Comments on: Moderation Reminders

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:09:23 +0000

“whether it’s cheating to use a well-known historical reference even though you know it isn’t correct.”

Cidu Bill (21) - The problem with this is that when so many people assume something to be correct the person who disagrees, although correct, appears to be the ignorant one. I would say that context is everything in this matter.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:08:41 +0000

I don’t know about cheating, Bill, and I respect your desire for shorthand, but I can’t stand misinformation. I am not even crazy about using terms like “sunrise” & “sunset”, as they imply that the sun is doing the moving, not that the earth is doing the turning. I like to describe the horizon rising to block the sun at day’s end, as that makes me more aware of how stunning it is to be standing still & constantly turning.

These misattributions–Twain, Einstein, Vonnegut, Lincoln–are interesting in a literary & sociological nature: why these figures? In addition, it’s particularly apt–or inapt–to have Einstein in this band, considering how he was trying to change our perceptions of the universe.

Hey, did my rhyming words slow down my comment’s approval with the automatic censor? Thanks, as always, Bill for your hosting this site.

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:26:17 +0000

Matthew, I was aware that Einstein didn’t actually say it; but it’s so widely attributed to him that I knew I could write “Einstein’s definition of insanity” and be immediately understood.

Of course this begs the question of whether it’s cheating to use a well-known historical reference even though you know it isn’t correct.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:21:03 +0000

Small bit of pedantry: This definition of insanity–doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different result–is not Einstein’s. I sought its author, and it was probably someone writing an old Alcoholics Anonymous manual, but that author mentioned it as if it had been around for a while. I suspect that the definition’s originator merely spoke it in a meeting as an insight, and it became a catchphrase. We may never know the originator, but it weren’t Einstein.

Is it possible that the censor is triggered by the “-uck”? A description of a duck that bucks while in the muck, and, in one tuck, finds a puck and says, “Yuck! I will never have good luck!”–will that go right through?

By: jjmcgaffey

jjmcgaffey — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:24:55 +0000

I fix home computers - it’s my business. I have often told a client that, in any other context, doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome is madness - but in computers, it’s what works at least half the time. Ridiculous, but true.

By: Kamino Neko

Kamino Neko — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:20:35 +0000

Elyrest - it’s a red flag for spam, specifically, porn spam, because it means fellatio.

By: Pinny

Pinny — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:49:49 +0000

Sometimes I post a 2nd time (if my post does not appear) simply because I’m not sure if I got to the next page by pressing the “Submit Comment” button or if I inadvertently did something else.

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:38:03 +0000

Pirk (15) - When I use suck I don’t think of fellatio which, I am told, is a very pleasant experience. I always think of something going down the drain or taking something good away. There are many positive attributes to sucking. A lollipop can be sucked. Air can be sucked in or out. You can suck on many things (sweets/sours).

“it’s a red-flag for spam” - Why is it a re-flag for spam? Am I too naive?

By: Pirk

Pirk — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:17:52 +0000

isn’t the S-word pretty terrible though? I mean, it is referring to fellatio, right? I always thought it was weird that it was so acceptable in semi-polite conversation.
not that I have anything against cusses.

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:09:08 +0000

It’s not that the word “suck” is so terrible, but rather because it’s a red-flag for spam.