"Down"

[Larry Sheldon]

I think it is interesting, if don't, delete it please and go on.

Computer and other electronics folks (I've been one for most of 60
years; that is my authority to speak) really have a very limited
vocabulary, numbering few words, that are used over and over again.

Here is an example from
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/03/22/information-on-the-goes-15-outage/

The opening comment reads:

"If you watch storms on the USA west coast, then you have probably been
wondering why GOES WEST satellite imagery has not been updating. The
reason is that the satellite is down, and is being recovered to
operational status. Here’s[sic] some details."

One first reading, I took "down" to mean "fell out of the sky" (the
"obvious meaning for something that is high in the sky)(even though
while reading it thus I knew that would take a while and was surprised
that I had not heard about it).

By the time I got to the end of the penultimate sentence I knew there
was something wrong, a bird that has fallen to the earth does get
"recovered to operational status".  It gets replaced, with a lot of
expensive hullabaloo.

Reading it with another meaning for "down" ("inoperative") let it all
make sense.  And prepares me for when it is reported to be "up" again.

Geeks talk funny.
--
Requiescas in pace o email           Two identifying characteristics
                                         of System Administrators:
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio      Infallibility, and the ability to
                                         learn from their mistakes.
ICBM Data:  http://g.co/maps/e5gmy        (Adapted from Stephen Pinker)

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