Random Thoughts X: Impromptu Interpretations

[Gori the Grey]

I mean, frankly, it's partly on Goofus' parents--for naming him that.

 

[Takhisis]

The Roman calendar had fewer months than we have, and their new year started at a different time than ours does.

Actually, by historical times both the Romans and the Greeks had twelve-month calendars.

The errors arising from confusion between inclusive and exclusive counting still occasionally happen in Latin's daughter languages, but this is a mere sidenote.

 

[amadeus]

It’s called menopause but I’ve never heard of a man having it. They should call it womenopause.

 

[Arakhor]

That's clearly a joke, but I will point out that meno- refers to the monthly cycle, rather than the sex that experiences it.

 

[Ferocitus]

I doubt that the internet would get too angry if you renamed it to homopause.

 

[Kyriakos]

That's clearly a joke, but I will point out that meno- refers to the monthly cycle, rather than the sex that experiences it.

That's the history of it, but what about herstory?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

That's the history of it, but what about herstory?

Do I have to invite Mary back to yell at people?

 

[choxorn]

I doubt that the internet would get too angry if you renamed it to homopause.

This would imply the existence of heteropause, and possibly bipause.

 

[Takhisis]

Do I have to invite Mary back to yell at people?

Invite Mary back, but not to yell at people.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Invite Mary back, but not to yell at people.

I don't tell her what to say when she gets here. I just tell her people miss her, and sometimes she comes back.

 

[IglooDame]

I bought a tenner worth of lottery tickets, for the fantasy of winning a half-billion dollars. A new option popped up: how I'd go about spending a bit of that to set up a social network that'd be disaster-proof and resistant to deliberate efforts to take it down.

 

[thecrazyscot]

I bought a tenner worth of lottery tickets, for the fantasy of winning a half-billion dollars. A new option popped up: how I'd go about spending a bit of that to set up a social network that'd be disaster-proof and resistant to deliberate efforts to take it down.

If I won, could I spend a bit of that to remove all social media networks instead?

 

[cardgame]

Not even if you spent 200% of it...

 

[The_J]

I bought a tenner worth of lottery tickets, for the fantasy of winning a half-billion dollars. A new option popped up: how I'd go about spending a bit of that to set up a social network that'd be disaster-proof and resistant to deliberate efforts to take it down.

There's the de-centralized network "Mastodon", where everyone basically runs their own server. Due to the de-centralization, it should be really hard to take it down. So maybe no need to spend any money on your side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_(software)
https://joinmastodon.org/

 

[thecrazyscot]

Not even if you spent 200% of it...

Shame.

 

[EgonSpengler]

A friend of mine who's 85 is developing a bit of a stutter. I'm not sure if that's just part of getting to his age, or indicates something else. He's still sharp otherwise (he even still works a few hours a week, in a consultancy role with his old firm).

 

[Traitorfish]

It's has occurred to me that the reason "punch Nazis" became such a weirdly contentious phrase not so much because the two sides of the American culture war disagree about the word "Nazi", but because they disagree about the word "punch".

The cultural left generally adhere to the belief that you should not punch anybody, that interpersonal violence is strictly forbidden, that it represents a breakdown of social norms at a fairly fundamental level. Punching somebody represents a profound breach of social norms, it implicitly places either you or the target outside of society and its protections. Calls to "punch Nazis" thus read as a demand for the more general social ostracization of Nazis, phrased in colourful terms; "punching" a writ of cultural and social outlawry.

The cultural right generally adhere to the belief that sometimes you just gotta punch people, that interpersonal violence is an unfortunate but inevitable fact of life in a world in which emotional people will find themselves in conflict. Punching somebody represents a specific act of violence, but not necessarily much more. Calls to "punch Nazis" thus read as a demand for random acts of violence acts political opponents for the purpose of humiliation or intimidation; punching as a self-contained violent act.

Certainly a lot of right-wing hysteria about "Antifa" was cynical hyperbole, but I think there is a good faith reading of the average conservative's response to the "punch Nazis" meme that allows for them to have experience genuine revulsion, originating in a genuine miscommunication.

 

[Takhisis]

Step one: spend hours preparing documents for printing.
Step two: fetch the printer and cables and stuff from another room, set them on table, plug everything in.
Step three: realise that the OS has been reinstalled so the printer must be reinstalled as well.
Step four: start compiling information, getting mild headache pre-emptively (it's past midnight by this point)
Step five: inspired leap of logic: this is freaking Linux! Plug-and-play, baby! Just tug out the USB cable, plug it in again, but this time ram it all the way in because sometimes it refuses to work elsewise.
Step six: the autodetection software does its stuff and the printer is ready to go.
Step seven: printing, beautiful printing!

This printer is both angel and demon.

 

[Kyriakos]

This printer is both angel and demon.

HP Lovecraft.

 

[GenMarshall]

HP Lovecraft.

Kyriakos, why did you summon N'zoth onto this realm?!