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13:01
@Vitaly: Found it on the web.
Looks like they copied it verbatim?
0
A: Is it "bear" or "bare" with me?

TrongBangIt should be "bear with me". As mentioned here http://ielts.studyhorror.com/questions/bear-with-me-bare-with-me/48, "bare with me" is to invite somebody to undress

Why, just why?
The top and accepted answer has been saying just that for years.
More errands. Laters.
@Vitaly That is from the digital edition, which I screen-snapped the paragraph from.
Oh.
@Robusto It has to be noted that the way to take a bath in a Russian stove would be to lie down on a wide board and wait for your family members to stick you and the board into the зев. And then you'd have water sprayed on you and the stove walls. Then you'd close the заслонка and take a steam bath of sorts for a while.
@Vitaly Interesting.
Kind of a sauna?
13:14
Yeah.
Anyway:
Can you see "Топливник" there? Топливо means fuel in Russian. That compartment is where the wood goes.
@Vitaly I don't see an image there. Just a blank space.
The children and the elderly would sleep on the перекрыша at night. About enough space for an adult and a couple children to fit, or two adults.
@Robusto Can you click it?
Nope.
13:21
Much better. Thanks.
YW.
My point being, no frigging way a cord would fit in there.
Yes. Meanwhile, I'm trying to log in to the digital edition and they can't remember my username and password unless I change it every time. Well, it's a print magazine. I want to tell them how they fucked up, but I guess they don't want to hear about that.
I hate companies that can't get the web login right. They should be fined.
@RegDwightѬſ道 Technically, you ought to delete kiam's answer as well. He gave it months later and it says the same thing as the accepted answer.
Rob
Rob
Does anybody know if there is a French language chat room?

 Chez Cosette

Discussion pour french.stackexchange.com. Bienvenue à tous ! Y...
Rob
Rob
13:28
@Robusto Thank you
It is pretty deserted in there :(
Well, they can't all be The Incomprehensible Room.
Rob
Rob
I found an interesting reference note in the wiki article on negative numbers Different languages have different conventions regarding the sign of zero. For example, in French, zero is considered to be both positive and negative. The French words positif and négatif mean the same as English "positive or zero" and "negative or zero" respectively.
Does anybody know enough French to verify this claim?
...zero is usually thought of as neither positive nor negative.[1]
[Here is the link to the full article. The reference note is labeled [1]](en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_number#cite_ref-0)
I haven't enough French to sort you out on this issue, sorry.
Rob
Rob
@Robusto That's OK, I just found interesting that "Different languages have different conventions regarding the sign of zero."
13:49
@Rob And yet it is all for nought in the end.
Rob
Rob
@Robusto Well put ;-)
@Rob I am highly sceptical.
I think the connotations of zero are mostly the same in modern European languages.
In English, you could say zero is either negative and positive at the same time, or neither.
It is just a matter of definition; I don't think there is much of an intuitive difference from French.
Rob
Rob
@Cerberus I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by " zero is either negative and positive at the same time"?
@Rob It can be negative and positive at the same time; or it can be neither.
I suppose the "either" was a bit confusing.
Rob
Rob
Yes the "either" confused me.
Like you said it is just a matter of definition.
14:00
Yeah.
@Cerberus All the @Rob's are highlighted on this page for me.
@Robusto I'm very sorry.
@Cerberus Not your fault.
I mean as in "I'm sorry for your loss of individuality".
Rob
Rob
@Robusto It's my fault.
14:03
@Rob Yes, what were you thinking when you named yourself?
Rob
Rob
@Robusto I was thinking of my name?
Fail.
Rob
Rob
:-(
Just kidding you.
Rob
Rob
Np
14:11
Is "advocacy group" a clear, well-defined concept to you (leaving aside its aesthetic qualities for the moment)?
@Cerberus Who, me?
@Robusto For example.
It brings to mind an organization of a sort, yes. Official or semi-official.
BTW, I think the main site is going offline quite soon.
Hmm but does it have a clear definition?
Yeah I saw the notice.
@Cerberus That is a question for a dictionary. All I can give you is an informal definition, more of an impression.
14:15
Okay, so then I take that as a no.
Because to me it always sounds a bit vague.
A lazy word.
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an asset of interest. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research or poll or the 'filing of friend of the court briefs'. Lobbying (often by lobby groups) is a form of advocacy where a ...
Gen ref.
@Cerberus I think it may be the most precise term available.
Hmm.
It is vague enough to include basically any group imaginable.
Because any group with shared interests has—well, shared interests, and therefore supports certain causes.
@Cerberus Not really. A bowling league would not be an advocacy group. Nor would the Boy Scouts, the Army, or the PTA.
The NRA is an advocacy group. So is the JDL.
The set of people who play World of Warcraft are not.
@Robusto If the government wants to forbid heavy bowling balls in public places because they are too dangerous, and the bowling league speaks out against it...
@Cerberus They would speak out against it by forming an advocacy group. But that would be a separate organization. And it would be an organization.
14:20
What if the league's president or whatever issues a formal statement?
Still not an advocacy group. He is acting as an individual representative. The purpose of the league is still bowling, not bowling advocacy.
Are you in one of your "peeving in the form of peeving" moods today?
Then let's say the full board issue a statement on behalf of the entire league.
I'm trying to explore the limits of the term.
@Cerberus They would form a de facto advocacy group in that case. But the purpose of their organization would still be bowling, not bowling advocacy.
Okay, so how about this definition: an advocacy group is a group formed principally to influence public policy in a certain way?
@Cerberus I would say that is on the mark.
14:24
And how about a political party? Should the definition include "while being formally separate from the government"?
@Cerberus Political parties are assemblages of advocacy groups. In the broader sense they are advocating their platform, but in the narrower sense they are trying to find a path to power by adding or jettisoning the agendas of different groups.
I think the difference is clearer in true multi-party parliamentary democracies. What we have here in the U.S. is a difficult, unruly beast with but two heads.
@Robusto Hmm right, so you would exclude them on the basis that their goals aren't focuses enough.
@Robusto Why is it clearer with more parties?
We have the "Party for the Animals", for example.
They have two seats out of 150.
They are mainly a single-issue party.
But even, say, the Green Party of Sweden would have a number of different issues it promotes.
@Cerberus Those parties must be fun. Do they bring chimps and orangutans?
@Robusto They consist of such primates.
Do they fling poo at the others?
14:30
I think the "Old People's" party also has one seat.
@Robusto Yes, in a way.
Ah, definitely true primates.
So is the PvdD an advocacy group or a political party? I'd say both.
Of course all single-issue parties desperately try to prove that they have more issues.
I always thought it funny that bishops are also called primates.
Heh.
@Cerberus Probably.
Hmm ... do the Germans still use the term Tiergarten for zoo, or am I just behind the times?
14:39
I would think they do. We use dierentuin: zoo is Flemish.
15:28
@Robusto there's only one Tiergarten in Germany.
Tiergarten ist ein Ortsteil des Berliner Bezirks Mitte. Er entstand 2001 durch Teilung des ehemaligen Bezirks Tiergarten, der bis zur Berliner Verwaltungsreform im Jahr 2001 zusätzlich noch das Hansaviertel und Moabit umfasste. Im heutigen Sprachgebrauch steht „Tiergarten“ häufig sowohl für den Ortsteil Tiergarten als auch für den ehemaligen Bezirk Tiergarten als auch für den Stadtpark Großer Tiergarten. Das südlich des Großen Tiergartens liegende Teilgebiet des heutigen Ortsteils wurde in der Vergangenheit auch Tiergarten-Süd genannt. Lage und Einwohner Der Ortsteil Tiergarten wird im ...
16:12
@RegDwightѬſ道 Only one zoo or one zoo that's called a Tiergarten?
____________
Only one part of one city, named after a zoo.
Cool, thanks.
The Großer Tiergarten, simply known as Tiergarten, is an urban public park of Germany located in the middle of Berlin, completely in the homonymous locality. The park is of ; and among urban gardens of Germany, only the Englischer Garten of Munich () is larger. History Großer Tiergarten (literally in ) was originally a hunting reserve of the Prince-electors, then transformed, from 1830 by Peter Joseph Lenné, into a modern urban park. During the period 1961–1989 its eastern borders were crossed by the Berlin Wall. In the northerly neighbouring quarter of Moabit a much smaller park bears ...
Lo and behold, not even a zoo; a hunting reserve.
Why I Love My Wife, Reason #9,245: I was reading the local news at lunch just now and the police log noted that someone was arrested for "shoplifting by asportation." I've never heard that word till now, so I asked my wife if she knew what it meant. She thought about it for a few seconds and then, with a puzzled expression, said, "I don't know. Did the guy stick something up his ass?"
Out of the mouths of wives, offtimes come gems.
Mahlzeit!
16:19
Guten.
16:43
0
Q: Is 'that' implied?

JoelIs the sentence "I knew I could trust you" correct? Or does it need to be written "I knew that I could trust you."

Has to be a dupe, but I can't find the original using the ELU search.
Ah, here it is:
20
Q: Are there rules about using "that" to join two clauses?

kiamlaluno He will understand that I was not joking. He will understand I was not joking. Which of the sentences is correct? Are there any specific rules about the use of "that" in the sentences I reported as example?

Good thing Google searches domains better than the domains themselves.
17:05
What's "the state of being busy" called?
A: I am busy right now.
B: Busy, eh? My "busy-ness" will come soon.
So I saw Omegle mentioned somewhere and that prompted me to go check it out again (it's been quite a while). Apparently, now they have this feature where you ask a question and then watch two strangers discuss it. Out of about a dozen questions I tried, “Which of you knows fewer English words?” appears to be the best conversation starter.
So Omegle is a device for trolling people over the Internet.
Omegle? Sounds interesting.
@Cerberus Oh, it's a pile of rubbish. The only interesting side of it is trying to manipulate the strangers.
Hmm why is it rubbish?
No interesting people on it?
17:19
@Cerberus Yep.
A pity.
Wrong copy-paste.
@Gigili These silly things don't know the answer to your question.
17:26
@Gigili Right, you are.
These people are obviously no historians.
@Vitaly Your question is more fun.
@Gigili "I will be busy later." No SWR in this chat.
@Cerberus I am trying to find out what gets them to stay longer. Most just disconnect right away.
Something anybody has an opinion on?
I'm not good at coming up with questions
Nope, not really. Religion doesn't work, for example. :P
I am frustrated that I can't comment on that as the question author. :(
The whole statement is obviously true (since he hasn't provided another one).
Haha.
@MattЭллен Hmm strange.
My last question was "is there a secret that you wouldn't tell anyone except a stranger?".
I got some raunchy, stupid stories.
get anything good?
Which were probably not true.
17:36
how do you get to be a stranger?
oh! I see the link
Haha.
My pets are going on and on.
And I never got a disconnect.
This one has been going on for two screens now.
FFS. If they disconnect, I can't type anything.
Aww.
Mine are still going on.
what have you asked?
Haha nice one.
I made mine guess the other's age.
In the end they thanked each other for the nice chat.
They were 15 and 16.
17:45
@Cerberus Good idea, thanks!
I retract my statement. They are just typing every number they can think of.
Mine are 15 and 16, too.
@Vitaly You probably didn't formulate it properly.
17:57
@Cerberus Yeah, I figured.
Oh, well. It is kind of fun.
Ugh I disconnected accidentally because I pressed escape.
Like here.
apparently Stranger 1 doesn't wonder why there isn't more anti-matter in the universe
I don't even know how much anti-matter there is.
not much, if I remember correctly
@MattЭллен how does that even make sense?
It's exactly backwards. Twice.
18:13
the full stop does make it somewhat nonsensical :D
Not my point. If you get rid of it, it's nonsensical still.
Why would God ask on the Internet about that? He is omniscient!
Bah, gotta run again. Laters.
:D
very good point
@Cerberus apparently some anti-mater and matter pairs decay at different rates, which could account for the imbalance
but there is a lot more matter, because otherwise we wouldn't be here
did you leave first?
No, I told my “conversational partner” that I was 60 (not true), male, and from Russia. :P
18:18
@MattЭллен Hmm how so?
Congrats.
Nice find.
Thank you.
How was it?
Not bad.
18:21
Did he cry from pleasure?
I think he must be dead by now. He died of happiness.
@Cerberus matter/antimatter pair annihilate on contact, so if there were equal amounts physicists say we shouldn't exist
@MattЭллен That implies that there should be no anti-matter at all.
It does at that. I'm only going on a summary paragraph, so I'm not very well informed
Huh?
If matter and anti-matter cannot coexist in the same universe, then all anti-matter should have disappeared long ago.
If they can, then there could be any amount of anti-matter in the universe lacking further information.
18:26
well, within our visible universe, I think scientists have looked and not found very much
And why wasn't that annihilated then?
plus antimatter only annihilates it's opposite, so anti-photons don't annihilate electrons
@Cerberus it's not near anything
Okay, so then what if we were living in a small matter bubble within a huge universe that consisted mainly of anti-matter?
there's no way for us to ever know that
it is not testable, because we can't reach outside of our universe
Okay, well, then I don't understand this:
13 mins ago, by Matt Эллен
but there is a lot more matter, because otherwise we wouldn't be here
18:30
we are made of matter
most of the universe is matter
there is a little bit of anti matter
Okay, sooo...
Why couldn't we be here if there were more anti-matter, provided that it were nowhere near us?
no, that's not what I meant
Why not the other way around as well?
Ow.
sorry, I got confused about what I was writing :D
By the way, it's sad if matter and anti-matter just annihilate each other, because it could be a material and an anti-material kitten colliding.
Haha, I often feel like those Strangers in discussions with you.
18:35
it's true! that could be happening right now, because virtual particles pop into existence in the void
mind boggling in boggledness
a whole kitten could pop up, and right next to it its antimatter kitten pal, and they meet and then poof!
no more kittens
Rob
Rob
So the opposite of a kitten is a antikitten?
Not a puppy.
> We are here thanks to a curious imbalance in the universe. To the best of our knowledge, the universe began with equal, or nearly equal, amounts of matter and antimatter. Because these particles annihilate on contact, they should have destroyed each other long ago in a blaze of radiation, leaving little if anything behind to form stars, planets and people. Clearly that didn't happen.
> The hunt for the special something that might have skewed the universe in favour of matter occupies the best minds in physics.
I am not one of those minds
@MattЭллен Sad.
@MattЭллен So why couldn't the radiation have rematerialised later?
To make some kittens?
18:41
@Cerberus it's okay! maybe there is an army of space kittens on it way to make you feel better. I hope they don't spontaneously pop out of existence
Hehe. Especially not if they're anti-kittens.
What the ..., is that a dating site?
Rob
Rob
What if an anti-kitten being chased by an anti-dog hides in Schrodinger's box?
No, that omegle thingy
18:47
@Cerberus I don't know. Maybe there wouldn't have been enough of the right radiation? Maybe it would have prevented the Higgs field from existing
I finally got a conversation going between two strangers!
@MattЭллен Yay!!
@MattЭллен Hey we're not strangers. And it is halting.
Rob
Rob
Does anybody know any French around here?
@Cerberus the conversation is halting?
@MattЭллен Because I'm posting this video. Which is pretty cool.
See these cute children?
18:51
it is!
Listen to what they're playing.
I love the drummer.
she is better than me
Aww.
But you're bigger.
true. size matters. and my beard is longer
I love the pose at the end :D
Yeah!
God, I have never seen anything so adorable.
Rob
Rob
18:57
@Cerberus Do you think I should put in a "citation needed" label on that French sign of zero article in wiki?
Drummer girl also sings.
@Rob Hm oh, yes, perhaps you should.
@MattЭллен Very inspiring.
19:04
my favourite line is the first one
@Vitaly I am glad you have found a new creative outlet for your evangelising.
@MattЭллен Yeah the pen is great.
So it seems we are having extreme usefulness night here.
I'm watching you now. Are you creeped out?
Stranger 1: no
Stranger 1: <3
Stranger 2: I want you to lick my eyebrow.
Haha don't watch me!
I am not Stranger 1.
By the way, if you want to see another nice, researched simulation of the Titanic breaking and sinking:
19:20
I think I would have preferred that on mute. Interesting nonetheless
Hmm y no like commentary?
"say what you see"
Superfluous?
I found his stating the obvious grating
yes
Kind of, but...sometimes he made me look at something I hadn't noticed.
19:22
maybe. I should have watched it on mute, and then not, to see if I noticed more
Or just on mute all the time.
I guess if I'd seen the whole episode his commentary would have been less annoying because I guess he's pointing out how what is happening fits with what they expect
Its for a decription of my BF for a book. I am to de'scribe his personality. what i wanna say here is he tries to cook :) — Jennie 1 hour ago
but if you are writing a book, you should be able to write good English!
Nope not necessary at all!
Apparently.
/sad panda
Rob
Rob
I just finished my first "talk with a stranger"
I feel dirty...
19:33
that's to be expected
strangers are dirty
Rob
Rob
I think its the fear of the unknown.
There is a reason for the proverb "never talk to strangers"
but now I feel like I want to go back???
Odd temptation.
you like being dirty
Rob
Rob
@MattЭллен Temptation is apart of life it doesn't matter if it's wrong or right, it makes you do what you love.
Hello everybody.
19:48
I bought so much chocolate last night. Want some?
Yay! yes please :D
Okay, generic or Lindt?
Alright, one moment please.
@Mahnax I want some too
19:51
@MeysamѬſ道 OK.
Rob
Rob
Me three!
That bunny is for all three of you.
Rob
Rob
I get the ears.
The MacBook Pro is still mine, though.
19:54
yay! thanks :) nommy
You're welcome!
I have, uh, eight ten of those.
Rob
Rob
I hope you like chocolate.
@Mahnax Of those laptops?
@MeysamѬſ道 I wish!
No, the bunnies.
what are you going to do with the rest of them?
19:55
Feed them to family members, friends, etc.
@Mahnax You are a very generous man
Rob
Rob
Are we the "etc."?
@Rob I would consider most people here friends.
@MeysamѬſ道 Why thank you.
remind me of Jesus christ
Oh, @Meysam, why did you append Reg's characters to your name?
19:58
I'll be there next month, so I think you can keep a Lindt for me @Mahnax?
@Gigili Sure! If you come by my town I can give it to you in person.
@Mahnax It's @RegDwight who has appended those characters of mine to his name.
Rob
Rob
@Mahnax Shouldn't that be "friends" with quotation marks?
@MeysamѬſ道 Oh, uh, right.

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