At Orsha, the nickname “Ramp Tramp” puzzled many Soviet pilots and engineers, even those familiar with English. One rough translation offered was “Unshaven Vagabond,” which still baffled Soviet airmen.
It puzzles me, and English is my first language! What does it mean?
A "ramp" (in US aviation jargon) is where aircraft are loaded and prepared for flight. The official term is "apron" and a common layman's term for this area of an airfield is "tarmac." Guessing this is the main source of confusion.
"Tramp" here probably means harlot (consider the cheesecake pinup nose-art common on WWII-era US bombers, as alluded to in the article.)
I'm guessing it's actually akin to "hangar queen," an aircraft that's grounded for maintenance to an unusual extent [1].
EDIT: Or, it might be an analog to a tramp steamer, i.e., a merchant ship that goes from port to port to port carrying whatever cargoes the ship's officers can scare up as they go. [2]
> For countries that are based on a unique language, ethnicity and culture, it is damaging.
Where are these places? Very few countries are based on a unique language, ethnicity, or culture, and those that are have generally only become so as a result of active suppression of minority cultures and languages.
In fact, apart from a few microstates and isolated islands, I can't really think of any monocultural nations.
I follow a similar philosophy. At the moment, I have two near-identical factory-refurbished x220's, each of which I've upgraded with an IPS screen, 16 GB RAM, and an SSD. One stays at home, and I use the other at the client site.
Even with the upgrades, they still cost me little enough that I wouldn't mind too much if one died, and I've always got at least one spare and ready to go.
> You have the choice not to consume any content or to consume free content.
Over the years that I've watched this discussion, I've come to notice that people who advocate for paying for stuff seem (though it might just be my perception) to use expressions like "consume content" more often than those who don't.
It's rather uninspiring, and I suspect it's counter-productive. No one wants to "consume content". They want to watch a film, or listen to a song, or read a book, or just be entertained. I doubt anyone ever invited a date round "to consume beverages and content".
Are you producing content by watching a television show? No, that's absurd, you're consuming the content that others have produced. It's really not that far from consuming a beverage. People would say drink, or in this case, watch, but the truth is that those are just two verbs that describe the type of consumption you're doing.
Why would you say it's counter productive to label it consumption? The truth is, if you're sucking up entertainment without providing anything or incentivizing production, you're a net loss in the system.
I say this as someone who has pirated things -- pretending you're not a burden on the production system if you're just pirating things is delusional. The argument that people make towards pirating and paying for content which they liked is much more consistent. Rather than pay people off for marketing/hype and support bad content in the future, you can fund solely content that you think is worthwhile. But again, this is just changing the way in which you're consuming material.
If you consume something you are making it impossible for someone else to consume that same thing. You can consume a beverage (no one can drink it after you did) but you can't consume digital content. Here[1] it is explained by someone more knowledgable than me. (incidentally, the FSF also suggests to avoid the word 'piracy' to describe illegal file sharing)
Also, when saying pirating is a net loss to the system, maybe you can say it about piracy as a whole, but for the individual I would not be so sure. Suppose I wouldn't have bought the content anyway (that is, my alternatives would have been pirating it or not seeing it). How am I causing a loss in this conditions?
Piracy doesn't cause any losses on the whole because it raises the brand image. I wouldn't know anything about Game of Thrones if not for piracy, and it increases my affection for HBO and media as a whole. if not for torrents, i would play outside, not buy GoT.
First of all, I am not an advocate for paying stuff. I just didnt like how he painted himself as a victim: he had plenty of choice and what he chose is his responsibility, not a curse.
I don't always I pay for what I watch, sometimes I use a VPN to watch Louis Theroux on the BBC's website (you want me to be specific right ?) and I will never say that I didn't have a choice because it is ridiculous. Saying that the act of not paying for something is imposed to you is counter-productive.
I could have said "watch a film, or listen to a song, or read a book, or just be entertained", I chose "consume content" because it is shorter. I could enumerate every aspect of content consumption but that would be counter-productive as well.
It seems to be more than that. For example, I typed in my mobile phone number, and it correctly identified the operator as "Hutchison 3G UK" (i.e. 3), which it now is - but it's a number that was originally Virgin and which has been ported a couple of times since then.
For mobile numbers it sounds like this uses an HLR Lookup service, which will (in simple terms) return the Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) - e.g. MCC 234 is the UK, and MNC 20 is Hutchinson 3G (aka 3). If you were to check the number itself against a numbering plan (for the UK http://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm is a useful tool) it'd show the original operator.
I have heard that the Muirhead Tower (at the University of Birmingham) was originally designed for paternoster lifts, but due to legislative changes was built with two regular lift shafts - which were totally inadequate for the volume of students trying to get up and down for every class. They had added a third lift by the time I was there (1997-2002) but it still wasn't enough. I hear it's been thoroughly refurbished since, though.
The Dental Hospital in Birmingham also had paternosters around that time, but only staff were allowed to use them.
It puzzles me, and English is my first language! What does it mean?