Managing Google Groups headaches

[Chris Angelico]

On Sat, Dec 7, 2013 at 10:25 PM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Sat, 07 Dec 2013 02:16:02 -0800, wxjmfauth wrote:
>
>> Rusi:
>>
>> "unicode as a medium is universal in the same way that ASCII used to be"
>>
>> Probably, you do not realize deeply how this sentence is correct.
>> Unicode and ascii are constructed in the same way. It has not even to do
>> with "characters", but with mathematics.
>>
>> It is on this level the FSR fails. It is mathematically wrong by design!
>
>
> I'm reminded of that fellow, I don't remember his name, who *years* after
> the Wright Brothers had flown, and there were dozens of people building
> aeroplanes, was still trying to convince everyone that heavier-than-air
> flight was mathematically impossible.

Nearest I can find is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Newcomb#On_the_impossibility_of_a_flying_machine

He at least accepted the Wrights' work once he found out about it.
Also, he didn't make repeated usenet posts that torpedo you in the
face and leave an "Uh?"-shaped hole. [1] I'm still not sure what jmf
meant by the above.

ChrisA

[1] http://bofh.ntk.net/BOFH/1999/bastard99-24.php