Domain: reference.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to reference.com.
Comments · 9,372
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Re:Okay...
it has to mean Vista is less performant than its predecessors
I'm afraid that's not an adjective. -
Re:Tough Position
Well, what you describe I wouldn't define as loyalty.
Then you have a different concept of "loyalty" than a great many people.Yes, of course you want to help out your friends and family before other people, especially when they are threatened... I guess some people would call that 'loyalty', but that makes it sound like some kind of virtuous act that somebody would rather not do
I think a lot of people would call that loyalty, including dictionaries and encyclopedias. Jumping in a river to save someone is perhaps exactly that type of activity a rational person might avoid out of self-interest. You cannot just redefine a word to mean what is convenient for you and expect everyone else to know what you are talking about. Every other person in the audience ought to be expected to understand a word to mean what it does in common parlance unless you've predefined the word for them.
When you say that a certain thing is not loyalty according to you, that means very little when dictionaries, encyclopedias, and plain common parlance disagree with you. If you want to redefine "loyalty" to mean something else, you need to assert so before you state the opinion that what you believe to be loyalty but is not in fact what most people believe to be loyalty (of course, assuming the democratic Wikipedia or non-democratic dictionary is a reflection of what people believe loyalty to be) is outdated.I would jump in that river to save a total stranger. Just because it's the right thing to do.
You're right. If there is very little danger to oneself, I suspect a person would act to save another out of common humanity. However, I'd wager a great many people would not if we enhance the matter: What if the river was at freezing point, and there was only a 1% chance of saving the person (in which case you might die in the process), and a 99% chance of you both dying? And there were polar bears with lasers and shit? Would you still do it? I think I've found a hypo where a great many people would not risk their own lives. That being said, loyalty would require saving the friend, based on the definition of "loyalty" (unless we assume that the friend's ultimate desire is for you to save yourself at any cost, and thus loyalty might require not risking one's own life).The only time when your 'loyalty' would be tested is in exactly the kind of case where we expect you to be 'disloyal' in a rule-of-law society
Or in any other type of society, since loyalty can never be tested except where an opportunity for it to be erased has presented itself. I mean, what you said there was practically a tautology. In fact, the only time anything can be tested is when there is an opportunity for the opposite condition to arise. Sort of the definition of "to test" and all that.
As I said, and believe I demonstrated in examples, there are many instances where loyalty (as defined by dictionaries and encyclopedias) can be tested without legality entering the debate at all. You merely said, "Well, that's not loyalty because I say it's not," and I'm afraid that is not a sufficient argument in my opinion.
Reflections? I'm having fun with this philosophical debate. -
Re:They should take it one step further
"There ain't no place like a hole in the ground ... such as the subsidence farm.
A hole in the ground, a hole in the ground
There ain't no place like a hole in the ground
With a big fat goon a-floatin' around."
I think you mean "subsistence"... -
Re:simpsons quote
Your sig: "I hate machiaphobiacs almost as much as I hate magniloquents."
machiaphobiac? As in makhia- + phobiac? Did you intend the unusual 'phobiac' over traditional 'phobic' or neo-anglican '-phobe' due to the resemblance in form to 'maniac'? So, a machiaphobiac would be someone with an obsessive fear of fighting, or one unusually wont to avoid conflict?
Also, is magniloquent being used isntead of the more common grandiloquent for 'm'-alliteration, or are you trying to make a point of /not/ using grandiloquent, since grandiloquent can be pretentious and/or pointlessly rhetorical, whereas magniloquent is nearly synonymous with turgid?
It's also interesting to note that grandiloquence is derived directly from latin, but magniloquence is a backformation :)
- bf NG benatrfdhvq QBG arg FHOW znpuvncubovnp fvt | rot13
If it's any consolation, xenophobes irk me nearly as much as the rapaciously egoistical. -
Re:simpsons quote
Your sig: "I hate machiaphobiacs almost as much as I hate magniloquents."
machiaphobiac? As in makhia- + phobiac? Did you intend the unusual 'phobiac' over traditional 'phobic' or neo-anglican '-phobe' due to the resemblance in form to 'maniac'? So, a machiaphobiac would be someone with an obsessive fear of fighting, or one unusually wont to avoid conflict?
Also, is magniloquent being used isntead of the more common grandiloquent for 'm'-alliteration, or are you trying to make a point of /not/ using grandiloquent, since grandiloquent can be pretentious and/or pointlessly rhetorical, whereas magniloquent is nearly synonymous with turgid?
It's also interesting to note that grandiloquence is derived directly from latin, but magniloquence is a backformation :)
- bf NG benatrfdhvq QBG arg FHOW znpuvncubovnp fvt | rot13
If it's any consolation, xenophobes irk me nearly as much as the rapaciously egoistical. -
Hey, gamers!
Strafe does not mean the same thing as sidestep. We at Wikipedia would appreciate any insight you can offer as to the origins of your illiteracy.
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Re:yes, this is a spelling flame
Wow, you are stupid as fuck.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/its
its
the possessive form of it (used as an attributive adjective): The book has lost its jacket. I'm sorry about its being so late.
it's
1. contraction of it is: It's starting to rain.
2. contraction of it has: It's been a long time.
You are a fucking moron. Not for being wrong, but for arguing when other people have taken the time out of their day to show you that you're wrong, proved it, and you still fight them for incorrectness. I hope you drown in your sleep in your own saliva, curmudgeon. -
Re:What are you talking about?
Just a few of points.
A dollar is a promise for future goods or services, it has to "boomerang" back to the US because unless those future goods and services are redeemed the dollar is just paper.
Comparing rates in exports of consumer goods to imports of consumer goods is disingenuous. Consumers without money will never have need of consumer goods. Consumers without jobs will never have money.
Trade is, by definition, an exchange. Therefore the phrase "trade deficit" is an oxymoron, you can't get more than you receive. Presumably, those that enter into a trade do so because they get a "good deal." In trade, both side obtain something that they desire. Otherwise, they wouldn't enter into the deal. However, the parent is correct in the sense that any economic transaction can be a bad decision. Selling a company involves the risk that the buyer will be a poor steward. However, that risk exists regardless of where the owners are based. Economic incentives encourage good management but a foreign owner may not be as inclined to favor American workers (the fact is management that favors American workers is a dieing breed).
The people at Slashdot could care less whether all IP was released (information wants to be free).
Outsourcing occurs as long as there is another country that does equivalent work for cheaper, thats competition. Competition can be accomplished on two levels quality or cost. Outsourcing will occur until American workers can improve quality or wages equalize. Wages will equalize when the supply of qualified workers begins to under pace the demand.
A rise in wages brings with it a rise in demand for goods and services. A rise in demand for goods and services will first limit exports and will next increase imports. More imports means more American Jobs. Wages have already begun to rise significantly for skilled workers in countries like India and China.
Cheap cameras are not all that we receive from free trade. Competition from free trade has lowered prices for everything ranging from cars to medical equipment. Further, even in markets where we have a surplus, like grain production, costs are lowered by affordable equipment. For example, before the Japanese invasion, it was difficult to afford things like cars and televisions etc. Today even a major portion of those under the Federal poverty line own a television and a car (compare quality of life to the pre global trade 1950s). The salary of a fry cook today goes farther than that of an engineer in the years before global trade was opened. -
Re:So? Can't he use a Windows box to route?You compared him to a drunk driver and a thief. Comparing him to crimes which don't even begin to resemble what he actually did is ignoring the facts. That is probably the most ridiculous thing I have heard in this entire thread...
1) He IS a criminal, he admitted it, he was found guilty.
2) I compared him to other criminals http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/criminal. The crime does not matter they still share the commonality of all being criminals.
3) Making a comparision is NOT ignoring the facts (or as you stated in your previous post "changing the facts" http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=278075&c id=20336815)
4) You have still not outlined one fact that I have changed.
For the record he did break the law, he was caught, he was tried, and he was sentenced... The end. -
Re:theory and practice
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Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!For correctness, the root language of qua is Latin, not Greek. It is the singular ablative form of quis.
Actually it's the ablative of qui. (quis is for when you're asking questions -- e.g. "In the capacity of what is that writer a crackpot?".)
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Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!
For correctness, the root language of qua is Latin, not Greek. It is the singular ablative form of quis.
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Re:rights?? censorship??
Yes, so contrived. It's only the primary definition of censor.
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Re:It's a tough one for users....?There are a cacophany of choices everyone makes Theres a http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cacophony meaningless mixture of sound of choices for playback on microsoft? I applaud the double entendre
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Re:(Aw, did I fall for a troll again?)Not true. Evidence can in fact be conclusive and proof can be suggestive. Also, proof can just be wrong. Such as the mathematical "proof" that 1 =
.9 continuing.
I'll refer you back to the dictionary, since you obviously didn't read it the first time. Words don't mean a particularly thing, and only that thing, merely because you would like them to or because you have come to associate a particularly connotation with them.1. evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true, or to produce belief in its truth.
2. anything serving as such evidence: What proof do you have? -
Re:Round and round she goes....
It's kind of hard to take an argument seriously when the arguer doesn't know the difference between abdicate and advocate. I mean, I even AGREE with you, except for the abdicating part. Just, please, please, please don't use words unless you are certain that you know what they mean. Please. Don't do it for me; do it for you. Unless you're trolling, I can't be bothered to check your history. In that case, by all means, continue.
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Re:Round and round she goes....
It's kind of hard to take an argument seriously when the arguer doesn't know the difference between abdicate and advocate. I mean, I even AGREE with you, except for the abdicating part. Just, please, please, please don't use words unless you are certain that you know what they mean. Please. Don't do it for me; do it for you. Unless you're trolling, I can't be bothered to check your history. In that case, by all means, continue.
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Apples and Oranges
Every time I see a discussion or article (there are too many to count nowadays) with the words, god, religion, hypothesis, testable conjecture, evidence, science and other sundry scientific and religious words, it wonder why it so hard for people to understand that they are comparing apples and oranges.
The way I see it, you cannot possibly use science to prove or disprove the existence of God or use god to explain away real, hard-earned scientific evidence. One is a matter of knowledge and the other is a matter of belief. A more formal treatment of the differences between belief and knowledge if you are so inclined (after all this is slashdot..)
Its not that hard a concept to grasp, but admittedly it's quite hard to stfu when somebody who does not see it that way goes off, especially a hardcore fanatic or for that matter dawkins (just a wee bit though..). -
Apples and Oranges
Every time I see a discussion or article (there are too many to count nowadays) with the words, god, religion, hypothesis, testable conjecture, evidence, science and other sundry scientific and religious words, it wonder why it so hard for people to understand that they are comparing apples and oranges.
The way I see it, you cannot possibly use science to prove or disprove the existence of God or use god to explain away real, hard-earned scientific evidence. One is a matter of knowledge and the other is a matter of belief. A more formal treatment of the differences between belief and knowledge if you are so inclined (after all this is slashdot..)
Its not that hard a concept to grasp, but admittedly it's quite hard to stfu when somebody who does not see it that way goes off, especially a hardcore fanatic or for that matter dawkins (just a wee bit though..). -
Re:I wish I could join the ACLU
One definition the American Heritage Dictionary gives for militia is as follows:
militia ...
3. The whole body of physically fit civilians eligible by law for military service.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=militia
Looking at that definition and the 2nd amendment my feeling is the Founding Fathers were in favor of my right to own a gun. Granted I am not a lawyer or even much of a historian but given their tendency of leaning towards more freedom rather than less, and the fact that they knew better than anyone on Slashdot that an unjust government sometimes has to be forcibly overthrown, it seems that they were in favor of citizens being able to legally own guns.
I will agree with you that they most likely were not concerned about protecting home or property, but more so with protecting liberty. -
Informative - Now With Less Information!I'm sorry but how is this informative? Oh, and it's detectable and not detectible.
Both spellings are valid according to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/detect. I didn't know that but all it took was a quick check.
Don't know what moron at news.com.com hired Taco...If you enjoyed the previous fact I would highly recommend this one:
/. was created by CmdrTaco. He wasn't hired as a summer intern at news.com.com.org.uk.co.com to add manpower to an already-failing project pioneered by that manager who's never given any serious projects by upper management because they know he'll really bungle them up like he did with that internal complaints database project two years ago and ended up editing /. articles. It's HIS website. Hear that everyone else? You're meaningless here! You hear me Bruce Perens? You got that Mr. NewYorkCountyLawyer? This is CMDRTACO'S WEBSITE! I LOVE YOU CMDRTACO!Well, ahem. Ah...point being
/. was created by CmdrTaco. -
Re:now that I've told my officeBut ranting about hypothetical situations that are completely nonsensical in their origin is not going to help the cause.
Also, your thought that its amazing that copiers don't require a thumbprint or some such shit is ridiculous. So my example extrapolation to the ridiculous didn't strike you as humorous in any way? Maybe I should have tagged it HHOS: it was not to be taken too lightly or too seriously.
I'm not anti-copyright. I just think it needs to be more flexible, more reasonable, and more in tune to the will of living people than the it is with the dead and their immortal corporations. -
Re:Marketing has trumped reason at Lenovo.
Wow. No-one can choose anything other than gnu/linux for any other reason than being "fake and evil"? If they choose Windows, they are morally comparable to the Nazis? It's hard to believe you're serious here. Your post reads more like an over-the-top parody.
(Also, the next time you find yourself using the word zenith to describe what you think is an undesirable situation, you may want to look up nadir instead.) -
Re:Marketing has trumped reason at Lenovo.
Wow. No-one can choose anything other than gnu/linux for any other reason than being "fake and evil"? If they choose Windows, they are morally comparable to the Nazis? It's hard to believe you're serious here. Your post reads more like an over-the-top parody.
(Also, the next time you find yourself using the word zenith to describe what you think is an undesirable situation, you may want to look up nadir instead.) -
Re:Darned whippersnappers
WTF is wrong with my spellcheck? It flags "Bach", but has not problem with "crapulence"?!
Because it's a real word...
although it does not mean what you think it means -
Re:Discussion
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Re:Discussion
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Re:Apposite
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Re:Soddering?
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Re:2L?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pedantic
Coming up with a new abbreviation for no particular reason when one already exists is not pedantic.
Nice try though, I'm sure you'll use the word correctly someday. -
Re:Is it crashed or not?
My usage conforms completely to the usage in my office.
But it diverges from the common use throughout the world. Often a hang or freeze is considered to be a type of crash, but sudden an unexpected program termination is always a crash.
Feel free to look it up:- 3. (intransitive) (of a computer program) to terminate extraordinarily
- d of a computer system, component, or program : to suffer a sudden major failure usually with attendant loss of data
- 12. Computers. to shut down because of a malfunction of hardware or software.
- 6 Computing fail suddenly.
- 3. computer breakdown: a sudden complete failure of a computer system, device, or program, usually with an accompanying loss of data
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Re:IIS dying out in Germany
Troll somewhere else. No assertion was made. A question was asked and you do have to admit that even though the answer appears to be "no" that it was/is a possibility.
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Re:wait...
Someone needs to read a dictionary.
Repugnant
Now someone needs to understand the subtle humor in using a word that sound similar to redundant, but is obviously the wrong word.
You will be a happier man when you have done both. -
Re:-gasp- Slashdot, too!
snicker is, actually, a word for laugh. in fact, it means "to snicker."
when it comes to language, it pays to not be niggardly. -
Are you sure it's not because...
reciprocity is a bad word for girls to know?
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Re:Well, it took time...
What you were providing was a bad example that is completely missing the point. Yes, you can back-up software. Wow, that's amazingly insightful of you to point out, but it is irrelevent to the reasons of having open formats.
What happeneds when the state gov't double in size over the next 50 years? You have n/2 licenses for the backed up software. How do you propose giving access to those documents for everyone? What happens when the citizens no longer can read the published documents? Are you saying the citizens should download the backed-up software also?
This isn't even a comprehensive list of reasons why open formats are desired, but it contains enought examples to reveal your ignorance of the real issues. -
Re:More apropos to modern women:If your ex-husband, who was earning $45k per year, looses his job but now collects 30% of that in unemployment
You don't get unemployment if you quit. What's that, you meant "lose?" You do realise that "loose" is a completely different verb carrying a completely different meaning, don't you? You don't? If you don't have a dictionary, there's one here.
Fron said dictionary:v. loosed, loosing, looses
v. tr.- To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.
- To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.
- To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.
- To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.
- To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.
- To make less strict; relax: a leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.
BTW, it's spelled "testicle". I hope you're not a native English spe... er, what's that? This is slashdot?
Sorry, eye muss bee knew hear. Curry own.
</pedant> - To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.
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Re:Well, it took time...
Wow, just, wow.
I was making the point that it's possible to archive programs. For instance, I have archived my copies of old Office installs at home. I'm sure the state of Mass. could easily do the same. I was providing something called an example. I'd recommend reading the link. -
Re:I can see it now...The project is considered a failure due to the mass number of cowardly robots forgetting to fire their weapons, instead shouting "NO DISSEMBLE!!!" This is funnier than you may have even intended.
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Re:A much older reference "firehose" reference...
GP means that since you have a high user id, you must be too young to associate the phrase with MIT instead of UHF. Theory is, an older person would have heard the MIT quote first; a younger person would have heard the UHF quote first. Your reply demonstrates that the GP made a correct assumption.
On another note, etymology is weird to you? Only interested in the here and now eh?
Oh well, since you didn't ask:
To bite the bullet is 1700s military slang, from old medical custom of having the patient bite a bullet during an operation to divert attention from pain and reduce screaming. To bite (one's) tongue "refrain from speaking" is 1593. To bite the dust "die" is 1750. To bite off more than one can chew (c.1880) is U.S. slang, from plug tobacco. - http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?qh=BITE& ia=etymon -
Re:Queue Slashdot Reader Love Life Jokes
could be either:
"tell 'em to start the flamin'" (cue)
or
"get in line with the other Fr157 P0s71n fLAMERz" (queue)
both work....
cue
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cue
A signal, such as a word or action, used to prompt another event in a performance, such as an actor's speech or entrance, a change in lighting, or a sound effect."
(cue.Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cue (accessed: August 01, 2007).)
but also:
queue
4. to form in a line while waiting (often fol. by up)
(queue. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/queue (accessed: August 01, 2007)) -
Re:Queue Slashdot Reader Love Life Jokes
could be either:
"tell 'em to start the flamin'" (cue)
or
"get in line with the other Fr157 P0s71n fLAMERz" (queue)
both work....
cue
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cue
A signal, such as a word or action, used to prompt another event in a performance, such as an actor's speech or entrance, a change in lighting, or a sound effect."
(cue.Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cue (accessed: August 01, 2007).)
but also:
queue
4. to form in a line while waiting (often fol. by up)
(queue. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/queue (accessed: August 01, 2007)) -
Re:Queue Slashdot Reader Love Life Jokes
could be either:
"tell 'em to start the flamin'" (cue)
or
"get in line with the other Fr157 P0s71n fLAMERz" (queue)
both work....
cue
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cue
A signal, such as a word or action, used to prompt another event in a performance, such as an actor's speech or entrance, a change in lighting, or a sound effect."
(cue.Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cue (accessed: August 01, 2007).)
but also:
queue
4. to form in a line while waiting (often fol. by up)
(queue. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/queue (accessed: August 01, 2007)) -
Re:Queue Slashdot Reader Love Life Jokes
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Re:Queue Slashdot Reader Love Life Jokes
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Re:wizened up?
Wizened is indeed a word. To use a synonym:
The consumer has generally shriveled up... -
Re:The same man...
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Re:The same man...
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This proves the terrorists have won.
"Terrorist - a person who terrorizes or frightens others." http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=terroris
t . Looking at all the FUD from the TSA, Homeland Security, and the Airlines. I think the terrorists have accomplished exactly what they want - cause as much disruption in America's (and other countries) as possible. -
Re:The car retains a following
...and after all that, I still got modded up to "5, Informative". Mods, aren't you paying attention? I was wrong; I thought the lid at the front of the car was called a "hood" regardless of what it covers. In fact, the lid over the engine is called a "hood" regardless of its location.
See http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hood
3. the hinged, movable part of an automobile body covering the engine.
By that definition, perhaps it's not a hood if it's removable panels rather than being hinged. I googled around and couldn't figure out if it's hinged or not.