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Pressure at the summit of Mt. Everest is ~.25atm = 4.12psi (here). I have NEVER heard of anyone complaining that this is uncomfortable from the standpoint of wanting a pressurized suit to keep their body from exploding (it is, of course, uncomfortable since the partial pressure of oxygen at that elevation is less than 1psi [the percentage of oxygen in the air is the same at 29,028ft as at 0ft]. An unacclimatized individual would die in minutes).

And before anyone says something stupid like "acclimatize? don't you mean acclimate?", go here.

Sarcasm.

Err, I don't exactly see where anyone said "the US is the best" or where I refuted it but, hey, if you want to see something that's not there then that's your prerogative. But, if you want clarity, I'll try to give it to you.

Saying "the US is the best" is not a racist. But saying that "everything we do is great, everything you do sucks, not that what you do matters anyhow, and stop claiming credit for anything half-decent you lying foreigner" is racist.

Perhaps you would be more comfortable if I used the word xenophobic but racist is just as accurate a description for what the Anonymous Coward had to say.

And before you get on your high horse, racism doesn't have to be about skin colour. Here are a couple of nice dictionary definitions for you:

racism (n)
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

race (n)
1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
3. A genealogical line; a lineage.
4. Humans considered as a group.
5. Biology
a. An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies.
b. A breed or strain, as of domestic animals.
6. A distinguishing or characteristic quality, such as the flavor of a wine.

Hope that clears things up for you.

Err, I don't exactly see where anyone said "the US is the best" or where I refuted it but, hey, if you want to see something that's not there then that's your prerogative. But, if you want clarity, I'll try to give it to you.

Saying "the US is the best" is not a racist. But saying that "everything we do is great, everything you do sucks, not that what you do matters anyhow, and stop claiming credit for anything half-decent you lying foreigner" is racist.

Perhaps you would be more comfortable if I used the word xenophobic but racist is just as accurate a description for what the Anonymous Coward had to say.

And before you get on your high horse, racism doesn't have to be about skin colour. Here are a couple of nice dictionary definitions for you:

racism (n)
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

race (n)
1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
3. A genealogical line; a lineage.
4. Humans considered as a group.
5. Biology
a. An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies.
b. A breed or strain, as of domestic animals.
6. A distinguishing or characteristic quality, such as the flavor of a wine.

Hope that clears things up for you.

Why should M$ open their code? If you want open code, make a similiar product, create your own interface, and then market it.... Why should M$ give away its trade secrets? That's not a monopolistic practice...

The point is that while the AMD/Intel example is a good case of market forces working to prevent the maintenance of a monopoly, it is not, in and of itself, sufficient evidence that market forces will always succeed in preventing the maintenance of a monopoly, because it includes a number of special features that aren't present in other cases that might, on the surface, be considered similar.

In other words, this isn't proof that "all 'big businesses' can be affected by smaller ones", it's just anecdotal evidence.

(P.S. Will somebody tell me why I'm bothering to respond to this troll? I must not have enough work to do.)

Why should M$ open their code? If you want open code, make a similiar product, create your own interface, and then market it.... Why should M$ give away its trade secrets? That's not a monopolistic practice...

The point is that while the AMD/Intel example is a good case of market forces working to prevent the maintenance of a monopoly, it is not, in and of itself, sufficient evidence that market forces will always succeed in preventing the maintenance of a monopoly, because it includes a number of special features that aren't present in other cases that might, on the surface, be considered similar.

In other words, this isn't proof that "all 'big businesses' can be affected by smaller ones", it's just anecdotal evidence.

(P.S. Will somebody tell me why I'm bothering to respond to this troll? I must not have enough work to do.)

eke

I love it when people can't tell the difference between "I hate it" and "It sucks."

These statements are equivelant. Implicit in the phrase, "It sucks." is the phrase, "In my opinion." since there is no objective measure of "suckiness".

I love it when people present their opinions as facts.

P.S. Either your spelling or your typing sucks.

Please, learn the proper English plural of the word 'virus.'

There's no need to be making up words in hopes of sounding smarter. You only end up looking silly.

That JASKER POWER is an anagram for JAPE WORKERS.

dictionary.com meaning of Jape :

n.
A joke or quip.

Oligopoly

Having said all that. There really is a lot more to "community" than socializing, in meatspace, that is. And the benefits to getting involved in community in meatspace can be incredible. Disclaimer: I say this at a point in my life that I have no personal contact and knowledge of, but merely one of observation and conversation. It is my goal to get involved in an organization or program in the near future working with "community building". My dad has been doing this most of his life, and has some incredible stories to tell me regarding work he has been involved in, or seen happen by others doing similar work (and what he is doing right now).

1. comparison:
   THAN
2. chronologic sequence :
   THEN

1. comparison:
   THAN
2. chronologic sequence :
   THEN

1. comparison:
   THAN
2. chronologic sequence :
   THEN

If you were to by the LOTR DVD, would you consider that distribution format lossy?

Absolutely, DVD is lossy. If I took a DVD, decoded the content (which I think is always encoded with MPEG-2), re-encoded it with MPEG-2, and burned it to a DVD I would most likely have a worse copy than the original DVD. The process of encoding MPEG-2 is lossy.

Now it is true that I do not have to decode and encode every time I want to copy a DVD. I can use a non-lossy method of copying the digital data directly. This still does not change the fact that DVDs are lossy because the MPEG-2 codec is a lossy codec.

As for the "older and more established" definition, I could only find the following definition at dictionary.com:

lossy

A term describing a data compression algorithm which actually reduces the amount of information in the data, rather than just the number of bits used to represent that information. The lost information is usually removed because it is subjectively less important to the quality of the data (usually an image or sound) or because it can be recovered reasonably by interpolation from the remaining data.

MPEG and JPEG are examples of lossy compression techniques.
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2001 Denis Howe

If you were to by the LOTR DVD, would you consider that distribution format lossy?

Absolutely, DVD is lossy. If I took a DVD, decoded the content (which I think is always encoded with MPEG-2), re-encoded it with MPEG-2, and burned it to a DVD I would most likely have a worse copy than the original DVD. The process of encoding MPEG-2 is lossy.

Now it is true that I do not have to decode and encode every time I want to copy a DVD. I can use a non-lossy method of copying the digital data directly. This still does not change the fact that DVDs are lossy because the MPEG-2 codec is a lossy codec.

As for the "older and more established" definition, I could only find the following definition at dictionary.com:

lossy

A term describing a data compression algorithm which actually reduces the amount of information in the data, rather than just the number of bits used to represent that information. The lost information is usually removed because it is subjectively less important to the quality of the data (usually an image or sound) or because it can be recovered reasonably by interpolation from the remaining data.

MPEG and JPEG are examples of lossy compression techniques.
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2001 Denis Howe

Damn Spell check! I meant PLADGERIZE not PIDGINIZE

ITYM plagiarize . HTH.

You should also be attributing your .sig quote to Richard Feynman.

If that's true, then this behaviour could be considered to meet the criteria for true censorship:

1: counterintelligence achieved by banning or deleting any information of value to the enemy

2: deleting parts of publications or correspondence or theatrical performances

Don't want to lose too much Karma on this one... slashdot.org/~slashdot.org.

Although I totally agree with you, the true definition of censorship does seem to require the actual banning or deletion of information.

Now, you could argue that OZ is certainly not deleting anything. They ban stuff, but that's a relative word,- I bet if someone got a dial-up account in the US and dialed it directly, they could still have access to the information. This is where things get fuzzy,- the information is still out there, it's just harder to get to. Therefore you would have to conclude that the use of the word censorship applies similarly to both discussed cases here.

In both cases the information is still accessible, however in both cases entities with the power try to keep people from seeing it.

What I can't believe is that this issue is taking on a rediculous magnitude. I don't understand why anyone of the staff doesn't say something like 'sorry guys, that was maybe not too kewl, we'll create a permanent thread where you can bitch about /. all you want', or something like that.

I mean, this thread is getting to the point where we all are probably going to lose a bit of Karma again...

It is generally believed that there are significant mineral resources, but these have not yet been commercially exploited. Such deposits include uranium, copper, gypsum, iron, marble, manganese, tin and, perhaps, oil.

Isn't English wonderfully ambiguous? On Slashdot, we know that the world "free" can take different meanings, which are not at all the same. However, there are other words like this as well: for instance, solid can mean "not liquid or gaseous", but it can also mean "Not hollowed out: a solid block of wood". I obviously meant the latter, as should have been clear by context (solid spheres, vs. hollow spheres as in gravastars). Moreover, in order to make myself clearer, I even put "full" in parenthesis after the words "solid speres".

Not everybody's grasp of English is extensive enough to understand what pr0n or "not for young eyes" might mean.

That's why it's in the dictionary...

"Why did it have to be millionMANlan, instead of millionPERSONLAN?"

Because english, unless used very specifically, is a genderless language. The word man has been (and if me and my english teachers have their way, will conitnue to be) used as a generic non-gender term for ages. It falls into the same category as he and his.

If I'm trying to put down women, you'll know when I am. But I don't, I won't, and I'm not.

It's right there, at dictionary.com. A "whopping" 33% of the definitions specify gender. The rest (10 of 15) clearly do not.

I guess I've never been one to use fashionable language. Thank God, since if I went round saying some of the stuff (especially fake computer references) on TV I'd probably want to lock myself up! 8-D

As for abandoning wide scale communication... you need to drink less coffee and get off the crack. Or see this link.

Trust:
8. A combination of firms or corporations for the purpose of reducing competition (c.f. *) and controlling prices (c.f. **) throughout a business or an industry.

Surely someone here can help me resolve my confusion.

Look, if a law that restrictive was ever passed, Police officers would be breaking it.

According to page 5 of this PDF from the Library of Congress, law enforcement officers acting in official duty are exempt from the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Remember Prohibition?

The current crop of Republicrat legislators don't seem to; otherwise, they would have repealed the anti-recreational-drug laws a long time ago.

Any politician who would vote for such a thing better hope the donation from the media companies can buy him a ticket to Rio and keep him fed for the rest of his life

Find how much your politician got from Di$ney at Open Secrets.

because his public "service" career would end at the next election

Not with our ovine electorate.

Okay then, here's the dictionary definition of "copyright":

The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

-- Brian

This just became my new example to use when explaining to people what a malapropism is.

My old example had always been this: if someone were to say "taken for granite..." when they meant "taken for granted", that would be a malapropism.

This one is much better.

>> high speed network and a google of different communications devices. I enquired as

The word is googol not google.

>> high speed network and a google of different communications devices. I enquired as

The word is googol not google.

Moot is a term sometimes used to describe a point or question while, which debatable, is insignificant or of little value. Interesting history of this word's entymology at Dictionary.com.

Most interesting is that the term originally meant the opposite (and in a Law sense, still may); that the point was open to debate.

Remember, Billy....

It makes sense to at least follow the link a person provides as evidence before disputing their claim...

He's right. A googol is 1 followed by 100 zeroes. A google is a....that's right boys and girls, it's a homonym .

http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=enq uire

enquire
v.

Variant of inquire.

[Middle English enquiren, from Old French enquerre, from Vulgar Latin *inquaerere]

Sorry grammar nazi. Keep readin' those textbooks. You'll get it one of these days.

I hate to play the grammar nazi, but the word should be googol, not Google (TM). Google is joke word, based loosely on the idea of a lot of data being searched, or a lot of people using the search engine, etc. See Google's corporate info page if you're curious.

You can do either.

They are alternative spellings of the same word, as this site says.

Dictionary.com lists 'enquire' as a 'Variant of inquire'.

Also, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary lists enquire and inquire as having the same meaning.

You can do either.

They are alternative spellings of the same word, as this site says.

Dictionary.com lists 'enquire' as a 'Variant of inquire'.

Also, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary lists enquire and inquire as having the same meaning.

It makes you sexist by promoting the idea that men and women should be treated differently. Saying it would not be funny if it were about a man is the exact definition. Sexist

>Theft is theft, no matter who you're screwing over

Yeah, but the dictionary explains theft isn't copying files. Just read it. Theft, or its identical but clearly defined brother, larceny only applies when a physical item has been removed from the posession of another. In other words, the violated no longer has posession of the item.

Yup, I know about the law definition of posession. Of course, since this applies only to the violated and their product is still in their hands with their rightful ownership intact it still doesn't count.

Now, walking into NSync's house and stealing all their papers with their ideas for their next album is the only copyright violation I can come up with on the spot that is also theft.

However, fortunately KaZaa can't do that (yet)!

>and didn't understand that leaving Kazaa, Morpheus and all their other file trading utilities on all day long was not only illegal

No, leaving it on all day is not illegal. Perhaps against your AUP, but breaking an agreement between student and university is not illegal. That's why he can't go to jail or get community service for abusing your bandwidth in any way he likes.

Or do you mean that trading the Nsync album is illegal? There's a big difference between the medium and the message, you know. Just ask the art department.

I don't disagree with your actions, but unfortunately it seems the BSA has caught another computer professional up in their redefinition of the english language. Don't let it happen! Fight the power and keep the dictionary true to its roots! Copying copyrighted files without permission is copyright violation. Nothing more, nothing less.

You can say piracy. This word, however, is intentionally both overused and loaded. I'm sure you and me both don't consider a software "pirate" someone who goes to coastal villiages and nearby ships to rape women and pillage.

Sorry, don't take this all too seriously. I just think that when people stop calling piracy theft (which it isn't) people will see that the crime committed is nowhere near the level the RIAA would consider it.

>Theft is theft, no matter who you're screwing over

Yeah, but the dictionary explains theft isn't copying files. Just read it. Theft, or its identical but clearly defined brother, larceny only applies when a physical item has been removed from the posession of another. In other words, the violated no longer has posession of the item.

Yup, I know about the law definition of posession. Of course, since this applies only to the violated and their product is still in their hands with their rightful ownership intact it still doesn't count.

Now, walking into NSync's house and stealing all their papers with their ideas for their next album is the only copyright violation I can come up with on the spot that is also theft.

However, fortunately KaZaa can't do that (yet)!

>and didn't understand that leaving Kazaa, Morpheus and all their other file trading utilities on all day long was not only illegal

No, leaving it on all day is not illegal. Perhaps against your AUP, but breaking an agreement between student and university is not illegal. That's why he can't go to jail or get community service for abusing your bandwidth in any way he likes.

Or do you mean that trading the Nsync album is illegal? There's a big difference between the medium and the message, you know. Just ask the art department.

I don't disagree with your actions, but unfortunately it seems the BSA has caught another computer professional up in their redefinition of the english language. Don't let it happen! Fight the power and keep the dictionary true to its roots! Copying copyrighted files without permission is copyright violation. Nothing more, nothing less.

You can say piracy. This word, however, is intentionally both overused and loaded. I'm sure you and me both don't consider a software "pirate" someone who goes to coastal villiages and nearby ships to rape women and pillage.

Sorry, don't take this all too seriously. I just think that when people stop calling piracy theft (which it isn't) people will see that the crime committed is nowhere near the level the RIAA would consider it.

>Theft is theft, no matter who you're screwing over

Yeah, but the dictionary explains theft isn't copying files. Just read it. Theft, or its identical but clearly defined brother, larceny only applies when a physical item has been removed from the posession of another. In other words, the violated no longer has posession of the item.

Yup, I know about the law definition of posession. Of course, since this applies only to the violated and their product is still in their hands with their rightful ownership intact it still doesn't count.

Now, walking into NSync's house and stealing all their papers with their ideas for their next album is the only copyright violation I can come up with on the spot that is also theft.

However, fortunately KaZaa can't do that (yet)!

>and didn't understand that leaving Kazaa, Morpheus and all their other file trading utilities on all day long was not only illegal

No, leaving it on all day is not illegal. Perhaps against your AUP, but breaking an agreement between student and university is not illegal. That's why he can't go to jail or get community service for abusing your bandwidth in any way he likes.

Or do you mean that trading the Nsync album is illegal? There's a big difference between the medium and the message, you know. Just ask the art department.

I don't disagree with your actions, but unfortunately it seems the BSA has caught another computer professional up in their redefinition of the english language. Don't let it happen! Fight the power and keep the dictionary true to its roots! Copying copyrighted files without permission is copyright violation. Nothing more, nothing less.

You can say piracy. This word, however, is intentionally both overused and loaded. I'm sure you and me both don't consider a software "pirate" someone who goes to coastal villiages and nearby ships to rape women and pillage.

Sorry, don't take this all too seriously. I just think that when people stop calling piracy theft (which it isn't) people will see that the crime committed is nowhere near the level the RIAA would consider it.

>Theft is theft, no matter who you're screwing over

Yeah, but the dictionary explains theft isn't copying files. Just read it. Theft, or its identical but clearly defined brother, larceny only applies when a physical item has been removed from the posession of another. In other words, the violated no longer has posession of the item.

Yup, I know about the law definition of posession. Of course, since this applies only to the violated and their product is still in their hands with their rightful ownership intact it still doesn't count.

Now, walking into NSync's house and stealing all their papers with their ideas for their next album is the only copyright violation I can come up with on the spot that is also theft.

However, fortunately KaZaa can't do that (yet)!

>and didn't understand that leaving Kazaa, Morpheus and all their other file trading utilities on all day long was not only illegal

No, leaving it on all day is not illegal. Perhaps against your AUP, but breaking an agreement between student and university is not illegal. That's why he can't go to jail or get community service for abusing your bandwidth in any way he likes.

Or do you mean that trading the Nsync album is illegal? There's a big difference between the medium and the message, you know. Just ask the art department.

I don't disagree with your actions, but unfortunately it seems the BSA has caught another computer professional up in their redefinition of the english language. Don't let it happen! Fight the power and keep the dictionary true to its roots! Copying copyrighted files without permission is copyright violation. Nothing more, nothing less.

You can say piracy. This word, however, is intentionally both overused and loaded. I'm sure you and me both don't consider a software "pirate" someone who goes to coastal villiages and nearby ships to rape women and pillage.

Sorry, don't take this all too seriously. I just think that when people stop calling piracy theft (which it isn't) people will see that the crime committed is nowhere near the level the RIAA would consider it.

If they're not too far to the right, you can paint linux as being a move away from capitalism, leading us to a less money-driven culture

You are correct. You can direct them here

cross-platform RPM-based Unix software packaging.

crossplatform:

software, hardware> A term that describes a language, software application or hardware device that works on more than one system platform (e.g. Unix, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh). E.g. Netscape Navigator, Java.

Using buzzwords, is great and everything if you're a marketing droid, but lets try to be a little more precise among ourselves.

I'm not trying to belittle this accomplishment, and I'm sure it is quite valuable, although I personally would give up apt-get only at gun point and to call something crossplatform that only really ones on one 'platform' is silly.

Sounds like the vaporware phenomenon has extended to virii.

1. It's 'viruses'. ESR says so.

2. Concept Virus is also the name of the virus commonly known as Nimda.

>nothing but "milk toast" to offer

OT, but had to nit-pick - milquetoast is not "milk toast"

milquetoast - n. One who has a meek, timid, unassertive nature.

Word History: An indication of the effect on the English language of popular culture is the adoption of names from the comic strips as English words. Casper Milquetoast, created by Harold Webster in 1924, was a timid and retiring man named for a timid food. The first instance of milquetoast as a common noun is found in the mid-1930s. Milquetoast thus joins the ranks of other such words, including sad sack, from a blundering army private invented by George Baker in 1942, and Wimpy, from J. Wellington Wimpy in the Popeye comic strip, which became a trade name for a hamburger. If we look to a related form of popular culture, the animated cartoon, we must of course acknowledge Mickey Mouse, which has become a slang term for something that is easy, insignificant, small-time, worthless, or petty.

Yes, it's viruses

I am writing to ask you for your name and address, as I want to sue you. I am suing you for damages to my new 17" flatscreen monitor incurred by you providing a link to the webpage "Bernard Shifman Is A Moron Spammer", which I was compelled to click on, resulting in my aforementioned monitor being destroyed in a spray of Coca-Cola (which I was drinking calmly until being compelled to click on the link) issuing from my nostrils.

The Coca-Cola Company will also be a party to this suit, as the Coke that went through my nostrils has also caused serious damage to my sinuses. I am afraid a telephone discussion with you regarding the suit is therefore out of the question.

My legal team (me and my cat) agree that I have a watertight case.

Thank you.

Ethelred

P.S. First post!

That's because it is spelled barratry. And, interestingly, the layman's dictionary def is "instigating lawsuits", not "threating to instigate lawsuits". Dunno if there is a legal distinction, since (all together now, children) IANAL.

Over in what represents itself as a legal dictionary, law.com mentions barratry as a form of shady/illegal business practice by lawyers. Goodness, surely not lawyers.

No, a democracy is a much broader term than that; it simply means government by the people, through majority opinion, whether that's through direct vote or through representation. A republic can often be used synonymously, but is usually somewhat more specific, referring to a state run by an elected official. You can check any print or online dictionary (here, here, and here for example.

I'm not sure why so many people on slashdot set such narrow definitions for these two words.