General Questions Thread

[-KarumA-]

hmm..
i dont know much about the USA but i do know that loads of things are proccessed there

in our country with cheese its simple, we have market stands that sell fresh hand made cheese, processed is factory made.. and what i know about factory made stuff is that they take good stuff out and put weird things back in... the normal cheese is made up from its basic ingredients, still depending on which cheese it is but if it is processed cheese there should probably be some pretty weird number ingredients in it and some stuff that doesnt belong in it, cheese with loads of E41's and other numbers is certainly processed cheese, check the back of the package and if youre buying it from a market stand where they have huge round chunks of cheese where they cut of the amounth you need, you could just ask to be sure, however round chunks of cheese in our country is considered hand made fresh cheese, you could always ask or if youre buying a package, plastic box.. etc. just check the ingredients label... hand made cheese shouldnt have any E number things in it

[xris]

Originally Posted by Crystal Requiem

I wanted to know, when it says image only in the signature rules, and image and text, would it count as image and text if you were to have text next to the text for your signature picture since it's on the same line? Or would text on the same line still count as the two line limit?

Originally Posted by Jinto Lin

On the other side it is allowed to have a signature of 500 pixels width. That means it could be possible to fit as much text next to the signature image as an image of 500 pixel width - width of currently used signature image would use. My signature is an example for this interpretation of the rules.

The answer is that it depends. Jinto Lin gives the correct answer so have a read of his reply above

His sig is a good example of how to do this correctly Sometimes it's not as obvious as his sig and in such cases it will be a judgement call by the Moderator.

In no way do we try and cover every single combination when we define the sig limits. It's the same as with the forum rules in general, they are a guideline and as long as you use some common sense it should be clear what the intent is behind the rule.

[Crystal Requiem]

Okay, thank you very much. I added text then did a screen-shot, so unless I'm mistaken the width now equals 476 pixels unless I did something wrong.

[NoSanninWa]

It looks okay to me, so at least this is one moderator who won't delete your signature and hate you for it.

As xris suggested, it looks like you used some "common" sense.

[-KarumA-]

i was wondering on what dates japanese people have their holidays or free days, everytime i google on like japanese holidays i get an explanation of the festival or travel agents bugging me to rent a house in japan o.o;

[Rahan]

Here is a list of the japanese holydays

Now, for the school breaks. School year begins around April 1. There is one big break during summer, one short at the end of the year, and a last one in march.

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by Rahan

Here is a list of the japanese holydays

Now, for the school breaks. School year begins around April 1. There is one big break during summer, one short at the end of the year, and a last one in march.

yeh but on what days of those in the list do they get the day or week of then, thats what i meant like Valentine day.. thats a day when people still go to school right..

or is that the meaning of the (national holiday) behind the special day title, that they have free from school?

[Rahan]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

yeh but on what days of those in the list do they get the day or week of then, thats what i meant like Valentine day.. thats a day when people still go to school right..

or is that the meaning of the (national holiday) behind the special day title, that they have free from school?

Yes, that's it.
Wikipedia has a section only including the national holidays if you prefer :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes...ional_holidays

[Sephi]

Silly question from me

Sometimes when i check for which subgroup to download my anime from i read people comment with like. Subs are from DVD, not as good as Fansubs.

I can't speak out of experience myself. But i saw it several times which made me believe that sometimes the fansubs are actually better than some dvd subs.

But if that is the case. Than why don't the producers just use the Fansubs subs instead of going true the hassle of making there own subs which in some cases are worse than fansubs?

Was just curious about it.

[innominate]

That would be completely unoriginal and would defeat the purpose of the producers in the first place. Maybe a little reference to the fansubs would be okay, but imagine what the fans would have to say if the dvds they buy use subs that are available for free.

Producers I guess, are inclined to believe their subs are of superior quality.

Either that or it's a 'copyright' issue.

Actually, I don't know. ^^

[Rahan]

Originally Posted by Sephi

Silly question from me

Sometimes when i check for which subgroup to download my anime from i read people comment with like. Subs are from DVD, not as good as Fansubs.

I can't speak out of experience myself. But i saw it several times which made me believe that sometimes the fansubs are actually better than some dvd subs.

But if that is the case. Than why don't the producers just use the Fansubs subs instead of going true the hassle of making there own subs which in some cases are worse than fansubs?

Was just curious about it.

DVD players (not the PC ones, the independant ones that are directly linked to the TV. I just can't remember the english name for them) can't handle the fancy fansubs fonts. The big ugly white or yellow fonts they use is normalized and they can't do anything else.

The only solution I can see would be to use hardsubs, so the DVD players don't have to process the subs.
However, every episode should be burnt twice on the DVD. (once without subtitles for the dubbed and unsubtitled japanese tracks and once for the hardsubbed version)
That would double the price of the show, so it's not a good idea.

[Sephi]

I was a bit unclear. I only mean the translation. Not the fancy effect's and so on.

But guess what innominate said does make sense about it being unoriginal. And yea i would also be mad if i know the dvd from the producer contain the same subs as that of fansubs. It's like they didn't even tried than

guess it's better to try and fail than just take the easy way.

And i don't think fansubs are protected by copyrights or anything. But i could be wrong. Is the subs they produce actually there property? In like no one else is allowed to use them but them self? I can assume it to be a unwritten rule that you don't rip other fansubs. But is it actually against the law for producers to use fansubs without there permission?

[innominate]

I would guess that fansubs could be classified as online intellectual property, or a work of authorship. But I'm really not sure about anything either.

On a side note, this' the third time I've been referred to by my name.

[xris]

Originally Posted by Sephi

And i don't think fansubs are protected by copyrights or anything. But i could be wrong. Is the subs they produce actually there property? In like no one else is allowed to use them but them self? I can assume it to be a unwritten rule that you don't rip other fansubs. But is it actually against the law for producers to use fansubs without there permission?

You are totally wrong on this.

If you produce a translation of an existing work (for your own personal use), then that's fine (as long as you own a legal copy of the original work). If you then distribute it in any way then it becomes an illegal translation. In other words, (the distribution of) fansubs are illegal to begin with.

Producing a translation of someone else's work without their permission is against the law, so the fact that someone produces a fansub with translated subtitles is already illegal. Therefore the concept of the unofficial translation having any sort of copyright is incorrect to begin with.

Originally Posted by innominate

I would guess that fansubs could be classified as online intellectual property, or a work of authorship. But I'm really not sure about anything either.

Again, totally off-base. It has nothing to do with intellectual property rights since the distribution of such a translation is already illegal. Have a read of the Fansubs violate copyrights comment on our main site as a starter and have a read of the myriad of closed threads you will find in the forum about the subject.

This whole topic is rather inappropriate for a thread which is for Silly Questions, if this topic continues the way it usually does then except further posts to be deleted.

[innominate]

I would have thought those were two separate issues altogether. The ripping of fansubs would be an ethical concern rather than a legal matter, the distribution of fansubs, on the other hand, drinks a different cup of water.

Oh well, but fine, since Ojisan seems a tad angry about this, I guess I shall keep mum about it. ^^''... ...

[Ledgem]

Legalities aside, I'd presume that there's no really good way to verify the accuracy of the translation. Have you ever gone to one of those fansub comparison sites, where you see screenshots taken at the exact same time across different groups' releases? In some cases (probably simpler sentences) the wording all basically means the same thing, but in other cases, it's almost like two different things are going on. The benefit that the studios have over fansubbers is the script: fansubbers are doing everything by ear, while the studios can translate the text (and presumably could ask the series creators questions in order to get a better sense of what was going on and how a translation could get the message across in a more meaningful way).

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by Sephi

Silly question from me

Sometimes when i check for which subgroup to download my anime from i read people comment with like. Subs are from DVD, not as good as Fansubs.

I can't speak out of experience myself. But i saw it several times which made me believe that sometimes the fansubs are actually better than some dvd subs.

But if that is the case. Than why don't the producers just use the Fansubs subs instead of going true the hassle of making there own subs which in some cases are worse than fansubs?

Was just curious about it.

I can't say that all fansubs are created equal, but true there are subbers that does it better than some: quality, subbing, and author notes (which I love, by the way, and it makes it seems like it's commentaries).

Like innominate says, that's unoriginal, and would prove useless and redundant. Plus you can never match the quality of DVD quality, TIVO isn't that good. They both are just trying their best to present you their works are their best. Enjoy it.

Originally Posted by Sephi

I was a bit unclear. I only mean the translation. Not the fancy effect's and so on.

But guess what innominate said does make sense about it being unoriginal. And yea i would also be mad if i know the dvd from the producer contain the same subs as that of fansubs. It's like they didn't even tried than

guess it's better to try and fail than just take the easy way.

And i don't think fansubs are protected by copyrights or anything. But i could be wrong. Is the subs they produce actually there property? In like no one else is allowed to use them but them self? I can assume it to be a unwritten rule that you don't rip other fansubs. But is it actually against the law for producers to use fansubs without there permission?

I don't think subs are property, since it's completely coming from a source that was already not theirs to being with. The only part I would say that even counts as protected material is the translation that they used, you know, like wording and suches. Like someone complained to me earlier from a couple years ago. Just cause you slap your name on a image doesn't automatically means its yours. Like my signature, it's a work done by Hiro Suzuhira, I didn't add his name to my sig and I don't automatically assume that everyone know that it's done by him, by since we're on a anonymous stand point of view, It should be ok, even though were taking and rehashing anything to our liking. but that's just how the internet is.

Is it jsut your personal likes that makes you seem more attracted to fansubs? No matter how you think of subs done by either group, they both took lots of time to present you a movie worth watching.

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by Sephi

Silly question from me

Sometimes when i check for which subgroup to download my anime from i read people comment with like. Subs are from DVD, not as good as Fansubs.

I can't speak out of experience myself. But i saw it several times which made me believe that sometimes the fansubs are actually better than some dvd subs.

But if that is the case. Than why don't the producers just use the Fansubs subs instead of going true the hassle of making there own subs which in some cases are worse than fansubs?

Was just curious about it.

hmm just a lil something to poke in ont he situation, example my Fruits Basket dvd's have 2 subs..

usually they use the subs with text from the dubbed version, but some (like fruits basket) also carry the fansub subtitles, so it isnt all of them

[Furuno]

Question :
TGV runs on magnetic system right? Is it okay to bring harddisk and stuff aboard?

...i don't know, i haven't ride one before, just want to ask...

[Ledgem]

According to the Wikipedia article on TGV, it's a French train network that has the fastest wheeled train - in other words, it isn't a mag-lev train, just a really fast conventional one. The article mentions that they have prototypes for mag-lev trains only.

As for mag-levs in general, that's a good question. I wouldn't think that the magnetic field should impact within the train itself, based off of my shakey memory of general physics. From a practical viewpoint, it would make for an unviable business model. Everyone carries cell phones these days, among other electronics; nobody would ride the train if they couldn't bring their stuff with them

Edit: a bit more research revealed that there are three types of maglev trains, one of which does subject the passengers to a strong magnetic field. The article specifically mentions items such as hard drives, pacemakers, and credit cards as being items that could not be taken on the train, UNLESS magnetic shielding were employed.