I admin the.coolest.zone, the coolest site on the net for online social engagement.
Self-reply: looks like Clozemaster Pro now has a ChatGPT-enabled “Explain” feature which is extremely helpful and breaks down the sentences. You can do this on your own with ChatGPT of course, copying sentences in and asking (I have done this), but it’s nice to have the option embedded in.
Which language are you trying to learn? There are different answers depending on that.
As someone learning Hindi, I’ve found that Duolingo is wholly insufficient in grammar and vocabulary (the entire course is far too short) and did not concentrate on listening comprehension. I’ve started using a combination of the following:
Somewhat unrelated, but I do find it funny that farts aren’t considered acceptable, but sneezes and coughs are. Like, farts have an extra barrier in the form of your clothing (assuming you’re not at a nudist colony or bathhouse) and won’t make other people sick. I guess it’s just because they’re stinky.
I vote to normalize farting with an “excuse me”, and saying “bless you” to people when they fart.
While I get what you’re saying and I think sometimes emojis can absolutely be overused or used in place of textual clarification, I feel they also serve as an effective substitute for a lack of non-verbal communication. Generally speaking, “what people say” is only half the story, and “how they say it” (the nuances of facial/bodily expressions, tone of voice, etc) is the other half.
When writing narratives, we get away from this by means of, well, narration. “… he said, cheerfully”; “… he replied, with just a twinge of annoyance to his voice”; “she said, while averting her eyes”.
In first person communications like social media, we don’t really have an effective way to communicate that sort of nuance. We do have action asterisks shudders in horror, shorthand expressions to represent actions like LOL, and emoji 🤷♂️ as potential alternatives, as well as some community-driven linguistic nuance like Reddit’s usage of “/s” to indicate sarcasm.
We could also go all old-timey letter writing and say things like “while I find myself hesitant to reply to you in fear that you will consider it an attack, I do find myself with some concerns in regards to your comment and will elaborate below. I hope that you will not take these concerns as dismissive of your opinion in any way, as I simply mean to clarify some doubts and seek your own opinion on my thoughts as presented above.” (This might be an example of “overly eloquent” and there is probably a happy medium.)
I find the ever-evolving linguistics of internet communication to be really fascinating, if you can’t tell!
Is it actually a Mandela Effect if you’ve just forgotten what a guy’s name is? I always thought it was more about mass confabulations.
It’s the style right now. Personally, I’m hoping for a “retro beige case that can hold modern hardware” era because I have terrible taste.
A fascinating take on it. I’m still wary about Threads interoperating with the rest of the Fediverse, and how that may change the culture as well as the system over time (Meta would have the power and money to throw around regarding changes to ActivityPub implementation), but I also see it similar to email. And I’ve spoken about this before to the point I sound like a broken record …
But people understand the basics of email. They understand they can sign up for a Gmail account and send an email to anyone else. Maybe Threads will be our Gmail here, and introduce people into the idea of a wider open social media concept in a more familiar way to them, and they can branch out as needed or just choose to stay on Threads.
In any case, any given instance can choose to block Threads if they so choose.
@ISometimesAdmin@the.coolest.zone Let me know if you need rehab.
But seriously… yeah, I get it. Especially this part about the workplace:
Nevertheless, [addicted programmers] can also pose significant risks, especially because they frequently deviate from the planned course. They follow their own agenda, introducing challenges where none were necessary, or dedicating hours to minor, tangential aspects of a project. In the process, they diverge from the project plan, programming what they believe is necessary rather than what the project itself requires.
I have been that person before, and now I’m in a position where I have to keep those folks on a tight leash and remind them “our goal is to deliver a product right now, and we can enhance it in future sprints. Let’s just focus on what our primary goal was right now.” It’s easy to fall down rabbit holes, and that’s where having proper planning and a ticketing system to backlog and prioritize future enhancements is so critical.
On the other side, as someone younger it’s hard to date people much older, as they start casually talking about what they did during various wars, or comparing the COVID pandemic to the black plague, and I’ve just got zero frame of reference to connect.
Everyone much older I’ve met has been just delightful (I assume the rude ones eventually get murdered by their local townsfolk) but it’s just so hard to make that genuine connection when your life experiences are so different, you know?
This is Windows-based and mutes your microphone globally, but if you’re concerned about leaking video/audio accidentally I’ve found it very helpful:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/video-conference-mute
This is part of PowerToys. It says “legacy mode” because they were gonna deprecate it now that they’re trying to build the functionality into W11, but relented and are keeping it based on the outcry from W10 users.
Now that I have a Kindle, digital all the way. It’s so nice to just throw that tiny thing in a bag and read somewhere, and if you finish your book there are a bunch more on your device. I like that the Kindles allow you to email ebooks to your address to be downloaded so you’re not locked into the Amazon store.
Bob, short for Bobert. So that every time he has to say his full name to anyone on the phone or fill out forms somewhere, he has to repeatedly explain that, no, it’s not Robert, it’s Bobert.
It probably won’t make you ill immediately, more likely the texture or flavor would begin to suffer first (hence “best by” rather than “expiration” date). Keeping it stored properly (i.e. not an open bag but something sealed) would likely allow it to last longer.
You should probably not eat 3.5lb of candy within 10 days unless you are trying to make your intestines suffer, but if you choose to binge please update us as to the state of your health so that you may be used as a cautionary tale.
You bring up a good point. It feels like Romulans have also learned to control their violent emotions, but rather than suppress them entirely that energy is just focused all into tactics and smarter ways to be ruthless.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew, great game which was sadly abandoned and left to rot, started you out with the Kobayashi Maru. My friends and I got in there, beamed out as many folks as we could without firing a shot on the Klingons, and then got the hell outta the neutral zone as soon as the Kobayashi Maru was destroyed.
Is that considered a loss? I’d say we saved a bunch of people and hopefully avoided a war. Best we could do given the circumstances. And that’s how we manage life sometimes, as well. You can’t win, but you manage as best you can given the circumstances and take the small victories wherever you find them.
In the same way Galaxy Quest counts as a Star Trek, so too should The Orville. It’s all about the vibes, man.
2024: Google Assistant formally deprecated in favor of Google Bard, now appearing on all new Android phones
2026: Google Bard development ceases and is left to languish as Google promotes their new Google Mobile Co-Pilot
2027: Bard finally ends service, Google Mobile Co-Pilot is rebranded to Messages Co-Pilot and is integrated into the Google Messages app for some reason so you have to basically text it for help
2029: Google Assistant is relaunched with new technology and Messages Co-Pilot now only responds to tell you to use Google Assistant instead
The transporter is just a people replicator. Same technology. Why reinvent the wheel?
Maybe try leaving one in cola for a week or two as an experiment? You’d probably be able to see how the acid affects the enamel, which is why dentists recommend drinking soda through a straw, and also why generally you’re not supposed to brush your teeth directly after drinking soda (toothbrush is too abrasive on the weakened enamel).
High school (and all primary schooling) is 50% teaching you useful facts and knowledge and 50% teaching you skills like concentrated work effort, sitting and listening, taking instructions and following them, and applying critical thinking to transform knowledge. MLA falls into the latter category, in my opinion.