But there are exceptions. English language orthography is a weird science.

On Windows, you can run lots of Windows/Linux VMs and zero Mac VMs.

(Source: Wikipedia via Claude Opus)

I would greatly appreciate an optional light mode / non-dark mode. I know a lot of folks love dark mode, but I find it very hard to read.

Thanks so much for this!

It was available for online browsing or as a downloadable file, I think a zip compressed PDF. I’m sure copies are available, but it would be nice to have an authoritative source.

It begins:

“This is the first post in a series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industrial revolution, peasant farmers of varying types made up the overwhelming majority of people in settled societies (the sort with cities and writing). And when I say overwhelming, I mean overwhelming: we generally estimate these societies to have consisted of upwards of 80% peasant farmers, often as high as 90 or even 95%. Yet when we talk about these periods, we are often focused on aristocrats, priests, knights, warriors, kings and literate bureaucrats, the sort of folks who write to us or on smiths, masons and artists, the sort of folk whose work sometimes survives for us to see. But this series is going to be about what life was like for the great majority of people who lived in small farming households.”

‘You can learn a surprising amount by kicking things. It’s an epistemological method you often see deployed by small children, who target furniture, pets, and their peers in the hope of answering important questions about the world. Questions like “How solid is this thing?” and “Can I knock it over?” and “If I kick it, will it kick me back?”’

Since then it’s been a game of inches. The costs have been staggering for both sides. The sidelines have emptied out as the damage mounts. And the offense fans are getting restless. They were promised a victory, and they expect a victory. And now the concessions are running out, and you have to wait in a long line just to get a tiny serving of refreshments. The coach is genuinely afraid for his job if he doesn’t deliver.

It’s looking like fourth down. The offense seems to be in field goal range, but the chances of a turnover keep rising, and if the fans get restless enough the coach could very well be thrown out in the middle of the game—believe me, it’s happened before.

So although the offense is in field-goal range and hasn’t made significant gains in a long time, the coach is demanding a touchdown he hasn’t earned, followed by a two point conversion, and a few other things. He’d also like to start the next game on the defenses 40 yard line, and place a wide range of restrictions on the size of the defensive roster. And the defense can never, ever join the best defensive league.

And now the commissioner actually seems to be taking this seriously. But whatever you think of the current commissioner, he won’t be commissioner forever, and if we make this many rule changes now it’s very difficult to see where it will lead. For one thing, the bookmakers are going to have a very tough time setting reasonable odds after changing the rules more than they have been changed in 70 years. But the rule changes would certainly lead to an expanded calendar and a lot more action on the field, so I guess there’s that. e offense started strong. Everyone expected a very short game. But the defense stopped them, and moved the line of scrimmage back significantly. Everyone was shocked. No one expected the massive investments that the offense had made to underperform so badly, and the defense was far more credible than expected.

Since then it’s been a game of inches. The costs have been staggering for both sides. The sidelines have emptied out as the damage mounts. And the offense fans are getting restless. They were promised a victory, and they expect a victory. And now the concessions are running out, and you have to wait in a long line just to get a tiny serving of refreshments. The coach is genuinely afraid for his job if he doesn’t deliver.

It’s looking like fourth down. The offense seems to be in field goal range, but the chances of a turnover keep rising, and if the fans get restless enough the coach could very well be thrown out in the middle of the game—believe me, it’s happened before.

So although the offense is in field-goal range and hasn’t made significant gains in a long time, the coach is demanding a touchdown he hasn’t earned, followed by a two point conversion, and a few other things. He’d also like to start the next game on the defenses 40 yard line, and place a wide range of restrictions on the size of the defensive roster. And the defense can never, ever join the best defensive league.

And now the commissioner actually seems to be taking this seriously. But whatever you think of the current commissioner, he won’t be commissioner forever, and if we make this many rule changes now it’s very difficult to see where it will lead. For one thing, the bookmakers are going to have a very tough time setting reasonable odds after changing the rules more than they have been changed in 70 years. But the rule changes would certainly lead to an expanded calendar and a lot more action on the field, so I guess there’s that.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46034005

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Ozymandias

By Percy Byesshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35755630

Points: 67

# Comments: 32

It’s a reference, of course, to “Leiningen Versus the Ants” by Carl Stephenson, http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lvta.html.