Re: Typo.

Re: Typo.

[Robert Dewar]

or algorithm vs algorism :-)

Re: Typo.

[Kevin Handy]

Robert Dewar wrote:

>or algorithm vs algorism :-)
>
Its al-gore-rhythm (named after the inventor of the internet).

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Per Bothner]

Kevin Handy wrote:
> Robert Dewar wrote:
> 
>> or algorithm vs algorism :-)
>>
> Its al-gore-rhythm (named after the inventor of the internet).

Are people still making that tired old joke/slander?

Al Gore never claimed to have developed the Internet.  He claimed
to have had a part in the deployment of the Internet (I won't speak
for the exact wording) - which if you look at the record, is quite true.

Yes, I know it's just a joke.  It's just that it plays into the
character assassination typical of right-wing groups.
-- 
	--Per Bothner
per@bothner.com   http://www.bothner.com/per/

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Tim Hollebeek]

On Sat, Feb 02, 2002 at 03:55:39PM -0800, Per Bothner wrote:
> Kevin Handy wrote:
> > Robert Dewar wrote:
> > 
> >> or algorithm vs algorism :-)
> >>
> > Its al-gore-rhythm (named after the inventor of the internet).
> 
> Are people still making that tired old joke/slander?
> 
> Al Gore never claimed to have developed the Internet.  He claimed
> to have had a part in the deployment of the Internet (I won't speak
> for the exact wording) - which if you look at the record, is quite true.
> 
> Yes, I know it's just a joke.  It's just that it plays into the
> character assassination typical of right-wing groups.

Yes, it's very important we resist this, since left-wing groups never,
ever tell jokes about George W. Bush, or would ever post messages to
non-political lists claiming that a particular portion of the
population is more prone to character assassination.

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Per Bothner]

Tim Hollebeek wrote:
> Yes, it's very important we resist this, since left-wing groups never,
> ever tell jokes about George W. Bush,

Telling a joke is one thing. (For example while I don't quite
understand the hatred that Clinton engendered, he certainly
set himself up for some well-deserved jokes.)  My complaint
is more subtle:  I'm not complaining about jokes, but complaining
about jokes or commentary that re-inforce a falsehood.  There
is a wide-spread belief that "Al Gore claimed to have invented
the Internet" and spreading that falsehood unthinkingly plays into
the hands of those who want to make him appear ridiculous.

It's a bit like making fun of Quayle for not knowing how to spell
potato(e).  While that isn't a falsehood, it is a bit unfair,
since many people (including the Britsh IIRC) do spell it with an 'e'.

> or would ever post messages to non-political lists

Well, actually this is a GNU list, and GNU is a political movement,
as well as a technical one.  However, political commentary is
generally inappropriate to this group.

> claiming that a particular portion of the
> population is more prone to character assassination.

I didn't quite say that.  What I was trying to get across is that
I think the general flaw of right-wingers is a tendency to a lack
of empathy and too much judgement and not enough foregiveness for
other people's faults and mistakes (cfr calling for Walker to get
the death sentence).  On the other hand, some left-wingers may be
too forgiving of people's mistakes.

In any case, it was an inappropriate dig, not needed for my main
point trying to defend Gore.
-- 
	--Per Bothner
per@bothner.com   http://www.bothner.com/per/

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Neil Booth]

Per Bothner wrote:-

> potato(e).  While that isn't a falsehood, it is a bit unfair,
> since many people (including the Britsh IIRC) do spell it with an 'e'.

Nope.

Neil.

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Per Bothner]

Neil Booth wrote:
> Per Bothner wrote:-
> 
>>potato(e).  While that isn't a falsehood, it is a bit unfair,
>>since many people (including the Britsh IIRC) do spell it with an 'e'.
> 
> Nope.

Then I stand corrected, and I will revise my statement to say:
"some people do (mis-)spell it with an 'e'" and add it is an
easy mistake to make, because of the plural "potatoes".
-- 
	--Per Bothner
per@bothner.com   http://www.bothner.com/per/

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Robert Dewar]

I hate to add to this sadly off topic exchange, but sorry I can't resist

> potato(e).  While that isn't a falsehood, it is a bit unfair,
> since many people (including the Britsh IIRC) do spell it with an 'e'.

This is of course entirely false. It probably comes from some marvelously
amusing "spinning" that Quayle's staff did in the aftermath of the potatoe
debacle. On the McNeil Lehrer report, I saw his chief campaign manager
claiming that the English have spelled Potato with an E, and that in
particular "I believe Chaucer used this spelling". I trust people know
enough about where the potato came from to understand why this is so
amusing (if not, look it up :-)

Robert Dewar

P.S. someone gave me a T-shirt as a present that has POTATO on the front
and on the back says "Member of the Cultural Elite" :-)

Re: Typo. (off-topic)

[Per Bothner]

The source for my defense of Gore was the following paper, which
I had read/skimmed a while ago:
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue5_10/wiggins/
It's long; to attempt to summarize:

Gore's actual words were:  "During my service in the United States
Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."  Gore
mis-spoke (in a verbal interview), but it's still not a claim that he to
"invented the Internet".  The author of the paper suggests that if Gore
has said "While I was serving in the Senate, I took the initiative in
supporting the basic research necessary to create the Internet as we
know it today" he would have been on solid ground.

My comments on "potato(e)" was my confused attempt to show an example
where a Republican was unfairly made fun of.  It was a bad choice,
clearly.  The paper gives a better example in the story about Bush and
the check-out scanner.

In my defense of this off-topic stream, note that I did clearly label
it thus, and I was *responding* to an off-topic joke.   I do sincerely
apologize for my more general comments about right-wingers vs
left-wingers; they were out of place.
-- 
	--Per Bothner
per@bothner.com   http://www.bothner.com/per/