Raistlin's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Raistlin
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    Rereading Dragonlance so that I can start in the new trilogy. Finished Chronicles, Legends and Second Generation, and am now on Summer Flame.

    Rereading Dragonlance so that I can start in the new trilogy. Finished Chronicles, Legends and Second Generation, and am now on Summer Flame.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 4 in ~society

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    See, I really thinks this come down to what game you played first. SO3 is such a formational game for me that I don't think anything's every going to top it. It's my comfort JRPG.

    See, I really thinks this come down to what game you played first. SO3 is such a formational game for me that I don't think anything's every going to top it. It's my comfort JRPG.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 4 in ~society

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    Would you believe that I've never played it? I've beaten SO3 a thousand times, but this is the first time I've actually tried playing SO2, which I've always heard is a lot of people's favourite....

    Would you believe that I've never played it? I've beaten SO3 a thousand times, but this is the first time I've actually tried playing SO2, which I've always heard is a lot of people's favourite.

    What a charming game, I'm sad that I've missed out on it for so long! Really enjoying my time.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 4 in ~society

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    Extremely stressed. Almost preferred it before the Iowa poll, now I have hope. I'm not sure how I'll be able to sleep. Playing Star Ocean 2 whenever I have free time to keep the thoughts away.

    Extremely stressed. Almost preferred it before the Iowa poll, now I have hope. I'm not sure how I'll be able to sleep.

    Playing Star Ocean 2 whenever I have free time to keep the thoughts away.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on US Election Distractions Thread in ~talk

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    I think it's really funny that English language imported these Latin terms wholesale, but if you look at Spanish, e.g. is just ej., which are just the first two letters of ejemplo (example).

    I think it's really funny that English language imported these Latin terms wholesale, but if you look at Spanish, e.g. is just ej., which are just the first two letters of ejemplo (example).

    19 votes

  6. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Raistlin
    Link
    I'm playing through the Phoenix Wright series. I forgot how much I liked these games. I just finished the first one. That track that plays when you start finding holes in testimonies is so satisfying.

    I'm playing through the Phoenix Wright series. I forgot how much I liked these games. I just finished the first one. That track that plays when you start finding holes in testimonies is so satisfying.

    3 votes

  7. Comment on Asmongold's Twitch channel temporarily banned following racist rant about Palestinians in ~games

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    Have a friend like that. Says vile shit about black people. He's Latin too, with plenty of African blood. Didn't use to be a political at all. Joined the army, fell down a rabbit hole, hasn't been...

    Have a friend like that. Says vile shit about black people. He's Latin too, with plenty of African blood. Didn't use to be a political at all. Joined the army, fell down a rabbit hole, hasn't been the same since. Haven't talked to him in years.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Asmongold's Twitch channel temporarily banned following racist rant about Palestinians in ~games

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    For what it's worth, I feel he's gotten much worse these last 2 years.

    For what it's worth, I feel he's gotten much worse these last 2 years.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Asmongold's Twitch channel temporarily banned following racist rant about Palestinians in ~games

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    Look, I've followed him for years. He's gotten a lot worse. Not sure if the mask's come off or something happened, but he's become pretty unwatchable if you so much think of women as human beings.

    Look, I've followed him for years. He's gotten a lot worse. Not sure if the mask's come off or something happened, but he's become pretty unwatchable if you so much think of women as human beings.

    17 votes

  10. Comment on US Department of Justice indicates it’s considering Google breakup following monopoly ruling in ~tech

    Raistlin
    Link
    I hope so. I'll believe it when I see it. I have no faith that the modern US actually has the will to break the tech megacorps. I seriously hope it does.

    I hope so. I'll believe it when I see it. I have no faith that the modern US actually has the will to break the tech megacorps. I seriously hope it does.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on US judge rules Google must give rival third-party app stores access to the full catalog of Google Play apps — and distribute third-party stores in ~tech

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    That's where I'm at. I'm not a lawyer and can't speak to how that aspect of things. But I'll take literally any action that hints at the breaking of huge megacorps.

    That's where I'm at. I'm not a lawyer and can't speak to how that aspect of things. But I'll take literally any action that hints at the breaking of huge megacorps.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on Ask the Developer Vol. 13, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom — Part 1 & 2 in ~games

    Raistlin
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    I hope the game does well and that people enjoy it. I'm a bit sad that crafting (and elements adjacent to that) is going to be a feature in both 3D and 2D. I thought that maybe at least the 2D...

    I hope the game does well and that people enjoy it. I'm a bit sad that crafting (and elements adjacent to that) is going to be a feature in both 3D and 2D. I thought that maybe at least the 2D titles would continue the formula of limited items, limited puzzle solutions. But this doesn't seem to be the case.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on YouTube Premium is getting a big price hike internationally in ~tech

    Raistlin
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    I just... it's so easy to install NewPipe on your phone and FreeTube on your computer. This isn't a problem if you get frontends. It's not illegal, and quite simple.

    I just... it's so easy to install NewPipe on your phone and FreeTube on your computer. This isn't a problem if you get frontends. It's not illegal, and quite simple.

  14. Comment on YouTube Premium is getting a big price hike internationally in ~tech

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    Does YouTube Premium exempt me from them raiding my personal information for profit? If not, I'm using an ad blocker and FreeTube/NewPipe. It's not a God given right, it's just a normal government...

    Does YouTube Premium exempt me from them raiding my personal information for profit? If not, I'm using an ad blocker and FreeTube/NewPipe. It's not a God given right, it's just a normal government given right, as ad blockers aren't illegal in my country. The second they stop trying to steal my personal data at every interaction, then I might pay, like I do for content creators and podcasters in Patreon that I particularly like. But I'm not giving Google a cent.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    I don't necessarily wholly disagree, but I'm not sure that was the wider point of the poster I replied to. You might say, you can easily control languages with tens of millions of speakers. But...

    I don't necessarily wholly disagree, but I'm not sure that was the wider point of the poster I replied to.

    You might say, you can easily control languages with tens of millions of speakers. But you can easily control Romansh, if your intent is to destroy it. My wider point is that the sentiment only really applies to dominant languages, and they're dominant mostly because of force.

  16. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    But again, it's not more flexible. How are you? ¿Cómo estás? = Informal, singular ¿Cómo está? = Formal, singular. ¿Cómo están? = Plural. These a three ways I can say "how are you?" in Spanish,...

    But again, it's not more flexible.

    How are you?

    ¿Cómo estás? = Informal, singular

    ¿Cómo está? = Formal, singular.

    ¿Cómo están? = Plural.

    These a three ways I can say "how are you?" in Spanish, reflecting amount of people and formality. English comes off as really poor here. And of course, you can say that you can say things like "how are you doing", and I could counter that you could say "que es la que", and I'm not sure I follow you when you say English is more flexible. It just looks like a regular language to me. Flexible in some areas, inflexible in others.

    Regarding spelling, I can spell nearly everything I hear in Spanish. There are foreign loan words that might trip you up, and in many Latin American countries some distinctions have been abandoned (the difference between s, c and z), but the vast majority of the time, if you say a word, I can spell it correctly. This part isn't directly relevant, but you responded to it, so I felt I should address.

    And I'm sorry, if you start saying some languages are more flexible than others, you're going to get pushback. I don't think anyone's being rude. They just think you're wrong.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    I just don't see that as a problem. If I were writing in Spanish, I would use context. Quedaban cuatro libras de pan, or quedaban 4 pedazos de pan, or quedaban 4 panes. This isn't a real issue...

    I just don't see that as a problem. If I were writing in Spanish, I would use context. Quedaban cuatro libras de pan, or quedaban 4 pedazos de pan, or quedaban 4 panes. This isn't a real issue when writing.

    It's like complaining about... I dunno, having to use the word "do" in English. You can't just say "you want bread?" like every language. You have to say "do you want bread?", even though the "do" is probably some sort of Celtic remnant that adds nothing to the sentence. But I don't think I'd say this English-only silly requirement makes it hard to write. It's just part of the language. Or how Spanish (and I'm assuming French) has a plural second person, yet in English, you have to use context when using "you", as it might be either singular or plural. English also lacks a formal you. If you want to write a character speaking formally, you have to add context, you can't just drop in an "usted".

    Or even worse, how I can see literally any Spanish word in existence and immediately know how to pronounce it, yet even native English speakers mess up words like epitome and haphazard all the time.

    There's a million things in English that are dumb, and plenty of times where you're forced to use context because the sentence isn't clear on its own. This is true of every language.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    Raistlin
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    I don't necessarily disagree with the article. I'm just... not sure that there's a solution. Lingua francas have always been here. Akkadian, Aramean, Greek, Latin, French, Arabic, English,...

    I don't necessarily disagree with the article. I'm just... not sure that there's a solution. Lingua francas have always been here. Akkadian, Aramean, Greek, Latin, French, Arabic, English, Spanish. The languages of dominant powers become lingua francas. Not always violently, but often so. Is this fair? No, but that's just how things are. You're never going to force monolinguals of the dominant powers to learn a second language.

    6 votes

  19. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    I mean, you would just specify. When Spanish doesn't have a bespoke word for something, I just specify what I mean. I don't get the sense that contracts in Spanish are particularly more difficult...

    I mean, you would just specify. When Spanish doesn't have a bespoke word for something, I just specify what I mean. I don't get the sense that contracts in Spanish are particularly more difficult to write that contracts in English. A common parlance would've evolved (or have been defined in legislation), and that's what's used.

    I don't see how English is particularly very different. Half the legal terms are in Latin. Which makes sense for French and Spanish, since those are just local varieties of Latin. But doesn't the fact that English, a Germanic language, seems to still need Latin in law imply that it's lacking as well?

    5 votes

  20. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    Raistlin
    Link Parent
    I don't think it's your wider point, but you can very easily control language to a large extent. I see the point about the French below, and I'll not the French stage has mostly killed all...

    I don't think it's your wider point, but you can very easily control language to a large extent. I see the point about the French below, and I'll not the French stage has mostly killed all competitors to French. Arabic mostly killed Coptic, English mostly killed te reo māori, etc. For that matter one, it's quite easy to control a language when the state kidnaps children. See also Australia. See also Nahuatl. All it takes is a state willing to kill.

    4 votes