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zlatiah

@ zlatiah @lemmy.world

Posts
105
Comments
201
Joined
1 yr. ago

Ask me about:

  • Science (biology, computation, statistics)
  • Gaming (rhythm, rogue-like/lite, other generic 1-player games)
  • Autism & related (I have diagnosis)
  • Bad takes on philosophy
  • Bad takes on US political systems & more US stuff

I'm not knowledgeable about most other things

  • How much do you care about music?

    Jump

  • I think I care more than I should. But then most people didn't have their childhood shaped mostly by rhythm games so...

    I have a very specific taste for music, and on top of that I basically don't listen to anything lower than a subjective 8 out of 10 in my books. Also some meme songs are timeless masterpieces (no I'm not giving examples)

    • Not really. I care much more about the melody than the sound effects, and unfortunately my ears aren't sensitive enough to tell much of the difference
    • I have very specific music that I listen to. At the very least it has to be a well-curated playlist, random playlist is a hard no for me
    • Actually I mostly listen to music just to enjoy it... I used to listen to music on long roadtrips but I don't do those anymore
    • No, but it's because there's no one to talk to. One of the downsides of only liking "alternative music" I suppose
    • Sometimes; there aren't that many artists making things I enjoy in the first place

    Music is leaning much more towards art for me

  • What's the story behind your username and avatar?

    Jump

  • The first part is just an alias and doesn't really have an interesting story

    The second part is the airport code of the city I lived in when this account was created. I was actually quite curious if anyone could have guessed that without me saying it out loud

  • How does trash collection/recycling work where you live, and do you like the system?

    Jump

  • I think it's the same country based on your Lemmy instance lol... Have to agree, the once-per-week collection sucks, especially organic waste since my tiny studio with the tiny fridge can't even freeze the trash

    Have fun with the move! On that topic... allegedly Etterbeek in Brussels tried the underground container thing, and then... somehow their recycling got worse, so they got rid of the container. I do not fully comprehend that decision

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    How does trash collection/recycling work where you live, and do you like the system?

  • None of this "what are you thankful for" shit today. What's something you hate?

    Jump

  • Recently and a slightly hot take: reckless drivers/cyclists. My take is that urban planning should be pedestrian-centric so... And yes, I did specifically include cyclists too: I would prefer to be hit by a bike rather than an automobile, but I'd much rather prefer to not be hit by either

  • No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Is there an optimal home/apartment size that most people would be happy with?

  • Would you pay for online services like search and email if they offered a better experience than Google?

    Jump

  • For search engine: I'm self hosting SearXNG so I'm already indirectly paying via domain registry/VPS? So yes. Technically this can be done for free though (local docker, random RasPi laying around, ...)

    For email: paid (mailbox.org), worth it. Selfhosting email was too much of a headache at least for me

  • People who have moved away from your home town/area, what do you miss most?

    Jump

  • Moved from a mega metropolis and got shuffled around a lot

    Might be an oddity here but... I basically missed nothing. I grew up pretty sheltered, and on top of that my hometown didn't really have much going for it despite its size. Probably the only redeeming quality is the high-quality public transit... which isn't remotely as good as it seems if you actually live there

    I think now that I've grown up & have more defined interests, my hometown is starting to feel a bit more exciting since there are all kinds of hobby groups & such... But still feels mostly soulless to me IMO

  • People who can understand multiple languages, or have moved to another country, or otherwise traveled abroad; Do you feel like you experience existence from a PoV that nobody else can understand?

    Jump

  • Fluent in three languages. Mathematically speaking, there are enough people with my specific migration route (or even language combination) up until the point I left the US that there should be lots of ppl who think the same... But yes I do feel like my PoV can be a bit unique

    The various forms of neurodivergence I have certainly don't help... like for example I don't have an internal monologue, which changes my PoV a lot. Actually the neurodivergence probably shaped my PoV even more than the languages; I never really fit in even at where I was born

  • Deleted

    Permanently Deleted

    Jump

  • Because the owner/maintainer is based in EU (Stux is Dutch)... literally just that. Lemmy.world being a decent size certainly helps

    I also originally created an account on Kbin, gradually used it less and then the project had its fair share of issues, so I just registered a new account instead

    I have floated the thoughts of selfhosting an instance, but it seemed a bit unnecessary given the forum/aggregator nature of Lemmy... In hindsight, I even closed my microblog instance (Firefish, a whole story of its own) because it was too much resource/headaches, so it was probably a good choice I never selfhosted Lemmy

  • If you were forced to play one professional sport as your job until you were 65, which would you pick?

    Jump

  • If esports count, I'd like to be like this guy and get a contract to play rhythm games professionally

    Otherwise... Probably swimming or race walking, not too many professional sports I could think of that one can do into their 60s without wrecking their body

  • Deleted

    What's something which you pay more than "it's worth" for the sake of good quality/experience?

    Jump

  • Not personally, but my parents would pay much, much more for cooking utensils than what "it's worth". They live in China, and I don't think the locals (especially their generation) trust Chinese manufacturing that much... so for anything food- or health-related my parents would just get stuff from say Japan, the US, or the EU. Quite sure mom side still insists on buying kitchen knives from Zwilling whenever she's traveling

    I guess this is becoming more relevant now that Temu is a thing

  • People who are learning a foreign language: what are you learning & how is it going?

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  • Brussels. Officially bilingual but most people speak French; English is commonly spoken but not official. I'm also legally allowed to get things in Dutch (the other official language) but I know even less Dutch than French... I promised myself to start learning Dutch once I get to B1-B2 French

    Due to historical reasons, language is... a sensitive issue here. And since I work in academia (which were at the center of said language issue), my employer communicates everything in French, despite the fact that academia itself uses English (probably funnier at the Dutch-speaking unis but I digress). For example I think half of the HR and IT teams don't speak English at all so all my work emails to them have to be in French...

  • People who are learning a foreign language: what are you learning & how is it going?

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  • It just feels like any regular Meetup tbh. The Japanese one I've been going to obviously has a much higher proportion of ppl who are into, say, anime and manga (since it's a group of ppl who willingly chose to learn Japanese without external motives), but other than that they feel like standard Meetup events

    Japanese is not an easy language: good luck!

  • People who are learning a foreign language: what are you learning & how is it going?

    Jump

  • Ohh nice! If you happen to be interested in manga: someone at my local Japanese language exchange recommended よつばと! which seemed like a cute & quite useful manga series for learning Japanese

  • People who are learning a foreign language: what are you learning & how is it going?

    Jump

  • I... don't think I need motivation when my employer, my landlord, and even my government are legally obligated to establish all legal communications in French (facepalm)

    I also suffered from motivation before moving here though, so I'd love to know as well

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    People who are learning a foreign language: what are you learning & how is it going?

  • Someone with your last name commits a heinous crime and their name becomes infamous, would you change that name? Why or Why not?

    Jump

  • Jokes on me there are close to a hundred million people with the same last name as me, I'm not changing

  • Where do you typically leave/read reviews

    Jump

  • Yes they are... the reason I think that way is that I like to look at relative rankings; as in, it's not accurate to just look at how many stars a place got, but rather compare it with other places around it

    If I recall... at least in Chicago where good restaurants easily get 500+ ratings. I have never had a "miss" at a place 4.7 stars or above on Google, and the local "cult classic" was at like 4.9; 4.5-4.6 can be hit-or-miss; any fine dining below 4.5 is almost always a miss. Obviously since almost none of those establishments got below 4, just looking at the number of stars isn't useful... but if I have adjust my expectations accordingly (>=4.6 is solid, <=4.4 is bad) it's actually quite useful

    Sadly I have no clue whether it translates to other places. Fairly certain ppl in my current city are a lot more critical (so maybe a 4.7 in Chicago would be... 4.4 here, or something like that)

  • Where do you typically leave/read reviews

    Jump

  • Now that OP mentioned it, I just realized how few alternatives there are to Google Maps...

    For reading reviews, sadly I think Google is still by far the best review aggregator especially for restaurants, in big cities especially the star ratings are scarily accurate (edit: with caveats). I guess expert reviews (such as all of Michelin's ratings) are good too but they aren't always available

    For writing reviews, I sometimes order food with apps (recently using Too Good To Go) so I'd still leave comprehensive reviews on those. If the place is not on OpenStreetMaps I'd add it. Other times sadly I just don't, I don't really have a functional Google account at this point

  • What have you looked up on Wikipedia recently?

    Jump

  • This was yesterday. High speed rail in Japan/China and in Belgium/Netherlands

    I was watching an RMTransit video last night, and just realized how almost comical it is that Belgium and the Netherlands (which together is not much bigger than the Tokyo or Shanghai metropolitan areas) have multiple high-speed rail lines

  • What is the most attractive quality in a person that instantly makes them desirable?

    Jump
  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    A modest increase in physical activity can delay cognitive decline by three years — or more

    www.nature.com /articles/d41586-025-03596-2
  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    People who prepared costumes for Halloween: how much money/effort did you put in it?

  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Rats filmed snatching bats from air for first time

    www.science.org /content/article/rats-filmed-snatching-bats-air-first-time
  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    AI sycophancy (excessively agreeing with user) is pervasive and harmful for people who seek advice from AIs

    arxiv.org /abs/2510.01395
  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Do you use a system-default or a custom wallpaper for your personal computer? If custom, what kind of wallpaper & why?

  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Lab mice can now have periods like humans

    www.science.org /content/article/lab-mice-can-now-have-periods-humans
  • Showerthoughts @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    "United States" in French (États-Unis) would have made a very confusing acronym

  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data

    www.nature.com /articles/d41586-025-03119-z
  • Today I Learned @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    TIL the Dutch Grand Pensionary/Prime Minister, Johan de Witt, was killed and partially cannibalized by rioters in 1672

    en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Johan_de_Witt
  • No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    I landed in another toxic workplace after quitting a previous one. What would you do in this scenario? (Open to all suggestions)

  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025: Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, Shimon Sakaguchi

    www.nobelprize.org /prizes/medicine/2025/popular-information/
  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Early- and late-diagnosed autism may be genetically distinct

    www.nature.com /articles/d41586-025-02825-y
  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    How money, politics and technology are redefining the PhD experience in 2025: results from the Nature 2025 PhD Survey

    www.nature.com /articles/d41586-025-03149-7
  • Today I Learned @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    TIL about Adolphe Quetelet, a pioneering statistician who developed the BMI among other things and played a key role in the development of Eugenics

    en.m.wikipedia.org /wiki/Adolphe_Quetelet
  • No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    Can someone give me some primers/resources on understanding politics in the Netherlands?

  • science @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    The 2025 Ig Nobel Prize winners

    improbable.com /ig/winners/
  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    zlatiah @lemmy.world

    What music tempo/BPM is considered fast for you? (examples welcome)