English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2012-03-23 (page 6 of 7)

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9:05 PM

> There were cheap options to get the music and CDs, but at $50, you would also get a personal 5 minute "thank you" phone call, where he said you could ask anything you wanted (his suggestion: "Which one of Sting's mansions has the comfiest beds.") There was a limited $250 option to get lunch with Freese at a PF Changs or a $500 chance to get dinner with him at Sizzler. The lunches sold out in about a week.

Then Freese took the model to a different level altogether. At $2,500 (limit of 5 available), he would provide a drum lesson, where you'd get to keep one of Freese's snare drums. You'd …

> At $10,000 (described as the "weapons grade plutonium" level) you could sing on the album. This was meant to be a joke, but a woman in the UK purchased it, and Jill had her flown out to LA where she did, in fact, appear singing backing vocals on the album.

Matt Эллен

9:26 PM

I have that album. I prefer the slip (also for free, I think)

Wait, which album?

And what slip?

Matt Эллен

"The Slip", it came after Ghosts I-VI

Ahh OK. Cool. I liked NiN.

> Oh, and Apple did manage to lay out $32 million in measured media online in 2007, more than double the amount it spent the year before and four times its 2005 outlay.

Measured media? Can you explain to me what this is?

Matt Эллен

sorry, no

user19161

I think I will try out Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit.

9:30 PM

OK thanks for looking at it, hehe.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Measured Media, although it doesn't really make sense

Heh, thanks, yes, that's probably not what they meant here.

Talk about scientists inventing a slew of questionable new terms...

> But when you look at how the media and marketing business packages the Internet -- as just more space to be bought and sold -- you have to worry that the history of mass media is just trying to repeat itself. Rarely a fortnight goes by without some new bullish forecast for ad growth that works to stoke digital exuberance within media owners that often drowns out critical thinking about the medium itself.

Wouldn't you rather replace "rarely" with "nary" here?

Hmm no, I guess that wouldn't fit her.e

Or actually, it would.

Semantic satiation.

Matt Эллен

you could

I wouldn't

It seems a little old fashioned, so out of place for talking about the internet

It would have to be a quasi-funny archaic turn of phrase.

Using rarely + inversion makes it sound old fashioned already...

Matt Эллен

true

I suppose nary would be the cherry on top

better in this sense

9:38 PM

Hehe.

Oh, and fortnight isn't exactly modern either.

Matt Эллен

but I don't think of it as old fashioned, yet. Maybe kids today do

@Cerberus My father was surprised at meeting people from Alaska who didn't understand "fortnight". He concluded (incorrectly of course) that it must therefore be an Antipodeanism.

@MattЭллен Good. We should reinvigorate it!

Matt Эллен

Yes!

@DavidWallace Oh haha. That is actually quite surprising. What kind of people were these Alaskans?

Does this make sense to you?:

> But for the marketer, it's a whole different story. First off, there's reason to be skeptical about online's effectiveness, long its point of differentiation.

Matt Эллен

9:41 PM

long being used in place of along?

yes it does

Yeah I figured it might be long instead of along, but...then it still doesn't make sense. And "online's effectiveness" makes me sceptical too, that it was written in haste. Or incorrectly edited.

@Cerberus I don't know. People who would spend time with my father? I don't know how to answer that.

Matt Эллен

yeah, it's not the easiest thing to read

@DavidWallace Haha. I mean, education, age, etc.

FIIK.

user19161

9:44 PM

I always confuse "Atlanta" and "Alaska".

Matt Эллен

the elision is tricky "But for the marketer, it's a whole different story. First off, there's reason to be skeptical about online marketing's effectiveness, along its point of differentiation."

I confuse Agatha and Atlanta.

Matt Эллен

I confuse people

user19161

I am confused.

I am confusing.

9:47 PM

@DavidWallace Quoi?

user19161

There is confusion.

Matt Эллен

and I'm not 100% sure what "along its point of differentiation." means. how can you go along a point?

@Cerberus "bothered if I know", without saying "bothered".

@MattЭллен Exactly: I have no idea.

@DavidWallace Ah, I see.

@MattЭллен Yeah I figured it had to be something like on-line presence. But ehm this kind of ellipsis is not normal, is it? Or wouldn't you say it was a typo?

@MattЭллен infinitesimally slowly?

Matt Эллен

9:51 PM

@Cerberus well, it seems to be a brash kind of style, maybe they're assuming that their readers can fill in lots of holes. I'm mean they're talking about marketing ;)

@DavidWallace hahaha, yeah :D

user19161

@MattЭллен Imagine the point as a small circle. You can go around the circumference. QED.

@MattЭллен Heh, could be. Then again, aren't we all sheep to them?

@WillHunting Or imagine it as a small elephant.

@Reg: So what I was trying to say before but ELU chat flushed it from my cell ... I do agree somewhat with the point I think you're making. Here's how: I've undergone situations that have happened in other languages, which when I tried to relate to someone late in English, found hard to explain because so much of the context required an understanding of foreign linguistic and cultural components of the event. Does that make sense to you?

Hey, I have a question for all of you. Do you block Youtube ads?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus heh, possibly

9:53 PM

@Cerberus Sadly, no. YouTube ads block me.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus block them how? the little pop ups the happen in a video?

user19161

@Cerberus No, but now there are a lot of google ads on the sites I visit eg dictionaries.

user19161

@Robusto Only in Soviet Russia.

@Robusto Okay, so what motivated you not to block them?

@MattЭллен Yes, and aren't there also commercials that you have to wait out?

@Cerberus Laziness. Laziness is my sole motivation.

9:55 PM

@Robusto Ah, I see. A noble motive.

Works for me. Anyway, I'm too lazy to stop now.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus oh, yes, I've seen one or two of those

only in the last month too

before then I don't think I noticed

user19161

@Cerberus I don't even know you can block them.

@MattЭллен So should I interpret the star to Rob's line as your assent?

Matt Эллен

they've motly appeared on the VEVO vids

9:56 PM

@MattЭллен I think I saw some a long time ago on a friend's computer.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I did not star!

@MattЭллен Oh OK. I wasn't sure.

Well, it certainly wasn't me!

Matt Эллен

unless you mean my ascent to greatness

it could be a sign of that

No matter how hard I try, ELU chat won't let me star my own posts.

Matt Эллен

9:57 PM

who knows with portents

@Robusto No, you would be too lazy. Move mouse pointer to the right...uhh too much work.

Yeah. Really.

@Robusto Have you tried clicking on the same star more than a hundred times?

Being lazy is actually a lot of work.

Matt Эллен

Nov 3 '11 at 12:15, by Matt Эллен

I need to report a bug: I cannot star my own messages. Clearly everything I say is interesting.

9:57 PM

@Cerberus What? Do you even know who I am?

Heh.

@Robusto So, yes.

user19161

@MattЭллен except everything

Question: would you block television advertisements if you could do so easily?

@Cerberus I am Laziness Man. I don't click on anything a hundred times.

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting well, what I said about precious seemed interesting to some people

9:59 PM

I know you don't watch television, @Matt, or am I mistaken?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I don't have one, but I watch things online

@Robusto Except your own pretty things!

Matt Эллен

Yes, I would block all ads if I could

@MattЭллен Ah, yes. Adblock blocks ITV commercials too on the internet.

@Cerberus Cue Franz Ferdinand. Or David Bowie. I forget which.

10:00 PM

Probably BBC too?

Matt Эллен

BBC has no ads for me :D

I was able to watch Downton Abbey without commercials.

@MattЭллен Ahh OK, good! Long live public television.

Matt Эллен

Indeed!

user19161

I think we can watch the whole The Wonder Years on youtube.

Matt Эллен

some people suggest it should be ad funded, but I hate the thought

10:01 PM

Yes.

user19161

But I did notice a lot of sharing sites had their content removed or something in the past few weeks.

Matt Эллен

Ads on the BBC would be like drowning apple pie in vinegar

While advertisements on internet pages are merely a nuisance, having to wait for commercials is really a show stopper. I refuse to watch television mainly because of that.

Yeah, David Bowie.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto absolutely.

10:02 PM

@MattЭллен Well said. Dutch public tv has long commercials, but only between programmes.

user19161

@Robusto Why must he unbutton the shirt?

@WillHunting Him wanna sex you up.

@WillHunting How else is he going to show off his naked body?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Some might argue that it's the culture part that is crucial, but really, there's no culture that's not intertwined with its language.

user19161

@Cerberus Not very attractive I must say.

10:03 PM

Hmm poor man.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 Your truth of the day.

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting I'll put my clothes back on then

RegDwight Ѭſ道

If we were speaking Russian here, you would have a different picture of me. And I would have a different picture of you.

@RegDwightѬſ道 So to that extent I believe language affects thought. An argument with the landlady in Frankfurt wouldn't carry the same freight it would in, say, Boston.

Matt Эллен

we're under attack!

someone's shooting stars at us

10:05 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 Yes, I totally agree with that. It became very clear to me that culture and language are one thing when I began to get good at Japanese.

OK, who's the star troll in here?

Not I.

> Ad mongers do this all the time. They insult our IQ, they show silly cartoons of bears dancing around trees with tolit paper, they advertise menstration products with pads shaped like flowers and tell women to:"Have a nice period."

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@MattЭллен Just post another twenty messages, he'll be out of stars for today after that.

I am female.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Ha! my ex used to hate that. The "have a nice period" thing

> And they really think:
1. We are going to watch ALL of the ads in each slot?
2. We will remember each one cause it's *so* important?
3. Seeing an ad will make us want to buy said product so badly we can't stand it?

10:06 PM

What's wrong? I liked them all. neener neener

@MattЭллен Ugh, was that a specific advertising campaign? Yes, hateful.

@Cerberus That is a sexist ad. They can't tell men to "have a nice period," so they are discriminating against us. You see, we never experience nice periods. You may think we don't experience periods, but any man who is married or has a girlfriend will tell you that's bullshit.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus no, all tampon and panty liner ads are like that here

I'm willing to grant that all tampon and panty liner ads are the same. Let's move on.

Matt Эллен

even the ones that seem to be the opposite, aren't

10:09 PM

I'm wondering why you removed all my stars except your starred message. Was it a valid star @RegDwight?

Ahem. Let's move on.

@Vitaly will probably think 1–3 above are all true because people are mindless apes, nay, less that that, who respond to impulses in a very simple, crude manner...okay, I know I'm parodying you, but you see my point. Subconscious impulses are only part of the story: people are also motivated by their self-interest and other things.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Gigili I only removed twoish stars out of tenish.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus there's something other than self interest?

As much as I'd like to stay and talk about tampons &c. I must go out for sushi now. Laterz.

10:10 PM

@Robusto Yeah, the famous "is it your time of the month, dear?" some wives will ask their husbands.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Bon appetit.

Matt Эллен

have fun @Robusto :)

@MattЭллен Really?? That is absurdly obscene.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus yeah

@MattЭллен Yup! Irrational self-destructiveness, for one thing.

@Robusto Yay sushi! Bye.

Matt Эллен

10:11 PM

I find adverts for well known products odd at the best of times, but misrepresenting periods as something one could enjoy is just mean

@Cerberus isn't that self interest? my desire for self destruction is surely my interest

@MattЭллен Yeah just as childbirth is painless.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Gigili to prevent this in the future, a) remove your spam stars yourself, and b) don't spam stars in the first place. Kthx.

@MattЭллен Not your self-interest as in that which furthers your happiness!

@RegDwightѬſ道 I see no problem to be prevented.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus how about ceases my sadness? is that not the same?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:14 PM

@Gigili Well I do regard it as a problem when people accuse me of removing stars selectively.

@MattЭллен The latter is part of the former?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus stopping being sad is part of being happy?

maybe

@Gigili It is fun if you do it for a very short time then revert it, and if you only do it once a year. Otherwise it is not good.

@MattЭллен Yeah, why not?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus being in two emotional states is not impossible

@RegDwightѬſ道 I didn't accuse you of anything, I was just wondering why that happened. But I really liked all of them, why shouldn't I star them?

10:16 PM

But one enables the other.

Matt Эллен

most of the time we are happy or sad, but sometimes we are both

@Cerberus Umm, that wasn't fun for me.

@Gigili Then why do it?

Why do what?

I starred a few messages that I liked.

I would take the stars out of the sky for you
Stop the rain from falling if you asked me to.
I'd do anything for you; your wish is my command

10:17 PM

Star ten lines in a row.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Gigili stars are meant to bring important stuff to others' notice. So when people enter the room, they have a quick overview of what happened during their absence. If they like what they see, they will click on a starred message and read on from there. So starring two or more messages in a row is never a good idea. Which is why you only have 30 stars per day.

@Cerberus I saw someone is removing my stars so I starred some random messages with my usual pertinacity.

@RegDwightѬſ道 That is still quite a lot.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well that someone could only be me, and I only started unstarring after someone, and we didn't know that it was you at that point, had started starring stuff randomly.

@Cerberus Aye.

@RegDwightѬſ道 Right, I'll try to be more careful about them.

10:22 PM

@Gigili I appreciate your tenacity, but...

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Even in the liveliest room, five stars are usually enough for everyone.

Matt Эллен

yeah

I have 30 stars and I WANT TO USE THEM ALL.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Though of course we are one of the liveliest rooms.

... spake he and killed the chat.

@Cerberus I would, but I fear Reg's reaction.

10:25 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 And 50 kB of memory should be enough for everyone.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yay. At last. People fear me. You hear that, mommy??? DO YOU HEAR THAT???

@RegDwightѬſ道 That's what happens when you spake people.

@DavidWallace Pussy.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I knew my great-step grandmother, although she wasn't a home wrecker, my great grandmother died long before I was born.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Cerberus "should be" and "are usually" don't mean the same thing in English. You can check a dictionary if you don't believe me.

@Cerberus Three headed dog!

10:27 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 I don't believe it, and dictionaries are propaganda for the masses.

@DavidWallace Woof!

bites you

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightѬſ道 but what jury will preside over the definitions?

> For example, I'm now selling $1 bills for $1,000. It's a new business model (well, perhaps not to the dot coms of the original dot com boom), but it's unlikely to be a successful one (if you disagree, and would like to pay me $1,000 for $1, please use the feedback form above to make arrangements).

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus are they MSIB?

@Cerberus I bought one from you yesterday, and it doesn't meet my requirements. So I'll post this $1 back to you, and you can return my $1000 to this bank account ...

@MattЭллен techdirt.com/articles/20070301/005837/…

@DavidWallace If you will show me your customer service number and receipt, We can arrange the refund.

10:31 PM

Ugly cat in my yard. BRB

No, you stupid animal, "shoo" does not mean "walk affectionately towards me".

Ohh it is the terrorists again?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Hush, you'll wake up Vitaly with his feline hatred.

Huh, does he hate cats, or is he a hateful cat?

The poo-dispensers of Lower Hutt.

Hahaha.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:33 PM

@Cerberus you don't remember that discussion? Are you serious?

@RegDwightѬſ道 Doesn't ring a bell at all.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

It was in the boys' room.

Hmm.

Sweet memories.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Involved philosophy.

Anthropomorphism.

And possibly singularity.

What's it called to suggest an amount of money to someone for what you want them to do, illegally?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:34 PM

I can't tell.

I chickened out after an hour or two.

bribe?

About cats not being able to distinguish between play and hunt?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yeah.

I remember that "discussion".

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Birds were somehow involved, too.

10:35 PM

Obviously. And dogs?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Cerberus Well then I suppose you're not too eager to have it again.

Not with Vitaly, no.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Haha. Okay, chill now.

@DavidWallace Exactly, thank you.

I am chill.

Chill like the inferno down here.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:36 PM

Hooligan police again?

Matt Эллен

It is oddly warm today

has hades turned it up?

user19161

@MattЭллен Because miracles are about to happen.

@Gigili maybe extort?

Matt Эллен

jolly good :)

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Aug 16 '11 at 9:53, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

Who knows what miracles you can achieve / When you believe.

10:37 PM

Yeah we decided the whole green thing is passé. And we preferred the red of flames anyway.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 You stole MY line.

@DavidWallace No, I think bribe fits better.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@WillHunting you are not Mariah Carey today, Matt Damon.

That's the second time I've read the words "Mariah Carey" today.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightѬſ道 you are not Matt Damon today, Sarah Silverman

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:38 PM

@DavidWallace how many times have you read "Baader-Meinhof"?

user19161

@MattЭллен Wait, I don't understand the joke. Who is Sarah Silverman?

@Reg including just now?

Matt Эллен

user19161

I only know Sarah Brightman.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@WillHunting Wikipedia insists she's funny.

@WillHunting tell her hello the next time you see her.

@DavidWallace yes.

10:41 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 How many students did Jackie Chan have in The Karate Kid?

loves Taraji P. Henson

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@DavidWallace I think the precise number was over 9000.

user19161

I also know an author called Richard Silverman.

Only in a fraction such as $\frac{1}{9000}$

user19161

What happened to all the stars on the shirt unbuttoning sequence?

There was a shirt unbuttoning sequence? Whose shirt?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:45 PM

They got decimated. Literally.

user19161

The stars move in mysterious ways, like God.

user19161

@DavidWallace There was a video in which a singer did not button up properly.

Why are black and white or greyscale avatars popular here?

It makes them hard to distinguish when they're very small next to a comment.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

They are not popular. People hate them.

I mean "popular to have", not "popular to like".

user19161

10:48 PM

@DavidWallace There is charm in black and white photography somehow.

But not a charm that shows up in chat rooms.

user19161

I will be trying to come out with brand new avatars next month or so, so watch out!

Yes, but yours doesn't need changing. I see a big blue square and I know who it is.

@DavidWallace Really? I'll go for it.

I see a little black and white squidge, and I have to either squint or read the name.

@Gigili of all the different avatars that you've had in the time I've known you, your current one is my least favourite. I quite liked the Mexican hat guy.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

10:50 PM

Well sorry that we make you read stuff on this site. rolls eyes

user19161

@DavidWallace I must admit that gigili, cerberus and regdwight look similar.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I will look different if you clear your cache.

If you cannot distinguish between an Own and a three-headed dog, you need glasses.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

And dance. And bring me cake.

@DavidWallace Eh why? This one is my favourite.

user19161

10:52 PM

@RegDwightѬſ道 Oh I set my browser to store zero of anything.

Are they your own fingers?

user19161

No history, no bookmarks, no cookies, no cache...

RegDwight Ѭſ道

... no guru, no method, no teacher...

Unfortunately not =\ But my fingers are as nice as them if not more.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no skin...

10:53 PM

@Gigili I like the happy-faced fingers, but I would like them more if they were flesh coloured. Or on a non-black background.

user19161

Since all is empty, what is there for dust to cling to?

@Gigili I'm sure your fingers are extremely nice.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is the sixteenth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1986 on Mercury. Biographer Clinton Heylin referred to this album by Morrison as "His most consummate record since Wavelength and his most intriguingly involved since Astral Weeks, this is bursting to saturation point, Morrison at this most mystical, magical best." Upon release in 1986, it charted at number twenty-seven in the UK and number seventy on the Billboard 200. Recording and composition The album was recorded at Studio D and Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, Cal...

@DavidWallace Why thank you.

It's your turn Cerb, change your avatar. I need to be unique.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 Maybe he read the Heart Sutra or something. Emptiness is form and form is emptiness.

10:57 PM

@RegDwight I like it. Very cool. Umm, meant yur avatar not hte album

RegDwight Ѭſ道

That album is very good indeed.

@RegDwightѬſ道 Oh, I thought it was your answer to Will's "what is there for dust to cling to".

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