SomeAmateur

Just like when you feel like not doing anything else, you just get going and sometimes just starting anyway pays off and you get into a good flow

Nope! Corporation Rand

yep. Rand calls it neomedievalism, where we’re going back to the peasant/noble tiers

It sucks because trains are great, but money and regulations are the general answer. Air travel gets tons of kickbacks from the government, and most airlines don’t even pay taxes on fuel. Also planes fly on the air but trains need rails, land to put it on and maintenance to keep it running.

I agree! To keep with the athlete analogy that was used earlier, a teacher is like a coach.

You don’t need them really, you could put in all the work yourself and get results. But a good teacher/coach can help you set priorities, avoid common setbacks and keep you on track so you’re getting the most from your time.

Learning something new is never easy enough to not require some effort, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it way less difficult and enjoyable with the right kind of help.

My apologies, in that case I should note this tale is a different Dylan that found themselves in a similar predicament.

Once there was a man named Dylan.

Dylan wanted to become a writer. Oh, the tales he wished to weave! The worlds he could build! But there was a problem. He didn’t quite know how to write. Now, though he was no dummy. He could use a pen and paper or type on a keyboard just like you and me, if not better! But the problem was stories don’t write themselves. That takes practice and effort.

“How dreadful!” He thought. “But I have an idea! I’ll ask friend Chad to write for me. He’s a clever lad! He’s read everything ever put to into writing so he’ll know just what I’d like to do.”

So the next time they met, he asked him. “Chad, I’m trying to write a story…” And he went on to describe the tale he sought. The world that seemed so vibrant in his head. Chad set to work and finally handed him a page. “Like this?”

It wasn’t quite what he wanted. Not at all. It was rather bland, to be honest. Chad was smart all right, but he was no mind reader and maybe he was more inclined for cubicle work after all.

Chad apologized “I’m sorry Dylan, but if you ever find the type of story you’re looking for I’d love to read it!”

So Dylan set off for home, dismayed. “How…” he thought. “How can I get these stories out? I still have never written a story in my days!” he wished for an easier way. Some way to unleash his thoughts…but there was only one.

He set to it. He sat down with a pad of paper and a keyboard and his favorite drink and he dared himself. “20 minutes. That’s a start. I’ll sit here and write for 20 minutes and we’ll see.”

The minutes goaned by and his brain seemed to creak and sputter. Like the dust of ages wearing off and tiny sprouts of beauty taking their place, but not blooming. Soon there it was.

And it was horrendous. It was like a stick figure. No, not even. A rough sketch of a stick figure. But it was his. And from then on, he wrote when he could or when inspiration struck. Sometimes when he thought inspiration would never be seen again but he sat down anyway out of spite.

He took notes when ideas did eventually sprang up, like that brilliant one on lunch break! He made characters and gave them life. One page turned to a few. Revisions were made, how foolish he was at first! He formed and shaped his world. Add a little, take some away. Again, again!

In time, his good time, he had it at last. A complete tale in full bloom! And it was beautiful, not because it was new or revolutionary or witty. But because it was his.

Look at how many arrests take place in the US. Basic googling gives me 10mil in 2019.

People love to talk shit on how bad police departments are. So how many people got arrested and accused of something they truly didn’t do? Who’s gonna help them?

That’s why. Their job is to provide pushback, to play devils advocate to make sure a case is more than just blind accusations. A defense attorney is there to keep a prosecution from turning into a witch hunt.

Prideful?

1. Cheap. Why spend the high prices of the latest stuff when you can salvage old things for little to nothing. People will give you tons of outdated things if you ask nicely.

2. Less wasteful. If you can keep old stuff going, you keep it out of a landfill. It also means less new production is needed. In other words…

3. Says fuck you to corporations. Right to repair is a thorn in the side of many greedy business models that push cheaply made products made to be tossed and replaced over and over without a lot of improvement between iterations.

4. It’s something to tinker with. Some people just want plug and play, but others want to rig up some crazy setups and keep them going just to challenge themselves and get bragging rights

5. Vibes. Some people are into old school film cameras, or arcade cabinets, or classic cars, or retro fashion. Playing with relatively ancient technology is just another way of keeping the good parts of the past alive.

The thing about amish is they (in theory) accept or reject a tool or technology based on whether the community will benefit or not. So a few may have cell phones, or get to use tractors etc.

But it varies a lot from community to community. I’ve seen amish run electronic distribution companies (miller tech), side by sides, e scooters and even one amish guy tearing it up on a One Wheel.

I think your calculator would be okay

The US military is well known for flushing money down the drain in contracts and keeping old systems running beyond their intended lifespan. The US production of replacement ships and aircraft is taking a long time.

China is building new ships and aircraft like crazy. For example in 2025 the US Navy commissioned a whole 2 ships, a sub and a frigate. China built 18, including a new carrier.

GDP or not, China is making it happen.

They better figure defense out too, China isn’t building a massive military for nothing

yep the smaller subs feel like a whole different website. The main pages have so much political doom and rage bait in my experience.

We do, but like anything else you learn the basics and a few classes won’t make you fluent. You need immersion to get good and if you don’t use it you lose it.

The people that use it are already in a multi language home and took the class because it’s super easy for them. Just about everyone else won’t really have a chance to use it outside of the classroom so everything we learn fades quickly

Go on radio.garden and try to find non-english music. My point is it’s wild how much English has become a common language worldwide, even if it’s not the first language

If every state had a different language they’d be more like europeans that have second and third languages as a normal thing. But it’s almost all English, everywhere all the time unless you are near Mexico.

I would look at ESP32 boards and make something like this

Kazoo for the meme videos

War gaming, which is basically thought experiements with some rules and writing down results.

If red team had this stuff and blue team has that stuff what would you attack and how would you defend it. If you lost it what would you do to make up for it?

You get orders to do a thing (“Blow up that orphanage soldier!”)

You ask for clarification (“That looks like a civilian target, do you mean the outpost next to it?”)

Get claification that confirms unlawful order (“No the orphanage full of kids, level it before the enemy uses it for cover.”)

You are OBLIGATED BY YOUR DUTY TO INTERNATIONAL LAWS OF WAR to reject the order (“Negative, I cannot do that”) and to report others who obey unlawful orders, outside of your chain of command if neccesary (“Fine, I’ll get someone else to destroy it. You’re finished.”)

Then you’ll likely be pulled from your unit, and face court matial where the situation will be investigated like most other court cases. (“There was an outpost nearby but the orphanage was not a legal target”)

That’s how it’s supposed to work, but like most things we don’t live in a perfect world and things get messy when careers, commands, politics and reputations are on the line. (“The officer made a big mistake in the heat of combat, but we can’t have this make world news. Maybe we can just move him to a different unit and classify this whole ordeal…”)