English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

1:00 PM

That statement is like claiming that scientists won't want to publish English text because people who understand English might review it for spelling, grammar, oh, and, factual errors

KitFox

Sounds more like he's thinking that they'll want it to be in Comic Sans instead of Verdana.

Hey, @Mr.Shiny, do you have a few minutes to give me a hand in The Overlook?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

sure

KitFox

I'm trying to finish my résumé so I can get it out this morning.

tchrist

@MattЭллен Is that "boys stir us" or "boys tear us"?

Matt Эллен

stir

Mitch

1:12 PM

'polysemous' has only one meaning.

Matt Эллен

is either of it to do with parrots?

tchrist

yup

they saw the mousey

Matt Эллен

:D

PGFTricks

1:23 PM

What does it mean? There are 3 times as many girls as boys.

cyberskull

b=3g

PGFTricks

@cyberskull Are you sure?

KitFox

10

Q: "X times as many as" or "X times more than"

Suppose John has 5 sweets. Is there any difference between the following two sentences? Jack has 3 times as many sweets as John. Jack has 3 times more sweets than John. I prefer the first construction and would know unambiguously that Jack has 15 sweets in this case. However in the sec...

differences

Matt Эллен

for every boy there are 3 girls

KitFox

Isn't that a Beach Boys song?

Matt Эллен

1:26 PM

I don't know

@PGFTricks yes

@cyberskull OK. Thank you honey!

KitFox

My bad, only two girls.

cyberskull

draw a chart to convince yourself

Matt Эллен

1:28 PM

@cyberskull surely if b is the count of boys and g is the count of girls, then it should be 3b = g?

KitFox

Yes.

cyberskull

let b=1 then g=3

@MattЭллен Ooops you're right

@PGFTricks I'm wrong

PGFTricks

@cyberskull Oh my ghost.

cyberskull

I should have made a chart

4 mins ago, by cyberskull

draw a chart to convince yourself

KitFox

Number one thing I taught in my GRE prep course: Step 1. Draw a diagram.

cyberskull

1:35 PM

or chart

tchrist

@KitFox Cute couple — if you like that kind of thing.

cyberskull

There are 3 times as many girls as boys.

b___g
1___3
2___6
3___9

tchrist

@cyberskull Sorry, I don’t do needlepoint.

PGFTricks

@cyberskull: I am still confused when comparing it with "Jack has 3 times as many sweets as John."

tchrist

Simple: John had three times fewer sweets than Jack.

Where sweets != girls.

PGFTricks

1:42 PM

Jack has 3 x the number of John's sweets.

cyberskull

Jack has 3 times as many sweets as John.

Jack___John
3_____1
6_____2
9_____3

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> A famous bon mot asserts that opinions are like arse-holes, in that everyone has one. There is great wisdom in this… but I would add that opinions differ significantly from arse-holes, in that yours should be constantly and thoroughly examined.

PGFTricks

@cyberskull Thanks honey!

Matt Эллен

yeah. opinions don't need examining. arseholes on the other hand

cyberskull

@PGFTricks does it make sense?

Matt Эллен

1:46 PM

who knows what my be wrong with yours

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It's difficult to examine your own arse-hole

Matt Эллен

that's why we've got mirrors

hand mirrors

tchrist

@MattЭллен Ceiling.

Matt Эллен

or, I suppose you could bend over double and stare, naked, into a full length one.

KitFox

Or have a buddy.

PGFTricks

1:49 PM

@cyberskull OK. Thanks.

tchrist

Within a cube of mirrors, all things are visible.

Try it sometime.

Preferably with three or more.

cyberskull

@PGFTricks Thanks for trying to understand :-)

PGFTricks

@cyberskull :-)

cyberskull

Organising the facts of a problem in a chart is often helpful.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:10 PM

I can't imagine why the chat died this time.

Matt Эллен

It thought it was French and chased a mouse into the path of a juggernaut

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен I had to look up the word juggernaut to understand your usage of it there.

In US/CA English it means "an unstoppable, destructive force" or something like that.

Matt Эллен

Ah

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Wikipedia says

Matt Эллен

yeah. I just meant very big lorry

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:14 PM

> In British English, it is also used to mean a large heavy truck or articulated lorry.

TIL

Matt Эллен

:D

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I dreamt of mouses.

Matt Эллен

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 me too

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

also we don't use the word "lorry"

Matt Эллен

I know :D that's was just for my amusement

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:15 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I would have thought otherwise.

Matt Эллен

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 what happened ?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 you would have thought what otherwise?

That we use "lorry"?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@MattЭллен I don't spend a lot of time in my apartment, though I did yesterday. I went to attend to the cat and there were mice and bugs. She wasn't doing anything about them and seemed sort of puffy and ill.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 yes.

Matt Эллен

I assumed that juggernaut (meaning realy large truck) was an American term. I don't know where I heard it first.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 oh dear

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@MattЭллен I noes ._.

But it's not true!

Matt Эллен

2:18 PM

oh! phew

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

be are be

Matt Эллен

> Spelling help Remember that juggernaut ends with -naut.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен ... that's a useful thing to remember! also remember that it starts with jugger-

then you're done!

Matt Эллен

:D wow! that's really helpful

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Whoa!

Charles Koppelman

2:32 PM

@Cerberus The Chinese characters in the room name mean "The year of the Geng Yan" - i.e., the Metal Tiger, i.e., 2010-02 through 2011-02

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@CharlesKoppelman I came to that same conclusion, but didn't really trust my source.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

it's in CEDICT

> twenty seventh year G3 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 2010 or 2070

KitFox

2:49 PM

feels smug about her knowledge of the Chinese lunar cycle

It's nice that people care enough to try to figure out my contribution to the room's subtitle.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

it took me a while to figure out the Cyrillic part

Matt Эллен

MMX!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

multimedia extensions

MMX (instruction set)

MMX is a single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) instruction set designed by Intel, introduced in 1997 with their P5-based Pentium line of microprocessors, designated as "Pentium with MMX Technology". It developed out of a similar unit introduced on the Intel i860, and earlier the Intel i750 video pixel processor. MMX is a processor supplementary capability that is supported on recent IA-32 processors by Intel and other vendors. MMX has subsequently been extended by several programs by Intel and others: 3DNow! and ongoing revisions of Streaming SIMD Extensions. Naming MMX is officially...

my first computer, that was mine alone and not my family's computer, was a Pentium MMX 166

Amazing that my phone beats that computer in pretty much every single metric

Matt Эллен

if you want your old computer to win, just invert the tests. "Least amount of RAM"

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

166MHz processor, 32 MB ram, 2.5GB storage, 2D video card with no Open GL, 300W power supply, 1024x768@75Hz max resolution CRT screen

Matt Эллен

3:03 PM

that's a lot of storage

I can't remember when I had over a gig

but I think I had a P3 first

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4core 1.5 GHz processor, 2Gb ram, 16GB storage, Adreno 320 graphics, 2100 mAh battery, 768 x 1280 display

My desktop didn't even have network capabilities when I bought it. Well, I guess it had a dial-up modem.

I eventually upgraded it to 10-base-2 coax networking and then 10-base-t.

Matt Эллен

my computer at uni was the same. me and a friend did manage to "network" over serial ports (or maybe parallel ports)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

oh yeah. Laplink/interlink

and null-modems

Matt Эллен

yeah

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I once stretched a laplink cable to an LPT switchbox which I then plugged into another computer across the room; the cable was as tight as it could be, and the box was suspended in mid-air. But it reached, and I was able to mount drives from one DOS machine to the other.

I don't even remember why I needed to do that.

Matt Эллен

3:08 PM

eventually I got a 10/100 usb ethernet adapter

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 to prove that you could :D

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Oh... now I remember. Probably the one machine didn't have a working floppy drive.

Matt Эллен

ah

nice skills

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Or maybe, didn't have a working floppy drive of the same size as the other machine

I used to run a BBS

Matt Эллен

ooo

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

on a frankenmachine

The BBS was more of a proof-of-concept than a useful thing

But it was fun

its_me

3:10 PM

Hello, can somebody please tell me what this means? "A true sportsman never complains about his chances, for he knows it's a crime."

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It had a cga video card. literally cga. with a monochrome monitor.

@its_me I would guess that it means "his luck"

its_me

but how's that a crime?

Matt Эллен

Yeah, I'd say it's similar to the idea that a "true sportsman" doesn't believe in luck, it's all down to skill

its_me

Oh, ok

thanks!

KitFox

My first PC was a 486.

Matt Эллен

3:13 PM

The first family PC was a 486

all those many, many, many years ago

KitFox

My first family PC was a C-64.

Matt Эллен

oh, well, I don't count the Amstrad as a PC, because it wasn't IBM compatible

KitFox

Fair enough.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

my first family PC was an XT clone

KitFox

The 486 was what I played Heretic on.

Matt Эллен

3:14 PM

but I suppose the CPC-464 was the first thing like that

KitFox

I think it had Windows 3.0.

So hazy.

I remember I messed up the keyboard by dropping an ember on it while I was smoking and writing my dissertation proposal.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

we had that XT for a long time. Then eventually got a 386 SX 16Mhz with 1MB ram and a 40 GB hard disk. Then eventually a 486 DX2-66 with 4 MB ram and a 420 MB hard disk. Then my dad stopped upgrading the computer and I took over.

He kept that 486 until 1999.

Matt Эллен

"486 DX2-66 with 4 MB ram and a 420 MB hard disk" this was just like ours, but I think our harddisk was smaller

KitFox

I am contemplating doing something very ballsy. I am not sure if it's a good idea or not, because I am not sure how the politics are aligned.

Matt Эллен

it had a turbo button, though

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:16 PM

in '99 he bought a Pentium III which he kept until 2011.

KitFox

omg I forgot about the turbo button.

And the key.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен yeah I had that too. Though really it was a "slower" button.

Matt Эллен

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 lol, yeah

MετάEd

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Just like on a car, the "accelerator" which is actually a "throttle".

Matt Эллен

@KitFox yes! I think I still have it somewhere

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:17 PM

In fact that reminds me of the time my friend had a problem with his computer. Duke Nukem wasn't working properly, it was choppy as hell. We suspected he didn't have enough free memory, but he had 2x the RAM I did, and it played fine for me.

He brought his machine to my house, we hooked it up to my monitor and keyboard, turned it on, I poked around, started the game, and damn, was it ever slow

Then I pressed his turbo button

suddenly, it was playable

Matt Эллен

oh man.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

he was a little embarrassed :)

@MετάEd All the inputs to the car are accelerators since they change the speed or direction

KitFox

3:54 PM

Isn't that a velocitizer?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

1

A: Is the "went" in the following sentence redundant?

No, it's not redundant. Prepare herself to go out doesn't mean standing up: it means doing whatever it is that she feels she needs to do before she goes out. It might mean putting on a coat, brushing her hair, picking up her keys, setting the phone to answering machine ...

Slipping into stockings, stepping into shoes, dipping in the pockets of her raincoat...

I miss degaussing monitors.

KitFox

I miss defragging my hard drive.

Jez

nah defragging wasn't fun

especially when you had other apps running and it had to keep restarting

KitFox

Gave me an excuse to not work for a while.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@KitFox you can do that while your code compiles.

KitFox

4:00 PM

Right.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

'Are you stealing those LCDs?' 'Yeah, but I'm doing it while my code compiles.'

KitFox

In the three seconds it takes for my code to compile.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

//oblig

MετάEd

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 In physics terms, acceleration occurs. However, that's indirect. The direct thing you do with the pedal is throttle the engine. Consider that if your transmission is disengaged, no acceleration occurs at all (except of course for angular within the engine block).

MετάEd

4:18 PM

Caution. Product is very hot after heating.

KitFox

Good notice.

I like your safety considerations.

MετάEd

I would like to add that the Kimchi flavor is very hot after cooling down.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Your phone needs to work on its power supply. Your desktop needs to work on its battery.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus No. The battery indicates the power usage of the phone compared to the desktop. The phone wins in using way less power.

Cerberus

It's less powerful. It loses.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:33 PM

That's not how it works.

KitFox

So here's an interesting development. I went to the literacy lady to talk, she told me she was meeting with the director and the project lead at 12. The project lead just came into my office and I asked him about the meeting and he said he hadn't been invited to any meeting.

I should qualify that as "interesting to me."

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

ah, workplaces. I'm glad I work from home in a small company.

my wife's workplace has been telling them for weeks that she and one other pharmacist have to take the "emergency phone" home on weekends. This is because the manager doesn't want to do it herself, even though it's always been the manager's job. Supposedly they plan to let all the pharmacists take it home, not just the two supervisors, but HR hasn't approved the changes in compensation. Well, my wife just visited HR and HR hasn't heard of any request to change compensation for the emerg phone.

So not only are they not paying her for this new on-call shite, they are also lying about ever paying her or sharing the workload.

KitFox

Bastards.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 How many people have you managed to electrocute by having them touch the power supply of your phone, huh?

KitFox

But good for her for following up personally.

JSBձոգչ

4:40 PM

just refuse to take the phone home

CC: hr on the email

KitFox

Now I must ask, why does it smell vaguely of poo in my office?

JSBձոգչ

tell them to leave it with the person whose job it is

Cerberus

I agree.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus typically, I consider not-being-electrocuted a feature in a computer/phone.

Cerberus

Don't take it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:41 PM

I told her since they're lying about paying her, she should just lie about taking it home.

Cerberus

Say your responsibilities as a parent do not allow you to take an emergency phone home. Or whatever.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

"oh, yeah, yeah, I took it home. nobody called."

KitFox

But of course, she's all worried about actual emergencies.

JSBձոգչ

eh, you'll get caught that way, and you'll be in trouble

KitFox

Like people matter or something.

JSBձոգչ

4:42 PM

you need to be above reproach in this thing

scrupulously document what you're doing and why

Cerberus

Yes.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

ha. her bosses don't care about the patients.

Cerberus

I think he was joking anyway.

JSBձոգչ

make them be the assholes

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus I was.

KitFox

4:42 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I know, but presumably she does.

Cerberus

See?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Well, I did tell her that

but jokingly

Cerberus

But she knows.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

recently a staff pharmacist, who the two supervisors had recommended NOT have her contract renewed on account of she sucked and had a bad attitude about it, made a serious mistake that nearly killed a patient. The director of the pharmacy was like "meh."

I'm not even a pharmacist and I find his attitude insulting to pharmacists everywhere.

Cerberus

Local newspapers would love this.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:46 PM

it's seriously ridiculous. luckily, the management are screwing up SO BADLY that they will be out of business soon.

Cerberus

Yay...

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm not even exaggerating. Probably by Nov.

Cerberus

Better sooner than later, but it sucks for your wife.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

They will have, over the last 6 months, destroyed a $120M business.

Cerberus

But say no to the emergency phone!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:47 PM

she's quitting anyway.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 That's...efficient.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

so @Kit I sympathize with you.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Another reason to say no.

To sleep or to send e-mails, what to do?

I have an hour.

KitFox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Thanks.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I wish I could start my own business and hire the people I like to work with and make tons of money.

KitFox

4:49 PM

On the one hand, I am instinctively stepping forward to take the tiller and on the other hand, wondering why the hell I'm doing that if I'm planning to leave anyway.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox yeah, exactly!

KitFox

It's part of what makes us good employees, I think.

I know it seems like I goof off all day, but I'm actually quite good at my job.

Even when I freak out and say that I'm not.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I made that mistake once, in a company that was going downhill. I foresaw that the product family I was working on was doomed. So I expressed interest in broadening my skills and working on something less-doomed. I got transferred to a new team just as my old team was axed. However, I'd already decided to quit, and thus missed out on a generous severance package.

KitFox

Darn. I was hoping for severance here, but I will get nothing if they lay me off.

Johan Larsson

this is fun if you happen to be Swedish and 12 yo

KitFox

4:51 PM

Despite that I work under contract, they are under no obligation to even give me notice.

Other than to show me the door.

Matt Эллен

@JohanLarsson 12 year old aren't allowed on the SE network ;)

KitFox

@JohanLarsson A blank page. Yeah, woo. Wicked fun.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox swedish 12-yos sure do know how to get down

Johan Larsson

the url is packed with profanity in Swedish

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Let your imagination run wild.

@JohanLarsson You guys don't have swearing, huh? Funny.

Johan Larsson

4:53 PM

regret spamming it now

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

:(

KitFox

No, it's just that I don't get it, sorry. All I see is white.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JohanLarsson Is there supposed to be content there?

Johan Larsson

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 it is really slow for me also. Think it is Korean.

Mitch

We've been trolled by the mention of 12yo swedish kids.

Johan Larsson

4:55 PM

Should I chat or go and watch gf's horse practice?

Mitch

Johan?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JohanLarsson It very quickly loads 0 bytes for me.

Johan Larsson

Mitch!

Mitch

@JohanLarsson What good is it to watch? Also, why can't you do both?

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 12yo swedish kids are laughing their asses off, right now!

Johan Larsson

@Mitch I can do both

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:56 PM

anyway i'm off to have lunch

Mitch

@JohanLarsson Problem Solved!

Johan Larsson

or two problems?

but it is a good suggestion

KitFox

phew OK, I'm ready for whatever they throw at me.

What's next? Hmm...

Matt Эллен

5:14 PM

rotten tomatoes

KitFox

Damn, hadn't thought of that.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Does anyone know if there is a particular name for the sticks they use to move your food around on the griddle at Mongolian barbecue restaurants?

Johan Larsson

mongoschtick? (mONgoscHtick in plural)

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

That sounds like the stand-up comedy happening near your table.

Johan Larsson

It is possible that I have the lamest comedy on the internet.

maybe ask in the fryingpan?

I'm pretty sure I never had Mongolian food

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

5:23 PM

@JohanLarsson good idea.

@JohanLarsson Mongolian barbecue is neither Mongolian nor barbecue.

It's stir-fry on a large griddle.

Cerberus

It may be a pshh'tok.

Johan Larsson

oh, image searched it, I have had it. Remember a restaurant in Thailand that was very fast-paced. When 70% through the meal a waiter showed up and asked "Already?" meaning get off you seat so the guys in line can eat.

Cerberus

Annoying...

But it must have been cheap.

Johan Larsson

it was cheap because it was Thailand but relatively expensive there. Was a popular place judging from the crowd. The cook made the sound roosters make every now and then also.

KitFox

Crowed.

I was provoking the rooster on a friend's farm by crowing recently, and my littlest got mad and said "Mommy don't rooster!"

Johan Larsson

5:31 PM

what does a crow do then?

KitFox

Crows also crow.

Cock-a-doodle-doo is the sound roosters make when they crow in English.

Johan Larsson

In Sweden we have tuppen gal och kråkan kraxar.

KitFox

Sometimes we say that crows caw.

But roosters definitely do not caw.

Johan Larsson

@KitFox kuckeliku

KitFox

hee hee

I think it's funny how similar and yet different animal sounds are across languages.

Crow is a multipurpose word. It is how you describe a joyful, smug outburst. "I won! I won!" he crowed.

Johan Larsson

5:35 PM

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 this?

KitFox

Caw, on the other hand, is the short sound that most corvids make as their call.

Johan Larsson

like it sounds right? caw caw caw

KitFox

It's onomatop...omnomatoma...it sounds like how it sounds.

Yep.

Johan Larsson

What is up with the layoffs? Outsourcing?

KitFox

What layoffs?

Johan Larsson

5:41 PM

The soft-money issue

KitFox

Oh. My project lead gave a week's notice that he was leaving for a different position.

He doesn't have any transition plan.

Johan Larsson

what does a week's notice mean?

KitFox

I'm the only one who is 100% on a project that is 100% his.

@JohanLarsson It means he is leaving in one week.

He doesn't know or care what happens to the project when he leaves, so I was trying to find out.

Johan Larsson

wow, that is short. I think I have three months in my contract.

KitFox

Generally, faculty give six months notice.

Johan Larsson

5:44 PM

@KitFox you are the new PL then.

KitFox

And certainly not one week via email to their boss while he is on vacation in Hawai'i.

@JohanLarsson You'd think, but nobody is letting me do that.

The irony is that I have been all along anyway.

Johan Larsson

do you want it?

KitFox

If they tack $20,000 on to my salary, I'll consider it.

But the project needs rescuing and they should let me take point.

So I can get it in order before I leave.

Johan Larsson

@KitFox only for the money?

KitFox

For the new job that I don't have yet.

@JohanLarsson What else?

Johan Larsson

5:46 PM

@KitFox some people like it, meta-work

KitFox

They don't respect my work as it is.

Johan Larsson

I don't btw

KitFox

Which is why they won't consider the possibility that I could do a stellar job with this project if they'd get out of my way.

And which is why I'm looking for a new job.

Johan Larsson

new job could mean no chat

KitFox

Could.

New job could mean getting respected as a professional.

Johan Larsson

5:51 PM

:(

KitFox

I will take this opportunity to underscore that my project lead has said on more than one occasion "I'm glad you're doing this because I just don't have time to do it myself."

i.e. "It's something I have skills for and could probably do better, but I have more important things to do than that grunt work."

Johan Larsson

and important things means drink coffee from plastic cup right?

Saying things like synergies and low-hanging-fruit now and then

KitFox

Find ways to delegate all the work from all the other projects he's accumulated, and use the excuse that he's just too busy to get to whatever he's delegated.

btw, What's AX?

Johan Larsson

context?

KitFox

The HR guy I was talking to said they were hiring a bunch of AX developers and that it was in high demand.

I nodded and hmmed, and decided to look it up later.

Johan Larsson

5:59 PM

X should be experience I think

KitFox

Have you heard of it?

Johan Larsson