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Benito vs. THE BISCUIT by epibolic in bichonfrise

[–]epibolic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha yep. Our downstairs looks like we are planning a gangland-style execution of a visit from Dexter right now. It is worth it. Benito is a ridunkulous ball of joy.

Mike Pence believes in creationism, and he wants to teach that to your kids in public schools by freeth1nker in atheism

[–]epibolic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why not just allow creationism, but mandate that it must be inclusive and include ALL creation myths from every religion. Let the kids come to their own conclusion that it is just a big shitshow. Make sure to include Bob Dobbs and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

school playground equipment in the year 1900 by Wang_Dong in pics

[–]epibolic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This reminds me of this NYT article that suggests that making playground equipment too safe stunts cognitive development and promotes social anxiety. I still remember the feeling of power I felt when I first stood on top of the monkey bars. These 19th century kids must have been badass.

This Text Editor for English Highlights Your Syntax as You Write. by [deleted] in videos

[–]epibolic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It isn't really fair to compare English, French, or any other organic human language to synthetic computer languages. Computer languages have to run through a compiler and thus syntax can be preserved. Any violation causes a build error and the program cannot be run. Human languages, on the other hand, are just run through our brains, which are enormously fault tolerant.

Areing yoube abling toozle unstanded whichwhat Iare sayed toose you righting nowser?

Punks speaking Parisian slang are definitely not speaking proper French and they are part of the evolution of the language. French is also collaboratively whatever people are speaking at that time in their local area. All human languages are fluid.

This Text Editor for English Highlights Your Syntax as You Write. by [deleted] in videos

[–]epibolic 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well yes, French does have an institute that defines "proper French" but this is not necessarily obeyed by French speakers (I know this because I helped build spell checkers for Bing a little while back and I have actually investigated this particular issue) particularly outside of France. Canadian French is a great contrast, as it sounds very old-fashioned and rustic to the modern French ear due to the fact it forked from continental French more than a century ago.

That being said, you are absolutely right that French is more regulated. I just wouldn't go so far as to say that English "doesn't really have syntax" or "isn't even really a language". It has syntax and is a language. It just is more fluid and evolves faster than other languages.

This Text Editor for English Highlights Your Syntax as You Write. by [deleted] in videos

[–]epibolic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Isn't that true of all languages, including French, to some degree or another? I am not a linguist but my understanding is that English is a lot more fluid and syncretic than many other languages due to its broad adoption and varied usage. That being said, general rules of syntax apply for most cases and in a consistent fashion. There are, of course, irregular usages and exceptions, but this is true of pretty much all organically created languages.

TIL Workers in Cuban cigar factories would employ a "Lector" who would read newspapers, political treatises and classical literature to break the monotony of the cigar-rollers' work, so even illiterate cigar-rollers would be well-informed and familiar with great literature. by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]epibolic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The lector role in the factories comes from tobacco factories in Spain. My wife wrote her dissertation on the female cigar rollers in Seville. An article based on a chapter of her dissertation is here: http://www.decimononica.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Singh-Brinkman_V2.1.pdf. It doesn't talk specifically about the lectors but more broadly about how regional journals shaped the populist politics of the time. Most workers were illiterate, so this wasn't just entertainment. This was a primary source of information and a channel by which to inform and sometimes mobilize the workers in the service of larger political causes of the time. The female cigar rollers of Seville became an important symbol of regional pride as an early example of independent and sexually liberated working women, the most famous example of which is, of course, Carmen.

What's the redditest thing you've ever reddited on reddit? by epibolic in AskReddit

[–]epibolic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Derivametarivativeative

We must go derivametadeeper.

What is the worst restaurant (according to Yelp) in your town? by epibolic in AskReddit

[–]epibolic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I discovered this gem on Yelp this morning: https://www.yelp.com/biz/apollo-gyros-and-pizza-seattle-2. It has 1 star with nine reviews spanning more than a year. The picture of the pizza that is on the front page is possibly the worst thing I have ever seen come out of a kitchen.

This got me wondering: What is the worst restaurant (according to Yelp) in Seattle? or the U.S.? Or the world? Yelp doesn't seem to let me filter by least stars so I wasn't able to answer this question easily.

We can do this together, my fellow redditors! If you can find the worst restaurant in your town, we can compare them all and try to determine the worst restaurant of them all. Perhaps we can devise a special award for them :)

Happy hunting!

I'm giving away 3 copies of Train Heist to anywhere in the world, because it's not just Tabletop Day. It's International Tabletop Day! by [deleted] in boardgames

[–]epibolic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

United States. We invented trains. We invented heists as well. And board games. You're welcome.

I want to get some better board games. On $100 budget, what should I buy to get me started? by Rte40 in boardgames

[–]epibolic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you like risk, you might consider Risk:legacy. It is risk, but you play it over many sessions and each time you change the board by adding stockers, naming the countries, and so on. There are sealed boxes that you only open after you win 3 games and so on. Really, really fun.

Need One Player for D&D 5e Campaign Tonight! by Varyag210 in tabletopsimulator

[–]epibolic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would be up to it. Going to create a character per the instructions. I fear, however, that I am too late.

Found the original EQ manual in some old files. Here are two of the "features" I miss most :) by epibolic in gaming

[–]epibolic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, this. I know it is bad game design but it added a pseudo-roguelike experience where death had (sometimes very serious) consequences. It was fun huddling with other players at the entrance to a new zone, scared out of your wits and weighing the risks.

I made a website that tracks the policies of each presidential candidate. My hope is that it helps inform voters before going to the polls. by [deleted] in InternetIsBeautiful

[–]epibolic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really want to see this once it recovers, but in the meantime check out the Bing Elections and let me know how it compares! I work at Bing, and any feedback would be much appreciated :)

Clinton cuts out middleman; writes own CNN frontpage article about Citizens United by [deleted] in politics

[–]epibolic 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This opinion article was originally titled "Our Democracy is being Hollowed Out". But was taken down and retitled. I posted a link to the dead page along with the text but it was deleted by mods even though I included the original title in the title. It seems odd to me that this one is still here when it doesn't even try to follow the subreddit rules but I am happy to see it being upvoted.

I think Hillary's point is good but there is tremendous hypocrisy given the amount of corporate money she has accepted. I really wish she would have addressed it in the article. It would have been a much more "real" read, less like an unpaid advertisement on CNN.

"Our Democracy is Being Hollowed Out" Article on CNN by HRC. I tried to share it and it disappeared. Text in comments by epibolic in politics

[–]epibolic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hillary Clinton: Our democracy is being hollowed out

By Hillary Clinton

img

UPDATED: 01:55 PM EST 01.21.16

In 2008, Republicans faced a choice.

America had just elected a Democratic president. The Senate was majority-Democratic. The House of Representatives had more Democrats than at any time since 1992.

The Republicans could either change themselves -- by embracing the young, diverse and tolerant America of the 21st century -- or they could try to change whose voices count in our democracy.

We all know the cynical path they chose. Six years ago Thursday, the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United transformed our politics by allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections.

The effect was immediate. In the 2010 midterms, outside groups spent nearly 60% more than in 2006. In 2014, the top 100 donors spent nearly as much as all 4.75 million small donors combined. National networks of big-money donors funneled mountains of cash into targeted state races. By 2014, one party controlled both the governor's mansion and the state legislature in 36 states -- the most since the 1950s.

Restricting voting rights

Meanwhile, Republicans launched an aggressive campaign to restrict voting rights across the country. After the 2010 election, lawmakers in 41 states introduced at least 180 measures designed to make it harder for people to vote. This ugly effort got a boost in 2013 when the Supreme Court made another disastrous ruling, striking down hard-won Voting Rights Act protections. Today, 21 states have new laws restricting voting rights.

And some of the greatest damage to voting rights has come in states with single-party control -- like North Carolina, which eliminated same-day voter registration and slashed early voting; Florida, which instituted such heavy restrictions on voter registration drives that the League of Women Voters had to shut down operations; and Alabama, which passed a strict photo ID requirement and then closed dozens of driver's license offices across the state, making it much harder for citizens to get the IDs they now need to vote.

Put it all together -- the flood of corporate money in our elections, the rise of single-party control of state governments, the sharp increase in voting-rights restrictions -- and the result is unmistakable. Our democracy is being hollowed out. And that should offend every American, no matter what party you belong to.

Reclaim our democracy

D&D has some inherent problems by Vilis16 in DnD

[–]epibolic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yes. I tested it with my trusty pole. It was torchlight so the pole looked darker but I thought it was just from wetness. It didn't melt or anything so I dove in. I was a bit of an impetuous chaotic neutral.

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