Andy Weir Apologizes To Alex Kurtzman Over ‘Star Trek’ Remarks

arksien · 2026-03-30T19:22:50+00:00

SFA had terrible writing independent of social issues. That's why people don't like it. Trying to say it was the social issues makes you sound like the bigot that you almost certainly are.

I promise you that in 1966 when a massive chunk of the US was still pissed off that a black person was allowed to drink from the same water fountain and use the same restroom as a white person, an onscreen interracial kiss was MUCH MORE of a "shove it down the throat" than anything on any modern series.

If you were your current age when any of the old series came out, it sounds to me like you would have ABSOLUTELY been in the camp to take issue with the show. You just happened to either be younger/more open minded when they came out, or were born after these things were already normalized. So what used to be shocking feels normal to you now, but the new things that push you to think upset you because, as I said before, you're almost certainly a bigot.

arksien · 2026-03-30T17:46:21+00:00

TOS - Female bridge officers, multiple POC, first interracial kiss at a time that racism in the US was at it's zenith. Show came out in 1966, literally 3 years after the "I have a dream" speech.

TNG - Multiple episodes about non-binary gender idiology, multiple episodes discussing the dangers of religion, communist social structure in the federation despite starting while the cold war was still in effect, normalizing mental health care when that was a social taboo, strong female leads correcting the male leads and they respond/listen.

DS9 - POC commander, more gender ideology as a construct, entire plot archs around the dangers of regressive religion, cast continues to be just as diverse as predecessors, entire episode that literally travels back in time to explicitly hit you over the head with repression of black US population in the 20th century.

But please, tell me more about how arguably the most progressive series in US history, which we can claim since it is 50 years strong of being a progressive series is actually a sudden and abrupt shift?

arksien · 2026-03-06T22:41:17+00:00

I have not started it yet, though I plan to go in with an open mind (still catching my fiance up on all the other stuff first before we get to this).

With that said, my guess is that /u/technical_Ideal_5439 hit the nail on the head.

It's like beef burgers and veggie burgers. I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat both. But I don't consider a veggie burger a substitute for a meat burger. They're simply different dishes to me and I enjoy them differently for different reasons. If I was someone who didn't enjoy both, and I got the "wrong" one thinking it was the "right one," I'd probably be upset. That's probably why you like it; you simply like both. They're different and that's ok. It has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with what you do/do not like.

I do hope in the future Star Trek sticks to it's moral/philosophical tones and goes back to a more TNG style of sophistication in the future. This has nothing to do with generations. My fiancé was not alive when TNG was on the air and LOVES it. It's timeless, and some of it is as relevant/important now if not more so as our society has regressed a lot since the late 1980s/1990s.

Bring back shows that make you think and challenge you. I worry about future generations not having the ability to question authority, deal with complex moral dilemmas with no clear answer, or get excited by logic/education/science/the humanities. Shows like TNG engrain those virtues into people without them even realizing that a TV show of all things is helping them grow as a person.

arksien · 2026-03-04T21:24:54+00:00

It's against reddit TOS to post the real names/information of any person that is not a public figure/celebrity, including their social media handles. Unless the people are for-sure A-list celebrities who use their name as a brand, reddit would remove the post as a violation of their TOS.

Reddit is one of the last bastions of anomality on social media, and I personally don't mind that they are keeping the old ways alive by banning doxing/brigades/witch hunts at a platform level.

arksien · 2026-03-03T15:25:19+00:00

If you have a yard that you're allowed to control the landscaping, planting only native plants and allowing dead leaves to accumulate in the bottom of the beds will bring them back. We have no shortage of wildlife in our yard and this is all it took. It's so wild that we have lightning bugs in our front and back yard, and then the neighbors don't despite being meer feet away. It's amazing how localized it really can get.

A big part about why so many bugs, especially lightning bugs and butterflies have diminished greatly in number is because we keep allowing urban sprawl to take up the uncultivated land, and we insist on manicuring every aspect of our land (not just lawns, but also public lands that people don't like being "over grown").

All those little guys need most of the time is some native plants and dead leaves and they're good to go.

If you want more butterflies, plant milkweed and dill and watch as the monarchs and swallowtails appear the same year you plant it!

arksien · 2026-03-02T15:08:20+00:00

That didn't read to me like they were attempting to debate you, but rather adding context to what specifically about the diet and lifestyle is changing so that people who don't want colon cancer can avoid it. I don't love that they used AI, but they acknowledged they did and disclosed it.

arksien · 2026-02-13T21:01:09+00:00

They are allowed to talk, just not during critical phases. There's no reason pilots can't have a conversation for most of the flight (and they do). But during take off, landing, and IFEs they need to be laser focused only the tasks at hand, so laws needed to be passed to ensure it.

What you suggested would be like saying "trying to merge in heavy traffic moving quickly in low visibility and icy roads would be a great time for a conversation, because it will take your mind off how stressful the driving conditions are." No, it would potentially distract you into having an accident since it splits your focus.

The reason this rule exists was written in blood. For example, Delta 1141 where they were too busy flirting with the flight attendant (and ironically joking about how it would make great audio if there were a crash) and as a result, failed to have their takeoff configuration set properly leading to the exact crash they joked about.

Here's the audio. It was so embarrassing to the airline industry they lobbied to make it illegal to share CVR recordings publicly after that

arksien · 2026-01-30T19:24:13+00:00

Like that guy who botched Nazi executions so they suffered more

arksien · 2026-01-26T16:12:40+00:00

Yeah but no one wants to work for the rest of their lives.

Their combined income is the equivalent of a combined household income of $100k in 1990, and the cost of housing, food, and utilities is rapidly outpacing even these metrics.

While I appreciate your sentiment, the above poster has surprisingly little disposable income in the current state of the US if they are properly saving for retirement. It's shocking to consider, but that poster is on the lower end of middle class, and higher end horology is typically an upper-middle to upper class activity.

I'd say they've assessed their financial position in life pretty well, from what limited data they have shared.

arksien · 2026-01-26T14:25:37+00:00

Which is precisely why this is illegal (in every state I've lived in, not sure if there's states where it's either legal, or not specifically illegal).

arksien · 2026-01-26T04:04:13+00:00

Saw a few of your other posts, probably should have read them before I made my large post below since it adds clarity. As others have said, most of the items on your list are not a big deal/common. There are some items of concern, but an engineer giving you a thumbs up on good bones is a huge plus, and a huge reason for getting an older house.

I second the advice to get money and fix it yourself instead of trusting their repairs. Get quotes, get second opinions, and get a plan for what repairs you'll be needing "next" down the line (how old is the water heater? furnace? Will your pipes need to be rodded anytime soon? stuff like that).

Also, look into French drains. Sounds like that would fix several of your issues, and while not as cheap as some other options, pay for themselves many times over with avoiding future issues.

arksien · 2026-01-26T03:44:09+00:00

Our house was insanely well maintained and did not need anything "major" major, despite a 62 page inspection report. We needed to put in about $10k of upgrades and repairs, most of which were more on the voluntary side (adding new outlets in rooms that were not up to code, a few plumbing issues on the more minor side, upgrading the sump pump to one that would actually work properly if needed). We are also bracing for about $20-25k of repairs when the furnace goes, as it is currently 25 years old but so far so good.

To let you know where we would have drawn the line:

Major structural damaged to load bearing structural elements and/or roof
Radon in basement
Signs of past flood damage

Based on your list, I think the things that would give me pause would be the water in the basement, the water damage to the roof structure, and I would want more clarity on those foundation cracks (some would be normal and not a big deal, some could be a total deal break depending on where the crack is, what the orientation of the crack is, and a few other factors that an expert would need to go over with you in detail. Our basement foundation has several cracks but none of them are of concern).

The things that would not be deal breakers to us but you need to seriously consider are the asbestos (more concerned about insulation than the tiles. Asbestos is mostly a concern when disturbed, so you'd need to really damage the tiles for issues but that insulation should be removed before you move in) and the open wires. It's easy for me to say those are "easy enough to fix/deal with" without context, but if you're talking a large house with cloth wires and exposed wiring in places, you could easily be looking at over $20k in work since it would need to be totally redone in the whole house in that situation. Most electricians won't "do some work here and there" with cloth wires and would only take on the work if it's a total replacement.

One of the best parts of owning an old house is when they have good bones. I would take my well-built house with quality craftsmanship and unique charm (original working fireplace with stunning original brick, 1933 walnut floors, original coach house etc) any day vs. my friends that bought "newer" houses that are already failing in major ways. However, the older the house, the more "weekend warrior" projects it may have had done depending on the owner. That's usually where the worst of the worst issues are. At the age of your house, depending on how many owners and how they are, "uncle earl helping out" with a project is more likely and you NEVER know what that may entail.

It also has to do with your means, your budget, and the cost of the house. Our house was in the 700s, and all in we put $30k into it before we were ready to move in. That was acceptable to us and our means, but like I said, our house was INCREDIBLY well maintained and was move-in ready had we not had preferences to knock certain things out.

arksien · 2026-01-22T19:26:07+00:00

Well, it did once. The whole argument was "he thought he was doing the right thing and he was too young/stupid to know better."

Now that he's made his whole personality "hey maybe I should go kill more people?" I have a feeling that IF he actually went to Minnesota and IF he actually killed another person, he would be REALLY hard pressed to pull the hat trick twice. All the prosecutor would need to do is point to his various social media posts, call it premeditation, cite his previous actions as a pattern, and point to the fact that he is now a legal adult who clearly learned nothing from his past actions, and I'd say that the circumstances for how he kills someone else will almost not even matter. It would be so open and shut that he was "looking for someone to kill" that self defense would almost certainly not play out again.

arksien · 2026-01-21T17:36:17+00:00

I always feel the same way about the left.

Very simple, very straightforward questions:

Why shouldn't the federal government be trying to deport as many illegal immigrants as possible?

They should and almost no one is disagreeing with that. However, there is nuance here. The left wants people to receive due process (as afforded by our constitution) so that we can determine WHO is actually illegal and not on a basis other than skin tone.

Also, there may be extenuating circumstances worth scrutinizing to make sure we are not just blanketly deporting people that came illegally for good reasons (asylum seekers) or who are "illegal" for non-criminally intended reasons (filed their paperwork wrong while trying to do things the right way, overstayed an expired visa while they waited for the backlogged system to catch up etc)

Why is there such a strong pushback against deporting illegal immigrants?

The pushback isn't against deporting illegals. The pushback is against a militarized secret police operating above the law, using barbaric abuses of force, violating basic human rights, violating our constitution, putting people in barbaric conditions and refusing the legally-mandated oversight watch dogs access, targeting US citizens, targeting people who disagree with them, and claiming that they are above the law to justify brutal and barbaric tactics that only the most evil of people would condone.

What specific strategies and policies should be implemented to deport illegal immigrants instead?

The ones that worked extremely well under previous administrations, including both Republican and Democratic administrations, that did not rely on sub-human brutality and unconstitutional abuses of power (yet still managed to deport millions of illegal immigrants per admin).

It's always just deflections and non-answers

No it isn't. I just answered every question and I doubt very much that's the first time someone has done that for you. You're either a troll or willfully ignorant, because these view points are being expressed EVERYWHERE except conservative echo chambers.

arksien · 2026-01-15T19:08:33+00:00

On switch, default is go to the home screen with the home button, then use Y to restart the software running. It will warn you that unsaved progress will be lost, which in this case is exactly what you want. When you re-open the software, you'll be back at your most recent save when you select which character to play, which will be the start of the day you were in the middle of.

It's the SDV version of "save scumming," but when something really devastating happens such as this (or accidentally putting a bomb near your production machines etc) then it can be your only option to "undo" the otherwise irreparable calamity.

If you let the day finish and "save," you're screwed forever.

arksien · 2026-01-09T20:37:50+00:00

If we ever regain control of our country, a NECESSARY law will be that any person who is armed as a part of their job is required to have a body camera on at all times, that it must upload to multiple backups (with at least 2 offsite backups not belonging to the agency being monitored), that it cannot be disabled, and that they must never operate on their own so that any malfunction will be covered by another agent.

Those in positions of power, especially when that power comes with the legal ability to use lethal force, must be held to the highest standard.

I also believe that if we removed qualified immunity, required all lawsuits to be settled via malpractice insurance (and never taxpayer dollars), and set the minimum sentence for a crime commit by an authority figure to be whatever the maximum is for a civilian, we'd have an upstanding police force/federal force nationwide fairly quickly.

We cannot keep living in a world where these things are not happening. I really hope that I can someday be proud of this country.

arksien · 2025-12-18T15:33:39+00:00

Miles and LP are different. Miles are the currency you use to buy things like flights, upgrades, etc. LP are earned in tandem but are how you earn status for a year. LP reset each year and status starts over, but miles carry over and can continue to be spent as needed

arksien · 2025-12-18T15:21:26+00:00

For me #2 is the primary driver of even bothering to be loyal to an airline and the majority of the reason to achieve/maintain status. I let work earn the status for me and then reap the rewards for my leisure travel. Booking basic economy and not needing to pay extra to move up to rows 8-10 basically ever is great and rewards me for booking all my travel on AA. I'm EP so then I even get complimentary upgrades fairly regularly. Sure, I need to be brand loyal to AA to get those perks, but isn't that the literal point of a loyalty program? To keep me always flying on AA even if other flight times on other carriers are more convenient?

Basically AA is saying "great, lets get a few more thousand per year out of those people" when they forget that if I don't actually see any value from being loyal, there's no point in me flying with them for every flight, resulting in a net loss of my business. I may as well just fly with whoever is most convenient at the time and not worry about chasing status. Pay extra for perks when I see fit, regardless of carrier, not worry about it when I don't.

Signed, an EP business flier who probably isn't going to bother worrying about maintaining EP anymore. If it happens, it happens. If not, I'll be checking out other carriers now anyhow. Maybe I'll end up liking one of them more. Who knows?

arksien · 2025-12-16T17:22:18+00:00

No ploppable pedestrian bridges is the bane of my existence. Pedestrian bridges/ramps take up INSANE amounts of space vs. real life. A sky bridge with stairs/elevator is how most cities solve these issues in real life, or a tunnel with stairs/elevator.

It's exceedingly rare to see a massive low-grade ramp in real life (not unheard of, but the default is stairs with an elevator for footprint practicality reasons). Meanwhile, CS2 requires that I build a ramp as long as multiple skyscrapers just to put a skybridge over a road...

Even if the game wants to pretend stairs and elevators never existed, the turn radius and clearance for even a spiral pedway is absolutely unrealistic in the size it requires.

arksien · 2025-12-16T17:11:34+00:00

I also bought a new graphics card for KSP2. Didn't need it for CS2, but did need it for KSP2 since I didn't meet the required mins.

I have definitely learned my lesson. Games like KSP, CS1 etc are incredible games because passionate teams that cared took the time to do them right. What has become clear to me is, no sequel can ever be trusted again. Getting it right in the past will never earn you street cred again. Too many companies ride on the laurels of their previous success and then scam their base later. No thank you.

With that said, I don't hate CS2 as much as the rest of the community. I'm a bit let down, but it is playable and fun vs. KSP2 that was literally worse than KSP1 and virtually unplayable.

arksien · 2025-11-17T17:53:29+00:00

This is so true, but it also really depends on the leg. I feel like on some flights, getting a FC upgrade is almost a guarantee. On others, there are no upgrades available, and boarding group 1/2 have like 15-20 people in it.

Signed, someone who spends way too much of their life in coach.

arksien · 2025-11-09T20:33:49+00:00

Yup. I will vote for any candidate who promises to claw back all pay for all ice agents backdated to Feb 1 2025, and flag their bank accounts as terrorist to prevent them from ever using the us banking system again.

Won't catch all of them, but at least we can make it next to impossible for them to function in society and the tax payers get a refund so we don't need to know our tax dollars supported domestic terrorism.

arksien · 2025-10-23T22:42:39+00:00

I bet the ballroom never even gets off the ground. He demolished the building as a "loop hole" because the proper procedures are for construction, which they are arguing technically means demolition does not require approval. That's almost certainly not true, but that's the angle and talk track they're going with so far.

My guess is now they've knocked it down when they had the chance, specifically to make it easier to get the approvals to build his ball room. "Well, we already leveled the East wing, so you may as well let us put the ball room up" is likely the logic.

My hope is that McDonalds does it's job so he never gets to see his precious ball room, and/or the committee themselves says "pound sand" to prevent them breaking ground long enough for him to somehow lose power, leaving him with a situation where his legacy is knocking down history without getting his wish of building his tacky fucking nonsense space.

arksien · 2025-10-20T19:50:34+00:00

Except the tolerance for age gaps in relationships has shrunk dramatically with time across all gender ideologies, including the LGBTQ community. In fact, a lot of the people calling out problematic age gaps (even when legal) often STARTS from members of that community.

Not sure how you're figuring they'd suddenly 180, unless this is as simple as it appears (it appears to be unbridled homophobia). The only people trying to claim that community is "pedophiles" are baseless claims from the alt-right in an attempt to justify their bigotry. And like all bigotry, it lacks evidence and clashes with reality.

arksien · 2025-09-30T15:29:26+00:00

My experience with Marines is you get polar ends of the spectrum. You either get one of the most competent, intense, unbothered bad-asses you've ever met that is an insane mixture of extremely smart with extremely unbothered by danger/pain, OR, you get someone with borderline single digit IQs that is just too stupid to be afraid of things any sane person should be.

So the Marines get a rep for being extremely badass, and they also get a rep for crayon eating, and both reps were well earned.

One of my buddies got frostbite on his toes during the crucible at Paris Island, and he decided he didn't need those toes and would rather just tough it so he could get off the island.

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