scandinavians

Our "pub" where you can post about things completely Off Topic or about non-silent PC issues.

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matva
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scandinavians

Post by matva » Sat Sep 29, 2007 6:50 pm

is it me, or are there many scandinavians on these forums?

can anyone from scandinavia clue me in as to why this might be? like maybe some kind of cultural explanation or something? there just seems to be a lot compared to what you might think relative to other member's locations and the population of scandinavia.

btw, i have nothing against scandinavians whatsoever. i have actually traveled to parts of it and love it :P (good metal bands too)... just curious really.

Wibla
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Post by Wibla » Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:24 pm

I guess we scandinavians are just forum whores :shock:

Elixer
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Post by Elixer » Sat Sep 29, 2007 8:43 pm

I have some guesses. First it's because Scandinavians in general speak better English than other people in Europe. Being comfortable with a language will draw you naturally towards things relating to that language. Secondly, it's because there are probably more "nerdy" people in Scandinavia. Whether it's the dark winters where there isn't too much else to do besides kick it on the internet or the government subsidized internet connections, I would say Scandinavians are more in the know about internet and technology. Also how many American pop stars have songs about IRC bots?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX79tgB2PVk

alfhenrik
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Post by alfhenrik » Sun Sep 30, 2007 12:46 am

Well I can't speak for all Scandinavians here but all I know is that I find SPCR the best source for quiet gear reviews, and everyone here on the forums are very friendly and ready to spend their time to give advice on matters according to their experiences. Maybe us Scandinavians just love quiet/silent PCs soooo much(??)...I know I do.

So all in all, thank you SPCR and fellow SPCR forum users! Couldn't have made my computers near silent without you!! :lol:

HueyCobra
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Post by HueyCobra » Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:39 am

We Australians are the Scandinavians of the south ;)

Not much else to do when we're not wrestling kangaroos and throwing shrimps on the barbie, so we silence our computers 8)

AuraAllan
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Post by AuraAllan » Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:45 am

Scandinavian metalloving forum whores unite ! :P

Good thinking Elixer. I wouldnt call myself nerdy though. Id call myself a silencing enthusiast. :wink: And yes, alot of Scandinavians are comfortable with speaking/writing english compared to people in other parts of the world. I know i was totally lost when i went to Moscow earlier this year. NOBODY speaks english in downtown Moscow. :?

nicke2323
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Post by nicke2323 » Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:49 am

I don't think language skills are the explanation, since there are other Europeans who also speak English quite well, e.g. the Dutch, the Germans, some of the British ... :)

Apart from internet activity, I think the main reasons for our interest in silent PCs are our relatively cold climate, low population density and high building standards! Let me explain:

Living in a cold climate has led to buildings extremely well insulated against the cold - and as a consequence also against noise. I just returned home to Sweden after 4 years in France, and I can assure you that building standards simply cannot compare. Highly insulated walls and double-pane windows are standard here, but still not very widespread in France. We're even moving on to triple panes now! Also our low population density means that we are generally subjected to much less noise from traffic.

So our apartments and houses are significantly more quiet than their continental counterparts, and therefore PC noise becomes much more intrusive. In my apartment here I can hear a pin drop two rooms away (maybe I'm exaggerating a bit :) ) but in my apartments in France I occasionally had trouble sleeping because of all the noise from the streets. So here in Sweden I want to keep my quiet home quiet - which is why I frequent these wonderful forums!

That concludes my thesis, I'd like to thank my supervisor and funding agency for making this research possible.

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Post by peteamer » Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:40 am

nicke2323 wrote:there are other Europeans who also speak English quite well, e.g. the Dutch, the Germans, some of the British ... :)
Not forgetting people from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall... :wink:

We are, after all, a 'united' people, as in 'The United Kingdom' and as such 'united we stand'...

er, well, er... that is of course apart from those in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall that want independence..... :mrgreen:



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dragmor
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Post by dragmor » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:43 pm

HueyCobra wrote:We Australians are the Scandinavians of the south ;)

Not much else to do when we're not wrestling kangaroos and throwing shrimps on the barbie, so we silence our computers 8)
Some of us Ozzies are even part scandinavian.

Maybe its just that us tall blonde haired people have better hearing.

HueyCobra
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Post by HueyCobra » Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:07 pm

dragmor wrote:Some of us Ozzies are even part scandinavian.
Some of us aren't ... but wouldn't mind making part-Scandinavian children :P

CyberDog
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Post by CyberDog » Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:02 pm

I would say also that the reason is quiet enviroment. And also a good language skills...

Btw... In Finland we have triple, 4 or even 5 glass windows... Average dBA in my apartment is 27 at day time and below 23 at evening... And I live almoust centrum of mid size town.

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Post by dago » Thu Oct 04, 2007 1:29 am

nicke2323 wrote:I don't think language skills are the explanation, since there are other Europeans who also speak English quite well, e.g. the Dutch, the Germans, some of the British ... :).
Sure, but there's also the usual "market size" effect. French and german-speaking markets are big enough to have translations of everything.
For example, (IIRC) TV series where not always translated in exotic languages like dutch or that swedish thing, but were translated (or locally produced) in "big languages". This translated to computers : beyond the major applications, much more software is available in french as in swedish.
Obviously, this is also the case for websites, quite a few hardware (incl. silence related) sites exists in those languages as well.

CyberDog
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Post by CyberDog » Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:27 am

That is also true. But in tv programs and such we don't even want them to be translated. It is horrible. Many of finnish people also prefer programs in english than in finnish...

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Post by AuraAllan » Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:39 am

CyberDog wrote:That is also true. But in tv programs and such we don't even want them to be translated. It is horrible. Many of finnish people also prefer programs in english than in finnish...
This is also true for the people i know here in Denmark. Translating shows/movies ruin them. I know that in Germany they tranlate/synchronize almost everything. Thankfully almost nothing ever gets synchronized in Denmark.

Mats
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Post by Mats » Thu Oct 04, 2007 3:43 am

Of course language is one big explanation, but all you have to do is to check out the population:

Canada: 33 million people
Australia: 21 million people
Scandinavia: 25 million people (Denmark + Finland + Norway + Sweden).
You can add Faroe islands and Iceland if you feel like.

Source: wikipedia.org

Translated movies are just horrible, here we only get translated movies for children.

IMO, Germans are not that good in English, I think it's a bit of a myth. I think they're possibly better than the French or Italians, but still far from Scandinavians. Where are jojo4u and the other Germans in the forum, maybe they can tell us.

AuraAllan
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Post by AuraAllan » Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:03 am

Mats wrote:IMO, Germans are not that good in English, I think it's a bit of a myth. I think they're possibly better than the French, but still far from Scandinavians.
I dont find Germans very good at English either (I live just ~25 km from the German border). The French are not that good either.

floffe
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Post by floffe » Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:56 am

Cause and effect. They'd probably be better if they didn't have dubbed movies etc.

Wibla
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Post by Wibla » Thu Oct 04, 2007 1:17 pm

French people dont WANT to learn english, Germans get everything on TV/cinema's dubbed, so no luck there...

AuraAllan
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Post by AuraAllan » Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:49 am

Wibla wrote:French people dont WANT to learn english
And they wont speak to you if they think your German. No kidding. Tried it myself.

murtoz
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Post by murtoz » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:25 am

Elixer wrote:First it's because Scandinavians in general speak better English than other people in Europe.
Are you forgetting about the people who invented the language? :wink: And then there's the dutch, belgians, and to some extent germans too...

Seriously though, a possible theory is that since scandinavia isn't very densely populated, it is less noisy by itself than other countries, so pc noise stands out more? Of course this would not hold if all the scandinavians here live in the big cities...

edit: hmmmm... maybe I should read the whole thread first before replying!!

Greg F.
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NOTICE THAT MYSELF

Post by Greg F. » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:24 am

and since I am American, but with Danish ancestors who came from Nibe, then I count myself in too. I speak passable english, ya'll.

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Post by EndoSteel » Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:34 am

AuraAllan wrote:NOBODY speaks english in downtown Moscow. :?
Downtown? You mean the one that's being built at the moment (Moscow City)? You may be surprised, but most of the local dwellers don't speak russian as well :). They're season workers from Kazakhstan, etc.

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Post by AuraAllan » Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:58 am

EndoSteel wrote:
AuraAllan wrote:NOBODY speaks english in downtown Moscow. :?
Downtown? You mean the one that's being built at the moment (Moscow City)? You may be surprised, but most of the local dwellers don't speak russian as well :). They're season workers from Kazakhstan, etc.
I meant around the Red Square in central Moscow. Nobody seemed to speak anything but Russian. But your right. The folks at our hotel told us that most constructionworkers in Russia isnt Russian at all. Theyre from Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia and as you say Kazakstan.

I even had trouble ordering beer at the icerink (went to icehockey world cup)
Luckily some drunk Swedish dude helped me :D

Mats
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Post by Mats » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:45 am

AuraAllan wrote:Luckily some drunk Swedish dude helped me :D
Drunk? Swedish? :shock: Are you sure?

AuraAllan
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Post by AuraAllan » Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:06 am

Mats wrote:
AuraAllan wrote:Luckily some drunk Swedish dude helped me :D
Drunk? Swedish? :shock: Are you sure?
Heh yeah.

Elixer
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Post by Elixer » Sat Oct 06, 2007 12:54 pm

murtoz wrote:
Elixer wrote:First it's because Scandinavians in general speak better English than other people in Europe.
Are you forgetting about the people who invented the language? :wink:
haha, the whole British isles needs to decide if it belongs to Europe or not. When I was in England I referred to some people there as 'Europeans' and someone was telling me that that wasn't right. My response of course was, "well than which continent do you belong to?!" Of course, we don't refer to Russians as 'Asian', but my point still stands that you can't technically be a part of Europe and not be "European."

Tephras
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Post by Tephras » Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:43 pm

Elixer wrote:Of course, we don't refer to Russians as 'Asian'
And why should we? Russia is a part of Europe.

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Post by jaganath » Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:08 pm

Russia is a part of Europe.
as far as continents are concerned, Russia is clearly a part of Asia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cont ... models.gif

neither politically, socially or geographically can one consider Russia "a part of Europe". they are apart from Europe.

Reachable
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Post by Reachable » Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:20 pm

Another possible reason (from what one hears and reads -- I've never been there) is that Scandinavians seem to be more respectful of possible health hazards than people from anywhere else. For instance, don't Swedes tend to use headsets to talk on their cell phones to avoid EMF exposure? Scandinavia seems to be a civilized place where people want to be good to themselves.

That being said, if heavy metal actually is big in Scandinavia it blows that theory to hell. :lol:

spookmineer
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Post by spookmineer » Sat Oct 06, 2007 6:27 pm

Not wanting to step on _anyone's_ toes, but I even see the British mixing up words like "their/they're", "accept/except", "it's/its" etc.
It's not disturbing, because they can get their point accross, but for someone who's first language isn't English it's an eye-opener. I think I would do less good in my native tongue as well...
Some people from the UK I know say it is due to the bad state English tuition is in right now. So called "MSN chat" doesn't seem to help matters either (although I use the same abbreviations others do, it's just faster).

The language most used on the internet is English (or I have missed a lot of Taiwanese/Chinese/Japanese sites, which is more then likely), and I'm glad I used to watch Star Trek (The next generation) on the BBC a lot, when I was still in school.

All movies here are subtitled (except the ones for kids - which you can also watch in original language outside the matinee) which helps a lot as well.

cu l8er.

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