< rant natured="good" > Apparently (I've asked a few folks) "the 605" is short for "the 605 *Freeway*" Yet if you say "the Main Street Bridge" you mean, the bridge on Main Street. If you say "the Main Street six-lane street" you mean "the part of Main Street that is a six-lane street." So I hear "the 605 Freeway" as "the part of Interstate 605 which is a limited-access highway ('freeway'), but because Interstates by definition are entirely limited-access, that's all of it, so what are you talking about?" You wouldn't say "Get your kicks on 'the' 66" would you? Why not just say you are on 605 North? No redundant "the" required. </rant>
I once drove to San Diego and wound up spending an hour extra in traffic, gone too far because I was told to exit at "the 125" so obviously I was looking for Interstate 125. However, they meant California 125. I never expected a regular road to be called "the Number" so I was looking for the red-and-blue Interstate shield. Thus:
Serious question: Would you, or would you not, actually call U.S. Route 66 (on one of its "Main Street" style sections) "the 66" or do you really only call limited-access highways "the" --?
at first I thought this was a Phantom Tollbooth reference but now I see it's something about #right-alt #left-ctrl #shift-meta-esc must be an emacs-versus-vi thing.
the pedants who keep making this argument are actually trying to get everyone to behave as if English was a dead language in some misguided notion that they're protecting it.
Contrariwise, we are trying to actively change English to be better. I will protest the use of "orientate" (should be "orient" just as "inform" not "informate" is correct) and the awkward and irritating Los Angeles-style "I was on the 10" instead of the better "I was on I-10" (or Route 10, or Highway 10, or Interstate 10) for the same reason: if English is a living language, we can improve it just as much as we can dumb it down.
I have been reliably informed that any Citizen who does not cheerfully pay for their personal spy-on-me telescreen, and cheerfully app apps like Uber, anyone who prefers to hail taxis via telephone-call or in person, or who uses only free software on open hardware, is a luddite who is holding back progress, so yes you would be a terrorist. You must welcome your big-corporation overlords.
Except for anyone who's not rich enough to afford a so-called "smart" so-called "telephone" or who, like me, cannot fathom why anyone would pay to carry a spy-on-you machine around. We have no way to utilize those services.
These so-called "apps" that run on so-called "smart" so-called "telephones" fly in the face of the good things we all spent our lives building the PERSONAL computer industry for.
Naturally languages change over time. Some of us want English to be a better language, with sensible and consistent usage, with precision and grace; and we are working toward that goal. If you wish to campaign for sloppy language, you are welcome to that as well, but it is illogical to campaign for your changes while saying we have no right to seek ours.
As vehemently as I will condemn modern language abuses (calling an expressway "the" Interstate Highway 10, or callling a streetcar "a light rail"), let me xerox you a memo about how Americans do verb nouns.
Had to search for what "Periscope" is. And from their website, apparently it's another silo in the cloud that can't be viewed at all from a normal computer?
...come from Digital's BASIC-PLUS that ran under RSTS/E on a PDP-11, a setup that Larry mentions in the appendix of the Camel book (I was blessed (cursed?) to use BASIC-PLUS-2 in my high school job).
I found Statocles (based on Mojolicious) the right way to build sites with nearly-fixed text content and a few up-to-the-moment database-backed bits that can talk to almost anything front-end or back-end.
Five of us riding our bicycles on the street is a perfectly legitimate thing, and we are riding correctly by each occupying the full width of our lane. You car drivers can wait. If you don't like this, we will switch to riding horse-and-buggy instead.
Wrong plural. "Malware" like software, hardware, firmware, and information, is a mass noun. You do not have "two informations" nor do you have "two malwares" or "two softwares" or "two firmwares" -- you have two pieces of information, two pieces of malware, two pieces of software, and two pieces of firmware.
How much of that new car will be broken if I do not agree to pay maybe a thousand bucks a year extra for the privilege of being spied on by the friendsy overlords?
Anyone who gets duped into buying a computer they cannot control, running programs they cannot inspect, and trusting people and companies who long ago proved themselves to be untrustworthy, and is willing to pay for the privilege of buying and operating it, simply because the gadget is called a "telephone" and not a telescreen or spy computer, should expect such treatment.
I am amazed at how many free software advocates have given in to peer pressure and bought one of those insidious devices. Aren't you taking Stallman seriously?
T-Mobile, their old "Gold" plan. With a nice flip-phone that still has a proper keypad with real tactile buttons. I will not use any service that requires SMS. And what about my 80-something mother who does not need a mobile phone at all, how would she log in if webmail or whatever required a text-message?
Very simple: The cell towers and infrastructure costs money to run, and I happily choose to pay for services received (talk time, message delivery in either direction) a-la-carte. I pay $0 a month, plus 10 cents per message or minute of voice; on average this costs me $6 a month. I have no desire for a far more expensive plan that gives me "free" incoming messages.
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< rant natured="good" > Apparently (I've asked a few folks) "the 605" is short for "the 605 *Freeway*" Yet if you say "the Main Street Bridge" you mean, the bridge on Main Street. If you say "the Main Street six-lane street" you mean "the part of Main Street that is a six-lane street." So I hear "the 605 Freeway" as "the part of Interstate 605 which is a limited-access highway ('freeway'), but because Interstates by definition are entirely limited-access, that's all of it, so what are you talking about?" You wouldn't say "Get your kicks on 'the' 66" would you? Why not just say you are on 605 North? No redundant "the" required. </rant>
I once drove to San Diego and wound up spending an hour extra in traffic, gone too far because I was told to exit at "the 125" so obviously I was looking for Interstate 125. However, they meant California 125. I never expected a regular road to be called "the Number" so I was looking for the red-and-blue Interstate shield. Thus:
Serious question: Would you, or would you not, actually call U.S. Route 66 (on one of its "Main Street" style sections) "the 66" or do you really only call limited-access highways "the" --?
at first I thought this was a Phantom Tollbooth reference but now I see it's something about #right-alt #left-ctrl #shift-meta-esc must be an emacs-versus-vi thing.
Contrariwise, we are trying to actively change English to be better. I will protest the use of "orientate" (should be "orient" just as "inform" not "informate" is correct) and the awkward and irritating Los Angeles-style "I was on the 10" instead of the better "I was on I-10" (or Route 10, or Highway 10, or Interstate 10) for the same reason: if English is a living language, we can improve it just as much as we can dumb it down.
I have been reliably informed that any Citizen who does not cheerfully pay for their personal spy-on-me telescreen, and cheerfully app apps like Uber, anyone who prefers to hail taxis via telephone-call or in person, or who uses only free software on open hardware, is a luddite who is holding back progress, so yes you would be a terrorist. You must welcome your big-corporation overlords.
So -- You favor throwing all of us who run only free software on open computer hardware into some sort of digital ghetto?
Except for anyone who's not rich enough to afford a so-called "smart" so-called "telephone" or who, like me, cannot fathom why anyone would pay to carry a spy-on-you machine around. We have no way to utilize those services.
These so-called "apps" that run on so-called "smart" so-called "telephones" fly in the face of the good things we all spent our lives building the PERSONAL computer industry for.
Even if I cross-compile for my 2MHz TRS-80? Amazing!
Naturally languages change over time. Some of us want English to be a better language, with sensible and consistent usage, with precision and grace; and we are working toward that goal. If you wish to campaign for sloppy language, you are welcome to that as well, but it is illogical to campaign for your changes while saying we have no right to seek ours.
There's no news in that "news" anyway.
As vehemently as I will condemn modern language abuses (calling an expressway "the" Interstate Highway 10, or callling a streetcar "a light rail"), let me xerox you a memo about how Americans do verb nouns.
Had to search for what "Periscope" is. And from their website, apparently it's another silo in the cloud that can't be viewed at all from a normal computer?
Plenty of new motherboards with onboard video still have VGA ports, judging by Newegg's and Fry's offerings?
All in all it's just another Silo in the Cloud.
What is "a software"? Is that like "an information" or "a hardware"? Ugh.
...come from Digital's BASIC-PLUS that ran under RSTS/E on a PDP-11, a setup that Larry mentions in the appendix of the Camel book (I was blessed (cursed?) to use BASIC-PLUS-2 in my high school job).
I found Statocles (based on Mojolicious) the right way to build sites with nearly-fixed text content and a few up-to-the-moment database-backed bits that can talk to almost anything front-end or back-end.
Five of us riding our bicycles on the street is a perfectly legitimate thing, and we are riding correctly by each occupying the full width of our lane. You car drivers can wait. If you don't like this, we will switch to riding horse-and-buggy instead.
Wrong plural. "Malware" like software, hardware, firmware, and information, is a mass noun. You do not have "two informations" nor do you have "two malwares" or "two softwares" or "two firmwares" -- you have two pieces of information, two pieces of malware, two pieces of software, and two pieces of firmware.
You owe the "profanity jar" enough to buy lunch for the whole office.
How much of that new car will be broken if I do not agree to pay maybe a thousand bucks a year extra for the privilege of being spied on by the friendsy overlords?
Anyone who gets duped into buying a computer they cannot control, running programs they cannot inspect, and trusting people and companies who long ago proved themselves to be untrustworthy, and is willing to pay for the privilege of buying and operating it, simply because the gadget is called a "telephone" and not a telescreen or spy computer, should expect such treatment.
I am amazed at how many free software advocates have given in to peer pressure and bought one of those insidious devices. Aren't you taking Stallman seriously?
T-Mobile, their old "Gold" plan. With a nice flip-phone that still has a proper keypad with real tactile buttons. I will not use any service that requires SMS. And what about my 80-something mother who does not need a mobile phone at all, how would she log in if webmail or whatever required a text-message?
Very simple: The cell towers and infrastructure costs money to run, and I happily choose to pay for services received (talk time, message delivery in either direction) a-la-carte. I pay $0 a month, plus 10 cents per message or minute of voice; on average this costs me $6 a month. I have no desire for a far more expensive plan that gives me "free" incoming messages.
"In 1978, X10 products started to appear in RadioShack and Sears stores." (X-10 history). N.B. profanity does not help your case.