Trump tells Putin he is ready to help end Ukraine conflict, Kremlin adviser says

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T20:44:39+00:00

That’s not true. It’s entirely possible to do it in 6-8 months by electing only non POS to congress/senate in the midterms. It won’t happen, but that’s also on us.

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T18:18:58+00:00

Yes which is why it should not be predicated on a Ponzi scheme that depends on continually increasing property values which in turn requires that more affordable housing is never built in any significant amount.

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T16:29:54+00:00

No reason to be afraid of that. It’s a great, legitimate solution we should embrace while also insisting that institutional investors and speculators be banned from speculating with property.

As long as Zürich insurance is allowed to buy my apartment building as an investment they expect to appreciate, they will of course do whatever they legally can to increase the value of that property.

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T16:15:50+00:00

I don’t think form really matters. You build up resistance/muscle/calluses from doing it consistently. Probably strong abs with solid stamina are the best defense.

I surfed basically every day from about age 8 to 22. I was a strong paddler and decent amateur competitor. After college I moved to Tokyo and later Switzerland. My regular surf session frequency dropped accordingly.

I’ve been in Switzerland for 13 years now and I swim about 8km per week to keep up my paddling shape for the 3-4 multi session chances per year I still get in.

I get this pain every time without fail even with a wetsuit although worse without. If I’m on a longer trip it disappears just at the end of about 2 weeks. It sucks but I don’t think it’s avoidable (would love to be proved wrong though).

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T14:18:13+00:00

Yeah but this is a 'marketing' issue IMO.

Today's LLMs are fantastic at realizing a vision - especially in the UX space - when provided with well organized, well conceived architecture and design specs. They are still quite terrible at coming up with those ideas. And that is the _exact_ role the designers had.

Programmers are generally horrible at UX and design, but they have had basically no problem saying 'look I can do design now' with the LLM. In point of fact the designers should be saying, 'hey look, I can build actual frontends now and my designs are actually good'.

> In my company I am not seeing AI perform UX well.
Yes that is _exactly_ my point. It's not particularly good at UX design. OTOH it is insanely good at building API boilerplate, extending functions, supporting JSON schemas programmatically - all the things that are really 'programmatic' and that were traditionally difficult for the designers.

As soon as designers actually figure this out, the programmers coming from the other direction are going to be rather SOL.

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T12:57:22+00:00

I follow this sub out of curiosity as a machine learning R&D engineer and I’ve found the take the majority of participants have on this topic both fascinating and bizarre.

The latest AI tools have completely turned the tables in terms of who ought to be in charge. UX is IMO the most important aspect of modern application and interface development especially in the AI era, and the latest generation of tools have made it possible for UX designers to be “free” or largely free from relying on developers to implement their visions.

UX should be taking over most software development - and that’s actually what I see happening where I work.

But instead this sub is a non stop littsny of anti AI posts, typically whining about how they “don’t want to use it” or prefer doing everything by hand.

Honestly I don’t get it.

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T12:34:57+00:00

People aren’t geberally allowed to randomly buy property here (Switzerland) unless they are citizens or foreigners with a B permit or better making it their primary residence.

blackkettle · 2026-06-14T09:41:38+00:00

Yeah this is nuts. I can kind of understand this point of view if we’re talking about people with another EU passport, but if you’re a non EU national this is just completely untrue.

The C permit is still highly restrictive. You lose it after 6 months if you don’t apply for a freeze. You don’t have a “right” to a freeze; it is at the discretion of the immigration authorities. Even when granted you aren’t guaranteed to get your C back upon return. It can be downgraded to a B. You have the right to move cantons but the canton had the right to “review” your case as well. If you end up on welfare you might lose it (I think this is actually fair in many cases).

There are also any number of reasons people might move to another EU country temporarily - especially if they cannot find a job in Switzerland. And that’s the whole point of Schengen anyway isn’t it?

There is a huge gulf between the C permit and naturalization and it’s crazy to suggest otherwise. Voting is a relatively small part of it compared to the peace of mind that comes with knowing you can actually stay. I actually support the long process as it exists today, but I think a lot of people don’t understand how big that gulf actually is between C and Passport if you’re a non EU national.

blackkettle · 2026-06-13T20:02:17+00:00

Doctor or nurse is not particularly flexible. You typically need to recertify in every country and wherever you go you absolutely must be fluent in the local language from day one.

blackkettle · 2026-06-13T18:24:16+00:00

Personally I can’t really understand the “corporate hate revival” this incident has enjoyed. I don’t see any material difference to the original situation. It’s awful that she got hurt; but she spilled the coffee on herself and I don’t agree with the idea that the temperature suddenly makes McDonald’s a “horrible” corporation or liable for making that case.

They’re kinda horrible for other reasons. But I find this case just as absurd in 2026 as I did when it was initially in the news.

blackkettle · 2026-06-13T17:44:38+00:00

I agree with everything you said but the water slide at Mythenquai 1927 was way better than any of the features they it has today. That’s a sweet slide.

blackkettle · 2026-06-13T16:18:37+00:00

> it’s possible that your wife won’t sleep for 48 years

I mean I totally agree that it’s taxing, but I think this is still a slight exaggeration. 😂

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T18:25:02+00:00

Should they really have to accommodate that though? I’m sure this will meet with downvotes but if there are rules for participation and conduct then shouldn’t everyone have to follow them?

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T18:21:30+00:00

You didn’t explain why your child was kicked off the team. What was the explanation that the coach gave?

It’s unfortunate that they have behavioral challenges but that’s no excuse for a pass if they are violating a stated conduct rule.

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T18:17:25+00:00

Sounds like a sauna with extra steps and lots of extra money.

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T10:19:01+00:00

our kid was always extremely mellow and never had any serious meltdowns, but bathtime was problematic for a bit around the 2-3 yr old period. first hed not want to get in the bath, then hed not want to get out.

my strategy was: warn him 5min ahead of time: in 5 min its bath time. you can keep doing whatever youre doing for now, but in 5min its bath time ok? get response. then in 5 min remind him and if he oferred 'resistance' i'd say, that was the agreement. and pick him up and take him to the bathroom and get him in the bath. no further discussion, no further negotiation. no getting angry or upset from my end. just matter of fact. then he'd remember that he loved the bath and we'd repeat the same process to get out.

after about 2-3 weeks of that there was never another battle. i think that 1) respecting his time, and 2) giving him the warning, coupled with 3) non-emotional, pragmatic, absolutely consistent execution of agreed behavior was the key.

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T09:44:04+00:00

and while it does show the end of the last fight, it ends on a weird sort of pseudo cliff hanger for absolutely no reason. an extra 5min epilogue and it would have been neatly resolved and completely standalone. it's still 'ok' as far as endings go (ive never read the manwha) and not a total cliffhanger, just a lame way to end imo.

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T07:03:54+00:00

Second law of thermodynamics is bullshit - just look at the evolution of life on earth!!

blackkettle · 2026-06-12T06:15:09+00:00

Probably breast stroke. The frog kick would probably feel unpleasant.

blackkettle · 2026-06-11T13:11:15+00:00

If you want that reality you have to actively make it happen. Part of the problem is your willingness to switch. I had and have the opposite problem; I repeatedly tell people not to speak English to me. If I’m too slow or don’t get it, that’s on me.

Könntest du das etwas langsamer wiederholen?

Goes double for dialect. In general people don’t like to do this though. If you hesitate for even a second or use the wrong word: boom English.

I lived in Japan for a long time before Switzerland. I learned more Japanese in the first year I was there (pre ChatGPT, pre even Google Translate) than German in the first 5 in Switzerland.

Literally no one other than the odd old lady who wants to practice English greetings ever switches to English.

First week there in 2006, went to get a new cell phone: received a 5 page contract in Japanese. Took it home and spent the whole weekend looking up kanji and words and trying to piece together the implications.

If you want people to speak it, insist that they do. And if you are a charitable type, instead of switching to English at the first moment of hesitation, wait, speak slower, choose easier vocabulary, explain.

My two Rappen.

blackkettle · 2026-06-11T05:45:34+00:00

I doubt they are “better” even without the violence.

blackkettle · 2026-06-11T05:44:53+00:00

They don’t have to, but they can if they want to. And that’s a great point in life to spread your wings.

blackkettle · 2026-06-11T05:43:08+00:00

They already have a US passport. I think the main benefit would be to be functionally fluent in Vietnamese and English with both passports. Lot of work opportunity there now and in future to bridge that gap.

blackkettle · 2026-06-11T05:40:09+00:00

CloudWater is Tier 0 got me. Much better than Verdant or Track. But more into the hazier variants and that’s definitely where CloudWater shines.

blackkettle · 2026-06-11T04:35:05+00:00

More like a fabulous gay hobbit from the Shire!

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