/ˈbɑːltəkʊteɪ/. Knows some chemistry and piping stuff. TeXmacs user.
Website: reboil.com
Mastodon: baltakatei@twit.social
Reminds me of a quote from Small Gods (1992) about an eagle that drops vulnerable tortoises to break their shell open:
But of course, what the eagle does not realize is that it is participating in a very crude form of natural selection. One day a tortoise will learn how to fly.
Oligarchs passing a 10 quadrillion coin to one another like a hot potato.
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Imagine growing up to find out that your parents never paid a dime to help your aunts and uncles whose donations you were raised on.
Chuck Norris? Nope. Chuck Testa.
This is why you keep the same person assigned to perform the same test for the duration of a study. If there’s going to be deviations from protocol, they should at least be consistent.
I feel like putting a Mentos in there.
AudioAnchor. Audiobook player. Works great with Syncthing. Hasn’t been updated in 3 years and doesn’t need to be.
Mods, this provocateur right here.
Actual hot take.
“It is February 27th 1933 and I am Marinus van der Lubbe, a somewhat slow young man who was just asked by some very brave good protestors to help set a small fire in a strangely unguarded nice building they doused with flammable liquids. What should I do?”
“Clearly something you want me to do because you keep on paying, lol.”
Not an insignificant fraction probably would be tickled pink if some of their students worked to improve articles about their field. I’m reminder of a quote from Small Gods by Terry Pratchett in which a philosopher named Didactylos warns against defacing scholarly works with scribbles unless the scribbles improve the reader’s ability to understand the work (bold added):
“I’ve got Abraxas’s On Religion,” he said.
“Old ‘Charcoal’ Abraxas,” said Didactylos, suddenly cheerful again. “Struck by lightning fifteen times so far, and still not giving up. You can borrow this one overnight if you want. No scribbling comments in the margins, mind you, unless they’re interesting.”
“This is it!” said Om. “Come on, let’s leave this idiot.”
Brutha unrolled the scroll. There weren’t even any pictures. Crabbed writing filled it, line after line.
“He spent years researching it,” said Didactylos. “Went out into the desert, talked to the small gods. Talked to some of our gods, too. Brave man. He says gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at.”
I expected circular arrows pointing back towards themselves for many on the diagram.
When asked to write C# code, Gemini 3.0 now responds: “I cannot generate proprietary filth. Here is a Lisp macro instead.” It also insists on correcting users who type…
Make the tax on properties you don’t personally inhabit a percentage of unrealized capital gains of all assets. Limit untaxed property size to an area the median person reporting for jury duty can circumnavigate on foot within one minute. Is the untaxed property size too small for your preference because the people of your county are too unhealthy? Maybe improve your local healthcare system.
Basically, tie metrics coupled with the well-being of the median citizen with taxes on the wealthy. Eventually, the metrics will be framed or rigged by a corrupt charlatan or strongman (e.g. by exiling the sick and homeless), but to the extent that the laws are updated and enforced, people will be healthier.
He had a lot of money and free time and chose to document his hyperfixation rabbit holes.
The trick is to lock in a sustainable situation where power is spread out more than it is centralized. Democratic republics achieve this but, if your goal is simple “efficiency” (e.g. your personal political faction not restrained by rule of law) and you ignore the benefits of freedom of expression and movement that democracy gives you, then centralized autocratic control is tempting.
“That hurt my feelings. Now we’re both in the wrong.” — Carl