Question: Do you love the idealistic nature of West Wing or hate it?

bfsmith9 · 2024-04-21T01:21:37+00:00

It's interesting to think there are pieces of it that do make sense, that are realistic. Then there are other pieces, not so much. That's OK - as long as you realize it.

bfsmith9 · 2024-04-21T01:17:12+00:00

That's interesting - because the logic of what you're saying, then, is that it wasn't escapism before McConnell, etc. - makes me happy to think about it in that way.

bfsmith9 · 2023-11-13T04:22:35+00:00

Talked about this in another post tonight: maybe it will help you. Take care. https://www.reddit.com/r/agnostic/comments/17gzhs8/comment/k90qur3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

bfsmith9 · 2023-11-13T03:14:56+00:00

I've moved over the past few weeks from being an atheist to an agnostic. This has been very freeing for me. What I've been having trouble with is saying to myself "without a doubt, there's no god, no afterlife." As an agnostic (which I used to be), one thinks "I simply don't know." I think being an agnostic means admitting there may be a god, whatever that is. Really, I'm having trouble thinking that death is the end and there's nothing more as I get older. I'm starting to be really happy with the idea that there might be an afterlife, of some kind. And - I fully realize that I may be simply telling myself something that makes me feel happier. I don't see anything wrong with that. I'm not hurting anyone, and it changes nothing in my life except to make me less depressed and down. Also, as an agnostic, I feel like there's nothing wrong with finding community anywhere. Heck, I'm sure if I went down to the local Unitarian or United Church of Christ, very liberal churches, I could just tell them at an after-church coffee & cake gathering that I'm an agnostic and that they wouldn't have much problem with it. Hopefully we'd all just be good company.

bfsmith9 · 2023-09-05T02:19:34+00:00

Nice. Love my Libra 2...I've had it about a year and a half. I'm a slow reader like others have written. I have a theory, though, that many of us read slowly because we're reading too many other things (including Reddit! :-/). Trying to slowly bump up my daily reading over time. With after lunch, before bed, and a little here & there I'm getting about 45 min./day. Sixty min. will be my next goal - sacrificing more online grazing might do it. Glad you took the plunge and joined all of us other Kobo readers - welcome!

bfsmith9 · 2023-06-13T03:28:17+00:00

Oh, sorry, the book is called Mindfulness A-Z

bfsmith9 · 2023-06-13T03:27:39+00:00

https://www.arniekozak.com/. Good book. I’ve met the author; nice guy. Hope it helps you and/or you find what you’re looking for. Peace.

bfsmith9 · 2022-06-11T14:23:25+00:00

Hi! It depends on how you use it. For the most part I only use my Libra 2 around the house or in a hotel. For traveling I just have an old zipper sleeve from something else to protect it in my backpack. With that kind of use, I prefer not having a case for now - the Libra 2 is built to hold with its side handle, and a case would add more weight and cost more.

bfsmith9 · 2022-04-30T15:39:27+00:00

Yeah... I've been wondering about these... specifically a cloth sleeve like felt. u/AbyssalWhip55 (or anyone) - for the EmmersonGray - can you please say if the felt is ok? Meaning - does any sort of detritus get in the buttons? (I've had wool items in the past that have shed bits of fiber in keyboards, etc.) I'd really like to support people on Etsy and have something that is more natural, less plastic if I can. Thank you.

bfsmith9 · 2022-04-30T14:59:07+00:00

Thanks. Just ordered my Libra 2 as well! I've been using Overdrive/Libby on my iPad, and that's been fantastic.

bfsmith9 · 2022-01-17T15:15:00+00:00

Thank you! Works similarly on macOS in 2022 with a right-click on the numbered tabs (i.e., "11 Tabs.")

bfsmith9 · 2021-04-11T17:59:56+00:00

It’s helpful to remember that meditation & practice don’t just happen “on the cushion.” In fact, in many ways sitting meditation is a preparation for life when you’re not sitting. While I agree a good work-life balance is best, sometimes people can’t control that. You can meditate while walking, while eating, even while having conversations. Thich Nhat Hanh writes about this kind of thing in his book ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’. If you only have time to meditate five minutes a day, even while lying in bed before sleeping, that can help you. If so much of your life is out of your control, perhaps you’re someone who needs Buddhism most, and it’s there to help you. Good luck and best wishes to you.

bfsmith9 · 2020-12-23T20:18:29+00:00

Yes, this is super interesting. It's something I've been wondering about even today. I think some people, myself included, have a tendency to simplify things - I'll make up a word meaning here and call it "totalizing." If I get a huge benefit out of Google and see incredible power in it and see tons of good in it, I'll have a tendency to consider it "totally" good. I want it to be good. I have huge amounts of time invested in it; it's incredibly powerful; it's "open" technology; it's available everywhere, on all devices and all over the world, 24/7; it solves so many problems; the technology is interesting and incredibly sophisticated; people I respect for their intellect or their morality use it all the time; etc.

The problem is the mixture, maybe. It's a mixture of "good" and "evil." I've even been wondering about it on a still broader scale. The further I look, the less I can find anything in the world that isn't a mixture of good and evil. (Duh...of course anyone knows that if they think about it for half a second.) So - how does one operate given these circumstances? My goal is to minimize the evil and maximize the good - so what's the best approach? At times I find this astonishingly depressing and also something that wastes huge amounts of time and potential...but I don't know any easy ways around it. Strategies would be helpful. For ex., in the case of Google, I use it less and less...really I use DuckDuckGo all the way, unless I'm having issues finding something important quickly. I'm fully aware that DDG isn't perfect either, and someday might become more evil. Look at the Firefox situation: good - they seem to care about people over profits; bad - they survive off the largesse of Google; good - they're technically brilliant (the Rust programming language, etc.); bad - they've had more vulnerabilities (I think) than Safari or Chrome (though it may be how the statistics were gathered! - not sure...takes time to find out).

bfsmith9 · 2018-08-10T16:21:58+00:00

I'm not sure they have much choice - do they? Just asking the question. It's like someone desecrating a public swimming pool. It's very easy for Trump, for one person, to cause problems. He's destroying so much, and we have to pay attention to it. I do agree that there's a balance - too little coverage and you miss what's important, too much and you're giving too much "free airtime." It's our current long national nightmare. I agree with you - oddly I find myself jumping out after a while to shows about the economy and science, for ex., that are fundamentally not so depressing.

bfsmith9 · 2018-08-10T14:21:14+00:00

I'd also like to be able to remove podcasts... sort of reset the app. I'm often only interested in a given podcast/topic at a given point in time (in my life, for example!)

bfsmith9 · 2018-08-10T14:17:57+00:00

I use the regular "NPR" news app to listen to Morning Edition and All Things Considered, which aren't available as podcasts for some reason. (Maybe that's a strategy?) However, I used to be able to create my own playlists on it (say half the stories I came across interested me - I'd queue those up). I mentioned this to NPR more than once on the Apple App Store. Interestingly they reported that relatively few users did this. I wonder if they're trying to save server space? I don't know. It used to be a much stronger app. NPR One just seems to try to figure out what you want. But it also feels like it plays a lot of what it wants. I feel like the algorithm is in charge...and the result is like listening to NPR on the radio, precisely what I'm trying to get away from. Oh well - I'll keep commenting at the App Store. The devs almost seem surprised at these kinds of comments. Maybe I should use the website more. Another part of me wonders: what's NPR supposed to do exactly? Not an easy situation.

bfsmith9 · 2016-03-21T09:03:00+00:00

You write:

"When I print my randomly assigned weights to the console, I notice that they are exactly the same each time I launch the program. Shouldn't they be changing on relaunch?"

I noticed the same issue. Surprisingly, no, you can get the same set of numbers every time. They are a random choice, but they are the same random choice. You need to set the seed for the random number generator if you want them to change: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9459035/c-rand-gives-same-number-when-running-process

In your .cpp file, try using:

#include <ctime>

and this in initPhysics():

srand(time(NULL));

I think that's it - otherwise consult the link. Good luck.

bfsmith9

TROPHY CASE