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Assume v. Presume

I was trying to join the forum for some software I use, but the validation email never reached me (repeatedly, if it was actually sent at all). So I sent a support request - and received the following reply:

Thank you for contacting XXXXX Technical Support. I will forward your inquiry to one of the moderator of the XXXXX Community.
Once I hear back, I will reach out to you.
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:eek: What's wrong with "let you know"? :rolleyes:

I feel like replying that won't be necessary, an email will be adequate.
 
Gaff heard on The Archers, spoken by lady of the manor character Elizabeth Pargetter (nee Archer):

"A thank you gift from Russ and I"
 
/df said:
Also interestingly, "finny" is a word in the browser's spell-check dictionary, but "heatsink" isn't!
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"Heat" and "sink" are two separate words, but like the Germans we tend to combine them in engineering so it becomes "heatsink". "Datasheet" is also not in the spell-checker.

I'm sort-of with the Germans on this one, although they take it to a ridiculous extreme. Where an object is specifically identified by two separate but inseparable words, I see no reason they should not be combined into one. Neither "heat" nor "sink" separately even hint at the general type of object – only "heatsink" provides an adequate description.
 
prpr said:
I always seem to think of strassenbahnhaltestelle at times like this.
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It’s a good job that it was easy to recognise one when I saw one otherwise I might still be lost on the streets of Munich.

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz would have me stumped! (beef labelling regulation and delegation of supervision law)
 
EEPhil said:
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz would have me stumped! (beef labelling regulation and delegation of supervision law)
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We laugh about the supposed German lack of humour ... but there is probably an informal competition within their 'civil service' to produce the longest law name :)
 
On House Of Games last night, Nish Kumar commented on the spelling divide between the generations. I have a plan to tackle that: instead of auto-correct on mobile devices just quietly substituting the correct spelling, how about it issuing a penalty for each mis-spelt word – such as the device shutting down for two minutes, or the user having to enter the correct spelling 10 times before the app unlocks?
 
I have a fault on one of the leads I use to connect my iPhone to the laptop. If I touch the metal part of the phone and a metallic part of the laptop I get an unpleasant jolt. Rather than shut the device down after a spelling mistake a good jolt from the device might serve the purpose. Unless you are a masochist.
Not all spelling mistakes on iPhones are the user’s fault. Well, they are through lack of proof reading. What I mean is the keyboard is so small, fingers are too fat, and we are in a hurry. Not forgetting autocorrect sometimes picks the wrong word.
 
And, of course, it wouldn't train out mis-spellings which are actual words – "of" instead of "'ve" or "have", for example.

EEPhil said:
I have a fault on one of the leads I use to connect my iPhone to the laptop.
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What??? I can't imagine how that might be a fault in the USB lead, it must be a fault in the power to the laptop. I take it this doesn't happen if the laptop is running on battery?

(Decades ago) I discovered an ungrounded logic analyser was giving me shocks: a broken earth wire in the detachable "kettle" mains lead resulted in the earth node in the mains input filter Y network floating to 120V AC, and therefore the 0V logic reference (which should be at ground potential) also becoming half-mains.

It sounds to me like your laptop metalwork is earthed but the DC voltages are floating (and pulled up).

This is rather odd, because typically laptops rely on double-insulation rather than earthing. Does it have an internal PSU, or does its PSU connector have three (or more) pins?

My OEM HP G61 PSU is fully floating (isolated between mains in and DC out). I acquired a cheap equivalent for mobile use (to save unravelling the OEM PSU from behind the desk), particularly for DJ purposes (don't ask), and found I got hum with the replacement but not the OEM... because the replacement had an earth connection through to the DC (I broke it open and inspected it, then broke the earth).
 
Black Hole said:
What??? I can't imagine how that might be a fault in the USB lead, it must be a fault in the power to the laptop. I take it this doesn't happen if the laptop is running on battery?
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I’m fairly sure the lead that came with the iPhone doesn’t cause this problem. I don’t feel like testing it. The laptop is that old the battery is useless. Not worth replacing - but provides enough power for orderly shutdown in the event of a power cut. So something else I didn’t test.
The only point in mentioning it was that the jolt I get is definitely unpleasant. If you got that every time you made a spelling mistake you might learn. Probably not.
 
EEPhil said:
I’m fairly sure the lead that came with the iPhone doesn’t cause this problem.
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Then you are postulating that there can be a significant potential difference between the ends of a USB lead. I guess that could be the case if the genuine Apple lead has a separate shield earthing the iPhone... but you're still looking at a hazardous fault at the laptop end which needs to be looked into.

You shouldn't need to touch it: just use a DMM on the ACV range.

EEPhil said:
The only point in mentioning it was that the jolt I get is definitely unpleasant. If you got that every time you made a spelling mistake you might learn. Probably not.
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I was thinking enforced time off the screen would be more effective than electric shocks, to the generation we're talking about!
 
I was going to make a fool of myself. I watched a 1949 film “The Small Back Room” and spotted a sign “All passes must be shewn” (damned autocorrect changed it to sheen). I thought spelling mistakes in 1949. Can’t blame technology. Turns out I’m wrong, it wasn’t a mistake just archaic. :oops:
 
EEPhil said:
just archaic
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Gosh. I'm archaic then. Not unreasonable I suppose :rolleyes:
I can remember seeing "Tickets must be shewn" signs on public transport well into my adult life, so 70s-80s at least.
Didn't use buses and trains much after then, so I don't really know when those signs died out.
 
Radio interview bloopers:—

Tracy Lerman (the late Jackie Collins' daughter): "I'm a varicious reader"

Oliver Dowden (culture secretary): "look asconce"
 
He will return at a later date I have no doubt. That, perhaps, is why he resigned and wasn't sacked. It looks better on your CV, lol.
 
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