Café Quito: 'pub' thread for general discussions Showing 1,351-1,400 of 1,427

[Marc]

WndyJW wrote: "I wish I could say the kids got the name from Homer, but it’s just a trendy name now."
You can still tell other people they got it from Homer! :D
She's adorable!!!

[WndyJW]

If I believe it I won’t be lying, right? I can make myself believe that if I say it often enough.

[Marc]

Right!

[WndyJW]

Ok then. Penelope is named after the Penelope of Homer’s classic The Odyssey.

Speaking of…Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad is being released September 7 this year!

[WndyJW]

I hope GR fixes whatever has messed up the Unread alerts. According to GR there 1856 New Messages in the General Book News thread and dozen in the other threads.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I think GR is having major problems.

As well as this annoying thing where all threads with comments are being shown as entirely unread I have found another issue ..

I was looking up reviews of Solar Bones (after reading the author’s next book) which a lot of current and past members of this group read and was confused where some of the reviews were.

I then realised that for many reviews older than say 2 years (not investigated fully) all the “likes” on reviews have been wiped out. Just one example Doug’s infamous Milkman review went from 1000+ likes to around 6 likes overnight.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Yes. 18 of my top 20 reviews have been reduced to single figures but sorting the bookshelf by votes still shows the old order. Probably cockup not conspiracy - in my experience GR's system testing is almost non-existent...

[Paul]

Has it been fixed now - Doug’s Milkman is back to 1100 votes.

[Sonia]

Anyone doing the annual National Book Tokens Hidden Books Game on Twitter/X? One of the answers is a favourite of this group.

[WndyJW]

I’m ready to uninstall X after Elon Musk’s most recent abhorrent tweet.

[Alwynne]

WndyJW wrote: "I’m ready to uninstall X after Elon Musk’s most recent abhorrent tweet."

The Hidden Games quiz is accessed direct through the site for National Book Tokens don't have to go near X to do it.

[WndyJW]

Alwynne wrote: "WndyJW wrote: "I’m ready to uninstall X after Elon Musk’s most recent abhorrent tweet."

The Hidden Games quiz is accessed direct through the site for National Book Tokens don't have to go near X t..."

I see, it’s a UK game. Does anyone know which book Sonia guessed?

[Sonia]

WndyJW wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "WndyJW wrote: "I’m ready to uninstall X after Elon Musk’s most recent abhorrent tweet."

The Hidden Games quiz is accessed direct through the site for National Book Tokens don't hav..."

The clue I referred to was the door one with the answer being Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Just a quick plug for our annual best of the year poll - we will be taking nominations until Sunday 10th December here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Paul]

Has to be said if anyone wants a recommended books to read list - my biased views is the M&G books of the year is the best source there is!

[WndyJW]

Agreed, Paul.

[Sam]

Paul wrote: "Although a key part of that skill is verifying what it produces so the university are right if their aim is to catch people using Chat GPT badly. Would seem logical to introduce ChatGPT based exams..."

There is an interesting article in the 01/26/2024 on the use of ChatGPT, "Tech Babble," by Eric Naiman, a U.S. university professor, who writes on student use of ChatGPT:

To be fair, some students seem to be using ChatGPT not to write an entire essay, but to draw up an outline, to write the introduction, to “judge” and improve paragraphs, or just to see what their essay “should be like”. ... The result, though, is nearly as deleterious, because the structure of the paper is that of a list, the ideas are banal and the AI language seeps in nonetheless. Eventually students who work with ChatGPT may become so adept at understanding what “good writing” looks like that they will not even need to use it: they themselves will become artificially intelligent. That won’t be an improvement, because an essay that sounds as though it were written by a computer is no better than an essay actually written by one.

This was my largest fear with ChatGPT and one that I felt was becoming a reality for me from just writing reviews on Goodreads. The repetitive review writing feeling more like a chore than pleasure, had me falling back more and more on blanket comments and phrases that could be said about any book and I was spending even less time trying to even attempt to make these sound original.
So while ChatGPT sounded like a wonderful tool for me, I cautiously anticipated what Naiman saw, and opted against it.

[Marc]

Strade Bianche shortlist just announced with 81km to go:
Pogi
:o

[Paul]

Marc wrote: "Strade Bianche shortlist just announced with 81km to go:
Pogi
:o"

That was both very impressive - and didn't make for much of a spectacle given I watched the last 80.5km!

[Marc]

The race for 2nd place was close!
:D

Tadej looked like he was enjoying a training ride all by himself.

[Paul]

Tom P riding alone for ages to take 4th was both impressive and rather poor tactically (and from interviews I see he agrees).

[Hugh, Active moderator]

This one has gone very quiet too. I hope that the village still has a pub!

[Paul]

Great timing

The last posts on the thread were about Pogacar attacking with 81km to go and never being seen again.

Today in Zurich ... 101km.

[Rachel]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Reading in a nice restaurant is another favourite of mine, although only when dining alone. I have found it’s considered bad form to do it in company"

Too funny.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Just had to sign in again on the phone I always use, and had to do about 8 letter and number Captchas. Didn't realise I had to ignore the spaces! Utterly ridiculous...

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Anyone else having problems with on-site notifications about comments in group discussions? Mine were still working pretty well until a couple of days ago, but since then all I have seen are a few likes for old reviews. I am told logging out and back in again so have just tried that - nothing has appeared yet, but I'll keep an eye on the Discussions page.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Hugh wrote: "Anyone else having problems with on-site notifications about comments in group discussions? Mine were still working pretty well until a couple of days ago, but since then all I have seen are a few ..."
This seems to be quite a widespread issue - if it happens to you, logging out of GR and in again on all devices you use regularly to access GR (in my case just the laptop and the phone) will fix it, at least for a couple of months, though you won't get the missing ones back. It is also related to what you see in the last access date on the profile page - if yours is December 2024 or earlier you are likely to be affected.

[Erin]

Hugh wrote: "Hugh wrote: "Anyone else having problems with on-site notifications about comments in group discussions? Mine were still working pretty well until a couple of days ago, but since then all I have se..."

My notifications were broken for months, and I figured they were a thing of the past, but they recently seem to have fixed themselves. Hoping it sticks!

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Just so you all know what is going on, Antonomasia has agreed to help me with moderation (helping with the admin side), so I have restored her moderator privileges. I hope you will all make her welcome.

[Paul]

Excellent. Thanks for volunteering to do that.

[Antonomasia, Admin only]

Thank you. I would like to explain that I am only going to be doing admin such as starting threads, moving folders and adding books, and zapping spam.

The board has clearly been flourishing in my absence and feels more harmonious, with a larger number of regular posters. You are evidently better off without me sticking my oar in on matters such as conflicts between members, and the ethos and general direction of the group.

[Sam]

I think it will be even better with you back Antonomasia and pretty sure most members will agree with me. Your posts are usually informative and add much to the group.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Yes I would heartily agree.

[Paul]

Yes great to have you back Antonomasia

The "Active moderator and factotum" by your name Hugh is making some of formatting a bit screwy as it appears every time your name does

[Emmeline]

I like your oar being in!

[Antonomasia, Admin only]

The old design of Goodreads does use a lot of different fonts. Looks like Hugh has shortened his title now, and hopefully that helps.

It was me who asked about mod titles, as I wanted it to be clear at a glance (at least on desktop, not sure if mod titles display on mobile) that I am taking a more limited role as a mod now.

And it could also help newbies who are wondering who to contact about something, to know which mods are active

[LindaJ^]

Very glad you are back amongst us Antomomasia!

[Carl]

Hi, just wanted to say I am quite glad I found this group. Great discussions, people, and a high level of respect from all. Incredible job in moderating all this!

[Paul]

Welcome to the group

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Welcome Carl

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Great to have you here.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Anyone else suddenly seeing all discussions in a horrible new font? Desktop view only, in Windows.

[Carl]

Hugh wrote: "Anyone else suddenly seeing all discussions in a horrible new font? Desktop view only, in Windows."

All looking the same here. Perhaps try another browser and see if the issue is the software.

[Erin]

Hugh wrote: "Anyone else suddenly seeing all discussions in a horrible new font? Desktop view only, in Windows."

No weird font, but my notifications have abruptly disappeared again, after having mysteriously reappeared a month or so ago. :(

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Not weird, just too narrow to be read anywhere near as comfortably, with fussy serifs that make that worse. I logged out and in again after reporting this issue yesterday and it's still happening on Firefox using Windows. It may be another change they are rolling out gradually.

[Blaine]

Depending on your operating system and browser, there may be ways to override the Font used to display web pages. Check your browser options. Many browsers also have a "reader" option to display web pages in an easier-to-read format, without the fancy formatting some web pages use.

Another place to modify the settings can be in the Accessibility options that some operating systems and web browsers make available.

[Ruben]

Not sure this is the right place for this question, but it seems there are some Londoners in this group who may help: I have to go to London for work tomorrow and should have a gap of an hour in my programme. Any suggestions for a good bookshop (and if possible a second-hand one too) around the area of Covent Garden?

[Henk]

There is a Waterstones close to Covent Garden, but not quite as impressive as the one in Picadilly, but I would recommend Stanfords, which is in a nice secluded area (where you also have an amazing bakery called Arome and a gelato shop called Badiani. They have a concept of having books per country downstairs, which is really nicely done: https://www.stanfords.co.uk/london-store

[Paul]

Well Foyles isn’t far - although ultimately part of the Waterstones empire it does support the Republic of Consciousness Prize.

Any Amount of Books sells second hand.

And then there is a cluster of second hand shops on Cecil Court just south of Leicester Square. Though some are more antiquarian / collectors type shops specialising in non fiction than last year’s Booker winner for 1.50 so depends what sort of second hand you were after.

[Roman Clodia]

Walkable from Covent Garden or jump on a bus for the Oxfam Bookshop on Bloomsbury St. for a good range of second-hand books:

www.oxfam.org.uk/shops/oxfam-bookshop...