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[Raphael]

Right now, the thread with the most recent post in Conlangery is "What have you accomplished today?", while the thread with the most recent post in Languages is "Oranguntans articulate consonants".

[Torco]

the civil registry of spain -country i am legally a citizen of- got my name right, and my papers are in the name of my father. I recently asked for a spanish passport [for many reasons, but mostly the economy here is going to shit, my own economic situation has been deteriorating, though i'm not in serious trouble yet, and also it looks like latin america is again the sort of place where fascist coups happen] and found out. these are the kinds of things that happen when your date of birth is the same as your father lmfao.

not the sins of the father, but the name of him

[MacAnDàil]

I thought about asking ChatGPT why the jabberwocky just sallied her way into Mordor but I didn't want to create an account.

[Raphael]

Am I the only one whose migraines are usually accompanied by a running nose? Sometimes to the extent that the headaches themselves are fairly minor and the running nose is the main symptom?

[keenir]

Am I the only one whose migraines are usually accompanied by a running nose? Sometimes to the extent that the headaches themselves are fairly minor and the running nose is the main symptom?

I get headaches of varying severities, but I always thought that was the cart being dragged by the horse of blowing my nose too much (but not "too much" in terms of managing to empty my nose of drips and snot)

my commisserations to you and anyone else who has one of both of these (migranes and runny nose)

[Raphael]

my commisserations to you and anyone else who has one of both of these (migranes and runny nose)

Thank you!

[Ares Land]

Am I the only one whose migraines are usually accompanied by a running nose? Sometimes to the extent that the headaches themselves are fairly minor and the running nose is the main symptom?

Yeah, I get that too. I suppose it's due to pollution or allergies of some kind.

[hwhatting]

Today finally my value was recognized and the Illuminati invited me to join their ranks:

Greetings, from the illuminati world elite empire. Are you a business Man/woman, politician, musician, student, footballer, salary earner and you want to be rich, need protection, gain knowledge, powerful and be famous in life.
You can achieve your dreams by being a member of the great illuminati empire to earn yourself lot of benefit, With this all your dreams and heart desire can be fully accomplish.

With this brief summary, If you are interested to become a member of the great illuminati then get back to us for more information and explanations about joining the illuminati.
kindly reply us back on our direct recruitment email only at: illuminatiempir@gmail.com <mailto:illuminatiempir@gmail.com>
Please note, Kindly make sure all your response are send directly to the email stated above only at:> illuminatiempir@gmail.com <mailto:illuminatiempir@gmail.com>
For more instructions on our membership process.
Note: Some email providers incorrectly place official Illuminati messages in their spam / junk folder or promotion folder.
This can divert and exclude our responses to your emails.
The Illuminati.

But seriously, after getting oodles of mails about orphaned bank accounts, inheritances, lottery wins, compensations from the IMF, donations, etc., this is a refreshingly new kind of spam.

[Travis B.]

LOL.

[Raphael]

Why is it that, when it comes to many other types of factory-made goods, almost the entire world's supply of them is made in China these days, but a very large share of the world's cars is still made in other countries than China? Does hwhatting perhaps know the reasons for this, now that he's been inducted into the Illuminati? (Congratulations, by the way.)

[Travis B.]

Now I want to be inducted into the Illuminati - how do I arrange this?

[Raphael]

Hey, H-W provided email addresses...

[hwhatting]

Does hwhatting perhaps know the reasons for this, now that he's been inducted into the Illuminati? (Congratulations, by the way.)

Sorry, I'm allowed to share that kind of information only with other initiated members.

[Moose-tache]

Why is it that, when it comes to many other types of factory-made goods, almost the entire world's supply of them is made in China these days, but a very large share of the world's cars is still made in other countries than China? Does hwhatting perhaps know the reasons for this, now that he's been inducted into the Illuminati? (Congratulations, by the way.)

The idea that "everything is made in China" has always been nonsense. Individual industries are based on their own historical forces. China took over the market of building solar panels, for example, because European companies were reluctant to classify a world-saving technology as a secret, allowing Chinese companies to just buy German solar panel manufacturing equipment and run it with lower labor costs. Not every industry works that way. The largest shipyard on Earth, and the four largest shipbuilding companies, are located in South Korea. Why? Same reason China cornered the market on rare earths: concentrated investment, aggressive government-corporate collaboration, proprietary R&D, and some price and currency shenanigans wherever possible. No country can "make everything," because each country has to make compromises about where to put their resources and what industries to target. There are reasons why China hasn't made nearly as much progress in, say, commercial airplane manufacture, nuclear reactors, military submarines, etc. These are all industries that are hard to break into by design. Much of the tech sector relies on converting cash into patents that protect market share to generate cash to make more patents.* Car manufacture is similarly well defended. The industry has long since reached the point where stealing someone's factory robot and operating it at a lower labor cost isn't going to cut it. The exact balance of labor and capital needs, and the proprietary technology involved, is the result of decades of blood-thirsty war between first and second generation manufacturers.

* Patent farming is wild. I once worked at a university that basically existed to hold a bucket under Chinese grad students and collect the patents that fall out, for resale. It's the ethics of college athletics, but with all the excitement of lab safety pamphlets.

[Raphael]

Thank you, Moose-tache, that's a very extensive and informative reply! I think I mostly get it now.

[Ares Land]

Supposedly electric cars manufactured in China could be the next big thing in the coming years. (Who know if that prediction survives COVID and Xi Jinping though?)

[Raphael]

As I write this, I have 15 tabs open in my browser, 8 of them ZBB-related.

[Linguoboy]

Supposedly electric cars manufactured in China could be the next big thing in the coming years. (Who know if that prediction survives COVID and Xi Jinping though?)

The Guardian had a good article about this could drive up the demand for lithium to disastrous levels. Essentially, if the USA remains as car-dependent as it is now, we'll need three times as much lithium as is currently produced. Although this may cause supply problems in the short term, lithium is relatively plentiful. The problem is that mining it is destructive and water-intensive so increased demand could end up offsetting many of environmental benefits of switching to electric cars.

Full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... s-research

[Raphael]

I'd say that's a matter of environmental costs and benefits. Climate change is probably the most urgent environmental issue in the world. It affects all of us (though some more than others). That makes it, IMO, a good deal more important than local damage to the environment in this or that place where people mine something.

[doctor shark]

Hwatting's impending induction into the Illuminati actually brought to mind the fact that my grandfather was associated with the Masons (and my father was involved with a Masonic organization or two, apparently; we never knew until we found an old Masonic ritual guide in our stuff with his name signed in it!).

Patent farming is wild. I once worked at a university that basically existed to hold a bucket under Chinese grad students and collect the patents that fall out, for resale. It's the ethics of college athletics, but with all the excitement of lab safety pamphlets.

It wasn't patent-farming-level back where I did my Master's, but there was quite a bit of exploitation of graduate students at that university (and especially the students from China) whose stays in the US were tied to their student status and particularly in certain groups that were a bit of publication mills. That said, the patents weren't extremely lucrative for the university as opposed to other IP things, partly due to the profit sharing rules (40% of the profits went to the authors, divided into shares according to the declaration) but also due to the investment needed to get the patents through examination and into protection. Maybe unsurprisingly, I didn't realize how bad that situation really was until leaving, thinking that this was "normal" for Ph.D. student life.

Incidentally, I know I signed my name onto two patent applications during my time there, but no clue whatever happened to them.