not going around inventing ungrammatical stuff on a daily basis in the hopes that it will become grammatical one day. Only native speakers do that.
And if history is any lesson, your children will teach your grandchildren "your wurse then" as the correct spelling.
No, they will be arguing in whatever the modern equivalent of a chat room is that "Ur wurse then" is completely unacceptable and stupid sounding.
Now this:
0
Q: "it is unlikely" and double "that" correct grammar?

Stefano Borini Possible Duplicate: How do you handle “that that”? The double “that” problem I am puzzled about the following phrase It is unlikely the cat ran away. vs. It is unlikely that the cat ran away. is "that" needed ? If yes, what about phrases such as It is un...

Oh, never mind.
You got it as I was pasting it here?
That's just freaky.
I am still searching for the dupe of his first question.
Damnit, ever since Lauren changed its title I can never find it.
Which?
18
Q: Are there rules about using "that" to join two clauses?

kiamlaluno He will understand that I was not joking. He will understand I was not joking. Which of the sentences is correct? Are there any specific rules about the use of "that" in the sentences I reported as example?

That's the question about omitting "that". The other one is about the double "that".
Oh, you mean the first question in that question. I got it.
1:19 AM
Yeah. He actually managed to ask two dupes in one.
And both of those originals have a zillion dupes already.
I also see that my suggestion from earlier today has been implemented already. The questions are now tagged with random words from the title. This one here is tagged !
The grammar of that.
1:31 AM
Good night!
1:59 AM
@igormilla Just kidding ya. I kid all the Russians in this room. U2.
user19161
@Robusto U2 is a T-shirt brand.
user19161
@KitFox Good night! That is early for you.
user19161
3:16 AM
-2
Q: Can "Do a haircut" be used colloquially the same as "have a haircut"?

NoahCan the same meaning be implied from 'do a haircut' in informal day to day English as 'had a haircut'?

user19161
This has me wondering. Are there people in this room who heard "do a haircut" for "have a haircut" anywhere?
@WillHunting Maybe in Singapore. Over here they are a cosmically pretentious '80s band.
user19161
@Robusto Hmm OK. It seems that almost everything is the name of a magazine, T-shirt or band. But I don't recall hearing "do a haircut" either.
@WillHunting See my comment on that question. The link is to the video above.
user19161
-1
Q: Positive verb that begins with "q"?

dmrI am writing a list of verbs following the ABCs that show positive actions in relationships. (For example: admire, believe...) However, I am having a lot of trouble with Q. Any suggestions for a verb that begins with Q to add to this list? Thank you!

user19161
3:26 AM
I think crossword puzzle type questions should be off-topic.
user19161
4:38 AM
-1
Q: What's meaning of the word "goodies"

bnguyen82I see this word being used widely on internet, but I can't construe its meaning clearly. Could you explain it thoroughly?

user19161
Clearly general reference, minus ten!
@Vitaly: What do you think these black lines are?
The system was operational until 2002, and it is slowly being repaired.
And it is very cool.
The location is Prague.
And what happened to your poor icon?
user19161
What's with the goodies question?
user19161
And also the answer.
user19161
4:53 AM
Please nuke it from orbit!
user19161
I guess all the nukers have gone to bed. Over and out!
@Cerberus pneumatic tubes (because you said “cool” and because they converge in the centre)
@Vitaly Wow! I am impressed.
Did you research it online?
No
I gave you the reasons above, for chrissakes
OK I was just checking whether that was everything.
5:08 AM
oh and because you said “operational”, which made me think of something along those lines
Yeah all those things were supposed to be gentle clues.
This is also really cool.
For paraplegics, but I like the concept very much.
I am stuck at Level 20 in Clockwords. I give up.
@Cerberus They're clearly roads somewhere in Czech republic or Slovakia.
Oh, sorry, I've just noticed that you said it was Prague.
But they are roads. "Most" means bridge.
@DavidWallace Roads that converge in the centre?
@DavidWallace Nope, not roads.
5:18 AM
You
're proposing that they're railway lines or tramlines? Seems unlikely!
(Why is the enter key on my laptop so close to the apostrophe?)
No, and no.
So you already know what these are, and you're just finding out how much less clever other people are than you?
I would never have guessed.
I just copied the picture from somewhere and thought it might be a nice puzzle.
With that I leave you here.
Have fun!
Hello.
user19161
@Mahnax It's the goodies question. Is there some subtlety I am missing?
5:32 AM
@WillHunting Hm, lemme see.
Looks pretty basic to me.
I'll VTC.
user19161
@Mahnax In fact I think it is the worst question ever.
@WillHunting Nah.
Five distinct parts?
user19161
5:36 AM
@Mahnax There is nothing a dictionary check does not explain.
@WillHunting Yup.
user19161
It's like asking what a "cat" or "dog" is.
user19161
Of course cats and dogs have quite different meanings only in this room.
Haha.
user19161
@Mahnax I am going to sleep!
5:45 AM
@WillHunting Okay, good night.
 
4 hours later…
9:16 AM
Is this a question about copulas?
1
Q: Why do we put the verb to be at the end of these questions?

nicholas ainsworthLook at the following questions - can anyone give a simple grammatical explanation as to why we put the verb to be at the end of these questions: Can you tell me where the hospital is? Do you know where the children are? Do you know what the answer is? This is confusing to learners as they a...

I'm trying to understand what a copula is
9:27 AM
OK I can't figure out this portmanteau word (if it's one): trunclade. I'm guessing the second part is clade, but what is the first one? Truncate doesn't make sense to me in the context.
And it's definitely some sort of wordplay, as per a quote that comes up in Google for trunclade:
> You’d almost need to be a synthesist to pull it off (would you know how to convey “Trunclade” in French? How about “pull your eyes over my wool”* in Russian?)
@Vitaly perhaps truncate is related to vasectomy AKA the cut
Hmm.
Never heard of trunclade, sorry.
I have nothing between trunchy and truncus.
@MattЭллен Well, truncating a clade doesn't quite make sense unless you assume that the person who got the vasectomy is the only living descendant of the clade's common ancestor. But yeah, that's a possibility.
Or unless you assume that Peter Watts would have gone for coining a portmanteau word from two words that are only related through the context…
9:46 AM
I think that "clade" here applies to all of the guy's spermatozoa. Which doesn't strictly fit, but it's close enough, with a little poetic licence.
So it's reasonable to portmanteau it with "truncate".
Hmm, yeah, thanks, that makes more sense.
10:27 AM
I think this is a duplicate
2
Q: Why do we put the verb to be at the end of these questions?

nicholas ainsworthLook at the following questions - can anyone give a simple grammatical explanation as to why we put the verb to be at the end of these questions: Can you tell me where the hospital is? Do you know where the children are? Do you know what the answer is? This is confusing to learners as they a...

of this
3
Q: Changing subject and verb positions in statements and questions

HamidWe always change subject and verb positions in whenever we want to ask a question such as What is your name?. But when it comes to statements like the following, which form is correct? I don't understand what are you talking about. I don't understand what you are talking about. Anot...

 
1 hour later…
11:51 AM
@Vitaly Do you understand the r-selection part?
That was the easiest part.
Well, then "Trunclade" as a made-up name should be no difficulty for you.
I am not a native English speaker. I might have been missing something that could have been obvious to one.
On the contrary, I think you divined it right away. "Truncate" + "clade" makes a lot of sense.
I doubt I would have given it that much thought.
> unless you assume that the person who got the vasectomy is the only living descendant of the clade's common ancestor
Do you like depressive hard sci-fi?
11:59 AM
If I could read it, I might.
@Vitaly I think you are thinking of it too literally.
Feb 3 '11 at 3:11, by Vitaly
Peter Watts is my top1 favourite sci-fi writer for the following reason: he used dozens of references to academic journals like Science and Nature for his Blindsight
Feb 3 '11 at 3:16, by Vitaly
http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
I can't read it. It screws up in my browser.
> Download as PDF, zipped HTML, Brian Gilbert's Mobipocket mix or John Joseph Adams's (with thanks to both), Ellen Herzfeld's e-pub edition (more thanks!), or just read online (below)
rifters.com/real/shorts/PeterWatts_Blindsight.pdf ← the PDF, if your browser can't display the link
I think (although I haven't read the story yet) that you should interpret the behavior in the poem as a method of truncating a clade.
I thought Sascha was a boy's name?
And thanks for the pdf. You are always distracting me with books.
I am here to distract you with books. You are welcome.
@KitFox can be both in Russian (and I suppose other Slavic languages): Alexandra, Alexander
12:07 PM
Oh. Nice.
I had a Russian friend who liked to be called Sascha. That's how I learned it was a nickname for Alexander. Or maybe Alexei?
Russians named Alexei don't normally like to be called Sashas precisely because it's a hypocoristic form of Alexander. The diminutive of Alexei in Russian would in most cases be Alyosha, though other versions are possible.
I see. He must have been an Alexander then.
12:31 PM
@MattЭллен You never heard of Francis Ford Copula? He is the entire franchise of The Godfather.
Haha, this guy keeps changing his decks. Rainbow, then Undertakers, then Hover Pods... Oh and now Support Carriers with Elemental.
@Vitaly Yes, I can just hear them shouting "Stop using hypocoristic forms of my name, dammit!" Only in Russian.
@Vitaly What is this, the Undertaker faction? That's all i'm seeing.
Well, that is surely the def deck from hell. Also, I wonder if his name is intentionally German: Lichtatem = "light" + "breath"
12:48 PM
So I infer from that that we must fight him on fight.
Correct.
@Robusto Here I was thinking it rested on the talents of Marlon Transitive Verb
good morning all
Morning.
12:52 PM
hi!
good morning everyone
i'm sad because Wizards banned my favorite cards this morning
banned them? How does that work? (I know they're the owner, but still...) Why did they do it?
"banned" in this case means that you can't use them in tournament play
you can still keep them and play them at home
I see. Are the cards too powerful?
and they're only banned in ISD Block Constructed, but... i had literally just put a decklist together using the two of these
i'm glad i hadn't paid to buy the missing cards yet
@MattЭллен they're considered too powerful, yes
12:57 PM
So on Facebook today the news feed says "<redacted friend's name> likes Celibacy".
TMI?
@MrShinyandNew安宇 good for him! i tried it, but decided it wasn't for me
I don't like it, but I haven't figured out how to not do it yet.
It's not really for anyone. And I'm sure he doesn't actually want to be celibate.
I wonder what other bizarre "likes" I can find about people.
@KitFox me too
12:59 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 sure it's for some people. there are monks, for example.
I am in a quagmire. Can I prevail upon my programmer friends for more help?
@JSBᾶngs ISD == Innistrad ?
@KitFox yes! quagmire!
@MattЭллен correct
thanks :)
-1
Q: Can "do a haircut" be used colloquially to mean "have a haircut"?

NoahCan do a haircut be used colloquially to mean have a haircut?

1:00 PM
@Matt you play magic?
Someone's going to a lot of trouble nitpicking on comment in a closed question.
@JSBᾶngs not for many years
@KitFox yes!
Actually, JSB, you're probably the best person to ask. I have this custom control I have been working on. It is a listview that takes a Linq query and two template files.
@JSBᾶngs Nah, I still don't believe that it's for them. The ... "failure" rate is pretty high.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 people can fail at things that are nonetheless part of their vocation. sometimes i'm a really bad parent, for example, but that doesn't mean that "parenting isn't for me"
1:03 PM
But now I want to have a button to export the data to Excel, which I can do easily enough, but only if I cast IQueryable(Of LINQtoSQLClass) except that I don't know how to cast it with the correct type, since I would have to derive it.
what class are you using to export to excel?
EPPlus library.
They have a LoadFromCollection method that I can use with Linq queries.
give me a second to look at their interface
@JSBᾶngs Parenting happens. You're going to fail a lot, but as long as you get the big things right things work out.
It occurs to me that I might be better off specifying the output in one of the templates (because I would know the type there), but I am not sure how I would tell the button in the control to talk to the template method.
1:07 PM
@JSBᾶngs The difference is that parenting actually achieves something whereas celibacy is just an arbitrary limitation.
Parenting theoretically achieves something.
:D
And celibacy proves that you really didn't want to engage in sexual relations anyway.
@KitFox Parenting teaches you how to lose gracefully.
(Per the rationalization conversation with Cerb the other day.)
@MrShinyandNew安宇 uh, what? what does that have to do with whether or not some people are meant for celibacy?
I wish Rick Santorum's parents had practiced celibacy.
1:10 PM
@KitFox so you have the IQueryable object, right?
@JSBᾶngs Yes.
and you need to pass it to an API that accepts an ICollection
Yes.
But the more I think about it, the more I think I ought to have it talk to the template first.
Damn it.
Stupid brain.
call IQueryable.ToList(), then pass the list to the method
(since a List<T> implements ICollection<T>)
I don't have a ToList(), just a ToString().
1:16 PM
if you're using System.Linq, then IQueryable<T> has a .ToList() method
I see what you're saying. But I need to know T in order to do that.
what's the actual signature of the method you're invoking?
Dim qryData As IQueryable(Of StudentGradeHistory) = dCurrentData
I'm using VB.
isn't T inferred? so you make your method generic MyMethod<T> and then pass it any old IQueryable, and the compiler will figure it out?
@MattЭллен this is what i was about to say
@KitFox i meant the signature of the method that creates the Excel doc
1:19 PM
If I make it Dim qryData As IQueryable = dCurrentData, I get an error when I load the data.
ws.Cells("A1").LoadFromCollection(qryData, True) where ws is an ExcelWorksheet.
Wow this is a hilarious story about patents: techlaw.justia.com/2012/03/16/…
ws.Cells("A1").LoadFromCollection(qryData.ToList(), True)
that doesn't work?
-3
Q: How would you describe the singers in this clip?

AnixxHow would you describe the singers in the Pet Shop Boys' "Go West"? Are they just gold-blackit or truly blackit?

Y u no close dit?
1:21 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 i misread "patents" as "parents" at first. hilarity ensued.
@RegDwightѬſ道 eye trie, no 1 lisen
@JSBᾶngs ToList() is not a member of IQueryable.
@JSBᾶngs Yeah I've moved on from that old topic
@KitFox make sure that you both do this and declare qryData As IQueryable(Of StudentGradeHistory)
Well, it works without the ToList if it's not generic.
1:25 PM
what exactly is the type expected as the first parameter to LoadFromCollection()?
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of StudentGradeHistory)
(Or whichever type I specify.)
then why can't you just pass in IQueryable(Of StudentGradeHistory) directly? IQueryable(Of T) implements IEnumerable(Of T)
Because it might be Of StudentGradeHistory, or Of School, or Of Grade, or whatever other thing I'm listing.
do you have Option Infer On?
so what? the compiler's type inference should take care of that for you
@MattЭллен this is a thing that exists in VB.NET? O_o
1:30 PM
@JSBᾶngs I just found out about it :)
The compiler won't let me not declare my type.
@KitFox I think that's what option infer is for (I could be wrong)
/me can't believe that there are modern compilers where type inference is an option
You weren't joking about Option Infer. Now I am really confused.
This is dumb. This is so dumb. I am the worst programmer ever. bangs head on keyboard
nononoo
What is the confusion?
1:36 PM
Let's forget the whole thing.
    ' When you have a generic type param on your method itself and Option Infer is
    ' on, the compiler will magically fill in whatever type is actually passed. So you
    ' can call the following method with any IQueryable, regardless of the actual (Of
    ' T) that you used.
    Function ExportToExcel(Of T)(IQueryable(Of T) query)
        ' get yer workbook set up here somehow
        wb.Cells("A1").LoadFromCollection(query)
    End Function

    ' Call it like this:
    Dim gradeQuery As IQueryable(Of Grades) = GetGrades()
I am just going to figure out how to do it differently.
@KitFox no! you're on the right track! you just need to wrap your head around generic types
But. But.
1:39 PM
but what?
How will I call it with the type if I don't know the type?
@JSB you'll be surprised to learn, then, that Java doesn't have type inference at all
@MrShinyandNew安宇 one of many reasons why i use C# and not java
at this point, java is basically C#'s retarded little brother
@KitFox you don't call it with the type
the type is inferred
I didn't mean call it. I mean...hmm. Let me think for a minute.
@JSBᾶngs Yeah. It's true in a lot of ways. :(
1:43 PM
i mean, even C++ has generic type inference. is that too hard for java?
@JSBᾶngs Oh, I think Java 7 has that.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 oh, well ok. that's what i was referring to.
hugs Haskell mmmmm such a beautiful type system
But not, say, var X = new String(); // X is now of type string
@MattЭллен tell me about it. i loves me a haskell... though i really ought to learn more of it
@MrShinyandNew安宇 true, i consider that kind of a "bonus" feature
1:45 PM
@JSBᾶngs indeed, I have slacked off learning Haskell in favour of other things, but I miss it.
i now have some motivation to dig into it, since one of my favorite writing tools (pandoc) is written in haskell, and i've reached the point where i need to extend it
@JSBᾶngs It would seem to me that this sort of feature would be easy to implement.
So T is not a defined class.
But I should put this stuff in the template anyway, I've decided.
Saves me a lot of trouble and then each template gets its own happy formatting.
Which it really should anyway.
@KitFox more context plz. what method do you get this in, and is that method generic?
@KitFox that's right. It's a placeholder for the types that are allowed in your method
1:51 PM
@JSBᾶngs The one you gave, which I tinkered with to make it VB.
@KitFox hmmm, well there's something i don't quite get about the way generics work in VB, so here i might not be able to help you
there's probably a trivial syntax issue here
I don't think it is. I think it is probably a fundamental difference.
Given that typing is different between C# and VB.
void ExportToExcel<T>(IQueryable<T> query)
{
    wb = GetWorkbook();
    wb.Cells("A1").LoadFromCollection(query);
}
maybe you can do the translation
@KitFox the typing syntax is different, but the underlying type systems are in fact almost exactly the same
I'm not going to rewrite it in C#, and I'm just going to do it in the template, and wash my hands of it.
I think JSBangs meant of his snippet, from c# to VB.net
1:54 PM
@MattЭллен yes
I know. I understand. I have tried as much as I can stand in VB, and I'm not going to rewrite it in C#, so I am just going to try something else now.
Thank you though. I do appreciate it.
I am feeling crotchety because of the code. You all were very nice.
It just makes me feel stupid.
@KitFox I understand. I'm having the same feeling about my code right. stupid chart.
I might could help with charts!
See? I don't get it. This reads properly:
    Public Shared Function GetValueOrDefault(Of T)(ByVal reader As IDataReader, ByVal columnName As String) As T
        Dim returnValue As T = Nothing

    End Function
It's the only thing I've grabbed as a code snippet in VB that works.
1:59 PM
I can't figure out how to get the distance between two minor ticks on the axis, and make that be the width of a region
What are you using for your chart?

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