English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

00:01

@Criggie my interpretation is more fun

GratefulDisciple

@Criggie When I was in the university, a senior classmate of mine worked for Tandem computer. IIRC he said that even one RAM module can be taken out online and the system is still humming along. Not to mention video card, network card, etc. I wonder whether they are still in business.

How times have changed. Now you have the entire server to take over a VM workload when one fails.

alphabet

00:14

@Criggie Pearl Harbor was well into the age of electricity, but if it caused any power outages I don't think it was a major news story.

@GratefulDisciple I've heard people describe those data centers as "warehouse-scale computers," i.e. single computing devices with parts (i.e. the individual machines) that can be removed or replaced while the system is running.

GratefulDisciple

@alphabet New term for me, but seems the term to use in the literature (such as here) though not an everyday term (or I might be out of touch).

Criggie

00:35

@alphabet excellent thought - probably the exception that proves the rule.

GratefulDisciple

01:14

@alphabet Kudos to the 13 workers who "stay at their posts to safely shut down the plant just after the surprise attack[" (see [here).

alphabet

Fun fact of the day: when the USS West Virginia sank during Pearl Harbor, three sailors got trapped in an airtight compartment inside the ship. Instead of rescuing them, the military let them starve to death.

Criggie

@alphabet yep - they survived for 7-10 days from memory.

alphabet

@Criggie They found a calendar with 16 days crossed off.

Also: as I recall, the military didn't tell their families what had happened until decades later.

Criggie

mmm wonder how they were getting oxygen ? You breathe roughtly three bedroom's full of oxygen in a night, so three guys would use air quite fast

(not doubting, just curious)

alphabet

01:30

@Criggie Dunno. Another fun fact: the soldiers guarding the area could hear them banging on the hull of the ship from the inside for several days and were instructed to ignore it.

Facts are fun!

Criggie

War is hell

That fact seems to elude people pushing one or the other side for Israel/gaza/ukraine/russia.

alphabet

01:51

I just want the Russians to return that raccoon.

2

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. Ah. So then, I guess, it was a placebo effect.

I took that DEX tablet because of a sore throat. I read somewhere recently that taking a corticoid might help, and tried it out.

Single-Dose Oral Dexamethasone Decreases Sore Throat Pain

I don't recall the page where I read that, but googling found this

alphabet

@CowperKettle Can you just buy dexamethasone without a prescription there?

CowperKettle

@alphabet Yes

You can get in jail for a t-shirt with a peace sign, but you can buy dexamethasone easily at any pharmacy

alphabet

02:08

That government conspiracy to eliminate male aggression with endocrine disruptors can't come soon enough.

Mitch

02:22

@alphabet sounds like the motivating science for the movie 'Serenity' (the movie sequel to the series 'Firefly')

CowperKettle

Some Ukrainian drones have reached a fuel depo in Kirov Oblast, flying an approximated route of 1500 km gazeta.ru/army/2024/08/28/19647859.shtml

I would not be suprised if by year-end some will reach my region too.

That's only 300 km more.

Mitch

Strategically that would seem unhelpful for Ukraine to go towards you.

CowperKettle

Russian experts say that the drones must have flown at low level above rivers and streams to remain undetected

@Mitch There's lots of military factories in the Urals

Mitch

I'm having a hard time imagining how life is in Donetsk and Luhansk where there's no fighting but just occupied

Daily life.

Like how do businesses run.

tchrist

A journey of a thousand miles ....

... doesn't quite end at that sesquimegameter, but it's certainly getting close.

Mitch

02:26

@CowperKettle oh. Hm. Well it would be hard to maintain any territory occupied that far away.

tchrist

Fuel depos are not territory to hold, but resources to deny the foe.

Mitch

Look man, I'm trying to make you feel better. If you keep coming up with realistic alternatives, I can do my job

And large population centers are sources of potential combatants.

tchrist

Not really.

They're war crimes.

It's all terrible beyond words.

Mitch

Let's talk about cake.

tchrist

torte crimes

Mitch

02:29

A torte tort

tchrist

This is not my year for cake, I'm afraid.

I did have a nibble of something naughty a couple weeks ago but I can't even remember what it was now.

Oh, a four inch by one inch strip of hot cinnamon twist at the hotel breakfast, that was it.

Mitch

Tarte tatin a toute autant ta tante

tchrist

That's surely a plaid tatin.

Mitch

@tchrist sugar is the devil's... uh... sugar

tchrist

Exactly the evil.

Also weevils in the grain.

Mitch

02:32

Those cinnamon strips aren't as good as they look.

tchrist

They are if you haven't had anything like that since last fall.

Well, early winter.

Mitch

Eggo waffles are actually pretty good.

A great aftertaste.

tchrist

Ultraprocessed nonfood.

Mitch

I mean of course real waffles with maple syrup are much better.

alphabet

Apparently we're already in Pumpkin Spice Latte season. Can't they wait until the temperature is below 80?

Mitch

02:35

But between two industrialized breakfast 'foods', I recommend eggo waffles over cinnamon toast strips.

tchrist

I eat maybe 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup a week, in indulgent weeks.

CowperKettle

> The University of Louisville Green Heart Louisville Project collected blood, urine, hair and nails from 745 people before and after more than 8,000 trees were planted in south Louisville. spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2024/08/27/…

tchrist

and?

You have to not live in cities. You have to live in green spaces. Everybody knows that.

Mitch

@tchrist no doubt some leftover byproduc t of a sequence of chemical process that produce ceiling tile and air conditioning filters.

tchrist

@Mitch spun asbestos

alphabet

02:37

:66199604 Louisville: the only city where so little happens that, if there's a shift in residents' health, you can safely assume that the trees caused it.

Mitch

The sludge scraped from the bottoms of oil tanker harbors

tchrist

Also a poor choice for a residence.

Mitch

@alphabet the one thing I remember about Louisville is how everyone smoked.

So if you like smoke, it's a great place

tchrist

I absolutely cannot recall ever being around anyone smoking cigarettes. For years.

Criggie

mmmmmm cake

tchrist

02:40

I clearly don't hang out in the wrong smoking parlours.

Mitch

@Criggie Thank you!

Criggie

about the age of 6 I made my mum quit smoking.

Mitch

You get it!

Criggie

I said "when I grow up I'm gonna smoke like you "

and she went cold turkey

6 year old kid - motivational without even trying

Mitch

@tchrist to get back that memory you should totally go to Louisville.

tchrist

02:43

More products engineered to be unquittable.

alphabet

@Mitch Another note: some of those participants were enrolled and initially tested right around the time Louisville police killed Breonna Taylor, causing massive protests. I think most peoples' C-reactive-peptide levels were a bit higher around then.

Mitch

To be clear this was twenty years ago

@alphabet probably under medicated.

Fluoride, prozac, and maybe a little acetaminophen in the water

@tchrist the whole food industry has us addicted to carbs fats and proteins!

tchrist

saltpeter in the coffee again, eh

Mitch

@tchrist a real pick me up

tchrist

@Mitch Proteins?

salt and sugar, sometimes fat

Mitch

02:47

Hm that's another one to add to the water to combat early cognitive decline.

@tchrist then fry that shit up

tchrist

I'm not that kind of guy.

alphabet

@Mitch Bring back lead-based paint. Why do you think all the teens are becoming furries? Insufficient lead consumption.

Mitch

@alphabet teach your kids not to eat things off the walls

tchrist

put that in a pipe and smoke it

alphabet

@Mitch Where else are you supposed to store your half-finished bubble gum?

Mitch

02:50

@alphabet the top of your bedside table, where all civilized people do it.

alphabet

I intend to raise my kids right, having them lick the walls clean at least once a week.

Mitch

But yes if you collect all the pieces stuck underneath tables at a Waffle House, you can get enough that you can melt together in a pot and then let cool into a bubblegum log and cut off pieces that you can review.

alphabet

Did you know that most pink wall paint is strawberry flavored? If you don't believe me, just try tasting every pink-colored wall you see until you find one.

Mitch

@alphabet one way to stop that is to have cayenne infused paint instead of lead.

@alphabet now -I'm- taking notes

To be fair I thought Barbie's house would have tasted like Pepto-Bismol.

alphabet

@Mitch And, if you're making chili, you just crush up a bit of the drywall to give it that extra kick.

Mitch

02:54

@alphabet for sure that will treat diarrhea much better.

I think we've gotten off track from cake.

Not that we should get back on track.

I'm just noting the change.

alphabet

Landlord keeps getting on my case about all the holes in my walls with bite marks around them. I blame anti-raccoon prejudice.

Mitch

takes notes

Holy crap it's September in ... counts on fingers ... a few days.

I'm still working on late June.

@alphabet I've certainly mentioned this before but I can't be bothered to search for it so I'll repeat it ad nauseam...

alphabet

Is there a word for "a hole made through a flat surface by biting it"? Do I need to ask ELU?

Criggie

@alphabet mouse hole ?

Mitch

Both our trash and recycling bins have huge gouges all around the lid from raccoons trying to get in (and all around the inside after getting in from trying to get out ).

alphabet

02:59

@Criggie If a man makes it, would it be a "manhole"?

Criggie

a manhole would have a round metal plate on top in a frame and likely be horizontal, so no.

Mitch

A manmade mouse hole?

tchrist

bears are everywhere now

Criggie

mousehole has the implication of being gnawed

Mitch

@tchrist goddammit

They're ruining the neighborhood.

Criggie

03:00

@tchrist There's no accounting for taste - some people like bears, you know ?

Who are we to judge

Mitch

They're no longer shitting in the woods

Criggie

Oh those kinds of bears

tchrist

@Criggie in leathers?

Mitch

@Criggie there are others?

Criggie

As long as you can see the hairiness - he's a bear

Mitch

03:02

Jincks!

tchrist

freaks me out when i find i've gone to bed and forgotten to lock, or even latch, the front door

alphabet

@Criggie Dammit you beat me to that joke.

tchrist

for the apple tree is having a mast year, and it draws all manner of creature by night

Mitch

@tchrist putting a lock on it is just challenging them to learn how to get past it

tchrist

every few weeks i seem to forget to close the damn door all the way

and i leave it that way for hours

there was wind the other night. i thought it was a home invasion as the pommes pummelled my house like artillery fire.

Mitch

03:05

When one door closes, you can just open the door back up again. That's how doors work.

tchrist

the cricketing choristers are so loud

can't sleep with the window open with that racket

well not without earplugs

alphabet

Even worse here. App tells me there's 5 bears in a 1-mile radius, one of whom claims to be "seeking a husbear."

Mitch

@tchrist Sure but, how do you get the earplugs in all their little tiny ears?

@alphabet holy crap you have an app that tells you th... Oh ok I get it now

alphabet

Word of the day: husbear. Haven't heard that one before.

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. Would a mineralocorticoid somehow affect the psyche?

Mitch

03:09

Like how did zoologists get trackers out on al...oh ok I get it now.

tchrist

our lions are all collared unless they're younglings

some of the bears are, but not the cubs

but it's not like the dnr ever reverse-911s you when they're prowling around in your neighborhood

Mitch

@tchrist how do they know they got them all?

CowperKettle

Hindi-derived word of the day: dungarees, from Hindi डूंगरी (ḍūṅgrī, “coarse calico”), from the name of a village.

tchrist

@Mitch well they probably haven't but they try

Mitch

@CowperKettle Now do jodpurs.

Or juggernaut

tchrist

03:11

i just mean here in boulder, not the whole state

Mitch

Or mulligatawny

Or corduroy...oh that's French.

You did cummerbund the other day, right?

@tchrist if I were a cougar...

tchrist

there are like 4 lions per six miles square

Mitch

And to be sure, I'm not...

tchrist

adults not cubs

here

Mitch

I would be pretty resentful of a collar.

Very surveillance state.

tchrist

03:13

state though has like 4 to 7 kilocats

Mitch

@tchrist I really thought you were talking about your own cats there for a moment.

tchrist

@Mitch pumas con color

alphabet

Here they've replaced the collars with these weird leather harness things.

tchrist

@Mitch people never own cats

Mitch

But back to surveiling, I'd be scratching and rubbing and

tchrist

03:15

i would i'm sure delight to have a lion as a companion but the work would be beyond me

Mitch

Wait is it an actual collar or like a...

tchrist

a puma, maybe 80 to 120 pounds, not Panthera leo.

Mitch

RFID chip placed under the skin?

tchrist

Those are just too big for people to keep. Cheetahs and pumas are ok-sized though. A puma is the same weight class as a leopard.

@Mitch yes that too

Mitch

@tchrist and don't some have ... glands that are particularly... pungent?

tchrist

03:17

this is the problem

they all spray

i think even little red lynxes spray

"little"

twenty or thirty or forty pounds = little

Mitch

A leopard isn't nearly as big as a lion, but I still think it has more heft than a cougar.

I'm not about to sort that out directly.

tchrist

they are built differently

both can carry prey up into trees for stashing

but leopards more often

Mitch

Cougars don't look like they could do that with something bigger than 100 lbs.

tchrist

> Leopards are the smallest of the large cats, which includes lions, tigers, and jaguars. Female leopards weigh 46 to 132 pounds and males weigh 80 to 165 pounds. They average 28 inches at the shoulder with a general range of 17.5 to 30.5 inches high at the shoulder.

Mitch

Again, will not test.

So they'll have to cut me into a few pieces before thinking of dragging me into a tree

tchrist

03:22

> Pumas typically weigh between 80-220 lbs with males being larger than females in most cases. Adult males can grow to an excess of 8 feet in length, including the tail, and weigh an average of 140-150 pounds. Adult females can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh an average of 80-90 pounds. Mountain lions have very long tails which can be more than a third of the total length of the animal.

Mitch

I'm pretty lucky that cougars can't read, do they won't get any ideas from this

tchrist

are you like canadian today?

Mitch

I dunno. Can Canadians read better than cougars?

tchrist

oh you're transriparian that's right

they call the poor things that silly name.

up in vancouver

but not this side of the great river in america

i have a ladybug crawling on my arm

a ladybird beetle

not a johnson

Mitch

Oh. No. I've always known them as cougars or mountain lions and cougar is shorter to write. Puma would have been better that way but it's a foreign word to me.

tchrist

03:26

i'm deliriously tired

puma is pretty common in the american southwest, the desert areas settled by the spanish

Mitch

@tchrist same

tchrist

mountain lion in higher ground

Mitch

My high school's mascot was a cougar...that's probably the best explanation...sheer repetition.

tchrist

there ain't nothing you can actually run away from, it's so frustrating being a human and trying to escape

bears, mountain lions, wolves, pronghorn, elk, fricking moose even, trivially outsprint you

Mitch

If you know parkour, it helps to distract the animal so the others can get away while you're being eaten.

tchrist

03:29

even your housekitties can outsprint you

bunnies

Mitch

@tchrist what is mooses problem? Do they attack everything that is just standing there minding its own business?

tchrist

not coons though, they slow ponderous oaves

Mitch

Cripes, bunnies can outrun you for at least a few moments.

tchrist

@Mitch sometimes

Mitch

@tchrist they just state at you like you just interrupted a private dinner.

Ohhhhhh. I get it now.

Ok time to pass out .. later!

tchrist

03:32

> In Alaska, moose outnumber bears 3 to 1, and they injure around 5-10 people annually. That's more than grizzly bear and black bear attacks combined.

Don't let the moose bite!

> A Møøse once bit my sister ... No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge ...

Criggie