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12:21 PM
Off to work. Laterz.
I don't know if this was already discussed, but I don't like the new policy that much
Posted by Jeff Atwood on February 22nd, 2011

On Podcast #58, Joel and I had a disagreement. Not the first, and certainly won’t be the last:

Joel says that the only bad simple question is a duplicate simple question. I say simple questions are OK as long as they’re actually interesting (in some way) for other users to consider and answer. To prove his point, Joel actually asks the question on Stack Overflow: How do I move the turtle in LOGO? Do you think this question adds value?

We still have this disagreement. Our community is now struggling with the very same issue across multiple network sites: …

I mean, in a way it would make sense, but it could leads to some kind of elitism
Well, note how one of the four links leads to our site.))
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Q: Should we require some reasonable research being done? (aka Questions that can be answered by opening an online dictionary)

FX_Despite the apparent consensus (or lack of dissension) on the “Find in dictionary” topic here, I still regularly see questions on EL&U that I don't think are appropriate for the site, because they could simply be answered by someone checking an online dictionary. I'll give some recent example...

I should be pinging @FX_.
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@RegDwight should you, really?
Yeah, on a second thought, I shouldn't. Please go away!
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12:32 PM
the exact type of question that I wish could be closed with this new reason is this one:
they're not very common on EL&U, but there are some
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Q: What is a spouse?

khanWhat is meant by the word spouse?

Why did you answer then?
:p
Well, yeah, I don't want us to turn into yet another dictionary, let alone yet another Urban Dictionary, but I do maintain that every question is trivial if you know the answer to it.
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@Eldros I think it should be closed; now, given that this isn't the current policy, then it should be answered
@FX_ wasn't the current policy, if I understood the last blog correctly
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@RegDwight yet, you can remark that a reasonable set of criteria has been discussed for this new reason to close questions, and it doesn't include “triviality”
@Eldros the blog post says they're thinking about it
12:36 PM
oh ok
Greetings.
@FX_ Still, it might be only me, but if I didn't agree with the question being here, I wouldn't answer it
"Hoi oligoi" sounds like a fine opposition to "hoi polloi", to answer a question of some time back.
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@Eldros because you are not acting logicaly :)
I fail to see where I am not acting logically
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12:39 PM
@Cerberus yep, I think it is nice
@FX_: Uhuh. And cf. oligarchy.
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and the unfortunately little-used oligochaete
The SE system is made so that each site is defined by its community. As such the opinion of its member should be considered and reflected
@FX_ I would close that question just for the fact the answer could contain just 5 words.
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@kiamlaluno then join me, I have already put a vote on it
12:41 PM
if the question was "what does spouse of the nature mean?", then it would be a different question.
As it is now, the answer could be misunderstood, from who doesn't know English enough to have to ask what spouse mean.
Ah, I didn't know that word; apparently it is a plant? I wonder what -(o)chaete is derived from...
What does "get passed around" mean?
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and there are plenty more *olig*-prefixed compound names in chemistry and biology
If something gets passed around by people, it means that one person takes something, then gives it to the next person, and so on.
> modern Latin (plural), from oligo- [few] + Greek khaitē (long hair, taken to mean bristle), because they have fewer setae than polychaetes.
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12:45 PM
Stan has been around for only a week, but his answers are quite good!
@FX Yeah probably so.
Yup, he's topping the charts.
Yes I have noticed Stan too.
I think he's ahead of chaos now.
12:46 PM
Thanks Kiam.
(Never heard of khaite before.)
@Cerberus: That is the origin of the word you were asking for. I am sorry I forgot to link my post to yours.
?
Thanks for the origin; I don't know what you mean by linking...
Oh shoot I need to run.
Later all!
TTYL.
@Cerberus: You saw that some posts have an icon before them.
(Did I write "liking" instead of "linking"?)
@Cerberus thanks
And what does it mean "joint get passed around"?
12:53 PM
Artic: In which context?
joint means a cigarette-like object filled with drugs
Students like to have joint get passed around
A joint is also a marijuana cigarette.
:p
@kiamlaluno what he said
@Eldros O! I get it/
Thanks
Totally not worth it by the way
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12:54 PM
“joint got passed around” can also refer to a teaching class of osteopathy
I said also because joint has over meanings, but that is probably the first meaning everybody would give to that sentence.
That wouldn't be the first asumption made without context though
Joint venture.
Like me, who wouldn't have thought that joint could have other meanings
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or, if the president is changing his team, joint chiefs get passed around
12:57 PM
I think that drugs is the best fit for my context
@Eldros It could also mean a fracture in a rock; I don't know many people who would say "look at that joint!"
@Artic That sentence would be so much cooler without context. And without context.
@RegDwight you lost me. Why are you repeating yourself?
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if you're in a Manchester beef restaurant, joints can also get passed around
Do you mean it's cool to write "I think that drugs is the best fit for my". ;-)
12:59 PM
@Eldros One, take the sentence out of context. Two, take the context out of the sentence.
:)
I did it again.
Cooler. But not for me.
Never said that I were you.
Oh well… I am famous for speaking Greek.
1:00 PM
You're infamous for that.
I'm against drugs. But it is offtopic.
I am famous to be infamous.
@Artic Precisely. Only being pro-drugs is on-topic here.
Or I am infamous to be famous?
infamous imply some kind of fame already
an ill-gotten fame, but fame nonetheless
1:01 PM
Sure. And?
well being famous to be infamous would be redundant
and then you devide by zeroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
@RegDwight Жжешь.
Ah. You talking to kiamlaluno.
@Artic We cross our t's and dot our ё's here.
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@RegDwight you should actually dot your ë's twice, just to make sure
just make sure you don't dot your U+0131
ooooooooooooooo... ouf came back from the singularity I created
1:05 PM
@FX_: The reason I don't vote to close the spouse question is that none of the reasons suits that question.
Ẅhät ärё ÿȫǘ, ah screw that, talking about?
Who saw flash on youtube with belinda heggens. What did she said to him?
@RegDwight Never mind.
@RegDwight This is in russian
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@RegDwight what, no “ ”?
@RegDwight ok, now, the joke isn't funny if the U+0308U+0068 doesn't display
@FX_ I see two boxes with 0003 and 0008 in them.
@Artic I do mind, I was talking at FX and Eldros.
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@RegDwight it's supposed to be an h with a combining diaeresis character
1:08 PM
@Artic I noticed that and responded accordingly.
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“Unicode let me down.”™
Ämёn, brö.
@RegDwight Ok
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diaereses on vowels, I expected more of you, Sir
Outside of French, is there any other language who would use a ё?
1:11 PM
(bloody firewall who won't let the picture display themselves...)
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@RegDwight funny!
“Ë, ë (e-umlaut or diaeresis) is a letter in the Albanian, Ripuarian, Uyghur Latin Script and Kashubian languages. This letter also appears in Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Abruzzese dialect (especially its version Ascolano), and Luxembourgish language as a variant of letter "e". The letter is used in Seneca, in Turoyo and Taiwanese Hokkien when written in Latin script.”
@Eldros How about English? Preëmptive.
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@Eldros be lucky that there isn't a “General Reference” close button yet, because that's the first link on a Google search for “ë”
@RegDwight die, New Yorker, die!
Hahaha.
I've been called a Frenchman before, but never a New Yorker.
1:14 PM
ё also is used in russinan and belurassian. The is a ё-mobile is going to be released soon in russia.
That's a different letter.
@FX_ Well if I were asking a question about english on the main site, I would have done my homework. Let's say that here I'm not that meticulous (sp?)
e is not е, а is not a.
nothing is what it seems
@FX_ but thanks for the explanation anyway :)
Me is not me an the cow is not mine
Yep. You are right.
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@RegDwight and this is why you can sometimes stumble into a parallel universe
“Your search - homоphobiа - did not match any documents.”
Precisely.
Seriously, I should stop procrastinating...
Haha, the chat engine blows your cover.
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1:19 PM
Useful to play tricks with friends — “I can bet you your town is so small, Google comes up with no reference to it in the whole wide world”
Though I get over 1000+ for bееr.
Who saw flash on youtube with belinda heggens. What did she said to him?
We've come full circle.
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ok, then I'm not staying for the rerun
Whom ares Belinda Heggens anyhowz?
1:20 PM
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the guy on the right is called Belinda?
That would have been useful the first time I would say
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that's a weird name for a guy
Feb 15 at 17:17, by RegDwight
I'll have a look once I have sound.
@FX_ Yep, and the woman on the left is called Heggens.
And the one who starred my last message clearly want that I leave :p
1:21 PM
Sigh! I still have this problem with Youtube: I don't see videos on Safari.
@kiamlaluno that sucks
Can't you use another browser?
@Eldros Not at all. I found funny the way you said it.
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“Belinda, I can't understand how something so small can be so impressive. — Well, Mark, you would know about that.”
As long as you don't see them YouTube comments, either, I don't see a problem.
And who have no problems with watching youtube?
1:23 PM
@Artic: I see only a black box.
@FX_ What did she mean?
It's a double-entendre.
@Eldros: I could set another browser as default one, but I am not sure I would like that.
@RegDwight And what is the direct meaning
1:25 PM
IE6 doesn't exist, for Macs. :-)
Well then, IE5.5.
That doesn't exist too.
@Artic Frankly, I have no idea if she's slept with him or if the guy's just four feet tall.
@kiamlaluno Well my attempt to know where it was, was succesful. And also I didn't meant it seriously (about wanting me to leave) ;)
Starring is not so anonymous as one could think. :D
@kiamlaluno Of course it does. There's even IE5.6.
1:26 PM
I think the last Mac version of IE was 5.2.*
If it does, then it is not updated for the latest versions of Mac OS X.
Whatever, it's not an OS X app, so who cares?
I use Firefox on mac, and I'm quite satisfied with it.
Yeah, right, my bad. 5.1.7, actually.
But anyhow, then go with that one!
Screw IE in all its manifestations. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.
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1:28 PM
@RegDwight Ok i'v understand. Thanx
I could use that tool that allows to select which browser to use before to click on a link.
@Robusto What do you have agains id est?
The Microsoft UI guidelines are that, in all cases, every piece of software should encumber the user with supererogatory help.
And more mouse-clicks = better software.
that is, what could possibly wrong with i.e.
I got the joke, Eldros. Just chose to ignore it. Don't rub my face in it, please.
1:30 PM
I just wanted to make a joke of the joke
I know that only M$IE is to blame here
In economics, diminishing returns (also called diminishing marginal returns) refers to how the marginal production of a factor of production starts to progressively decrease as the factor is increased. According to this relationship, in a production system with fixed and variable inputs (say factory size and labor), each additional unit of the variable input (i.e., man-hours) yields smaller and smaller increases in outputs, also reducing each worker's mean productivity. Consequently, producing one more unit of output will cost increasingly more (owing to the major amount of variable inputs ...
I'd make a joke about overhead, but I think it would go right over your heads.
[Cringes in anticipation of a THWACK]
Didn't want to rub anyone face anyway, sorry if you took that way, was not my intent.
@Reg has the ruler I think
Rule of thumb: if you feel I'm getting on your case, it's not serious and is probably a sign of affection (infinitesimal though that may be). I don't mess with people I deem (1) unworthy or (2) incapable of messing with me back.
Got it. Does it means I can rub your face a little harder?
And if I ever, ever use smileys with you it means I don't respect your ability to meet the standards of 1 and 2 above. :)
1:35 PM
oh
I don't see a difference between 1 and 2.
snap
That's why I failed at math, I guess.
2 is like 1 more than 1.
So incapable of messing back is like more unworthy than unworthy?
1:35 PM
2 hours ago, by Eldros
And my timing is awful, as usual
I'm talking about binary.
1 + 1 = 11
Hahahaha.
That would be unary.
Please, don't discuss your medical issues in chat.
I'm discussing your incapabilities as a programmer.
Also a medical condition, but you don't see me talking about it in chat, do you?
1:38 PM
All the time, actually.
But that could be due to a medical condition of mine.
Well, that's between you and your ophthalmologist.
Semi-jinx ...
More like
Jan 31 at 16:40, by RegDwight
Ha! FGITW!
Just one question, @Robusto, could it be made that your opinion of an individuum changes?
I'm not sure I understand my question anymore...
Ich verstehe gar kein Deutsch. Bitte, spricht nur auf Englisch hier.
Gesundheit
I don't know what I wanted to ask anymore anyway
1:43 PM
I win.
Took me too much time to write said question
Gratz
What did you win?
Over 9000 Internets.
I can't imagine what the edit to this question did to improve its comprehensibility:
0
Q: Are there any words means help somebody think out of /different/widely/freely?

user5015This is what my uncle does to me. I want write him a letter in English.

I would try to edit it myself but I really can't fathom what the OP is asking.
Lol that is a cuil edit.
My brain hurts now. Thanks a lot, @FX_.
1:48 PM
6 mins ago, by Robusto
Ich verstehe gar kein Deutsch. Bitte, spricht nur auf Englisch hier.
In related news, is someone linking to the fast friends question? I'm getting mysterious upvotes by a dozen.
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@Robusto what have I done?
Your edit to
4 mins ago, by Robusto
0
Q: Are there any words means help somebody think out of /different/widely/freely?

user5015This is what my uncle does to me. I want write him a letter in English.

What does it mean?
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I changed a few words in the body, but wasn't sure how to edit the title, so I did nothing to the title
what would you have me do?
It shows the title as having been edited, but the words are the same.
1:51 PM
Well, you could have thrown in a to and thrown out an s. For starters.))
@Robusto That is because he added a question mark.
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@Robusto ah, well, this is not my doing, I promise
@RegDwight oh, you're right, I did add a question mark. Because, well, it looked like a question. Somewhat.
Hahahaha.
This is one of those cases that leave me scratching my head. I couldn't even begin to alter that question. It's perfect, in a way.
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but I have to keep answering these questions, if I want to keep a chance at getting the reversal badge :)
It's like a tower of Jenga blocks. Pull one out and the whole thing comes crashing down.
1:53 PM
Its beauty is amaranthine.
It has achieved the Equilibrium of Incomprehensibility. I think Leibniz first postulated that, didn't he?
Or was it Kant?
The Leibniz-Keks or Choco Leibniz is a German brand of biscuit, produced by the Bahlsen food company since 1891. Name The brand name Leibniz comes from the philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The only connection between man and biscuit is that Leibniz was one of the more famous residents of Hanover, where the Bahlsen company is based. At the time when the biscuit was first made, there was a fashion for arbitrarily naming products after famous people (compare Mozartkugel). Leibniz-Keks The Leibniz-Keks is a plain butter biscuit, or Butterkeks as it is known in Ge...
If it was Leibniz, remind me to kick him a good one right in the monads.
@RegDwight: and very yummy they are too. Also Mozartkugel (which sadly aren't available in the UK).
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@RegDwight “amaranthine” is an English word I didn't know; upon looking it up, I learn that it comes from a French word that I didn't know, though it's my mother tongue; what a day!
1:56 PM
@Robusto: Perhaps we should plug the question into Google Translate and see what comes out.
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A: Uncommon words that should become more common

RegDwightamaranthine (adj.): everlasting, immortal, eternally beautiful and unfading.

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“uncommon words…”: I would definitely say procrastination, which few people around me know, although it's an essential concept
@RegDwight — I'd be afraid. I tried translating recursion once and all it said was "Did you mean recursion?"
@FX_ oh so essential
40 mins ago, by Eldros
Seriously, I should stop procrastinating...
Everyone and his grandma is using procrastination.
Yeah. I'm too lazy to look up procrastination in the dictionary.
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