Madhusudan @Zyzzyva@qoto.org
So much to do, so little time!
Joined Nov 2019
@jahnke, thank you, I'll bookmark and check both those recommendations out!
On languages - that's a good point, I should try that out. The article translation was working well for the same thing (though the vocabulary I was gaining was a bit stiff and formal), and helped with writing. My conversational German is poor-to-non-existent, though - I've found that you need to be able to perform at least a wee bit of thinking in the language to be able to converse in it, and I can't do that at all.
@jahnke, welcome! :)
That's a collection of hobbies I have a lot in common with (excepting maybe video games), so I'm looking forward to seeing what you share here! :)
I'm reading Game of Thrones at the moment (yes, *after* the TV series), and Lovecraft is on my list! I can't say I'm familiar with Vinge - is there a short introductory read you'd recommend?
I'd done German a couple of years ago - I use 'done' quite loosely, and to refer to my completion of the Duolingo course. What I ended up underestimating was that truly *learning* the language can't be a passive activity - I had no avenue to use it regularly, and my practice of translating one article a day to keep in touch with the language fell through due to lack of discipline.
Have a great time here! I've only been here (off and on) for a week, and it's been nice so far! There's a pretty eclectic set of folks on here, so there's no dearth of interesting things to stumble upon! :)
An essay on reading and the vagaries of the internet age: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/02/08/reading-in-the-age-of-constant-distraction/
If you've found yourself (like me) 'reading' more but actually *reading* less, this is definitely worth the 5-7 minutes you'll spend on it!
@design_RG, this was great to read. Thanks so much for taking the time out! :)
(I do not, however, know whether or not to thank you for the Wikiwalk you're going to send me on!)
Madhusudan
boosted
Reminiscing of a visit to the Archeology Museum, in Lisbon, Portugal.
It started this morning, the thread. And over short posts, someone told a story. Of a Greek man, who lived in antiquity, by the Mediterranean side; in a city whose name is still preserved, and today is written "Marseille".
This series of posts was interesting, I caught one flying by the Local feed, about halfway down his sequence, liked it and went to the top to find the rest.
Enjoying his post, I remembered similar thoughts, of History, and how things worked, how small bits and pieces came to me as I visited an exposition, at the Archeological Museum, in Lisbon.
Stopping at each display, I would read and examine the artifacts. All of them had came from the same region, countryside around today's city of Loulé, in the Algarve, Southern Portugal.
The region has been inhabited for thousands of years, and the exhibit had pieces from pre-historic, Phoenician, Roman, Moorish and more modern times.
@design_RG @shibaprasad @metapsyche
My grandfather was stricken by the disease - he passed away about nine years ago.
Seeing a brilliant man (he was a pro bono lawyer and a voracious reader capable of holding a hell of a conversation) deteriorate to a stage where he was unaware of nearly everything around him was heart-rending.
Brutal disease.
Just winding up reading this nice, reasonably intuitive paper on lift for airplanes: https://fermatslibrary.com/s/how-airplanes-fly-a-physical-description-of-lift
(Fermat's Library is also great to follow on the birdsite, IMHO!)
@rgx@nerdica.net, right back at you! The interface looks pretty cool, but this pursuit shall be parked in favour of others, for now! :D
@design_RG, Chrome's my preferred poison (and some one would insist that poison is indeed an apt metaphor) - my work laptop handles the load decently, but my personal laptop (which is an old can I've been coaxing to the limits of functionality) nearly audibly sighs every time I go beyond ten tabs.
First-world problems, I tell you.
@design_RG, will check it out, thanks a bunch!
@design_RG, okay, this thing is now blowing my mind!
(I had to run through Wikipedia to completely understand your post, so that's another visit to that blessed website for the day!)
I am going to sit tight and camp on Mastodon for now! There's enough going on as it is. :D
On FB, my circles were always more circumstantial rather than conscious, to the point where I had posts from my juniors at high school landing up on my wall (is it still called that?) when I was in college. That's when I decided to do a deep-cleanse, and I couldn't cleanse deeper than pulling the plug!
Also, you're a cyclist too, that's amazing! :D It remains my preferred mode of commute (maybe second to walking), and I do what I can to spread the love!
But I shan't run down that fork here - this conversation promises to end in a very different place from where it started already! :D
Madhusudan
boosted
🇳🇱
Here ya go, very accessible math-as-you-go QM: https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/sites/ca.institute-for-quantum-computing/files/uploads/files/mathematics_qm_v21.pdf
@design_RG, ah, thanks! Good to know!
Will check Fediverse out! Tusky was the best rated one on the Android App Store, so I went ahead with that. You live and you learn, I guess!
@design_RG, how do you get past the 500-character toot limit? Your post seems longer than that!
I couldn't get back about the multiple instances as a result of running out of characters - just wanted to say my hands are full figuring this one thing out, maybe someday, time and inclination willing! :D
@design_RG, no, I quite like the pace! My mind wanders by nature so it's nice to have a few things it can hop around rather than 400 (at the end of which I'm on a Wikipedia page about an Amazonian fish or something).
I think Facebook was too much about people and less about their ideas, if that makes sense? I was lucky to leave at a time before people were really into politics, and back then, it was just memes and photos from last night's party. And the night before. And the night before...
Madhusudan
boosted
Free books, read online. Many authors and genres.
Don't know how they do it, get away with it, but...
Found a website listing many, many books, including the one with the cover below, by Charles Bukowski.
https://bookfrom.net/charles-bukowski/
You CAN read the whole book online it seems, and they have many other authors. From trashy breathless romance novels to works we can be grateful to get access to. Android app for mobile if needed.
Rather cool. Librarian in me wants to spread the word. Hush, hush. DMCA is a thing.
They do have many of Cory Doctorow's books too, excellent sci-fi writer. https://bookfrom.net/cory-doctorow/
@design_RG, likewise!
I like the relatively slow pace of this instance - heading over to the public timeline reminds me of the absolute mass of posts that I got rid of Facebook for to begin with!
Quite happy to spend a few minutes a day reading/sharing stuff (I love those arXiv bots!) that I find fun!
@design_RG, haha, same!
I like to think of this as a problem of plenty worth having, though! :D So little time, and so much to do!
So much to do, so little time!
Joined Nov 2019
