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Long load times + blank comments in federated instances' posts in c/main@midwest.social
Best colleague ever in c/NiceMemes@sopuli.xyz
AI glazers have zero shame whatsoever. in c/fuck_ai@lemmy.world
Hard agree in c/Memes@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Cool Japan 🌸 in c/memes@sopuli.xyz
Cool Japan 🌸 in c/memes@sopuli.xyz
[–] 1 point 3 months ago* (1 child)

I guess I should've said that I wasn't dismissing it, but was trying to find possible explanations. My understanding is that their xenophobia is more from a sense of caution rather than a more traditionally racist view like, "Inferior being!" That's just a total hunch, though.

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    • Cool Japan 🌸 in c/memes@sopuli.xyz
    [–] 3 points 3 months ago*

    I know, right? But my trip to Japan made me realize a few, surprisingly massive, key factors that differentiate the US from them are:

    • Publicly available drinking water: while the US's added fluoride is certainly contested by various groups, readily available drinking water is at least present almost everywhere. It is hard to find potable water in Europe, and Japan has zero drinking fountains. There are no water bottle refill stations. They just don't exist at all there. It's really kind of crazy given their unbelievably intense, sauna-like weather outdoors for the entirety of their sweltering summers (the humidity made it feel like 110° F in July; you burst into sweat after just a few minutes outside, literally, and many people use portable, electric fans, etc.), but they just expect you to be be self-sufficient carrying with your own water or to just tough it out until you get home or whatever.
    • Trash cans while out and about: believe it or not, garbage is actually very difficult to dispose of in Japan, to the point of my late sister who had lived there for years advising us to take advantage of konbinis (convenience stores) to dump your trash, because you could literally go to multiple entire stores and not see a single trash can anywhere. You basically otherwise have to hold it with you until you get home.
    • Americans with Disabilities Act: I was shocked to see how only some of Japan's numerous, famous labyrinths of subways have escalators or elevators; some had literally none, so if you're wheelchair-/scooter-bound or even on crutches, you just can't ride trains at all. Additionally, I saw a business that had perhaps 2 dozen workers confined to an insanely tight room for their daily work; there were no cubicles at that place. The computer desks per worker literally touched each other, so you could stretch your arms sideways and you'd already hit your coworkers in the face. I wish I could say I was exaggerating but that kind of crammed, sardine can-level packing was so disgusting and demeaning to the hard workers there that I felt just a little more grateful to be in the US, where that kind of treatment towards employees, who couldn't even walk 2 feet without bumping into a colleague's chair, would absolutely not fly with the civil rights lawyers here.

    Despite all the amazing things in Japan, from their higher-quality food to the blazing-fast Shinkansen trains and incredibly efficient, bidet-equipped Toto sink toilets, etc., I found just some various aspects of daily life there (especially the lack of easily discoverable water in the raging summer heat) to be quite eye-opening in a reverse way just as much. I do not think I could easily move and live there, even if they all suddenly spoke English.

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    • Cool Japan 🌸 in c/memes@sopuli.xyz
    [+] -7 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    They get an easier pass because their products are top-notch. Toyota basically invented Six Sigma/a globally used process for manufacturer defect elimination. A Japanese automaker invented QR codes. They have Nintendo, anime, etc. They changed and continue to impact the world in highly recognizable ways, not by merely cheap products (China), cheap labor (India), etc.

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    • Cool Japan 🌸 in c/memes@sopuli.xyz
    Cool Japan 🌸 in c/memes@sopuli.xyz
    [–] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I went there recently. The organization and efficiency are truly astounding. I felt like the best parts of Japan and the best parts of the US fused together could make a utopia. But it's never gonna happen because those best parts are direct results of the cultural mindset that leads to each one's dark ends as well. They're both sides of their respective coins, unfortunately...

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    • Ohio will continue to allow child marriage after push to end practice fails in legislature in c/usa@midwest.social
    Is it just me or does the search engine suck? in c/thunderbird@lemmy.world
    11
    Is it just me or does the search engine suck? (midwest.social)
     

    Edit: Sorry, I mean the Android app!

    I can never seem to pull up old emails, like from years back. The search results tend to be limited to recent emails, it seems. Is anyone else having this problem? It just draws a blank for emails that I absolutely know I received years ago.

    I am loving the unified inbox though, which I think Gmail lacks!

    10
    I figured out how to get Mint's sound working on an iMac A2116 (midwest.social)
     

    I absolutely could not figure this out anywhere online and many other people who tried to help were unable to solve the problem, so I reluctantly ended up dialoguing for perhaps 2-4 hours with ChatGPT, which actually managed to solve it. I'm not proud of doing so, but I'm not a programmer, either, and I really don't think the solution exists anywhere online after having searched and searched, which is why I'm documenting it here for anyone's future discovery.

    Normally, when you install Mint on an iMac A2116, the local sound is silent, even though its sounds can be heard through remote desktop software. This is the way:

    First-time setup:

    sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential git linux-headers-$(uname -r)
cd ~
wget https://github.com/davidjo/snd_hda_macbookpro/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
unzip master.zip

    Then the following steps should be done right after the commands above, as well as after every kernel update (which continually causes it to go silent again):

    cd snd_hda_macbookpro-master
sudo ./install.cirrus.driver.sh

    Then reboot and it'll work.

    Trying to automate these bottom two lines into DKMS with:

    cd ~/snd_hda_macbookpro-master
sudo ./install.cirrus.driver.sh --install

    ... seems to cause Mint to think its kernel management has gone corrupt, so I may try to make it a startup command via bash, though I welcome any ideas and thoughts about this process, which has worked so far on 22.2 and 22.3 'Zena.'

    3
    January Board Game Nights are up! (West Allis Board Games) (calendar.google.com)
     

    The link here is to the Google Calendar. It is also on:

    Anyone is welcome to suggest the next schedule for Feb (I'm limited to Monday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, but I don't need to be present at all gatherings), or to share ideas about how we could leave Google or Facebook.

    Anyway, hope to see some of you there! Come with your favorite board games or bring nothing; people always have titles they're willing to teach!

    6
    Free, Weekly Board Game Night in West Allis (midwest.social)
     

    All are welcome to join us for a free night of board games in the nice and quiet food court by Caribou Coffee, which is inside the West Allis grocery store Festival Foods: https://maps.app.goo.gl/24u7oREVGX1gYzkn9

    The next event is tomorrow, Thursday, 11/19, during 6-9 PM (though we sometimes go over as the store closes at 10 PM). More events can be found at any of these links, which mirror each other:

    Join 4 to 8 participants for games in the food court of West Allis's Festival Foods / Caribou Coffee! Come late or leave early as you please.

    Make new friends and learn new games or teach your favorites. No games? No problem! The pictured stash in these links is almost always present by default, and there is also an in-house collection of titles ready to use. Some, like Exploding Kittens, are as short as 10 minutes if you're low on time, while others, like Terraforming Mars, could take up the night!

    There are no age limits, but minors must be supervised. To reach the food court, enter and walk straight ahead to the northeast corner of the building. The only requirements are a cooperative attitude, and that outside food and drink (other than water) are forbidden, so if you'd like dinner, the deli is open until 8 PM. If you want coffee, Caribou closes at 6 PM. Consider bringing an icebox if you'd like to grocery-shop for perishables and then stay for games. Hope to see you there!

    6
    West Allis Board Games now has a followable Google Calendar! All are welcome (calendar.google.com)
     

    This is a weekly, public, free gathering for participants to make friends while having a good time learning new (or sharing favorite) titles. Depending on whether you open this calendar link on desktop or mobile, the link to add it to your own Google Calendar will appear in either the bottom-left or bottom-right, and then it'll automatically show you all future events if you set it to synchronize and make the events visible. I don't know if this can be added to iCal or other platforms' calendars... That'd be neat if it could.

    Those who prefer Facebook can follow at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/westallisboardgames

    For context, we still see anywhere within 4-12 attendees every time and have played some awesome games that participants have brought, like Survive the Island, Fire Tower, Wandering Towers, and more (but you don't have to bring or know anything to participate)!

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