English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

2:02 PM

tchrist

@Reg That’ll learn ’m.

RegDwigнt

ZZ top of the pops.

tchrist

0

A: Use of LaTeX (MathJax) in E.L.U

If all you want are special symbols, then Unicode v6.1 has 940 code points with the General Category of Math Symbol and 2,195 code points with the General Category of Other Symbol. (I haven’t tallied more recent releases, let alone the impending Unicode v7.0 release.) I’ve a hunch you might find...

I only listed the Math ones, though. :)

RegDwigнt

Yeah my thinking exactly.

tchrist

And the screen shot idea solves the harder cases.

RegDwigнt

2:06 PM

He might also want to have those cursive variable names, but who knows.

tchrist

Oh.

Right.

Matt Эллен

maths deals with snakes! ⨌

tchrist

Those are legion.

Those are from Block = Mathematical_Alphanumeric_Symbols

They require 4 bytes to represent them both in UTF-8 and in UTF-16.

Which means they count as two “characters” to SE-the-Dumb.

I wonder how they sort. Mmm.

Matt Эллен

so they've got more character than most

tchrist

It’s cause the SE idiot C# programmers count char units not code points.

RegDwigнt

2:11 PM

What is a byte? Is it, like, a part of a terabyte? I've never heard of it.

Cerberus

It is a bite, but why?

RegDwigнt

Yeah why would you bite a terabyte?

It's like all electric on your teeth and all.

Cerberus

Why electric?

You can make a terabyte in bamboo.

tchrist

Ok done: astral characters duly added:

RegDwigнt

I actually don't know why they put electricticity into computers.

tchrist

2:15 PM

𝟎 𝟘 𝟶 𝟬 𝟢 𝟏 𝟙 𝟷 𝟭 𝟣 𝟐 𝟚 𝟸 𝟮 𝟤 𝟑 𝟛 𝟹 𝟯 𝟥 𝟒 𝟜 𝟺 𝟰 𝟦 𝟓 𝟝 𝟻 𝟱 𝟧 𝟔 𝟞 𝟼
𝟲 𝟨 𝟕 𝟟 𝟽 𝟳 𝟩 𝟖 𝟠 𝟾 𝟴 𝟪 𝟗 𝟡 𝟿 𝟵 𝟫 𝐀 𝕬 𝖆 𝑨 𝒂 𝓐 𝓪 𝐚 𝔸 𝕒 𝔄 𝔞 𝐴 𝑎 𝙰 𝚊
𝗔 𝘼 𝙖 𝗮 𝖠 𝘈 𝘢 𝖺 𝒜 𝒶 𝐁 𝕭 𝖇 𝑩 𝒃 𝓑 𝓫 𝐛 𝔹 𝕓 𝔅 𝔟 𝐵 𝑏 𝙱 𝚋 𝗕 𝘽 𝙗 𝗯 𝖡 𝘉 𝘣
𝖻 𝒷 𝐂 𝕮 𝖈 𝑪 𝒄 𝓒 𝓬 𝐜 𝕔 𝔠 𝐶 𝑐 𝙲 𝚌 𝗖 𝘾 𝙘 𝗰 𝖢 𝘊 𝘤 𝖼 𝒞 𝒸 𝐃 𝕯 𝖉 𝑫 𝒅 𝓓 𝓭
𝐝 𝔻 𝕕 𝔇 𝔡 𝐷 𝑑 𝙳 𝚍 𝗗 𝘿 𝙙 𝗱 𝖣 𝘋 𝘥 𝖽 𝒟 𝒹 𝐄 𝕰 𝖊 𝑬 𝒆 𝓔 𝓮 𝐞 𝔼 𝕖 𝔈 𝔢 𝐸 𝑒
𝙴 𝚎 𝗘 𝙀 𝙚 𝗲 𝖤 𝘌 𝘦 𝖾 𝐅 𝕱 𝖋 𝑭 𝒇 𝓕 𝓯 𝐟 𝔽 𝕗 𝔉 𝔣 𝐹 𝑓 𝙵 𝚏 𝗙 𝙁 𝙛 𝗳 𝖥 𝘍 𝘧

RegDwigнt

Perhaps something to do with scientists.

@tchrist huhuh, you said ass trail.

tchrist

That’s when the toilet paper is trailing behind you as though you were Ariadne.

RegDwigнt

Ariadne? Is that that philosophy of Hitler's?

Matt Эллен

I don't see ℕ in there

RegDwigнt

Nobody ever needs ℕ.

tchrist

2:18 PM

macbook# uniprops  ℕ
U+2115 ‹ℕ› \N{DOUBLE-STRUCK CAPITAL N}
    \w \pL \p{LC} \p{L_} \p{L&} \p{Lu}
    All Any Alnum Alpha Alphabetic Assigned InLetterlikeSymbols Cased Cased_Letter LC Changes_When_NFKC_Casefolded CWKCF Common Zyyy
       Lu L Gr_Base Grapheme_Base Graph GrBase ID_Continue IDC ID_Start IDS Letter L_ Letterlike_Symbols Uppercase_Letter Math Print
       Upper Uppercase Word XID_Continue XIDC XID_Start XIDS X_POSIX_Alnum X_POSIX_Alpha X_POSIX_Graph X_POSIX_Print X_POSIX_Upper
       X_POSIX_Word

Matt Эллен

It's only natural to use ℕ

RegDwigнt

Nobody ever is natural.

tchrist

Oh FFS I did char prop GC=Sm not char prop Math.

And these are . . . different.

RegDwigнt

Gesundheit.

tchrist

Once more into the beach.

RegDwigнt

2:21 PM

Doctor doctor, I char prop gee see equal assem not char prop math.

Here, have a Valium.

tchrist

Ok, if you add just char prop Math, you get 2,310 code points with a queer sort: they don’t even end with Omega any longer.

𝟎 𝟘 𝟶 𝟬 𝟢 𝟏 𝟙 𝟷 𝟭 𝟣 𝟐 𝟚 𝟸 𝟮 𝟤 𝟑 𝟛 𝟹 𝟯 𝟥 𝟒 𝟜 𝟺 𝟰 𝟦 𝟓 𝟝 𝟻 𝟱 𝟧 𝟔 𝟞 𝟼
𝟲 𝟨 𝟕 𝟟 𝟽 𝟳 𝟩 𝟖 𝟠 𝟾 𝟴 𝟪 𝟗 𝟡 𝟿 𝟵 𝟫 ⦟ ≌ ≊ ≈ ⩯ ⨿ 𝐀 𝕬 𝖆 𝑨 𝒂 𝓐 𝓪 𝐚 𝔸 𝕒
𝔄 𝔞 𝐴 𝑎 𝙰 𝚊 𝗔 𝘼 𝙖 𝗮 𝖠 𝘈 𝘢 𝖺 𝒜 𝒶 ⟑ ∠ ⦞ ⦤ ⥀ ∳ ⟲ ⨑ ↶ ≐ ≆ ⩰ ≅ ≒ ⤶
⤷ ⤵ ⤴ ⊦ ∗ ≃ ∵ ≬ ⧹ ⧸ ⧓ ● ⧭ ♣ ◆ ⧪ ▾ ▼ ⧗ ◀ ◢ ⧫ ◾ ◼ ▰ ▶ ♠ ■ ★ ◤ ▴ ▲ ▮
𝐁 𝕭 𝖇 𝑩 𝒃 𝓑 𝓫 𝐛 𝔹 𝕓 𝔅 𝔟 𝐵 𝑏 𝙱 𝚋 𝗕 𝘽 𝙗 𝗯 𝖡 𝘉 𝘣 𝖻 𝒷 ⤻ ⌡ ⎵ ⋈ ⧑ ⧒ ℬ
∙ ℭ ℂ ⁀ ⦼ ⊛ ⦿ ⊝ ⨸ ⊘ ⊙ ⊜ ⧁ ⦺ ⧀ ⊖ ⨶ ⦷ ⦹ ⊕ ⦸ ⊚ ⊗ ⦶ ⦾ ⦵ ◐ ◒ ◑ ⧂ ⦻ ⧃ ◓
⨐ ^ ⥁ ∲ ⟳ ∱ ↷ ⩍ ⫏ ⫑ ⫐ ⫒ ⩌ ⩐ 𝐂 𝕮 𝖈 𝑪 𝒄 𝓒 𝓬 𝐜 𝕔 𝔠 𝐶 𝑐 𝙲 𝚌 𝗖 𝘾 𝙘 𝗰 𝖢

RegDwigнt

That's some aleph shit.

tchrist

Yeah, apparently the Hebrews go after the Greeks.

RegDwigнt

Apparently, it's from Omega to Aleph.

skullpatrol

I just had an argument about zero being a "natural" number >8(

tchrist

2:23 PM

Well.

skullpatrol

With a math prof

RegDwigнt

Customers who liked arguing whether zero was a number also liked arguing whether black was a color.

skullpatrol

he got mad and left

RegDwigнt

Sounds like a math prof alright.

Matt Эллен

u maths, prof?

skullpatrol

2:25 PM

he comes to the math chat room

RegDwigнt

Zero is an imaginary number. Discuss.

Matt Эллен

all numbers are imaginary. I can imagine any of them.

Cerberus

@tchrist Hey I can see all of those.

RegDwigнt

Oh right. So can I.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt You're an imaginary hippo.

RegDwigнt

2:27 PM

I wonder just how many I can see at home.

tchrist

𝟎 𝟘 𝟶 𝟬 𝟢 𝟏 𝟙 𝟷 𝟭 𝟣 𝟐 𝟚 𝟸 𝟮 𝟤 𝟑 𝟛 𝟹 𝟯 𝟥 𝟒 𝟜 𝟺 𝟰 𝟦 𝟓 𝟝 𝟻 𝟱 𝟧 𝟔 𝟞 𝟼 𝟲 𝟨 𝟕 𝟟 𝟽 𝟳 𝟩
𝟖 𝟠 𝟾 𝟴 𝟪 𝟗 𝟡 𝟿 𝟵 𝟫 ⦟ ≌ ≊ ≈ ⩯ ⨿ 𝐀 𝕬 𝖆 𝑨 𝒂 𝓐 𝓪 𝐚 𝔸 𝕒 𝔄 𝔞 𝐴 𝑎 𝙰 𝚊 𝗔 𝘼 𝙖 𝗮 𝖠 𝘈 𝘢 𝖺
𝒜 𝒶 ⟑ ∠ ⦞ ⦤ ⥀ ∳ ⟲ ⨑ ↶ ≐ ≆ ⩰ ≅ ≒ ؆ ؇ 𞻱 𞻰 ؈ ⤶ ⤷ ⤵ ⤴ ⊦ ∗ ≃ ∵ ≬ ⧹ ⧸ ⧓ ● ⧭ ♣ ◆ ⧪ ▾ ▼
⧗ ◀ ◢ ⧫ ◾ ◼ ▰ ▶ ♠ ■ ★ ◤ ▴ ▲ ▮ 𝐁 𝕭 𝖇 𝑩 𝒃 𝓑 𝓫 𝐛 𝔹 𝕓 𝔅 𝔟 𝐵 𝑏 𝙱 𝚋 𝗕 𝘽 𝙗 𝗯 𝖡 𝘉 𝘣 𝖻 𝒷
⤻ ⏟ ⌡ ⏝ ⎵ ⏡ ⋈ ⧑ ⧒ ℬ ∙ ℭ ℂ ⁀ ⦼ ⊛ ⦿ ⊝ ⨸ ⊘ ⊙ ⊜ ⧁ ⦺ ⧀ ⊖ ⨶ ⦷ ⦹ ⊕ ⦸ ⊚ ⊗ ⦶ ⦾ ⦵ ◐ ◒ ◑ ⧂

What about those ones?

Cerberus

There are three I cannot see.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus spake an imaginary dog on an imaginary network using pixels of an imaginary color.

Cerberus

Hey!

skullpatrol

how are we ever going to accept the negative numbers without 0?

Cerberus

2:28 PM

No need to rub it in.

Yes, I am in a weaker position.

skullpatrol

we need 0

Cerberus

@skullpatrol You speak nonsense.

RegDwigнt

I don't see 𞻱 𞻰, and anything after the four Hebrews: 𞸢 𞸂 𞺂 𞹢 𞹂
𞺧 𞸇 𞸧 𞺇 𞹧 𞹇 𞺷 𞸷 𞸗 𞺗 𞹷 𞹗 𞸃 𞺣 𞺃 𞺸 𞺘 𞸘 𞺳 𞺓 𞸓 𞺦 𞺆 𞸆 𞺮 𞸮 𞺎 𞸎 𞹮 𞹎 𞺴 𞸴 𞺔 𞸔 𞹴 𞹔 𞺱 𞸱 𞺑 𞸑
𞹱 𞹑 𞸙 𞺹 𞸹 𞺙 𞹹 𞹙 𞺨 𞺈 𞹨 𞸈 𞺺 𞺚 𞹺 𞸚 𞸏 𞺯 𞸯 𞺏 𞹯 𞹏 𞺻 𞸛 𞸻 𞺛 𞹻 𞹛 𞺰 𞸐 𞸰 𞺐 𞹰 𞸞 𞹾 𞸟 𞹟 𞺲 𞸲 𞺒
𞸒 𞹲 𞹒 𞸪 𞸊 𞹪 𞺫 𞸫 𞸋 𞺋 𞹋 𞺬 𞸬 𞺌 𞸌 𞹬 𞺭 𞸭 𞺍 𞸍 𞹭 𞹍 𞸝 𞹝 𞸤 𞺄 𞹤 𞺥 𞺅 𞸅 𞺩 𞸩 𞺉 𞹩 𞹉 𞸉

Cerberus

@skullpatrol What is this circle?

tchrist

@RegDwigнt The Greeks go after the Latins, the Hebrews go after the Greeks, and the Arabs go after the Hebrews. Of course.

Cerberus

2:29 PM

@RegDwigнt Uhh I can see none of those!

What are you doing?

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus that is what I am saying, yes.

Cerberus

But I could see almost all of Tchrist's.

RegDwigнt

No you couldn't.

These are of Tchrist's.

His message is long. There's a scrollbar.

I also can't see the ⟍.

Cerberus

Oh, wait.

tchrist

U+1EE00 ‭ 𞸀 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL ALEF
U+1EE01 ‭ 𞸁 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL BEH
U+1EE02 ‭ 𞸂 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL JEEM
U+1EE03 ‭ 𞸃 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL DAL
U+1EE05 ‭ 𞸅 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL WAW
U+1EE06 ‭ 𞸆 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL ZAIN
U+1EE07 ‭ 𞸇 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL HAH
U+1EE08 ‭ 𞸈 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL TAH
U+1EE09 ‭ 𞸉 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL YEH
U+1EE0A ‭ 𞸊 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL KAF
U+1EE0B ‭ 𞸋 ARABIC MATHEMATICAL LAM

RegDwigнt

2:30 PM

So together with 𞻱 𞻰, that makes three, probably the same three you didn't see.

Matt Эллен

𞻱 𞻰 ⏟ ⏝ ⏡ ○⃦ ○⃮ ○⃭ ○⃫ ○⃥ ○⃯ ○⃬
I have trouble with all of those

RegDwigнt

Plus the rest which is below the fold.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt I had not unfolded his line. I can't see the last block of characters.

RegDwigнt

@tchrist goes to show that Arabs and maths just don't mix.

@Cerberus QED.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Algewhat?

RegDwigнt

2:31 PM

Then the two if us can't see the same set.

Matt Эллен

and a bajillion others I didn't notice until Reg pointed out the scroll bar

RegDwigнt

@tchrist Algen.

skullpatrol

I think the problem is using the word "natural" number

tchrist

Zebra. Algezebra.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен I can't even select them: it selects all sorts of characters above and beneath my cursor when I try.

RegDwigнt

2:31 PM

Algeℕ.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Yes. Mystery solved.

RegDwigнt

German for Alga𝔼.

tchrist

@Cerberus That’s because they have the right to left bidirectional character property.

RegDwigнt

Bi the bi.

skullpatrol

ℕatural number

tchrist

2:33 PM

And I stripped off the overrides that I did in my linewise U+ paste above.

Matt Эллен

sideways Aries ⊱

tchrist

’Tisn’t!

That’s a Star Wars fighter.

Cerberus

@tchrist Yeah? That makes me select characters two rows up and down?

skullpatrol

so 0 is unnatural?

Cerberus

But not laterally?

RegDwigнt

2:33 PM

@skullpatrol Yes, ℕatural number, but ℤero. QED.

Cerberus

@skullpatrol That blasphemous circle again.

RegDwigнt

Zero is a natural number flipped 90 degrees.

tchrist

@Cerberus ¿Quién sabrá? You use ancientware.

Cerberus

Firefox 25.

tchrist

I can’t find an analemma.

Cerberus

2:34 PM

I have never had any problems with right-to-left.

RegDwigнt

FF 26.0 here.

tchrist

heh

skullpatrol

6 mins ago, by skullpatrol

how are we ever going to accept the negative numbers without 0?

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt They update every minute nowadays.

RegDwigнt

Dec 9 '13 at 13:57, by RegDwigнt

By trying really hard and succeeding.

skullpatrol

2:35 PM

-1, -2, -3...

Cerberus

@skullpatrol By denying their orthodoxy.

Stop it! You make mine eyes hurt!

RegDwigнt

Dec 9 '13 at 13:59, by tchrist

Eyelidectomy is such an ugly thing.

tchrist

U+1EE00 ‹𞸀› \N{ARABIC MATHEMATICAL ALEF}
    \w \pL \p{Lo}
    All Any Alnum Alpha Alphabetic Arab Arabic Arabic_Math Arabic_Mathematical_Alphabetic_Symbols InArabicMath Assigned Is_Arabic
       ID_Continue Is_IDC Changes_When_NFKC_Casefolded CWKCF L Lo Gr_Base Grapheme_Base Graph GrBase IDC ID_Start IDS Letter
       Other_Letter Math Print Word XID_Continue XIDC XID_Start XIDS X_POSIX_Alnum X_POSIX_Alpha X_POSIX_Graph X_POSIX_Print
       X_POSIX_Word
    Age=6.1 Age=V6_1 Script=Arabic Block=Arabic_Mathematical_Alphabetic_Symbols Bidi_Class=AL Bidi_Class=Arabic_Letter BC=AL

Matt Эллен

♈⊱

tchrist

NOTA BENE: Bidi_Class=Arabic_Letter

skullpatrol

2:36 PM

...,-4, -3, -2, -1, ?, 1, 2, 3, 4,...

Cerberus

1, 2, 3, 4 is what you need.

Matt Эллен

@skullpatrol just leave it blank. we'll come back to it later

skullpatrol

what is half way between -1 and 1?

Zachiel

@RegDwigнt Those were intended to be included in the not-good. Or maybe they deserve to feel offended XD

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@skullpatrol That doesn't matter

Cerberus

2:37 PM

What's halfway between Atlantis and France?

tchrist

And BC=AL goes the ‮other way

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> There is no universal agreement about whether to include zero in the set of natural numbers: some define the natural numbers to be the positive integers {1, 2, 3, ...}, while for others the term designates the non-negative integers {0, 1, 2, 3, ...}. The former definition is the traditional one, with the latter definition having first appeared in the 19th century.

@skullpatrol you're arguing about whether to apply a label to a number. It doesn't meaningfully impact number theory.

tchrist

I love discussing number theory in ELU chat.

Strawberry fields forever.

skullpatrol

But it is neither positive nor negative.

Matt Эллен

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 surely if an equation works for the original N but not the N with 0 in it, that's important?

skullpatrol

2:40 PM

-1, ? , 1

halfway is no sign

Matt Эллен

there's no sign of it

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен It's just a matter of describing a set. Sometimes it's convenient to include zero, other times not. As long as everyone agrees up front what they mean by "Natural Numbers", communication is preserved.

Cerberus

@tchrist Strawberry fields?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@skullpatrol Are you claiming that zero is positive?

tchrist

@Cerberus Fields, rings, groups, and I forget the other.

Matt Эллен

2:41 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 yes, but it would be easier to agree on one way

tchrist

In general, Microsoft’s disapproval is usually a strong indication that you’re doing something right. — tchrist 1 min ago

Cerberus

I am not cognisant of this trope.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist Can we get their disapproval of natural numbers, and put this to rest?

tchrist

Apropos de rôle.

Cerberus

Or topos, or whatever it be.

tchrist

2:42 PM

@Cerberus Oh. Sorry. It’s called abstract algebra.

No, really.

Not funnin’.

Cerberus

Unbeknownst to me.

skullpatrol

has anyone not heard of the zeroth law of thermodynamics?

tchrist

Field (mathematics)

In abstract algebra, a field is a nonzero commutative ring that contains a multiplicative inverse for every nonzero element, or equivalently a ring whose nonzero elements form an abelian group under multiplication. As such it is an algebraic structure with notions of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division satisfying the appropriate abelian group equations and distributive law. The most commonly used fields are the field of real numbers, the field of complex numbers, and the field of rational numbers, but there are also finite fields, fields of functions, algebraic number fi...

Matt Эллен

@skullpatrol isn't that "don't talk about thermodynamics"?

Cerberus

I know they have fields...but why strawberries?

tchrist

2:44 PM

> As such it is an algebraic structure with notions of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division satisfying the appropriate abelian group equations and distributive law. The most commonly used fields are the field of real numbers, the field of complex numbers, and the field of rational numbers,

skullpatrol

:D

Matt Эллен

or is it "collect underpants"?

tchrist

That’s the relevant part.

@Cerberus I was hungry.

For the tweedle beetles’ battle.

skullpatrol

!!wiki zeroth law of thermodynamics

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

!!youtube strawberry fields

KitSox

2:45 PM

Zeroth law of thermodynamics

The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if two thermodynamic systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third, then all three are in thermal equilibrium with each other. Two systems are said to be in the relation of thermal equilibrium if they are linked by a wall permeable only to heat, and do not change over time. As a convenience of language, systems are sometimes also said to be in a relation of thermal equilibrium if they are not linked so as to be able to transfer heat to each other, but would not do so if they were connected by a wall permeable only to heat. The physical...

►

tchrist

There you go, make her earn her keep!

skullpatrol

we can use 0 to count so it is "natural" to call it a natural number

Cerberus

@tchrist Ah, that explains it.

No cheese fields?

tchrist

In this weather?

Matt Эллен

Cheese doesn't grow no trees. You're thinking of spaghetti

tchrist

2:47 PM

The cows dry up and lay no cheese.

Matt Эллен

@skullpatrol we can use 0.5 to count, if we want.

Cerberus

Ah.

But fields normally don't have many trees.

skullpatrol

@MattЭллен yes

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus so why are you thinking of spaghetti?

tchrist

Oak savanna

An oak savanna is a type of savanna, or lightly forested grassland, where oaks (Quercus spp.) are the dominant trees. These savannas were maintained historically through wildfires set by lightning or humans, grazing, low precipitation, and/or poor soil. Although there are pockets of oak savanna almost anywhere in North America where oaks are present, there are three major oak savanna areas: 1) California and Oregon in the west; 2) Southwestern United States and Mexico; and 3) the prairie/forest border of the Midwest. There are also small areas of oak savannas in other parts of the world. ...

Cerberus

2:48 PM

You're thinking of gaarden/-(c?h?)ards.

Matt Эллен

orchards

tchrist

Oaks are quirky.

Or querci.

Cerberus

@tchrist You would call something a field where they specifically cultivate trees?

@MattЭллен I know, but which part if etymologically part of the word?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Ha, I once wrote a story where the protagonists were trees, and one was an oak that lived in an oak savanna

skullpatrol

hi @cornbreadninja麵包忍者

tchrist

2:50 PM

@Cerberus Who says fields are only those things which Man has manicured with his cultivars?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@skullpatrol howdy.

tchrist

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh, that was the one with the trouble with the maples, right?

RegDwigнt

Oak! Savanna, do not cry for me. I come from Alabama, with my banjo on my knee.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@tchrist the oaks are just too greedy, and they grab up all the light.

tchrist

jinx

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:51 PM

!!coke

KitSox

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean. Use the !!/help command to learn more.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist No, there were no maples in it.

tchrist

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 It’s more peaceable that way. No hatchets, ax, or saw.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Time to make the ~~donuts~~ coffee.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The background story was an ongoing war between the grasslands and the evergreen forests. A fungus was afflicting the forest trees and they had to venture into the grasslands to infiltrate the oak society to find a cure.

The trees and other plants were "animate" (fungi too, to some degree) and the "animals" were inanimate. I had to, er, bend the rules a bit.

tchrist

2:53 PM

And yet, trees cannot live without the fungal kingdom.

Symbiotes. Roots.

Huorns.

RegDwigнt

Oh the last bit is interesting.

How did you go about making animals inanimate?

tchrist

Steal their souls.

RegDwigнt

Yeah but they still move around and things.

tchrist

Sin ánima they become mere zombies.

RegDwigнt

They are animated for all meanings of animated.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:55 PM

Well, the plants are free to move around. The animals are rooted to the ground.

RegDwigнt

Oh.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

And yeah, some of the plants/fungi are allies and some are enemies.

Matt Эллен

if they're of power 3 or less you can cast Runner's bane

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

You can't think too hard about it all or it starts to come apart at the seams.

RegDwigнt

How did the animals feed?

Did they wait for a plant to come around and sacrifice itself?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:57 PM

I never addressed how the animals worked.

Matt Эллен

how did root vegetables work?

tchrist

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

This is why I didn't let any of you guys read the story.

Matt Эллен

:D

tchrist

Weird, Canada is all but barren of oak savanna.

I think it’s because there, the cold conifers and brusque birches have won the battle.

As mounts the altitude or latitude, so go the deciduous angiosperms.

RegDwigнt

3:00 PM

Tchrist, your comment really is cryptic.

He writes two possibilities, and you say "It's an error"... so we have to guess which of them is the error? — GEdgar 4 mins ago

tchrist

@RegDwigнt I’m a one-register answer machine. I’ve neither stack nor queue for questions. I answered the last one asked.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Cerberus

@tchrist It's the other way around: fields are not what man cultivates trees on. That's all I was saying.

tchrist

Does anybody know the formula to convert gains in altitude to gains in latitude?

Answer: you swap the first two letters.

But truly, there is one.

I forget what it is.

It’s like this much altitude gain equates to this much latitude gain.

I know that you lose 3-5 F° per kilofoot gain in altitude.

RegDwigнt

@tchrist I have edited your comment accordingly. Do cross-check.

tchrist

3:07 PM

Actually it’s 2 °C per 300 meaters, but who’s counting?

@RegDwigнt Yes, right. Thanks much. I lacked the magic.

RegDwigнt

Yeah.

tchrist

It’s snowing here. Again and again and again.

RegDwigнt

Oh, we got rain the other week.

Right after I told you how we had not had rain for decades.

tchrist

RegDwigнt

15.5 F feels like 15 F. Talk about splitting hairs.

tchrist

3:09 PM

Yeah.

It’s because they’re doing internal calculations in C I imagine.

But since it’s CGI, it could also be Perl.

RegDwigнt

Gosh, that's like all the data anyone could ever possibly need, not need, and everything else.

tchrist

Wait, how come they didn’t covert the Wind Direction into metric???

RegDwigнt

Though I'm missing the current measurements of each grass straw, in inches, centimeters, German elbows, and Russian sazhens.

tchrist

Shouldn’t 335 degrees be 93% of a circle?

RegDwigнt

In Kelvin or Réaumur? Instructions unclear.

tchrist

3:14 PM

@RegDwigнt It’s the National Center for Atmospheric Research — what do you expect?

RegDwigнt

@tchrist less numbers and more research.

Like, "because of this, you should not be doing business today", or "the straws are aligned such that you should marry someone named Susan yesterday".

Then I would even consider subscribing to their newsletter.

5

Q: What do the letters ï and ô mean?

Possible Duplicate: What is the distinction between “role” and “rôle” [with a circumflex]? What is the significance of the “ô” character in “rôle” in this work? What is the standard rule for using or not using hyphen and diaeresis on the words like reelect , reexamine, and cooperate? “...

Haha, now it looks as if it was tchrist who asked that question.

JSBձոգչ

!!jquery load

KitSox

@JSBձոգչ api.jquery.com/load

KitFox

3:35 PM

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 is this a fun game? Should I try it?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

3:56 PM

@KitFox yes!

tchrist

Why does fair weather translate to fine weather in Eurospeak? Is this some Teutonic barbarism?

MετάEd

@tchrist Because fair weather means good weather.

Unlike in other contexts such as grading, where fair means "less than good".

Matt Эллен

4:25 PM

is "fair to middling" reduplication, or is fair better than average, there?

is reduplication what I mean? what's the term that covers things like "joint and several"?

MετάEd

4:45 PM

@MattЭллен In that context, fair is better than middling.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt There\'s hardly any time left!

@MattЭллен dammit, now I'm thinking of spaghetti.

Cerberus

5:24 PM

@MattЭллен Pleonasm, or even tautology, is the word you meant.

And I agree with Ed that fair is better than middling.

MετάEd

Thurber would have drawn a pleosaur and a tautosaur, if he'd thought of it.

Cerberus

I would probably read pleosaur as "navigating lizard"...

Glen The Udderboat

5:45 PM

Are unnamed sources not authorized to speak?

Cerberus

Umm.

Context?

Glen The Udderboat

Glad you asked.

0

Q: Unnamed sources: Are they not authorized to speak?

A simple Google search reveals that many newspaper articles do not name their sources (quite often "officials"), [...] because they are not authorized to speak [...] So, taken somewhat literally, and with perhaps some naiveté, this seems to imply that such articles besides their main topic ...

news work law-enforcement

Is there a Journalism SE?

MετάEd

@GlenTheUdderboat An anonymous source may have a reason other than "unauthorized" to request anonymity.

Glen The Udderboat

So, did a journalist in such case just write down a blatant lie (without checking it)?

Cerberus

I don't think anybody knows the proportion of people who are generally not supposed to say what they say to journalists compared to those who are. It seems fair to suggest that there will be significant numbers of both. In many cases, the "revelation" seems contrary to the interests of the party reported on; then it seems reasonable to assume that the employee was not supposed to talk. In other cases, anything is possible... — Cerberus 7 secs ago

Glen The Udderboat

5:53 PM

"The law enforcement officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about evidence found at the scene [...]"

Cerberus

@GlenTheUdderboat That seems like a good reason for anonymity, even though it may still have been their bosses who encouraged them to speak up.

cyril

how is it called again when you apply by your own to an enterprise without precise job offer?

Glen The Udderboat

"Last spring, an FBI agent asked state Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) if Solis had solicited his support for the fundraiser, according to the two sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the case."

Cerberus

@cyril An open application?

At least that's what it's called in Dutch.

cyril

hmm, I will try that

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:56 PM

@GlenTheUdderboat Is this question on-topic for skeptics? What is the notable claim?

cyril

I think there was an expression like opportunist application (not this word but close)

Glen The Udderboat

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 It's claimed thousands of times.