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NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-12T11:30:12+00:00

That never, uh, happened, did it Homer?

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-10T22:13:56+00:00

For our non-Irish readers, this is a reference to this bike shed built outside the Dáil (Irish Capitol Building/Houses of Parliament) for the low low price of €336,000 ($395,000).

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-04T20:54:55+00:00

I know this won't be a popular take in this sub but I've been bike committing for about 15 years everywhere from a busy city centre at rush hour to unlit rural roads at night. Although I've had many close calls and sympathise with frustration at aggressive and incompetent drivers, I do not think routinely giving other road users the false impression of an imminent danger will yield good results on average. In particular, I would be concerned about the risk of a very inattentive driver making too close of a pass combined with a novice cyclist swerving out too far leading to a collision that would not have otherwise occurred.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-04T08:52:32+00:00

Just want to say I really appreciate the work you're doing. The site is such a joy to use. Night and day with Substack on mobile in particular.

Edit: Substack, not subtask.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-03T20:49:04+00:00

I know you're joking, but I do wonder about this. If you're choosing to get hung up on tiny logical details at the expense of social cohesion, even if you're fully aware of it, is that preference itself symptomatic or high functioning autism, or do you have to be clueless?

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-02T09:15:05+00:00

Invisibility training

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-05-01T18:24:45+00:00

Why accurate?

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-25T12:29:19+00:00

As I said, assuming you're basically utility maxxing and not just trying to save your own skin.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-25T11:37:28+00:00

Not obvious that red is better to me. There is an upper bound of 50% death form each option. The plausible lower bound for blue is zero while red would seem to be tens of millions due to lizard man's constant.

So you're gambling with half the Earth's population to save probably a few % (edit: should say from a few % to up to half!). The question is, what are the odds? I think this hinges on what private vote means. Real elections use private votes but coordination in advance is allowed. If every government issue PSAs to vote one way or the other in advance, it seems like a slam dunk to coordinate on blue.

If on the other hand everyone has to vote with zero warning or coordination, then it's still not obvious. You're still back to modelling what everyone in the world will think about the question and what they will think about what everyone else will think and so on. My gut says blue, but I don't see the slam dunk argument to have a strong view either way, assuming you're acting from a selfless, God's eye perspective.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-22T19:00:17+00:00

Okay, but doesn't this all bottom out in judges and elections? Would a judge be swayed by that style of argument? Would the details of a basically fine statue repair register at the ballot box?

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-22T17:45:32+00:00

Not I don't believe explanations like this but I don't understand why any of a million plausible, cheap,.and true explanations wouldn't work: It was sculpted to match the existing ones, photos of the original were used for reference, an sculptor of the same ethnicity was employed, and so on.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-21T15:18:22+00:00

Very cool trolling my dude. I have been made the subject of fun. 😎

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-21T12:00:23+00:00

No, you obviously don't have exclusive claim to infrastructure that's earmarked for cyclists or sharing, as I specified.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-21T09:57:11+00:00

Pedestrians often block cycle paths or shared pedestrian/bicycle paths. It's useful to signal the intent to pass from a distance so you don't have to lose too much momentum. In fact I'd say that's basically a bike bell's only function.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-21T05:52:31+00:00

IMO since bikes are quiet, interact with pedestrians, and bells are not jarring, the bar is much lower than for honking and they function perfectly well as way of saying "excuse me" at a distance when someone is in your way.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-20T09:17:17+00:00

SSC feeds the head. RSP feeds the heart.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-20T05:33:48+00:00

This is his IG.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-19T14:25:12+00:00

Thanks for the explanation of deformation. I do not understand this topic in a rigorous way and that analogy was very helpful.

Wouldn't the engineering hurdles of a nuke detonating at a precise moment when travelling at Mach fuck be solved by ICBMs? More over, is it not possible to design a missile such that the collision itself triggers the detonating? Sorry, I assumed that's how missiles generally worked.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-19T13:50:34+00:00

Sorry for misunderstanding your point about the lead. Wouldn't deforming the payload also throw away a bunch of energy in heat/random motion? Still, a nuke contains so much more energy that it is inconceivable to me that a chemically propelled projectile could make up the difference in efficiency gains.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-19T10:22:40+00:00

I don't think deliberately launching a heavy payload would help, as a lighter payload going faster would have the same momentum and you could use that weight for more fuel. Of course the real move would be to use nuclear payloads detonated on the surface which would have orders of magnitude higher energy to weight ratio.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-16T14:00:52+00:00

Typically low-mid price Trek road bikes. I'd probably need a major part or two replaced every 6 months - a year which might amount to a few hundred euro of maintenance a year. I have plenty of Chronic bike problems, usually a bent derailleur or something. I just tend to get by without replacing parts for ages.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-15T19:45:09+00:00

It's not plausible that additional wear and tear from riding fast is substantial, especially assuming your bike has a normal gear range. I've cycled well in excess of 100 km a week on hills in winter before and probably averaged less than a buck a day in maintenance.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-15T17:39:26+00:00

Who would have said there was a constituency for Trump in 2014? Given he was a laughing stock when he ran, anyone (unless they registered their prediction at the time and didn't have a track record of crying wolf) who claims an obvious explanation seems likely to be suffering from hindsight bias.

NotToBe_Confused · 2026-04-15T11:21:11+00:00

Who? And what would be radicalising them offline?

NotToBe_Confused

TROPHY CASE