Yep, you get it. And it’s really hard to get people to understand the value in learning to do that stuff without the tools.

We do a lot of real-time control software, and just yesterday we were taking about how the newer folks are really good at using available tools and libraries, but they have less understanding of what’s happening underneath and they have problems when those tools don’t/can’t do what we need.

Apparently he wants everything written in COBOL

First, sometimes the lighting is terrible if you look. Like shadows going one way for some objects, another way for others.

But generative AI is generally extrapolating from its training data. It gets lighting right (when it does) because it’s processed a giant number of images, and when you tell it you want a picture of a puppy on the beach at sunset, it’s got a million pictures of puppies, and a million pictures of things on the beach at sunset. It doesn’t know if it’s right or not, but it’s mimicking those things.

I’m old - there’s just so much that has and hasn’t happened…

I didn’t know what they were and had to look it up

The Bell Riots were an event that took place in San Francisco on Earth in September 2024. They led to the end of the Sanctuary Districts and marked the real beginning of Humans working to find a lasting solution that would resolve social problems. This would set humanity on the path to founding the United Federation of Planets.

Hey, the date is coming up.

My daughter loved that show.

Apparently that kind of lemur generally only lives 25 to 30 years, and that one only lived 20.

I never said that being a driller is trivial. Do you think being an astronaut is trivial? That’s a pretty intensely technical job, which is why the bar for entry is so insanely high. I would put my money on those folks leaning how to drill better than drillers leaning how to be an astronaut.

Where I am in SoCal, it’s perfect right now. The lows are in the upper 50s, the highs in the mid 80s. The mornings are cool and a bit overcast, but it burns off to a sunny, warm day. It gets cool enough to open the windows just after sundown, them close them mid morning. Really nice. In a month, highs and lows will increase ten to fifteen degrees, so it will be a bit hot.

That’s super true. What’s worse is that it often turns out to be true of news as well. There have been a few times when I was familiar with events that made the news, and there were always inaccuracies in the articles. It’s made me look at articles on events that I’m not familiar with differently; they probably have the same amount of inaccuracies.

I’m software engineering in aerospace, so a lot of computer and space stuff is ruined, which covers a lot of content.

But everyone should smack their heads about Armageddon.

Ha! I hadn’t heard that - I’m glad someone involved called him out on it. I mean, I get that the real answer - to that and all my complaints - is that the movie doesn’t work otherwise, but it’s so annoying.

I worked on the space shuttle program, and I found Armageddon almost unwatchable. I mean, those things go up with the big solid rockets and an external tank full of hydrogen and oxygen, all of which get jettisoned during launch, then they come down as a glider. But in the movie they’re landing on asteroids and taking off again, smashing into things and still flying, etc. (remember how Columbia blew up because of a crack in the leading edge of one wing?). Plus the whole premise of it being easier to teach oil drillers how to be astronauts than to teach astronauts how to be oil drillers is a joke. Every astronaut I’ve met has been an amazing capable person - many are test pilots with multiple advanced degrees.

A decent sized package of medium quality chocolate.

I should have mentioned what you just did: your passion doesn’t have to be your job.

Tangentially, as I get closer to retirement, one of the things I hear from retirees is that they planned on doing a lot more of their hobby when they retired, but found that the hobby felt more like a job when they tried to do it all day. So sometimes it’s better that you keep something you enjoy as something that you can just do when you want.

I end up having similar conversations with college folks (interns mostly). I usually say something along the lines of:

• If there’s something that you’re so passionate about that you’re going to do it regardless, it’s worth taking a shot at making a living at it. Things like writing, acting, and music are really hard to to make it in, but if it’s really a passion, you might as well give it a go. It’s good to have a Plan B though.
• If you aren’t super passionate about something, or you don’t have the starving artist mentality or whatever, next is to look at things you’re good at that you don’t hate, especially if there’s room to grow in them. If you’re good at math, for instance, you could consider being an accountant.
• If you don’t feel like you have any especially marketable skills, then you’re looking for something that’s more broadly available, like retail or whatever. Of you can find something that teaches a skill, that’s a plus.

Broadly, there’s a passion, there’s a career, and there’s a job. There’s nothing wrong with any of those, but people tend to be happiest in that order. I personally wasn’t super passionate about anything, but liked computers, got a CS degree, ended up as a software engineer at a rocket company, and now manage the software organization there. There were other things I enjoyed, but I figured programming was the most marketable, and that’s worked out for me.

What people tend to like or hate the most about where they work are the people and/or the boss, and that can be good or bad pretty much anywhere. Good to watch out for red and green flags when you’re looking.

Ugh, my poor wife; I’ve had a number of bad experiences because I’m so fundamentally stubborn. In the dream, I won’t be able to do something, and I’ll work and work at it, and sometimes succeed in real life. It’s been as simple and benign as not being able to see in a dream and struggling to open my eyes until I finally do, and I wake up. But I’ve managed to yell with a mouth that didn’t completely work, so my wife woke up to what sounds like a yelling, mournful ghost. I’ve managed to fight and punched my wife. I’ve managed to run, and kicked her. In all these cases, in the dream, I’ve had to really struggle to do the thing before I succeed and wake myself up.

Sleep paralysis turns out to be a good thing.

You’ve got the answer to the question, and I’m late to the party, but here’s a helpful graphic that also shows the inner and outer color band angles.

It must be cathartic to make cartoons about an argument you want to have where the other person is silenced by your point. Most of the time, the guy on the left in this cartoon would continue to argue and reject everything you say.

As evidence, watch a video of anyone arguing with MTG.

Not the first time they’ve done this, but good to see the results replicated. It sure looks like genetics plays more of a part than diet.

The dogs sweating one seems like a quibble. I think what most of us heard/understood is that dogs can’t sweat (because of the fur), so they use their mouths/tongue. Okay, apparently they can sweat through their foot pads, but since those are on the ground I doubt they’re getting much evaporative cooling there. This says they regulate temperature through panting, which seems awfully close to the “myth.”