myk's recent activity

  1. Comment on The main problem with the Fediverse is that people mostly just use it to talk about the Fediverse in ~tech

    myk
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    Everyone’s talking big about beans today and I’m not sure that’s an improvement.

    Everyone’s talking big about beans today and I’m not sure that’s an improvement.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Looking for beta testers for my Tildes.net iOS app! in ~tildes

    myk
    Link
    Well, this is a nice start. (posted from backtick)

    Well, this is a nice start.

    (posted from backtick)

    2 votes

  3. Comment on UK Parliament approves snap general election on Dec. 12 in ~news

    myk
    Link Parent
    Sure that’s a possibility but there’s this useful reminder: (From Election Maps UK) Campaigning Corbyn is Best Corbyn, SNP are set to wipe out Tory seats in Scotland, LibDems should take a swathe...

    Sure that’s a possibility but there’s this useful reminder:

    2019 Pre Election Polling (Changes With 2017 Pre Election Polling):
    CON: 36.6% (-7.2)
    LAB: 24.5% (-0.9)
    LDM: 17.9% (+7.4)
    BXP: 11.1% (+11.1)
    GRN: 4.0% (+0.2)
    UKIP: 0.7% (-10.1)
    Tories and UKIP in much worse positions, Lib Dems in a much better position.

    (From Election Maps UK)

    Campaigning Corbyn is Best Corbyn, SNP are set to wipe out Tory seats in Scotland, LibDems should take a swathe of seats in the South-West and other areas, BXP could nibble away at some extremely Brexity seats.

    We might come through this with the Commons being not much different than it currently is, just having wasted six weeks to get there...

    2 votes

  4. Comment on UK Parliament approves snap general election on Dec. 12 in ~news

    myk
    Link
    And it will probably solve nothing, resulting in yet another hung Parliament and no new ideas on how to resolve Brexit. “Please do not waste this time,” Donald Tusk pleaded with us at the time of...

    And it will probably solve nothing, resulting in yet another hung Parliament and no new ideas on how to resolve Brexit.

    “Please do not waste this time,” Donald Tusk pleaded with us at the time of the last extension, almost as if he knew us better than we knew ourselves.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on How to live like Jane Austen in ~books

    myk
    Link
    I do wonder how her guests cope with the lack of electricity and indoor plumbing.

    I do wonder how her guests cope with the lack of electricity and indoor plumbing.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Tilditors fluent in 1+ language, how did you get there? in ~talk

    myk
    (edited )
    Link
    Not fluent in German, but getting there after a year. The only secret is practice. I stumped up the cash for Duolingo and Memrise and just powered through them to get a basic grasp of vocab and...

    Not fluent in German, but getting there after a year.

    The only secret is practice. I stumped up the cash for Duolingo and Memrise and just powered through them to get a basic grasp of vocab and grammar, then started watching German TV with (German) subtitles to get an ear for the language as it’s spoken (Look for the ARD app in the App Store, it’s great!). I listen out for and keep repeating phrases that I think will be useful in everyday situations, turning them into questions, changing the tense, thinking about how I’d use them in different situations, what the responses might be.

    I also started talking to my dog in German! All the normal nonsense conversations actually cover a lot of good ground, and your dog is a good listener who never laughs at your mistakes.

    One tip for German is to realise that many words are made of small cores with prefixes and suffixes added to expand their range, so once you learn a core word like say fahren, check out what effect er-, be-, ein-, aus-, an- etc have on that verb — you can often learn a handful of related verbs very quickly.

    I moved to Germany a few weeks ago, and it’s tough, but I can make myself understood, and can understand about 10% of what people say to me, so there’s a long way to go, but it’s really satisfying to see the progress I have made in a year.

    6 votes

  7. Comment on More about scheduled topics, some group rearranging, and input needed on "content types" in ~tildes.official

    myk
    Link
    For ~code, how about “Show us your code”? Suitable for projects, snippets, puzzling bugs, or even (grr) ideas with no code yet.

    For ~code, how about “Show us your code”? Suitable for projects, snippets, puzzling bugs, or even (grr) ideas with no code yet.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Rwanda's Mara X, Z are the first smartphones made fully in Africa in ~tech

    myk
    Link
    There’s a very good CNBC report linked from that page, which makes it look like a genuine and well-founded decision rather than just a marketing exercise. I hope it works out well for them.

    There’s a very good CNBC report linked from that page, which makes it look like a genuine and well-founded decision rather than just a marketing exercise. I hope it works out well for them.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on What's something you think more people should know about/be aware of? in ~talk

    myk
    Link Parent
    Very well put. It’s good to see that very blunt Cochrane Collaboration finding.

    Very well put. It’s good to see that very blunt Cochrane Collaboration finding.

  10. Comment on What's something you think more people should know about/be aware of? in ~talk

    myk
    Link Parent
    I’m not sure it’s even limited to those special cases. Screening for any relatively rare condition will cause much more false positives than useful results. E.g. prostate cancer affects about 1-2...

    I’m not sure it’s even limited to those special cases. Screening for any relatively rare condition will cause much more false positives than useful results. E.g. prostate cancer affects about 1-2 in a thousand men in the UK, but Cancer Research UK advises against a screening programme for that very reason.

  11. Comment on What's something you think more people should know about/be aware of? in ~talk

    myk
    Link Parent
    The author starts with the statement “This post is about why screening healthy people is generally a bad idea” which he then illustrates by reference to one case that was in the news at the time....

    The author starts with the statement “This post is about why screening healthy people is generally a bad idea” which he then illustrates by reference to one case that was in the news at the time. I don’t think that @DanBC’s statement was really very different from that position.

    3 votes

  12. Comment on What's something you think more people should know about/be aware of? in ~talk

  13. Comment on What's something you think more people should know about/be aware of? in ~talk

    myk
    Link Parent
    That basilisk sounds like such a stupid idea when I’ve tried to explain it in the pub, but some people in the internet seem to get really upset by it. I’m not going to put myself at risk by saying...

    That basilisk sounds like such a stupid idea when I’ve tried to explain it in the pub, but some people in the internet seem to get really upset by it. I’m not going to put myself at risk by saying no-one needs to know about It though wink.

    4 votes

  14. Comment on What's a small thing that made you happy? in ~talk

    myk
    Link Parent
    I lived in Switzerland for a few years a while back, but as a totally ignorant ex-pat. So when I thought a move to Germany was on the cards I paid for Memrise and Duolingo and just followed their...

    I lived in Switzerland for a few years a while back, but as a totally ignorant ex-pat. So when I thought a move to Germany was on the cards I paid for Memrise and Duolingo and just followed their “fast” learning paces. Duolingo is good for just plodding stubbornly through (still not finished!) while Memrise has good “real speakers” videos, but runs out of good content quite quickly in comparison.

    What really helped on top of that was the ARD iOS/AppleTV app that gives you a whole wodge of German language TV, mostly with subtitles available. So many romance films and crime dramas!

    But as everyone tells you, it’s speaking it live that counts. I’m still weak at picking up what people are saying and have to work out my key sentences in advance, but it all feels like it’s just within my reach now. I’m probably B1/B2 now, so nowhere near “Wirtschaft” or ”fliessende“ yet but ich drücke meine Daumen!

    I found German really hard compared to French, Italian etc (which I speak at tourist level), but it’s really starting to come together after 6-7 months (except adjective endings of course, I feel I will never master them).

    Good luck for your learning!

    5 votes

  15. Comment on Ken Thompson's Unix password in ~comp

    myk
    Link
    Now we all need to add “no famous chess moves” to password strength checkers.

    Now we all need to add “no famous chess moves” to password strength checkers.

    7 votes

  16. Comment on What's a small thing that made you happy? in ~talk

    myk
    Link
    Just moved to Germany having studied German on Duolingo for six months. Being able to actually navigate simple conversations in shops, pubs etc, makes me feel like I’ve got a new superpower.

    Just moved to Germany having studied German on Duolingo for six months. Being able to actually navigate simple conversations in shops, pubs etc, makes me feel like I’ve got a new superpower.

    9 votes

  17. Comment on Peel, chop and stir for hours: How Appalachia’s beloved community apple-butter parties live on in ~food

    myk
    Link
    Having just spent a couple of days making apple chutney and apple and cardamom jam out of the fruit from our one tree, I strongly share her preference for well shaped apples!

    Having just spent a couple of days making apple chutney and apple and cardamom jam out of the fruit from our one tree, I strongly share her preference for well shaped apples!

  18. Comment on Interstellar object may have been alien probe, Harvard paper argues, but experts are skeptical in ~science

    myk
    Link Parent
    That website (Centauri Dreams) has such great in-depth reads. It's one of my regular reads on Feedly.

    That website (Centauri Dreams) has such great in-depth reads. It's one of my regular reads on Feedly.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on Guys, what style of facial hair (if any) do you have? Why that style? in ~life.style

    myk
    Link
    I had a Van Dyke for many years as I have quite a weak chin (not quite George Lucas but same idea). I let it grow into a full mountain man beard when I walked the Appalachian Trail 5 years ago....

    I had a Van Dyke for many years as I have quite a weak chin (not quite George Lucas but same idea). I let it grow into a full mountain man beard when I walked the Appalachian Trail 5 years ago.

    When I finished I shaved it all off and my partner hated me clean shaven as I looked about 20 (backhanded compliment I guess), so I grew it all back, just better maintained.

    I’m starting to get some grey hairs in it now, so I might have to decide whether my vanity or my laziness is stronger...

    2 votes

  20. Comment on What linguistics habits annoy you? in ~talk

    myk
    Link Parent
    It's interesting that you raise the matter of the intent behind the question. We've got people sharing the usual complaints about (other people's) grammar, vocabulary, verbal tics etc. I know that...

    It's interesting that you raise the matter of the intent behind the question. We've got people sharing the usual complaints about (other people's) grammar, vocabulary, verbal tics etc. I know that this is ~talk, but I wonder what @pamymaf wanted to get out of this discussion.

    1 vote