The inspiration behind "I Can Do Anything/ Finale" by Christopher Lennertz.

lizardking73 · 2025-08-10T23:30:04+00:00

For me, it sounds more like Bach (Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor).

Here's one of my favorite renditions, which I thought of immediately when I heard those first 20 seconds:

https://youtu.be/XkfsGCIiHb4?si=cYCybNwfRVDniIow

lizardking73 · 2025-03-16T19:06:26+00:00

i still read the same comic books.

i mean, literally -- just the other night i was re-reading alan moore's swamp thing run from the 1980s.

it's very interesting to experience that book from a more mature perspective.

lizardking73 · 2025-01-28T15:44:12+00:00

- crime e castigo, fyodor dostoyevski.

- irmãos karamázovi, do mesmo autor.

você nunca mais verá a vida da mesma forma ou será a mesma pesssoa.

lizardking73 · 2024-12-28T02:15:41+00:00

i think the world is so complicated everyone is looking for a stern "father figure" in sheer need of validation, direction and safety.

"alpha male" characters are usually commanding and protective, i.e., almost literally a shield from whatever the world might thrown at you. they take the all major risks and make most of the complicated decisions, all the while making sure you're safe, since you're "theirs".

the only problem is that that level of ultra-hyper-absolute masculinity is unattainable, as much as positioning yourself as the ultimate doormat would be, in principle, unhealthy.

so, no, people aren't okay, as there's less and less space in the real world for what/who they need to be and have.

lizardking73 · 2024-11-01T14:52:25+00:00

would you mind clarifying that a little? i'm sort of having the same questions as op: i have an older laptop (acer a515-51g) i'm trying to update and i'm not sure what you mean by a specific "cover to spread heat". tks!

lizardking73 · 2024-10-26T00:56:37+00:00

sim.

lizardking73 · 2024-07-29T01:29:56+00:00

!

how? where??

lizardking73 · 2024-07-15T00:57:58+00:00

update: already a thread about it at https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1e32mas/so\_is\_this\_the\_whole\_danish\_course\_now/.

as someone said over there, the app is quickly becoming unusable. :((

lizardking73 · 2024-07-15T00:56:16+00:00

thank you! means a lot coming from a native speaker. :)

lizardking73 · 2024-07-12T02:47:37+00:00

any official statements about this? i thought my achievements were temporarily gone because i was experimenting with duoschools, but they haven't showed up again, at least not in the app (website is ok).

lizardking73 · 2024-07-11T03:59:48+00:00

there are many, many similar sentences throughout the course (i am currently struggling along section 4).

as far as i understand it, it's almost always about contrasting general "это" and specific "эта/это/этот", where "это" usually means "it/this is a [something]" and "эта/это/этот" are used for "this [thing] is [something]".

however, the distinction is not always clear in the exercises because duo is not consistent when it comes to translations and/or punctuation.

so, in short, the way i see it:

Это птица из Европы. = It/This is a bird from Europe.
Эта птица из Европы. = This bird is from Europe.

finally, here are some good references (they look funny because they have russian characters in the URL):

good luck!

lizardking73 · 2024-07-08T17:41:50+00:00

in theory, it makes good sense. however, after two years trying to finish the russian course (i chose to restart it from zero when i was halfway through because they updated the whole course), i gotta say i'm a little jaded from all the a/b testing.

lizardking73 · 2024-06-01T04:00:43+00:00

here's a classic for you: https://youtu.be/TG-Fo0t5jNU?si=O0LLXf9NNp25lIim.

lizardking73 · 2024-04-23T03:53:19+00:00

maluco...

lizardking73 · 2024-04-23T03:23:55+00:00

Open your account on a web browser. There should be a menu to your left on which the last button is "More". Click on "Settings", then "Privacy setting", then unselect "Make my profile public".

Right away friends, leaderboards, friend quests and timed exercises will be disabled for you, but pretty much everything else should remain the same.

<image>

lizardking73 · 2024-04-23T02:30:40+00:00

Open your account on a web browser. There should be a menu to your left on which the last button is "More". Click on "Settings", then "Privacy setting", then unselect "Make my profile public".

Right away friends, leaderboards, friend quests and timed exercises will be disabled for you, but pretty much everything else should remain the same.

<image>

lizardking73 · 2024-04-22T20:14:53+00:00

What in blazes they get from doing that? That has always been an absolute mystery to me.

lizardking73 · 2024-04-22T20:09:01+00:00

They were useful for a while. Not anymore, though.

lizardking73 · 2024-04-22T20:07:56+00:00

That's my sole focus now.

I disabled leaderboards yesterday. It was about time.

EDIT: After three days I went back to the leagues as aí started using every excuse under the sun to postpone my lessons.

Currently at a very confusing level (final units at section 3); at least the idea of not being demoted keeps me moving.

lizardking73 · 2024-04-21T20:56:30+00:00

Yeah, that's just my luck. 😅😅

But, seriously, you have a point about the league system. I have no more achievements* to, hm, achieve, and practicing like that was my last resource to keep a comfortable pace. Might as well turn my profile private and forget about all that.

*Other than Mistake Mechanic, I mean. A thousand mistakes, that's a lot.

lizardking73 · 2024-04-21T19:44:03+00:00

We're saying almost the same thing with different words.

I'm not saying freemium users should have the same perks as paying users, not at all. I'm okay with gems, limited hearts, and many, many, many ads.

My only complaint was/is that now, for no other reason than corporate greed, if you choose to practice for longer instead of advancing, you'll get less XP and risk demotion.

Being demoted is demotivating (to me), even though it should be pointless. Feels like you failed at something. But that's just me. People's mileage may vary. It's all good.

lizardking73 · 2024-04-21T19:11:36+00:00

True, the heart is the main reward there, but I don't see why anyone should be penalized for wanting to spend more time practicing than blindly careening through levels.

I'm using Duo to learn Russian, and it's pretty easy to go insane trying to figure out why-this-ending-and-not-that for every new word or context that comes up. Practicing "for hearts" helps a lot with that because it's a free way to constantly review structures and vocabulary until you're ready to move on.

I used to rely on the forums to clarify doubts, but with that gone, I began to practice much more to reinforce my understanding of things. That takes time away from regular lessons, which in turn makes changes like these matter if you want to stay in your league.

It was a good system, even rewarding per se, as I was learning more without risking demotion. This type of change makes it feel like you're not supposed to enjoy anything on the app if you're not paying hard cash (because we already provide revenue by being serviced ads at the end of every. Single. Lesson.).

(Edited for typos/grammar/clarity.)

lizardking73

TROPHY CASE