Community Newsletter: Q&A: 1/20/06 Demystifying those confusing DVD formats
- 1/19/06 4:38 PM
media is plural
by eglazier - 1/20/06 4:49 AM In reply to: 1/20/06 Demystifying those confusing DVD formats by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
somewhere along the line we all ought to accept that the word media is the plural of the word medium and learn how to use both correctly. english is a language that is filled with bits and pieces of almost all other languages, and a main one is latin.
i am sure they do not teach latin in public school any more, but certainly english is still taught and it ought to be used correctly if that is the language in which you wish to communicate.
...and that goes for "data", as well!
by dbillo - 1/20/06 5:04 AM In reply to: media is plural by eglazierGood point, eglazier. "Data" is another plural that often gets misused. The singular is "datum".
Don't ya just love pedants!
OT: How do you like bacterias?
by googey10 - 1/20/06 5:21 AM In reply to: ...and that goes for "data", as well! by dbilloNot an IT topic, but such a common error - s. bacterium, pl. bacteria - and all of the sudden we get a "wholesale supplier of lacid acid bacterias".
'Mediums' is an acceptable plural form, not just for the spiritulists, although it does sound a bit strange in any information - related field.
Overzealous purists often wanted to replace viruses with virii - didn't catch up.
BTW: Latin is still taught in the majority of high schools in (continental) Europe.
Spelling
by Spiderspoon - 1/20/06 7:04 PM In reply to: OT: How do you like bacterias? by googey10Maybe you mean spiritualists. The plural of virus would be viri.
Then there's all this talk about agendas, when agenda is the plural of agendum.
There are also Hebrew plurals, where the plural of cherub is cherubim.
Back to IT though, most computers have a mouse, but a computer retailer will sell mice? I've heard that if its an inanimate computer mouse, the plural is mouses.
I do prefer to use proper Latin plurals, because I did study Latin at school.
Pronunciation is a different matter. The plural of formula is formulae. It is frequently mispronounced as if the 'ae' were a like a short 'i' as in 'ee' but shorter, in which case it would be spelt formuli. It should be pronounced 'I' or 'eye'.
The trouble with using correct Latin plurals, is that those who have not studied Latin might not know what we're talking about. I'm trying to think of examples not in the medical field. Here's one. This is a computer forum. The plural should be fora.
Our plurals are not all Latin though. Some are Greek and at this stage in life, I can't remember which are which.
The problem now is that with grammar disappearing from educational curricula (there's an example), modern usage will tend more towards tacking an 's' onto the end of any noun and that will be acceptable.
Data and pedants
by Feister Meister - 1/20/06 6:31 AM In reply to: ...and that goes for "data", as well! by dbilloYes, and PLEASE e-mail Smart Computing about their almost exclusive use of data with singular verbs and adjectives. I have tried and failed. . .
What about grammar?
by mwkirby - 1/20/06 6:30 AM In reply to: media is plural by eglazierIf English is to be used correctly in communication, one might also wish to consider the use of capital letters. They are quite useful at the beginning of sentences and when writing about different languages, such as Latin and English.
Capital letters
by Spiderspoon - 1/20/06 7:23 PM In reply to: What about grammar? by mwkirbyYes, you are correct. Part of this though, has to do with laziness generated by the use of Microsoft Word. You can type a full stop (or a period for Americans) followed by a space and then the next word will be capitalised automatically. The problem then is with typing in fora (as in plural of forum) such as this, that these corrections are not automatically made.
Actually, I also find correct spelling useful for making reading easier. Spelling mistakes slow me down, because they annoy me. Correct use of commas (or should it be commata?) assist the flow, as you can determine the sense of the sentence in one pass, rather than having to read a sentence two or three times.
This forum, however, does provide a preview function for those who wish to proof read their contributions before submission.
Now here's another problem. People who use the word 'their' in the singular to avoid using his or her or his/her. In the old days, we just used masculine, and no one was offended. But along came the feminists and messed all that up. Now we have writers who use plural pronouns (Is that the correct term? It's a long time since I studied grammar.) such as 'their' incorrectly.
Apostrophes
by Spiderspoon - 1/20/06 7:32 PM In reply to: media is plural by eglazierFurther down in the forum there are misuses of apostrophes. I thought I best not comment down there, but rather here, where the spelling and grammar pedants are conversing.
There is an it's where it should be its. There are five words where the possessive case does not use an apostrophe. They are:
yours theirs his hers and its
It's is a contraction of it is.
Then there was DVD's. The plural of DVD is DVDs. Apostrophes must not be used for plurals.
Another thing I don't like is full stop or period after titles such as Mr Mrs Dr etc. They should not be written as Mr. Mrs. and Dr. This is because these words are contractions and the last letter in the contraction is the same as the full version. Thus Dr is a contraction of Doctor. If the last letter is different, and I can't think of an example, a full stop is used.
Use of period with Dr., Mrs., etc.
by Brian in Seattle - 1/20/06 10:44 PM In reply to: Apostrophes by Spiderspoon"Another thing I don't like is full stop or period after titles such as Mr Mrs Dr etc. They should not be written as Mr. Mrs. and Dr. This is because these words are contractions and the last letter in the contraction is the same as the full version. Thus Dr is a contraction of Doctor."
If that were correct, then the contracted form of "doctor" would be "D'r" -- not "Dr" (the apostrophe filling the places of the missing letters).
But neither of the above is correct. The correct form, although it seems contrary to the convention, is with a period at the end. Feel free to check any of the common style manuals if you don't believe me. While I may disagree from time to time with what is written in any one style manual, when all of the major manuals agree on a point, as they do on this one, I would not presume to doubt them.
Abbreviations
by Kuledood - 1/22/06 4:05 AM In reply to: Apostrophes by SpiderspoonAn example where the last letter is not the same is Prof. short for Professor.
Nugf wid tha gramer
by keng2497 - 1/24/06 11:26 AM In reply to: Abbreviations by KuledoodBack to the subject at hand enough with the English Class, Please. Thank You.
Confused
by thedevlucas - 1/20/06 5:31 AM In reply to: 1/20/06 Demystifying those confusing DVD formats by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have recently purchased a Sony (DW-Q30A) it is listed as a 16X DVD+/-R/RW Dual Layer. Does this mean it is a + and or a - And it is an R and or a RW?
Very confusing to me. I did not understand it so I said "Go with Sony". How bad have I messed up?
Steve Lucas
Hopefully not so much
by jmorris9999 - 1/20/06 6:45 AM In reply to: Confused by thedevlucasSplit it out.
16X : Recording speed. Note that is is the single layer speed.
DVD : Of course
+/- : Handles both + and - format disks
R/RW : Will burn both Record once and Re-writeable disks
Dual Layer : Accepts dual layer disks.
Well, not really Sony
by deirdrew - 1/20/06 6:53 AM In reply to: Confused by thedevlucasThat model OEM is actually Lite-On, which is actually good as they have a better reputation with DVD recordable drives.
It supports it supports BOTH formats, either + or -
R is right one only
RW is re-writable many times
Downside is it doesn't support DVD RAM media.
Don't worry...
by Zeppo - 1/20/06 11:14 AM In reply to: Confused by thedevlucasSony generally makes good products, so you did just fine.
The 16x Dual Layer +/-R/RW is offered by almost all manufacturers these days. Dual Layer means you can write to dual layer discs. Also, the + and - formats mean you can buy either + R/RW discs or - R/RW discs.
And finally, R/RW represents two types of discs. R = write once, which includes adding data later as you might need to do, but you cannot write over the disc - what you write to it is permanent. RW = re-write, which means you can reuse the disc completely, writing over any previous data.
Your Sony DVD-ROM dive will do all the above, which is probably more than you will use it for. I, personally, use ONLY ''DVD + R'' discs for DVDs and ''CD + R'' discs for CD burning, but many here seem to like ''- R'' media.
I don't use ''+ or - RW'' discs because they are more expensive than ''R'' discs and storage of data is less reliable - it's just as easy for me to write a new disc. Some may use ''RW'' discs as a means to backup their data, much like we used to use floppies, but I use an exteral USB hard drive for that, making ''RW'' pointless for me.
Dual Layer discs are still expensive, and so, not a practical choice for most.
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