bigbangdangler

@bigbangdangler@reddthat.com

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What do they put in this stuff?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Irn Bru is fantastic. Gather it at all costs.

  Fun fact: it outsold Coca Cola for a few years in its native Scotland. Unfortunately changes to the sugar tax in the UK, and the changes both companies made to their products as a result, mean that so Coke does now outsell it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Whales are Chinese⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Indeed, which is why it is generally classified as an analytic language (as opposed to e.g. fusional). It is sometimes misclassified as an isolating language, which it really isn’t, since Mandarin does have compounds. It is worth noting, though, that no natural language fits perfectly into the morphological prototypes.

  That said, fewer complexities in one part of a grammar tend to even out in others. In fact, there is some tendency of tonal languages to lean isolating or analytic exactly because the ratio of morphemes-to-word is lower (often 1-to-1); given that syllables can only be so complex (a limitation of anatomy), analytic languages will tend to have more homophones than non-analytic ones, and thus the tone tends to be required to maintain the same information density. To look at it another way, tone is a method for distinguishing what are otherwise homophones.

  Now, how any of that relates to whales… well, it very likely doesn’t.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Whales are Chinese⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Thanks for sharing the actual research.

  I’m curious to dive into this (pun intended). It sounds like a bit of a stretch to analogize these whale signals to Mandarin or any other human language simply because of this:

  However, our analogy has a limit: while in human languages, different tones can be associated with different meanings, the meanings conveyed by sperm whale codas have not been established.

  The jump is, though they may be referring to the whale sounds as “tones”, in human languages “tone” and “pitch” are two distinct concepts which share a modality. The former has to do with meaning, while the latter has to do with things that are extrasentential or even extralinguistic. Consider the rising pitch at the end of a question in English: this nudges the listener into thinking they heard a question, but it doesn’t carry meaning in the lexical sense, which makes it pitch and not tone (cf. the various books like e.g. the Cambridge series on Pitch vs. Tone, even though there are common terms like “intonation” which belie the scientific terms).

  If there is no evidence of a mapping between meaning and pitch in whales (as the above quote suggests) then it really isn’t linguistic “tone”, even if it musical tone or some other type. It’s certainly a sound with some sonorant quality, minimally pitch.

  Could all be entirely wrong. As I mentioned, I haven’t yet read the paper fully.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some of the biggest continuity errors in Star Trek?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Oh yes, definitely one of the greats!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some of the biggest continuity errors in Star Trek?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Not a continuity error specifically, but this has always irked me: In STIV, Kirk says that he and Spock are headed “back to San Francisco”, presumably from Sausalito. But anyone with a passing knowledge of geography can see from the position of the bridge behind them that they are, in that moment, standing in San Francisco. In fact, you can see Sausalito across the bay behind them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Me irl⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Linguistically: yes, and it’s typically attributed to a working memory constraint.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Enterprise being able to terraforming planets.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You know, when the new effects were done, I liked them. Years later, I always watch with the original effects. The new ones just feel plastic and odd. The old ones, for all the grain and noise, have charm.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨As adults, do you still watch kids’ cartoons, either old or new?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I love this. Hit me in the right spot. Thanks.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is a game you can’t understand why its so popular ?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This is the best response on here.

  …and holy fuck, what a great game.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Phishing attempt⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Given how polarized parts of the world currently are about some specific issues, I would not at all be surprised if this became a real thing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨App doesn't let me use my 32 char password⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah OK, I just had to read that twice to see you’re right.

  The title is ambiguous (or perhaps vague, more accurately).

  “doesn’t let me use my 32 char password” can be interpreted as:

  • it does not allow passwords of 32 characters in length, regardless of composition

  • it does allow passwords of 32 characters in length, which should be sufficient with or without special characters

  In one reading, the special character requirement is the issue. In the other, the length.

  Yay for English.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Vibe management⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Maybe… just maybe… the ones at the top with all the money should not be the ones with the least knowledge and the worst skillsets.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Someone created a public domain version of Netflix⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Vibe coding is horrible in the wrong hands, but a skilled programmer can utilise it to carry out boring tasks.

  If things continue as they are, eventually there will be no more skilled programmers.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Does changing your last name make sense when you’re not that name?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You can change your name to whatever you want. Imagine if your last name were Epstein, or Trump. No one would question your motivation.

  This is a bit of an oversimplification.

  If in the US, you can generally change your name at whim, usually after a petition and fee. But it depends on your state. Some states require a hearing to do a name change. Some require a publication, and some will only allow the change after a waiting period.

  All states will generally deny name change requests which are deemed to be fraudulent (details of that depend on state), to avoid debt, or to be harmful/hateful to others. Sometimes the definitions of these terms is not terribly clear, in which case the state can simply deny it with vague reasoning.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨PlayStation boss says single-player games won’t come to PC going forward | VGC⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s funny because I’m not coming to PlayStation.

  I guess they just sell less then.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨They're somehow always baffled that their cakes are melting⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This has got to be the answer.

  Also, it’s just kind of a vibe having everyone be sort of outside. It would feel different in a studio kitchen.