The Sixth Conversation Thread

What can I say? It doesn't fit above, put it here. Also the location of board rules/info.
Khemehekis
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Khemehekis »

eldin raigmore wrote: 08 Oct 2022 14:56 I am reminded of the thread containing this post.
I didn't see that post when you originally made it!

The reanalyses are so obscure that you must have wikipediaed or googled them!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Egerius »

Robbie Coltrane died today.
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Khemehekis »

station, ration, equation, cation, himation

The above words look as if they rhyme, but no two of these words are pronounced alike! (There are probably also some unassimilated French borrowings pronounced with the accent on the last syllable and a nasal vowel at the end, but I'm drawing a blank. "Pension" (the building, not social security) has an ending pronounced the French way, but I can't think of any such -ation words.)
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31,416: The number of the conlanging beast!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Khemehekis »

I am heartbroken. On Monday I learned that one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, my disabled program's sweetest client, Jolene Kallaus, has passed away. Jolene was only 64.

She is a lover of tacos, who would always say that "Tacos are my favorite". Of course, she would also say that pizza was her favorite, that burritos were her favorite, that Chinese food was her favorite, that lasagna was her favorite, that Peanut Crunch was her favorite, that strawberries were her favorite, that poppers were her favorite, that piroshkis were her favorite, that Reese's cups were her favorite, that iced tea was her favorite, that coffee was her favorite, that grape juice was her favorite, etc. She was allergic to sushi, however, and she told me that Pop Tarts "make me sick". I bought her many a taco or Reese's cup during the 15 years we were at our program together.

I bought many stuffed animals for Jolene in the past 17 years -- an orca, a zebra, a ladybug, a penguin, and more. Jolene and I shared many hugs. I just wish I could share one last hug with her. [:'(]

Although I was never in love with Jolene, Jolene would call me the love of her life, and would tell people she was engaged to me. Whenever I called her home, her staff would bring the phone to Jolene and tell her, "It's your boyfriend!" Jolene also often repeated "Napnin" -- it's her nonsense word -- and complained that she was "not gettin' it". She struggled with schizophrenia for about two thirds of her life. (She was also born with clubfoot and used a walker, and later, a wheelchair. Each successive surgery to correct her clubfoot made her legs weaker and weaker.)

Despite her abiding love of food, Jolene had a very thin body, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. There were always these wrinkly bags under her eyes. She told me she was of Russian descent.

Jolene, I'll ALWAYS love you. Until we see each other again, my friend! [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3]
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Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels

My Kankonian-English dictionary: 86,336 words and counting

31,416: The number of the conlanging beast!
Knox Adjacent
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Knox Adjacent »

Death, more death, Dad died today.
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by loglorn »

Knox Adjacent wrote: 07 Dec 2022 04:17 Death, more death, Dad died today.
Sorry to hear that, i hope your family is otherwise well.
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by DesEsseintes »

Would it be a good idea to have a fourth cup of coffee to a) make it thru this day; and b) ensure I stay awake until 5 am twitching? [:3]
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Khemehekis »

Anyone remember 10 years ago today?
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Egerius »

Khemehekis wrote: 21 Dec 2022 13:59 Anyone remember 10 years ago today?
Yes.
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by eldin raigmore »

Egerius wrote: 22 Dec 2022 15:24
Khemehekis wrote: 21 Dec 2022 13:59 Anyone remember 10 years ago today?
Yes.
The world ended when we collided with Nibiru, right!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Khemehekis »

eldin raigmore wrote: 25 Dec 2022 01:15 The world ended when we collided with Nibiru, right!
Exactly!
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Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels

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31,416: The number of the conlanging beast!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by DesEsseintes »

eldin raigmore wrote: 25 Dec 2022 01:15
Egerius wrote: 22 Dec 2022 15:24
Khemehekis wrote: 21 Dec 2022 13:59 Anyone remember 10 years ago today?
Yes.
The world ended when we collided with Nibiru, right!
Strange how I failed to notice.
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Egerius »

DesEsseintes wrote: 25 Dec 2022 06:03 Strange how I failed to notice.
[+1]
I thought the Mayans zapped us or something?
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by eldin raigmore »

DesEsseintes wrote: 19 Dec 2022 09:32 Would it be a good idea to have a fourth cup of coffee to a) make it thru this day; and b) ensure I stay awake until 5 am twitching? [:3]
IMHO it’s never advisable to have a 4th cup of coffee in a day.

….

I have heard or read the following:

1st cup does you a lot of good.
2nd cup does less good than 1st, but still, it does noticeable good.
3rd cup barely does any good at all.
Best that can be said for 4th cup is it probably won’t do you much harm.
5th and subsequent cups are harmful to your health.

….

So IMHO,
If you just enjoy the flavor or the heat, a 4th cup might be OK; but it probably won’t help you wake up or stay awake and alert.

….

Let us know what you find out?
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eldin raigmore
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by eldin raigmore »

Egerius wrote: 25 Dec 2022 17:29
DesEsseintes wrote: 25 Dec 2022 06:03 Strange how I failed to notice.
[+1]
I thought the Mayans zapped us or something?
That, too, I think!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by qwed117 »

Curious to ask, I was looking at the most recent relay, and was curious if anyone has tried a relay where people pass recordings of themselves speaking the language, alongside a grammar; in essence, the torches are audio files, rather than written texts?
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Khemehekis »

You may have seen the word lists passed along from the friend who was the huge corpus of English. Well, I just bought Mike Scott's WordList software (from Lexically), and I did a word frequency analysis of my rock musical, The Bittersweet Generation!

The top 25 words
Spoiler:
1. the
2. be
3. to
4. I
5. and
6. you
7. a
8. of
9. that
10. in
11. do
12. it
13. they
14. have
15. we
16. like
17. go
18. with
19. all
20. on
21. my
22. for
23. get
24. what
25. me
The top 25 common nouns
Spoiler:
1. people
2. school
3. scene
4. thing
5. student
6. life
7. time
8. boy
9. end
10. act
11. uniform
12. world
13. kid
14. way
15. band
16. teen
17. girl
18. year
19. rule
20. job
21. day
22. song
23. law
24. hair
25. class
The top 15 character names
Spoiler:
1. Melanie
2. Bryce
3. Paul
4. Alan
5. Trina
6. Sarah
7. Pittman
8. Dahlgren
9. Meghan
10. Blehm
11. Lindsay
12. Burdick (tie)
12. Kate (tie)
14. Danny
15. Tom
The top 25 action verbs
Spoiler:
1. go
2. get
3. know
4. say
5. want
6. think
7. make
8. see
9. look
10. come
11. tell
12. date (no doubt amped up by the song "We Can Date Too"!)
13. mean
14. wear
15. work
16. need
17. take
18. play
19. give
20. hear
21. call
22. walk
23. write
24. try
25. find
The top 25 adjectives
Spoiler:
1. good
2. same
3. wrong
4. old
5. long
6. high
7. bad
8. last
9. real
10. gay
11. next
12. late
13. black
14. better
15. American
16. young
17. diffferent
18. best
19. teen-age
20. first
21. big
22. little
23. hot
24. great
25. blue (tie)
25. short (tie)
25. straight (tie)
25. true (tie)
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Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels

My Kankonian-English dictionary: 86,336 words and counting

31,416: The number of the conlanging beast!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

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My Crohn’s is in remission!
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Egerius »

Man in Space wrote: 05 Jan 2023 19:31 My Crohn’s is in remission!
And there was much rejoicing.
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Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Post by Salmoneus »

I do not understand Netflix's decision making.

I just watched a Netflix show's first season - The Imperfects, a sort-of superhero show, came out in the last six months. It was mediocre - some enjoyable aspects, likeable, some flaws, not very deep. Wasn't going to become another Stranger Things, but seemed like it could run for several seasons, hopefully improve, and get itself some devoted fans.

But having put that time into watching the thing and making a note to keep an eye out for the next series, I find out... it's been cancelled. It was cancelled within two months of its coming out (if it weren't released all at once, it might not even have finished broadcasting its first season by the time it was cancelled).

Why? Apparently because Netflix felt it (and the rest of the shows cancelled that month) had proven not to be "long tail" shows, and therefore Netflix didn't want them, because Netflix only does long tail shows.

What does that mean? It means it was the 3rd most watched show on Netflix when it was released, and that of the first eight weeks it was out it was only in the top 10 shows for 3 of those weeks.

Do they know what "long tail" means? Because "must be #1 on release and must stay in the top 10 permanently" is kind of... the direct opposite of looking for a long tail product (one that is not the most popular thing but nonetheless appeals to a non-negligible audience, ideally for a long period of time). In fact, it's a ridiculously high bar to set, and it indicates that someone at Netflix is wasting a lot of money. Because if that's really the standard required, there was no way this show was ever going to meet it - just the premise (YAish (I think the characters are in their 20s but could easily have been teens), quirky SF&F adventure), the budget (adequate but hardly Hollywood) and the cast (no recognisable names, and frankly not a huge amount of talent - they all did well enough, but not so well that I was thinking 'better remember this actor they'll be big one day') pretty much guarantee it was neither going to be a #1 show nor a critical bandwagon. Why even waste all that money on a show that was plainly never going to meet the standards of success Netflix apparently demands?

Instead, this was always going to be a niche show with a mid-size but enthusiastic audience, and that's what the figures suggest it was. On RT it scored 65% with audiences, but that's mostly split between 5-stars and grumpy 2-stars who didn't like it having young people in it. That seems pretty good - it's a pretty good show that certainly appealed strongly to some people. That used to be what Netflix, and subscription TV in general, wanted - a bunch of different shows that each appealed to a segmen of the viewership, that taken collectively would encourage people to subscribe.

I'm not even particularly pissed off about this one show - while it's annoying to have spent time on it and to be left with a cliffhanger that won't be resolved, I probably won't think much about the show in the future, now that it's not coming back. I'm not going to be complaining about it for years - it was no Teenage Bounty Hunters.

It's just the idiocy of the company, and its knockon effect on what's available to view. Because this is only one of the many, many shows this happens to - most of which get cancelled before I've even heard of them, let alone watched them.

And aside from the general complaints of "shouldn't that be good enough?" and "if that wasn't going to be good enough why did you even bother commissioning it!?", the idiocy in question comes down to three things, which Netflix used to seem to understand, but apparently no longer do:

1: if all your products appeal to 80% of the market but it's the same 80%, you're limited to 80% of the market. If one of your products appeals to 50% of the market and another product appeals to the other 50%, you can now access 100% of the market. In a subscription model, with no adverts and no pay-per-play (yet), it doesn' matter how many people watch each show, only how many people watch at least one show. So widening your scope in the market is more important than deepening their engagement. That's the whole point of subscription services, it's why we had that whole 'golden age of TV' thing: not everything has to be the most popular thing. If a show only appeals to 20% of the market, as quirky YA SF&F without crossover appeal mostly do, it can still be profitable if it appeals to people who otherwise aren't drawn to your channel.

2: this increased drive to have eveything be #1 all the time seems to be driven by general problems getting their audience to watch any of their shows. But when you ask people, a big reason for why people are less enthusiastic about netflix shows now, why they don't always watch them immediately when they hear about them, is that they now know that most shows will be immediately cancelled, and this deters them from watching. This creates a vicious cycle: when a show comes out, you shouldn't watch it for two months, because after two months you'll find out whether it's been cancelled or not, and whether to 'waste' your time on a cliffhanger. Once it gets renewed you can maybe invest your time in it. But if people follow this rational path, the result is that people don't watch immediately, and the show gets cancelled before they do. [I mean seriously Netflix, would it kill you to wait six months to see how well it does? Or at the very least four!?] This 'culling' of the 'sick' shows may in the short term make their average show more popular, but in the long term it's destroying enthusiasm for the entire brand. Netflix used to be the place to go to find your favourites rescued from elsewhere plus a range of interesting originals to fall in love with; increasingly it's seen as a place filled with enticing honeypots, not worth engaging with because none of them have any future.

3: it doesn't matter if you find the one great hit that everyone wants to watch. All that accomplishes is that people will subscribe just long enough to binge-watch the latest season of Stranger Things and then bugger off again (assuming they don't just pirate it). To get people to subscribe to your service long-term, you need to have not only blockbuster tentpeg shows everyone wants to watch, but ALSO a big suitcase of other shows they can watch while waiting for the next big thing to come out. Ideally, enough variety of other shows that the whole household wants to keep that subscription running the whole year. If you have a couple of shows I think I need to watch, but nothing else but transitory junk I've never even heard of (since Netflix's advertising is virtually non-existent), then I'm not going to stick around, am I? Even if some shows don't pay their way themselves, you still need those "moderately good shows on peoples' 'oh yeah check out this while you're at it' list" shows to keep people browsing your service the other 45 weeks of the year.


Ugh. This is why we cannot have nice things, people. Subscription services had so much promise early on, and were so successful as a result, because their basic economics are so different from conventional networks (that rely on raw eyeball counts for advertising purposes, rather than broad appeal, making them essentially the slot machines of media). And now the flagship for streaming subscriptions is moving increasingly toward the old network model, and driving itself into the grave in the process. It's bad for netflix, and it's bad for the viewers as a whole, who get less variety, and will also (once netflix collapses) get less choice (apple vs disney vs amazon).



EDIT: sorry, that was meant to be about a five line complaint, not a giant rant. I guess it's a rant that's been building for a couple of years now...
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