freenode #wikipedia

2008-04-20 22:15 < Monobi> quanticle, we'll pay 64 billion this year for crappy schools
2008-04-20 22:15 < ECB> the 1k acres is actually 3 parcels
2008-04-20 22:16 < ECB> well, many parcels
2008-04-20 22:16 < ECB> but 3 distinct group
2008-04-20 22:16 < ECB> also we have 10 acres in the center of the state
2008-04-20 22:16 < Monobi> quanticle, the private sector could produce the best schools in the world for 64 billion
2008-04-20 22:16 < ECB> my bet would be the thumb, access to the best water and most land
2008-04-20 22:16 < ECB> deer are pretty plentiful, bears are minimal, and we could arrive in about 45 mins
2008-04-20 22:17 < ECB> =]
2008-04-20 22:17 < Zelta> ECB: gearing towards the apocalypse? ;)
2008-04-20 22:17 < ECB> hell yea Zelta
2008-04-20 22:17 < ECB> especially if hillary clinton is elected to office :/
2008-04-20 22:17 < ECB> I honestly think she is more likely to get assasinated then barack
2008-04-20 22:18 < Monobi> ECB, no way.
2008-04-20 22:18 < Zelta> I don't agree with either of them
2008-04-20 22:18 < Monobi> ECB, Hussein Obama's odds are much greater
2008-04-20 22:18 < ECB> we are in trouble regardless really.
2008-04-20 22:18 < ECB> mccain is a joke
2008-04-20 22:18 < ECB> hillary is useless
2008-04-20 22:18 < ECB> hussein obama will carry with the young vote
2008-04-20 22:19 < ECB> inb4/puff daddy rocks the vote
2008-04-20 22:19 < Monobi> ECB, we need Ron Paul :D
2008-04-20 22:19 < ECB> Monobi I think in 2012 he will be ready to shine at his full potential
2008-04-20 22:19 < ECB> if he isnt dead by then =]
2008-04-20 22:19 < Messedrocker> yes
2008-04-20 22:20 < Messedrocker> we need ron paul so we can go back to the days of before T. R.
2008-04-20 22:20 < Monobi> TR being
2008-04-20 22:20 < carl-m> can anyone here read chinese?
2008-04-20 22:20 < Monobi> carl-m, I'm sure they can in #wikipedia-zh
2008-04-20 22:20 < Messedrocker> Theodore Roosevelt
2008-04-20 22:20 < Monobi> carl-m, ignore
2008-04-20 22:20 < Monobi> Messedrocker, haha, why's that?
2008-04-20 22:20 < carl-m> Monobi: "they" are scarce
2008-04-20 22:20 < ECB> we need to form a confederacy of nation-states to follow the plans set forth by our forefathers
2008-04-20 22:21 < ECB> but im gonna grab some dinner
2008-04-20 22:21 < ECB> its almost 10:30 :/
2008-04-20 22:21 < Monobi> ECB, what's your name so I can write you in
2008-04-20 22:25 < Zelta> time to watch John Adams on HBO!
2008-04-20 22:32 < ECB> Monobi i wish i felt secure enough to give you my real name
2008-04-20 22:32 < ECB> however the internet is a scary place
2008-04-20 22:32 < Luna-San> You mean it's not ECB?
2008-04-20 22:32 < ECB> sorry, i have deceived you all :/
2008-04-20 22:32 < ECB> ive been living a lie
2008-04-20 22:33 < Luna-San> I can't believe you'd do that to me.
2008-04-20 22:33 * Luna-San is crushed
2008-04-20 22:34 < ECB> :(
2008-04-20 22:34 < Floor_Feline> okay, I can make diffs in JavaScript. now what. :|
2008-04-20 22:38 < Messedrocker> haha
2008-04-20 22:38 < Messedrocker> i'm such a risky bastard
2008-04-20 22:38 < Cyrius> well, this makes me somewhat happy: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/expelled_no_intelligence_allowed/
2008-04-20 22:38 * Messedrocker is deleting entries from his registry
2008-04-20 22:40 < patbam> does google seem to suddenly be mixing wikipedia results way down in its SERPs to anyone else?
2008-04-20 22:40 < Monobi> ECB, :O
2008-04-20 22:41 < ECB> idk, my ISP has been shaping my traffic so hard i can barely use my browser
2008-04-20 22:41 < ECB> like they cut my speeds in half :/
2008-04-20 22:41 < ECB> I am used to perusing various websites like a monkey on crack
2008-04-20 22:41 < ECB> but now im like a monkey on crack, with a horrible internet connection
2008-04-20 22:42 < Messedrocker> no wonder windows has so many problems
2008-04-20 22:42 < Messedrocker> there's so much shit scattered all over the place
2008-04-20 22:43 < ECB> lolya
2008-04-20 22:43 * Messedrocker is currently trying to eliminate all traces of a certain program
2008-04-20 22:44 < ECB> a program you installed, or one that i installed on your machine >:)
2008-04-20 22:44 * ECB runs away
2008-04-20 22:44 < Messedrocker> that i installed
2008-04-20 22:44 < ECB> oh
2008-04-20 22:44 < bumm13> Messedrocker: the Registry often is littered with old junk
2008-04-20 22:44 < Messedrocker> yes
2008-04-20 22:44 < ECB> usually the movie files are in mydocuments
2008-04-20 22:44 < Messedrocker> and "littered" in many senses of the word
2008-04-20 22:44 < ECB> then just find the movie
2008-04-20 22:44 < ECB> such as swap.avi
2008-04-20 22:45 < ECB> and delete it :)
2008-04-20 22:45 < Messedrocker> no, not swap.avi
2008-04-20 22:45 < Messedrocker> it's SWAP.avi
2008-04-20 22:45 < ECB> oh is that why it was so dull?
2008-04-20 22:45 < bumm13> malware?
2008-04-20 22:45 < ECB> i downloaded swap
2008-04-20 22:45 < ECB> i should find SWAP
2008-04-20 22:45 < Messedrocker> no bumm13, OCR software whose trial period expired >:D
2008-04-20 22:45 < bumm13> oh, meh
2008-04-20 22:45 < Messedrocker> alright! ABBYY FineReader is gone from the registry!
2008-04-20 22:46 < bumm13> zomg unfreeness!
2008-04-20 22:46 < Messedrocker> wait, won't i have to reboot my machine in order for the newly-updated registry to take effect?
2008-04-20 22:46 < ECB> indeed sir
2008-04-20 22:46 < bumm13> maybe
2008-04-20 22:46 < ECB> i think
2008-04-20 22:46 < ECB> idk
2008-04-20 22:46 < bumm13> likely
2008-04-20 22:46 < ECB> i dont do windows
2008-04-20 22:46 < Messedrocker> i don't do it often but for some things i have to
2008-04-20 22:46 < SynergeticMag_> messedrocker: usually, yes
2008-04-20 22:46 < Messedrocker> that's why i have this windows partition
2008-04-20 22:46 < Messedrocker> brb
2008-04-20 22:47 < bumm13> I made a nice icon (in win2k) and Windows makes it look ugly :p
2008-04-20 22:47 < bumm13> it'd be nice if the ICO format would die
2008-04-20 22:50 < Warpath> O_O
2008-04-20 22:54 < bumm13> (hmm, something to do with 32x32 dimensions being needed)
2008-04-20 22:56 < MessedRocker> i have to say, editing your registry is like revising history
2008-04-20 22:57 < bumm13> (yay, fixed!)
2008-04-20 22:57 < bumm13> it's annoying
2008-04-20 22:59 < MessedRocker> i basically revised history by convincing my computer that ABBYY FineReader never existed on it
2008-04-20 22:59 < MessedRocker> amazing stuff
2008-04-20 23:00 < ECB> should have just deleted hal.dll
2008-04-20 23:03 < Monobi> ECB, rm *.dll
2008-04-20 23:04 < ECB> eh that wouldnt do anything 2me
2008-04-20 23:09 < bumm13> rm = del under Windoze
2008-04-20 23:11 < ECB> indeed.
2008-04-20 23:25 < gwern> interesting. it seems we've managed to double the lifespan of mice with a particular genetic mutation
2008-04-20 23:25 < gwern> 'These mice live longer than controls and the females remain reproductively active for as long as 35 months. The possible reasons for the profound alteration in activity and longevity caused the introduction of a simple metabolic enzyme into the skeletal muscle of the mice will be discussed.' http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18394430?dopt=AbstractPlus
2008-04-20 23:25 < kylu> how useful.
2008-04-20 23:27 < gwern> kylu: well, it is. it's rare to discover how to do something in humans you can't in mice, but vice versa is much more common
2008-04-20 23:27 < gwern> I'd prefer stopping the aging process entirely, but 2x lifespan is nothing to sneeze at
2008-04-20 23:28 < kylu> why would you want to stop the aging process?
2008-04-20 23:29 < Fennec> everyone wants to live forever zomg
2008-04-20 23:29 * Cyrius welcomes our new geriatric murine overlords
2008-04-20 23:29 < gwern> kylu: ask instead, 'why wouldn't I want to stop aging and thereby avoid a quick horrible death from senescence?'
2008-04-20 23:29 < Cyrius> Fennec: live forever without getting older and older
2008-04-20 23:29 < Fennec> yeah you get the idea
2008-04-20 23:30 < Cyrius> so far our efforts at extending life just mean you stay old longer
2008-04-20 23:31 < gwern> Cyrius: I don't think so. my understanding is that qualitatively old age, for a specific decade, is getting better and better
2008-04-20 23:31 < Cyrius> I doubt it
2008-04-20 23:31 < gwern> hence the argument that SS age should be raised, since a 60 y/o is the equivalent of a depression 50 y/o and so on
2008-04-20 23:31 < Cyrius> but still
2008-04-20 23:31 < gwern> and they can work better
2008-04-20 23:31 < Cyrius> if you could live to 100 while feeling like you're 50 and then drop dead
2008-04-20 23:32 < Cyrius> I think a lot of people would rather do that
2008-04-20 23:32 < Cyrius> than spending the last few decades worrying about breaking a hip
2008-04-20 23:32 < gwern> yeah. even if only to avoid the mental degeneration
2008-04-20 23:32 < Cyrius> that too
2008-04-20 23:32 < Fennec> raising the Social Security age is essentially the same as paying people less, only it's a sneakier way of doing it
2008-04-20 23:33 < kylu> Fennec: "living forever" I see as more of a terrible curse than it would be some blessing, even assuming you stayed young and healthy for all of eternity
2008-04-20 23:33 < Cyrius> barring violations of the laws of physics, you could still find ways to kill yourself
2008-04-20 23:33 < kylu> I could see it being reasonable for, say, a thousand years if you were really lucky... but beyond that and humanity is going to evolve and leave you behind.
2008-04-20 23:34 < gwern> Fennec: yeah, but people are cheating by living longer
2008-04-20 23:34 < gwern> averaged over the population, raising the age might just restore parity
2008-04-20 23:35 < Fennec> gwern: 'cheating' or no, *shrug*. >.>
2008-04-20 23:36 < Fennec> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295467,00.html
2008-04-20 23:37 < Fennec> (and before you go "zomg foxnews" read it, it's funny :P)
2008-04-20 23:38 < MessedRocker> i don't do ZOMGFOXNEWS
2008-04-20 23:38 < MessedRocker> i look at the article
2008-04-20 23:38 < MessedRocker> THEN I belittle it
2008-04-20 23:38 < MessedRocker> otherwise, it's prejudice!
2008-04-20 23:38 < Fennec> goood.
2008-04-20 23:38 < gwern> MessedRocker: true. I prefer to go OMGWTFBBQ!!111
2008-04-20 23:39 < gwern> I wonder when he'll finally protest cigarettes
2008-04-20 23:39 < gwern> or heroin
2008-04-20 23:39 < gwern> or all the dictators the US has propped up
2008-04-20 23:40 < gwern> oh, some Bush protest songs would be good
2008-04-20 23:40 < MessedRocker> "I GOTS THE OSAMA BIN LADEN BLUUUES"
2008-04-20 23:41 < MessedRocker> oh wait, "Taliban Blues" was already written in two thousand fucking one
2008-04-20 23:41 < MessedRocker> oh those were the times
2008-04-20 23:41 < MessedRocker> there was still a smoking crater in new york and it was the patriotic thing to hate dem a-rabs
2008-04-20 23:41 < MessedRocker> (even though afghanistan isn't in the middle east)
2008-04-20 23:42 < gwern> good ol' days. when we could still believe Bush wasn't going to attack Iraq and that those were just unfortunate rumors
2008-04-20 23:42 < MessedRocker> and when literally almost all the country liked him
2008-04-20 23:42 < MessedRocker> after 9/11 he had a 95% approval rating
2008-04-20 23:43 < MessedRocker> he has had both the record high approval rating and the record low approval rating
2008-04-20 23:43 < gwern> eh, I didn't. but I have an anti-patriotism gene as irrational as it is constant
2008-04-20 23:44 < Lady_Aleena> I think that I have edited more articles since I began my user space projects of getting my favorites in order than at any other time since I began editing Wikipedia. Prior to this, I know most of my edits have been templates and categories.
2008-04-20 23:44 < gwern> Lady_Aleena: so... most of them were useless edits?
2008-04-20 23:44 * Lady_Aleena loves to add a non sequitur in now and again.
2008-04-20 23:45 < MessedRocker> by the way
2008-04-20 23:45 < MessedRocker> the lyrics to super smash bros brawl's theme song are in, i believe, latin
2008-04-20 23:45 * gwern has serious doubts our readers ever actually use categories
2008-04-20 23:46 < Lady_Aleena> gwern: I don't think so, but I hadn't started to think about it until recently. I just wish I had more to contribute, but most has already been written by better editors than me.
2008-04-20 23:46 < Fennec> Acquire some statistics!
2008-04-20 23:49 < gwern> Fennec: no, statistics are too hard and expensive to come by
2008-04-20 23:49 < Fennec> install Google AnalyticZ on wikipedia!
2008-04-20 23:49 < Fennec> (the Z is for Zomg. :P)
2008-04-21 00:02 < ECB> FTM trans i never realised how large the clitoris gets
2008-04-21 00:03 < MessedRocker> it gets REALLY LARGE in men
2008-04-21 00:04 * Not_the_NSA O_Os MessedRocker
2008-04-21 00:04 < nokmar> now we can compare clit sizes
2008-04-21 00:05 * gwern finishes watching _Gankutsuou_
2008-04-21 00:05 < gwern> man. what an anime
2008-04-21 00:06 < gwern> you can argue that Fullmetal Alchemist was the best series of '04, but I think Gankutsuou was the better work of art
2008-04-21 00:07 < gwern> and the artwork still blows any other series I've seen out of the water; unique, fascinating, and of consistently top quality, even more so than usual for Gonzo stuff
2008-04-21 00:07 < uberpenguin> nerd
2008-04-21 00:07 < uberpenguin> also lol @ interpreting Dumas' vision in terms of space vampires
2008-04-21 00:07 < gwern> uberpenguin: takes one to know one
2008-04-21 00:08 < gwern> uberpenguin: and the basic plot is *far( superior to dumas
2008-04-21 00:08 < gwern> I mean, after I saw Gankutsuou, I went and read a translation of Dumas, and I was very disapointed. the plot was disjointed, flabby, and obese
2008-04-21 00:08 < gwern> not nearly as clever or affecting
2008-04-21 00:09 < uberpenguin> ... wow I think you could only make that comment with a straight face if you're trolling or have simply never read the book
2008-04-21 00:09 < uberpenguin> GOOD DAY SIR
2008-04-21 00:09 < gwern> uberpenguin: I did read the book. that's why I said it
2008-04-21 00:09 < gwern> (all ridiculously overwritten and repetitious 800 or whatever pages my translation was...)
2008-04-21 00:09 < uberpenguin> oh boo hoo, a long novel
2008-04-21 00:09 < uberpenguin> GOOD DAY
2008-04-21 00:10 < gwern> uberpenguin: length is only good if you have something to say. dumas and his assistants were obviously being paid by volume
2008-04-21 00:10 < gwern> (this is a flaw in dickens as well, imo)
2008-04-21 00:10 < uberpenguin> obviously you'v enever read dick... yeah
2008-04-21 00:11 < gwern> uberpenguin: I tried to read the Pickwick Papers. Once.
2008-04-21 00:11 < uberpenguin> he had plenty to say, the book was excellent and I'm not going to back down
2008-04-21 00:11 < Luna-San> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diarrhea&diff=207049759&oldid=207037011
2008-04-21 00:11 < uberpenguin> I think I first read it in fifth grade and it has been one of my favorite books ever since
2008-04-21 00:11 < gwern> I think I made it through 300 pages before I decided I heartily disliked the Pickwickians, and life was better spent on his shorter books
2008-04-21 00:11 < uberpenguin> tale of two cities is worse
2008-04-21 00:12 < uberpenguin> some of the novels he wasn't being paid for by the page were better
2008-04-21 00:12 < gwern> (it didn't help that the 300 pages were painfully densely printed and it was still only a fraction of the book; the humor just wasn't appealing enough to trudge through the rest. in the time it would take to read the pickwick papers, I could probably read everything Douglas Adams ever published)
2008-04-21 00:14 < gwern> and another thing, I didn't really buy the happy ending of Dumas; the count has to die! which made Gankutsuou better for me
2008-04-21 00:14 < uberpenguin> good lord, can you BE any more nerdy? you breathe douglas adams and charles dickens in the same sentence, and your introduction to one of the most famous authors of the French Romantic movement was through anime :P
2008-04-21 00:14 < uberpenguin> tone it down, dude
2008-04-21 00:14 < gwern> and the style in which the count acted was just so tediously pedantic; this is particularly obvious in his dealing with Caderousse
2008-04-21 00:15 < gwern> uberpenguin: I'm too white and nerdy?
2008-04-21 00:15 < uberpenguin> if the typical wikipedo demographic is indicative, basically yes
2008-04-21 00:16 < uberpenguin> but in all honesty I liked gankutsuou too
2008-04-21 00:16 < gwern> uberpenguin: but not enough!
2008-04-21 00:16 < uberpenguin> a lot, actually... I think it's the best anime I've seen in awhile
2008-04-21 00:16 * gwern gnaws on uberpenguin's leg. say it's better than Dumas's version! say it!
2008-04-21 00:16 * CatServ` stares at gwern `
2008-04-21 00:17 < uberpenguin> not a snowball's chance in hell, animu fag
2008-04-21 00:17 < gwern> well, I agree about the in a while part. I have high hopes in the humor-vein for this strange 'Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei' series tho
2008-04-21 00:18 < gwern> and Denno Coil looks like a solid bit of near-future sci-fi
2008-04-21 00:18 < gwern> for all that I don't really dig that sort of Ghibli-style animation and plot styling
2008-04-21 00:18 < uberpenguin> I haven't watched any animu recently
2008-04-21 00:18 < uberpenguin> in general I am loathe to even do so, but more importantly I just haven't had the time
2008-04-21 00:18 < gwern> a reasonable reason...
2008-04-21 00:19 < gwern> uberpenguin: what would you be watching, though? I remember discussing this with you before, but I couldn't figure out your tastes
2008-04-21 00:19 < uberpenguin> my tastes are whatever is good and doesn't piss me off
2008-04-21 00:19 < uberpenguin> hideaki anno: pisses me off
2008-04-21 00:19 < uberpenguin> miyazaki: pretty good
2008-04-21 00:20 < uberpenguin> for example
2008-04-21 00:20 < gwern> hee hee. anno pisses everyone off. it reamins to be seen whether his Rebuild series can top End of Eva in terms of pissing people off
2008-04-21 00:20 < Ceiling_Cat> Oh snap!
2008-04-21 00:20 < Ceiling_Cat> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/nyregion/01kramer.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
2008-04-21 00:20 < uberpenguin> uh no, you don't even fully grasp how much he pisses me off
2008-04-21 00:20 < Ceiling_Cat> Arthur Kramer died in February
2008-04-21 00:20 < uberpenguin> everything about Eva is evil to me
2008-04-21 00:20 < gwern> miyazaki: well, everyone likes him. if you don't like him, you have to forever hide this or be socially ostracized
2008-04-21 00:21 < uberpenguin> my only solace comes from the fact that Anno screwed over his fans despite their ravenous consumption of whatever turds he craps out
2008-04-21 00:21 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: ?
2008-04-21 00:21 < Ceiling_Cat> gwern - he's probably most famous for being the brother of Larry Kramer
2008-04-21 00:21 < gwern> uberpenguin: to be fair, even he's disgusted by Eva fans
2008-04-21 00:21 < Ceiling_Cat> Larry wrote a famous play about Arthur
2008-04-21 00:21 < Ceiling_Cat> called The Normal Heart
2008-04-21 00:21 < uberpenguin> actually I think people who can't admit to liking miyazaki have a better chance of getting along socially than those who do, but I digress
2008-04-21 00:21 < gwern> uberpenguin: I added this one great quote to the Wikiquote page for anno
2008-04-21 00:21 < Ceiling_Cat> [[The Normal Heart]]
2008-04-21 00:22 < Ceiling_Cat> Humorist Calvin Trillin, a friend of both Larry and Arthur, once called The Normal Heart "the play about the building of [Arthur's] house."
2008-04-21 00:22 < uberpenguin> I liked a lot of anime from the 70s and 80s
2008-04-21 00:22 < uberpenguin> weird stuff like Space Battleship Yamato and Macross and the Captain Harlock stuff
2008-04-21 00:23 < gwern> '# "You're an idiot. Study harder." –Hideaki Anno, to a man who had spent all his textbook money on Evangelion merchandise'
2008-04-21 00:23 < gwern> Ah, Captain harlock. Good times, good times.
2008-04-21 00:23 < uberpenguin> space opera has a draw for me
2008-04-21 00:23 < uberpenguin> the amount of stuff from the 90s and 00's that I like is pretty slim
2008-04-21 00:23 < Ceiling_Cat> uberpenguin - the problem is, there's a lot of bad space opera out there, especially in TV and film
2008-04-21 00:23 < gwern> ' A paragon of responsible storytelling, RahXephon comes full circle in the end. (...) No loose strings are left;
2008-04-21 00:24 < gwern> Like Evangelion, you have to bend and warp your brain around this thing, but unlike Evangelion, if you think about it, it all makes sense. Everything connects. '
2008-04-21 00:24 < uberpenguin> Ceiling_Cat: no kidding, but alas, such is the case with all sci-fi
2008-04-21 00:24 < uberpenguin> more bad than good
2008-04-21 00:24 < gwern> <-- zing
2008-04-21 00:24 * Ceiling_Cat nods
2008-04-21 00:24 < gwern> (it's true, I do like RahXephon better than Eva)
2008-04-21 00:24 < Ceiling_Cat> I still say [[Startide Rising]] (and the rest of the series as well) is the best space opera ever written
2008-04-21 00:24 < uberpenguin> sci fi is something us ultranerds desperately want done well, so we sometimes compromise our standards and pretend to like crap
2008-04-21 00:24 < Ceiling_Cat> although I rank the Honor Harrington series and Foundation Series high too
2008-04-21 00:25 < uberpenguin> but eventually most of us come around and realize why we have standards
2008-04-21 00:25 < jtizzle1854> Has anyone on this chatroom seen a UFO I am interested in them, researching them. I watch UFO hunters on the history channel and just about anything UFO related on the tv.
2008-04-21 00:25 < uberpenguin> I WANT TO BELIEVE
2008-04-21 00:25 < uberpenguin> also, no
2008-04-21 00:25 < gwern> it can be fun to argue over Eva, but ultimately you just feel spent and weary, which is where it's nice to turn to a series which you don't need to
2008-04-21 00:25 < uberpenguin> I don't argue over animu
2008-04-21 00:26 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: Honor Harrington bothers me. it'd be a really really good series, if Weber could stop pushing his political shite at every bleeding opportunity
2008-04-21 00:26 < uberpenguin> that's pretty much the number one way to dump your chances of a normal lifestyle
2008-04-21 00:26 < Ceiling_Cat> Fact: if you were in alpha centauri, the closest star to our own, it would be impossible to tell there was any life in this solar system
2008-04-21 00:26 < MessedRocker> gwern, like Family Guy does
2008-04-21 00:26 < MessedRocker> through the Dog
2008-04-21 00:26 < uberpenguin> okay, family guy reference dropped, I'm done
2008-04-21 00:26 < uberpenguin> ciao folks
2008-04-21 00:26 < Ceiling_Cat> apparently all the radio waves we put out become indistinguishable from background noise at roughly 2.5 light years out
2008-04-21 00:26 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: was Startide Rising the one where Brin wraps it all up and unifies the various domains of life into a single transcndent whatever?
2008-04-21 00:27 < Ceiling_Cat> gwern - startide rising was the start of the series, where the dolphins are stuck on a planet while aliens battle it out above
2008-04-21 00:27 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: what? are you sure? at alpha centauri distances I was sure you could do spectrographic analysis of Earth's atmosphere
2008-04-21 00:27 < jtizzle1854> so no one here has seen a UFO, and i mean a flying saucer UFO
2008-04-21 00:27 < jtizzle1854> ?
2008-04-21 00:27 < MessedRocker> Ceiling_Cat, so much for the Futurama plot where 1000 years into the future, a space civilization is watching our 1999 programming
2008-04-21 00:27 < Ceiling_Cat> gwern - no, you can't, because it would be too small to see
2008-04-21 00:27 < Rinn> All the ones I saw turned out to be weather balloons. :(
2008-04-21 00:27 < Ceiling_Cat> you can't do spectroscopy unless you can actually get light reflecting off something
2008-04-21 00:27 < Kieff> yo
2008-04-21 00:28 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: oh, right... personally, I remember that series as being a long build up to a really awesome ending. Brin does that a lot, but it's a more palatable approach in something like _Earth_
2008-04-21 00:28 < Ceiling_Cat> gwern - it was a great buildup, but he left *so* many loose ends
2008-04-21 00:28 < Ceiling_Cat> and he writes sequels *so* slowly
2008-04-21 00:28 < Luna-San> Niven + Pournelle = Win.
2008-04-21 00:29 < Ceiling_Cat> if he dies before he finishes, I'll dig him up and smack his corpse around a bit
2008-04-21 00:29 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: I dunno... we humans with our crappy tech seem to be doing pretty good at detecting jovians many many light years away; I don't entirely buy that a few light years make it impossible to see Earth-likes
2008-04-21 00:29 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: he's a busy guy. consulting all over the place, blogging, writing essays, and so on
2008-04-21 00:29 < Ceiling_Cat> Gwern - it's easy to detect planets by means of their gravicational wobble
2008-04-21 00:29 < Ceiling_Cat> it's *MUCH* harder to see them
2008-04-21 00:29 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: you read any of his essays? he has interesting perspectives on politics and current events
2008-04-21 00:29 < Ceiling_Cat> they have to be *big* and very close to their suns
2008-04-21 00:29 < uberpenguin> Ceiling_Cat: you can still tell a good bit about astronomical bodies by their EM spectrum without having to actually bounce your own light off them
2008-04-21 00:29 < gwern> (die? what, like Robert Jordan? :)
2008-04-21 00:29 < Ceiling_Cat> and if they are that big, they aren't earthlike at all
2008-04-21 00:30 < gwern> Ceiling_Cat: we see'em none the less, I understand
2008-04-21 00:30 < uberpenguin> but yeah, our low-power long-wavelength radio dissipates after a few ly
2008-04-21 00:30 < Ceiling_Cat> uberpenguin - I didn't say your own light. It's *very* hard - nigh impossible - to see light from a distant planet of earthlike proportions
2008-04-21 00:31 < uberpenguin> sure
2008-04-21 00:31 < uberpenguin> assuming 'distant' is in terms of lightyears, definitely
2008-04-21 00:31 < Ceiling_Cat> distant usually means tens or hundreds of lightyears, actually
2008-04-21 00:31 < Ceiling_Cat> but even for something as small as 4, it's still nearly impossible
2008-04-21 00:31 < uberpenguin> yes
2008-04-21 00:31 < jtizzle1854> I think definately there wasn't a weather balloon crash at Roswell in 1947, it was a flying saucer.
2008-04-21 00:32 < uberpenguin> I WANT TO BELIEVE
2008-04-21 00:32 < gwern> jtizzle1854: that's lovely, why don't you go argue with those silly historians on the roswel talk page
2008-04-21 00:33 < uberpenguin> I need to fix this thing tomorrow: http://mattb.alwayssleeping.com/images/theremin/theremin_27.jpg
2008-04-21 00:33 < uberpenguin> http://mattb.alwayssleeping.com/images/theremin/theremin_29.jpg
2008-04-21 00:33 < uberpenguin> it's going to be a long day
2008-04-21 00:33 < jtizzle1854> ok
2008-04-21 00:33 < jtizzle1854> what roswell page?
2008-04-21 00:34 < uberpenguin> jtizzle1854: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_Incident
2008-04-21 00:36 < uberpenguin> also, upon flipping by the history channel I was treated to some silly programme on AI featuring some random dude trying to use Moore's law as an argument for the inevitable development of human-level AI
2008-04-21 00:37 < uberpenguin> where do they find these people? he talked like a sociologist or some equally soft scientist
2008-04-21 00:38 < uberpenguin> also, meerkattes >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Suricata_suricatta_SD_Zoo_2008.jpg
2008-04-21 00:40 < ECB> lol
2008-04-21 00:59 < asdfasf> helloon
2008-04-21 01:00 < bluefoxicy> EXPLAIN THIS GRAMMAR
2008-04-21 01:00 < bluefoxicy> in the comic, Wario was stuck picking Piranha Plants that would attack him while Mario picked turnips, Wario ends up getting flattened by Thwomps while attempting to flatten coins with Mario. When the two finally reunite as adults, Mario innocently invites Wario to play again, cementing Wario's hatred of him and also likes eating crocodiles.
2008-04-21 01:01 < The359> works for me
2008-04-21 01:01 < gwern> so... much... undemarcated nesting...
2008-04-21 01:03 < CatServ`> Why would adding $wgGroupPermissions['*']['editprotected'] = true; to Wikipedia's configuration file be such a bad thing? (The answer is obvious if you read it carefuly)
2008-04-21 01:03 < gwern> does that mean allow all groups to edit protected pages?
2008-04-21 01:04 < CatServ`> Yes!
2008-04-21 01:04 < CatServ`> gwern: Good job
2008-04-21 01:04 < Luna-San> What's wrong with that?
2008-04-21 01:04 < CatServ`> Including anons 9_9
2008-04-21 01:04 < Luna-San> I thought we're the free encyclopedia anyone can edit. >:|
2008-04-21 01:04 < gwern> Luna-San: it, uh, renders protection utterly useless
2008-04-21 01:05 < gwern> Luna-San: *parts of
2008-04-21 01:05 < Luna-San> Jeez. If you're so against people editing, go to Protectopedia or something.
2008-04-21 01:05 < CatServ`> Here's a harder one
2008-04-21 01:05 < Luna-San> All protected pages, all the time.
2008-04-21 01:05 < Luna-San> Back-to-back marathon.
2008-04-21 01:05 < CatServ`> Why would adding $wgGroupPermissions['*']['userrights'] = true; also be a bad thing?
2008-04-21 01:06 < LA2> This weekend, the movie "Be Kind Rewind" finally went up on theatres in Sweden. It had subtitles in Swedish, but the movie itself wasn't "sweded".
2008-04-21 01:06 < Luna-San> Because it would bring power to the people.
2008-04-21 01:06 < CatServ`> No, what would it do exactly?
2008-04-21 01:06 < gwern> CatServ`: hm. userrights would eventually give anons semi-protection edits and page creation?
2008-04-21 01:06 < CatServ`> gwern: no
2008-04-21 01:07 < CatServ`> that would be $wgGroupPermissions['*']['autoconfirmmed'] = true; but even then it may not work
2008-04-21 01:07 < CatServ`> rather
2008-04-21 01:07 < CatServ`> $wgGroupPermissions['*']['autoconfirm'] = true;
2008-04-21 01:07 < gwern> darn
2008-04-21 01:07 < LA2> Having seen the film, and considering how the Swedish language Wikipedia is sometimes portrayed as "the one with all the stubs", I suggest we simply rename it to "the sweded Wikipedia".
2008-04-21 01:08 < gwern> so what is it then?
2008-04-21 01:08 < CatServ`> gwern: Allows all users to access the User rights interface and set any user right :P
2008-04-21 01:08 < gwern> could it perhaps disable admin bit, if admins are set only to userrights?
2008-04-21 01:08 < gwern> ...oh. interesting
2008-04-21 01:08 < gwern> user rights interface being what gives bureaucrats their power?
2008-04-21 01:08 < CatServ`> gwern: yes
2008-04-21 01:09 < CatServ`> Here's another one: $wgGroupPermissions['*']['bot'] = true;
2008-04-21 01:09 < CatServ`> Why would that be bad?
2008-04-21 01:09 < gwern> well, bot status comes with hiding changes in Recent Changes
2008-04-21 01:09 < CatServ`> gwern: Yup, that's it
2008-04-21 01:09 < gwern> and watchlists
2008-04-21 01:09 < CatServ`> And here's another one
2008-04-21 01:10 < gwern> so presumably this would blank everyone's watchlists and recentchanges forever
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> $wgReadOnly = ('[[Image:The Eyes of Jimbo.gif]]')
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> err
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> *;
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> so
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> $wgReadOnly = ('[[Image:The Eyes of Jimbo.gif]]');
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> why would that be bad?
2008-04-21 01:10 < CatServ`> (This is the easiest of all)
2008-04-21 01:11 < gwern> shoot... these are destructive variable updates right?
2008-04-21 01:11 < CatServ`> yes
2008-04-21 01:11 < gwern> so what would be in wgReadOnly before it's set...
2008-04-21 01:11 < gwern> I dunno
2008-04-21 01:11 < CatServ`> null
2008-04-21 01:12 < CatServ`> gwern: It would lock the database and then display the picture of Jimbo's eyes
2008-04-21 01:12 < CatServ`> And Special:Unlockdb wouldn't work
2008-04-21 01:12 < gwern> hum. I wouldn't expect that. I was assuming it'd do something like make the interface editable, or remove all other page protections
2008-04-21 01:13 < CatServ`> no
2008-04-21 01:13 < gwern> CatServ`: so is wgReadOnly usually used for that errro page message you see when WP is down?
2008-04-21 01:13 < CatServ`> yes
2008-04-21 01:13 < CatServ`> but what it is...
2008-04-21 01:13 < CatServ`> is when the slave dbs are lagging, it sets $wgReadOnlyFile = ('link to a page');
2008-04-21 01:14 < CatServ`> $wgReadOnlyFile is the same as $wgReadOnly except it points to a file instead of accepting a string
2008-04-21 01:14 < CatServ`> And the file is in the MediaWiki namespace
2008-04-21 01:14 < CatServ`> And contains what you normally see
2008-04-21 01:15 < gwern> interesting. any reason behind this quiz?
2008-04-21 01:16 < CatServ`> gwern: Of course not. This is #wikipedia :P
2008-04-21 01:36 * CatServ` is now going to bed, good night!
2008-04-21 02:28 < denelson83> And in the "cricket chirps" department...
2008-04-21 02:45 < Alkivar> someone tell me how the hell this got closed no consensus:
2008-04-21 02:45 < Alkivar> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Carl_Feynman
2008-04-21 02:46 < Messedrocker> i don't know
2008-04-21 02:46 < Messedrocker> but it's nearly two years later so try again :P
2008-04-21 02:46 < Alkivar> especially considering the guy who closed it 1) has no user page 2) wasnt an admin and 3) had only 5 edits to his username
2008-04-21 02:46 < Messedrocker> maybe the closure was vandalism then?
2008-04-21 02:46 < Alkivar> thats what i'm thinking
2008-04-21 02:47 < Alkivar> i'm no longer an admin and i'm not going to waste my time creating a new afd
2008-04-21 02:47 < Alkivar> and this one needs to go as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Feynman
2008-04-21 02:48 < Alkivar> just because they are Richard P. Feynman's kids doesnt make them de facto notable persons
2008-04-21 02:51 < Messedrocker> Alkivar, I know you, therefore you are notable
2008-04-21 02:51 < Messedrocker> I will now create a Wikipedia article that has a detailed account of your hair color and your sex life
2008-04-21 02:51 < Lubaf> Go go Porno Rangers! You Mighty Movie Porno Rangers!
2008-04-21 02:52 < Lubaf> Anyway.
2008-04-21 02:53 < Lubaf> How's death?
2008-04-21 02:54 < Messedrocker> well son
2008-04-21 02:54 < Messedrocker> death is like a box of condoms
2008-04-21 02:54 < Alkivar> you never know which has the hole?
2008-04-21 02:54 < Messedrocker> or
2008-04-21 02:54 < Messedrocker> you know what it is
2008-04-21 02:55 < Messedrocker> but you just don't get what the analogy is for
2008-04-21 03:02 < Lubaf> Nothing new in the realms of wikidrama?
2008-04-21 03:02 < Messedrocker> dramallama!
2008-04-21 03:03 < Mike_H> bleh
2008-04-21 03:03 < Mike_H> I just got done writing submissions for Tampa Metromix
2008-04-21 03:41 < bumm13> hiya AdamBishop
2008-04-21 03:44 < AdamBishop> hi
2008-04-21 03:44 < noopur28> hi
2008-04-21 03:45 < noopur28> do you think new wiki users stand a chance for a partial scholarship?
2008-04-21 03:51 < nokmar> for being a wiki editor?
2008-04-21 03:51 < nokmar> no way
2008-04-21 03:52 * Chris_G looks for someone to blame his dodgy connection on
2008-04-21 03:52 < bumm13> God!
2008-04-21 03:53 * Mike_H NP: ABBA - Voulez-Vous (1979)
2008-04-21 03:53 < bumm13> hiya Mike
2008-04-21 04:26 * Mike_H NP: The Police - Roxanne (1978)
2008-04-21 04:29 * Mike_H NP: Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (1979)
2008-04-21 04:33 * Mike_H NP: Christine McVie - Got a Hold On Me (1984)
2008-04-21 04:39 < bumm13> hiya Mike
2008-04-21 04:41 < Mike_H> hi
2008-04-21 05:09 < Lubaf> "People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year." - Peter Drucker.
2008-04-21 05:14 < chesire_cat> hiho
2008-04-21 05:14 < chesire_cat> is wiki down for maintainance ?
2008-04-21 05:14 < chesire_cat> can't even get to the main pages currently
2008-04-21 05:15 < Apan> does anyone know whats going on?
2008-04-21 05:15 < Apan> oh, its back up :D
2008-04-21 05:15 < joeysantiago> hello... no idea, came here for asking the same question...
2008-04-21 05:15 < joeysantiago> ah ok
2008-04-21 05:16 < chesire_cat> ic back to work then :)
2008-04-21 05:16 < joeysantiago> yep... so do i! :)
2008-04-21 05:16 < SfantaJimmy> Hello, anyone on?:)
2008-04-21 05:16 < chesire_cat> i guess the load is sometimes just to high (the curse of popularity) :)
2008-04-21 05:17 < SfantaJimmy> Can anyone tell why why the .ro server are not working? :-s
2008-04-21 05:17 < SfantaJimmy> servers*
2008-04-21 05:26 < Bacta> I've recently deleted my talk page. Will the nazis be blocking me because of this?
2008-04-21 05:27 < Messedrocker> no
2008-04-21 05:27 < Messedrocker> they'll just restore it
2008-04-21 05:27 < Bacta> heh why? It's "my" page
2008-04-21 05:27 < Messedrocker> they don't like talk pages disappearing
2008-04-21 05:28 < Bacta> Wikipedia admins are like fascists who've been hit in the arm one too many times
2008-04-21 05:29 < AdamBishop> what an odd thing to say
2008-04-21 05:29 < Bacta> tap them, do anything that makes them go "whoah?" and they come down with the block hammer
2008-04-21 05:29 < Messedrocker> oh, that's an exaggeration
2008-04-21 05:29 < AdamBishop> Whoah sounds like a Keanu Reeves holocaust
2008-04-21 05:30 < Messedrocker> admins wait at least seven seconds before blocking you
2008-04-21 05:30 < Bacta> no more no less
2008-04-21 05:31 < AdamBishop> Bacta, are you the kind of camel that has two humps?
2008-04-21 05:31 < bumm13> a non-dromedary? ;)
2008-04-21 05:31 < Messedrocker> True story, I call the hammer from Super Smash Brothers the BANHAMMER!
2008-04-21 05:32 < AdamBishop> true story, I think in lolcat-speak sometimes
2008-04-21 05:32 * bumm13 endures the painful process of merging browser bookmarks after hosing his OS installation 10+ days ago
2008-04-21 05:32 < bumm13> hiya Adam
2008-04-21 05:32 < Messedrocker> ==^o.o^==
2008-04-21 05:32 < AdamBishop> I got into bed the other day and I needed more blankets. So I thought to myself, "moar blanketz."
2008-04-21 05:33 < AdamBishop> hey bumm
2008-04-21 05:34 < Messedrocker> bumm13, what would you recommend for OCR?
2008-04-21 05:34 < AdamBishop> Messedrocker, I would recommend [[William of Tyre]]
2008-04-21 05:34 < AdamBishop> if that was digitized it would save me many dollars in library fines
2008-04-21 05:35 < Messedrocker> i mean software
2008-04-21 05:36 < AdamBishop> oh.
2008-04-21 05:41 < bumm13> Messedrocker: I don't know, I've not delved into OCR software much
2008-04-21 05:42 < xof_> http://code.google.com/p/tesseract-ocr/ ?
2008-04-21 05:44 < Messedrocker> does it support images?
2008-04-21 05:46 < Messedrocker> ABBYY FineReader is excellent
2008-04-21 05:46 < Messedrocker> but it costs $400
2008-04-21 05:48 < Messedrocker> eBay has it for half as much
2008-04-21 05:48 < Messedrocker> too bad i only have $120 at my disposal :|
2008-04-21 05:49 < bumm13> why do you need OCR software so badly?
2008-04-21 05:50 * Messedrocker has several GBs of journal articles he'd like to make available on the Internet
2008-04-21 05:50 < bumm13> what journals?
2008-04-21 05:50 < Messedrocker> Public Library of Science
2008-04-21 05:50 < Messedrocker> CC-BY scientific jourrnals \o/
2008-04-21 05:51 < bumm13> cool :-)
2008-04-21 05:52 < Messedrocker> i am creating a website that will allow for manipulation of copyleft/PD sources
2008-04-21 05:52 < JessicaTaylor> Hi everyone
2008-04-21 05:52 < JessicaTaylor> Why does no one make sense in this channel?
2008-04-21 05:53 < Mike_H> It
2008-04-21 05:53 < Mike_H> It's just a thing we have.
2008-04-21 05:53 < JessicaTaylor> Tu parles anglais sil tu plait
2008-04-21 05:53 < Messedrocker> s'il*
2008-04-21 05:53 < Messedrocker> te*
2008-04-21 05:53 < Mike_H> I speak English please?
2008-04-21 05:54 < Messedrocker> "Parles anglais s'il te plaît." or "Parlez anglais, si vous plaît."
2008-04-21 05:55 < JessicaTaylor> I though Je was "I"
2008-04-21 05:55 < JessicaTaylor> Je parles francaise?
2008-04-21 05:55 < Messedrocker> yes
2008-04-21 05:55 < Mike_H> JessicaTaylor: You said it to me.
2008-04-21 05:55 < Mike_H> I was just repeating it back from my point of view.
2008-04-21 05:55 < JessicaTaylor> No wonder I failed the French exam >.<
2008-04-21 05:56 < JessicaTaylor> "You speak english if it pleases you" lol sounds kinda fob
2008-04-21 05:56 < AdamBishop> je parle
2008-04-21 05:56 < AdamBishop> tu parles
2008-04-21 05:56 < Messedrocker> "Parles anglais s'il te plaît" is the imperative
2008-04-21 05:57 < Messedrocker> it is instructing the implied "you" to speak english
2008-04-21 05:57 < AdamBishop> imperative is also parle I thought
2008-04-21 05:57 < bumm13> fob?
2008-04-21 05:57 < Messedrocker> well
2008-04-21 05:57 < Messedrocker> "Parles" for tu
2008-04-21 05:57 < JessicaTaylor> hah yeah
2008-04-21 05:58 < Messedrocker> "Parlez" for vous
2008-04-21 05:58 < Messedrocker> since that is how it is conjugated in the indicitive present
2008-04-21 05:58 < JessicaTaylor> Parlons for nous
2008-04-21 05:58 < JessicaTaylor> err
2008-04-21 05:58 < JessicaTaylor> I think
2008-04-21 05:58 < Messedrocker> yes
2008-04-21 05:58 < Lubaf> Anyway.
2008-04-21 05:58 < JessicaTaylor> forgot Ils/Elles
2008-04-21 05:58 < Messedrocker> though i don't think one instructs the group of people he or she is in to speak much
2008-04-21 05:58 < Lubaf> What's new?
2008-04-21 05:58 < AdamBishop> I'm sure the singular imperative is just parle
2008-04-21 05:59 < JessicaTaylor> I hate conjugating avoir, cos its so hard...
2008-04-21 05:59 < Messedrocker> j'ai
2008-04-21 05:59 < Messedrocker> tu as
2008-04-21 05:59 < Messedrocker> il a
2008-04-21 05:59 < Messedrocker> nous avons
2008-04-21 05:59 < Messedrocker> vous avez
2008-04-21 05:59 < Messedrocker> ils ont
2008-04-21 05:59 < AdamBishop> http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa123099.htm
2008-04-21 05:59 < AdamBishop> there, parler is even one of the examples :)
2008-04-21 06:00 < JessicaTaylor> haha thnx
2008-04-21 06:00 < JessicaTaylor> Etre is lame too
2008-04-21 06:00 * AdamBishop didn't take 15 years of French for nothing!
2008-04-21 06:00 < nazgjunk> present tense isn't the issue
2008-04-21 06:00 < JessicaTaylor> I can't do accents with this keyboard :(
2008-04-21 06:00 < nazgjunk> the past and future tenses get annoying
2008-04-21 06:00 < JessicaTaylor> 15 years :O
2008-04-21 06:00 < AdamBishop> well, most of it was mandatory
2008-04-21 06:00 < JessicaTaylor> I'm 15 years old....
2008-04-21 06:01 < JessicaTaylor> Thats a long long long time
2008-04-21 06:01 < bumm13> it is when you're 15, yes
2008-04-21 06:02 * bumm13 thinks
2008-04-21 06:02 < AdamBishop> and the first ten years we learned useless stuff like how to talk about going to the bakery and asking how the fireman's day has been
2008-04-21 06:02 < bumm13> 15 years ago, I was 13 years old
2008-04-21 06:02 < nazgjunk> i was 4
2008-04-21 06:02 < nazgjunk> <.<
2008-04-21 06:02 < AdamBishop> me too!
2008-04-21 06:02 < bumm13> Adam: heh
2008-04-21 06:02 < JessicaTaylor> AdamBishop: Yeah, and how to ask/say directions
2008-04-21 06:03 < bumm13> (adolescence sucked :-p )
2008-04-21 06:03 < Messedrocker> 15 years ago, i was 1!
2008-04-21 06:03 < nazgjunk> i can make sense out of a french text and probably even speak a bit
2008-04-21 06:03 < JessicaTaylor> 15 years ago, I was.....5 months old
2008-04-21 06:03 < nazgjunk> mais seulement un petit peu
2008-04-21 06:03 < AdamBishop> and now I have to go change a stinky diaper and watch my daily Voyager rerun
2008-04-21 06:03 < bumm13> heehee
2008-04-21 06:03 < Messedrocker> ACK
2008-04-21 06:03 < Messedrocker> Google Products lied to me
2008-04-21 06:03 < Messedrocker> it said this thing was $84.99
2008-04-21 06:03 < bumm13> Adam: but they're so cute! ;)
2008-04-21 06:03 < Messedrocker> really it's 84.99 POUNDS!
2008-04-21 06:03 < bumm13> arg
2008-04-21 06:04 < bumm13> $150+ USD
2008-04-21 06:04 < bumm13> :o
2008-04-21 06:04 < nazgjunk> Messedrocker: dollars are pounds :P
2008-04-21 06:04 < nazgjunk> i hear it's rather 1:1 in pricing
2008-04-21 06:04 < JessicaTaylor> owwie mozzies are eating me
2008-04-21 06:04 < Messedrocker> maybe in la la land
2008-04-21 06:05 < Messedrocker> where the dollar is twice as strong than in reality
2008-04-21 06:05 < nazgjunk> i'm not talking about the actual exchange rate
2008-04-21 06:07 < Messedrocker> oh?
2008-04-21 06:08 < bumm13> 1 USD ~= .504374 GBP
2008-04-21 06:08 < bumm13> me
2008-04-21 06:08 < bumm13> *meh
2008-04-21 06:08 < bumm13> yeah, pretty much is (pricing-wise)
2008-04-21 06:09 < bumm13> unless you speak of gasoline/petrol ;p
2008-04-21 06:10 < zocky> EUR:GBP:USD = 1:1:1 in prices
2008-04-21 06:11 < Messedrocker> well google claimed a website was selling something for $84.99
2008-04-21 06:11 < Messedrocker> when really it was GBP84.99
2008-04-21 06:11 < Messedrocker> and if i bought it from them they'd bill me in pounds
2008-04-21 06:12 < zocky> if english people could speak foreign languages, they'd buy everything on the continent
2008-04-21 06:13 < zocky> it's somewhat ridiculous to pay 50% more than other people who live in the same customs union
2008-04-21 06:14 < Aqwis> <zocky> EUR:GBP:USD = 1:1:1 in prices
2008-04-21 06:14 < Aqwis> uhm
2008-04-21 06:15 < Aqwis> the price levels aren't the same in every EUR country
2008-04-21 06:15 < zocky> Aqwis, not for services
2008-04-21 06:15 < zocky> they're virtually the same for products
2008-04-21 06:15 < Aqwis> really?
2008-04-21 06:15 < AdamBishop> I bought something for 10 Cypriot pounds once
2008-04-21 06:15 < AdamBishop> it was almost $60 Canadian
2008-04-21 06:16 < AdamBishop> still a good deal though, for that particular thing
2008-04-21 06:16 < Messedrocker> i hear coca-cola is especially cheap in egypt
2008-04-21 06:16 < Messedrocker> which gave me the idea of an arbitrage service where i bought coke in egypt then sold it in the US
2008-04-21 06:16 < bumm13> it's cheap in the Northwest ;)
2008-04-21 06:17 < bumm13> (as this is Pepsi territory)
2008-04-21 06:17 < bumm13> Messedrocker: lol
2008-04-21 06:17 < Aqwis> i read an article about American tourists complaining about Coke prices in Germany a year ago
2008-04-21 06:18 < Aqwis> apparently it cost 4x more than in the US
2008-04-21 06:18 < zocky> Aqwis, e.g. a dinner in a czech restaurant will cost less than in a german restaurant, but the food will cost the same if you buy it in a supermarket
2008-04-21 06:19 < Aqwis> hmm
2008-04-21 06:19 < Aqwis> the czech republic doesn't use the euro tho ;)
2008-04-21 06:19 < zocky> well, slovenia does
2008-04-21 06:19 < zocky> and prices in shops are as high or higher than in austria and italy
2008-04-21 06:19 < Aqwis> mhm
2008-04-21 06:20 < zocky> whereas restaurants, hairdressers, etc. are 1/2 - 2/3 of their prices
2008-04-21 06:28 * MessedRocker is running windows once again
2008-04-21 06:48 < PolecatVlad> Huh