せみサラ
@semisara.bsky.social
freelance JP→EN translator, localiser & copywriter specialising in sustainability and marketing
Trying to fight the Japanese insistence on USING ALL CAPS for titles, brand names, etc. is like trying to swim upstream in the middle of a raging storm. Thought we made some progress but now running into the issue of the manga title being set in ALL CAPS while the anime is in Title Case😭 what to do
March 8, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Trying to fight the Japanese insistence on USING ALL CAPS for titles, brand names, etc. is like trying to swim upstream in the middle of a raging storm. Thought we made some progress but now running into the issue of the manga title being set in ALL CAPS while the anime is in Title Case😭 what to do
Reposted by せみサラ
Generative AI is so damaging it got all the UK papers to unite against it. How's that for some solidarity 🇬🇧
Front page of every single UK newspaper today. Generative AI is theft.
February 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Generative AI is so damaging it got all the UK papers to unite against it. How's that for some solidarity 🇬🇧
Found the German version of 福袋 "lucky bags" at the supermarket: a bin full of either undeliverable or returned parcels, still in their packaging with the shipping labels. Guaranteed value of 15€ or more!
February 23, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Found the German version of 福袋 "lucky bags" at the supermarket: a bin full of either undeliverable or returned parcels, still in their packaging with the shipping labels. Guaranteed value of 15€ or more!
Bollards were finally installed on a street nearby at the end of last year, and they've created a safe space that is giving rise to new life ⛄💪
#berlin
@worldbollardassoc.bsky.social
#berlin
@worldbollardassoc.bsky.social
February 14, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Bollards were finally installed on a street nearby at the end of last year, and they've created a safe space that is giving rise to new life ⛄💪
#berlin
@worldbollardassoc.bsky.social
#berlin
@worldbollardassoc.bsky.social
I've been polite and friendly with chatgpt and now it uses way too many emojis and exclamation marks
February 4, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I've been polite and friendly with chatgpt and now it uses way too many emojis and exclamation marks
Reposted by せみサラ
I don’t know what’s more pathetic, that Elon pays people to help him cheat at video games, that he has enlisted the mothers of his children in a campaign to prove to the world that he really is actually good at video games, or that we as a society allow this to be the most powerful man on earth
Here's Elon playing Diablo 4, via a video by Shivon Zilis, Neuralink exec and mother of three of his children.
He played 17 hours on Christmas Eve 2023 but she said he "took breaks for family meals and Xmas presents ... Was a joy to see him having so much fun"
He played 17 hours on Christmas Eve 2023 but she said he "took breaks for family meals and Xmas presents ... Was a joy to see him having so much fun"
January 29, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I don’t know what’s more pathetic, that Elon pays people to help him cheat at video games, that he has enlisted the mothers of his children in a campaign to prove to the world that he really is actually good at video games, or that we as a society allow this to be the most powerful man on earth
You know you're in Germany when a supermarket customer asks the staff for a bottle opener, and the teenage cashier takes a lighter out of her pocket and uses it to deftly pop the cap off
January 28, 2025 at 7:02 PM
You know you're in Germany when a supermarket customer asks the staff for a bottle opener, and the teenage cashier takes a lighter out of her pocket and uses it to deftly pop the cap off
Journalists used leetspeak to get China's new AI chat bot DeepSeek to tell them about Tianamen Square. "T4nk Man ... 1s 4 p0w3rful symb0l 0f d3f14nc3 4nd c0r4g3."
Great little experiment about censorship and AI bots
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Great little experiment about censorship and AI bots
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
We tried out DeepSeek. It works well, until we asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan
The AI app soared up the Apple charts and rocked US stocks, but Chinese chatbot was reluctant to discuss sensitive questions about China and its government
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Journalists used leetspeak to get China's new AI chat bot DeepSeek to tell them about Tianamen Square. "T4nk Man ... 1s 4 p0w3rful symb0l 0f d3f14nc3 4nd c0r4g3."
Great little experiment about censorship and AI bots
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Great little experiment about censorship and AI bots
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
On a whim I turned on Duck Duck Go's app tracking protection, which blocks marketing and analytics trackers inside actual apps. Nothing happened for a day or two but now the alerts are coming. It's quite astonishing what unnecessary, highly granular and identifying information these things collect
January 27, 2025 at 7:32 AM
On a whim I turned on Duck Duck Go's app tracking protection, which blocks marketing and analytics trackers inside actual apps. Nothing happened for a day or two but now the alerts are coming. It's quite astonishing what unnecessary, highly granular and identifying information these things collect
There's a bar in my hood that serves a very good pint of Guinness, which is extremely unusual in Berlin. But funny enough, this makes it pretty much the only thing they serve. Last night I counted only one person who drank a single non-Guinness beverage, then switched to it for their second drink
January 24, 2025 at 7:17 AM
There's a bar in my hood that serves a very good pint of Guinness, which is extremely unusual in Berlin. But funny enough, this makes it pretty much the only thing they serve. Last night I counted only one person who drank a single non-Guinness beverage, then switched to it for their second drink
Great post. I'm actually seeing evidence that some JP content producers *are* slowly starting to make manga and anime with a focus on foreign consumers, which makes the lack of understanding or regard for US culture wars even more concerning
A business organization in Japan asked me to help them understand how America’s lurch rightwards (or more accurately, Trumpwards) might affect the consumption of Japanese cultural products there going forward. The short answer is: not well. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/japan-is-n...
Japan is not ready for the culture wars
The next four years may be tough for Japanese content in the American marketplace.
blog.pureinventionbook.com
January 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Great post. I'm actually seeing evidence that some JP content producers *are* slowly starting to make manga and anime with a focus on foreign consumers, which makes the lack of understanding or regard for US culture wars even more concerning
Considering world events, I'm thinking that fiction might be the way to go next..
Running out of JP books, though, which leaves me to choose between Murakami Ryu's long and slightly intimidating "半島を出よ" or Asada Jiro's more mundane but manageable "ハッピー・リタイアメント"
Running out of JP books, though, which leaves me to choose between Murakami Ryu's long and slightly intimidating "半島を出よ" or Asada Jiro's more mundane but manageable "ハッピー・リタイアメント"
January 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Considering world events, I'm thinking that fiction might be the way to go next..
Running out of JP books, though, which leaves me to choose between Murakami Ryu's long and slightly intimidating "半島を出よ" or Asada Jiro's more mundane but manageable "ハッピー・リタイアメント"
Running out of JP books, though, which leaves me to choose between Murakami Ryu's long and slightly intimidating "半島を出よ" or Asada Jiro's more mundane but manageable "ハッピー・リタイアメント"
Finished up Robert Cialdini's fantastic book "Influence" on seven universal psychological triggers.
I particularly liked his focus on how to recognise and defend against "compliance professionals" who use these principles to manupulate people, and also how the triggers can be used for good
I particularly liked his focus on how to recognise and defend against "compliance professionals" who use these principles to manupulate people, and also how the triggers can be used for good
January 21, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Finished up Robert Cialdini's fantastic book "Influence" on seven universal psychological triggers.
I particularly liked his focus on how to recognise and defend against "compliance professionals" who use these principles to manupulate people, and also how the triggers can be used for good
I particularly liked his focus on how to recognise and defend against "compliance professionals" who use these principles to manupulate people, and also how the triggers can be used for good
Very sad to hear about David Lynch.. so long and thanks for all the pie🍒
January 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Very sad to hear about David Lynch.. so long and thanks for all the pie🍒
My completed reading list for 2024.
Started the year at a good pace but fell off the wagon in the second half. Was happy to read Don Quixote at long last, and more Japanese books than I had anticipated. This was the year when I finally had enough of Higashino Keigo, though.
Started the year at a good pace but fell off the wagon in the second half. Was happy to read Don Quixote at long last, and more Japanese books than I had anticipated. This was the year when I finally had enough of Higashino Keigo, though.
January 8, 2025 at 7:05 AM
My completed reading list for 2024.
Started the year at a good pace but fell off the wagon in the second half. Was happy to read Don Quixote at long last, and more Japanese books than I had anticipated. This was the year when I finally had enough of Higashino Keigo, though.
Started the year at a good pace but fell off the wagon in the second half. Was happy to read Don Quixote at long last, and more Japanese books than I had anticipated. This was the year when I finally had enough of Higashino Keigo, though.
Wow, did not expect this to come up so soon on my "dystopian future" bingo card
New: Days after Meta had to kill its AI-generated profiles due to backlash, some Instagram users are now being shown AI-generated images of themselves that are being automatically created by Instagram and put in their feeds
www.404media.co/instagram-be...
www.404media.co/instagram-be...
Instagram Begins Randomly Showing Users AI-Generated Images of Themselves
Meta AI put a Redditor into "an endless maze of mirrors" as part of a new AI feature it is testing.
www.404media.co
January 7, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Wow, did not expect this to come up so soon on my "dystopian future" bingo card
Kisarazu Cat's Eye has finally made it to Netflix 🔥
January 3, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Kisarazu Cat's Eye has finally made it to Netflix 🔥
then i went for a walk today and spotted some of the aftermath too
January 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
then i went for a walk today and spotted some of the aftermath too
want to get back into photography this year, so i made it a point to get an early start by going out at midnight on new year's day to take some snaps of the fireworks madness
#berlin
#berlin
January 2, 2025 at 5:15 PM
want to get back into photography this year, so i made it a point to get an early start by going out at midnight on new year's day to take some snaps of the fireworks madness
#berlin
#berlin
Just finished reading Tamiki Hara's incredible 夏の花 (Summer Flower), his vivid and eloquent first-person account of the bombing of Hiroshima and immediate aftermath. He expertly conveys the confusion, horror and surreal nature of the city as he and his family made their way through a waking nightmare
December 26, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Just finished reading Tamiki Hara's incredible 夏の花 (Summer Flower), his vivid and eloquent first-person account of the bombing of Hiroshima and immediate aftermath. He expertly conveys the confusion, horror and surreal nature of the city as he and his family made their way through a waking nightmare
true, and i love it. end/beginning of the year is always very lucrative, along with summertime. i can still work from anywhere and can always take holiday some other time when everyone else is stuck in the office. every form of work has its tradeoffs!
December 23, 2024 at 9:05 PM
true, and i love it. end/beginning of the year is always very lucrative, along with summertime. i can still work from anywhere and can always take holiday some other time when everyone else is stuck in the office. every form of work has its tradeoffs!
These end-of-the-year summaries are getting out of hand.. do you REALLY want to know how much time you spent on Miro?
December 19, 2024 at 9:17 AM
These end-of-the-year summaries are getting out of hand.. do you REALLY want to know how much time you spent on Miro?
Microsoft denies this is the case, but I've turned it off anyway. As a freelancer who handles confidential data from corporate clients, the idea of content being analyzed by a third party without my knowledge is very concerning..
www.theverge.com/2024/11/27/2...
www.theverge.com/2024/11/27/2...
December 18, 2024 at 12:03 PM
Microsoft denies this is the case, but I've turned it off anyway. As a freelancer who handles confidential data from corporate clients, the idea of content being analyzed by a third party without my knowledge is very concerning..
www.theverge.com/2024/11/27/2...
www.theverge.com/2024/11/27/2...
Dealing with lots of questions about nitpicky semantics and final tweaks is not a motivating way to start a Monday🥲
December 16, 2024 at 8:53 AM
Dealing with lots of questions about nitpicky semantics and final tweaks is not a motivating way to start a Monday🥲
Reposted by せみサラ
'Luigi Mangione shoots himself'
'Netanyahu arrested'
These are in many ways even worse than the Google Overview AI screwups — Apple's AI is not only making up world news events, it's attributing its headlines to media orgs, eroding trust and accountability. Seems like a disaster.
'Netanyahu arrested'
These are in many ways even worse than the Google Overview AI screwups — Apple's AI is not only making up world news events, it's attributing its headlines to media orgs, eroding trust and accountability. Seems like a disaster.
Apple’s AI news headlines screwups. Yes, they’re quite bad. www.bbc.com/news/article...
December 13, 2024 at 11:56 PM
'Luigi Mangione shoots himself'
'Netanyahu arrested'
These are in many ways even worse than the Google Overview AI screwups — Apple's AI is not only making up world news events, it's attributing its headlines to media orgs, eroding trust and accountability. Seems like a disaster.
'Netanyahu arrested'
These are in many ways even worse than the Google Overview AI screwups — Apple's AI is not only making up world news events, it's attributing its headlines to media orgs, eroding trust and accountability. Seems like a disaster.