English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

What was?

G Warner

Ran a query of highly viewed and and UV Qs with no accepted answers..

The views are misleading. because they are closed

so ELU has a lot of clutter...

im still learning SQL so i need to filter out CV's still

12:44 AM

I see.

1:02 AM

@tchrist: We're up to 180 cases today, 35/100k avg. last seven days. And this was all going so well. I hope it's just a bubble.

We're not doing well.

You were worse than us for quite a while, but now we're roughly in the same boat.

522 today, 556 yesterday, 362 Monday.

Aliens vs. Monsters - Code Brown

7-day moving average is ticking up.

1:06 AM

You're around 38/100k average, within a couple points of us.

keep your masks handy

I have a box on my desk. Unused for a few weeks.

We need the masks for fire season.

Or might.

I know it's been more than a year but I've never gotten used to social distancing in lines. It still really annoys me when people don't move ahead more in lines. My inner voice is screaming 'Don't leave so much space, somebody might butt in line!'

I think we've gotten ourselves past the 70% rate for vaccination here. But you still have only three choices: get vaccinated or get the virus. Or both.

1:09 AM

Hey, is anyone else experiencing problems with video calls on Skype or Discord or Zoom? For the past couple of days these calls keep freezing. I'm wondering if it's because of the coronal mass ejection that started Sunday.

Yes, I had some trouble today, but only once.

Also, I've noticed, separately, that more cars tend to stop at stop lights a lot further back than I'm used to. That also annoys me... like there's space for a whole extra car, move up because somebody may need that space a few cars in line behind.

@Mitch Let's not even get started on stupid driving. I want to enjoy my evening.

I noticed my GPS tracker was having trouble on my ride today. It would flake out and misreport speed or grade or what have you, real-time as opposed to cumulative measurements.

@Robusto oh...those are the comms satellites dropping out of orbit. beautiful streaks across the sky in broad daylight.

@Robusto That doesn't sound good.

But vaccination should help.

1:14 AM

@Mitch You know, if you ever say something in all seriousness, it will confuse the hell out of me.

@Robusto I'll go the other direction... I've noticed that I can turn on the turn signal, know that it is on, but not hear it.

unless I concentrate, and then its obvious.

so now I feel bad for inwardly yelling at old people how don't turn off their turn signal.

but I don't feel bad for inwardly yelling at people who -don't- put on their turn signal at all. that's just worng

@Robusto Me too, Rob. Me too.

But also, I just saw the last 5 minutes of Gravity.

I still think artistically that was a better movie than The Martian.

But the motivation story in Gravity was sort of this weird throw away half a line about some personal tragedy and it just seemed out of place.

No spoilers.

But one interesting similarity between the two movies is that both acknowledged China's involvement in space tech.

We're all gonna be like ISS this and ISS that and maybe we'll go to Mars and then there'll be a bunch of little Chinese robot rover taking pictures of us as we land.

@Mitch Much better movie, IMO. I thought The Martian was kinda punk, all the way around. Also, shitty science.

@Robusto I'm having trouble believing the CME stuff this week and that's science.

@Robusto is punk good or bad?

@Mitch Punk is punk, like punky wood, substandard, not like Punk Rock, which is deliberately substandard.

But I felt like Gravity was believable for the science and The Martian has too many 'oh that's not how it works!' moments.

1:25 AM

@Mitch Yeah. Plus, Mars is way more hostile to human life than The Martian would have you believe.

Also, having a guy precisely navigate through space to hit a moving target from a fingerjet of expelled air—without ever having even tried it before—is a bridge too far for credibility.

I think Mars is rather neutral towards us.

It neither likes nor hates us.

So I think 'hostile' is a bit uncharitable.

@Robusto There's a lot of claims about how punk rock musicians were not very talented but of the three main ones, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones, only the latter could have used a few extra chords.

well.. just one extra chord would have increased their musicality immensely

Could You REALLY Survive A Trip To Mars? | Answers With Joe

Maybe you could survive a trip...but there is nothing to do there.

The Martian soil would kill you. Check out the video.

1:29 AM

@Robusto All the Mars movies have these wind storms that do terrible damage...that just can't happen.

@Cerberus you're cribbing that from an Elton John song... who cribbed it from David Bowie.

Well, 21 minute is a bit long, searching for a factoid.

play it double time

11,5 is still too long.

kids these days

Could You REALLY Survive A Trip To Mars? | Answers With Joe

Start there.

1:35 AM

No chocolate?

No lemon?

No strawberry?

No vanilla?

mmm rainbow sherbet

@CowperKettle You are distracting the room from the important task of understanding how Mars will kill you if you go there.

Maybe the humanity should invest in space robots on a large scale.

Invent robots that would build a Mars base.

We'd be better off perfecting ice cream here on Earth.

1:40 AM

Yeah that's all to be expected.

There is little point in visiting Mars.

There is nothing there.

2:10 AM

> Two Texas men were arrested after pulling a gun on a McDonald’s manager during an argument over salt on their fries.

Texas lawmakers just eliminated the requirement for a permit, background check and training to carry a loaded handgun in public.

2:31 AM

Better close the borders from Texans, then.

3:01 AM

> Breaky Alice

What is this an eggcorn of?

It took me a while to realise.

Possibly because I have watched Snowpiercer, which has Big Alice.

3:15 AM

@Cerberus Build. The. Wall.

@tchrist Exactly.

Srijan M.T

5:30 AM

Hi everyone. I am very much interested in learning new things but there are more often when I’m usually tired and don’t feel like doing new things but it’s different when I’m motivated. How do you keep your motivation high ?

9:43 AM

12:40 PM

MIT predicted societal collapse this century. So far we're right on schedule.

2

The Guardian: Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House

2

> Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.

> Russia’s three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin’s signature.

> There is a brief psychological assessment of Trump, who is described as an “impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex”.

MeidasTouch Ad Censored by Fox "News" Featured on 11th Hour with Brian Williams

1:15 PM

user178758

1:26 PM

trump wants his followers to re-storm the Capitol

user178758

1:42 PM

the hard core fanatics will probably do it

2:26 PM

> Researchers working at the Department of Public Health, McCann Healthcare Worldwide Japan Inc., has created three algorithms that can be used to detect Alzheimer's in patients as they engage in phone conversations.

@Cerberus The same in our region

2:38 PM

@Robusto I am not sure this really helped Trump. He could have been elected without the Kremlin's help.

> There are paragraphs on how Russia might insert “media viruses” into American public life, which could become self-sustaining and self-replicating. These would alter mass consciousness, especially in certain groups, it says.

I don't believe in such stuff. We Russians gave old bugbear stories about how the US was aiming to insert thought viruses into our life, to strip us of morality and so on and so forth.

Only the more dimwitted Russians believe these stories.

Dulles' Plan

The Dulles' plan or the Dulles Doctrine (Russian: План Даллеса or Доктрина Даллеса) is the central document of a conspiracy theory, according to which the CIA chief Allen Dulles had developed a plan for the United States to destroy the Soviet Union during the Cold War by secretly corrupting the cultural heritage and moral values of the Soviet nation. The plan was first published in Russia shortly after the dissolution of the USSR and was often quoted by prominent Russian politicians, journalists, and writers. The text originates from a work of fiction, a 1971 novel The Eternal Call (Russian: Вечный...

> a conspiracy theory, according to which the CIA chief Allen Dulles had developed a plan for the United States to destroy the Soviet Union during the Cold War by secretly corrupting the cultural heritage and moral values of the Soviet nation

3:23 PM

so hot indoors - 26 degrees Celsius

the faculty is so far from here

don't understand how a scholar works efficiently with such long distance

how they works efficiently in an office which is so hot without an air conditioner, too

3:49 PM

@CowperKettle No, but the fact that he did help, if true, shows what a pernicious carbuncle Trump was—and is—on American democracy. He didn't help because he thought Trump would do good things for the USA.

4:23 PM

There are a ton of people begging others to donate money on Facebook - their causes are mostly hunger, sickness.

are there people begging money for their nonpractical works?

like fundamental science or art

there may be a lot of people of this kind lacking money to eat and see a doctor regularly.

also, housing is far bigger an expense than food in most cases.

and hunger raising are usually for children, but actually adults also have hunger problems.

because in modern world, it's no longer possible to get food by hunting and gathering - one needs to have money to get food unless they are farmers.

5:04 PM

@Bohemianrelativist Yes, there are special sites where you can display your work and ask people to fund it.

Journalists for instance write articles and ask you to subscribe to their blogs.

7:16 PM

@CowperKettle We suck.

@CowperKettle That is going to work well.

@CowperKettle Yeah, a foreign power can perhaps deliver a small nudge, but it cannot be a major cause of political change.

7:30 PM

@Cerberus well...

invasion is a pretty good nudge

7:45 PM

@Mitch Yes, but this was about propaganda and espionage.

so bombing, as a debating move, is not allowed?

Not quite!

I didn't know that was a debating move, though.

I mean...

Would it be unfair, debating-wise, to then suggest bombing as a way to influence a country's internal politics?

Completely fair, but a different technique.

Because that totally will change politics internally

I'm entirely interested in winning an argument that you didn't think we were having.

7:53 PM

It will probably unite the country against you...

unique it too

I'm drunk so I'll have whatever argument you're having.

yes will probably not get the intended results (of destabilizing)

@Cerberus Excellent! Continue!

Drinking water now!

We had a couple of beers on a terrace boat.

Too many too fast.

@Cerberus It's good for you!

7:56 PM

Yes!

Should have thought of that when we ordered more beer.

I think it is a bit overrated.

to be honest

Water?

yeah

What's its current rating?

@Cerberus According to von Clausewitz it was.

7:57 PM

@Cerberus I think that's a personal thing

Right, his aphorism.

But I'm open to tell you my rating

it's OK

Hmm.

I mean it's great as a mixer

just coffee beans ain't great

7:59 PM

Your mixer is no fun.

@Cerberus I'm not sure what the relevance of that picture is but I have this strange feeling that I have exactly that model.

OH

no I get it

I wish I had that mixer rather than water.

Water and B vitamins are good for alcohol overdoses.

Also electrolytes.

Working on the water.

Don't have vitamins.

I've just killed a mosquito in mid air with my bare hands.

Despite my apparent state.

@Cerberus I think your present state is affording you the ability to believe that you've done something like that.

@Cerberus If you had the mixer you could sell it to buy a lot of water.

8:29 PM

@Cerberus Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

@Mitch Depends on where you are. In the middle of the Sahara, people might prefer the water.

@Mitch Not so!

@Mitch Yes, it looks expensive.

@Robusto Ah, but I am a dog.

@Cerberus There you go again, playing the dog card.

8:47 PM

@Robusto Does it work?

@Cerberus So long as your bark is worse than your bite. If you start biting people, we'll have to call an Animal Control officer.

Oh, an officer.

As long as her rank is high.

Doesn't matter. You're probably high enough right now for both of you.

Hardly.

Then you're not doing it right.

8:58 PM

how can you help me? Bring me a bowl of noodles.

I would normally reserve the word 'high' for other substances...

@Bohemianrelativist You should get one of those student sized rice cookers.

Q: An idiom to describe something that takes less effort

9:24 PM

@Cerberus It's used a lot with alcohol as well. In fact, that's where it originated.

> In 1930s USA, 'high' began being used to mean 'under the influence of drugs' and that usage spread to the rest of the English-speaking world during the hippie movement of the 1960s. The word had previously been used for centuries with the same meaning but with reference to drink rather than drugs. An example of that usage is found in Thomas May's 1627 translation of the 1st century Roman poet Lucan's Pharsalia: "He's awash with rich dishes, high with wine."

Hmm, The PhraseFinder's web site seems to have a crappy link to their CSS files, or some other issue that prevents stylesheets from vending.

I really hate questions like this one:

0

If I wanted to say that something takes one-tenth of the time, I'd say it is 10 times faster. Is there a similar way to describe something that takes one-tenth of the effort? I'm looking for something better than 10 times easier. I'm trying to write a copy for a product that makes an information-...

@Mitch where is it?

it's not easy to find rice cookers here. Most food sellers provide potatoes.

@Robusto I suppose "high with wine" does sound familiar.

But I would not normally use it for drunk now, except when you add something like "with x", and probably then only when you're in a good mood from the wine, as in high spirits.

9:52 PM

@Cerberus I don't normally use it for drink either, except when, as above, I am essaying a play on words, in which case an objection based on literal interpretations causes that particular flight of fancy to crash and burn.

To sum up: see what you've done?