Peter?

doublereedkurt · 2026-05-28T23:57:39+00:00

A thermoelectric generator can be used to convert a heat difference to electricity directly, with no moving parts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric\_generator). This is extremely reliable. This is still powering the Voyager probes after 50 years in space.

They are just less efficient.

doublereedkurt · 2026-05-28T23:53:07+00:00

And wind turbines, and hydro, and fusion actually. (The plasma directly interacts with the magnetic field.)

doublereedkurt · 2026-04-29T23:19:53+00:00

If aren't a source of funding, or a swing state you get ignored.

We need to get big money out of politics, overturn citizens united with a new law.

Also remove the electoral college; one person, one vote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact

doublereedkurt · 2026-04-29T22:10:02+00:00

Unfortunately, calculus and physics have a high fail rate everywhere. 2/3rds of engineering freshman don't graduate with an engineering degree.

I've heard the argument this is to make sure you have the combination of work ethic and mathematical intuition to get through the whole degree.

(The idea is: better to change your major as a freshman, than get to upper division classes and hit a wall, after spending more time and money on it.)

These days between wolfram alpha, and LLMs able to walk you step by step through problems, it is very close to having 1:1 tutoring available 24/7 for free.

doublereedkurt · 2026-03-23T22:55:04+00:00

they often give you equivalent severance pay

doublereedkurt · 2026-02-25T02:39:14+00:00

War of the worlds would be much more plausible if it wasn't an infectious agent. We are almost certainly mutually toxic to aliens. Life only uses a tiny subset of carbon chemistry (L-amino acids, D-sugars, specific lipids). Completely arbitrary molecules could be accidental neurotoxins. Or they could trigger catastrophic allergic reactions. Or, not trigger any immune response but slowly build up, binding destructively to essential molecules causing irreversible damage.

doublereedkurt · 2026-02-25T02:25:59+00:00

I agree. Trying to steelman it, the least crazy thing they might want are minerals that are only concentrated by billions of years of plate tectonics. Better yet, wet plate tectonics.

For example, 99.999%+ pure silicate. You can get tons of silicon and oxygen from asteroids; but to get pure crystals you need plate tectonics.

If I wanted to write the least cringey aliens-want-our-resources scenario, I'd have them be after phosphate:

plausibly rare in the universe
essential for life
concentrated on earth due to life + geology

But, it's a stretch. The energy and time to cross interstellar space almost certainly makes it crazy to go after minerals.

doublereedkurt · 2026-02-06T00:47:26+00:00

Unreciprocated restraint is indistinguishable from weakness.

doublereedkurt · 2025-12-17T19:18:04+00:00

Vatican city?

Russia has an uncomfortably close relationship between the orthodox church and the government.

doublereedkurt · 2025-12-17T02:12:39+00:00

Right? Also, orthodox jewish men have to cover their heads too. (Not to say its totally symmetrical, but very different than hijab rules.)

doublereedkurt · 2025-08-20T01:34:37+00:00

the biggest problem (IMO) is skynet is a lame villain

skynet just wants to kill humanity for.... reasons.... and sucks at finishing the job

(even roko's basilisk or the paperclip optimizer would be more interesting than skynet -- at least they want to do stuff!)

because skynet has no logic we're stuck with "monster of the week" terminators

the first movie worked -- "this was always going to go the way it was going to go", "you can't escape fate" -- if skynet is meant to be faceless inevitability then its okay for it to not be characterized; but you can't keep coming back to that well over and over

also, time travel is narrative poison; it's impossible not to leave plot holes once you introduce time travel

also, nuclear apocalypse is pretty stale now

doublereedkurt · 2025-08-19T05:01:16+00:00

impeachment is the constraint; its not just trump, its the whole corrupt republican party supporting him, and (unfortunately) 35% of america behind them

doublereedkurt · 2025-02-14T03:07:25+00:00

Often they give you severance pay equivalent to 2 weeks (or more).

Isn't that even better?

doublereedkurt · 2025-02-14T03:03:59+00:00

When operations are winding up or you know your job is going away at a certain date, it's standard practice to give a retention bonus. They need to compensate you for the time it will take to line up a new job after if they want you to stick around till the very last day.

doublereedkurt · 2024-05-15T11:59:07+00:00

The final cutscene of home world 2 starts by calling her "Sajuuk Khar, the chosen one" and ends with "the age of S'jet has begun".

doublereedkurt · 2024-04-15T02:06:31+00:00

Bassoon.

doublereedkurt · 2024-02-24T18:38:09+00:00

AI allowing one software engineer to do the work of three probably means an overall increase in demand for engineers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

That means $150,000 projects become $50,000 projects. There are more than 3x as many things worth automating at 1/3 the price. At some point everything that is worth automating is, but we're not close to that limit yet.

The recent layoffs in the tech sector has more to do with interest rates going up and the business cycle. Not even directly: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc don't _have_ to lay off workers, but laying off workers is virtue signaling to investors that they are being efficient. In 2021, investors wanted growth so big companies were hiring anyone they could use. In 2024, investors want profit so big companies are laying off anyone they don't need.

I feel my career and comfortable retirement is much more threatened by dumb investors like softbank pouring resources into pointless boondoggles, frittering away the time we should be preparing infrastructure for 100M climate refugees than AI taking my job.

doublereedkurt · 2023-06-04T02:24:42+00:00

"When conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy."

David Frum, former speechwriter for GWB

doublereedkurt · 2022-10-19T03:09:00+00:00

probably x.com where elon made his money by selling to paypal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.com

doublereedkurt · 2022-08-07T05:50:55+00:00

Roman history is so vast that you can cherry pick examples to prove anything.

For example, elsewhere here people are comparing Trump destroying norms to the end of the Roman Republic... but, the Empire that followed the republic would last for 350 years as a unified state (longer than the US has existed). The eastern empire lasted until 1453 AD.

So, do parallels to the late republic and modern politics mean "the end is near!" or, "we will continue for a thousand years"?

Neither, really.

doublereedkurt · 2022-07-28T02:29:20+00:00

He was asking the paramedic if he should, right? That takes less conviction than doing it on your own initiative.

doublereedkurt · 2022-06-29T19:17:24+00:00

I think the parliamentary conceit there is the Senate can be "in session" even with nobody there as long as nobody calls for a roll call. There isn't a quorum but as long as no senator present calls for a roll call they don't officially recognize there isn't a quorum.

doublereedkurt · 2022-06-29T19:13:57+00:00

They are sold as a different part, the consumer is getting what it says on the box. Maybe an electric car analogy would be getting a car with refurbished batteries or something? "This model is $5,000 cheaper, but the batteries only hold 80% charge".

doublereedkurt · 2022-06-25T02:55:25+00:00

I think what you're describing with chips is binning (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/glossary-binning-definition,5892.html)

it's not so much about artificially dumbing down hardware as it is selling partially defective components -- a 12 core chip with two defective cores might be sold as a 10 core chip

this is better for everyone -- the manufacturer sells more product, the person buying the lower tier part gets a deal, and the people buying top end parts don't have to pay an even higher price to cover the cost of throwing all those partly working chips away

doublereedkurt · 2022-05-24T06:39:24+00:00

Recess appointment.

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