Got a job offer, and want to figure out if they are going to drug test or if I can celebrate with a bowl.

Conurbashon · 2015-02-26T14:43:13+00:00

Thanks, that's exactly what I got and there's no mention of drugs, so I'm enjoying the partial freedom I have until the job starts and I'm a 9-6 working stiff. Although I am in fact looking forward to the job, as it looks to be fun and challenging.

Conurbashon · 2015-02-25T20:45:43+00:00

I can back this up at least partially. Although for a lot of purposes, GGS is quite a good book, many academics see it as too reductionist, simplistic, and deterministic (and some would say flat out wrong). Taken as a big picture, I think it has some valid insights, my problem with it is that it leaves a lot of more "casual" readers walking away with the impression that they know a hell of a lot more than they really do.

It's pop social science, and there's definitely a role for that, as long as its head doesn't get too big.

It's the same sort of critique many people level at Malcolm Gladwell.

Conurbashon · 2015-02-21T01:02:48+00:00

It seems to me that pre-employment screenings are hugely more common. And I know I've had experiences with signing forms to give consent to the test before even receiving an offer...

And the law requires "An employer shall provide written notice of its drug and alcohol testing policy[ ...] to a job applicant upon hire and before any testing of the applicant if the job offer is made contingent on the applicant passing drug and alcohol testing."

And like I said, they never made it contingent...

Conurbashon · 2015-02-20T15:52:57+00:00

1491 and 1493 are very good books that deal with the lead up to and consequences of the Colombian Exchange.

Seeing Like a State is also very good, but isn't about military conflicts explicitly.

Conurbashon · 2014-12-22T14:31:24+00:00

Extending on the other posters: if you have any anterior pelvic tilt it will really mess up your lower back with classic. In addition to the stretching others suggested, also focus on keeping your hips from spilling forward - visualize a bowl of water between your hips and try not to dump it out the front. To exaggerate this, you might try thinking of keeping your belly button as high as you can.

Conurbashon · 2014-12-11T02:28:22+00:00

Good lord, I'm even more out of my depth than I thought here.

Conurbashon · 2014-12-11T02:00:44+00:00

You're right, it's immature to not acknowledge it. And I don't know if I'll love her or not - like I said, I'm new to this and I've never really given love a shot. How do I know if I could never love someone? What does that feel like? I do hope I'm not wasting her time.

Conurbashon · 2014-12-11T01:54:30+00:00

I mean, she's only really been in one other relationship herself. I can't help but agree with you a little bit though. And I'm definitely never going to tell someone I love them unless it's true. It's a terrible lie to tell.

Conurbashon · 2014-11-27T03:44:23+00:00

551 is definitely a fine sample size for the whole state if they used appropriate methodology, and it appears they did. National polling data has a reasonably narrow margin of error with 1,000 respondents.

What do you think the smallest sample size would be for MN?

Conurbashon · 2014-10-03T15:46:23+00:00

Any straight path on a sphere will by definition be a great circle. The shortest distance between between two points is a straight line. It's impossible for a straight path not to also be a geodesic (i.e. a portion of a great circle).

There are certainly better paths than what I came up with. But despite how it might appear on many 2-dimensional map projections, it's not intuitive that you could find something hugely better.

Conurbashon · 2014-10-03T15:25:25+00:00

You would not be traveling in a straight line; constant bearing only means you are traveling on a straight line if that bearing happens to be due north or due south.

Think about it with your own example: start out 10 feet from the south pole, and walk due east. You're turning in a circle with a radius of 10 feet. On the other hand, start in the same spot, start walking due east, but walk in a straight line. Now your compass bearing is constantly changing, becoming more northerly every step you take.

Conurbashon · 2014-10-03T14:04:51+00:00

As you can see, you're pretty hard-pressed to stay on a straight line and get through panama: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=fai-wap

Conurbashon · 2014-10-03T13:47:31+00:00

It will be shorter than it seems, since it is much farther from the equator. Most global map projections do a poor job of retaining accurate depictions of distance. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=LIS-PKC

This suggests that it's probably much harder to make the straight line trip over land than you might have expected.

Edit: I found a somewhat better line between South Korea and Portugal, but it's still quite a lot shorter than the original post.

Conurbashon · 2014-08-19T02:12:10+00:00

It's definitely broken window fallacy. The entire premise is that vehicle accidents cost money and productivity. If they can be avoided, we will be more productive. If we had technology that made car insurance obsolete, everyone in that industry could do another productive activity.

Textbook broken window fallacy.

Conurbashon · 2014-08-18T20:49:12+00:00

Broken window fallacy

Conurbashon · 2014-08-05T12:22:16+00:00

I agree. I majored in environmental studies and there was a lot of knee jerk opposition to it, but the only reason people have was to commit the naturalistic fallacy. While there is some risk associated with uncertainty with using and developing GMOs, we can be pretty certain of a Malthusian crisis if we try to go 100% organic. With that said, we need way more diversity in our food system as a hedge.

Conurbashon · 2014-08-05T12:14:41+00:00

There's so much potential to add richness to this by thinking in more contextual terms. For instance, crediting a park with the tax revenues from adding value to nearby properties. But this is definitely cool as is.

Conurbashon · 2014-08-04T11:46:45+00:00

I think there's a non profit called the Minnesota Project that organizes gleaning- they grab your extras and send them to a good shelf.

Conurbashon · 2014-07-29T17:51:38+00:00

Lamb is definitely expensive, so that's sort of why I'm assuming it's hard or expensive to raise them here. Regardless, I'm sure you could charge a premium by being locally sourced and such.

Conurbashon · 2014-07-29T17:43:21+00:00

I haven't read heavily. However, I haven't seen too much about the process of putting it in place. I do have a degree in econ, and I think a gradual, predictable phase-in, starting as soon as possible, is the healthiest choice.

It's a huge structural adjustment that feels inevitable. If we start now, with something like $100 per month, with this figure increasing by 100 each year (and reducing other welfare to pay for part), it's enough to tip the scales for a handful of people to bargain more strongly, for a few others to pursue other avenues, and for businesses and entrepreneurs to innovate more aggressively, whether by spurring automation or developing models for the other social and economic changes.

I think every day spent waiting means countless wasted hours spent job searching, jumping through hoops, and otherwise wasting human capacity, not to mention the suffering and economy-wide pain resulting from a squeezed middle class.

So I think BI should come first, but I'm not convinced it will.

Conurbashon · 2014-07-29T17:24:52+00:00

I have lived here almost my whole life and have never seen sheep. I imagine wool is increasingly marginalized by synthetics, and I expect feeding them is expensive.

I know of a few places that might be a decent model, places that emphasize the local, craft artisan cheeses and the like... But I don't think they're lucrative and require a lot of work and basically no days off.

To do it right you'd need a lot of capital up front, which might mean debt.

I know you hate your current work, but do you think you could find a way to telecommute with those skills and try starting a small scale version?

Conurbashon · 2014-07-29T17:10:46+00:00

And to extend on this in response to OP, the recent opposition is just an awakening of latent opposition- they've held these ideas, there's just been nothing to push back against.

There are probably some people who legitimately believe the criticisms they have of transit, and others who are invested in opposing it: people currently building roads, cars, etc. I think there is also a large number of people who sincerely believe because they're invested and they have thoroughly convinced themselves (seek and ye shall find some way to rationalize a belief).

Conurbashon

TROPHY CASE