bigger or smaller
 

ok just a quickie...

which resolution is bigger

1024x768
640x480

the numbers are bigger... but the pictures, the words the windows, are smaller... confuses me.

also, can some eloquent sole tell me about using "etc." how do i end a sentence with it? there's already a . there, so... another one? does starting the next word with a capital letter just make it a new sentence?

Bigger? I'd say 640x480. I know that the res is 'higher' at 1024x768, along with screen acreage, but 640x480 is bigger in the sense of size goes I think...But hey! My opinion.

As for etc. or etcetera, this noun actually means:

1 : a number of unspecified additional persons or things
2 : plural : unspecified additional items.

So to you would usually use it as a sentence ending abbreviation.

"I have a bunh of different computer parts, moniters, etc."

That's how I use it. So i would then continue with a new sentence, obviously with a capital letter.

Re: bigger or smaller
 

Sorry, as for the second period, that should be there. etc. is an abbreviation, so it'd be the same as ending a sentence with say the abbreviation for television "t.v." and typing t.v.. One is part of the abrev. and the other is the sentence ending period.

heh, yeah i do know what etc. *means* gimme some credit! :D
so you say a sentence would end etc.. what about "etc..." is that just crap grammar? there is an ascii symbol for ... isn't there?

When the period ending the abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, it will also suffice to end the sentence.

On the other hand, when an abbreviation ends a question or exclamation, it is appropriate to add a question mark or exclamation mark after the abbreviation-ending period.

I think the ellipsis ( … ) code number is 133

wait a second
 

When you end a sentence with any abbreviation, you don't double the periods. One counts as two in any case - "I want to watch T.V." or "I did everything, I swam, jumped, hiked, etc." That's it.

so then what if it's NOT at the end of a sentence, nothing changes? ahh the oddities of the english language... anyway... bigger or smaller?

Smaller, as everything, especially the rules of the english language, are subjective. For instance I have the tendancy not to wear my glasses while sitting in front of my 15-inch cranked 1024x768 as my head is always about a foot away from the monitor. The bloody thing is huge.

Meanwhile, I always lean back in the captain's chair, with my glasses on, while behind the keyboard of the machine with the 19-inch set to 800x600. Its tiny, but with my myopia corrected, I can read the screen perfectly.

As for etc., I tend to just avoid the debacle when encountering it and just spell out etcetera, especially now that 'etc' in my mind pronounces out to be: et-See. When forced to end a sentence with a truncation, abreviation, or acronym, I just give up and let the trailing single period slide; or turn it into a run-on with some cheeky extra punctuation and hope that no one notices.

Cheers,

Finegan

So who do we have to blame for such a weird language with hypocritical rules? My "english" is fairly decent as far as structure and grammar go, even though i may have goofed on the period thing............But then again I always use etc.... anyhow. What would that be? More etc than etc? Oh well...I'm gonna go learn Greek.

Hmm... who's fault?

Well, first there's olde english, which sounds a lot like someone trying to throttle a pig using a clawhammer and a catfish.

Then the vikings invaded and gave us way too many synonyms for alcohol, as well as red hair and a predilection for pateronymics.

Then then Romans came, gave us some structure to our language, as well as showing us how to use advanced tools so we could kill them.

Then the French invaded, dropped off all of the days of the week, doinked up all of our words for food, and generally made a complete mess of things as soon as we were getting the latin out of the language.

Then this joker named William Caxton showed up with a printing press he had picked up cheap from the dutch, but he also picked up cheap some deranged words like "phantom" and basically any other term in english with a "ph" instead of "f" phoneme and he really screwed everything up.

Then America happened, we ditched all of the superfluous 'u's, as in armour, and basically gave grammar a spanking for 200 years. We also learned how to properly pronounce the words 'aluminum' and 'schedule'.

I haven't got the stamina to start explaining what the Australians have been up to, but its ugly... reallll ugly.

Then there's Yoda, proof that Frank Oz has done more drugs than Jerry Garcia, but that's a topic for later.

Cheers,

Finegan

Well a couple millenia of that would suppose to create quite the mangled language we now call English.

So how DO you pronounce schedule anyhow? Aluminum? Have I been saying that wrong too? I do take heart in the fact that I don't say 'ay' after every other sentence and make anything with 'ou' in it sound like footwear...How aboot that?

Re: bigger or smaller
 

As far as the bigger/smaller thing, it all depends on the context. 1024x768 gives you more screen area. But because there are now more pixels crammed in to a fixed size (the physical dimensions of your monitor) those pixels have to be smaller, so your screen elements are smaller.

Vice-versa with a res of 640x480, where there are fewer pixels needed to fit the monitor size, so those pixels must be larger.

Hope this helps.

Re: Re: bigger or smaller
 

yeah... so is 640 "bigger" or "smaller" than 1024?

Re: Re: Re: bigger or smaller
 

It depends on who you talk to. I think people who use 1024x768 would say 1024 is bigger because they associate "bigger" with the extra screen real estate. People who use 640x480 would say 640 is bigger because they like the larger icons, fonts, windows, etc.

Maybe it's just a difference in terminology, but 1024x768 is a "higher" (rather than "bigger") res than 640x480.

Just my opinion.

Re: Re: Re: Re: bigger or smaller
 

AARRGGHHH!!! I'm talking to YOU!!!! What do YOU say???!?!?!? that's the whole bloody point! :D