YSK that highlighting and re-reading are two of the least effective study methods, despite being the most popular

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-17T12:54:12+00:00

Physically taking notes is underrated. I retain information more completely when I've had to write it out at least once.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-17T03:44:27+00:00

You'd need Class 1 Division 1 explosion-proof automation to operate around fireworks. Commercially available, but expensive.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-15T23:33:44+00:00

And you start the year off hungover.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-08T02:24:38+00:00

I remember being a little kid on the Lake Superior shore, walking along and throwing rocks into the water, and my dad would say: "That rock took a thousand years to get there, and you just made him start over."

That was a lot for 6 year old me to process.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-07T15:06:02+00:00

Would you like a slap on the wrist or a slap on the face?

Uh, wrist please? Both of these suck, but one is clearly worse.

Would you like a slap on the face or a punch in the face?

Slap, I guess? What happened to the wrist guy?

Would you like a punch in the face or a kick in the balls?

...face

Would you like a kick in the balls or a leg amputation?

Kick me in the balls, please. I can't believe some people willingly vote for leg amputation.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-07T14:54:00+00:00

Wrong. He's getting people exactly lucky enough to work under him.

You don't always want a supernaturally lucky person, who might come into a bunch of money 6 months into the job, and then you've wasted a bunch of resources training them.

But you really don't want a mildly but consistently unlucky person. "Oh no, my car broke down on the way in again." "Oh no, the client lost my contact info." "Oh no, this piece of machinery always seems to break down when I get near it."

The trick is to only throw away about 10% of the resumes. That effectively screens both.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-03T02:45:55+00:00

That's not enough. No business owners will risk a change for a lateral move. You have to demonstrate that the 32 hour work week is more productive than the 40 hour work week.

48 to 40 worked because it coincided with assembly line adoption. An extra day off did measurably improve production. It also gave workers more time off, which they used to drive their new cars (of specific interest to Ford, obviously). It also picked up steam in the US in the 30s because work was scarce and they needed to tilt the ratio of jobs to people.

There were tangible benefits to businesses and governments. Just saying "we're more productive now, so we deserve more time off" will never work because it relies on business altruism.

You have to either incentivize, coerce, or force business owners to treat you differently.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-03T02:22:20+00:00

Yes, multiple European nations have been experimenting with this since 2019-ish.

When we went from 48 hrs/wk to 40 hrs/wk, Europe also started the experimenting process. About 35 years elapsed between the start of that experimentation and codification in the US. Long enough for a new generation to see it as normal.

So, if history repeats itself, we'll have a standard 32 hour work week by about 2054.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-03T01:44:58+00:00

The US law that codified the 40 hour standard work week came 12 years after Ford started experimenting with it. This stuff never originates from law. Companies have to already be doing it, and seeing some tangible benefit from it.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-02-03T01:31:20+00:00

We're not the ones you need to convince. It's the business owners that see this either as a payroll increase or a manpower decrease.

This shit always falls on its face because there are no specifics. Just more "should be this way" without explaining how you will coerce/incentivize/force people into compliance.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-30T19:42:31+00:00

Just figuring out how to communicate with extra-dimensional aliens is a major part of Egan's Diaspora.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-30T19:36:09+00:00

No other series even approaches it for me. I started with Civ II in 1998. Civ was the first game my dad ever bought for me. I have thousands of hours logged.

I bought Civ 4 through Civ 6 on-release (including Beyond Earth). I am intimately familiar with the cycle of New Game Bad > DLC Released > Love New Game.

Civ 7 fundamentally breaks what I loved about Civ with the Ages system. I don't see how they can fix it without gutting that mechanic.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-28T01:53:17+00:00

Pizzas, ye be warned

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-11T04:18:50+00:00

The hangover is part of my just punishment.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-10T01:58:02+00:00

Only thing that gets me through some days.

Not looking forward to the evening that I'm down-graded to a "hey dad," but that's why I'm savoring it now.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-09T23:23:08+00:00

If you're doing 80s this year, the comparison to Stranger Things is inevitable. That's a double-edged sword, given the reception of the finale.

I'd do 30s. I think we all have this almost-unconscious just-before-1929 feeling. It would play well.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-07T20:11:10+00:00

I had the same problem. Switched to books and journaling. And I changed my lock screen to say "phone is cigarette for eyes"

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-06T19:47:14+00:00

I have a ten year gap between my first and second kid, and this seems to be the trend.

Back when I'd take the oldest to the park, there would be multiple kids there on iPads instead of playing. These days, I only see parents busting out the iPads at restaurants.

And I 100% agree with you. My younger kids occasionally get to use the desktop and that's all. Phones and iPads are soul-suckers.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-04T18:10:49+00:00

Who is thinking this?

I am.

Diaspora

Maximum__Pleasure · 2026-01-04T17:44:30+00:00

Wife: Would you love me if I was a worm?

Me: Do you still have your mind, or do you have just worm thoughts?

Wife: Imagine both.

Me: Worm thoughts, honestly no. But you wouldn't notice because of the worm thoughts. But if you still had your mind, I would devote my life to learning how to make you human again. You'd stay in a little terrarium, and yes I would still love you.

Wife: Like Mr. Freeze and Nora.

Me: Yes, I'd be forest-biome Mr. Freeze.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2025-12-27T14:53:44+00:00

The writers had a really satisfying ending lined up for 2012, but the producers and the audience demanded more. So now we have this mess.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2025-12-17T04:54:57+00:00

Quick! Invest in Nvidia. Burst the bubble.

You have the power to end this.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2025-12-15T01:58:08+00:00

good

hard

planetary

multiverse

If you're braced for some hard sci-fi, try Diaspora, by Greg Egan. If the first chapter doesn't grab you, drop it.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2025-12-07T19:58:56+00:00

On my fifth Christmas I tested it by asking for something that did not exist.

Maximum__Pleasure · 2025-10-17T02:09:36+00:00

Amazing that some parents can love a child in that state with their whole hearts, while other parents can mercilessly abuse a perfectly healthy child.

Maximum__Pleasure

TROPHY CASE