Welcome to a somewhat edited GLoSsary of Dimensions
_yep
0Smooth affirmative.
0+x x:0<x<1Please_Wait Please be patient and bear with us, a red light is ON.
1Please_Yourself Amber, blue, pink, yellow or some other colour, anyway, neither red nor green.
A!Please_Edit Go ahead, change the world we're rooting for you. Signals are clear, HAPPY = ON, colour = green.
ABSOLUTEAnswer.
ACTIONFixed, not free, independent of any relation with some other frame.
ACTUATORChanges the status quo; makes a real & exciting difference.
ADVICESomething which does something in response to some instruction.
AFFINITYGood Advice is Dear
Poor Advice is hard to tell Apart
Honest Advice is Clear
Follow Advice from your own 'Art
AGAINNatural attraction between two or more things.
AIROnce more, another time.
ALLA very large amount of gas maintained by the Earth around herself with her gravity.
According to some ancient Greeks one of the four elements. It is important to realise that a breath is made of this.
ALLITERATIONEverybody or everything.
ANDAn absolutely amazingly appropriate alliterative annotation arguably amusing almost anybody allegedly.
ANTI& or *, Logical operator requiring that both operands be true for the resulting expression to be true.
ARTAgainst, opposed to, or generally tending to neutralise that which comes after.
ASSTheory and practice of editing. Human (as opposed to natural) intervention supposedly for the satisfaction of aesthetic sentiments.
ATTEMPTAbsolutely_Simplified_System
A legend!ary Computer [rumoured to have been] invented by Reinout Chris & al. It has only 2 clear instructions:-
- Please_Edit 1
- Please_Wait 0
- Please_Yourself is a 3rd instruction which is vague. SEE also:- Forum/ASS.html
In the animal world, a four legged beast of burden unfairly said to be very stupid or obstinate.
ATTRIBUTEIf you dare good luck; else take courage.
If you did, were you successful?
And if not, try again.
AWARENESSAn accessory or property of something. An aspect.
AXIOMConsciousness of the state of part of the world. Second enemy because awareness of some or all of the misery in the world can lead to a defeatist total paralysis or inaction due to cynicism.
BABELGRAMPostulate. A statement whose truth is either supposed to be self-evident or to be assumed.
BALANCEMessage understood by everybody, nomatter what languages they may not understand.
BANANA
BANANANARITHMATICA very simple, but real idea. Here's a babelgram for you:
A banana is something everyone understands, it is simple, tangible .., and you can hold it in you hand..
Accordingly this sign was used to name the famousPak'n Banaan Rekenkunde or Banananarithmatic.
BBBLike Bistronomics a powerful form of mathematics. It is based entirely on the idea of a banana., which is very handy. Our hands are very handy jest because we have rebellious anti-fingers called thumbs.
thumbs rule!
Wherever easiest follow your favourite rule of thumb.
Advice:
Never lose sight of the reality of whatever you are try-ing to calculate. When the numbers get too complicated and distract you from your goal, throw away significant digits.
Example: light
An aspect of this method is that it provides very easily (by imagination if you like) approximately the correct answer.
The square root of 2 is defined as ~1.5, hence the graphic
BEGINBeautifully Bound Book
BLOOD
BOOKSlightly salty red fluid essential to the smooth operations of human and animal life. The red colour is due to the single iron atom in each of the large haemoglobin molecules in the myriads of red blood cells.
Blood is an excellent foaming agent. blood from slaughtered cattle, bereft of its redness is used in some fire extinguishers.
BREAKFASTHopefully a valuable gift. When these are being burned and when access to them is being restricted then it is time for action as danger lurks.
This GLoSsary is said to be part of the-Book.
BROWNIANAn important start to the day.
C,cAn entirely random movement, this way and that, in a liquid or in a gas. It was first observed by Mr. Brown who saw strange movements of tiny pollen particles in water with a microscope. This strange jerky motion has since been explained as being due to the smoke, dust or other small particles being bumped into all the time by the very much smaller and much more numerous molecules of the liquid or the gas, sometimes a few more are hitting it from one side, causing the fleck of dust to move in the opposite direction, and at other times a few more may nudge it from another side.
CHAOS{ Complex Numbers }
C: coulomb
c:Velocity or speed of electromagnetic radiation (like light etc.) in a vacuum equal to (approximately) 299 792 458 metres per second. It is believed that nothing material could ever exceed this universal speed limit.
CHAOTIC
CHEAP
CLARENCEDon't buy it if it is nasty as well, unless it is usable in a deformative way.
COLOURPROCEDURE
REPEAT as required:
BEGIN ( by suddenly realising that you are in some danger )STOP ( whatever it was that has led you into this danger )
Take one step back
Find safety
Relax
Look, listen, etc.
Think
Discuss with your friends
COMMENTVisual sensation. In a dull world this does not exist. Neither in one which is only black and white. In our world, when there is enough light we can see colours, like spring green leaves or a blood red setting Sun
. There are two different kind of light receptors in the eye, named after their shapes: rods and cones. The cones, which are able to respond to light of different colours predominate in the "yellow" area of the retina directly opposite the lens and close to the "blind spot" where the optic nerve leaves the eye. The rods which can only provide black-grey-white information are more common in the rest of the eye and are responsible for peripheral vision. The rods are much more sensitive (to light) than the cones and this is the reason why we can not see colours in near darkness.
Red, green and blue light can be mixed to produce virtually any colour. A colour TV for example only has dots of these these three so called primary colours on its screen.
A quantum number of quarks.
CONCLUSIONAny statement that is of no consequence at all to the compiler. In the naturallanguage
an opinion, explanation or criticism about an idea, a book, an event or a state of affairs.
CONSTRUCTIONThe end of something. If that something is thought, the conclusion is said [ by Ludwig v. Wittgenstein ] to be false if it arrests the motion of the train of thought.
CONTAINContrived or artificial structure.
CONTENTTo restrict, encompass, hold, own, include. Also see trivial
COSMOCContent to contain.?
coulombFamous flying lessons by the seat of your pants. Thanx for flying CoSmoc.
COURAGEC, S.I. unit of electric charge. You would have 1 coulomb (of negative charge) if you managed to collect some 62 500 000 000 000 000 000 electrons.
DANGERConcept from olden days, mostly faulty like honour. If there's time then try Clarence else we're rooting for ye'. Good luck !
Something that might perhaps be replaced by running away (Escaping) quickly. Good luck to you!
DATALook out! Be careful, there is a possibility of harm, something is not safe. Without good luck nasty things could happen.
DEATHA finite extent of some non-random signal.
DEFINITIONEnd of life or perhaps prelude to a fresh one.
The fourth enemy.
DIGNITYTo give a definition of definition is more difficult than you might think. (Fortunately this is an annotation on - and not a definition of definition).
DIMENSIONSomething that may help you when you face death. Something that will certainly help you if you are threatened by those who may have more force but less dignity than you do.
DIRECTIONTo open a fresh dimension vary something previously fixed.
Otherwise something at right angles to all other dimensions.
DIRECTORYTogether with a number this gives you a vector.
Together with speed it provides velocity.
DOWN-A usefully structured list of info items.
EEasy way for weights.
EARTHSymbol representing energy.
EARTH-EDAugust life supporting body we are not qualified to leave just yet.
Ground or soil can also be referred to as Earth.
According to some ancient Greeks one of the four elements.
EDITEarth-Editor. A simple and quite small text editor configured from Guest-Editor which in turn was crafted by Reinout from a hacked shareware version of Qedit aided by a load of macro's supplied by Lothar. Was used to create and edit the-Book.
Reinout himself recently commented that Lothar in fact came up with most of the ideas of the guest editor and i must confess i still have some forth fragments lying around.
ELEMENTEh?! Start_Word. To change, add, append, amend, correct, delete, embellish, or generally beautify any text or other data.
ELSEEssential or basic member of a structure.
In Chemistry, 92 basic (natural) substances which can be arranged in a periodic table.
END
END.Between something and a fresh something, sometimes between something and nothing.
ENEMYThe very last word that is of any consequence [to the compiler] in a Pascal program.
ENERGYOpponent or antagonist who means you harm.
ESSENCECapacity to do work, measured in joules. According to modern insights in physics, an un-condensed form of matter.
shows just how much energy E would be equivalent to some mass m, c being the speed of light.
EVERNature or main quality of an idea or existence.
Extract.
EVERYBODYWell, mmhm.., Marvin, the paranoid android, had to wait for more than for ever and look at what that did to him; & i'm certainly not going to keep on going jest like that so you can see what forever is.
Did you ever ... ? = Did you once or more times ... ?
EVERYTHING
EXPERT
EXTRACTX is an un-known quantity. A spurt is a drip under pressure.
fTo take out words from a text or juices from a fruit. The resulting product is also called extract.
Compressed data is restored to its former glory by extracting it from the (compressed) file.
FALSE
FAMOUS\
TRUE NOT; \ Humansmight say:"Not true".
\
\ my very first real Forth definition.
FAWCE
FEARMay it be with you if you can use it. Fawce is not force, it is hopefully more friendly and fun than the kind of force some people think is the only way to settle conflicts. Otherwise tryClarence.
FILEThe first enemy. Fear may harm your dignityand will seriously cloud your awareness.
FIREA collection of data somehow belonging together and accessible under onename in a (computer) system.
FLUIDAccording to ancient Greek insights one of the four elements.
FOLLYA fundamental phase of matter which is half chaotic [that is it will exhibit Brownian motion]. Something you can pour. At very low temperatures there is even a super fluid state of so-called helium III with zero viscosity.
FOODIs it folly to interrupt yourself?
Obstinate attachment to, or pursuit of a disserviceable goal. Child of power.
A very stupid act.
From Barbara Tuchman's The march of folly.
In Gotham once the Story goes
A set of Wise-acres arose
Skill'd in the great Politic Wheel
Could pound a Magpie, drown an Eel
With many things of worthy Note
At present far too much to quote
Their District was both Far and Wide
Which not a little swell'd their Pride
But above all that they possessed
Was a fine Goose by all confessed
A RARA AVIS to behold
Who laid each day an Egg of Gold
This made them grow immensely rich
Gave them an avaritious Itch
The case belongs to many more
They not contented with their Store
Would Methods vague and strange pursue
To make the Harmless Bird lay TWO
This glorious Purpose to obtain
About her Neck they put a Chain
And more their Folly to compleat
They stampt upon her Wings and Feet
But this had no Effect at all
Yet made her Struggle Flutter, Squall
And do as any Goose would do
Who had her Liberty in view
When One of more distuinguish'd Note
Cried D*** her Let's cut her Throat
They did, yet not an Egg was found
But Blood came pouring from the WoundLibrary of Congress, United States of America
FORTHImportant nourishment needed to sustain the fawce of operators. "A nutricous meal, prepared and taken under pleasant circumstances" is food.
FREEFamous un-hyped computer language [ it is rumoured ] that there are several classes of people in relation to:=
FREQUENCYUnbounded [as in gas = chaos ], able to move at will. Gratis!
FRESH!How often something happens in a certain time interval.
FUN
GOne of the fundamental humours needed to sustain the fawce of operators.
GASSymbol for the universal constant of gravitation or gravity, which is oddly enough not as accurately known as some other fundamental constants found in tables at the back of erudite books on physics. Recent measurements have yielded the value 6.67259x10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2.
GALAXYcollection of un-bound active particles, travelling every which way inside a vessel, some escaping through leaks.
By the way, a gravitational field (of a planet for example) counts as a vessel in the above.
GLSA very large collection of stars (typically 100 000 000 000) extended accross 100 000 light years.
The illustration shows an imagined side-on view of our Galaxy, with the position of the Sun marked with the light blue arrow. The dotted line shows the extent of the visible part of the Galaxy, the galactic centre beyond, in the direction of the constellation Sagitarius being obscured by dark clouds. The blobs arranged in a halo around the centre of the Galaxy are globular clusters, collections of 100 000 or so stars.
GNDDirectory containg the GLoSary.
Alternatively an alias of- or the GLoSary of Dimensions itself.
GOOD LUCKAnything (electrically) at Earth potential.
GRATIS!Un-suspected positive outcome of a vagueinstruction.
GRAVITY
GREENRelatively very weak very long range universal affinity between any two bits of matter in the Universe. Isaac Newton, after reading an obscure book by Johannes Kepler, which Galileo was silly enough not to read, proposed gravity to explain the movement of planets around the Sun. In modern parlance we might put it like this:
in words, the force F (in newtons) between any two bits of matter of masses m1 and m2 (in kg) is proportional to their masses (in kg) and inversely proportional to the square of the distance r (in metres) between them, where G is the gravitational constant of proportionality.
GROUNDThe colour of chlorophyll, the substance responsible for photosynthesis, with which green plants are able to turn sheer Sunlight (and some air, water and other stuff) into food and energy. Curiously the spectrum of the Sun has a peak in green (in other words it provides rather more green light than blue or red).
A green light being on could mean Please_Edit.
GROUND_0Place where you can plant your feet firmly or not.
The basis of something.
GREATESTIn sad stories about atomic bombs, the place directly under the centre of the explosion.
A proposed alternative: ground occupied by us, Earth, soil or home.
GUESTThe Greatest Things
- the best day - today
- the greatest sin - fear
- the best gifts - kindness, forgiveness
- the meanest feeling - jealousy
- the greatest need - common sense
- the most expensive indulgence - hate
- the greatest troublemaker - talking too much
- the greatest teacher - one who makes you want to learn
- the cleverest person - one who does what she thinks right
- the worst bankrupt - the soul that has lost its enthousiasm
- the cheapest stupidest easiest thing to do - finding fault
- the best part of anyone's religion - gentleness cheerfulness
Street sign, Bikaner, Rajastan, India 1981, slightly edited.
HAPPYSomeone who is lucky enough to be made to feel at home somewhere by the steward of that place.
HARMONYGreen light on the ASS computer which indicates that it is operating well. Also see Important.
HATEA state of compromise, providing space for all sides and interests, characterised by a certain lack of conflict.
HEALTHNasty feeling you are ill advised to bear for any prolonged period.
HELPWholesome condition, often ignored by those who enjoy it (though at their peril). If there were five things that were important this would be one of them.
HISTORYIdeally enables you to do more than you could without it.
HOLYHistory, according to Collins Concise Encyclopedia 1981, is a branch of knowledge which deals systematically with the past, recording, analysing, correlating and interpreting past events. Sources include buildings, artifacts as well as chronicles and contemporary written records. Your steward would like to add any other evidence of past events into this list, conveniently merging history with pre-history.
Having started, one realises the enormity of the task and the great temptation to present things - particularly analysis - in a one sided or biased way. Oh well, i can not pretend to be an historian. The short history of the world presented in the-Book is based on very little if any original sources or other evidence. This story, particularly at the earliest times covered must therefore be seen as the steward's personal paradigm. It is an anectdotal collection of second-to-the-power-of-n-hand factoids.
HOMEAdjective which indicates that something has an awesome, sacred, mysterious, or generally un-fathomable fawce, which may however be very strongly felt by some. It is wise to respect the fact that anyone might consider something holy.
HOPEImportant place, where you can hopefully be happy and where you can receive a guest.
HUMANHope is hopefully better than hype.
HUMOUR
HYPEAccording to medieaval medical insights, one of several of the body's fundamental fluids. According to present day common sense, it is good to be in good humour.
HYSTERESISA new! fresh! & exciting! virtual aspect of something. Acronym of: Hello You Phoney Existence.
iThe influence of earlier treatment of a thing on its subsequent (re)actions. This is always due to some delay between the original cause and the subsequent effect.
IDi x i = -1
A virtual or imaginary number which, if you could ever find it, would give you -1 when multiplied by itself. The sum of an imaginary number and a real one is called a complex number.
IDENTITYAccording to Freud: Id + ego + superego = your selves.
IFIdentically equal to identity.
A (virtual or real) presence which can carry a name. Action x inverse (of that action) = identity (matrices).
IFFPart of "If something is true, then something might happen". If provides the conditional element: "in the event that".
If..
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when they all doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired of waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream, - and not make dreams your master:
If you can think, - and not make thoughts your aim:
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters jest the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knits to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop to build 'em up with worn out tools:If you can make a heap of all you winnings,
And risk it all on one turn of pitch and toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about you loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all folk count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything within it,
And - which is more, - you'll be All-Right, my loved one!Rudyard Kipling cleansed by gris
IMAGE
IMPORTANT
INFINITYAccording to the Brightening Ages there are only four facts of any importance: a breath, a good drink, a nutricious meal prepared and taken under pleasant circumstances and a place to be .. happy.
INFOLiterally, without end, the unlimited, going beyond any fixed bound. Investigations of this idea date back at least as far as Zeno.
If you would like to put a number to infinty, well, give up - you cannot, it is larger than any number you can think of and then some.
INFO_NUGGETA hyped-up version of information.
INFORMATIONUsefully sized amount of information. It could be an entry in a diary, or perhaps 1K byte of procesing memory constituting a cell in the proposed ASS computer.
INKInteresting data complete with suggested processing recipe's.
INSPIRATIONFluid used in writing with certain old fashioned fine writing instruments called pens.
INSTRUCTIONAn idea or a passion coming into the mind. Creative work is said to be 1% inspiration and 99% persperation.
INSTRUCTION SETCode or command which identifies one of the possible actions listed in the instruction set.
INSTRUMENT{ 0, 0+x x: 0<x<1, 1 }
INTERESTINGIdeally, a (hardware, software or otherwise) thing or apparatus, given that someone may have applied a great deal of effort to make it, someone may have applied another great deal of effort to get it working correctly or accurately and the one who uses the instrument ought to take great care of it.
INVERSEBasically anything anyone could like to study elsewhere or even in this GLoSsary. Anything which might attract attention and occupy thoughts for a while.
"May you live in interesting times" is an old Chinese curse.
ISD?
JIntegrated Service Department.
JOB[ rumoured to belong to Judit ]
JOLLYI still haven't finished the job of messing about with this here GLoSsary. Will i ever?
joule
JOYJ, unit of energyequivalent to overcoming a force of one newton over a distance of one metre.
JUMPIt was once said that the only reason why humans are tolerated at all on the Earth is because they have the capacity to bring joy.
KTo move in one go or at one leap or bound from one place to some other, without stopping anywhere else. You should be warned that landing safely at the second place may be problematic.
kg[ rumoured to belong to Kafka ].
Lkilogram, unit of mass kept at Sèvres near Paris.
LANGUAGE[ rumoured to belong to Laura ].
LEGEND!Symbolic system supplying semantic models of anything imaginable in any real or virtual world.
LIFEA legend is some famous old story, sadly usually a violent one at that. However Legend! has been reclaimed to indicate some more recent famous pursuits of some of our friends, which are fortunately not quite so bloody.
LIGHT(According to Douglas Adams) Precursor to the Universeandeverything.
LISTVisual sensation.
The agency which stimulates visual sensations when it strikes the retina of the eye.
The speed of light is about a foot per nanosecond.
LOSTA very usefully structured string of data.
LOVE& then now for the targets (sounds like pinball)
TO be done yet..: Order-order of magnitude; add in- to un-; other connotions of system; instance; LOST; LIGHT; TESTWARE; TEXT; a weird link from f to frequency; more grafix ...gnn keyboard
TO be done yet..: Order-order of magnitude; add in- to un-; instance; LOST; LIGHT; TESTWARE; TEXT; a weird link from f to frequency; more grafix ...gnn
LUCK0, nought, Q? "What is 1/2 a love?" A! nought! Also something you can feel very strongly for a very long time.
M,mRandom outcome of a vague instruction.
MANDATESymbols for masses in interesting dynamics statements. Also: (M mega) 1 000 000 or 220 (m) metre.
MAPPINGArrangement whereby one can act on behalf of more.
MASSNetwork of correspondences between respective elements of at least two sets.
MATTERA quantity which has the quality that it is extremely difficult to get going and is often even more difficult to stop again within the required time or distance.
MEMORYIn the event that it would matter to know this i suppose any material thing with a rest mass greater than zero. Condensed energy.
MESSAGEPotentially any system featuring hysteresis.
In computerese a place where data can be kept and accessed by the processor.
METERThis could be a poke in the eye, a kick in the teeth, or hopefully a more pleasant form of communication bringing you some data.
METREAn instrument which can provide a more or less accurate measurement of some quantity.
MIRRORm, unit of distance equal to the length of the path travelled by electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
MOTTOShiny thing which through reflection provides a virtual and reversed image.
MUSICDo nothing, leave nothing un-done; say nothing, leave nothing un-said (from "The Way" the very old and concise basis of Taoism).
N
NAMEOften used as a negative response to a question.
{ Natural Numbers }
NANDA name, a name, what's in a name? A rose by any other name would still as sweetly smell.
NASTY
NATURALUnpleasant.
NAUGHTAdjective, of a process, the ways & means of the Universe before you started editing it.
NEVER
newtonNever, repeat never, ever, write with indellible ink.
Of course we never plan to finish, we never plan to start, and we never ever make a plan (unless we happen to think that it is very crafty).
NON, unit of force, oddly enough about equal to the weight of the average apple on the surface of the Earth. Named after Isaac Newton, Professor at Cambridge University, who published the Principia Matematica at Amsterdam in 1687. This work, and his other magnus opus, Opticks, had a profound influence on the development of the modern natural sciences and indeed the philosophy of science.
I do not know what i may appear to the world, but to myself i seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
Issaac Newton, shortly before his deathand perhaps more telling.. ..old Kinairdy confided a model [to his son/] of an improved cannon, which in his enthousiasm to improve the munitions of war, he had designed in his peaceful home by the Deveron. His son [Savillian Professor David Kinairdy, contemporary of Newton], who thought it most ingenious, showed it to Sir Isaac Newton, and the great philosopher evidently agreed with him; but to invent an instrument, the only object of which was to kill better than any cannon in use, seemed to him a fearful abuse of ingenuity. The horrors of Marlborough's wars, where men were slaughtered by the thousand, were they not enough as it was? Who could deserve mercy from his Maker if he were to bid god-speed to such a terrible machine? Sir Isaac asked the professor to destroy the model, which he did, and the little toy which may have been a gatling gun, for aught we know, was broken in pieces.
NODENot any; not a; not one. (Yes! we have no bananas ..)
Nay; not so; the opposite of _yep, used to deny, refuse or disagree.
NODULEA point or region in a standing wave where a wave characteristic has minimum or zero value. Crossroads. Nodule.
NOISECentre for connectivity.
NORSpurious energy. There are several kinds: thermal, random, white, impulse.
NOT
NOW!-
x-1
Interesting anti operator requiring jest one operand.
NOUGHT
O
OFFSometimes confused with 0 (zero).
ON
ONEWorking, functioning, selected.
OPERAND1, Unity.
A person (in the third person).
OPERATIONSomething on which an operation is performed. p,q,r,s etc. appearing to the right and left of a logical operator.
OPERATOR(Fundamental) process: the interaction of operators and operands.
OROne who operates equipment or acts as an agent of social intercourse.
ORDER+, Logical operator allowing either one or both out of two options.
OTHERA certain lack of chaos in a system.
Degree of complexity.
Dimension of restriction of degrees of freedom.
An order of magnitude is a difference in size between two things, one ten times bigger than the other.
OTHERWISE
P,p
PaPressure.
p is also often used as a logical operand.
PALINDROME
PALINDROMEDARY1991 is palindromic which means that it reads the same way backwards or forwards. Perhaps i should quote the famous example "able was I ere I saw elba".
PASCALAn interesting and mostly harmless legend!ary animal who can walk both ways. It is troubled by the conflicting arrows of indecision.
a contributor offered this divergent opinion:
In my experience, the palindromedary does not suffer from "arrows of indecision." For one thing, it is not only capable of walking in either direction, it is capable of walking in both at once. That leaves you with either two palindromedaries, or one palindromedary in more than one place, and with the conundrum of resolving what meaning, if any, that distinction has. Is there any real difference between having two palindromedaries, or one palindromedary in two places? I suspect all palindromedaries may be in a sense identical to the first one, which has merely multiplied its locations. Rather than being "troubled by the conflicting arrows of indecision" the only weapon I know the palindromedary to fear is the crab canon which can get it coming and going.
pascalHighly structured, high level computer language devised by Niklaus Wirth using several reserved words some of which are also mentioned or annotated in this GLoSsary. named after the seventeenth century French philosopher, Blaise Pascal.
PEACE
PEN
PLEASEA fine writing instrument said to be mightier than the sword.
Please_EditMay it please you.
Please_Some_One_Else
Please_WaitVague instruction between or outside Please_Edit & Please_Wait.
A number greater than 1 or less than 0.
Please_YourselfPlease be patient and bear with us for a short while.
POWERVague instruction between Please_Wait & Please_Edit.
If you can't please yourself then you can't please your soul.
A number greater than 0 AND less than 1.
Pretty_VacantStrictly speaking the rate at which work can be done (or energy converted) per unit time. Otherwise the ability to do or act.
The third enemy. In this sense it ought to pointed out that this enemy is one's own power, and not that of others, because the misuse of one's own power will damage one's dignity.
PRIMERipe for squatting.
PRIVATEA number which may be divided only by itselfand by one. There is only one even prime number which is two. 1993 is prime.
PROCEDURE
PROCESSORA certain sequence of steps or instructions which can be followed like a program.
PROGRAMThe ASS computer has no processor as such. In general i disapprove of blenders, electric carving knives or any such kind of food processor.
PUBLICThe very first word of a Pascal computer program. After some more words and characters, declarations, procedures, functions and the main body of the program (if the program is complete) you will find END..
Q,qSaid of anything accessible to everybody in principle.
Q?Q: { Rational Numbers }
Symbol representing electric charge measured in coulombs.
q:
Logical operand.
QSO
QUARKAlso Quasar. A heavenly body that looks like a star (through a very powerful telescope), but is thought to be situated far beyond the stars of the Milky Way Galaxy and must therefore be literally astronomically bright to be observable at all. Most researchers think that quasars might be the brilliant, tiny central regions of far, far-away active galaxies whose outer parts are so hard to see because of the intense glare. Quasars are characterised by extremely high red shifts and have a starlike appearance despite of the fact that they must be some of the brightest objects in the Universe.
QUASARHypothetical fundamental particle; all hadron matter is supposed to be made up of quarks. They come in six flavours, three carying two thirds the charge of a proton: up (u) , charm (c), and top (t), the remaining three carrying one third of the charge of an electron: down (d) , strange (s), and bottom (b). Each flavour has conveniently been subdivided into three colours: red, green or blue. Two up quarks and one down would for example form a proton and two down and one up would form a neutron.
It is thought that quarks may never be observed seperately in the present configuration of the Universe. In this way they are rather like the end of a piece of string. if you try to isolate the end of a piece of string and pull very hard indeed, the string will break and you will still not have isolated the end of a piece of string. Similarly with quarks, trying to isolate them would require so much energy, that it would be enough to materialize some extra quarks yielding an ordinary proton or something like that.
QUASIQuasars were discovered by finding optical sources corresponding with interesting radio signals. However most other quasars have since been found to be radio-quiet. Use the term "Quasar" was frowned upon in the early years.
Also see: Pulsar, Collapsar
QUERY
QUESTA formal question perhaps put into SQL, designed to edit or extract specific information from a database.
QUESTIONA long and possibly perilous pursuit of something thought to be highly desirable or worthy.
QUIDQ?, something one can ask or wonder.
To be, or not to be; - that is the question:-
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And, by opposing, end them? - To die - to sleep
-No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consumation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die - to sleep; -
To sleep! perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death, -
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, - puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than to fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with a pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.(Hamlet's soliloquy by Will. Shakespeare)
QUILLSlang reference to money in England, otherwise a latin word meaning "what" as in Quid pro quo.
QUIZFine writing instrument from olden days fashioned from a pen feather.
R
REAL{ Real Numbers }
Reals strictly (in cardinality) << Complex.
RED
REPEATA colour commonly used in signalling to indicate that it is not safe to proceed.
REQUESTPerform a certain procedure again or again or some more times.
ROGERMessage advertising that certain permissions, data or actions would be warmly appreciated.
ROOTAffirmative, understood, used a lot in military communications.
N.B. the Jolly Roger was the skull and crossed bones flag used by pirates in years of yore and these days by those who deny authority the right to monopolise the electromagnetic spectrum.
RUISAs aVerb: To support or encourage as by cheering or applauding.
As a Noun: The part of a plant or tree usually under the ground, that holds it in position, draws water and nourishment from the soil and stores food.
A base.
A quantity that, multiplied by itself a specified number of times, produces a given quantity.
sDutch word, which cannot really be translated into English in its full glory as perceived by us cloggies.
Somehow close to Rush, Noise
i & several friends like it up to a point. Used in the ISD?
SAFE
SCOPEIn the case of sex (involving men) this is always with a condom. However, it is not quite really safe even then. This is way it is properly referred to as safer sex.
secondAn opportunity.
Oscilloscope, an instrument which provides a visible representation of electronic signals. The most common variety uses a cathode ray tube to achieve this.
In the ASS computer the number of dimensions encompassed by its architecture.
SEEs, unit of time equal to the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
SELFTo look is not necessarily to see and you may not have to look in order to see something in your mind's eye, which may be called insight, imagination or fantasy.
SELVES
SENSEA company of personalities accompanying anyone with a lot of friends or a split personality.
SENSORYou need at least one sensor to do this.
Albert Einstein said that Common Sense is that layer of prejudice established in us before we are eighteen.
SEXInstrument which notices something. Try connecting one logically or not to an actuator.
SEXISMInteresting and oftentimes enjoyable activity of animals which can lead to life or death.
SHELVESIt has never been an issue in my job whether i like to fuck with my fist or my cunt or my tongue or my dick or my elbow or my mind. It has never been an issue whether i like to do this with a boy, or an older woman, or both, or an amputee, or vice versa, or only on Thursdays. It has never been an issue if i like to be dominated or to be cheated, to be licked or to be kicked, to be kissed or to be pissed on, or whether i like to do any of those things or their opposites in any conceivable configuration whatsoever. It has never been an issue.
SIGNALVery important support for books, and other items subject to gravity.
SINKA sign which can signal, broadcast, or otherwise make it be known, that an exchange of energy has ocurred.
SPANA place into which something can disappear or terminate.
SPINThe distance between both ends of a banana.
The distance betwen the tips of the little finger and the thumb when the hand is spread out.
The distance between the wingtips of an aircraft.
In the ASS computer, the number of cells to traverse to get from one side to the opposite.
SPECTRUMS
p
i
n
SOURCELatin: ghost.
Used by Isaac Newton to describe the range of colours created from apparently plain sun light when refracted through a prism. This usage has since been extended to include any particular distribution from the entire range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
SPEEDA place from where something can emerge, originate or spring from.
STOPThe rate at which something moves, given by the distance travelled per unit time.
STRANGE
STYLEIt was once said that it was very strange, that strange did not in fact appear in the GLoSsary until now. It could equally have been said to be odd. Strange is often used to mean not of this place, not understood or unknown. In the theory of quarks strangeness is a quantum number associated with elementary particles. It is conserved in strong and in electromagnetic interactions.
SUNStyle is rumoured not to be a homomorphic mapping.
SWEATA primeval thermo-nuclear explosion in balance with its gravity about 150 000 000 km from here described by Douglas Adams as "a small un-regarded yellow star somewhere at the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy". The Earth's share of the Sun's radiation suffices to drive the weather engine of the air.
SYSTEMSlightly salty moisture exuded from sweat glands in the skin. Evaporation of sweat cools the body. Also see: Perspiration
T,tA grouping of real or virtual entities for the convenience of our musings about them.
I left my red flag at the green semaphore
The Red Herring of Fighting the System
"The world is in decay"; leads some people to wish to Fight the System at the root of this misery. There are some who say that it will make the system stronger if you try to resist it.
Perhaps it is wiser to make the System irrelevant, by ignoring it or going around it or by pushing it out of the way. This has the advantage that all your energies are available FOR your cause rather than against some red herring.
That some Systems cause a lot of trouble may be clear to anybody who has read more than one history book. But what is the System? Is it some Evil conspiracy? Is it a manifestation of Old Nick 'O Teen or some other real or virtual bogey monster? Perhaps it is Capitalism, Communism, Imperialism, Managerism, Terrorism or some ism invented by propaganda outfits, spindoctors and others who have lost touch with reality.
The reality is that Rich Folks and Aristocracy depend on an abundance of poor people to exploit and that there are more than enough narrow-minded and or selfish persons in positions of power who will choose time and again for profit or short-term economic gain rather than for the common good and the future of their grandchildren. This phenomenon to me IS the system.
In our present troubled & interesting times it has been said that history is finished. And well it may be if it is true that our collective folly is having an impact on the workings of the weather sentiments around the world. If that is indeed the case and if this green house or other unpleasant effect proves to be irreversible then it would have been pointless to write these words.
TEAT, symbol representing temperature.
t, symbol representing time.
TEARSVery useful potable fluid to be served shortly.
TESTSlightly salty clear fluid emitted from tear glands in the inner corners of the eyes, lubricating these fast-moving organs. It can flow in copious quantities when emotions run high. This procedure is known as crying.
TESTWARE
TEXT
TEXTBASE
TEXTWARE
THEN
THINKIn that case.
At that time.
TIMEHmmmmm.
"I think therefore I am" or perhaps "i feel, therefore i am ... i think".
"Where two people agree on everything at least one of them is not thinking".
TREEAsk Chronos. The perceived passing of past through present into the future. Measured in seconds. Any real action will involve the passing of time. Given that many laws of physics (excepting thermodynamics) are time reversible, it is still a matter of debate whether time can only pass from the past to the future or whether it can also move in another direction.
TREESUseful structure.
A large, living plant which can be said to have its affairs in much better order than most humans.
TRIVIALAre for second hand editing only. That is: Please, don't be the first person to start cutting a piece of wood when it is still part of a living tree.
TRUEAnything which can be put into a closed box.
Anything which doesn't count or matter or which is very easy.
TRUSTCompare False. Truth is already dealt with by Forth. Furthermore don't believe people who claim that they own it, or that they represent the rightful owners.
TURBULENTTrust is like wisdom in some ways. A highly prized quality, which when once broken can not easily be restored. One is wise to know or feel whom to trust and whom not to trust.
USaid of highly chaotic, bumpy and irregular motion, not at all smooth nor laminar.
UN055H
Symbol meaning union [interesting integration procedure].
UNCONDITIONALIn the natural (English) language a prefix meaning anti or not.
In twentieth century history allegedly a forum for world-wide politics (United Nations).
UNIONAbsolute, unlimited, without preconditions.
UNIVERSESymbol U, operation forming one set containing all the members of each of the operand sets.
UP-Everything existing everywhere. Furthermore, the Universe is filled with electromagnetic radiation, but it is nearly empty of matter.
VAGUETiring Direction.
VIPOPI was once said to be vague in certain circles where this word was regarded as an insult. I chose to take it as a compliment, because it is oftentimes better to have a vague idea about the precarious state of affairs immediately, than to have to wait for the clear picture when it may be too late.
VIRTUALVery important Piece of Paper.
VORTEXSomething which is orthogonal to something real.
WAITInteresting spiral thingy you get when a source and a sink are temporarily out of balance. Also occurs in turbulent situations.
WARIf anyone asks me what they can do with their marvelous new superfast computer with its new fancy software conglomorations this is my answer.
WATERViolent chaotic exchanges between powerful operators. Usually a very Sad_Story.
WISDOMCuriously common clear fluid (at atmospheric pressure and comfortable room temperature) essential to the operations of all life on Earth. Water can be a very good drink indeed (important). According to some ancient Greeks one of the four elements.
WORKSHOPHighly prized commodity which can nowhere be bought, but which is sorely lacking resulting in a gamut of Sad_Stories this epoch.
WHO'S_BILL?Studio of an artisan.
WWCrucial question asked in Bistronomics.
X,xWerkWiet: Creates Tension
PROCEDURE brainwave;
BEGINBEGIN
Create_Tension;
Exchange_PhononsEND;
END; (* Handle with care - Used in the ISD?.*)
XORSymbols representing un-known quantities.
XLATELogical operator in the natural (English) language best described as "either or"
XREFHopefully homomorphic mapping from one useful language to another (a difficult and time-consuming process).
YCrossreference, which relates items in two or more tables of data.
ZOften used as an affirmative response.
ZAPHOD{ Whole Numbers }
ZENOA local minor subculture celebrity who was supposed to have been President of the Universe.
Zeno of Elea, ancient Greek philosopher (5th c. bc). Famous for some stories, which are often (perhaps mistakenly) described as paradoxes:
- 1. Dichotomy: Alpha to Beta
Suppose a traveller wishes to travel from alpha to beta. To do this she must first travel to the place halfway, M and from there on to beta: but if N is the point halfway between alpha and M, she must first reach N, and so on ad infinitum (Zeno: 'what has been said once can always be repeated'). It is impossible to accomplish an infinite number of tasks in a finite time. Therefore the traveller cannot complete nor even start her journey.
- 2. Achilles and the Tortoise
In a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point from which the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.
- 3. the arrow
An arrow cannot move at a place where it is not. Neither can it move at a place where it is. However, a flying arrow is always where it is. That is, at any instant, it is at rest. But if at no instant it is moving, it is always at rest.
- 4. Stadion
Consider two rows of bodies, each composed of an equal number of bodies of equal size. They pass each other as they travel with equal velocity in opposite directions. Thus, half a time is equal to the whole time.
HUNKY DORY LINE