3 ms·

The same company that was in the news recently for screwing up a livestream of a boxing match.

chrisweekly 2y ago
True, but it's the exception that proves the rule; it's also the same company responsible for delivering a staggeringly high percentage of internet video, typically without a hitch.
- eru 2y ago
  Yes, though serving static files is easier than streaming live.
- tovej 2y ago
  That's not what an exception proving a rule means. It has a technical meaning: a sign that says "free parking on sundays" implies parking is not free as a rule. When used like this it just confuses a reader with rethoric. In this case netflix is just bad at live streaming, they clearly haven't done the necessary engineering work on it.
  - lelanthran 2y ago
    > That's not what an exception proving a rule means. It has a technical meaning: a sign that says "free parking on sundays" implies parking is not free as a rule. So the rule is "Free parking on Sundays", and the exception that proves it is "Free parking on Sundays"? That's a post-hoc (circular) argument that does not convince me at all. I read a different explanation of this phrase on HN recently: the "prove" in "exception proves the rule" has the same meaning as the "prove" (or "proof") in "50% proof alcohol". AIUI, in this context "proof" means "tests". The exception that tests the rule simply shows where the limits of the rules actually are. Well, that's how I understood it, anyway. Made sense to me at the time I read the explanation, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise with sufficiently persuasive logic :-)
    - seaal 2y ago
      50% proof alcohol? That isn’t how that works. It’s 50% ABV aka 100 proof.
      - lelanthran 2y ago
        > 50% proof alcohol? That isn’t how that works. It’s 50% ABV aka 100 proof. 50% proof wouldn't be 25% ABV?
        oofabz 2y ago
        Since 50% = 0.5, and proof doesn't take a percentage, I believe "50% proof" would be 0.25% ABV.
        lelanthran 2y ago
        Good catch :-)
    - taejo 2y ago
      The rule is non-free parking. The exception is Sundays.
    - lucianbr 2y ago
      The meaning of a word or expression is not a matter of persuasive logic. It just means what people think it means. (Otherwise using it would not work to communicate.) That is why a dictionary is not a collection of theorems. Can you provide a persuasive logic for the meaning of the word "yes"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule Seems like both interpretations are used widely.
    - tsimionescu 2y ago
      The origin of the phrase is the aphorism that "all rules have an exception". So, when someone claims something is a rule and you find an exception, that's just the exception that proves it's a real rule. It's a joke, essentially, based on the common-sense meaning of the word "rule" (which is much less strict than the mathematical word "rule").
  - nine_k 2y ago
    The fact that Netflix surprised so many people by an exceptional technical issue implies that as a rule Netflix delivers video smoothly and at any scale necessary.
    - chrisweekly 2y ago
      Yes! THIS is precisely what I meant in my comment.
  - jjk166 2y ago
    That's also not what "an exception proving the rule" is either. The term comes from a now mostly obsolete* meaning of prove meaning "to test or trial" something. So the idiom properly means "the exception puts the rule to the test." If there is an exception, it means the rule was broken. The idiom has taken on the opposite meaning due to its frequent misuse, which may have started out tongue in cheek but now is used unironically. It's much like using literally to describe something which is figurative. * This is also where we get terms like bulletproof - in the early days of firearms people wanted armor that would stop bullets from the relatively weak weapons, so armor smiths would shoot their work to prove them against bullets, and those that passed the test were bullet proof. Likewise alcohol proof rating comes from a test used to prove alcohol in the 1500s.

True, but it's the exception that proves the rule; it's also the same company responsible for delivering a staggeringly high percentage of internet video, typically without a hitch.

eru 2y ago
Yes, though serving static files is easier than streaming live.
tovej 2y ago
That's not what an exception proving a rule means. It has a technical meaning: a sign that says "free parking on sundays" implies parking is not free as a rule. When used like this it just confuses a reader with rethoric. In this case netflix is just bad at live streaming, they clearly haven't done the necessary engineering work on it.
- lelanthran 2y ago
  > That's not what an exception proving a rule means. It has a technical meaning: a sign that says "free parking on sundays" implies parking is not free as a rule. So the rule is "Free parking on Sundays", and the exception that proves it is "Free parking on Sundays"? That's a post-hoc (circular) argument that does not convince me at all. I read a different explanation of this phrase on HN recently: the "prove" in "exception proves the rule" has the same meaning as the "prove" (or "proof") in "50% proof alcohol". AIUI, in this context "proof" means "tests". The exception that tests the rule simply shows where the limits of the rules actually are. Well, that's how I understood it, anyway. Made sense to me at the time I read the explanation, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise with sufficiently persuasive logic :-)
  - seaal 2y ago
    50% proof alcohol? That isn’t how that works. It’s 50% ABV aka 100 proof.
    - lelanthran 2y ago
      > 50% proof alcohol? That isn’t how that works. It’s 50% ABV aka 100 proof. 50% proof wouldn't be 25% ABV?
      - oofabz 2y ago
        Since 50% = 0.5, and proof doesn't take a percentage, I believe "50% proof" would be 0.25% ABV.
        lelanthran 2y ago
        Good catch :-)
  - taejo 2y ago
    The rule is non-free parking. The exception is Sundays.
  - lucianbr 2y ago
    The meaning of a word or expression is not a matter of persuasive logic. It just means what people think it means. (Otherwise using it would not work to communicate.) That is why a dictionary is not a collection of theorems. Can you provide a persuasive logic for the meaning of the word "yes"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule Seems like both interpretations are used widely.
  - tsimionescu 2y ago
    The origin of the phrase is the aphorism that "all rules have an exception". So, when someone claims something is a rule and you find an exception, that's just the exception that proves it's a real rule. It's a joke, essentially, based on the common-sense meaning of the word "rule" (which is much less strict than the mathematical word "rule").
- nine_k 2y ago
  The fact that Netflix surprised so many people by an exceptional technical issue implies that as a rule Netflix delivers video smoothly and at any scale necessary.
  - chrisweekly 2y ago
    Yes! THIS is precisely what I meant in my comment.
- jjk166 2y ago
  That's also not what "an exception proving the rule" is either. The term comes from a now mostly obsolete* meaning of prove meaning "to test or trial" something. So the idiom properly means "the exception puts the rule to the test." If there is an exception, it means the rule was broken. The idiom has taken on the opposite meaning due to its frequent misuse, which may have started out tongue in cheek but now is used unironically. It's much like using literally to describe something which is figurative. * This is also where we get terms like bulletproof - in the early days of firearms people wanted armor that would stop bullets from the relatively weak weapons, so armor smiths would shoot their work to prove them against bullets, and those that passed the test were bullet proof. Likewise alcohol proof rating comes from a test used to prove alcohol in the 1500s.