I don't care if it's in the dictionary or not. "Obsolete" is not a verb, damnit.
The first time I read the headline I thought it meant something like "Sun is working with obsolete motherboards". What would be wrong with "Sun working to make motherboards obsolete"? Whoo, five more characters to read, but it's worth it.
Maybe it's because I'm English, I don't know, but I do know that when I am king I will de-obsolete public flogging for people who debase the language thus.
Re:Better to die on your feet...
on
Black Hat
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I don't know who said it
"Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"
- Benito Mussolini.
Now, I'm not saying that there's not some truth in the sentiment, but it's worth knowing when you're quoting fascist dictators.
You're making a pretty big assumption regarding the grandparent's sig: maybe it's not supposed to be Pi, but it's just, like, his favourite number or something, and it's just a co-incidence that it matches Pi to 23 significant figures.
Or maybe it'sjsut his way of bringing irrational-number-nazis out of the woodwork so he can put them on his foes list;)
Oxford University actually has its own magistrate's court which only tries students and fellows. And they have their own police. The Proctors, or something. I think they've got a few of their own laws, too. They're like some autonomous Burbclave in that Neal Stevenson book. They kick butt. In other words, don't mess with Oxford! I know this because a mate of mine was an undergraduate there and got fined for making prank calls.
Please note, I'm only saying what is. I'm making no comment, either way, on the way things should be. So don't complain to me if you think this sounds like some kind of evil conspiracy ore something.
Electric vehicles are already exempt from the Congestion Charge. We've got one where I work to deliver the post between our different office buildings.
Yeah, but there's angular momentum to think of - a heavy crankshaft will not just add to the overall mass of the engine, but will take longer to spin up to high RPM than a lighter shaft, meaning that it could theoretically affect the rate at which the engine could get up to High RPM, and thus lower the max accelleration.
Well, that makes sense: Modern US English is in many ways closer to Ye Olde Englishe than is modern British English.
For example: saying "sure" or "surely" rather than "yes" having a special plural form of the second person pronoun (y'all) calling trousers "pants" (abbreviation of "Pantaloons")
A lot of "Americanisms" are actually lexical features that date back to the Mayflower and have dsince been lost in England.
The British Word is "Grill". It can be a verb "To grill a lamb chop", or a noun "Puty that chop under the grill".
Regarding London Broil, I've seen tins of stuff called "London Grill" which appears to be beans and bacon bits and sausages and black pudding and bits of kidney all mixed together in tomato sauce. Which sounds pretty grim, but grim in a particularly English way.
Actually, there's nothing in European Law that forces you to work less than 35 hours a week or whatever. The law only states that your employers cannot stipulate that you do, as part of your contract. Meaning that if your boss asks you to work overtime, you have the choice between working the overtime and giving him the finger.
Now, I guess the standard Libertarian response to this would be "That's exactly the choice you have in a free market: either work the overtime or take a different job with a better boss".
Which is fine in theory, but when there aren't that many jobs about, and the bosses know it, and they all take advantage of the fact, what kind of a choice are you, the average worker, going to have?
While I sympathise with the Libertarian position as far as I don't think the gub'mint should be poking its nose in where it's not necessary, a few laws protecting the individual from the rapacious greed of their employers doesn't seem like such a bad thing.
Being a brutal dictator isn't thesame as bein a terrorist. Funding terrorism isn't being a terrorist; if it was you'd have to call most US administrations since WW2 terrorist.
Do you know what Sunnis and Shi'ites are fighting over? Whether Mohammed's heirs should have been his sons or his disciples. They've been killing each other over this for 1300 years. You think a mud brick machine is going to help here???
You've got to admit, though, that one never sees rich people fighting over shit like this. When was the last time two first-world, democratic countries, with reasonable basic standards of living for their citizens, went to war over anything?
Well, okay, about sixty years ago. But you get my point. Poor people are much more likely to seek to solve thier problems by blowing stuff (or themselves) up, becuase they've got less to lose.
Rich lunatics such as Bin Laden excepted, of course. Damn, this is turning out not to be as strong a point as I had hoped.
Unfortunately, the waste heat generated would burn your hand off at the wrist, leaving only a charred stump.
Re:What about the 'rest of world' category?
on
The Lyrids Are Coming!
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Hold your hand out at arm's length. People with big hands generally have longer arms, so the degrees of sky covered by your hand at arm's length should be roughly the same for anyone.
By yourdefinition, Star Wars isn't scifi - sure, it's got robots and spaceships and stuff, but they're not what the story's about - it's just there because it makes for cool scenery.
Similarly, you'd have to say that Philip K. Dick isn't a scifi writer, as he only introduces technological innovations either as scenery or to explore philosophical concepts via imagined technology.
My favourite definition of Scifi is:
"Mainstream fiction is about people walking in and out of rooms and saying satuff to each other. Scifi is about everything else."
Since most people started living West of Poland, I guess.
I've always thought of "The West" as extending from the Eastern edge of Western Europe, say Austria or somewhere, all the way round to the West Coat of America.
Er, yeah. I think you got me the wrong way round. I was quoting Rumsfeld because I think that particular quote is one of the most self-evidently dumbassed things that he has ever said, and that says a lot.
I mean, even if you agree with him that the mere possibility that Iraq might have had WMDs and that if so they might have donne something bad with them was enough reason to go to war, even if you go along with all that, his statement does rather lead one to question why we bothered with all those years of weapons inspections in the first place.
No, by my definition, Germany sucessfully invaded France, but did not win the war. The successful invasion of a country and the overthrow of its government is not the same as winning a war.
Is it even possible for one's hand to control an input device that works in 3 dimensions?
Your hand is an input device that works in three dimensions.
A spoon is an input device that works in three dimensions.
Anyway, what I want is an input device like a big lump of silly putty that you can plug in to a USB port, and squidging it into different shapes would do stuff. Would be very cool for 3D modelling. Or beat 'em up games.
Oblate Sphereoids? Like skittles? So how many skittles can you get in a pint beer glass? And how much space for beer would there be left over?
This would give us the highest possible skittle / beer ratio for skittlebrau (with the lowest possible obviously being a single skittle in the bottom of a pint of beer). Once we've defined these two extremes, trail and error will enable us to determine the optimum point (in terms of flavour etc) in the middle.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't care if it's in the dictionary or not. "Obsolete" is not a verb, damnit.
The first time I read the headline I thought it meant something like "Sun is working with obsolete motherboards". What would be wrong with "Sun working to make motherboards obsolete"? Whoo, five more characters to read, but it's worth it.
Maybe it's because I'm English, I don't know, but I do know that when I am king I will de-obsolete public flogging for people who debase the language thus.
I don't know who said it
"Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"
- Benito Mussolini.
Now, I'm not saying that there's not some truth in the sentiment, but it's worth knowing when you're quoting fascist dictators.
You're making a pretty big assumption regarding the grandparent's sig: maybe it's not supposed to be Pi, but it's just, like, his favourite number or something, and it's just a co-incidence that it matches Pi to 23 significant figures.
;)
Or maybe it'sjsut his way of bringing irrational-number-nazis out of the woodwork so he can put them on his foes list
Oxford University actually has its own magistrate's court which only tries students and fellows. And they have their own police. The Proctors, or something. I think they've got a few of their own laws, too. They're like some autonomous Burbclave in that Neal Stevenson book. They kick butt. In other words, don't mess with Oxford! I know this because a mate of mine was an undergraduate there and got fined for making prank calls.
Please note, I'm only saying what is. I'm making no comment, either way, on the way things should be. So don't complain to me if you think this sounds like some kind of evil conspiracy ore something.
Electric vehicles are already exempt from the Congestion Charge. We've got one where I work to deliver the post between our different office buildings.
Yeah, but there's angular momentum to think of - a heavy crankshaft will not just add to the overall mass of the engine, but will take longer to spin up to high RPM than a lighter shaft, meaning that it could theoretically affect the rate at which the engine could get up to High RPM, and thus lower the max accelleration.
It is your duty to be as far right as possible
Ah, I knew there was something funny about your political system! Thanks for clearing that up. It all makes sense now.
Well, that makes sense: Modern US English is in many ways closer to Ye Olde Englishe than is modern British English.
For example:
saying "sure" or "surely" rather than "yes"
having a special plural form of the second person pronoun (y'all)
calling trousers "pants" (abbreviation of "Pantaloons")
A lot of "Americanisms" are actually lexical features that date back to the Mayflower and have dsince been lost in England.
The British Word is "Grill". It can be a verb "To grill a lamb chop", or a noun "Puty that chop under the grill".
Regarding London Broil, I've seen tins of stuff called "London Grill" which appears to be beans and bacon bits and sausages and black pudding and bits of kidney all mixed together in tomato sauce. Which sounds pretty grim, but grim in a particularly English way.
Actually, there's nothing in European Law that forces you to work less than 35 hours a week or whatever. The law only states that your employers cannot stipulate that you do, as part of your contract. Meaning that if your boss asks you to work overtime, you have the choice between working the overtime and giving him the finger.
Now, I guess the standard Libertarian response to this would be "That's exactly the choice you have in a free market: either work the overtime or take a different job with a better boss".
Which is fine in theory, but when there aren't that many jobs about, and the bosses know it, and they all take advantage of the fact, what kind of a choice are you, the average worker, going to have?
While I sympathise with the Libertarian position as far as I don't think the gub'mint should be poking its nose in where it's not necessary, a few laws protecting the individual from the rapacious greed of their employers doesn't seem like such a bad thing.
Being a brutal dictator isn't thesame as bein a terrorist. Funding terrorism isn't being a terrorist; if it was you'd have to call most US administrations since WW2 terrorist.
Do you know what Sunnis and Shi'ites are fighting over? Whether Mohammed's heirs should have been his sons or his disciples. They've been killing each other over this for 1300 years. You think a mud brick machine is going to help here???
You've got to admit, though, that one never sees rich people fighting over shit like this. When was the last time two first-world, democratic countries, with reasonable basic standards of living for their citizens, went to war over anything?
Well, okay, about sixty years ago. But you get my point. Poor people are much more likely to seek to solve thier problems by blowing stuff (or themselves) up, becuase they've got less to lose.
Rich lunatics such as Bin Laden excepted, of course. Damn, this is turning out not to be as strong a point as I had hoped.
Unfortunately, the waste heat generated would burn your hand off at the wrist, leaving only a charred stump.
Hold your hand out at arm's length. People with big hands generally have longer arms, so the degrees of sky covered by your hand at arm's length should be roughly the same for anyone.
I seem to have some memory of seeing my birth certificate with foot prints on it. Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you left your birth certificate on the floor.
By yourdefinition, Star Wars isn't scifi - sure, it's got robots and spaceships and stuff, but they're not what the story's about - it's just there because it makes for cool scenery.
Similarly, you'd have to say that Philip K. Dick isn't a scifi writer, as he only introduces technological innovations either as scenery or to explore philosophical concepts via imagined technology.
My favourite definition of Scifi is:
"Mainstream fiction is about people walking in and out of rooms and saying satuff to each other. Scifi is about everything else."
Since when is Polish Eastern?
Since most people started living West of Poland, I guess.
I've always thought of "The West" as extending from the Eastern edge of Western Europe, say Austria or somewhere, all the way round to the West Coat of America.
A quick guide to genre fiction for people who think it isn't proper literature:
Science Fiction, e.g. 1984 or Gulliver's Travels
Fantasy, e.g. Gormenghast or Beowulf
Horror, e.g. A Christmas Carol, Metamorphosis by Kafka, or most stuff by Poe.
Romance, e.g. Madame Bovary or Doctor Zhivago
Crime, e.g. The Name of the Rose, The Sherlock Holmes stories, and most stuff by Poe that wasn't horror.
Er, yeah. I think you got me the wrong way round. I was quoting Rumsfeld because I think that particular quote is one of the most self-evidently dumbassed things that he has ever said, and that says a lot.
I mean, even if you agree with him that the mere possibility that Iraq might have had WMDs and that if so they might have donne something bad with them was enough reason to go to war, even if you go along with all that, his statement does rather lead one to question why we bothered with all those years of weapons inspections in the first place.
No, by my definition, Germany sucessfully invaded France, but did not win the war.
The successful invasion of a country and the overthrow of its government is not the same as winning a war.
Is it even possible for one's hand to control an input device that works in 3 dimensions?
Your hand is an input device that works in three dimensions.
A spoon is an input device that works in three dimensions.
Anyway, what I want is an input device like a big lump of silly putty that you can plug in to a USB port, and squidging it into different shapes would do stuff. Would be very cool for 3D modelling. Or beat 'em up games.
we went to war and WON
You know, in the past, most people have waited until the other guys stopped killing them before claiming a victory.
Maybe someone should go out there and tell all those Iraqi irregulars that you guys have WON, and so could they please stop blowing shit up?
"The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
- Donald Rumsfeld.
Oblate Sphereoids? Like skittles? So how many skittles can you get in a pint beer glass? And how much space for beer would there be left over?
This would give us the highest possible skittle / beer ratio for skittlebrau (with the lowest possible obviously being a single skittle in the bottom of a pint of beer). Once we've defined these two extremes, trail and error will enable us to determine the optimum point (in terms of flavour etc) in the middle.
Now if I can only find a way to drive down the price of 25 year old cognac.
Here you go:
1. Buy ten-year-old-cognac
2. Keep it fifteen years
3. Drink!
You're welcome.