Category: I do these sorts of things so you don’t have to

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Pejoration of Language is Inevitable

But why does it always seem to stem from illiterates and liars?

Illiterates, for example, tear down useful words and phrases through simple ignorance and sometimes stupidity. An example from something I read recently will illustrate this point: “[I]t’s the exception that makes the rule.” This corruption was obviously drawn from the old adage, “The exception proves the rule,” which actually means, “The exception TESTS the rule.” The writer of “the exception. . . makes the rule” never bothered to learn what the original adage actually said and so his corruption makes at least some sort of (non)sense, based on his poor literacy.

Worse are those who wittingly corrupt words, terms and phrases to mean something opposite of their once common senses. Take for example a self-proclaimed “liberal democrat” whose words and deeds prove him to be a tyrannical statist bent on corrupting democracy.

That’s why I so often call out and condemn both illiterate and disingenuous abuse of English. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” as it were.

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In a Civilized Society. . .

. . . you know, one that actually recognized private property rights, the natural progression illustrated below would be perfectly acceptable.

A simple statement, easily understood, establishing a clear boundary saying, “Not yours. Stay out.”

no-trespassing

If a trespasser were to proceed, then a second warning might justifiably be issued by an exceedingly patient and forbearing landowner:

no trespassing

If that failed to deter a malefactor, then *sigh*. . .

final-warning

OK, MORE than excessively generous, kind and gentle landowners might include, between #2 and #3 (or #1 and #2), a sign stating,

Fence and “No Trespassing” Signs

Security/Surveillance System

Guard Dogs

Armed Response

For clearance to enter the property try calling 1-800-UGO-AWAY

Is “No Trespassing” Clear Now?

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Holes and Gaps, Lacks and Losses. . .

I read too much and have done so for darned near all my life. That creates a few problems from time to time. For example, recently, my problem with reading books on history has been too many moments of getting into a book and either saying to myself (over and over), “Know that already,” or “Oh, you flippin’ idiot,” or “Liar!” *sigh* Every now and then, though, I do manage to run across a decent history (or related) book I’ve missed. For example, how I missed Thomas Babington Macaulay’s “Lays of Ancient Rome” for so many years, I’ll never know. Strange the lacunae one can find in one’s reading list. . .

Another problem is in reading fiction (well, and non-fiction for that matter). By now, I know all the plots. My reading/recognition/comprehension vocabulary is. . . probably excessive. Heck, I enjoy reading dictionaries and even puzzling out probable etymologies on my own before checking authorities, etc. I have read enough well-written text that, while I don’t always show it in my own casual writing here and elsewhere (for which I am NOT PAID), I’m familiar enough with good writing (grammar, word usage, etc.) that I’m offended by people who expect to be paid for writing crap.

And do NOT let me get started on contemporary “poetry”! Please! “Crap” is far, far too kind as a description of most of it.

It’s a burden. Be glad I bear it so you don’t have to if you don’t want to. *heh*

(Both of my regular readers here are literate enough to bear the burden as well, but can feel free to let me do so *cough* alone *cough* if they wish. ;-))

OTOH, one of the very real joys of reading a “lottamuch” is the discovery of those holes and gaps, lacks and losses in my education and. . . filling them.

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Did I Say That?

Juuuust in case things should ever “get real,” 1776-style, having such things as FM3-07.22* and other military manuals to have some ideas how to counter the counters, as it were, might be handy. . . *heh*

*”Counterinsurgency Operations. Knowing what “counterinsurgency” might entail would be useful to those seeking to restore rights as the Founders were forced to do. Do keep in mind that I’m not advocating another American Revolution to overthrow illegitimate government, though our “feddle gummint” has certainly delegitimized itself. After all, the Founders themselves counseled overthrowing an illegitimate government only as a last resort. But should it ever become necessary, “know your enemy” is wise counsel. . .

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4th Thoughts

Thinking about getting a lil place to raise pigs. I’d call them all “Mohamed”. . . just cos.

Could raise chickens, too. Rooster’d be “King Putz”.

Don’t care what inducements anyone might offer. Not raising baboons. One Congress is one too many.

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When Windows Borks

I had occasion, recently, to do a *meh* “rescue” *meh* of a different flavor to the procedure(s) described in a previous post. A hard drive began causing Windows errors on a Win7 installation on my most-used Windows notebook and imaging the drive to a newer, larger drive seemed the perfect solution, once I determined there were no unrecoverable errors in the OS itself.

It was, except. . . As usual with Windows, the story didn’t end with complete success. When a Windows OS borks for any reason–even if it’s not actually the OS’s fault exactly, any fixes tend to complicate things.

And so it was. The Windows install booted just fine, and everything worked. Scans with a few low- and mid-level tools said all was well with the OS and the data.

Cool.

Except, next day: Windows popped up the “Windows Genuine Advantage” notice that my installation of Windows was bogus. It offered to resolve the problem online, which resulted in being notified that M$ would be MORE than happy to “fix” my problem. . . for $200 (by selling me a new license key).

*arrrgggh!*

Nope. Not going to happen. Ran other checks with built-in and add-on M$ tools (MGADiag, slmgr.vbs) and they returned reports saying various things, but nothing indicating the OS was not genuine. Windows property page noted no problem, and the watermark warning that a bogus Wininstall is supposed to place on the desktop didn’t appear. Nevertheless, I got the error message and Windows update reported the WU service was not running, even though services.msc did report it running. System file checker run in scan and repair mode reported corrupt files it could not repair. Ran it in Repair Mode/command prompt, pre-Windows. Again, no joy, but a more verbose response (added a coupla switches).

Dropped to an elevated command prompt and did numbers of things (stopping/starting services, checking key registry files, etc.). Nope. No useful info, so. . .For whatever reasons, I don’t see that kind of thing often, and it took me a while to recall “slui 4” to load the lil app to allow phoning for a code to eliminate the WGA notice. (The “slui 3” command would just allow re-entering one’s product key, and I already knew that would be a waste of time. Other parameters would do other also useless things.).

Finally, after a pleasant time visiting with a nice guy somewhere on the Indian subcontinent, I had my verification code and all is now well. I hope.

We’ll see, won’t we? 😉

Yep. Message gone. Windows Update works. Other errors reported by MGADIag, et al (“tampered file” this that or ‘t’other, etc.), all gone.

All this might seem like a real PITA to some folks, but it was a little fun for me, especially since it got me back fiddling around at the command prompt for a while, banging on “the little grey cells” to recall appropriate commands, parameters, switches, etc. . . . and then “solve” the problem with a phone call and entry of a 48 numeral key. Toughest part was dealing with Indian accent, telephone speaker and my tinnitus. *heh*

UPDATE 2: Woke this A.M. to a WGA notice, no access to Windows Update, etc.. ?!? Rebooted a couple of times and *poof* No more notice, Windows Update available, etc. Needed more reboots? Oh, so tired of this silliness and almost ready to scrub this notebook (my most casually-used computer) and just use a ‘nix OS on it. Almost. I’d lose my 5,557-to-0 score in Freecell, though, so. . . *heh*

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Just Stop It

Sometimes, I just can’t stop myself. No, wait. Honestly, I could; I just don’t want to.

A recent SPAM comment began,

I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own
blog and was curious what all is needed to get setup?

The first thing I’d do, were I you, is to enroll in a remedial English course. “Setup” is a noun that you used in place of the verb phrase, “set up.” Stop it. Then, learn to proofread your crap. “I know if this is off topic” is nonsense. Stop it.

Better yet, words? Stop using them, mmmK? Just stop it.

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Apples to Horseshoes

And other silly arguments.

FarceBook is so very educational that it’s hard to look away. It’s a train wreck composed of American education in collision with technological enabling. I almost despise myself for rubbernecking. Almost.

Straw man arguments? Check.

Appeal to emotion? Check.

Rampant illiteracy cloaked in an unwarranted, unassailable belief in one’s sterling education and wide-ranging grasp of facts? Check.

Non causa pro causa and ad hominem attacks wielded with assurance? Check.

Inigo Montoya wearing a perpetually puzzled look? (“You keep using that word. . . “) Check.

The Great Unwashed constantly mistaking correlation with causation? Check.

Invective mistaken for cogent argument? Check. (I particularly love shout-downs composed of “Racist!” and “Xenophobe!” as “winning arguments”. *head-desk* And such folks never even realize that anyone with more active brain cells than three-day-dead road kill sees ’em as idiot losers.)

Equating manatees and screwdrivers? Well, I’ve not seen this one in EXACTLY those terms, but I’ve seen analogs too many times to count.

Educational, I suppose. But still a train wreck. But then, that’s pretty much been the Internet since before the interwebs.