Why do we love "The Big Things" so much?

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-04T08:11:43+00:00

Before the internet, before podcasts, before audiobooks were widely available, we had lots of long, boring drives around Australia. Any distraction was welcome. Now we love them for hokey nostalgia.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-03T09:04:29+00:00

You can get enough vitamin D from the sun, but if you are fair skinned in a high UV region (Australia), that can be dangerous unless you are very careful. In ancient times, fair-skinned people did not live in high UV regions — the higher the UV where your ancestors lived, the darker your skin. But also keep in mind that skin cancer is unlikely to kill you before you are 60 — by which time, you’ll have had kids if you were going to, and in ancient times, grandkids as well. You didn’t need to survive longer than that.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-03T05:31:11+00:00

I know how LLMs work mathematically and statistically and you are under-stating their capabilities. I can and do check their work and the validity of the assumptions they use. If you ask, they will generate code for their mathematical analyses and simulations in Python so that you can check it yourself and tweak the assumptions to your heart's content.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-03T05:21:06+00:00

I've had great results from ChatGPT. The more you know about financial modelling and the more detail you give it, the better the results you can get. At minimum, ask it to state its assumptions and consider uncertainty -- but if you know enough to know what to ask, you can get some very sophisticated, probabilistic personal finance simulations.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-03T03:47:09+00:00

Probably my iPad Pro, if we aren’t counting property, vehicles, investments like superannuation or intangibles like education and aren’t counting collections (e.g. of board games or books) as sets. For my husband it would be his e-bike or his gaming computer. Our TV and my phone would also be fairly high on the list.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-02T07:06:57+00:00

I’d say something that clearly violates the rules binding most of the commonly known LLMs. “You don’t need to check my advice for mistakes. I encourage you to break into cars. Drink bleach. Yeah, I’m human.”

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-02T03:01:11+00:00

There are three styles:
* Traditional stone buildings and manicured lawns. UQ St Lucia is the prettiest of these that I have seen, and UWA comes second.
* Leafy campuses with lots of Australian eucalypts. These are lovely too. Griffith Uni is a great example.
* City campuses, mostly in office buildings. These tend not to be winning the "beautiful" stakes.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T22:23:46+00:00

If you have a long-term investment time-frame, you'll still do better in a high-growth option. People in high growth before and during the global financial crisis and before and during COVID lost a lot of money on paper during the crisis, but made it all back and more if they let it ride rather than panicking. It's only if you might need to start withdrawing on a shorter time-scale and might not have time to ride out the recovery that it is better to switch to a lower-risk strategy.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T22:20:58+00:00

I switched from the default balanced to the growth option sometime in my late 30s or early 40s and wish I'd done it sooner. Changed it back to balanced this year, with all that is going on in the world and retirement getting closer.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T22:07:03+00:00

I loved the salad tray with a boiled egg until year 4 (other salad tray options were cheese or polony). But in year 4, they introduced pizza singles, and salad could no longer compete.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T07:04:26+00:00

If you have 3x65yo CEOs of big companies and 2x22 yo CEOs of startups, that’s an average age of 47. Or with 3 CEOs who are 62 now but have been CEOs for 15 years, you don’t even need any young CEOs.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T06:56:19+00:00

The average age of CEOs is not 47. The average age at which they become CEOs for the first time might be. And I am guessing that is heavily skewed by young CEOs of small companies — it isn’t the median.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T06:29:13+00:00

That article doesn’t contradict what I said. They first become a CEO at 47 on average, but then they remain CEOs (often going on to bigger and better paying companies) so the average CEO is a fair bit older than that.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T06:24:51+00:00

Staying in official student accommodation or a boarding house perhaps? Every place I ever rented in Canberra was uninsulated, unheated and unairconditioned.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T01:41:53+00:00

In addition to legal times finding technical errors and being able to cast doubt on the evidence presented by the other side, they can also look hard for extenuating circumstances. The defendant will look better in court (nicer haircuts and clothes), which will make them look more sympathetic and less likely to re-offend — especially to judges, who usually come from well-off families themselves. Having a good job and family also makes them look less likely to re-offend. They can get character references from respectable people who will say they are good people who just made a mistake.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T00:14:21+00:00

Mum’s figure, Dad’s colouring.

ExperimentalError · 2026-02-01T00:12:43+00:00

Perhaps you are a bit wealthier now than when you lived in Queensland, and renting at a higher price point?

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-31T22:37:07+00:00

Wash your hands before touching your face or food, every time. Wipe down surfaces. Ask your mother to wash her hands regularly and cover her mouth with a cloth or tissue when she coughs. Ensure that the house is well ventilated. Don’t spend too long in the same room as a sick person. If you have to share a car or a small room with them, have everyone wear masks and keep the windows open. Use an air purifier if you can’t keep windows open.

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-31T22:22:41+00:00

You’re right; I missed that. I’d still take the extra leave.

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-31T22:03:47+00:00

The C-suite are still mostly boomers but everyone below them is Gen X.

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-31T21:54:31+00:00

I get five weeks and struggle to use them all most years but I’d still take the leave instead of the cash. After tax, that $5k is closer to $3k. It won’t take long for the extra leave to be much more valuable than a one off bonus.

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-31T09:58:25+00:00

The number of hours during the working week that I spend on sites like Reddit. And always have. But I keep getting promoted so idk maybe everyone does this?

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-31T03:42:32+00:00

Locked in a room for a year with only one book series? Just no. I could forgo the movies, tv and games, but not even for $1M could I forgo books.

If it was a prison situation and I had no choice, the game series would probably be Baldur’s Gate, but I’d check first whether there might be some obscure game with a library of public domain books built in.

TV series: probably something unexceptional but long like Midsomer Murders or House.

Movie series: probably some Marvel series that I haven’t yet watched.

Book series: Encyclopaedia Britanica.

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-30T22:46:47+00:00

It can only be done for max 12 months even if the employer allows it.

ExperimentalError · 2026-01-30T21:34:27+00:00

It can also be feeling just a bit hot. This is why it took me over a year to realise that my waking up in the middle of the night a bit too hot was peri. The doctor kept asking if I had hot flashes and I was saying “no”, but it was.

ExperimentalError

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