English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@Cerberus I see. If you are thinking of getting Pixel 3a (budget alternative to Pixel 3), why not wait a couple of months for the Pixel 4a (budget alternative to Pixel 4)?

I am thinking of getting either the Pixel 4a or the iPhone SE later this year. They cost about the same.

SmokeDetector

10:19 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad ip for hostname in body, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted username, blacklisted website in body, +3 more (486): Is Regional College of Management Bangalore for an MBA a good college for placements? by revathinair on english.SE

Captain Bohemian

10:42 AM

money is valued so much because it's something which can be exchanged for labor and the more money you have, the more labor you can be offered, and then you can have more time to do really interesting things.

M.A.R.

10:55 AM

@Cerberus In better condition than half the population, methinks

Captain Bohemian

11:23 AM

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting;
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating;
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

Szabolcs

12:16 PM

Math question: Which is more natural (or correct)? "x is in [0,1]" or "x lies in [0, 1]". This refers to the number x lying in the interval [0,1].

(Please ping me when you respond.)

Captain Bohemian

12:29 PM

@Szabolcs why don't you just say x∊[0,1]?

Szabolcs

@CaptainBohemian Because it's an ASCII environment.

Robusto

@Cerberus Now you sound like W. S. Gilbert.

I am the Captain of the Pinafore - HMS Pinafore

►

Cerberus

1:02 PM

@Jasper The Pixel 3a is a lot cheaper.

@M.A.R. Excellent.

Robusto

1:15 PM

@Cerberus I'm using a Galaxy Note 10+ lately. LG just didn't have anything that looked good. There are a lot of good things, but I miss some of the LG things.

The LG keyboard can parse swipes better, for one thing.

My scientist son got the S20, but there have been problems.

Cerberus

@Robusto From what I hear, people use the Google keyboard nowadays, Gboard.

@Robusto What problems?

Robusto

@Cerberus I forget, but the software required patching that took time to arrive. All in all, he likes the phone, but there were irritants.

@Cerberus Looks like I already have that installed. I'll give it a try.

The Galaxy keyboard seriously messes up with glide typing if you don't hit all the keys exactly. The LG would infer what you meant much more readily. Let's hope Gboard does the same.

> The economy is so bad right now that Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

Cerberus

1:35 PM

@Robusto I have always used Swype. Nothing else came close.

But some company bought Skype, and now they have stopped making it.

Robusto

Dafuq?

Jasper

@Robusto The best thing LG makes that I know about is the LG Gram 14, 15, and 17. The lightest laptops in the world of that size.

Cerberus

So I'll try Skype in my next phone, if I can get it to work; but otherwise I'll probably have to switch to Gboard.

Robusto

Wow.

Bought the product to discontinue it. This smacks of someone like Google.

Jasper

The 2020 LG Grams use the Ice Lake chips.

Robusto

1:40 PM

I'm thinking of building a new gaming computer.

The current one is 8 years old.

Cerberus

@Robusto To be fair, they kept updating it for several years.

But yeah. They (Nuance) used the data for their speech-to-text tool, Dragon.

@Robusto I built my new computer after 10 years.

Or was it 11?

Robusto

@Cerberus What did you get in the way of hardware?

Here's what I'm considering: newegg.io/c7a6eb4

@Cerberus I really really don't want to be talking into my phone to send messages.

Cerberus

@Robusto Ah, of course you're spending big money.

I cannot judge a €380 motherboard.

About storage: why not pick an NVME drive?

Robusto

@Cerberus That's considered a middle-of-the-road amount.

@Cerberus I don't know what that is.

Cerberus

Not to the non-rich!

Mine was €800ish, which I would consider middle tier.

€250 is the bottom tier (still quite usable for office work and older games).

@Robusto It is a much faster storage technology.

As opposed to conventional SSDs.

Robusto

1:49 PM

@Cerberus Then I'll have to check it out.

Cerberus

You probably won't notice much of a difference in most practical applications.

But you will notice when e.g. copying big files.

And you may notice in applications of the intermediate future.

A conventional SSD is limited at around 600 MB/s.

My NVME SSD can do about 3000 MB/s.

And the price difference is not so huge any more these days.

Robusto

Those are the ones that plug in directly to the motherboard, right?

Cerberus

About your power supply: if you're going to spend €130, which is a lot, why not pick one with a higher energy rating?

Gold or Platinum.

Robusto

@Cerberus I'll look, thanks.

I've never used the Newegg PC builder and some of the offerings are confusing.

Cerberus

newegg.com/p/…

970 Evo and 970 Plus are good choices, reliable and fast. The Plus is a bit faster still.

Robusto

1:55 PM

What about this one: newegg.com/tools/custom-pc-builder/pl/…

Cerberus

The Intel is a bit slower, lower quality. But still perfectly fine.

I have the 960 or 970 Evo (can't remember).

But I have only 500 GB.

Robusto

The difficulty with the Newegg build tool is that it attempts to make sure all the components are compatible, so it doesn't show me the one you linked.

Cerberus

By the way, if I were to spend that much money on a computer, I'd also get larger storage. More is always better. I'd rather get a €100 motherboard and add the saved money to storage.

@Robusto Oh, dear, that would mean your motherboard doesn't have an M2 slot?

That means you could never in the future add any M2 drives (NVME SSDs normally use M2).

Robusto

@Cerberus Well, apparently it does.

Cerberus

Yeah, it does.

Perhaps PC Part Picker is better.

It also has prices from different shops, not just Newegg.

I don't think there are really good price-comparison sites for your region as we have them here, but PC Part Picker does try.

Robusto

2:01 PM

I'll look at that one too. My son's always selected my components before, so I'm new at this.

I started with the AMD processor and proceeded from there.

Cerberus

pcpartpicker.com/list

It's fine to start with the processor.

Your processor is a fine choice.

By the way, it seems there will be new Ryzens in July.

Robusto

@Cerberus Will that mean price drops on the others?

I don't have to be bleeding edge, just solid.

Cerberus

Probably price drops.

Though probably not huge for you.

Mitch

2:24 PM

@Cerberus OMG we're almost past the beginning of the 21st century and we're still 'configuring' our PCs. They should be configuring themselves by now.

@Cerberus OMG we're almost past the beginning of the 21st century and we're still calling them 'PCs'. They shouldn't even be things by now. It shouldn't even be 'my phone'. Just call it 'compute service'.

@Cerberus OMG we're almost past the beginning of the 21st century and we're still using words to communicate. We should just be nodding and smiling at each other as concepts flow via direct brain interfaces and the robot nurse replaces our nutrient IVs.

Robusto

@Mitch We call it a PC because we're not PC.

Mitch

@Cerberus mmm hmmm hm mmm-hmmm mmm. mmmm?

Cerberus

@Mitch You can just click a praeconfigured build.

Mitch

@Robusto Writers on TV still call them 'mainframes'

Cerberus

@Mitch Why still nod and smile, then? How obsolete!

Robusto

2:29 PM

True.

Mitch

Writers on Netflix still call it 'TV' or 'Video games' or 'mouth food'

Cerberus

What orifice do you prefer?

Mitch

@Cerberus Not even that. Should be like ball point pens.

Robusto

And have you noticed that when computers print out text ON THE SCREEN it still sounds like a dot matrix printer?

Jasper

@Mitch I have never liked the term PC. I just say computer or desktop or laptop.

Mitch

2:30 PM

Annoying when people walk away with your favorite laptop because you like to chew on it.

@Cerberus it's what the olders do, the +20s.

Jasper

@Mitch If not TV, what should we call TV?

@Cerberus It is very interesting that some organisms have food entering and waste leaving through the same orifice.

Mitch

@Jasper Agreed. But I don't know if I should call it 'laptop' because maybe it's just a phone.

@Jasper Polyps have no shame.

Robusto

@Jasper We call them "Republicans" here.

Jasper

@Mitch I actually use my phone for local calls and messages. I don't even connect to the internet on my phone. Oh, and maybe take nice pictures and videos too.

Cerberus

@Mitch You can buy praebuilt computers. Laptops, but even desktops.

Mitch

2:33 PM

'Computer' almost seems too 1950's, like I should have a whiskey sour in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Cerberus

@Jasper Agreed.

Jasper

My Macbook Air just told me that macOS Catalina 10.15.5 will be installed tonight.

Cerberus

@Mitch Oh, those old people. spits

@Jasper I'm not surprised you should find that interesting.

Jasper

One thing I don't understand is why macOS updates take so long, even with an SSD.

Mitch

@Cerberus They do make very rich compost, so they're good for something.

Jasper

2:35 PM

Anyway, I just hope that when July comes, most parts of the world would have ended their lockdowns.

I have this suspicion that the virus might have come from aliens.

Mitch

@Jasper There'll be another surge (probably a few more) before tech/behavior is in place to mitigate spread. In the US... it seems like it's going to be problematic.

Jasper

In recent years, there have been many UFO sightings.

Robusto

@Mitch That's so anachronistic. You should be drinking an old fashioned instead.

Mitch

@Robusto I could look up what is in an old-fashioned, but I'll just confidently presume that it is something like a Long Island Iced Tea.

Robusto

@Mitch It's what Don Draper drank.

Mitch

2:39 PM

I mean creme de menthe? What insane asylum escapee invented that?

@Robusto And he has good taste.

The good taste of a carrion eater.

Jasper

@Mitch Did you know that Iced Tea is the name of an open source version of Java? I used to install the Iced Tea browser plugin on Ubuntu years ago.

Mitch

I mean it all goes to the same place.

@Jasper Seems weak.

ha ha ha ha ha hhhaha hhaa

Jasper

And of course, I also found out that Java can refer to coffee.

Mitch

I made myself laugh

because

get it?

it's...

oh wow.

gotta wipe the tears off my face

or punch myself in the face

From a D.C. area doctor: "If they're lifting the lockdown it doesn't mean the pandemic is over - it means they have room for you in the ICU."

ah there. now I feel better.

Robusto

@Cerberus: I like this PC Picker much better than the NewEgg builder. Better prices and a better interface.

Jasper

2:42 PM

@Mitch I wonder how this pandemic will unfold. Nobody knows I guess.

Mitch

Things will definitely get better on the average. The difficulty is how long it'll take, how many dips in the roller coaster.

unless...

punches self in face again

Jasper

I am not holding my breath for a vaccine.

Mitch

there are no guarantees with any particular tech

but there are multiple attacks.

Jasper

I even told my mum today that maybe this virus comes from the alien's blood.

Mitch

after 40 (?) years, there's no vaccine for aids, but the treatments for it are excellent so that you can live with it.

Jasper

2:45 PM

People can be cured of HIV/AIDS, but only when they do a bone marrow transplant if they also have cancer or something like that. I don't remember the details.

Mitch

Hep C, up until say 10 years ago (?) could only be partially ameliorated by a liver transplant. Now you take some pills for 12 weeks and it's totally gone.

Jasper

So far, a couple of people in the world have been cured that way.

Mitch

Also there's no SARS or MERS vaccine, but they've been kept at bay pretty well.

No one has a clue for curing stupid though.

Jasper

I hope after this virus is over, scientists will come up with an SOP on how to deal with the next one.

I think some mystic predicted this virus years ago, and she also said there will be another one in 2030.

Mitch

I'm pretty sure scientists have known how to deal with things for quite a while.

I'm predicting we'll all be dead by ... 2100.

Jasper

2:48 PM

This mystic said that the virus will suddenly appear around 2020, but it will also suddenly disappear. I am waiting for that to happen.

Mitch

I'm pretty sure that mystic disappeared

OMG he's magic!

Unless she's a she.

Or a they.

Or was non-corporeal to begin with.

Jasper

Do you know that Bill Gates bought the rights to 7 videos of lectures by Richard Feynman? I think they are streamable from some Microsoft website.

They are meant for lay people and are in black and white.

Mitch

I think Richard Feynman was a dick. He wrote a whole bunch of self promoting books. And people believe it when someone says they're modest.

Jasper

Wait, Richard's nickname is Dick, right?

Mitch

hahaha

Jasper

2:52 PM

I can't remember these weird nicks. I know John's is Jack.

Mitch

I don't know if Feynman went by that nickname

Jasper

And Theodore is Ted.

And William is Bill, LOL.

How do people even come up with such weird variants?

Robusto

@Cerberus: Comments? pcpartpicker.com/list/7wq3Qq

Mitch

And Elizabeth is Liz, Liza Lisa Eliza, Lizbeth, Beth, Betty, Bettina, Betsy, Bessie, Elspeth, Isabella, etc

Jasper

@Robusto I don't know about gaming CPUs, but I think AMD Ryzen 7 4800H might be a good choice. Note it is H and not the low power U version.

Mitch

2:54 PM

@Jasper Robert, Robbie, Rob, Bob, Bobby, Bubba, Bubby, Bobba-Lou, Slash.

Margaret, Margret, Margit, Maggie, Mags, Meg, Peg, Peggy.

Cerberus

@Robusto Better. Still a few questions, though.

Robusto

@Cerberus Such as?

Cerberus

Do you really need such an expensive motherboard? Why did you pick that one?

Robusto

@Cerberus Looked good?

What's a better idea?

Cerberus

As to the power supply, that looks better, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to judge the quality. Mine has ten years of warranty, which is a good sign. How many does yours have? And have you checked how much power you really need? outervision.com/power-supply-calculator This calculator has the best reputation.

@Robusto Haha OK. I'll look at motherboards later, but I suspect you could get a fine board for €100 less.

That case is also awfully expensive. I picked a case that I really liked, it looks good and is made of 100% aluminium, so it's also very light and easy to move around (the case is often most of the weight of a computer).

DVD drive: does your case have an opening for that?

I don't see it.

Or does it have a panel that flips open?

Robusto

3:06 PM

@Cerberus Not sure.

I just assumed all cases would come with one.

Thanks for your guidance, btw.

Cerberus

3:33 PM

@Robusto Mine doesn't!

RegDwigнt

4:10 PM

0

Q: Would it be correct to say that "whose" is "the only interrogative possessive pronoun"?

I am creating a crossword puzzle for submission to a newspaper. For the entry WHOSE, would it be correct to say "The only interrogative possessive pronoun" as the clue? Would pedantic solvers approve or complain?

Obviously it would be incorrect. There are also the interrogative possessive pronouns *чей, wessen, cuiōrum, 누구 것, de quién, and וועמענס‎ *, to name but a few.

Cerberus

4:24 PM

@RegDwigнt Hmm what would cuiōrum be?

RegDwigнt

Pedantic solvers will be quick to point out that a clue is supposed to be a clue. Meaning to say, there is no reason whatsoever at all for the words "the only" to be there in the first place. The whole point of a crosswords puzzle is that any one clue could easily apply to more than one word, so you have to find the correct one. Otherwise it's not a puzzle, but a dictionary. "A city in Europe" is a puzzle. "The current capital of Russia" is not. — RegDwigнt ♦ 10 mins ago

@Cerberus something plural and I'm guessing masculine. Other than that, probably a city in the current capital of Rome?

Cerberus

Alas.

You probably meant quorum.

The c is only used in the dative and genitive singular.

RegDwigнt

cuiorum

Pronoun: cūiōrum

genitive masculine plural of cūius
genitive neuter plural of cūius...

Latin, motherfucker, do you speak it?

I'm off to violin lesson. You learn Latin in the mean time.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt That is just wrong.

latin.packhum.org/search?q=cuiorum

It doesn't exist in the entire HP corpus.

If it does exist, it must be extremely rare or way post-classical.

But it really looks like an error.

@Robusto How about this board? pcpartpicker.com/product/q4Dkcf/…

Gets good reviews, has all the slots and connectors you'd wish for.

And did you notice this:

Your power supply looks like overkill.

You can fill in your parts on outervision.com/power-supply-calculator to get a fairly reliable estimate. With margins.

Did you know that a power supply with less maximum capacity will consume less energy at a lower wattage, compared with a power supply with high maximum capacity at the same wattage?

Færd

Hmm that would consume my entire monthly salary and then some lol

Cerberus

4:37 PM

Mine, too.

Færd

Cool, then.

Cerberus

If you mean the entire computer.

Færd

I meant the 170 dollars.

Cerberus

OK then not.

Færd

Cool still.

Cerberus

4:38 PM

It is a lot of money for a motherboard.

I think mine was € 70 or so.

Færd

Ah that'd be more reasonable.

Cerberus

I spent about €750 total on all the parts.

I will probably use it at least until 2030.

Færd

I have to be extra careful not to break anything. It'd be very hard to replace a phone or the laptop or a bathroom fan for that matter.

Cerberus

Yeah.

Færd

@Cerberus Wise saving method.

Cerberus

4:40 PM

Bathroom fan, though, might be affordable, especially second hand.

Færd

Buying high-quality and using long-term.

Cerberus

Yeah, it depends.

Often enough, cheap things can last a long time.

I spent €45 on the case of my computer.

Færd

Sure. High-quality is not always expensive.

Cerberus

I could have spent €25 without losing any durability, but I like it to look less ugly, and it's less heavy.

What percentage of your income goes to your rent?

Færd

@Cerberus Even getting such simple things repaired is becoming a bane.

@Cerberus About 70%.

Cerberus

4:42 PM

For me, too.

70%.

And how many (non-supermarket) loaves of bread could you buy if you spent your full income on bread?

Jasper

What is the screen resolution you guys have on your computer? Do you like FHD or lower or higher?

Cerberus

For me, about 400, maybe less if there were any cheap bakeries nearby.

Færd

Let's see... like a baguette?

Our loaves look and probably weigh different.

Cerberus

@Jasper I have 1080p, but I'd like to go to 1440p. I have a second screen, though, which I can highly recommend.

@Færd Yeah, it'll be hard to compare.

I'm thinking of a smallish loaf. Much shorter than a baguette, but thicker.

Færd

I would be able to buy about 1400 loaves.

But bread is relatively cheap here.

Cerberus

4:45 PM

That's a lot more!

Jasper

@Cerberus Actually, I think what matters more than the resolution is the ppi (pixels per inch).

Færd

last year it was 2800 loaves.

Cerberus

Maybe I could buy more if I did my research and cycled far outside the inner city.

That is a big difference!

Færd

@Cerberus I think our loaves are a bit bigger than that.

Cerberus

@Jasper Both matter.

I could also buy more loaves if I wanted to buy super gross supermarket bread.

Up to 1250.

Jasper

4:46 PM

@Cerberus I currently use both the Microsoft Surface Laptop and the Apple Macbook Air. They have ppi of 201 and 227 respectively, which is pretty good!

Cerberus

Oh, it's groceries time.

Færd

@Cerberus That's better.

Jasper

But I think having a 4K resolution on a laptop consumes too much power.

Færd

@Cerberus Yeah the bakery nearby got privatized and the prices doubled.

Cerberus

It was a public bakery?

We don't have those.

Færd

4:47 PM

It was a real strain for some of our neighbors 'cause this is a poor neighborhood.

Cerberus

What if you cycle farther?

Færd

It was subsidized by the government.

Jasper

That is what they use on the highest end Dell XPS 13, reducing its battery life.

Cerberus

@Jasper Yeah, and it's just not really visible. 1080p on a small screen should be enough.

I'd like 1440p on 27".

Jasper

@Færd I thought you would just type cos, but instead of cos or because you actually typed 'cause, LOL.

@Cerberus What is the brand of the monitor you use?

Færd

4:50 PM

@Cerberus Cycling is not a good idea in Tehran, but maybe there are still some subsidized bakeries in some areas. It's a big city.

Or maybe not. With the trend of things.

@Jasper That's more reasonable. :)

Cos. You live and learn.

Jasper

@Færd It's just a personal preference. I always type OK instead of okay, because it is shorter.

Cerberus

@Jasper LG. It's 11 years old. My second screen is a smaller, much newer Dell I borrowed from a friend.

Færd

@Jasper But the shift action

Cerberus

@Færd What is the trend, with respect to subsidised bakeries?

Jasper

@Cerberus Did you know that LG stands for Life's Good? Many LG product users don't, LOL.

Færd

4:52 PM

@Cerberus More and more are being privatized.

Cut off the subsidies. So they have to hike up the price.

Cerberus

@Jasper Umm I believe it is Lucky Goldstar!

@Færd Hmm why?

LG Corporation

LG Corporation (Korean: 주식회사 LG), formerly Lucky-Goldstar (Korean: Leogki Geumseong; Korean: 럭키금성; Hanja: 樂喜金星), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. It is the fourth-largest chaebol in South Korea. Its headquarters are in the LG Twin Towers building in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul. LG makes electronics, chemicals, and telecom products and operates subsidiaries such as LG Electronics, Zenith, LG Display, LG Uplus, LG Innotek and LG Chem in over 80 countries. == History == LG Corporation established as Lak Hui Chemical Industrial Corp. in 1947. In 1952, Lak Hui...

Jasper

@Cerberus Haha, I didn't know, but I think later, it went on to stand for Life's Good as well.

Færd

@Cerberus In order for us to free our market and achieve prosperity or something.

It's just one piece of the puzzle. The trend encompasses much more than bakeries. And it's painfully riddled with corruption.

Jasper

Oh dear, it also stands for Leogki Geumseong, LOL.

The plot thickens.

Cerberus

@Færd That sounds terrible.

We had that between ca. 1990 and 2005.

Færd

4:59 PM

It feels terrible too.

Cerberus

At least here, the trend is turning again. Slowly.

Færd

Oh really? That's good.

Our foreseeable future looks as bleak as it gets.

.

Cerberus

It may get worse.

But, eventually.

Færd

What turned the tide?

Some of my friends who have emigrated to the US for education tell me they live safer lives than many Black and Latino citizens in their states. Or so they think.

One said he had been required to show ID to be able to use his credit card only once during several years, and that was when he was with a Latino guy, whereas that's a routine check with Blacks and Latinos there.

Cerberus

@Færd The Zeitgeist, I suppose.

@Færd That would be illegal here, though it happens.

Iranian migrants are usually educated. They're not lower class.

So that helps.

Færd

5:07 PM

Right.

Cerberus

It's still mostly a class struggle. The role of ethnicity or race is more limited.

Færd

Maybe not usually. I don't know. Many are.

Cerberus

At least here.

Færd

I think they are more intertwined in places with histories of racial prejudice.

Cerberus

The same applies to Afghanis, to a lesser degree.

Færd

5:09 PM

Afghans?

Cerberus

@Færd Perhaps, but even in America a black man in a professional environment (so he belongs to the same class) should not experience too many serious problems, I'd expect.

Færd

Perhaps less than poorer black men. But he's by no means untouched, I think.

Cerberus

Few people are untouched.

Færd

By anti-Black racism, I mean.

Like an affluent Afghan immigrant in Iran would not be untouched by anti-Afghan racism.

(If there are any)

His or her kid would probably have a harder time at school, etc.

Cerberus

A bit, but much less so than the average lower-class person of the ethnic majority.

As in, who has the better life.

I have to go now, later!

Færd

5:15 PM

Later!

@Cerberus I think you're right on average, but individual experiences could vary very sharply.

Like what happened to George Floyd (suffocated to death by police officer for no reason). He didn't look poor.

And the same seldom happens to a member of the ethnic majority.

M.A.R.

@Cerberus Thanks BTW

Færd

5:53 PM

... And there are many correlations between gender/ethnic inequality and poverty, suggesting that there may be more to the story than identity-blind class struggles.

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