2009.03.06 07:00 - Enter to Return

The Guardian for this meeting was quen Oh. The comments are by quen Oh. We start with Adams, Corvi and Pema.

Adams Rubble: Hi Corvi :)
Corvuscorva Nightfire: HI Adams.
Adams Rubble: How are you this morning :)
Corvuscorva Nightfire: I might have to leave suddenly, i have an appt at 10 I'm waiting to show up.
Corvuscorva Nightfire: I'm well!
Adams Rubble: yes, I have one too. We'll see which one happens first. hehe
Adams Rubble: Thank you for helping with the interviews for the Chronicles
Corvuscorva Nightfire grins.
Adams Rubble: I am working my way through the year slowly
Corvuscorva Nightfire: quickly according to the wiki!
Adams Rubble: only about halfway through and only three weeks left :)
Adams Rubble: oh thanks :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Quen :)
Corvuscorva Nightfire: hi, Quen!
quen Oh: hy Adams and Corvi!
quen Oh: how are you?
Corvuscorva Nightfire: i'm well, you?
Adams Rubble: yes, me too, thanks. and you?
quen Oh: fine too
Adams Rubble: Yay!
Adams Rubble: Hello pema :)
quen Oh: hey Pema!
Corvuscorva Nightfire: mornin, Pema.
Adams Rubble: Either Corvi or I may be leaving suddlenly
Adams Rubble: Hello Ayrton
Pema Pera: Hi Adams, Corvi, Quen!
quen Oh: hello Ayrton!
Adams Rubble: We each determined we have appts.
Corvuscorva Nightfire nods.
Adams Rubble: But we couldn't keep ourselves away
quen Oh: ah ok, well that can happen
quen Oh: nice!
quen Oh: is it me, or is SL very laggy today?
Adams Rubble: PaB keeps one busy :)
Pema Pera: :)
Adams Rubble: I haven't experienced too much lag yet today
quen Oh: must be me perhaps
quen Oh: rl lag ;-)

We talk about "Urk"! (and we are not even martians!) Meanwhile Chiaiu joins us.

Pema Pera: Quen, you may be amused to hear that I got an email from Corvi today with subject line "urk"
Adams Rubble: Hello Chiaiu
Pema Pera: Corvi, I don't know whether you read my reply already?
Corvuscorva Nightfire laughs.
Corvuscorva Nightfire: no.
Pema Pera: Hi Chi!
Chiaiu Chiung: hello all :)
Pema Pera: Well, Quen will explain to you now what Urk mans in Dutch
Corvuscorva Nightfire: Quen?
quen Oh: it is a place in the Netherlands, a former island
Pema Pera: or our good friend wikipedia can help out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urk
Pema Pera: I happened to live there from age 3 till 9
Adams Rubble: :)
quen Oh: because of what is called poldering, the making of new land, it is now surrounded by land
quen Oh: but still has a harbour
quen Oh: hello Adelene!
Adams Rubble: Hello Ade :)
Adelene Dawner: hi :)
Chiaiu Chiung: hello
Corvuscorva Nightfire: Adelene!!!!!!!
Corvuscorva Nightfire grins!
Adelene Dawner: Corvi!
Pema Pera: as a total foreigner; my parents were among the very few non-Urkers on the island; my father was a school teacher there
Pema Pera: Hi Adelene!
Corvuscorva Nightfire grins at Pema..cool!
Adelene Dawner: Hiya Pem ^.^
Pema Pera: So I grew up as a "foreigner"
Adams Rubble: :)
quen Oh: that must have been strange.. as former islanders it seems a pretty closed community
Corvuscorva Nightfire: it's funny, cause urk and ook are common words in my sl vocabulary..ook doesn't have a special meaning does it?
quen Oh: hopefully it helped that your father was a teacher
Corvuscorva Nightfire hugs Ade.
Pema Pera: ook means "also" in Dutch :)
Adelene Dawner grins widely and snuggles Corvi.
Corvuscorva Nightfire laughs.
Corvuscorva Nightfire: ook!
Pema Pera: no, it didn't, Quen, on the contrary
Adelene Dawner giggles.
quen Oh: in Dutch it means '' too " or "also"
Pema Pera: everyone hating school was taking it out on me . . . .
Corvuscorva Nightfire: poor Pema!
quen Oh: aargh.,, that is not nice
Adams Rubble is impressed that Corvi speaks Dutch
Pema Pera: :)
Adams Rubble: poor pema!
Corvuscorva Nightfire: me too!
Pema Pera: I survived :)
quen Oh: I had the big advantage in primary school that I was the tallest, relatively strong and I could play soccer very well
Adelene Dawner grins upside down at Peam (:
Pema Pera: :)
Adelene Dawner *spells* upside down at Pema, too, apparently. ^.^
Adams Rubble: :)
quen Oh: the school system was totally stupid: all smart kids were expected to help out the others,,
quen Oh: so they had to line up in front of my desk... normally that should be deadly socially

Molly joins us, she even speaks a little Dutch, like Pema and me! (technically it is South-African, but that is Dutch too)

Adams Rubble: hello Molly
Pema Pera: Hi Molly, come join us if you like
Chiaiu Chiung: hi molly
quen Oh: the teacher only supervised and did the grading while we could explain the sums and other exercises.. pedagogically a total mystery to me still
quen Oh: hi Molly, nice to meet you
Adams Rubble: seems very strange Quen
Molly Beauchamp: hello
Pema Pera: so that was a short-lived experiment I presume, Quen?
Pema Pera: Hello Molly!
Molly Beauchamp: hi
Pema Pera: you can take a seat if you like
Molly Beauchamp: thanks
Pema Pera: Have you been here before, Molly?
quen Oh: no, that lasted years, the last year in school I had no more books or exercises, so was doing explaining and little tasks like watering plants, dishes, errands
Molly Beauchamp: no, I haven't
Pema Pera: We get together a few times a day to chat about the nature of reality, and everything else, and we have a wiki http://playasbeing.wik.is/ -- We record our conversations there. Do you mind being included in our blogs?
Molly Beauchamp: that would be interesting
quen Oh: calvinist teacher in highest grades
Pema Pera: thanks, Molly!
Molly Beauchamp: that would be great thanks

Speaking of Dutch towns (Urk), having the German Chiaiu and Molly too, the language evenings in the Kira Cafe come up:

Pema Pera: On another topic, if I may:
Pema Pera: in the Kira Cafe we have had special language evenings
quen Oh: of course
Pema Pera: the Japanese language meeting is going very well, steady attendance of ten or more avatars each week
Pema Pera: but I guess the other ones didn't get off the ground
quen Oh: I was a few times on monday alone, so I gave up on dutch I must confess
Pema Pera: perhaps we should try again, with Dutch and German at least
Pema Pera: we now have quite a few guardians who speak either language
quen Oh: why not?
Molly Beauchamp: I tried Dutch one
Pema Pera: Ah, do you speak Dutch, Molly?
Chiaiu Chiung: i wasn't there, but i can boost the german evening +1
quen Oh: ah leuk Molly!
Pema Pera: werkelijk waar :-) ?
Molly Beauchamp: I do a littel bit, I had to learn Afrikaans as a child and there are some simarlarities
Pema Pera: ah, yes, there are
Molly Beauchamp: you guys are proficient
Pema Pera: just enough to understand
Pema Pera: well, I was born in Holland and so was Quen :)
quen Oh: und du sprichst deutsch Chiaiu?
Molly Beauchamp: Ph well that explains it
Chiaiu Chiung: ja
quen Oh: toll! ;-)
Pema Pera: Chiaiu speaks both Dutch and German in "ja" :-)
Adams Rubble: :)
Pema Pera: one word we have in common in the two languages
Molly Beauchamp: Just the one word then!
Chiaiu Chiung: didn't know how many languages I can speak :)
Pema Pera: :-)
quen Oh: we have more words in common, but that must be the most used one ;-)
Pema Pera: So what would be good times for a Dutch and a German session in the Kira Cafe?
Pema Pera: and/or good days?
Chiaiu Chiung: when were they before?
Pema Pera: we moved them around a few times
quen Oh: we had monday, but that evening I am relatively late home most times, and tuesday I have evening meetings too very often
Pema Pera: the problem is, we don't want to collide with the PaB session at 1 pm, nor with the workshop sessions as 2 pm but 3 pm SLT is too late, that is midnight in Europe
quen Oh: yes..
Chiaiu Chiung: right
Pema Pera: so perhaps 12 noon, which is 9 pm would that be okay Quen and Chi?
quen Oh: depend the day
Chiaiu Chiung: right again
Pema Pera: which days do you prefer?
Adams Rubble: Bye everyone. I mst go now. thanks for the chat :)
quen Oh: bye Adams!
Molly Beauchamp: bye
Pema Pera: bye Adams!
Chiaiu Chiung: maybe monday or wednesday
Pema Pera: Would Wednesday work for Dutch and Monday for German, say?
quen Oh: well monday and friday are difficult ones, wednesday? or is there another language then?
Pema Pera: haha, great minds think alike, simultaneous typing, Chi :)
quen Oh: sounds good
quen Oh: funny
Pema Pera: Let's suggest that; we used to have Dutch on Mondays and German on Wednesday, so we can just switch -- and shall we make it 12 noon then, right?
quen Oh: right
Chiaiu Chiung: ok
quen Oh: 21.00 here
Pema Pera: I guess Gilles is one of the few French speakers . . . would he be interested in hosting a French evening, you think, Quen?
quen Oh: not sure, would have to ask, only he is traveling this week
Pema Pera: ah, no -- stop the press -- Wednesday 12 noon Gilles has his philosophy seminar!
Pema Pera: We don't want to collide with that for our Dutch hour
quen Oh: he likes to speak french as he does not often more get the chance
Pema Pera: so difficult to schedule things . . . .
Pema Pera: he recently moved from 2 pm to 12 noon . . .
quen Oh: I though it was 1 pm... let me check
quen Oh: you are right Pema, it is at noon, same time
quen Oh: perhaps we schedule it afterwards?
Pema Pera: and at 11 am we have the time workshop . . .
Pema Pera: at 1 pm we have PaB . . .
Pema Pera: how about Thursday?
Pema Pera: or Friday?
quen Oh: yes, not sure what is the schedule there, as there are often workshops too
quen Oh: friday can be a difficult night?
Pema Pera: 12 noon is always open, since it is Happy Hour
Pema Pera: except Wednesday, when Gilles took over the Happy Hour slot . . . .
quen Oh: lol chaos
Pema Pera: is Thursday okay with you, Quen?
Pema Pera: (sorry everybody, didn't expect this to become so complicated!)
quen Oh: yes, he wanted first 1 pm I remember, as the europeans had difficulties late in the evening
quen Oh: but that was PaB time..
quen Oh: yes it is I think, 12 PM
Pema Pera: okay -- I'll end out notices
Pema Pera: *send

Planning and scheduling are not the most inspiring activities there are..!

Pema Pera: Sorry Corvi and Adelene
Pema Pera: Poor Corvi has fallen asleep . . . .
Adelene Dawner: Aw, it's okay, Pema.
Adelene Dawner: The ceiling is interesting here. ^.^
quen Oh: perhaps it is an idea to make a schedule noteccard for the Kira Cafe? so we can memorise the full week activities
quen Oh: and the bird sounds too
quen Oh: nice to meet you Chiaiu!
Pema Pera: there is a calendar, Quen:
Chiaiu Chiung: nice to meet you quen
Pema Pera: http://www.kira.org/index.php?option...=83&Itemid=113
quen Oh: ah thank you Pema
quen Oh: where are you from in Germany Chiaiu?
quen Oh: east, west, middle, north, south?
Chiaiu Chiung: ruhrgebiet
Chiaiu Chiung: west
quen Oh: ah yes, that is not too far from here
Chiaiu Chiung: how many people might be there on the german chat?
Corvuscorva Nightfire reads up the log and laughs.
Corvuscorva Nightfire: I am reading your email and thinking about it...totally checked out.
quen Oh smiles
Pema Pera: maybe five or six, at least, Chi
Pema Pera: possibly more
Chiaiu Chiung: ok

So we switch to way more inspiring nerd talk about computers and Mac and Windows and how to use code to type umlauts in german (ä, ï, ë, ü, ö)...

quen Oh: always find german difficult with US keyboard
quen Oh: and all the extra e's look a bit ugly
quen Oh: a Berlin friend of mine was so appalled by the lack of umlaut he prefers we speak english
Pema Pera: yes, it does, I have to learn to type the umlauete (correct?) on a Mac key board
quen Oh: the only umlaut I know are ë and ï
quen Oh: alt 137 and alt 139
quen Oh: because they are used in dutch too
Pema Pera: alt 137? How do you type that?
quen Oh: ä
Pema Pera: hahaha, yes, but *what* do you type
quen Oh: ah alt 132, discovered a new one, well you press alt key and type the number
Pema Pera: do you keep alt pushed in and then type those numbers?
Pema Pera: that doesn't work on a Mac
quen Oh: yes, just try it
quen Oh: ai
Pema Pera: ¡£
quen Oh: ol
Pema Pera: :(
quen Oh: perhaps this is usefull Pema? http://academic.evergreen.edu/projec...ii_ext-mac.htm
Pema Pera: but what is <op> ?
quen Oh: don't know have no Mac, no key with "op" on it?
Pema Pera: ah, option perhaps
Pema Pera: ä
Pema Pera: yeah!
Chiaiu Chiung: <op><sh>a Hold down the Option, Shift and "a" keys simultaneously, then release the keys.
Chiaiu Chiung: :)
quen Oh: the option key indeed
Pema Pera: that doesn't work on a mac, Chi
Pema Pera: but the op-u-a works
quen Oh: just found this: http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/reso...keyboard-1.jpg
Pema Pera: äää
quen Oh: so can see what Pema is staring at
Pema Pera: and yes, option key is alt key
quen Oh: lol you did it!
quen Oh: and you have a return key!!
quen Oh: like on the old commodores 64
Pema Pera: ?
Corvuscorva Nightfire scritches Ade's ears.
quen Oh: I always call the enter key 'return', nobody understands, but it is still there in Mac keyboard, in Windows keyboard it is enter
Adelene Dawner purrrrrrrrrrs/
Pema Pera: !
Pema Pera: Sorry again, Corvi and Adelene
quen Oh: perhaps Bill found 'return' not very commercial...
Adelene Dawner giggles.
Pema Pera: it does say "enter" in small print about return . . . for the recently converted
quen Oh: didn't want to see his gear returned after mistakes, and the word alone repeated so often too dangerously inspiring...
Adelene Dawner recognizes 'return', Quen... and is surprised to hear that some people don't.
quen Oh: well most people grew up with "enter" I guess
Pema Pera: that good old typewriter thingy that returned to the beginning of the line with a big clunk
quen Oh: yes lol
Pema Pera thought Quen was too young to know what he was talking about
quen Oh: maybe enter has something to do with the "welcome" screen of Windows when you start up?
quen Oh: tssssk
Adelene Dawner grins at Squee. Needed that.
Chiaiu Chiung: sorry, I must go
quen Oh: I wrote in secundary school my first papers on such a thing, but same time playing with commodore 64 pc
Adelene Dawner: cya, Chiaiu.
Pema Pera: bye Chiaiu!
Chiaiu Chiung: bye everyone
quen Oh: bye Chiaiu!
quen Oh: does the Mac have a welcome screen Pema?
Pema Pera: the Mac crashed so very rarely that I don't even remember what the screen looks like when I log in -- I always put it to sleep, and let it wake up -- reboot less than once month
quen Oh: after repeatedly crashing it can be an annoying screen in Windows, while waiting to start up... never much feel welcome ;-)
quen Oh: nice, it is better energywise some ICT-friends of me once explained
quen Oh: starting up uses more power than let it run
Pema Pera: I'm talking about my laptop
quen Oh: wow
Pema Pera: so I put it to sleep when I don't use it, and then it wakes up when I open it
Pema Pera: never ever use a desktop
quen Oh: only my pc can do that, not the laptop
Pema Pera: for the last ten years or so
Pema Pera: "nomadic computing"
quen Oh: you have a 10you laptop?? or you do this for the last 10 years now?
quen Oh: 10 yo*
Pema Pera: no, I have not used a desktop in more than 10 years, but many laptops
quen Oh: gosh!
Pema Pera: a new one every two years on average
quen Oh: well for graphic programms I prefer my monster pc, far more speedy and better images
Pema Pera: yes I can see that
quen Oh: `though on this laptop I can still see Adelenes nice paws pretty sharp
Pema Pera: well, I have to get going
Pema Pera: I'm looking forward to see what the title of this session will be :-)
Pema Pera: alt-u-a = ä perhaps?
quen Oh: bye Pema! gosh have no idea yet, mostly it is pretty clear, this is more difficult lol
quen Oh: return to enter?
Pema Pera: great!
Pema Pera: or enter to return?
quen Oh: better I think
quen Oh: more mysterious
Pema Pera: there you go!
quen Oh: and a plead for the Mac
Pema Pera: c u all soon again!
Adelene Dawner: cya, Pema ^.^
quen Oh: bye Pema
Corvuscorva Nightfire: bye, Pema
Corvuscorva Nightfire: it's time for me to go, too.
quen Oh: nice you were here Corvi! (love the boots!)
Corvuscorva Nightfire: thanks, Quen!!!
Adelene Dawner: cya, Quen :)
quen Oh: bye Adelene!</sh></op></op>