those would be pretty easy to solve with a bit of code
Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
131–140 of 215 posts
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#132I don't get it. How come this article has not been flagged to death? How come this article has over 100 comments? Am I missing something?
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#133Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#134(non native speaker)
In 20% of my HN comments I need correct "there"/"their", "buy"/"by" [...] which I write down correctly when re-reading my comments, but subconsciously write incorrect the first time when I do not think about the words but the thoughts.
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#135As is often the case with these "I'm so smart and other people aren't" posts, the author makes what I bet is an unintended mistake. I assume they want each option to have only one solution. The last example ("It is poor form to ____ you temper in a discussion group"), either option (lose or loose) works. The verb form of 'loose' means 'to set free', and temper has come to mean an agitated state of mind. So you can sa…
I don't think anyone would ever use loose in that manner without preceding it with "let"? Feel free to correct me, but to me that sounds very wrong.
It's correct without "let", but a little archaic. You're unlikely to see that sort of usage outside slightly pretentious plays, but it's correct nonetheless.
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
The grammar issues presented on this page are picayune distinctions with very little potential for major misunderstandings. Getting them correct is more of a social signal than anything else, like eating salad with the correct fork in some places and not eating food with your left hand in others. I have real trouble imagining that a good point made with substitution erros is somehow less critical to the discussion th…
In simple social situations that may be true. But not being able to grasp the basics of language will have an effect on how someone communicates complicated thoughts and ideas. How would you expect someone taking on a programming challenge of say, an operating system, without the basic understanding of boolean logic to fair?
"fair", or fare? Those damn homophones ;)
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#137As is often the case with these "I'm so smart and other people aren't" posts, the author makes what I bet is an unintended mistake. I assume they want each option to have only one solution. The last example ("It is poor form to ____ you temper in a discussion group"), either option (lose or loose) works. The verb form of 'loose' means 'to set free', and temper has come to mean an agitated state of mind. So you can sa…
One would loose one's temper \on\ a discussion group, not \in\ it. I enjoy the perspectives of the ESL folks on HN, though, so I don't want to see any filtering by grammar nitpicking.
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#138So people who are detail-oriented grammarians are necessarily good commenters? Since when? The assumption here is that you can tell a comment is going to be stupid by testing whether or not the person understands homonyms. The only thing you check with that is language ability. I'd argue you'd be better off searching for common internet memes and cliches instead of original thinking -- since that's a sign of a lazy o…
I see an unfair prejudice against the vocal and valuable Indian and Eastern-European HN contingent.
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. I kind of replied to the first line in an edit above, but the second one intrigues me. Probably this just proves that my accent is crap, but for me 'then' and 'than' sound about ~the same~, ditto for 'their'/'there' and 'loose'/'lose'. Again - probably I'm just missing something here. Improving my spoken English is definitely on the list of things I want to do..
Maybe it depends on where you're from? In my Greek head-accent "e" and "a" are very different. Same with "their" and "there" (the-ir, the-r). When I speak, of course, they sound identical, but my spoken accent is not the accent I think in.
I don't think it's a question of sound. (I'm french)
'they're', 'their' and 'there' sound the same (spoken or in my head), but their meaning has nothing in common so I never mistake one for another.
How you acquire a language plays here. I learned english fully conscious of what I was doing rather than my organic absorption of french.
Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe it depends on where you're from? In my Greek head-accent "e" and "a" are very different. Same with "their" and "there" (the-ir, the-r). When I speak, of course, they sound identical, but my spoken accent is not the accent I think in.
I don't think it's a question of sound. (I'm french) 'they're', 'their' and 'there' sound the same (spoken or in my head), but their meaning has nothing in common so I never mistake one for another. How you acquire a language plays here. I learned english fully conscious of what I was doing rather than my organic absorption of french.
Oh, of course. I'm just saying that the most common reason for conflation (the fact that they're homophones) doesn't exist for me.