on Fri, Jun 10, 2005 at 09:09:25PM -0400, Patrick Wiseman ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > On 6/10/05, Carl Fink <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Fri, Jun 10, 2005 at 12:46:20PM -0700, Caleb Walker wrote: > > > Carl Fink wrote: > > > > > > >Just out of curiosity: you do realize that "LCD" is an insult, right? > > > > > > > > > > > What is LCD? > > > > Least Common Denominator. > > _Lowest_ Common Denominator where I grew up
In math (or maths, ifs yous plurals yours words), it's *greatest* common
denominator.
The _least_ common denominator of any given value is of course, 1.
The _greatest_ common denominator is that value which all entities have
in common. It's a ceiling of compatibility, above which there isn't
commonality.
Common usage has reversed the term, for odd reasons.
> Those of us who do _not_ require information to be presented in linear
> order in order to process it are in a rather small minority, it seems,
> and so it would be pretty absurd for a forum like this to accommodate
> _us_. But I'm still a bit surprised that tech folks are so linear -
The mmajor issue is that mixed-mode posting really *really* sucks.
Inevitably:
- ObAOL posts quoting 500+ lines of unnecessary context are made.
- Different citation styles make it impossible to track who said what.
Those '> ' markers aren't just there for decoration.
- Tracking who's saying what in response to whom gets very difficult.
Generally there's a total mash of text.
My own response is to not participate in lists / groups in which this
mode of communications is commonplace. It's too much work, s/n is way
low, and the population tends not to be trainable.
Peace.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
Sony-Betamax / did not rule on shifting to / ten million people.
- Haiku Betamax
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