|
Some constructed languages, such as Esperanto, have far simpler grammars than most natural grammars. E.g. verbing a noun, or nouning a verb, is certainly not wierding the language - it is the way it is done. Always.
Disclaimer: I do not know Esperanto (nor other spoken constructed languages), but people who have tried to make me study it, says that's roughly how Esperanto is. Correct me if I have a wrong understanding.
As a programmer, I feel a certain attraction to highly regular, simple grammar languages. Maybe they are not as well suited for, say, poetry - but Esperanto people will say that it certainly is, both for poetry, love stories and everything else. Let's see it from a programmer's point of view: A programming language with a complex grammar and lots of irregularities does not make it more suitable for providing workable software solutions. Yesterday's New Old Thing blog, How to convert between different types of counted-string string types[^] lists 8 (eight) different counted string classes (excluding NUL terminated). It gives me shivers; I look the other way and use the C# string type instead ... (or even 1970 vintage Pascal strings  ). "Richness" doesn't always correspond to "valuable".
If you dislike verbing of nouns and nouning of verbs on principal, language independent grounds, then by implication you reject Esperanto. (Maybe you do for other reasons as well!). For English in particular, overusing it can be used for funny word play, such as the C&H "wierding" example mentioned by another poster. But as lots of fully established verb/noun pairs are related that way, I will never be able to draw a clear line: These verbings are fully acceptable, while those are condemnable, when they are created according to the same pattern.
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
|
|
|
|
|
I think this is the beginning of a long answer 
I see languages as vessels for human ideas and sentiments. For that purpose, they need a proper balance between stability and adaptability. If English would have evolved too rapidly we wouldn't be able to appreciate Shakespeare's poetry and playwrights while a frozen language would not be able to capture new concepts and ideas. Live languages do evolve and that is, in itself, a whole field of study in which I'm just a mere dilettante. It's interesting to compare the change from thou to you with the Spanish change from "tu" to "Usted". More recently, I find fascinating that in English, the language with a million words, people would find interest in creating new ones. Look at the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows and the strange words it has created. Anemoia is probably one of my favourites.
To summarize, I'm not against creation or adaptation of new words, but in this particular case I think this is just intellectual laziness. There would have been many ways (my suggestion was just the first thing that popped to mind) to express the same idea without forcing a noun into a verb. However, as @David-ONeil has pointed out, the microsoftian who did it was not the first one and Oxford dictionary has recorded that use.
As for programming languages, it's very difficult to compare them with human languages. They are so much in their infancy that it is like comparing animal vocalizations with human speech. Not only the number of "words" in a computer language is ridiculously small compared with the number of words in any natural language, but their expressive power is very, very limited. Don't get me wrong, computer languages are perfectly adequate tools for interacting with a computer but not much more.
Mircea
|
|
|
|
|
From CP newsletter
https://www.codeproject.com/News.aspx?ntag=19837496582598984&_z=2928472[^]
A study that they did based on California data that compares accidents versus autonomous and humans.
Autonomous was better except is two cases. Although 'turning' was one of those which seems kind of important.
But at any rate I would think in California you are going to want to know how well the autonomous cars do when they have to drive down a road with raging wildfire on both sides.
|
|
|
|
|
They can't work in an open environment.
|
|
|
|
|
jschell wrote: a road with raging wildfire on both sides
like this one?[^] That's a fire truck at the bottom, with a firefighter standing on the road. My colleagues.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
|
|
|
|
|
jschell wrote: how well the autonomous cars do when they have to drive down a road with raging wildfire on both sides.
Unlike human drivers, an autonomous car wouldn't go into a panic.
But then, it might get itself burnt to a crisp before a human does.
I'd be more impressed seeing autonomous cars doing well in a snowstorm, or after a heavy snowfall. I guess there's not much of that sort of testing going around in California.
|
|
|
|
|
What about Corpus Christi? Is it going to be able to find the lane under a foot of water?
Although maybe a good thing? Because it will just refuse to drive unlike the people that think they can get through 4 ft of water.
|
|
|
|
|
I had a surreal snow driving experience one time.
Driving on probably 20cm of packed snow on a four lane highway. It felt like driving in an open field.
The highway was fine. The exits/sorties were the scary part; you had to interpolate between support columns.
People were driving at a glacial speed.
Even the locals all stayed home for that, it was just the crazy tourists on the roads.
Not sure how an automated car would proceed.
|
|
|
|
|
I was driving eastward across the Afsluitdijk today, in the slow lane, going just slightly under the speed limit, enjoying the views of the waters and boats. I catch up to a slow truck and I slow down to stay behind him. In my mirror I see another truck slowly gaining on us. He does not pull over into the passing lane, just gets closer and closer. He just creeps to within a couple feet of my bumper, at least that is what it feels like when all I see is grill in my rear view mirror.
So I decide maybe it is time to get out of there. Not comfortable between two trucks with one of them tailgating me. So I put on my signal, change lanes and boot it past the truck in front of me. I notice that the truck behind me does the same and also passes the truck. I pull back into the slow lane and slow down again to just under the speed limit. The truck, instead of just passing me, pulls in behind me again and once again pulls right up to my bumper, but this time he lays on his horn. So I let up on the throttle to slow down even more, before he finally pulls over and passes me, blaring his horn the whole time.
A little later this evening, I am driving down the A37 towards Coevorden, I am going the speed limit, passing a bunch of slower trucks when my GPS tells me my exit is coming up soon. So I pull into the slow lane and nestle in behind a truck so I will not miss my exit. Again, the truck I just past decides he does not like that, so he pulls right up behind me, just like the last guy earlier. But this time my exit is coming soon, so I just stay where I am. Bozo pulls up beside me, then comes into my lane, trying to run me off the road.
I have been driving for over 40 years, all over Canada and the US, and I have never seen behaviour like this before, then on my first day driving in Europe I have two incidents like this.
Are all European truck drivers this crazy, or is it just the dutch ones? I am almost not looking forward to tomorrow driving in Germany.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
|
|
|
|
|
Many moons ago, I visited Germany for business a number of times. I was told most trucks especially semi's used the autobahn at night. Not a law, but a practice that was pretty consistent. Most automobile traffic adjusted accordingly.
Left hand lane is passing only. If you cruise in the left lane the automobiles wanting to use it for passing let you know with flashing lights and maybe a horn to encourage you should move to the right. This is the practice here in Texas as well. Some just pass you on the right (not kosher but also tolerated). Road signs occasionally remind every one of the rules.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
|
|
|
|
|
PJ Arends wrote: and I slow down to stay behind him.
As a guess, you were too close. The field of view behind a truck is limited. So perhaps the other truckers were less than pleased about that.
|
|
|
|
|
Best Lounge answer in ... nine turns of the watery star.
Noting a trucker's demeanor is difficult to do from down under the running board of a semi but it shouldn't be that difficult to note the shipping company's name, get a fix on it's street address and a working phone number, and phone in a complaint.
|
|
|
|
|
I was definitely not too close. My rental car has adaptive speed control, so if anything maybe they felt I was not close enough to the truck in front. I dislike tailgaters so I always like to keep my distance when following, and I know enough truckers and hear their stories about constantly being cut off by cars that do not leave them enough stopping room in front of them, that I never slip directly in front of a truck after I have passed it.
Either way, they should not be eh wholes on the roads, no matter how bad they think my driving is. Trying to run me off the road is not the way to do it.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dennis Weaver (Chester in the old Gunsmoke TV show) does an excellent job in "Duel" movie.
Similar themes in "The Car" and "Maximum Overdrive".
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
|
|
|
|
|
jmaida wrote: Dennis Weaver (Chester in the old Gunsmoke TV show)
"Gunsmoke"? I thought they only had 1 HP vehicles in that TV show
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
|
|
|
|
|
Duel, I have seen that movie. Thankfully not the issue yesterday. Both truckers just scared us and drove off.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
|
|
|
|
|
Dual II 
|
|
|
|
|
I stick to the speed limit at all times, and it's noticable that I almost always build a queue of vehicles behind me, which makes it clear that they would all willfully break the speed limit if I wasn't in the way. It's a shocking indictment of motorists in my country, if you think about it. The attitude appears to be that it's ok to break the law (unless they're the victim, of course, that's different); the crime is getting caught.
|
|
|
|
|
haughtonomous wrote: The attitude appears to be that it's ok to break the law (unless they're the victim, of course, that's different); the crime is getting caught.
I think that driving code violations are not seen as "real" crimes. After all, who is hurt? What they don't realize is that the driving code was written in the blood of dead motorists.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
|
|
|
|
|
Maybe the following cruise control was slowing the car more than you realized?
Especially if you pulled in behind the leading truck to make your exit. You might have messed up the other trucks cruise control.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gone to the great MASHup. ![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how are you going to find time to do it again?
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
He played so many terrific roles. It's difficult to name a favorite but one that really stands out for me is when he was OddBall in "Kelly's Heroes." I especially like how he describes when their tanks fire shells filled with paint.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
|
|
|
|
|
"Woof woof, that's my other dog impression."
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
![Rose | [Rose]](https://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
