u/dash-dot

Let me preface my post by saying that I've generally had a hard time getting into mob-based shows. I've always thought this subject is best handled in a feature-length adaptation, or a miniseries length treatment, at most -- I can't seem to be able to handle much more than that.

Don't get me wrong, James Gandolfini delivered a tour de force performance as the lead for the most part, absolutely no question about it. Nevertheless, many aspects of this character seem very caricatured, to put it mildly (I think this has more to do with the writing than the actor's performance, however). I find this jarring and frequently get thrown out of the narrative flow, and then I just can't seem to get back into it -- this happens nearly every episode, without fail. Tony Soprano is simultaneously the best and worst thing about this show.

Now, I understand that voluntary, mutually accepted ethnic and racial segregation, and dealing ethnic slurs is par for the course in the mafia and organised crime generally. Be that as it may, Tony Soprano's attitudes in this regard and his constant freaking out over moolinyans lusting after his precious daughter seem implausibly extreme, to the point of seeming completely anachronistic -- I mean, it's supposed to be the 1990s, for goodness' sakes (I'm actually deep into season 3 now, so it might even be the new millennium). Is it supposed to make him seem more old school? In which case he'd be a stick in the mud even by 1940s standards, the way he obsesses and carries on with this particular bugbear of his. Or is it just some comic relief at the character's expense? That doesn't really work either, in an otherwise serious drama largely devoid of comic episodes or moments (save for the odd surreal sequence or montage).

Now contrast this with his attitudes towards women: in a show chock full of knuckle dragging, moronic, misogynist louts -- and his problematic history and relationship with his own mother notwithstanding -- he's weirdly enlightened in his interactions and dealings with women generally, and his mildly sexist attitudes could largely be chalked up to the times (1990s) and his particular testosterone fuelled line of work. This is in stark contrast to his virulent racism, and once again, it just rings false, IMO.

Ultimately for me, the incessant casual misogyny bordering on the sadistic makes it incredibly difficult to get into shows like The Sopranos or GoT. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that misogyny is irrevocably baked into our society and culture, but I think it's much more nuanced, and handled quite gracefully in shows like The Wire or Oz, to name two exemplary productions, in my estimation.

What do you guys think?

I had a weird issue recently; it went as follows:

1. Ordered several brand new blu-rays from one mega store
2. Received an item in the wrong outer sleeve (for a different movie, didn't realise the true nature of the issue and thought the wrong item was sent)
3. Requested a replacement, and received yet another copy in the same, incorrect outer cardboard sleeve (must be a manufacturing / packaging issue)
4. Requested a refund this time, and received and printed out the shipping label
5. Accidentally pulled one of the blu-rays out of the sleeve right before packing them up to ship them back and then realised it was the correct item after all (both of them!)

I'll be returning the duplicate for sure, and I have already messaged the seller, but it appears they typically don't respond to messages.

How do I ensure I don't receive the refund, but also proceed with returning one of the items? Is it better to wait until the return is in the hands of USPS, or should I cancel my refund immediately?

One thing I’ve often wondered about is that when large graphical displays were first introduced, the term ‘graphic calculator’ had been relatively common. However, this eventually evolved into ‘graphing calculator’, which seems to have become the industry standard term by the late 1990s.

Did this occur due to the need to market to schools and young students and emphasise the mathematical plotting capabilities — as opposed to the broader computer graphics paradigm which was starting to become more prominent in PCs and handhelds alike?

The switch that HP made with their packaging and marketing materials offers an interesting case study. Until the 48 series, they seem to have favoured the term ‘graphic calculator’, and stuck with it even in the mid to late 90s with the 48G refresh. However, when the 39/49 series came out, they opted to start calling them ‘graphing calculators’.

How about Casio, Sharp, TI, etc.? Was there a similar evolution in their marketing of graphic / graphing calculators?

What the title says; I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Sex and the City is not only in 4K, but they went to the trouble of Dolby Vision grading with the remaster, as well. And it's halfway decent, despite being a bit grainy (only checked out the pilot, out of curiosity).

Dare I hold out hope that some day, more classic shows might get the 4K treatment? I'd be over the moon if the following could be remastered at least partially in 4K (some, if not all episodes):

• Six Feet Under

• The Leftovers

• Rome

I'm sure there are plenty of other classic shows which could benefit from a 4K treatment -- heck, I'd probably happily re-watch The Wire and The Sopranos in higher resolution.

What are some other obvious ones which could benefit from 4K, including HDR, perhaps?

I’m a new subscriber just nearing the end of my first month, and am now wondering if I should pull the trigger on a full year subscription before the summer sale ends.

Some relevant background: we watch about 8 to 10 episodes per week on average, and maybe a couple of movies (but I get the feeling we’ll run out of good movies to stream pretty soon).

These are the shows I’ve already watched in their entirety (but would be glad to rewatch them multiple times):

• The Wire
• Six Feet Under
• Mad Men
• Chernobyl
• From the Earth to the Moon
• Rome
• Schitt’s Creek

These are the shows we’re currently watching (only a few episodes in for each):

• Oz
• The Sopranos
• Barry
• Somebody Somewhere
• Hacks
• Veep
• Succession

I just want to be sure we won’t run out of stuff to watch within a few months; definitely open to uncovering some hidden gems and underrated shows! And I’m sure new content will be added, as well.

I suppose it's generally the simplest way to resolve buyer complaints and offers the path of least resistance, but why is it so inconceivable for some customer service agents that if the buyer managed to snag a good deal, then an exchange or a replacement item would be preferred? In these circumstances I'm more than willing to go through an iteration or two before waving the white flag and just requesting a refund. Beyond this particular issue though, I have encountered other challenges and inefficiencies so often that I feel compelled to highlight these bugbears here.

Case in point: I recently ordered several blu-rays. Most of them were fine and exactly as advertised, but one of the items was incorrect (and did not match the packing slip). Therefore when I didn't get a response from the large volume seller, I initiated an incorrect item report (I don't recall the exact terminology eBay uses) after waiting a couple of days. I was pretty pleased to receive another parcel from them within another couple of days, but I then made the mistake of closing my request before actually opening and checking the contents of the package. Guess what, they sent me the same incorrect item a second time! There must be something messed up in their inventory system, but whilst they respond immediately to issues reported to eBay, direct communication with the buyer is unfortunately non-existent.

However, eBay are also needlessly complicating matters here with their obtuse and labyrinthine customer service / issue resolution system. It frankly doesn't make sense to design a system so rigidly unaccommodating of options to undo or correct small inadvertent missteps such as prematurely closing an issue report. It's not hard to imagine such design choices setting in motion a complex chain of returns and refunds which could be easily avoided with a simpler, more transparent and easy to use process.

A low-friction, common sense process for all concerned parties is the most likely to reduce costs and minimise the number of times a global supply-chain cascade gets needlessly and pointlessly triggered, surely? But what do I know? I'm not an expert in large scale retail, warehousing or internet commerce.

Hi, I just switched over from Disney+, and plan on keeping this subscription going for the next few months (or at least until I’ve exhausted all the good stuff).

I’m sure this service has a lot of hidden gems, so I’d really appreciate some recommendations. These are my all-time favourites:

1. The Wire
2. Six Feet Under
3. The Leftovers

My partner and I are currently enjoying the following (just sampling a few episodes here and there for now):

• Mad Men (wow, this just might be the best looking TV show ever, especially thanks to UHD + DV)
• Barry
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
• Hacks
• Succession
• The Pitt
• From the Earth to the Moon
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Veep

We watched a couple of episodes of The White Lotus, but were both bored out of our minds, and are not too keen on getting back into it right now.

Just to give a better sense of my preferences, I’d watched 3 or 4 episodes of The Sopranos a long time ago, but just couldn’t get into it (and I also didn’t really enjoy or appreciate Breaking Bad, even though I powered through the entire series to see if it’d grow on me — alas, it never did). I guess mob shows just aren’t my cup of tea (with the notable exception of The Wire), even though I actually really like mob movies like The Godfather Part I & II, Once Upon a Time in America, Goodfellas, Casino, etc. On the other hand, as for Breaking Bad type shows, I did enjoy the first couple of seasons of Weeds.

Anyway, as I’d said, I’m mainly looking to discover some underrated shows, documentaries and mini-series at the moment.

Thanks!

My 2019 Corolla SE hatch has around 52k miles on it, about 90 % of it urban driving. It's my daily driver which I bought brand new in September '19.

Since yesterday the clutch pedal has been sticking to the floor during parking manoeuvres.

I'll find out tomorrow morning from the repair shop what the problem is exactly, but after reading similar posts in this and the r/COROLLA subreddit, it seems that clutch failures are unfortunately a known problem with this model (I wonder if it's the master or slave cylinder).

I'm a bit sad because I absolutely adore this car; it's far and away the best thing I own. I'd appreciate any insights from those who are familiar with this issue.

Many non-CAS devices like to tout their exact to decimal approximation conversion capabilities (and vice versa!). What do people think of this feature?

In my humble opinion, this is one of the most insidious, misleading and potentially dangerous features developed in the entire history of electronic calculators. I feel it’s sufficiently misguided to warrant the accusation that calculator manufacturers are fundamentally compromising the ability of young students to properly comprehend the properties of real numbers.

I think it’s especially asinine to give the impression that there’s a one-to-one mapping between a real number and its decimal approximation. To confuse matters further, the conversion often fails on very simple numbers such as 1/pi.

Wouldn’t it be much better to first implement a full CAS engine, then disable all of its algebra functions on the lower tier models? And then remove this nefarious button from the keyboard, and only permit one-way conversion from exact to decimal form, like any sensible mathematician would.

What are people’s thoughts on this?

Hi, I was able to successfully run the installer script for Midtown Madness 2 found here:
https://lutris.net/games/midtown-madness-2/

I then tweaked the config a bit and chose Wine staging 11.2 for the runner, and enabled Gamescope. These options are working well for the most part.

However, the in-game commentary always cuts out within a fraction of a second at the start of a race (or training module). I can hear the voice-over for like a split second at the start of a training run, but then it dies.

Does anyone have any recommendations for troubleshooting this issue? Thanks for reading.