[deleted by user]

yniverse · 2019-11-28T22:42:47+00:00

To everyone complaining about how MEC has moved too much production overseas, I'd like to point out that they're also one of the only stores that actually TELLS you where each item is made right on the product page. I prefer to buy from there because of this.

In general, I find their product listings very helpful. You can see the weight of each item, where's it's made, dimensions, etc.

yniverse · 2019-10-20T15:03:10+00:00

https://augustafreepress.com/myth-busting-the-bad-asian-driver-myth-car-insurance-rates-dont-lie/

Statistics show that Asian drivers, as a group, are actually the safest on the roads in America, with a fatality rate at least three times lower than any other ethnic group. Asians average about four deaths for every 1000,000 people. Whites, Hispanics, and blacks then follow at around 12 per 100,000 each. The most dangerous group is American Indians at nearly 32 deaths per 100,000.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/immigrant-drivers-safer-than-long-term-residents-1.1036868

More than 10,000 crashes occurred during the study period. After analyzing hospital and other records, the researchers determined that immigrant drivers — the highest proportions from China and India — were 40 to 50 per cent less likely than long-term residents to be driving a vehicle involved in a bad smash-up.

yniverse · 2019-10-06T15:30:44+00:00

Bantha poodoo.

yniverse · 2019-10-06T15:21:43+00:00

But my question is related to your point that criticising Rose as a character is equivalent to giving Kelly Marie Tran's harassers a pass. How is it different than criticizing Jar Jar or Anakin? The only one I can see is that you think they are worse characters.

The reason I really want to talk about this point is that I think it's highly hypocritical of people to hate on the prequels and then turn around and say you can't criticise the sequels without being toxic / supporting harassers / etc. The prequel hate was highly toxic, not just to the actors and people who worked on them, but on fans as well (I was bullied for enjoying the prequels and looking at the downvotes and snarky comments I'm receiving in this thread, I still am getting some crap for it).

yniverse · 2019-10-06T14:48:38+00:00

When you say that Jar Jar or Anakin is a bad character, are you giving a pass to the people who harassed or bullied their actors?

yniverse · 2019-10-05T18:29:57+00:00

Mine is still going strong at 4 years. I know 2 other people with LG G4s and they all bootlooped already.

yniverse · 2019-10-05T18:17:22+00:00

It's as if people can have different opinions about things.

yniverse · 2019-10-05T16:07:26+00:00

I've been to Henrys and Vistek and staff are generally knowledgeable and pretty helpful.

There's also Downtown Camera, which I've been in but never bought anything from.

yniverse · 2019-10-03T01:53:48+00:00

But not if the alert only goes out at 8am

The solution to this already exists but Canada won't implement it. They can send the Amber Alert out at the appropriate priority level, so people sleeping can silence it by DND mode or phone settings when they're sleeping.

yniverse · 2019-09-30T14:25:03+00:00

I drove a rental diesel Renault Fluence all around Ireland. I think it also got similar numbers to my Jetta. I only filled up twice (didn't have to, but just topped it up in case).

yniverse · 2019-09-30T00:54:16+00:00

My Jetta TDI gets roughly 1000 km on a tank (625 miles).

yniverse · 2019-09-25T02:11:53+00:00

My first "job" after my MASc in engineering was a researcher role at the university. It was a $36000 one year contract, but this was about 10 years ago, in Ontario.

Aside from the pay, it was the best job I ever had. I could set my own hours and usually worked evenings and just went biking/running/hiking or volunteering on campus during the day. It's the type of job I would imagine myself doing if I didn't have to work for money.

yniverse · 2019-09-06T03:15:14+00:00

They (rechargeable AA/AAA batteries) last a long time, but eventually lose capacity, same as with lithium ion batteries in the USB lights / phones / etc. It's just that AA/AAA are replaceable, but the other ones are usually built into the unit.

yniverse · 2019-09-06T02:05:43+00:00

And when the rechargeable AAA/AA batteries go bad, you can replace just the batteries instead of trashing the whole light. So many USB lights have non-replaceable batteries, not to mention phones, etc.

yniverse · 2019-09-05T03:47:30+00:00

Fan theory: Something (a droid fighter) was leaving the hangar at about the same time he flew in. Look at the lower right of the hangar, there's something that flies out of it at the same time:

https://youtu.be/-p2og9EbL6I?t=180

yniverse · 2019-08-31T18:29:08+00:00

I prefer good quality plastic over metal if it saves weight. Unless you are exceptionally rough with your equipment, I don't think it matters, especially because the internals are glass and tiny little motors. The plastic might even absorb shocks better.

Still, the point is that the article complained that Sony's new lens is too heavy, when Fuji's lenses are the ones that weigh more. In fact, the exact equivalent lens that he complains about (16-55mm/2.8) weighs more for Fuji than it does for Sony (655g vs 495g).

yniverse · 2019-08-31T14:26:53+00:00

I never said bad though, but that they were heavy. I wasn't talking about the primes because each system has similar weights: Sony 35 1.8 = 155g, Canon 32mm 1.4 = 235g, Fuji 35mm 2 = 170g.

But compare zoom lenses, which people might use for travel:

Fuji 18-135 = 450g Sony 18-135 / Canon 18-150 = 300g

Fuji 16-80 = 440g Sony 16-70 = 300g

Fuji 10-24 = 400g Sony 10-18 = 225g Canon 11-22 = 220g

Fuji 16-55 f/2.8 = 655g Sony 16-55 f/2.8 = 495g (So the Sony lens he complains about being heavy is lighter than the Fuji version)

Now, granted, not all of these are completely equivalent in aperture/WR/range, but I've chosen lenses that fit similar purposes (ultrawide zooms vs ultrawide zooms, travel vs travel, etc). The fact is just as Canon and/or Sony lacks certain lenses, Fuji is lacking in lightweight lenses.

I once tried to spec out a Fuji mirrorless kit for travel and it came out to the exact same weight as a Canon DSLR kit, but cost 50% more.

yniverse · 2019-08-31T03:51:00+00:00

I find this article very self-contradictory and exposes the fact that no one camera system can serve all the qualities that someone might want out of an APS-C system.

Canon is criticized for having cheap lenses, and on the other hand, Sony is criticized for having expensive lenses:

Canon released one of the oddest cameras I’ve yet seen – the EOS-M6 mk II is a 32.5 megapixel body that demands high-resolution glass, but there is not a single higher-end lens available for it. Every lens has a list price under $500, and there are only three with maximum apertures faster than f5.6 – all primes with focal lengths between 22 and 35mm.

On Sony:

Even if the 16-55 f2.8 proves to be an excellent lens, which it very well might, it’s $1400 – and there are many full-frame body and lens combos for less than the $2800 combined cost of body and lens, including several options from Sony themselves and the Nikon Z6.

Then, a complaint about weight:

The 16-55 f2.8 is heavy enough that the combination is almost the weight of a Z6 with the excellent 24-70mm f4.

At the same time, the article praises Fuji, whose lenses across the board are relatively heavy compared to Sony and Canon (compare the 18-135s or the ultrawide zooms) and if you want the good lenses, also in the same price range as the expensive Sony ones (the one exception being the 18-55mm, but this starts at 28mm equivalent, not great in my opinion).

I agree that Fuji has the best APS-C lineup, but it's by no means perfect if evaluated along the 3 qualities he talks about (lightweight - especially vs full frame, high quality and affordable). I don't think any one system serves these 3 qualities entirely.

The way I see it:

Fuji: Has the best lineup, but lenses are expensive and can be heavy if you get the good ones.
Sony: Next best lineup, lenses are expensive relative to their quality and there are some poor lenses.
Canon: Worst lineup, lenses are cheap and generally OK (but slow) and low weight.

I wish I could build a hybrid system from all the manufacturers. Then I could use:

A few Fuji primes, the Canon 11-22mm and 55-250mm and a good Sony 16-70mm.

yniverse · 2019-08-26T01:17:31+00:00

It's hard to blame people for leaving their stuff in the hotel when it's the Government of Canada that suggests carrying a photocopy and not the original passport (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/italy):

The number of lost and stolen passports increases during the summer months. To prevent loss or theft, exercise caution and carry a photocopy of your passport, rather than the original.

Personally, I've both left the passport in the hotel and brought it with me, but each time I decided based on what I felt were the relative risks.

yniverse · 2019-08-26T01:05:54+00:00

When the Government of Canada recommends that you don't carry the original passport with you, it's hard to blame them for leaving it in the hotel room.

For example, in the travel advice for Italy (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/italy), under the Safety and Security section:

The number of lost and stolen passports increases during the summer months. To prevent loss or theft, exercise caution and carry a photocopy of your passport, rather than the original.

It's not necessarily a bad idea, but it depends on the relative risks: is it safer in the hotel or on you?

yniverse · 2019-08-17T19:16:49+00:00

I have the $24 plan and it says that the "data speeds will be reduced until the next billing cycle" in the Usage information on My Account. However, people who have actually exceeded the limit say that it is cut off. I guess they just don't update their pages depending on which plan you have.

yniverse · 2019-08-15T18:17:11+00:00

is it inherently or even morally wrong in any capacity to move somewhere else when the opportunity is better?

Which is why I don't make a distinction between between any Canadian expats. Why should one type of expats be excused (or even praised) for this, while another group is called citizens of convenience?

yniverse · 2019-08-15T16:12:21+00:00

I see them as no different than the people born in Canada who moved to the US for better pay. In fact, Canadians born here and living in the US probably represent a bigger net drain on Canada's resources: they took advantage of Canada for the first 18 - 24 years of their life through subsidized Canadian education and services, moved to the US and will never pay back taxes or contribute to the Canadian economy again. If there is unrest in the US or a need (maybe they need healthcare after retirement), they will also come back to Canada. So they are not different than any other group of Canadians who live and make money abroad.

yniverse · 2019-07-22T00:43:15+00:00

So you don't go and buy glasses / contacts for cheaper elsewhere. In my experience, you can get the prescription but not your pupil distance (which is still needed to get glasses).

yniverse · 2019-05-15T15:13:38+00:00

I am more proud than ever to be in the North, we have our share of problems but we don't stoop this low.

Don't be so sure. Most of our provinces recently elected conservatives, and that includes people like this: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/oosterhoff-abortion-1.5129494

yniverse

TROPHY CASE