I’ve said that the American English sticks closer to the original. How does this “not make sense”? It is the reason why and it isn’t because “the Americans change things” as was suggested on the podcast, so I just thought I’d point that out. That was really the whole point of that post. If I (or the OED entry I got this from) come off as sounding superior in doing so, then I’d rectify that right now. Never did I claim that this accuracy was “better” or “ideal” or “[insert your other assertions here]”, I have no issues with the alternatives (or alternatives in general). You do make a fine case for the British English version, but I cannot comment on the “target on which our language should aim” as I would gladly cede that to you who has much more education in the matter than I. If the BE is clearer and more accurate in its intended meaning than its etymology for its changes, good! That makes sense, too.

And YES, people should comment! COMMENT!

My Japanese ally has claimed the large majority of his continent on this two continent map and only faces token Incan resistance and the threat of his own forces rebelling due to massive happiness problems. I don’t expect his help taking the remaining capitals and fully expect to be propping him up for the rest of the game. I have a sizable fleet (3 battleships, 2 submarines and 1 aircraft carrier) heading towards Polynesia to harry their forces in preparation for my land attack following the conquest of Edinburgh.

Just another example that people should comment, even if they don’t think it is relevant! Sometimes, such things help!

But that’s not the case. Otherwise we could all revert to Latin and Greek entirely, or whatever for MAXIMUM accuracy. Then we wouldn’t be speaking English at all! –And what about the origins of those languages? Shall we revert to cave paintings in our quest for accuracy and sense?

The OED permits -ise endings and recognises them as British because, as I said above, a switch has been taking place in an effort to regularise the endings of words so that we have ISE/ISM instead of IZE/ISM. The EU has adopted this, as have major trade publications, and CUP. The OED typically trails modernisations (as it should), but it doesn’t prohibit them, as you’d see if you actually looked in the OED instead of copying a part of an excerpted OED article from Wikipedia. ISE endings are always included as variants and, at some future point, one expects even the OED will have to concede to modernisation based on the practicality of modern English language rather than a fealty to some ancient language which impedes the use of our own, modern tongue.

After all, being ‘closer to the source’ is in no way the samr thing as being ‘more correct ‘ or ‘more useful’.

“Some have used the spelling -ise in English, as in French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or English from Latin elements, retaining -ize for those formed < Greek elements. But the suffix itself, whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek -ιζειν, Latin -izāre; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the special French spelling should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once etymological and phonetic.” -OED So, according to the OED, the American use of Z in this case is not only phonetically but etymologically more accurate. And this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this kind of thing where American English has hewn closer to the source than British English. “Aluminum” and the penchant for -t suffixes over -ed ones come to mind as examples. I’m not saying the American versions are better, even in these cases, just that they do make sense.

She’s obviously riding both a Frankfurter and a Bratwurst, which may be symbolic of something, I don’t know. Next she’ll get a tattoo of Tweety Bird with a bad hairdo and a sausage in both claws.

On this week’s Panel
SiliconNoob
Lusipurr

Donations/staff/podcast round tables
The game he won was Outlast. It’s about surviving being trapped in an insane-asylum full of homocidal criminals.

I donated in early January, don’t forget about that! You should keep a list of eligible donators as the year goes. Maybe that should be a feature of the Info Blast. I could keep a running tally.
So far:
Matt Dance
DiceAdmiral
John? Benrick?

I have thus far resisted Lusiployment, it’s my crowning achievement on this site.

I miss the round tables, they provided additional points of discussion than just the news of the week.

Miley Cyrus news
I ain’t lookin’ this trash up.

Bravely Default Sales
http://kotaku.com/bravely-defaults-success-is-good-news-for-jrpg-fans-1543797156
Lusi’s Elmer Fudd and Mickey Mouse impressions are hilarious!

Crazy Taxi
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/03/14/crazy-taxi-city-rush-is-a-new-mobile-game-thats-free-to-hey-he/
Whatever Julian said about I’m sure it was amazing. I do love that interlude music. It could only have been better if it was interrupted by the “WOAH, We’re halfway there!”.

TitanFall
October ’13:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/29/titanfall-an-xbox-one-360-pc-exclusive-for-its-lifetime
March ’14:
http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2014/3/13/5505402/titanfall-may-come-to-the-mac
Whoops…

Phil ‘Sugarcoating’ Spencer
http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/9882/20140314/phil-spencer-regrets-sugar-coating-xbox-one-reveal-controversy.htm

PS4 Canada
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/ps4-hardware-software-accessories-see-rare-price-increase-in-canada/

HA HA HA HA HA Unskippable
LOL. This is what you get for playing FFX.

Lamia Pt2
http://www.online-literature.com/keats/2055/

Ode on a Grecian Urn
http://www.bartleby.com/101/625.html

DiceAdmiral’s Gaming Moment
I played move Civ V: Brave New World this week. The World War appears to be ending with the fall of Carthage and the siege of Edinburgh. We’re a bit behind history, having just discovered flight and oil platforms in the 1930s, but our enemies are far behind us. I look forward to bringing around aircraft carriers to bombard Honolulu and Cuzco in the not too distant future.

Perhaps this would be different on Boss Fights? But even there, I don’t find that the fights are too short–only that they are rather repetitive.