'Surfing the web' ? - Cult (2013) Discussion

[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

I found it amusing that in this universe people still navigate web pages by typing on their keyboard. Maybe I'm computer illiterate and everyone else is doing something different, but I use my mouse...

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[–] Chimasternmay 11 years ago

if a bit of an expert with computers you can do a lot with the keyboard faster then the mouse.

When I am drawing floor plans and such do my work faster with using the keyboard alone and rarely the mouse to zoom out and in.

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[–] Daniel_Klugh 11 years ago

I mostly only use the keyboard in the Opera/elinks/Lynx browsers.
(don't forget the w3m browser)
Any browser that forces you to use a game control is broken by definition.

--
Daniel Klugh

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[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

Have you not heard this expression?

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[–] firebolt1987 11 years ago

The expression is completely outdated. It's something people used to say 15 years ago, when the Internet was new. Laurel on "Arrow" actually said the same thing (well, in her case it was "surfing the net") - the writers on CW shows need to catch up on 2013-speak.

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[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

I just did a quick Google search:

"How Depressives Surf the Web" - The New York Times (Jun. 15, 2012)
"How (and why) to surf the web in secret" - PCWorld (Nov. 7, 2012)
"Tor: An Anonymous, And Controversial, Way to Web-Surf" - Wall Street Journal (Dec. 17, 2012)

Maybe your perception that no one uses the expression anymore is completely subjective and the writers of these TV shows aren't doing anything wrong. Because now we have proof that the writers of "Arrow" and "Cult" use the expression, the actors who spoke the lines didn't have a problem with saying the expression, the producers and other crew on these two shows didn't have a problem with the expression, and the writers and editors of these three publications use and don't have a problem with the expression. That's an awful lot of people using an expression that "nobody uses." The only way this would be a problem in the writing of this show is if the character using the expression is someone obsessed with only using the latest technical slang because that character follows trends religiously and dreads the embarrassment of being shamed for using an expression nobody uses, even though the very act of using the expression is direct proof that people still use the expression. Then it might be out of character. Otherwise, no.

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[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

Wow, you are really defensive about this term...

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[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

Nope. The assessment that "nobody" uses the term anymore rang false to me and since without offering evidence my opinion would have been unconvincing, I decided to do a search and post the results which seemed to disprove that assessment.

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[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

Lol, fairplay, if you say so :P

To be fair, I think the point is that 'surf the web' isn't really SPOKEN very often--all of the sources you brought up were written articles, which are always slightly out of step anyway. I don't know anyone who would say 'oh, let me just surf the web and see..' You yourself didn't use it, you said 'did a google search'.

To be fair, as the general term, (where I'm from anyway) is 'google it' (you google, I google, he she or it googles...) it's probably a product placement issue on television. I just really don't know anyone who calls the internet 'the web'. It's so nineties.

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[–] Pi_1 11 years ago

I hear people say it fairly often - especially when asked what they are doing. "Surfing the web" or "surfing the Internet" are common responses.........

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[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

Perhaps we're different age groups? Also I live in the UK, so maybe that's it.

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[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

"To be fair, I think the point is that 'surf the web' isn't really SPOKEN very often"

It's a large world and people shouldn't assume everyone everywhere uses the same spoken expressions and then use that assumption to criticize a TV show for being unreal. Your claim that the phrase isn't spoken isn't provable, and it seems unwise to assume that the people who wrote these current articles I cited and the organizations that approved their publication would not use the word when speaking.

"Googling" isn't synonymous with "surfing the web." "Googling" is searching for something using a search engine, while "surfing the web" doesn't require a search engine and comes from the practice of following hyperlinks from website to website.

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[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

Ok, I can tell you're really into this debate, but I'm really not that fussed! I was just saying that it DID sound very unusual to me, and wasn't a phrase I heard very often, (in the past five years, anyway). You can calm down now.

I am NOT criticising the show! I'm enjoying the show! If I was going to complain, I would bring up the main characters god awful acting.

I know it's a 'large' world, which is why I said that my living in the UK might be a factor in my understanding of the term. Also my age. I don't see what was 'unwise' about my assumption that people don't always speak the way they write.

I just thought that you got overly sensitive about the OP's post (and you're still coming across as hilariously aggressive, btw), and wanted to chime in that I agreed with them. That cool with you?

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[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

Please take a coney island hot dog and insert it in the wrong orifice.

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[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

Sounds like fun ;P see, I knew we'd agree on something!

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[–] Daniel_Klugh 11 years ago

Well the "Web" (The WWW) is something on the Internet. Along with The 'Net (USENET) and BBSes and MUDs and FTP & Gopher sites and telnet'able games and etc. To muddy things even further, the WWW doesn't have to be on HTTP sites. They can also be on FTP and Gopher sites. Gopher even has a special file type just for that.

And, hey, don't forget FidoNet!

--
Daniel Klugh

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[–] Brian_McGee 11 years ago

In my defense, I picked the name 8 years ago. Everyone was a bit of a *beep* 8 years ago.

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[–] WilltoPower 11 years ago

Who gives a *beep*

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[–] ChristmasTiger 11 years ago

Hah, though "surfing the web" does sound rather ridiculous, considering it's a television show they can't say "Google it" like we do because Google is a trademarked term.
I suppose they could say "looking up online" or "checking the internet" instead.

I found it amusing that in this universe people still navigate web pages by typing on their keyboard.

I know! I don't understand why movies and tv shows STILL depict people (especially the tech savvy) as using the computer by rapidly smashing letter and hitting enter. I think it's more satisfying for the viewer to see, like the fast moving hands and clacking noises of the keyboard somehow make what they're doing so much more advanced than just moving and clicking with a mouse.

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[–] DiscoViolento 11 years ago

To be fair, quickly navigating a computer is much easier and faster using keyboard shortcuts than the mouse. Also, if you use your computer frequently it's more ergonomic. I know they most frequently do this when someone is "hacking" their way into god knows what in which case they'd probably only use the terminal which is typing only. (don't get me started on this whole constant typing thing, though. I mean, geez, give the computer some time to respond)

I reckon "the web" is the part that makes it sound so naff. I mean, surf is a pretty valid term and not particularly ambiguous. But NO ONE calls the internet the web. No one.
If you look search for something specific, however, I wouldn't say that you were actually surfing. It seems more like a nonspecific term, like shopping as opposed to buying a fugly purse.
I would go with "check online" or something similar. Like... "What's the avarage weight of an adolescent narwhal?" "Dunno, let me check online."

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[–] thesnowleopard 11 years ago

I reckon "the web" is the part that makes it sound so naff. I mean, surf is a pretty valid term and not particularly ambiguous. But NO ONE calls the internet the web. No one.

Okay...what? It would be really nice if some people making claims on here knew what they were talking about.

First of all, "the Web" and "the Internet" are not synonymous. The World Wide Web is a multimedia network connected by hyperlinks. It does not predate 1990. The Internet is much larger and older than the Web, consisting of systems such as Telnet and Usenet. In fact, the Web is one of the weaker tools available and largely skims the top of what you can do with the Internet. If there were such a cult as the one on the show, and they included hackers and other computer programmers, it's very possible they would be operating at levels well beyond the Web, which would include typing in text. The fact that we now use devices like expanded versions of cell phones, in addition to PCs, only expands the number and mobility of the monitors and computers that we can use, without actually changing the nature of the Internet. It's still just a bunch of computers talking to each other.

Second, as someone already pointed out, "Googling" and "surfing the Web" aren't synonymous, either. To google started out as just using the currently most prevalent search engine (Google) and became a general term for looking up webpages for search engines. However, there are other ways to look up webpages (such as following a trail of hypertext links through a series of webpages) and that is all included under "surfing the Web."

There is nothing wrong with using terms like "surfing the Web." People use them all the time.

Innsmouth Free Press http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com

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[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

"There is nothing wrong with using terms like 'surfing the Web.' People use them all the time."

Yep. Some commenters on here seem to have the self-image of omniscient gods with eyes and ears everywhere, when they're basing their entire opinion on their own personal habits and those of the limited group of people they've observed during waking hours in a limited set of locations. It's like seeing a character on a show playing with a yo-yo and saying "no one plays with yo-yos anymore" based on their own habits and that of their friends. It's not as if the show is depicting this phrase as a hot current fad, it just showed one person say it. If people seriously think they can claim they know what everyone in the U.S. is in the habit of saying they are at least mildly delusional.

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[–] coney_island_baby 11 years ago

"Yep. Some commenters on here seem to have the self-image of omniscient gods with eyes and ears everywhere,"

MWAH HA HAAA, you have no idea! ;)

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[–] Pi_1 11 years ago

Yeah, I know people that work with computers for a living (in multiple fields), and they still say "web", "searching the web" and "browsing the web" in everyday conversation........

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[–] DiscoViolento 9 years ago

You're right. My bad.

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[–] Daniel_Klugh 11 years ago

When I'm using Opera or Lynx I mostly just leave my hand on the numeric keypad. Or, if I'm simply read a very long document, I just use [SPACE BAR] and [B] to page forward and back, respectively.
(had to add [B] to Opera for some odd reason even though it's pretty universal in document viewers otherwise)
You really need to learn how to use your computer so you don't need to push around an upside-down trackball controller all of the time.

--
Daniel Klugh

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[–] 11 years ago

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