onsdag 7. mars 2007, 15:57, skrev RalfGesellensetter: > Am Montag 05 März 2007 23:40 schrieb Gjermund Skogstad: > > I kind of like that anecdote ... > > Dear Gjermund, > > this urban myth is quite old. The truth is that the degree of > permutation needs to be quite low in order to keep the text readable. > > Task for junior coders: write a bash script producing a random > permutation of each word's "inner letters" > > inner letter := letter whose neighbours are non-blanks > > :)
anecdote n ~ (about sb/sth) a short, interesting or amusing story about a real person or event. (Oxford advanced learners dictionary, fifth edition.) Please don't put words in my mouth, I'm not amused by it! (No offense.) That said, I'm far to much of a nosy parker to not comment on your lecture. :) I've never really pondered over the question whether The National Geographic Society is holding some kind of conclusion to how the universe is bolted together, and for all I really know you're right stating "The truth is that the degree of permutation needs to be quite low in order to keep the text readable". If you're right in this, and to be honest I do actually believe it makes sense, the central point in the anecdote is still a far cry from an urban myth! A myth (or urban myth) is a story that's basically impossible to test or simply not true. If an argument is formulated inaccurate, it does not in it self constitute a myth. I do agree that a misconception may in it self be a myth, but such a myth does not invalidate the underlying phenomenon. (Here I obviously assumes that you, like me, got the message in the garbled text.) :) Gjermund
