writing
With some awe we have to remind ourselves that writers like Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton had no access to what we would call dictionaries. Spelling did not much worry them, as it worries a modern author who runs to his dictionary to check on difficult words like 'hemorrhage' (my personal blind spot). Milton spelled in his own creative manner, preferring 'mee' to 'me' when he wished to be emphatic; Shakespeare went the free and easy Elizabethan way, leaving his own name to be juggled with in a variety of orthographical fantasies; with Chaucer the encoding of speech sounds was logical and required no checking.
Free Textbook Sources
Submitted by robin on Tue, 2010-02-16 20:54.Travelocity Torture
Submitted by robin on Wed, 2010-02-10 21:12.Message left today at the Travelocity Customer Service web site:
Quote:
Today I had the opportunity to remain on hold for the Travelocity Customer Service phone line for almost three and one-half hours during three separate calls while trying to cancel an imminent reservation. The time spent actually speaking to representatives during these calls was approximately ten minutes; the rest was time on hold.
I have three comments based on this experience.
books
Trouble and rancour are essential if the book is to be worth reading, or buying. Political diarists base entire careers on that principle: a discreet diarist is as viable as a chaste whore.
Sharing Knowledge
Submitted by robin on Thu, 2010-01-28 09:42.After the brutal battle of Kalinga, the Emperor Ashoka was so overcome with remorse that he renounced bloodshed and embraced Buddhism. As part of his penance, Ashoka went to monasteries across the country. At each monastery, he would leave munificent donations of gold coins. At one monastery, the emperor left behind one solitary gold coin. When his perplexed followers asked him to explain, Ashoka said that the abbot of the monastery was a great man but he did not share his knowledge with others.
Delfin Systems Logos
Submitted by robin on Mon, 2010-01-18 10:04.The recent passing of a friend and former co-worker at Delfin Systems, assimilated in the 1990s by Titan Corporation and later by L-3 Communications, prompted a search for the old Delfin logo. Thanks to Dona, Vance, and Ray for making these available.
language
The eternal qualities of good speech and writing are lucidity, euphony and sincerity. Seldom are these qualities acquired as a kind of second nature. For the most part they are achieved only by intense intellectual discipline. Only by long practice can a man express himself clearly, attractively and sincerely.
The Fringe
- Chemnitz Linux Days 2010
- Gentoo at SCALE 8x
- Gentoo on the Misa Digital Guitar
- German Gentoo Book
- 26th Chaos Communication Congress
- Yes-No Vote on behalf of the Foundation
- Gentoo KDE3 Deprecation Notice
- Gentoo Ten Live DVD 10.1 Release
- Gentoo Linux - Ten Years Compiling: 1999 - 2009
- 2009 Gentoo 10 Screenshot Winners
- Buy Two Books, Get the Third Free!
- New! O'Reilly Photography Learning Center
- O'Reilly Authors Get Jolted
- The Largest MySQL Gathering on Earth
- Free 14-Day Safari Trial
