Cirrus's recent activity
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes
Cirrus Link ParentI think there is a difference between constructive and destructive criticism. I read and hear chinese people criticize various policies of the government, and these people usually want to make...I think there is a difference between constructive and destructive criticism. I read and hear chinese people criticize various policies of the government, and these people usually want to make China a better place to live in. I get the feeling that many people here wish ill towards China, not to make it better.
There is another side as well. I don't think I would mind as much if I were living in China, but I'm in Canada, and so everything I read some post or comment (not necessarily on here, mind), I wonder if the people I interact with in real life secretly think like this. Canadians are very polite, and usually keep their judgements to themselves. But I had a friend who was publicly accused of being a chinese spy by coworkers. So every time I read something online, I wonder if some people I know talk like this behind closed doors, and I wonder what they think of me and my country. This is not good for my mental state. I would rather be in ignorance of these comments.
As to calling out these bias, it is like trying to stem a tide with your hands. There is no point. I am not a historian, and I don't want to be bothered to research articles, journals or something else every time something related to China comes up. Some people will still think I am wumao. It's just not worth it, and it puts me in a bad mood as well.
Thank you for your comment, patience_limited.
PS: @deing I don't think you noticed, but I added more to the intro post a while ago. I would appreciate it if you updated the wiki. It is outdated nonetheless, but at least it is the latest outdated version. https://pastebin.com/Cv3i8bUc
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes
Cirrus LinkMy own reason for drifting away from tildes is different, but I suppose it's better to at least mention it than quietly fade away. I'm chinese, and over the months I've felt a distinct...- Exemplary
My own reason for drifting away from tildes is different, but I suppose it's better to at least mention it than quietly fade away.
I'm chinese, and over the months I've felt a distinct anti-chinese sentiment on here. There was a period where every day, there would be at least one article in ~news criticizing China, or expressing their dislike of China in some way. Even if I don't delve into the fact that many of those articles are pretty sensationalist, it feels really shitty seeing that everyday, and looking into the comments and seeing people generalizing all chinese people as brainwashed/spies/etc.
I sense a similar rise in hostility on other sites, but the opinions there are more varied, while here it's more uniform, and I don't get as strong of an unwelcoming feeling.
I think this is all due to the trade war, and the US ramping up it's propaganda against China. Whatever the case, I think I'll stay away for a while.
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Comment on Data on discrimination in ~tech
Cirrus LinkI remember reading a topic on discrimination in the tech industry here, and wondering why the topic came up so frequently compared to other fields. This article is pretty interesting and contains...I remember reading a topic on discrimination in the tech industry here, and wondering why the topic came up so frequently compared to other fields. This article is pretty interesting and contains both data analysis and personal stories.
An excerpt:
Townsend-Greenspan was unusual for an economics firm in that the men worked for the women (we had about twenty-five employees in all). My hiring of women economists was not motivated by women's liberation. It just made great business sense. I valued men and women equally, and found that because other employers did not, good women economists were less expensive than men. Hiring women . . . gave Townsend-Greenspan higher-quality work for the same money . . .
A link inside it to another article is also interesting: http://leanangry.tumblr.com/post/125716699460/your-pipeline-argument-is-bullshit
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Data on discrimination
5 votes -
Comment on Filtering specific users in ~tildes
Cirrus Link ParentYou are correct, tags are used to filter out a category of posts. However I want the ability to filter out individual posts, not a certain category, or a certain user. Because the activity sort...You are correct, tags are used to filter out a category of posts. However I want the ability to filter out individual posts, not a certain category, or a certain user. Because the activity sort tends to promote controversial posts, sometimes I see the same post up for days, filled with people arguing back and forth. I remember that ~tildes was so bad in a period of time that I totally unsubscribed from it, resorting to only check up on it every now and then to avoid clogging up my page. Being able to permenantly hide posts would have been much easier.
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Comment on Filtering specific users in ~tildes
Cirrus Link ParentTagging is not very standardized. I sometimes see posts with no tags, posts with tags I disagree with, or posts that I think are missing tags. Sometimes tags are subjective, and there is no right...Tagging is not very standardized. I sometimes see posts with no tags, posts with tags I disagree with, or posts that I think are missing tags. Sometimes tags are subjective, and there is no right or wrong. Asking a curator or the author to change tags is annoying to both them and me, and I just don't bother. This system does not give me complete control over what I want to see. A hide post button would be a big improvement, especially for posts that attract days-long arguments which keep bumping it up to the front page.
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Comment on Frozen alive in ~life
Cirrus Link ParentI'm glad you are okay. I had a similar but much less dangerous experience, was kayaking on a big river when a storm rolled in. I saw the clouds but didn't expect them to travel so quickly. The...I'm glad you are okay. I had a similar but much less dangerous experience, was kayaking on a big river when a storm rolled in. I saw the clouds but didn't expect them to travel so quickly. The wind started picking up and the waves got big, and then it started raining. Good thing the shore was downriver, I was basically blown back. Can't imagine being stuck on a big lake, must be terrifying.
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Frozen alive
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Comment on How do I learn and understand what kinds of books I like? in ~books
Cirrus Link ParentWhat are some books you liked? Maybe someone can recommend you more based on that.What are some books you liked? Maybe someone can recommend you more based on that.
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Comment on How do you deal with stress and anxiety in a healthy way? in ~health
Cirrus Link ParentWhen despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty...- Exemplary
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
---The peace of wild things, Wendell Berry
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Comment on Realistic-looking people? in ~movies
Cirrus LinkI'm going to add on to one of my old comments. Some of these are Asian films, which is sort of inconvenient for people who don't speak the language or can't find subtitles. 12 Angry Men. A 1957...I'm going to add on to one of my old comments. Some of these are Asian films, which is sort of inconvenient for people who don't speak the language or can't find subtitles.
12 Angry Men. A 1957 American courtroom drama film. "This courtroom drama tells the story of a jury of 12 men as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt, forcing the jurors to question their morals and values." The movie did really well in making these 12 men ordinary people, unique in personality and beliefs.
La Grande Vadrouille. "A 1966 French comedy film about two ordinary Frenchmen helping the crew of a Royal Air Force bomber shot down over Paris make their way through German-occupied France to escape arrest." None of the actors are particularly good looking. I don't remember a lot about the film since I saw it years ago, but I remember it was funny.
Band of Brothers. "The series dramatizes the history of "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division, from jump training in the United States through its participation in major actions in Europe, up until Japan's capitulation and the war's end." I like this one because they focused on a group of people instead of one 'hero'. Supposedly they also did a very good job of capturing what WWII was like.
Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬) This is the exception I make, there are some famous Chinese actors in here. But most of you won't know them, so it doesn't really matter. This movie is art. It tells the story of two male stars in a Beijing opera troupe and spans many periods of Chinese history, from the end of Qing to the republic of China, to the Japanese invasion, then the liberation of China, the cultural revolution and then the aftermath.
In the Heat of the Sun （阳光灿烂的日子）[1995], a Chinese film about a group of teenagers growing up in Beijing during the cultural revolution. The main character and his friends are free to roam the streets of Beijing day and night because the cultural revolution has caused their parents and most adults to be either busy or away and school was basically stopped. Fairly light-hearted, basically about all the foolish things you do as teenagers. Beijing then was very different from Beijing now, no skyscrapers, a lot of hutongs, no cars.
Memories of Murder (살인의 추억) [2003], a Korean film about two detectives trying to catch a serial murderer. The story takes place in a small town in 1986 and is based on a true event. A very good crime film, and I think it fairly accurately describes the political and cultural environment of Korea at the time - corruption, injustice of police, etc.
Seven Samurai （七人の侍）[1954], a black and white Japanese film about villagers hiring samurai to defend their village against bandits. The story takes place in 1586 in a Japanese village. I've heard that the clothes, war tactics, weapons, buildings, etc are all fairly accurate.
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OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine - Official Video
6 votes -
Comment on What is your plan for self-growth in the new year? in ~life
Cirrus Link ParentWhen you say a sentence takes half an hour of research, what are you researching? Is it that you can't find suitable words, or you don't understand the cultural meaning? Also when you translate by...When you say a sentence takes half an hour of research, what are you researching? Is it that you can't find suitable words, or you don't understand the cultural meaning? Also when you translate by paragraph, if you come upon some clever wording or a joke that references the culture, do you try to preserve that somehow or just skip over it? I find that if I paraphrase, I lose the original author's writing style - it is like I'm telling a friend about a story instead of letting them read the book themselves. Sometimes the missing style is obvious enough that I can tell a work was translated. For example, when I first found Ted Chiang's stories, I assumed the original language was Chinese based on the author's name. But when I found a Chinese copy, it just doesn't read right. That's when I realized the original story was in English.
Also why only from Italian/English to Turkish and not the other way around?
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Comment on What is your plan for self-growth in the new year? in ~life
Cirrus Link ParentWhat languages do you translate, and is it easy? I ask because I've tried translating a Chinese article to English, and gave up halfway because of how poorly I was doing. The grammar structure...What languages do you translate, and is it easy?
I ask because I've tried translating a Chinese article to English, and gave up halfway because of how poorly I was doing. The grammar structure still sounded Chinese even though it was in English. It didn't help that the article was about Chinese culture, and was full of words that have no equivalent in English.
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Comment on W a T E R D R O P in ~movies
Cirrus LinkThis is a short film created by Wang Ren as a tribute to the critically acclaimed Chinese science fiction "The Dark Forest" by Liu Cixin.This is a short film created by Wang Ren as a tribute to the critically acclaimed Chinese science fiction "The Dark Forest" by Liu Cixin.
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W a T E R D R O P
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Comment on Late Afternoon in ~movies
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
Cirrus Link ParentIt's about population density. Canada has 37 million people. Beijing alone has 22 million people. The customer base difference is huge. Another thing to note is that it is entirely possible to...It's about population density. Canada has 37 million people. Beijing alone has 22 million people. The customer base difference is huge. Another thing to note is that it is entirely possible to live your life in China with only public transport and electric bikes, while in NA a car is a basic necessity of life, so more people are going to take trains in China as opposed to driving. Even with so much people, China's high speed trains often lose money if they don't have full passengers. The whole system is propped up by the government for the economic benefits brought by ease of transportation. So I suppose to maintain a high speed railway in NA would be very expensive. I've also heard that in Europe many train tickets are more expensive than airplane tickets, which I guess is their way of compensating for the cost of running the train.
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I watched D&G’s China show fall apart from the inside
14 votes
Yes, I don't have the thickest skin, pretty thin in fact, but I don't think that makes my opinion less valid. Also, anti-China by Americans is definitely more hostile than anti-Americanism by Americans.
I'm not asking for a change - it is what it is, and I don't think any person can change it if they could - I just wanted people to know why I'm leaving, and to hear a "non western voice". It always feels strange to me when people intentionally want diversity on a site, especially when the site itself is not very friendly to minorities to begin with, and more so for people who are not familiar with western culture and English, i.e, the non-western people. It seems that I am valued solely for my ethnicity.