Words mean things. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with jargon…

Words mean things. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with jargon, they don’t always mean the same things to different people.

Phil Plait: Scientists are from Mars, the public is from Earth | Bad Astronomy

A couple of days ago here on G+ I linked to a table that shows words scientists use, and how the public hears them – and it’s not the way the scientists think. I had more to say, so I wrote a whole post about it.

Bottom line: if scientists want to sway public opinion, they need to make sure what they say can be understood.

–GP

What scientists say, and what people hear, isn’t always the same thing. That’s a problem with any kind of jargon, but when you get into things that have been politicized, it’s important to be clear.

–FB

Most of the complaints I saw were from people who were fully aware of Starfire’s history

Maybe we were reading different discussions, but most of the complaints I saw were from people who were fully aware of Starfire’s history, but did not like the switch from “defined character who is also hot and has sex” to “flying sexbot who might get some characterization sometime in the future, but has mainly been introduced as being hot and having sex.” That includes the original article that touched this all off.

And yes, everyone knows it’s a relaunch/reboot. That explains the presence of changes. It does not justify bad ones.

On Reddit

Storm, smog and sky above LAX.

They’re finally replacing the broken window in my old 11th-floor office. (It’s been held together with duct tape for months.) I’m still in the same suite, so the air pressure just started pulling a serious breeze from the vent in my ceiling.

I should really go grab lunch…

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Why, yes, that was thunder I heard. Good thing the window replacement is done.

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Storm, smog and sky above LAX. I’ve seen one lightning bolt and heard a few thunderclaps. The darker clouds are bunched up over Palos Verdes.

The user’s space has been used up

It’s rare that translating from English to (in this case) Chinese and back to English improves things, but “The user’s space has been used up” is clearer than “Mailbox over quota.”

Wayne suggests on Google+: lol might be because Chinese like to be more formal in their phrasing so Chinese probably translated to something like “The user’s space…”

Interesting theory: Amazon could buy Netflix, but wouldn’t want…

Interesting theory: Amazon could buy Netflix, but wouldn’t want to buy the current business with all its shipping centers in places where Amazon doesn’t have to pay/collect sales tax. If Netflix spins off the discs first, then Amazon gets Netflix’s catalog, technology…and most importantly, the zillions of TV sets and set-top boxes that have the streaming client included.

Netflix split to set up Amazon streaming merger? | ZDNet

Netflix’s move to separate its DVD-by-mail service may pave the way for Amazon to buy the company, argues an analyst.

Comments on Google+:

Brion: Possible… but I’ve always found netflix’s streaming catalog to be insufficient as is… best of a bad lot I guess!

Me: Yeah. That’s the main reason we still have the DVD subscription: 80% of our queue isn’t available streaming. In this theory, the big win for Amazon would be the install base.

Brion: Yep… hell, with any luck Amazon can strong-arm better deals with the studios. 😛 But I’d still love blanket non-exclusive compulsory streaming licenses: if the content’s out there for sale to the public on little plastic disks, anybody should be able to stream the same material for a nice standard fee (like ASCAP etc’s public performance, radio, & streaming systems… but maybe not as annoying. The reason Pandora doesn’t let you choose exactly which songs to play is to comply with the hoops necessary to qualify for the compulsory licensing, since they presumably think they can squeeze more money for on-demand services. A couple years out of date, but good overview of the lay of the land there from JWZ: http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/webcasting.html )

Me: Wow. That is profoundly screwed up.