off topic but please forgive me me and answer
in [Python]
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From: Andreas Waldenburger on 4 Apr 2010 07:59 On Sat, 3 Apr 2010 23:13:51 -0700 (PDT) Mensanator <mensanator(a)aol.com> wrote: > On Apr 3, 9:03Â pm, Steven D'Aprano <st...(a)REMOVE-THIS- > cybersource.com.au> wrote: > > On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:35:34 -0700, Mensanator wrote: > > > On Apr 3, 10:17Â am, Steven D'Aprano <st...(a)REMOVE-THIS- > > > cybersource.com.au> wrote: > > >> But you're not multiplying four numbers, > > > > > You are if you're using Rationals. > > > > That is sheer unadulterated nonsense. > > You obviously don't understand the workings of computers. > Now this is what's wrong about internet discussions. Nobody actually defines what they are talking about *until* it becomes a problem. And then the retconning starts. This discussion up to this point had not explicitly been about the workings of computers. It had not really explicitly been about mathematical numbers either (although to my understanding this had been implicit, but that's personal). Let this be a reminder that defining your terms is one of the best ideas ever. Its the reason for the success of mathematics. I'd like it to be a reason for the success of discussions as well. /W PS: Accusing someone publicly of "obviously" not understanding [some topic] is pretty low by any standards. And especially so when the argument for doing so is bogus: Computers by themselves have as much a notion of Rationals as they have of Irrationals, or, for that matter, the cuteness puppies. Software does. -- INVALID? DE!
From: Andreas Waldenburger on 4 Apr 2010 08:09 On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 13:59:57 +0200 Andreas Waldenburger <usenot(a)geekmail.INVALID> wrote: > Computers by themselves have as much a notion of Rationals as they > have of Irrationals, or, for that matter, the cuteness puppies. Strike that. Floats in computers are Rationals. So computers do know them. However, they are still not "two numbers". /W -- INVALID? DE!
From: rantingrick on 4 Apr 2010 11:00 On Apr 1, 3:44 pm, superpollo <ute...(a)esempio.net> wrote: > how much is one half times one half? This is amazing, how can such an off topic post based completely on lunacy exist so long here? 54 posts and counting. I think i had this very argument in grade school. We have SD'A, Tim Chase, MSRB, and yes even Steve Holden again participating in the troll fest (even though some of their arguments are true). Of course i would expect mensenator to jump into this, but... A while back i had wondered why Guido never posts to c.l.py anymore. Was it because he thinks himself better than us, no, it's because of the "low-brow-infantile-Jerry-Springer-ish-nature" that this list has imploded into. *puke*
From: superpollo on 4 Apr 2010 11:41 rantingrick ha scritto: > On Apr 1, 3:44 pm, superpollo <ute...(a)esempio.net> wrote: >> how much is one half times one half? > > This is amazing, how can such an off topic post based completely on > lunacy exist so long here? 54 posts and counting. I think i had this > very argument in grade school. We have SD'A, Tim Chase, MSRB, and yes > even Steve Holden again participating in the troll fest (even though > some of their arguments are true). Of course i would expect mensenator > to jump into this, but... > > A while back i had wondered why Guido never posts to c.l.py anymore. > Was it because he thinks himself better than us, no, it's because of > the "low-brow-infantile-Jerry-Springer-ish-nature" that this list has > imploded into. *puke* relax mate.
From: Patrick Maupin on 4 Apr 2010 12:58
On Apr 4, 10:00 am, rantingrick <rantingr...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > This is amazing, how can such an off topic post based completely on > lunacy exist so long here? 54 posts and counting. I think i had this > very argument in grade school. We have SD'A, Tim Chase, MSRB, and yes > even Steve Holden again participating in the troll fest (even though > some of their arguments are true). Of course i would expect mensenator > to jump into this, but... Excellent technique. Pick a topic that is guaranteed in any universe to generate a lot of posts (a short provocative question asked on April Fool's Day), then stay above the fray, not posting until the traffic dies down, and only then make a post expressly engineered to try to start the traffic up again. Rinse and repeat as necessary. I bow at the feet of the master. |