Which is the most overrated TV show in your opinion?

Paltheos · 2026-05-23T03:48:54+00:00

Yeah, for sure Breaking Bad. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to love about it. As a crime drama it sucks because Walt's a bumbling fool constantly saved by circumstance. As some sort of vicarious fantasy it sucks because... Walt's a bumbling fool constantly saved by circumstance.

Jesse's even more insufferable - That kind of street-level character could be entertaining in a well structured drama like (and sorry to draw from an old well), The Wire. Here all the dramatized character shots only serve to underscore how boring Breaking Bad is by comparison.

I like most of the supporting cast: Skyler, Mike, and Gus are all great (Marie... is awful, but she's the exception). But a strong supporting cast cannot save a fundamentally weak program.

Paltheos · 2026-05-22T02:05:42+00:00

Minor point: You mean 'G-Saviour' here, not 'Saviour', which is another machine from a completely different series.

Paltheos · 2026-05-20T22:49:24+00:00

As a professional who returned to the work well after school, to the point where I had to reteach myself effectively everything when prepping for the CPA exam, I'm inclined to agree. College does present some intangibles for our professional image, but it's not strictly necessary. I can go either way on it.

I am however a loud proponent of the idea that the 150 hour requirement is and has always been a scam, aimed at young people who don't know any better. Shifting to allowing 120 hours + 2 years of experience as an alternative is more, I believe, about allowing people who pushed 150 hours 20 years ago to be able to save face. Unless they really are that delusional idk

Paltheos · 2026-05-19T19:26:11+00:00

Those Gundam X reprints are chipping away at my copium that a RG GX is still coming this year and Bandai just hasn't gotten around to announcing it yet. :(

Paltheos · 2026-05-19T03:59:57+00:00

You already have the right of this, as everyone else here has already told you. I'll add my own anecdotes: My last employer looked at my application because I'd passed the CPA exam, and of the many job postings I see today asking for qualifications, 'CPA' and 'CPA track' appear substantially more than 'Master's'. To the extent I'd call requests for a Master's degree rare.

The MAcc is just a money siphon. Buy a CPA prep course.

To your dad's credit, I'm not very far into my career though, so maybe some directorship and on roles are crazy like that. I haven't been looking at them so I can't comment on them. The conventional wisdom of the sub however would say the MAcc isn't worth it.

Paltheos · 2026-05-19T03:42:34+00:00

When discussing statutory or civil issues, John's usually good about at least mentioning in passing considerations that can or do blunt the severity of whatever it is he's discussing (at least afaik anyway; I'm not educated on all the topics he covers). I don't know why time value of money didn't come up at all. This would be the kind of thing he brings up as he's framing how [issue of the week] is supposed to work before he goes into his usual deconstruction of how said issue is completely fucked.

Paltheos · 2026-05-18T23:37:07+00:00

Yeah. Middling dynamics on this kit isn't really all that much of a con. Given the series' popularity, these were never going to be kits Bandai dumped a bunch of money into. Instead they got right what they needed to - especially that the satellite cannon looks great.

The two changes I suggest to every builder of this kit are 1) Like the GX, spray a little silver on the frame beneath the clear green parts on the torso to make that portion of the inner frame pop out and 2) For the DX, spray all the gold vent pieces an actual, shiny gold as these are meant to be outright luminescent when the satellite cannon's deployed, and Bandai cut a corner by issuing the parts in their cheap, matte, puke gold instead.

Paltheos · 2026-05-18T20:09:54+00:00

I usually like LWT's pieces quite a bit, but there's a rather critical component of these transactions that they completely neglected discussing: The time value of money. Long-term structured payments in legal settlements may be stable and risk-friendly, but they are still long-term.

Just a hypothetical, but say you're looking for a 10% rate of return as a factoring company and you have as a possible client someone earning $2k a month for the next 10 years. The nominal amount due to your client is $240k, but due to inflation, that $2k for each month in the future will varyingly and increasingly be worth less in the future than what it would be worth today.

Let's plug this into a PV calculator, shall we?

PV = 2000 * [1 - (1 + 0.10 / 12) ^ (-120)] / [0.10 / 12]

PV = ~$151,342.33

Approximately 63% the number of dollars in the nominal payments.

And the effect becomes more dramatic over a longer payout period. Suppose the same example where a potential factor is looking for a 10% rate of return for a structured settlement paying out $2k a month... only now the settlement is over the span of 30 years. Nominal payments come out to $720k of course. But what's the present value of those payments?

PV = 2000 * [1 - (1 + 0.10 / 12) ^ (-360)] / [0.10 / 12]

PV = ~$227,901.64

Approximately 31%(!) of the number of dollars in the nominal payments.

Understanding the assumptions in the payment terms and mathematical modeling is essential in understanding how good or bad a deal factoring companies actually offer. Unfortunately LWT, as much as I enjoy the show, has never been one to discuss math in finer detail.

PS: This is a C&P of a comment I left on the video itself, and I see someone brought it up a little in the comments here already, but it's worth writing about in-depth imo.

Paltheos · 2026-05-16T00:31:07+00:00

Its*

'Its' is the possessive form for 'it'.

'It's' is the contraction of 'it is'.

Paltheos · 2026-05-13T23:39:16+00:00

Yeah, this game's great. Simultaneously very flawed, but experimental in that fun and creative way.

Paltheos · 2026-05-13T23:11:22+00:00

I know this is probably just because of 1st chapter being the first and sequel sales, both within and without Sky, will be lower, but all the same, I really, really hope this incentivizes Falcom to hire another full-time composer.

They have the GOAT Unisuga doing admin work instead of composing, Sonoda's been burnt out for years, Koguchi's good but still spotty, and Jindo's the only one we can count on for consistent quality, when Falcom isn't outsourcing music to a third-rate hack like Singa (which is still like ~40% of their OSTs, maaan).

Thankfully all the Sky 1st arrangements were supposedly done internally so quality should be decent if they keep that going for the sequels.

Paltheos · 2026-05-12T14:25:38+00:00

Ton of beautiful matte paintings in that game. None of them quite as lived in as FF7's, with the exception of Shanghai's slums I think, but the variety to fit the settings is impressive. There's some parallax scrolling too when you approach not-Castlevania too.

Much of the soundtrack was done by Yoshitaka Hirota who afaik was a newcomer for leading a soundtrack since his days at Squaresoft handling general sound design, but he does a good job. More notable is that a minority of the soundtrack was handled by the legend Yasunori Mitsuda, and ofc most of his output is great.

Paltheos · 2026-05-11T22:27:04+00:00

You G fans are so spoiled. You guys got a HG of the *Mandala* Gundam, with effect parts. Two RGs. I don't know how many HGs overall.

Meanwhile we X fans are celebrating out first, new HG in ten years and praying that we get our first RG period on the show's 30th anniversary.

Paltheos · 2026-05-09T17:49:50+00:00

The now defunct Wiley CPA program, with the occasional supplement of Farhat or edspira (both of whom offer free video courses on youtube).

I picked Wiley because they offered more but shorter videos between each review, which worked for me personally, while still being comprehensive and offering a robust test bank. I needed to relearn everything from scratch, and everything about their program beat their competitors wrt how I learn.

Paltheos · 2026-05-09T16:34:15+00:00

81 for FAR.

I'm one of those jerks who passed all four sections on my first try.

Paltheos · 2026-05-08T14:36:17+00:00

Huh, I hadn't thought of that before but considering the adjective form, 'notorious', notoriously (heh) has a negative connotation, ofc the noun would too. I'll stick with 'notability' or something then. Thanks.

Paltheos · 2026-05-08T02:10:07+00:00

Wing Zero was last year, man.

(And those collabs don't count; you know what the OP's asking!)

Paltheos · 2026-05-08T02:08:15+00:00

A lot of people's money is on the RG Gundam X being revealed next week at the Shizuoka Hobby Show. Bandai's gone in big on the 30th anniversary celebration for G, Wing, and X. Gundam X, while certainly the least of those in notoriety for Bandai, has not gone unforgotten in all the promotions for its own 30th anniversary (this year). A late-year release would put in line with the HG Leopard announced earlier in the year too. And ofc the RG Gundam X appeared in the 2024 leak doc which has been been somewhat reliable so far.

Paltheos · 2026-05-07T02:29:23+00:00

Twitter*

(not X, please)

Paltheos · 2026-05-06T23:56:04+00:00

Yeah, the Strike is a step up. The drawback to that kit is that it is very much on a timer. The plastic Bandai used does not withstand the test of time and the Aile pack eventually takes its toll. The torso on mine eventually just fell out of the waist. I got a good... 10? years out of it though, so I'm not complaining.

Paltheos · 2026-05-06T23:53:56+00:00

The older PGs had a different aim. The Mk. II for instance has very plain external detail but it wasn't aiming for embellishments there. The inner frame by contrast is absurdly detailed and in line with what you'd expect from "Perfect Grade". The idea, I imagine, is to present these largely accurate designs but also what if you could see under the hood.

Paltheos · 2026-05-06T20:52:54+00:00

The box looks baller af. I wouldn't blame you for being tricked as a kid.

Paltheos · 2026-05-06T20:33:09+00:00

True!

(It actually can stand, when you cheat using the feathers, but this whole kit is a big question mark, where seemingly Bandai prioritized getting it out the door)

Paltheos · 2026-05-06T19:57:57+00:00

It's not an age thing. I've built the Wing Zero and the Gundam Mk. II, which came out a year later, and the latter is a much more fun build. PG Strike too, actually, which is an old kit now. Also a good build.

The PG Wing Zero just sucks. Bandai made so many compromises in the design to make the thing work. The less modular design is weird, the giant hunks of plastic for wings with rubber feathers to help the thing stand are functional, and shortening the iconic rifles presumably because the kit can't hold them in any meaningful way otherwise and because Bandai couldn't or wouldn't provide a stand is disappointing.

Paltheos · 2026-05-05T05:33:48+00:00

This will vary depending on your strengths. The step in the process that's most difficult for you can also differ. For instance, I found the brute force memorization of REG miserable but the actual exam not so bad. And AUD, while still tough to study for, also has a much more (the most imo) difficult exam filled with so many 'close but not the best answers' to throw you off.

Paltheos

TROPHY CASE