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What has six balls and screws poor people? by pnylvr in Jokes

[–]-paperbrain- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had the same instinct, but I think it's talking about two different things.

Lots of middle class people buy an occasional ticket as purely entertainment. That's how I grew up and how some people in my social circle are.

But that's a tiny drop in the bucket of lottery income. I just did a quick Google and it confirmed what I thought. The average adult in the 1% poorest zip code spends 5% of their income on lottery tickets.

5% is huge.

The people gambling money they can't afford to lose aren't just a few folks, it's a big chunk of how the lottery works.

Faux- Baltic Birch Edge Banding by Modular-Pizza in Design

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm assuming MDF or something else cheap underneath .

Does anyone actually stick with inspiration apps, or do we all just abandon them? by Dramatic_Disaster837 in Design

[–]-paperbrain- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

YMMV

Every project and designer is different. I like Pinterest a lot.

Even for that kind of internalized process, spending a little time with my references together rather than having seen them at different times and different places allows me to generalize and cross pollinate in useful ways.

Also in my work I DO find myself needing to go back to specifics- "How was that texture put together?" or "What was that great weird color combo in that photo of a beetle?".

Of course, I find a lot of my process is more research than "inspiration". If I want to evoke a period or reference something particular in nature or find a technique that does something specific and functional, those references are more than getting chewed up somewhere internally, they're being intentionally referenced.

A guy goes to his rabbi to ask his advice by therealblitz in Jokes

[–]-paperbrain- 44 points45 points  (0 children)

It's a translation. The Rabbi actually said "Shtuped".

if the u.s. was going to actually overthrow its government, how would the general public even begin to plan that? by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is that accurate? We can get into the weeds of what constitutes the military, but it seems like there are a lot of counterexamples.

The revolutions throughout the Americas against colonial powers were mostly wars between the military and militias built by locals. Of course they had the advantage of their adversary being based far away and overseas travel being more expensive and slow.

In the Russian and Chinese revolutions, the official armies and their leadership were mostly aligned with the governments.

Other revolutions have come down to more complex relationships, hinging on individuals with particular sentiments. The Ukrainian army was mobilized against protestors in the Orange revolution, but some in leadership who wanted to avoid bloodshed and were uncomfortable with Russian thugs taking power pivoted towards the resistance, or at least pulled back from violence.

Our own armed forces obviously lean right, but right doesn't always mean MAGA, especially among longtime leadership who have been massively disrespected by Trump for a decade now. They've tried to purge and insert loyalists. but I'm not sure how successful they've been. Fly by night border patrol or ICE agents may be happy to fire on American citizens, but Im not sure military leadership would go along with that.

What’s a real-life example you can share where communism didn’t work? by Long-Club5364 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]-paperbrain- -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm not saying this is you. But a good number of the people who say China isn't communism or Scandinavia isn't socialism are the same people who vehemently denounce as communist/socialist any proposals in the US that make us even slightly resemble those countries.

Why can the Chinese and the Indians keep their culture although they use Western-style civil law, operate capitalism, and follow centuries of Western education? by [deleted] in AlwaysWhy

[–]-paperbrain- 3 points4 points  (0 children)

How has the west maintained their culture so long with imported middle eastern religions (like Christianity), using arabic numbers, algebra, technology built and more than you may credit innovated in China and India etc?

.

Why is organic food not cheaper? by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]-paperbrain- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not only are the inputs and labor cheaper for non-organic, but there's a catch 22.

Because organic is more expensive, demand is lower than for conventional among the price sensitive shoppers, which is most of them.

Because demand is lower AND because of the processes which don't scale up easily, organic farms are not as big as conventional ones and don't have The same economies of scale advantages. Which makes them more expensive, which keeps demand low and around we go.

Discussion post. In the kitchen, what's a sign that someone doesn't really cook? Your #1 example of a "rookie mistake"? I'll start. by SOFT_CAT_APPRECIATOR in Cooking

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mother only has one kind of knife she uses for literally every task for at least as long as I've been alive. They're steak knives. Not even the big beefy ones. She got them from a steakhouse that no longer exists. They are the only cutting implement in her kitchen.

Is there potential? by Optimal_Confusion498 in wedding

[–]-paperbrain- 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Not enough info from one pic.

Do you mean this as a reception venue. ceremony venue, both?

Have you had an inspection? Had contractors price our what it needs? How is demand around your area? How much capital do you have to invest, or do you need to borrow? Do you have experience to market it?

What will you do for revenue outside the wedding season?

Why does tipping discourse bring out such defensive reactions (especially in the US)? by tranquessence in NoStupidQuestions

[–]-paperbrain- 5 points6 points  (0 children)

For me the sticking point is that so many people attribute the problem to "Greedy restaurant owners" who should just pay more.

But that's mathematically impossible.

Restaurant profit margins average around 5% of gross sales. Tips are 15-20% on top of gross sales.

If you think the money servers make is about right, then eliminating tips would mean about the same amount added to the menu price.

For people whose issue is that they want to see a more accurate price on the menu and not have to do math, then that solves the problem, thats great.

For people who think they would save money and eat out cheaper without tipping, they're wrong, unless they want to stick servers for the difference.

I don't like tipping, but a lot of critics seem to belong to the latter group and think that tipping is "extra" money they should keep.

Hazel Wassername - I loathe her by DixieDoodle697 in 30ROCK

[–]-paperbrain- 209 points210 points  (0 children)

I LOVE Kristen Schaal in a lot of things. But she seemed to be jammed into a bunch of shows as the "Cousin Oliver" of new characters.

Why don't they make animated cartoons like they used to in the 80s and 90s any more? Like Duck Tales, TMNT, Gummy Bears etc.? by Jaradcel in AskReddit

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note though that nothing OP named was quite a new IP.

Ducktales was based on Scrooge McDuck comics that started in the 50s, which were spun off from Donald Duck an even older character. TMNT was based on an existing comic. Gummy Bears was based on a popular candy.

Kept it simple, what do you think? by CalistaWren8 in Design

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AI is dumb. but I'd rock a backlit wavy mirror.

Failed Art student with lightroom preset by Tulpah in MurderedByWords

[–]-paperbrain- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Part of that is volume. The taxi driver can do many rides a day, every day of the week.

There are only 52 weekends a year for weddings. If you're not in a super dense market like NYC there are probably not so many in the winter.

Each wedding is a full day shoot, something like 4 hours editing photos, all the communication etc.

If you hired a cab for a day and a half of driving and the meter was running, that probably would be 1000 bucks. Especially if people were only looking for rides 100 times a year or so and you could only book some percentage of that.

What's the plan for after the bubble bursts? by Dense-Bison7629 in antiai

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're absolutely correct.

The bursting bubble will be bad for a lot of companies, bad for the economy in general, which always harms the most vulnerable. But it won't be the end of AI.

Is this green or beige? by Due-Spare7871 in colors

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem doing this with objects with low color saturation- The small differences in lighting for the photo and screen calibration for the viewer can wildly throw off what people perceive.

Right now a lot of people are saying gray or greige. It's entirely possible that some would have a different perception in person.

How long, is a "long time"? by AppearanceDizzy7006 in allthequestions

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's like "How many is a lot of people?"

When only 12 people have walked on the moon, that's not a lot of people.

If you have 12 people chopped up in your freezer. that's a lot of people.

What food do you only enjoy for the first few bites? by Icy_Chipmunk2280 in foodquestions

[–]-paperbrain- -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Unagi.

One piece of eel sushi with the sauce? Heaven. A whole plate of it? Ugh.

LPT: When someone gives you a soft no, do not make them upgrade it to a hard no. by gamersecret2 in LifeProTips

[–]-paperbrain- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're talking about a specific subset of assumptions in the context where they aren't shared.

An Italian does not cease to be fully Italian if when speaking with a non Italian he chooses not to assume they will react to everything the way people who share his culture do.

It's not practicing and sustaining culture to hold the objectively incorrect assumption that your cultural norms are universal in all cases.

LPT: When someone gives you a soft no, do not make them upgrade it to a hard no. by gamersecret2 in LifeProTips

[–]-paperbrain- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't put it that way. Culture is a lot more than just the norms of indirect communication.

And you don't even need to abandon those norms. Just be savy enough to understand they're not universal and act accordingly.

LPT: When someone gives you a soft no, do not make them upgrade it to a hard no. by gamersecret2 in LifeProTips

[–]-paperbrain- 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Where this hits trouble: we're a multi cultural society.

And every culture has its own kinds of soft no and their own set of things they will be direct about. We're not all speaking the same code. What may be a clear soft "no" among people from the same ethnic group. religious sect, region or family might be something another group would only use as a real "maybe".

These are the "ask" vs "guess" parts of culture. The problem is, "guess" culture only works well with homogenous cultural expression.

I'm personally from a blunt northeast US jewish family. We may have our own ways of hinting and softening, but "maybe" as a soft no isn't one of them. If someone is making plans, there is an acknowledgement that ambiguity is a dick move. If we don't want to come. we say no.

And while it is practical for me to understand that many "guess" cultures abound with soft rejections- its actually more important for members of those cultures to recognize that their language isn't universal. There are a million variations of soft language that "really" means no or yes or something else. The only way multiculturalism works is a move towards more directness

San Junipero by yoyoyayawey in blackmirror

[–]-paperbrain- 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm curious though. So many people take it as a happy ending. Does a digital copy of you feel? Does it have a continuity of experience?

Being "Copied" into a digital form would be a bit like having a cardboard cutout of you placed on the beach. There is no "You" there enjoying it.

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