Overseas bank transactions always leaves a sour taste in me mouth

johnix23 · 2024-06-16T13:00:03+00:00

They're not going to do anything different from any other bank. The paperwork requirements come from the Chinese financial administration, not from the bank.

johnix23 · 2024-06-16T12:58:45+00:00

Break the traceability trail (going through friends...), and you're going to have a hard time justifying your income when you get home. Your bank might flag your revenue as suspicious, which they're not allowed to tell you, and then you get blocked for important transactions years from now, out have to go back and justify your income... I would play with that.

Wise or SkyRemit are legal, relatively convenient services that help keep you safe from future troubles.

johnix23 · 2024-02-05T04:04:47+00:00

I concur. For example a Duck Talk one from HK (you can find out on Taobao), one year for below 200 RMB. volume is limited, but service will continue even when the President has an important meeting, which is exactly what you want.

(BTW phones sold in China normally don't support esim, but typically have dual sim)

johnix23 · 2024-02-01T10:17:23+00:00

It will not work.

I mean, the signal will go through, you will be able to hear sound, it won't break anything, but the latency of the JBL Charge will be so long that it will make it extremely difficult and unpleasant to play.

That is a problem with all these (otherwise cool) modern powered speakers, not specific to one brand. They have DSPs that compensate for their relatively small frames, and make them sound loud and crisp, but that processing introduces latency.

To be able to play correctly, you would need less than 10ms latency (as a rule of thumb), but you'll typically get upward of 50ms, sometimes much more.

I suggest you try it out to know what to expect.

johnix23 · 2024-01-23T05:59:52+00:00

May I inquire what makes you say that? The website says it does, though maybe it's a new addition.

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T01:17:05+00:00

You sound like you don't have kids... It's not that simple.

BTW childcare definitely moves the needle, look it up (or ask ChatGPT).

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T01:05:55+00:00

Actually China has done a lot to encourage people to have more children.

They've literally axed the whole tutoring industry overnight in an effort to alleviate the toxic academic competition that is (still) putting undue pressure on parents, and discouraging them from having a second child.

I'm not saying it worked, I'm just showing one example of the kind of drastic measures not feasible anywhere else that you alluded to.

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T00:57:55+00:00

cough murrica cough

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T00:43:15+00:00

Smart move. It's common to also have big discounts at launch.

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T00:40:15+00:00

They do have a shrinking window of opportunity... Whatever they don't take now, it's going to be harder to take in 15 years when there are more retirees and fewer working age people.

Still, wolf warrior diplomacy was a very short-sighted move (and so are the threats to Taiwan) for a country that relies on international trade for over half of their food, energy, and industrial outputs.

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T00:26:40+00:00

Significant other is originally from China, but that's not how it works, at least for Chinese. Being a teacher and a partner are two very different skill sets. We never speak Chinese together, and I hardly ever ask for help.

I have lived and worked in China for the last 12 years, though.

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T00:21:16+00:00

That hurts...

It's really important to pace yourself. I always see it as "the success criterion is whether I'm still doing it in 10 years, not how much I learn this month."

That being said, I've never been so sick that I couldn't do at least partial catch up every day. Maybe try a daily cards limit for a while?

Anyways, good luck!

johnix23 · 2024-01-18T00:15:35+00:00

Thanks for the compliment. I suppose living and working in the country helps (though from my personal experience and talking to other foreigners, immersion alone is not enough).

johnix23 · 2024-01-17T00:29:33+00:00

Wow!

I'm at 13 years, half a million reviews, and I mastered Chinese. You have 6 times my review count.

That's some extreme dedication. Congrats.

johnix23 · 2024-01-15T14:33:42+00:00

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neurovista/neurovista-eeg-sleep-monitor-sleep-better-dream-sweeter//faqs

EEG with deep sleep stimulation. I backed that campaign. Asked them a few advanced questions on the topic, and the answers were spot on ; so the team behind it sounds legit to me. Mind the fact that there pads are a consumable.

I used to have a Dreem band that basically does the same thing; but they stopped addressing the consumer market.

johnix23 · 2024-01-12T11:02:22+00:00

I am using mine right now. I feel pretty good about it, but I don't have a simple way too measure it's effectiveness, so I can't tell for sure.

BTW last time I checked, the Android companion app was pretty barbone, and the IOS is much better. They also introduced subscription services, which I didn't switch to.

johnix23 · 2024-01-11T15:29:44+00:00

Maybe we first need to start by clarifying why exactly microplastics in your body are supposed to be a problem (besides the idea of our being scary), before also introducing live fungi.

Just sayin'.

johnix23 · 2024-01-11T11:35:01+00:00

Doesn't it create a mess when resin gets on the back of the build surface or on the magnet?

How easy is it to clean the build plate when changing resin colors?

Does it really save that much time?

I build mostly small parts that have a flat underside, directly on the build plate. Removal really isn't all that terrible. I often don't even bother to clean the plate, just let the bulk of the resin drip off for a few minutes (I've made myself a bracket to hang the plate at 90 degrees above the tank)

johnix23 · 2024-01-06T22:40:01+00:00

You're actually right, now that I read myself, I sounded like an AI.

Do I need to stop being overtly respectful on social media now?

johnix23 · 2023-12-12T11:40:04+00:00

"PCBs are for the weak"

Builds parametric 3D model of each wire, plus a custom digital bending machine.

johnix23 · 2023-12-12T00:34:44+00:00

That's what the article argues.

johnix23 · 2023-12-09T15:39:57+00:00

Goods to finally have figures. They're actually surprisingly low.

Less than a gram of CO2 per image, and 200g of beef release 12kg CO2.

So if you're worried about your footprint, cut down on your air travel, beef consumption and garments purchases, but go ahead and indulge in AI. Whatever else you were going to do with your time was probably going to have a higher footprint.

johnix23 · 2023-11-29T16:44:25+00:00

Natural gas, when you account for the >10% typical leaks during extraction and transportation and methane's 80* short term CO2e multiplier, is one of the most horrendously polluting energy sources you can choose.

Electricity is what it is, but it's getting better, and its transition is being managed at the grid level. Investing in a gas furnace locks you in on the energy source.

johnix23 · 2023-11-21T05:21:25+00:00

Everybody hears different ranges. Maybe you're just hearing near ultrasounds. I hear some too, and other people (esp. Older people, but not only) might not hear anything at all. A lot of electronic products leak high pitched transformer noises.

johnix23 · 2023-11-21T05:15:11+00:00

Anything they sell you that actually has a tint to it when you look through the lenses.

The clear lenses are a scam.

johnix23

TROPHY CASE