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Hamlet
Hamlet
1:27 AM
@Randal'Thor here's a more helpful line of reasoning
4
A: Should synopsis requests be on-topic?

HamletI'm not a big fan of these questions. One reason why I'm not a big fan is I don't really think they meet the requirements for good subjective questions. Our subjective questions, such as "what is the meaning of x", work because answers back their claims up: while there are multiple correct answer...

A good litmus test is: does this class of questions have the property in that it encourages people to post answers that don't back their claims up.
 
user15026
1:41 AM
Took me 6 days but I finished the 900 page book about the Romanovs that I was reading. What a crazy ride that was.
 
user61230
2:09 AM
@Hamlet If you want to take issue with how people are using meta, please post on meta about that. Please don't hold this discussion in comments on answers' and answerers' posts.
 
EJoshuaS
EJoshuaS
3:39 AM
Are there conventions for discussing or requesting close votes or delete votes here?
 
user61230
I wouldn't say conventions as of yet, but you can always post and ask!
 
EJoshuaS
EJoshuaS
4:21 AM
Can we delete this and this? Seems like there are a lot of on-hold questions on the front page right now, seems like it shouldn't be pushing better comment off.
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
4:43 AM
1
Q: Why didn't Eddie Willars ever connect some of the disappearances to his conversations with the Mystery Worker?

EJoshuaSEddie Willers periodically ate dinner in the Taggart cafeteria with the Mystery Worker (who is, of course, later identified as John Galt). They discuss a lot of different things, including the state of the world and Taggart Transcontinental. With that said, given the fact that most of the concre...

character-analysis atlas-shrugged ayn-rand
 
user15026
Finished my 400th book for the year tonight
 
user61230
5:52 AM
@Ash That's insanely impressive.
 
BESW
BESW
7:59 AM
@Zyerah Or impressively insane?
 
 
4 hours later…
Bookworm
Bookworm
11:39 AM
0
Q: In Great Expectations, who is the man at the pub in Chapter Ten?

FabjajaIn Chapter Ten of Dickens's Great Expectations, Pip goes to the pub to find Joe, as told by his sister. When he enters the pub, Joe and Mr. Wopsle are sitting at a table next to a mysterious man: He was a secret-looking man whom I had never seen before. His head was all on one side, and one o...

charles-dickens
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
12:04 PM
@Hamlet It's ironic that you've recently been telling people there's no need for a whole meta post on this or that issue, not long after I complained about you making a whole meta post over a declined comment flag :-)
@EJoshuaS They're not appearing on the front page any more, since they have scores of -4.
I still slapped a delete vote on one of them though.
 
Hamlet
Hamlet
@Randal'Thor the two situations are pretty clearly different; I'm not sure why your making this argument.
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
(The WoT one, that is. The Catch-22 one may be salvagable by an edit.)
@Hamlet I'm not making an argument, just a remark.
 
Hamlet
Hamlet
@Randal'Thor let me remark that there's a difference between making a meta post that, while based on a single example, is about an issue that shows up multiple times on the site
let me remark that, not being a moderator, I couldn't delete the comment myself
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
@Hamlet That sentence petered out ... difference between that and what?
And asking about whether a certain class of questions would be considered on-topic?
 
Hamlet
Hamlet
@Randal'Thor I've done that several different times; why would anyone think I think that's a bad use of meta.
I'm not a fan of asking about particular classes of questions before a single example of that class of question has been asked on the main site.
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
12:14 PM
Hence "would be" rather than "is".
It's only before a single example has been posted that the question is hypothetical.
 
Hamlet
Hamlet
@Randal'Thor if you don't want to hear it from me, here's shog
7
A: Should we encourage people to just ask questions on main rather than asking about topicality on Meta?

Shog9Yes. And then discuss them and edit them. Gentle reminder that the most-used reference for what is on-topic here are the questions that folks encounter on the site: what they find in Google, in the Hot Network Questions list, in scanning the homepage. If folks mostly see questions that repr...

 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
@Hamlet Why do you think I don't want to hear "it" (what?) from you?
I haven't even disagreed with anything you've said here today.
If you're looking for an argument, I'm not interested.
 
 
1 hour later…
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
1:36 PM
@Hamlet I'm sure the confusion will wear off with time.
 
 
3 hours later…
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
4:44 PM
@Ash ...wow. Just. Wow.
I wish I had access to enough books that I could do that wry grin
 
user15026
@Mithrandir I'd let you go through my bookshelves if I could!
 
user15026
@BESW Why not both? :P
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
Yeah... unfortunately, I doubt that would be possible :/
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
@BESW That latter.
 
user15026
@Zyerah I mean it's not all super long stuff (there's some YA and middle grade stuff in there, a bunch of romances, a couple really long non-fiction things like the 900 page book about the Romanovs), but I do my best :)
 
user15026
4:53 PM
@Mithrandir Probably would be difficult yes :(
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
(I love YA and middle grade stuff D:)
 
user15026
(If only there was a way to share my e-book shelf....)
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
@Ash I don't know how you find the time. I read almost fifty books this year, and that is a "good" year compared to recent years. (Of course, learning Chinese also takes time.) Do you speedread?
 
user15026
@ChristopheStrobbe I don't intentionally do it, I've always read fast. Like I know I read 800-1000wpm, but I've never done anything in particular to achieve that
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
Yeah... I also apparently read really quickly and have no idea how.
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
4:58 PM
@Mithrandir Hmm. How many years until you move to a place with a proper library, like a college town?
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
Possibly never
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
@Ash I don't think I read at even half that speed. I do know that I own more than 400 unread books, though ;-)
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
As it is, my personal collection is larger than the English section of the library here by literally thousands of books
I should probably read in my second language but that's more tedious and less fun
 
Riker
Riker
@Mithrandir oh, is hebrew (?) your second language?
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
@Mithrandir Oh sure, English section always sucks.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
5:02 PM
And my parents don't like buying new books because a.) money b.) I read so quickly that they think 'I just got you a 500 page book. You read it in a day. It's a waste to buy you books because you go through them so quickly'
 
Riker
Riker
@Mithrandir kickstarter to get mith a plane ticket? :p
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
@Riker yup
@Riker heh
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
Can you interlibrary loan for no additional fee in the local library?
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
I doubt my parents would approve ;)
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
As in, no additional fee above the normal yearly registration fee.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
5:03 PM
@b_jonas I have no idea. I'm planning to start requesting books like mad though ;)
But it takes months for them to get stuff that's requested
 
user15026
@ChristopheStrobbe I know my e-reader has about 150 unread books on it right now :(
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
@Mithrandir Well sure. You know how libraries are always underfunded.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
Indeed.
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
@Ash I'm so old-fashioned I still buy paper books. No e-reader yet.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
@Ash ...wow
 
user15026
5:04 PM
@Mithrandir Check to see if they have interlibrary loan options, that might broaden your scope a little :) (Like here, I can request things from any library in my city, and eventually it will come to my library)
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
And yes, definitely check interlibrary loans.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
(Heh. More than one library in the city/town/village/island? Lucky.)
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
In the BME library, I can request domestic interlibrary loans for free, as long as I return them in time of course. The downside is the high yaerly fee.
@Ash Wait what? That's not how interlibrary loan works... here at least.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
I've been meaning to create a semi public wishlist, but I haven't gotten around to it yet... Eventually.
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
Interlibrary loan is specifically for requesting books from either libraries that aren't open to the public (such as some smaller university or research institute libraries), or from ones that are out of town (such as the big Szeged library, and a few other big ones. I can't request interlibrary loan from other public libraries in town, they don't allow that because that would be skimping on registration fees, I just have to go to those libraries mself.
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
5:07 PM
Now I'm curious whether my answer to my own Shakespeare sequel question will help resolve the close votes.
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
And I'm old fashioned too, but I still read some books in digital form, because sometimes I don't have a choice.
And yes, I should eventually buy a good e-book reader.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
I prefer paper books. I remember the story much better if I read it on paper.
And I'm not alone on that; there are whole studies about this.
 
user15026
@b_jonas Here it does - all the public libraries in my city are connected, so I can request anything from them and then as long as there is a copy available, it will come to my local library
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
I do have several hundred Kindle books though. They're better than nothing :)
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
Yes, of course, but a digital book is better than no book at all.
 
user15026
5:10 PM
See, I am one of those people who loves my e-reader.
 
Librarian
Librarian
0
Q: Can I ask which program to use to order my library?

473183469I know it looks off-topic, on the other hand people interested in literature tend to have vast libraries so they met the same problem I am facing now: how to find a book out of the 12k books in my library? (ok: they are already sorted by author surname, but yesterday I looked for a book having th...

discussion
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
(I have a first generation e-ink Kindle, though. The absence of a backlight is annoying.)
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
Also, the problem with english books in libraries isn't only that there's few of them, but also that the library has bought almost none of them, they got them used from private owners, and so a lot of them have underlinings and other marks in pencil.
I'm reading a history book with pencil underlines like that.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
(that's not a bad book, BTW - Fizz & Peppers at the Bottom of the World by M. G. King)
 
user15026
Ah, I use a Kobo Glo HD, I'm very fond of the Kobo brand devices
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
5:57 PM
0
Q: How to read S.?

Martin EnderI've had S. by Doug Dorst and J. J. Abrams on my shelf for ages and finally want to dig into it. From what I've read about it, there is a ton of layers to the book: the printed book itself, pencilled notes, notes in coloured pens from two characters added at 4(?) different times, physical inserts...

ergodicity doug-dorst j-j-abrams
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
Ooh. More ergodic literature :D
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
6:11 PM
0
Q: Is Harry Hotspur portrayed as a villain in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I?

Rand al'ThorHaving studied Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part I and seen a performance of it in Stratford, I'm still uncertain of how we're meant to view the character of Henry Percy (Harry Hotspur). Clearly he's a foil to the other Prince Harry, and the main antagonist of the story, the fight between the tw...

character-analysis william-shakespeare henry-iv-part-i
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
6:58 PM
@Randal'Thor That tag wiki excerpt should look better now ;-)
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
7:16 PM
@ChristopheStrobbe Yay, thanks! :-D
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
I guess I'll have to reread Henry IV now.
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
7:35 PM
...hmm, my grammar was a bit off there in '15.
'pertaining about'
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
@Mithrandir "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." Is that the right link?
Oh, my: "Please respect that in the Jewish tradition certain questions, especially certain questions relating to sexuality, are discussed only in private. Such questions will be closed or deleted at the discretion of the moderators or community. (...)"
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
@ChristopheStrobbe yes.
Very helpful tag wiki, don't you think?
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
In a way ;-)
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
@Randal'Thor Now I get it: show, don't tell: "zzz..".
 
Rand al'Thor
Rand al'Thor
7:55 PM
So tempting to troll this site with questions about david-coperfield and grate-expectations and knickerless-nickleby and a-sale-of-two-titties by Edmund Wells :-P
Or of course stickwick-stapers by Farles Wickens with four M's and a silent Q.
 
 
1 hour later…
Bookworm
Bookworm
9:18 PM
0
Q: Do Guildenstern and Rosencrantz deserve to die?

HamletIn Shakespeare's play Hamlet (which you can read online), Hamlet is on a voyage with his two friends, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, to give a letter to a foreign ruler. However, Hamlet discovers that the letter they are carrying orders the foreign ruler to put him (Hamlet) to death. So Hamlet cha...

william-shakespeare hamlet
 
Mithrandir
Mithrandir
@Bookworm doubting your actions, eh? Guilty conscience, @Hamlet?
 
Christophe Strobbe
Christophe Strobbe
There are really too many Hamlet in that last question.
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
10:03 PM
0
Q: Meaning of "trente-six à soixante-huit chandelles" in Jean Ferrat's Ma France

Christophe StrobbeThe French singer-songwriter Jean Ferrat (1930 – 2010) wrote a number of controversial songs. One of his most beautiful songs, Ma France (1969), was banned from the radio for two years. It's last lines are as follows (emphasis added): Elle tient l’avenir, serré dans ses mains fines Celle de...

song-lyrics jean-ferrat
 

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