TOTALLY GEEKED!

burns07 wrote:

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must have been googlecanada--my dictionary has a picture of hillary just below the entry for " demagogue "

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 I doubt it as this report came out of New York.

just Czech wrote:

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Ah, you all realize that Hawking's has an aid that does all his typing for him, right?

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Since 1997, my computer-based communication system has been sponsored and provided by Intel® Corporation. A tablet computer mounted on the arm of my wheelchair is powered by my wheelchair batteries, although the tablets internal battery will keep the computer running if necessary. 

My main interface to the computer is through a program called EZ Keys, written by Words Plus Inc. This provides a software keyboard on the screen. A cursor automatically scans across this keyboard by row or by column. I can select a character by moving my cheek to stop the cursor. My cheek movement is detected by an infrared switch that is mounted on my spectacles. This switch is my only interface with the computer. EZ Keys includes a word prediction algorithm, so I usually only have to type the first couple of characters before I can select the whole word. When I have built up a sentence, I can send it to my speech synthesizer. I use a separate hardware synthesizer, made by Speech+. It is the best I have heard, although it gives me an  accent that has been described variously as Scandinavian, American or Scottish. 

Through EZ Keys I can also control the mouse in Windows. This allows me to operate my whole computer. I can check my email using the Eudora email client, surf the internet using Firefox, or write lectures using Notepad. My latest computer from Intel, based on an Intel® Core™ i7 Processor and Intel® Solid-State Drive 520 Series, also contains a webcam which I use with Skype to keep in touch with my friends. I can express a lot through my facial expressions to those who know me well.

I can also give lectures. I write the lecture beforehand and save it on disk. I can then send it to the speech synthesiser a sentence at a time using the Equalizer software written by Words Plus. It works quite well and I can try out the lecture and polish it before I give it. 

I keep looking into new assistive technologies, and recently Intel® have sponsored a team of its engineers to design a new facial recognition system aimed at improving my communication speed. They also have some new ideas regarding my software interface and it will be interesting to see the results of this. It looks quite promising. I have also experimented with Brain Controlled Interfaces to communicate with my computer however as yet these don't work as consistently as my cheek operated switch. 

Stephen Hawking

Lawyerlady wrote:

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flan327 wrote:

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But I can...

flan

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 And that meant nothing in the last election.  Your state still went Republican. 

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 Indiana usually goes Republican. Is that supposed to be news?

flan

I'll be sure to let DH know that we should just stay home on November 8.

flan

It's your time to waste. Have at it!

I fully intend to vote.

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

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OK? Who is stopping you?

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 No one, but my favorite stalker told me to stay home.

Have you ever read Molly Ivins, LGS? I love her books, and she believes passionately in our duty and privilege to vote.

flan

Tinydancer wrote:

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Good idea...

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 Did you forget what you posted already?

This was IN RESPONSE to my saying that I would let DH know that we should just stay home on November 8th.

flan

Lawyerlady wrote:

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flan327 wrote:

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Tinydancer wrote:

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Good idea...

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 Did you forget what you posted already?

This was IN RESPONSE to my saying that I would let DH know that we should just stay home on November 8th.

flan

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 So responding to your posts is stalking?  Get over yourself. 

 

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 When that is 97% of a poster's "contribution" here?

flan

flan327 wrote:

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Tinydancer wrote:

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Good idea...

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 Did you forget what you posted already?

This was IN RESPONSE to my saying that I would let DH know that we should just stay home on November 8th.

flan

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 Right. I agreed with what you said. That's what I stated so how does that mean I forgot what I posted. Speaking of stalkers how about the way you stalk lily. Oh wait, because you do it it's alright but anyone else ids stalking. You think WAY too highly of yourself flannie.

So am I to understand that we (general we) should dumb down how we speak because it makes some people feel insecure. Ah ok.
So funny😀

Yes. Sorry I wasn't clear. It seems to me the people miffed about his speech are perhaps intimidated because they didn't understand his words.
I know people irl that are like that. And they think I use "hoity toity " words sometimes
Good Gravy. I can just imagine if they listened to a Stephen Hawking lecture. Their heads just might explode.
Perhaps get out a dictionary and thesaurus and expand their vocabulary? No that's crazy talk 😜

Thanks, Mary!

I hope I never stop learning new things.

flan

I agree, Mary, and that can be a great thing about message boards.

flan

apple wrote:

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Mary Zombie wrote:

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Me either flan. I constantly look words up on my phone. I like to learn at least one new word a day.
If I don't understand something it's an opportunity.

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 I learned a lot of really nasty words on the MSN manners boards. lol

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 And, even those insults can come in handy...

flan

Mary Zombie wrote:

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The old board was certainly entertaining 😀

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 And I find myself wondering sometimes what happened to certain posters.

flan

Personally, I thought it was funny that the internet now tells us how dumb people really are. I distinctly remember "demagogue" as a spelling word in sixth grade and if you haven't learned the meaning of the word "denominator" by the end of fourth grade, math may be a problem for you.

Why is it considered dumb to look up a word you don't know?

Doesn't that prove the opposite, actually?

If you don't know something, and you seek out information, that makes you smart.

It when you don't know something and refuse to learn that makes you ignorant.

Doesn't matter.

Anytime a person seeks to learn something they don't know, they are smarter than those who do not.

Even the simplest of words.

Seeking information is always smarter than not.

apple wrote:

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lilyofcourse wrote:

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Doesn't matter.

Anytime a person seeks to learn something they don't know, they are smarter than those who do not.

Even the simplest of words.

Seeking information is always smarter than not.

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 Not knowing means you are perhaps uneducated or less educated, not that you can't be educated.

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 And you made fun of the ones seeking to learn.

That doesn't look bad on those who didn't know the word.

 

lilyofcourse wrote:

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apple wrote:

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lilyofcourse wrote:

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Doesn't matter.

Anytime a person seeks to learn something they don't know, they are smarter than those who do not.

Even the simplest of words.

Seeking information is always smarter than not.

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 Not knowing means you are perhaps uneducated or less educated, not that you can't be educated.

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 And you made fun of the ones seeking to learn.

That doesn't look bad on those who didn't know the word.

 

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 I found the irony funny. I'm like that. 

apple wrote:

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chef wrote:

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I see nothing wrong with looking up a word you don't know. Not everyone remembers every word they've learned throughout the course of their education. I have an M.Ed. and I do not know every word in the dictionary. I've learned new words on the board - mostly from Welts because she uses words I don't hear every day. Looking down on people who don't know a word is low. Perhaps that particular word is uncommon in their circle.

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 Ya... Its about the irony. really...

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 Ya think?

flan

The older I get the more I know the less I know.

A massive vocabulary doesn't necessarily come from education, but from reading.

FNW wrote:

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The older I get the more I know the less I know.

A massive vocabulary doesn't necessarily come from education, but from reading.

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 I guess, in the case of the two words mentioned in the OP, I would assume that most kids learned them in school.

"Denominator" in math class (as Czech said) and "demagogue" in history.

flan