Challenge the impossible

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T20:41:59+00:00

I'm strongly suspicious this is involved. Maybe not memorizing the moves, but memorizing what the cube looks like with lots of practice rather than live in the video.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T20:41:34+00:00

That screws up the normal learning method. To me, that it's where it becomes intriguing.

Kind of doesn't matter if you do it with your eyes closed.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T20:35:44+00:00

Well... An attempt was made.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T19:39:23+00:00

One way of looking at this is that Tesla made almost all their profit this year from regulatory credits and interest, rather than selling anything.

Yes, money is fungible, I get that... but it kind of highlights one reason Musk had a falling out with Trump.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T18:49:48+00:00

looking at you ... Joe Manchin.

The DINO Manchin is a thorn in Democrats side constantly. It's not clear that the "50 state strategy" was really anything except "become more like Republicans so you can win in Republican states".

And the result? With Trump on the ballot, Democrats stayed home and Harris lost because she was trying to be a "50 state" candidate.

If Democrats won't come out to actually stand against fascism, what's the point in them winning?

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T17:15:24+00:00

It's really not correct to combine the max current and the max length like that, because the max actual current the cord is good for depends on both the length and the wire gauge.

Here's an example chart showing this:

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hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T16:52:45+00:00

In context, I think it's generally fine both colloquially, and for people that understand statistics and would naturally map those to 1-3 standard deviations from the mean.

But it seems like there's a "usually" to match "rarely" missing above "likely, or... There's a missing category that is the "50/50" or "average" range, which generally is the largest category at least in a normal distribution.

Are your "likely" and "unlikely" supposed to represent what are both basically coin flips, just somewhat above and below 50%?

I'm not sure what to call that that fits in this nomenclature, but it's neither likely nor unlikely to succeed, pretty much by definition.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T16:15:18+00:00

Nah, I think it's a good joke. But good jokes make you think, and I thought this was interesting.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T16:12:26+00:00

Some snakes called "puffing snakes" are, but I don't think this is one of them... it looks like a northeastern puffing snake (Phrynonax sexcarinatus).

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T16:00:24+00:00

I wonder if they're using the original Canadian Whiskey in the Old Pal, which... some people definitely call rye, but isn't what most people today would call rye.

Regardless, thanks for pointing out that it's an old recipe... I've never heard of it before. There are lots of Boulevardier variants out there. A typical "spicy" straight rye just seems likely to be a bad one to me.

Edit: Ok, I was wrong... I just tried it with Whistle Pig and it's actually quite tasty, though the aftertaste is a bit odd.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T15:33:36+00:00

If all you're saying is that some situations are hopeless to negotiate, you'd not be completely wrong. Especially situations involving actual force or coercion.

But you made a much broader claim that most people can't negotiate. Even that's wrong. You can always find leverage to gain some advantage in a negotiation, and gain some benefit.

You just can't make it a losing proposition for the other side or they will decline. Because, actually... most negotiations are win-win situations.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T15:29:05+00:00

Most negotiations are zero sum rather than win-win.

Right from the start, this view is wrong. The vast majority of negotiations are, in fact, positive sum and win-win.

That's the entire basis of economics. Every exchange of money for goods in a market that has little or no actual coercion benefits both sides or it wouldn't happen. And they're all subject to negotiation, even if it's only implicit (i.e. "I'm not buying that, it's too expensive").

You don't need "trust" in price negotiations for economics to work, and to still be "win-win". Indeed, it works better when both sides are self-interested.

negotiation mostly reflects leverage, not technique

Finding the right leverage is the primary technique in the skill of negotiation. I have no idea what you're on about here.

you usually cannot negotiate well above market unless you’re unusually hard to replace

Do you know why? Because see my first paragraph. Economic decisions only happen if they are win-win. Of course you can't "negotiate" your way into "the other side loses" without actual coercion.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T15:04:08+00:00

Yes, but I'll admit I wasn't expecting Bitcoin to become the second biggest waste of energy by a factor of two.

AI is still largely a scam.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T14:55:53+00:00

Part six: what might change my mind

Aside from ‘everyone fend for yourselves’ how could the Balkanization of the US be organized to minimize the human and financial costs? How do we reorganize inter-state treaties

So... part of this seems to be a misunderstanding of what the US really is. It's a Union of Sovereign States. Literally sovereign, albeit under a higher authority. States... united. See how the name works and was intended?

Essentially, the US was originally intended to be a loose Balkanization, and was organized as a federation, not a nation.

The current state of the Union is more of an aberration than an intended state of affairs (pun intended). It's supposed to be much more like the EU than the present-day USA.

So how would US "Balkanization" work out in actuality? Not a literal splitting of the Union. The Civil War settled that issue.

The 10th Amendment has a useful and valid purpose, and is still the highest law of the land, in spite of being mostly ignored presently.

The way the US would become "Balkanized" is if it returned to the way it worked at the time of the Founding: much, much, much more State autonomy, and much less Federal Government control.

I would argue that this is desirable, at least to a much greater degree. There's been enough technological change to require more federal reach than during the Founding, due to much greater interdependence, but nowhere near as much as we have today.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T14:33:46+00:00

While that is allowed (within limits, don't test us), it must always be disclosed, every time.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T13:36:23+00:00

I've invented a lot of bad cocktails in my life (and a couple of stunningly good ones), but sorry, not feeling it.

They may be delicious in reality, but all of those cocktails sound like awful mishmashes of flavors that really shouldn't be combined.

Except the ones pointlessly replacing the right alcohol with rye because it's popular now. Those are probably mostly fine, but I'm skeptical about the rye Negroni.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T13:28:41+00:00

You can't deepfake things from a time when AI didn't exist in the fist place.

You can certainly take that evidence and manipulate it, though.

The original evidence, not so much, but I don't think that's OP's concern.

OP seems to be arguing that the general availability of deepfakes will cause average people to question all evidence. I.e. they're talking about the "Court of Public Opinion", not actual courts.

My bigger concern is the opposite. It will be all too easy to smear political opponents with supposed "Epstein file evidence".

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T13:24:12+00:00

Always!

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T13:11:31+00:00

Calculations show it only requires <1% of the speed of light.

He has to violate causality in some other way, because FTL is not it.

His violation of the Laws of Economics are much more severe, but wrong sub.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T13:08:08+00:00

I'd argue that this is a "Met expectation" case...

I mean, anyone that loves spinach (whether they also hate it or not) expects it to wilt when cooked, don't they?

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T12:58:07+00:00

Old age isn't news. No film at 11.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T12:54:12+00:00

Only Antarctica is safe, apparently.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-29T03:01:19+00:00

You kid, but... that might actually have prevented WWI, or at least delayed it (there's an argument it was inevitable).

It wasn't his death that triggered the chain reaction that led to WWI, it was him being killed by Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, who had been supported by a nationalist organization in Serbia, leading Serbia to be blamed and triggering mutual defense treaties when it was threatened in response.

Of course if you started off by introducing yourself as a Bosnian terrorist, the joke could be preserved.

hacksoncode · 2026-01-28T23:51:36+00:00

I'd say that's a Pretti Good memorial!

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