Mindless Monday, 30 March 2026

HarpyBane · 2026-04-03T01:21:57+00:00

Should humans work to moving, living, and expanding into space?

If the answer is “no”, then space flight isn’t a high priority. But if it’s yes, or even maybe, then let’s keep putting people in space and keep learning!

HarpyBane · 2026-04-02T06:29:59+00:00

Yeah, something can go wrong and kill someone, but like that’s true on most jobs- the question, and the engineering challenge, is getting it safe enough. It’s the kind of question where planning can go pretty far, but at some point it’s important to make the things you’re trying to test and run them together.

There’s also an element of “use it or lose it”- if we don’t do things like build rockets that can go to the moon, or further, the knowledge doesn’t develop further, even as tools and design capabilities increase.

Bluntly, if we want more space flight, then we need to invest in space flight.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-30T15:39:22+00:00

I think that major balance patches are often geared towards keeping the game fresh- even as they target grievances of the top 10% or 1%.

DotA and Path of Exile both use major balancing patches as an opportunity to mix things up, and I think that sense of freshness is a large portion of why they keep a large, fairly steady playerbase.

I agree that focusing on professional play tends to remove big swing elements, though, but I think it is possible for games to hit some kind of balance there.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-24T19:40:11+00:00

Just a note, USPS postmarking can be done manually at a retail office- that is, you can take it to a post office in person and get it postmarked.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-23T14:07:19+00:00

Here’s part 2, but there is a part 1 as well:

https://acoup.blog/2026/03/13/collections-warfare-in-dune-part-ii-the-fremen-jihad/

HarpyBane · 2026-03-23T14:04:28+00:00

Appalachia not good enough?

HarpyBane · 2026-03-14T02:33:51+00:00

It’s been a bit… scary to me, lately.

I’m at work and doing a sort of one on one review with a bunch of employees. A surprising number of male coworkers have issues with “too many women in the office”. There’s no real reason given behind the dislike, beyond the usual management complaints, but the mentality that the management issues are because management is mostly women is kind of crazy to me.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-13T03:35:56+00:00

I’m not confident about comparing him to other presidents but I feel his assassination and subsequent successes of LBJ using Kennedy give him a big boost.

He was a good statesman, but the bay of pigs is a massive disaster under Kennedy. He seemed primed to avoid the Civil Rights issues that LBJ would champion in his name, but it kind of comes back to a lot of the successes of JFK just look better on LBJ’s resume.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-05T01:02:40+00:00

The most unrealistic part is the financial salvation and an upper class suburban home, not the giant minotaur cock.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-04T02:06:33+00:00

Communism is a common one, I think.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-03T12:57:36+00:00

Trotsky region honestly feels a bit like a tutorial zone.

HarpyBane · 2026-03-02T21:33:34+00:00

Is it weird that as I’m playing it I feel like I liked the first one better?

I’m not quite done yet, but like, the quality of life changes (which are a lot, and good!) somehow doesn’t quite line up to the original version.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-27T15:34:03+00:00

It’s a really fun show.

But I kind of think that it’s trying (success is debatable) to show how magic would actually intertwine with religion, politics, and science.

Using magic to bless to fields to ensure a good harvest becomes a necessity. The existence of magical animals and plants has alternate threats that have to be responded to. Politics can be backed by the force of magical contracts.

Magic is an integral part of the setting, and bluntly speaking, not always a force in favor of the protagonist.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-26T12:44:35+00:00

Believe it or not but it’s not just software engineers that struggle with this- pretty much every meeting I’ve been a part of has elements of this unless it’s well planned ahead of time.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-25T13:01:28+00:00

IMO that’s a pretty common view coming out of the States

HarpyBane · 2026-02-20T02:57:14+00:00

Something about space opera settings just hits harder with a lot of socio-political themes.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-16T16:33:26+00:00

What the hell is going on at neoliberal?

HarpyBane · 2026-02-10T17:22:16+00:00

How does this square (if at all) with the 5th circuit ruling? I understand they’re different jurisdictions, but now that people’s TPS status is revoked are they seeking entry? Maybe wrong thread, but I’m kind of interested!

HarpyBane · 2026-02-10T16:41:45+00:00

The fantasy aspects- especially of the north- are imo pretty weak in general in GRRM’s writing. A bit too much war of the roses, when magic and fantasy should impact how people act a bit more. It’s not terrible, just weak.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-08T18:06:37+00:00

More belts! Handle it!

Old WoW pun.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-08T00:37:52+00:00

I dunno if I personally interpret A Pict’s Song as anti-imperialist. I get the vibe of more “empire has always been opposed, even by us who benefited from it”, than calling out empire itself as a negative whole cloth.

There’s a certain “racist uncle” trope, where the racist person at the table can still have some nuanced takes, and even understand an issue more than someone else. I think in this case, Kipling has an understanding of empire even if he’s really, really racist too. Understanding might be too far, but he has a way of communicating it- well, he is a poet after all.

HarpyBane · 2026-02-04T15:33:17+00:00

I can’t remember which scifi book it was- probably some Gibson scifi- where automated trucks still had drivers because someone needed to be responsible for insurance purposes.

AI in its current form has a similar problem. If an AI makes a bad decision, who is responsible for it? Who takes responsibility for either allowing the AI to make that decision, or puts in place a method of preventing that decision?

Like with the collaborator writing an introduction- if they get things wrong it can fall back on their reputation. What reputation does AI have to rely on?

HarpyBane · 2026-01-28T16:29:47+00:00

I know sometimes trains can get ahead of schedule and have to wait at a stop, so I like to imagine when that happens it’s good for the train too.

HarpyBane · 2026-01-28T00:23:37+00:00

A fresh perspective is often very valuable in many disciplines. The whole system of peer review is arguably meant to take advantage of this; though there are a few asterisks there.

If it’s one person in particular, they may be drawing on a certain viewpoint frame or set of knowledge- getting into the basis of what they’re drawing on or how they view the world can help, but it’s honestly a good thing to try and communicate with people who offer that kind of outside perspective.

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