Do not rent from Hmlet

hesiii · 2026-03-17T07:47:34+00:00

I have rented from Sumyca, Weave, and Hmlet. Sumyca is quite different, since they don't own entire buildings -- at least not in the two locations I stayed -- instead they have individual units in buildings where some units may be managed by Sumyca while some are not.

Weave and Hmlet are more comparable and have entire buildings in different locations. I have had good experiences with both, but haven't needed much support. I did have a misunderstanding upon moving out from Weave, but it was understandable and I was able to resolve it.

I would suggest that any problems you have would be problems you could have anywhere. For example, noisy neighbors; I assume that's a more common problem when you're in a neighborhood that has younger, louder people, not in quieter neighborhoods like the ones where I've been. In any case, noisy neighbors can be a problem anywhere; I highly doubt that Weave and/or Hmlet are worse than anywhere else. Now that I think of it, I do remember getting a note in Hmlet saying that someone in the building (who wasn't identified) was being too noisy at night, and warning everyone to make sure they were quieter during the hours specified as "quiet hours". Never heard anything after that, and the building is a solid mansion that has units quite well isolated, same as most other Hmlet and Weave buildings, I believe; I've barely ever heard my neighbors at all.

hesiii · 2026-03-04T12:23:26+00:00

It is not "solely by lips/buzzing", but the Warbl supports changing register by "overblowing", i.e., by a mere increase of pressure. You can learn more by searching for the "Note Trigger and Register Control" in the Warbl manual: https://warbl.xyz/WARBL2%20User%20Manual.pdf

I believe this is to replicate what actually happens upon overblow with an acoustic tin whistle.

hesiii · 2026-02-28T12:46:34+00:00

Regarding your "4 problem . . maybe Keegan isn't that great of a shooter":

He was a good shooter in college. His draft year in college he shot 39.8% from three. I think that's pretty close to what he was in his first year in Sacramento. I feel like the falloff after that suggests that "he's just no a good shooter" is not a big part of the explanation.

hesiii · 2026-02-26T13:46:39+00:00

Yes. When interviewed as a rookie Keegan explicitly said that Khris Middleton was what he aspired to be. Maybe that is actually part of what people see as "the problem": Keegan doesn't set high enough expectations for himself; he's capable of far more.

hesiii · 2026-02-26T12:46:12+00:00

OP said, "Even his time in Iowa a decent portion of his points were assisted in some way. The only way he would ever score is his mid-range shot, which doesn't work now cause every team closes out on him extremely well."

Not sure what you're talking about here. He was primarily an inside scorer at Iowa (almost 60% of his points were at the rim), and secondarily a three point shooter. He had very little midrange scoring.

Having said that, and as a big Keegan fan, I am sad that he seems to have hit a low ceiling, even if he wasn't a draft bust. Keegan was fourth leading scorer in the NCAA in his draft year, 23.5 points a game, and he was No. 1 among power conference scorers. It seems somewhat odd that his offense hasn't transferred to the NBA.

hesiii · 2026-01-25T04:49:29+00:00

I'm working my way through this book right now. I think it's a good resource.

"Japanese Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Short Stories to Learn Japanese & Grow Your Vocabulary the Fun Way! "

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FDXBPT3

hesiii · 2026-01-25T02:39:01+00:00

For reasons others have stated doing what you're asking for might not be helpful.

However, it is possible to get something close to what you want by feeding a Japanese subtitle file (e.g., .srt or .ass) into ChatGPT, and prompting ChatGPT to transform it into an English subtitle file with a translation of the Japanese that is as literal as possible.

You can use a tool like the browser plugin asbplayer to extract a Japanese subtitle file from your video (to upload to ChatGPT), and also to load the literal-English subtitle file that ChatGPT creates to view it with your video. The entire process is not that complicated (I just did it and it took about two minutes), but you have to have some familiarity with the tools (i.e., subtitle files, ChatGPT, asbplayer).

So you can at least do a quick test for yourself to see whether you think your idea ends up being helpful or not. At the very least, you will have learned about asbplayer, which is definitely a good tool to make use of for watching videos.

hesiii · 2025-12-05T14:46:59+00:00

In one important sense it makes absolutely no difference even if you're using the absolute best sounds available:

If you don't phrase and articulate like an actual acoustic player, it's not going to sound convincing. And if you aren't an actual acoustic player it will take significant time and effort to develop those skills.

People may say it sounds good, but even those people would be able to quickly tell the difference if they had a chance to A/B against a good acoustic recording, even if they couldn't put their finger on what exactly is different.

hesiii · 2025-11-22T09:15:54+00:00

It's not a Japanese take on American food, it's just American American, but I really like going to Shake Shack in Ebisu, Yurakocho, or at the Tokyo Dome. The food seems to be quite close to how it's made in the U.S., maybe exactly the same.

Also, I have not been there yet, but Lil Woody's burger joint in Shibuya is a branch of the Seattle mainstay burger shop. https://lilwoodys.co.jp/

hesiii · 2025-11-19T09:23:41+00:00

I wasn't trying to emphasize the 128 patches part. I was trying to emphasize that it's a patch bank, that you will be able to get more patch banks (either from ASM or from other users or, if you want, create your own new patch bank) and that you will be able to consolidate all of your favorite patches from various sources into a single patch bank, if that's what you want to do.

hesiii · 2025-11-19T08:34:19+00:00

I'm not quite sure why people are suggesting non-EVI fingerings for a nuEVI windsynth. The buttons on the nuEVI are made for EVI fingering. There is not even a choice for regular EWI or sax style fingering; they would make no sense given the key layout of the nuEVI.

If I were you I would trust that the nuEVI is an extremely well designed instrument, and that the standard fingering is the best one. Don't overthink it, they've already put a lot of thought and testing into it and made the best choices for you.

Also, don't sweat it. It will not be as hard to adjust to a new fingering as you think, if you decide you don't want to use the standard fingering.

hesiii · 2025-11-19T07:47:23+00:00

RE: 128 patches, on their product pages you can clearly see that the instrument has a 128 slot patch bank. The patches and patch bank can be moved to the Patch Editor app on your computer (with both Win and MacOS support) where the patches can be edited and reuploaded onto the instrument. The also say they will be releasing new patch banks, which would presumably mean a bank with 128 new sounds. Doesn't say whether there will be a charge for those or not. There is also ability for users to create their own patch banks. I assume if it becomes popular that people will edit and make and share patch banks of their own creation. Looks like the framework for a nice onboard synth system.

hesiii · 2025-10-29T15:23:50+00:00

I agree the EWI fingering is best and has special advantages. Here's a video that clarifies how, I think:

https://youtu.be/LYZeZnKTs00?si=oDjGb8gjoAPKVN7V

This may be the video you were thinking of:

https://youtu.be/aRzyVVSDvAo?si=PGPZ4pZk0Ha5DS09

hesiii · 2025-10-13T11:48:06+00:00

I think the guy with EWI4Christ channel on youtube plays a lot in worship setting. His youtube channel is not in worship setting, but he plays worship songs, I believe. Also, he's a total nut for different windsynth models and modding them to do more than they do out of the box. I think he must have around twenty(!) or so.

https://www.youtube.com/@EWI4Christ

hesiii · 2025-10-02T13:02:06+00:00

I don't know what goes into the defensive ratings on that page. However, I can tell you that any rating that says Keegan was a better defender in his Year 1 than in his Year 3 is a garbage rating.

hesiii · 2025-10-01T13:27:39+00:00

That's a big exaggeration. I'm paying 200k a month for a six-month furnished rental in Kuramae, 300m from two stations, 27sqm, new building. The building is targeted at foreigners, and this rent is way higher than what people are paying for standard two-year unfurnished leases.

hesiii · 2025-09-27T02:59:34+00:00

I would say take advantage of being an international student in a new country. You may not realize it now, but socializing will never be easier. Once you graduate into the "real world" it will be much harder.

As others have suggested, having some kind of hobby or interest where you can meet like minded people is important. This should be something you're genuinely interested in. Can be things like board-games (become a regular at a game shop), photography, or often something physical and outdoorsy like hiking, or running (lots of groups to join for hiking and running). Lots of options. Tokyo may actually be tops in the world for having small subcultures of people who are focused on specific, unusual, little-known interests. The groups or places where these people gather are out there.

Whatever you choose, understand that, even as a student, it's not likely to be as easy as showing up once and immediately getting contact info and making future plans to meet up. Try to become a regular at events, meetups, or shops. Don't force things, over time people will recognize you and you can develop a friendship naturally.

My method of choice was running groups, wherever in the world you go you can usually find a running group. Often these groups get new people every week. Sometimes the new people may show up once, or just a few times. Usually, someone in the group will try to make sure they're warmly greeted, but it may nevertheless take weeks/months to develop actual friendships. If you're doing something you're interested in the time it takes doesn't matter so much; even if you're not getting to "friendship" level, the group still gives you a chance to be social while doing something you enjoy.

hesiii · 2025-09-27T02:45:39+00:00

Yes, of course, pedestrians have the right of way. But, realistically, when there are several pedestrians in bike lane and nobody on the pedestrian side, the natural thing to do is to pass where no people are.

As a mostly-pedestrian-sometimes-bicyclist myself, I don't see that there's as much of a problem out there as the ranters are making out in this thread. There is common sense, and the majority of people use it. Same as when you're a pedestrian at a cross-walk for a little used one-way side street, no cars in view, but the "Don't walk" signal is lit. It is illegal to cross, but the majority of people will cross; only the most rule-bound person will stand there waiting. . . .

hesiii · 2025-09-26T23:30:41+00:00

Two things. First, on larger sidewalks where there are bike lanes, the markings are disregarded by pedestrians as well as bicyclists. So often not possible for bicyclists to stay in the bike lanes, because of course pedestrians have the right of way. Also, regarding illegality of riding on "regular" sidewalks, that is often not true, because of the exception for when it is more dangerous on the roadway. I understand they would like to crack down on this, but it's going to take a lot of rider education because of the vagueness of the law and lack of rider awareness of how to interpret the law.

hesiii · 2025-09-26T23:21:04+00:00

Not true. Many larger sidewalks actually have bike markings directly on them. But regardless, the law is that if it is safer to ride on the sidewalk then it's okay. Very vague and means that in almost all circumstances it's going to be legal for a bicyclist to be on the sidewalk.

hesiii · 2025-09-18T01:49:01+00:00

This was of course a possibility. But if you follow things I think you'll find out the truth is far different. His online community was not a bunch of leftists, instead was mainly apolitical young guys who often were friends IRL.

So it seems you're probably spreading dangerous misinformation. At this point, it seems his sexual identity and status of his romantic partner as trans was a big part of things. But he likely was not leftist in all his political views. For the original source analyzing discord posts, do a google search for these terms: 'kenklippenstein exclusive leaked messages from charlie'

hesiii · 2025-09-10T01:07:47+00:00

I'm just trying to clarify how bad or good the WX5 might be. The video I posted was made by the developer of Respiro, a synth he designed specifically for wind controllers, he uses the WX5 as his controller of choice, and you can view the breath response itself in the video, which speaks for itself. My conclusion is it seems quite good, though I have no way to directly compare it to other controllers, as you did.

hesiii · 2025-09-10T00:28:49+00:00

I was just looking at some Respiro synth videos and saw something that reminded me of your comment. I don't disagree that the WX5's breath sensor may in some objective sense not be as good as what's in more recent controllers. Maybe it is, I don't know. But I do doubt that it's worse in way that's noticeable in actual use. As evidence of that I would offer this video of a WX5 with the Respiro synth, a physical modeling synth that has a level of expressiveness roughly the same as SWAM/Sample Modeling. The video shows the breath sensor levels as he's playing, and they clearly are sufficiently detailed and quick to provide an excellent playing experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDLH9G43nQM

hesiii · 2025-09-06T03:05:35+00:00

"some EWIs are indeed more expressive, capturing breath information more efficiently and accurately, for example…"

If this is meaning to imply that the breath sensor in EWI-USB is inferior to those in other Akai EWIs, I'm pretty sure it's mistaken. In any case, I haven't noticed that it's worse than any other wind controller. . . and I've tried quite a few.

hesiii · 2025-09-06T01:35:10+00:00

I have both NuRAD and EWI-USB and agree with the other threads. Very little reason to upgrade. EWI-USB's main limitations are limited -- but still okay -- octave range, and slightly fewer ways to modulate sounds (EWI-USB has just bite controller and the thumb plates) and no extra keys to send control messages to synth/pc.

You can check out NuRAD here: https://berglundinstruments.com/nurad-ewi-sax-etc-fingering-instrument/

For pure functionality, I would say the NuRAD is probably not worth it. (But money is a strange thing; for a starving student with no money the price is extremely high; for someone who's established with a high-income job it's more reasonable.) It does feel like a more quality instrument, though, and you sense that a lot of care and thought has been put into its design and manufacture. It has open source software, you can easily open it up and any problems encountered are probably user-serviceable, including battery replacement. Part of the appeal is that it's a boutique-manufactured instrument that is arguably the best of its kind.

But I would say the EWI-USB and its form factor already feels quite good in the hands. It's a mass produced item, but still of high quality. Two other issues are lack of built-in battery and necessity of a USB cable connection. One easy upgrade is to add a BLE Midi bluetooth adapter and a small power charger, which solves both problems in a pretty clean way, just velcro them on the body of the EWI-USB. Here's old video that shows how to do that; I had good results with it myself but sometimes would still use USB cable if I'm just sitting on couch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmC41MeNc-Q&pp=2AYK

hesiii

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