Bloody Useless Technology Angst
cad...@vaxa.strath.ac.uk
Today she sent me 4 >100-line messages, which I was about to reply to when
I was logged out. This happens all the time, during the evenings.
The direct connection to my mailbox machine kept going down, so I
tried to bring the mailbox across using NIFTP (like FTP, but crap).
A total of 25 bytes had been transferred when the job suddenly disappeared
from the queue.
I logged in on my mailbox machine and my mailbox wasn't Already There.
("/usr/mail/robotron not found")
I want to cry.
robo
ps Silver, this means your mail has disappeared too
Jym Dyer
__ I suppose the words "gril" and "grilf" are some kinda ultra-
_ cool spelling hack that only some self-obsessed all-male
inner circle uses to show that they all used to belong to the
same mailing list at some point.
``Technological progress is like an axe in the hands
of a pathological criminal.''
-- Albert Einstein
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<_Jym_>
Hi Ho Silver
$To be honest, I find myself using "spelling hacks" from mailing lists,
$newsgroups, etc.. without thinking about it. Then sometimes, if I catch
$them, I change them back, but they look really weird un-permutated.
Yeah, doncha hate it when that happens?
$..and the mailing list in question has some grils, too..
Yeah, mostly unavailable.
So Nomia, d'you think these folx are ready for all our acronyms?
silver "no SNTF, one ESPN, one CPLO, many LOs"
--
__ __ _ | ...!nexus.yorku.edu!xrtll!silver | always
(__ | | | | |_ |_) >----------------------------------< searching
__) | |_ \/ |__ | \ | if you don't like my posts, type | for
_____________________/ find / -print|xargs cat|compress | SNTF
Paul Callahan
>In article <blah.blah.blah> sil...@xrtll.UUCP (Hi Ho Silver) writes:
>[attacks of unconscious spelling permutations]
>> Yeah, doncha hate it when that happens?
>
Au contraire. These anagrams are much *more* convenient, because their
spelling is closer to the order in which one's fingers naturally fall against
the keyboard. I suggest that to optimize words for speed, we adopt a strict
left-to-right ordering, based on the QWERTY keyboard (or Dvorak if you insist on
being difficult about it).
Given this convention, the correct spelling for those ever-dreaded purveyors
o' angst would be "srgil." Of course, we oh-so-enlightened male feminist types
would say "wenmo" (which conveniently turns out to be more pronouncable).
--
Paul Callahan
call...@cs.jhu.edu
Hi Ho Silver
$>$..and the mailing list in question has some grils, too..
$> Yeah, mostly unavailable.
$Or, in any case, hundreds or thousands of miles (km for you, silver) away..
*snif*
$LDR's are Not Allowed.
Huh? Tell that to our Noble Founder and see what he sez! He is, after
all, in his second LDR since the list was founded, both of them with grils
from the aforementioned list.
$> So Nomia, d'you think these folx are ready for all our acronyms?
$"Wow." Aren't they already in use in talk.bizarre? Do we even have
$a list? Do we even know what they mean?
Naw, they aren't all in use there. I got a letter from a t.b lurker
commenting on my .signature (see below). After nastily flaming him for
being such a newbie, I felt obliged, out of the Canadian politeness and
kindness of my heart, to inform him what SNTF meant. So y'see, not all
of the people know these things, just like most people wouldn't notice,
I'm sure, how well adjusted this paragraph is without being told so.
$>silver "no SNTF, one ESPN, one CPLO, many LOs"
$Nomia "maybe SNTF, no ESPNs, no CPLOs, and y'know, I haven't noticed any LOs."
BTW, I think we need another acronym to denote that one is perhaps being
chased by an "unavailable" woman. Geez.
silver "doesn't know which acronym to use"
Rodney Peck II
it's faster to type a word that alternates letters between hands than to
type one with several letters from the same hand in a row. in fact,
it is much easier to type "girl" than "gril" for exactly that reason.
oddly enough, "women" is another word that naturally alternates letters.
you of course see why alternating letters is faster -- while you are
pressing the key for on letter with your left hand, your right hand can
be moving into position for the next letter and simlilarly for the left
while the right is typing. admitedly, you have to be a really good typist
to notice this effect, but how many computer people do you know that aren't
fast typists?
--
Rodney
Jym Dyer
> "wenmo" (which conveniently turns out to be more pronouncable).
__ No, that would be "wynmo." Any word with "m," "e," and "n"
_ in it reeks of evil testosterone, don'tcha know.
<_Jym_>
:::.-----.::: Jym Dyer ::::::: j...@mica.berkeley.edu :::.-----.:::
::/ | \::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/ | \::
::\ /|\ /::: Iraq Out of Kuwait ::::::::::::\ /|\ /::
:::`-----':::: U.S. Out of the Middle East :::::::::::::`-----':::
Anton Rang
LDRs are definitely Not Allowed. But they're fun to start anyway.
>Do we even have a list? Do we even know what they mean?
Uh, we had a list once. I think I could find it.
>Nomia "maybe SNTF, no ESPNs, no CPLOs, and y'know, I haven't noticed any LOs."
Anton "no local anybody, but far-away SNTF & ESPN"
+---------------------------+------------------+-------------+
| Anton Rang (grad student) | ra...@cs.wisc.edu | UW--Madison |
+---------------------------+------------------+-------------+
Hi Ho Silver
$Given this convention, the correct spelling for those ever-dreaded purveyors
$o' angst would be "srgil." Of course, we oh-so-enlightened male feminist types
Not a good choice; dreadfully hard to type since the same finger is
used for R and for G and it would have to move at an alarming rate. But
perhaps a slight modification to travel across the home row, then return
one level higher, would be better. This would yield sglir. It's easier
to pronounce than srgil, too.
$would say "wenmo" (which conveniently turns out to be more pronouncable).
Hmm ... once again, we have the same finger used on two different
keys in sequence, and the earlier rule wouldn't help since they're in
the same row. Therefore, we need to arrange the letters starting on
one of the two letters and ending on the other. Let us travel counter-
clockwise from m, and we have moewn. Heh. Sounds like "moan". I like.
silver "or shoudl that be svlire, counter-clockwise from s?"
Hi Ho Silver
$it's faster to type a word that alternates letters between hands than to
$type one with several letters from the same hand in a row. in fact,
$it is much easier to type "girl" than "gril" for exactly that reason.
Not for me, since it uses all different fingers anyway. gril. Of
course, I've been typing that one for a year and a bit now ...
$oddly enough, "women" is another word that naturally alternates letters.
$you of course see why alternating letters is faster -- while you are
$pressing the key for on letter with your left hand, your right hand can
$be moving into position for the next letter and simlilarly for the left
$while the right is typing. admitedly, you have to be a really good typist
But but but but for a word such as "girl"/"gril", all of your fingers
can move into place without disturbing each other. Hi.
$to notice this effect, but how many computer people do you know that aren't
$fast typists?
I'd post my typing speed except
a) I don't know quite what it is
b) I might be accused of having confused it with my penis size ... oh,
this isn't talk.bizarre. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Daniel TENENBAUM
The first causality of war is spelling.