English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

alphabet

12:34 AM

Tightrope, a daily trivia game | Britannica

Sep. 19, 2024

T I G H T R O P E
✅ ✅ 💔 ✅ 💔 ✅ ✅ ✅ 💔 🤕

My Score: 1380

Wordle 1,188 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟨🟨🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

alphabet

1:14 AM

@CowperKettle So I found out how to use that AI song generator thing:

Marching Through Georgia (Pop Version)

alphabet

1:58 AM

The Marching Song of the First of Arkansas (Country Version)

Robusto

@alphabet I think they got the color wrong in this one. Arkansas was a rebel state.

alphabet

@Robusto Those are actual lyrics from the time. The soldiers were recruited in Arkansas in 1863.

Robusto

@alphabet OK, I wasn't aware of that. It sounds way too cheery for the period, though.

alphabet

@Robusto You can listen to the actual, original version here.

Of course I gave the AI the lyrics, but it doesn't know the original melody (or, seemingly, what the words mean) so it sounds rather peppy and upbeat given the topic.

The same goes for the "Marching Through Georgia" cover.

Robusto

@alphabet That particular tune is the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" ... maybe Tennessee Ernie Ford (who was a mid-20th century personality) just applied it, or maybe the original just appropriated it.

alphabet

2:11 AM

@Robusto The original song--the 1863 version--was written to fit that melody.

So the latter.

Robusto

Hell, the "Star Spangled Banner" is a purloined tune from a British drinking song.

And "My Country 'Tis of Thee" is stolen from "God Save Our Gracious King (Queen)"

Lotta that going around.

alphabet

4:20 AM

Haaretz: Israelis Should Watch the Footage From Lebanon With Repulsion and Fear, Not Glee

M.A.R.

8:48 AM

@alphabet 1) the title sounds a bit moralizing. Would probably alienate the people its message is supposed to reach. 2) the fact that it needs to be said is proof already that moral boundaries have vanished and the word of the day is bloodlust.

Can't read it since it's behind a paywall

35

Q: How can "chemical-free" surface cleaners work?

There's a company called 2San that has gotten some press recently for selling a "chemical-free" cleaner, which is "created by re-engineering water in a seven-stage filtration process". It's called Clean Zero. The marketing materials state: Clean Zero is produced through microfiltration of water,...

Wow that company is full of shit

What do they spray on the surface if not a chemical?

A physical?

Haha it sounds like they're selling people distilled water. I will not feel sorry for people that buy it.

Don't tell anyone but I have a dark side that tends to want to come out when people call drugs "chemical" and herbal crap "natural".

It's the sort of dark side that would execute order 66.

Vikas

10:55 AM

I received a TikTok verification code on Gmail even though I haven't touched it in recent years.

Vikas

12:02 PM

Do you often type THanks instead of Thanks? I'm not a biggest fan of Tom Hanks but it still happens very very often.

jlliagre

12:24 PM

@Vikas NEver!

Vikas

12:50 PM

not the* biggest

Araucaria - Him

Hello folks! Any mathematicians here?

jlliagre

1:13 PM

@Araucaria-Him Possibly but you might also want to look here.

Araucaria - Him

@jlliagre Thanks, I'm preparing to ask a question there!

@jlliagre If I have three random integers bewteen 0-100, what is the probability that the middle one (the median?) is closest in value to 50?

jlliagre

@Araucaria-Him Interesting. I would try brute force.

Araucaria - Him

@jlliagre I've tried that with numbers 1-10 but there's too many duplicate numbers that I don't know what to do with

I suspect it's 1/3 but I'm not sure.

Robusto

@Araucaria-Him Right, dupes will cancel any concept of "middle" ... I think you'll get a quicker response from the main math.se site.

Wordle 1,189 4/6

🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Araucaria - Him

@Robusto @jlliagre What tag would you give it over there?

Robusto

1:27 PM

@Araucaria-Him Dunno. random-distribution?

Araucaria - Him

@Robusto OK, I'll try that. Thanks

@Robusto Doesn't exist yet!

Robusto

@Araucaria-Him You could create it. Some helpful person will no doubt edit your question.

BTW, what do you need this answer for?

Araucaria - Him

@Robusto Because I want to show the answer to this question here in a simple intuitive way.

jlliagre

@Araucaria-Him Unless I have misunderstood the problem or my code is buggy (both very plausible), the result is between 51.44 and 51.46.

Araucaria - Him

1:43 PM

@jlliagre Hmm. Interesting. Not what I expected

jlliagre

@Araucaria-Him Hmm, with a bigger span and then less duplicates, the trend gets closer to 50.

Pass 100000000: Ratio = 50.001228
Pass 200000000: Ratio = 49.997901
Pass 300000000: Ratio = 49.997523
Pass 400000000: Ratio = 49.996388
Pass 500000000: Ratio = 49.996110
Pass 600000000: Ratio = 49.998980
Pass 700000000: Ratio = 49.999779
Pass 800000000: Ratio = 50.000834
Pass 900000000: Ratio = 50.001602
Pass 1000000000: Ratio = 50.002003
Pass 1100000000: Ratio = 50.002848

Araucaria - Him

@jlliagre That's more satistying, I think. What's the word for a number that may or may not be an integer? i.e. if I wanted to make the numbers not necessarily integers?

jlliagre

@Araucaria-Him Reals?

Araucaria - Him

@jlliagre 'real numbers'?

@jlliagre Here's the question at the moment. I think I should change it before anyone answers by changing 'integers' to ' _____' (real numbers?). What do you think?

@jlliagre I've gone with 'real numbers', thanks!

jlliagre

2:18 PM

Brute force seems to be confirmed by intelligence :-)

Wordle 1,189 4/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#WhenTaken #206 (20.09.2024)

I scored 864/1000 🎉

1️⃣ 📍 7537 km - 🗓️ 0 yrs - ⚡ 110 / 200
2️⃣ 📍 303 km - 🗓️ 3 yrs - ⚡ 187 / 200
3️⃣ 📍 15 km - 🗓️ 6 yrs - ⚡ 192 / 200
4️⃣ 📍 756.2 metres - 🗓️ 9 yrs - ⚡ 187 / 200
5️⃣ 📍 180 km - 🗓️ 5 yrs - ⚡ 188 / 200

https://whentaken.com

jlliagre

2:34 PM

Daily Octordle #970
5️⃣4️⃣
🕐6️⃣
8️⃣🔟
9️⃣7️⃣
Score: 62

Daily Sequence Octordle #970
5️⃣6️⃣
7️⃣8️⃣
🔟🕚
🕛🕐
Score: 72

Araucaria - Him

@jlliagre And, satisfyingly, intelligence by brute force :)

jlliagre

3:01 PM

Tightrope, a daily trivia game | Britannica

Sep. 20, 2024

T I G H T R O P E
💔 💔 ✅ ✅ 💔 ⎵ ⎵ ⎵ ⎵ 🤕

My Score: 350

britannica.com/quiz/spot-the-canadian-quiz

I'm not an expert in Canadian things :)

Mitch

@Araucaria-Him interesting question. Intuitively it's obvious that it should be probability 1/2. But probability rarely follows obvious intuition.

I'm having a hard time figuring out symbolically what the answer to your problem is.

jlliagre

3:16 PM

britannica.com/quiz/…

Mitch

@Araucaria-Him Just say 'a number between 0 and 1'. (Don't bother with integers).

@Araucaria-Him that's fine

@Araucaria-Him distances between points on a line are different enough from arc lengths (because of wrap-around) that the reasoning may not apply immediately.

Especially since there is no median point on the circle.

Araucaria - Him

@Mitch Take any given point on the circle. Call that point A. Take the circumference of the circle and for convenience divide it into 100 length-units (or if it helps intuitively, try 360 units).

Mitch

@Araucaria-Him no need to worry about length units, just say the circumference is length 1 (or better 2 pi.

Araucaria - Him

@Mitch Then take 3 random numbers between 0-100 which now represent 3 points going clockwise (or anticlockwise if you prefer) along the circumference of the circle from A, and label them B, C, D. The longest line from A to one of those points will be to the one closest to 50 (50 is directly opposite A and marks the diameter of the circle, by definition the longest possible chord in the circle).

@Mitch Yes, but the point is that the longest chord possible is to the halfway mark round the circumference. So the closest of the three other points to that point will be the longest line from A.

Mitch

Ok saying 'choose without loss of generality that A is at (1, 0)' might work.

But you have to worry about BD being on a diameter (the longest distance)

Araucaria - Him

3:33 PM

@Mitch And there's a 50% chance that it will be one of the neighbouring points that will be longest.

Mitch

@Araucaria-Him all 4 pts could be bunched up near A (all within pi/100 of A)

Araucaria - Him

@Mitch @Mitch Yes, but the one nearest to halfway round the circumference will form the longest chord with A regardless.

Mitch

@Araucaria-Him that sounds good but I'm fuzzy headed right now and I feel like you still need to worry about BD.

Araucaria - Him

@Mitch Probability they're all before 1/2 way = 1/8 and chance that it's a neighbouring point closest to halfway is 100%. Same for all being after 1/2 way. Then chance of one being past 1/2 way .... See this answer here

@Mitch Yes, I'm all screwed after that. Haven't worked out how to integrate that with BC, CD or, as you say DB (i.e. BD).

Mitch

@Araucaria-Him ok I'll look at that and think about it once my head is clearer (naps are great but afterwards are awful)

Araucaria - Him

3:46 PM

@Mitch That would be great! Hope it wears off soon!

MetaEd

4:04 PM

"Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit." ---Seneca

MetaEd

4:16 PM

Wordle 1,189 4/6

🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Robusto

7:51 PM

Daily Octordle #970
4️⃣5️⃣
🕛6️⃣
7️⃣9️⃣
🔟8️⃣
Score: 61

Daily Sequence Octordle #970
5️⃣6️⃣
7️⃣8️⃣
9️⃣🔟
🕚🕛
Score: 68

Tightrope, a daily trivia game | Britannica

Sep. 20, 2024

T I G H T R O P E
✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ 🎉

My Score: 2450

Robusto

8:16 PM

@jlliagre How did you fare so poorly on that? It was an easy quiz.

I got 12/20 on the Canadian thing. Somehow it's always a bit of a surprise when someone successful in American media or sports turns out to be from Canada. Not a lot of diffentiating markers.

Conrado

Tightrope, a daily trivia game | Britannica

Sep. 20, 2024

T I G H T R O P E
💔 ✅ ✅ ✅ 💔 ✅ ✅ 💔 ⎵ 🤕

My Score: 1070

Never heard of the Halem Globetrotter.

jlliagre

8:34 PM

@Robusto Spoiler

Robusto

@jlliagre Ah, well, I would do poorly on a French vocab quiz too.

Robusto

8:58 PM

The Amazing Return of the FORTRAN Programming Language!

►

Glad I'm retired.

He refers to the Fortran "codes" ... a hallmark of Indian English, which treats "code" as a count noun, whereas In the US it's a count noun.

Robusto

9:26 PM

Sorry, I mean in the US it's a mass noun. D'oh!

jlliagre

9:47 PM

@Robusto An entire video on Fortran without a single line of Fortran code. Most of the "codes" shown are C or similar.

Robusto

@jlliagre Yes. I really wanted to see some code too, see how well I could have seen how the language worked. But not enough to go look it up. ;-)

GratefulDisciple

10:25 PM

@jlliagre and @Robusto The video cracks me up. At minute 1:37 when mentioning that FORTRAN is a high level language, they show 2 colleagues (that don't look like programmers) looking at a computer screen discussing what looks like a business topic. Sure, high level alright.

@Robusto From what I remember from my university course, it's similar to the old Basic (with line numbers instead of object oriented Visual basic) where # of spaces for indentation is meaningful! Examples from Wikipedia. If there are still FORTRAN code out there being used, I wonder why people don't make a transcompiler to automatically convert the code to something like C# / C++.

jlliagre

@GratefulDisciple Real Fortran programmers punch Hollerith cards in a noisy computer room. They do not casually chat pointing 40-inch LCD screens.

tchrist

10:46 PM

ismy.blue

jlliagre

> Your boundary is at hue 173, greener than 62% of the population. For you, turquoise is blue.

tchrist

> Your boundary is at hue 176, bluer than 75% of the population. For you, turquoise is green.

This has more to do with how the monitor is set up.

That's a greenish color here.

Having to pretend that blue-green is one or the other instead of both or neither is silly.

jlliagre

tchrist

Verde, verde, te quiero verde.

jlliagre

@tchrist In corsican, blue is turchinu.

tchrist

10:59 PM

mine:  R=57   G=225   B=209
yours: R=64   G=224   B=208

mine:  H=174° S=74.7% V=88.2%
yours: H=174° S=71.4% V=87.8%

Our colors have the same hue but different slightly in their saturation and value.

> Thou blossom bright with autumn dew,
And colored with the heaven’s own blue,
That openest when the quiet light
Succeeds the keen and frosty night.

Thou comest not when violets lean
O’er wandering brooks and springs unseen,
Or columbines, in purple dressed,
Nod o’er the ground-bird’s hidden nest.

Thou waitest late and com’st alone,
When woods are bare and birds are flown,
And frosts and shortening days portend
The aged year is near his end.

Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye
Look through its fringes to the sky,

Gentianopsis crinita, the fringed gentian.

> Greater fringed-gentian is a beautiful, autumn-flowering plant, 8-30 in. tall, often branched above. Showy, blue flowers have four spreading petals that are fringed at the end and part way down the sides. A single, blue, fringed flower, opening in the sun and closing at night, is at the end of each erect stem of a branching plant. The petals are twisted together when the flower is closed.

One of the most beautiful of the gentians, with its delicately fringed petals and striking blue color, it is becoming rare and must not be picked. It is a biennial, and along with the other gentians, is…

Looks a bit indigo to me. :)

Gentianopsis crinita

Gentianopsis crinita (sometimes called greater fringed gentian or blue gentian) is a biennial herbaceous species, native to eastern USA and eastern Canada. The flowers of fringed gentian open on sunny days, but generally remain closed on cloudy days. Individual plants live for only one or two years; the plant is noted as having become relatively rare. It grows in moist, limey woods, meadows, and stream banks. In autumn, solitary, iridescent blue flowers develop on naked peduncles approximately 2 to 10 cm (3⁄4 to 4 in) in height. Each finely fringed petal is 3.5 to 6 cm (1+3⁄8 to 2+3⁄8 in) in length...

Whereas notice how much paler blue that appears. It's all exposure tricks. Color is in the mind.

I forget what our kind here are called.

jlliagre

@tchrist Indeed. When I move the color gradient page from my laptop screen to an external monitor, the color feeling change substantially. These tests are unreliable unless the screens are calibrated, which they are not.

tchrist

Gentianopsis thermalis

@jlliagre Yup. Ditto for me between the laptop and the external monitors.

@jlliagre I used to do the whole calibrated monitor thing when I was heavily into processing photo images and raws and such.

@jlliagre Turkoid, eh? So much for azures and caerulians.

celestes

Robusto

11:19 PM

@tchrist My blue is at hue 178, bluer than 82% of the population. (Why, because they failed the test?) For me, turquoise is green. (Well, I'm not so sure about that. It depends on the turquoise.)

tchrist

@Robusto aye

> mac(tchrist)% colorgrep 'blue|bluish'
aqua: A light greenish blue color.

aquamarine: Bluish-green (color); sea-color

azure: A bright blue pigment or dye; The clear blue color of the
unclouded sky, or of the sea reflecting it. (Originally, the deep
intense blue of more southern latitudes.)

bice: Brownish grey, dark grey. dark or dull blue.

blae: Of a dark color between black and blue; blackish blue; of the
color of the blae-berry; livid; also, of a lighter shade, bluish grey,
lead-colored.

jlliagre

tchrist

mostly French

NB: cornflower = bachelor button

jlliagre

> Turbulent skies have often inspired artists, particularly in the iconic swirls of Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night. For an extended period, debate has raged over whether the flow pattern in this masterpiece adheres to Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence. In contrast to previous studies that examined only part of this painting, all and only the whirls/eddies in the painting are taken into account in this work, following the Richardson–Kolmogorov's cascade picture of turbulence. Consequently, the luminance's Fourier power spectrum spontaneously exhibits a characteristic

pubs.aip.org/aip/pof/article-abstract/36/9/095140/3312767/…

Robusto

The Japanese perceive blue (aoi, 青) as going way into the green, and the word can be read as blue or green); midori, 緑 is the color that absolutely means green, but shades toward the light green.

Dannyu NDos

11:30 PM

What about 藍 or 碧?

Robusto

11:47 PM

@DannyuNDos The first means "indigo" and the second is an unsimplified version of 青 (or rather the latter is a simplified version of the former).

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…