People trolling the POE2 Steam site ...

[xzar_monty]

Although I was pretty surprised when I saw that Google Translator (German-->English) really knows what "eine Tüte quarzen" translates to - although it used the term wrongly then.

 

The interesting thing about Google Translator is that it's both surprisingly good, at times, and really quite awful, much of the time, without any predictability or consistency. German -> English and English -> German are quite naturally among the easier combinations.

 

It is in serious trouble when it comes to inflected languages. I just checked what it says about "kaatumaisillanikin" (a Finnish word), and its suggestion was "to halt", when the correct answer is "even at the very moment I was just about to fall over". So it still has work to do.

Edited March 28, 2019 by xzar_monty

[bringingyouthefuture]

Whats the german word for shaking my head at these people in this thread for turning this into a what do you know sht show?

 

Just saying - don't lump me in with those god damn hippies and country music lovers!!!!

[Guest Blutwurstritter]

I find the argument that Valve does not pay for exclusive rights a bit weak, since Valve simply never had to do so as market leader. I doubt that Valve would not try it if they were in the position of Epic. I see no fundamental difference in Steam or Epic, except that one preceded the other.

I don't buy games that require the installation of pointless launchers but i find it schizophrenic when people bitch about Epic while they are defending Steam at the same time. Even more so since the games are only time limited exclusives as far as i understand it. Or are there any deals for permanent exclusiveness ? 

What i find weird is how they can spam the PoE site. Is there no requirement to own the game, for posting on Steam ? Or are the spammers owners of the game ?

[thelee]

 

Although I was pretty surprised when I saw that Google Translator (German-->English) really knows what "eine Tüte quarzen" translates to - although it used the term wrongly then.

 

 

The interesting thing about Google Translator is that it's both surprisingly good, at times, and really quite awful, much of the time, without any predictability or consistency. German -> English and English -> German are quite naturally among the easier combinations.

 

It is in serious trouble when it comes to inflected languages. I just checked what it says about "kaatumaisillanikin" (a Finnish word), and its suggestion was "to halt", when the correct answer is "even at the very moment I was just about to fall over". So it still has work to do.

It really depends on what corpus is available to train the AI, and whether or not that AI is turned on. Some language to language translation is truly phenomenal (I think for english-french language pair they had like the entire Canadian parliamentary transcripts which were in both English and French so they could really train their AI model well), some are terrible, and some don't even exist (I had a trip to Switzerland and Swiss German is literally non-existent. Fortunately everyone there apparently is trilingual with their mother tongue, English, and German.)

[xzar_monty]

English and French are relatively easy, given their structure. We're still pretty far away from the AI being able to grasp inflected languages like Polish and Finnish and what have you. But yes, some of it is surprisingly good, I did say that.

[Franknstein]

It's called "asnjas benutzt Fäkelsprache, um seinen Unmut auszudrücken, obwohl er einfach nur noch eine Tüte hätte quarzen müssen, damit ihm alles egal wäre."

 

C'mon Boeroer, it's German after all, the right term should be: "Benutztfäkelspracheumseinenunmutauszudrückenobwohlereinfachnurnocheinetütehättequarzenmüssendamitihmallesegalwäre".

[Gromnir]

always felt mild uncomfortable in germany.  sure, germans is generally dismissive o' americans, so may be difficult making meaningful connections w/o considerable effort, but after we came back to the states we had a kinda epiphany.

 

 

 

reached #1 in germany.

 

 

 

never charted in germany... as were the case with virtual all stevie wonder singles in the 60-70s. after coming to this realization, the cultural disconnect somehow all made sense to us.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited April 1, 2019 by Gromnir

[daven]

We truly are products of our environment.

[Boeroer]

David Hasselhoff's "Looking for Freedom" only made #1 because it became the inofficial hymn of the German reunification (for whatever sardonic reason). Not because of its quality.

 

I mean most Germans have a bad taste in contemporary music, but this one wouldn't have been as successful without the Wall falling.

 

 

always felt mild uncomfortable in germany.  sure, germans is generally dismissive o' americans[...]

I'd say that highly depends on where you are in Germany. As the US, Germany is a country of cultural heterogeneity. I mean compare California with Alabama and Saarland with Sachsen... Usually the West is more US friendly than the East.

 

Where have you been?

 

Of course right now more Germans are dismissive of americans than when Obama was president - because most of us can't understand the Trump phenomenon. You also gave us a douchy US Ambassador. So there's that...

[thelee]

because most of us can't understand the Trump phenomenon.

most of us in the states can't understand it either

[Boeroer]

Well - enough of you voted for this guy to become President. I guess us Germans expected more from you.

[Gromnir]

Well - enough of you voted for this guy to become President. I guess us Germans expected more from you.

 

am not sure this is the route you wanna take.  after all, am thinking boeroer might be able to think o' a few historical german blunders (remote and proximate) which leaves americans at a loss... and we were in germany long before trump and obama. mostly munich, but we made it to berlin and a few other places.

 

btw, hasselhoff had multiple top ten albums-- weren't a one-off.

 

*shudder*

 

HA! Good Fun!

[bugarup]

To keep politics out of decent topic and keep a wee moar on topic, lets look at ancestor of fantasy -- fairy tales. Germans gave us Grimm tales, also that modern story where a boy's horse drowns in the swamp. 'muricans gave us, ugh, Disney.

 

Are Germans really that dismissive, I wonder? Isn't that just, like, an aspect of continental Europe's good old collective side-eye at cultural and moral osmosis that slowly but inevitably creeps upon us from the other side of the pond?

[xzar_monty]

Disney is a superb example of a certain kind of America that has very little to recommend itself. In fact, when Tolkien was first approached by Americans with plans to make something filmic of his magnum opus, he specified (in his letters) that he absolutely didn't want the result to have anything to do with the Disney ethos or aesthetics. Very understandable, that.

 

A late friend of mine, who used to be a professor at the university of Iowa, emphasized this about America: all the crass stereotypes are true. In other words, you will find an awful lot of jingoistic brutes with no education and no interest in anything historical or outside their small little community. However -- and this is the important point -- the opposites of these stereotypes are also true. Thus, you will find extraordinarily well-educated people who will make most Europeans (of whom I am one) look philistine in comparison.

[Amentep]

To keep politics out of decent topic and keep a wee moar on topic, lets look at ancestor of fantasy -- fairy tales. Germans gave us Grimm tales, also that modern story where a boy's horse drowns in the swamp. 'muricans gave us, ugh, Disney.

 

The US has folk/fairy tales.  And not all of them were swiped from the Native Americans.  Charles Skinner collected a number of American Fairy tales in his Myths and Legends of Our Own Land.in the late 1800s, but there are others.

 

That's not counting the old folk tales about historical figures, Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Jim Bowie, George Washington, Johnny Appleseed, or characters like Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, or the old west mythologies created around the liked of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Deadwood ****/Nat Love, etc.

 

One might consider Baum's Oz books as a shared folk story for the US now (the series was as popular as Harry Potter is now in its day and has had a high degree of public consciousness for decades).

 

Disney was mostly taking the old French and German fairy tales and animating them to begin with.

[Gromnir]

There Are 58 Versions of Little Red Riding Hood, Some 1,000 Years Older Than the Brothers Grimm’s

 

every culture gots its folk tales and myths.  

 

the fact so many o' those tales survived and mixed in the americas is one reason gaiman is so fascinated with the american story

 

warning: sweary

 

 

 

... is also likely why there is so many american folk tales (as amentep observes) and fantasy storytellers.

 

and we wouldn't discount disney

 

 

a disney film based on a book written by an american author. is more to disney than fluff. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited April 1, 2019 by Gromnir

[Boeroer]

am not sure this is the route you wanna take. after all, am thinking boeroer might be able to think o' a few historical german blunders (remote and proximate) which leaves americans at a loss...

Yeah... the winky smiley was put there for a reason.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Boeroer

[xzar_monty]

Also, given the way the United States was was formed (and when), it wouldn't actually be anyone's fault if it didn't have folk/fairy tales. Although, as Amentep says, it does.

 

It would be like blaming the Dutch for not being a nation of mountaineers.

Edited April 1, 2019 by xzar_monty

[Boeroer]

The Dutch compensated by becoming a nation of walking mountains. I think they are the tallest folks on earth (average height).

 

I was building a house with a company which also does business in the Netherlands. When I was choosing stuff like doors and flooring I asked the guy who showed me all the interiors why some of their doors were so huuuge. And he was like "That's the standard size in the Netherlands."

 

When I go to Enschede or Amsterdam I often feel dwarfed - and I'm 6.3.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Boeroer

[Gromnir]

as an aside, dwayne johnson is doing a john henry movie for netflix.  john henry were always a favorite when we were a wee tyke, so is gonna be tough for netflix to do it justice.  am not sure if the rock would be our first choice when casting, but am nevertheless looking forward to the release.

 

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

Really? The Rock as John Henry... hmm, was Tilda Swinton busy?

 

I've only just passed through Germany. Always wanted to go make a proper trip of it but so many places I'd like to go and I only have an American amount of vacation days

Edited April 1, 2019 by ShadySands

[bugarup]

Oh, I know the U.S.A. has decent folklore, read a few pieces here and there too. Still does not absolve it from responsibility for House of Mouse, though.

[thelee]

Oh, I know the U.S.A. has decent folklore, read a few pieces here and there too. Still does not absolve it from responsibility for House of Mouse, though.

don't know why people have such gripes against disney, honestly.

[bringingyouthefuture]

The US did give Drizzt Do'Urden to the world - most likely why dual-wielding is such a powerhouse in all Obsidian games since he showed up in BG

[xzar_monty]

The US did give Drizzt Do'Urden to the world - most likely why dual-wielding is such a powerhouse in all Obsidian games since he showed up in BG

 

I read the Icewind Dale trilogy about 15 years ago, and I have to say it was really quite bad. I agree that Drizzt is a nice character, though. Anyway, I was constantly struggling with Salvatore's woefully inadequate grasp of language, and after he used the word "fascist" to describe a group of beings in the Forgotten Realms, I had no chance but to conclude that he didn't know what he was doing. Maybe he has improved since then.