Posts by MeanMrMustard

31

Comparing WT Library - 2011 vs. 2012

by MeanMrMustard in

a couple of years ago, i participated in a thread on this site comparing the old nwt (1984) to the new nwt (2013).

i was able to produce a nwt mash up pdf showing the side-by-side differences between the two versions of the nwt.

herethis site claims it will hold the file for download for a long time.

Comparing WT Library - 2011 vs. 2012

by MeanMrMustard in

a couple of years ago, i participated in a thread on this site comparing the old nwt (1984) to the new nwt (2013).

i was able to produce a nwt mash up pdf showing the side-by-side differences between the two versions of the nwt.

herethis site claims it will hold the file for download for a long time.

Sure I have no problem sharing. I will be posting the code soon. I am going to remove all the bin and obj files and post soon. I imagine anything above Visual Studio 2010 will work. This was originally done on a Windows 7 virtual in VS 2010 (you can see it in the videos).

The WT library contents themselves are about 300 MB unzipped, 164 MB zipped. This is somewhat of a larger upload. But I will give it a shot at some point here. The code is definitely going up soon.

About the small changes: Yes, I ran across a lot of those. I filter a great deal out. Since the diff code works on the character level, it detects all these annoying little changes. As I mentioned, the WT, in some cases, decided to change the unicode characters it used for the Greek letters. The characters render the same, but are different byte-wise. You have to handle these things on a case-by-case basis. When you see an annoying little change, you can code an exception and it will ignore it.

Note: if you have your own version of WT library, and you get the code running, you can export your own copy of the WT library.

I think at some point I will post just the raw program itself. This way a non-programmer could get their own copy (for fun I guess?)

The code has some fun little gems in it, for those Windows developers that want to mess with the API. For example, you can iterate through the index numbers of a ListView without a lot of trouble. But as soon as you want to get the text value of that ListViewItem, it gets harder. The Windows API allows you to allocate memory and provide the memory address so that it can be filled with the item text. But that allocated memory has to be a part of the ListView process - in this case, the WT library. So at one point I had to allocate virtual memory in the WT library process and then copy the memory back into the automated program.

MMM

31

Comparing WT Library - 2011 vs. 2012

by MeanMrMustard in

a couple of years ago, i participated in a thread on this site comparing the old nwt (1984) to the new nwt (2013).

i was able to produce a nwt mash up pdf showing the side-by-side differences between the two versions of the nwt.

herethis site claims it will hold the file for download for a long time.

MeanMrMustard

Hello All,

A couple of years ago, I participated in a thread on this site comparing the old NWT (1984) to the new NWT (2013). I was able to produce a NWT mash up PDF showing the side-by-side differences between the two versions of the NWT.

Here

This site claims it will hold the file for download for a long time. Don’t click the Download button, however. Click the file link toward the middle.

NWT Compare

The project was originally started as a way to see what kind of new interpretations the WT was trying to slip into the Bible text; however, the results were ambiguous. There were too many minor changes, and any large change in meaning or interpretation was drowned out by a sea of meaningless modifications. Nevertheless, the NWT Diff project did give me an idea for a new project, one that employed the same diff code, but would produce more interesting results. The idea: Compare the WT Library from one year to the next. That is, see what changes/revisions occur to the content within the WT library from year-to-year. This would especially be interesting for the content of older publications. After all, why would the WT fuss with the language of a 1980s WT, for example?

Also, to me, producing the programming to tackle this problem was the main driver. It could be possible that after all the work is done, no surprising results would be found – perhaps all minor changes. In this case, I would still consider the project a success. Solving the problem of getting all the content of the WT library in two different years and producing a change set between the two, to me, would be the goal. If you are the type that likes computer programming, and you are wondering how one might go about getting the content of the entire WT library, and doing a compare, then this might be the thread for you. Also, if you are interested in taking this project further, I can share the code. For fun, I did the WT library export in C# and the Diff program in VB.NET. If you want the code, you will need a version of Visual Studio 2010 or above. You will have to get your own version of the WT library.

I started the project a few days after the NWT mash up, and a couple weeks later, I had a working version. However, I switched jobs, and life got very busy. So, the project was pushed onto a shelf. I almost completely forgot about it. But, the other night, while watching a nice warm fire, with my fat cat sleeping on my lap, I suddenly remembered the work I had done on the project. So, I decided to clean up what I had, and post it. So what follows are some of the results. For the project, I originally used the 2011 and 2012 WT library. I think I picked those versions initially because I was going to increment through new versions (2012 vs 2013, etc).

The project was broken down into two parts. PART 1: get all of the content from the WT into a readable format. Early on, I decided if I could export the WT into a folder structure that mimicked the WT library structure, with plain text files, then that would be ideal. I would compare file-to-file with the same name on different versions. PART 2: create a comparison program to traverse the WT library exported file structure and produce files for any differences found. If no differences are found, then produce no output for that content.

PART 1 – Getting All the Content of the WT Library

The WT library encrypts the content of the WT library files. Some work was done on the previous Comprehensive NWT thread to decrypt the contents of the WT files directly by using the java code behind the mobile app. However, I chose to go a different route this time. I chose to automate the WT library. Getting the window handle of the top level WT window, the left list ListView, and the middle content window, I was able to force the WT library to navigate itself through the entire library tree. Once each article is displayed in the content window, I used the clipboard to get it out. This was accomplished by using standard Windows API calls to send the proper integer messages to the appropriate windows.

You can see the program in action below. It finds the WT ListView window, displaying the window handles. It then flashes the WT ListView confirming to the user that it found the right. The processing begins and the text is extracted. The full extraction runs overnight.

Video 1

Memory Leaks

As it turns out, the WT library never actually releases the memory is consumes when it loads content from an encrypted library file. Why doesn’t it ever become visible to the user? Because the user would have to open hundreds and hundreds of articles before the memory usage becomes burdensome on the system. As soon as the user closes the WT library, then all the memory is naturally released, as the OS reclaims everything the process had reserved.

But for an automation program, it presents a problem. I want to dump the entire WT library. As the program runs, the memory usage rises and reaches a critical point. The OS steps in and kills the process. When the WT library is killed, the location in the hierarchy goes away, as well as the window handle. I got around it by keeping track of the location in the WT hierarchy and then re-executing the program when I detected my window handles became invalid.

Preview (you can see the memory increase, and then the WT is killed. The traversal program brings it back):

Video 2

PART 2 – Calculating the Differences

Two traversals are needed, one for WT 2011 and one for WT 2012, and both take about 12 hours. But once it is exported, we don’t have to export again. There will be some expected differences. For example, between 2011 and 2012, there will be new entries for the daily text. There may be some publications removed, perhaps to save space on the CD. Also, some folders have a date range, like 1984-2011. In the 2012 version that folder will be different: 1984-2012. The WT versions also have some insignificant differences. Some Greek letters were changed from version to version – the Greek character is the same, but the Unicode value used is a bit different. So the Diff program detects a change. I included a place to ignore certain changes.

I decided to do a character level difference, then take the markup and mash it up, and export the changes only, with some text before and after. This way I could produce a small library of changes I could post here, but not be worried about copyright issues. These are just small quotes around the differences only.

An example of the output is below. It comes from “God’s Love”, 2008 pp 144-159:

The red characters are removed from the 2011 version. The green characters are included in the 2012 version. The white characters exist in both. If you take your time, you can make it out. But if you reference the WT library itself, this is the change:

2011 version:

Easter has also been linked to the worship of the Phoenician fertility goddess, Astarte, who had as her symbols the egg and the hare. Statues of Astarte have variously depicted her as having exaggerated sex organs or with a rabbit beside her and an egg in her hand.

2012 version:

Eostre (or Eastre) was also a fertility goddess. According to The Dictionary of Mythology, “she owned a hare in the moon which loved eggs and she was sometimes depicted as having the head of a hare.”

I wonder if they found the 2011 version to be inaccurate in some way.

Below is the link to the results. It contains a ZIP file. Inside contains the structure of the WT library with all differences logged in individual files. If there is no file or folder, it means there were no changes between the versions for that particular part of the WT library.

Results Click Here

MMM

62

NAILING DOWN the fraud of John 1:1 by demonstration

by TerryWalstrom in

call me crazy, but i love to watch seminary classes when sharp teachers are in charge of the instruction.. in the following video, the teacher really nails jehovah's witnesses on john 1:1 with utter simplicity.. begin at 1 hour and 20 minutes in.. i've never seen or heard of this before.. .

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_5qkj7tmbg.

MeanMrMustard

Once you admit it is "a god" in a qualitative sense, isn't the debate over? We are then saying the Word was everything Theos is in qualities/attributes.

MMM

13

Revise Tax Code to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

by ABibleStudent in

over the last five years, i have read lots of threads complaining about the wtbts, but few threads about becoming involved to help jws to critically think for themselves so that they can decide whether to stay, change the wtbts, or fade.

i'm curious if anyone is willing to write to their political representatives like i did today?.

before someone writes that the bill that i wrote would infringe on rights of either the establishment or free excercise clause of the u.s. constitution, i already checked with a lawyer and she said that the concept sounds promising.

MeanMrMustard

So the WTB&TS could lose their tax except status if they promote "bigotry, prejudice, and incite hatred and civil unrest", correct? And it would apply to any organization/religion looking to have tax-except status, correct?

Question: who gets to define what "bigotry" is in this case? What does "incite hatred" mean? Is it broad or narrow? Is disfellowshipping 'inciting hate'? Is not accepting homosexuals 'bigotry' under this definition?

MMM

95

Michael Brown verdict discussion policy - take II

by Simon in

i had originally thought that making the rules clear about what was and wasn't going to be allowed when discussing the michael brown verdict that we'd be able to avoid some of the unpleasantness that surrounded the subsequent trayvon martin trial discussions.. michael brown verdict discussion policy.

i had hoped that once the evidence came out there would not be as many people promoting opinions that contradicted it.

unfortunately, that appears to have been naive of me.

MeanMrMustard

Looks like some house members copied the "hands up don't shoot" stance on the house floor: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/lawmakers-ferguson-hands-up-113254.html

Good lord. *FACE PALM*

MMM

95

Michael Brown verdict discussion policy - take II

by Simon in

i had originally thought that making the rules clear about what was and wasn't going to be allowed when discussing the michael brown verdict that we'd be able to avoid some of the unpleasantness that surrounded the subsequent trayvon martin trial discussions.. michael brown verdict discussion policy.

i had hoped that once the evidence came out there would not be as many people promoting opinions that contradicted it.

unfortunately, that appears to have been naive of me.

MeanMrMustard

@Pacopoolio

I think what is being said is that you can bring out topics concerning police militarization all you like. Also, you can make arguments about sociological conditions of the blacks, how they are stuck economically, and we can all have a fun debate about that (or all agree :) depending on what is said).

But your position, as you stated: "we need reform in the legal system and police training and some way to monitor police better so it's not just one person's word against the other all of the time and so that so many unarmed people stop getting shot, see the flaws and issues with this case to see why."

You can't point to this case because it is a bad example. MB was shot because of his actions, and DW was justified in shooting him. This case can't be about police militarization. After all, it was a single cop (without a swat team) and a single gun (which was almost stolen from DW). If you use MB's case as an example of what is wrong with police, then you are implying that DW did something wrong. In this case, the evidence seems to show he did everything right given MB's actions.

MMM

95

Michael Brown verdict discussion policy - take II

by Simon in

i had originally thought that making the rules clear about what was and wasn't going to be allowed when discussing the michael brown verdict that we'd be able to avoid some of the unpleasantness that surrounded the subsequent trayvon martin trial discussions.. michael brown verdict discussion policy.

i had hoped that once the evidence came out there would not be as many people promoting opinions that contradicted it.

unfortunately, that appears to have been naive of me.

MeanMrMustard

@Simon:

What if the WTB&TS wins its appeal in the Candice Conti case? Are we obligated to agree with the court (in regards to our posts on this site) in such a scenerio? What about discussing Supreme Court rulings that we may disagree with? I am not trying to give you a hard time - I agree with your position on MB. But I am worried the rule has far reaching consequences.

MMM

551

Officer Wilson not indicted in killing of Michael Brown

by Simon in

after a thorough investigation and weighing of the evidence the grand jury has decided not to indict the officer.. the reaction so far seems as predicted - people refuse to accept that the result represents justice despite claims that is what they wanted.. there is now violence and vandalism, including gunshots.

let's hope the police contain the troublemakers.. .

MeanMrMustard

@Pacopoolio:

Thanks for the response. I have little time to actually post anymore. When you first responded, it was Thanksgiving, and I had to head over to the in-law's house for Thanksgiving dinner... err, I mean ... since my FIL is an elder, it wasn't really that. Don't worry, we had ham instead of turkey, so no need to call the elders... the other elders, that is. :)

Now for your responses:

This shows a complete lack of understanding of social conditioning.

I don't think it shows any lack of understanding. First, notice my response had nothing to do with social conditioning. It was purely underscoring a statistical falacy that has been repeated over and over ad-nauseam in order to justify more legislation - legislation that will not work and has never worked. It was Designs that stated "Women in the private professional sectors earning 30% less than a man doing equal work..." This was stated after a plethora of comments trying to underscore all the social and economic inequalities in the world, in a thread about MB, after repeated attempts by some other posters to get him/her to just state the point in a clear fashion. It is not hard to see what Designs was pushing for.

There is no -one reason-. This is just basic, basic, basic sociology; first level classes.

Go back and read my comment again. The very idea of my comment was to underscore the very same idea you make above, except it had more of an economic slant than a sociological one. The statistic of "women make 30% less than men for equal work" is calculated by taking women as an aggregate, and then attributing "equal work" and the average wage to the entire group. In other words, it is a falacious generalization, most likely created to prop up more government intervention into a "failed" market. However, when you realize that the income gap comes directly from some of the free choices made by women, then this horrible moral injustice vanishes. In other words, there are other causes, there is no "-one reason-" for this, and more importantly, none of the reasons for the income gap has anything to do with an effort by society to hold women down. Because women have choices, and because they have the babies (biological fact), women tend to leave and enter the work force with huge gaps in between jobs. Also, they tend to choose vocations that will work well with a family, or they get part time work, which would of couse pay less. Or choose benfits over wages. It has been shown that if you take men vs. women, in the same job, with the same number of years, no gaps, similar accomplishments, no kids, etc., the gap goes away and sometimes women make more. I'll post one source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_pQ7KXv0o0.

But now onto your sociological comments:

AGAIN, there are a huge mix of conditions that create conditions like the wage disparity. A HUGE condition, that you completely seem to have missed, even though it's pretty obvious, is that, from a young age, girls are conditioned to be more meek and unassertive than males, combined with a double standard of women that act assertive as compared to males, that makes them less likely to demand higher pay and career advancement.

I am not sure if I accept your generalization about little girls being taught to be meek. But suppose I do, and suppose we change "meek" to "submissive" (because meekness doesn't necessaily imply being a push-over), I don't think it would be a "HUGE" condition, like you state. After all, if you can remove this huge income gap by considering other factors (it depends more on a family, marriage, kids, etc), then this type of behavior can't be statistically significant. Therefore I would change your "HUGE" to a "really tiny". Further, it is not the case that wage increases come from "asking for a raise" alone. Most of the time it is because another employer will bid up your wage and draw you off. This market force has very little to do with meekness.

This isn't high level stuff - it's just like people just completely ignore the conditioning and brain development that creates the adult, that happens from 0-16, and think that everyone shares the same privilege as themselves. This doesn't take college to understand, it's just dropping the ego, and realizing that what made you, you, is based on a combination of factors from the outside that hit you throughout your life, the most important, being in childhood.

Earlier in this and other threads, you have people making assertions like, "They were given horrible diets as children, stifling their brain development and screwing with their decision making, but why didn't they make the same choices as middle class white male, they had all the opportunities in the world!"

Who says I do not understand this? It is completely obvious that there are differences among people. Some people will have good upbringing, some will not. Some will have good childhood conditions, some poor. Some will be born physically fit, and some will be born deformed. This is life, and nobody, seems to be denying this.

But - so what? Would you say that because a child like MB may have grown up in a poor neighborhood, laws should not apply equally in his case? Should they be "relaxed" for him? Are we supposed to say, "Well, he didn't eat right as a child, and look! - his parents weren't that great, therefore we need to give him some chances when it comes to theft and assult."? If you are really saying this, and I hope you are not, then think of the incentives this will create among the community.

Just like women get paid less (on aggregate) because of their life choices, MB was shot because of his choices. It is not right to say, "MB made poor choices because of XYZ, THEREFORE, if he attacks an officer, threathens the officer's life, it is unlawful or even improper to shoot MB." I simply don't think your sociolocal argument matters - you attack a police officer and threaten his (or her) life, you can be lawfully shot. Actually, I would say this about anymore, police officer or not. You attack someone with clear intent of hurting/killing that person, and that person has a gun, and you are shot dead - that is a consequence of your choice. We learned this with TVM.

MMM

551

Officer Wilson not indicted in killing of Michael Brown

by Simon in

after a thorough investigation and weighing of the evidence the grand jury has decided not to indict the officer.. the reaction so far seems as predicted - people refuse to accept that the result represents justice despite claims that is what they wanted.. there is now violence and vandalism, including gunshots.

let's hope the police contain the troublemakers.. .

MeanMrMustard

@designs:

Women in the private professional sectors earning 30% less than a man doing equal work...

False. If this were really true, you would see businesses firing men left and right to hire women in order to realize a 30% savings on their highest expense - mainly wages. It is this type of ridiculous talk that feeds the issues in this thread. For some reason you can't see past social issues as the causes of everything. Everything stems from social injustice. Why can't you see other causes? In the case of this thread, for you MB was shot because he was black. In the case of women, well they are paid less because they are women. In reality, MB was shot because he attacked a police officer. And women are paid less because they leave the work force to take care of a family, or choose to go into a differing fields than men. Pay no attention that when you factor out life variables, women often get paid more.

MMM