English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

OK

@Mitch 🤣

before I got up I was petting my cat...

I is in V"i"kas.

and when I got up with my tea, my cat was sort of walking in my way, as you can esily imagine they do...

and I stumbled...

and jostled me a bit...

I've noticed stray cats in youtube vlogs are not so afraid if you go closer to them. Here, they run away from me if I want to go close.

Don't know if it's just coincidence or what.

6:10 PM

and as good a sense of balance I have..

some drops of tea sloshed out of my cup...

and to avoid it getting on the equipment...

-and- avoid stepping on the cat...

my foot ran over the cord and pulled the plug out of the socket.

That interrupted the time-communicator.

So the time-fold didn't work at just this time.

You may well think that I could, as with all time travel plots, just later on when everything is plugged in and working and tea is successfully microwaved and stably sitting on my desk, just set the timer for that time.

And you would have blown out of the water -all- of those idiotic time-travel plots.

Why didn't Reese just set the time machine to a few moments -before- the Terminator had and kill the Terminator -right- as he was coming from the future? That whole thing just didn't make sense.

@Vikas Maybe people are only posting videos where the cats approach you, and not ones where the cats walk away.

@Mitch You know, it's not much more effort to make sense. As opposed to making nonsense. You could give the former a try.

Because the approaching ones are more interesting videos to post?

@Mitch Maybe.

@FaheemMitha I'm just a bot standing in front of a keyboard making up a story.

@Mitch Unlikely.

6:18 PM

But that Terminator stuff... total nonsense.

Time travel plots don't make sense by definition.

Is anybody out there watching "India: The Modi Question"? Just banned in India, so that will probably bring viewing numbers up.

I wonder if torrents for it have been set up yet. It's a while since I ran bittorrent.

@FaheemMitha Then you're discounting most of science fiction (based on implausible if not impossible non-science)

The authors just don't think things through.

@Mitch Much of SF is nonsense, yes. It's largely designed to entertain. But there is some thoughtful and interesting stuff in the mix.

@FaheemMitha Have you seen it? Or are you wondering if it's worthwhile to see?

Of course, there is nothing wrong with entertainment, as long as you know enough not to take it seriously.

6:28 PM

@Vikas the answer is not satisfactory. When and who decided they refer to those specific numbers? I doubt people needed a word for 10 million in the Vedic age. And why did that entity go for those numbers? Why not 10,000 and 1 billion, or any other pair of numbers?

@Mitch No, I have not seen it. Like I said, it was banned. No doubt it's possible to figure out a way around it, with enough effort. But I haven't done so.

I imagine it's easy enough to access in most places outside India. I'd be interested to hear what people think of it. Though you'd be better off reading a book like "The Price of the Modi Years". I have a copy. Quite comprehensive.

shadily leans against the wall Banned stuff is my specialty <hoarse street voice>

"Xers in denial can’t admit to themselves that a project founded in delusion, marinated in fantasy, riddled with contradictions and marketed with mendacities was never going to “work”. "

Guess who 'X' is.

Frankly it could be -anybody-

@M.A.R. So, kind sir. How do I watch that BBC documentary? Do tell.

@M.A.R. I have signed up on that SE and set a bounty of 100 reps I got. Let's wait for a better answer ;)

6:31 PM

@FaheemMitha Quick googling says it's a BBC production.

@Mitch It is.

So does BBC distribute in India?

@Mitch Define distribute.

(ie I'm trying to figure out how the ban would work)

@FaheemMitha There are presumably many broadcasters in India. These broadcasters also may not produce all their own content.

I tried accessing the BBC site, but it said the content was restricted. The exact message is:

> BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues. In the UK? Here's some advice.

6:33 PM

@Mitch Obamaers? I can only picture such flowery depiction of failure to come from the mouth of a Republican senator

So they may get it elsewhere, for example, pay BBC for some.

@Mitch Oh, right. Yes, probably there are people in India who distribute BBC content, yes. I don't know who they are, off hand.

@M.A.R. haha I didn't expect that. No it's something else

@FaheemMitha They are trying to make you regret independence.

@FaheemMitha I'm just trying to figure out how the ban would work. Who would be breaking the law by airing the special?

6:35 PM

@Cerberus Nobody regrets independence.

2

I hoped that would trigger you.

@Mitch Dunno. I think they're just blocking internet sites.

@FaheemMitha well I did find a couple hundred torrents . . .

@M.A.R. Oh? You mean of this BBC documentary?

I did a search, but nothing came up.

@FaheemMitha yep. The Modi Question

6:36 PM

OK I'll give in. X = Brexit

Brexiters are realizing that maybe it wasn't a good idea.

Shocking I know.

Frankly, the documentary is probably no great shakes. And it's just a two parter, so can't cover much. The Nazi idiots deserve a proper series to themselves. Around a 100 episodes might cover some of the stuff they have been doing.

@M.A.R. How did you find them?

At least they're not like the Russians.

@Mitch Who aren't?

The Belorussians wish they were more like the RUssians.

SO the British are regretting their independence.

Just so you know I'm sending a hidden message with the seemingly random capitalization of some characters.

That message is "I cannot type"

@FaheemMitha I used a Pirate Bay proxy website

6:39 PM

also "I am too lazy to edit"

@M.A.R. Oh.

@FaheemMitha google says "use a VPN"

@M.A.R. Do you watch a lot of things via torrent?

That ban is just going to make more people want to watch it.

@Mitch Well, yes. It's a good thing for the documentary makers, obviously. Very obliging of the Nazi moron thugs.

Unfortunately they are probably giving publicity to a less than stellar piece of work. I wonder if it would be possible to persuade them to ban "The Price of the Modi Years."

Now that's something that really could use a larger readership, depressing read though it makes.

6:48 PM

@FaheemMitha I'd watch that if it were a series

@Mitch If what was a series? The BBC documentary, or the book?

@FaheemMitha "If what was a series?": I linked my chat message to one of your messages. A pronoun in my message most likely refers to something in yours. You use a pronoun too, which refers to an object in a previous sentence of yours. -Also- I say "if it -were- a series which implies that it is currently -not- a series. Therefore one can deduce, using elementary logic thatI am referring to

Robusto

7:07 PM

@jlliagre I totally screwed the pooch on that one. Not even gonna show it.

@Mitch I'd call it reliably unreliable.

7:19 PM

@Robusto Yes, not an easy one.

@Mitch So is the line separating France and the UK in the Chunnel a border or not?

@jlliagre I don't know. It seems like cheating to call something like that a border.

But I suppose legally it must be one.

Yes, on one side French law applies and on the other One, the British one.

borders in water seem a little weird to me. It doesn't feel right to say they are adjacent.

even if there is some agreed upon, definable, and enforceable 'line'

There is always some kind of uncertainty off shore but in a tunnel, the border can be materialized (and I'm sure it is).

7:34 PM

To say "England borders on France" doesn't seem right, even if there is about 30 meters of it being a legal correct situation.

Yes, but that one is less questionable than the multiple pseudo-borders Worldle likes to state.

@jlliagre Yeah, like all the 'neighbors' of Taiwan include Hong Kong an Macau.

Yes, or even Portugal and Gibraltar.

tchrist

Enclaves and exclaves.

And strange isles.

@Mitch Oh, good grief. Just answer the freaking question.

7:54 PM

🤣

@FaheemMitha yep. Almost every day

@M.A.R. OK.

Le Mot (@WordleFR) #379 5/6

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https://wordle.louan.me

9:06 PM

@CowperKettle

Robusto

10:44 PM

@Cerberus That last one contradicts itself. DePuy is successful at getting rid of senior officers, so if that is true then getting rid of him would not result in a shortage of those officers but a surplus.

ChatGPT is extremely flawed, and once the novelty wears off I hope people see it for what it is.

CowperKettle

@Cerberus Wow. It explained "like DePuy" correctly. But it translated the phrase into Russian incorrectly - вроде ДеПюи instead of как ДеПюи.

11:24 PM

@Robusto kids in school won't care. It's an easy way to get homework done

CowperKettle

Tide mill

A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one-way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide begins to fall. When the tide is low enough, the stored water can be released to turn a water wheel. Tide mills are usually situated in river estuaries, away from the effects of waves but close enough to the sea to have a reasonable tidal range. Cultures that built such mills have existed since the Middle...

Cool.