c4countdown

The apterous sever will be moving to its new home on Monday. Expect some downtime on Monday and possibly a few days afterwards.

Oh noes! Oh yays!

Charlie Reams wrote:The apterous sever will be moving to its new home on Monday. Expect some downtime on Monday and possibly a few days afterwards.

A Freudian clit representing your metaphorical severing with home?

Quick reminder that apterous will be unavailable from 10.30 today.

Haha coincides with my first opportunity to play Apterous in bloody yonks!

Damn, I might actually have to do something productive now.

Any rough estimate as too when it will be back?

I've just logged in now so I guess it's working, although I am currently the only person in Aptochat.

The server is now up and running. The exact time it becomes available to you depends on your ISP, but it should be within the next 6 hours. Service might be variable for the next week while BT sort their act out, but it's basically all in hand.

*wipes brow*

No luck here yet, what a wasted day off still got the washing done dried and ironed too.

Is this server transfer going to take much longer?

Myself and Emily are still unable to connnect when trying to go to http://www.apterous.org.

Our internet service provider is BTInternet. Does this have anything to do with it?

Philip Jarvis wrote:Is this server transfer going to take much longer?

It's entirely in BT's hands now, and should be finished by the end of the week, but beyond that I have no idea. That's why I set up the alternative route.

Myself and Emily are still unable to connnect when trying to go to http://www.apterous.org.

Do you ever say "Myself is..."? Just wondering.

Charlie Reams wrote: Do you ever say "Myself is..."? Just wondering.

I've noticed this reflexive pronoun usage creeping more and more into common speech, and business speech especially. It seems to me that people use it in semi-formal e-mails to appear less direct, and therefore more polite.

In general, I'm not really sure whether it's coming in due to this apparent aversion to using "you" and "I", whether it's from the idiomatic usage in the Irish accent, or something else entirely.

Ian Volante wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote: Do you ever say "Myself is..."? Just wondering.

I've noticed this reflexive pronoun usage creeping more and more into common speech, and business speech especially. It seems to me that people use it in semi-formal e-mails to appear less direct, and therefore more polite.

In general, I'm not really sure whether it's coming in due to this apparent aversion to using "you" and "I", whether it's from the idiomatic usage in the Irish accent, or something else entirely.

I suspect it's a product of the general confusion surrounding sentences like "You went to the beach with Jon and me" (correct) and "Jon and me went to the beach with you" (incorrect). I cringe every time I hear a news bulletin ending with "It's goodnight from Jane and I" (would you say "It's goodnight from I?"). The odd thing is that the rule is really very easy to follow; use the same word as you would if the other person wasn't mentioned. On the other hand, the rules for when to use "a" and when to use "the" are really quite complex, and yet native speakers never get those wrong. Funny thing, language.

Hardly anyone seems to say "someone and I" in speech that I come across - it's normally "me and someone". E.g. "Me and Dave went down the pub." I think it's because "...and I" sounds a bit poncey.

Gavin Chipper wrote:Hardly anyone seems to say "someone and I" in speech that I come across - it's normally "me and someone". E.g. "Me and Dave went down the pub." I think it's because "...and I" sounds a bit poncey.

Curiously I tend to encounter the opposite - people who are trying to sound cleverer than they actually are often mess up by using "x and I" incorrectly. It's useful for spotting the pseudo-intellectuals, though.

Charlie Reams wrote:On the other hand, the rules for when to use "a" and when to use "the" are really quite complex, and yet native speakers never get those wrong. Funny thing, language.

Really? Isn't it just "a" when you're talking about any old clock and "the" when you're talking about a specific clock?

Michael Wallace wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:Hardly anyone seems to say "someone and I" in speech that I come across - it's normally "me and someone". E.g. "Me and Dave went down the pub." I think it's because "...and I" sounds a bit poncey.

Curiously I tend to encounter the opposite - people who are trying to sound cleverer than they actually are often mess up by using "x and I" incorrectly. It's useful for spotting the pseudo-intellectuals, though.

I suppose it also depends on who they're talking to. If I was writing or talking to someone I didn't really know I would just go for whatever's correct but otherwise I'd just say "me and". Other people might adopt the same philosophy but not know what is correct.

Charlie Reams wrote:

Philip Jarvis wrote:

Myself and Emily are still unable to connnect when trying to go to http://www.apterous.org.

Do you ever say "Myself is..."? Just wondering.

No, I'd say "I am". Thank you all for the lesson in grammar.

Seriously though, should this and the following posts be in the thread of tour? On the heels of the creation of Apterous Etiquette, why not start a new thread called "Apterous Grammar". Then perhaps those of us who were not 'cleverer' enough to go to university (particularly Oxbridge) might have the benefit of further education.

p.s. Me, me wife and me 2 youngest kids went on holiday to Warwickshire last week. On Thursday, all 4 of us went to Oxford for the first time in our lives. We had lived a collective 117 years before our eyes had the pleasure of beholding the many different colleges in the city centre.

So ....... to the non pseudo-intellectuals amongst you, here's a bit of a quiz. What are the separate ages of the 4 people who went on holiday to Warwickshire?

Philip Jarvis wrote:Then perhaps those of us who were not 'cleverer' enough to go to university (particularly Oxbridge) might have the benefit of further education.

Not too sure why you pick out 'cleverer' - it's specified in the NODE...

(oh, and I don't think Cambridge ever really cared about my grammar, it's not too important when you're a mathematician)

Michael Wallace wrote:

Philip Jarvis wrote:Then perhaps those of us who were not 'cleverer' enough to go to university (particularly Oxbridge) might have the benefit of further education.

Not too sure why you pick out 'cleverer' - it's specified in the NODE...

(oh, and I don't think Cambridge ever really cared about my grammar, it's not too important when you're a mathematician)

Michael - you're clearly not cleverer enough to understand my humour.

Philip Jarvis wrote:Michael - you're clearly not cleverer enough to understand my humour.

Yeah, humour wasn't on the Tripos either.

Philip Jarvis wrote:why not start a new thread called "Apterous Grammar"

Is that where Charlie went to school?

Me, me wife and me 2 youngest kids went on holiday to Warwickshire last week.

How weird. You, me and Matt Morrison were all on holiday last week. You live in Yorkshire and holidayed in Warwickshire. I live in Warwickshire and holidayed in Cornwall. Matt lives in Devon - and also holidayed in Cornwall. Anyone else here take their holidays last week? Maybe the whole thing forms some sort of interesting graph. Or not. I really don't know where I'm going with this.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Philip Jarvis wrote:why not start a new thread called "Apterous Grammar"

Is that where Charlie went to school?

Very sharp!

Philip Jarvis wrote:p.s. Me, me wife and me 2 youngest kids went on holiday to Warwickshire last week. On Thursday, all 4 of us went to Oxford for the first time in our lives. We had lived a collective 117 years before our eyes had the pleasure of beholding the many different colleges in the city centre.

So ....... to the non pseudo-intellectuals amongst you, here's a bit of a quiz. What are the separate ages of the 4 people who went on holiday to Warwickshire?

By mentioning holidays you've clevererly almost brought the thread back round to topic again.
But, how could we possibly work out the separate ages from a grand total without any further clues? We know your daughter's 16 from that etiquette thread, but that's just not enough. Also, from the poetry thread "Julie and I got married in June 1995", which means your wife could have been born any year upto around 1977.
Glad you appreciated Oxford though - Our dreaming spires, they go highers and highers

As for the interesting correlation of holidays that Phil mentions, let's all go on a joint c4c/Apterist holiday to Lesley's b&b next year.

I wrote:I really don't know where I'm going with this.

Oh yeah, I've remembered now. What I meant to say was that, with a bit more forward planning, Matt could have holidayed in Yorkshire, thus completing a pleasing Yorkshire -> Warwickshire -> West Country holiday triangle.

Phew, pulled that one out the bag.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

I wrote:I really don't know where I'm going with this.

Oh yeah, I've remembered now. What I meant to say was that, with a bit more forward planning, Matt could have holidayed in Yorkshire, thus completing a pleasing Yorkshire -> Warwickshire -> West Country holiday triangle.

I was going to reply last night with something about you going to Cornwall with it, but it was largely unfunny so I didn't.
Now I can see what you were planning, but I'm going to shit on your biscuits by refusing to holiday in Yorkshire. So there. Cornwall > Yorkshire.

Derek Hazell wrote:

Philip Jarvis wrote:p.s. Me, me wife and me 2 youngest kids went on holiday to Warwickshire last week. On Thursday, all 4 of us went to Oxford for the first time in our lives. We had lived a collective 117 years before our eyes had the pleasure of beholding the many different colleges in the city centre.

So ....... to the non pseudo-intellectuals amongst you, here's a bit of a quiz. What are the separate ages of the 4 people who went on holiday to Warwickshire?

By mentioning holidays you've clevererly almost brought the thread back round to topic again.
But, how could we possibly work out the separate ages from a grand total without any further clues? We know your daughter's 16 from that etiquette thread, but that's just not enough. Also, from the poetry thread "Julie and I got married in June 1995", which means your wife could have been born any year upto around 1977.
Glad you appreciated Oxford though - Our dreaming spires, they go highers and highers

As for the interesting correlation of holidays that Phil mentions, let's all go on a joint c4c/Apterist holiday to Lesley's b&b next year.

Derek - it is possible from the information provided on this site. You were on the right tracks by checking my other posts, but needed to do a bit more research. On other posts I have made, you'll find my age and the ages of Georgina and Gabriella (Emily stayed at home - so 16 isn't one of the answers). That only leaves the age of my wife Julie which should be fairly easy to calculate. However, you would have had to bear in mind that "collective 117 years" includes months to July 2009 whereas the question was looking for whole year answers. An estimated adjustment based on the odds of our birthdays falling in the last 3 months, 6 months etc would have had to be made. In the event, the adj was minus 1 year.

On reflection, it was probably a bit cruel of me to expect even the most ardent Apterite to review my previous posts. I'll therefore give you the answer - 51, 45, 11 & 9.

Philip Jarvis wrote:Derek - it is possible from the information provided on this site. You were on the right tracks by checking my other posts, but needed to do a bit more research. On other posts I have made, you'll find my age and the ages of Georgina and Gabriella (Emily stayed at home - so 16 isn't one of the answers). That only leaves the age of my wife Julie which should be fairly easy to calculate. However, you would have had to bear in mind that "collective 117 years" includes months to July 2009 whereas the question was looking for whole year answers. An estimated adjustment based on the odds of our birthdays falling in the last 3 months, 6 months etc would have had to be made. In the event, the adj was minus 1 year.

On reflection, it was probably a bit cruel of me to expect even the most ardent Apterite to review my previous posts. I'll therefore give you the answer - 51, 45, 11 & 9.

Pity you provided the answer, as it actually turned out to be a pretty good puzzle - and unsually for this site one which I actually understood! If I had known it was seriously possible to get the answer I would have tried harder and worked until I got it.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Phil Reynolds wrote:

I wrote:I really don't know where I'm going with this.

Oh yeah, I've remembered now. What I meant to say was that, with a bit more forward planning, Matt could have holidayed in Yorkshire, thus completing a pleasing Yorkshire -> Warwickshire -> West Country holiday triangle.

I was going to reply last night with something about you going to Cornwall with it, but it was largely unfunny so I didn't.
Now I can see what you were planning, but I'm going to shit on your biscuits by refusing to holiday in Yorkshire. So there. Cornwall > Yorkshire.

That smacks of regional discrimination Matt. Are you one of those Southern softies who refuse to go beyond Watford Gap? Is this the real reason why you didn't go to the finals in Leeds?

I've been on holiday to Devon / Cornwall plenty of times in the past. What's wrong with Yorkshire? You can't even use the weather as an excuse nowadays. It's just as crap down South as it is up North.

Philip Jarvis wrote:That smacks of regional discrimination Matt. Are you one of those Southern softies who refuse to go beyond Watford Gap? Is this the real reason why you didn't go to the finals in Leeds?

I've been on holiday to Devon / Cornwall plenty of times in the past. What's wrong with Yorkshire? You can't even use the weather as an excuse nowadays. It's just as crap down South as it is up North.

Well, if it makes you feel any better Philip, I had an American friend over visiting a few years ago, and we went on our own little train and coach tour around Britain together, and her favourite place in England was York - and that even included Oxford!

[/quote]
How weird. You, me and Matt Morrison were all on holiday last week. You live in Yorkshire and holidayed in Warwickshire. I live in Warwickshire and holidayed in Cornwall. Matt lives in Devon - and also holidayed in Cornwall. Anyone else here take their holidays last week? Maybe the whole thing forms some sort of interesting graph. [/quote]

The Golden Triangle of Apterous

Fuck, I give up with this COCKING quotes thing - thought I had it - but clearly not.

Oh yeah, I've remembered now. What I meant to say was that, with a bit more forward planning, Matt could have holidayed in Yorkshire, thus completing a pleasing Yorkshire -> Warwickshire -> West Country holiday triangle.

I was going to reply last night with something about you going to Cornwall with it, but it was largely unfunny so I didn't.
Now I can see what you were planning, but I'm going to shit on your biscuits by refusing to holiday in Yorkshire. So there. Cornwall > Yorkshire.[/quote]

[/quote]That smacks of regional discrimination Matt. Are you one of those Southern softies who refuse to go beyond Watford Gap? Is this the real reason why you didn't go to the finals in Leeds?

I've been on holiday to Devon / Cornwall plenty of times in the past. What's wrong with Yorkshire? You can't even use the weather as an excuse nowadays. It's just as crap down South as it is up North.

Come to Sunny Whitstable - we seriously do not get as much rain here - thus the oft imposed hosepipe ban. It was so lovely yesterday, that when I popped into town, I ended up going to the beach, with a lovely icecream from 'Sundae Sundaes' and going into the sea in my undies!

Sue Sanders wrote:Fuck, I give up with this COCKING quotes thing - thought I had it - but clearly not.

You know you can just click the 'quote' button on the post you want to quote, right? (It's especially helpful since it then shows you the correct format for the tags.)

Michael Wallace wrote:

Sue Sanders wrote:Fuck, I give up with this COCKING quotes thing - thought I had it - but clearly not.

You know you can just click the 'quote' button on the post you want to quote, right? (It's especially helpful since it then shows you the correct format for the tags.)

Yeah, I can do that, but I'm stumped by that 'you've embedded 3 quotes' thing. Then it all goes horribly wrong and I am reminded I'm dabbling in this way beyond my ken. And there isn't a 'crying' emoticon in the smilies.

Sue Sanders wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:

Sue Sanders wrote:Fuck, I give up with this COCKING quotes thing - thought I had it - but clearly not.

You know you can just click the 'quote' button on the post you want to quote, right? (It's especially helpful since it then shows you the correct format for the tags.)

Yeah, I can do that, but I'm stumped by that 'you've embedded 3 quotes' thing. Then it all goes horribly wrong and I am reminded I'm dabbling in this way beyond my ken. And there isn't a 'crying' emoticon in the smilies.

I thought the fourth one in the second row was the crying smiley

You know you can just click the 'quote' button on the post you want to quote, right? (It's especially helpful since it then shows you the correct format for the tags.)[/quote]

Yeah, I can do that, but I'm stumped by that 'you've embedded 3 quotes' thing. Then it all goes horribly wrong and I am reminded I'm dabbling in this way beyond my ken. And there isn't a 'crying' emoticon in the smilies. [/quote]
I thought the fourth one in the second row was the crying smiley [/quote]

Maybe, though it's really just a sorrowful weeping. I'm looking for a gut wrenching howl. Right, when I press submit this'll tell me I've been embedding too much. I fucking' wish!!

Which it did! Arsing bollocks.

Sue Sanders wrote:You know you can just click the 'quote' button on the post you want to quote, right? (It's especially helpful since it then shows you the correct format for the tags.)

Yeah, I can do that, but I'm stumped by that 'you've embedded 3 quotes' thing. Then it all goes horribly wrong and I am reminded I'm dabbling in this way beyond my ken. And there isn't a 'crying' emoticon in the smilies. [/quote]
I thought the fourth one in the second row was the crying smiley [/quote]

Maybe, though it's really just a sorrowful weeping. I'm looking for a gut wrenching howl. Right, when I press submit this'll tell me I've been embedding too much. I fucking' wish!!

Which it did! Arsing bollocks. [/quote]

You left all the end quotes, but deleted all the beginning quotes! When you get more than three sets, just delete the last of the beginning ones and the first of the end ones. Or something. And the next smiley on from the blushing one is the crying one...

Philip Jarvis wrote:On the heels of the creation of Apterous Etiquette, why not start a new thread called "Apterous Grammar". Then perhaps those of us who were not 'cleverer' enough to go to university (particularly Oxbridge) might have the benefit of further education.

IMO it's somewhat patronising to suggest that the non-university educated should not be expected to speak their own language properly.

Charlie Reams wrote:

Philip Jarvis wrote:On the heels of the creation of Apterous Etiquette, why not start a new thread called "Apterous Grammar". Then perhaps those of us who were not 'cleverer' enough to go to university (particularly Oxbridge) might have the benefit of further education.

IMO it's somewhat patronising to suggest that the non-university educated should not be expected to speak their own language properly.

I did science at uni, so that was no help. I learnt my spelling and grammar skills at school mainly, with more advanced concepts investigated in my own time, usually at the prompting of such threads as this one!

I taught myself everything I know from the internet, which means I use relatively good grammar but I also believe that George Bush is a reptilian.

Philip Jarvis wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:

Phil Reynolds wrote:Oh yeah, I've remembered now. What I meant to say was that, with a bit more forward planning, Matt could have holidayed in Yorkshire, thus completing a pleasing Yorkshire -> Warwickshire -> West Country holiday triangle.

I was going to reply last night with something about you going to Cornwall with it, but it was largely unfunny so I didn't.
Now I can see what you were planning, but I'm going to shit on your biscuits by refusing to holiday in Yorkshire. So there. Cornwall > Yorkshire.

That smacks of regional discrimination Matt. Are you one of those Southern softies who refuse to go beyond Watford Gap?

That smacks of regional discrimination Phil.

Thanks, Charlie!

For me at least, Apterous was back at its usual address this evening!

Yep, all working normally again for me too.

Thanks Charlie.

Charlie for god.