New member posts only to keep fearless leader copesetic

[paul breen]

Someone bugged the Microsoft boardroom, and sent me a transcript:

(talking about the ascendance of Apple, and
the inability of Microsoft to enter the mobile market)

. . . to be weak is miserable,
Doing or suffering: but of this be sure--
To do aught good never will be our task,
But ever to do ill our sole delight,
As being the contrary to his high will
Whom we resist.  If then his providence
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,
Our labour must be to pervert that end,
And out of good still to find means of evil;

Paul Breen (English major)

[rrr314159]

Hello Paul, welcome ...

If you can code as well as you write, you'll be a powerful force for good in the MASM community! Your style reminds me of a great poet, John Milton, whom you may run into one of these days.

You did well to post here in the orphanage, where such off-topics find a happy home. As you probably know, only serious MASM discussion is allowed in the main forums. Here's some advice re. asking questions in an acceptable way.

First, when requesting help from a great member with vast experience, something like this would be appropriate:

Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Question about MASM Coding
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of MASM to men.

After a while you may begin to think you're no longer a newbie; may even dispute the great ones. Resist the impulse! Recently someone did so, and this is what happened:

He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of real MASM experts
Rais'd impious War in MASM32 forum and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Australian Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.

Yes, he left with

... a singed bottom all involv'd
With stench and smoak.

So watch your p's and q's!

p.s. Just kidding, this was a very friendly place! Couldn't resist the chance to misquote the #2 great Bard

p.p.s Truly - just kidding! Surely we can have a little fun here in the Orphanage without anyone taking it personally.

[dedndave]

...

[xanatose]

That made me laugh. Must place something similar.

[jj2007]

@NativeEnglishSpeakers: cry = weep or shout?

[dedndave]

yes - lol

it depends on the context
in this case, i would say they meant the tearful kind   

[rrr314159]

Yes, the tearful kind; but I can see why jochen might be uncertain, because cry violently very much suggests the shouting kind

... but I still don't quite understand how it relates to my post. I suppose u mean the "great member with vast experience" - e.g. you - is crying because he's ridiculed? In that case, pls accept my apology, wasn't meant seriously. OTOH no doubt you're not serious either ... meanwhile poor paul breen thinks he's wandered into the internet's Krazy Korner ... could be right

[jj2007]

I guess cry violently is deliberately ambiguous
And, yes, an Ave Maria would be adequate when artists are at work 8)

[hutch--]

Huh ?

[rrr314159]

Your comment reads the same backwards as forwards, if we ignore the question mark. Not many posts have this palindromic quality! True, there are quite a few with no words at all, just an emoticon (usually :t) but let's ignore those. So, you could apply your byte-reverser (this thread), and get the same thing back. You could apply it again and again, as many times as u like - still the same comment! Fascinating!

U know, much the same effect could have been achieved with

hah!

or

heh

or even

gag

all expressing contempt or disapproval in varying degrees and with various emphases. OTOH if you approved, you could (perhaps, should) have said

aha!

,

Yay!

or even

WOW!

...Meager though it appears at first glance, this little post offers much food for thought. You have a rare talent for post-preparation! As Einstein is said to have said (actually he didn't say it, but that's another story), "Any fool can make things more complex. It takes a touch of genius to make it simple."

[jj2007]

all expressing contempt or disapproval in varying degrees and with various emphases.

For the sake of precision: While I agree with most of your post, Huh? clearly has a different meaning, somewhere between "What's going on, folks?  ::)" and (with a touch of admiration) "I can't believe you are doing it again! ".

Btw copesetic is not quite copacetic 8)

[rrr314159]

Well, in the US I would say it tends to express contempt or disapproval - or perhaps just bewilderment. (Of course I could be wrong, or merely out of date). But I think you're right: in Australia and Italy it usually means "that was a great post, jj! :t Keep up the good work!"