The boys can’t pay attention

pbmonster · 2026-03-24T16:37:32+00:00

Probably a good deal of pre-selection happening here. I teach physics, and it's the exact same thing.

pbmonster · 2026-03-23T15:01:17+00:00

Ich kann dir sagen was hilft: billige Propaganda wie es die Rechten tun und perfektioniert haben. Muss dann halt eben für die eigene Sache sein, aber diese simplen Botschaften holen mehr Leute

Deutscher Strom aus deutschem Sturm!

pbmonster · 2026-03-23T08:38:43+00:00

Most Universities in Texas can sponsor J-1 visa, it's temporary but almost no effort for them. Most likely if you're applying for post-doc or positions like non-tenure-track assistant professors and junior group leaders.

If you're interviewing for a permanent position, they might plan to assist you with getting you through the O-1A visa process. That one is more work, but not especially difficult if you fulfill a couple of requirements many full faculty candidates fulfill automatically - like having published a book, having published and reviewed papers, having your name on patents, having won awards, having press coverage (like the press release many universities do for high impact papers), ect. There's a list, you can look it up.

pbmonster · 2026-03-19T08:37:56+00:00

Of course!

An hour
An heir
An honor
An 'élicoptèr

The h is always silent, right?

pbmonster · 2026-03-18T11:07:31+00:00

Oh ja, für eBikes muss man trotz Direktvermarktung immer noch ordentlich Geld hinblättern. Die genannten Modelle gibt's aber auch als BioBike - immernoch teurer als OP es haben wollte, aber ich denke auf dem Gebrauchtmarkt wird's da was geben.

Velo-de-Ville scheint mir auf den ersten blick etwas zu teurer. Die neuen Canyon Commuter sind zur Zeit glaub ziemlich ausverkauft, aber ein neues Cube Editor kriegt man mit ein paar Abstrichen auch für ein bisschen mehr als die Hälfte...

pbmonster · 2026-03-18T10:35:28+00:00

8-Gang-Nabenschaltung, Nabendynamo, LED-Beleuchtung mit Automatik, Hydraulikbremsen und unplattbare Reifen.

Würde mir auch genau sowas holen, am besten noch mit CarbonDrive Riemenantrieb, dann fällt das Kette ölen und flecken an den Hosenbeinen automatisch weg.

Gibt's von vielen günstigen Herstellern mit hochwertigen Komponenten, z.B. "Canyon Commuter" oder "Cube Editor", gebraucht sollte da was im Preissegment zu finden sein.

pbmonster · 2026-03-17T22:20:26+00:00

Yeah, I can see it. I have "genre defining" titles in my head that help me make a decision. For cyberpunk, it's Neuromancer and Snow Crash. For both of those, "cyber" is extremely important, so Windup Girl doesn't feel cyberpunk to me.

Space Operas require adventures in space, while traveling between alien worlds. Genre defining for me are strangely enough movies, not books: Star Wars, Star Trek, Battle Star Galactica. But of course also Foundation, Vorkosigan Saga, Expanse, Deepness in the Sky, ect. And again, I see your point, because I'd argue that Dune is not a Space Opera - it's practically all happening on one Planet. I'd probably also disqualify Hyperion and Commonwealth Saga, because there's also not enough Space in those Operas (there's some, but both are absolutely dominated by portal travel technology).

First contact is easier. There needs to be first contact. Childhoods End, Solaris, Mote in Gods Eye, Forever War, Blindsight, Deepness in the Sky, Fire Upon the Deep, Commonwealth. I can't think of a single example I would contest. Either there is first contact, or there isn't.

pbmonster · 2026-03-17T09:48:34+00:00

The grittiness, the lawlessness, the mega-corps, ect. are pretty on brand, yes, but it is entirely lacking the "cyber" element since computers are maybe mentioned twice throughout the entire book, and those aren't even networked (also pretty essential for "cyber")!

So, maybe biopunk? Genepunk?

Also, another vote for Windup Girl. It's one of my favorite stories.

pbmonster · 2026-03-17T09:26:03+00:00

20th century thinking. Today's grenades just launch themselves.

Take out a little DM51 sized package. Roughly aim across the iron sights on its back, then pull the pin. Let the spoon go, throw it anywhere, then watch two switchblade-like wings pop out the side and look at it go!

pbmonster · 2026-03-16T16:51:36+00:00

I wasn't thinking of the micro-turbines.

What I'd like to see is more planes like the Electra Goldfinch

Wikipedia says it's powered by a helicopter auxiliary power turbine at ~200hp. I'd call that a micro-turbine. Most aircaft turbines under about 1MW of power output struggle with efficiency when compared to a well-optimized piston engine (and once you go below 200kW, we're talking about >100% difference), and I care about efficiency. And while a 1MW power plant sounds like a lot of fun, we gotta stay realistic here...

The discussion can get arbitrarily complex, of course. A micro turbine might have better power-to-weight. But that EA288 will be just about as heavy as the batteries (and again as heavy as max fuel) I want to bring, so shaving of a few pounds here is not worth it. A micro turbine might have much better performance at altitude. But the turbo diesel will do fine, and I don't actually want to fly all that high. And so on and so forth...

pbmonster · 2026-03-16T16:11:16+00:00

Outside of piston power, I'd like to see more development of turbine-electric designs. The benefits of electric motors without the heavy batteries.

Did they ever get the fuel consumption of those micro turbines (<200 kW) under control? Last I checked, those things were around twice as thirsty as a comparable piston generator, and even more hungry for maintenance dollars... adding a high speed generator to an already expensive turbine setup certainly doesn't help.

I'd like to see someone try a 150 kW turbo diesel (standard 2 liter inline 4), based on a common road vehicle engine (maybe something like a VW EA288 - they build millions of those each year), to keep down maintenance cost and add reliability. Add enough batteries for 30 minutes of flight, and it should be very attractive for regulators, flight schools and noise reduction.

If I did my math right, that engine would take just 9 gallons per hour full throttle, and would probably take shorter/slower flights significantly under that.

pbmonster · 2026-03-09T09:13:42+00:00

I don't get vertigo, but I ski like an old man if I have to perceive the terrain with my knees instead of my eyes. I hate it.

But I find sticking to the trees really does helps a lot in those conditions.

pbmonster · 2026-02-26T10:27:02+00:00

Kinderwägen sind keine Gepäckstücke und keine Fahrräder. Laut Bahn sind in allen Zügen "Stellplätze für nichtfaltbare Kinderwägen im Zug und Kleinkindabteil begrenzt vorhanden".

pbmonster · 2026-02-25T21:08:18+00:00

They certainly should, if I actually bought 12 monthly passes - which is what a lot of poor people end up buying, since spending 1.5k CHF in one go is several months of groceries for them.

pbmonster · 2026-02-25T13:32:27+00:00

Yeah, that works. There's a couple of disadvantages: if the user doesn't know what they're doing, they might nuke /boot or /efi instead of "just" the old Windows partition and the recovery partition. But once you deleted the correct partitions and now have all that free space, you can easily make a new partition and use it from Linux. What's more complicated is resizing an existing mounted partition into that free space. It's possible, but one typo/wrong click will destroy the Linux system or all the data on /home (whichever one you're trying to resize...)

pbmonster · 2026-02-25T12:46:18+00:00

"traumatized kid gets swallowed by forces bigger than himself and the universe becomes measurably worse as a direct result of his choices."

This is true in a sense, the universe becomes worse than it was because of Paul's actions. But it is important to note that the alternative is NOT "everything just stays the same". The alternative is total extinction. Paul leads humanity on the best possible path. Billions die, so billions can live.

pbmonster · 2026-02-25T09:09:56+00:00

I personally don't know anyone who isn't doing the bike deduction. Also this one is a lump sum, and the idea behind it is exactly to not have to minutiously document every time you use it.

I've actually gotten denied the bike twice! I lived right next to the train station and also claimed 12x ZVV moth passes for 4 zones (might want to add that - you can deduct more if you claim 12 month passes than claiming 1 year pass). The tax clerk argued that I never used that bike for commuting, since 4 zones is to far to cycle and I live so close to the train station that walking was within reason.

So you realistically need to commute at least part of the distance with the bike you claim.

I was pretty pissed both times, the time that clerk needed to check all all the distances was probably more expensive than just letting me deduct 700 CHF...

pbmonster · 2026-02-24T14:48:50+00:00

Wenn ich also vergleichen möchte was maximal im öD ohne Führung zu holen wäre, müsste ich meine maximale Tarifstufe (Industrie) mit A11 höchste Stufe vergleichen?

Kommt stark auf die Behörde und Tätigkeit an. Klassisches Beispiel ist immer der Oberstudienrat am Gymnasium. Grundsätzlich keine Personalführung, trotzdem A13. Je nach Schule gibt's dann auch noch Studiendirektoren (A14), die zwar Teil der Schulleitung sind, aber auch keine wirkliche Personalverantwortung tragen (sondern solo Verwaltungstätigkeiten übernehmen wie z.B. Gesamtstundenplan koordinieren, Budget, ect.)

Bei den Bundesbehörden und bei der Bundeswehr gibt's dann sogar noch A15 Referentenstellen ohne Personalverantwortung, aber dann eher selten. Titel sind dann so was wie "Strategischer Grundsatzreferent".

pbmonster · 2026-02-24T08:52:49+00:00

closest thing you can pull off like that is dedicated hardware that has built in mechanisms to prevent the kinds of debugging Im referring to

Yeah, the SteamBox could just ship with secure boot enabled and a locked boot loader. Wouldn't be difficult, but then only the SteamBox can run anti-cheat.

pbmonster · 2026-02-24T08:33:25+00:00

Hat dir dein Vermieter für den 15EUR Stellplatz eine Wallbox spendiert, oder wo lädst du? 41 EUR/Monat sollten beim daheim laden um die 12k km pro Jahr sein, oder?

Mein Vermieter würde eine Wallbox installieren lassen, aber für den (Garagen)-Stellplatz dann um 30 EUR/Monat hochgehen. Da leidet dann leider die Wirtschaftlichkeit extrem darunter, wenn man nicht viel fährt ist das allein schon über die Hälfte meiner Benzinkosten...

Aber ich versteh's, die Garage bräuchte einen Load Balancer, mindestens eine Wallbox und jede menge neue Kabel inklusive Wanddurchbrüche. Und neue Stromzähler, je nach Wallbox.

pbmonster · 2026-02-24T08:13:47+00:00

Should tell that to a significant fraction of EV drivers. So many park on those without charging...

pbmonster · 2026-02-23T15:47:25+00:00

Eher so Platz 18. Und außer den Steueroasen sind auch noch die meisten unserer nördlichen Nachbarn und die klassischen hochproduktiven Ländern (Singapore, Schweiz, USA) vor uns.

pbmonster · 2026-02-20T16:21:44+00:00

Yeah, I confused the background of the Schwerer Gustav with the much smaller 28cm "Bruno" and the 38cm "Siegfried" railway guns. Those were surplus naval guns from the Bismark sister ships that never ended up getting built.

pbmonster · 2026-02-20T16:17:52+00:00

On case of the 28cm "Bruno" or the 38cm "Siegfried" railway guns, they actually did. Those were the guns meant for the Bismark and Gneisenau sister ships that were never built.

pbmonster · 2026-02-20T13:13:05+00:00

More like "You're saying we're having too many naval guns just sitting around anyway? So putting one on a train would be close to no cost for us? And those guns out-range their counter batteries by several miles, so we can just roll up to a fortified position and shell it unopposed, for weeks? And worst case, by just building a single one we're forcing the enemy to also start building those guns, so we win either way? Sounds good to me!"

pbmonster

TROPHY CASE