Slashdot Mirror

While you are correct on "a hypothesis", at least Webster says that it's "an historic". Where is your reference?

And, AFAIK, it's not "a hypothesis" because the H is pronounced or not, but because of what follows: the same as it's "an update" but "a user". But I may be wrong on the H part.

However, he isn't wrong on some facts. Let's look at the etymology:

Virus ~ Etymology: Latin, venom, poisonous emanation; akin to Greek ios poison, Sanskrit visa; in senses 2 & 4, from New Latin, from Latin

So it did come from Latin into english, but probably originated from Sanskrit.

And I do have the official Oxford English Dictionary, so I looked it up and lo and behold: Virus doesn't have any abnormal plural!

(In fact, what it states is pretty much along the same lines as what Merriam-Webster says about virus )

So what do you call more than one virus?
Virusses!

I'm curious, do you mean American English? Because according to the dictionary defining American English, you are wrong. You are also wrong according to Dictionary.com. You are also wrong according to Wikipedia. The correct plural of virus, in American English (I don't have a copy of the official Oxford English Dictionary, which defines British English), is viruses. The use of the term virii originated in the 90s on warez sites/forums.

It is?

ironic

You'll have to forgive most Americans. We were taught what irony was by the music industry.

Don't be confused. Copyright grants a temprorary exclusive franchise to publish. Let's see what publish is:

Publish: Pronunciation: 'p&-blish Function: verb Etymology: Middle English, modification of Middle French publier, from Latin publicare, from publicus public transitive senses 1 a : to make generally known b : to make public announcement of 2 a : to disseminate to the public b : to produce or release for distribution; specifically : PRINT 2c c : to issue the work of (an author) intransitive senses 1 : to put out an edition 2 : to have one's work accepted for publication - publishable /-bli-sh&-b&l/ adjective.

A copy is not a publication. There's no well grounded prohibition of copy in the US.

The DMCA needs to be abolished because it prevents publication of original works and creates an exclusive franchise for Trade Secrets and violates spirit and letter of the US Constitution.

Nothing's more pathetic than a slave begging for favors.

Yeah, Mos Def appears to be the only black guy on the cast and crew. That's irony for you.

It is?

ironic

You must remember.. some people in the lower United States do not know what a toque/tuque is... obligatory dictionary linkage: Canadjan-Toque-explanation-donchaknow?

Rue!

Where I work we use these iris scanners. I wear glasses for my astigmatism and the system reads just fine through my glasses, unless I turn them perpendicular to my face. Other people who work here have to remove their glasses regardless.

So, in other words, you're a freerider.

But better check out the meaning of collusion:

secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose


There is no need to secretly agree or to cooperate in order to decide not to pay for overpriced technology that may not bring a significant benefit. When the American public failed in to buy Edsels in droves, there was no collusion involved. They just wouldn't touch the shit out of common sense.

Do not attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by good judgment.

Main Entry: hypocrisy
Pronunciation: hi-'pä-kr&-sE also hI-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -sies
Etymology: Middle English ypocrisie, from Old French, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Greek hypokrisis act of playing a part on the stage, hypocrisy, from hypokrinesthai to answer, act on the stage, from hypo- + krinein to decide -- more at CERTAIN
1 : a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion
2 : an act or instance of hypocrisy

Try "androgynous". "Eunuch" is the word you were trying to spell.

Allow me to correct your ignorance:

Juarez

1. Say the word "what" and drop the ending "t". Now raise the back of your tongue closer to the roof of your mouth and make the consonant a little harder, but not so much that it sounds like you're hacking up a spitball.
2. Say "muddy water" a few times fast, and notice how on the "t" the tip of your tongue just flicks against the roof of your mouth. Take just the "t".
3. Try to say something halfway between "less" and "lace", erring on the side of "lace". Drop the "l".
4. Say it all together, "wha" + "t" + "ace"
5. If you're in Spain, replace the "s" sound at the end with "th"

warez

This is pronounced exactly the same as wares, as in "peddling his wares", because that's what it's a (deliberate) misspelling of. Anyone who told you differently is a moron.

Creating a presentation on GPL Enforceability.... in Powerpoint.

No it isn't, unless you went to the Alanis Morissette school of irony.

I completely empathize with you for speaking out against apostrophe abuse. We all have our breaking points, and sometimes ya just gotta let fly.

But while you were at it, shouldn't you have taken the opportunity to correct his spelling, too? His spelling of "rediculous" is just... ridiculous.

I'm quite familier (sic) with title 17 of the us code, state and local laws might differ and there is a possability (sic) of a law I havn't (sic) seen yet. If I'm wrong (leagaly (sic) not moraly (sic)) then please cite the laws for me.

This kind of post really cracks me up. If I were able to get past the 20+ horrendous spelling and grammatical errors, I might believe this guy knows what he's talking about. I mean, he claims he's quite familier (sic) with the pertinent codes. However, when it looks like an 8-year-old wrote it, I'm hard pressed to believe there's any coherent thought behind it. The only things missing are the lined paper and a burnt-umber crayon.

Dear sumdumass,
Are you familiar with Merriam-Webster?
Regards,

Note to others:
A little skill in spelling will get you far in life. Would you hire someone who's resume looked like the parent post?

Note to prospective employers:
Make your candidates write something during their interview. This guy will undoubtedly have his resume professionally written, and you certainly wouldn't want him issuing your press releases!

</decaying-spelling-rant>

M-W does not disagree on the term "theft"

My point that copyright infringement is not theft or stealing, it is copyright infringement. Unfortunately, "piracy" has been used as a synonym for infringement for quite a while in order to stir up an emotional response, so it made it into the dictionary.

(a) You can't rely on a single source to give you complete information, beit on the internet or otherwise. (b) Words change meaning over time, acquire new ways of use, etc. In the current media, "hacker" does mean someone who commits a crime involving computers. Here are other definitions from m-w.com:

Main Entry: hacker
Pronunciation: 'ha-k&r
Function: noun
1 : one that hacks
2 : a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity
3 : an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4 : a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system

(a) You can't rely on a single source to give you complete information, beit on the internet or otherwise. (b) Words change meaning over time, acquire new ways of use, etc. In the current media, "hacker" does mean someone who commits a crime involving computers. Here are other definitions from m-w.com:

Main Entry: hacker
Pronunciation: 'ha-k&r
Function: noun
1 : one that hacks
2 : a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity
3 : an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4 : a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system

Jesus H. Christ, for what has to be the 8 quadrillionth time, Russia was never a communist society, they never evolved beyond the central authority stage which means they were a Stalinist state, not Socialist nor Communist. History has always shown that dictatorships (like Stalinism) are never ever good.

Also, in a true socialist societies like Norway and Sweden, you don't have to wait 45 minutes for a $20 pack of cigarettes. Moreover, they're consistently ranked as a better places to live than the US. So try thinking for yourself rather than regurgitating the crap the RNC spoon feeds you.

but Merriam Webster disagrees.

Main Entry: piracy
Pronunciation: 'pI-r&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Medieval Latin piratia, from Late Greek peirateia, from Greek peiratEs pirate
1 : an act of robbery on the high seas; also : an act resembling such robbery
2 : robbery on the high seas
3 : the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright

Exactly - Moore's law is certainly not a real scientific law. It often approximates what actually happens, but because it's based on human activity, it's not very precise. Humans are unpredictable, and thus, cannot possibly be the basis for a scientific law (as far as I know)

Law 6 a : a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions b : a general relation proved or assumed to hold between mathematical or logical expressions.

Actually it IS a word.

from m-w online:
"Main Entry: irregardless
Pronunciation: "ir-i-'gärd-l&s
Function: adverb
Etymology: probably blend of irrespective and regardless
nonstandard : REGARDLESS
usage Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that "there is no such word." There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead."

I sense a lot of bitter BSD developers thinking they've caught a Linux advocate in an instance of blatant hypocracy. HA-HA! We had that advertising clause, but you pushy GPL people kept nagging us over that clause until we finally gave in, but now you're bitching about the same thing!!!

From the GPL, Section 1

You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program. [emphasis mine]

Notice that the GPL requires you to display the license agreement, not the names of the developers. The GPL requires that you notify the users and developers who obtain a copy of this code that they have certain freedoms and certain obligations. If Sun is hiding the GPL they may be in violation of Section 1.

For those who are saying that anyone who licenses their work under the GPL and "gives it away" deserves to have their work distributed absent the appropriate copyright notice, grow up. The work is not "given away", it is licensed; placing a work in the public domain is "giving it away" since the author(s) retain no control whatsoever over the work. A rudimentary understanding of copyright law would clue you in. PJ may be a bit zealous in her attack on Sun, but in all likelihood she knows the GPL and copyright law a hell of a lot better than you (or I) do.

PJ's complaint: not about advertising, but about licensing. For those who still can't understand the difference, there are places where you can get help.

-jdm

The Scrabble dictionary is a sub-set of the Merriam-Webster dictionary - which doesn't list axa as a word.

As an atheist, I challenge this notion. I am not religious because I hold no beliefs on the matter. I make no claims about God, one way or the other.

Small correction: You're an agnostic not an atheist.

As an atheist, I challenge this notion. I am not religious because I hold no beliefs on the matter. I make no claims about God, one way or the other.

Small correction: You're an agnostic not an atheist.

Surely, if they created a tower that reaches to heaven, there ought to be some rocks lying around.

There are rocks lying around. Ever heard of a ziggurat?

From Merriam Webster

Main Entry: piracy
Pronunciation: 'pI-r&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Medieval Latin piratia, from Late Greek peirateia, from Greek peiratEs pirate
1 : an act of robbery on the high seas; also : an act resembling such robbery
2 : robbery on the high seas
3 : the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright

www.m-w.com

I doubt that wood chips and straw will do that well with their waste.

The only twist in this cellulosic process is the source of the sugars (hydrolysis of cellulose rather than starch); the process from there on is the same story of fermentation and distillation. Fermentation is going to use the same old Saccharomyces regardless of the path, and as a byproduct you get... lots and lots of dead/dormant yeast.

Which is not to say that you need to get this fancy. I read about a USDA project in the 1960's which fed cattle on newsprint pellets enriched with urea (to give essential nitrogen to the cow's stomach flora), but doing the fermentation outside the cow to harvest the ethanol yourself still yields animal food.

You say that the characterization of the Armed Forces as indiscriminate killers is offensive to you. Well, the Armed Forces are pretty indiscriminate killers. That's not to say that the soldiers aren't doing a good job; for the most part, they are. (Yes, even the ones who in the heat of the moment make despicable quotes.) But in a war, civilans die. In an occupation, innocent people get slaughtered. When a kid runs at a soldier with his hand behind his back, the soldier doesn't know if he has a grenade or a toy and so he shoots. It's not an unreasonable action, but it's indiscriminate killing.

None of what you have described could be considered indiscriminate killing. I think the problem is that you don't know what indiscriminate means. It's a synonym for random not sad or tragic.

Then you aren't doing it right.
You should only have to re-compress once at most.

I'm not doing it at all. Notice the presence of the word "like"; my statement was a simile.

I believe the word you were looking for is highfalutin.

From CAPPS II: Myths and Facts:

The facts are scarier than the myths, in my opinion. (If nothing else the trend is scary.)

"CAPPS II modernizes an existing program that was created in 1997 as an additional measure to help prevent a terrorist attack on passenger aircraft."

Notice the term "modernize." (CAPPS was rolled out in 1997, and look at it now in 2004. What will it look like in 2010?)

"CAPPS II will not use data mining techniques to profile and track citizens. Except for the slightly expanded Passenger Name Record (PNR) data that air carriers and reservation systems will collect, CAPPS II will not collect additional personal information about the traveler."

Notice the term "expanded". What other information will be included when the PNR is "expanded" or "modernized" again in a few years?

"(2) CAPPS II also performs a risk assessment, including a check against lists of terrorists and known or suspected threats, to detect individuals who may pose a terrorist-related threat or who have outstanding Federal or state warrants for crimes of violence."

Notice the term "suspected." Suspicion: "The act or an instance of suspecting something wrong without proof or on slight evidence."

"Once the system has computed a traveler's risk score, it will send an encoded message to be printed on the boarding pass indicating the appropriate level of screening. Eventually, this information is planned to be transmitted directly to screeners at security checkpoints."

Be on the lookout for "Earchsay isthay erroristtay umscay agbay" on your boarding pass!

I can't wait until they modernize and expand the Patriot Act. Scary stuff. Also I'm looking forward to an expanded, modernized CAPPS III. (Coming soon to automobiles, buses, subways, and sidewalks near you!) Nothing to hide, nothing to Fear, right? Well, nothing to hide today, but maybe much to fear in the future.

marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension 2 : characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance

That's pretty scary considering Merriam Webster's first definition of "geek":

"a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake"
"Geek"

Another big impact for these lasers on science is that there is no heat transfer from laser to a meterial being analyzed. Of course, being a laser, it can also be used in all sorts of machining or surgical procedures, and the low heat dissipation is an added benefit.

"It takes alkynes to make a world"

Another big impact for these lasers on science is that there is no heat transfer from laser to a meterial being analyzed. Of course, being a laser, it can also be used in all sorts of machining or surgical procedures, and the low heat dissipation is an added benefit.

"It takes alkynes to make a world"

It's spelt repertoire.

MS got to be market dominant (which is NOT a true monopoly) by making genuinely good programs. For a business-person's definition of good, that is. They work well enough, their cost is reasonable compared to their utility, their faults are known and can be planned around, and the qualified user pool is huge.

Circular reasoning. How did the user pool grow huge unless they already had a monopoly? They cut deals to preload DOS and Windows on computers. All computers. Monopoly.

They hold market dominance solely because it would be uneconomic -- wastefully expensive -- for anyone to replace them.

A total lie. Ecomomics thrive on competition. Monopolies stifle competition and hurts the economy.

The theories of the anti-corp types would see all success dragged low, deliberate waste foisted upon the productive in the name of "fairness", and the result would be economic ruin.

We're not anti-corp, we're anti-monopoly. We'd like to see all success promoted, not only Bill Gates'. If someone else sets up shop, innovates and provides a service that in a working economic system would create prosperity and success, Microsoft either scares them off or buys them out. There are numerous examples of this. Check out Go for one of the most glaring ones - they saw an opportunity to innovate -- Microsoft responded by creating a similar vaporware product, spread FUD and drive them out of the market. The economic value that would have resulted from Go prospering, creating unique customer value and success was wasted . Deliberately wasted by none other than Bill Gates himself. IBM used to be the big bad boy, but they learned how to behave responsibly in the marketplace and play by the rules. Why can't Microsoft?

Microsoft is a monopoly. They own the desktop.

Actually, according to this entry he is technically correct.

>The same goes for dual VCR's which were opposed when initially
>marketed, but couldn't be suppressed because although they could be
>used to do wrong, they can also be used to do right: and the courts
>can't allow the device to be suppressed just for this reason,
>otherwise they'd be able to suppress knives and all sorts of things
>that have dangerous uses.

What you need to watch out for is the "illegal civil lawsuit" ala DirecTV. You may be able to buy things with dual purposes, but a big company can sue your ass with the only evidence of wrongdoing being an alleged purchase. And you have no choice but to pay money: either to your laywer or the plaintiff's lawyer. Your only defense is never letting them find out who you are.

So go ahead and download/use stuff like PlayFair or smartcard programmers. Just make 100% sure there's no way it can ever be traced back to you. What does that mean? Download stuff like PlayFair at "Internet Cafes" across proxy servers, and buy stuff like smartcard programmers "cash & carry" or using money orders sent to post office boxes rented under a fake name.

"Big money eats up little money."

Main Entry: 1cow
Pronunciation: 'kau
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English cou, from Old English cu; akin to Old High German kuo cow, Latin bos head of cattle, Greek bous, Sanskrit go
1 a : the mature female of cattle (genus Bos) b : the mature female of various usually large animals (as an elephant, whale, or moose)
2 : a domestic bovine animal regardless of sex or age

Well, that's technically impossible. Homesteading is a specific activity, I.E. taking land granted by the goverment and earning the right to buy the land (or to be granted it outright) by proving and developing the land.

Well, that's technically impossible. Homesteading is a specific activity, I.E. taking land granted by the goverment and earning the right to buy the land (or to be granted it outright) by proving and developing the land.

Mine was different:

-Realise that babe doesn't mean what many people believe it does.
-Provide Proof
-Recommend remedial english classes to poster.
-Enjoy article.

M-W

According to Merriam Webster it is:

Main Entry: learnt
Pronunciation: 'l&rnt
chiefly British past and past participle of LEARN

Who knewt?