English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

21:04

The source doc itself discusses many problems with the data

I find the idea that 45% of Toronto is foreign-born a little surprising. but then again, on my street alone, out of 23 neighbours that I talk to, definitely 10 of them are foreign born.

cornbread ninja

@Cerberus I think Vancouver or Hawai'i are the climes for me.

David Wallace

I've never been to either of those places.

cornbread ninja

@DavidWallace me either.

While I have your attention, I'm mourning the death of print.

Does everyone leave chat on a sleigh?

David Wallace

I wonder whether life in Hawai'i is really how it seems to us outsiders.

Print died?

When did print die? I still have some print!

cornbread ninja

It's dying.

I'm trying to find the new issue of Newsweek.

David Wallace

21:13

I'm sure such rumours have been greatly exaggerated.

cornbread ninja

the Sporting News, a 133-year-old magazine is going all-digital.

Newsweek's print run is over.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I stopped reading my last magazine subscription when they went all-digital.

I buy paper books.

David Wallace

So it's really a slow attrition, not an immediate death.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

but I only buy paper books because I don't trust e-books.

David Wallace

Why ever not? What is untrustworthy about them?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

21:15

@DavidWallace DRM

cornbread ninja

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 high-five

I just plain hate ebooks.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I don't trust that my data won't get lost or my account disabled or books that I've bought retroactively un-bought. I don't like that they're hard to share.

cornbread ninja

You can't smell them.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It is irrational of me on some level, but I prefer to own things and not just data. I buy music on CDs.

cornbread ninja

You're buying air.

See also: mp3s.

David Wallace

21:16

Hmm, I don't like that if I put my paper book in my shoulder bag, it's not in the same condition afterwards.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@cornbreadninja I do like the smell of books, but that isn't one of my considerations against e-books :)

cornbread ninja

@DavidWallace quit beating people with your shoulder bag.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 magazines smell nice, too.

David Wallace

But it's so much fun especially when it's full of books.

cornbread ninja

@DavidWallace :D

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@DavidWallace well, there is that. But I like having a wall of books to browse. I like the fact that if a book gets damaged it's like $10 to replace, but if an e-reader gets damaged it's way more.

And you can get used books. for cheap or for free.

David Wallace

21:18

I like taking books in the bath. I wouldn't dare take my laptop or any other electronic device in the bath.

cornbread ninja

@DavidWallace nice!

David Wallace

@cornbreadninja Don't you do that too?

cornbread ninja

@DavidWallace would that my bath were clean enough on the bottom. :)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Now, I've read lots of ebooks, and that was back in the old days when I had to do it on my PDA, and I loved having a library of books in my pocket. But those were all bootleg ebooks. What I'd like is if I could buy an ebook and print book at the same time and get the ebook on physical media that's resistant to decay. Like a CD.

@DavidWallace I think I've taken exactly one "bath" in the last decade. It's showers for me. I haven't found a suitable book for those.

David Wallace

I would like to have a shower with a wall that I can plug a flash drive into.

I guess there could be a base unit in a different room, so you could put your DVD or your flash drive or whatever in before you have your shower. The wall of the shower would then just have a basic UI, with, like "next page" and "previous page" buttons, and not much else.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

21:23

If you have a shower with, presumably, a waterproof screen on it, why not just wire it into the home LAN, so that you don't need to bring media in?

David Wallace

Yeah, I think that was technically a jinx.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Just embed a suitably large Android tablet into the wall.

And maybe put a piece of tape over the front-facing camera. just in case.

user19161

Hello @mr.s, long time no see. I hope you had an awesome Christmas.

David Wallace

In case it gets damaged? Or in case someone hacks it and uses it to watch you showering?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@DavidWallace unless google-hangouts from your shower is your thing....

David Wallace

21:25

Hmm, it would save time.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasperLoy hey, yes, it's been a really good christmas.

@JasperLoy how about you?

Johan Larsson

How about audio books? I like audio books, for example in the car. The only thing that makes me drive slower.

user19161

@JohanLarsson Never tried one.

David Wallace

Hmm, I could enjoy having a suitably mellifluous voice read to me while I have my shower.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Audiobooks are not a bad idea either. But again, I usually want to READ. So I'd want the audiobook to be included with the book/ebook combo. So that I could read, and when convenient, have the book read to me, then continue reading where I left off.

I should just hire an assistant, who can carry the books around and follow me everywhere, and read to me as needed.

Johan Larsson

21:32

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 except for the money issue that is a winner

user19161

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Wow, you just keep attracting the stars!

Johan Larsson

(I starred)

would you bring the assistant in|to the shower?

user19161

@JohanLarsson Only if it is male, or his wife won't be pleased.

Johan Larsson

parsing... Exception

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JohanLarsson The assistant can stand outside the shower, but near enough that I can hear his or her voice.

Johan Larsson

21:36

@JasperLoy I fail to understand that, feeling dizzy :)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

well, time for me to get going.

Cerberus

@cornbreadninja Hmm isn't Hawai'i hot?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus yes

but I forgot, time to go

bye! happy new ear!

cornbread ninja

@Cerberus some like it hot

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You are excused!

@cornbreadninja I...suppose.

Hotstuff.

Johan Larsson

21:45

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 same to you

cornbread ninja

My main beef is the wind.

Based on Hawaii 5-0, it looks very windy

being islands and all

sigh

I'm such a chatkiller.

Cerberus

Hmm yes wind.

Can be good or bad.

Usually good in hot places.

cornbread ninja

22:17

Carlo's going for the hat?

0

Q: Can we reverse the trend on low quality questions?

As the discussions in chat show, many of us, especially who have been here from remote time, have become increasingly concerned at the prevalence of low quality questions. At first we stood by - hoping that we could get the low quality basic questions out of the way and grow into expert, high qua...

discussion

Cerberus

Interesting question...

simchona

@Cerberus Your answer on Meta is precisely why I didn't want to merge the questions. I'm ambivalent either way on blacklisting LMGTFY, but I want the opinions kind of segregated

MετάEd

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You have just demonstrated that language is like poop.

cornbread ninja

@MετάEd eeeeeeeeeeeeeew

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 looks around he lived in texas for a while runs

MετάEd

22:37

Review is telling me there's one question needing a Reopen Vote review, but when I go to english.stackexchange.com/review/reopen nothing is listed.

Must be a synch problem between the two pages. Now there are no Reopen Votes to review.

I hate it when you get two different answers on anything coming from the same data source.

@cornbreadninja I can't help it. Texas has some of my favorite people in it. Plus the weather is good.

cornbread ninja

@MετάEd of course you can't help that tchrist lived there. :P

MετάEd

@cornbreadninja This is true. Why, did this come up earlier?

cornbread ninja

@MετάEd yesterday

during the Midwestern discussion.

David Wallace

The whole of yesterday was one long midwestern discussion. And was highly offensive, according to the person doing 99% of the discussing.

cornbread ninja

Wow, I didn't even have to ping you.

David Wallace

22:49

Ah, but you were thinking about me. That is pinging enough.

cornbread ninja

How'd it go with the neighbors?

David Wallace

I didn't speak to the neighbours. Cerberus convinced me that the noise was probably something other than what I first thought.

It doesn't help that I'm a bit scared of the neighbour. He's enormous.

I wish it had been you who moved in upstairs from me, rather than them.

You would probably not train elephants to jump up and down on your floor, or swear loudly at your children.

cornbread ninja

You're probably right.

David Wallace

I need to move out of here. It doesn't feel like my home.

cornbread ninja

I just heard my downstairs neighbor belch.

David Wallace

22:58

Fantastic. Can you smell it?

cornbread ninja

@DavidWallace no.

cornbread out.

David Wallace

Bye.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…