« first day (89 days earlier)      last day (4816 days later) » 

12:26 AM
Who's running? Or about to run? Any of the current moderators moving on?
I don't imagine it's a fun job.
 
I have no idea who is running.
 
12:48 AM
@Kosmonaut: Are you going to stay on?
 
If people want me to.
 
Well, I'd vote for you. We've had our differences, but you've been an assiduous moderator.
 
Well, thanks. Nice to know my efforts are appreciated!
 
If @RegDwight's running, I'd vote for him too. He's very conscientious about policing the board.
 
I would too, in a heartbeat.
Ah, I need to go pick up my wife from class — talk to you later!
 
1:18 AM
Nobody is running yet, because nominations start on the 14th.
On a different subject, I just earned the Fanatic badge. Tee hee. :)
 
Grats.
You earned it.
I'm 23 days away ...
More than halfway to english.stackexchange.com/badges/26/epic though
 
I can't believe Epic is only a silver badge.
Or maybe on busier sites it's easier to get?
 
Not easy to get at all.
I never hit the rep cap once on SO.
 
 
5 hours later…
6:43 AM
@Robusto What does might held off a while mean? :-)
 
 
3 hours later…
9:24 AM
@Robusto: I don't plan to run, as I explained to kiamlaluno here:
Feb 2 at 14:50, by RegDwight
Our very own elections will start February 14.
And to Kosmonaut here:
Jan 28 at 15:15, by RegDwight
Re: mods @Kosmonaut, I don't think that that will help. Having more mods, that is. We are in dire need of more 10k users, not mods.
And let us not forget that pro-tem mods have to run, too. We currently have three pro-tem mods, and there will be three open positions. So, @Martha, we won't be getting more manpower any time soon.
 
9:39 AM
@RegDwight: Does that mean the next elections don't take in consideration there are three temporary moderators, and be for the election of 3+x moderators?
 
@kiamlaluno: see here:
Posted by Jeff Atwood on January 23rd, 2011

After running a beta community moderator election on math.stackexchange, and launching 2011 community moderator elections on the trilogy sites, we are now rolling out community moderator elections to all the public Stack Exchange 2.0 sites.

When we selected Moderators Pro Tempore on the public beta sites, we tried to be quite clear that the eventual goal was always to have the community elect its own moderators.

That’s why I am in the process of identifying and organizing a team of provisional moderators from within each community (about three per site, starting about seven days into the public beta). This is a temporary, short-term appointment. Pro tem moderators focus and expedite the essential needs of each new site. By the end of beta, the community will be better suited to hold their own elections.  …

"However, in the spirit of fairness and representative democracy, pro tem moderators must run for election if they wish to continue on as community moderators. They are encouraged to, of course!"
 
9:54 AM
@RegDwight: Thank you.
This is something that is not clear to me: Can I say "I am close to launching a start-up company"?
 
Umm... Not sure. Personally, I would say "I am about to launch" rather than "I am close to launching".
Ah!
Just seen your question.
 
It must be just me, but I avoid to use a gerund after to.
 
Well, I agree with psmears that "I am close to launch something" is ungrammatical.
It can be tricky at times, that's for sure.
 
I have actually the habit to not use gerunds where my American friend keeps to use them. :-)
 
Yeah, note how in the sentence above, a native speaker would say "I avoid using a gerund".
You do avoid gerunds quite often ))
 
10:06 AM
It must be because in Italian we don't use the gerund in such phrases. :-)
 
I'm thinking about just that right now...
But you do have progressive tense, don't you?
 
Evito di comprare regali means I avoid to buy gifts, literally.
I am not sure I would call it progressive tense, but we have a way to express that.
Sto mangiando means I am eating.
 
I'm trying to remember the participle of fare...
Wiktionary doesn't help.
 
Past participle?
Fatto, facente, I guess. :-)
 
Sto faccendo, perhaps?
I'm afraid I'm mixing it up with Spanish...
 
10:10 AM
Do you mean the equivalent of done and doing?
 
doing
I am doing in Italian.
 
Facente.
 
Aha! Thanks.
 
I am doing is sto facendo. Facendo is not a partiple, though.
 
Those irregular verbs... argh.
What do you call it then?
 
10:11 AM
In Italian, the present participle ends in -ente.
 
Ah, so -ente is the participle and -endo is the gerund?
 
Yep.
 
Geez. That's complicated)))
I'd rather just use the language than start thinking about how it works!
 
But understanding how it works it's the fun part! ;-)
That is another example: Understanding how it works is translated with capire come funziona.
 
True, that's why I'm hanging out on sites such as this. It's just that sometimes I would like to forget everything I've ever learned and just talk, like a child does.
 
10:15 AM
Once again, we use the infinite.
Vice versa, we say "mangiando si cresce" (eating, you grow).
 
Mmmmmh... mangiare!
 
Truly, a better example would be leggendo si impara. I wonder why I changed the example with one with eating. :-)
 
@kiamlaluno: "Close to launching a start-up..." is perfectly fine.
 
Le lasagne al forno sono un tipico piatto della cucina italiana, principalmente dell'Emilia-Romagna. Si cucinano anche in tutto il centro Italia. È diffuso in tutta la penisola e conosciuto nel mondo. Viene preparato componendo, in una teglia, un congruo numero di strati di lasagne lessate, alternandole a strati di condimenti vari; il tutto ripassato in forno per un'ultima cottura o una gratinatura atta ad amalgamarne i sapori. Spesso chiamate semplicemente lasagne o lasagna essendo il piatto più diffuso preparato con la pasta alimentare omonima. In Venezuela, la lasagna è chiamata "pa...
 
Oh gosh!
Lasagna!
This is a torture; really. :-)
 
10:17 AM
I would prefer it, only slightly, to "about to launch" ... though there is nothing at all wrong with that phrase.
I had the best lasagne of my life at a restaurant in Marin County, CA, called Al Forno
You could taste that the mushrooms had been sauteed in white wine ...
 
@Robusto: Wait until you don't eat lasagna at Bologna. :-)
Egh! Mushrooms?
 
I've already not eaten lasagna at Bologna ...
 
Hahaha.
 
The real lasagna is with meatballs.
 
Mmmmmm.... meatballs!
(And I am saying that as a vegetarian.)
 
10:20 AM
I didn't climb to the top of the flood chain to eat tofu and zucchini. I'm just saying ...
 
OK; that is my Italian that tries to win against English. :-)
Aspetta fino a quando non mangi lasagne a Bologna.
 
You didn't climb anywhere, @Robusto. You just happened to be born where lions are locked up in zoos.
 
Yes, of course, meat in lasagna ... but mushrooms as well.
I'm using I emblematically. I have an avatar, so I've earned that right.
 
My grandma made the best meatballs ever.
 
Mine made horrible eastern-European food.
And ... liver! ZOMG
 
10:22 AM
Well, Bologna is famous for its sugo alla bolognese, (or ragù).
 
That is an art. Eastern-European food is usually quite fine.
 
Pirogi!
 
Пироги!
 
Q. What's the difference between a bowling ball and the liver my grandma used to make?
 
I guess it's that. :-)
 
10:23 AM
A. If you absolutely had to, you could eat a bowling ball.
 
A bowling ball has a use? :-)
 
Delicious, actually. You should try one.
 
I was going to go with, "you can easily drill holes into a bowling ball". ))
 
That's true too.
 
Two points for @RegDwight. :-)
 
10:24 AM
I'm humbled and honored.
 
She would fry it into show leather, and then it would have to be chewed for days to swallow a single bite.
 
Does adding two + after a nick have any effect, here? :-)
 
Hmm. But that does help you get through the winter!
 
And chewing something for days is not something you want to do with something whose taste makes you gag.
 
If you eat everything up immediately, what'd you do tomorrow?
 
10:25 AM
Get through the winter ...shut up!
 
Hehe.
 
It snowed again last night.
 
I'm looking outside, the grass is green.
But there's fog.
 
And this year I bought a brand-new John Deere snowblower for $1600, a big one with all the bells and whistles ... and last week it threw a rod.
Worked great up until then, though.
 
10:29 AM
This is longer:
 
That's from our first big snowfall of this winter.
 
Is that your brand-new John Deere for $1600???
 
Hehe, no, that's a shovel I put in to show scale.
I had to use a 2-meter ladder for the last shot I took.
The photo above is from Jan. 12
 
Pardon my French, that's a crappy scale. That shovel could be anything from 1ft to 5ft.
 
That's not French.
 
10:32 AM
Yeah; I would have used Godzilla as scale. ;-)
 
Well, except in attitude ...
 
Excusez mon Français, mais la scale est très crappy!
Better?
 
That reminds me of a question.
 
Yes, I take it back. Very French ... smug, carping criticism in the face of someone else's pain.
 
10:33 AM
Hey, what did you think of Schattenfreude? I was kind of pleased with that one, myself.
 
I thought pardon my French was something you would say to ask beg for how you speak French. :-)
 
@Robusto: I liked it, actually. Started thinking about situations where I could use it, but couldn't come up with any...
But we can just start using it here and see if it catches on.
 
That's a 6-foot ladder. Happy now?
 
I'm clapping my hands.
But the weather in the last shot seems to be fantastic!
I love that weather.
 
Well, how shall I put this ... FUCK YOU!!!
 
10:39 AM
Hm... you are on your way to break @badp's record!
 
Fuck him too.
Did I win?
 
Not yet. But once he shows up to answer, you'll break through it at the speed of light.
 
How do you call something that measures lengths in inches? Inch-meter?
 
Useless American stick?
 
Ruler.
 
10:41 AM
Sorry, useless American ruler.
 
But as every queen knows, a ruler isn't always 12 inches ...
 
I should have said inch-o-meter.
 
Hey, there's a good reason a foot is 12 inches. It's similar to the reason a circle is divided into 360°.
 
You measure time with your foot?
 
Give up?
Lame.
Not worthy of you, Reg.
Sign ... I see I will have to explain.
A long time ago, when I first began programming, I had to create various mathematical subroutines to learn how to write simple code.
One routine I wrote was to calculate the number of integer factors in a target number.
It occurred to me to wonder why a circle was divided into 360°, and not, say, 1,000° or some other number.
Turns out, 360 has the most integer factors of any number that is not a multiple of 360.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 ... 10 of the first 12 integers are factors of 360.
 
10:46 AM
That is a well-known fact.
__NOTOC__ A highly composite number (HCN) is a positive integer with more divisors than any positive integer smaller than itself. The initial or smallest twenty-one highly composite numbers are listed in the table at right. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" align="right" |- ! n ! number of divisors of n |- | 1 | 1 |- | 2 | 2 |- | 4 | 3 |- | 6 | 4 |- | 12 | 6 |- | 24 | 8 |- | 36 | 9 |- | 48 | 10 |- | 60 | 12 |- | 120 | 16 |- | 180 | 18 |- | 240 | 20 |- | 360 | 24 |- | 720 | 30 |- | 840 | 32 |- | 1,260 | 36 |- | 1,680 | 40 |- | 2,520 | 48 |- | 5,040 | 60 |- | 7,560 | 64 |- |...
 
It wasn't known to me.
In any case, whoever came up with 360 was a genius. Because it made pies easy to parcel out. And that, as they say is progress.
Pizzas too.
 
Anyhow, the inch as defined by Edward II of England was "three grains of barley, dry and round, placed end to end, lengthwise". As you can see, no mention of feet or 12.
 
But I wasn't talking about inches, was I?
Turns out 12 is a much better composite number than 10.
Divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6
 
You were talking about reasons behind a foot being 12 inches being somehow related to HCNs.
 
Which would have been important to carpenters of Edward II's day.
 
10:49 AM
But they didn't define it like that.
French, on the other hand, had that rope with 13 knots on it.
Basically, a calculator.
 
I stand by my explanation.
 
The arithmetic rope, or knotted rope, was a widely-used arithmetic tool in the Middle Ages that could be used to solve many mathematical and geometrical problems. An arithmetic rope generally has at least 13 knots—therefore, it is often called thirteen-knot-rope—placed at equal intervals. More knots were beneficial, especially for multiplication and division. In medieval architecture, the knotted rope was indispensable for architects, because it allowed the construction of equilateral and right-angled triangles, as well as circles. In the depiction of the liberal arts in Hortus deliciar...
 
Me? I would prefer metric. But I live in the U.S., where we are backward about such things.
And I am sensitive about this whole measurement thing, so you might try being a little nicer about this stuff.
 
Well, I am not the one swearing here))
 
Swearing in response to great pain is understandable.
So is Schadenfreude in a lout. I'm just saying ...
@kiamlaluno: Can you tell me where that placard is located?
 
I can try by looking at where this "Pasquale Cicogna" was born.
 
Venezia.
 
Pfft ... we live in an age where nobody actually knows anything ...
They just Google it.
@kiamlaluno: We have a guess. Care to try yours?
...
 
Pasquale Cicogna was born in Venice, and it was a Doge.
I would guess it's in Venice.
 
Well, he was a doge ..
And there is a sign just like it in Venice.
And by that I don't mean Venice, CA.
 
10:56 AM
Las Vegas?
 
But in fact this particular sign is in Las Vegas, NV.
 
I don't click on links that don't have a published API, sorry.
 
I wonder how you found this site, then.
 
Pasquale Cicogna was the Doge of Venice from 1585 to 1595. He supported the claim of Henry of Navarre to the French throne, and convinced Pope Sixtus V to support Henry in exchange for his conversion to Catholicism. He broke with tradition by scattering silver coins, rather than gold ducats, to the crowd during his coronation procession. These coins were known from then on as cicognini. As his reign of Doge continued his popularity increased because he was very diplomatic and able to tackle major problems with great success. Arguably, one of his greatest successes was converting the Ri...
 
10:59 AM
@RegDwight: I tabbed to it and hit ENTER.
 
Elegant.
 
You have to standup for your principles.
I used to be an Emacs user, and disdained the mouse until rather late in my career.
 
Now I understand everything.
 
"A mouse is an excellent device for a person who has three hands."
Anyway, gotta get some breakfast and deal with snow. TTYL.
 
Bon appetit, have fun, see you!
 
11:03 AM
@RegDwight: You should add bye too. ;-)
 
Ah, rats, forgot about that one))
 
There is always time to remember. :-)
 
Do you still remember jussive? :P
 
I do, for some strange reasons. :-)
I was actually thinking to ask to my American friend to show me how she pronounces that word. Do you think it's weird? :-)
 
Jussive Park.
 
11:07 AM
Uhmmm… that would be a good title for a movie.
 
Pssst, don't tell Spielberg!
 
I can even imagine where to make it.
 
That's a cool name, actually, Spielberg. Spiel = game, Berg = mountain.
A mountain of toys!
 
"panoramic of the place; mount Saint Elena comes in…"
I usually associate the name to something else, even if I don't understand what that is. :-)
 
Mont Saint-Michel () is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre (just over half a mile) off the country's north coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. The population of the island is 41, as of 2006. Formation In prehistoric times the bay was land. As sea levels rose, erosion shaped the coastal landscape over millions of years. Several blocks of granite or granulite emerged in the bay, having resisted the wear and tear of the ocean better than the surrounding rocks. These included Lillemer, the Mont-Dol, Tombel...
 
11:09 AM
I guess it was a jail, but I am not sure.
 
This place looks like a Spielberg.
 
I wonder if Walt Disney Inc. used it in its logo. :-)
 
That never occurred to me!
 
if Spielberg could be "translated" as the game mountain, then they could use it in the logo. :-)
 
The plot thickens...
We're writing the next Foucault's Pendulum...
 
11:16 AM
Let me say it: It will be even better!
 
Whoa... blasphemy!
 
I can say it: I am Italian like Umberto Eco. :-)
Should I write Echo?
Uhmmm… no. That would implicate that he writes what others has written.
 
Humbert Echo?
 
Humb(l)ert Echo?
Could I use "see you later" to mean "I will see you later"?
I wonder which is the sorting criteria used in this page: english.stackexchange.com/?tab=hot.
I have never had Jeff editing one of my answers. Is that a kind of promotion? ;-)
 
I'm not sure the sorting criteria for the "hot" tab are well-documented. It's just some "velocity" thing.
16
Q: What is the difference between "hot" and "active" questions?

hayalciThe two tabs have following tooltips Active : "Questions that have recent activity" Hot : Questions with recent interest and activity They seem to display different questions with some common ground. What is the exact difference between hot and active ?

 
11:31 AM
Thank you. :-)
How strange; meta.so said me I have associated meta.so with area51.se, and I gained 100 points.
I thought I have already did it with SO.
 
There were a few bugs with the message. You can check your rep report on meta to be sure.
4
Q: Did I get 100 rep for associating an account with itself?

JaydlesI'm all for the reflexive property, but this seems off somehow: EDIT: As @Jon points out below, it's possible that this is covered in this question, although Jeff's response to that question suggests that the issue raised there was corrected:

 
The link record is Gaming only, I haven't checked the trilogy. Sorry ;)
 
I was talking about the swearing record, @badp.
Robusto is handing out that word left and right.
Recently.
 
12:01 PM
If you analyze a word like dammelo and says that the word is made from dai + me+ lo, which kind of analysis are you doing?
 
Morphological? @Kosmonaut.
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description of the structure of morphemes and other units of meaning in a language like words, affixes, and parts of speech and intonation/stress, implied context (words in a lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology). Morphological typology represents a way of classifying languages according to the ways by which morphemes are used in a language —from the analytic that use only isolated morphemes, through the agglutinative ("stuck-together") and fusional languages that use bound morphemes (affixes), up to the polysy...
 
It seems that what is the gloss for "dammelo"? is the better way to ask the question.
@RegDwight: Thank you.
 
12:20 PM
Speaking of names, I'm endlessly tickled by the oxymoronic nature of Tolkien.
Dull + keen in the same name.
 
"The surname Tolkien is said to come from the German word tollkühn ('foolhardy'). German writers have suggested that in reality the name is more likely to derive from the village Tolkynen in Rastenburg in East Prussia (after WWII Tołkiny, Poland)."
 
@RegDwight: What's the German word for "one-upmanship"?
 
Uh... I can only think of the Anglicism toppen, actually.
 
Anyway, I do hold the record for using "The F-word" in chat. 4-0, Robusto. Not even close.
 
12:26 PM
In any case, I've already gone public about my enthusiasm for that word as an expressive intensifier:
0
Q: About the 'f-word'

lovespring Possible Duplicate: How bad is the f-word really? I fucking love this man! It's awesome, keep it up! Is it not a bad word sometimes? Can it be used in formal article?

 
Re: one-upmanship, there's an idiom in German, eine Nasenlänge voraus sein, to be a nose length ahead of someone.
 
Hmmm ... How does one find one's SE number. I'd like to run that query about myself.
 
OK, I bow to the master.
@badp beats me in all SE sites, but I'm still ahead in E&U.SE chat.
 
I don't know why you keep thinking that I'm here to inflict great pain upon you.
That was my honest opinion, about the weather.
 
12:32 PM
I don't know why you keep taking my replies seriously.
 
I grew up in very similar conditions.
 
I wouldn't tell you to go fuck yourself if I didn't like you. Seriously.
 
Nah, I'm not, not really. Just trying to explain that this particular time I wasn't messing with.
You.
How's that for punctuation.
 
Very. Interesting. And. Laconic.
A sentence like a string of sausages ...
 
Anyhow, when you're an adult, snow sucks as you have to deal with it in all kinds of cumbersome ways. But when you're a child, snow's just pure, Heaven-sent awesomeness.
 
12:34 PM
It also means no school at that age. But it doesn't mean no work when you're all grown up.
 
No school? You must be kidding.
That would mean no school in Russia, period.
In Russia, it must be below -25°C before they let you stay at home.
 
Sounds like the Gulag to me.
 
Not even close.
 
Hyperbole.
 
51
A: What words are commonly mispronounced by literate people who read them before they heard them?

andyvn22 hyperbole /haɪˈpɜrbəli/ (Evidently it's not the next step after the Super Bowl.)

I wonder how long it will take for that question to be locked.
 
12:40 PM
People who know that word usually know how to pronounce it.
1
A: "I didn't spend" vs "I didn't spent"

kiamlalunoThe negation of I spent is build by adding the basic form of the verb (in this case spend) to the negation of did. I didn't spend. Spent would be used in the present perfect. I have spent $100. I have not spent $900.

@kiamlaluno: "... is build"?
Tsk, tsk.
-
I wonder what this user's name is:
 
Too lazy to check Wikipedia. Hebrew is way over my head.
 
Same.
I think it means Reuben
 
I recognize the aleph, but that third letter... is it a zayin or a vav?
 
I wouldn't know a vav from a valve.
 
Okay, now I am checking Wikipedia... doesn't help.
Davbn.
 
12:48 PM
Reuben or "tribe" I'm guessing.
 
Ah yes, that's an R, not a D.
Ravbn.
 
Does ראובן come with Russian dressing?
 
Mayonnaise?
 
Partly ...
Russian dressing is a salad dressing invented in the United States in the late 19th century or early 20th century. Typically piquant, it is today characteristically made of a blend of mayonnaise and ketchup complemented with such additional ingredients as horseradish, pimentos, chives and spices. History Some claim that the dressing's name derived from caviar being included as an ingredient. Early recipes sometimes included gelatin or aspic,, resulting in a clearer dressing than is typically found today. Modern Thousand Island is a variant of Russian dressing. Uses *Russian dressing is ...
 
I must say that this does look like something a Russian would eat:
The Reuben sandwich is a hot sandwich of layered meat, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese, with a dressing. These are grilled between slices of rye bread. The meat is either corned beef or pastrami, and the dressing is either Russian or Thousand Island dressing. Several variants exist. Origins One account holds that Reuben Kulakofsky (sometimes spelled Reubin, or the last name shortened to Kay), a Lithuanian-born grocer from Omaha, Nebraska, was the inventor, perhaps as part of a group effort by members of Kulakofsky's weekly poker game held in the Blackstone Hotel from around 1920 through 1935....
Rye bread and meat. Add some vodka, and you're done.
It doesn't even have to be hot.
 
12:53 PM
Btw, with reference to my apparent contest with @badp, neither of us is in the major leagues with respect to that word ...
 
=_=
 
That's one of the best movies ever.
 
I would say so.
It's one of those "eye magnet" movies. If I'm ever flipping through cable and it happens to be on, I am helpless and must watch it to the end.
Can't believe it has < 50K views on YouTube.
Someone also generously spent time doing the same for this:
 

« first day (89 days earlier)      last day (4816 days later) »