English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

12:01 AM

So followin–wait, what?

It is an idiom. It need not be too closely analysed.

Cerberus

I don't know.

tchrist

This it’s-Greek-to-me software project splits up its docs into apocalypses, exegeses, and synopses.

Must have had a firesale on extra syllables when the project got started.

Matt Эллен

@tchrist, @cornbreadninja I don't know if you like puns, but you might like this one

David Wallace

12:27 AM

@MattЭллен It's ruined by the "a".

Matt Эллен

ah well

Matt Эллен

1:23 AM

happy Sunday! Twitter bootstrap looks nice. Good night.

KitFox

Hola @Matt.

Cerberus

1:45 AM

Oh God.

What are you people doing!?

I always knew you were square...

Not need to rub it in the world's face.

Who came up with this?

looks accusingly Jasper

tchrist

Cerberus

What was your new name again...I can't remember...

What was Jasper's new name again?

Something Bourne?

LMGTFM.

I can't find it.

I see an actor James Bourne exists, but it won't autocomplete.

KitFox

Not an actor, a character played by Matt Damon.

In the Bourne trilogy of movies.

Cerberus

What's his name?

KitFox

Whose name? Matt Damon or Jason Bourne?

Cerberus

1:51 AM

Oh, Jason.

No, Jason won't autocomplete either?

I wanted to ping Jasper, but it didn't work.

KitFox

Jason Bourne

Jason Charles Bourne is a fictional character and the protagonist of a series of novels by Robert Ludlum and subsequent film adaptations. He first appeared in the novel The Bourne Identity (1980), which was adapted for television in 1988. The novel was very loosely adapted in 2002 into a feature film under the same name and starred Matt Damon in the lead role. The character has appeared in nine sequel novels (the last seven were written by Eric Van Lustbader) with the latest published in 2012. Along with the first feature film, The Bourne Identity (2002), Jason Bourne also appears in ...

Cerberus

Does "@Jaso" autocomplete for you?

KitFox

No.

Cerberus

Hmm.

KitFox

He's not in the chat room right now.

Cerberus

1:53 AM

But he was here not long ago?

KitFox

He's probably been gone for too long.

Cerberus

Oh, I thought you had to have been away for days.

KitFox

I think 24 hours, but I might be wrong.

Want me to yawp for you?

Cerberus

I thought he was here a few hours ago.

Na never mind mind (whatever that is).

I'll stare him down when he next shows up.

KitFox

@jasonbourne @Cerberus wants to ping you.

Cerberus

1:54 AM

Hehe.

KitFox

Oops. Ignored you by accident.

Cerberus

Jasper, look what you have done! The room has been squarified.

It's OK.

He'll read my insignificant line now.

KitFox

I changed. I couldn't take the pink for more than a few minutes.

Cerberus

You look pinkish...what is this, fuchsia?

KitFox

It's a fennec.

Cerberus

1:56 AM

Oh I see a coloured square.

Perhaps I am anti-colourblind.

KitFox

...because you never refresh your browser.

Cerberus

Ah when I click you I see the animal.

But for a while now icons auto-refresh without my refreshing at some point.

KitFox

Yeah, they recycle eventually.

Cerberus

Much sooner than before.

So why the squares?

KitFox

Dunno. Just happened that way.

Cerberus

1:57 AM

I see.

It "happened" to you.

Like that robbery, huh?

KitFox

I was too tired to read the transcript and figure out why everyone else was doing it, so I just did it in the most annoying way possible so I could feel like I was part of the group.

Speaking of tired. I had some coding I wanted to do tonight before I fall asleep, which means I ought to do it soon.

Cerberus

Hahaha.

Okay.

Funneh lady.

KitFox

So will Alistair and my male elf hook up?

Cerberus

Oh! Are you playing Dragon Age??

You need to install a same-sex mod for that.

KitFox

Maaaybe.

Cerberus

2:01 AM

Or are you writing a story?

ponders

KitFox

Maybe my husband is and I keep interjecting my own little fantasies into the mix.

Cerberus

Is he?

KitFox

@Cerberus But I thought Leliana and a female character would hook up?

Cerberus

Make sure you have him install that hot Morrigan mod btw. She really looks gruelling attractive that way.

@KitFox Hmm could be...I only know about male characters (because mine's male), and only Zevran is bi of the men.

KitFox

I'm not sure how to do that.

Cerberus

2:02 AM

I don't know about Liliana.

KitFox

And seriously? I didn't think you liked girls?

Cerberus

Not the way you might, but they can still look hot and attractive.

KitFox

I thought 'attractive' implied...attraction.

Cerberus

Hot or not?

KitFox

My husband likes her better.

Cerberus

2:04 AM

Well, tell me this is not attractive. She really looks just as good as this in the real game.

I see.

KitFox

I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers, but I like more interesting looking women.

Cerberus

Hmm.

I would use less make-up on her.

KitFox

Yeah. Morrigan is not the sort of woman who would wear makeup.

Cerberus

Yeah.

She is a damn good sorceress, though.

Very useful.

I use Alistair, Morrigan, Wynne, and myself, also a mage.

The three of us can easily defeat any enemy on Nightmare!

KitFox

Hmm. Haven't gotten that far, I guess.

Cerberus

2:07 AM

What have you done so far?

Have you already finished one of the main quests?

I really liked the elves/werewolves quest.

KitFox

My husband is the one actually playing. I'm riding shotgun.

Cerberus

Sometimes that can be just as good.

KitFox

He did the werewolf quest already, and Redcliffe.

Cerberus

Ah OK.

KitFox

And he's doing the Urn quest now.

Cerberus

2:09 AM

I have done those two, the Urn, and the Mages' Tower.

KitFox

@Cerberus Sometimes. It's not as fun with this game as it is with Skyrim.

Or most other games.

Cerberus

Hmm no?

What makes it different?

KitFox

This one is pretty linear and single-player.

So it is not as fun to watch.

Cerberus

More so than Skyrim, yeah.

KitFox

And there aren't things for me to find and collect.

@Cerberus Way more linear than Skyrim.

Cerberus

2:10 AM

For you, or for your husband?

Yeah, there isn't exactly an open world.

KitFox

We usually team up when there are things to collect for bonuses. That's my thing.

Hunting.

He does the adventuring and killing stuff.

Cerberus

Oh, each on his own account?

KitFox

No.

Cerberus

Oh, I see.

KitFox

Unless it is a multiplayer game.

Cerberus

2:12 AM

Why do you prefer collecting?

Don't you like combat?

KitFox

Combat is OK, but it's not that much fun for me.

Cerberus

OK.

It is only fun if it is hard for me.

KitFox

I like to learn stuff, find the secret things, etc.

Pilfer.

Cerberus

Oh yes, that's great fun too.

I thought you meant collecting mushrooms or something.

Although I actually enjoy finding rare herbs very much!

I would like to see some real herbology in games.

Where you have to recognise plants and experiment with them.

And the whole world would abound with plants.

KitFox

I have an idea for a game that's like that.

Cerberus

2:16 AM

And a witch could teach you how you need to first boil, then dry, then burn the root of the Dumbleberry to acquire a potent ingredient and such.

@KitFox Oh?

KitFox

The world is open like that, with harvestable plants, and you have a farm where you raise critters of some sort, and the plants affect their growth in different ways.

Cerberus

Oh! I really like that.

Like butterflies, and water snakes of various colours and shapes.

Your farm could have a whole ecosystem of its own!

Introduce rare beetles from beyond the eastern desert to your water snakes, and they will acquire some magical properties from them.

Or be eaten by the beetles, if you brought the wrong kind.

Some scroll or monk would have to tell you which beetle to look for.

Or you could experiment.

Always carry your beetle-pots with you!

Mahnax

Hi there.

KitFox

And you would have to go on quests to find rare stuff or learn how to do special care so they would become something cool or something.

Cerberus

Hi!

@KitFox Yes! Like that.

Mahnax

2:19 AM

How's it going?

Cerberus

Good.

We were discussing imaginary farms.

Mahnax

Sounds like a fun game.

Cerberus

Yeah!

Mahnax

I see you were talking of Skyrim, which I was just playing.

Cerberus

Well, it would be only part of the game.

It could be a Skyrim-like game.

Mahnax

2:20 AM

Right.

But perhaps more focused on the farm?

Cerberus

Oh! I thought you weren't allowed to play Skyrim?

Mahnax

No, I am now.

My dad bought it.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Possibly. We haven't discussed focus yet.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Interesting.

Cerberus

Oh? Because they changed their minds, or because you have aged?

Mahnax

2:20 AM

The first one.

Cerberus

Cool.

Parents are trainable.

Mahnax

A few years ago my mum said that "there will be no M-rated games in this house, ever."

Cerberus

Hehe.

Mahnax

And now look!

Cerberus

Is she the type that tries to appear consistent, like mine?

Mahnax

2:22 AM

Not really.

Cerberus

Oh.

Mahnax

Maybe a little, I guess.

My phone has a habit of sending multiple blank text messages to the first person on my contacts list.

Today it sent seven to him.

Cerberus

Add a contact AAA with a blank phone number.

Or get a decent lock screen on your phone.

Mahnax

That would not be as amusing.

Cerberus

Right.

Mahnax

2:23 AM

It's… quirky. I'll keep it the way it is.

KitFox

Maybe your phone likes your first contact.

My phone likes my brother-in-law.

It calls him a lot and sometimes sends him texts.

Cerberus

My phone works properly.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Rub it in, why don't you.

Cerberus

Hehe.

Mahnax

@KitFox How nice of it.

Do you like your brother-in-law?

Cerberus

2:24 AM

I used to get lots of voicemails from my father with shuffling and distant voices.

KitFox

@Mahnax Not as much as my phone does.

Mahnax

@KitFox Oh, too bad. Otherwise it might've worked out.

I'm writing my Biology diploma exam in a few weeks. It's worth 50% of my final Biology grade.

KitFox

@Mahnax Wow.

Mahnax

@KitFox Yeah. It's a little silly.

50% is too much.

An hour and a half of multiple choice and numerical response questions should not override a half-semester of schoolwork.

There isn't even a written section anymore.

At least next year I'll have a good Bio exam.

KitFox

That's just silly. Don't they teach kids why learning this stuff is important?

Mahnax

2:29 AM

Nope! And we have "great education". This whole diploma exam system is flawed.

KitFox

Well, so long as you are learning.

I've got code to write though, I meant it. Damn, but it's late.

So maybe tomorrow.

Drinking now.

Mahnax

Yes, indeed. Next year, the HL IB Bio exam has three parts: a written part, an experiment analysis, and a short multiple choice section. The two parts that require human marking get sent off to teachers with Master's degrees around the world.

Much better system.

KitFox

Sounds much better.

Mahnax

Quite. And the newer markers are watched very carefully. Sometimes the IB will change the marks given by teachers if they deem them to be too harsh or too lenient.

KitFox

OK. I'm off. Good night!

Mahnax

2:33 AM

Good night! Enjoy your drink. I assume it is milk.

cornbread ninja

@JasonBourne oh my.

howdy.

Mahnax

Heya.

Woo, chatkillah.

tchrist

2:55 AM

What is the opposite of doing something simply? Doing it complicatedly does not sit well with me.

Mahnax

"Doing something simply" sounds off to me.

tchrist

I am being naughty. I need it. :)

Mahnax

Perhaps I can't help you in that department, but I can make you a delicious espresso beverage.

Mechanical snail

@tchrist "Overcomplicating things"?

Mahnax

Would you like to try our new vanilla spice latte? It has cardamom.

tchrist

3:00 AM

There was a merry passenger,
a messenger, a mariner:
he built a gilded gondola
to wander in, and had in her
a load of yellow oranges
and porridge for his provender;
he perfumed her with marjoram
and cardamom and lavender.

Mahnax

He called the winds of Argosies,
with cargoes in to carry him,
across the rivers seventeen,
that lay between to tarry him.
He landed all in loneliness,
where stonily the pebbles on,
the running river Derrilyn,
goes merrily for ever on.
He journeyed then through meadow-lands,
to shadow-land that dreary lay,
and under hill and over hill,
went roving still a weary way.

tchrist

You’re getting quicker.

Mahnax

Thank you.

Tolkien was so, so good.

I recently bought The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

I am excited to read them.

tchrist

I hope you enjoy them.

I think you probably shall.

Mahnax

It is relatively probable, yes.

I think I will try to read 80-100 books this year.

tchrist

3:07 AM

I have never counted.

I just read what I read.

Mahnax

I am trying to make myself read even more than I do now.

I have many books that are waiting for me to read them.

tchrist

More than you know, no doubt. :)

Mahnax

Hehe, yes. There will always be more books to read.

But there are at least seven in my room that I have not yet read, so I shall start with those.

We have decided to visit Tallinn, Estonia this summer when we travel to Finland. I am very excited.

tchrist

Wow.

(Sorry, I am time-sharing.)

Mahnax

No apology necessary. I am working on a project on Tay-Sachs as we speak.

Cerberus

3:15 AM

Mechanical snail

@Cerberus Huge image

Cerberus

@Mechanicalsnail Nice, huh?

You can admire the thumbnails.

Mahnax

I am super-excited to see Tallinn. It is so pretty and old, as you can see from Cerby's images.

Cerberus

I used to trade in Reval in Patrician II.

(= the old name of the city)

tchrist

I have to agree. It is certainly lovely, but making everyone who loads this log download a 2⅔ megabyte image — and that is just one of them — seems too pricey, like by an order of magnitude or more.

Cerberus

3:20 AM

You don't have to click the pictures?

What is the problem?

tchrist

No. I do not get a thumbnail. It waits to load the whole thing, and does not ask for a click.

Cerberus

?

Surely you do not see the full-sized picture in chat?

tchrist

No, that’s right. They are ensmallened in the display. But that is just a trick. It sets the display parameters but still downloads the whole thing!!. Wait, and I will show you.

Cerberus

Right, I see.

That's why the thumbnails appear so slowly.

But does it matter?

Mahnax

Anyone trying to enter this room on a slow connection will have a heck of a time.

tchrist

3:24 AM

Cerberus

@Mahnax I presume the pictures will load last?

tchrist

That is what the browser pops up when I ring-click for Image Properties.

So as you see, you pay the full price.

Cerberus

Pay? All right, your browser automatically downloads the whole picture. Is that a problem?

tchrist

Everyone’s does.

It seems inconsiderate.

Cerberus

Surely they won't slow down the chat itself?

It is odd that SE chat does this, I suppose. Or there should be a setting (because it does mean that opening a picture someone else posted will be instantaneous).

Hmm it does mean that we can all put child porn on each other's computers!

Or terrorist blueprints.

tchrist

3:27 AM

God, kids these days.

Cerberus

Or gasp pirated pictures!

tchrist

Here, let me paste the URL for a 7-gigapixel image in here for you. . . .

Cerberus

I wonder what will happen...

Mahnax

@tchrist gasps

Cerberus

I would set my browser to not download images if you did that, I guess.

tchrist

3:28 AM

What, why not? Surely nothing matters, per @Cerb.

Cerberus

Hey, now I don't see your icon.

Funny.

Old icons are still displayed.

Hmm.

Those pictures don't slow down my loading the page at all; do they slow down yours?

tchrist

facepalms

Cerberus

I am asking because I have never noticed any problems with this.

tchrist

It is considered rude to force somebody else to download a huge amount of data without their consent. Can you really not see that? And you have now done it to everyone, not just to one person.

Haven’t you ever used the Internet over a modem before?

Cerberus

Uhh...

tchrist

3:31 AM

Some people do, including some people in this chat.

So you have been mean to them.

Cerberus

3 MB is not that much.

tchrist

Please try to understand.

Cerberus

And I'm not forcing anyone.

tchrist

Not everyone has high-speed broadband.

Yes, you are forcing everyone.

That is the whole point.

Cerberus

Am not.

tchrist

3:32 AM

You stuck it in the damned chat.

It loads by default, so you are indeed forcing everyone.

Cerberus

And even if you have a slow connection, the page itself will load fist, so how does it hinder you?

You have set your browser to accept images, and SE makes it load everything. That's not my fault.

Mahnax

I am going to make a cup of tea. See you all later.

Cerberus

Bai!

tchrist

Bah.

I am sticking so many gigapixel images into this chat under your name, the hounds of hell with be at your doorstep.

Cerberus

Am I not supposed to post pictures with a nice resolution in chat?

@tchrist I ask again, as long as the page loads first, how does it bother you?

tchrist

3:35 AM

Yes, I think you are.

Cerberus

Am what?

tchrist

You seem to think everything is free for everyone, so you abuse their bandwidth without their permission. This shows that you just do not understand the way things price out.

Cerberus

1 min ago, by Cerberus

@tchrist I ask again, as long as the page loads first, how does it bother you?

Is this about data caps?

tchrist

It bothers me because it sucks my bandwidth. You have no right.

Cerberus

I suppose, if someone were tethering on his mobile, those MB might make some difference...

@tchrist Look, you should not be blaming me. I will try to post fewer large images if you insist, but I think it is your own responsibility if you browse the Internet.

simchona

3:38 AM

Jeez. Calm down.

tchrist

The polite way is to post a thumbnail that links to the big image. Would you not agree?

Cerberus

Well, polite: it would be preferable. But it cannot be done here.

At least I wouldn't know how.

Perhaps I shall ask a Question on SO Meta about this.

Because this really shouldn't happen.

tchrist

That one is the 382k thumbnail. Here is the 24.6 gb original:

Carefully and politely hidden in this link. Because I know better.

Mahnax

Good god.

tchrist

And here is the reduced 3.9 GB version, which should be small enough to load for you:

Which I have of course again politely stored in a link‌.

Download at your own peril.

simchona

3:45 AM

Guys, if you insist on fighting about this I'll start freezing things.

tchrist

I have done nothing as anti-social as posting huge pictures.

And I shall not.

simchona

Don't be rude.

tchrist

Which is exactly what I was saying all along.

simchona

Really, get off your high horse.

tchrist

Maybe I am wrong. Or the software is broken. But posting very huge pictures that impacts everyone seems unkind.

Cerberus

3:47 AM

@tchrist My browser won't display this: it asks me download the file. Perhaps browsers have some limit?

@simchona There is no problem here.

tchrist

@Cerberus God, I hope so. :)

It is certainly a nice picture, though.

Cerberus

@tchrist I suppose it is unkind to users with very low caps, like the tethered.

I consider this a bug in SE.

tchrist

I think you are right, actually.

Cerberus

I never considered this, because everybody posts big pictures all the time.

Mahnax

Yes, it could be bad if someone decided to post a direct link to tchrist's boastful billion-bit bonanza.

user19161

3:49 AM

I don't post big pictures, because it makes my chat load slower.

Cerberus

And I would turn off images anyway if I were tethering, but I suppose it is inconvenient to have to do this all the time.

tchrist

It makes everyone’s chat load slower, Jasper, not just yours.

Cerberus

@JasonBourne Really? Are you serious? But we're both on FF.

user19161

In fact, I never posted pictures in chat, simply because I can't be bothered to figure out how.

tchrist

It is not opt-in.

Cerberus

3:50 AM

It doesn't appear to make my chat load slower. It is always equally fast/slow.

user19161

Also, I never posted pictures in posts.

Cerberus

@JasonBourne You just paste the link here.

tchrist

I think someone should submit a post to MSO about it.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Surely there would be some kind of limit? Shall we test this in a temporary room?

tchrist

Do TIFFs autoload?

Mahnax

3:51 AM

@Cerberus Uhm, we could. Perhaps just the 3.9 GB one though.

Cerberus

@tchrist I am planning to. Trying to find whether this issue was raised before, but search doesn't work very well: I get the same question ten times (literally the same question).

tchrist

Yes, please.

Not the other.

We can make a temp room and paste the 3.9 GB tif image link.

Mahnax

Shall I, then?

tchrist

Sure!

We scared him away. :)

Mahnax