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Posts by mafketis  

Joined: 31 Mar 2008 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 20 hrs ago
Threads: Total: 43 / Live: 23 / Archived: 20
Posts: Total: 11927 / Live: 7225 / Archived: 4702 		From: tez nie
Speaks Polish?: tak
Interests: tez nie

Displayed posts: 7248 / page 154 of 242
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mafketis   
26 Jun 2020
History / History of computer markets and piracy in Poland [5]

Does anyone here have any stories

I brought a mac powerbook to Poland in the early 1990s and wanted to buy a printer... there was actually a mac store downtown and they had mastercard/visa stickers on the window so I tried to use my card and they were kind of flabbergasted. Apparently they'd put up the stickers cause.... I dunno, maybe they thought they looked nice... Eventually they ran the purchase through a travel agency next door that could deal with plastic... (another weird note - how Poland went from cash only to plastic in a very short period of time virtually completely bypassing checks... one friend had a checking account and a checkbook but it wasn't easy to use...)

The few other people I knew with computers back then were foreigners or had weird scraped together collections. One acquaintance had begun a language/computing skills school (not the weirdest combination back then by any means) and I carefully never found out where he got the computers... (you learned to not ask about a lot of things back then).

I remember hearing about this thing called the internet on a trip back to the US in the mid 90s and my workplace not too long after that had a single modem in one professor's office that you had to go through a classroom to reach. Fun days...
mafketis   
25 Jun 2020
Language / Am I the only person that can't sing in Polish at all? [48]

with the Polish language is that the stress falls on the second-last syllable

Good music for singing is based on the rhythms of speech.... and rock was originally written by English speakers with final stress. Rock songs written in Polish should be based more on the rhythms of Polish.

way too many consonants... rammatical gender also contributes to difficulty of singing in Polish

More consonants than Russian? (Many classical singers love singing in Russian) and gender should have no effect on singing...

anslations from English to Polish sound incredibly awful.

I'm sure English translations of Polish songs sound awful... try to translate a Polish rock song into English... I bet the results is not inspiring....
mafketis   
25 Jun 2020
News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

My theory: Georgette told him to tone down the anti-LGBT rhetoric because putting American bases in a country where that goes on would not play in America and if he plays nice she can arrange a meeting with Trump.

Adrian feel for it hook, line and sinker....
mafketis   
24 Jun 2020
Life / Izabela? - Advice with Polish name for a girl [36]

politicians for whom the so-called Christian values are so dear, have "mistresses" on the side

I'm pretty sure JK doesn't have a "mistress" on the side....
mafketis   
24 Jun 2020
News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

why was it booming before the pandemic?

But PiS had almost nothing to do with the boom - most people have no idea about economics ( I have little idea myself but a few basic truths have managed to get through to my brain )

If the economy had been in as bad shape as PiS was claiming in 2015 then it would have barely recovered by the time of the pandemic. Economic collapse can be quick but economic growth is a sloooow process and takes years for good policies to take effect.

Everything PiS has done since is to try to turn government into a money funnel to enrich themselves and cronies while throwing a few welfare crumbs to their low-information base.

They have no real expertise which the pandemic has shown - the tarcze have gotten almost nothing to small businesses (who mostly won't be PiS supporters) and a lot to large companies and cronies.

PiS = PRL (the same system of corruption and patronage - just different slogans for justifying it)
mafketis   
23 Jun 2020
Study / School meals in Poland [145]

We need to develop canteens which offer much bigger selection, like in a real diner in town.

restaurants waste massive amounts of food....
mafketis   
22 Jun 2020
Life / Poles speaking English - examples [263]

I think she doesn't like being first lady and doesn't like her husband very much (but won't separate or anything as long as she can stay away from him).
mafketis   
22 Jun 2020
Life / Poles speaking English - examples [263]

who so visibly shrinks from eye contact and proper body language.

Does anyone in PiS have normal body language? I guess Szydło did but they got rid of her and most of the rest seem very off.....
mafketis   
22 Jun 2020
News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

Some Polish guy pretending to be an American (it takes about a millionth of a second to hear that he is not) tries to talk to Trzaskowski with hilarious results.

wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/wybory-2020-zaskakujaca-konfrontacja-trzaskowskiego-z-wyborca-po-angielsku/7f3vr93
mafketis   
22 Jun 2020
Travel / Fortune Tellers/ Astrologers in Warsaw [27]

More likely Warsaw IINM most of the more.... reputable psychics work by referral and not be advertising. I remember an article back in the early 1990s about several psychics and their clientele.
mafketis   
22 Jun 2020
Work / English teachers in Poland - why are they so unhappy? [89]

use to have all the power here

There is no "power" here.... turn your attentions to something useful instead of playing narcissist mind games with yourself. No one is impressed with you or recognizes any "power" that any posters here have.

You obviously missed some crucial stage of mental development. I suggest you find a therapist who can help pin down when things went wrong for you....
mafketis   
21 Jun 2020
Language / Am I the only person that can't sing in Polish at all? [48]

Native speakers have the same problems sung English is often very unclear and the source of many mondegreens*

Most native speakers can relate examples of lyrics they misheard (I was surprised at how less common that is for Polish speakers listening to Polish music).

from my brother

"when the animals speak" real lyrics: Indiana wants me

"please mr. please, don't take me at 17" real lyrics: don't play 3-17 (song number on a jukebox)

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen
mafketis   
21 Jun 2020
Language / Am I the only person that can't sing in Polish at all? [48]

speaking and singing are separate skills... I remember a story about the Metropolitan Opera in the 1960s... they premiered an opera by an American composer and the only cast member that audiences could understand was the only non-native speaker (A Swede IIRC). In an interview he outlined a difference or two in how he sang rather than spoke English including trilling the r's... not how you should speak but much easier to understand

In pop music it's very obvious that many native-speaker singers have diction problems while singing in English. One of my favorites was Gladys Knight who, despite a rough scratchy voice, sang with super clear diction.