Aura V. @auravulpes@computerfairi.es

Hi from my new Arch install!

It turns out, Arch isn't that hard to install, once you remember to fuckin' reformat your drive as GPT rather than accidentally installing on the extant MBR! Encrypted and everything!

I've even got sound!

Today, I was reminded that Windows filenames are case insensitive. I had a file named "pachli" and a folder named "Pachli" in the same directory, and Windows was throwing fits over it. Thankfully, it let me rename one, though, I tried to rename the folder and it renamed the file. But, that's one less thing to fix from a live CD, so 🤷

It's at this moment I'd like to give a huge shoutout to my past self. THANK YOU for actually bothering to copy your bitlocker recovery key to a flash drive. Without you, I'd have lost almost everything. I owe ya one, Kat

My best shot at fixing this was through a Linux VM in virtualbox, but Virtualbox has decided to be a stupid little bitch as well and won't let me open up any virtual machines.

...

I wonder if VMWare would work...
Or maybe QEMU?
Gods, something has to work without me having to reboot into a linux live cd for these four stupid filenames

I want to shoot whoever at microsoft decided to make it impossible to deal with a filename with a colon in it. I current have FOUR that I can't do anything about other than to boot into a Linux live CD because literally everything (yes, even the WSL) fails to do anything. Powershell, cmd, WSL, a tool specifically for removing special characters from file names. Everything I've tried has ended in errors.

Windows, this is why I'm leaving you, you stupid little bitch.

OH, SHIT. "sext" is a word I could make. Granted, it would be pronounced /sext/ and not /sekst/, still. Hehehe...

Seriously, like, I didn't expect that these kinds of words could be made. I got these from the output of gen (http://www.zompist.com/gen.html) and found them quite amusing

So, sometimes, phonologies happen to line up in really fun ways. Example: The language I'm currently working on, Kirai. It's phonology happens to allow fun words that I didn't expect, like "bro" and "seks". I must use this power for good, rather than evil.

So, followup on that weak solution comment: It's only a weak solution if there's free hydrogen. Otherwise, it's just water with chlorine and fluorine in it.

You could also get pedantic and point out that only distilled water is DHMO and tap water is actually of solution of water, salts and minerals, and (in many cities) chlorine and fluorine. Yes, your water is technically a weak solution of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids*.

*Maybe. I'm kinda just talking out my ass at this point, much like anyone who calls water "dihydrogen monoxide"

You could also hit them with the ol' μ-oxido dihydrogen or κ¹-hydroxyl hydrogen(0). It deals +5 confusion if the target doesn't actually understand chemistry

Stuck dealing with someone insisting on calling water "dihydrogen monoxide"? Here's some tips:
- Systematic names aren't always used. DHMO may be the systematic name, but hydrogen oxide is more correct (probably*).
- The IUPAC name is oxidane. If you want a technical name, this is the one (well, along with water).
- Yes, according to IUPAC, the technical name of water is water.
- Hydroxic acid. 'nough said. Who doesn't love acids?!

*It is according to my chemistry textbook

Oh! One final note: Everything I've talked about here is free. IIRC, Abbyy Lingvo is paid software, but the dictionary format itself is out there for anyone to use. XDXF's standard is up on Github. And, SIL releases both Lexique and FLEx for free. So, if you want to give any of these a try, you can!

This also, mind you, isn't a comprehensive list of dictionary tools. These are just the ones I've used. So, feel free to look around for others, including other dictionary formats like .dsl and XDXF, and see if any of them suit your fancy if nothing I've talked about here does

And, finally, none of this is to say you *shouldn't* use spreadsheets or whatever plain text setup you find best. After all, when it comes to tools like these, what matters is whether you'll use it, not how fancy or official it is. If you like your txt files, good! It's all about what you're comfortable using.

So, my personal recommendations? If you're on Windows, Lexique is *really good*, but SIL doesn't support it, so, take that as you will. If you want a portable dictionary, XDXF if you can handle XML and/or need the power, .dsl files otherwise. dsl files are nice and simple, and a lot of software support them. As for FLEx, unless you're *really* into your conlang, don't bother. It's way too complex for cataloguing alone.

Finally, SIL FLEx:
Uh...It's big.
Very big.
It's very complicated.
It has a lot of features.
It can log grammars.
It has built in analysis stuff.
I don't really know how to use it.
I'll probably stick to Lexique + PAWS, thanks. Maybe I'll learn how to use FLEx, but, gods, that's gonna take some time.