The Off-Topic Lounge

[joachimt]

I have never used the Indirect function... that's kinda neat.

It's very useful. I had a table and the top cell of each column contained the name of a tab. In each column I wanted to use date of that tab in the formulas. But if you simply use 38!$A:$A for example (my tabs were called 38, 39, 40, etc...) and you copy that to the cell next to it, that 38 stays 38, although you want it to become 39. So instead I used for example in A2 (A1 said "38") INDIRECT(A1&"!A:A"). When you copy that to B2, it uses B1 so it become 39!A:A. Very neat indeed.
Too bad it's a recalculating formula constantly. So now I had to type the tabname into the formula ten times for each column.

[joachimt]

IMDb is useless at the moment. Pictures aren't loading and I can't rate any movie. Anyone else with that problem?

[maxwelldeux]

IMDb is useless at the moment. Pictures aren't loading and I can't rate any movie. Anyone else with that problem?

All good here...

[xianjiro]

I had no issues about an hour ago. If the problem persists, is there any other website you can't get to? Might be a connectivity problem between your ISP and IMDb.

[Onderhond]

Because ICMf is a smart and varied bunch of people, I wonder if anyone can help me with a little language issue.

The problem is the word: illustrious.
To me it has a strong negative connotation. A word meaning infamous, shady, something used for villains and anti-heroes.
In reality though, it's an overwhelmingly positive word, meaning "noble", "outstanding".

So what's happening here? I've been looking around the web and I see I'm definitely not the only one with this problem, but I can't seem to find the origin of this contradiction. It is a word that looks/sounds a lot like it? Is it a secondary meaning that's less common/context dependent? Or are people just using it incorrectly and has it taken on a different/opposite meaning in popular use?

[pitchorneirda]

Because ICMf is a smart and varied bunch of people, I wonder if anyone can help me with a little language issue.

The problem is the word: illustrious.
To me it has a strong negative connotation. A word meaning infamous, shady, something used for villains and anti-heroes.
In reality though, it's an overwhelmingly positive word, meaning "noble", "outstanding".

So what's happening here? I've been looking around the web and I see I'm definitely not the only one with this problem, but I can't seem to find the origin of this contradiction. It is a word that looks/sounds a lot like it? Is it a secondary meaning that's less common/context dependent? Or are people just using it incorrectly and has it taken on a different/opposite meaning in popular use?

The only assumption that springs to my mind is that the prefix "il-" is usually used to make negative statements so "illustrious" means "covered with luster" but some people could think it means "without luster" because of the prefix !?

[joachimt]

I had no issues about an hour ago. If the problem persists, is there any other website you can't get to? Might be a connectivity problem between your ISP and IMDb.

Everything else worked fine last night. Now IMDb is back to normal again. No idea what the cause was.

[prodigalgodson]

Because ICMf is a smart and varied bunch of people, I wonder if anyone can help me with a little language issue.

The problem is the word: illustrious.
To me it has a strong negative connotation. A word meaning infamous, shady, something used for villains and anti-heroes.
In reality though, it's an overwhelmingly positive word, meaning "noble", "outstanding".

So what's happening here? I've been looking around the web and I see I'm definitely not the only one with this problem, but I can't seem to find the origin of this contradiction. It is a word that looks/sounds a lot like it? Is it a secondary meaning that's less common/context dependent? Or are people just using it incorrectly and has it taken on a different/opposite meaning in popular use?

It's a stretch, but Mobb Deep does have an underrated cut called "Allustrious" on their 4th album, so that could account for associations with "infamy" and anti-heroes :p

I had no idea that was a common misuse, but all I can think is something like pitchorneirda's hypothesis is right. "Ill" is an ominous way to start a positive word, conjuring associations with sickness and unease, not to mention similar "shady" words like illusion or illusionist.

While we're at it, I meant to let you know in last week's weekly watch thread you misused "bombarded" in your Woodcarver Steiner review. I think the word you were looking for was something like "touted" or "heralded", not "pelted with". Not to nitpick, but your English is usually immaculate

[Onderhond]

While we're at it, I meant to let you know in last week's weekly watch thread you misused "bombarded" in your Woodcarver Steiner review. I think the word you were looking for was something like "touted" or "heralded", not "pelted with". Not to nitpick, but your English is usually immaculate

That's nice to hear, I often feel I still struggle with English

It seems you're correct by the way. In Dutch you can use the word "bombard" (bombarderen tot) in that sense. I guess heralded works best here, since it's quite an excessive word (we often use it with the word "favorite", as in "almost everyone thinks he's the favorite for winning"). Touted feels a bit more modest in that sense

Thanks for the heads-up, always happy to learn something new!

[xianjiro]

Because ICMf is a smart and varied bunch of people, I wonder if anyone can help me with a little language issue.

The problem is the word: illustrious.
To me it has a strong negative connotation. A word meaning infamous, shady, something used for villains and anti-heroes.
In reality though, it's an overwhelmingly positive word, meaning "noble", "outstanding".

So what's happening here? I've been looking around the web and I see I'm definitely not the only one with this problem, but I can't seem to find the origin of this contradiction. It is a word that looks/sounds a lot like it? Is it a secondary meaning that's less common/context dependent? Or are people just using it incorrectly and has it taken on a different/opposite meaning in popular use?

All it took was Michael Jackson singing "I'm bad." and limited culture slang usage went mainstream. Additionally, a famous Presidential gaffe 100 years ago created the situation where both normality and normalcy bacame equally acceptable ways of conveying the same concept (at least in the US) - can't remember which was correct at this point. So, the fact that people have started to use it 'incorrectly' has given the word the meaning you suggest or at least conferred ambiguity.

More research in the word's etymology might shed some light, but only supports the positive meaning. In some rare cases, words that may seem similar in construction actually come to English in different ways and that can effect the meaning, but that doesn't seem to the be the case here. I can find no authoritative sources that support or even recognize your alternate, negative meaning.

I'd say that there is no negative meaning of the word though some are using the word incorrectly or in a way that leads to improper understanding. While there is always a battle between correct and actual usage, I don't believe this word has risen to that. In other words, the words misuse hasn't been accepted as pervasive enough to consider redefinition or even mention.

And don't worry, as a writer, I struggle with English every day.

[Onderhond]

I'd say that there is no negative meaning of the word though some are using the word incorrectly or in a way that leads to improper understanding. While there is always a battle between correct and actual usage, I don't believe this word has risen to that. In other words, the words misuse hasn't been accepted as pervasive enough to consider redefinition or even mention.

From the feedback I've been getting, it's mostly Dutch-speaking people (we have the word "illuster") that seem to relate to the negative connotation. English-speaking people not so much it seems.

The link to illusion, also ill- as a prefix (i.e. ill-conceived) and a certain closeness to "sinister" all sound like plausible explanations. Except that Dutch doesn't really have the ill- prefix, which looked like the most likely culprit. I think it's also just popular usage though, like calling Bonnie & Clyde an "illustrious duo". I think my brain got it mixed up with "infamous".

And don't worry, as a writer, I struggle with English every day.

Myeah, but I don't even think of myself as a writer (even though I write quite a bit). I have a maths brain, I hate languages

[xianjiro]

I'm absolutely NOT surprised that there is a variation with a similarly derived word in Dutch. While I've not researched the etymology, we know what embarrassed means in English. In Spanish there is the word embarazada which, while not exclusive, generally means pregnant. It's a mistake often made by new learners, but it also seems to still have some connection to the concept of embarrassment, just don't think its used like that much any more.

[sol]

Wow, I can't believe that I made to 10 000 posts on this forum without ever posting on this thread.

Oh, wait -- spoke too soon.

[weirdboy]

Congrats!


I guess?

[sol]

Congrats!


I guess?

What for? Reaching 10000 posts - or staying on-topic for 9999 of them?

<--- And damn, this now means that the awesome 10000 next to my name is no longer there, though I did save a screenshot for prosperity. That's not weird, right?

[Lammetje]

Congrats!


I guess?

What for? Reaching 10000 posts - or staying on-topic for 9999 of them?

<--- And damn, this now means that the awesome 10000 next to my name is no longer there, though I did save a screenshot for prosperity. That's not weird, right?

Congrats! Your post inspired me to make another pointless poll - in the off-topic section of course.

[Pretentious Hipster]

The greatest thing might have happened

[PeacefulAnarchy]

It amazes me how spotify has so much data about what I listen to and still gives me regular commercials for stuff I'd never listen to. It also makes it really obvious how manufactured the hype for some music is when you hear the same ad over and over for days on end.

[xianjiro]

Your music tastes will be assimilated! Borgify today!

[Knaldskalle]

Borgify

Now there's a good name for an app.

[Knaldskalle]

The other week I got lazy and did no cooking and I was depressed at how much food I had to throw out. So I went through the pantry, fridge and freezer and chucked out everything that had expired and made a spreadsheet of everything I had. I've been keeping it up for a couple of weeks now and it's been good. I use it to see what's expiring and what ingredients I have so I plan what to make the next week, instead of just making random decisions (I do plan out my meals on Sunday night before shopping on Monday morning, but not based on what I already have available). I'm also trying to snack on the fresh food to not waste it (eg, having carrot and hummus for a snack instead of crackers). It's saving me 1/4 of our usual grocery cost which is nice. And it feels good to hardly have to throw anything out at the end of the week.

The spreadsheet is not particularly exciting at the moment (I'd like to add costs and some sort of stats at some point), but here's a sample:

Well, look what I just came across today: Grocy.

Grocy is an ERP system for your kitchen! Cut down on food waste, and manage your chores with this brilliant utility.

Keep track of your purchases, how much food you are wasting, what chores need doing and what batteries need charging with this proudly Open Source tool

For more information on grocy visit their website and check it out: https://grocy.info

I still don't think I can be bothered to enter all the info needed, but if that's your thing, I think this might be a lot of fun to play around with.

[xianjiro]

two thoughts:

Who'd want to use something spoken as "gross-ee"?

Until it's more automated, say using bar codes, this would really be a solution for the anal set - just can't decide if it's compulsive or retentive.

[Knaldskalle]

two thoughts:

Who'd want to use something spoken as "gross-ee"?

Until it's more automated, say using bar codes, this would really be a solution for the anal set - just can't decide if it's compulsive or retentive.

Track your purchases

A barcode reader ready interface makes this a easy and quick task and you always know what you currently have at home.

It's also possible to scan barcodes directly in the web browser using the device camera ( Quick video demo).

The problem for me (in addition to being too lazy to keep it up to date) would be that I typically buy stuff that doesn't have barcodes. Vegetables and fruits rarely have those. So yeah, only for those who're really into this already.

[xianjiro]

two thoughts:

Who'd want to use something spoken as "gross-ee"?

Until it's more automated, say using bar codes, this would really be a solution for the anal set - just can't decide if it's compulsive or retentive.

Track your purchases

A barcode reader ready interface makes this a easy and quick task and you always know what you currently have at home.

It's also possible to scan barcodes directly in the web browser using the device camera ( Quick video demo).

The problem for me (in addition to being too lazy to keep it up to date) would be that I typically buy stuff that doesn't have barcodes. Vegetables and fruits rarely have those. So yeah, only for those who're really into this already.

Well then that makes more sense though I'm not sure most of us have barcode scanners at home and few products have QR codes that I've noticed (and most probably are just for marketing). As I said, scanning purchases with a phone into a website - it's just too anal for words. What will make more sense is if it can read a purchase receipt or if a payment app shared the data, but we've still got the other side - product usage.

Who knows how far RFID (or similar) tech will spread, but I could see something like this connected to the - do they call them instant purchase systems, where items are scanned as you put them in your physical cart/basket and your account is hit as you leave the store. Then all that would be needed is some sort of a scanner/reader at home when things are used. Then it starts to make a bit more sense.

BTW, I experimented with a grocery spreadsheet years back so that I wouldn't forget things (and I'm not a huge list maker though have recently been better about writing down as I use things). One of the other reasons I did that was so I stayed focused and didn't buy stuff I didn't need, especially just because I didn't know how much I had on the shelf. But, like cutting coupons, I didn't think it was worth the effort and didn't do it for more than six months. So there definitely is value in this stuff, but this is much more labor intensive than updating the film or music collection.

[mightysparks]

My dad is still registered with the electoral roll as living at this address. Got some voting spam in the mail today addressed to us as if we were married I want a divorce lol

[kongs_speech]

My dad is still registered with the electoral roll as living at this address. Got some voting spam in the mail today addressed to us as if we were married I want a divorce lol

Where I live, if that mail arrived, it might be accurate for some families.

[kongs_speech]

Congrats!


I guess?

What for? Reaching 10000 posts - or staying on-topic for 9999 of them?

<--- And damn, this now means that the awesome 10000 next to my name is no longer there, though I did save a screenshot for prosperity. That's not weird, right?

Happy birthday, sol!

[sol]

Happy birthday, sol!

Thank you.

[Lammetje]

Congrats!


I guess?

What for? Reaching 10000 posts - or staying on-topic for 9999 of them?

<--- And damn, this now means that the awesome 10000 next to my name is no longer there, though I did save a screenshot for prosperity. That's not weird, right?

Happy birthday, sol!

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3797

[mightysparks]

I’ve had really bad thick, dry skin on my big toes since I was a teen. I tried some moisturizers and soap and stuff at various points but nothing helped. Finally decided to google it and results suggested a pumice stone. Bought one today and it took off all the dead skin within a minute. Crazy how simple it can be to fix some stupid thing like that. I hadn’t even heard of a pumice stone before and it was just $4 at my regular supermarket. Now I have nice soft toes for the first time in over 15 years.

[maxwelldeux]

I’ve had really bad thick, dry skin on my big toes since I was a teen. I tried some moisturizers and soap and stuff at various points but nothing helped. Finally decided to google it and results suggested a pumice stone. Bought one today and it took off all the dead skin within a minute. Crazy how simple it can be to fix some stupid thing like that. I hadn’t even heard of a pumice stone before and it was just $4 at my regular supermarket. Now I have nice soft toes for the first time in over 15 years.

a) Ditto on the thick dry skin thing. I thought I was weird.
b) Right? We had super low cold water pressure in our kitchen sink for YEARS. It had gotten so bad that the sink was nigh unusable, taking several minutes to fill up a coffee pot. Something bigger? Leave the room, watch a show, and come back. Finally decided to bite the bullet and google the problem to see just how expensive this problem would be. First suggest was basically "Let's start with an idiot check - is the valve open?" It wasn't - took me longer to google the problem than to fix the problem.

[xianjiro]

lol - absolutely the first thing in my mind was "did you check the valve? - probably under the sink" (Sorta like those people who'd complain their computer wouldn't turn on and we'd ask, "Have you checked the cables to make sure it's plugged in?") But it's okay: life is so complex now that we've moved so far away from "Is the cow in barn? Is the barn door closed?" It's no surprise when we forget all the various segments in the things we take for granted working each and every day. Can't imagine how my life would change if, say, I only had electricity for a few hours each day or had to keep water on hand because the pressure fluctuated. Probably the most common issue folks have to face in the US (besides temporary outages) is boil advisories for water, but it's certainly not widespread or like a year to year constant.

I actually decrease my water pressure since I have a filtration system AND dishwasher that connects to the faucet. I'm sure the next tenant will want that changed and complain the hot water isn't hot enough, but since that latter thing is one of the three huge users of electricity, I like to to control it. If I'm really desperate for a long hot soak, I can get in and change the thermostat, but it's really a pain in a nether region. At least my heaters are simple but the other big user is the refrigerator/freezer which I try to keep as "warm" as suggestions allow, but it's not terribly efficient. That's one of the big problems with rental housing in the NW: if you can afford the rent and it's all electric, you still end up going broke.

[Mario Gaborović]

Do we have a true crime section? Cause I've just found an interesting freakish story from 2011, apparently not much known outside Russia:

Spoiler

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... rents.html

[Lammetje]

Do we have a true crime section?

Yes.

[Carmel1379]

[GruesomeTwosome]

Hmm, I guess no more ICM Forum browsing for me on my break time when using my work computer...someone from the IT department just sent me an email saying that I visited the site and it was flagged as “malicious.” Weird, I’ve been checking in to the site at work ever since I came here almost 4 years ago, and never got this kind of notification from IT about it, lol.

[PeacefulAnarchy]

If you feel like asking them, you could ask why.

I assume the answer is the site is on a blocklist or parental/work filter somewhere but I'd be curious to know which and see if I can find why. I know some just block all forums because of "productivity."

[GruesomeTwosome]

If you feel like asking them, you could ask why.

I assume the answer is the site is on a blocklist or parental/work filter somewhere but I'd be curious to know which and see if I can find why. I know some just block all forums because of "productivity."

Yeah I don’t think I’m gonna press the issue with them, I’m guessing they must have recently tightened their filters on what sites are and aren’t allowed. Oh well!

[PeacefulAnarchy]

Sure, it's the "malicious" thing that has me curious, and the fact that it was an email rather than just blocked. Made me wonder if there was some other fixable issue involved.

[xianjiro]

It could be something as simple as the where we host the forum. While it's been a long time, my side business website was blocked at work because it was hosted by the same company that had something else the IT censoring solution didn't like.

Or maybe discussion of movies could be enough: unless one works in the industry, discussing movies would be non-productive. I've heard entertainment news sites are frequently blocked.