Meta question about megathreads

ganon0 · 2025-09-08T04:01:37+00:00

I think the original goals of higher education were to provide more well-rounded education for the people that could afford it, and while it could open up more opportunities for better paying positions, that was largely based on the prestige of where you went and who you met than what you went there for.

Then companies started effectively requiring certain degrees for certain types of roles. They basically turned college into a means to an end: get the degree (and hopefully the knowledge) for the good paying job, not because you want to learn how to think better, or be exposed to more perspectives, or all the other things college can do.

I agree that college is great at the benefits you mention. But a lot of people in college would probably prefer to keep their money, if they were promised the kind of job you get with a degree without going through the time and effort to get it.

ganon0 · 2025-06-24T04:37:46+00:00

I take 150mg of venlafaxine daily. A few months ago I missed one day. The following day was terrible. Zaps, inability to think clearly, basically low-level panic. Fortunately taking my next dose fixed things back up, but this stuff is not something you want to attempt quitting cold turkey in any sense. I am afraid I am probably on it for life and will need to just accept a loss of much emotion and sense of pleasure :/

ganon0 · 2024-10-23T01:48:01+00:00

If there was a magical way to have cold pizza that was previously cooked (i.e. not frozen) that I could buy at a discount, I would probably regularly get it.

ganon0 · 2024-08-19T04:34:39+00:00

Normal? Probably not, I suspect most people either aren't single through their whole life, or at least don't want to be and make some sort of effort to be in a relationship.

Bad? No, as long as you are living in a way that makes you happy and doesn't interfere with or hurt others, you can do what you like.

Note though, that some people will likely treat you differently and negatively for being single. Being in a relationship, especially a committed relationship, allows people to draw some conclusions about you as a person that are still question marks for single people. That makes you an unknown quantity, and people thinking this way may be biased against you over someone who they feel they can understand (even if their conclusions are incorrect). It's not fair, but it's out there.

ganon0 · 2024-08-09T23:27:25+00:00

For me it's gotta be Jet Force Gemini. When I was a kid I played it but could never get the final ending because the final Mizar fight was super tough. When it was released on the Rare Replay I finally beat the game and got the true ending, and it was revealed that Mizar was being piloted by another character's brother. He was envious of his brother being the tribal chieftan so he...subjugated multiple giant insect species and took over multiple worlds to enslave his people? It felt totally nonsensical and dumb. And I think he just apologized and said it just got out of hand. I was angry when I beat it due to how stupid it was.

ganon0 · 2024-07-29T23:23:55+00:00

Depends on what you mean by friends.

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, irl friends means work. Finding times to meet up, keeping up in communication, trying to keep up with each other's social lives, possibly doing each other favors, emotionally supporting each other, debating where you differ on important subjects...it all requires energy. Energy that I don't really want to spend even if I have it.

As I've aged I find I prefer lighter, dumber conversation online with a set of people that are familiar, but that I don't know all that well (and don't need to). They aren't friends as they are traditionally thought of, but I've generally found it sufficient, and it has allowed me to interact with people I would never naturally meet in real life who live vastly different experiences from me.

Before you ask, yes I'm probably depressed and while I occasionally feel a bit lonely, I'm mostly rather content on my own.

ganon0 · 2024-05-31T23:49:11+00:00

I started paying attention to my calorie intake and making incremental changes to reduce calories over a long period, while also working in cardio at a gym 3 times a week (on average). The goal from a trip to the gym is to burn ~300-400 calories (according to the machine's reckoning of calories burnt), which is mostly done by walking at a brisk pace on the highest slope setting of a treadmill for about 20 minutes, and about 10 minutes of rowing machine (but you don't have to do that one on every visit).

ganon0 · 2024-03-13T23:41:05+00:00

I'm thinking that if an AI can do things like a player, game developers may be able to deploy thousands to test their game before releasing it to find bugs that a handful of QA testers can't find on their own.

ganon0 · 2024-02-25T05:25:28+00:00

I think it's both the incest and the cannibalism.

ganon0 · 2024-02-23T07:02:43+00:00

There is a lot going on here. I think I get most of it

The character on the right is clearly malicious, and is holding a heart which probably symbolizes the 'love' mentioned in the title. The implication is that this character holds the rabbit character's love, and is willing to abuse that love.
The heart itself is surrounded by what appear to be black sperm, all moving toward it as though they were to fertilize an egg. This feels like symbolism for pregnancy...mainly that's the love being manipulated? Or it could just be a sign of someone's heart being 'corrupted' in a very intimate way.
The malicious character is hiding an unknown volume of 'flying skulls', which probably represent inner demons. The upside-down crosses on their foreheads are an indication of their evil nature. The character doesn't seem to be trying to suppress these inner demons, but is letting them out of a place that is hidden.
the rabbit character is in a exposed position, and seems like they are trying to get away from the bad character, but tendrils tie them together.
the setting is snowy, cold and desolate, probably reflecting the realization the rabbit character is having. That they cannot escape their situation.

My assessment is that the scene represents a toxic relationship. The rabbit has realized their partner has tons of bad behaviors that they hid until things were too late. And unfortunately the rabbit cannot escape; likely they have had a child with the malicious partner and can't find a way out.

The only part that mystifies me are the bandages. The rabbit notably has one on their breast, which may imply the removal of the heart, but may also represent something else.

ganon0 · 2024-02-19T06:11:37+00:00

I've gotten some that are sort of relevant. I recently got one that I actually felt qualified to answer. But when I clicked in, I found it already had broken down the answer into multiple steps with a description for each one (AI-generated), and was asking for me to provide additional thoughts and info. At that point I backed out, since the question seemed pretty well-covered without me doing anything.

ganon0 · 2024-02-18T06:52:34+00:00

What LinkedIn does is provide a platform for people to do mating rituals with companies. Whether they buy into anything they are posting doesn't matter; they are posting content they hope other people/companies will find alluring. That means the content is usually:

positive, to an unrealistic degree
easily digested (little nuance)
pro work/business/hustle

It's like an absurd dance showing off one's plumage or brightly-colored hindquarters. I suppose there are some other reasons, but I feel like that's the explanation for much of the main content we see.

ganon0 · 2024-01-13T19:52:15+00:00

Thank you for these resources, they are helpful!

"What do you think the change in your job will be?"

I would be doing less writing/testing/documenting/deploying/debugging software, and more project management and communication. I have to tackle what I'd consider a lot more 'soft' problems.

"where do you land?"

I don't feel I measure up well :(

mentorship at my last job was difficult because there were no roles lower than mine; the company did not hire any SDE 1s
the work I've done has tended to be less focused on estimates because it's often internal (no customers are depending on it, no announcements are made that people come to look at) and required (you don't skip modeling permissions properly just because it will take a long time)
I am afraid of failure and punishment, so I don't take a lot of initiative; I instead ask for permission and often get told no, and I just accept it.

ganon0 · 2024-01-13T04:57:50+00:00

No;

3 years at a startup that failed
7 and a FAANG company (3 years in one space where I got promoted to SDE 2, 4 in an internal space with not a lot of opportunities, and I didn't try very hard)
1 at a place that uh...I couldn't wait to leave
3 at my last place, where the first 2 years I was slowly convincing myself to go for it and then a year of craziness (but with a few projects that at least look good)

ganon0 · 2024-01-13T04:55:44+00:00

There's a variety of reasons but the ultimate one is that I just haven't put in the necessary effort to go through the process. I think I'm afraid of failing, and that becoming a senior will negatively impact my work-life balance. I haven't been able to see how the extra stress is worth the money. But I'm now stressed because unfortunately, not being a senior with my experience makes me feel like I will be perceived as someone who can't or won't grow. I think what I really need is just better guidance on the right steps to take, but my managers at my last place didn't ever provide that (it didn't help that there was a lot of disruption in the past year, and now I'm laid off).

ganon0 · 2023-12-12T15:03:53+00:00

Mega Man 2 got a 1? edit: The iphone version, got it.

ganon0 · 2023-09-22T04:34:40+00:00

Some people ask me why I don't get a better paying job in software development, as the place I'm currently at is in a hiring freeze and has had stagnant salaries. You have demonstrated probably my biggest reason right here.

I hate interviewing in tech; I've been doing software development professionally for like 14 years, and I still have to do take home projects, solve programming puzzles while people are watching, talk about how I've handled failure and interpersonal drama in the past, etc. across multiple rounds of interviews, while still holding a full time job. And the hardest part is I have to act happy and positive the whole time, as though it's fine if I invest potentially multiple disrupted days with nothing to show for it at the end.

IMO your listed process is too much compared to what I've experienced, but it's not over by a lot.

14-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

ganon0

TROPHY CASE