samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Ah, the ancient Chinese curse.
Vancouver-based editor at @chinadigitaltimes.net, a Berkeley-based nonprofit publishing news and translation about human rights and censorship in China. Knows changes aren't permanent, but change is. Will stand on the ocean until I start sinking.
2,711 followers 1,033 following 5,203 posts
view profile on Bluesky samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Ah, the ancient Chinese curse.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Must be one of those spy drones I’ve read about in SCMP.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
The Chinese word for “Glonzo“ is made up of the characters for “stranger” and “importunity.”
Juliette Wade (@juliettewade.bsky.social) reposted
These are the absolute best. Especially if you have hand pain.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reposted
Every time I use it, I am drawn back here to share my new faith.
Dan Hon (@danhon.com) reposted
This is true, the Sunflowers stories are brilliant.
Alex Colville (@colvap.bsky.social) reposted
CCTV has a montage of cute small children watching the military parade yesterday, netizens saying this is "the best patriotic education." There really isn't any national security topic state media hasn't tried levering cuteness into to make it more appealing. mbd.baidu.com/newspage/dat...
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
I should try this instead of Flight of the Conchords.
Michael Pettis (@michaelpettis.bsky.social) reposted
For friends in Beijing who are interested in the music scene, beginning today we are starting a new weekly series at My Dramamine, featuring many of the best composers and experimental musicians in Beijing and China. The series kicks off with performances by Zhang Shouwang and Wang Xu.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
If I’m wrong, I want to know! Someone convince me! DM, if you don’t want to get into it out here … please!
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Never mind, the upgrade led to my sleep apnoea diagnosis. It was worth it for that alone.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Oh, man, they can’t add glucose now, I just finally upgraded this year. That means they definitely will, doesn’t it? 😑
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Just feels more likely that they’re looking for insight on how to deal with Trump, rather than how to mimic him. No? I’m not always right, but I’m not usually too optimistic ….
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
OK, fine, today’s the day. What the hell are you talking about?!
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Not a conflicts guy, but I think the most important reason is that there’s no real reason to. Even if they could be perfectly confident of success without serious repercussions (which they very much can’t), it’d still be safer and easier to wait. Best for everyone if that remains the case.
Micah Muscolino (@mmuscolino.bsky.social) reposted
A few more parade images. It was hot and the tanks and missiles were a bit boring, but the use of historical memory to serve contemporary politics was fascinating.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Can’t be too careful.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
“The ‘DF-88’ tattoo is a nice touch, though.”
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
”When you offered to show us your ‘other missile,’ I didn’t think you meant *that.*”
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
On my world, it means ‘hope’.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
The one that gets me is when they try to entice you to sign up for notifications with “Be the first to hear about ….” For the love of Lucifer, why would I care?! Are you going to run out?
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Jet lag and wildfire smoke is not an awesome cocktail.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Separately, I really like that coloured halo animation, and wish I could think of a single reason to ever actually invoke it.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Am I being too mellow about this?
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
BC people—can anyone recommend a good local cider that’s reasonably widely available in Vancouver?
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Half-remembering something I read about AI image generators recognising the words in a prompt but not how they fit together, and that sounds a lot like a lot of people on this website.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Quite right, Mr Vice President, sir.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Sounds like a good time to me. I accidentally booked a hotel steps away from Arcteryx *and* Snow Peak stores in London recently. Fortunately didn’t have time to visit either.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Seems a bit less sinister when it’s put this way. Awkward to frame, really: you can’t come out and say “know your enemy,” but ….
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Would you say you’ve amassed 10,000 hours of dedicated hatred?
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
(Not a pediatric oncologist, or they wouldn‘t be in economy.)
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I actually don’t mind, it lets me sit there basking in the sauna of my own imagined moral superiority for the whole flight. YES, I think, I GIFT YOU THIS SPACE, FOR SURELY YOU NEED IT, AS A WRETCHED AND WOEFUL CREATURE LESS ELEVATED THAN I, though they could be a paediatric oncologist for all I know
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Are fewer people reclining these days, or have I just been lucky? If they are, that would be at odds with the general erosion of things like Letting People Off The Train First and Not Stopping And Looking Around Right At The Top Of The Escalator since the Deep Pandemic.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
”Whatever small degree of comfort you may achieve by being able to lean back a few inches is outweighed by the misery you inflict on the person behind you.“ YES.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Maybe it’s a trap.
Roman Mars (@romanmars.bsky.social) reposted
Hey Beautiful Nerds! @99pi.org is fifteen years old tomorrow! Hard to believe. We used the occasion for me to talk about our editing process, my design hill to die on, and foot measurement devices podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9...
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
physics, …
Crawford Kilian (@crof.bsky.social) reposted
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Five-Time Regional Kosho Championship Semi-Finalist (@unaha-closp.bsky.social) reposted
so much this
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
This is a pretty exquisite example of ……… lots of things I’d be able to articulate if my head wasn’t clogged with ash. You know what I mean. Increments, something better than nothing, perfect enemy of good etc etc.
Andy Yan (@ayan604.bsky.social) reposted
Interesting factoid when Vancouver schools are starting this week: The population of school aged (5-18) children living in the City of #Vancouver in 2024 is about the same as 2001 while the total population of the CoV has grown by 32% in the same period #bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
I really, really like that app. I wish it had panes, but everyone would like one more feature, and if they added them all, it would be Word.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
At least you’re staring at iA Writer, though. It could be worse.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I would look so dashing with that *and* my CPAP setup, I almost feel a duty to do it on that basis alone.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
link plz
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Switching ⭐️s to ❤️s was a crucial wrong turn. I think I may actually believe this, but haven’t worked out why yet.
David Kaye (@davidakaye.bsky.social) reposted
👀 Jim Jordan held a House Judiciary Committee hearing on . . . how Europe censors Americans. Nigel Farage came along! Let's just say I have a slightly different view than them. My written and oral testimony are here: ijclinic.law.uci.edu/2025/09/03/h... Here are my concluding paras:
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Background from @pkirn.bsky.social:
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
!
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
OK, maybe not my dumbest, but it’s in the bottom ten.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
My dumbest opinion is that our governments should switch to full-on, actual totalitarianism for 24 hours every February 29th so people actually remember what that means.
Matthew Brooker (@mbrooker.bsky.social) reposted
Only people with no experience of *actual* authoritarian censorship regimes could believe this tripe. Ignorance is always the charlatan’s friend
Jen St. Denis (@jenstden.bsky.social) reposted
Vancouver police are searching for missing 14 yo girl Sasha Ahenakew.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
I do not like it in my hair Or over here, or over there I do not like it anywhere! I do not like brown crusty air
Eric Hundman (@ehundman.bsky.social) reposted
China has been trying to do this for years now, to little success
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
This should replace the original expression.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Grateful to whichever cluster of neurons caught the typo “I’m sure you’re very busty.” I would like to give them a special treat.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Also the fact that you can still smell.
Suzanna Crage (@smcrage.bsky.social) reposted
Vancouver view, to the North. With and without wildfire smoke. (March 2024 and today.)
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Apple, where the buttered banana bread are you getting an AQI of *three* from today? And can I go there, please?
Prof. Dr. Michael Hö (Sinologist) 何彌夏 🇹🇼🇪🇺🇭🇰 (@medievalchina.bsky.social) reposted
#DOTD: Fu Lei 傅雷 (1908–1966), translator of #French literature into #Chinese who, together with his wife Zhu Meifu 朱梅馥 (1913–1966), committed suicide in the #CulturalRevolution #文化大革命. Renowned for the letters to their son 傅雷家書, the pianist Fu Cong 傅聰 (1934–2020).
Brendan O’Kane (@bokane.org) reposted reply parent
I’m a broken record about this, but this is what happened to freelance translators a bit over a decade ago: fixing machine translations — usually redoing, or having to check so closely against the original that it came out to the same thing — for a fifth of the pittance we’d been making before.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I mean, this is flawless, and perhaps not even one of my favourite 100 Beatles songs on most days.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
uuuugggggghhhhhhhhhhhh, and it hasn’t even got bad yet
Pavel🐀 (@spavel.bsky.social) reposted
One easy way to tell seals apart from sealions is that the latter have a different number of electrons
Michelle Gamage (@michellegamage.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
Smoke effects everyone's health in weird ways. My throat swells up and I have a headache like I forgot my glasses. It makes me irritable and I feel cagey and trapped. Check on your neighbours. If you can, help people get to clean air shelters. We're in this together (except the oligarchs fuck them)
Leta Hong Fincher洪理达 (@letahongfincher.bsky.social) reposted
Read about how Xi Jinping’s autocratic rise (like that of other autocrats including Trump) has been powered by sexism.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Ohhhhhh, that’s why headache. Rats.
Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) reposted
So much dystopia crammed into one headline www.404media.co/shein-luigi-...
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reposted
This formation is so precise, it actually forms a Magic Eye image of a tank. Seriously, try it, I’m not even joking.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
Oooof.
Asia Society (@asiasociety.org) reposted
🔔Job alert! 📍Video Editor based in #NewYork at Asia Society's headquarters. Looking for an experienced video editor who can manage production related to the organization’s New York programming and global initiatives. Check out more details and apply here ▶️ asiasociety.org/new-york/vid...
Loren Heinold (@lorenheinold.bsky.social) reposted
Objective for my 3yo’s preschool class in Beijing today, as shared by her teacher in the parents’ chat group: “To cultivate feelings of love and respect for the motherland and its military personnel, and to experience the sense of security and happiness that comes with living in the motherland.”
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
www.ableton.com
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Computer keyboard in this one’s bugging me, though. Really?
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Don’t know what it is about the setup photos on their site that’s so damned compelling. I mean, nice, professionally shot studios, sure, but there’s a certain *Ich weiß nicht was* to the Ableton ones that’s rare elsewhere.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I do sympathise with the bewilderment, I always felt like the whole thing took place on frequencies I couldn’t detect. No idea how I ended up married.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
“2sd+ intelligence” is such a second quintile way of putting it 🙄
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
“To be sure” is bad enough on its own.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
This formation is so precise, it actually forms a Magic Eye image of a tank. Seriously, try it, I’m not even joking.
Manya Koetse (@manyapan.bsky.social) reposted
"Can you sell?" "No those are not for sale. Those colorful balloons, however! You could take some with you" 😅 #militaryparade #meme
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I’m not even suggesting you surgically adjust them, just customise their boot heels.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I’m just grateful any time it hasn’t logged me out.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Suggested soundtrack:
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Too much height variation in those troops, though. Come on, guys.
Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues.bsky.social) reposted
All classes have stopped to watch the parade.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
I mean, it’s not my thing *at all*, but if you’re going to do it, this is how to do it.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
I’ll try to try again.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Help! steps it up again … by the time you get to Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out and Rubber Soul, it’s like being relentlessly pummelled with a giant frying pan cast from pure genius, in a good way. Just perfect song after perfect song after perfect song after perfect song after perfect song. Insane.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Another striking thing is how the real quality actually trailed their popularity. I love the early stuff, but it’s not till Hard Day’s Night that you get really sustained brilliance, and even then not all that much hint of what’s to follow. Beatles For Sale is the last time they sound human.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
It’s been said many times before, but the breadth, volume, and quality would be impressive for a 30-year career, and incredible for 15. They did it all in less than seven. It’s absurd.
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
I’ve been trying something I’ve never done before: listening to The Beatles’ whole catalogue in chronological order over the course of a few days. I know all but the earliest albums inside out, but it’s been an illuminating experience to hear them like this. (Currently near end of Rubber Soul.)
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de) reply parent
Does it get better?
samuelwa.de (@samuelwa.de)
I give up, where is he?