Hama7's Yamiga Fetish. May 13, 2007 7:58 PM Subscribe
Hama7 recently posted this FPP on the blue and it got rightly deleted. Now it's back... and probably worse than before.
Look on the bright side:
At least there's a translated link with it this time for all the old fashioned English speakers.
posted by jmd82 at 8:02 PM on May 13, 2007
At least there's a translated link with it this time for all the old fashioned English speakers.
posted by jmd82 at 8:02 PM on May 13, 2007
Odly enough I understood "?????? ?????·??·??·??·??." much more than I did "廃道レポート・東北の廃道・旧道・国道・県道・林道."
posted by furtive at 8:04 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by furtive at 8:04 PM on May 13, 2007
English is old and busted. ???? is the new hotness.
posted by The Deej at 8:07 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by The Deej at 8:07 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
I was amused the first time. I'm less amused now, especially since I'd already run it through machine translation the last time it showed up.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:10 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:10 PM on May 13, 2007
<rebb> chinese websites scare me :| ??????????????????????????? ??????? ? ????????????? ???????? ? ????????? Click ! ?????? ? ???? ? ???? ?
<voodoochopstiks> so many questions, so few answers
posted by null terminated at 8:12 PM on May 13, 2007
<voodoochopstiks> so many questions, so few answers
posted by null terminated at 8:12 PM on May 13, 2007
Granted, my presence in Japan gives me slightly more insight to the original Japanese, but I think what hama7 is getting at is the continued need for translators of the human variety.
These Google and Babelfish translations (upon which so many businesses rely, believe it or not) render quite informative (and in Yamiga's case, entertaining) websites useless. The resulting dada-ist poetry is amusing not because of a subtly xenophobic Engrish.com-esque "oh, silly foreigners and their poor English" notion, but because we can say to ourselves, "oh, silly humans and their belief that a computer will replace a human in this capacity any time soon."
Did it really warrant a MeTa? I expected a discussion of translation software and was honestly shocked by the negative responses.
posted by squasha at 8:15 PM on May 13, 2007
These Google and Babelfish translations (upon which so many businesses rely, believe it or not) render quite informative (and in Yamiga's case, entertaining) websites useless. The resulting dada-ist poetry is amusing not because of a subtly xenophobic Engrish.com-esque "oh, silly foreigners and their poor English" notion, but because we can say to ourselves, "oh, silly humans and their belief that a computer will replace a human in this capacity any time soon."
Did it really warrant a MeTa? I expected a discussion of translation software and was honestly shocked by the negative responses.
posted by squasha at 8:15 PM on May 13, 2007
I like it.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:23 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by fleetmouse at 8:23 PM on May 13, 2007
(Or maybe hama7 just really liked the section with the strange road signs...I did, too.)
posted by squasha at 8:23 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by squasha at 8:23 PM on May 13, 2007
I think you give hama7 too much credit, squasha. His first attempt at this yamiga link was a single link to yamiga.com with no explanatory text. If his follow up today had contained a link to yamiga and two translation sites plus a critique of translation software and their usefulness (or lack thereof), maybe I wouldn't have found the need to call him out. Instead he has simply linked to a site that got him deleted the first time around and tried to satisfy jessamyns deletion reason of "while there is nothing at all wrong with non-english posts generally, there is something wrong with this non-english post specifically." A call out was warranted.
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:27 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:27 PM on May 13, 2007
hama7 asked if it was okay to have a do-over and I said the linking to the translations just under the period of his post was maybe a little precious, so change that and sure. I found it vaguely interesting even with pretty much no knowledge of Japanese.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:31 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:31 PM on May 13, 2007
How do you say "Suck it, haters" in Japanese?
posted by homunculus at 8:32 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by homunculus at 8:32 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
hama7 has apparently completely given up on posting comments on Mefi. This is no bad thing, because his comments annoyed the shit out of me. But I'm just saying...he might not be appearing here to defend or explain himself. He might not even read this thread for all we know.
posted by Jimbob at 8:33 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by Jimbob at 8:33 PM on May 13, 2007
I'm more likely to click a mystery meat post from hama7 than from just about anyone else, but this one was just disappointing. And yeah, I found the "Strange thing discovery!" page. It was still kind of a nothing post.
posted by mediareport at 8:41 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by mediareport at 8:41 PM on May 13, 2007
While I felt no need to defend hama7, I did feel, like jessamyn, it was vaguely interesting. Even though the link to the translations weren't as obvious as some, it seems they were there.
And I'd rather live in a world where do-overs are occasionally possible, wouldn't you?
Especially if it did actually trigger a discussion of translation software the second time around. Which I thought was a logical progression, regardless of whether it was spoon-fed to us, or not. Even now, others are playing with the online translations and entertaining themselves with my comment over in the blue. Which I like.
And yes, my own vernacular carries traces of the Pollyanna in both languages.
posted by squasha at 8:42 PM on May 13, 2007
And I'd rather live in a world where do-overs are occasionally possible, wouldn't you?
Especially if it did actually trigger a discussion of translation software the second time around. Which I thought was a logical progression, regardless of whether it was spoon-fed to us, or not. Even now, others are playing with the online translations and entertaining themselves with my comment over in the blue. Which I like.
And yes, my own vernacular carries traces of the Pollyanna in both languages.
posted by squasha at 8:42 PM on May 13, 2007
I expected a discussion of translation software and was honestly shocked by the negative responses.
If you really thought that then life must be a constant series of surprises for you.
posted by euphorb at 8:44 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
If you really thought that then life must be a constant series of surprises for you.
posted by euphorb at 8:44 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
I expected a discussion of translation software
Um, I don't mean to be a dick, but...why? Everyone knows that translation software, especially between Japanese and English, borders on garbage, and that it can be used to make magic. What discussion was supposed to have ensued? Why not just actually have a post about machine translation? Hell, I studied linguistics; I'd love to see a good FPP on the topic itself. From a technical discussion to even just a silly "here are some hilarious/surreal examples of mangled translation" sort of thing.
As it stands, even IF the intent was to have fun with machine translation, it borders far too much on the "Do you like pies? Here is a picture of a pie." sort of FPP which gets swiftly - and justifiably - deleted.
But I think most people who are annoyed by this post feel that way because the post, by dint of being in a language that a small minority of posters understand, is obviously inscrutable, except with more effort than the page appears to be worth. And reposting the same site through Google Translated dada poetry came off, to me, as a a fairly lazy, condescending, and willfully obscure way to ram through a sub-par FPP.
Also, I am humorless tonight. Grrr.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:46 PM on May 13, 2007
Um, I don't mean to be a dick, but...why? Everyone knows that translation software, especially between Japanese and English, borders on garbage, and that it can be used to make magic. What discussion was supposed to have ensued? Why not just actually have a post about machine translation? Hell, I studied linguistics; I'd love to see a good FPP on the topic itself. From a technical discussion to even just a silly "here are some hilarious/surreal examples of mangled translation" sort of thing.
As it stands, even IF the intent was to have fun with machine translation, it borders far too much on the "Do you like pies? Here is a picture of a pie." sort of FPP which gets swiftly - and justifiably - deleted.
But I think most people who are annoyed by this post feel that way because the post, by dint of being in a language that a small minority of posters understand, is obviously inscrutable, except with more effort than the page appears to be worth. And reposting the same site through Google Translated dada poetry came off, to me, as a a fairly lazy, condescending, and willfully obscure way to ram through a sub-par FPP.
Also, I am humorless tonight. Grrr.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:46 PM on May 13, 2007
Life isn't a constant series of surprises for everyone?
posted by breezeway at 8:47 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by breezeway at 8:47 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
I think it's more likely that he's a constant series of surprises to life itself. Like, you know, The Fates conspire to make this the best day of his life, send all the standard happenings and cues, and then wonder why he went to bed near tears.
posted by Firas at 8:47 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Firas at 8:47 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
People aren't actually arguing that there's something wrong with the post because it's not in English, are they? Who says posts have to be in English?
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:49 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:49 PM on May 13, 2007
People aren't actually arguing that there's something wrong with the post because it's not in English, are they? Who says posts have to be in English?
No one is, as far as I know. I'm fine with non-English FPPs if I know where to go to find parts that are interesting.
I even went to the supposedly interesting parts, and they were meh.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:51 PM on May 13, 2007
No one is, as far as I know. I'm fine with non-English FPPs if I know where to go to find parts that are interesting.
I even went to the supposedly interesting parts, and they were meh.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:51 PM on May 13, 2007
I can't wait until I can speak Arabic well enough to write posts that people can't read. That's gonna be. So. Much. Fun! :D
posted by miss lynnster at 8:53 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by miss lynnster at 8:53 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
To clarify, there's nothing wrong with posting non-English language web sites, but I think metafilter is pretty English-centric and at least some guidance for non-English posts is pretty necessary.
posted by jourman2 at 8:55 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by jourman2 at 8:55 PM on May 13, 2007
Arabic is so passe. Even years ago I had an army recruiter asking whether I spoke Farsi.
posted by Firas at 8:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by Firas at 8:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
umm...metafilter is an English language web site.
Well, my post a couple of days was to a photography site entirely in Russian (which I don't speak, and which I assume a minority of mefites understand), but it went over just fine.
It's not about the language.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:59 PM on May 13, 2007
Well, my post a couple of days was to a photography site entirely in Russian (which I don't speak, and which I assume a minority of mefites understand), but it went over just fine.
It's not about the language.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:59 PM on May 13, 2007
... at least some guidance for non-English posts is pretty necessary.
Only for people who only speak English.
Crap looks the same no matter what type of character you use to describe it.
posted by dg at 9:03 PM on May 13, 2007
Only for people who only speak English.
Crap looks the same no matter what type of character you use to describe it.
posted by dg at 9:03 PM on May 13, 2007
Who says posts have to be in English?
no one ... as stravosthewonderchicken pointed out, he did one in russian that was just great ... seeing as the point of it was readily accessible and obvious
i'm not getting this one
posted by pyramid termite at 9:20 PM on May 13, 2007
no one ... as stravosthewonderchicken pointed out, he did one in russian that was just great ... seeing as the point of it was readily accessible and obvious
i'm not getting this one
posted by pyramid termite at 9:20 PM on May 13, 2007
I had an army recruiter asking whether I spoke Farsi.
Was that because it's an anagram of your MeFi username?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:21 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Was that because it's an anagram of your MeFi username?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:21 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
I DON'T SPEAK YOUR CRAZY MOON LANGUAGE.
posted by klangklangston at 9:27 PM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by klangklangston at 9:27 PM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
Was that because it's an anagram of your MeFi username?
Wow, never noticed that, even though it's my actual name. No, I was substitute staffing the entrance reception desk at UMass Boston and he strolled up to ask my name and whether I or anybody I knew spoke Farsi… many people think I'm Mideastern, I think because when they think "Indian" they're thinking of south Indians (darker skin tone).
posted by Firas at 9:40 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Wow, never noticed that, even though it's my actual name. No, I was substitute staffing the entrance reception desk at UMass Boston and he strolled up to ask my name and whether I or anybody I knew spoke Farsi… many people think I'm Mideastern, I think because when they think "Indian" they're thinking of south Indians (darker skin tone).
posted by Firas at 9:40 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Wow, never noticed that, even though it's my actual name.
Heh. The anagram was the first thing I thought, too, when I saw your comment. I actually thought you were joking about the Farsi thing.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:47 PM on May 13, 2007
Heh. The anagram was the first thing I thought, too, when I saw your comment. I actually thought you were joking about the Farsi thing.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:47 PM on May 13, 2007
“seeing as the point of it was readily accessible and obvious”
I'm a bit ambivalent about that. I don't think that there really should be any nod to MetaFilter's anglocentricism per se in the form of posts being required to be explicitly “accessible” to English-speakers. On the other hand, there is an informal sort of “interesting to a large portion of the membership” test for posts that inaccessible non-English posts will fail.
But because I think that MetaFilter's mildly international membership is a huge bonus for the site as a whole, and that increasing worldwide diversity will only add to this, I think that the admins should err on the side of diversity against accessibility. Therefore, I don't think that non-English sites (or posts, or comments) should be “accessible” to anglophones. If we anglophones can't read it or understand it, tough. That leaves unsolved how the admins will be able to judge the quality of posts they can't understand.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'm a bit ambivalent about that. I don't think that there really should be any nod to MetaFilter's anglocentricism per se in the form of posts being required to be explicitly “accessible” to English-speakers. On the other hand, there is an informal sort of “interesting to a large portion of the membership” test for posts that inaccessible non-English posts will fail.
But because I think that MetaFilter's mildly international membership is a huge bonus for the site as a whole, and that increasing worldwide diversity will only add to this, I think that the admins should err on the side of diversity against accessibility. Therefore, I don't think that non-English sites (or posts, or comments) should be “accessible” to anglophones. If we anglophones can't read it or understand it, tough. That leaves unsolved how the admins will be able to judge the quality of posts they can't understand.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
???????????
¿oh no it's?
¿another ?
¿ambiguity?
¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿
posted by moonbird at 9:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [5 favorites]
¿oh no it's?
¿another ?
¿ambiguity?
¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿
posted by moonbird at 9:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [5 favorites]
Sticherbeast writes "Everyone knows that translation software, especially between Japanese and English, borders on garbage, and that it can be used to make magic."
Not my colleagues.
posted by Bugbread at 10:08 PM on May 13, 2007
Not my colleagues.
posted by Bugbread at 10:08 PM on May 13, 2007
I think in this context 'accessible and obvious' refers to design and presentation, not language, EB. Language is irrelevant to good design (well, for our purposes here at least -- I think it's hard to make blocks of text look good in Korean in terms of design, for example, but that's a visual and default-fonty thing, not linguistic, and possibly just my prejudice.)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:08 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:08 PM on May 13, 2007
If vronsky's recent post gets deleted, there should be absolutely no controversy about this post being deleted. Worse is that hama7's post should have to be deleted a second time.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:23 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:23 PM on May 13, 2007
Well hey, if I was learning farsi then I'd post in it. But I'm learning that passe language of Arabic. Soooo, whatevah.
I already know some German though. Nicht gut, nur ein bißchen -- ich habe die Worter gevorgessen -- aber veilleicht ich muss auf Deutsch posten!? (Ach... wie sagt man auf Deutsch "to post?") Aber gut genug, ja wohl? Zustimmen Sie? Ja? Nein?
Oh, nevermind. I'll stick with English.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:23 PM on May 13, 2007
I already know some German though. Nicht gut, nur ein bißchen -- ich habe die Worter gevorgessen -- aber veilleicht ich muss auf Deutsch posten!? (Ach... wie sagt man auf Deutsch "to post?") Aber gut genug, ja wohl? Zustimmen Sie? Ja? Nein?
Oh, nevermind. I'll stick with English.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:23 PM on May 13, 2007
How do you say "Suck it, haters" in Japanese?
Sah-kit-toe hay-tah-zu! SAH-KIT-TOE HAY-TAH-ZU!!!
FAH-KYUUU!!!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [7 favorites]
Sah-kit-toe hay-tah-zu! SAH-KIT-TOE HAY-TAH-ZU!!!
FAH-KYUUU!!!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:56 PM on May 13, 2007 [7 favorites]
"But because I think that MetaFilter's mildly international membership is a huge bonus for the site as a whole, and that increasing worldwide diversity will only add to this, I think that the admins should err on the side of diversity against accessibility. Therefore, I don't think that non-English sites (or posts, or comments) should be “accessible” to anglophones."
My first post was primarily in (quasi-butchered) German, and no one complained. But it was esoterica.
posted by klangklangston at 11:20 PM on May 13, 2007
My first post was primarily in (quasi-butchered) German, and no one complained. But it was esoterica.
posted by klangklangston at 11:20 PM on May 13, 2007
"Hama7's Yamiga Fetish."
Dude, that's not a fetish. These are some fetishes.
posted by Eideteker at 11:25 PM on May 13, 2007
Dude, that's not a fetish. These are some fetishes.
posted by Eideteker at 11:25 PM on May 13, 2007
I thought it was probably a dumb site in both English and JApanese, and I kind of dislike the 'wacky crazywild Japanglishims' bit.
But for what it's worth I've hated other posts more.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:07 AM on May 14, 2007
So this one is no so low on the critical From Bklyn scale, then?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:36 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:36 AM on May 14, 2007
or not so low
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:37 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:37 AM on May 14, 2007
Yamaiga, not Yamiga. (Sorry, it's a made up word either way, so I was trying to avoid making the correction, but it's just been bugging me).
posted by Bugbread at 3:42 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by Bugbread at 3:42 AM on May 14, 2007
...but it's just been bugging me.
Eponysterical!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:43 AM on May 14, 2007
Eponysterical!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:43 AM on May 14, 2007
So this one is no so low on the critical From Bklyn scale, then?
That's the mighty From Bklyn scale of freakin' superness scale. Please update as needed.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:57 AM on May 14, 2007
The signs remind me of when I first got to Japan and found that a street in my neighborhood was painted with the words:
「スクール・ゾーン」
(that's a phonetic spelling of the English "school zone")
What the hell?! Is English so cool that the highway department can't resist jazzing up their warning signs with it instead of the lingua franca?
posted by planetkyoto at 4:33 AM on May 14, 2007
「スクール・ゾーン」
(that's a phonetic spelling of the English "school zone")
What the hell?! Is English so cool that the highway department can't resist jazzing up their warning signs with it instead of the lingua franca?
posted by planetkyoto at 4:33 AM on May 14, 2007
Damn, I meant to post that on the blue. delete please.
posted by planetkyoto at 4:35 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by planetkyoto at 4:35 AM on May 14, 2007
Is hama7 back, or did an infinity of monkeys hijack his account?
posted by caddis at 4:53 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by caddis at 4:53 AM on May 14, 2007
an infinity of monkeys
That's brilliant. Honestly. Did you make that up, or is it, you know, from something?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:04 AM on May 14, 2007
That's brilliant. Honestly. Did you make that up, or is it, you know, from something?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:04 AM on May 14, 2007
Is this something I'd need a japanese charset to misunderstand?
???
? ???? ? ?? ?????? ?
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:56 AM on May 14, 2007
???
? ???? ? ?? ?????? ?
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:56 AM on May 14, 2007
I can't understand it, nor can I be bothered to take the time to understand it.
That being said, I think it is a better post and adds more value to the site then another "atheism rules; lolxtian drools" post.
posted by dios at 7:21 AM on May 14, 2007
That being said, I think it is a better post and adds more value to the site then another "atheism rules; lolxtian drools" post.
posted by dios at 7:21 AM on May 14, 2007
I thought MetaFilter was all about the links, baby. This post proves that automated translation algorithms are, ahem, imperfect? An infinity of monkeys banging away on Selectric typewriters for an infinity of time could have told me that.
What else does this post do? Vibrate? Don strange headgear? I mildly disapprove.
posted by Mister_A at 7:28 AM on May 14, 2007
What else does this post do? Vibrate? Don strange headgear? I mildly disapprove.
posted by Mister_A at 7:28 AM on May 14, 2007
"Is hama7 back, or did an infinity of monkeys hijack his account?"
Leave us out of this. We're busy working on some Shakespeare.
posted by An Infinity Of Monkeys at 7:29 AM on May 14, 2007 [4 favorites]
Leave us out of this. We're busy working on some Shakespeare.
posted by An Infinity Of Monkeys at 7:29 AM on May 14, 2007 [4 favorites]
Etheral Bligh,
I appreciate that you are senstive to every oppressed minority, including non-English users on MeFi.
That being said, really, seriously, stop it. This is not a case of us being anti-Japanese or [LANGUAGIST] or anything. There have been plenty of successful non-English posts on MeFi, and what has set them apart is context. Loads and loads of context.
Similarly, apart from your odd amazing photo or really amusing youtube photo, the MeFi community has been similarly nonplussed by single link posts to random pages.
I mean, imagine if the post were in English and said something like: "Abandoned Forest Roads" and then pointed to a version of yamaiga in fluent English. Would the post be any good? No. The first link goes to some random picture of a bike. You still need context, a nice little paragraph like, "many roads in Japan are abandoned, blah blah blah, some interesting pictures here and here, here's an article about growing interest here". And if someone wants to post that entire FPP in Japanese instead of English, fine at least make the post interesting.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:40 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
I appreciate that you are senstive to every oppressed minority, including non-English users on MeFi.
That being said, really, seriously, stop it. This is not a case of us being anti-Japanese or [LANGUAGIST] or anything. There have been plenty of successful non-English posts on MeFi, and what has set them apart is context. Loads and loads of context.
Similarly, apart from your odd amazing photo or really amusing youtube photo, the MeFi community has been similarly nonplussed by single link posts to random pages.
I mean, imagine if the post were in English and said something like: "Abandoned Forest Roads" and then pointed to a version of yamaiga in fluent English. Would the post be any good? No. The first link goes to some random picture of a bike. You still need context, a nice little paragraph like, "many roads in Japan are abandoned, blah blah blah, some interesting pictures here and here, here's an article about growing interest here". And if someone wants to post that entire FPP in Japanese instead of English, fine at least make the post interesting.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:40 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
Sorry for misspelling your name. That was not intentional.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:41 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by Deathalicious at 7:41 AM on May 14, 2007
I need to get around to starting the official Church of Lolxtianity. It'd be a lot like regular Christianity, only with a wicked sense of humor about the whole thing.
Lotta Life of Brian scriptures, I'd think.
posted by klangklangston at 8:14 AM on May 14, 2007
Lotta Life of Brian scriptures, I'd think.
posted by klangklangston at 8:14 AM on May 14, 2007
an infinity of monkeys
That's brilliant. Honestly. Did you make that up, or is it, you know, from something?
flap, I think it's from here.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:23 AM on May 14, 2007
That's brilliant. Honestly. Did you make that up, or is it, you know, from something?
flap, I think it's from here.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:23 AM on May 14, 2007
Well.
Considering the length of both this thread, and the one attached to the post itself, I guess it did warrant a MeTa. Or didn't...clearly, the discussion continues.
And I continue to find links through Metafilter that I would never have found in my own, somewhat limited, surfing time...and while sometimes those links and their associated threads are informative, educational and thought-provoking, at other times they are merely the impetus for a grin which remains plastered on my face for a couple of hours.
"Interesting" is so clearly in the mind's eye of the beholder.
And yes, my life *is* a series of constant surprises.
posted by squasha at 8:24 AM on May 14, 2007
Considering the length of both this thread, and the one attached to the post itself, I guess it did warrant a MeTa. Or didn't...clearly, the discussion continues.
And I continue to find links through Metafilter that I would never have found in my own, somewhat limited, surfing time...and while sometimes those links and their associated threads are informative, educational and thought-provoking, at other times they are merely the impetus for a grin which remains plastered on my face for a couple of hours.
"Interesting" is so clearly in the mind's eye of the beholder.
And yes, my life *is* a series of constant surprises.
posted by squasha at 8:24 AM on May 14, 2007
Unfortunately, the Church of LOLMUSLIMZ has franchises pretty much all over the country already...
posted by miss lynnster at 8:35 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 8:35 AM on May 14, 2007
Seriously though, what are the guidelines for linking to things in a foreign language. There have been stuff that I would've loved to link to, but most of the main sources would've been from Korean-only sites. I erred on the side of caution than to possibly frustrate people and also avoid the GYOB type of post since some things would be required to be accompanied by my translation or background info type of context. So far I'm getting that if there's at least lots of pictures it's ok? What about videos without subtitles? At least have something with English in it for context? But how much context in English? Does the source have to be secondary in such a case? Not snarking, would just genuinely like to know =(
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:48 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:48 AM on May 14, 2007
Seriously though, what are the guidelines for linking to things in a foreign language. There have been stuff that I would've loved to link to, but most of the main sources would've been from Korean-only sites. I erred on the side of caution than to possibly frustrate people and also avoid the GYOB type of post since some things would be required to be accompanied by my translation or background info type of context.
The loose guidelines are that MeFi is a site populated by mostly (almost entirely, I think) English speakers, so if you have a link to something that's in another language try to make it relevant to people without second language skills. Don't link to anything you have written posted elsewhere, even for translation/explanation purposes, because that's still self-linking. I've seen a few posts that were bilingual and that often works well.
In short, EBs objection nonwithstanding, non-English posts often accumulate a fair amount of "wtf" type responses so it's best if you can head these off at the pass by whatever means seem to work for your particular topic.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:35 AM on May 14, 2007
The loose guidelines are that MeFi is a site populated by mostly (almost entirely, I think) English speakers, so if you have a link to something that's in another language try to make it relevant to people without second language skills. Don't link to anything you have written posted elsewhere, even for translation/explanation purposes, because that's still self-linking. I've seen a few posts that were bilingual and that often works well.
In short, EBs objection nonwithstanding, non-English posts often accumulate a fair amount of "wtf" type responses so it's best if you can head these off at the pass by whatever means seem to work for your particular topic.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:35 AM on May 14, 2007
Metafilter: EB notwithstanding.
posted by Firas at 9:55 AM on May 14, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by Firas at 9:55 AM on May 14, 2007 [2 favorites]
Why do you hate knowledge of the condition of mountain roads so much?
posted by Iron Rat at 10:26 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by Iron Rat at 10:26 AM on May 14, 2007
未 解 決 !
posted by atrazine at 10:27 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by atrazine at 10:27 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
未 解 決 ! -atrazine
That's easy for you to say.
PS who'd've thunk you can italicize those characters. I would not have thunk it.
posted by Mister_A at 10:35 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
That's easy for you to say.
PS who'd've thunk you can italicize those characters. I would not have thunk it.
posted by Mister_A at 10:35 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
"This is a thousand monkeys working at a thousand typewriters. Soon, they'll have written the greatest novel known to mankind. (reads one of the typewriters) "It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times"?! you stupid monkey! (monkey screeches) Oh, shut up."
posted by blue_beetle at 11:15 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by blue_beetle at 11:15 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
Hey, can anybody tell me what I need to do to make Firefox on WinXP display all these fun characters? This whole page is full of ????? ?? ??? for me.
posted by vytae at 12:14 PM on May 14, 2007
posted by vytae at 12:14 PM on May 14, 2007
and, by the way, here are two old MeTa threads (2003 and 2005) about non-English language posts,
posted by matteo at 12:16 PM on May 14, 2007
posted by matteo at 12:16 PM on May 14, 2007
The signs remind me of when I first got to Japan and found that a street in my neighborhood was painted with the words:
「スクール・ゾーン」
It's a long tradition. And every language borrows from other languages, even English.
And,
It looks like it's really fun to mix up Chinese and Japanese, and butcher German at will, for some English monoglots people.
vytae: try switching the character encoding (under View) to Japanese.
posted by derMax at 12:34 PM on May 14, 2007
Thanks, derMax. That didn't get rid of the question marks, so I'm thinking maybe this poor old workstation doesn't have the right character sets installed (or something? I totally made that explanation up). I guess I'll try again when I get home to my own machine.
posted by vytae at 12:47 PM on May 14, 2007
posted by vytae at 12:47 PM on May 14, 2007
vytae: this poor old workstation doesn't have the right character sets installed
Pretty much. I followed instructions, and the Question Marks of Asian Mystery have been banished.
posted by CKmtl at 1:31 PM on May 14, 2007
Pretty much. I followed instructions, and the Question Marks of Asian Mystery have been banished.
posted by CKmtl at 1:31 PM on May 14, 2007
question:
is there anyone who speaks japanese who had a problem with hama7's post?
posted by shmegegge at 1:42 PM on May 14, 2007
is there anyone who speaks japanese who had a problem with hama7's post?
posted by shmegegge at 1:42 PM on May 14, 2007
Life isn't a constant series of surprises for everyone?
I prefer the phrasing of my elementary school English teacher, who summed up every book as follows:
Shit happens.
posted by meowzilla at 2:48 PM on May 14, 2007
I prefer the phrasing of my elementary school English teacher, who summed up every book as follows:
Shit happens.
posted by meowzilla at 2:48 PM on May 14, 2007
is there anyone who speaks japanese who had a problem with hama7's post?
I had a clicky when it was first posted - but didn't comment because the site itself didn't interest me - although the subject matter does a lot.
I guess I have high expectations - if they are no amazing photographs then I expect some interesting stories. And the site design annoyed me.
posted by gomichild at 7:45 PM on May 14, 2007
I had a clicky when it was first posted - but didn't comment because the site itself didn't interest me - although the subject matter does a lot.
I guess I have high expectations - if they are no amazing photographs then I expect some interesting stories. And the site design annoyed me.
posted by gomichild at 7:45 PM on May 14, 2007
In 2003 a humorous experiment was performed with six Sulawesi crested macaques, but their literary contribution was five pages consisting largely of the letter S, besides attacking and defecating on the typewriter. (from the wikipedia article)
I'm so glad someone actually tried it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:07 PM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'm so glad someone actually tried it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:07 PM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
I had a clicky when it was first posted - but didn't comment because the site itself didn't interest me - although the subject matter does a lot. then I shall take that to mean bad post and leave it at that. thanks.
posted by shmegegge at 10:55 PM on May 14, 2007
posted by shmegegge at 10:55 PM on May 14, 2007
shmegegge writes "is there anyone who speaks japanese who had a problem with hama7's post?"
I found the site hard to navigate, both in English and in Japanese, so I didn't get very far into it, but what I saw didn't seem all that special.
posted by Bugbread at 5:51 AM on May 15, 2007
I found the site hard to navigate, both in English and in Japanese, so I didn't get very far into it, but what I saw didn't seem all that special.
posted by Bugbread at 5:51 AM on May 15, 2007
delmoi... Suddenly, Mefi makes sense.
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
posted by The Deej at 8:55 AM on May 16, 2007
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
posted by The Deej at 8:55 AM on May 16, 2007
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
You are all supposed to be so progressive. Shyeah. Right.
posted by The Deej at 8:02 PM on May 13, 2007