On Aug 16, 12:26=A0pm, Robert Cohen <robtco...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> For those whom didn't live in it, and for those who might quibble with
> everything about it
>
> =A0http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/sugrue
I didn't know what the "o" word meant, though it apparently alludes to
Nixon's (supposedly successful) oratorical polarization
This reference helps a little, make sure ya see its last two or three
sentences:
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This
orthogonal geometry
At 90 degrees (right angles).
N mutually orthogonal vectors span an N-dimensional vector space,
meaning that, any vector in the space can be expressed as a linear
combination of the vectors. This is true of any set of N linearly
independent vectors.
The term is used loosely to mean mutually independent or well
separated. It is used to describe sets of primitives or capabilities
that, like linearly independent vectors in geometry, span the entire
"capability space" and are in some sense non-overlapping or mutually
independent. For example, in logic, the set of operators "not" and
"or" is described as orthogonal, but the set "nand", "or", and "not"
is not (because any one of these can be expressed in terms of the
others).
Also used loosely to mean "irrelevant to", e.g. "This may be
orthogonal to the discussion, but ...", similar to "going off at a
tangent".
See also orthogonal instruction set.
[The Jargon File]
(2002-12-02)
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