Tudou

joined 1 year ago
 

A would-be burglar in Rome was caught after stopping to read a book on Greek mythology in the middle of a robbery, Italian media report.

The 38-year-old reportedly gained access to a flat in the Italian capital's Prati district via the balcony but became distracted after picking up a book about Homer's Iliad on a bedside table.

The 71-year-old homeowner is said to have awoken and confronted the alleged thief, who was engrossed in the book.

News of the failed robbery attracted the attention of the book's author, who told local media he wanted to send the man a copy so he could "finish" his read.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago

Truly life being stranger than fiction, in that he was recently in the news after being acquitted in the US.

He had this to say on the American legal system at the time: "the reason I'm sitting here, let's be honest, is not only because I was innocent... but because I had enough money not to be swept away by a process that's set up to sweep you away".

 

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the six people missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning.

The 56m (183ft) vessel was carrying 22 people - 10 crew and 12 passengers - including British, American and Canadian nationals. Emergency services rescued 15 people, including a one-year-old British girl. Local media reported the yacht, sailing under the name Bayesian, sank after encountering a heavy storm overnight that caused waterspouts, or rotating columns of air, to appear over the sea.

Mr Lynch, known by some as "the British Bill Gates", co-founded software company Autonomy, which was later bought by tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn).

 

Verdict

As GameScience’s debut action game, Black Myth: Wukong is mostly a great success, despite some major technical black marks and localization issues that are likely to cause some frustrations at launch. Combat is fantastic thanks to a great balance of careful resource management and lightning-fast, twitch-reaction gameplay that tested my skills as much as Elden Ring ever has, despite being a more traditional action game than FromSoftware’s style. Not only that, but there are a ton of exciting boss battles, a great variety of enemies, and the world they inhabit is an absolute treat for the eyes and ears. Its story has its moments but relies a bit too much on having prior knowledge of the events of Journey to the West, and it really could have used a map to make its rewarding exploration measure up to the strength of its combat. That said, its strengths more than carry it through, making Black Myth: Wukong a great action game that could be even greater if GameScience can squash the bugs.

 

The UK's economy grew by 0.6% between April and June as it continued its recovery from the recession at the end of last year.

The latest figure was in line with forecasts and follows a 0.7% increase in the first three months of this year.

Growth was led by the services sector, in particular the IT industry, legal services and scientific research. Services are the biggest contributor to the UK's economy, far outstripping manufacturing and construction, both of which saw output fall between April and June.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Most of my Chinese time has been taken up recently playing a game called Murders on the Yangtze Rivers (山河旅探). It is basically an ace attorney detective style game but with the setting being in historic China. I've really enjoyed it and it has voice acting which is always a plus.

I'd say to play fully in Chinese it's something HSK5+ would enjoy, but someone could also play in English with the audio in Mandarin and get some benefit from it.

English trailer

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

These were the best graded readers I ever came across. I liked that they were a continuous series that gradually expanded the vocabulary as you went along.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Have finally put attempt no. 3 out there.

 

As with previous threads, the idea behind this is to have a - not quite - weekly post where learners of all levels, heritage and native speakers can post the Chinese content they have been consuming this week in whatever form.

If people also give an indication of their level (or the level of content) as well it can act as a way for people to discover new content which may be suitable for them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I can make another post this coming weekend, see if it fares a little better!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sad it had to happen, but thanks very much to all involved for working on a replacement. Looking forward to signing up as this UK instance has been the best part of the 'fediverse' for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

They're not uncommon in the UK either!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

An extremely uplifting song about regicide.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

This is pure nostalgia.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I do think the geopolitical angle they are going with is a bit overplayed. It looks like Mandarin is only a bit below the trend for foreign languages in general. Personally, I think part of that is just people realising over time that studying Mandarin won't necessarily lead to business or career success.

 

Archive link here: https://archive.ph/4Glyj

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It does explain why all the niche communities I visit have gone from quiet to abandoned.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Due to being a Chinese learner, I have been playing a lot of Chinese developed games over the last few years. Gujian 3, in particular, makes me less sceptical about Black Myth than others are as Gujian 3 was so close to being a genuinely solid game. I just really hope they don't skimp on the translation.

 

I'm curious how and when everyone got into this sub-genre.

For me, the first band I truly loved was Iron Maiden. I acquired a copy of Power Quest - Neverworld when it first released, and it blew my mind. From there, I picked up Sonata Artica's Reckoning Night and realised I'd found my jam. Almost two decades later, it is still my favourite type of music and the best thing is that many of my favorite bands from childhood are not only still going, but are releasing some of their best content.

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