English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

4:00 PM

Yeah, maybe Noah should either switch to Windows (best choice) or use OSX in a virtual machine (second-best).

Clearly, MacOSX is only meant to work properly on a very limited range of hardware that Apple sells. Anything else that happens to work is accidental.

So far I am happy with my Fedora 19 installation.

Cerberus

Clearly, MacOSX needs to fuck itself.

You don't miss your Windows programs?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus on my home PC? no, not really. Sometimes I reboot into Windows to play games.

Cerberus

I wouldn't know what to do.

KitFox

So when we move, I want to hook my tower up to the TV. I need to upgrade my Ubuntu, though.

Cerberus

4:02 PM

As much as I support Linix...

Robusto

I have a Mac that is happily working along with no problems other than that I don't really use it except when I absolutely, positively need to have a Mac for something.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

My wife and I share the PC. We've been running Linux on one PC since 2008.

Cerberus

Aww.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

She would always get annoyed when I upgraded her computer. First from Windows 98 to Windows 2000. Then from 2000 to Linux. Then from Linux to some newer Linux. But nowadays the Linux updates are pretty seamless and she doesn't really notice.

KitFox

I wish I were better at it, but the dual boot makes me wimp out.

Robusto

4:04 PM

Dammit, the backsplash for the long countertop by the sink is straight but the wall is bowed. So they are having to cut into the wall. Fuck.

KitFox

What? Just fill the gap?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox pick a long-term support release, if you're going with Ubuntu. That way you get security updates for 5 years and you don't need to fuck with it otherwise.

Robusto

I suppose it's too much to ask for 10 feet of plumb wall in a kitchen.

KitFox

Why cut the wall though?

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I would totally beat you up if I were your wife!

Robusto

4:05 PM

@KitFox It's 1/4" on each end, with ripples in the middle. Not obvious at all unless you place a piece of absolutely straight granite up against it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus If you were my wife, I wouldn't let you connect your dirty old computer to my wifi.

Cerberus

Buwahahaha.

I wouldn't want to touch your Wifi.

Robusto

@KitFox To sink the backsplash into the wall. Better than leaving gaps. At least that's what the contractor said when I finally got him on the phone.

Cerberus

Touch it yourself, I'm sleeping in the guest room.

KitFox

@Robusto Yeah, but you put some support behind it, then caulk over top of it and paint it the same color as the wall. You'd never notice.

But of course, that's easy for me to say. I'm not a pro.

Robusto

4:06 PM

Too late. My life is shit.

Cerberus

Aww.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto 1/4" doesn't sound like much. Cut it in 1/8" where it bulges and fill in the rest with caulk?

Cerberus

Yeah I'm sure there is a better option.

Robusto

We're not dealing with Norm Abrams here. The countertop installers barely speak English.

Cerberus

No kitchen turns out perfect.

KitFox

4:07 PM

Cut that section of wall out and replace it with a flat piece of drywall.

Sculpt with joint compound.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

tear down the house and build a new house, with straight walls, and hookers, and blackjack

Robusto

Fuck that. I want this son of a bitch finished.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Or I could just move.

KitFox

Fuck that refrigerator for me while you're at it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto no. That house doesn't have straight walls either.

Robusto

@KitFox Can't. Turns out she's frigid.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:08 PM

We are considering renovations to our house to make room for my in-laws to move in. I am seriously considering tearing down the whole house.

KitFox

@Robusto You cut me deep just then.

Robusto

Sorry. I'm lashing out in frustration, I guess.

KitFox

It's OK. Kinder gentler me forgives you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

did you set up a safe word before you started lashing?

KitFox

You need some gin and tonic.

Robusto

4:09 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes. But my safe word is "More!" Bad choice, in retrospect.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

So I went to the store the other day to buy ink for my printer. Turns out nobody carries it anymore. WTF? it's only (counts...) 13 years old!

KitFox

Let's meet up for drinks in ... Burlington, VT in uh, six hours or so.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Google suggests I can get there in 6 hours 45 minutes if I leave now.

KitFox

I think I can make it in six hours if I leave now and exceed the speed limit.

There is a place just over the border I can't remember the name of now.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

a better halfway point for me would be montreal

Cerberus

4:15 PM

Everybody orders printer ink online these days, even my parents!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus apparently so do I now.

Cerberus

I think Amsterdam is about as far away from Maine as from Toronto.

So that would be a fair compromise.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus not for you though.

Reykjavik.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Great! And don't hesitate to buy from obscure brands.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Hmm Reykjavik is nice in summer.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus oh, I do hesitate. I have had bad experiences with no-name brands.

KitFox

4:17 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 OK. L'Ile Noire in seven hours.

Cerberus

If you try three brands and only one works, it's still cheaper than HP ink!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox That would be fun, wouldn't it. Sadly my wife has had foot surgery lately and is in no shape to travel or be left alone.

Cerberus

I'm sure there is an elevator for her.

KitFox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh no! But the incompetent fools whose work she must always check, how will they be stopped from killing people?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

so it's $600 cheaper for me to fly to Amsterdam than Reykjavik.

KitFox

4:20 PM

I'd like to see Reykjavik.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox they are running amok for two weeks, then she will have to hobble back in and mop up blood for days.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, airline prices are perhaps the weirdest, most artificial ones in the world.

uday sagar

Hello

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus yeah. but I heard that there was some tourism program where iceland was encouraging people to stop there on their way to/from Europe. I wonder if that is still happening.

uday sagar

Someone greeted me "have a great week" Can i say "great week to you too" ?

Cerberus

4:23 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh, funny.

@udaysagar Sure!

uday sagar

thanks @Cerberus

any other way? @Cerberus

Cerberus

"Thanks!"

uday sagar

but thanks wouldn't convey my intent to have him too to have good week. did you get me?

KitFox

This question appears to be off-topic because it is asking us to discuss why you think something which is probably incorrect is probably incorrect. — KitFox 29 secs ago

@udaysagar "You too!"

uday sagar

you talking on my question? @KitFox

KitFox

4:27 PM

Yes.

uday sagar

yea, you are right half way. :-)

KitFox

How am I right halfway?

uday sagar

Because I feel no question is incorrect unless it is not asked.

KitFox

That makes no sense.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

A question's correctness doesn't depend on whether or not someone has ever asked that question.

"What colour is the derivative of f(x) = x^2?" is an incorrect question whether I ask it or not. For any f(x), too.

but it's lunch time

uday sagar

4:52 PM

I agree!

Robusto

> Too much formality in design is a waste of time. —Joel Spolsky

Noah

@Cerberus Not at all. Most of the stuff on Windows is *** anyway.

I just cannot seem to work on anything but iWork.

KitFox

That's an expensive problem to have.

Noah

Yeah, it's partly because of my mom. We have had Macs in our family for a long time.

I cannot switch to Windows overnight.

Robusto

I meant Yo Yo Ma, but I said Yo Mama.

Cerberus

5:06 PM

@Noah Like...the Oxford English Dictionary?

Dragon Age?

Autohotkey?

Noah

There is no OED on Windows?

I mean there might be one for it, but i don't think there is one that comes with it.

Cerberus

On the contrary, I believe there is no OED for Mac.

Noah

You kidding me. OED comes preinstalled with Macs.

The dictionary app has a range of dics, including OED.

KitFox

I thought it was the OAD on Macs.

Cerberus

Wait, it does exist for Mac!

@Noah Nope.

Don't forget that the OUP has a huge array of similar-sounding names to fool people into buying moar dictionaries.

Of course the "Oxford Dictionary of English" is entirely different from the Oxford English Dictionary.

Noah

5:13 PM

@Cerberus What is the difference between the two?

But what you can do is, take a .dic file and convert it to a format that's supported by mac.

Cerberus

@Noah The difference is huge.

Noah

Can you elaborate on it?

Mahnax

@Noah You can take a screenshot of a window by doing command+shift+4, waiting a moment, and then pressing the spacebar.

Noah

Thanks.

I will remember that next time.

Mahnax

NP.

KitFox

5:29 PM

Is it worrisome that I can smell purple?

Matt Эллен

so long as it doesn't smell like burning

Mahnax

@KitFox One of my friends is a synaesthate! What does it smell like?

(Purple!)

KitFox

It smells like purple.

Yeah.

I can also vaguely smell hospital.

I wonder if AMSR is rotting my brain.

Mahnax

The word hospital?

KitFox

No, the smell hospital.

It's mostly the soap.

But also something else.

You know. The way hospitals smell.

Mahnax

5:33 PM

Yeah.

That smell makes me feel… uncomfortable.

KitFox

Me too.

Mahnax

I haven't been in a hospital for years. Last time I was in one was the time I visited my grandfather, about half an hour before he passed away.

KitFox

I gave birth to both my babies in hospitals, and that smell made me anxious despite it.

Mahnax

My mum also gave birth to all of hers in hospitals. Apparently she didn't have any of the abdominal splits or whatever they're called, even though she gave birth to six kids overall.

KitFox

Yeah, I've heard of that. I never had that either.

She's probably built for birthing babies.

A couple of women I know complained of it, and made it sound like that was all part of pregnancy.

Mahnax

5:38 PM

Well, it's very common. When my mom was a doula, a surgeon that she met was surprised that she'd never had any, after six kids.

Cerberus

Greetings.

KitFox

@Mahnax It doesn't surprise me. Your mom sounds like quite a woman.

Cerberus

Soo wait, Mahnax, when did you come back from Finland? I forgot to ask about your adventures! It must have been at least a week ago?

Mahnax

@Cerberus Hi!

@Cerberus Eh? I am still in Finland!

@KitFox She is. Very much so, I might add.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Ohh you are!

I didn't know they had Internet access there.

Mahnax

5:41 PM

I will be in Finland until July 28.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus I think they have the Internet in Finland.

Ohh that long!

@Cerberus snorts

hah jinx

Haha.

I was wondering already why I hadn't celebrated your return even though I had already seen you "back".

Stupid Cerberus.

So where in Finland are you now (approximately)?

How is it?

Mahnax

5:43 PM

If you go to GMaps and find Paltamo, there should be a big ol' lake nearby. I'm near that.

Cerberus

Looks like a great place for Geoguesser.

Mahnax

Yeah.

Oop, gotta run. Bye!

RegDwighт

@KitFox why is the top related question "Etymology of vagina?"?

KitFox

I set it that way.

I thought it was funny.

Because vaginas are funny.

Robusto

@KitFox They can be sad too.

KitFox

5:53 PM

ponders

RegDwighт

@KitFox you misspelled "vaginas are fanny".

KitFox

*mispole

Robusto

@KitFox Vaginas are like bank accounts and whiskey bottles: sad when empty.

KitFox

No wonder I've been feeling down.

Robusto

When you feel down, feel "down there" and you can feel better.

RegDwighт

5:55 PM

Nobody knows you when you're down and out.

Robusto

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen / Nobody knows but Geebis.

For some reason this conversation reminds me of parts of Chasing Amy, which was a pretty funny flick.

KitFox

Are you making some kind of comment about my sexuality?

Robusto

You've already made all the comments about your sexuality I think it is possible to make.

KitFox

feels disappointed and defensive

Robusto

Now, now ... buck up. Just because my fridge is frigid to me doesn't mean that it won't respond with greater zest to you

KitFox

6:04 PM

It's not about the fridge.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

use one of these for more zest

KitFox

It's not about the zest.

It's just the constant spectre of inadequacy and incompetence hanging over me.

Matt Эллен

where did it come from?

KitFox

I don't know.

Isn't this a recurring issue for me? I'm pretty sure I get attention for it all the time.

Maybe that's why I can't solve it.

Matt Эллен

maybe

Robusto

6:10 PM

@KitFox Everyone has those. They're called "fellow employees" ... or "co-workers."

KitFox

I was talking about me, not them.

Robusto

But it may be referred incompetence and inadequacy: their issues manifest in your body.

KitFox

Hmm. So in actuality, it is my superhuman ability to empathize that is secondarily causing these mental difficulties?

Robusto

I believe that's the case, yes.

Cerberus

Does it help to practise a more Stoic/Zen perspective?

"I don't care whether I'm inadequate or not. I just am."

Robusto

6:18 PM

But state that as a koan: "What is the sound of one hand failing?"

Cerberus

SLAP

KitFox

What is the purpose of my existence?

Robusto

We all fail. It's only a question of when. So rejoice! Find the thing that is not failing and think about that.

KitFox

Must I constantly change the rules so that I can win?

Robusto

No one else is going to do that for you.

Matt Эллен

6:21 PM

@KitFox there is no winning

only playing

Robusto

One day you will tell someone he can go fuck himself, and he will turn out to be a hermaphrodite who will immediately take you up on it.

Cerberus

@KitFox Does there have to be a purpose?

Robusto

@Cerberus Does there have to be an answer to that question?

Cerberus

Wouldn't be easier if there were no purpose?

KitFox

If only I could believe in a deity, then at least I could fail with consistency.

Cerberus

6:23 PM

@Robusto No.

KitFox

Instead of rationalizing my failures as successes.

Look out. Kit's all sunshine and roses today.

Matt Эллен

just pretend to believe in a deity.

MετάEd

@KitFox The nice thing is that you get to make it up.

KitFox

@MετάEd No, that's not a nice thing. I don't work very well that way.

I'm too crazy to be a tabula raza.

A tubular razor.

►

Robusto

@KitFox Sunshine and lollipops. Lollipops and roses.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:32 PM

@Cerberus There is no porpoise.

Cerberus

Have you looked?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

yes. I have performed an exhaustive search of the entire universe. You wouldn't believe what's out there.

Cerberus

Like what?

A gap between a wall and a counter top?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

like, a large industrialized nation with a fairly good education system, where 46% of the people believe in literal creationism.

Robusto

@Cerberus No longer. All fixed.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Bullshit. Nobody would believe that.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:39 PM

I did say it was unbelievable.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 "Fairly" is the key word.

Matt Эллен

It's true. I totally created everything just like I said in the bible

Cerberus

@Robusto That quickly?

What did you do, tear down the house?

KitFox

The problem is that the curriculum is set by stupid people and taught by stupid people to stupid people.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus filled it with the god of the gaps

3

Cerberus

6:39 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Unbelievable only to those 54 %.

Robusto

@Cerberus More foreign students come to Massachusetts for their education every year than come to the Netherlands. I just made that statistic up, but it sounds about right.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен She that small?

@Robusto What are you trying to say?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus no gap is too small

TRiG

@Cerberus There's only so many gaps left, y'know.

Robusto

@Cerberus I believe I said it already.

Cerberus

6:41 PM

@matt @ed Haha, neither of you is making any sense, but I like it.

@Robusto Then you're not expressing yourself very clearly...

Robusto

You can get a really good education in the United States. But most people don't.

Cerberus

ducks

KitFox

My mom tried to talk me out of evolution once.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus well, you know, I like to try and keep on topic.

Cerberus

Haha.

Robusto

6:42 PM

@Cerberus It's all about the constructivist approach. I'm trying to get you to work out the answer for yourself.

KitFox

I think that was the first time I thought she was stupid.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен What if the topic is in a gap?

Robusto

@KitFox But you went ahead and evolved anyway. Bitch.

KitFox

I know, right?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus then god will keep me on topic

Cerberus

6:42 PM

@Robusto I'm trying...not any more.

Robusto

You're very trying.

TRiG

May 9 '12 at 16:08, by RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

You make no sense, I make no sense,
it seems it's been that way forever.
So if you make no sense, and I make no sense,
why not not make sense together?

Cerberus

@MattЭллен But you will fall through!

KitFox

Her argument was that it sounded OK but she couldn't imagine how you could evolve something as complex as an eye, for instance.

Cerberus

@TRiG Such obscenities...

Matt Эллен

6:43 PM

@Cerberus will I see you on the other side?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@TRiG now I have a peace anthem in my head, thanks

Cerberus

@MattЭллен I think you might see David.

Matt Эллен

:D

TRiG

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You're most welcome.

@Cerberus I've just started a book by Joseph Heller which features David as the protagonist.

Robusto

@Cerberus As Sisyphus once said, "That's how I roll."

TRiG

6:45 PM

Robusto

Looks like Donatello's David

TRiG

@Robusto Ding!

Robusto

Pretty famous sculpture.

Cerberus

@TRiG Oh, I didn't know he was famous!

@Robusto Doesn't sound like...fun.

This one's better.

KitFox

Naked people with swords seems like poor planning.

2

Cerberus

6:49 PM

Here he's a bit older and showing off his abs.

Robusto

@KitFox Chicks don't need to worry.

KitFox

About accidentally cutting themselves? I beg to differ.

Cerberus

@Robusto Have you looked at a woman's chest?

Perhaps you should do so more often.

Robusto

Well ... don't forget the No-Tits warriors of Greek Mythology.

Cerberus

Single-tit.

Robusto

6:51 PM

@Cerberus I don't think there is time enough in the day to do that more often.

KitFox

I don't mean about bits and things. I mean about cutting yourself with a sword.

Cerberus

@Robusto But you need it.

Robusto

@KitFox Thank you for wrestling my joke to the ground. taps out

KitFox

And the single-titted was for archery, not swordswomanship.

Robusto

@KitFox Yes, of course.

Cerberus

6:52 PM

But caused by swordsmanship. Or axewomanship.

KitFox

Sorry, sorry, I was committed before the tap.

Robusto

Ask Hippolyte.

Cerberus

It's probably a myth anyway.

Hippolyta.

MετάEd

@KitFox Precipitates the existential crisis, yes.

KitFox

Why would it be a myth? It does make it easier to shoot straight.

Robusto

6:52 PM

What? The story of the Amazons is a myth? demands refund on Amazon Prime membership

TRiG

@KitFox The Naked Chef: Great care must be taken when cutting the salami.

KitFox

Yes. Yes.

MετάEd

@KitFox Naked people doing almost anything that doesn't specifically require nudity seems like poor planning.

KitFox

Also that.

Robusto

I only like to see naked people when I'm in the mood for that. And most people look better with clothes on anyway.

TRiG

6:54 PM

@MετάEd Meh. I disagree. Strolling around the house (I live alone) naked doesn't seem like a particularly bad plan to me.

Matt Эллен

exactly

KitFox

Until you get your bits caught in the couch cushions when you sit down.

Matt Эллен

not been a problem so far

TRiG

@KitFox I've heard of nasty things happening with sun loungers.

KitFox

Or you smack your junk with the fridge door by accident.

Cerberus

6:56 PM

@Robusto This.

KitFox

I don't know. Walking around naked doesn't seem like fun. Scantily clad, maybe.

Cerberus

I don't get it either, but there are many people who like it.

Blind people.

Uh...

Or Burners.

6:58 PM

@KitFox It's not so much fun. It's more a general I haven't bothered to put clothes on yet thing.

KitFox

I used to hang out naked more, before I had kids, but then there were rug burns in weird places and unexpected visitors and whatnot.

Cerberus

You sleep naked?

tchrist

Probably showers naked.

KitFox

I used to sleep naked before I had kids.

In the summer anyway.

TRiG

@Cerberus Of course.

tchrist

6:59 PM

Is it just me, or is it getting steamy in here?

Cerberus

I don't like that.

Cold shoulders.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…