DesktopMonitor's recent activity
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Comment on So was there no song of the summer this year? in ~music
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Comment on Disney’s boy trouble: studio seeks original IP to win back Gen-Z men amid Marvel, Lucasfilm struggles in ~movies
DesktopMonitor LinkMy lukewarm take on this is that Disney’s biggest problem is its own name. Their original brand identity is so powerful that it distorts everything it comes into contact with. Unfortunately for...My lukewarm take on this is that Disney’s biggest problem is its own name. Their original brand identity is so powerful that it distorts everything it comes into contact with. Unfortunately for them, they will never put Disney under the umbrella of a larger and distinctly non-mouse/princess organization. Their issues will thus persist.
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Comment on AI is a mass-delusion event in ~tech
DesktopMonitor Link ParentFor someone who does not read about or involve themselves with LLMs daily, could you elaborate a bit on what ‘unexpected emergent properties’ refers to?[…] we found out that if we just make a neural net big enough, it starts to have unexpected emergent properties
For someone who does not read about or involve themselves with LLMs daily, could you elaborate a bit on what ‘unexpected emergent properties’ refers to?
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Comment on Looking for surreal horror/mindbending in ~books
DesktopMonitor Link ParentIf you feel that way about Chiang then I’d love to hear your take on Neil Stephenson.If you feel that way about Chiang then I’d love to hear your take on Neil Stephenson.
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Comment on In Tokyo for a couple of days, inviting recommendations in ~travel
DesktopMonitor LinkTokyo is a collection of cities across a vast metropolitan area, each with its own distinct neighborhoods centered around transit hubs. Anything you are looking for will be in most places in a...Tokyo is a collection of cities across a vast metropolitan area, each with its own distinct neighborhoods centered around transit hubs. Anything you are looking for will be in most places in a given area, but some places will hit the spot more than others for certain things.
I recommend whatever you do with your two days that you be mindful of transit times when putting together your itinerary. From my own experiences over the years and the reflections of friends who have visited from overseas, trying to tie a single day together that involves visits to vastly different areas almost always ends up eating up more time than expected. With that said…
For kitchen equipment, Kappabashi in the Asakusa area comes to mind:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3020.html
Good food is absolutely everywhere. It really depends what kind of food you are looking for. If you want to challenge yourself then here is a map with the locations of all the restaurants from the TV show Lonely Gourmet:
If you just like shopping in general then going to a branch of Loft or Tokyu Hands will definitely scratch that itch.
Enjoy your trip!
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Comment on ‘Star Wars’ “looks terrible” in screening of long lost original 1977 version in ~movies
DesktopMonitor LinkI haven’t watched Episode 4 in years, but I’d imagine my home’s copied VHS from the early ‘80s is still how I’d prefer to watch it. When the ‘97 VHS versions came along I remember buying them and...I haven’t watched Episode 4 in years, but I’d imagine my home’s copied VHS from the early ‘80s is still how I’d prefer to watch it. When the ‘97 VHS versions came along I remember buying them and being disappointed with the special effects changes they had made. This thread has really got me wondering where my old VHS came from.
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Comment on Donald Trump deploys Marines to Los Angeles in ~society
DesktopMonitor (edited )LinkEvery current or former serviceman I’ve ever spoken with or read the opinion of on this matter has made it pretty clear that their work is projecting American force around the world and not...Every current or former serviceman I’ve ever spoken with or read the opinion of on this matter has made it pretty clear that their work is projecting American force around the world and not policing the homeland. I’d imagine they would be quite reserved knowing that a single death or controversial mishap could trigger an actual armed civil conflict. No one in their right mind wants that.
Edit: deleted the shade I threw at police because it’s too serious a matter and I have friends that are cops and are not the kinds of people to shoot civilians just because they’ve picked up an electric scooter and look likely to throw it at something.
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Comment on They don’t read very well: A study of the reading comprehension skills of English majors at two midwestern universities in ~humanities.languages
DesktopMonitor Link ParentI would refer to them as multilingual. There is no hard and fast rule, but I would say that anyone with at least a CEFR B1~B2 command of more than one language could begin to refer to themselves...I would refer to them as multilingual. There is no hard and fast rule, but I would say that anyone with at least a CEFR B1~B2 command of more than one language could begin to refer to themselves as multilingual. There is no equality across language domains inherent in the term multilingual. In fact, I'm happy to say that the very moments you are celebrating in your comment above underlie some of the core motivations behind the development of multilingual theory! I will include some open access links below. No offense or attack was meant by my above comment!!
May, S. (Ed.). (2013). The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and bilingual education. Routledge.
https://www.academia.edu/download/71972752/Anastassia_Zabrodskaja.pdfMeier, G. S. (2017). The multilingual turn as a critical movement in education: Assumptions, challenges and a need for reflection. Applied Linguistics Review, 8(1), 131-161.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/applirev-2016-2010/pdfCenoz, J. (2019). Translanguaging pedagogies and English as a lingua franca. Language Teaching, 52(1), 71-85. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C684EE2F715747B35F9565761257CA74/S0261444817000246a.pdf/translanguaging_pedagogies_and_english_as_a_lingua_franca.pdf
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Comment on They don’t read very well: A study of the reading comprehension skills of English majors at two midwestern universities in ~humanities.languages
DesktopMonitor (edited )Link ParentAbsolutely true. It is also true that manner and extent to which one uses idiomatic language is a result of personal circumstances that are highly variable among individual speakers. We can find...Absolutely true. It is also true that manner and extent to which one uses idiomatic language is a result of personal circumstances that are highly variable among individual speakers. We can find this variance acknowledged at least as far back as Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik’s absolutely massive 1985 ‘A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language’. Anyone who gets a chance should read through the introduction of that book. It is well worth it!
Anyhow, the point I intend to make is that description of a linguistic event, rather than labeling a person with an initialism originally used to describe a school subject in which pupils tend to feel ostracized from their peer group due to differences in their upbringing landing them there, is a more useful and accurate means by which to describe the circumstances behind an observation such as the one mentioned in the comment above.
Note: I would like to reassure anyone reading this that the strength of my convictions *is aimed squarely at the topic under discussion and absolutely not at any commenter.
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Comment on They don’t read very well: A study of the reading comprehension skills of English majors at two midwestern universities in ~humanities.languages
DesktopMonitor (edited )Link ParentMultilinguals’ use of all their languages changes over time according to complex individual circumstances. What is being described above is an event in which a third party observed the influence...Multilinguals’ use of all their languages changes over time according to complex individual circumstances. What is being described above is an event in which a third party observed the influence of one or more other languages on someone’s English output.
Referring to someone as ‘
anESL’ is an act of labeling and it’s best avoided because it prescribes a static identity instead of handling objective description of an event. In other words, to answer the question of ‘what would you call such a person?’ I would answer that I just wouldn’t.Thinking about it from my own experiences, when I notice that my Japanese is influencing my English I simply think of it like that. When someone else notices that my English has influenced my Japanese they might say it was 「英語っぽい」or ‘English-sounding’.
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Comment on They don’t read very well: A study of the reading comprehension skills of English majors at two midwestern universities in ~humanities.languages
DesktopMonitor Link ParentI would like to suggest referring to such people as multilingual.I love reading writing by folks who are ESL
I would like to suggest referring to such people as multilingual.
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Comment on What a $15,000 electric SUV says about US-China car rivalry in ~transport
DesktopMonitor LinkWhat it says to consumers in Japan like me is that Toyota would rather offer us this same car with a one liter turbo for about $1,600 less… even though selling it here for $15,000 would undercut...What it says to consumers in Japan like me is that Toyota would rather offer us this same car with a one liter turbo for about $1,600 less… even though selling it here for $15,000 would undercut the economy electric cars offered by its competitors by like $7-8k. Ugh.
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Comment on When can we call this a dictatorship? in ~society
DesktopMonitor Link ParentYou do you! That’s why I hedged my comment. Anyway, it’s a great article if you’ve not read it. Written by some authoritative academic voices. …I swear the pun was an accident.You do you! That’s why I hedged my comment. Anyway, it’s a great article if you’ve not read it. Written by some authoritative academic voices.
…I swear the pun was an accident.
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Comment on When can we call this a dictatorship? in ~society
DesktopMonitor LinkAlternatively, you could say that the U.S. is on a path toward authoritarianism. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/path-american-authoritarianism-trumpAlternatively, you could say that the U.S. is on a path toward authoritarianism.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/path-american-authoritarianism-trump
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Comment on What is one of the coolest museums you've visited? in ~travel
DesktopMonitor Link ParentBack in the early nineties I visited that museum with my family. I saw two things that blew my mind: A short film explaining how they were going to make cables out of glass that could somehow send...Back in the early nineties I visited that museum with my family. I saw two things that blew my mind:
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A short film explaining how they were going to make cables out of glass that could somehow send information very quickly, and that this would result in the whole world becoming informationally interconnected.
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A glass sword.
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Comment on Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix 2025 - Results in ~sports.motorsports
DesktopMonitor LinkIt was disappointing that the Ferraris couldn’t squeeze the Mercedes so Hamilton could have a shot at overtaking them both to finish behind his teammate. It didn’t seem like Leclerc was ever going...It was disappointing that the Ferraris couldn’t squeeze the Mercedes so Hamilton could have a shot at overtaking them both to finish behind his teammate. It didn’t seem like Leclerc was ever going to be within range of Piastri anyway and no one else was getting any passing done on track… so why not back them up into Hamilton once he had pitted for softs?
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Comment on Yuki Tsunoda set to replace Liam Lawson at Red Bull in ~sports.motorsports
DesktopMonitor Link ParentHow’d you come to support Tsunoda? I would like to be able to get behind the only Japanese driver on the grid, but I just haven’t gotten there yet. I missed most of last season but prior to that...How’d you come to support Tsunoda? I would like to be able to get behind the only Japanese driver on the grid, but I just haven’t gotten there yet. I missed most of last season but prior to that his behavior on the radio really turned me off. I like to keep an open mind though, so please change my opinion!
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Comment on 23andMe files for bankruptcy in ~finance
DesktopMonitor LinkI solved a lifelong family mystery with the help of 23andMe. It’s changed our lives for the better and I am profoundly grateful that technology came about in my lifetime to make that happen. The...I solved a lifelong family mystery with the help of 23andMe. It’s changed our lives for the better and I am profoundly grateful that technology came about in my lifetime to make that happen.
The service has also brought about no shortage of controversy but I don’t feel the need to qualify my experience in light of that.
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Comment on What are your goto cocktails? in ~food
DesktopMonitor LinkGin Sonic! Flavorful with waaaay less sugar than a gin tonic. Of course because it’s gin, particularly in contrast to anything fermented, you’ll feel great the next day too. Given a 250-300ml cup:...Gin Sonic!
Flavorful with waaaay less sugar than a gin tonic. Of course because it’s gin, particularly in contrast to anything fermented, you’ll feel great the next day too.
Given a 250-300ml cup:
50g ice
25g gin @ 47%
25g tonic
150g soda water -
Comment on Google claims news is worthless to its ad business after test involving 1% of search results in eight EU markets in ~tech
DesktopMonitor Link ParentOh my goodness does that extension actually do what I think it does: add multiple concurrent Mozilla Account support to Firefox?Oh my goodness does that extension actually do what I think it does: add multiple concurrent Mozilla Account support to Firefox?
According to TikTok, 2025 has almost certainly got to be ‘like JENNIE’:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HMQlkbXjSTM