We need all of those media people, too. The UK entertainment industry is as big a contributor to the economy as finance is, and tourism -- which, frankly is all about media -- is a decent chunk of the economy too. Just because it's a sector of the economy that appeals to geeks (except when it's making superhero or sci-fi movies) but it certainly matters to the accountants.
I wonder how you measuring literary merit? A lot of people would love to have an agreed measure. For what it's worth, I'm finding an eReader (not a Kindle, but it could be) very useful indeed for the set texts on a university English Literature course I am studying at the moment. Not least because I have to go abroad on business during the course, and I would much sooner carry all the set texts on an eReader than weigh down my baggage with dead trees. I also use it for the books we read in the two book groups I belong to.
Of course, only a minority of people in any country are enthusiastic about reading and good literature (whatever that is). But all those people reading books you don't approve of? Guess what? They must be literate or they wouldn't be reading. "Illiterate" doesn't mean "sometimes reads stuff I don't like".
It's good to know that the US Mail takes registered post so seriously. I had call to use UK registered post quite a lot last year, and about one item in three went missing -- far worse than for standard post where I only lose about one item in twenty. The Royal Mail's response was offhand, and in most cases all I succeeded in recovering was the original postage cost. All the registered post gave me in the end was proof that I had sent the item, so I did avoid some hefty penalties I could have been hit with -- but the Royal Mail offers proof of posting for free, so I could have used that.
At work, if we need to send time-sensitive material we use private courier services, who do much better. But if the UK government didn't see this as time-sensitive (was there a deadline?) then why bother? In a government department sending something by courier will cost a lot more than just the courier cost. There will have to be a whole approvals process for the expense, for a start, with piles of paperwork and justifications. Much simpler to just send it down to the post room.
The castle is in Austria. And the period is the 15th century, not the 16th. Although the clothes have been carbon dated I can't find a reference to the exact date, but for most of the 15th century the language would have been Middle English.
In Austria??? A dialect of Early New High German, surely? If you're going to be a pedant it's important to get it right.
The native speaker was also fluent in English, having lived and worked in England for over 25 years, and understands my dietary wishes pretty well having been married to me for over 20 of those years. Yes, there were non-meat dishes on the menus, but they were cooked in the same broth as the meat and fish or the same wok, and usually had bits of meat in them anyway, so stuff that I was assured was meat-free was no such thing. See this article, for example, about the problems of trying to get vegetarian food in Beijing. Hong Kong is well served for Buddhist vegetarian restaurants, and I use them extensively, but it seems that (as a result of decades of religious suppression?) Beijing is nowhere near so well served.
In Beijing, Subway was the only place I could find vegetarian food (and I had a native Chinese speaker with me, so it wasn't just translation problems).
Riiight. Because one person was persecuted at one point in history (basically because he called the pope an idiot for asking for evidence of a long-discredited theory that we now know to be correct -- read up on it, and look at Galileo's other work) that means that the Catholic church never promoted any science? I can recommend some primers on basic logic for you, if you like.
You are setting up a nice straw man there. Not all Muslims follow the Taliban, but all Muslims follow a cdoctrine that says that non-Muslims must be killed or accept inferior status. Read the Qur'an.
Most atheists I know subscribe to the doctrine that non-atheists are inferior (and I have heard some call for all religious people to be killed). There's a lot of it about, isn't there?
I think it's the workload thing that matters. Language does change (not to mention variations between different varieties of English -- British, US, Australian...) and one person's grammar mistake is another person's standard English. But if you deviate too far from the variety of English your reader uses then you are saving your own effort at the expense of making extra work for them. In the case of something going to a large readership -- Larry Page's tweets, for example -- then you multiply that extra effort by the number of readers. Not bothering to get it "right" shows a great deal of disrespect for those readers. That might be what's intended, of course, but if it isn't then it shows the writer in a very bad light.
Slashdot Mirror
We need all of those media people, too. The UK entertainment industry is as big a contributor to the economy as finance is, and tourism -- which, frankly is all about media -- is a decent chunk of the economy too. Just because it's a sector of the economy that appeals to geeks (except when it's making superhero or sci-fi movies) but it certainly matters to the accountants.
They used ed? I thought real programmers used cat.
I wonder how you measuring literary merit? A lot of people would love to have an agreed measure. For what it's worth, I'm finding an eReader (not a Kindle, but it could be) very useful indeed for the set texts on a university English Literature course I am studying at the moment. Not least because I have to go abroad on business during the course, and I would much sooner carry all the set texts on an eReader than weigh down my baggage with dead trees. I also use it for the books we read in the two book groups I belong to.
Of course, only a minority of people in any country are enthusiastic about reading and good literature (whatever that is). But all those people reading books you don't approve of? Guess what? They must be literate or they wouldn't be reading. "Illiterate" doesn't mean "sometimes reads stuff I don't like".
Tsk. If I tell you all that, you might not get your wish!
You can, however, take my animal protein from my cold dead hands ;)
As you wish...
I do receive lots of other people's mail, if that's any consolation.
It's good to know that the US Mail takes registered post so seriously. I had call to use UK registered post quite a lot last year, and about one item in three went missing -- far worse than for standard post where I only lose about one item in twenty. The Royal Mail's response was offhand, and in most cases all I succeeded in recovering was the original postage cost. All the registered post gave me in the end was proof that I had sent the item, so I did avoid some hefty penalties I could have been hit with -- but the Royal Mail offers proof of posting for free, so I could have used that.
At work, if we need to send time-sensitive material we use private courier services, who do much better. But if the UK government didn't see this as time-sensitive (was there a deadline?) then why bother? In a government department sending something by courier will cost a lot more than just the courier cost. There will have to be a whole approvals process for the expense, for a start, with piles of paperwork and justifications. Much simpler to just send it down to the post room.
Meh. The picture wasn't all that clear. The Pink Floyd improvisation that we got as soundtrack here in the UK was pretty cool, though.
I think you'll find that even countries that have "complete freedom of speech" enshrined in their constitutions still have laws against extortion.
My immediate reaction on reading the title was "Shouldn't it be 'Three-Strikes Copyright Law In NZ Halves detection'"?
The castle is in Austria. And the period is the 15th century, not the 16th. Although the clothes have been carbon dated I can't find a reference to the exact date, but for most of the 15th century the language would have been Middle English.
In Austria??? A dialect of Early New High German, surely? If you're going to be a pedant it's important to get it right.
The native speaker was also fluent in English, having lived and worked in England for over 25 years, and understands my dietary wishes pretty well having been married to me for over 20 of those years. Yes, there were non-meat dishes on the menus, but they were cooked in the same broth as the meat and fish or the same wok, and usually had bits of meat in them anyway, so stuff that I was assured was meat-free was no such thing. See this article, for example, about the problems of trying to get vegetarian food in Beijing. Hong Kong is well served for Buddhist vegetarian restaurants, and I use them extensively, but it seems that (as a result of decades of religious suppression?) Beijing is nowhere near so well served.
In Beijing, Subway was the only place I could find vegetarian food (and I had a native Chinese speaker with me, so it wasn't just translation problems).
I can see a big advantage to this: if it's been baptized by total immersion then I needn't worry about dropping it in the bath!
So the usual question: what else should a tablet look like?
Design patents aren't.
This??
Riiight. Because one person was persecuted at one point in history (basically because he called the pope an idiot for asking for evidence of a long-discredited theory that we now know to be correct -- read up on it, and look at Galileo's other work) that means that the Catholic church never promoted any science? I can recommend some primers on basic logic for you, if you like.
There is a difference between tongue in cheek statements and people that burn down embassies because of cartoons.
Tell that to the Albanians.
Chess is more fun the way I play it.
Shhh.... don't tell them that they're not. Most of them haven't noticed yet.
Look up how the Catholic church has treated scientists throughout its history.
For most of its history it funded them. Is that what you meant?
You are setting up a nice straw man there. Not all Muslims follow the Taliban, but all Muslims follow a cdoctrine that says that non-Muslims must be killed or accept inferior status. Read the Qur'an.
Most atheists I know subscribe to the doctrine that non-atheists are inferior (and I have heard some call for all religious people to be killed). There's a lot of it about, isn't there?
Inferior in one regard. They can still market on price and functionality.
Zugschwang, at least. (Chess speak for "Your move, creep.")
I think it's the workload thing that matters. Language does change (not to mention variations between different varieties of English -- British, US, Australian...) and one person's grammar mistake is another person's standard English. But if you deviate too far from the variety of English your reader uses then you are saving your own effort at the expense of making extra work for them. In the case of something going to a large readership -- Larry Page's tweets, for example -- then you multiply that extra effort by the number of readers. Not bothering to get it "right" shows a great deal of disrespect for those readers. That might be what's intended, of course, but if it isn't then it shows the writer in a very bad light.
I did the math. I think you mean "get the math right." 70%, 6%, 24%.