XKCD: It's more than a comic

That is the assumption, yes.

Also, it depends on what you are practicing. Hitting each other with balls all the time without bothering to catch them (which is what my kids do) wont help them play baseball. You can also learn bad habits, which make learning to do something properly more difficult.

Texting isn't the point; the point is that these kids are engaged in constant written communication, which should, by inference, make them more used to expressing themselves via written communication. I didn't have texts when I was growing up, but I did write every day, and type as soon as I got a computer — programming, email, what have you, I was doing it.

I would strongly challenge Randall on the idea that using textspeak for hours a day will contribute fluency, though.

edited 29th Aug '14 7:00:41 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

While not so much with texting, I've spent allot of time reading forums and articles online so I've ended up really good at getting what people mean even when they use the wrong words or are unclear.

Not always so good at expressing myself however.

I'm baaaaaaack

I applaud the skilled provision of your own example. :P ;)

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

I, too, am on good terms with the Alot of time when it comes to reading things online.

yes yes I screwed up one word when I was on my phone. boo hoo. Screen's cracked and auto-correct acts like it's on acid.

It changed "you busy Thursday" to "busty friday moo" once.

edited 31st Aug '14 9:30:02 AM by joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack

A little too much emphasis on the "spider" part.

I smell magic in the air. Or maybe barbecue.

Gee, it's almost like Stan Lee wasn't concerned about biological accuracy when he wrote Spider-Man.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

There's also the thing where spinnerets are usually in the posterior and never in the arms. I figured that out in high school, shortly after I started actually being interested in Spider-Man. I only found out years after the movies started that the web shooters were originally a bit of tech.

And then The Venture Bros. figured out the same thing and made a parody of Spider-Man who swings through the city on webs shot out of his butt.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

Spidey also has trouble climbing out of bathtubs.

Fire, air, water, earth...legend has it that when these four elements are gathered, they will form the fifth element...boron.

...is that really something you have to "figure out"? I thought it was just common knowledge. Heck, just look at a hanging spider in real life: they're pretty clearly hanging from their back end.

Perhaps not really "figure out" so much as "notice". I don't think most people look that closely at spider behavior.

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

Well, you should. Because otherwise they're going to sneak up on you.

For some reason a lot of writers , especially in comics, think spiders are insects. For fucks sake, I've known the difference between an insect and an arachnid since I was 4!

edited 2nd Sep '14 4:41:04 AM by Xopher001

What If 111 out.

those sure are deadly huh.

Secret Signature

Given the pattern of the blog, I'm a little bit surprised that the pile of money didn't undergo spontaneous fission or something equally catastrophic. Not that being smothered under a wave of pennies isn't catastrophic for the victims, of course, but it's the scale of the thing.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

^ Coins aren't usually made of Uranium or some other fissionable metal.

All your safe space are belong to Trump

I can still hope, can't I?

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

I think that'd be the most unpopular change ever if it was made from radioactives, given what purses and wallets would put those coins near...

edited 2nd Sep '14 6:46:37 AM by Nohbody

All your safe space are belong to Trump

There's radioactive decay in every element/isotope. It's just really, really small for most of them.

edited 2nd Sep '14 6:49:43 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

At least you'd never lose them.

Oh really when?

How often do you think about arachnid physiology and about Spider-Man at the same time?

Fresh-eyed movie blog

I got the What-If? book delivered to my Kindle cloud today. It's out! I haven't had time to read into it more than a little, though.

edited 2nd Sep '14 10:10:15 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Ooh, didn't know it was out for Kindle. So gonna get it. How does the content compare to that on-site, though?

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.