Archive for May 6, 2003
Tuesday, May 6, 2003
Kai von Fintel links to a new paper:
The main claims are that plural/mass denotations are built in stages within the DP, by the combined effect of number features and semantic operators associated with functional heads; that languages differ in whether the denotation of nouns is filtered for singular or plural number, and that the word and crosslinguistically denotes SET PRODUCT, an operation which, in different contexts, can mimic the behavior of intersection and union.
Paul Graham has a new essay about hacking and painting. He likens agile methodologies to sketching, static and dynamic typing to pens and pencils, and says that he likes debugging. I think debugging is probably more scientific than anything in computer science.
Slashdot has a great parody of “Piano Man” (via Daniel Sandler). If you’re familiar with the original lyrics, you’ll notice some cute details: “worried about MP3s” (cf. “someplace that he’d rather be) and “downloading Dixie Chicks” (cf. “practicing politics”).
I am, as I’ve said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
-Billy Joel
