Shared posts

05 Jul 16:04

They look harmless

by Cale

They are the most dangerous animal in the world, and they strike when you least expect it.  The hungry hungry hippo is lethal, and children should not be left alone in the room with it.

be vigilant in the wild safari. the hungr hungry hippo waits patiently in the shallows

The post They look harmless appeared first on Things in Squares.

05 Jul 14:45

Some people have all the luck.Check out the rest of my exclusive...

05 Jul 14:17

Contractions.

by B_Movie_Guy
She has a point. Maybe that was a little crass of me.

Love,
   Chris.
Facebook.com/PoorlyDrawnThoughts
Instagram.com/PoorlyDrawnThoughts
Twitter.com/PoorlyDrawnGuy
05 Jul 14:17

HAPPY JULY 4th!

by MRTIM
Check out The Complete OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS on Kickstarter!
05 Jul 14:17

Mushimage / twitter / facebook / patreon

05 Jul 14:16

Happy Fourth of July!  ImageFacebook  Twitter







Happy Fourth of July! 

 Image

Facebook  Twitter

05 Jul 13:42

Photo



05 Jul 11:25

the fourth of July

by lynneguist
When I (or a guest blogger) have talked about dates here, it's mostly been about how dates are written. (One exception was about how we say the year.) One thing we've not really talked about is how we read dates out loud.

I've been struck by the mismatch a couple of times when British people have tried to "go American" and put the day after the month. In one case, it was The Telegraph on complained-about Americanisms on the BBC. One of these was July 5. And I thought: but Americans hardly ever say July 5. We write it, but in the context of a sentence we'd pronounce that date as July 5th. Not It's on July 5, but It's on July 5th.

The same happens in BrE. People write 5 July, but they pronounce the 5 as the ordinal version: fifth. People don't go about saying "My birthday is five July". So, I've never understood: when people complained about July 5 on the radio, had they heard someone say July five, or is that their way of writing that someone said July fifth?

It happened again today, when @BoswellAffleck forwarded to me a tweet in which someone else wished Americans a "Happy July 4". Maybe the tweeter was saying that to himself as July 4th, but if I were to write it, I think I'd write "Happy July 4th", since it's in an expression that's addressed to some particular people; not a fact of when something happened, but the name of a day. July 4 might be what I write at the top of a letter, but if I put it in a phrase like that, I think I'd have to write the th in order for it to look like it sounds.
Trumbull's The Declaration of Independence (1819)

It's OK to wish someone a Happy July 4th (especially if you're trying to save characters on Twitter), but it's still not super-idiomatic American English. The holiday that falls on that day has two official names: Independence Day and the Fourth of July. In wishing people a happy one, it's clearer to use the name of the holiday.

British folk sometimes ask me about the Fourth of July. If Americans write the date as July 4 (and 7/4 when expressing the month as a number), why is the fourth in front of the month in this case?

They probably ask about that one in particular because they don't hear all the other times Americans say the date that way. But we do have and use the option to say other dates that way too.  My Englandiversary is on the 6th of January or January 6th. I could say either, but the 6th of January sounds more formal to me. The formality might just be due to the length of it--and maybe particularly that definite the. The is something of a marker of more formal English.

At this point, a table might be a good idea.


today's date AmE BrE
07/04/2016 yes --
July 4th yes sometimes
July the 4th legal contexts yes
04/07/2016 -- yes
4th July -- yes [but more written]
the 4th July -- yes [but more written]
the 4th of July yes yes


I used the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus to check on these (though I used *th instead of a particular number and June instead of July, because the holiday's name would skew the results)--and that's how I found the "legalness" of [month] the [ordinal] in AmE: all of the examples seemed to be from courtrooms or reporting on legal matters, as in "the evidence will prove that Kato last saw the defendant on the night of June the 12th at 9:35 at the latest".

In general, the table shows that each national dialect wants to do something "extra" if it puts the date on the "other" side of the month from that which it occurs in writing the date numerically. If the date is put after the month in BrE, it needs a the. If it's put before the month in AmE, it needs a the and an of. These extra words are marking these expressions as 'not the default way to express the date' in those countries.

In British English, dates like the 4th June are written much more than they're said. More often the pronounced version has the of in it. Not only does the of help to avoid the ambiguity between 'the fourth day in June' and 'the fourth June in a series', it gives the date a nicer melody: spoken English doesn't like to have two stressed syllables in a row. The of breaks up the stressfest.

How did we end up putting the day on opposite sides of the month? It's one of those where American has the older form. It says July 4, 1776 at the top of the Declaration of Independence because that's how people wrote dates back then. Putting the date before the month came to Britain in the late 19th century, influenced by other European countries. (I'm going to assume "especially France", because British English loves nothing more than a bit of Frenchifying.) 

And why is the holiday the Fourth of July rather than July Fourth? I suspect it has to do with that sense of formality that the longer form conveys and the the.  It's not just some date, it's the date.
(I now have The Twelfth of Never stuck in my head.)

For more on why Americans tend to call the holiday by the date, rather than Independence Day, see this article on Slate.


And I can't leave this post without noting Nigel Farage (UK Independence Party) urging
"let June the 23rd go down in history as our independence day". 

First: note that date after the month. Does June the 23rd sound more formal or ceremonial than the 23rd of June in a BrE context? Would love to hear British thoughts on the relative formality of the ways of saying dates.

Second: Whenever I heard the Leave [the European Union] campaigners claiming that date as "Independence Day", I thought: Is that what all this is about? Are these guys just jealous that they don't have a holiday with a [orig. AmE] kick-ass name like the US has?  I'm asking a bit as a joke, but a part of me thinks that it's not far off the mark.

(The timing of the new Independence Day film, opening in the UK on the day after the EU referendum, meant that lots of people were using the film's poster instead of images of actual people fighting for actual independence in the actual world. It is all rather surreal.)

And third, this table. I haven't been able to find who first put it together and posted it  (if you know, let me know and I'll add a credit)--I've seen it on many friends' Facebook pages.

(The table is from Wikipedia, but I'm not sure who added the question and circulated it.)

05 Jul 11:25

Independence Day Texts from Superheroes

Independence Day Texts from Superheroes

 

LOL! Once again Happy 4th of July America! A collection of the best Independence Day texts from the hilarious folks over at Texts from Superheroes (check out their Best of Captain America texts too!)...

Independence Day Texts from Superheroes

Independence Day Texts from Superheroes

Independence Day Texts from Superheroes

Source: Texts from Superheroes

Follow us on:
 

July 04 2016
05 Jul 11:25

The Softub

Indoors, outdoors, on a dock in the middle of the river with a thatch roof on top. The Softub is the kind of hot tub that goes where and does what you tell it to. Without lip and without draining your wallet.

Pitted against acrylic hot tubs, Softubs feel they have the upper hand on numerous counts. In addition to being durable and lightweight for portability, the malleable spas:

  • Need only a level surface, indoors or out, for setup, rather than the construction, excavation, or concrete pad permanent installations often require.
  • Plug into standard household outlets, and require no extra amperage or a 220V-60apm line. Softubs also include a GFI.
  • Take just 1 person and 3 steps to set up.
  • Roll through doorways, down stairs, and across yards. Their heaviest component weighs 95 pounds.
  • Are energy-efficient and less than half the cost of acrylic tubs to operate. In a climate whose average temperature is 65 degrees F, Softub cost is about $14/month, compared to counterparts' $30 to $60.

Softubs contain powerful hydrojets and interior lighting similar to those you'll find in hard tubs. They have a Leathertex exterior and Polybond interior tested to withstand the strength and weight of an elephant. As you can see in the image gallery. Heh.

The Softub T-300+ accommodates up to 6 adults, the T-220 up to 4, and T-140 just you and She-Ra: Princess of Power. Or your friend Cornelius when She-Ra's ticked off because you forgot to screw the lid of the orange juice all the way back on so when she picked it up....

05 Jul 11:25

Marriage.BUY MY BOOK - Patreon- Facebook - Twitter - Subreddit

04 Jul 01:18

Church Adds New Mental Health Resources on LDS.org

“It is hoped that the Elder Holland video and the new Mental Health website will bring hope to many and be a catalyst for meaningful discussions within families and ward councils,” Brother Richens said.The Church has added new resources to the Mental Health page on LDS.org, including candid video interviews with members experiencing mental illness and answers to “hard questions.”“We came to earth to face issues of mortality in the form of trials, temptations, disease, and death. It is essential for us to face personal struggles because opposition is a crucial part of Father’s plan. I suppose everybody will have some kind of an experience where they say, “I’m never going to be happy again.” “Well, we are going to be happy again. That is also a part of the plan. It’s the very nature of it. Hang on and hope. Never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. Never, ever doubt His love for you. Hold fast to the Atonement. Believe in miracles. When you’ve done all you can do, endure to the end. And remember, hope is never lost.The World Health Organization claims that one in four people in the world will be affected by mental illness at some point in their life. According to mentalhealth.lds.org, help is available “whether you’re just discovering the importance of caring for your own mental health, learning to cope with a mental illness, or searching for solutions to help a loved one.”“There is no simple way to encapsulate the variety of experiences individuals face while living with a mental illness,” said Douglas R. Richens, a manager in the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department. “However, these resources are a start to an improved understanding and awareness of the needs. We plan to provide additional content and videos over the coming year related to more specific mental health conditions and ways to help.”The site currently features six videos from members sharing personal experiences with depression, sadness, eating disorders, sexual abuse, schizophrenia, and suicide. An additional section provides suggestions for questions such as “How can I feel happy when I can’t feel anything” and “How can I help people understand what I’m going through?”“Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind.”On Monday, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—who during the October 2010 general conference acknowledged he has personally dealt with depression in his life—posted the following message on his Facebook page:“Three years ago, I felt impressed to speak at general conference about the painful, life-altering condition of depression that affects so many. You can read the address here.

04 Jul 01:18

Click HERE for more Cluster Fudge



Click HERE for more Cluster Fudge

04 Jul 01:18

Happy Canada Day, from Texts From Superheroes       Texts From SuperheroesFacebook | Twitter |...

Happy Canada Day, from Texts From Superheroes

  

 

 

Texts From Superheroes

Facebook | Twitter | Patreon

04 Jul 01:17

Nostalgia

by CommitStrip

Strip-The-first-song-(650-final)

04 Jul 01:15

SALT Self-Defense Gun

SALT is the first self defense platform to combine the safe, non-lethal protection of a pepper spray with the long-range protection of a traditional firearm, but without the drawbacks of either. Shaped like a traditional handgun, SALT shoots rounds filled with a powdered pepper spray and tear gas combination that creates a chemical cloud upon impact, incapacitating anyone in the vicinity. So while SALT will stop an intruder, it won't kill anyone who happens to stumble upon it (like a curious child).

And while SALT's powdered pepper spray and tear gas combination is the same strength used by the US Military, Federal and State Police Departments and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it has also been deemed non-lethal (not to be confused with less-than-lethal) by the United Nations. So while the chemical effects last 50 minutes at the most, you or your family wouldn't suffer any permanent injuries if you were inadvertently exposed.

SALT also replaces the gun powder used in typical firearms with compressed air. That means no loud bang or kickback when you fire it, which makes the gun easier for more people to use. And since SALT Rounds release a chemical cloud of protection, you don't have to be face-to-face with an intruder to use it. For example, if you hear someone trying to kick down a door or break through a window, shooting the area around the break-in will create a chemical barrier that takes down the intruder after you're out of harm's way.

Click here to get your SALT Starter Kit.

SALT Specs:

  • Effects: Vision impairment, lung constriction and burning set in within seconds and gradually diminish over the next 15 to 30 minutes (depending on the exposure time and quantity).
  • Range: SALT is effective at 150+ feet vs the 6-10 feet of traditional pepper sprays or tasers.
  • Hang Time: Each SALT Round explodes on impact into a 5 foot cloud of pepper spray that hangs in the air for 3-5 minutes.
  • Impact: A SALT Round travels at 320 feet per second, delivering the same kinetic energy as being hit by a 50 mph fastball.
  • Number of Shots: SALT is fed by a 7-round magazine, which allows the user to quickly fire up to 21 rounds.
  • Power: SALT is powered by a safe, household CO2 cylinder that is activated when needed by simply pulling the trigger of the gun to break the cylinder's seal.
  • Shelf Life: Our military strength pepper spray has a 5-year shelf life (more than double the industry standard), and can be stored at temperatures up to 150 degrees F.
  • Made In America: Every SALT Pepper Spray Gun, Round and accessory is manufactured in the Midwest.
02 Jul 19:22

The Languages Which Almost Became CSS

by Chris Coyier

Today, CSS doesn't really have any competitors. We might compile another language to get it, or apply it in unusual ways, but ultimately styling happens on the web through CSS.

But before CSS cemented itself, there was RRP, PWP, FOSI, DSSSL, PSL, CHSS, and JSSS.

An awesome journey through web styling history by Zack Bloom.

Direct Link to ArticlePermalink

The Languages Which Almost Became CSS is a post from CSS-Tricks

30 Jun 03:34

Photo



30 Jun 03:33

Amazon is discounting unlocked Android phones and loading them with lock screen ads

by Alex Wagner
Dan Jones

Thoughts?

How would you feel about looking at ads on the lock screen of your phone? What if you could save some money on the price of a new unlocked phone by doing so? That’s what Amazon Prime Exclusive is all about.

The new Prime Exclusive program from Amazon offers new, unlocked Android phones at discounted prices. In exchange for those lower prices, the phones will show you ads on the lock screen and come preloaded with Amazon software, including apps and a widget to display daily deals. If you see an ad on your lock screen that you like, you can tap on it to learn more. If you don’t care for the ad, you can simply unlock your phone like normal to dismiss it.

amazonprimeexclusivemotog4aam

The first two phones to be available through Prime Exclusive are the Moto G4 and BLU R1 HD, and they’re both being discounted by $50. That means that the Moto G4 is $149.99 for the 16GB model and $179.99 for the 32GB version, while the BLU R1 HD is $49.99 for the model with 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM or $59.99 for a version with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM. If you order the Moto G4 today (June 29), you can save an additional $25, leaving the 16GB at a price of $124.99 and the 32GB at $154.99.

Both the Moto G4 and BLU R1 HD are available for pre-order today, and they’ll begin shipping on July 12. In order to buy them, though, you will need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber.

amazonprimeexclusiveblur1hdaam

While the idea of having ads on your lock screen may sound crazy to some, Amazon’s Prime Exclusive phones could be a nice option for budget-conscious shoppers. These are brand new, recently-released Android phones that come unlocked out of the box, and the $50 discount that you get with them is a sizable chunk of their total price. And because the ads are on your lock screen, you could end up not even seeing them half the time that you use your phone, as you just quickly swipe to unlock the phone and dismiss the ad.

What do you think of Amazon’s Prime Exclusive phones? Would you deal with ads on your lock screen in exchange for getting $50 off of a new phone?

Via: Amazon
Sources: Moto G4, Blu R1 HD

30 Jun 03:33

To his friend... (From the OVC Archive!)

by MRTIM
Check out The Complete OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS on Kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/173804573/the-complete-our-valued-customers
29 Jun 17:17

I, Phone

by Dan Jones

CGP Grey explains how our legal system needs to adapt to modern technology

28 Jun 18:33

Welcome to Shark Week hysteria. Yes, sharks are awesome. No,...















Welcome to Shark Week hysteria. Yes, sharks are awesome. No, they don’t pose a serious threat to humans. *Note: I ran all these numbers in 2013 so some might have shifted a little.

27 Jun 13:49

Mundolingua.

by languagehat

David Crystal has posted about what sounds like a remarkable museum:

Last week I finally managed to get to see the amazing Mundolingua – the language museum in Paris founded by Mark Oremland a couple of years ago. I don’t use the adjective lightly. He has managed to pack into two floors of a small building a remarkable array of pictures, books, artefacts, and interactive facilities relating to language, languages, and linguistics, all presented in a user-friendly and multingual way. […]

The museum is open every day between 10:00 and 19:00, with a modest entrance fee of just a few euros. Don’t rush the visit. There is so much material that a language buff could spend a whole day here – or even two – exploring the collections in detail. The day I was there a group of visitors was sitting around a sociolinguistic exhibit with headphones, happily listening to usages in various languages. Another couple was by the phonetics chart copying the IPA sounds represented there.

I spent some time trying the braille quiz: a chart in front of you gives you all the braille letter codes, and then you place your hands under a cover and feel the message hidden there. I thought it would be easy and found it really challenging.

I hope it sticks around, and if I ever get to Paris again I will definitely pay it a visit.

27 Jun 13:49

Google rumored to launch its own smartphone this year

by Evan Selleck

Google has its Nexus lineup, but while those are devices that run the purest version of Android you can find, they are manufactured by other companies like Huawei and Motorola. If a new report is accurate, Google is planning on trying its hand at hardware.

According to The Telegraph, Google is going to launch its own smartphone this year. The information was provided to the publication from a “senior source,” and other sources said that Google is currently in talks with wireless carriers to launch its own-brand smartphone. Unfortunately, any additional details regarding the handset aren’t known at this time.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard Google plans on launching its own hardware. Following the recent unveiling of Daydream, Google’s virtual reality platform, it was revealed that the company will launch its own Daydream headset this year. If Google were to release its own smartphone, too, it would certainly cause some waves in the mobile industry.

What do you think of this rumor?

26 Jun 16:06

decimate

by goofy

In The Sound of Drums, the Master says:

Shall we decimate them? That sounds good. Nice word, decimate. Remove one tenth of the population!
Clever right? Chalk one up for the peeververein! He used decimate in its correct meaning!

Except decimate has hardly ever been used to mean “destroy one tenth of”.

I know it's in some dictionaries with this meaning. And you can find many usage writers who claim it. But where's the evidence?

The notion that it means “destroy one tenth of” seems to have started with James Murray. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage suggests that Murray added this definition because he wanted to make a semantic link between the word’s etymology and its use in English:
Sir James Murray inserted a definition in the OED, "To kill, destory, or remove one in every ten of" before the extended sense just discussed ["destroy a large part of"]. He presumably did this to provide a semantic bridge from the earlier senses (and especially the Roman sense) to the extended sense, but he produced no citations to indicate its actual use. Apparently decimate has never been so used in English.
OED editor at large Jesse Sheidlower agrees:
The only sense that's ever been common in English is the figurative 'to destroy a great number, proportion, or part of', first found in the mid seventeenth century. Despite repeated claims that this sense is erroneous, on the grounds that decimate should only refer to a destruction of one-tenth, that is how the word is used. In fact, it seems to be the only way the word is used; despite the insistence of various usage critics, a real example of decimate meaning 'to destroy one-tenth of' has never to my knowledge been found in actual running text.
Ammon Shea seems to agree.

On the other hand, when I looked in the OED Online recently, I saw that the entry has been changed. It now says
1b. To kill, destroy, or remove one in every ten of. In later use usually with an indication that the more general sense 1c is not intended, esp. by use of literally.
In the 7 citations that follow, I see 3 which clearly mean "remove one in every ten of":
1846 Addr. of Trustees (Burlington Coll.) (ed. 2) 51 Suppose that one in ten be found, after fair trial, and long patience, quite impracticable... There will still be seventy-two. And these, if needful, may again be decimated.

1921 Youth's Compan. 5 May 279 There are at least 3,000,000 fewer French people than there were in 1911, and the loss may prove to be almost 4,000,000. That would mean that France has been literally decimated.

1998 P. Gourevitch We wish to inform You 3 Decimation means the killing of every tenth person in a population, and in the spring and early summer of 1994 a program of massacres decimated the Republic of Rwanda.
This change was part of OED3. So at least 3 uses in the past 400 years have been found and added to the OED. But these citations were not there when the “remove one in every ten of” definition was originally written. And if you have to add “literally” after the word, that's a sign that it's not the usual meaning.
26 Jun 16:06

If you haven’t already checked out Aaron Lenk’s...



If you haven’t already checked out Aaron Lenk’s fantasy webcomic The Last Giant, you absolutely must. It’s sooooo good!

He’s also the artist I make my other webcomic Is It Canon? with!

26 Jun 16:03

Frozen Banana Cereal Pops

When we want a healthy snack, we dip bananas in yogurt, roll 'em in cereal, then freeze. Ta-da! Nature's Popsicles. —Scarlett Elrod, Newnan, Georgia

25 Jun 23:00

David Cameron today http://ift.tt/28SJWej



David Cameron today http://ift.tt/28SJWej

25 Jun 23:00

Newspaper front pages about Brexit

by Jason Kottke

Economist Brexit

Buzzfeed has a collection of newspaper front pages and magazine covers related to Brexit. Newseum has a more extensive collection (900+ newspapers) and the Guardian has a nice selection as well.

Out of all of them, I think the cover for next week's issue of the New Yorker is perhaps my favorite:

New Yorker Brexit

Ah, Monty Python.

Tags: Brexit   design   European Union   journalism   politics   UK
25 Jun 23:00

Apparently bulk clothing is a thing http://ift.tt/28UwB6e



Apparently bulk clothing is a thing http://ift.tt/28UwB6e