Word of the Day

[hummingwolf]

Epsilon:
1. n. A small quantity of anything. "The cost is epsilon." 2. adj. Very small, negligible; less than marginal. "We can get this feature for epsilon cost." 3. `within epsilon of': close enough to be indistinguishable for all practical purposes, even closer than being `within delta of'. "That's not what I asked for, but it's within epsilon of what I wanted." Alternatively, it may mean not close enough, but very little is required to get it there: "My program is within epsilon of working."

Alternatively: The latest tropical storm. At least this one seems unlikely to make landfall in Florida--or anywhere else.

Anyone else wondering if we will see a hurricane at Christmas?

Comments

[missprune.livejournal.com]

Well that was fascinating! I have never in my entire life heard anyone use "epsilon" --except when learning the Greek alphabet.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

I don't remember ever hearing "epsilon" used all those different ways either, not till I saw someone's comment on the weather blog post I linked to. It's an interesting language we have, isn't it?

[meretia]

Wow. I've now discovered a usage of Greek letters that I find odder than naming tropical storms after them. I'd never heard of that definition before.

[stentch.livejournal.com]

70s porno star Gail Force died Tuesday,does that count?

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Those usages of "epsilon" are found amongst hardcore geeks. I'm sure they'll spread to the rest of us eventually, though.

[meretia]

You know, that makes a lot of sense, actually.

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

Note that this definition is taken from mathematics, where delta stands for any given change, and epsilon for any change smaller than delta.

Note also that this defnition comes from The Jargon File, an informal collection of slang from the computer science and mathematics fields, rather than from an "official" dictionary.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. Most things found in the Jargon File seem to spread to the general public eventually, or at least to the people most active online.

[pnksaph.livejournal.com]

Earlier today, some of the forecasters had the storm heading east, some had it heading west and some seemed to have it just swirling around in circles. It amused me, that there could be so many different forecasts and that they could be so completely different from one another.

They've all come together and agree now.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the first computer forecast maps were amusing. As a commenter on the weather blog asked, "Ok, who squashed a bug on the Forecast Model Map ? :-)"

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

I was raised in the South, specifically Arkansas, so carbonated drinks are referred to as "coke". Not Coke, coke. Don't call it soda, it ain't pop, it's coke. I have no freaking clue where you get this "cola" term from. ;)

Hi, dropped in through lyssabard and theferrett. I hope you don't me friending you because I think you can help me improve my writing in both content and style.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

have no freaking clue where you get this "cola" term from. ;)

From cola nuts, in a roundabout way. Of course "cola" does not refer to all carbonated beverages, but to the Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, RC Cola, etc. family. 7-Up is, famously, an un-cola.

I don't mind being on your reading list at all! Not sure if I'm likely to help out with content, but we'll see what happens. :-)