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12:02 AM
Okay how about this one:
Yeah, you'll have to click through, but at least it works.
@Cerberus I can't speak with any authority about the English Wikipedia.
But I am not worried.
 
Good. I am not sure yet, though I don't see any real signs of decay yet. Just wondering how long it can go on.
 
There was a lot of criticism in the recent years, but all things considered I don't think there will be a measurable decay any time soon.
 
Incidentally, the bloat of jargon on Wikipedia does seem to be getting worse. I can hardly understand any meta-page for its ubiquitous unexplained acronyms.
 
But from what I hear, en: is a rather evil, hostile, devilish place when compared to some others.
It's just that I haven't seen much evidence of that myself.
 
That may be true. NL did have its fair share of eternal feuds and recurring clashes.
Some scandals even made the newspapers.
 
12:10 AM
Well, it appears that every three years or so, some people take their ball and go home because they can't stand it anymore. And they make an all-new Wikipedia clone, and it totally fails.
Which I take to mean that Wikipedia doesn't suck that much, after all.
I think all these feuds come with scale. On smaller Wikipedias, everything is friendly and there are flowers and unicorns in every corner.
 
Oh it doesn't suck at all! The articles continue to improve every day.
I should visit Latin Wikipedia again, then! I wonder what neologisms they have invented for unicorns...
 
@Cerberus Yeah, not talking about article quality anywhere as much as about how much blood, toil, tears and sweat it takes.
@Cerberus I don't see any. Where should I look?
Unicornis (-is, m.) (Graece: Μονόκερως) est animal fabulare, quod usque a Medio Aevo plerumque equi candidi simile in picturis atque insignibus depingi solet. Mundus realis Sensus compositionalis verbi unicornis est 'unum cornu habens' vel 'cui unum cornu est'. In mundo reali nonnulla sunt animalia, quibus haec descriptio convenire videtur, sicut rhinoceros Indicus, tarandrus, monodon monoceros, oryctes nasicornis. Porro sunt animalia bicornia, quorum singulis quibusdam aut cornua in unum creverunt aut vitio quodam genetico alterutrum cornu non exstitit aut, quod rarissime fit, unum t...
 
@Reg: Perhaps it isn't so bad... but at the moment I find it a bit discouraging, all the rules and the jargon and the deleting.
Yay!
 
@Cerberus Well yeah, every community is its worst enemy.
Read that some time if you haven't already.
 
Will read.
The unicorn article is in decent Latin, by the way.
 
12:17 AM
In fact, you should read all of Clay Shirky's writings about the Internet. You really should. It will take you a few days, but you won't be dissappointed.
 
I will consider it! Hehe.
I am skipping the first ten paragraphs or so of that first article...
 
I'm not the only one to fall in love with him. Joel and Jeff have, too. Thank God. I think he's even on SE's Board of Directors or something. It's Clay Shirky's Internet, We Just Live In It
Yup, Board of Advisors.
 
I think I read something similar on an SE blog or something, about the long-term development of on-line communities; there were several numbered phases.
 
Well, no wonder now that Clay is an Advisor.
 
I think this chat defies a basic pattern of communities, at least to a large degree: sex talk is rare here. Even more so in the Qs&As.
 
12:26 AM
That's because there's a site for that. By which I mean, there isn't.
73
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex but were Afraid to Ask

Proposed Q&A site for anyone who likes sex and thinks it's a fun and pleasurable thing; anyone wanting to improve his/her sex life.

Currently in commitment.

This was one of the first Area51 proposals ever, and it still hasn't taken off.
Mar 4 at 12:18, by Robusto
I can only conclude that nerds outnumber sexually active men on these sites then, since the "poured into dress" question has recently bowed to a question about Microsoft Office.
 
I remember that one.
Still, it is surprising.
Chat gets quite informal here, but rarely sexual, unlike many other chatrooms.
I think opera has been mentioned more than sex.
 
That's because we're all adults here.
Nyuszika7H, Hungary
1 4
 
Eh was she really 12?
 
Yes. The ToS are now being enforced. Across the network.
 
(We're all adults... even Robusto?)
 
12:32 AM
He's young at heart, but he's one of the oldest users here.
 
That must be it!
 
Anyhow, bed time here. Nice talking to you. I'm out!
 
OK still reading, sleep well!
 
kthxbye
 
1:14 AM
This seems to be "please proofread for me"
1
Q: Asking for exam results

theomegaHow can I ask my English teacher for the results of an exam? I came up with the following text, but i'm not satisfied with the result. The more polite the better. Are the commas placed correctly? Do you write a dot after the title "Ms"? Dear Ms XXX, On 12th January, I wrote the XXX exam...

But at the same time, it does ask specific questions.
Still, I lean towards off-topic — it doesn't feel like a generally useful question as-is to anyone but the asker.
 
1:28 AM
It isn't much longer than a sentence, at least not by length of words; and it asks specific questions, as you say.
I think it is as useful as a regular "should I use word x or word y in this sentence?" question, which I think is on topic?
I still don't understand what is on topic and off topic here well enough to judge. Perhaps someone else will have more useful advice...
 
So the chatz went down earlier?
 
Hai yes they did.
Not sure how long.
At least they seem to have gotten Fukushima 1 and 2 down as well, for now...
 
Cool.
Cheers and g'night.
 
Ok night!
 
 
9 hours later…
10:35 AM
@Kosmonaut This is a perfect fit for Writers.
 
10:51 AM
@Cerberus He asks three questions (which might already qualify it as too broad). One is off-topic ("I am not satisfied with it, the more polite the better"). The second one is a dupe ("do you need a dot after the title"). And the third one could be considered too broad or even off-topic ("are the commas placed correctly"). And overall, it's too localized, as Kosmonaut noted. We don't do proofreading here, and ghostwriting even less so.
 
1
Q: What's the indent rule of poetry?

trVoldemortI've seen people indent their poems like below: Writing on wall It was just plane writing on wall I must have taken it a serious call She was on and off repeating same thing There was hidden message through something There may be long wait All dependants on fate How can on...

Voted to close, but ShreevatsaR disagrees. Whatcha think, folks?
 
Hellion suggests that Writers might be a better fit. I am considering migration.
 
@Cerberus — You're only young once, but that's no reason you can't be immature forever.
@RegDwight — Definitely feels more writery to me. Typography isn't really within our purview.
Offee to get coffee.
 
11:37 AM
So, 'sup dis mornin' me bruddas?
@RegDwight: Seems we are getting some new faces in. That's good news.
 
Um, whodayamean?
 
User5015? Alex Angas? IDK.
BTW, looks like Martha's Eeeeek! got deleted.
 
WUT?
 
I guess when it got to threaten the all-important "Jon Skeet Facts" they put the hammer down.
 
I was going to say just that.
Mental jinx.
 
11:41 AM
OK, you owe me an imaginary coke.
 
Let me think it through.
 
Hahaha.
God, I look at W.SE and I see all these poorly worded questions from wannabe writers. "My story won't be not very long (190~220 pages) and this is my first book. Which tense you recommend me to use?" (Ummm, maybe learn English first, then worry about tenses?)
 
Harharhar.
Well I told you.
And them poor folks over there have to be politically correct.
 
Of course, we have our own crosses to bear: "Or there just the same meaning? but they spells is very different."
2
Q: Difference between 'obliterate' and 'eliminate'?

user5015Or there just the same meaning? but they spells is very different.

 
So they say things like, "vgv8, your grasp of English is truly excellent, but here's how to make it a tiny bit more excellent".
 
11:47 AM
Wow. They said that?
 
Just an example.
 
Some people will do anything to get traffic.
 
I don't want to be pointing fingers.
 
So ... what else do you point with?
 
But there are lots of Russians on there who think they can write in English.
@Robusto Swords.
I mean, rapiers.
 
11:49 AM
Now, now, let's not get all Quentin Tarantino Sleep With Me just yet.
 
Agreed.
Whoa, you got 290 rep points yesterday, you beat my record.
 
Interesting comparative language question: Do all the words for the first finger next to the thumb mean "pointing finger"? The ones I know do: index finger, Zeigefinger, sashiyubi ...
 
указательный
 
@RegDwight — I've gotten over 300 before.
 
Oh. Okay.
 
11:51 AM
March 3rd, in fact.
I'm a machine.
 
I just happened to be looking at your rep tab because I wanted to check if the downvotes are still public or if they fixed it.
Lots of echo, eh?
 
указательный means "pointing finger"?
 
Yup. Pointing, showing at.
For showing at.
 
Maybe this is a universal concept.
 
Montrofingro in Esperanto.
 
11:54 AM
Maybe some weirdo language uses it to mean nose-picking finger. But probably most reputable civilizations use it to point.
Montro as from the same root as demonstrate, remonstrance, etc.?
 
Wijsvinger in Dutch, cf. wijsen, "show, point".
I really love the Bulgarian one, показалец, "the pointer".
Haha, it actually has a Wikipedia article.
Показалец е вторият пръст на ръката, ако се брои от страната на палеца. Той е също така вторият по големина пръст на ръката. Името му идва от главната му функция, а именно да се посочва, показва с него. Въпреки това този жест се счита за неучтив, неприличен в някои страни като България, Русия и Чили. Когато се почуква с него по масата, означава че нещо се иска тук и сега. Поднесен към устните е знак за мълчание. Когато показалецът е издигнат на нивото на главата и се поклаща напред-назад, означава "внимавай!". Понякога спортисти издигат двата си показалеца високо във въздуха, което означ...
 
Spanish is dedo indice
 
Whoa, look at all those language links on the left.
 
French is just index.
 
Now if only I knew what işaret parmağı means in Turkish, or кашарварня in Western Mari.
 
11:58 AM
Sounds like an interesting topic for a dissertation: meaning of finger words in comparative languages.
 
So, what's the deal with 人差し指? I don't recognize those kanji.
 
For instance, in Japanese "ring finger" is kusuriyubi.
 
@Robusto Norsk and Svenska seem to do that, unless I misunderstand the pek(e)- in pek(e)finger.
 
Oh, your 人差し指 means "hito sashi yubi" ... finger for pointing at people.
 
I kept wondering what hito was doing there.
In fact, now I wonder even more.
 
12:03 PM
人 = man, 差し = to point, 指 = finger.
 
Ain't it extremely impolite to point at people?
 
Well, I've only ever heard it used as sashiyubi without the hito.
 
It's even impolite in Russia, I just can't imagine that happening in Japan.
 
It is impolite.
So is staring, but the Japanese still do it, especially if you're Western.
 
Haha, well, serves you right for being Western.
 
12:04 PM
A six-foot-tall red-headed woman who's totally hot will literally stop traffic.
I guess it's the same all over.
BTW, Japanese do not like to be touched. You don't slap them on the back, give them a playful punch in the shoulder, nothing like that.
And when they point to themselves, they don't point to their chests, as we would. They point to their noses.
Who, me? [points to nose]
One of the most insulting gestures you can make is to hold up your four fingers, inverted, at someone.
 
[trying to picture that one]
 
It's tantamount to calling that person an animal, which is as bad as or worse than the middle finger in America and two fingers in Britain.
 
Ah. Has it anything to do with animals having four legs?
What's with all those four-legged kanji.
 
Ja, sicher.
 
Interessant.
 
12:09 PM
Those are using the radical for "heart", strangely eough.
Look up kokoro and you'll see how it could be flattened to form a bottom radical.
 
I thought heart was 心
Yes, kokoro.
 
I would have never drawn the connection to the four lines.
 
Well, if you ever learn to write kanji, you start with stroke order. That is key.
 
No news to me.
 
12:11 PM
And once you understand that, you understand not only how kanji are written, but how they get malformed when written quickly.
It's the only way to make sense of cursive style.
I wish I had a white board so I could show you.
 
It's okay, I'm just imagining 馬 alongside 心.
 
Chicken heart! That's how I remember that one.
Kidding!
 
What about 鵠?
 
鳥 is what I was seeing without my glasses. These kanji appear so small here.
 
Yeah. I wonder if Ctrl+ works in here...
Ha! It actually does!
 
12:16 PM
Good idea. That's better.
馬 is actually uma or "horse" ...
Thanks for the control-+ tip. I totally forgot about that.
The first inkling I had that I was going to start needing reading glasses was when I couldn't read the kanji in the pocket Sanseido dictionary anymore.
 
@Robusto Yes, that's how I found it in the first place. I don't have Japanese input here, so I had to look up horse on Wiktionary first, look under Translations, and then copy the kanji here.
 
@RegDwight — That is the character for swan.
 
Yes. That's how I found it in the first place, yadda yadda.
I was just wondering how you remember that one.
(After seeing your "chicken heart".)
 
That uses two kanji as radicals.
告 meaning to "announce" and 鳥 meaning "bird"
 
Ah yes. Announce. (Is that a mouth in there?)
 
12:22 PM
Yes.
 
Um, is this an answer?
0
A: what's the meaning of 'shed' in 'watershed' ?

phil lzone of earth surface funneling towards a single tributary

@Robusto Thx, btw.
"Zone of earth surface" sounds so strange.
 
I think the top left radical is a cut-down of 先 meaning "before" but I could be wrong.
I used to know all the radicals and their meanings, but I've forgotten most of that.
 
You've forgotten more than I've ever known.
And yet, I've forgotten a lot, too.
 
@RegDwight Not native speaker is think me.
Ah crap, I gotta get to work. Talk atcha after I get hooked up there.
 
CU.
 
 
1 hour later…
1:30 PM
All right, what assho!e deleted Eeeek?????
 
1 hour ago, by Robusto
BTW, looks like Martha's Eeeeek! got deleted.
1 hour ago, by Robusto
I guess when it got to threaten the all-important "Jon Skeet Facts" they put the hammer down.
 
@Martha Well, they deleted my highest scoring answer evarr, too. A lot of stuff gets deleted there. Meta is serious business.
And I wasn't even threatening anyone. Like, anyone.
 
@RegDwight — They take a different view of Communist propaganda, I guess.
 
9
Q: What topics can be discussed here?

0xA3Can someone please explain what happened to the discussion threads about the new/removed "recent" feature? For the ones not knowing what I am talking about you will still find the topic in Google's cache: Eeeek! What happened to my envelope? Should this topic no longer be discussed? How is...

 
yet
 
1:38 PM
All the answers so far have provided valid reasoning for closing the question. Deleting the question is just idiotic.
 
Yeah. It could also be locked.
But deleting is a bit over the top, methinks.
 
notification systems are hard to get right
iOS is a good example
 
Hi!
 
Tagchen!
 
Boo that stupid Fukushima plant.
Tagchen? Haha, do they really say that?
 
1:46 PM
Yeah.
 
@Cerberus Sure they do.
 
@Reg: Pretty cute.
 
@RegDwight — Kawaii sou desu ne.
Translingual Jinx!
 
Tslinx?
 
Trinx?
I'm currently in Merge Hell. Stupid IntelliJ IDE.
I accidentally closed a merge file instead of dealing with it, and that is something the Subversion plugin will not tolerate.
Especially while IJ is "Refreshing VCS history," which is sooooo important that all other work must cease.
BTW, I commented on the "What topics can be discussed" question with this:
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is a sermon written by American theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. Like Edwards' other sermons and writings, it combines vivid imagery of the Christian concept of Hell with observations of the secular world and citations of scripture. It remains Edwards' most famous written work, and is widely studied both among American Christians and historians, due to the glimpse it provides into the theology of the Great Awakening of c. 1730–1755. Doctrine "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of ...
 
2:02 PM
So, can I post a new "eeek" question? Please?
(I know, I know, bad idea. Weh.)
 
2:15 PM
I think it would not achieve its former glory, and if it did would be swatted down just as surely.
 
@Robusto: please be more careful about posting accept-rate related comments in the future, even if they are tongue-in-cheek and sufficiently justified. Some people are just terribly allergic to them, flagging them on first sight.
And they always trigger follow-up discussions, which are seldom healthy.
0
Q: Where does the term "3 Sheets to the Wind" originate from?

ArthurRexWhat is the origin of "three sheets to the wind"?

@Martha OMG, an impostor!
24
Q: Eeeek! Where did the reputation graph go?

Matt SpinelliThe reputation graph no longer shows up on my profile when I click on the reputation tab. Is it gone now (like the mail icon)? Or has it been moved somewhere else? I do like the more detailed summary of reputation earned. Is it possible to still keep some form of graph for easy visualization of...

Congrats on giving birth to a new meme.
It's only a matter of time till it gets listed here:
107
Q: The Many Memes of Meta

TheTXIThe term "Internet Meme" is used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet (see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme_(Internet) for more details) Stack Overflow and now even more predominantly Meta Stack Overflow has seen more than its fair share of ...

 
Sniff. I miss my Eeeek.
Oh, and since I'm in a complainy mood: why do none of the "today in history" sites list what happened on March 15, 1848?
 
2:31 PM
@Martha It's on Wikipedia's front page.
 
Ok, I guess that makes me feel a little better.
 
Babies. Ears. Nibbling.
 
Hey sis! I totally forgot to call you yesterday.
 
Just trying to cheer you up, @Martha.
 
Baby ears are too far away to nibble at the moment. Sniff.
What is the owner of said baby ears doing, @JPmiaou?
 
2:39 PM
Sitting in my lap, rubbin her eyes, but refusing to nap. Oh, and making it really hard to type.
 
t te
 
@RegDwight — Japanese for "That's what she said"?
 
Babyese for "I'm a typist".
 
'te (as in nan'te) is a contraction of to iu.
Sometimes transliterated as 'tte.
Or just tte.
 
Hear that @Martha? You've got a native speaker of Japanese in your family.
 
2:42 PM
As in "he/she/it said"
 
she's been babbling up a storm this morning. Most of it is her usual vowels-only exploration of the vocal cords, but some of it had some rather consonant-like things interspersed.
 
@RegDwight Native typist, maybe, but she doesn't speak yet. Airplane noises, yes, words, no.
Juli, any reply from Emőke?
 
And she's out. I'm gonna go try putting her down.
Nothing from Em.
 
@RegDwight I think you meant:
yesterday, by Martha
t te
(I don't quite get why it labels it as "yesterday".)
 
@Martha is living in the past.
 
2:50 PM
My point was that I posted that on Sunday. Which was not yesterday.
Yesterday was Monday. I know because it was a doozy.
(Have I mentioned that I hate Daylight Savings Time?)
 
Well, it was posted at 16:31:25Z. That's less than 48 hours ago.
 
Just popping in to say that "Eeeek!" was deleted and locked by Jeff. I ain't touching it.
 
25 mins ago, by Martha
Sniff. I miss my Eeeek.
We miss it!
 
I know. I usually read the transcript before I pop in like that.
 
I know. But we still miss it!
It bears repeating!
 
2:54 PM
Yeah. Sniff.
 
@MichaelMyers But deleted and locked?
What's the point in locking a deleted question?
 
Well, to be fair, there isn't a burninate menu option, so that's the best he could do.
 
Is that like where the Inquisition would exhume bodies and burn them at the stake?
 
(Actually, I take it back: the infamous boat-programming question was deleted so hard I think it damaged one of the servers.)
 
(And I still really, really want to post a new Eeeek question. Because it's still an active bug.)
 
2:57 PM
Harharhar. Downvote, spam-flag, protect, lock, close as "noise or pointless", delete.
And throw away the key.
 
I know there are at least three high-rep users who would have voted to undelete if it weren't locked.
 
I'm still struggling to get to 10k on MSO.
I mean, they keep deleting my stuff, too.
And my stuff is, like, funny, and all.
I really miss [always-friday-in-iceland].
 
I feel your pain. The last recalc cost me around 800 points.
 
The next recalc is gonna leave me with, like, 20 points.
:/
 
The reign of the Beast was short.
 
3:01 PM
And now I must be going. Take care.
 
In other news, the indentation question was migrated to Writers, so now I can't answer @ShreevatsaR's questions.
 
@RegDwight — Well, there's your problem right there.
 
Oh, and I just remembered something I've been wanted to ask you guys: I got a strange email from Rebecca Chernoff wanting my home address so she could send me something as a thank-you for participating in the election. Problem is, the email doesn't come right out and ask for my address; instead, she wants me to fill out a form:
The email address looks right, the message itself is well-written, it all looks like it could be legit, but that goo.gl address just sets off all sorts of alarm bells in my head. Am I being paranoid?
 
It's legit.
I have filled out that form.
It was announced in the Teachers' lounge.
 
@RegDwight — Which is how I was able to drain your bank account. Muwahahaha!
 
3:09 PM
So how do you like them -2,000 rubles?
 
They don't go as far as they used to.
 
At least my account is balanced now. I was wondering whom to thank for that.
Thank you, @Robusto. You altruistic capitalist.
 
Capitalizationist. I thought we went over this.
 
Sorry. Keep forgetting. Too much rejoicing over all that monies.
 
Just pray you never have to use Liferay CMS.
I call it Deathray.
 
3:14 PM
Will do.
Never even heard of it.
 
Be thankful.
 
I just use Excel for everything.
And IE5.5.
It's a great combo.
 
The only thing that could make that combo even better is Access.
 
I would have to pay for that one. Which I'm not going to.
 
Access 2000, naturally?
 
3:16 PM
OF COURSE!
And run it all on Windows ME!
 
(I still have a fond spot in my memory for Access 97.)
Oh, lordy, don't even mention Windows ME.
 
Perhaps I should steal teh codez off free-bestest-tools.ru
 
@RegDwight Danke schön, form has been filled out.
 
Bitte sehr. Enjoy your freebies.
 
What kind num-nums you get?
 
3:19 PM
Ok, I have to finish this here chart. Chat isn't helping. (Neither is the bitter taste from my poor deleted Eeeek, but there's nothing I can do about that.)
 
@Robusto Well, it asked for a t-shirt size and color, so I'm assuming clothing of some sort.
 
You don't have to "finish" the chat, @Martha. You could just leave and let us continue on without you.
 
Ah yes, and t-shirts, too.
 
@Robusto Uh, thwack? I think.
 
3:20 PM
 
Ooh, shiny.
It has my preciousssss!
 
They are not mailing the ping-pong table, though.
 
How about the little cardboard thingies? Do you get those too?
 
No idea. I'll wait and see.
I also like them orange walls. Could use one here.
 
I mean, it's practically worthless without the cardboard scraps.
 
 
2 hours later…
5:08 PM
@Martha Oh, and BTW, you can. Just create an account there. It's, like, free, you know.
 
5:37 PM
@RegDwight But Idonwanna.
 
6:30 PM
Hey now.
 
6:45 PM
Actually, it doesn't hurt to have an account on Writing. It's probably our most closely related site in the entire network right now. Certainly more closely related than Cooking, Photography, or Stats.
 
@RegDwight Hmm ... are you sure about Stats? Certain moderators around here seem to fetishize data to an alarming degree.
2
 
Who? Where? Gimme names, pronto!
They will be suspended for 42 years, effective immediately.
 
I'll give you a hint: "Good-bye, Yellow Brick Road"
 
I was just gonna complain that you missed yellow.
 
6:58 PM
"Bennie & the Jets"
"Crocodile Rock"
 
@Martha No, I don't miss him. If he loved stats, I don't miss him at all.
 
What, you suddenly had a stat-ectomy? I don't believe it.
 
@Robusto Let's just cut to the chase.
Feb 11 at 15:10, by Robusto
This chat will self-destruct in 5 minutes. You have 5 minutes to get clear of the chat room.
 
BTW, you got the data dump Friday, right? Anything interesting come out of that?
 
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