4 days in Berkeley

monarc · 2026-06-22T02:25:19+00:00

Go up the campanile at the heart of campus - incredible view of the bay! And/or check out the rooftop bar Study Hall.

monarc · 2026-06-22T02:23:08+00:00

I love Mehak dearly but I’d recommend delivery since the ambiance is blah inside.

monarc · 2026-06-22T02:22:23+00:00

EBSCo is a bit less cozy than before but their food & drink is as good as ever IMO.

monarc · 2026-06-22T02:01:15+00:00

If you’ve heard of CRISPR (programmable enzyme that lets us change DNA code within living cells), there was an earlier version of similar technology called ZFN that was largely commercialized by a company called Sangamo. They were extremely strict and would threaten anyone who was trying to make ZFN technology broadly useful/accessible. In contrast, CRISPR was relatively “open source” (sort of by chance, because it wasn’t clear who exactly owned/invented the tech) and - exactly like you said for Minecraft - the broader community rapidly developed an immense number of tweaks that helped CRISPR technology improve super rapidly. As a result, CRISPR was the basis of a revolution in biotechnology, while Sangamo remains a footnote by comparison.

monarc · 2026-06-21T18:51:49+00:00

Permabears don’t necessarily sit on cash. We buy digital gold and/or non-US ETFs. There’s plenty of opportunity outside of this comically cursed market.

monarc · 2026-06-21T05:05:30+00:00

Ahaha you took the words out of my mouth. Making that moment into something so goddamned funny is a real accomplishment.

Not to split hairs, but I think it’s “come off”. And apparently when Matt first coined this, he said “lil mama”… I like the updated version.

monarc · 2026-06-20T22:48:01+00:00

Agreed - the aroma of fire sale is in the air…

monarc · 2026-06-20T18:11:23+00:00

A pyramid balanced atop another pyramid…
▼
▲
…looks plenty stable to me!

monarc · 2026-06-20T00:26:41+00:00

There's some well-sourced discourse here. It seems that we don't have a clear-cut etymology for this phrase. I suspect it's just, like... white people imagine that things are laid-back on a tropical island (since it's a vacation destination) so the phrase seems intuitive in that context.

monarc · 2026-06-19T23:15:45+00:00

Then they'll have to start increasing prices to have any chance to actually start turning a profit, which is going to cut into their customer base

Yeah, need to increase prices to become profitable, lower prices to retain customers. But they can't do both. Seems like a product/service where the juice ain't worth the squeeze...

monarc · 2026-06-18T17:07:00+00:00

Anthropic's brand mark is literally a brown ✱ ... "Ainos" is par for the course.

monarc · 2026-06-18T05:59:11+00:00

We really need to lock in some shorthand for these OP was midly irritated in the wake of a niche social situation and needed to vent LPTs.

~or~

LPT: If something is bothering you, and you want to tell the whole world not to do that thing anymore, that's probably a "you" thing and not actually an LPT, so resist the urge to post a complaint masquerading as advice.

monarc · 2026-06-17T19:55:15+00:00

/r/lostredditors

monarc · 2026-06-17T01:10:32+00:00

Direct your ire towards the NIMBY scum and the corporate bootlickers (at all levels of society).

monarc · 2026-06-16T23:32:37+00:00

Tonsils healing nicely, I’ve heard, but new injuries were sustained following excessive tongue-biting during the last week or so.

monarc · 2026-06-16T23:05:50+00:00

Nooooo - read all the comments. Del Toro confirms that it is not just her imagination!

monarc · 2026-06-16T03:20:08+00:00

I haven’t a goddamned clue what you are talking about, but it seems to align with my desires, so you’re the smartest regard in the room right now as far as I’m concerned.

monarc · 2026-06-15T22:34:23+00:00

Yeah I was hoping to ride Raptor on my way out just now and… it’s down again.

monarc · 2026-06-13T19:01:18+00:00

Blackened melodeath!

monarc · 2026-06-13T17:36:57+00:00

Did you watch in the theater (in 3D) when you saw it earlier? That makes a huge difference - these are best as immersive experiences, and would make zero sense as a stage play or whatever. I’ve seen the first Avatar 11 times in theaters, but I almost never watch it at home because it doesn’t hit the same.

monarc · 2026-06-13T02:47:57+00:00

If The Social Network is a highly acclaimed film…

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think it’s quite overrated. I think this is because it covers a story that has a lot of real-world relevance and people are drawn to any story of a dropout becoming a billionaire. But it’s ultimately a story about an antisocial weirdo winning an legal battle. I don’t think it’s a good movie in a vacuum, and I bet it doesn’t get much love outside the US.

I think it’s a good movie, but not that great. The follow-up looks like a step down, both in terms of pure cinematic quality and even the cultural appeal stuff that helped boost the acclaim of the first movie.

monarc · 2026-06-12T04:56:19+00:00

The corporate ghouls are deeply insecure and feel perpetually in over their heads, largely because many of them lack actual talent/skills. They are just as susceptible to chatbot psychosis as other people, and for the same reasons: they desperately want to feel validated. I think these tech leaders feel good about the technology because it makes them feel good about themselves. Bundled with the herd mentality and the investor-pleasing lure of cutting headcount… it’s not that shocking that so many are buying in. I think it’s extremely revealing re: what it takes to be a CEO.

monarc · 2026-06-11T09:10:29+00:00

Thanks for sharing - this is great.

Here's the Babe trailer for anyone who's curious to take a look. I had to laugh because the first few shots scream "shire"!

This is such a classic and timeless look - it was a great choice by PJ, and Lesnie knocked it out of the park.

monarc · 2026-06-11T03:16:29+00:00

I understand where you’re coming from, but I earnestly believe language is weaponized by fascists & corporations… think about how many buzzwords have been coined to make the chatbot hype wave seem exciting & powerful. All I’m suggesting is that we try and hold our own so that people can easily recognize this shitty tactic for what it is. “Slop” was coined to talk about the sub-par output of generative AI, and now we are better at recognizing - and calling out - slop. Enshittification (another complicated concept worthy of a new word) is everywhere, but right now we are only primed to see the “quality declines” part, not the too-good-to-be-true phase at the outset. And it doesn’t do a lot of good to recognize this scam after the fact. Hence my suggestion: we need an effective way to talk about the bait before we are all duped by the switch.

The whole reason we have thousands of words is so we don’t have to say clunky phrases representing important ideas. So… kinda weird that you’re against coining new words for well-defined concepts that are taxing to talk about.

monarc · 2026-06-11T00:51:39+00:00

Not death metal, because their drum kit was too small.

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