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For those wondering, Sisyphean:

Endlessly laborious or futile

A perfect opportunity presents itself for your own edification (edification - n. - "Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment.")

Consider referencing a dictionary when you encounter words currently not in your vocabulary, rather than complaining about your lack of comprehension.

de rigueur - adj. - Required by the current fashion or custom; socially obligatory.

Err, "boulder". (doh!)

FWIW, I find the definition of boulder to be quite interesting: "A large rounded mass of rock lying on the surface of the ground or embedded in the soil". Why not just say "a large rounded mass of rock", and leave it at that?

Ahem! We use more credible sources here, sonny! By it's own definition, Google is spelt correctly ;)

Ahem! We use more credible sources here, sonny! By it's own definition, Google is spelt correctly ;)

I remember seeing a snigglet for the plastic tips...

And it's a real word, not a sniglet.

Please, please, 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, alright?

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...

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.

Sport, by the traditional definition, only includes "physical activity" so all those who complain that this isn't sport, just as in this thread, do have a valid point: By the traditional definition I will concede that neither chess nor Quake 3 are "sports" because there is a limited physical extertion required (then again, doesn't that exclude baseball?).

Having said that, they are mental (plus in the case of Q3 reflex wise) competitions that are extremely skill based. Whether we modify the definition of sport to include chess and Quake 3, or we make another word, the spirit of competition and the striving for excellence is the same. It is sad to see a jock like attitude on Slashdot of all places berating those people "sitting on their ass" because they aren't competing in the traditional sense. Sorry but I respect the guy who has the most frags more than I respect the guy who throws a metal ball or runs down a track: While both have little value in the real world, the former seems like more of an accomplishment to me.

You are the miinformed one.

While democracy originally referred to direct people rule, most people in modern times are taught that democracy can be either representative (as in all the western countries) or direct, or a mix between the two (as in Switzerland and some states of some countries). All dictionaries reflect this practice.

What you are doing is twisting words, trying to claim that you have a monopoly on the "right" definition which certainly is not the case. While I do not argue that your definition is incorrect, it is also not the only definition that can be considered correct.

No matter what definition you prefer, it is a fact that the US government system is a (representative) democratic one (in spirit, if nothing else) and your cheap shots do nothing but evade the very valid arguments presented by the original poster.

Racism:
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.

Yup, you're a racist alright...

The worm's memory-resident, moron. You have to reboot to get rid of it. No shit, Coward. It was a joke. Maybe the smiley face should have tipped you off.

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..

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 particular collection of letters is called an acronym .

And by the way you'd pluralise it VCR's, as with all acronyms I can think of. Probably.

A number of readers have [Nope: a number has. English has the pesky habit of having the verb of each clause agree with its subject.] written in about the Salon story talking with Gary Groth's recation [Nope, sorry, a news article doesn't talk with anyone, let alone a recation.] to Scott McCloud's pieces on the intersection of the comic [A comic is a person. A comic book (or the comics or a comedy) is the expressed form of art that Hemos may mean.] and the Internet. Groth's feelings are much different then McCloud [Nope, "than McCloud's" (or "than McCloud's are."), or if you want to get quite technical, "from McCloud's".]. I love the comic book['s] format [less ambiguously, "the format of comic books"] ( [insert "and" -- this isn't a telegram] am currently reading Cerebus, The Dreaming and Bone[,] amongst others) and [I] think [it] is an interesting issue - 'specially considered within the greater question of "art" and digital media. [This is unclear. "'Art' and digital media" is not a question. Try "the new role of 'art' expressed through digital media." or "the impact of digital media on 'art'", which might be construed as posing a question. It is also of course quite unclear why Hemos puts "art" in quotation marks.]

Now, since power users like flexibility, lets remove the options that limit them from being able to make their own disks (assuming a robust network administrated by others, and one computer for you). You are left with:

- CD-ROM

Oh dear God is this the world's worst pain in the ass. I am not going to burn CDs just to boot. No freakin' way.

- External USB drives, firewire drives

Uhh, $300!?!? (Maybe you'll find 'em cheaper -- if it's under $20 total each I'll agree this is a viable option) That isn't a boot medium you can give to others or throw about without worrying. Don't forget these suckers are huge compared to normal removeable media.

- Other ATA/EIDE drives

Chicken and Egg. Which came first, the HDD with the OS or the one without. That and the size and price thing... No thanks.

Nope, none of these is a good option for a power user. Zip disks, maybe... but at $20 a pop, and with their ultra-proprietary nature, no thanks. I want something open, that way when/if iOmega tanks like SyQuest, I don't have to buy a new computer. So I'd say superdisk, but then why not use a floppy?

As far as I can see a floppy still beats all. Just my opinion.

>So, what's the argument for a floppy again?

Ubiquity outside of Jobs reality distortion field.

>I guess they'll haul out the "more=better" arguement now.

No, I'll just haul out the more=useless argument. Modem users aren't going to wait 15 minutes to boot their O/S over the net, and CodeRed will make your Cable boot like a 14.4. Ugh.

as long as everything is excessable...I'd be happy.
Wow, sounds like Bush re: military power.


in more ways than one!

Please, please, PLEASE, learn your proper English plurals.

There's no reason to be making up words.

American Heritage Dictionary, dictionary.com. [clipped without a copyright attribution, oh no!]

If I take that car after the deadline Hertz:

- Can no longer rent it
- Must report it stolen
- Has increased insurance fees
- Must buy a new car if I never return it

Whereas a rented e-book that is cracked by you for keeps:

- Is still fully rentable by the company
- Is not reported stolen by the company
- Does not directly result in increased insurance fees for the company
- Does not require the writing of a new e-book for the company

You see, one is grand larceny (car stealing), the other is copyright violation (cracking e-books).

I like putting it the legal way -- it makes it sound the same as the crime is generally regarded by society -- as a simple violation. Cracking the e-book makes you as bad as the guy that parks in the no-parking zone (annoying, unlawful [not illegal!], hardly anything to write home about, hardly anything to have a criminal record for). Unfortunately, cracking in the eyes of the law makes you almost as bad as an armed bank robber if one looks at the sentences and fines imposed. I fail to see the comparison between how people like Kevin Mitnick and Dimitry Skylarov hurt others and how a gun wielding maniac holds up a bank. I do, however, clearly see the public nuisance comparison to an illegally parked vehicle. I can also (just barely) see how copyright violation could be considered harassment to the author.

But taking cracking your e-book to look at it longer to be stealing is like saying looking through the author's window while they write the book is stealing (since at that point they had no intention of letting you look at the book).

But full blown larceny? No way. Even the dictionary agrees on this.

This condenses a couple of earlier posts I made and just wasn't satisfied with and adds some more.

Like it or not Microsoft deserves their day in court. If it was you - for whatever offense - you would want yours too. This doesn't mean that Microsoft is going to get off scot-free, there's still the penalty phase. The government could decide that technologies such as .NET are essential services and expropriate[?] them and allow them to be freely used as web standards. Or if they weren't willing to go that far they could require full disclosure of the API's and force royalty-free licenses of all required patents to allow the interoperability of technologies. There is much leeway in the future, including future lawsuits to address future monopoly concerns. Remember, Microsoft is convicted of being a monopoly - this will not change. With this established, future litigation will already have the big hurdle out of the way.

All results from dictionary.com

Bandaid:
A trademark used for an adhesive bandage with a gauze pad in the center, employed to protect minor wounds. This trademark sometimes occurs in print in figurative uses: "True welfare reform is being bypassed for Band-Aid solutions" (Los Angeles Times). "These measures are mere Band-Aids"

xerox:
a copy made by the xerox process [syn: xerox copy] 2: copies graphic matter by the action of light on an electrically charged photoconductive insulating surface in which the latent image is developed with a resinous powder [syn: Xerox, xerographic copier, xerox machine] v : reproduce by xerography [syn: photocopy, run off]

kleenex:
(trademark) a piece of soft absorbent paper (usually two or more thin layers) used as a disposable handkerchief [syn: Kleenex]

Is the FSF brainstorming any ideas on alternatives to the term "Free"? Unlike many other languages, it seems that English does not have separate words for "without cost" and "having freedom". So, we in the Open Source community end up using phrases such as "free as in beer" or "Free with a capital 'F'" (neither of which are immediately intuitive to the public at large).

Much better, I think, would be to come up with a new adjective to describe such Free software ("Free" with a capital "F", that is). One idea that has been batted about is "liberated software", but that has the connotation of "stolen software" to some people. Of course, this isn't to say that the term "Free" wouldn't be used anymore -- but it would be nice to have an alternative for use at, for example, picnics or family gatherings.

Nice theory, but Messrs. Merriam and Webster disagree.

Tucker and Chan aren't spectacular actors, but they're not "terrible" actors as CmdrTaco would have you believe in his *cough* 'privilage' *cough* abuse.

I'm not one for spelling flames, but the irony of this one just got the better of me... When posting a link to a dictionary site, shouldn't it be a requirement that one properly spells the word he's attempting to define? Try "privilege".

Nobody will say this is a great movie

Bzzzt! This is a great movie.

I saw it last night, and I was thoroughly entertained. The Plot, while certainly not an Oscar contender, is well planned and executed.

There are many scenes in RH2 that are throwbacks to the first movie. The comedy is well paced, and manages to tag along with the plot very well. (I liked Chris Tucker's rendition of 'Don't Stop Till You Get Enough' in the karaoke bar. The massage parlor scene(s) were great too.)

Tucker and Chan aren't spectacular actors, but they're not "terrible" actors as CmdrTaco would have you believe in his *cough* 'privilage' *cough* abuse. They manage to carry the movie better than you'd expect, and deliver solid performances. Plus, the outtake scenes during the end credits are always a treat to watch. (I wish more movies would include outtakes. They're great.)

Jackie Chan's fight scenes are, as always, superbly done. I always love watching Jackie fight, because the entire sequences are so well put together. If you like to laugh, and like action, you'll like this movie.

And OH, my GOD.... Zhang Ziyi is absolutely beautiful.

What ever happened to the good old days when hackers knew proper English plurals?

Ahh... "organizations" (e.g. Microsoft, IBM, etc) derive from the word "organize". Despite how much you may hate Microsoft and Adobe, they have something that is really fundamental to growth, organization.

I have found in my own "big business" experience that not everything that goes on at the big business level is "right" or "the best way of doing things" but things still get done. What any business needs is a management chain that understands the best ways AND does them. Some companies have this, some don't, and some fall in the middle.

The problem with OSS has been stated, waring distros, KDE vs GNOME, 10+ window managers, 10+ distros, 10+ console text editors, 3 browsers, etc etc etc... the list can go on forever. If OSS was made into an organizational unit, these things would be minimized (or maybe 2-3 organizational units). For instance, why do we need 10 text editors? We don't... we have "preferences" but I think newbies "prefer" pico because it's easy to use (okay dont argue that XYZ is easier than pico, it's not the point).

In an organizational unit, a group of people would sit down and evaluate (to the best of their abilities) how one solution outperforms another solution. They'd run performance tests, user tests, and more importantly how easy it is to maintain a particular set of code. Once they've added everything together, they'd choose a single text editor, linux distro, etc etc.

Where, right now, let's say there are 10 text editors, each has a group of 3 people working on it. If we were to evaluate and eliminate the worthless projects (as an organization would do) we can better pool our resources together so we can have 2 maybe 3 text editors, each with 10 to 15 people working on them. Doing this increasing the time and manpower each project has and increases the power, flexibility, and usefulness of the application.

Someone mentioned the *BSD distros, there being too many of them, well there are only really 3 major ones, but then the comment was made about Theo. I don't really know Theo and I haven't spoken to him, but I don't think many of you have either. Theo had disputes with people, which he felt were strong enough to leave a particular project and start OpenBSD. This has been done all over the Linux community as well on multiple projects, so to say Theo is the only one who "can't get along" is rediculous.

Right now, every Linux project is like a bunch of a warring factions. This is a form of anarchy, and it has proven through history that anarchies do not do well in the bigger scheme of things.

The linux community, as a whole, needs some kind of organization.. and I don't mean letting Linus and Cox run the show. We need people who are business-oriented and not technical to run the organization. This way decisions can be made to better utilize the resources of the Linux community.

Ahh... "organizations" (e.g. Microsoft, IBM, etc) derive from the word "organize". Despite how much you may hate Microsoft and Adobe, they have something that is really fundamental to growth, organization.

I have found in my own "big business" experience that not everything that goes on at the big business level is "right" or "the best way of doing things" but things still get done. What any business needs is a management chain that understands the best ways AND does them. Some companies have this, some don't, and some fall in the middle.

The problem with OSS has been stated, waring distros, KDE vs GNOME, 10+ window managers, 10+ distros, 10+ console text editors, 3 browsers, etc etc etc... the list can go on forever. If OSS was made into an organizational unit, these things would be minimized (or maybe 2-3 organizational units). For instance, why do we need 10 text editors? We don't... we have "preferences" but I think newbies "prefer" pico because it's easy to use (okay dont argue that XYZ is easier than pico, it's not the point).

In an organizational unit, a group of people would sit down and evaluate (to the best of their abilities) how one solution outperforms another solution. They'd run performance tests, user tests, and more importantly how easy it is to maintain a particular set of code. Once they've added everything together, they'd choose a single text editor, linux distro, etc etc.

Where, right now, let's say there are 10 text editors, each has a group of 3 people working on it. If we were to evaluate and eliminate the worthless projects (as an organization would do) we can better pool our resources together so we can have 2 maybe 3 text editors, each with 10 to 15 people working on them. Doing this increasing the time and manpower each project has and increases the power, flexibility, and usefulness of the application.

Someone mentioned the *BSD distros, there being too many of them, well there are only really 3 major ones, but then the comment was made about Theo. I don't really know Theo and I haven't spoken to him, but I don't think many of you have either. Theo had disputes with people, which he felt were strong enough to leave a particular project and start OpenBSD. This has been done all over the Linux community as well on multiple projects, so to say Theo is the only one who "can't get along" is rediculous.

Right now, every Linux project is like a bunch of a warring factions. This is a form of anarchy, and it has proven through history that anarchies do not do well in the bigger scheme of things.

The linux community, as a whole, needs some kind of organization.. and I don't mean letting Linus and Cox run the show. We need people who are business-oriented and not technical to run the organization. This way decisions can be made to better utilize the resources of the Linux community.

> they don't really have a clue exactly
> what it is they're doing, anyway. They
> just do it, and most of the time, it
> works well enough for them.

Good point. This goes along my theory/view that technology is created with knowledge, but generally used in ignorance.

Let's review how we get technology:

1. Scientist acquires knowledge by pure research.
2. Engineer applies scientist's shared knowledge to solve problems. This often includes designing technology.
3. Technologist uses devices and methods (technology) made by engineer, with the special point that the user can be ignorant on how the thing works.

Of course there is lots of interconnection, as scientists and engineers use technology, but whenever you use something that you don't know how it works or how to make it yourself, you are a "technologist". 99% of computer users are technologists, to a certain degree myself. Heck, there is a whole industry based on ignorance of how computers work called "Information Technology" where people just "troubleshoot" and never really know what the problems are. (I worked in that for a short while as an intern.) Software programmers fall somewhat under the "engineer" category if they have been trained correctly.

Anyway, society will always have "technologists" (perhaps "lamers") because:

1. People are generally not technically capable of learning how technology really works or how it is made.
2. There isn't enough time for everyone to learn everything. See mortality.

Sorry for the rant, but its important that people understand this situation.

Welcome to the future!

I guess the word conscious would be over your head too, eh?

I guess the word conscious would be over your head too, eh?

For us Americans...
A Telstra spokesman said today the link, laid "donkey's years ago", carried very little of the telco's network traffic before yesterday's cut.
This confused me, until I found the idiom.

(It wasn't here or here.)

--

A) According to my Websters Unabridged dictionary, as well as the admittedly lesser dictionary.com site, it is not. Unfortunately, I don't have an OED handy to get the definitive reference. To tell you the truth, though, making it an adjective doesn't even really make much sense. Take Katz' sentence: "And the opening 10 or 15 minutes are promisingly fabulistic. Given the definition of fabulist, what is this supposed to mean? Promisingly like one who tells a fable? Promisingly like a movie written by a liar? Promisingly dishonest? Merriam-Webster doesn't even bother to tell us what the adjective sense even means, which tells me that some dictionary editor somewhere saw the word and decided to throw it in without even knowing what it means.

B. I didn't think it was funny either, but I still think I'm right.

--

Am I the only person who has a problem with the concept of artificial elements?

I think defining an element as something that "cannot be reduced to simpler substances by normal chemical means," is awfully convenient and runs contrary to a more simple definition: "A fundamental, essential, or irreducible constituent of a composite entity."

I think that cramming more protons into a nucleus and calling it a new "element" (yes I know this is over-simplified) is a bit of a logical stretch. No wonder people who were not brought up speaking English have such a problem learning it when we have contradictory definitions for the same word based on context.

Parts of .NET, on the other hand, are draft standards submitted to ECMA.

I get the feeling I am feeding a troll, but...

I think the fact that we developed intelligent life on this hunk of rock is proof enough that micro-organisms can exist on other planets.

Have you ever taken a science course? That's pure intellectual laziness. I tend to believe the same thing but I'd never say we have proof.

Just because many of us share a collective "well, no DUH" moment doesn't mean there is proof of jack squat. Proof requires evidence. For further illumination, refer to the dictionary.

Damn Americans. Won't teach their people other languages, but they'll go ahead and co-opt foreign words for themselves!
--

No, that's called a uniform distribution. It's a sufficient, but not necessary condition of randomness. There are plenty of other random distributions.

you are redefining "random".

Not quite. Take at look at the second definition of "random" from dictionary.com (the one that's explicitly labeled as the mathematical definition):

Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.

They appear to be close relatives:
sarcasm
irony

Szo

They appear to be close relatives:
sarcasm
irony

Szo

It's the first time I've heard "onion" and "apocalypse" in documentents pertaining to the development of a computer programming language. I wonder what the next funny word will be : maybe Larry could use dictionary.com's word of the day for help :-)

Before you mod this OT: A kid is a young goat. Thus the humor.

even if you let it in front of your home for some weeks

Grammatically, there's nothing wrong with that sentence. What Taco needs is a good proofreader.

Yeah, except for the missing verb after "it". What Taco needs is a good editor.

I think this is pretty final proof that people bitching about grammar usually do it as an end unto itself rather than because it actually annoys them. However, I sure was confused about this guy renting out his machine in front of his house.

I can hear the entire Slashdot community sighing and shaking their heads.

Please cite for me specifically where and how I have been intolerant.

Easy.

When you mentioned that your police officer friends never abused their power, you recieved a bunch of replies noting that you had no reliable way of knowing this. Moreover, there was a fair amount of doubt that a corrupt cop would come clean to his civilian friend(s). Instead of humoring/exploring these notions, you insisted that the whole concept was ludicrous. This insistance that you were correct was intolerance for the opinions of others.

Part of the definition of being a bigot is one obstinately and blindly devoted to his own church, party, belief, or opinion. You are blindly and obstinately devoted to your opinion that your police officer friends don't abuse their power, therefore you are bigoted against other opinions.

As you have been shown conclusivly at this point to be a bigot and intolerant.

Would you like me to specifically cite you for where and how you've wasted vast amounts of my time by being a twerp who feels he has the right to be "cited" on everything?

I don't care if the G4 is twice as fast as a P3 or Athlon at the same clock rate ... it costs more than twice as much. And so what if the case is "pretty", that's not what I'm looking at. I care about what's on the screen. The MacOS 9.x and previous interfaces were quite limiting (not very customizable), where-as the Windows interface (95 through 2000 and XP) and any of the UNIX window managers are super customizable. Apple's point of view is that you will have it their way and no other. Seems kind of communist to me ...

A price comparison if you will ... yea a Ferrari 355 will blow the doors off of a Honda S2000, but you can get five or six S2000s for the price of one 355. COME ON! The Honda stimulates my need just as much as the Ferrari, and I can get one for my friend too. Same with x86 vs PowerPC. I can build my own LAN party for the price of a G4 (:

I'm not saying that I won't ever own an Apple. I'd actually like to have a phat PowerMac all decked out with the latest and greatest, but I'm going to have a BAD ASS x86 machine first.

More for the money, baby.

~LoudMusic

You are correct.

Very Close.