quirkot

This take is unsupported by pedagogical research

> By the age of retirement, your profession has become a big part of who you are, and the justification of your existence

> I haven’t posted as much lately as it is summer, and I’ve been doing a lot of family trips

I mean... I hope his family doesn't read this?

Outside of the academic track, most work in CS or IT, etc is a craft, a trade skill. Apprenticeship programs are more appropriate and if you squint at advice directed to youths interested in a career in IT, it all sounds like roll-your-own apprenticeship programs.

I often catch flack for this view, but I think it's that crafts and trades are considered lower status. Anyone doing the work to keep things running and improving them where they can is doing honest labor.

Edgar is the online SEC filling system. It's got quarterly and annual fillings. Goes back years.

https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch

Depending on what you consider a record, 10000 will be easy

I always interpreted Godwin's law to be about maximalist claims. Unfortunately calling someone in a nazi in 2023 isn't as insulting as calling someone a nazi in 1990. I'd guess the reason you don't see it as much is because it's not as strong a word anymore, thanks to, you know, actual nazis trying to make a comeback.

In that sense the update wouldn't be "here's another thing I see all the time" but "here is the absolute maximalist claim I can make about a person's character."

And if the tablets are this confusing when the translation is vetted by experienced experts, adding a choppy translation software to the mix will make it a nightmare

Great Homogenization is a good term for it. A classic example is to look at houses built before construction materials were popularly standardized in the 2nd half of 20th century. Every house had something different or unique. The laborer carving the handrail was in the mood for something different this time and it is beautiful. Now... it's all IKEA copy-pasta.

It would be the same principle, but moved into code, documentation, audio, and other areas

That's totally wild. A huge part of my experience is trying to cram my thoughts into words that so rarely seem to fit. Makes texting (or any text communication without other context) stressful

That is incredibly dismissive and doesn't hold up to even the meagerest investigation. Additionally it's offensive.

edit: but since I'm here and fired up. here are some results from the trivial google search "famous humanities majors"

https://time.com/3964415/ceo-degree-liberal-arts/

https://blog.tesu.edu/10-notably-successful-people-with-libe...

https://www.businessinsider.com/successful-liberal-arts-majo...

Hobson's choice: have one or have none

Sophie's choice: have one or have none

I've heard of a structure in France that's translated as "moral rights" of a work. I met a guy who was the moral rights holder for a deceased author and had the right to veto large and small elements of the representation of the characters, but received no royalties from the works.

>How is progress in AI as of late _not_ mind-blowing?

Yes. This is an incredible new development much in the way the atomic bomb was. Except everyone saw the atomic bomb as very, very dangerous and should be handled very very carefully. For LLMs they're just sprouting up on every website like it's no big deal

There used to be a profession called "typist" where a skilled person would type up your dictation quickly and without wasting sheets of paper from typewriter error. Now it's all software

There used to be mailrooms filled with people sorting and delivering physical envelopes. Now it's all software.

questions:

1) what size container ship are you targeting?

2) how many container sails are needed in an array to achieve 20% fuel cost reduction?

3) what scale of retrofitting is required to install this onto existing fleets?

4) what sort of training is required for existing staff to properly trim the sails / will this impact headcount requirements per ship?

>> How are you going to build your service network?

> Compensate the contractors fairly and act as lead gen

This will be tough. At least in my geography every decent contractor is busy all the time. Additionally, you'll need to provide enough business to your partners that it's worth the time to deal with. I don't know if that's 1/x install per week or enough to basically have a whole dedicated person. I've tried to outsource something similar (equipment start-up, not install), but my volume was only ~20/year and my guy eventually said it wasn't worth the hassle unless the price was outrageous.

I see a bunch of people dogpiling. I'm skeptical of the distribution approach, but there is space for more heat pump players. Good luck. See you at AHR in Chicago

Doh!

I've seen other construction related businesses try to go direct and it is extremely difficult. By going direct to the homeowner you are targeting the venn diagram union of "people who are willing & able to do the work themselves" and "people who will pay more"

How are you going to build your service network? You say you will "connect them with a contractor to do the actual install." But contractors make their money on equipment sales, not on labor. I bought my residential HVAC system direct from a friend and it took me 3 weeks calling around to find a contractor that would do the install and THAT was only because of the same friend connection.

Who are the decision makers in your target market exactly? Wil Joe Homeowner be deciding? Will you pursue developers who install and build? Are you pursuing multi-family complexes and engineers will be specifying the equipment? Each of these will require you to provide value above and beyond what they are receiving now and it's not clear what your value proposition is.

>> "contractors struggle with installs because of the difficulty of properly sizing the system, and understanding if your duct work is compatible with a heat pump"

What? How could duct work possibly be incompatible with a heat pump? Any forced air system is already ready for hot or cold air. Additionally if you are banking on contractor unfamiliarity or incompetence as part of your business plan, you are in for a rude surprise.

One other headwind is that you're VC funded. No one wants to buy a HVAC unit from a company with a 5-7yr liquidation event timeline. If you do go into any other channel than direct to home owner, no one wants to SELL a unit that may not exist in 7 years. How will support work? What about parts? A well built machine could be in working for 15 years (or longer) and the question everyone has is: will you?

This whole problem would be resolved if we could get it on the blockchain

If I'm willing to pay as much for helium as someone trying to pursue some lofty science goal, then either you have vastly underestimated the importance of amusement or science vastly overestimates the importance of the lofty goal.

Honestly, if my niece's quinceanera balloons stop the world from being saved, there's something deeply wrong beyond my scope of helping.

Ughhh. 3 paragraphs telling you: that thing you like is actually bad and you are personally responsible for ruining science. Then, oops, only 10% of helium use is for parties.

Anyone out there that speaks Arabic, can you let us know if the Arabic Gospel clip contains words? To a speaker do the sounds even sound Arabic?

Wanna see a whole boatload of LED companies making lights for horticulture? Here is a list of 117 firms that will have booths at the upcoming MJBizCon (cannabis convention): https://mjbiz22.mapyourshow.com/8_0/explore/exhibitor-catego...

Ok, let's roll with that. If I'm Alice, why do I care about Bob's score? Why do I care about your system at all? I'm trying to pay rent and not work on my kid's birthday. WHO is going to explain why the frowny faces matter? That person is your middle manager

It reads like you are describing reporting. How many frowny faces were sent out at Store 123 last month for attendance? But the reason you need lower/middle mgmt is that the real question is "so what do we do to stop having these frowny faces?"

I think this article fundamentally misunderstands the core function of middle management. You can boil it down to 2 key tasks (on the front lines of a very large organization).

a) Interpreting: either top->down by explaining and enforcing corporate policy on hourly workers or bottom->up by ensuring workers enter data to be reported on correctly

b) "Encouraging": an employee calls in sick, again. Neither firing them or giving them the day off every time are desirable. The managers role is to "encourage" the performance and attendance (in one way or another)

Neither of these are low hanging fruit for automation or even middle hanging fruit for automation.

edit: I would also add that the comment "Union formation across the retail landscape will force corporations to reduce management head count" is backwards. From a management perspective, if labor gets rowdy you need more overseers to keep them in line. More union activity = more management headcount

>> What’s the most important change that happened in the world of atoms in the last 30 years? Uber may be near the top the list

Oh you mean a scheduling app that's lost billions of dollars via explicitly lawless business practices? Yes, it sure is no running water

For those looking for a live look at Voyager status: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/

An important point to add, I think, is that strategy is a set of plans for a future that is different than the present. And that is hard. Many people struggle with it, especially beyond the task level. That's why so much of "strategy" is hand waving nonsense, because it is so difficult

The Beatles from "beatnik" not from a pun on musical beats

Would add that this is a very low estimate because it's only treating rhythm as a a steady 16th note increments when many musical genres use "swing" timing and probably ways of interpreting the timing of the notes as well