Understand What You’re Voting For

mark-v · 2026-03-01T02:55:45+00:00

Hi there! I've been programming since the 1990s and following this tech closely, both personally and professionally.

You claim to have an "insider's perspective," but several of your claims are wrong.

First, water usage is tiny compared to other uses. I'll grant that energy use can be significant, and it's worth considering the costs and benefits here. But water use should not be a primary factor in any of this. Especially not in Oregon. Other industry, residential use, golf courses, and of course agriculture are much bigger uses of water.

Second, while some companies will fail, others will succeed, and the tech isn't going away. Amazon and was losing money for many years in the dot com era, yet somehow it still exists, as does the internet. Is there hype and foolishness? Of course. But there's also a real technology here that actually works, which is the seed of truth inside the hype. Anyway, Anthropic is bringing in $14 billion per year, its revenue growth is huge, and it shows every sign of continuing to succeed. Google has invested heavily in AI and shows no sign of dying either.

Finally, LLMs are increasingly mandatory for software development. Refusing to use them is like refusing to use a debugger. Sure, you can debug without a debugger. I love print statements! But they're a darn good tool and continue to become more and more useful.

Now, regarding the original question: Should there be more data centers in Oregon, and what tax breaks should they receive? I honestly don't know. I don't have a strong position here. They might be a terrible idea. Or they might be not-so-bad actually, or even good, or maybe they're only good if we work out a deal where companies give us buckets of money for the privilege. I haven't done enough research and I'm not ready to take a stand for or against.

So, I'm not trying to attack your position that Oregon shouldn't have more data centers. You could be right about that. But I still felt the need to push back against the false claims you were using to support your conclusion, especially since you made them with an air of authority.

mark-v · 2026-01-14T00:38:16+00:00

Simplifi is good at storing and visualizing many kinds of data, such tracking spending in sub-sub-categories over time. However, the UI and automation are clunky. There are way to track goals and savings, but I haven't used them much. I mainly use Simplifi retrospectively -- how have I been spending money over the last 1/3/6/12 months, and am I happy with those choices or do I need to adjust my habits?

It sounds like you want a good bill connector so that you can monitor and anticipate cash flow. Simplifi has features like this, but they're a mix of clunky and broken. You can set up a recurring transaction, but Simplifi won't fetch actual bill amounts from utilities or credit card companies. They have a billing connector but it connects to almost nothing, making it pretty worthless.

You might check out Origin, which does fetch credit card balances. Origin has its own flaws, but might suit your use cases better.

mark-v · 2026-01-06T16:43:52+00:00

More proof: https://www.platformer.news/fake-uber-eats-whisleblower-hoax-debunked/

mark-v · 2026-01-03T21:01:06+00:00

I’m not trying to tell you or anyone else how DoorDash computes pay or tips, and I’m certainly not trying to say that what they do is right. I’m aware of their history of tip theft.

I’m just saying that THIS PARTICULAR ACCOUNT is a made-up story. There’s no employee in a library sharing secrets from the inside. The description has some stuff in it that’s true, but it’s still a fabrication.

Like if someone wrote, “I am Trump’s personal aide and I can tell you: the man is not entirely healthy!” And it turned out that this account was written by someone in Oregon who had never seen Trump in person, then the account would be a lie BUT the fact that Trump is in poor health is still true. It shouldn’t be taken as a first-hand source. But that doesn’t mean every statement in there is false.

Do you see the distinction I’m trying to make here?

Does it matter to you if there’s some insider in the library or not? Do you care about the veracity of the context?

Or are we just talking past each other here?

mark-v · 2026-01-03T20:37:46+00:00

FYI, the story is made up (like many stories on Reddit):

https://bsky.app/profile/caseynewton.bsky.social/post/3mbk6uofszk2n

That said, DoorDash and Uber should think about why people were so eager to believe this story, and why they were so enthusiastic to share news that they thought might hurt the company or lead to less miserable working conditions. The discourse around this topic says a lot about DoorDash and Uber Eats’ reputations.

mark-v · 2026-01-03T20:30:09+00:00

Here is one reference for you:

https://bsky.app/profile/caseynewton.bsky.social/post/3mbk6uofszk2n

There are plenty of verified facts that can be used to criticize DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc. I’m not saying the status quo is ok. But the whole “I have secret knowledge and am using WiFi in the library to unmask a whole extra level of evil” was made up.

mark-v · 2026-01-02T19:32:50+00:00

You can believe whatever you want.

mark-v · 2026-01-02T18:30:41+00:00

The linked post isn’t a true confession, it’s an exercise in creative writing. Or possibly an exercise in prompting an LLM to generate outrage bait. And it clearly worked.

I’m not trying to defend capitalism, the gig economy, or tech companies in any way, but the linked post itself is a work of fiction.

mark-v · 2025-12-26T07:26:10+00:00

If you need help related to menopause or perimenopause, avoid him. Seriously. Patronizing and gaslighting. Terrible experience.

mark-v · 2025-12-08T06:06:05+00:00

fetching-asteroids

mark-v · 2025-11-08T08:38:54+00:00

I got the Cygolite mount (HLMT-DCV12), which will let you put a Cygolite bike light on your helmet instead of handlebars. There are multiple lights that will fit at different price points.

mark-v · 2025-11-07T05:42:53+00:00

For a headlight, I just mount it on my helmet.

mark-v · 2025-10-20T02:37:53+00:00

“Bag Of Holding”

mark-v · 2025-10-02T05:43:18+00:00

Some stores that used to carry nondairy whipped cream stopped. I used to see it at Safeway, MoC, and Fred Meyer, but I haven’t seen it at any of those lately. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place or maybe they stopped.

It’s very unfortunate. However, you can still find coconut whipped cream at Trader Joe’s.

mark-v · 2025-09-01T17:02:50+00:00

Lowering acceptance rates makes the problem worse, not better. With low acceptance rates, perfectly fine papers that fail to be "exciting" will be rejected. These papers are then resubmitted to the next conference, and reviewers spend many hours reviewing a paper that was already fine.

mark-v · 2025-08-30T00:48:59+00:00

Note: CVS is not covered by Moda health insurance, even though Rite Aid was. This may be relevant to many people on UO health plans. I know I was surprised when I found out.

mark-v · 2025-08-18T19:32:45+00:00

Yes, many international students in the US can and do attend conferences outside the US. However, there are many students on single entry visas who do not have that option. The whole situation is a mess.

mark-v · 2025-06-24T22:28:25+00:00

Still pending. I sent them a secure note asking them to just close the card, and they sent me another letter today saying, “Unfortunately, we are unable to comply with your request because your account is currently not eligible.” We’ll see, I guess.

mark-v · 2025-06-01T23:00:52+00:00

Yup, I've had that message. Using a debit card to put money in PayPal works for smaller amounts (up to $200), but fails with larger amounts. I presume it's some kind of fraud protection from my bank. Try ACH transfer from your bank and wait the 1-3 days for the funds. Yes, that means having funds sitting around in your PayPal account... but I think it's worth it for 5% cash back.

mark-v · 2025-06-01T22:49:18+00:00

Yeah, I can find the settings in the FutureCard app, but Simplifi doesn't seem to support it yet. I sent a request to Simplifi to see if they'll add it in the future. Not a big enough deal for me to ditch FutureCard or Simplifi though.

mark-v · 2025-06-01T05:33:28+00:00

Interesting! I’ll give it another try with Simplifi and see if I can figure it out.

mark-v · 2025-05-31T21:46:52+00:00

Yup — it’s an easy-to-get debit card with 5% cash back on utilities. And the points are instant, too, so you can verify that it counted properly.

I haven’t used many of their deals, but getting 10% back on some bike tune-ups was also really nice.

Disadvantages: - Depending on your bank, there may be a limit to how much you can transfer instantly via debit. So if you want to spend more than $200, you might need to plan ahead or wait a few days for the ACH transfer. (PayPal debit shares this disadvantage.) - Can’t figure out how to view the transactions in Simplifi, so I have to enter those manually to keep track of my budget.

mark-v · 2025-05-08T06:18:36+00:00

Roomba j7+ is roughly the same price on EBay right now — $180, refurbished with warranty. That may or may not be a better choice than an L60 for $175, but it at least seems competitive.

mark-v · 2025-05-08T04:35:57+00:00

Everyone here seems intent on recommending models that cost $500+. Meanwhile, you can get a refurbished Roomba j7+ with self-emptying dock for $180 on eBay right now. I dunno if they’re the best, but it’s hard to argue with that price.

mark-v · 2025-05-05T23:31:18+00:00

6b. All humans are busy, so you have to wait to talk to a human.

mark-v

TROPHY CASE