Your probably going to need the owner's permission for that. I can imagine that some may not opt to allow such even if you explained the situation to them carefully and rationally.
If you want reliability above all else, the answer lies in Japan's economy cars, as it always has.
You have a strange definition of "always." On the other end of the scale, look at Saab (before they were sold to GM) and Volvo. See certain model years of a C-class from Mercedes. See certain models of BMW, notably the 7 series. See the Jaguar brand, Aston Martin cars, and even the original Mini. You will find great reliability, even today, with any of those vehicles so long as you maintain them properly. The same is, usually, true with most vehicles these days. There are, of course, exceptions but the point is that maintaining the vehicle is of great importance.
The idea that Japan has "always" been the answer for reliability makes me think you were not a driver in the late 1960s, 1970s, and even into the 1980s. At risk of sounding like an asshole, I'm not actually sure you're qualified to opine on the subject. What they were was easy to repair and cheap. They were not some pinnacle of reliability and are not always so now. There are too many variables to make a single conclusion including what you're willing to spend, how you're willing to spend it, and what your use case is.
I think it was in reference to all German cars being in the shop. I've a number of German vehicles, including the one I have with me on my current journey, and while they do spend time in the shop that time is spent on maintaining them and not being spent doing repair work. I bring my vehicle in for servicing and tune-ups more frequently than most because I'm a bit more likely than most to push the envelope. I replace parts before they break because I don't like being stranded. I maintain my vehicles because it costs less, in the long run, than paying for major repairs.
I am quite fond of the 6 and 7 series from BMW. My current is a 650i, yes - that one. To look at it, you'd have no idea how much it cost nor how much power is under the hood. Of course, it's a bit different if you hear it start up or if I apply the throttle a bit quickly (it's a low rumble, almost a growl and a rather pleasing note when the turbos spin up at high rates, harmonized well actually). But, no, unless you're familiar with the model you'd have no idea how expensive it is nor what the performance metrics are. It's a lovely ride and I've simply had the oil changed twice and a lube job once. I'll probably bring it in to a dealership soon and have them go over it with a fine-tooth comb even though it's still new.
So, sure, my car spends some time in the shop but that's because I want to keep it in peak condition and to catch problems before they happen. If the part is showing signs of wear then replace it before it fails. If I wanted a budget car, I'd buy a Honda. I don't. I didn't. And I'm happy with my choice. The accusation laid that German cars spend more time in the shop isn't entirely accurate. It's also not always a bad thing that your car is in the shop. Maintaining a car is a good thing instead of waiting for it to break and cause additional, unneeded, expenses.
I think you'll find that nothing is safe. Have you seen the various things that go into making batteries and solar panels? (Wind is pretty good but still not perfect.) The energy required to make a new EV and the energy required to use it as well as the environmental damage done in the process makes me wonder where the tipping point is. When is it no longer beneficial to buy a new EV as compared to just keeping your current vehicle maintained properly? (With externalities taken into account.)
I've never found those numbers. I've been curious about 'em for a while. I've found some bits and pieces and have had others link me to some other bits and pieces but no real conclusions had been drawn as to what is better, overall, and where the tipping point is with all the externalities included.
I agree entirely and think that we can just go by what the authors seem to prefer. For instance, using Piers Anthony, he calls his Xanth works Fantasy and his earlier works are Science Fiction. It won't be perfect but it *might* be better. There are going to be blurred lines and whatnot but unicorns, elves, and magic are not, generally, science.
Maybe we need a genre called "Science Fantasy" for the space opera type stuff. Where the "science" isn't science at all but is made up stuff that has no science behind it at all we can put that in its own category and then have the three genres for better classification? Still, some will blur the lines. "But it doesn't violate the laws of physics." True but catching my fart and painting it green is probably do-able within the laws of physics but probably still quite impossible.
Alright, that's not my best analogy...
I mentioned Retief in this thread. I'm not surprised that nobody picked up on it. It's overlooked binge reading material. I've a few well-thumbed anthologies kicking around at the house unless someone's wandered off with them. (They're reasonably good about returning them.) I wasn't able to find a whole lot online for you (because I think you, in particular, might be interested if time allows you such) but I did find this:
I'm attempting a grab with HTTrack but I won't have the rights to distribute that work. Should the grab be successful then you can ping me by email (if wanted) and I might let slip an open port and let you grab it from the network or, you know, just mail the results to you in zipped format. Obviously you should then fall in love with the works and buy the rest of them. They're great rainy day works where you can just dive in and forget the rain and be amused for a while with something that's not very serious and yet, strangely, not pretentious and actually good about being what it is and knowing what it is. I am, obviously, a fan.;-)
Nice info, thanks! To give an example, someone was recently rescuing some documents. Documents I'd never need (probably) but I felt the collection, storage, and archiving of such was important. They wanted donations for that one specific thing and I was quite happy to fire up a burner email (I prefer anonymous donations, I only write off large donations to the major charities) and send some money along.
I can think of a few things that I'd find to be improvements to the system. I prefer anonymous donations but, at the same time, I don't mind being pinged when they need more money for that same cause. What I absolutely hate is the groups that spam (for lack of a better word) and use your mailing address and whatnot to ask for money every chance they get. I don't mind giving, in fact I love it and I'm very happy to be in a position where I can do so, but there's a limit to my patience.
My favorites are generally really good about doing it better, still not perfect, but better than some of the others. I've used specific email addresses and seen my name shared with other charities in the past - I know because they're now using an email that was set up just for one interaction with a catch-all address. These are some of my favorites:
Red Cross, a little spammy but not bad. They get money and blood. Habitat for Humanity, almost not spammy enough - they get time, work, and money. ACLU National, not bad but kind of annoying - they get yearly donations. ACLU Maine Chapter, fantastic and pretty good at letting me know what they're looking for - they get yearly and regular donations. Heifer International, very little begging and good information about the organization and what they're doing - they get money though I've given time as well. EFF, not too bad at all but a bit more volume than I prefer - they get yearly and periodical donations. Kents Hill School, absolutely perfect. They got a trust with which to provide scholarships based on essays with a preference to lower incomes and technology.
Hmm... Not doing it right and still getting money... My alma mater, seriously? Seriously? I *know* what I donated when I sold. I know they're not impoverished. Why send me begging emails, letters, and phone solicitations every month? They get a yearly donation because I still feel obligated to give. MIT has like four of five different things to give to and they all, frequently, want more money. If I gave them everything they asked for, I'd be unable to donate to anyone else. They're kind of annoying, to be honest. They still get money. Damn it...
*sighs* As much as I hate tracking and profiling, I don't think I'd mind if they kept it internal and then used it to ask me for aid when, and only when, they're needing something that I'm interested in. Otherwise, yeah, I'll get back around to making another donation but it will usually come as I have left over money at the end of the month or at the start of the year where I budget out what I hope to spend for that year. I do not have unlimited funds and if I reduce my hoarded stash then it impacts my ability to accumulate more. Something about the tipping point you mentioned where it's no longer relevant is probably not entirely dissimilar.
At any rate, thanks for confirming what I kind of suspected but wasn't sure if it was an oddity with me. I do, at times, exhibit some strange behaviors.;-) If you happen to recollect where I can read the study, or the abstract, then I'd be grateful. No big deal if you don't remember of can't be stuffed finding it again.
Heh... Not all of us. I actually have a girlfriend again. She's even attractive and young. She's not even from Canada and some people *do* know her. To make it even more odd. I did used to date a chick who has a Slashdot account of her own.
Absolutely! For science! We just need hookers and a video game with naked chicks in it. And lots and lots of empirical evidence. This study could take years!
I think we should get NOW to fund it. This way they can prove video games with sex make men horny. They can then use that evidence to apply for laws and post the results proudly on their website. I'll do some of the research work for free but I'm going to need a whole lot of well paid research assistants. I know I can count on you!
I should also see what effects are had with various drugs, and drug cocktails, are involved. I'd certainly consider drinking again, for science. Oh, we should also have a scale of beauty and see what effects those have on our study.
This is going to take a lot of testing. The data needs to be accumulated! For science!!!
It is just a title to use, a placeholder, to describe the results we're seeing. It could be purple unicorn farts and it would still be dark matter. Though, I presume, they'll change the name if it turns out to be purple unicorn farts. I find the choice of title to be rather silly, it's like the "God Particle" all over again.
No drinking, not even weed (I'm in Florida where they *really* frown on weed). I must have missed something. I mean, I don't normally agree with the guy but he's not generally so wrong that I'd accuse him of not reading more than 140 characters. I'm guessing I missed something.;-) It won't have been the first (or last) time.
I think we're looking at this wrong. What we *should* be doing is getting funding so that we can perform stupid ass studies that confirm the obvious and were probably already confirmed results from miles of other data points that didn't necessitate feeding candy to children and subjecting them to ads.
We should do a study on the ease and effectiveness of removing sweets from very young children who've not yet reached the age where they're considered toddlers. I wonder who we can get to pay for that.
What's odd is that they seem surprised that the kids ate the candy at a greater rate after playing a game involving food. I bet I'd be horny after playing a game that involved naked chicks. I'd probably screw 55% more women offered to me immediately after playing such a game and damned if I care if it was an ad. Yes, we're influenced by pictures. This is valuable research, how?
Thanks! I'll have to ask them to put me on a list that they can ping if they have an interesting project coming up and are needing extra funding to assist with that. It's surely part ego but I really prefer those types of targeted donations as opposed to my traditional yearly or monthly giving. I dunno... Something about helping to solve a specific problem just makes me feel good? It's not really easy to explain and I'm not entirely sure why it is that it makes it seem more significant to me.
Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, that has no bearing on anything other than a school zone? I believe there is at least one other state where it is lawful to conceal carry without a permit but I'm a bit lazy so I didn't look that up - I'm going by memory from an article in the Sun Journal. So long as one isn't stomping around in school zones with a conceal weapon then I'm not seeing where that law would make this unlawful. It's not impossible that Maine would make an unconstitutional law but it's unlikely that they did not do their homework first as this law has been a long time coming and has gone through the ringer a few times as it was hashed out, worked, reworded, and then finally finished a few years after it was first proposed (IIRC).
Nah, not all of us were bigots back then. Sure, many were but we were mostly just kids and being on base meant we were exposed to people from lots of cultures. Racism wasn't really that rampant where I was and by this time. It was elsewhere but I was kind of in an exclusion zone by virtue of living on or near base.
I realize you think you're being smart but, oddly enough, you're basically correct. Not only do *I* not know what it is, nobody else does either. They don't know how it works. They sure as hell have no idea how it exists. And, anyone who doesn't agree is *probably* an idiot. They may have a legitimate gripe but nobody has put forth a reasonable alternative.
See, it's basically what ever it is that is causing this effect that we see. We can see the effect. It seems like, with this news, we can even predict this effect. Whatever this effect is caused by is Dark Matter. Dark Matter does not, as of yet, have a real definition except it's basically a placeholder for whatever it is that's causing this effect. "Strange shit we don't really understand but causes stuff like gravitational lensing and makes Newtonian Physics not quite right" is a very long name so Dark Matter it is.
I think there are a few Retief shorts where he's temporarily living on a moon. For some odd reasons, I've always enjoyed those books/shorts/novellas. They're like the Remo Williams books except they're kind of science fiction and slightly more plausible than Remo and Sinanju. I also like the bad, horrible really, acronyms.
If you go back and find some of the earlier Sci-Fi works then they sometimes had an extra section at the end where they explained the theories and had the maths to demonstrate the theories. I kind of like to split the genre mentally into two teams - hard and soft science fiction. If it's based on real science and actually takes the time to make note of it then it mostly falls into the hard category. Else, it's soft science fiction and that has its place but the two are not the same to me.
Fantasy does, of course, have its place but that shouldn't be mixed in with science fiction. I dislike libraries and book stores that do that. I'm sorry but the Xanth series is not science fiction and doesn't belong there. However, his earlier works are science fiction and they do belong mixed in there. (Piers Anthony wrote some good science fiction before the Xanth series became his bread and butter and it's not a series that I've enjoyed.)
Hey now... I don't always agree with his conclusions or opinions but I don't think that's a fair charge to level at him. He's generally fairly fluent in a bunch of different areas. That implies an ability to read and comprehend messages with a greater length than 140 characters. It's a strange accusation to make and, quite likely, false.
Slashdot Mirror
Your probably going to need the owner's permission for that. I can imagine that some may not opt to allow such even if you explained the situation to them carefully and rationally.
If you want reliability above all else, the answer lies in Japan's economy cars, as it always has.
You have a strange definition of "always." On the other end of the scale, look at Saab (before they were sold to GM) and Volvo. See certain model years of a C-class from Mercedes. See certain models of BMW, notably the 7 series. See the Jaguar brand, Aston Martin cars, and even the original Mini. You will find great reliability, even today, with any of those vehicles so long as you maintain them properly. The same is, usually, true with most vehicles these days. There are, of course, exceptions but the point is that maintaining the vehicle is of great importance.
The idea that Japan has "always" been the answer for reliability makes me think you were not a driver in the late 1960s, 1970s, and even into the 1980s. At risk of sounding like an asshole, I'm not actually sure you're qualified to opine on the subject. What they were was easy to repair and cheap. They were not some pinnacle of reliability and are not always so now. There are too many variables to make a single conclusion including what you're willing to spend, how you're willing to spend it, and what your use case is.
I think it was in reference to all German cars being in the shop. I've a number of German vehicles, including the one I have with me on my current journey, and while they do spend time in the shop that time is spent on maintaining them and not being spent doing repair work. I bring my vehicle in for servicing and tune-ups more frequently than most because I'm a bit more likely than most to push the envelope. I replace parts before they break because I don't like being stranded. I maintain my vehicles because it costs less, in the long run, than paying for major repairs.
I am quite fond of the 6 and 7 series from BMW. My current is a 650i, yes - that one. To look at it, you'd have no idea how much it cost nor how much power is under the hood. Of course, it's a bit different if you hear it start up or if I apply the throttle a bit quickly (it's a low rumble, almost a growl and a rather pleasing note when the turbos spin up at high rates, harmonized well actually). But, no, unless you're familiar with the model you'd have no idea how expensive it is nor what the performance metrics are. It's a lovely ride and I've simply had the oil changed twice and a lube job once. I'll probably bring it in to a dealership soon and have them go over it with a fine-tooth comb even though it's still new.
So, sure, my car spends some time in the shop but that's because I want to keep it in peak condition and to catch problems before they happen. If the part is showing signs of wear then replace it before it fails. If I wanted a budget car, I'd buy a Honda. I don't. I didn't. And I'm happy with my choice. The accusation laid that German cars spend more time in the shop isn't entirely accurate. It's also not always a bad thing that your car is in the shop. Maintaining a car is a good thing instead of waiting for it to break and cause additional, unneeded, expenses.
I think you'll find that nothing is safe. Have you seen the various things that go into making batteries and solar panels? (Wind is pretty good but still not perfect.) The energy required to make a new EV and the energy required to use it as well as the environmental damage done in the process makes me wonder where the tipping point is. When is it no longer beneficial to buy a new EV as compared to just keeping your current vehicle maintained properly? (With externalities taken into account.)
I've never found those numbers. I've been curious about 'em for a while. I've found some bits and pieces and have had others link me to some other bits and pieces but no real conclusions had been drawn as to what is better, overall, and where the tipping point is with all the externalities included.
I agree entirely and think that we can just go by what the authors seem to prefer. For instance, using Piers Anthony, he calls his Xanth works Fantasy and his earlier works are Science Fiction. It won't be perfect but it *might* be better. There are going to be blurred lines and whatnot but unicorns, elves, and magic are not, generally, science.
Maybe we need a genre called "Science Fantasy" for the space opera type stuff. Where the "science" isn't science at all but is made up stuff that has no science behind it at all we can put that in its own category and then have the three genres for better classification? Still, some will blur the lines. "But it doesn't violate the laws of physics." True but catching my fart and painting it green is probably do-able within the laws of physics but probably still quite impossible.
Alright, that's not my best analogy...
I mentioned Retief in this thread. I'm not surprised that nobody picked up on it. It's overlooked binge reading material. I've a few well-thumbed anthologies kicking around at the house unless someone's wandered off with them. (They're reasonably good about returning them.) I wasn't able to find a whole lot online for you (because I think you, in particular, might be interested if time allows you such) but I did find this:
http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1...
I'm attempting a grab with HTTrack but I won't have the rights to distribute that work. Should the grab be successful then you can ping me by email (if wanted) and I might let slip an open port and let you grab it from the network or, you know, just mail the results to you in zipped format. Obviously you should then fall in love with the works and buy the rest of them. They're great rainy day works where you can just dive in and forget the rain and be amused for a while with something that's not very serious and yet, strangely, not pretentious and actually good about being what it is and knowing what it is. I am, obviously, a fan. ;-)
Nice info, thanks! To give an example, someone was recently rescuing some documents. Documents I'd never need (probably) but I felt the collection, storage, and archiving of such was important. They wanted donations for that one specific thing and I was quite happy to fire up a burner email (I prefer anonymous donations, I only write off large donations to the major charities) and send some money along.
I can think of a few things that I'd find to be improvements to the system. I prefer anonymous donations but, at the same time, I don't mind being pinged when they need more money for that same cause. What I absolutely hate is the groups that spam (for lack of a better word) and use your mailing address and whatnot to ask for money every chance they get. I don't mind giving, in fact I love it and I'm very happy to be in a position where I can do so, but there's a limit to my patience.
My favorites are generally really good about doing it better, still not perfect, but better than some of the others. I've used specific email addresses and seen my name shared with other charities in the past - I know because they're now using an email that was set up just for one interaction with a catch-all address. These are some of my favorites:
Red Cross, a little spammy but not bad. They get money and blood.
Habitat for Humanity, almost not spammy enough - they get time, work, and money.
ACLU National, not bad but kind of annoying - they get yearly donations.
ACLU Maine Chapter, fantastic and pretty good at letting me know what they're looking for - they get yearly and regular donations.
Heifer International, very little begging and good information about the organization and what they're doing - they get money though I've given time as well.
EFF, not too bad at all but a bit more volume than I prefer - they get yearly and periodical donations.
Kents Hill School, absolutely perfect. They got a trust with which to provide scholarships based on essays with a preference to lower incomes and technology.
Hmm... Not doing it right and still getting money...
My alma mater, seriously? Seriously? I *know* what I donated when I sold. I know they're not impoverished. Why send me begging emails, letters, and phone solicitations every month? They get a yearly donation because I still feel obligated to give. MIT has like four of five different things to give to and they all, frequently, want more money. If I gave them everything they asked for, I'd be unable to donate to anyone else. They're kind of annoying, to be honest. They still get money. Damn it...
*sighs* As much as I hate tracking and profiling, I don't think I'd mind if they kept it internal and then used it to ask me for aid when, and only when, they're needing something that I'm interested in. Otherwise, yeah, I'll get back around to making another donation but it will usually come as I have left over money at the end of the month or at the start of the year where I budget out what I hope to spend for that year. I do not have unlimited funds and if I reduce my hoarded stash then it impacts my ability to accumulate more. Something about the tipping point you mentioned where it's no longer relevant is probably not entirely dissimilar.
At any rate, thanks for confirming what I kind of suspected but wasn't sure if it was an oddity with me. I do, at times, exhibit some strange behaviors. ;-) If you happen to recollect where I can read the study, or the abstract, then I'd be grateful. No big deal if you don't remember of can't be stuffed finding it again.
Heh... Not all of us. I actually have a girlfriend again. She's even attractive and young. She's not even from Canada and some people *do* know her. To make it even more odd. I did used to date a chick who has a Slashdot account of her own.
Absolutely! For science! We just need hookers and a video game with naked chicks in it. And lots and lots of empirical evidence. This study could take years!
I think we should get NOW to fund it. This way they can prove video games with sex make men horny. They can then use that evidence to apply for laws and post the results proudly on their website. I'll do some of the research work for free but I'm going to need a whole lot of well paid research assistants. I know I can count on you!
I should also see what effects are had with various drugs, and drug cocktails, are involved. I'd certainly consider drinking again, for science. Oh, we should also have a scale of beauty and see what effects those have on our study.
This is going to take a lot of testing. The data needs to be accumulated! For science!!!
I know, I know... But, I'll answer anyhow.
http://www.thefreedictionary.c...
Thanks! That was rather clear. You should write more often. ;-)
That took me longer to get than it should have. :/
It is just a title to use, a placeholder, to describe the results we're seeing. It could be purple unicorn farts and it would still be dark matter. Though, I presume, they'll change the name if it turns out to be purple unicorn farts. I find the choice of title to be rather silly, it's like the "God Particle" all over again.
No drinking, not even weed (I'm in Florida where they *really* frown on weed). I must have missed something. I mean, I don't normally agree with the guy but he's not generally so wrong that I'd accuse him of not reading more than 140 characters. I'm guessing I missed something. ;-) It won't have been the first (or last) time.
I'm pretty sure we already had evidence of that. We used said evidence when we made Camel get rid of Joe Cool.
Why would you leave such low-hanging fruit? *sighs* Now, normally I'd never say such things and I'm sure your mother's a saint but...
You're right, I guess... Your mom doesn't actually count for anything at all.
Sheesh...
I think we're looking at this wrong. What we *should* be doing is getting funding so that we can perform stupid ass studies that confirm the obvious and were probably already confirmed results from miles of other data points that didn't necessitate feeding candy to children and subjecting them to ads.
We should do a study on the ease and effectiveness of removing sweets from very young children who've not yet reached the age where they're considered toddlers. I wonder who we can get to pay for that.
What's odd is that they seem surprised that the kids ate the candy at a greater rate after playing a game involving food. I bet I'd be horny after playing a game that involved naked chicks. I'd probably screw 55% more women offered to me immediately after playing such a game and damned if I care if it was an ad. Yes, we're influenced by pictures. This is valuable research, how?
Stop! This level of technical jargon is beyond my ken!
Thanks! I'll have to ask them to put me on a list that they can ping if they have an interesting project coming up and are needing extra funding to assist with that. It's surely part ego but I really prefer those types of targeted donations as opposed to my traditional yearly or monthly giving. I dunno... Something about helping to solve a specific problem just makes me feel good? It's not really easy to explain and I'm not entirely sure why it is that it makes it seem more significant to me.
Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, that has no bearing on anything other than a school zone? I believe there is at least one other state where it is lawful to conceal carry without a permit but I'm a bit lazy so I didn't look that up - I'm going by memory from an article in the Sun Journal. So long as one isn't stomping around in school zones with a conceal weapon then I'm not seeing where that law would make this unlawful. It's not impossible that Maine would make an unconstitutional law but it's unlikely that they did not do their homework first as this law has been a long time coming and has gone through the ringer a few times as it was hashed out, worked, reworded, and then finally finished a few years after it was first proposed (IIRC).
Nah, not all of us were bigots back then. Sure, many were but we were mostly just kids and being on base meant we were exposed to people from lots of cultures. Racism wasn't really that rampant where I was and by this time. It was elsewhere but I was kind of in an exclusion zone by virtue of living on or near base.
I realize you think you're being smart but, oddly enough, you're basically correct. Not only do *I* not know what it is, nobody else does either. They don't know how it works. They sure as hell have no idea how it exists. And, anyone who doesn't agree is *probably* an idiot. They may have a legitimate gripe but nobody has put forth a reasonable alternative.
See, it's basically what ever it is that is causing this effect that we see. We can see the effect. It seems like, with this news, we can even predict this effect. Whatever this effect is caused by is Dark Matter. Dark Matter does not, as of yet, have a real definition except it's basically a placeholder for whatever it is that's causing this effect. "Strange shit we don't really understand but causes stuff like gravitational lensing and makes Newtonian Physics not quite right" is a very long name so Dark Matter it is.
I think there are a few Retief shorts where he's temporarily living on a moon. For some odd reasons, I've always enjoyed those books/shorts/novellas. They're like the Remo Williams books except they're kind of science fiction and slightly more plausible than Remo and Sinanju. I also like the bad, horrible really, acronyms.
If you go back and find some of the earlier Sci-Fi works then they sometimes had an extra section at the end where they explained the theories and had the maths to demonstrate the theories. I kind of like to split the genre mentally into two teams - hard and soft science fiction. If it's based on real science and actually takes the time to make note of it then it mostly falls into the hard category. Else, it's soft science fiction and that has its place but the two are not the same to me.
Fantasy does, of course, have its place but that shouldn't be mixed in with science fiction. I dislike libraries and book stores that do that. I'm sorry but the Xanth series is not science fiction and doesn't belong there. However, his earlier works are science fiction and they do belong mixed in there. (Piers Anthony wrote some good science fiction before the Xanth series became his bread and butter and it's not a series that I've enjoyed.)
Hey now... I don't always agree with his conclusions or opinions but I don't think that's a fair charge to level at him. He's generally fairly fluent in a bunch of different areas. That implies an ability to read and comprehend messages with a greater length than 140 characters. It's a strange accusation to make and, quite likely, false.