Chiron
07-29-2004, 09:21 PM
First, I've just been wondering about some of the Greek letters present in various images scattered around these Φora (I'm a bad'un, I am), and a couple of questions about their placement and their meanings.
I have decided to compile a short, probably-not-very-comprehensive list of the Greek letter's that I have spotted and can find again. So: on Index.php !
• Capital omega http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/misc/navbits_start.gif to the left of Freethought Forum. Links to the current page (well, to "index.php?", but y'know). Unless there's some meaning of omega that implies root-level and not just last, I'd imagine alpha to be more suitable for this spot.
• Phi, http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/collapse_tcat.gif on the right side of the screen, across from each forum section (such as Forum Life). This is present in lots o' places and invokes some arcane wizardry to collapse the succeeding section, whereupon it becomes a wide phi http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/collapse_tcat_collapsed.gif and waits to expand the section. I don't see any reason to have used phi here instead of something else; was there one?
• Capital phi, to the left of each sub-forum; this denotes whether the forum has new messages http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/forum_new.gif or not http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/forum_old.gif. Makes sense to me to use this letter, given the pronunciation of phi. Some (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1509#post1509) have erroneously labeled this "psi", to whom I say: for shame, some. For shame (http://fafblog.blogspot.com/2004_07_11_fafblog_archive.html#108962335441120130).
• Capital sigma http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/lastpost.gif on the right side of the Last Post column. Surprisingly enough, it takes you to the last post. Sigma, as I've always known it, means sum or summation, -- is it meant to imply that the last post is the sum of all previous posts in a recursive function trending towards infinity in a twisted form of the Fibonacci sequence!??!22!!!@!two!!!!!1!
Within each subforum, there are fun and exciting Greek letters too!
• Capital omega http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/misc/navbits_start.gif here too, in the same place, though the one next to Freethought Forum does little for me besides trying to take me a blank anchor.
• Lowercase nu embedded in the "new thread" image http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/newthread.gif. There is a certain neatness about this usage: meant for its N sound, its English pronunciation, or both.
• Capital psi to the left of topics to which you have replied, further differentiated into new posts http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot_new.gif, no new posts http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot.gif, hot new posts http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot_hot_new.gif, and no new posts, but still hot http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot_hot.gif, varieties. Obviously a reference to the Schrodinger equation with its psi function (read: I'm missing the real significance, if there is any).
• Capital sigma http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/lastpost.gif here again, and it does the same thing.
And there are more letters in individual threads! It's almost as if there is a unifying theme in this website! But not really, because nobody does that. Nobody.
• Another omega or two, another nu. Recurring letters for recurring ideas! It's madness!
• Lowercase theta embedded in the "quote" image http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/quote.gif. I don't see any reason for using theta here; again, am I missing it or is it not there?
• Khi (or chi) http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/report.gif to report a bad post -- oh, wait. That's just the English letter X. But it could have been a khi! It coulda!
And those are all the Greek letters I see: Capital omega, phi, capital phi, capital sigma, capital omega (again), lowercase nu, capital psi, capital sigma (again), omega and lowercase nu (again and again), lowercase theta, and khi.
Those letters in italics are those letters the usage of which I believe I understand.
Are there others that I've missed through egregious neglect of perception? Through excessive death? Through sudden and massive existence failure? I'd love to know!
K
εDIT: there's also epsilon, embedded in the "edit" button http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/edit.gif. Pronounced like a short E in English, this makes sense. Fitting that I'd edit my post to add it, no?
I have decided to compile a short, probably-not-very-comprehensive list of the Greek letter's that I have spotted and can find again. So: on Index.php !
• Capital omega http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/misc/navbits_start.gif to the left of Freethought Forum. Links to the current page (well, to "index.php?", but y'know). Unless there's some meaning of omega that implies root-level and not just last, I'd imagine alpha to be more suitable for this spot.
• Phi, http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/collapse_tcat.gif on the right side of the screen, across from each forum section (such as Forum Life). This is present in lots o' places and invokes some arcane wizardry to collapse the succeeding section, whereupon it becomes a wide phi http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/collapse_tcat_collapsed.gif and waits to expand the section. I don't see any reason to have used phi here instead of something else; was there one?
• Capital phi, to the left of each sub-forum; this denotes whether the forum has new messages http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/forum_new.gif or not http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/forum_old.gif. Makes sense to me to use this letter, given the pronunciation of phi. Some (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1509#post1509) have erroneously labeled this "psi", to whom I say: for shame, some. For shame (http://fafblog.blogspot.com/2004_07_11_fafblog_archive.html#108962335441120130).
• Capital sigma http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/lastpost.gif on the right side of the Last Post column. Surprisingly enough, it takes you to the last post. Sigma, as I've always known it, means sum or summation, -- is it meant to imply that the last post is the sum of all previous posts in a recursive function trending towards infinity in a twisted form of the Fibonacci sequence!??!22!!!@!two!!!!!1!
Within each subforum, there are fun and exciting Greek letters too!
• Capital omega http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/misc/navbits_start.gif here too, in the same place, though the one next to Freethought Forum does little for me besides trying to take me a blank anchor.
• Lowercase nu embedded in the "new thread" image http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/newthread.gif. There is a certain neatness about this usage: meant for its N sound, its English pronunciation, or both.
• Capital psi to the left of topics to which you have replied, further differentiated into new posts http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot_new.gif, no new posts http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot.gif, hot new posts http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot_hot_new.gif, and no new posts, but still hot http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/statusicon/thread_dot_hot.gif, varieties. Obviously a reference to the Schrodinger equation with its psi function (read: I'm missing the real significance, if there is any).
• Capital sigma http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/lastpost.gif here again, and it does the same thing.
And there are more letters in individual threads! It's almost as if there is a unifying theme in this website! But not really, because nobody does that. Nobody.
• Another omega or two, another nu. Recurring letters for recurring ideas! It's madness!
• Lowercase theta embedded in the "quote" image http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/quote.gif. I don't see any reason for using theta here; again, am I missing it or is it not there?
• Khi (or chi) http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/report.gif to report a bad post -- oh, wait. That's just the English letter X. But it could have been a khi! It coulda!
And those are all the Greek letters I see: Capital omega, phi, capital phi, capital sigma, capital omega (again), lowercase nu, capital psi, capital sigma (again), omega and lowercase nu (again and again), lowercase theta, and khi.
Those letters in italics are those letters the usage of which I believe I understand.
Are there others that I've missed through egregious neglect of perception? Through excessive death? Through sudden and massive existence failure? I'd love to know!
K
εDIT: there's also epsilon, embedded in the "edit" button http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/freethought/buttons/edit.gif. Pronounced like a short E in English, this makes sense. Fitting that I'd edit my post to add it, no?