Re: CHAT: browsers

Christophe Grandsire wrote:

> Because the hardware had been checked (those people I'm talking about are
> professionals, not amateurs like me).
Ah, okay ;) I guess WinXP is one of those really-good-or-really-bad things.

> Then it's really strange, because I've seen it used the way I used it, read it
> too like that, and at the end learned it this way. But I'll be careful for next
> time.
Strange or not strange, it's how it is.

> But they would certainly react that you don't need to define it. I would. I
> doubt they react this way when you define what a kibi- is. On the contrary, I'm
> quite sure the people you're talking to react saying that they never heard of
> it before.
Not necassarily. And I generally use it in text-based environments where
people are less likely to complain about already knowing what it means
because I could be talking to a dozen different people.

>>I was thinking of a cricket bat, actually.
>
> I know you did. I was making a *joke*.
I know you were. I can't imagine anyone not knowing what bats (or
cricket) was. Except perhaps Americans, though according to Gatorade,
they know nothing *about* cricket, which implies that the know of it.

> > And no, that has nothing to
>>do with crickets, cicadas, or any other small green animal you could
>>care to name.
>
> Really? I thought cricket bats were used only to kill crickets (this
> alleged "sports" called cricket is really just a hoax to make the rest of the
> world believe the Commonwealth is holding true sports competitions ;))) ).
LOL. And anyway, how could they kill crickets in countries where they
don't exist?

> And before you react, *yes*! I know there is a sports called "cricket". I even
> played it once (we had a nice sports teacher at school, he made us try plenty
> of different sports). Not that I remember the rules anymore though ;)) .
I can see a joke. My sense of humor just demands that I interpret them
literally. Same with sarcasm (where it often results in word-games).

>>Obviously how you'll do it depends on your distro (that works for
>>Gentoo
>>and that's about it). I'm not sure that you can get precompiled
>>versions
>>of Mozilla with XFT enabled, but I'd be suprised if you couldn't. You
>>*can* get precompiled XFT-enabled versions of Phoenix, though.
>
> But what's the use of them: I cannot install them...
Sure you can. The precompile XFT-enable Phoenix will run in any
directory you choose.
        tar xjf phoenix-whatever.tar.bz2; cd phoenix; ./phoenix
and there you are! The whole idea of installing software is incredibly
old-fashioned.

And anyway, when compiling all the bits and pieces (except perhaps XFT,
I'm not sure---it may mix in too much with X), you just run './configure
--prefix=~/mozilla' and when you type 'make install' it'll be installed
into ~/mozilla.

> Hehe. Indeed, in that case I understand what you mean. I had the same when I
> moved from Rouen to Paris :) .
Odd that memory of time seems to be related to place and habit more than
actual time.

> Well, I'll be careful. But "litre" looks so French to me that I tend to
> write "liter" because I'm afraid I'm making a mistake (and except
> for "diphtongue", which I keep writing the French way for fun - and because I
> can never remember how to spell the English word ;)) -, I'm not keen on making
> spelling mistakes).
Oh, I wasn't telling you to change your spelling, just saying it would
be out of place in Australia, even if properly you're mixing up -or and
-our, and 'colorising' things...

>>I must say, though, that I'm apalled. Hope to it already!
>
> Just be patient ;)) .
I'm trying!

> Well, you write the way you're taught and the way you see it written.
> Commercials follow the official spelling because they have to (what's the point
> of an official spelling otherwise? ;))) ), children are taught the official
> spelling, and sometimes ask their parents to help them with their homework, so
> even adults pick up the reformed spelling (which is very close to the former
> one anyway that most people don't see the difference). And anyway, the MS Word
> spellchecker follows the last orthographic reform, so people naturally correct
> their mistakes (rare are people like me who refuse to do it for aesthetic
> reasons. Most people don't care). As for really different things like the "mél"
> spelling for "mail", as I said, it has been accepted only because it made for a
> nice parallel with "tél", which made nice-looking business cards. If it had
> been anything else, it wouldn't have been accepted (and mind you, it's only a
> *proposed* spelling. "mail" is still allowed).
Are ewe shore about Word? People hear no better then two trust a spell
chequer...

> You understand wrong. I never heard a French person using the word "livre" for
> weight. Even babies, who were traditionally weighed in "pounds" of 500g, have
> been weighed in kilograms since before my birth (even my grandparents rarely,
> if ever, use the word "livre" for weight, and they are both 80 years old).
Really? Oh. I got that from some website-or-other that was suggesting
the English were taking the whole metrication thing to far. I should
know better than to trust websites, shouldn't I?

> LOL. Indeed not ;)) . Still, if here it's done correctly, why can't it be
> anywhere else? We're not so much less lazy than you!
I have no idea. If it were up to me, I'd make it all correct. If
something is correct, whether I like it or not, I obey it (unless it's
incredibly stupid/dangerous etc). Thus, unlike many of my fellow
republicans, I refer to Her Majesty as Queen Elizabeth II of Australia
(which is just below the point of 'incredibly stupid', because we've
never had a Queen Elizabeth I), and not Mrs Windsor. (Personally, I
think if she's going to be our queen, should be the queen of the people;
she's Queen Elizabeth I of Scots or somesuch, why can't she be Queen
Elizabeth I of Australians? But then, we might as well just become a
republic...)

(BTW: Republican obviously has a different meaning in Australia
(favoring changing Australia into an independent republic with our own
head of state, rather than a foreigner) and America (follower of the
Republican party). Less obviously, though, in America, 'Republic' seems
to mean 'representative democracy' (i.e. you vote for people who
represent you in Government, as in the current system in both America
and Australia), whereas in Australia it has to do with having your own
head of state (certainly not for life, but not necessarily elected, and
not necessarily with any power).)

>>(On a side note, though both l and L are correct for litres, L is the
>>normal one used here (even in mL),
>
> Here too, it's the official form. 'l' is only an accepted variant (despite what
> John says. I know what the official form is and it's definitely 'L').
I thought they were both official, with L preferred.

Tristan.

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