How is the Fahrenheit scale any better than the Celsius scale for weather forecasting if "it's in the 60s" is as accurate as you get? You do realise that there's less difference between 20 and 24 degrees Celcius than there is between 60 and 69 degrees Fahrenheit, don't you? (Also, you do realise that anyone familiar with Celsius weather forecasts knows the difference between 20 and 24 degrees?)
Besides, getting into a pissing contest about which is more useful when you're talking about weather forecasting - ie, when you're talking about not precisely accurate predictions of what the weather should be - is ridiculous.
I never said that "spelled" wasn't correct, only that "spelt" was so...
You've assumed because I asserted that I meant (note "meant", not "meaned") to type "spelt" rather than "spelled" that I was somehow saying that the latter was incorrect.
I'm clear as to what I wrote and what it meant. What you choose to assume is up to you.
Which publication are you referring to? I typed the following sentence myself without reference to any other publication:
This is the first article about eBay where the editors haven't spelt (yes, "spelt" not "spelled") the company name as "Ebay".
I didn't complain about any publication doing anything, I only clarified that I meant to type "spelt" and rather than "spelled".
As to your other points, well, are you in any doubt that the web is US-centric in content? Especially if you discount content in non-English languages such as French, German, Spanish and Japanese? And don't you think that the writer of that BBC article was a little bit inconsistent using "spelt" and "spelled" in the same context in the same article?
As to the correct spellings of ATI and NVIDIA, I stand corrected. Put it down to writing for a publication where "ATi" and "nVidia" were house style. (I'm not certain, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it once was "ATi" but I'm not about to get into a pissing contest over that: it's ATI now and what it once was or once might have been is irrelevant. I got it wrong, and that's that.)
I refuse to tailor my spelling and grammar for anyone who's not paying me for the privilege. When Slashdot starts paying me a wage then I'll start editing my posts to house style (whatever that may be).
Slashdot is more international that you realise (see, there's another word to get worked up about). In fact, I think it's fair to say that the percentage of its readership that is non-American is growing steadily.
Of course, I have no proof of this, it's just a casual observation I'm making from the number of people who comment on American/non-American differences (such as TV technical standards) now as opposed to the number who commented on them two, three or even four years ago. Certainly, it would be interesting to see up-to-date traffic logs to see whether or not I'm right.
And as for "(" and ")", those are called brackets in the rest of the world. (And "[" and "]" are square brackets, whereas "{" and "}" are called parentheses.)
And I quote: "spelt: A past tense and a past participle of spell". Satisfied? Want another English lesson?
I suggest you reread my original post and replies. I never said that "spelled" wasn't correct, only that "spelt" was so: in your smugness, you've incorrectly assumed that the only one of the two is acceptable.
As I've pointed out elsewhere, they are both correct and the usage in this context depends on where you were educated. I, as someone who's not American, use "spelt" in this context, and I added the text in brackets because I'm fed up of smart asses telling me that I've got it wrong when I most certainly haven't.
Demon Internet defintely has prior art. I have a name@subdomain.demon.co.uk email address that's six years old and any Demon customer dating back a few years earlier than that will have the same.
You know, I half thought that when I was typing my post.
I'm starting to think that Slashdot is becoming its own recursive Wayback Machine. If we wait around long enough, I'm sure the Y2K bug will appear again and all those out of work programmers will be back in demand writing patches.
"Spelt" is the English spelling, "spelled" is the US one. Most of the world uses "spelt" though, so your comment that "it's pretty clear which way the language is moving though" is a bit hopeful.
(And, for anyone who wants to get into a pissing contest over which is more correct, then I think I'll just remind you that the language is called "English", not "American", so guess which spelling came first?)
The reason why I added the text in brackets (sorry, that's what these rounded things are called outside the US) is because there's always one smart ass who replies that "spelt" isn't a word when it clearly is so.
These displays have a bend radius of two inches (5 cm) and I imagine that they're not very durable. One knock (for example, bashing your knee against the side of the cockpit) and it's going to be toast. I think the military demands more ruggedness of its equipment than that.
A story on Slashdot about accurate spelling! And referring to eBay no less! Oh, the irony!
This is the first article about eBay where the editors haven't spelt (yes, "spelt" not "spelled") the company name as "Ebay".
Somehow, they alway (well, almost always) manage to correctly spell iMac, iPod and iTunes, but eBay, nVidia and ATi often become "Ebay", "Nvidia" and "ATI". It would be nice to think that this article was the start of a trend but I seriously doubt it.
Uh, I can tell you from experience that when the editors want to change a submitted story they do; it's not like they have a "do not ever edit submissions" policy. Given that, wouldn't it be better to either correct or rewrite an inaccurate submission?
Regardless of anyone's beliefs about the role the BBC may or may not have played in the death of Dr. Kelly, nobody has ever accused them of the 'sexing up' of the Iraq dossier; that charge has always been levelled at the British government, and the British government only.
And buying Google keywords doesn't "direct all traffic" anywhere; all it does is present the user with additional links on the extreme right-hand side of the search results page, links that are seperate from the returned results and clearly labelled as being sponsored.
So, in this case, the submitted story is completely inaccurate on two counts and biased (and probably inaccurate again) on a third count. Now if a story that barely contains a shred of truth isn't worthy of rewriting (or, indeed, being rejected) then that's pretty sad.
It doesn't seem fair to pronounce the BBC complicit in Kelly's death (unless that's proven by the facts of the case), but it's certainly an interested party.
That's what Timothy added to the story summary before he posted it. Now, I have to ask: why the fuck didn't Timothy edit or rewrite the submission if he believed it was inaccurate or misleading? (Which, by the way, it was: other posters have pointed this out.)
The editors do a good job of over-extending themselves in so many ways so why can't they actually do their job and edit out any bias or overexuberance shown by story submitters? Would that really be too much to ask?
And how do you stop an enemy from using a captured map to lure units into a trap? All these things need to be thought through fully. I'd still wouldn't trust my life to one.
Point taken. But if you don't want to reply to your radio you don't have to, and you can switch it off to maintain silence if you're hiding with the enemy is on top of your position. But if the map in your pocket is giving off a constant signal to tell your HQ where you are, then you might just get screwed by it.
Potentially a good idea but if you can "see" where your troops are electronically and are in constant two-way electronic communication with them then wouldn't your enemy will be able to "see" where they are too? He might not be able to accurately determine force strengths but he the presence of that EM communication would be a dead giveaway that someone was there.
Biometrics makes no sense. If you're captured, you're hands get captured too. But if your APC is hit by a HE round and you've sufferered burns to your hands then you're going to be pissed off that you can't see where you've been stranded because your map won't recognise your fingerprint.
At least if you've got the paper kind you don't have to worry about it crashing, breaking, running out of power, etc. And with the paper kind, you can easily mark way points, targets, etc in seconds - doing that with a software-based system won't be half as fast.
I can't imagine a field commander taking along one of these without wanting a paper map as a backup. The last thing you want to do in a combat zone is be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Slashdot Mirror
How is this letarded? It seems quiet clever to me... Oh, wait, you meant the other rhyme...
How is the Fahrenheit scale any better than the Celsius scale for weather forecasting if "it's in the 60s" is as accurate as you get? You do realise that there's less difference between 20 and 24 degrees Celcius than there is between 60 and 69 degrees Fahrenheit, don't you? (Also, you do realise that anyone familiar with Celsius weather forecasts knows the difference between 20 and 24 degrees?)
Besides, getting into a pissing contest about which is more useful when you're talking about weather forecasting - ie, when you're talking about not precisely accurate predictions of what the weather should be - is ridiculous.
You've assumed because I asserted that I meant (note "meant", not "meaned") to type "spelt" rather than "spelled" that I was somehow saying that the latter was incorrect.
I'm clear as to what I wrote and what it meant. What you choose to assume is up to you.
I didn't complain about any publication doing anything, I only clarified that I meant to type "spelt" and rather than "spelled".
As to your other points, well, are you in any doubt that the web is US-centric in content? Especially if you discount content in non-English languages such as French, German, Spanish and Japanese? And don't you think that the writer of that BBC article was a little bit inconsistent using "spelt" and "spelled" in the same context in the same article?
As to the correct spellings of ATI and NVIDIA, I stand corrected. Put it down to writing for a publication where "ATi" and "nVidia" were house style. (I'm not certain, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it once was "ATi" but I'm not about to get into a pissing contest over that: it's ATI now and what it once was or once might have been is irrelevant. I got it wrong, and that's that.)
I refuse to tailor my spelling and grammar for anyone who's not paying me for the privilege. When Slashdot starts paying me a wage then I'll start editing my posts to house style (whatever that may be).
Slashdot is more international that you realise (see, there's another word to get worked up about). In fact, I think it's fair to say that the percentage of its readership that is non-American is growing steadily.
Of course, I have no proof of this, it's just a casual observation I'm making from the number of people who comment on American/non-American differences (such as TV technical standards) now as opposed to the number who commented on them two, three or even four years ago. Certainly, it would be interesting to see up-to-date traffic logs to see whether or not I'm right.
And as for "(" and ")", those are called brackets in the rest of the world. (And "[" and "]" are square brackets, whereas "{" and "}" are called parentheses.)
That hidden goatse link doesn't work on people who've got browsers that show the full URL when you hover over it.
Nice try though. Moron.
Please offer some reference, however obscure, indicating 'spelt' as the preferred past tense conjugation of spell.
Why don't you trust Google or even Dictionary.com?
And I quote: "spelt: A past tense and a past participle of spell". Satisfied? Want another English lesson?
I suggest you reread my original post and replies. I never said that "spelled" wasn't correct, only that "spelt" was so: in your smugness, you've incorrectly assumed that the only one of the two is acceptable.
As I've pointed out elsewhere, they are both correct and the usage in this context depends on where you were educated. I, as someone who's not American, use "spelt" in this context, and I added the text in brackets because I'm fed up of smart asses telling me that I've got it wrong when I most certainly haven't.
Demon Internet defintely has prior art. I have a name@subdomain.demon.co.uk email address that's six years old and any Demon customer dating back a few years earlier than that will have the same.
You know, I half thought that when I was typing my post.
I'm starting to think that Slashdot is becoming its own recursive Wayback Machine. If we wait around long enough, I'm sure the Y2K bug will appear again and all those out of work programmers will be back in demand writing patches.
This patent was filed on November 23, 1999.
There has to be prior art out there that shoots this down.
"Spelt" is the English spelling, "spelled" is the US one. Most of the world uses "spelt" though, so your comment that "it's pretty clear which way the language is moving though" is a bit hopeful.
(And, for anyone who wants to get into a pissing contest over which is more correct, then I think I'll just remind you that the language is called "English", not "American", so guess which spelling came first?)
The reason why I added the text in brackets (sorry, that's what these rounded things are called outside the US) is because there's always one smart ass who replies that "spelt" isn't a word when it clearly is so.
I think I speak for myself when I say..
Of course you speak for yourself. Who else would you expect to do it if you wouldn't?
I think the phrase you were probably looking for was "I think I speak for everyone when I say...".
Making money off of mispellings? Slashdot's been doing it for years!
Look before you leap. (Ie, use the preview function.)
These displays have a bend radius of two inches (5 cm) and I imagine that they're not very durable. One knock (for example, bashing your knee against the side of the cockpit) and it's going to be toast. I think the military demands more ruggedness of its equipment than that.
A story on Slashdot about accurate spelling! And referring to eBay no less! Oh, the irony!
This is the first article about eBay where the editors haven't spelt (yes, "spelt" not "spelled") the company name as "Ebay".
Somehow, they alway (well, almost always) manage to correctly spell iMac, iPod and iTunes, but eBay, nVidia and ATi often become "Ebay", "Nvidia" and "ATI". It would be nice to think that this article was the start of a trend but I seriously doubt it.
Uh, I can tell you from experience that when the editors want to change a submitted story they do; it's not like they have a "do not ever edit submissions" policy. Given that, wouldn't it be better to either correct or rewrite an inaccurate submission?
Regardless of anyone's beliefs about the role the BBC may or may not have played in the death of Dr. Kelly, nobody has ever accused them of the 'sexing up' of the Iraq dossier; that charge has always been levelled at the British government, and the British government only.
And buying Google keywords doesn't "direct all traffic" anywhere; all it does is present the user with additional links on the extreme right-hand side of the search results page, links that are seperate from the returned results and clearly labelled as being sponsored.
So, in this case, the submitted story is completely inaccurate on two counts and biased (and probably inaccurate again) on a third count. Now if a story that barely contains a shred of truth isn't worthy of rewriting (or, indeed, being rejected) then that's pretty sad.
It doesn't seem fair to pronounce the BBC complicit in Kelly's death (unless that's proven by the facts of the case), but it's certainly an interested party.
That's what Timothy added to the story summary before he posted it. Now, I have to ask: why the fuck didn't Timothy edit or rewrite the submission if he believed it was inaccurate or misleading? (Which, by the way, it was: other posters have pointed this out.)
The editors do a good job of over-extending themselves in so many ways so why can't they actually do their job and edit out any bias or overexuberance shown by story submitters? Would that really be too much to ask?
And how do you stop an enemy from using a captured map to lure units into a trap? All these things need to be thought through fully. I'd still wouldn't trust my life to one.
...I guess Tuesday isn't the official MPAA Hate Day any more. Anyone know what day of the week it moved to?
I thought it was:
Monday: SCO
Tuesday: MPAA
Wednesday: HP
Thursday: Microsoft
Friday: ATi/nVidia (pick one)
Saturday: DirecTV
Sunday: big business in general
Of course, on Slashdot, it's always a good day to hate RIAA.
Point taken. But if you don't want to reply to your radio you don't have to, and you can switch it off to maintain silence if you're hiding with the enemy is on top of your position. But if the map in your pocket is giving off a constant signal to tell your HQ where you are, then you might just get screwed by it.
Potentially a good idea but if you can "see" where your troops are electronically and are in constant two-way electronic communication with them then wouldn't your enemy will be able to "see" where they are too? He might not be able to accurately determine force strengths but he the presence of that EM communication would be a dead giveaway that someone was there.
Biometrics makes no sense. If you're captured, you're hands get captured too. But if your APC is hit by a HE round and you've sufferered burns to your hands then you're going to be pissed off that you can't see where you've been stranded because your map won't recognise your fingerprint.
At least if you've got the paper kind you don't have to worry about it crashing, breaking, running out of power, etc. And with the paper kind, you can easily mark way points, targets, etc in seconds - doing that with a software-based system won't be half as fast.
I can't imagine a field commander taking along one of these without wanting a paper map as a backup. The last thing you want to do in a combat zone is be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Wow, it happened last year and we're only just reading about it on Slashdot?
Is it me, or does someone have a real big problem with latency here? Perhaps Timothy needs to upgrade from narrowband just as badly as Taco does!
It's morons like you who don't even have the balls to post under their own accounts that really put the "coward" into "Anonymous Coward".