posted
My team got this e-mail from our associate producer/test lead yesterday:
quote:aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteres are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
posted
So, are there some people here that actually read every single thread on the site, to know when stuff like this has already been done? I can't find the time or the attention ...
[ September 18, 2003, 04:15 PM: Message edited by: A Rat Named Dog ]
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Some people search before they post if they don't spend all day here. Granted, I don't know who those people are, but I'm sure they are out there. They usually learn to do that about five minutes after they post a thread that has already been done and 5 people point it out to them. Not that I would know anything about that, or anything. You know. I've heard stories, is all. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
For some reason, Geoff, the scene in Office Space just flashed in my mind: "I love Michael Bolton, but you must REALLY love his music, seeings as how you have the same name and all!"
I love OSC's forums, but you must REALLY love his forums, seeings as how you have the same name and all!
edit: Leo, I'm sorry. It wasn't funny, so I deleted it. If a post of mine doesn't meet certain standards, it gets the axe. Of course, considering my posts, that's just this side of 'coherent'.
posted
If it helps, I can post a new thread about this in a couple hours. That way you can all make fun of me.
Posts: 290 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Yes. I read every single thread that ever appears.
Actually, I just read the ones that sound interesting, and just anything concerning language, spelling, and typos interests me.
I've also gotten that in an email, twice. The best part is that there are at least two different versions, and both of them are so poorly written that there's no way they came from an actual university study.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
On Tuesday I had people show me no fewer than five different versions of that in a three-hour time period. (Some of the popular ones make reference to Cambridge instead.) But there is no actual study. (Snopes) Actually, word length and degree of transposition seem to be more important.
OTOH, there is a 1999 study on a related topic. According to Gallimaufrey, it may be the original source for all this.
Does all this remind anyone else of the game broken telephone?
Oh, and you do NOT eat lots of spiders without knowing it, either. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
True. Or, they could just be trying to brown nose Geoff. Of course, we apparently suck at that, seeing as how we merely stopped by to point out that it had been done. We really ought to work on our "sucking up to people who've published books" skills. Doncha think?
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
If it helps, you could suck up to me. I haven't even been published yet! You could be in on the ground floor! Posts: 2506 | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:So, are there some people here that actually read every single thread on the site, to know when stuff like this has already been done? I can't find the time or the attention
It's ok, Geoff, it was the first time I read it, and it made me laugh out loud, when I realized I could understand it, as garbled as it was.
posted
Yeah, I'm not down with the suck up theory either. I know that I don't like getting jumped on for duplicate threads and I suppose I was trying to lower the irritation level. Sucking up? Well, whatever.
posted
I can one-up Geoff. I can read, almost fluently, pre-conventional writing. The kind kids make before they know how to spell.
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open eye- (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
And actually, the way we are able to read quickly is by recognizing the shapes of words. You'll notice that a word like
film
has a vastly different shape than something equivalent like, say:
FILM
This is why it is rude to type in capitals. This is also why it's rude to use unconventional fonts when your goal is readability. By unconventional I mean, oh, let's say papyrus in a context lie, oh let's say AIM chat. *cough Myrddin cough*
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Okay, so how many jatraqueros are good at reading upside down? I'm almost as quick at it as I am at regular. It's a great substitute teacher trick to start reading a book aloud, upside down, and see when the class notices. I use this trick when a class is squirrely and won't settle down. They get quiet because they can't figure out if I'm really reading upside down or not!
My other great subbing trick: I read a picture book version of Alfred Noyes' 'The Highwayman'. Only I don't say the words - I sing them. Loreena McKennit put this poem to music, a really haunting and lovely tune. So I sing the book, and it never fails to get me applause! Even the rowdiest classes will settle when I start singing this book to them. And here I give you this trick, free of charge. Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
OMG, I'm not the only person in the world that knows the opening to The Canterbury Tales!
::does a happy little jig::
Hmmm... The way I learned it, though, had some different spellings: halve instead of halfe, and ye instead of eye, Aprille instead of Aprill... Weird.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
You're an electrical engineer, and you know the opening to Canterbury Tales? You're definitely the coolest electrical engineer that I know.
And speaking of Canterbury Tales, while I was eating lunch yesterday, a girl at a table next to me started reciting it to her friend (albeit with a terrible accent). When she finished, she said, "Isn't that cool? It's Old English!" I wanted to look up from studying my Old English text and yell, "It's Middle English, you twit!" It's uneducated English majors like that that make me dislike English majors.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
I do love that opening. However, have you tried to read the ENTIRE Canterbury Tales in Middle English? Oi! It is somewhat taxing. (Not done as a class requirement - just an attempt because I found a copy printed in Middle English).
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
Well, the introduction to the canterbury tales It was very nice, and it would be a bit of a marathon to sing the entire thing.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Didn't you see my I have no internet thread?
I should have dsl again in around a week (and may use some free AOL hours during the period between getting basic phone service turned on and dsl turned on), but until then I only have internet connectivity at work and at the library, neither of which allow instant messenging .
It's not so bad, considering I'm working plenty and finishing up with a mini-move (down some stairs, across a patio, and up some other stairs), which is mainly taking up time because we're getting the apartment furnished.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:You're an electrical engineer, and you know the opening to Canterbury Tales?
In fact, not only am I an electrical engineer who knows the opening to Canterbury Tales, I am an electrical engineer who routinely uses the opening to Canterbury Tales in the course of his job.
Oh, you want an explanation?
It's often the case in electrical engineering and software development that you need to enter some random piece of text into a buffer or whatever, and it needs to be longer than just "foo" or "quux". The canonical text to use in such a situation is the pseudo-Greek "lorem ipsum" block, but I don't have that memorized, so I always use the beginning of the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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