SpectralPineapple

joined 9 months ago
[–] SpectralPineapple 5 points 9 months ago

I have a habit of checking out reviews on Goodreads. I don't take it too seriously, but the UI is less busy than Amazon and reviews are often a little more chaotic, random, and personal. I like that. I use it to track the books I read, which aren't many but it's simple enough. From my own sample, Goodreads rarely form my decision on which books to buy, but it's up there in my mental algorithm mixed with a bunch of other stuff.

[–] SpectralPineapple 34 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Copy pasting entire articles is discouraged. It is preferable to share a link to an archive website such as this: https://archive.is/5UPAI

[–] SpectralPineapple 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That is pointed criticism and correct on most counts. I wonder if irony is a productive attitude for that kind of criticism. Personally, I feel that irony is remarkable at reassuring those who already agree with the points being made. I don't think it is effective at producing change. Not that I think changing people is the goal of the article. I recently published an article of my own that touches on those issues. It was discussed here: https://beehaw.org/post/11732833.

I identify the most with that bit:

  1. That is, anything not declared in the post is something O.P. does not care about/is complicit with. Every expression of concern is in fact an expression of unconcern about something else; each of them merits a rebuke and you have been appointed (by yourself, but nevermind) to deliver it. Everyone but you is indifferent to the plight of the greater sage grouse and needs to be reminded of it.
[–] SpectralPineapple 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I gave some attention to World of Warcraft Classic - Season of Discovery. It is certainly enjoyable to have a lively world with plenty of people interacting everywhere, but the nuts and bolts of Vanilla are largely the same. The slow leveling, the 1-hour cooldown for my Hearthstone (the item that takes me back to the Innkeeper I set), the fact that I must be physically at the dungeon location to enter an instance, and the demands for being highly social for a bunch of basic stuff feel exhausting. A lot of time I need people for group quests and runes, and the mere thought of talking to strangers is discouraging. I realized that, while I enjoy social interaction, that is not necessarily true for the majority of my playtime. Classic Wrath always feels like a good compromise for me -- it is still Classic and the open world is still relevant, but it has a lot of QOL that makes it manageable for me. The Hearthstone cooldown is 30 minutes, I get my first mount at level 20 instead of 40, and the Random Dungeon Finder puts me in an instance automatically. Granted, there's not a lot of people on Wrath right now, but I still enjoy leveling my character, leveling mining, getting ready for Cataclysm, and making money on the auction house. I found a nice wholesome guild, but it seems that most people are just playing SoD.

[–] SpectralPineapple 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What is "(/lh)"? Google doesn't seem to know this acronym, and neither does chatGTP.

[–] SpectralPineapple 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

I do believe that the USA is a special case. It would be difficult for me to provide sufficient justification for that statement at the moment, but life in the USA seems particularly complex in terms of the amount of brain power dedicated to scrutinizing language and other features of human behavior to determine familiarity, allegiance, and opposition. Communicating in English-speaking environments is, at once, stimulating and terrifying. My personal impression is that, because Americans are trained from an early age to observe a highly complex set of delicate constraints that become automatic for them, they expect everyone to have the same degree of sophistication, and will often react with outrage to anyone who fails to do so.

Essentially, because in some places Americans often talk amongst Americans, they sometimes attribute intent to what is simply a cultural difference. In those places, of which some subreddits are good examples, the rest of the English-speaking worlds will try to conform to American sensibilities.

The "hidden meaning" of expressions such "state's rights" is a problem for me, because, being a non-native speaker, I will often use expressions and phrasing that leads the reader to think I am defending some kind of hidden agenda that I myself know nothing about.

Those are just my guesses, though. I wouldn't write a post specifically about this because that requires real research. It's best for a real linguist or sociologist to comment on.


And oh, I forget about phatic expressions all the time! I often have to edit my comments to add words that will make me sound respectful and "a human". It's a little tiresome to me, not gonna lie. I wouldn't feel bad about someone not using those expressions when talking to me, but I must remember to use them myself all the time! :P

[–] SpectralPineapple 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I've played Xcloud on a good wired connection. It's impressive but IMHO opinion far from ideal. Input lag is getting better but it's still noticeable. Resolution varies but it's never as good as the real thing. Noticeably worse, actually. Loading a game takes longer than locally. For me? It's not enough. That said, before I was around, my mother-in-law spent years watching everything on the wrong aspect ratio. On a good TV. So I can totally see a lot of people streaming games for years without realizing how much better gaming can be.

[–] SpectralPineapple 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Guys, thank you so much for all the great ideas. Given that everyone made a big effort to help me, I'm a bit embarrassed to report that it looks like it went away? I tried rebooting before and that didn't help. I rebooted a second time for an unrelated reason and that "fixed" it. I have no idea why. I feel like an idiot now. I will report if it comes back, but, for now, I think that was solved.

Thanks!

[–] SpectralPineapple 4 points 9 months ago

I wrote this autobiographical essay about some of my difficulties with sensitive online discussions.

[–] SpectralPineapple 3 points 9 months ago

I wrote more than 3500 words. That is literally a lot of words, and that is the only thing I interpret from your comment. Because it's true!

[–] SpectralPineapple 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You only say that because you never dated me! lol

Just kidding.

But yeah, there are lots of unspoken rules for sure, but to be honest, when a potential partner fixates too much on that kinda thing I lose interest anyway. I don't wanna be with someone just because I tick their mental boxes as if I there was an invisible DnD character sheet for me in their head.

When I notice someone "plays games", I usually decide they're not for me. I call them whenever I feel like it, I send messages whenever I feel like it. I'm not looking at the calendar just to know when to call without looking "needy", because someone who would judge me for being "needy" is not someone I wanna be with. If I like someone, they'll know it.

I've been with women who clearly counted the days and followed rules for this and other stuff. It's exhausting.

When you asked about "dating" I thought you only meant first dates and such, long-term relationships are a different ball game. But I would say that in the stage I am in life, once a relationship starts "securing" the first year is kind of a given. Things tend to get harder after that.

[–] SpectralPineapple 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I seem to have posted this twice, but neither is showing on my profile, and they are not visible to me on the "chat" group. It also says "cross-posted to: chat", but I didn't cross-post. I don't know what is going on, nor what will happen if I delete one of them (are they really two posts?). If there's a mod around, can you maybe merge the two posts? Thanks.

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