posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
eftychia at 03:31pm on 2004-03-02
eftychia at 03:31pm on 2004-03-02- The story of a photographic invention -- the invention itself is amusingly portrayed on page 2 (it does look useful!), but I thought the buildup on page 1 was amusing enough for y'all to start there. Lots of photos, slow to load.
- Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity In Words of Four Letters or Less -- just what it sounds like, and it works better than you might expect.
- Broadband over power lines -- small scale test deploymen now in Massachussetts, larger deployment planed for 2005. They're using the high-tension lines to reach neighbourhoods, and Wi-Fi for the "last mile" to duck the problem of getting data off of a 3kV - 35kV transmission line and into a house safely.
- The Viagra Prank -- you'll either find most of it funny or you won't; but even if you don't, it's probably worth reading through it to set up the sudden realization explained in the final four paragraphs.
- Do you feel a need to know how to say, "Which ones are the Orcs?" in Aramaic? According to this list of handy Aramaic phrases for when you're watching The Passion of the Christ, it's, "Ayleyn enuun Oorqey?". Click on to learn how to say, "I'm not crying; I've just got a mote in my eye," and, "My heart is on fire, but my bum is asleep."
- "Plight Your Troth; Don't Plead Your Case", dating advice for lawyers. "I decided to research this problem by asking the world's foremost authority on everything wrong with attorneys -- my wife. [...] After several hours of commentary about my own shortcomings, she explained that the problem appears to lie in the fact that 'lawyers think like lawyers.'" Short, with amusing examples.
- The Harry Potter Witchcraft Spellbook, which presents spells from historical medieval spellbooks corresponding to some of the things described in the Harry Potter novels.
- Rude. In poor taste. But funny, dammit: Stone Mirror's List of Thirteen Evil Things to Do at a Showing of The Passion. "After Jesus expires, ask people whether this means that the terrorists (or Sauron, if you prefer) won."
- How to say, "Do you speak English?" in over 200 languages. I am amused that they include translations to Texan and Strine, but I'm still looking for how to say it in Old English. "My goal is to include every language of the world on these pages. There are still several thousand languages out there that I don't have yet, so all additions and corrections will be very welcome!"
- And from CNN with today's date on it: "NASA scientists say the Mars rovers have found what they were looking for: Hard evidence that the red planet was once 'soaking wet.'"
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
That might be something like...
Re: That might be something like...
Without having been told that's OE, I would've guessed ME. Then again, there's that one verse in ME that jumped out at me as sounding almost like Modern English, so the occasional reminder that the three are related shouldn't surprise me that much.
Thanks.
To make sure I've got the HTML right:
"Dæst ðu spækest Anglisc?"
(æ and ð, BTW.)
I knew you'd know that HTML!
On the other hand, if you asked someone from there-and-then that question, the response might be something along the lines of "Yea, Ich spæke Anglisc, ðu torde, whæt madnes spækest ðu?!" ;-)
Re: I knew you'd know that HTML!
Was there more than one vowel shift? I found an intro-to-OE web site, and it said 'u' was pronounced as in 'dumb' ... but in the ME I've heard, 'u' sounds like 'oo'.
The Great Vowel Shift and Friends
We're already seeing a split between more and less highly-shifted variants of MdnE, some of them severe enough to require "dialect" classification. Ask me about that guy who answered the phone "Haamaa Payp Cupneh," sometime. He was trying to say "Hyman Paper Company," but between his consonant loss and (lack of) vowel shift, neither of us could understand practically Word One of what the other said.
I don't read German, either, but then again, I think German looks enough like English that I can figure out the simple words. German and English are sort of cousin languages, which means that English belongs to a family full of dotty relatives (on both sides) -- English is one of the dottiest.
(no subject)
aww, no Sindarin?
(no subject)
(no subject)
So ... "Sprycst ðú Englisc?" [sprikst thoo ENNglish] or to be absolutely clear you don't mean "Are you speaking English right now, or some crazy argot?" "Canst ðú on ðæm Engliscan tunge sprecan?" [Kannst thoo on tham ENNglishun TUHNguh SPREKKun]
It can also be Ænglisc. And you don't want me to list the variants for "sprycst," but if you want you can give its vowel the pronunciation of short German ü.
Frith,
Marion
(no subject)
I don't know German, but I do know that vowel sound, fortunately.
And jeepers, was Old English as strongly iambic as Modern English, or was that sentence just coincidentally so?
(no subject)
The strong initial stress is a Common Germanic thing that Anglo-Saxon did have, even more markedly than modern English. That may be what you're noticing.
The peculiarity of English, rhythmically speaking, that learners usually have trouble with is the flexible rhythm--the rule that in general a clause takes the same amount of time to say even if one adds extra syllables to it. Whereas other languages have the words marching along in a much more predictable rhythm. Anglo-Saxon poetry demonstrates that to a certain extent--and a greater extent than alliterative poetry in other Germanic languages based on the same principles. But it could also derive from fitting in all the little function words from Norman French. Likely the tendency was exacerbated after the Old English period.
M
(no subject)
The simple fact is that the power lines are not designed to be a transmission line. The data is going to be a broadband noise source, blanketing all LF, MF, and HF radio in the vicinity. "Who cares? All radio is going to be FM and satellite anyway?" Yeah, sure. Think of emergency communications. Very often the only communication links to a disaster-stricken area are low-power HF sets. Of course in the disaster area there are no broadband jammers, but here, where your receiving site is, you are in the midst of burbles and whinings of the blessed broadband data, and the emergency communications are buried under the nose. This will force to place the radios off-site, away from population centres, whereas now they are at the rescue authorities, city halls, and similar command centres.
And, of course, it will be another strike on the face of amateur radio enthusiasts.
And then there's the data privacy aspect. Are the communications between pole and central office going to be encrypted? "Oh, but it is on the cable, it isn't vulnerable to sniffing." It isn't? Balderdash. When you're transmitting broadband on a power line, the line is an antenna, efficiently radiating the precious bits to anyone who might want to listen. (And as mentioned above, to numerous parties who do not want to.) It will take but modest equipment to eavesdrop on such a communication link, and no physical contact at all. A curbside van is plenty enough.
(no subject)
Hmm. Implementing structural changes to provide an electromagnetic solution won't be economically feasible because a big part of the reason for doing this in the first place is the ability to use copper that's already in place ... I wonder whether there's a mathematical solution to the interference problem. Obviously if you just ship the bits as unmodulated ripples added to the existing transmission line wave, you've got broadband emissions, and you can't do funky phase modulations to the base waveform because its frequency is (I assume) too low to be useful, but is there a useful encoding that would restrict the emissions to frequencies outside of radio communications use? Or is this one of those mathematical gotchas where we can prove that it's guaranteed to be a problem barring structural changes to the wiring (like adding shielding)?
As for eavesdropping ... ewww. Yeah, they're going to have to encrypt the packets, and that encryption is going to get thoroughly tested by black hats doing war-driving. Maybe some white-hats and grey-hats need to wander into the test area in MA and see whether they're currently at least attempting to encrypt.
Currently there are people who worry about eavesdropping using compromised routers (and other folks who put cash registers on WiFi without encryption <<shudder>>) When evesdropping on the connection becomes trivial, is it enough to personally run all your connections through SSH, or does the carrier also need to add encryption of the lowest protocols on top of that for you to be safe?
Oh man, I so don't want to wade through the math on a computer screen, but I know I'm not going to get ahold of it on paper any time soon.
(no subject)
I'm positive that a coding or modulation scheme can be concoted that leaves a small number of narrow windows in the RF spectrum less contaminated. A small number, narrow windows. As you no doubt are aware, the bandwidth occupied by a transmission is the symbol rate. So, if I have 2 Mbit/s line, it is going to occupy 2 MHz of bandwidth -- in segments, if necessary. Unless we get the center frequency up to 15..20 MHz, it is going to block everything. And the higher the frequency, the less optimal the transmission line, and the more it will radiate.
Power line frequency is not only far too low to provide usable bandwidth, but the various reactive and especially switching loads are continuously modulating the 50 Hz (or 60 Hz) carrier in an unpredictable and uncomfortable manner, in phase and amplitude alike.
The voluntary emergency communications infrastructure in the US as well as many other countries use uncoordinated frequencies: the parties are free to make their allocations within given bands.
What is going to happen is that the technology will be pushed through, despite the lone voices in the desert protesting against it. Only later when everyone and their cousin is relying on the technology, will the problems become evident, and a loud indignant noise will be heard saying "we didn't want this."
Speaking of lone voices in the desert, I have found it to require a bit of work to find objective expositions of any power-line communication technology. Either it is touted as the technology that will save us from any internet connectivity problems for the rest of time, or it is soundly denounced as the most devilish invention since [abomination of your choice].
(no subject)
*That* should put the kybosh on it.
-m
(no subject)
My stereos do not pass this test. The computer does, as well as the FM monitor receiver. Admittedly, the last item is not strictly a consumer grade product.
But you are giving me hope. Perhaps, at a long last, we will see a benefit from the insufficient electromagnetic compatibility of consumer products.
(no subject)
(no subject)
But I digress. What I meant to say is that I'm glad you're amused.
(no subject)
*giggles*