People like to make the comparison between zip file compressions, where you can degrade something by continually compressing. Same with using jpeg or mp3. But I like to use the analogy of the game "Telephone" (also called "Chinese Whispers"). I think it also highlights how fraught natural language is and just how quickly it can degrade. I think a lot of people are insufficiently impressed with how good we are at communicating at all.

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sweetjuly 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I suggest you find a new DEFLATE library if you're losing data when you compress things with it :)

	▲	godelski 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You do realize there is both lossy and lossless compression, right? Or did you hyperfixate on the colloquial usage of zip

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ethmarks 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

ZIP files are lossless. If you compress, unzip, and recompress a ZIP file hundreds of times, it'll still be the exact same data as when you started.

	▲	ChrisGreenHeur 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		So is the game of telephone as long as people stop whispering and try to not make stuff up

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meindnoch 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>zip file compressions, where you can degrade something by continually compressing

Reading this on HN... Sic transit gloria mundi!

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jibal 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> People like to make the comparison between zip file compressions, where you can degrade something by continually compressing.

What people have this misunderstanding?