a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
wijagain's comments
activity:
user-inactivated  ·  881 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Workplace culture delta b/w Millenial Managers and entry level Gen Z

> I don't hate on generations, except for the boomer's, but that's only natural given the relationship.

As a millennial I don't hate on other generations. Except Boomers lol. I could find things to love and hate about generations, but ultimately it would largely be cherry picking bullshit.

Whenever I read one of these articles about workplace dynamics, particularly coming from America, what stands out to me isn't generational divides. It's capitalism and how much some people's lives are shaped by their workplace. Honestly, the "Suffie Awards"? Fuck that.

The article mentions PTO and remote as a problems. I manage a team of about 30 sw engineers, 3/4 of which are zoomers, the rest are millennials. In general there is no difference in how these two groups handle PTO and remote work because as a company and team we have a reasonable agreement. Here is how we handle it.

Take PTO. You don't need to tell anyone why, ever. (People still do because it's a habit from school, though I really don't think they should.) Communicate responsibly, meaning in advance when possible. I actually have to push people to take more PTO, like scheduling "no project weeks" so people don't feel awkward for taking vacation.

Work remotely if you want. From home, while traveling long term, from the beach this week. Go for it. If you can find a reason to be there for work, the company can help pay for it. Communicate responsibly.

The really hard thing about remote is time zones and communication that just can't be moved easily to async. And there are ways to deal with that as well.

user-inactivated  ·  888 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Netflix employees walk out to protest Dave Chappelle’s special.

I'm not going to watch it. His last special sucked and had mad boomer "get off my lawn" energy. Dave Chappelle: die young or live long enough to become a villain.

user-inactivated  ·  889 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 20, 2021

Wow TIL about adenovirus. Astra Zeneca also uses adenovirus, and was the most common vaccine here until recently!

user-inactivated  ·  890 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Thomas Jefferson statue coming down in New York's City Council chamber : NPR

> I disagree with what seems to be a reductionary view of history that led them to that choice.

Doesn't seem to be a fair or charitable interpretation of their case, but an assumption. These points are addressed by the people proposing the change in the video of the city council meeting. And they still provide a good case for removing it from that particular spot in city hall.

user-inactivated  ·  890 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Thomas Jefferson statue coming down in New York's City Council chamber : NPR

Okay, so you just disagree with their choice of what to honor and think Jefferson is the right choice.

user-inactivated  ·  890 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Thomas Jefferson statue coming down in New York's City Council chamber : NPR

Canceling has two varieties:

1. Holding people in power to account, in a way similar to a boycott.

2. Publicly shaming regular people for having political beliefs different than yours.

Both are intended to make consequences for that person, i.e., they have to be alive.

(The first definition is the original. It was appropriated from black culture and twisted into the second one, just like the term "woke".)

The main point is: who or what we choose to honor in a public space is a choice, maybe even an important choice. Why does it have to be Jefferson? Or even a person? Are people not supposed to reason about who and what we should be honoring?

user-inactivated  ·  890 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Thomas Jefferson statue coming down in New York's City Council chamber : NPR

Good. Stop deifying a very select group of people and start emphasizing different perspectives about American history in public spaces.

Removing a statue isn't "cancelling" Thomas Jefferson. You can't cancel a dead person anyway. What does that even look like? Jefferson will get fired from his job? Banned from Twitter for a month? He will need to make an apology video before his comeback? The dude is dead. History will always be there, and Jefferson isn't the one being excluded from the history we teach. We all know who is actually excluded.

This is a choice about now and the future, specifically what values they want to honor in a public space. Why not make a deliberate choice about that, instead of just relying on the default of what was there before?

And it seems like a good choice to me. A fundamental problem in America is white supremacy, and it is deeply tied to the "founding fathers" mythology. How can we expect things to change if we can't change our cultural values and education?

Maybe put the statues in a park as a memorial: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek_statues

user-inactivated  ·  905 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: This model forecast the US's current unrest a decade ago. It now says 'civil war'

Klein is correct that China is waging psychological warfare about Taiwan against Taiwan and the West, and it appears to be working very well in the United States. The US seems susceptible to it because (1) the media is sensationalist, and (2) many politically active Americans on both the left and the right like to fantasize about war. Most Americans I speak to about it over estimate the size and immediacy of the threat posed by China to TW compared to what people here in TW think.

However, China is not a "paper tiger" doomed to fail, and poses a very real and increasing threat to Taiwan. It's a real problem for us here and has been for awhile. While large gaps in their military and economic systems remain, they are modernizing rapidly and have made a lot of progress in the last 20 years.

That said, both Taiwan and China are real places full of real people and most US based analysis fails to understand the situation because it reduces them to pieces in a war game.

user-inactivated  ·  906 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Buster Keaton : The Art of the Gag

this whole channel is great!

user-inactivated  ·  1115 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans

Love it, thanks for posting.

Around the time frame of this story, I would visit death valley once or twice a year. Would spend a week or so doing off roading, camping, hiking, etc. There are some lonesome parts out there, not for unprepared, and easily underestimated. Saw our share of vehicles abandoned part way through a stupid decision.

user-inactivated  ·  1179 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Tin-Can is now complete and available on Android and iOS.

Congrats!

user-inactivated  ·  1184 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Thought leaders and chicken sexers: an essay on the failure of Arc and Paul Graham's intellectual legacy

Right, you had mentioned you wrote hubski in Arc and so I was interested to see what you thought about this.

No judgement about your choice of language, this is your project and you should do what feels right to you. And if you like it, more power to you.

About PG though, he is more a guru brand than an engineer, and has been for a long time. For Arc, he set his own goal posts as a "hundred year language", and then failed to meet them by a country mile. He also ignored his own advice about learning from feedback. His M.O. will continue to be: oversimplify a problem and make bold proclamations about it with authority, without regard for accuracy. His proclamations about wealth and economics follow the same vein. Arc is an cautionary tale about success, ego, luck, and bullshit in Silicon Valley.

As for the essay author I think he would admit his own failures in his own field, most working engineers will.

user-inactivated  ·  1204 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: NYT | The Children of Pornhub

I do like it! Hope they make some serious changes

user-inactivated  ·  1204 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: NYT | The Children of Pornhub

No offense, but this reads like you might not have finished the article. Here are the solutions he, cautiously, floats in the article:

    I don’t see any neat solution. But aside from limiting immunity so that companies are incentivized to behave better, here are three steps that would help: 1.) Allow only verified users to post videos. 2.) Prohibit downloads. 3.) Increase moderation.

Nothing about limiting searches.

Nicholas Kristof is also not a technology journalist, he is an op-ed columnist (a rather famous one) who mostly writes about human rights and gender equality. Not saying I'm a huge fan of his, in fact I typically think the NYT op-ed is awful, but this article seems above average for them.

user-inactivated  ·  1235 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Child Prodigy Improvises Sonata In Under One Minute

She def practices 40 hrs per day

user-inactivated  ·  1237 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Child Prodigy Improvises Sonata In Under One Minute

    There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind ... the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it's successful; if it doesn't it has failed.

- Duke Ellington

In my experience, when I run into blanket judgments about musical genres or bands or individual musicians, it usually comes down to someone repeating an opinion they heard from someone else, without really examining it first. Opinions like, "the Beetles only knew 4 chords", or, "jazz is a corruption of classic music" or, "hip-hop has no merit".

At some point, someone offers a blanket opinion that leaves an impression on us. That opinion might come from someone we respect, like a teacher or a parent or a really smart friend. Then we go around repeating it like it's based on our own knowledge. And everybody does this, or at least everyone I've met. And not just about music either. I've done it, and I'm guessing everyone here has done it.

The quoted opinions above are all examples from real life:

The one about the Beetles was told to me by a good friend of mine. After questioning why she thought that, I realized she meant to say they are overrated. But she took a shortcut right around the truth based on an acquired opinion.

The following one about Jazz is from Ben Shapiro. When claiming rap wasn't music, he explained his theory of the de-evolution of music from classical down to hip hop. He got this from his dad.

The last one, about hip-hop, is from Wynton Marsalis. He agrees with Ben that hip hop is basically not music ("It has no merit, rhythmically, musically, lyrically."). Not gonna get into why Wynton thinks this, but let's just say some people question his knowledge of musical genres besides jazz.

Which brings me back to the first quote. There are simply two kinds of music...

user-inactivated  ·  1238 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Child Prodigy Improvises Sonata In Under One Minute

I agree the hate on jazz is... Well.. We need Adam Neely back again apparently.

Although we don't typically improvise sonatas now, many sonatas and other pieces were originally improvised or had sections for improvisation. Especially Mozart and Beethoven. Mozart didn't write down the improvisation though. Many of the sections we have Mozart music today are transcribed from Beethovens improvisations on those sonatas.

Jazz is awesome. Classical is awesome. Hating on jazz says more about haters than jazz.

The last free and fair German election in 1932 had an 80% turnout, compared to 84%, 81%, and 75% in the previous three elections.

user-inactivated  ·  1242 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Multiverse

It's just good advice lol

user-inactivated  ·  1243 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Multiverse

Yeah "sperm" is the least charitable translation of 精 in this case, and also the funniest. The 物 is upside down, and not because it's rotated, it's actually reflected along the horizontal axis lol.

Yeah I know the walking dude all too well. He literally means "stop and look first".

user-inactivated  ·  1243 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Multiverse

Thing gratis sperm.

user-inactivated  ·  1243 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Multiverse

Oh hi, I live here! This video is super well editied, thanks for posting it. That off ramp with all the scooters became a very famous spot after someone published the scooter waterfall photo

Scooters are the most common type of transportation in Taiwan, and are really a part of life and local culture. Unfortunately scooters are also contributing to Taiwan's already bad air pollution. The government previously committed to move to all electric scooters by 2035, but are walking that back.

Gogoro is a famous Taiwanese brand of electric scooter (at least here and in parts of Europe). They set up battery swap stations around Taiwan. The scooters look pretty good:

Gogoro also recreated the "scooter waterfall" photo:

Traffic can be very hectic looking, especially if you're a Westerner, but congestion isn't very bad compared to other places in E/SE Asia. Taipei has great public transportation as well, with lots of bus routes and one of the best metros in the world.

user-inactivated  ·  1243 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The view from outside.

Yeah I don't use FB either for lots of reasons. The data mining, the self fulfilling algorithm decisions about me, Zuckerberg being a total fuck wit, etc. I've seen FB do serious national damage up close and personal in a former job, so I hate the echo chamber and disinformation aspects. Also, the product itself sucks now. Except! The events feature, that is actual useful and I would consider signing up if I had more time to go out (maybe when the kids are older if FB is still a thing).

I use Twitter as a topic reader, the lists feature is really good for building focused microblog feeds. I also share some lists with people I work with if I feel they should know more about what's going on in the industry.

A private Instagram account turned out to be the most efficient way to share family photos. Yeah, it's still FB. I just set it to private and treat it like a shared album that specific people can access regardless of platform.

user-inactivated  ·  1247 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

I would use the word "reactionary".

user-inactivated  ·  1247 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Theodore Roosevelt on the Cowardice of Cynicism and the Courage to Create Rather Than Tear Down

This is something I have struggled with consistently for about two decades.

There was a lot of Gen X and grunge influence in my early adolescence, which left me with some rather bad ideas equating irony and detachment with authenticity and coolness.

This attitude affected my politics. I was an empathetic young person and spent a lot of time working for social causes. The more I tried to help, and the more I saw how awful things around America really were, I grew to hate those in power and their supporters. Then there was George Bush and the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. I have never really recovered from watching people cheer that on. It left a deep scar of pessimism in me. For example, I consider Trump's presidency a natural result of American ideals rather than some aberration.

But the younger millenials and generation z seem to, on average, have much healthier and positive ideas about what is cool, including sincerity and caring about others. It is inspiring and gives me hope. Maybe I can even find some small ways to help out again.

user-inactivated  ·  1247 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 28, 2020

We passed 200 days since our last confirmed case of coronavirus last week. The border has been closed to nonessential travel since March, except for citizens and residents, but I've noticed some friends and coworkers are starting to travel to see family again despite spikes in places like the US and EU. Hope our mandatory quarantine can prevent returning travelers from spreading it here.

user-inactivated  ·  1247 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: An Intuition for Lisp Syntax

Cool, I didn't know there was a HN connection but now I can see it. I've only used some Lisp-like languages with tools Emacs and now logseq, but never in production.

In my experience, the linear algebra / differential equation analogy for software development is OOP / functional.

Have fun learning Swift, I really enjoy using it, especially compared to Obj-C (though I know that is a controversial opinion in some circles). Swift has some interesting applications outside of iOS / MacOS as well, including being one of the few languages which currently supports differentiable programming!

user-inactivated  ·  1249 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: An Intuition for Lisp Syntax

Mk, did you write hubski in Lisp?

user-inactivated  ·  1256 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Funski: A goofy bit of fun with movie descriptions

Thor in one of those movies

user-inactivated  ·  1256 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Funski: A goofy bit of fun with movie descriptions

Gatica?