It's 21:02
Didn't do much today, relaxed, needed to, or at least, couldn't help doing that.
Have Flutlicht - Mutterkorn stuck in my head for the second day in a row..
Strange how much does that some times. Today was dedicated to cleaning the room,
but I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. Still, it has been started and as
the deadline draws closer, I will surely do it.. That's sadly how I work :)
Virtual Stuff
Getting data onto a Windows 3.11 virtual machine can be a bit of a pain.
One way of doing it, is with qemu:
Load the network block module, specify max number of partitions:
sudo qemu-nbd -c /dev/nbd0 ./Win311.vdi
sudo modprobe nbd max_part=16
sudo mount /dev/nbd0p1 test
sudo umount test
sudo qemu-nbd -d /dev/nbd0
Interestingness
I've noticed a tendency for certain people to attempt (vainly) to use knowledge
of particular information as a way to either assert their own position, or to
diminish or patronize other people. I've always found this interesting.
Intelligent people in particular must be aware of just how little we know, all
of us indeed. Today I decided to use stupid as an abstract noun, instead of the
actual abstract noun stupidity, and was promptly "corrected", along with a
condescending remark that someone with my IQ should know better. Well, in this
particular case, I actually did, but that is besides the point. The point is,
this person is not even wrong, they're off the charts. I'd argue, that someone
who is so distracted by an adverb being used as a noun must have a very hard
time indeed making sense of even the simplest of conversations. But I'm certain
that this person did, in fact not, but rather made an attempt to make me look
stupid. Whether he succeeded I'm not aware, someone else liked his tweet, so he
might, good on him then, in case I said something with which he'd disagreed.
However. Let us examine the situation that he assumed, let us assume that I did
not know better, and had in fact unwittingly used the word in the wrong way.
Well, how does that relate to my IQ ? It does not. I don't even have a high IQ,
and if I had, I'm not sure it'd influence my intuition of the English language
much at all. Natural language is not rational or logical to the point where one
could figure them out by thought alone. I'm certain a rather dull person could
be absolutely brilliant at a language, express themselves correctly in every
way, and know in intimate detail every linguistic quirk, and still have trouble
with basic logical reasoning. There is of course also the hypothetical case of a
highly intelligent person who simply lacks the creativity to use language in any
way that is slightly different from the currently established convention. Such a
person I pity. Natural language is hackable, that which has indeed been set in
stone reads much differently than that which is in use in the comment-section on
social-media today, and while we might some times look down on that in disgust,
it is the true language, that which has not yet been formalized. No, I will not
start using language correctly, even if it makes me look stupid. It does make me
sad that people would think me stupid for using language as I see fit, but if
they must, then they must. For language is but limited tools for showing thought
and those tools must be bent and broken, cut and mended to fit the task at hand.
There are few things more beautiful as as the idiomatic humor in a keen
observation or sharp remark, expressed in language that suggest that even the
least of keen could make it. Just my strange strain of humor. Then again, could
I not live with being misunderstood, I'd change my ways, but I can, even if I
some times feel that an explanation is in order.
