The Reading Room

7:57 AM

Can someone handle my meta flag and finally close that Bible question as a duplicate, so we can get over the fact that it was unlawfully put on hold? (cc @Emrakul @Hamlet @Mithrandir)

2 hours later…

A: Suggest your Lit.SE reading challenges here!

9:42 AM

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters The Dream Hunters is a standalone novella in The Sandman universe, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated, exquisitely, by Yoshitaka Amano. The story, while inspired by Japanese folk tales, is invented y Neil Gaiman. It tell a tale of a monk, and a fox spirit,...

^ @Shokhet

3 hours later…

Hamlet

12:48 PM

@Gallifreyan done, but note that I only closed it as a duplicate because the bible question wasn't about a specific question on the main site.

@Hamlet my-hero

5 hours later…

5:44 PM

@Hamlet This morning I pinged someone about it who's both into literature and a Greek speaker. Let's see whether he has anything to add.

@Emrakul Like Gilles, I'm baffled by your decision. How is "is X an on-topic thing to ask questions about" a too-broad question for meta?

(The question has since been reopened and dupe-closed, but I'm still curious about your thought process.)

@Catija I agree that "we can write better answers than them" is a bad mindset and potentially toxic, but I don't see anything wrong with "a site about X is better at answering questions about the X aspects of XYZ than a site about Y". After all, that's a decision you have to make every time you post a question about something which is covered by more than one site.

@humn Wow. Harsh.

But a fitting tribute to the beauty and eloquency of your writing.

6:17 PM

The return of the @Mith!

Last seen battling a Balrog on Friday, he returns after Shabbat as Gandalf the White.

That is indeed a correct summary :P

Catija

6:32 PM

@Randal'Thor check the post history.

@Catija Yeah, so I completely agree with your reaction to the first version of what Hamlet said. Just didn't really get why you kept arguing the point after he edited it and clarified what he meant.

@humn I can testify as to the eloquence of your writing ;)

7:18 PM

Wanted to ask this site's first question about the lyrics of a Russian band, but found the answer myself

7:29 PM

Ask it anyway?

Better, got another question.

I wonder if I should use [russian-literature]

You can ask/answer...

Q: In the song "Ja is Playing Jazz" (Джа играет джаз), who is Ja?

7:46 PM

I should remind people that we have a thing called monthly challenge, and this month's challenge is The SEA is Ours, which we have to read and preferably ask questions about, since that's why we started the whole gig for.

Bookworm

While listening to Splean's last album Ключ к шифру (The Key to the Cipher) again, I've wondered about a particular line from the song "Джа играет джаз" ("Ja is Playing Jazz"): Сегодня Джа играет джаз, А завтра – Родину продаст. Today Ja is playing jazz, and tomorrow he'll sell his...

There, I posted it.

Сплин - Мы сидели и курили (Official video)

8:09 PM

►

^ If anyone is feeling like listening to an acidic Russian song with an acidic music video.

I'm trying to see about finding a copy of The SEA Is Ours.

@Gallifreyan define 'acidic'?

Gilles

@Mithrandir If you want to buy: bookfinder.com/search/…

I'm seeing about borrowing a copy first. If you that doesn't work out, I think I'll get the Kindle version. But thanks for the link :)

8:24 PM

The SEA is Ours on Book Depository, only for $15 (worldwide shipping included)

^ That needs stars.

Kindle is $6.15 ;)

@Mithrandir It's the word we use in Russian for "drug-induced" or "made under the influence of drugs" or similar stuff.

@Mithrandir That works too.

Gilles

@Mithrandir yeah but you're borrowing, not buying, since kindle means DRM

@Gallifreyan Ah. Okay then - I don't think I've ever heard that before. Learn ~~something~~ lots of things every day!

Death to DRM!

Digital rights management

8:27 PM

@Gilles DRM?

Gilles

Digital rights management (DRM) schemes are various access control technologies that are used to restrict usage of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies try to control the use, modification, and distribution of copyrighted works (such as software and multimedia content), as well as systems within devices that enforce these policies. The use of digital rights management is not universally accepted. Proponents of DRM argue that it is necessary to prevent intellectual property from being copied freely, just as physical locks are needed to prevent personal property from being...

@Mithrandir Digital Rights Management, copyright protection.

I.e. can't copy or redistribute, and can't do a bunch of other stuff, probably.

Though Calibre with a plugin can remove Kindle DRM, so it's not that big of a deal.

... *hides under 'fair use'*

I actually use an E-ink Kindle.

user15026

8:30 PM

@Gallifreyan And this is how I get Kindle books on my Kobo reader :)

Oh, still have to ask my is Drinkwater evil question...