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Joined 9 months ago
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Cake day: September 28th, 2023

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  • I agree, it shouldn’t be used as a way to slam someone. Point it out if you’re in the middle of a useful response. I would consider this a form of error detection / error correction feedback, because maybe the original poster genuinely doesn’t know. Speaking for myself, I would wonder what the speaker hears in their head when they’re presented with both spellings.

    But if we’re playing fast and loose with the rules, then we should also accept ‘luce’ as another alternative. The point here being, how far can we take it before everyone agrees that it’s no longer a reasonable alternative?

    I’ve long considered that learning a second language is like learning to play music. So yeah, there’s the precision of classical, versus the freestyle of jazz.

    But if you’re playing some vinyl on a turntable and asking others to listen to it while jumping around on the floor next to it, don’t be surprised if people seem distracted when the needle starts to jump around. Was that a glitch, or was it intentional?

    Tangent time: around 25 years ago I was reading up on DNS (and BIND) and came across something that stuck with me. I might be paraphrasing, but it went something like “be strict in what you send, and flexible in what you accept”. The context had to do with acceptable DNS names being passed around, and a methodology to improve the odds of mutual success.

    Shifting back to being more on topic: I wish I could speak and write at a level far better than I can now. When I hear certain speakers (typically from England) I simultaneously have a great appreciation for their language competence and a regret for my own competence. I do try to be better, although I do fail.

    In the end, I’d like to be able to bring others along when I lift myself up.











  • That’s one thing I noticed about NZ, during my first trip: the speed limits are generally sane. If anything, the rural speed limits have a genuine sense of reality to them.

    In stark contrast, driving in Canada (Toronto area) and the US (Texas) most times I felt I could safely go faster, were it not for the constant threat of speed traps or random / stealth cruisers.

    In NZ if you’re doing a long drive and you don’t heed the slower speed limits as you enter a bend in the road, you may have just fucked yourself. Especially if the roads have a layer of moisture, which is likely.

    And the more built up areas have a decent amount of traffic calming, which is nice.

    Toronto and really all of the GTA need a severe dose of NotJustBikes to get sorted.










  • Back in the 80s one of my first jobs out of university was working downtown Toronto. One of my coworkers was this effervescent woman of Japanese-Canadian descent.

    She would talk about what it was like meeting guys in clubs.

    “So, where are you from?”

    “Scarborough”

    “Uh… no, I mean where are you originally from?”

    (feigning an “oh I getcha now” moment) “Ohh okay, yeah… Saskatchewan”, since that’s where she really was from, previously.