The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[ownedbycats]

Published last year.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's NEVER been free for all Windows 7 users. Only most. MS says so. I have seen win7 systems that can't be upgraded.

CNet isn't official.

What Windows 7 systems cannot be updated?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Reading a sci-fi novel and noticed the author kept referring to 'sentients' -- seeing as there were multiple alien species, I didn't think too much of it (though I'm pedantic enough to think it should been 'sapients'). But then I saw the word 'sentientarian.' Ouch.

Well, "sapient" is usually considered an adjective so not sure "sapients" is an ideal solution. The OED does offer "sapient" as a noun but "In later use only jocularly", and I didn't find anyone else. (The OED also offers the words sapiential, sapientious, and sapientipotent - which I rather like.)

Whereas "sentient" seems to be considered both a noun and adjective by various dictionaries (OED, Chambers, dictionary.com), without suggesting it is a joke, so I think I like "sentients" better.

But "sentientarian" ... sounds like an age description, so maybe a being made old with the weight of their wisdom. Am I close?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by gmw

But "sentientarian" ... sounds like an age description, so maybe a being made old with the weight of their wisdom. Am I close?

It was used in place of 'humanitarian.'

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by gmw

Well, "sapient" is usually considered an adjective so not sure "sapients" is an ideal solution. The OED does offer "sapient" as a noun but "In later use only jocularly", and I didn't find anyone else. (The OED also offers the words sapiential, sapientious, and sapientipotent - which I rather like.)

Whereas "sentient" seems to be considered both a noun and adjective by various dictionaries (OED, Chambers, dictionary.com), without suggesting it is a joke, so I think I like "sentients" better.

But "sentientarian" ... sounds like an age description, so maybe a being made old with the weight of their wisdom. Am I close?

I guess that it's reached the point where we should be grateful that they used sentients to mean plural, rather than sentience.

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

As long as we grok what they intend, does it really matter all that much, my droogs?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

As long as we grok what they intend, does it really matter all that much, my droogs?

*hissing cat noises*

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

As long as we grok what they intend, does it really matter all that much, my droogs?

【⚆Ĺ̯⚆】

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

*hissing cat noises*

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....

Hitch

[Renate]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

As long as we grok what they intend, does it really matter all that much, my droogs?

I'll have a moloko plus.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What Windows 7 systems cannot be updated?

I've run into several Windows 7 computers that could not be updated to Windows 8 much less Windows 10 due to lacking some of the CPU requirements.

[issybird]

Enough of the Windows spat. In future, please take it to the Windows devices forum, only. Let’s keep this more or less on topic. Thanks.

[DiapDealer]

I read two books in a row where the swearing was terribly forced and unnatural. It occurs to me there just might be a job opportunity for someone who could let authors know whether or not they have the skill set to write characters who have a penchant for stringing together scads of invective.

That reminds me that I'm also not at all a fan of dialogue that mixes real-world profanity with curses to fictional deities. "By <insert fictional deity>'s f*****g <insert fictional deity's body part>!"

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That reminds me that I'm also not at all a fan of dialogue that mixes real-world profanity with curses to fictional deities. "By <insert fictional deity>'s f*****g <insert fictional deity's body part>!"

By Imbal's iron pizzle, I am totally shocked!

[graycyn]

I just read the latest Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) The Ink Black Heart and I was unduly irritated by double columns of tiny print chat room conversations.

The crazy bit was that these conversations were then repeated at a normal font size in a single column. These conversations were frequent and could go on for pages, so it wasn't just a once and done aggravation.

Naturally, once I discovered a normal single column version existed directly following the unreadable version, I paged on past.

But why, oh, why would any SANE ebook publisher do this? Why have it formatted in a way that's going to be positively impossible to read on most ereaders when it was obviously possible to format it in a readable manner? Why have BOTH versions present?

Although what I read was a library epub, I went over to Amazon just to see if any reviews mentioned this. A lot of people were irritated with the Kindle formatting and unreadable chats.

It just boggled my mind!

[gmw]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

[...]That reminds me that I'm also not at all a fan of dialogue that mixes real-world profanity with curses to fictional deities. "By <insert fictional deity>'s f*****g <insert fictional deity's body part>!"

On the other hand, I prefer real-world profanity to overly forced made up stuff. After all, the f-word, the b-words and many others are really just normal English words with accepted definitions used as invective, and most of the time there seems little reason why those meanings need made-up words when <insert fictional deity's body part> has been given in English.

But, on the gripping hand, anything can work when done well and not to excess. Like...

Originally Posted by DNSB

By Imbal's iron pizzle, I am totally shocked!

would work for the right sort of story and character. Well, the first part. The "I am totally shocked!" rings false, sorry DNSB, it had to be said.