Random randomness

[hitbyambulance]

i've only been using it (again) since September, and i got top 10%?

(это для русского языка, да)

[Daehawk]

Is that some kinda free app that you guys are doing? Ive always been curious about Spanish. When I looked online years ago it said there are two versions spoken..so I quit .. I would like to know what the people in the mexican stores are saying and speak to them in kind.

[Isgrimnur]

Duolingo can be used free. There will be a limit to how much you can do per day, but that gives you the opportunity to come back and practice more tomorrow!

[Blackhawk]

Duolingo is fantastic. I spent several months with its German course. I studied three other languages in school (Spanish, Latin, and ancient Greek), and I found Duolingo to be an excellent way to learn.

[hitbyambulance]

Duolingo can be used free. There will be a limit to how much you can do per day, but that gives you the opportunity to come back and practice more tomorrow!

huh? i've never been limited in practice time on the free account. (not counting the 'review exercises' which are only available to paid subscribers)

Is that some kinda free app that you guys are doing? Ive always been curious about Spanish. When I looked online years ago it said there are two versions spoken..so I quit ..

i wouldn't worry about the differences. Castilian Espanol will be comprehendable to the local tacquiera employees.

https://www.duolingo.com

[Sudy]

Join the Esperanto revolution! One world, one people!

[wonderpug]

Duolingo can be used free. There will be a limit to how much you can do per day, but that gives you the opportunity to come back and practice more tomorrow!

huh? i've never been limited in practice time on the free account. (not counting the 'review exercises' which are only available to paid subscribers)

I'm guessing Isgrim is talking about how they added the 'energy' or whatever relatively recently. It used to be that you could just do lessons all you want and it didn't matter if you messed up. Now you can run out of energy, microtransaction game style, and not be able to keep learning for free until it recharges. I ended up subscribing to the paid version to get rid of that restriction, because I really disliked the idea of being afraid to make mistakes as I learn new words and concepts.

The program really is great, though. I used it for a year at a pace of only 5-15 minutes a day, and after that year I needed to take a college level Spanish course. I took a placement test and that year of Duolingo let me bypass Spanish 1. I almost could have passed out of Spanish 2 as well, but Duolingo doesn't go as in depth into formal understanding of grammar rules in the way the placement test asked things.

[malchior]

I don't know what thread to put this in. It may be indirectly Ukraine-related, but not about Ukraine. It's not really political, but definitely involves geopolitics. It's sort of sports.

Anyway, WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for the past month, with no end in sight.

A Russian court has extended the detention of the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner to May 19, the Russian news agency Tass reported on Thursday, adding tension to the most dangerous moment in U.S.-Russia relations since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

Ms. Griner, 31, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury, is being held on drug charges that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The Russian Federal Customs Service said earlier this month that its officials had detained the American basketball player after they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow in February. They did not immediately release the name of Ms. Griner, who was later identified by Tass.

Ms. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is one of several W.N.B.A. players who compete on international women’s teams in the off-season to supplement paychecks that are a fraction of their counterparts’ salaries in the N.B.A. She has played for the Russian team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, since 2014.

Traded for a Russian arms dealer.

[Jaymon]

I have spent some time learning German, but not via duolingo or apps. I do alright, until it gets to the advanced tenses like dem and des, then I lose my flipping shit.

and thus, my family, has banned me from attempted to learn any more German.

[LawBeefaroni]

Whoops, moving my Griner comments to R&P.

[Isgrimnur]

[AWS260]

I have spent some time learning German, but not via duolingo or apps. I do alright, until it gets to the advanced tenses like dem and des, then I lose my flipping shit.

Dem dere bratwurst are pretty good, but not as good as dese bratwurst.

[Daehawk]

Dietz Nuts!

[ImLawBoy]

I have spent some time learning German, but not via duolingo or apps. I do alright, until it gets to the advanced tenses like dem and des, then I lose my flipping shit.

Dem dere bratwurst are pretty good, but not as good as dese bratwurst.

I see you speak Wisconsin!

[Blackhawk]

I have spent some time learning German, but not via duolingo or apps. I do alright, until it gets to the advanced tenses like dem and des, then I lose my flipping shit.

and thus, my family, has banned me from attempted to learn any more German.

So der is the nominative masculine. Or the dative feminine. Or the genitive feminine, or the genitive plural. That clears it up. And makes me glad I didn't get far enough to have to deal with dem der tenses.

[Holman]

My oldest kid is going to do study abroad in Tokyo in Spring 2024. Everyone in the program takes a semester of "Street Japanese" prior to going.

It's not enough to discuss philosophy, but it gets you up to speed for asking directions, ordering food, thanking a host, finding a cop, etc.

[Kraken]

So now I know there's such a thing as Stiff Person Syndrome, which is far worse than being a person who is stiff.

[dbt1949]

I'll never forget the time I visited Tokyo. What a great time I had!
Eventually they drove me back into the sea.

[Kraken]

I'll never forget the time I visited Tokyo. What a great time I had!
Eventually they drove me back into the sea.

You returned.

[dbt1949]

Again and again and again..................

[Daehawk]

So now I know there's such a thing as Stiff Person Syndrome, which is far worse than being a person who is stiff.

Is that where your muscles turn to stone over time and you are locked into a position and can never move again? Thats a fate worse than death.

[Kraken]

So now I know there's such a thing as Stiff Person Syndrome, which is far worse than being a person who is stiff.

Is that where your muscles turn to stone over time and you are locked into a position and can never move again? Thats a fate worse than death.

Not exactly. Celine Dion has it. It causes violent spasms, often triggered by environmental sounds.

[Isgrimnur]

NPR

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health, defines stiff-person syndrome as a neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease.

The disorder causes "fluctuating muscle rigidity" and spasms that are triggered by things like loud noise, cold temperatures or sudden movement. The spasms can cause or exacerbate falls, which can result in further injury.

"Abnormal postures, often hunched over and stiffened, are characteristic of the disorder. People with SPS can be too disabled to walk or move, or they are afraid to leave the house because street noises, such as the sound of a horn, can trigger spasms and falls," the institute says.

Stiff-person syndrome is rare. It affects "only about one or two in a million people," according to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Researchers don't fully understand the causes of the disorder, the NIH says, but it could be the result of an autoimmune disorder in the brain and spinal cord. People with SPS have elevated levels of antibodies that target an enzyme that synthesizes an important neurotransmitter in the brain.

The disorder is not curable, but treatment with muscle relaxants and anti-convulsants can help improve and control symptoms, doctors say.

[Anonymous Bosch]

So now I know there's such a thing as Stiff Person Syndrome, which is far worse than being a person who is stiff.

Is that where your muscles turn to stone over time and you are locked into a position and can never move again? Thats a fate worse than death.

No, that's Clash of the Titans.

[Daehawk]

5:55pm and jet black outside. I hate that. Damn time.

[Kraken]

My fancy new office chair finally arrived. After wrestling the old chair out of my office I brought the new one up piece by piece and assembled it, only to discover that it wouldn't recline. I rechecked the manufacturer's website and verified that it should recline up to 135 degrees, but I couldn't make it tilt back at all. Played with the tension adjustment to no avail. Sent the manufacturer a frantic email. Then started reading random troubleshooting sites, and finally discovered that the tilt lock is built into the seat height adjustment lever. You just have to pull it out to free it up. LOL, I wasted a lot of time and anxiety before I found that. The rudimentary instructions that came with it didn't mention it.

So, yay! new office chair. Merry xmas to me.

[Holman]

I'll never forget the time I visited Tokyo. What a great time I had!
Eventually they drove me back into the sea.

Tokyo is a great choice because my kid is focused on Urban Studies.

As it happens, one of the best ways to design a functional and reasonable modern city is to start by being bombed and burned to the ground in WW2.

[dbt1949]

I did visit Schweinfurt in Germany. They had the same problem.

[Isgrimnur]

Pig fords were vital infrastructure.

[dbt1949]

So were ball bearings.

[telcta]

“It’s all ball bearings nowadays.”

[Blackhawk]

Funny passphrases, Pt. 1

I use Bitwarden as a password manager. It includes a password generator, which lets you specify all sorts of parameters (length, how many words, symbols, caps, numbers, etc), then creates a password or passphrase for you. I prefer passphrases simply because they're easier to type in when I can't use the autofill or copy/paste (like in VR.) I always hit the 'generate new' until the randomizer comes up with something that's appropriate for the site (no real reason, just for the chuckle.) Every once in a while it comes up with a doozy. I was just offered:

Unbutton-Crush-Lubricate

[Isgrimnur]

Instructions unclear, dick stuck in ceiling fan.

[Blackhawk]

Funny passphrases, Pt. 1

I use Bitwarden as a password manager. It includes a password generator, which lets you specify all sorts of parameters (length, how many words, symbols, caps, numbers, etc), then creates a password or passphrase for you. I prefer passphrases simply because they're easier to type in when I can't use the autofill or copy/paste (like in VR.) I always hit the 'generate new' until the randomizer comes up with something that's appropriate for the site (no real reason, just for the chuckle.) Every once in a while it comes up with a doozy. I was just offered:

Unbutton-Crush-Lubricate

Pt 2:

Lustfully-Sank-Bazooka

[LordMortis]

Does chili actually get better after freezing it? Is that possible?

[Daehawk]

Perhaps the more expensive frozen dinners are different but the cheap $1.20 are not enough to fill me up. You get 3 spoonfuls of corn, 3 of some runny apple dessert, and 3 or 4 bites of a meat plus about 4 spoons of gravy and potatoes. Pretty tame and lame. I think tomorrow Ill test this out and buy a couple of the $4 ones and a old standby..the Hungryman one. See whats in those.

I figured I was paying cheap for cheaper quality but I think its that PLUS less.

[Isgrimnur]

Figure out calories/dollar.

[LordMortis]

Perhaps the more expensive frozen dinners are different but the cheap $1.20 are not enough to fill me up. You get 3 spoonfuls of corn, 3 of some runny apple dessert, and 3 or 4 bites of a meat plus about 4 spoons of gravy and potatoes. Pretty tame and lame. I think tomorrow Ill test this out and buy a couple of the $4 ones and a old standby..the Hungryman one. See whats in those.

I figured I was paying cheap for cheaper quality but I think its that PLUS less.

Sales. If you just want to be full and don't care about salt and preservatives, you can wait for a Marie Calendar's or Boston Market meal to come down to $2ish. Or maybe $2.25 with inflation. They are both large frozen meals. And for $3 ($4 if you are impatient) you can get a Red Barron, Jack's or Freshetta pizza, which is way more than one person should eat. Retail will kill you financially on that stuff, even if you aren't on a budget. With gas prices coming down, hopefully it's easier to get out and sale shop more often. Try to get ahead with pantry and shelf stable staples/frozen stuff and then it's easier to stay ahead. If you're constantly paying full retail, then you are often paying an extra 1/3 or more.

WRT chili, I make my own and freeze it. I make about 18 cups at a time in the crock pot. At today's pricing, I wait for burger to his $2.99 a pound and 18 cups costs about $20 and for me is about six very large servings.


Edit: Google says it's 36 minutes to Dalton, GA Kroger from your area. Get a Kroger card, sign up for their in store coupons and make the drive once or twice a month when the sales/coupons are favorable. Meijer used to be the best place for groceries around here but since pandemic inflation, Kroger sales are hands down the best grocery shopping I can do.

Edit 2: Just did the rundown for my grocery bill this month. $67, and I am packed with food, including expensive (but on sale) junk food like a 12 pack of Jimmy Deans breakfast sandwiches and 5 1.5 quart containers of ice cream and so many asst'd chips I can't fit them in a pantry cupboard. I think my typical month is shy of $100 and I eat out once or twice a month with my parents. Likely I've been down this month because 1) sales were better than average and 2) I had Turkey Day with may parents followed by days of Turkey Day leftovers. Because I am fairly extreme in my sale shopping, absent meat and fresh produce, I typically pay about 50% retail for everything else, buying in bulk whenever deep sales hit.

[Smoove_B]

With frozen dinners you're also always paying for packaging. You'd likely get better value buying bulk pasta, packages of ground beef, tomato sauce, cheese, etc... and making a giant tray of macaroni and meat sauce - that you could slowly eat throughout the week or freeze half and save for the future.

EDIT: Or what LM said.

[Kraken]

Does chili actually get better after freezing it? Is that possible?

Like virtually all soups and stews, chili improves over time as the ingredients blend. I don't think that happens at all while it's frozen, but reheating certainly helps it meld, particularly if you do it on the stovetop rather than nuking it. And it's not impossible that the process of freezing and thawing might help, by breaking down cell walls as ice crystals form and melt, for example.