Best of luck. This is a difficult time to be buying. Be careful to not overpay.

It's not flashy and action packed, but I firmly agree that it's the best new Sci-Fi in recent years.

Unwritten expectations will turn away more good workers than hybrid will.

Either way, be prepared for your top performers to go somewhere else that will allow them to WFH and not treat them like second-class citizens for doing so. I see my company's commitment to a hybrid policy as fully suicidal.

I don't actually find any of these all that terrible. I see as a rejection of the minimalist austerity that has been impressed upon us for so long. Some of these people are either creatives themselves or have clearly worked with a professional designer to accomplish this in a tasteful manner. This is nothing like what you'd find on the McMansion Hell or ZillowGoneWild corners of the internet.

That Balmuda toaster though, that junk is just conspicuous consumption.

Is this just a phase? Only time will tell.

I'd like to believe I'm not the same person I was 5 or 10 years ago

You'll always be your mother's child in her eyes. Even when you're a full-blown parent and grandparent in your own right. As an adult you just have more autonomy to define the terms of the relationship with your parents, but you won't be able to change who they are.

Should I be setting an alarm 30-60 minutes before bed and turning off all screens?

Probably. It won't hurt. I find it helpful to have an attractive substitute like a paper book that replaces the usual bedtime phone scrolling.

I'd also suggest trying to adjust your lighting at different times of day. Bright, cool light is better for productivity, but you should switch to warmer (2700K) lighting at about 5 PM to help your circadian rhythm. Especially if you're getting up to swim that early!

As someone who was inspired by A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace when I was younger, I'm endlessly disappointed by the all-consuming nature that "crypto" has over the discussion of the future of the web. From my perspective, commercialization ruined web1, and the so-called idealists of today are merely doubling down on that in web3 because they see it as a get-rich-quick scheme.

I can't quite make sense of erecting a very flammable ceremonial sculpture each year, and then getting upset when it's repeatedly burned down. It seems clear that the tradition is to burn the goat, despite what the officials might say.

Matthew Yglesias of Vox fame has a provocative book called One Billion Americans where he lays out the case that we should reverse this trend by implementing policies that support families, allowing more immigration, and revitalizing second-tier cities.

I think we learned about that because of everything Snowden leaked.

the more privileged you are the less likely you are to encounter someone else's math-shaped policy

There's a pretty good documentary called Coded Bias that introduces a group called the Algorithmic Justice League that is working to raise public awareness about the impacts of AI and fight for equitable and accountable AI, as opposed to what we have currently.

If you have access to a food processor, this pie crust recipe from Kenji is really good. I'll never use store bought pie crust ever again. It really elevates any pie filling you put inside.