Sunday, October 31, 2021

WhatsApp Reportedly Adding Pause And Resume Functions To Voice Notes

WhatsApp is working on yet another new feature for its mobile app, this time on one that enhances the voice recording experience. On top of receiving new timestamp transcriptions (a new addition which we’ve covered previously), the in-app voice notes feature will reportedly be getting the ability to pause and resume a recording.

A preview from WABetaInfo shows that the voice note interface seems to be overhauled. Instead of the current UI where users are required to hold the record button and slide to cancel, it now features a new “Stop” button when a voice recording is being conducted.  This enables recordings to be paused and later stitched together as a single continuous track, which is quite useful as you won’t need to send multiple voice messages in case you need to stop in the middle of recording.


WABetaInfo claims that this feature is still under development, and that it will eventually be rolled out to both iOS and Android devices that are opted-in to their beta programme on Play Store and TestFlight. Since the preview obtained is based on the iOS version, it is possible that the feature will first come to iPhone betas before being rolled out on Android.


WhatsApp has been developing multiple new features for the platform, with some have already been released on the public beta – such as the multi-device function, which lets up to four devices use the same account without being connected to your phone. Other than that, there is also a feature that lets you choose a default length for the app’s disappearing messages feature.

Next-Gen PCIe Power Connector For GPUs Allegedly Capable Of Handling Up To 600W

While graphics cards from both team NVIDIA and AMD have become more powerful over each generation, their cards have been fettered by one factor: the aging 8-pin PCIe power connector that connects the GPU to the PSU. NVIDIA tried to move on from the medium with its 12-pin MOLEX with its Founders Editions RTX 30 series cards but sadly, not all of its AiB partners have been willing to switch.

However, that could all evolve soon, especially if reports of NVIDIA’s RTX 3090 Ti are to be believed. According to a report by the German tech site, Igor’s Lab, AiB partners for NVIDIA may finally ditch the current 8-pin PCIe connector, in favour of a new 12-pin connector. Officially, the new MOLEX port is known as 12VHPWR and it is reportedly set to be part of the upcoming PCIe 5.0 interface and standard that will be introduced with the launch of Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake later this month.

Specs-wise, the 12VHPWR connector is 3mm wide, making it slightly smaller than even the standard 8-pin connector. Further, it has four contact plugs on the underside, designed to carry sideband signals, as well as to latch on to the PCB securely, ensuring that the connector doesn’t shake loose.


The main takeaway from the report, however, is that the new connector could channel up to 600W of power in a single cable, which is a lot. In contrast, even the most power-hungry graphics card on the current market, the RTX 3090 pulls 350W off the wall, while even the unconfirmed RTX 3090 Ti is expected to have a TDP of 450W. To that end, it can be said that the arrival of the 12VHPWR connector heralds the likelihood of more power-consuming, yet powerful in the near and immediate future.

On that note, there’s still no news as to which graphics cards will be the first to use the 12VHPWR connector, and even if there was, it’s unlikely that the GPU itself will be pulling the full 600W directly from the PSU. Given the required 10% redundancy protocol.

Spongebob Squarepants And TMNT Made Into Xbox Series X Special Edition Consoles

There have been plenty of special edition video game consoles over the years. Adding to that list, Microsoft has announced that it will be immortalising a couple of our favourite cartoon characters as upcoming special edition Xbox Series X consoles, namely Spongebob Squarepants and Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

These consoles were made specifically to celebrate the recently released Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl video game, which takes on a Smash Bros vibe of allowing players to battle it out using iconic characters from various Nickelodeon franchises. The all-star cast includes popular characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, TMNT, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, and more.


Gaze upon the sponge’s eyes when you push and prod them with your fingers on the controller, as he stares back at you from the console seemingly designed to fit hit pants. Leonardo’s Xbox console is, of course, outfitted with his favourite slice of pizza – pepperoni, with no anchovies.


Unfortunately, these limited edition Xbox Series X consoles aren’t up for sale. Instead, Microsoft is offering them through an ongoing Xbox sweepstakes on Twitter. The contest will run until 24 October but to be eligible, you must be living in a country where Xbox Live is officially supported, which sadly rules out Malaysia.

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Remaster May Have A 7 December Physical Release

Rockstar Games confirmed that the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Remaster is real. While no dates were mentioned, it will probably be coming some time this year. And it looks like it will have a physical release for previous generation consoles, and the Nintendo Switch, coming in December.

Polish outlet PPE cites retail sources as saying that the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Remaster will get physical copies for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. These will be available on 7 December. The PS5, as well as Xbox Series X and S, will also be getting physical editions, but later in 2022.

The dates of the physical editions may be an indication of the general release date for the trilogy remaster. That being said, video games leaker Tom Henderson has claimed that the title is scheduled for release on 11 November instead. While it’s not impossible that physical and digital versions of the same game launch on different days, it’s always strange when it happens.

On a related note, VGC reports that retailer Base.com had listed the trilogy remaster as being priced at US$70 (~RM292) for current-gen consoles, and US$60 (~RM250) for previous-gen machines. The listing has since been removed, but they can just as much be placeholder prices as they can be real ones.

Official confirmation from Rockstar as to if any of these numbers are accurate is also said to be coming on 22 October, the 20th anniversary of GTA3. So we may be a short 10 days away from from finding out for sure.

Friday, October 29, 2021

Intel ARC Graphics Cards Will Ship Without Anti-Crypto Mining Software

Intel’s ARC Alchemist desktop graphics cards are not slated for launch until sometime within the second quarter of 2022, and as it stands, the chipmaker is reportedly focusing on its mobile ARC GPUs first. Interestingly, when asked if the GPUs will have some form of cryptomining prevention, the answer was, surprisingly, a shaky no.

During an interview with Gadgets 360, Roger Chandler, vice president and general manager for Client Graphics Products and Solutions, Intel, told the news site that Intel has no plans on implementing such mechanisms into its graphics lineup. Simply put, the man said that such measures were not a priority for the chipmaker and that it was not designing a “product or building any features at this point that specifically target miners”.

That last bit is crucial as it could swing interest for Intel ARC graphics cards towards the cryptomining community when they are readily available next year. Of course, it’s still too early to tell if that will be the case, considering that no engineering sample or full-fledge ARC Alchemist graphics cards are even out in the wild for testing.


Beyond that, the interview saw Chandler and Raja Koduri, senior vice president and general manager for Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics (AXG) Group at Intel, also said on the subject of supply that, while he couldn’t promise Intel’s adequate supply of ARC Alchemist cards next year, neither could his competitors, NVIDIA and AMD.

You can check out the transcript in the source, should you wish to read the interview in-depth.

Alleged Intel Core i5-12400 Performance Benchmarks Leaks

To date, we’ve seen Intel’s upcoming 12th generation Core i9-12900K smile for the camera, as well as its supposed performance metrics leak, yet we’ve barely seen or heard anything from the lineup’s lower-tier Core i5 CPUs. That is, until today.

Details of Intel’s alleged Core i5-12400 CPU were recently leaked to the Chinese social media platform, Bilibili. The details, which come in the form of CPU-Z, AIDA64, and Cinebench benchmarks, give us an idea of what the CPU is capable of. For the uninitiated, the Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, mid-range CPU that is comprised entirely of Intel’s Golden Cove Performance Cores (P-Cores), with no Efficient Cores (E-Cores) in sight.

Specs-wise, the CPU-Z screenshot shows that the 12400 has an all-core boost of 4GHz, with a single-core boost of 4.6GHz. Additionally, the TDP is rated at just 65W, although the AIDA64 benchmark shows the CPU package pulling in slightly more than that at 78.5W, while its temperature seemed to be a manageable 60°C.


As for scores, the Cinebench R20 benchmark shows that the 12400 scored 4784 points on the multi-core test and 659 points on the single-core test. In comparison, that puts the CPU squarely against AMD’s own Ryzen 5 5600X.

Intel first announced the existence of its 12th generation Alder Lake CPU lineup back in August, with the official launch expected to kick off on 27 October, during the Intel Innovation live stream event. At the time of writing, there’s also no official pricing for the Core i5-12400, but considering that its predecessor, the 11th generation Core i5-11400 retailed at RM799, many are hoping that Intel will maintain the price for the new mid-range CPU, if it wants to maintain that competitive edge against its direct rival.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Someone Switched An iPhone Lightning Connector To USB-C

Phones of today have mostly adopted the increasingly universal, no pun intended, USB-C port. The iPhone is still the exception, despite so many previous reports of this changing. Someone probably had seen enough of such reports without any of them actually happening, and decided to do it himself.

The person in question is a Swiss Robotics Masters student Ken Pillonel. There have been two major attempts. The first was a rough prototype all the way back in May which had most of the modification sitting outside the iPhone. More recently, he has managed to squeeze all the changes into the phone itself, and the port can be used for both charging and data transfer.


While he never identified the specific iPhone that he is modifying, the process involved reverse-engineering a C94 Lightning connector. That and making his own PCB for the USB-C port. Pillonel has put up a short video showing it in action. And it’s very well done, as it looks very natural, despite the fact that it has a port that an iPhone shouldn’t have.

Pillonel also says that a longer video breaking down the process is on the way. But in the meantime, you can watch the short preview which Pillonel has posted on his YouTube channel.

Nintendo Switch OLED Dock Can Theoretically Support 4K

The Nintendo Switch OLED was not the 4K capable device that many thought it would be. The Japanese company also made the rare effort to shoot down notion that there will be one this year a couple of times. But it looks like while the device itself may not be able to, its dock sure looks like it has the capability.

Twitter user @KawlunDram opened up one such dock of the Nintendo Switch OLED, and shared that it contained a new Realtek chip. And it’s one that is advertised as “4K UHD multimedia SoC”. This chip was also reportedly referenced in a firmware update from January this year.

Further supporting this is the HDMI cable that came with the Nintendo Switch OLED. @KawlunDram plugged it into an Xbox One X to check that it supports 4K 60fps, and the results turn out positive, suggesting that it was a HDMI 2.0 cable.


But in the end, the chip may be used simply for the improved audio. The Switch itself should also be able to support 4K output, given that it uses the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip. But considering its graphical performance for most games, that’s probably not the best of ideas.

But if anyone still needs straws to grasp onto, then there’s the existence of an “update dock firmware” function for the dock of the Nintendo Switch OLED. There’s no description of what it does, so one can hope that it can, against all odds, add 4K support the way Bluetooth audio support got added.

MacBook Pro M1X Rumoured To Have 120Hz Mini-LED Display, 1080p Webcam

With Apple’s recently announced “Unleashed” event coming up soon, rumours and leaks have been flooding out about the speculated MacBook Pro refresh. While we don’t know how accurate these claims are, they’ve set expectations high and even analyst Mark Gurman says that people have been asking about the new MacBook nonstop.

According to leakster @dylandkt, the new lineup will consist of a 14-inch and a 16-inch MacBook Pro, instead of the current 13-inch and 16-inch options. He also claims that the base models will have 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Moreover, the Pro is said to come with a new charging brick as rumours suggest that the USB-C charging port might be replaced by a Magsafe port.

Sticking with his claims from earlier this year, Dylandkt says that the 720p webcam will finally be upgraded to 1080p and the anticipated M1X chip will sport the same ten cores for both MacBook configurations at similar prices. The M1X MacBook Pro variant was expected to be launched back in June during WWDC but it never came to fruition.


As for the screen, display analyst Ross Young tweeted that both MacBook Pros will feature a mini-LED display with 120Hz refresh rate. Similarly, Dylandkt revealed that Apple has been working on a 120Hz display but says he doesn’t know when it will actually be implemented.

If the M1X MacBook Pro does come with a 120Hz display, then Apple will officially have another addition to its list of products that support the high refresh rate, alongside the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPad Pro. The Unleashed launch event will take place on 19 October at 1:00 AM Malaysian time and is expected to unveil the M1X MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, as well as the AirPods 3.

Friday, October 15, 2021

Netflix Looking To Expand Squid Game Into Video Games

Squid Game on Netflix is undeniably popular. So much so that a South Korean ISP sued the streaming service for its overwhelming network usage. But it’s the same kind of popularity that has convinced the streaming service that the show should not remain just as a TV series.

Minyoung Kim, VP of content for Asia at Netflix, told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is looking to expand Squid Game to “games, consumer products, and others”. She notes that there has been “an overwhelming but happy volume of requests” to do so.


The video games side of things make sense, but it’s unclear what sort of direction that Netflix wants to take Squid Game into. The company’s previous dabbling in the field produced a couple of games based on the Stranger Things series. But beyond that, the company has just resorted to including selected paid mobile games into the package for subscribers. And that’s only available in three countries in Europe for now.

Another Netflix show comes to mind if the streaming service wants to add interactivity to Squid Game, and that’s Black Mirror Bandersnatch. Which can work, depending on the amount of context that gets lost in translation, like many video games from Japan.

Clubhouse Adds Music Mode, A New Audio Setting For Musicians And Creators

Clubhouse has introduced Music Mode on its app, which will first roll out to iOS devices and later on Android soon after. While its name sounds like an entirely new mode, the addition is actually a new audio setting that is tailored specially for musicians and creators who use the platform to broadcast their music. 

According to Clubhouse’s recent blog entry, activating Music Mode will optimise the platform’s audio streaming capability to deliver “high quality and great stereo sound.” In addition, enabling it will also allow musicians and creators to hook up professional equipment such as a USB microphone or a mixing board to be used during their broadcasts. 

To enable the mode, simply tap on the three dots at the top right corner, select Audio Quality, and then choose Music from the list. Keep in mind that this Mode is only for broadcasters, and regular users and audiences are not required to tweak their settings in order to enjoy the “high quality” music streaming.

In fact, Clubhouse had added a much appreciated audio enhancement feature for all users earlier this month. As we’ve reported prior to this, the platform previously introduced spatial audio support to its app, adding a sense of depth to its overall sound delivery – which is great for chat rooms, presentations, and also live music performances.

Being the pioneer of audio-only broadcasting, Clubhouse continues to face steep competition from its rivals such as Twitter, Facebook and even Spotify. All of which had only recently jumped into the scene after realising the fledgling platform’s ever growing success. Ever since, Clubhouse has vigorously been introducing improvements and new features to its app in order to be a step ahead of its numerous competitors.

Elon Musk In Talks With Airlines To Offer Starlink Connectivity In-Flight

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently said that he was in talks with several airlines about the possibility of installing his space company’s Starlink internet service on planes. Musk confirmed his actions via his official Twitter account when asked if he had any plans on making the SpaceX service accessible as an in-flight service.

Musk’s original tweet was written in regards to the popular mobile game, Genshin Impact, and technically doesn’t bear any relevance to the Starlink topic.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, Starlink is an internet service under SpaceX, aimed at providing internet connectivity throughout the world via thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. To date, the product’s landing page says that its data speeds vary between 50Mbps and 150Mbps, plus a latency between 20ms and 40ms in “most locations”. That said, Musk did promise that that speed will soon be increased to 300Mbps but gave no specific timeline as for when that will be. As for how its consumers are able to access the internet connection, consumers are sent a satellite dish that acts as the hub. Further, the company has been accepting deposits from interested Malaysians since February this year.

Musk doesn’t elaborate any further on how he intends to make the service a reality, but Starlink’s own vice president, Jonathan Hofeller did confirm that the company already has an “aviation product” in development. That said, the prospect of gaining access to speeds in excess of 150Mb/s would be a game changer, especially given how limited the current offer for in-flight internet connectivity is.

HTC Vive Flow Is A Lightweight VR Headset For Lightweight Usage And Gaming

New to HTC’s list of virtual reality (VR) headsets is the recently launched HTC Vive Flow. The headset sports eyewear-style design and is also by far the lightest from the brand, coming in at only 186 grams.

Apparently, its lightweightness applies to its overall functionality as well. HTC markets the Vive Flow as a headset for the casual user who wishes to enjoy VR content related to “wellbeing, brain training and productivity”, as well as some “light gaming”. It is standalone, where it is not required for the user to connect it to a device such as a PC. Instead, the Vive Flow comes with a specialised version of HTC’s Viveport Infinity which offers a wide library of Flow-compatible content for monthly subscription of US$5.99 (~RM25) per month. These include the likes of VR meditation app Tripp, Color Connect VR, Space Slurpies, and much more.


As mentioned earlier, the HTC Vive Flow sports an eyewear or goggles style approach. For a good fit on any head size, the headset sports a dual-hinge system that can be adjusted accordingly. Inside are two 1.6K resolution stereoscopic displays that offer 75Hz refresh rate and 100-degree field of vision. Featured over the displays are a pair of diopter lenses which can be adjusted to allow those with short-sightedness to use the headset without needing to wear their glasses. Despite looking like it has the capability to support AR features, the Vive Flow actually does not feature the technology for it. Rather, the two lenses that are visible in front are actually meant for motion tracking.


For extra comfort, especially for hours of usage, included in the Flow’s frame is a small active fan that is situated under the bridge that sits above your nose. This pulls in air over your face and pushes warm air out of the device’s upper vents. Other than that, connected to its arms is a pair of embedded speakers which is said to offer high quality spatial audio. Connectivity-wise, you can pair the Vive Flow to your smartphone via Bluetooth, and could use it as a makeshift pointer for VR applications as well. Unfortunately, HTC did not mention whether the headset is compatible with the brand’s Vive VR controllers.


While the headset is designed for portability, it unfortunately lacks a substantial power supply – aside from a small cell that is reserved for powering minor processes such as shutting down and so on. For long term use, it is required that the Vive Flow is connected via USB-C to a compatible battery pack, power bank, or a wall charger. HTC says you could even power it by plugging it to your phone if required.


Considering its lightweightness being a selling point for the product, we can see why an internal power supply is excluded. However, the lack of which might seem like a deal breaker for many – especially when compared to the Flow’s closest rival, Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2. Speaking of which, the similarities between the Flow and Quest 2 end at their abilities to function independently. In terms of performance, however, HTC has made it clear that its new headset isn’t designed to tackle high-end VR applications or games.

The new HTC Vive Flow is priced at US$499 (~RM) and is expected to ship out in select markets by November 2021 onwards. However, HTC has yet to announce whether the new headset will make its way to Malaysia in the near future.

US Senator Wants Biden Administration To Blacklist HONOR

US republican senators led by Marco Rubio have called upon the Biden administration to ban Chinese smartphone maker HONOR, a company that was formerly owned by US-blacklisted Chinese tech giant Huawei. Rubio described the now-independent tech brand as a potential threat to national security.

In a letter dated Thursday, Rubio claims that HONOR is essentially an arm of the Chinese government that has unfettered access to prized US technology currently being denied to Huawei. “Beijing has effectively dodged a critical American export control,” he wrote in the letter.


Huawei was included in the Trump administration’s sanctions in 2019 which prevented US companies from doing business with blacklisted firms, most of which are China-based as the executive order came at a time of high tensions between Washington and Beijing. Amid a global chip shortage, the Biden administration expanded the list and is expected to add even more companies.

The ban resulted in in Huawei not being able to include Android and Google Mobile Services (GMS) in their newer phones moving forward. To prevent the HONOR brand from dying off, Huawei sold its former subsidiary to a Chinese consortium, effectively going around the sanction.


HONOR and the Department of Commerce did not give a response regarding the letter. Meanwhile, Huawei only reminded Reuters of its previous statement that said it would not hold any shares or be involved in managing its former subsidiary company.

On a different note, HONOR is set to launch the HONOR 50 in Malaysia next week, its first smartphone since separating from Huawei that has GMS enabled. The company’s other post-Huawei phones, such as the V40, are expected to eventually have a global release with GMS support.

Friday, October 8, 2021

Apple up their repairability game


So now... no 3rd party can ever repair your phone cause even if they source genuine parts... your phone still brick..

only way to repair is to get their people to do it for you...

iPhone 13 pro max screen replacement cost $329 (RM1,374)... jia lat.... screen crack jer ....you have to pay 1/6 of your phone...

but wait... that is not alll....

your screen repair cost ain't gonna be the US $329 rate...

so far... they have not release iPhone 13 pro max screen replacement cost but since US charge the same for iPhone 13 pro max and iphone 12 pro max... it is safe to say the screen repair cost in Malaysia for iPhone 13 pro max would be the same with iPhone 12 pro max... which is RM1,899

Squid Game Subtitles Bring Universal Localisation Problem To Mainstream Attention

Squid Game is the hottest thing on Netflix right now, apparently. So it sent the internet into quite a tizzy when polyglots discovered that its subtitles were not exactly faithful, to put it mildly. Or as I would call it, another case of overlocalisation, a problem that’s way too common in the world of translating entertainment media.

Which is nice. Fantastic even, because this is the best thing to happen to video games that suffer the same fate. Although at the same time it is mildly depressing that it takes a Netflix sensation facing the same issue before the problem that is seemingly universal in the realm of entertainment translation gets the kind of attention it deserves.

If you need a quick timeline of events, Netflix put up Squid Game on 17 September. Since then, a number of people have been able to binge the whole series, and the multilinguals among them have found that the subtitles have, at best, killed any nuance in their original language, and at worst, are rough paraphrases rather than translations.

Then there’s the difference even between subtitles and closed captions, which is the more complete version that notes even sound effects. That’s more for people with hearing difficulties rather than those that don’t understand the language. But it gets worse as the closed captions version turns out be be even poorer than the standard subs, and look to be subtitles for the dub instead, which is equally devoid of context and suffering from the usual terminal case of overlocalisation.

The problem with Squid Game and its subtitles, closed captions and dubs is not new. In fact, it is absolutely ancient, being around in this world for longer than I have, being especially prevalent in anime, drama and games from Japan. But it has probably largely been ignored because Japanese media has never had the contagiousness of South Korean entertainment media. Or maybe they did, but because that happened before the age of the internet, any attention that was brought to it dissipated quickly, and people have gotten tired of pointing it out by the time the internet came along.

Going back to Squid Game, the example that’s being thrown around online now is the “I’m not a genius, but I still got it work[ed] out” line from the English closed captions, or as the line is supposedly said in Korean, the “I’m very smart, but I never had the chance to study” line. The important nuance here that’s lost is the trope of intelligent people who had no wealth, and presumably therefore had no access to advanced formal education, which is said to be common in South Korean entertainment.

If you were a cynic like me, and were to believe that the closed captions is simply being the subtitle for the English dub as claimed, then you can sort of see why it was done that way. It’s possible, likely even, that the vast majority of the show’s audience who would use the dub over the sub are from the Anglosphere. And stereotype dictates that, for that crowd, being too poor to access education is not a relatable reality of life, hence the change in the line.

A similar logic can be applied to most warping of dialogue due to overlocalisation – to make a line more relatable to the population that speaks the translated language, but at the expense of context and nuance from the original. This is especially when it comes to proverbs. Translations will often opt to use the translated equivalent instead of translating the original proverb and also providing the meaning in a footnote, in addition to the equivalent in the translated language. An example that I was recently exposed to is the Japanese proverb that loosely translates to “it’s darkest at the base of a lighthouse”, which means it’s easy to miss things that are close by, i.e. not noticing something that’s right under one’s nose.

[Ed. Note: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings had a similar scenario, with a line spoken by the film’s antagonist in Mandarin. The line directly translates to “I’ve eaten more salt than you have eaten rice”, but is subbed as “I’ve lived more lifetimes than you have”.]

Or, more likely, it’s the standard of having a very limited character count for the subtitles. As another Twitter user who claims to have done subbing work for Netflix explains, this is dictated by the amount of time the subtitles show up. So a line that is up for shorter amounts of time must be shorter in character count as well. There’s even an FAQ entry on this provided by Netflix. There’s probably also a similar rule when it comes to dubbing, in terms of the dubbed lines matching the original in length, pauses, mouth movement and so on.

On one hand, this can be argued as an accessibility issue, so it’s understandable as to why this is done, especially for cinema. But on the other, there are instances where this just doesn’t apply. Like at home where you have the ability to pause and rewind. And since the ordinary English subtitles and the closed captions are two different sets, there can be similarly another separate set of subs – one that’s more accurate, and flooded with footnotes for those who want them.

The Daily Beast puts forth the argument that there’s no way to add footnotes to episodes to give viewers insight into the original language’s cultural nuances. But if you’ve been exposed to the grey fansubbing scene early in the turn of the new millennium, you’ll know that this is not true.

There are plenty of social commentary anime floating around that requires a deep understanding of Japanese pop culture for any of the jokes to land. But that didn’t stop dedicated fansubbers from squeezing footnotes into any available space, even if only for a couple of frames. This meant that casual fans can just ignore them and continue watching, while those who who are curious enough will take the trouble to pause or rewind to the specific frame to read them.


Some would brush off the discrepancies by telling people to either get over it or, if it bothered people enough, go learn the original language. Such is the argument of T.K., the guy behind the blog Ask a Korean, when speaking to The Daily Beast. This is a silly argument as best, since just because you know the language doesn’t mean you know the culture. And, as demonstrated by the fansubbers early in this millennium, if you can fit in footnotes about the language, you can do the same for the nuance and pop culture.

And asking viewers to get over it is like asking them to turn off their brains while watching. The audacity of those who want to be entertained and maybe learn a thing or two from watching a TV show, rather than just kill time and have the TV watch them instead, right?

Also, misunderstandings happen often enough when people have a conversation in the same language. So imagine the kind of deviation in meaning that can happen when translations in subbing and dubbing don’t put accuracy at the top of the list of priorities. And we all know the importance of context and nuance, right? Right? Anyway…

If you’re an optimistic person, you’d probably make the argument that this is a learning experience for Netflix. But the Crunchyrolls and Square Enix’s of the world will tell you that nothing will change. This is especially true for the latter, as the many games it makes frequently suffer from overlocalisation. Gaming is also a tougher nut to crack because, while adding footnotes is as easy as a popup or an extra lore page, it will kill the flow of gameplay. The latter option especially, as it causes players to either pause the game to go look it up, or continue playing and inevitably forget about it.


That being said, if Netflix can really learn from the fansubbing communities of old and actually improve its dubbing and subbing efforts to make them more accurate, then there’s hope for the video game world after all. But it will take enough people making this kind of noise on the internet for a start, and for them to not lose steam after decades of silence. And for the sake of everyone’s mental wellbeing and well as my own conscience, it’s not something I can recommend.

And on that bombshell…

The 'Fatty' Chinese Zodiac Forecast in 2024 (Iverson Lee)

Interesting topic for 2024 years that you have on your bazi chart that you have it you will be surprised that you will become the fatty anim...