this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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Recently I wanted to refer to the general populace of the divisions by zero, but it occurred to me we don't have a good shorthand for it,. I.e. like one talks about "lemmings" or "redditors". We could use something for members of lemmy.dbzer0.com.

Ideas?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

i really do love the idea of m@tes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

mates or mateys whatever’s fine

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Divs seems short and snappy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

This is the only one here that doesn't make me cringe

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

zero dividers

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Maybe pirates or mates, since piracy is one of our core philosophies here. And our other ones also align with that similarly by being things that are rejected by current norm much like pirates were rejected by the current society at the time. I don't know maybe it's too obvious or boring.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

0s pirates divers arcs

idk anything else

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

These are mostly joke suggestions, but:

NaNs

nulls

voids

unhandled exceptions

... common theme here is the math/programming joke, but many of them also capture elements of anarchism, or can be interpreted as adopting a self-referential moniker which mocking the systems anarchists critique.

... probably it is a bit of a reach, but a good number of people refer to black cats as 'voids' these days, and ... pretty decent history of angry black cats as symbols of anarchism.

You could also maybe l33tsp33k them up a bit?

Use 'z' instead of 's' to pluralize?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

... common theme here is the math/programming joke, but many of them also capture elements of anarchism

first I didn't understand, but this way "unhandled exceptions" sounds very cool. maybe a bit long though

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Depending on what programming language you are using, and precisely how you've coded a function, which exact numerical data types, and functions/methods you are using...

Actually attempting to divide something by zero will result in either NaN, Not a Number, Null, or an Unhandled Exception, as an... output value/error type.

I tried to explain 'void' a bit better, Im not personally familiar with any code language that'll have 'void' as an output/error type when you try to divide by zero... but most people use the phrase 'null and void', so, my brain associated that word in as well.

As far as how those terms refer back to an anarchist mindset?

I am 'not a number', I am a human being, so are all others.

Null or nulled out has been a cyberpunkish slang term to refer to both an individual being seen as inherently unspecial, not unique, made into just another consumer/commodity... as well referring to actually killing or otherwise neutralizing someone or something... for decades now.

It seems you get the less programmy meaning of 'unhandled exception', in the 'become ungovernable' sense, but now hopefully you also get the math/programmer meaning, and see how these all work as double entendres or at least have somewhat esoteric meanings.

... The problem is that they don't work as well in common speech as a replacement for common nouns... with at least one of the reasons why that is the case being that evidently the multifarious meanings are too esoteric, lol, which is why I said I was mostly proposing these as jokes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

no I understand the programming side of it, I meant how "unhandled exceptions" translates to the real world that I didn't get immediately (exactly that it's similar to "be ungovernable", as you said)

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

A division by zero is incalculable. On computers, this is sometimes represented by a special value NaN, which stands for "Not a number".

So we could be NaNs? Although a few Anglo countries use Nan to refer to a grandmother.

Another benefit: NaN implies a kind of freedom. To quote from the cult 60's show The Prisoner: "I am not a number, I am a free man"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

that would be so fucking rad

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

... I proposed this as well, and another thing NaN is quite close to is... Naan bread, lol.

Basically a kind of flatbread, usually associated with India, sort of kind of like pita bread.

Its pronounced like... Non, at least the way I pronounce Non, as a PNW dialect English native speaker, not like Nan, as in Nanna, or other similar words to refer to a grandmother, or sometimes mother, different vowel sound.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I recommend "Mathematical Criminals" for obviois reason.

I will not take questions, please deliver the prize to my home.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You'd have to give us your address!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Donald J. Trump, white house, washingtom D.C.

I'd please like a package Bomb as prize, thank you

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I like the cut of your gib.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Leech my seed!

... im sorry, rofl

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

If only i can add this as an instance tagline 😔

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