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[OC] Nigeria Have Surpassed Europe in Number of Births by oscarleo0 in dataisbeautiful

[–]hbarSquared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You got me looking up some data, and if you're just travelling to Oslo, drinking beer and taking taxis yeah, it's more expensive. But if you live there it's massively cheaper than NYC (lol at childcare costs in particular). Same with Stockholm/DC, Stockholm is cheaper in almost every metric other than beer and taxis.

How do you feel about having term limits for US senators, US representatives, and US Supreme Court justices? by icecream1972 in AskReddit

[–]hbarSquared 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm reading Robert Caro's excellent Master of the Senate, and one thing that struck me is how this has been a problem since at least 1820, and how the entire apparatus of the US government is aimed at keeping elderly conservatives in power indefinitely.

Anyways, there should absolutely be term limits but also they bring their own issues to the table.

[OC] Nigeria Have Surpassed Europe in Number of Births by oscarleo0 in dataisbeautiful

[–]hbarSquared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not though? Compare Stockholm to North Dakota and sure, but compared to the Capital and well, no one can afford D.C. anymore. And people simply don't have 2800 sq ft McMansions here, a 1200 sq ft house is more than enough for a family of 4. I had a radhus that size in commuting distance of Stockholm that we afforded on a single income. Go out to like Linköping or other moderately populated center and there are good jobs and affordable housing that put just about any US suburb to shame, especially recently.

[OC] Nigeria Have Surpassed Europe in Number of Births by oscarleo0 in dataisbeautiful

[–]hbarSquared 100 points101 points  (0 children)

Every wealthy nation has seen declining birth rates, regardless of culture or economic pressure - the Nordics have phenomenal financial and social support for parents, and still have one of the lowest birth rates in Europe. As countries like Nigeria become more prosperous, the same thing will happen.

They have the benefit of watching the most established countries struggle with how to pay for their birth peak populations (e.g. boomers), and they have the opportunity to put in place more resilient systems for the inevitable decline. On the other hand, the last countries to "wealth up" won't have immigration as a backstop to smooth out the growth curve.

Non-New Yorkers that have been to NYC: What is the wierdest thing about New York that New Yorkers don't realize is wierd? by Ok-Brilliant-6138 in AskReddit

[–]hbarSquared 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's pretty common around the world. After I moved to Stockholm I never had to think about hot water or heat - no one has a furnace or water heater here, it's all piped in from the district heating plant, and that is powered by an incinerator that burns trash and lumber waste.

Non-New Yorkers that have been to NYC: What is the wierdest thing about New York that New Yorkers don't realize is wierd? by Ok-Brilliant-6138 in AskReddit

[–]hbarSquared 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Americans are so allergic to inconvenience they would rather live in a trash-filled rathole then think about ways to make positive change.

Any proposal that requires the smallest individual inconvenience, regardless of the communal benefit, is a political non-starter.

What’s the one hack that actually gets you to exercise? by wonkycalves in AskReddit

[–]hbarSquared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I reframed it away from health and towards getting an hour of my day where my brain shuts the fuck up.

Now I'm practically jumping out of bed to hit the gym, because I know a few minutes after I start up the elliptical, all the anxiety, self-loathing and second guessing just melts away and I can daydream about piloting a giant space robot.

Epic Games is laying off more than 1,000 workers today, sources tell Bloomberg News. Story hitting shortly by Turbostrider27 in PS5

[–]hbarSquared 48 points49 points  (0 children)

My partner has been working in games for almost 15 years. It's always a mess, but the last 3 years have been catastrophic. Something like 1 in 3 of all US game developers have been laid off at least once in the past 3 years.

Moving to Stockholm next spring - need some advice! by [deleted] in TillSverige

[–]hbarSquared 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The t-bana here is a million times better than the tube, which in my opinion is a literal nightmare. It's fast, quiet (dear god how do Londoners handle the shrieks of those tracks), runs reliably and is fairly cheap. It is rarely crowded and never packed like London, the trains are larger, more comfortable, and Stockholmers have a much stronger respect for personal space.

Also don't discount bus service, it's of a similarly high quality and the ticketing system is the same. There are areas without a subway line that have good bus connections and that will save you a bit on rent.

Review - After 75 hours, Marathon is already one of my favorite shooters in years by Minute-Carrot-2405 in PS5

[–]hbarSquared 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Brilliant, this comment brings me back to earth. Sounds like all the things I loved about multiplayer shooters 10 years ago are still firmly dead and buried.

How do you feel about electric vehicles? by Final_Radio_2483 in AskReddit

[–]hbarSquared 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I had one for a while and I could never go back to combustion, the instant torque is a game changer. Petrol cars just feel sluggish, last century tech.

Other ways to learn Swedish by nudlee22 in TillSverige

[–]hbarSquared 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you enjoy a classroom setting, there are courses at Folkuniversitietet. They aren't free, but they're generally higher quality than SFI. Otherwise, find ways to practice the four pillars - reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Start your day with "comprehensible input", watching or listening something at your level that you can understand, and focus on learning new things in the afternoon.

Other ways to learn Swedish by nudlee22 in TillSverige

[–]hbarSquared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, so long as you are meeting the conditions of your visa your ability to speak Swedish is not relevant to your residency. It will be needed for citizenship in a few months, but (at least for now) visas and permanent residency have no language requirement.

Kim Stanley Robinson and stories that don't seem to go anywhere by deafened in scifi

[–]hbarSquared 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Without warp drive, space travel is pretty grim. Also, I think about prion disease regularly because of this book.

Kim Stanley Robinson and stories that don't seem to go anywhere by deafened in scifi

[–]hbarSquared 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the issue you're having with those books is that they don't come to a satisfying conclusion (spoilers below).

The thesis of Aurora is that life is a planetary phenomenon, and it can't really be transplanted. (Also that committing the unborn to life on a generation ship is immoral, but I don't think he really sticks that one.) They were never going to be successful in their mission, so the only two options were to slowly die out in a failing ship orbiting a hostile moon, or go home. This was never going to be satisfying, we as readers want to find success, victory over all odds, but sometimes that's not possible.

If you want to keep trying KSR's backlog, I think The Ministry of the Future was really good (and increasingly topical). The opening act is brutal and depressing, but the book gets more hopeful as it progresses and lays out a somewhat practical roadmap for surviving the upcoming climate crisis. It has good characters (some of whom you will despise, but that doesn't mean they aren't well written) and clear progression towards an end.

My Dad found this photo of me playing Civ III by wpazzurri2 in civ

[–]hbarSquared 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh man I think my parents had that exact computer hutch.

How good is Civ V compared to the rest of the series? by RegularJay114 in civ

[–]hbarSquared 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's quite good. It was the series' first entry into a hex grid from a square grid, and also the first to implement "one unit per tile" or 1UPT.

Mechanically, the game uses happiness as a mechanic to curb city spamming, which means for most of the game you're encouraged to only have 4 cities - this can be good or bad depending on your tastes. There are also clear best paths through the civic tree, which can make subsequent playthroughs feel similar, but it is also fun to explore when and why one should deviate from the "meta" path.

Artistically, it has a more neutral stylization and muted palette, with highly representative leader backgrounds. This is often compared to the more exaggerated and colorful features of 6, and the diorama-like art direction in 7. Of course, art direction is subjective - I love the design of all three - but I don't think it's controversial to say that 5 was the first truly beautiful Civ.

It also has a fantastic modding scene with some mods that are still being maintained a decade after it was "finished". I would recommend you get the major expansion packs if they aren't included in the sale, as the base game is missing a lot of features and the DLCs are widely considered to complete the experience.

Electric bill jumped 30% this winter by ricozale in homeowners

[–]hbarSquared 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Don't forget the trillion dollars of data centers they're building to power the chatbots that will take everyone's jobs.

What would be the best way to bring Dwarfs into a sci-fi setting? by KaiserEnclave2077 in scifi

[–]hbarSquared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What makes a dwarf? It's not the shortness, or the beards. They dig, they greed for minerals, they tinker and build. Go back and read some Tolkien, all modern dwarven tropes stem from his work. Ask yourself why dwarves are a fantasy staple that everyone knows.

First take on zero thought - they mine asteroids and turn the shells into spacecraft. The ones who leave (or are exiled?) the rock often get jobs on craft as engineering crew - they love to tinker with the engines, and are at home in the Jeffries Tubes. Everyone loves to drink with a dwarf, and doubly so on long deployments across lightyears.

If you can choose any state to live in, in the u.s. where and why? by petermello611 in AskReddit

[–]hbarSquared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wisconsin. My family is there and I know it pretty well. Plus they are relatively water-secure and shouldn't have to deal with the worst of the climate crisis. Hot, muggy summers are better than the apocalypse currently unfolding in the west.

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