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thret

1,712 karma · joined November 19, 2010

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thret··on What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
I got a working visa for Japan when I was 18 (in 1999), and one night while moving from one hostel to another on the weekend, I fell asleep and missed my train stop. I woke up in the middle of nowhere. It was the last train, it was raining, I had no money on me and the banks were already closed. As I stood there under an awning two ladies asked what I was doing. I brokenly with the help of my dictionary explained the situation. They didn't understand me but flagged down a business man who spoke a little English and he called a taxi, sent it to my hostel and paid for it. It was quite expensive.
thret··on A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
This may be the most relevant xkcd yet. It answered all questions I had about this, thank you.
thret··on Streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
One of the best episodes in my opinion, and an excellent introduction to DnD for people who don't know what they are getting into.
thret··on A secret poker game you can play on the subway
Poker is not a card game, it's a betting game with imperfect information. This has no betting round so it is not poker.

You can fix this by allowing each stop to be a round of betting.

thret··on I am rich and have no idea what to do
All the rich kids these days seem to be in to a healthy diet, exercise, and stable relationships. Whatever happened to harems, drugs and gambling?
thret··on Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon
This is likely the most precise large scale military strike of all time. You can't control for everything - some pagers might have been in the hands of innocent people - but it sure seems like an ideal attack vector.
thret··on How to Escape from the Simulation [pdf] (2023)
I think about this comic too much.
thret··on Saint Michael Sword: Are the cathedrals really on a straight line?
Not _yet_
thret··on 80 Level: AI Simulation Platform Where Characters Make Their Own Decisions
Killing doesn't violate a law of nature, it violates the social contract. So while the line is drawn differently in each society, crossing it is the same indicator.
thret··on New York medical school eliminates tuition after $1B gift
Hopefully the donation was made with sufficient fine print to avoid this eventuality.
thret··on A 'scam manual' written to help immigrants not become victims
The hidden extra cost of sales tax and tip when you go to pay in America feels very much like a scam. I don't understand why the cost is not just exactly as advertised like everywhere else.
thret··on Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
Self-promotion is incredibly difficult for some people.
thret··on An introduction to the theory and practice of poker (2020)
Annie is not a top poker player by any stretch of the imagination.
thret··on F-Zero courses from a dead Nintendo satellite service restored using VHS and AI
That's a pretty cool concept given that it was almost 30 years ago!
thret··on U.S. army drops requirement for high school diploma (2022)
It's very difficult comparing salaries in different nations, because expenses vary so much. However, your comment confirms my opinion. I would like to see a 50% increase in that E1/E2/E3 base pay. I've worked with them - they earn it.
thret··on Antarctic fungi survive Martian conditions on the International Space Station
I don't know either. We could limit exposure to a tiny patch on the planet's surface and still have ample opportunity to look for signs of life on the rest of it.
thret··on U.S. army drops requirement for high school diploma (2022)
US military are notoriously underpaid.

Increase the base pay, increase the long-term incentives. They're not working for tips.

thret··on Show HN: I made a website to find best bus seat to avoid the sun while traveling
Makes sense, it would be good if bus and train companies integrated this into seat selection. It really does make a difference.
thret··on Microsoft Copilot iOS App
That's concerning.
thret··on Wikipedia daily most viewed pages
But her boyfriend got life in prison.
thret··on Formally modeled Dreidel for no good reason
Thanks, I missed that thread the first time around.
thret··on U.S. workers say banned weed killer in 50 countries is giving them Parkinson's
https://youtu.be/IV3dnLzthDA?si=hgG67vKmBBLgKgeg

This youtube channel does a good job of explaining his inventions and just how bad for society they were.

thret··on Three chips in and Google Tensor is on life support
Apparently LLM = MacGyver.
thret··on After Boeing declines to pay up, ransomware group leaks 45 GB of data
Boeing are a major defence contractor, I'm sure at least some of the information is secret.
thret··on Othello Is Solved?
Fouling isn't cheating because it's accidental. If it were deliberate, it would be cheating.
thret··on Can we talk to whales?
I think sounding words out would be the exception. Do you sound words out when you read code? I'm having trouble imagining that.
thret··on Why do old books smell so good?
It reminded me of a similar sentiment by Marcel Proust:

“So we don't believe that life is beautiful because we don't recall it but if we get a whiff of a long-forgotten smell we are suddenly intoxicated and similarly we think we no longer love the dead because we don't remember them but if by chance we come across an old glove we burst into tears.”

thret··on US Army Field Manual on Leadership (1990) [pdf]
My experience is that the majority of rank in IT is middle management and next to useless. The good ones leave for higher paid Defence contracting jobs as soon as they are promoted off the tools and the bad ones stay.
thret··on A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work
We stopped calling them moving pictures in 1910. They're motion pictures now.
thret··on Guam: The America that Americans forget
If you do visit Guam, I recommend making the effort to visit Tinian. The North Field is well worth it.
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