Gregory Ellison <gregorye@microsoft.com> writes:
then proceeds to pull Mike's leg by telling him TRS-80 is a technical paper by David Sternlight, DES is a synthetic estrogen that shrinks your dick, and GAK is green slime on a kiddie show.
Well, I will admit the first one was satire, but the last two were perfectly accurate. For the humor impaired, this is an example of AOL. (That's Acronym OverLoad, not to be confused with the popular online service.) You see, Gregory, there are far more things in the universe than there are three letter abbreviations for them. Hence, as the number of acronyms increases, collisions are inevitable. Asking "What is GAK?" or "What is ATM?" is really not well-defined outside of a narrow discipline.
Really mature, really nurturing of the serious values and issues this list exists to disseminate.
I, too, am a relative newcomer to this list, ...
As is evident.
Shaun, TRS-80 is an early line of microcomputers produced by Radio Shack,
"TRS" is also an excellent line of precision torque sensors, should you be in the market for one.
I believe in the values this list was founded to promulgate, and I value it for the open political, technical and philosopical discussions of issues crucial to our time. And, yes, it's great to have fun, too, but does it always have to be mean-spirited fun at someone else's expense?
Har! If you want "mean-spirited fun", drop into rec.pets.cats sometimes. Methinks you live a sheltered life. -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ mpd@netcom.com $ via Finger. $