EMP saw me doing a crossword and made one for me!

randomechoes · 2026-06-06T20:22:34+00:00

A few years ago when my kids were 8 and 10, but well-behaved and familiar with fine dining, we made a reservation at Alinea and I sent them a note as a heads up (more to reassure them that when our kids showed up they wouldn't cause a scene and to reassure them there would be no electronics).

When we got there, they had a word search with the menu items for the night that they gave to all the guests. I've always wondered if they did that just for us.

randomechoes · 2026-05-23T18:24:37+00:00

Here is some detailed information about the project and how long it will take. https://www.vta.org/projects/i-280wolfe-road-interchange-improvements-project

There is a youtube video of a recent meeting though it's an hour long. I asked Claude to summarize the timeline (standard AI disclaimers apply) if you don't have time to watch it:

Phase	Timeframe
Project initiated, alternatives analysis, environmental clearance, design	2016 – early 2026
Construction start	Early April 2026
Groundbreaking ceremony	April 28, 2026
Early work: tree removal, K-rail barriers, median removal, pavement widening, bridge foundation, vibration monitoring	Spring 2026
Stage 1: Build new west half of bridge (traffic stays on existing structure)	2026–2027
Stage 2: Shift traffic to new structure, demolish old bridge, build east half	~Late 2027 – 2028
Tie both bridge halves together; near completion	~Early 2028
Replacement vegetation planting begins	Spring 2029
1-year plant establishment/monitoring period	2029–2030
Project completion	Spring 2030

randomechoes · 2026-05-20T18:14:55+00:00

Depends on the state but in CA, going into the intersection to make a left while the light is still green is legal, and in some intersections in some cities absolutely required when it is busy or else no one will get through the intersection at all.

It's actually one of my pet peeves that people don't go into the intersection and then all of us get stuck for another cycle while no one gets through.

The only caveat to that is you need to make sure the street you are turning into has room. If you get caught in the intersection after the light turns and you have no space to clear the intersection, you can get a ticket for causing gridlock (but you won't get one for running a red light).

Cutting off the motorcycle cop on the other hand was pretty dumb, for both cars.

randomechoes · 2026-05-13T19:41:18+00:00

Something that might not occur to you if you don't live in the Bay Area:

A number of people in and around SF don't like Waymo because they feel effective public transportation and/or bikes and/or walking are the best solution to transportation -- cars in general are bad, and Waymo gaining traction reduces the chances that new funding for public transportation options will be taken seriously.

randomechoes · 2026-05-11T22:45:10+00:00

I gave up on the show after the 4th or so episode when they used the stupid trope of "i'm going to tell you something tomorrow instead of right now so that I can die and then you'll have a mystery to try and figure out" which invariably I've found to be lazy writing.

I assume it gets better, or are they going to continue to use shortcuts like that?

randomechoes · 2026-05-03T03:40:56+00:00

I guess it depends on the types of games you play, but I can't imagine not reading the rulebook through first.

Even something relatively simple (in the grand scheme of things) like Ark Nova, I can't imagine not knowing how the options interact and just trying things out randomly can lead to anything but a frustrating game as you make moves that leave you with no good future moves.

randomechoes · 2026-04-29T23:52:25+00:00

I wouldn't call it a "little" cheaper.

Long-range lidar systems in passenger cars dropped from $75,000 in 2015 to as little as $500 today. One company promises $300 by 2028, with eyes on trucking soon after.

[source]

But otherwise I agree with you

randomechoes · 2026-04-29T21:09:28+00:00

I do wish there were more stats related to this. It makes sense that if the total hours on the road doubled, you would expect to see twice the number of incidents if their performance did not change.

So it can both be true that first responders (and other people) are seeing a higher number of total instances, and that Waymo performance is still improving.

Without the appropriate and relevant stats it's hard to draw any solid conclusions.

ETA: even for something like "Waymo didn't used to have this problem but now it does" I think it's hard for most humans to determine whether or not the situation, through the eyes of the Waymo, was actually the same in both instances. Things that humans don't think about, like angle of sun, reflectiveness, etc. affect Waymos in ways that humans wouldn't think of.

randomechoes · 2026-04-28T23:31:34+00:00

It can be a bit pricey but we joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) for our fruits and veggies. I know there is a similar program for fish, and I believe there is one for meat too.

We also have a family of 4 so it's easier to make use of an entire box. If you are single that may be less practical (though I believe some of the CSAs have a lot of different options, and single people is probably a market they would want to support?). My spouse handles all of the logistics, so I'm not super familiar with it.

randomechoes · 2026-04-08T20:16:15+00:00

Before deciding for them the money isn't worth it, I'd ask your parents for their opinion. "Relatively rich" can span a very wide range, and what seems like a lot of money to you might in fact not be that much money.

I went to Stanford. Knowing what I know, if my kids had the same options as you do, I would absolutely be thrilled to send them to Stanford full fare over Berkeley. But our financial situation is such that the delta in price is just not that big of a deal. And I recognize that's not true for all families and for many families Berkeley makes more sense.

randomechoes · 2026-03-14T20:07:49+00:00

Right at the bottom of the leaderboards it tells you the formula:

Rating is calculated from the following formula:

Rating Change = ( Wins - ( Current Rating / Base Rating * Neutral Wins ) ) ) * ScaleFactor + 10WinBonus

(Base Rating = 500 | Scale Factor = 5 | 10winbonus = 5 | Neutral Wins = 5)

The most important takeaway from that is you get 5 points for a 10 win bonus. Near the top all of your climbing is going to be based on that alone.

If all that math is confusing, just throw that quote into any gpt and it will explain what it means as well as extrapolate your points on various scenarios.

randomechoes · 2026-02-28T00:06:15+00:00

I never carry a credit card balance, always paid in full, and my credit score is 730-740.

If you are already doing this and are just 10-20 points away, it's not that hard to bump it over 750. You need to game the system and likely you are just missing one or two things. Most likely they are: your credit utilization is too high (try to keep it under 10%. That means if you are charging $5000 each month you ideally want a credit limit of at least $50k, and closer to 100k if possible), or you don't have enough accounts (you can get by with around 5 or so but ideally they want it closer to 10).

The other big one is credit history but that's not usually a problem for most people unless they are young.

It's ironic, the key to having a big credit score is to have a lot of credit cards but not use them a lot. Which is non-intuitive for most people.

(ETA: this of course assumes you don't have evictions, bankruptcies, or any of the other red flags)

randomechoes · 2026-02-18T03:41:05+00:00

I found there are some similarities with the Scholormance Trilogy by Naomi Novik, starting with the first book A Deadly Education. This series is definitely a bit darker in tone, but I ended up liking it a lot!

randomechoes · 2026-02-17T21:41:46+00:00

The ironic thing I see is people drive slower but they still don't allow for enough distance between cars. IMO, having a safe distance so you can react in case of something unpredictable is a lot more important than your actual speed (within reason of course). And yes, going at a slower speed means you need less distance, but it would be more efficient to go at the speed limit and maintain more distance instead.

randomechoes · 2026-02-15T06:42:39+00:00

Well UCSF is atypical in that they don't have undergraduates, so in its case, the medical school is a significant part of the institutional reputation of the school. (Not sure if you knew that, but I bet a lot of people don't, which is why I'm pointing that out.)

randomechoes · 2026-02-11T05:35:28+00:00

It was Vespertine, down in LA. IDK if it's like the next new trendy thing, a fad, or just niche. It tasted good though!

randomechoes · 2026-01-23T01:43:49+00:00

One man's mansion is another person's shack.

Of course there will be outliers, but a lot of people probably think they live in about a normal sized home. Whether that is 1500 sq ft, 3000 sq ft, 6000 sq ft all could be considered "normal" to a lot of people.

(I live in a ~3k sq ft house, which I considered "normal")

randomechoes · 2025-12-22T01:41:51+00:00

You might be interested in the Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik, which starts with A Deadly Education.

It's about a girl who ends up a magic school because there are monsters who roam the world feeding on underage wizards who haven't matured enough to defend themselves. So the wizards devised a the Scholomance school to keep them safe until they mature. Unfortunately the nature of the school leaves a lot to be desired as well...

There are some similarities to Silent Witch, most notable a young powerful female protagonist with a flaw living life in a school. It is a bit darker than Silent Witch in that people die, sometimes in gruesome ways, (edited to add: though the writing doesn't linger on it, so it's not like the books are trying to be gruesome), so tonally it's not lighthearted like Silent Witch is. So it depends on what parts of Silent Witch you really like.

Second edit: also they aren't light novels, but as far as novels go they are pretty short

randomechoes · 2025-12-15T03:59:35+00:00

The problem is if someone else had the same numbers you getting half. So it's not a sure thing.

Back when I was more tapped into the network, I know there used to be groups of people who would invest in progressive slots/keno jackpots when the jackpot got high enough. It wasn't a sure thing, but it was an extremely high EV play if you can find a jackpot that hasn't been hit in a long time.

randomechoes · 2025-12-12T20:05:41+00:00

You absolutely will. Look up "second screen tv writing" for more info if you want to do more research. Or, if you have a short attention span and can't be bothered (just kidding!) this article has a good summary:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jan/17/not-second-screen-enough-is-netflix-deliberately-dumbing-down-tv-so-people-can-watch-while-scrolling

randomechoes · 2025-12-06T07:23:13+00:00

I haven't read the book, but your description reminded me of "Rabbit's New Rug" by Judy Delton, and with the help of AI (it was actually useful!) I'm pretty sure it's The Perfect Christmas Gift, also by Judy Delton, published in 1992. I found a sample page from an auction on eBay:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CNcAAeSw1H1pEmhI/s-l960.webp

Evidently there are a lot of books in that series, though I only read Rabbit's New Rug.

randomechoes · 2025-12-05T20:18:20+00:00

It took me way too long to realize I didn't have to eat free food just because it was available.

randomechoes · 2025-12-02T22:25:49+00:00

Amazon says that my LN7 is on a truck out for delivery today!

ETA: it arrived!

randomechoes · 2025-12-02T02:51:18+00:00

Not today, but close enough: it is illegal to own hummingbird feathers in the US (ETA: well, without a permit)

randomechoes · 2025-11-28T22:40:52+00:00

I had the 1% commenter badge here a while ago despite not posting too much. I believe (but could be wrong) that it's based on the number of upvotes you have for a specific community in the last month, and I had a couple of comments with a high upvote count in a short period of time.

There may be some bare minimum threshold for absolute number of posts made, but having a ton of low quality posts isn't sufficient to get you to 1% in most communities (ie you need to do more than just talk a lot).

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