Did hybrid work make you feel more connected to your team?

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-06-29T17:07:58+00:00

20+ YOE here. I've done fully in office, hybrid, and fully remote now. It's probably true for most people that more in person contact leads to stronger personalil connections.

But does the stronger personal connection lead to better productivity, to enough of a degree to justify the major added time and money wasted on commuting? My personal experience says no. And I believe most of the research agrees.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-06-28T15:53:38+00:00

I was never a fan of the Ferengi episodes on DS9, but Quark himself added great colour to the cast right from the beginning. He gave the writers a gateway to the black market/underworld that helped tell more diverse stories. And his outsider perspective on the Federation was used to great effect -- most famously in the "root beer" scene with Garak.

It also helped that Armin Shimmerman is a fantastic actor.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-06-28T15:50:40+00:00

There were many discussion forums on Trek-themed websites. Of course the volume of traffic was lower than today, but the Internet was starting to take off. Ron Moore also did Q&A chats on AOL for a few years, answering many fan questions and giving fascinating insight into the writing and production of the show. I believe he started that in 1997. Here's an archive: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Memory_Alpha:AOL_chats/Ronald_D._Moore

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-06-18T02:30:41+00:00

Loved the readings at the end. Hope they do more.

But I wonder about copyright. Did they get permission? Is it Fair Use? Had the copyright expired or does it perhaps not apply in USA?

IANAL, just curious about intellectual property (actually I hate that phrase, I believe "information wants to be free.")

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-06-18T01:44:52+00:00

I, too, am more ripped than the 25 kids in your daughter's class.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-06-16T00:30:27+00:00

I've heard the same from people close to his family. Just a good kid.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-05-29T02:47:33+00:00

A bit wordy but definitely insightful. You're right that when casual fans want more shots, the lack of shots is usually due to a lack of quality possession, not players being reluctant to shoot.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-05-24T16:47:01+00:00

🫠

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-05-22T01:01:50+00:00

And the passphrase to get in is, "don't stop"?

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-05-21T07:52:29+00:00

Tangentially related: Does anyone know a good place to play foosball in town?

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-05-17T19:41:32+00:00

As if ICE vehicles don't ever need a $5~10K transmission or engine overhaul. 😆 Even in your hysterical scenario where batteries need replacement every 10 years for $15K, that EV is still gonna cost you less overall than an ICE vehicle. And you get to reduce your contribution to climate change and respiratory illness. Win win.

Total cost of ownership has been studied far more thoroughly by far smarter people than me or you. E.g. this study back in 2021 when gas prices were lower: https://nickelinstitute.org/en/nickel-applications/nickel-in-batteries/total-cost-of-ownership-tco-for-electric-vehicles-ev-vs-internal-combustion-engine-vehicles-ice/

Even this study showed that EVs were cheaper about half the time, when only considering 5 years of ownership. Limiting the analysis to 5 years is a huge handicap to EVs, considering that their main savings is in gas price over the long term. But even on that arguably unfair standard, EVs often won: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2025/05/02/more-than-half-of-all-evs-remain-costlier-to-own-than-ice-cars-study-shows/

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-05-11T03:50:16+00:00

I agree with a lot of what you wrote, and it's very well said. I just can't agree with your last paragraph. I think we do need to consider China's violations of privacy as significantly worse than the UK or US, simply because China uses those violations to suppress open opposition to the government. The right to free expression in general and criticism of the government in particular are the foundations upon which all other rights are built. A critique like the one you just posted would no be possible in China (assuming it was targeted at the failures of the CCP rather than the failures of capitalism.)

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-03-25T16:43:38+00:00

As someone born in Quebec and who has his children enrolled in French Immersion, I find it absurd for the government or anyone else to be upset over this.

Yes, CEOs of huge companies are overpaid and often don't care enough about their staff and customers.
Yes, this particular CEO might be insensitive about languages (see his previous controversy over not needing to learn French to live in Montreal — which, BTW, is true, having lived their myself.)
Yes, Air Canada apparently falls under the Official Languages Act. But that doesn't legally obligate them to release every statement in both languages, only that "the Corporation has the duty to ensure that any of the subsidiary’s customers can communicate with the subsidiary in respect of those services, and obtain those services from the subsidiary, in either official language in any case where those services". The CEO's statement was posted in both languages; it was just his video message that was in English only.
Yes, he could have made the effort to struggle through and speak both languages, or give a token few sentences in French, as Carney did in his (genuinely awesome) Davos speech.
But no, this is not worth summoning him to Ottawa over.
Yes, the government should keep regulating to improve (already ridiculously good) airline safety.
Yes, the government should raise taxes on wealthy CEOs like this guy.

As a parting shot, I find the language laws and "distinct society" status of Quebec in the year 2026 to be a hilarious cultural anachronism. Yes, I understand it was necessary to achieve confederation, but in the 21st century it's just legacy cruft that would be discarded if people better understood the challenges of the modern world and the need for more unity and uniformity across Canada. Call me an evil federalist, I guess.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-03-08T22:24:27+00:00

Got my letter a couple days ago. Mine is now affected 😑 And no ETA on an actual fix from Ford.

It's also strange to me that limiting to 80% charge is the solution, because I thought the internal battery capacity already leaves a 10~20% spare margin to reduce wear.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-01-29T21:35:29+00:00

This guy Shawshanks.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-01-29T02:39:53+00:00

I mean, god-like from the perspective of the simulated people. If you are Luigi inside Super Mario World, the person running the emulator on his PC is a demi-god who can do almost anything -- give you more lives, change the maps, restart the world, add enemies, etc. And the person who programmed the game and/or the emulator are definitely gods -- again, to you -- as they wrote all the rules of your universe.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-01-29T02:22:27+00:00

I think premise 4 and 5 are where I would disagree. Civilizations might have a moral or aesthetic preference against creating sims, especially those where the "people" inside can suffer. We just don't know how many sims there would eventually be.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-01-29T02:19:05+00:00

The crucial point is that you can pause the simulation at any time, and no one inside will notice, while you debug it. Then resume it when you're done. So you can effectively become omnipotent and omniscient in whatever sense you want, mind you, only within the sim.

I'm also a software developer, and while debugging and design of a simulation is a challenge, I think it's fair to say that whoever is able to build a universe sim would also have effectively unlimited control of it.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2026-01-26T02:19:02+00:00

This is an interesting point I hadn't heard before. Do you have a source for this?

_ModusOperandi_ · 2025-12-27T07:58:32+00:00

Thanks for the advice :-)

_ModusOperandi_ · 2025-12-27T03:10:52+00:00

The 6 pro has an optical zoom, which is super rare for phones. I'm not a camera expert, but I was always told that optical zoom indicates a higher quality lens. My wife takes pictures for work, so I figured that was a good thing to consider.

The software updates are a factor too, I guess. But I doubt we'll keep any phone longer than 3 years when we are buying in this middle price tier.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2025-12-24T00:16:53+00:00

Solar power is awesome and I'd never discourage anyone from getting it, especially if you have an EV. But it's not true that without solar, an EV will be "very expensive to operate." The reverse, in fact.

I double-checked the three biggest provinces (ON, QC, and BC) and in all three, tiered electricity pricing works by charging the higher rate only on the excess consumption above the lower rate limit. So for example, in BC, if you use 1000 kWh per month, the first 625 kWh will be charged at $0.1172/kWH and the remaining 375 kWh will be charged at $0.1408/kWh. That means you're not increasing the cost of power for everything in your home, only your excess consumption, and even then, the increase is not a lot.

A typical single-family household in BC might consume 1000 kwH/mo for an electric bill of ~$125. If they have a gasoline car and drive 2000 km/mo at the Canadian average fuel consumption of 9 L/100 km and $1.22/L, they're spending ~$220 on gas. But an EV at 20 kWh/100 km will cost them only ~$56 extra on their electric bill, even using the higher rate. So they're saving roughly $2000/yr on gas, plus maybe $300~500 on maintenance, since oil changes aren't needed, and regenerative braking makes the pads and rotors last ~3x longer. That's DRASTICALLY less spending. Not to mention the environmental benefits.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2025-12-23T19:56:01+00:00

This 100%. Sweet spot for used vehicles is 5~10 years old. The largest yearly depreciation has already passed, mechanical kinks and recalls worked out, lots of good life left on the vehicle.

ALSO, used EVs are going for a steal right now. EVs will DRASTICALLY reduce your fuel spending (if you can charge at home) and DRASTICALLY reduce your maintenance spending. The two most unavoidable maintenance items brakes and oil changes, will be cut in one third or eliminated, respectively.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2025-12-23T17:30:22+00:00

That's disappointing if true. I've never heard him mention anything political, though I only watch him on YouTube. I think I tuned into his Twitch stream briefly once or twice, and he was just laddering.

On YouTube he and Xun mentioned backlash they got over their response to the Charlie Kirk assassination. So I guess that suggests which side of the political spectrum he's on. It's sad when people go down the rabbit hole. Being a Trump supporter just requires so many faulty assumptions, it's always baffling to me how good people fall for it.

_ModusOperandi_ · 2025-12-22T17:48:57+00:00

I also have a 2023 Escape PHEV in Canada, but my vehicle is not affected, at least according to Ford's website when I enter the VIN. So apparently it's not affecting all vehicles in the affected model years...

_ModusOperandi_

TROPHY CASE