Random Rants 94 I rant at the thread title and shake my fist menacingly.

[EgonSpengler]

There's one thing you can find on Earth that's basically impossible to find anywhere else.

 

[Cutlass]

Asteroid mining. No need to go down a gravity well for any of that stuff.

Why stop there when you can have a planet?

 

[Akka]

What if those resources they need are air and water? How about carbon?

Why stop there when you can have a planet?

That's the point I've been making : there are already million of million of planets already there for the taking, uncountable asteroids, without having to bother to go to specifically the one already populated and with a much more active (and potentially toxic) biosphere. Save for biological samples, what could be found on Earth that couldn't be found just as (and probably more) easily on any astral body closer to home and without interference ?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Asteroid mining. No need to go down a gravity well for any of that stuff.

Yep. Ben Bova's Grand Tour series is basically a how-to manual for extracting resources from various places in the solar system. Of course it helps that his characters have nanotech, at least on the Moon. And hopefully the right-wing veer into fundamentalism isn't going to get as bad as in Bova's novels.


Now for a Rant:

I haven't had good luck sleeping much lately. So I decided to grab a nap late this afternoon and get up around 10:30 to do my NaNo session before midnight.

I read a couple of chapters of my book, then drifted off to sleep...

And an hour later the fire alarm went off. Oh, joy. Get up, get dressed, get Maddy into her carrier, grab my ear protection, see what's going on...

Thankfully it was a false alarm. I tried to get back to sleep, and had to give up. Maddy managed a catnap, but I couldn't.

At least I got done with NaNo a little earlier.

 

[warpus]

This seems to be a relatively new development, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I was just watching Star Trek: Discovery and suddenly the characters started speaking in another language - and the show did not provide built-in subtitles. In order to understand what the characters were saying, you had to flip over to the subtitle submenu and turn on one of the "English" options.. But there were two English options there, so you had to guess which one. One of them presumably shows you subtitles for everything, while the other one shows you subtitles for only the non-English languages used on the show.

This was annoying because I had to pause the show, rewind it, and change the settings, once I realized that we were supposed to be actually understanding the language. The previously accepted dynamic was always - if there are no built-in subtitles, then you are not meant to understand what is being said. That's how I always remember such things working. If somebody is speaking another language, other than the language the show is filmed in, you will see built-in subtitles if you are meant to understand what is being said.. but if you aren't, the subtitles aren't there. You never had to stop, pause the show, and fumble through subtitle settings. But now it seems that more and more shows are forcing you to.

I say "more and more" because this is the second time I've encountered this in the last couple months. I suspect this is the new norm, but could be of course wrong.

In the other case when I encountered this, I left that vague 2nd "English" subtitle option on, since it only ever showed me subtitles if a non-English language was used, which was very rare.. So I basically forgot it was even on after the episode was over. But it only worked like that in that particular episode! When the next episode came on, everything was subtitled again, including all the English, and so I had to click through to the options to turn off subtitles.

Having to fiddle with these subtitle options on an episode by episode basis is annoying. This is the end of my rant

 

[tjs282]

I think it might be because streaming services are now delivering the same shows to multiple countries, often dubbed into the local language (depending on the individual user's streaming-app settings).

So incorporating 'fixed' (default-English) subtitles directly into the broadcast image is not a good option, because if someone who does not speak English is watching, they will want to have the subtitles in their own language, which would then be superimposed over the 'default-English' subs in the background, making them harder to read.

And at least with respect to Netflix and Disney+, the apps can (currently, AFAIK) only set subs as always on (even when your preferred language is already being spoken) or always off. We can't (yet) set the apps to put up subs only when a 'foreign' language is being spoken.

 

[warpus]

I think it might be because streaming services are now delivering the same shows to multiple countries, often dubbed into the local language (depending on the individual user's streaming-app settings).

So incorporating 'fixed' (default-English) subtitles directly into the broadcast image is not a good option, because if someone who does not speak English is watching, they will want to have the subtitles in their own language, which would then be superimposed over the 'default-English' subs in the background, making them harder to read.

I get that, but that's how it was always done, no? If you put on a TOS or TNG Star Trek movie in which Klingon is spoken, the Klingon translation always appears as a set of fixed subtitles, if we are meant to understand what the Klingons are saying (and no subtitles if it doesn't matter). I always assumed that they produced such fixed subtitles for each market. i.e. the German version of the movie has such fixed subtitles appear in German and so on.

So yeah, I can on one hand appreciate that they are trying to save money here, and instead of producing 20 different versions of the same thing they now have to produce produce just one.. but they need to figure out a better user experience solution here. The apps need to be modified to give you an option that allows you to have subtitles always off and to turn on for those specific moments when a foreign language is used. Or something. The names of the subtitle options need to be more descriptive too. It makes zero sense to have two options named the same thing (i.e. "English"). That's not descriptive enough and just means you are fumbling with subtitle options even longer, taking you out of the movie watching experience. It should be seamless, not require your occasional attention depending on the situation.

That's my beef. I can appreciate the "We don't want to spend so much doing all this work for every movie and show" situation, but give us a coherent user experience, so we don't have to fumble with our remotes, rewind, and continually change subtitle settings.

 

[EgonSpengler]

This is unacceptable.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/05/08/sriracha-shortage-climate-change-drought-mexico/

 

[Valka D'Ur]

This seems to be a relatively new development, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I was just watching Star Trek: Discovery

That was your mistake right there. DiscoTrek, and their fake Klingons that look like they stepped out of a Doctor Who monster lineup, with the "Klingon" dialogue that means if you're watching the show (and trying not to throw up, in my case), you'll miss the dialogue. If you concentrate on the subtitles, you can't properly focus on what's actually happening.


My own rant: Not one, but TWO delivery people thought it was okay to pull into the handicapped parking zone in front of the building today. I was waiting for the handibus to go somewhere, and dreading if it came and I'd have to traipse halfway across the parking lot at the same time that another delivery truck was there (they parked in the loading zone), plus some maintenance people who are getting ready to repaint the lines in the upper parking lot.

One of them was a delivery driver from a local grocery store, and I called the store a little while ago to let them know. The other one was probably from Skip the Dishes. Next time, I'm taking their plate number and calling the bylaw officer. Yes, I know they were only there for a few minutes. No, that is not an excuse. There were plenty of other non-handicapped zone places available.

 

[r16]

they were supposed to make the Klingons Chinese this time , one could write a whole page on how nothing Chinese should not be heard anyhow .

 

[warpus]

Here's what I'm talking about

I just put on an episode of Halo.. The previous episode (that I watched yesterday) had alien chatter that you were meant to understand, so I had to turn one of the two "English" subtitle options on (yep, named the exact same thing). This setting made it so that ONLY the alien chatter showed up as subtitles - anything in English didn't. After I was finished with the episode I did not change subtitle settings.

When I sat down to watch the next episode, today, subtitles were showing up for everything. What the Farsi? I went to the subtitle menu and noticed that once again there are two "English" subtitle options. One of them was selected. I selected the other one.

The subtitles did not go away, even though the characters on screen were speaking English. Huh? What the famgrasp? In order to get rid of subtitles I had to choose the "None" option.

Next episode, who knows what setting I'm going to have to use. I won't realize I'll need to change the setting once aliens start talking, of course. Or if someone starts speaking Spanish or Hungarian. Brilliant.

This is on paramount+ btw. Star Trek Discovery was giving me the same problems. I swear I've seen this happen on other streaming platforms as well though..

 

[Birdjaguar]

English subtitles are the only way I can watch shows any more if I want to know what people are saying.

 

[thetrooper]

It just dawned on me how naughty some of these Thai city names are to the English speaking crowd; Bangkok and Phuket to name but a few.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Tested positive for COVID. It's pretty mild, but annoying. The US CDC no longer recommends the full 5-day isolation period, but 24 hours after symptoms begin improving. I suppose I should get my vaccination updated.

COVID-19 no longer means five days in isolation, CDC says

U.S. health officials say Americans with COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days.

apnews.com

KP.2 is now the dominant COVID variant. Experts say US may see a summer increase in cases

A new offshoot of omicron, KP.2, has become the dominant variant in the U.S. Experts are predicting the country may see a mild "swell" of cases this summer.

abcnews.go.com

It just dawned on me how naughty some of these Thai city names are to the English speaking crowd; Bangkok and Phuket to name but a few.

Yeah, you have to be careful to say 'foo-ket.'

 

[The_J]

Stay home for a few days no matter what. Make sure your body gets the rest it needs.

 

[Synobun]

Tested positive for COVID. It's pretty mild, but annoying. The US CDC no longer recommends the full 5-day isolation period, but 24 hours after symptoms begin improving. I suppose I should get my vaccination updated.

The CDC crumbling under political pressure has done and will do untold damage in future crises. When this first started, we had all the conspiracy theorists railing against the CDC, and we had the good sense to consider them trustworthy on this matter. Now, we can't. How do we navigate future pandemics and convince skeptics? The reputation and trust loss is insurmountable.

Get your booster shot a month after recovery. If you can, get a couple doses of Paxlovid now. Even if you are mild, studies have shown that taking Paxlovid during an acute case can reduce your chances of developing long COVID, which doesn't care about your overall health and can and will strike anyone. It also reduces the "hidden" damage being done to your organs.

 

[Kyriakos]

There's one thing you can find on Earth that's basically impossible to find anywhere else.

Politician: To serve man.
That book... it's a crook book p_p

 

[Synobun]

The quality of base ingredients has plummeted over the course of the pandemic. But it's gotten really ridiculous lately. Most of the meat is borderline inedible, and the vegetables and fruits... leave much to be desired.

The last three times I've ordered onions from the store, they have all arrived already moldy. I question the logic that goes into an employee picking out moldy produce and giving the okay for it to be added to an order. Also, the grocery store pricing them at over two dollars per onion may have something to do with the onions being moldy by the time they're sold.

It's annoying that "eating right" might as well be another kind of nightmare now. Frozen vegetables and meat are even worse. A $4 bag of broccoli gets me a few stem ends and leaves, with nary a floret in sight. What a deal. Frozen chicken breasts are injected with so much water that you have no way of avoiding freezer burn, and the end result is a sad little chew toy. Delectable!

 

[Sommerswerd]

There's one thing you can find on Earth that's basically impossible to find anywhere else.

"Its a Cookbook! A COOKBOOK!!!"

 

[Gori the Grey]

The r key on my keyboad is sticking and doesn't always make the letter unless I am vey deliberate about hitting the key.