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	<title>Indeed™ &#187; Musings</title>
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	<link>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com</link>
	<description>What is this? It's certainly not a palindrome. Oh... indeed.™</description>
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		<title>A Domesticated Peeve</title>
		<link>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com/2009/02/03/a-domesticated-peeve/</link>
		<comments>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com/2009/02/03/a-domesticated-peeve/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:25:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ScottSpork</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anthrax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[asking a question negatively]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[correct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[incorrect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pet peeve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atdotdot.com/?p=374</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I present to you, dear reader, a domesticated (or pet) peeve of mine: the proper way to address a question asked in the negative voice. When presented with a query asked in the negative (e.g. &#8220;You didn&#8217;t just drop that vial of Antrhax?&#8221;) the answers &#8220;Yes&#8221; or &#8220;No&#8221; are insufficient.
Allow me to elaborate.
Let us take [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I present to you, dear reader, a domesticated (or pet) peeve of mine: the proper way to address a question asked in the negative voice. When presented with a query asked in the negative (e.g. &#8220;You didn&#8217;t just drop that vial of Antrhax?&#8221;) the answers &#8220;Yes&#8221; or &#8220;No&#8221; are insufficient.</p>
<p>Allow me to elaborate.</p>
<p>Let us take that example question and use it in a faux conversation.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Bewildered Scientist:</em> You didn&#8217;t just drop that vial of Anthrax?</p>
<p><em>Clumsy Scientist:</em> Yes.</p>
<p><em>Bewildered Scientist:</em> Do you mean &#8220;Yes, I did drop it&#8221; or &#8220;Yes, I didn&#8217;t drop it&#8221;?</p>
<p><em>Clumsy Scientist:</em> What do you think I meant?</p>
<p><em>Bewildered Scientist:</em> Dammit James, answer the question! We could have a biological pathogen on the loose!</p>
<p><em>Apparently James:</em> I did answer you fool! You haven&#8217;t activated emergency protocol A11-CCX?</p>
<p><em>Bewildered Scientist: </em>What? No!</p>
<p><em>Apparently James:</em> Do you mean &#8220;No, I didn&#8217;t activate it&#8221; or &#8220;No, I did activate it&#8221;?</p>
<p><em>At this point both scientists suffer a massive brain embolism completely unrelated to the unbroken vial of anthrax.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>I believe my point is well illustrated. Now, allow me to present you with the correct way of answering a question asked in the negative.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Bewildered Scientist:</em> You didn&#8217;t just drop that vial of Anthrax?</p>
<p><em>Clumsy Scientist:</em> Correct, I didn&#8217;t.</p>
<p><em>Bewildered Scientist:</em> Oh, OK then. So how does Chili&#8217;s sound for lunch?</p>
<p><em>Clumsy Scientist:</em> Oh, no can do. Margaret and I are going to the wedding planners to look at cake designs.</p>
<p><em>Bewildered Scientist:</em> Oh, OK. Some other time then?</p>
<p><em>Apparently Margaret&#8217;s Betrothed:</em> Sounds great.</p>
<p><em>Bewildered Scientist: </em>Say, why are we handling potentially dangerous vials of Anthrax anyway?</p>
<p><em>Apparently Margaret&#8217;s Betrothed</em><em>:</em> We aren&#8217;t. We work at a book store.</p>
<p><em>At this point both scientists turn around and go back to restocking the shelves with pulp sci-fi novels, silently pondering how little use their PhDs in astrophysics and bio-engineering actually are.<br />
</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Now you can clearly see exactly how to deal with a question asked in the negative. Either reply with &#8220;Correct&#8221; or &#8220;Incorrect&#8221; as the situation depends.</p>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Camels and their bees</title>
		<link>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com/2009/01/28/camels-and-their-bees/</link>
		<comments>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com/2009/01/28/camels-and-their-bees/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:25:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ScottSpork</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[camels]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atdotdot.com/?p=348</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Everyone thinks they know what&#8217;s inside of a camel&#8217;s hump. Some people say it&#8217;s fat, other people say it&#8217;s water. They&#8217;re both wrong.
It&#8217;s bee hives.
You see, camels do not lactate milk, like normal mammals. They lactate bees. Camels have formed a symbiotic relationship with bees. The bees live in the camel&#8217;s hump and provide the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Everyone thinks they know what&#8217;s inside of a camel&#8217;s hump. Some people say it&#8217;s fat, other people say it&#8217;s water. They&#8217;re both wrong.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s bee hives.</p>
<div id="attachment_352" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://atdotdot.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bee.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-352" title="bee" src="http://atdotdot.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bee-300x225.jpg" alt="Camel's milk (Not to scale)" width="300" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Camel&#39;s milk (Not to Scale)</p></div>
<p>You see, camels do not lactate milk, like normal mammals. They lactate bees. Camels have formed a symbiotic relationship with bees. The bees live in the camel&#8217;s hump and provide the camels with honey and wax (because camels are also candle aficionados&#8230; camel candles</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Yellow Lights</title>
		<link>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com/2009/01/22/yellow-lights/</link>
		<comments>http://thisisnotapalindrome.com/2009/01/22/yellow-lights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:22:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ScottSpork</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[driving home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yellow lights]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atdotdot.com/wordpress/?p=3</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So, I was driving home today and I saw a yellow light. It struck me that yellow lights will most likely have to be replaced infrequently since they are on for a fraction of the time.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So, I was driving home today and I saw a yellow light. It struck me that yellow lights will most likely have to be replaced infrequently since they are on for a fraction of the time.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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