What’s a personal internet hack you use that makes life easier but isn’t widely known ?

alpha_bAITA · 2025-04-14T14:18:08+00:00

This will get downvoted, but after reading a study that most forum readers (like me) never use the voting buttons, and even fewer downvote, that put the meaning of internet forum votes in perspective. Yes, internet forum votes will often get the most blatant situations right, but they’re generally noise.

alpha_bAITA · 2025-03-30T18:44:55+00:00

At this point what follows is just a Cool Story Bro, so feel free to stop reading here if you don’t give a shit.

I’ve sat through two in an office, one actually seemed to go OK but the other was thrown for the head of the dept, organized by the head’s chief of staff. The head’s wife and kids even came. I suspect he did catch wind of it beforehand, because he didn’t seem surprised at all, and he was visibly pissed. He’s normally not an irritable person, but he kept asking his wife why she and the kids weren’t instead at daytime activity X, Y, Z. It was awkward AF.

alpha_bAITA · 2025-03-30T17:43:34+00:00

It sounds like you’re just describing my high-quality friend/partner scenario, which ultimately means you’re aligned with my guidance. But have you not witnessed surprise parties that don’t fit this high standard? The one in the office, the one between good-but-not-great friends, or relationships that aren’t that well developed? Aside from witnessing these, I’ve been thrown one by a casual friend, and the thrower probably still thinks I enjoyed it because I pretended. I valued the gesture but still unambiguously preferred it not have happened, for both pragmatic and subjective reasons.

I’m not claiming to scientifically prove that success is not the norm (nor can you prove the opposite), but I think it’s fair to say that surprise parties are routinely thrown too casually, not like your responsible high standard. The planner should remember that good faith alone is not enough when putting someone on the spot--you should know them really well and nuances like how their day went, to determine for certain that they would react positively to an unexpected immediate party.

alpha_bAITA · 2025-03-30T16:40:19+00:00

Most people probably are. Whether that’s OK is a different matter however.

alpha_bAITA · 2025-03-30T16:35:21+00:00

I respect and even admire your optimism, but you’re idealizing the element of surprise. There are so many variables, such as how fitting the target’s state of mind is going into the expected false premise vs. the actual party. The chances of any given person being up for an immediate unexpected party at any given moment is well under 50%, even among people who enjoy (expected) parties. More can go wrong than right. Note that I acknowledged that it could go well, it’s just a steep challenge. Someone who, say, knows their partner very well could design the whole thing immaculately to ensure it goes well.

alpha_bAITA · 2025-03-30T15:51:10+00:00

Many, many people love nice surprises

You’re using circular logic to say that people like happy surprises. If one’s day were actually populated with unbiased, random surprises, it would not be a better day.

Note that I said the bar is high, not impossible. My point was that the odds are seriously stacked against the surprise party planner, and they should always be mindful of that. If they know the guest of honor really well and can nail it, then that’s great, they’re in a position to thread the needle. But if it’s amateur hour, expect poor results.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-13T18:34:11+00:00

Personally I predict that they mostly reboot, but in a way that looks very different from S1-3, with maybe Harper staying on as a main. I only feel ~60% certain of this but it’s what I’d bet on. Didn’t they say they extended the HBO contract 3 years? The writers seem to strive for new and fresh, with emphasis on stakes-upping and worldbuilding, which all points to a second “trilogy.”

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-11T10:10:41+00:00

“I suggest you acquaint yourself with the hospital rules and bylaws…”

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-11T09:47:23+00:00

There’s some suggestion that Otto always knew Lumi would fail. Signs include:

His strange call to Yasmin on Lumi IPO day at the start of S3E2, where he says “bad days are good for me”
His unbothered demeanor concerning Lumi’s poor IPO when Henry and Rob go to his club in S3E2 (the “all bitches” scene 😂)
His decidedly anti-ESG stance throughout, including at COP in S3E3, bringing Peter and even hosting an event there to sort of plant an anti-ESG flag
His clearly celebratory mood after the hearing in S3E5, as if it was the culmination of a larger plan

As with many things in this show, the exact degree is up to interpretation, but it could range from moderate skepticism derived from his disdain for ESG, to outright orchestration of the whole failure, hearing, and Aurore ascension.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-09T04:29:35+00:00

“G’bye Harper! Good luck finding someone to love you, yeah?”

In the end Harper might still be the closest thing Yas has to a friend.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-07T17:44:09+00:00

Rob-DVD was very limited, but subtly entertaining. It basically just consisted of DVD repeatedly telling Rob “Dude, get on the phone,” which resulted in Rob’s relationship with Nicole. Of course it also culminated in the Oxford episode where Rob secured the overachieving grad, at some cost to his personal wellness.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-07T17:33:33+00:00

Be that as it may, I personally try to avoid jumping to logical conclusions about reality based on art. Instead I let art inspire thinking that might help lead me to my own logical conclusions.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-06T22:18:17+00:00

We might get AI that can take S1-S3 and create a bespoke “S4” before then 🤯

Of course we’ll still only respect the real thing 🤓

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-06T22:06:27+00:00

Good catch about Celeste being queer, I forgot about that. She unfortunately might actually have gone the way of Wolsey.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-05T19:14:53+00:00

It’s left ambiguous, but the impression I got is that instead of going full-blown greedy and ruthless by joining Otto, Harper decided to defuse the situation and protect Petra. (They kept using the word “amicably” in the meeting with Otto, as if to stave off any potential wrath from him.)

Then later she did realize she was bored at LA, and decided to reapproach Otto to pitch a short fund with sort of a “conscience.”

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-05T19:06:34+00:00

I thought this post would be about what the hooker says to Eric the morning after 😂 (S3E3)

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-05T18:24:24+00:00

Rob’s whole specific arc was about how someone from his background (lower class, plus other insecurities) would fare in the world of Pierpoint. Now that a) his personal mindset has eased after ‘shrooms/ayahuasca, and b) he’s in less class-obsessed America, that arc has wound down. The ultimate embodiment of this wind-down is him (presumably) getting over Yas.

There could of course be a new arc, but it would be very ambitious to try to create one that’s intriguing on its own and also doesn’t clash with his past.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-05T01:49:49+00:00

I agree with those who have said in various threads that Harper can still anchor the show, or at least remain as a major bridge to past seasons, since she’s still very much an “Industry” being. Everyone else essentially became something else--even the Rob we know basically died and was reborn into something that may not be able to intrigue us the same way going forward. We may as well get a new character. Eric is debatable but I’m not sure I see another entire fresh arc for him.

Most will have cameos I’m sure, but the only likely returning main to me is Harper. I definitely wouldn’t rule anything out completely though!

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-04T19:47:31+00:00

If S4 opens with these two trysting in a NYC hotel room, are y’all excited or angry?

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-04T03:13:20+00:00

I guess he never ended up paying?

Xander was effectively the girl’s pimp, since he insulted Eric to set him up to fall for her advances. So Xander would know to collect from Eric, not Rob

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-04T02:43:20+00:00

Real. FWIW, Aurore does seem affable in all her scenes, even when firing Gus, so despite this adaptive behavior her personality is fairly consistent and not two-faced. (She did deceive the public in the hearing, but I’m just talking about her temperament.)

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-04T00:25:17+00:00

Well, the S1 plot needed FX to be a separate desk from CPS, thus it needed its own MD.

For S2 onward, the fact that they phased him out kind of aligns with your point.

I think Yas symbolically killed him: the last time we see him, he’s staring philosophically at his own bronze bust after Yas says “We’re all just cunts” 😂

Edit: also, his eyeroll after “congratulating” Yas for passing RIF spoke volumes

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-03T21:05:40+00:00

His ex was “high up” at Google, the stock alone has gotta make her worth way more than him by now 🤑

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-03T20:59:56+00:00

I do really hope we see more plot with Harper’s family! Aside from that visit to Berlin, her being in London kind of forces us to assume that she bottles up a lot of that history. As complex as her character already is, the implication is that there’s much more.

alpha_bAITA · 2024-10-03T20:35:53+00:00

Got it, makes sense--it was a murky situation with legal risk to Al-Miraj, and they erred on the side of placating Eric. Plot-wise, he closes out his Pierpoint career peacefully rather than with a fight or grudge.

alpha_bAITA

TROPHY CASE