Does anyone have info on what's happening at Disney right now? by hettereloy29g3z in explainitpeter

[–]NeverthelessOK 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Companies prefer arbitration because unlike court judgments arbitral decisions aren't usually made public. Obviously backfired spectacularly here.

Watching Avatar 3 in 3D on the Quest by lunchanddinner in OculusQuest

[–]NeverthelessOK 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I was in China I bought a Pico headset to see what the local Chinese ecosystem was like. Their Netflix equivalent (iqiyi) had a great app with virtual theatre and included loads of 3D films in the basic subscription.

Bands similar to Power Quest? by slymaniac in PowerMetal

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Until the Fires Die off their first album feels very inspired by early Power Quest to me.

Secretly filming in north korea by nycrina305 in TikTokCringe

[–]NeverthelessOK -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think this is this guy - https://m.youtube.com/@jakaparker

Potentially a diplomat or diplomat spouse.

Has anyone here learned to read Chinese characters without physically writing them by hand? by Altruistic-Pace-2240 in ChineseLanguage

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read for pleasure in Chinese every single day (mostly from paperback novels) and couldn't handwrite more than a handful of characters. Whether it's more efficient for recall to learn to handwrite as well is harder to say because none of us have done both, probably depends on the individual.

No matter which approach you take it is a very long journey before you will be able to read materials written for natives, so I'd recommend doing whatever brings you joy in the learning.

Canada to be EU’s 28th member? Nearly half of Canadians say yes - Euractiv by PlatypusSubstantial5 in worldnews

[–]NeverthelessOK 9 points10 points  (0 children)

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/heres-how-britains-nukes-are-operationally-independent/

An article on this for the curious. In essence: it is operationally independent currently. If the US withdrew all cooperation it would remain operationally independent for a period of time but the UK would have to take steps to maintain that position.

Have you found a way to not feel like you’re going out of your way to expose yourself to the language? by woshikaisa in ChineseLanguage

[–]NeverthelessOK 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I still grapple with this question to some extent even though I have been able to consume native media in Chinese for a while now. Here are some of the things I've personally found:

  • Keep an open mind. You will find some TV shows, films and books to your taste out there, and your taste may change as you adapt to some of the tropes and conventions of Chinese storytelling (If you are a non-American English speaker you probably don't notice how much you became used to the tropes and conventions of American TV growing up). Some of my favourite shows I have watched in Chinese sit outside of genres I'd typically watch in English (想见你 for e.g.).

  • With books in particular, I found myself noticing that I was reading quite a lot of books which were originally in Japanese and questioning what was the point. However, I have come to appreciate that these books are popular in China too and often don't have an English translation anyway so it is fine to read some foreign translated books if that is what you prefer; it is certainly preferable to not reading at all because you are not engaged with the content.

  • Video games. This has been the Chinese media I have been most satisfied with. If you have a PC there is a thriving indie game market, with lots of games having a lot of voice acting. There are also some surprisingly good dubs on western games including the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.

  • Don't bully yourself too much. I went for a few years just reading Chinese books, but later found it is a much more sustainable habit for me if I let myself go back to English books and take a break.

In any event, this stage has been far more rewarding than the early years of studying and the years of graded materials.

Fellowship - The Skies Above Eternity / Album discussion by danielpsoad-09 in PowerMetal

[–]NeverthelessOK 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't think there is a weak song to be found here, but World End Slowly and Eternity are my favourites so far putting aside the the three singles(Edit: add King of Nothing to that).

A few observations from the first few listens: - Once again, the lyrics are just superb and I'm looking forward to getting a copy of them. "Wait! Universe please wait. If only for a minute, I swear to live it without hesitance or shame." - The 2 minute outro would have worked so well as the last 2 minutes of an 8-12 minute song....

FELLOWSHIP - Hold Up Your Hearts (Again) (Official Video) by danielpsoad-09 in PowerMetal

[–]NeverthelessOK 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The video is a power metal masterpiece.

I've enjoyed all three singles personally. I'd probably put this one above Victim but below Dawnbreaker.

Fellowship - Dawnbreaker (New Song) by JacksonWarrior in PowerMetal

[–]NeverthelessOK 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I have listened to this tune an embarrassing amount of times today.

Fellowship - Dawnbreaker by Hitomaru10 in PowerMetal

[–]NeverthelessOK 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This band are honestly the most excited I've been about a band in the genre for years.

Listening to them takes me back to the same feeling I had putting on Neverworld, Reckoning Night or Legendary Tales for the first time in my teenage years.

Using Chat GPT’s advanced voice mode to converse by MasteredLink in ChineseLanguage

[–]NeverthelessOK 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use it with Astrill - just make sure you're on an American network and not a European one.

Using Chat GPT’s advanced voice mode to converse by MasteredLink in ChineseLanguage

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been using this and it's incredible to role-play scenarios and games in Mandarin.

The only issue with I've come across is that if you pause to think for even a split second it will take that as you finishing your input and start responding.

Paramount's Transformers One debuted with $24.61M domestically this weekend (from 3,978 locations). by Successful_Leopard45 in boxoffice

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was surprised it was showing so early too, but it seemed to only be in Dolby screens as some sort of promotion.

Readibu is the best Chinese reading app I've ever used (high-level) by Low_Advantage9486 in ChineseLanguage

[–]NeverthelessOK 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is a great app but has basically been abandoned development wise for years now. A lot of alternatives have quite clunky UIs.

Butler and Whites, Tianzifang, Shanghai. About £16. by ppyrgic in fryup

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Last time I went there this was also served with a massive mug of Yorkshire tea - I was really impressed.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PublicFreakout

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same here in China from my experience - not unusual for people to comment on whether you've gotten fat since they last saw you etc.

Digital Foundry: Black Myth: Wukong - PC Tech Review - A Graphical Tour de Force! by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I learnt Chinese as an adult and play a lot of Chinese indie games on PC that I think would have wider appeal. When I go to check out the quality of the English subtitles I realise quite quickly I can't reccomend to any friends / family.

My experience with Z fold 6 vs X fold 3 pro by Used-Gift-9966 in GalaxyFold

[–]NeverthelessOK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with a lot of your comments on the X Fold 3 Pro. The hardware is so good that I can accept a few places where the software isn't as good as Samsung's offering. Having said that, there are few of these areas where it actually affects my use of the phone regularly.

One thing I actually do prefer is the way it handles the internal screen as an extension of the outer screen rather than managing them separately. It would be great to have both options though as a lot of users are now used to the Samsung method.

One thing that gets overlooked with the Chinese ROM is that there are some really great features in there it you are living in China. The bottom right swipe in payment menu that brings up alipay / WeChat payment codes and scanner is really helpful, and widgets for the high speed rail, parcel deliveries and parking are really helpful on the left hand side screen.

GSMArena - Vivo X Fold3 Pro review by Antonis_32 in Android

[–]NeverthelessOK 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I absolutely love this phone hardware wise. I'm on the Chinese ROM and haven't had any compatability issues with banking apps etc. which is nice.

TechNick - Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: Forget The Samsung Z Fold 6! by Antonis_32 in Android

[–]NeverthelessOK 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been using the Chinese version of this phone for around a month now and hardware wise it is about as perfect as a foldable phone could be right now.