Sheep's recent activity
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Comment on Crunchyroll is destroying its subtitles for no good reason in ~anime
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Comment on Unfuck Google Drive (It's Gemini garbage, of course) in ~comp
Sheep Link ParentFilen was my choice for this. Has all the same sharing functions from Google Drive and it also lets you automatically back up stuff easily. I also heard good things about Koofr. -
Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (October 2025) in ~health.mental
Sheep (edited )LinkThis is my first time writing in this thread and I don't know why I only decided to write now other than I feel like I'm at the end of my rope so maybe jotting down my thoughts will help ease that...This is my first time writing in this thread and I don't know why I only decided to write now other than I feel like I'm at the end of my rope so maybe jotting down my thoughts will help ease that a little.
I apologize if this is overly negative. Please do remove it if you feel it doesn't fit this thread. I'll put all of my rambling in collapsible section as a content warning. Honestly it's more just me putting my thoughts down than anything else. At the bottom is what's actually been going well for me that has helped me fight back some of the negativity.
Content warning: negativity, anger, suicidal thoughts
I turned 30 this year and I don't think I've ever felt like less of a human in my life than now.
I still live with my father and younger sister because I do not earn enough to afford rent in my country. The only way I can leave is if I date/marry someone that I can split rent with or find a roommate. But at a time when I can't even love myself, this is not something that's in the cards (nor do I want to saddle someone with my current state).
In all my life I have struggled to get anything done on time, an issue that has compounded over the years and led me to where I'm at now: barely able to have a consistent income and struggling to motivate myself to change any of it. I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD (something I only discovered at the age of 27 thanks to my friend who got diagnosed at 30) but I am still saving up to go to a psychiatrist and formally get myself examined and diagnosed so I won't assume this is true for the purposes of this text.
At 27 I developed severe tinnitus out of nowhere in the middle of the day, which massively altered my life and traumatized me for a good year before I got any semblance of a routine back. The cause is unknown, I don't have hearing loss (did all the tests) or any other factors that could have contributed to it, so it could have just been stress. Main point is: the silence I used to use to relax before is permanently gone, replaced by constant loud buzzing and whistling. I quite literally cannot sleep without something playing in the background (usually my white noise machine), but at least I can still sleep, something that wasn't true in the first year I got this condition.
All these factors have led me to spiral into depression over the course of time. I struggle very hard to find joy in anything I do. I cannot focus on anything for long periods of time, and my work life, despite me doing the job I dreamed of doing when I got into college (being a translator), is constantly held back by this. I've had almost a decade to advance my career, but because of my constant mental setbacks, I hamper myself and put myself down, thinking I don't deserve to be where I am or that I'm just not good enough to be with peers I look up to. Because of that, it took a good 6 or 7 years for me to even get properly started in my field and finally earn some semblance of a salary, but I still do not earn minimum wage (this might change soon, see bottom of the post).
If all this wasn't enough, I feel like I'm the black sheep of my family (well, I might be considering how unsuccessful I am compared to everyone around me) My father and sister do not treat me like I'm a human being worthy of respect. I don't know if they do it consciously or subconsciously, but whenever I bring up a personal opinion on any subject, 9 times out of 10 it is discarded with no valid argument given. I feel like I could argue as rationally as I can about any point I have and just be told I'm being stupid or everyone has different opinions or what have you. This isn't about politics, mind you, I don't even argue those. I'm talking, for example, how I think we should have a robust system for house chores so everyone always has chores assigned to them and the house can be tidy, but I'm told that's stupid and you should just clean/tidy something if you see it's out of place, nevermind that I'm the only person at home for most of the day so that would always fall on me. Or how I don't think we should have a dog because no one is willing to walk him everyday, but my sister begged my dad to have a dog so now we're stuck with one, a dog that is constantly locked in the kitchen and peeing and pooping everywhere, something I have to deal with constantly because no one is home most of the day, and I could go on ad infinitum.
What hurts the most is that my sister gets treated the opposite way. My father buys her whatever she asks, takes her wherever she wants to go no matter how unreasonable the request is, and does all her chores for her like cleaning her room which, despite me being the one constantly depressed, looks like one of those hoarders on reality TV. (my room isn't pristine by any means, I often struggle to clean the dust, but I don't have a week's worth of spoiled food in it like my sister does for example).
This has essentially led me to isolate myself as much as possible. If I speak to my father or sister about anything, just ask them to change something no matter how small, they'll simply put me down (either by deflecting to something I do that bothers them or plainly saying everyone works differently so I shouldn't criticize them) so why bother talking at all? I often spend entire days without saying a single word to anyone in my home, not even a greeting, because I don't want to risk having a conversation that will upset me. I literally sit at the dinner table with my family, quietly eat, and then leave without saying a word. I feel like a literal animal, but worse because at least our dog gets love and attention, even if no one ever takes him out on walks. I also avoid going to the kitchen because I'm so tired of dog pee and poop everywhere that no one wants to clean. I've essentially locked myself in my room most of the day and avoid sharing as much time as possible with anyone in my family because I feel like my head will explode with anger if I spend more than 10 minutes with any of them.
Needless to say these patterns have built into a deep-rooted anger that is now taking hold of me and making my emotional state even worse. I constantly have angry fantasies of revenge against my father (not violent revenge, I'm talking petty revenge because I fantasize about him knowing how neglected I feel), which I know is wrong and always rationalize myself out of, but it hurts how frequent they are now. I also more and more have suicidal thoughts, not as a way to escape the pain I feel but because I sometimes imagine how "awesome" it would be to get back at my father, which is genuinely disturbing when I catch myself doing it. How pathetic I feel that even in my suicidal thoughts I'm not doing something for myself, but to spite someone else. How can this one person have so much control over my emotions? (and no, I don't really have much hatred for my sister because she was literally raised to be like this. Anyone would end up spoiled if their father never told them no)
My mother is separated from my father and lives elsewhere in case anyone is wondering. I would consider her somewhat of an ally because she does listen to me and shows concern, but she has way too much stress in her life for me to burden her even more with my problems. I'd say she's in a similar position to me but just different circumstances. Whenever I'm with her she's constantly being angry and rambling about how poorly her life is going, so I choose to stay quiet around her to not compound her anger or mine. If anything, I have learned more and more why she got away from my father, because I too can't live with someone who gives so little of a crap about anything or anyone around them.
That's the most frustrating part, too. My father is the type of person who just doesn't care about anything no matter what. He is an eternal fence sitter that would rather maintain his poor lifestyle at home than to admit anything, no matter how small, needs to change. He's not physically abusive or anything, he's just impossible to move in any direction that's not the status quo, so I'm forced to deal with the same status quo no matter how much it hurts me. The only person that can move him is my sister, but she has a cushy life thanks to him so obviously she's not going to lift a finger.
Here's a prime example: I'm overweight and am trying my best to eat healthy so I can maintain a stable caloric deficit, but whenever I ask my father to buy anything to help with my diet, since he usually is the one grocery shopping (and I'm not talking an expensive meat substitute, I'm talking stuff like chicken breasts instead of beef hamburgers), he just ignores the request, often saying he forgot. Meanwhile he always makes sure to stock on endless boxes of cookies and bottles of sugary drinks for my sister without her even asking, which is making my weight loss journey worse due to cravings. This has essentially resulted in me giving up cooking healthy meals for myself because I can't afford to feed myself fully every month and need to rely on my father's income, which I obviously can't force him to spend the way I want to so my only choice is to plead, which falls on deaf ears. My father and sister both have very physically active lives so they can eat all this high calorie stuff and be skinny forever, but I am always home so I need to pay more attention to what I eat, yet my health concerns mean nothing to anyone but myself.
So that's the gist of my life at present, a never ending cycle of hatred and helplessness, and the general feeling that I'm not even seen as a human being by those around me and more of an object or burden that's in the way.
I know the only solution at this point is to remove myself from this house and find solace by myself, something I am very much eager to do, but I don't have the financial means to at the moment. I'm terrified that if I even so much as open up to my father about this I'll snap and he'll kick me out of the house which will set me back even more. So that's why I'm here venting instead. Thankfully, at the ripe age of 30, I have finally taken one small step toward progress. (see below)
This is the positive that's happened in my life: 2 weeks ago I was finally able to return to consistent language studying, a habit I dropped like 5 years ago. I am finally acquiring new skills that will improve my job prospects and hoping to maintain this rhythm until I can apply for a language certificate that I've always dreamed of having (I considered it a milestone in my career because it very much is, but my inattentive brain always let the goal slip)
It all started with creating a small habit every day: just pick up the book and read. Eventually it turned into a habit that I feel like I can't do without, which feels awesome. I thought I couldn't get such a routine back. I haven't felt this excited about my own career path in years. Of course, I still sometimes feel like putting the book down, but through some clever tricks like learning to put my phone down and blocking access to it, turning off my computer, and even studying outside with no distractions, have helped a lot.
I also finally managed to somewhat convince myself that my skills are real and even if I'm not the best in my industry I shouldn't put my worth down. So I've applied to more jobs, which has resulted in an interview that may finally lead me to earning a minimum wage. This might seem worthless to many reading, and I'm aware that this is a very low bar, but I have never earned this much in my life so I am very excited to finally start going somewhere.
I'm hoping that by the start of next year I will at least be at a point where I can support myself instead of feeling so helpless, since those around me don't seem to care for me. It still hurts right now since I'm not there yet, but I'm doing my best to put up with the situation and try to calm myself each day so I can get through this rocky road.
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Comment on What is happening to Japan? in ~tech
Sheep Link ParentI agree with you, I just think it's the other way around. If social media is where almost everyone gets their news for the last decade, and social media works mainly based on engagement (ie it...I agree with you, I just think it's the other way around.
If social media is where almost everyone gets their news for the last decade, and social media works mainly based on engagement (ie it promotes content that keeps users on their apps over content that doesn't), then it's no wonder that sources that play up the engagement system end up on top in the authority scale, regardless of their veracity.
That's what leads to no agreed-upon authorities on all sorts of subjects. Whoever gains the engagement economy system has the bigger say, and in this day and age that's whoever is most popular on social media no matter what they do or who they are.
I legitimately think social media, in its current state, is the root cause of the sheer disconnect people have with reality nowadays. Whether that be directly because people are constantly online or indirectly because even traditional news sources are now incentivized to play the social media engagement game.
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Comment on What is happening to Japan? in ~tech
Sheep Link ParentYeah it was a brainfart and I fixed it after re-reading my comment. My bad.Yeah it was a brainfart and I fixed it after re-reading my comment. My bad.
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Comment on What is happening to Japan? in ~tech
Sheep (edited )Link ParentIn simplified terms, yes. Obviously overtourism is an issue with the steadily decreasing value of the yen. I myself took advantage of this this past spring to go there for considerably cheaper...In simplified terms, yes.
Obviously overtourism is an issue with the steadily decreasing value of the yen. I myself took advantage of this this past spring to go there for considerably cheaper than my last trip a couple years back.
But the notion that an increasing number of tourists only go to Japan to ruin it is also overly exaggerated due to social media cherry picking and misinformation.
Every country with lots of tourism will always have a small minority of said tourists that misbehaves, and the absolute number of those goes up the more tourists you have, but the percentages generally don't without any other factors being at play. Of course, it's unfortunate that anyone misbehaves, but it is something you can manage, not an excuse to go balls to the wall anti immigration like Japan is doing right now (which is a particularly bad move in Japan's case because their population is shrinking very rapidly and nobody wants to have children under the Japanese work system).
My experience with Japanese Twitter in particular is that Chinese people are vilified to such an insane degree you'd think it's 19th century USA with black people. I'm talking full on caricature drawings, sometimes doctored or heavily manipulated photos, along with the most bombastic headlines, as if Chinese citizens are there to invade Japan and replace Japanese people. This type of rhetoric is what's causing far right parties like Sanseito to rise more and more in the polls, to the point where they've gained influence with the ruling liberal democratic party and their new PM is taking much stronger far-right stances.
I made a joke with a friend that Westerners haven't experienced racism in the modern world until they've asked a Japanese person about Chinese people. Obviously this is overly exaggerated and purely anecdotal, but there seems to be an ever-growing hateful, xenophobic vitriol that you can find in Japanese online spaces, it's just isolated by the language barrier so most people outside of Japan don't come across it.
It just goes to show that literally no country is immune from the social media propaganda machine.
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Comment on What is happening to Japan? in ~tech
Sheep LinkThis type of propaganda is rampant in Japanese social media as well. I don't live in Japan but speak Japanese fluently and watch Japanese content out of interest. Almost every time I talk to a...This type of propaganda is rampant in Japanese social media as well. I don't live in Japan but speak Japanese fluently and watch Japanese content out of interest. Almost every time I talk to a Japanese person about anything to do with the state of the country, it almost always invariably leads to how immigration and tourism (usually Chinese/Korean) is destroying Japan in some capacity (I almost always expect to hear something about Chinese tourists kicking deers in Nara or something).
Japanalysis, another Japan-centric youtube creator, did a good video recently about one specific political personality that's spreading this kind of misinformation within the Japanese public that I highly recommend you watch, since most English speakers never have contact with that side of the internet due to the language barrier.
All this to say this type of content affects both people watching from outside and people watching from the inside. It warps reality.
In the end, social media has created the breeding ground for this type of rampant misinformation and is eroding what little is left of real reporting. People are much more engaged with a YouTube short or a Facebook headline than they are with a detailed analysis of a situation. It's sad.
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Comment on South Korea officially recognises same-sex couples in national census in ~lgbt
Sheep LinkSmall step but everything counts in such regions. Hopefully this moves the needle toward equal rights. If I recall correctly, South Korea doesn' thave the same problem as countries like Japan...Small step but everything counts in such regions. Hopefully this moves the needle toward equal rights.
If I recall correctly, South Korea doesn' thave the same problem as countries like Japan where the constitution itself specifically says marriage is between a man and a woman (ie the only way to change it is a constitutional reform a much more daunting process), so in theory once there's majority support for it it should be more easy to change. Fingers crossed.
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Comment on Silksong’s real final boss: The translator who broke his NDA and wrote like a dead poet in ~games
Sheep (edited )Link ParentI work as a professional translator (games and books mostly) so I can chime in a bit with my own experience, though I can't promise it applies here since I don't know Team Cherry's workflow. The...- Exemplary
I work as a professional translator (games and books mostly) so I can chime in a bit with my own experience, though I can't promise it applies here since I don't know Team Cherry's workflow.
The vast majority of translators in this field specifically are freelance workers hired by companies for that specific project.
Speaking for myself, every single localization company has required I take a translation test to even join, some also requiring I have a certificate for the language (Many languages have aptitude tests you can pay to take, and then they'll formally grade your ability). So that is the first hurdle a translator must clear to even translate for somebody, and the first assurance to the client that they are hiring professional translators that can maintain a certain standard.
Then you have translation and style guidelines. Every company usually has these in some capacity to maintain consistency across their projects.
Lastly, a translator is not supposed to work alone. I have never in my life worked alone in the 10 years I've been active. You must always work in tandem with at least an editor that will oversee your work and polish it as necessary, which is then usually followed by a dedicated quality checker that will check for any further issues. The editor and quality checker are not always required to know the source language, but during the hiring process for those positions those are definitely qualities that are sought out so you can specifically ask the company that the editing and quality checking steps be performed by bilingual people as well.
Quality checking can also be done independently by the client or a separate company they hire. I've had books I've translated which were edited by my editor, but all the final quality checking was done by the client (or somebody they hired, I don't actually know) which then sent the feedback for us to review, and that feedback contained (among other things) translation errors made by me as well as disagreement over how I translated some things, which I then promptly fixed.
As the client, you can usually trust that the barrier to entry + the multiple person workflow will ensure nobody is stepping out of line, since if one person steps out of the line the others should step up and inform the company about it, preventing the bad work from ever coming out.
For example, I once worked on a game that was delayed because the previous translator did such an awful job that it was unsalvageable and needed to be redone. This was all caught by editors during the editing phase and the game was never published with that translation, instead being delayed until a new translation was ready.
Also if you're a freelance translator, doing shoddy work or god forbid breaching NDAs will get you on a blacklist prerty quickly and ruin your career in the industry. I have no idea why anybody would do what's described in this article, it's career suicide.
So unless you are directly hiring a single person and not a localization company, NDA breaches and shoddy work should definitely be a very, very low risk. Not impossible but there are enough barriers in place to prevent it.
Since there are only 2 people credited with the Chinese translation of Silksong, I suspect that is where the problem lies, as 2 people is very low for a game of this scale. Just a coordinator + translator + editor are 3 people, and they didn't even have that it seems.
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Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Sheep Link ParentAs someone who lives in a country with reduced tax on books (6% instead of 23%), I support that one at least. Being a source of knowledge, I think books should be as accessible as possible to...As someone who lives in a country with reduced tax on books (6% instead of 23%), I support that one at least. Being a source of knowledge, I think books should be as accessible as possible to people who want/need to purchase them.
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Comment on Does anyone have a digg invite code I can get ? in ~tech
Sheep LinkWould love to get an invite as well if anyone has one. I always enjoy investing my time on smaller platforms.Would love to get an invite as well if anyone has one. I always enjoy investing my time on smaller platforms.
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Comment on Is someone using Filen? in ~tech
Sheep LinkI have used it for quite a few years now with few complaints (major one was the android app being kinda janky but it's better now). I read all about the issues people had with them when they first...I have used it for quite a few years now with few complaints (major one was the android app being kinda janky but it's better now). I read all about the issues people had with them when they first started off, but they seemed either minor for my use case or have been fixed in the meantime. If you have zero trust in them you can always just encrypt your files before uploading them there.
Overall, if it sounds appealing to you and your threat model allows for it, I would say go for it. They're pretty much what they say on the tin.
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Comment on Passing the torch - Discord is getting a new CEO in ~tech
Sheep Link ParentSure thing! So my friend group (~20 people in one discord server) brought this up yesterday and we discussed a potential move, especially as we're trying to divest from US companies as much as...- Exemplary
Sure thing! So my friend group (~20 people in one discord server) brought this up yesterday and we discussed a potential move, especially as we're trying to divest from US companies as much as possible (we're in the EU), and this was our general experience trying all the relevant apps (that we know of):
- By far the most similar to discord in terms of on-boarding, UI layout, server setup, functionality, etc. It's really trying to be a 1 to 1 discord clone.
- We especially liked that we could freely use as many emotes as we wanted, animated or not, since we care a lot about that on our discord server.
- Client was blazing fast. I have a potato PC and discord can be a lag machine but Revolt ran buttery smooth. On their github they mention they're rewriting the client in Tauri so that should make it even better.
- Lack of video streaming was our only major gripe with it, and probably the biggest compromise when compared to discord.
- There was some instability, the client crashed a few times for me, and in general it feels very "alpha"
- Overall, we felt like this app was the easiest to get on board with coming from discord. It definitely feels like it's in its infancy but it seems usable if you're willing to put up with its growing pains.
Element (matrix)
- Setup was a bit convoluted with the whole choosing a server thing and the encryption key thing. I was already familiar with it but my friends aren't.
- How the actual server is structured wasn't super intuitive, it was hard to figure out what was what.
- Lack of emotes and other fun functions was a big let down for casual users that just want to goof around.
- It seems like group video calling and screen sharing isn't very stable yet
- Overall, we felt like this was a more tech-oriented app that wasn't the best for casual users. Too much of a hassle to setup. Probably better if you self host it.
- By far the best voice experience we had, which isn't surprising given the app is geared toward that.
- Unfortunately the lack of proper text channel support meant it wasn't the one for us (by that I mean the text history isn't even saved if you logout and login). The app is clearly voice/video first.
- It's also paid-only which we personally didn't mind but I'm sure some would.
- Overall, while we felt it was awesome if all we cared about is voice and video calling, the ephemeral nature of its chat function was a non starter.
The biggest takeaway I and my friends got from this little discovery journey is that discord really nailed it in combining permanent group chat with channel/forum-like organization and audio/video calling. Having all those working smoothly in one app really puts it a cut above all of the competition and makes fostering a community incredibly easy, which in turn makes it very hard and frustrating to change. It's an everything app basically.
So everything else is a compromise, requiring you to use multiple different apps to attain the same functionality. Some might be ok with that, some might not, but it is the current situation I feel.
Sidenote, we were also aware of Guilded, which is a much more robust discord alternative, but it's A) US owned, and B) corporate owned, which means that sooner or later it will enshittify in the search for money, so we immediately discarded it. But I am leaving it here anyway for those curious.
Hope that gave some perspective! I'm sorry it's not a very technical breakdown but we're almost all casual users of the platform so.
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Comment on Why do AI company logos look like buttholes? in ~design
Sheep LinkWhether they really look like buttholes aside, I wonder how much of this pervasive aesthetic stems from the fact most companies need an app icon because everyone and their dog has a smartphone...Whether they really look like buttholes aside, I wonder how much of this pervasive aesthetic stems from the fact most companies need an app icon because everyone and their dog has a smartphone now.
This is just pure conjecture so please don't take it too seriously, but it's something I noticed as I'm the type of person who customizes their phone's home screen a lot.
Logos with names and funny shapes were a thing before (like 10+ years ago), but then Google and Apple essentially standardized how you must make an app logo and you can't even publish your app if you don't follow their model. They don't enforce a shape for your brand, but all icons must have a set of layers so they can be properly rounded on the homescreen.
This essentially forces all companies to have a logo that can fit well in a circular or squircle shape (the 2 major shapes on smartphones), which I feel inevitably leads to circular logo design for anything that's on a smartphone.
I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons, but I can't help but point this out when I notice how many weirdly shaped icons my home screen has lost over the past decade and a half.
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Comment on Posteo.de or Mailbox.org - Struggling to find an alternative to Proton in ~tech
Sheep LinkDon't have much to add to the comments already posted but since you specifically mentioned location of operation and talk about posteo and mailbox I'm assuming you want EU based services. There is...Don't have much to add to the comments already posted but since you specifically mentioned location of operation and talk about posteo and mailbox I'm assuming you want EU based services. There is an EU page with EU hosted email providers that might interest you, if you haven't seen it already.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health
Sheep Link ParentI feel like this has been a trend since covid 19. I couldn't count with all my fingers and toes how many similar articles I've seen. News sites just all of a sudden started obsessing over every...I feel like this has been a trend since covid 19. I couldn't count with all my fingers and toes how many similar articles I've seen. News sites just all of a sudden started obsessing over every new disease discovered to farm engagement by fear mongering, since covid affected so many people in very real ways, even though finding a new infectious disease is not entirely unexpected.
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Comment on Asmongold's Twitch channel temporarily banned following racist rant about Palestinians in ~games
Sheep Link ParentAnd yet if you go to his youtube channel the titles/thumbnails and the clips featured are more often than not bandwagoning on all the "anti-woke" topics, evidently trying to attract a certain kind...His content is a mix of multiple viewpoints and that attracts a crowd from any of those viewpoints.
And yet if you go to his youtube channel the titles/thumbnails and the clips featured are more often than not bandwagoning on all the "anti-woke" topics, evidently trying to attract a certain kind of audience.
I've heard all those come from the same editor who wants to push that type of content, and that it's not actually Asmon deciding to upload those but... He still shares the opinions that feed into it.
And whether he ultimately believes these things or not is irrelevant, the community he's fostering is clearly very alt-right leaning.
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Comment on How do you shave? in ~life.men
Sheep LinkElectric shaver for everyday shaving because I frankly cannot be bothered to spend too much prep time on it, and I don't think I need a baby face all the time. It's a convenience thing mostly....Electric shaver for everyday shaving because I frankly cannot be bothered to spend too much prep time on it, and I don't think I need a baby face all the time. It's a convenience thing mostly.
Double edged safety razor for when I want to look more slick. Ever since I bought one I never once felt the need to go back to disposable cartridges, the money saved alone is worth it. Takes some time getting used to and I cut myself a lot at first, but it's very much worth it afterwards.
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Comment on Valve bans Razer and Wooting’s new keyboard features in Counter-Strike 2 in ~games
Sheep (edited )LinkAs an osu player, when the wooting first came out, I was sure it would get to a point where games would start banning it (or at least certain functions of it), and here we are a couple years...As an osu player, when the wooting first came out, I was sure it would get to a point where games would start banning it (or at least certain functions of it), and here we are a couple years later.
Counter Strike isn't the first one either, I recall Trackmania banning the custom analog tilt function, and of course in osu reverse the actuation of the keys (so it activates on finger lift rather than press) was recently deemed to be bannable.
It's really crazy how this one company revolutionized a lot of games with their one peripheral and then simultaneously shot themselves in the foot by said revolution. Suffering from success I suppose?
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Comment on The Epic Games Store launches on mobile in ~games
Sheep Link ParentThey were in the EU, and now EU citizens can use alternative app stores and payment processors on iOS devices.. If apple can do it for the EU they can do it for every other region. It's just a...They were in the EU, and now EU citizens can use alternative app stores and payment processors on iOS devices.. If apple can do it for the EU they can do it for every other region. It's just a matter of regulators actually doing something.
As someone who studied media translation (subtitling included), anime is really its own beast that you need separate specifications and guidelines for due to the vast amount of on-screen text as well as the different alphabet that the majority of your audience will not be able to read. It's an absolute shame that Crunchyroll and some other companies do not take this seriously and end up diminishing their paid viewer experience for no good reason (I mean I know the reason is profit with the least amount of work possible, I just don't consider that a good reason).
Traditionally, when subtitling, you used to have a two line limit at the bottom of the screen for most situations (and a character limit per second, usually about 42-48), and then you may occasionally use the top of the screen for the on-screen text, if that text is necessary to comprehend the narrative (otherwise you'd ignore it so as to not clutter the screen). This was mainly a result of technical limitations of traditional formats like TV and DVD players, where fancy styling was not available so you couldn't encode that information in your subtitles. It was also important for subtitles to be modifiable for accessibility reasons as well, so the simpler the better, and in a traditional setting a subtitle file contains little more than timestamps and the text itself.
But for anime, especially nowadays, there are always so many scenes with text on screen (just think of how many fantasy rpg anime with menu screens there are these days) that it should be imperative for companies like Crunchyroll to have guidelines for them and not ignore them completely. Web players are also capable of encoding all types of styling as well, and if accessibility is an issue, you can always include an non stylized option for the people who need it, because modern players allow for such implementations, unlike TV in the old days.
There's also audience expectation. Anime fans are much more inclined to be interested in everything that's on screen because they're already conscious that they're watching a work from another culture and that difference is a huge part of the appeal, so losing out on that vital information diminishes the experience.
Like, I get it. As a translator I get that deadlines are tight and sometimes technical limitations don't allow you to do everything in the most pristine way, but we have ample evidence that something better than what is currently being provided is possible, and Crunchyroll and other anime licensing companies should absolutely be held to that standard if they are charging a fee for their service.