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19:00
I could just grind my face into my keyboard for the next 40 or so minutes.
If you're typing that with your face, respect!
If y'all will write my introductory blurb for me, I might consider running for moderator.
Sorry, writing requests should be posted over at Writing.
Can it be in the form of a limerick?
@RegDwight i type with my nose often. capitalization is a pain in the ass, though.
19:01
@Kosmonaut, yes.
Now I'm intrigued.
(I was gonna say "just no puns, please", but then I realized that would be an open invitation to you guys.)
Ooops.
Hmm.. what rhymes with "Martha"?
Haggis.
No, wait a minute.
So much for limericks. I don't think anything does.
19:04
Me neither.
Might as well use 'silver' or 'purple'.
This reminds me of a Home Improvement episode where one of the brothers says to the other, "Can you help me with my Civil War essay?" - "Sure, what you've got so far?" - "The Civil war was." He then adds, "And even that I've copied from an encyclopaedia."
HaHA!
If you want some random biographical bits, I'm the twin who minored in history; my sister is the one who minored in linguistics, and very little of said linguistics has rubbed off on me. (We both majored in math.) But I do have some copy-editing experience under my belt.
Why does the linguistics one have to be the evil one?
Ohhhh
19:07
I haven't yet gotten my sister hooked on EL&U; she's kinda got her hands full of niece (pictured above).
I see
Yes, there is actually another Martha on SE. (She's also on Cooking and Science Fiction and a few other sites I frequent.)
I know.
I'm on all sites 24/7.
On Cooking, I changed my handle to "Marti" to avoid conflict.
I've upvoted some of your stuff there.
19:08
And I think she has changed hers to "Martha F." on a few sites.
Mysterious!
It's very strange to have another Martha around. I went through all 20-something years of school without ever having another Martha in any of my classes.
I bet Martha-prime feels the same way.
I think this enough, can you just copy this thread over to the nomination page? That should do it.
Can't imagine how all the Jennifers of the world manage.
@RegDwight: don't tempt me.
19:11
(@_@)
[pardon me, just reading some of the older stuff today... thank you for the substitute thwacking...]
4 hours ago, by RegDwight
I'm here to help.
Getting self-referential, are we?
You still haven't thwacked me for my yesterday's valediction! I demand justice!
I think RegDwight might be able to speak entirely in self-references soon.
That and Wikipedia links
But he will be able to reference other times he already posted the Wikipedia link.
19:18
Hmm? I must have missed something (re: yesterday's valediction). (Where's a self-referential quote when you need it?)
@Kosmonaut I will pretty much have to, as
Feb 10 at 16:01, by RegDwight
Even @RegDwight doesn't read all of @RegDwight's crap!
@Martha here
yesterday, by Martha
Ok, gotta go pretend to work.
And then if you continue to reference your own references, you'll eventually open up one of these:
33 mins ago, by Robusto
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional (2D) surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it allows one to picture a wormhole "bridge". (Please note, though, that this is merely a visualization displayed to convey an essentially unvisualisable structure existing in 4 or more dimensions. The parts of the wormhole could be higher-dimensional analogues for the parts of the curved 2D sur...
Actually, @kosmonaut:
yesterday, by RegDwight
Feb 7 at 15:38, by RegDwight
In the foundations of mathematics, Russell's paradox (also known as Russell's antinomy), discovered by Bertrand Russell in 1901, showed that the naive set theory created by Georg Cantor leads to a contradiction. The same paradox had been discovered a year before by Ernst Zermelo but he did not publish the idea, which remained known only to Hilbert, Husserl and other members of the University of Göttingen. Let R be the set of all sets that are not members of themselves. If R qualifies as a member of itself, it would contradict its own definition as a set containing sets that are not member...
OWWWW! That's terrible! THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK!
Did you hear that rip sound? That was the very fabric of spacetime.
19:21
Thank you! @Martha.
@Kosmonaut, Here, let me patch that for you. //hunts around for matching thread
Nah, hunting around for that Futurama video with Steven Hawking and Al Gore.
That's something we can add to your mod nomination
Where the very fabric of spacetime disappears and they all just play D&D.
@Kosmonaut I was thinking of something different.
yesterday, by RegDwight
I actually thought about including that info in my nomination, but I was afraid it could be misunderstood. (^_^)
Attention to detail: would take the time and effort to find matching thread to repair the fabric of spacetime
19:24
I'm a defective nerd: I've never played D&D.
See what happens? I leave for a few minutes and the place goes to hell.
You mean we're not there already?
* Puts his backpack over the wormhole *
Feb 14 at 10:33, by Robusto
Kind of like The Decameron only without the plague.
I never played D&D either. I did play this X-Men RPG thing though. But not very well.
19:25
D&D is waaaaay too slow for today's fast-paced lifestyles.
...
waiting...
Thank you.
Nah, beat you to the 2nd waiting
Not here.
Nor here.
I don't care how they do things in your benighted time zone.
Or zones.
19:26
Feb 14 at 16:18, by RegDwight
@Cerberus: that's not what I saw, so this might be indeed a caching issue.
Hey, was that just proof that @Robusto is human after all?
He's a shovel. I've seen a picture.
Talented, for a shovel.
I've always pictured him as a type of fancy baked good.
My humanity was never in doubt. It's @RegDwight who shies away from Turing tests.
19:27
Feb 8 at 10:29, by Robusto
user image
@Robusto See starred post to the right. Thanks.
What is Toronto????????
It's a kind of a spider.
Besides a city in Canada, you mean?
Why do you choose shovel, when you might have chosen ladder?
Feb 8 at 10:37, by Robusto
user image
See, I'm actually quite protean.
I will evade that question.
Oh. I still haven't managed to watch any of that. Will have to wait until the weekend when I'm at my sister's (bro-in-law has it on the DVR).
5 hours ago, by RegDwight
Still haven't watched a single Watson video.
Yeah, I thought that was very funny. Alex Trebek is so into promoting Canada (though he lives in California), and here his big honking publicity wet kiss to IBM gets him a total diss of Canada!
See, @RegDwight can be self-referential and self-deferential at the same time. Amazing.
I never grokked pointers. I'm a CSS guy.
waiting ...
still waiting ...
still waiting waiting ...
Ich warte noch ...
19:33
I'm even worse: I'm a VBScript gal. And classic asp.
Better?
Eeeuuwwww, Martha, let's not say things we can't take back.
FX_
FX_
oh, so it's “confession Thursday”?
It's Thursday? OMG.
It's what this job uses. It pays the bills, who am I to complain.
19:34
I never know what time of the year it is.
I didn't know ASP had risen to "classic" status.
I heard Microsoft tests VBScript on animals.
(Although of course I do complain.)
"Classic asp" as opposed to "asp.net" (ack, ptui).
But I guess it's a branding back-formation, now that Jon Skeet is using ASP.Net ...
Don't mention Jon Skeet
Black hole!
19:35
Do you think Jon Skeet could beat Chuck Norris?
ShreevatsaR has beaten Chuck Norris quite severely.
What with all the mentions of Voldemo[ahem, sorry] He-who-must-not-be-named?
All the mentions? There is but one.
I see three.
[cleaning glasses] Yup, still three.
19:38
Searching for "named" returns 4 results in total.
Voldemort for Republicans would be funnier.
The love that dare not speak its name?
Dumbledore for President! ... oh, wait. He died. Oops.
(And there's that pesky birthplace requirement.)
Oh man, and Pete Postlethwaite, OBE, too.
Now I'm all sad.
Didn't Postlethwaite die a while ago?... Yup, January 2nd.
Ok, so it's not years ago, but it's not recent news.
I still miss him.
But anyhow.
19:43
Gotta go finish something at work. See y'all later. Your homework is polishing my moderator-nomination blurb.
CU.
BTW, the link to moderator nominations has reappeared on the main site @Robusto.
Yep, saw that. Thanks and CYA.
2
Q: Should we do anything about the huge language mess on Area51?

Borror0There's a long list of languages proposal on Area51, varying from an all encompassing language site to a focus one language site like the successful English Language & Usage. When I say they vary, I do mean that. As I just said, there's a site to contain all the languages question, whether...

Interesting
Well clearly an all-language supersite would be a complete mess
I was going to post a lengthy essay to that extent on one of the many related question over at the Area51 discuss zone, but meh.
But I like the comments by Pollyanna and Popular Demand.
19:55
Yes
Then everyone is happy.
Wait, did @Martha just say she was running for mod? Way to light up a room and leave, @Martha.
She said she would if we write her blurb.
I hope that means she really will run.
You have to copy this thread over to the nominations page first.
That was my understanding.
Here's her blurb: "Vote for me and I'll THWACK every damn one of ya!"
Followed by "I'm @Martha and I approved this message."
We can't copy this thread over for her nomination
SHE has to do it.
19:57
Yes we can!
Change you can believe in?
That's right. American ends in "I can"!
Yeah, mostly quarters.
I dunno why but I'm still laughing at @Martha's blurb.
But, confusingly, it starts with "amer".
Communist.
19:59
I am, er, I can?
Now that's a slogan I can get behind.
Well, there's a sofa in The United States of America, if you could but find it.
We should be careful. As a meme, this whole THWACK! thing could be contagious. What if it spreads to other boards?
There's also Erica... I wonder who she is?
Rumors have it, there's every word in the universe in Союз Советских Социалистических Республик.
It looks to me like there are no words in there at all.
20:02
Well, Martha is spreading to Cooking and SciFi already.
Stop dissing me, @Kosmonaut!
yesterday, by Kosmonaut
@RegDwight: You appear to have spilled some IPA symbols all over the ground. Shall I help you pick them up?
I am still waiting for your help with that matter!
Well, I haven't been convinced that Russian is really a language. I think people are just making things up.
Well, if you like to call that things... That's a big word...
@RegDwight — See? I knew you were just pining away for the old Stalinist regime.
In your backyard, yes.
My backyard is commie-proof. I have a shovel and a ladder now. And if that isn't enough, I'll run you down with my snow thrower.
20:05
But seriously, Russian ain't a language, that's why I'm hanging out here and Putin sings in English.
@Robusto: so there's the root of all your problems right there! Just switch your damn snow thrower off, and you'll be fine!
You'd like that, wouldn't you?
You are the one who doesn't want no snow.
You want to creep in here and steal my precious bodily fluids ...
Alternatively, just point the thrower in my general direction. We discussed that earlier.
@Robusto: that's why you need snow
No fluoridation in there.
Melt that down and protect your POE.
20:11
Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore'.
You down wit' POE?
Now just sneak in Martha in there, and bam! there's your limerick.
Does Martha smoke cigars?
That's a bit of knowledge that's escaped me thus far.
"That's how your hard-core Commie works."
20:17
0
Q: When shall I use passive voice?

AndroidNoobWhen shall I use passive and when active voice? Thank you.

Too broad, just wanted to make sure before closing
Ha
Looks like it has been tackled already!
Flush it.
I think the original should have been closed.
Yeah, @FX_ beats me to it.
The answer is practically useless because it is such a broad topic.
Closing might be a good idea. The answers aren't shiny.
20:20
Somebody visiting our office just said "I'll see youse latah!" as she walked out the door.
You live in a funny environment.
Did she THWACK you with a ruler as she left?
Now that you mention it, she did!
Ha! You've actually previously commented on that question @Kosmonaut. Dec 19 '10 at 16:37
Well, there you go. It was @Martha.
20:22
Yeah, but it was a long time ago. I might not even have been a mod yet.
December? I would say you were.
For sure @Kosmonaut was a mod in December.
He was just leaving us time for trying to tackle it, and we failed.
He's been giving me shit ever since I joined E&U.SE, and I joined late November.
Hahahaha.
Foshizzle.
20:25
Word.
Excel.
Pages?
Outlook.
It's funny how people can call their software word and get away with it.
Word.
20:27
Well, in any case, my moderating style has evolved since December
And now that poor, um, word has all kinds of connotations.
Word.
I have a macro now. You're all fucked.
Lustig.
So, now if you go to that "When to use passive voice", it says Exact Duplicate. Then you click on the original question, and it says "closed. too broad."
Kind of mean
Is there any way you could have them point to each other as exact duplicates? Now that would be funny. And in keeping with your gravatar motto, @Kosmonaut.
20:31
Good point.
I imagine it is possible.
Mind = blown.
Stack = overflowed
If it's possible, then you have to do it. To have that much power and not use it? What kind of moderator would you be if you resisted that urge?
I have found myself a new hobby. Whenever I hit the rep cap, I go through the list of the most godawful worthless posts and see if I've forgotten to downvote some.
I miss so many questions these days.
I'm kinda afraid what might be waiting for us ahead.
20:35
We certainly might need more thwacking.
And cowbell!
hey, that was my active voice/passive voice question! :)
How happy were you with the answers?
Sorry — not that it's a bad question... it just requires a chapter in a book :)
Yup. Closed doesn't mean it doesn't belong. Closed means not accepting further answers.
I liked the one I excepted
right
20:37
I found this question so odd:
0
Q: Are there any practical uses of onomatopoeia in contemporary English?

J AngwenyiDo we have any practical uses of onomatopoeia in contemporary English? I can not claim to have read many materials, but I have to confess I have rarely seen it used a lot.

3
A: Should we have a policy for when a question is answerable, yet has an unreasonably large scope?

Robert CartainoSure, anything CAN be answered, but the distinction here is can the question be reasonably answered in its current form. An overly-broad question is an earmark of vagueness and lack of focus. If I were to ask, for example, "what makes a good game?", it's completely answerable. There's volumes of ...

@Kosmonaut — Yeah. Sometimes, not often, I find myself at a loss for words. That question occasioned one of them.
@Kosmonaut There used to be a comment by kiamlaluno there, which got me thinking whether the OP might be asking about the use of the word onomatopoeia itself.
OMG, that would be even weirder
I don't think it could possibly mean that... but you're right; now kiamlaluno's answer makes some sense.
@Kosmonaut Yes. Which accidentally also means that it's quite likely.
20:40
If that is the question, then it should be closed for sure!
Am I the only one who is thoroughly sick of the NOAD references? Enough!
I'm just afraid we'll never know!
...
waiting ...
Ich warte ...
Danke, lieber Robusto.
Ich hätte es nicht gemerkt.
Bitte.
20:42
Interestinglz enough, mz wife seems to have fixed the m key somehow.
OH F***.
Feb 11 at 18:40, by Kosmonaut
[kezboard error]
The y-z switch sometimes just makes the person sound drunk.
I'm not talking like that!
Well, kind of.
How should I know?
I'm tellin ya!
@Kosmonaut How come your name is in blue in the chat?
20:45
Because of awesome!
Feb 9 at 14:53, by RegDwight
Hm. Kosmonaut is so blue now.
He's very vain about his blue blood.
It's because I have mod powers.
Where's your diamond?
It's right here —
Oh, I must have dropped it...
20:47
@Kosmonaut — Ease up, Skeletor. We non-mods have not yet begun to fight.
yesterday, by RegDwight
But OMFG, you're now ahead of nohat. So tell me, my dear friend, should we just fight it out like real men or what?
You have to watch the whole thing... it really pays off at the end.
@RegDwight — ...
The title of that video is teh awesome.
yesterday, by Robusto
You're a man? Shit, I've been wasting all this time chatting you up ...
20:48
Déjà vu all over again.
I'm too lazy to put in diacritical marks when I'm on the PC. The Mac makes it so easy, I've been spoiled.
ɗɛ́ʝɒ̹ ʋʉ
Same here. I can type them at work but this Russian keyboard here is unusable.
32 mins ago, by Robusto
"That's how your hard-core Commie works."
Nothing to add. Sadly.
20:51
Everything is getting too self-referential around here. (I just know I'm asking to have this comment re-used, but still...)
1 hour ago, by Robusto
See, @RegDwight can be self-referential and self-deferential at the same time. Amazing.
Well, we could talk about literature or something.
Or monster trucks.
Word.
That macro is way too slow.
I went to a monster truck rally once. In Wisconsin.
They had truck-o-saurus there.
He ate a car and it bled oil.
20:53
@RegDwight — Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have used VBScript.
Did you enjoy the show?
It was the loudest thing I ever experienced in my entire life.
@Chris: I do believe I said "they had truck-o-saurus there".
So obviously: YES
well... obviously
@Kosmonaut That reminds me of an excellent book.
It's like Umberto Eco on drugs.
20:56
@Robusto: It was basically just like that
@RegDwight — Wait, you mean Umberto Eco isn't on drugs?
Drugs on drugs
(Yo dawg...)
Word.
I mean that there are those books after reading which you can't help but think, OMFG now I know everything about everything ever. Foucault's Pendulum is like that. The Discovery of Heaven is like that. And Out of Control is like that, too.
@Robusto You talk like a fag and your shit's all retarded.
Don't make me bring up the Elton John thing again.
20:59
Wait... when did Iraq also start protesting???
Q? Not N?

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