I'm glad you noted the smiley, Mark.
For the record:
In language theory, there are two kinds of OR:
1. exclusive, or alternative:
"Do you prefer Nikon cameras or Pentax?"
"Shall I torture you, or will you reveal the code?"
"Coffee, tea, or milk?"
2. includive, or Boolean: "Find every web page that has Nikon OR junk." So
instructed, a highly Boolean search engine such as Alta Vista will will
return three kinds of pages:
a. Nikon cameras are swell.(only Nikon)
b. Junk in, junk out. (only junk or its case variants)
c. Nikon cameras are junk. (both character strings permitted).
If you wanted ONLY Nikon, or ONLY junk, you would have to instruct Alta
Vista to search for
Nikon AND NOT junk.
This particular example, however, could pose a problem: I'm not sure how
well Alta Vista handles oxymorons.
Mark Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
But then I also realized that most of these statements say something like
"$500.00 *or* best offer". Because that "OR" is in there they can always
turn the best offer they receive and opt to hold out for the $500! ;-)
(note smiley
Paul Franklin Stregevsky
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