12 Feb 04
Originally posted by Black LungIsn't it your president who believes that HIV (not AIDS) doesn't exist?
You MORON!
Why don't you come to my country where our graveyards are full of people dying in their hundreds everyday! There are graveyards that are full 10 years earlier than estimated.
A popular myth in my ridiculous country is that if you are HIV+ and you sleep with a virgin then you will be cured.
Along with the Kenyan president? If I'm mistaken then I'm sorry, but I'm sure I read this, and it has been blamed for the lack of progress in the fight against AIDS.
12 Feb 04
popular myth:
that the nhs is wasting our hard-earned wages. except, it's just an itsy bit better than when it was set up by the liberal reforms...
and another myth? that captain pugwash thingy-seaman stains etc. i only learned this wasn't true when my maths teacher informed my calss last yeah. it sucked. worse moment of my life 🙁
12 Feb 04
Originally posted by garyminfordthink about it. How many words do the British have to describe rain?! Easily over 10. Do the Aussies/African have different words to describe different intensities of sun? The Brits only have 1 - 'rare'.
the inuits do not have 20 words for snow per se, but they have about 18 (I think) words closely associated. As in a word that means drifted snow, yesterdays snow, snow like hailstones, powder snow, snow that does not settle etc.
Hope that helps.
ps, what was that about aids not existing?
Each to their own environment.
12 Feb 04
Originally posted by belgianfreakwhat's this "sun" thing you are going on about?
think about it. How many words do the British have to describe rain?! Easily over 10. Do the Aussies/African have different words to describe different intensities of sun? The Brits only have 1 - 'rare'.
Each to their own environment.
Mark
12 Feb 04
Originally posted by ianpickeringI have been enjoying the thread, but I didn't consider half the nonsense my mother has been telling me since I was a kid worthy of sharing.
That there was ever a 'Millenium Bug' - biggest con trick of all time! Computer 'programmers' laughing all the way to the bank.
But I had to reply to this! (Well baited...😉)
I know most of the world shares this attitude, but you are just so wrong. Many programmers DID make load's of money fixing buggy code, and some rare old skills were suddenly in demand (hence the money being paid). But once all the fixing was done, they all found themselves rather short of work. The key point here is ONCE THE BUGS WERE FIXED. That mass hysteria about the y2k bug made everyone take notice, and most importantly, take action.
Now, I'm not saying WWIII was going to start if these fixes weren't made, but believe me, there would have been some form of chaos. On what scale, I don't know, we will never know. The fact that nothing too serious did occur was to the credit of the knowledgeable people who warned us of problems, who were always going to be discredited when nothing happened because they did their job too well!!!!! Grrrrrr. 😠
-Russ
12 Feb 04
Originally posted by RussI agree - in banking systems, where I work, there was a lot of dodgy old code which had to fixed. If this hadn't been done, accounts wouldn't have been updated, bills not paid, etc etc. The government thought it was serious enough to make contingency plans against civil disorder in the event of systems failure.
I have been enjoying the thread, but I didn't consider half the nonsense my mother has been telling me since I was a kid worthy of sharing.
But I had to reply to this! (Well baited...😉)
I know most of the world shares this attitude, but you are just so wrong. Many programmers DID make load's of money fixing buggy code, and some rare old skills were s ...[text shortened]... scredited when nothing happened because they did their job too well!!!!! Grrrrrr. 😠
-Russ
Some people made a good killing from Y2K, mostly self-employed consultants, many of whom are now retraining as plumbers. Some were cowboys, some very very skilled. Same as any other job in times of labour shortages.
12 Feb 04
Originally posted by VargWell, I'm afraid Varg, that too cold to snow is definitely true. Every January in this little corner of northern New England we regularly head below -20C to (at most) -40C. Whenever it's below -15C or so, we never have any snow, it's only once it warms up to somewhere near freezing that the snow falls again.
What about: 'It's too cold to snow'?
Really?
It's -60C in the arctic and there's tons of the stuff!
So..it definitely gets too cold to snow, and if you look outside in January and it's snowing, then feel good, 'cos it's WARM!
Joe
P.S. That's not snow in the Arctic, it's ice!
13 Feb 04
Originally posted by RussRuss,
I have been enjoying the thread, but I didn't consider half the nonsense my mother has been telling me since I was a kid worthy of sharing.
But I had to reply to this! (Well baited...😉)
I know most of the world shares this attitude, but you are just so wrong. Many programmers DID make load's of money fixing buggy code, and some rare old skills were s ...[text shortened]... scredited when nothing happened because they did their job too well!!!!! Grrrrrr. 😠
-Russ
I was hired by a company to come look at their Pick Basic® App on a Unix system. I assured them that they would have problems because the format field was only two characters and their Date function would roll back to 1900. They offered me twenty grand to fix it. Instead, I ported their data out in text files, stuck it into SQL Server, wrote three simple applications in VB 6 and gave them a bill for a thousand bucks. The whole operation took two days.😵
13 Feb 04
Originally posted by StarValleyWyTake the money, and write the code on your new laptop in Hawaii!
Russ,
I was hired by a company to come look at their Pick Basic® App on a Unix system. I assured them that they would have problems because the format field was only two characters and their Date function would roll back to 1900. They offered me twenty grand to fix it. Instead, I ported their data out in text files, stuck it into SQL Server, wrote th ...[text shortened]... ications in VB 6 and gave them a bill for a thousand bucks. The whole operation took two days.😵
P-
13 Feb 04
Originally posted by kyngjYeah I know what the saying means, and I have noticed that when the weather usually takes a turn for the warmer before snow.
Well, I'm afraid Varg, that too cold to snow is definitely true. Every January in this little corner of northern New England we regularly head below -20C to (at most) -40C. Whenever it's below -15C or so, we never have any snow, it's only once it warms up to somewhere near freezing that the snow falls again.
So..it definitely gets too cold to snow, and ...[text shortened]... ing, then feel good, 'cos it's WARM!
Joe
P.S. That's not snow in the Arctic, it's ice!
However, here in England it never gets as cold as where you are, so I don't see how it can be 'too cold to snow' at -5C when I've seen it snowing buckets at -15C in Montreal. 😉
13 Feb 04
Originally posted by VargYeah, you're right, I grew up in Brum and people would say it all the time. I came over here believing it to be false too, until I had the misfortune of actually experiencing it!
Yeah I know what the saying means, and I have noticed that when the weather usually takes a turn for the warmer before snow.
However, here in England it never gets as cold as where you are, so I don't see how it can be 'too cold to snow' at -5C when I've seen it snowing buckets at -15C in Montreal. 😉
Joe
13 Feb 04
2 edits
Originally posted by belgianfreakI've heard that English has far more words for mud than the Inuit have for snow. Go figure.
think about it. How many words do the British have to describe rain?! Easily over 10. Do the Aussies/African have different words to describe different intensities of sun? The Brits only have 1 - 'rare'.
Each to their own environment.
Everyone knows that: when the government increases taxes, it's because the Prime Minister (or one of his friends) wants to get a new car or a farm in Tuscany.