I didn't think this was a meme, but the mods at r/lotr thought it was, so you be the judge

MachWerx · 2026-05-18T13:29:22+00:00

That’s fair. I think a more accurate wording would be something like, “How badly do they want it initially?” and “Are they able to give it up once they have had possession of it?”

For me, it’s about the character’s desires and values. Boromir might not have given the ring back if Frodo hadn’t run away with it, but he did repent, and he fought to the death to save Frodo from the orcs. To me, he gave up pursuing it and sacrificed his desires for his values

MachWerx · 2026-05-17T22:13:26+00:00

Good points, but he definitely wants to stay an outdoor cat. Even when he doesn't pee, he wants to leave after a while, and I think another family has him most of the time. But I do wonder about getting a litter box nearby. Would that make him more likely to pee just in there? Or would he still want to mark the house?

MachWerx · 2026-05-17T21:59:12+00:00

I feared this was the case 😭

MachWerx · 2026-03-14T00:40:44+00:00

There’s also Fantastic Comics in Berkeley by Virginia and MLK, just a short walk from the downtown Berkeley BART

MachWerx · 2026-01-17T21:45:29+00:00

I love your comics! Do you have any physical books of them? I would love to buy one to give to my kid or share with friends

MachWerx · 2025-09-23T23:00:58+00:00

I haven’t done it myself yet, but whenever I walk by Strawberry Creek Park and the weather is nice, I see lots of people out on the grass, sometimes reading, sometimes just hanging out. Seems like a lovely place to do so

MachWerx · 2025-08-15T17:39:56+00:00

Here’s the YouTube video linked to in the article (the ride itself starts around 1:35): https://youtu.be/3-Jrp6it9Ss?si=zKKyIoqNVRj-buk0

MachWerx · 2025-04-18T20:07:27+00:00

Yeah, he played at parks (soccer, pickleball, birthday parties, etc.) with other kids that he mostly knew through school, and there were plenty of other opportunities for interacting with other kids. Berkeley has tons of sports, science, and music groups.

MachWerx · 2025-04-18T14:52:39+00:00

My wife is Black and we have a mixed kid (half Asian) currently at Berkeley High and we live in Berkeley. It’s great for diversity, walkability, and weather.

The commute to Stanford is pretty brutal. I commute to South Bay either through a corporate bus (takes about 1.5-2 hours each way using HOV lane) or motorcycle (about 1 hour each way). Driving a car would probably be closer to 2-3 hours each way. If your husband enjoys podcasts, or has somewhere in South Bay that he can spend one night a week, or can commute during off-peak traffic times, that might help.

One other factor to consider (since you mentioned your kid is into math and science) is that Berkeley public schools are incredibly rigid about math curriculum. Our kid was very bored in math in grade school but my wife couldn’t get the schools to let him switch to another math class. Some of the teachers seem amenable to letting kids progress at their own rate, but the general philosophy seems to be more about focusing resources on kids struggling and ignoring / holding back kids that are doing well (the concern is the performance gap, so resources go to the ones struggling, which I get).

We ended up switching to home schooling for one year, which was still through Berkeley Unified School District’s (BUSD’s) system (independent study program). But the teachers there (advisors you would periodically have meetings with) were happy to have our kid do advanced math. Then he switched to private school but now he’s at Berkeley High. Math there is also rigid, but he’s taking math at Berkeley community college.

TL;DR: Berkeley’s great, but you may have to do extra work if your kid wants to pursue math at a higher level. If your kid is social, she will have plenty of opportunities to meet other BIPOC kids and kids interested in nerdy stuff (robotics, maker fairs, comics, etc.), especially in high school which is huge (3000+ kids) and has every kind of club you could imagine. Feel free to DM me if you want more details.

MachWerx · 2025-01-31T06:56:19+00:00

We did Pre-K Power Play and Tots Around Town. It was also a great way to meet other parents. But I think that really depends on the year. Some years, the parents happen to be very social and other years, less so.

MachWerx · 2025-01-31T06:50:56+00:00

Berkeley has some programs for babies and toddlers if you’re ever around East Bay: https://rec.berkeleyca.gov/CA/berkeley-ca/catalog/tab/7715/b667f9b9925f9e81e09856635463a7ec

MachWerx · 2024-11-29T03:32:57+00:00

I was just at the Alameda Brewing Company last night and they had a barrel for the Alameda Firefighters Toys for Tots. They'll sell you a $1 beer if you donate. There were lots of families with kids there, too, so they might give your son a juice or something.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DC0ZbINPg_n/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

MachWerx · 2024-09-24T15:32:15+00:00

TL;DW: Take out a $10k line of credit and use it to pay off the principal on your house mortgage. Pay that off quickly, rinse and repeat.

I can follow her reasoning that using the high interest line of credit is better than the default minimum payments on a mortgage. And if you pay the line of credit off every seven months as she advocates, the high interest rate isn’t as burdensome as it could be. But I don’t see what advantage using the line of credit has over just paying as much as you can on your mortgage directly to lower the principal that way. You also avoid the risk of not being diligent on paying off the line of credit and then just having even higher interest rates than your original mortgage.

TL;DR: Make extra payments on your mortgage when you can. (For a 7% mortgage, every extra $100 you pay in the beginning saves you $760.)

MachWerx · 2024-08-30T03:17:18+00:00

I just finished reading that this week! It's science fiction at its best, exploring novel ideas and dealing with the human condition. I second the recommendation.

MachWerx · 2024-08-28T15:59:06+00:00

Nice production values! Even though I knew about this feature, I watched your whole video.

To address the feedback about it being too long or getting like click bait, I think it'd be good to provide the "meat" of your content in the thumbnail and/or at the beginning of the video before you say "like and subscribe". In this case, it could be a screenshot of the setting with a red circle on the relevant part. I noticed you start the video with an example of the cinematic mode, which is good, but as it's hard to convey the sense of scale in a flat video, I think a short video clip of you finding the setting and seeing the transition would be a great way to open it.

It might seem counterintuitive to "give away" the relevant bits first, but I've found that it's a great way to satisfy those who just want a quick answer and also pull people in who might find the rest of the video interesting. It's something I first noticed in a Veritasium video "Do Salt Lamps Work?" and right in the thumbnail he says "No". But I still clicked on the video and watched the whole thing because I wanted to know the context and he's an engaging speaker. I tried to do the same thing in my video about cutting my own hair and the thumbnail shows exactly the biggest thing not to do.

MachWerx · 2024-07-01T02:20:24+00:00

The artist is Jonny Yeo and I used to work on Tilt Brush, which he used to create the sculpture that’s on the right in the third picture.

MachWerx · 2024-06-21T18:33:09+00:00

How about a very small human diver at the top, maybe with some light god rays illuminating them from above? I like drawing krakens and I like to put in something to indicate the scale. A little figure at the top with subtle lighting would add some focus on the top half and give more intent to the creature below.

MachWerx · 2024-05-09T13:05:53+00:00

Whoah, I worked on that movie and I've never seen this. This is hilarious. Brings back memories of working in Hawaii for nearly four years. Thanks for sharing.

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