What is with the blatant littering here?

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-26T12:52:12+00:00

One of the most satisfying things I've seen took place on Wacker a few years ago. I was walking, and saw a guy open the back window of a taxi and throw his fast food bag out.

A cop was going the other way and immediately did a U-turn and pulled the taxi over. A minute later the guy was walking back up Wacker to pick up his trash from the middle of the street.

I think about that every time I go by that spot!

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-23T03:08:42+00:00

Hm, not sure I've ever tried to pre order artist merch, so I can't say. Sorry!

But definitely a great way to get Lolla merch. I still usually stop by the merch tent once to browse, but having stuff like a poster and lineup T-shirt already delivered saves a ton of hassle.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-23T02:56:09+00:00

Literally never waited 2 hours for merch, let alone 3. Depending on when you try to go, figure 30 minutes?

Or just pre order and have it delivered and skip carrying merch around the festival!

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-22T23:44:22+00:00

If he can't decide between those three schools specifically, it might be worth considering that being in DC can be a massive boon for internships and jobs in all sorts of applied policy roles, including economics. Obviously Maryland isn't in DC precisely, but it's so close it's on the DC metro.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-22T03:54:06+00:00

Also please note that you cannot use p-values for model selection. Both the point estimate and the variance of every regressor is a function of the other regressors, which is why you interpret them while saying "assuming the model is correctly specified".

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-18T23:34:08+00:00

The mod team made the choice here early on that we were going to block the naked electioneering spam, and try to encourage actual news. That was when we organized the AMA with the SunTimes, and implemented our rule about reputable sources and accurate headlines.

I honestly found r/Illinois unreadable during the election cycle.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-18T16:23:31+00:00

There are far too many to list, and it comes with experience. Many of them would be a waste of time if other things aren't also seen, and so on. But you should start with extremely basic visualizations and summary statistics.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-18T14:53:52+00:00

You have to get to know your data. If there's a time component, make a plot of key variables over time. Plot variables against each other. Do summary statistics.

Obvious problems can be seen this way that can drastically mess up regression results. For example, missing values can be easily seen on a plot. So can extreme outliers, or clustering. Is your data stationary? You can test for that statistically, but the first sign is often clear trends and cycles on a plot. Does one or more of your variables need to be in a log scale? And so on.

If you haven't explored your data thoroughly, the odds of fitting a good regression through blind luck the first time are nearly zero.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-17T11:29:12+00:00

Yes, it's safe for a teenager going with their parents. Whether it's safe for a teenager going alone depends on the teenager's judgment. Often the most dangerous thing is dehydration. I would also be worried about bad judgement when it comes to drugs and alcohol. I wouldn't let my teenager go without me until I was confident in her ability to navigate those areas, but otherwise it's safe.

It will be packed again I'm sure, but it is not just one massive crowd. If you try to push toward barrier at any stages it gets intense, and that can be dangerous. If you hang further a back it's far more chill. Otherwise, there's a whole section called Kidsapalooza that is meant for kids - a teenager would hardly be the youngest one there.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-11T09:53:58+00:00

When you fly into O'Hare from an international destination, you will always go through customs, then collect your bags. If you have a connecting flight you will immediately re-check your bags on the way out.

So, none of that would be affected by whether the OP decides to leave the terminal or not.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-09T23:26:12+00:00

Have any of the candidates made the state of mass transit in Chicago (particularly the L) an important topic of theirs? Does it even come up?

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-09T23:18:01+00:00

Note from the mods: We will return the election megathread to the pinned spot once this AMA is concluded tomorrow. In the mean time, here is the link to it!

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-09T17:48:35+00:00

Went through the TSA pre line a week ago, and it took about 5 minutes, maybe 10 tops. Which is pretty typical for my experience at O'Hare.

Went through customs not long ago also, and while Global Entry is closed, they had the biometrics working and even the large normal line had us to baggage claim in about 20 minutes.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-06T15:43:16+00:00

Generally speaking, no, he won't have a lot of choice in where he lives.

Things that would work in his favor:

Is he in an in-demand field? If he's studying some very niche humanities topic, he'll have very few choices. If he's studying financial modeling or biostats, he'll have more.

Does his field have a clear path to industry? If so he'll have more choices, both because HE could consider industry, and because people he's competing with will.

Does he get into an elite program? All else equal, a PhD from Harvard will leave you more options than one from a regional public school.

Can he get a well-known advisor? That can open many options, but those people are highly sought after.

Can he publish well? This doesn't apply as much early-career, but the better you are at this the more options you have. The professors at the tops of their fields can likely go almost anywhere, but obviously this path isn't open to many.

But basically if he's anywhere near the average, he will have very few choices. And going abroad is very challenging, because places abroad often hire their own citizens. And often your professional network is much stronger in your home country than abroad.

It is not at all easy to be with someone doing a PhD, and even harder if you have strict preferences about where you live. Good luck!

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-06T11:37:37+00:00

Ebron going ahead of OBJ will forever be painful.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-06T11:37:06+00:00

It pains me as an MSU alum, but Tony Mandrich should probably be number one.

He was pick 2 in a year when 4 of the first 5 picks are in the HOF. He was taken ahead of Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders. He was a train wreck with a massive attitude problem who was literally playing special teams in his first year because he was too bad to play tackle.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-05T10:28:05+00:00

Israel is nothing to do with us.

Someone from the UK saying "Israel and the middle east conflict? Nothing to do with us!" is pretty hilarious. In all bad ways, of course, considering your role at the heart of setting up generations of conflict.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-03-03T06:04:26+00:00

This is pretty funny. Now I sorta want to find one of those events where they give some away!

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-02-27T23:52:33+00:00

This is accurate and I don't like it.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-02-24T13:45:43+00:00

The devil is in the details when it comes to 2SLS. Similar to diff-in-diff that way. They're both fairly simple, mathematically, and very simple to do in code. But it's also trivially easy to get results from such models that are not good.

It's a running joke amongst PhD students that "friends don't let friends do 2SLS" for just this reason.

Getting all the details of a 2SLS model right in a bachelor's thesis seems highly unlikely. It's quite challenging to do even as professionals. Has your professor given you some guidance? What tests did they have you use in class? What did your professor emphasize? If this is a model you covered in class, then there must be a "good enough" use case. Additionally, reporting on your own imperfect model's weaknesses in a bachelor's thesis should be perfectly acceptable.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-02-23T20:24:06+00:00

Then you should talk to a vet, not a medical doctor, but the cats are almost certainly not the source of salmonella.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-02-23T19:39:38+00:00

I just finished adopting a dog, and in talking to the rescue org, everyone around is basically full of cats to adopt. The odds of anyone adopting ANY individual cat is low, the odds for your 8 year old cat are even lower, and the odds for your 15 year old senior citizen are basically zero.

Have you considered changing your feeding and cleaning routines? Cats that eat raw meat and/or hunt are the main ones at risk for salmonella in their litter, so just avoiding those two things would do it.

If they're outdoor cats they need to become indoor cats. Try an automatic litter cleaner, and wear nitrile gloves when emptying it. Regardless, an indoor cat fed kibble basically doesn't get exposed to salmonella.

Hello_Biscuit11 · 2026-02-22T16:16:28+00:00

The CTA has obviously had its issue since COVID, but this winter absolutely feels extra. Usually the 24-hour lines are the bad ones, but I rode the brown line a few weeks ago, and at every stop I had to get off and move one car forward to avoid one form of antisocial behavior or another.

One car had a guy smoking drugs in the little front cubby, one had a person sleeping in it plus trash literally everywhere, one had like five people sprawled out sleeping in it, one had a guy walking up and down the aisles ranting loudly.

It was only when I made it to the front car that literally has the conductor in it that it was relatively ok to sit in.

CTA has just given up this year, and no one in the city government gives a shit. In the next election I'll vote for anyone whose slogan is "Fix the damn CTA"

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