Category: Humor

Navigating a Luxury Hotel: A Maze of Misdirections | October 16 2025, 05:55

I currently live in a luxury hotel (as they describe themselves) for $400 a night. It must be said, I barely found a hotel – everything was sold out. It all started with the fact that there was no hot water in the room. They gave me a new room, which also did not have hot water. But in this new room, a plumber came and whacked the faucet, causing it to turn even more, and then the warm water started flowing. Well, good, now I know how to bang it. But I spent almost half an hour searching for this second room, wandering the corridors and following signs that lead nowhere. When I told the receptionist that only ghosts could improve my mood from the lack of hot water and the forced move, the lady at the reception smiled cunningly and said that anything can happen. And after that, I spent half an hour looking for the room.

Imagine, you are given room 446. You exit the elevator. There you see signs

“to the right 438-456”

“to the right 466-476”

“to the right odd rooms”

“to the left 400-432”

“to the left 478”

You follow the corridor and at the very end of it

“to the right 439-487”

“straight 429-437”

“back 427-401”

Ok, I have 446, so to the right. There’s a door

“straight 439-477”

Hm. Ten rooms just lost by turning towards the door. Well, alright, my 446 is somewhere here.

You enter, and it’s not there. There’s 445 and 447.

It turned out that as I walked from the elevator following the arrow “to the right 438-456”, it wasn’t in vain it said “to the right – odd”. But then where are the even ones? Also to the right! Just not mentioned. The even numbers are behind one of the doors marked “to the right – odd”. You have to walk about ten meters and see on the right side of the corridor a blind door of the same style as the wall with a “exit” sign and numbers 438-454. So the even numbers are behind this door, but how would you know? And what if you have 445? Well good, we go through the door. But there’s nothing there.

Absolutely nothing, just stairs to the fifth and third floors. But there’s also an unmarked door. And behind this door, hurray, even numbers.

Whoever navigated this needs to be beaten with whips. The fact that the hotel is 132 years old does not excuse it)

Yuki’s Predictable Howling Cycles | October 16 2025, 03:02

Yuki is like clockwork. Twice a year, he enters a mode of howling. Just like a wolf at the Moon. Last year, the autumn howl started on October 15-16, 2024, and ended on the 20th. Today, October 15, 2025, it began. Prior to this

* March 15, 2022,

* October 27, 2022,

* February 2, 2023,

* April 1, 2024, lasted four days.

* October 15-16, lasted 4 days

Update: October 19, 2025, it ended

Yuki, we have everything recorded!

Understanding Jerusalem Syndrome and Its Global Counterparts | October 01 2025, 16:10

Listening to Sapolsky in the background, he mentioned Jerusalem Syndrome. It’s when a deeply religious American Baptist from the southern USA, having saved money and prepared, arrives in the Holy Land and sees that Jerusalem is just another city: traffic jams, smog, noise, pickpockets, McDonald’s—everything like that. And then—an interesting feature—in all cases, the person tears up sheets, takes off their clothes, and suddenly finds themselves on the streets of Jerusalem, dressed as if in a toga, begins to preach on the streets, calling for a simpler life and all that.

A psychiatric team arrives, takes the person to the hospital for a few days, everything becomes clear, they send him back home, and he never encounters this syndrome again.

Each year in Jerusalem, about up to many dozens of cases are recorded. It’s a recognized syndrome, about which scientific articles are published.

Sapolsky says that if hotels in Jerusalem always had, for example, checkered sheets instead of white ones, which seem to “invite” one to don a toga, it would help prevent the crisis.

But amusingly, there’s a twin brother of this disorder, the Paris Syndrome, which for some reason mainly affects the Japanese. Japanese tourists come to Paris because they are attracted by the culture, language, literature, and history of France, as well as the landmarks of Paris. However, once there, they encounter difficulties such as a language barrier (surprise surprise!), differences in mentality, and disappointment from the reality of Paris not meeting their expectations.

There’s also a milder version called the “Florentine Syndrome.” This often happens during a visit to one of the 50 museums in Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance. Suddenly, a visitor is overwhelmed by the depth of feeling the artist has imbued in the artwork. At this point, they acutely perceive all emotions, as if transported into the space of the image. Victims’ reactions vary up to hysteria or attempts to destroy the painting. Despite the syndrome’s relative rarity, guards in Florentine museums are specially trained on how to deal with its victims.

Overall, be careful with syndromes when you’re traveling.

PS. This image was made for me by google. In the second image, a guy in a tie tells a tearful girl 脆培, which seems just a meaningless set of characters, something like fragile culture. But when I asked ChatGPT, it told me it resembles 脱げ (nugu) — undress 🙂 if you ask Google Gemini to redo it, Google gives the same picture, where he’s also shouting 暁は, but at the same time, he has already taken off his shirt. But that’s also unclear what 暁 – it’s dawn. Generally, with Japanese, LLM is bad. I’ll leave the second image in the comments. By the way, there are several differences there, you can play a game to find ten differences. They are amusing

Switching from Sony to AirPods Max: A Cautionary Tale on Counterfeits | September 22 2025, 20:44

I made a gift for myself yesterday and bought Airpods Max. I already had Sony WH1000XM3, but I didn’t quite grow to like them. They don’t perform well with multiple devices, especially Macs, and although I find the sound quality decent, I prefer the sound in the Airpods, initially thinking it was due to the codecs, which indeed are a bit chaotic. Sony supports all – SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC. Apple devices (Mac, iPhone) do not support aptX and LDAC. Of all the advanced codecs available to Sony, the only one Apple devices can utilize is AAC. Exactly the same codec found in Airpods. But the sound to the ear is noticeably different.

Regarding the new ones, I realized I would be earning an eternity plus still, of course, I decided to buy used. For popular items, if you have a lot of time, you’ll definitely find some in excellent condition and for half the price. And here’s what I found out in the process: nine out of ten “half-price” headphones are fakes. The same situation applies to Airpod earplugs. Sometimes they are of very high quality, but like any counterfeit, they have serious flaws, but as many reviews say, the average ear won’t notice the difference, as counterfeiters don’t skimp on the audio path.

Eventually, I watched a ton of videos on how to distinguish fakes from genuine ones, and managed to buy Airpods in perfect condition yesterday for $180 when their price is $500.

Interestingly, checking the serial number on Apple’s website is no longer a cure-all because they’ve learned to reuse serial numbers from stolen ones. Most importantly: never buy a sealed box. Its outer part is counterfeited such that it can only be differentiated by the slightly less neatly wrapped film. In unpacked “ears,” the differences are more noticeable. The main thing – the headphones must pair with the computer using Apple’s proprietary protocol, which the counterfeiters have not yet been able to replicate.

Popup on iPhone upon first connection: Genuine — with a “Connect” button. Fake — no button, connects via Bluetooth settings.

The material of the headphones — should be metal. Fake — plastic, because metal is more expensive to manufacture. Snap your fingers on them, there should be a specific sound (try it in the Apple Store) — but most importantly, it should be the same on both sides. On the fake, it’s different and distinct.

The material inside the box: Genuine — cardboard (possibly recycled). Fake — plastic. Although cardboard is sometimes used too. An unreliable indicator.

Wrapping of the headphones: Genuine — in paper material. Fake — in plastic or without wrapping. Also unreliable.

Case — Interior material: Genuine — soft, changes color when touched, has text. Fake — hard, does not change color. This is quite a reliable aspect, because fakes will not use more expensive leather.

Noise when shaking: Genuine — noiseless. Fake — the button moves, noise is heard. Ear cups: Genuine — strong magnets, do not fall off. Fake — weak magnets, easily detach or fall off. Screws inside the cups: Genuine — dark. Fake — silver or light. This only works if you have seen the genuine ones. The difference is impossible to describe in words.

Noise cancelation (ANC): Genuine — activates only on the head. Fake — works in any position (even on a desk). Of course, it’s also poor, but detecting this is difficult unless you have the fakes on hand.

We must also check for Spatial Audio. It requires an accelerometer inside. Of course, fakes do not install one – it’s almost unused and why unnecessarily make the design more expensive. But in Spatial, it is used (you move your head – the sound shifts back and forth).

In short, when I was traveling yesterday, I was almost sure I wouldn’t buy anything. But — I got lucky.

Speaking of the Airpods themselves, they have some drawbacks that have been known for several years. I’m okay with them. The headphones are heavier than they could be, they don’t fold as they might, they bump against the chin when worn around the neck, and it’s not very comfortable to wear them that way, the price is high (but okay for used), strange case, and the protective case is huge, half the size of a backpack. Among the very important pros for me — support for multiple devices and perfect integration with Apple devices, good noise cancellation (almost like Sony’s), premium materials, and perfect build quality.

Classic Art with a Twist: Discovering Humor in “Рживопись” | September 16 2025, 19:12

Judging by the likes and shares, the previous collection was a hit, so here’s more! Context: Found a group on Telegram called “Pun Painting,” which was very delightful. Spent an hour during vacation using a script to download the paintings and apply their custom titles from their channel.

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Creative Mashup: Exploring Telegram’s “Rzhivopis” Art Parodies | September 12 2025, 20:12

I discovered a hilariously wacky group on Telegram, “Rzhivopis.” I spent an hour on vacation using a script to download their paintings and overlay them with their custom titles from their channel. Then two more hours reviewing them all and picking out the best. Definitely subscribe, there are about 2000 paintings, I won’t post that many, but maybe next time there will be a second part of the funniest:)

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