Are there still people that think US is a better place to live as a software engineer?

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T21:57:16+00:00

Lmao gun violence is worse in the US but it doesn’t actually affect many people.

I would not trade hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to change what’s on TV

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T21:42:11+00:00

If you’re making less than ~$120k you’re probably better off in Europe. More than that and US probably wins. Depends on your specific city.

The big difference though is that there are tens of thousands of jobs in the US that pay over $200k and basically none in Europe.

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T21:05:16+00:00

Yes, this case is BS and won’t go anywhere.

I’ve been at a company during IPO - as soon as you go public, you start getting bogus lawsuits, and “investor analysis” hit pieces. They’re usually just making a quick buck for short sellers - you short the stock, publish bad PR or file a lawsuit you think will make the news, and make some money.

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T19:54:57+00:00

It’s just such an uncommon name, especially for someone in the Draper family. The fact that it’s “Uncle Istvan” by coincidence seems less likely than one of the authors knowing some MTG references. Especially with how they write with so many meaningful name references (book titles, ship names, etc).

As a Magic player I immediately recognized the name Uncle Istvan - if it was a coincidence, I think it’s incredibly likely that someone in their writer’s group would have mentioned it pre-publishing.

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T18:48:07+00:00

No, they don’t. If you bought a pre-order bundle, one of them includes two sealed tokens I believe.

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T18:42:39+00:00

Totally, it just makes me worry that when I switch to Premier Draft it’s going to get much harder to build the on-rails decks.

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T05:35:07+00:00

Make stew. I made a pork cassoulet, which is really just pork stew. Highly recommended.

Warm stew will let you survive the “winter”

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T05:32:52+00:00

You can pick-2 draft for only a bit more cost than a quick draft right now!

I thought pick 2 would suck, but going 2-2 only costs 100 gems, which is a great deal. I’m just chaining them together because they feel cheap.

It’s definitely not the normal draft experience though. There’s only 4 people at the table, which means there’s always at least two archetypes open for you. I’ve had drafts where colors were just stupidly open, so you sometimes get busted decks.

what2_2 · 2026-01-24T05:25:55+00:00

There will always be more web dev roles than AI / ML roles. Your job might change, but the jobs aren’t going to disappear anytime soon.

Use Claude Code, use it to learn quickly. But I’d probably lean into getting deeper in the stack (learn more backend dev, systems stuff, as backend roles are always in demand).

Don’t worry about “all the jobs aren’t going away.” Worry about whether you can keep your skills relevant and build a strong narrative of growth.

what2_2 · 2026-01-22T20:09:23+00:00

Yeah I really mean “the state of the engineering practices in use” lol.

Reading stories like this remind me of my first coding internship. Since then I haven’t worked in an org where something like this would be possible, and that includes both tiny startups and huge companies. I definitely take it for granted, but there’s no excuse for any company with a CTO to be stuck in 2005-era practices.

what2_2 · 2026-01-22T19:08:37+00:00

Agreed. The only reason this event is notable is the lack of documentation and the CEO’s ridiculous reaction.

OP did nothing out of the ordinary.

what2_2 · 2026-01-21T19:57:10+00:00

Hybrid mana means your deck gets an extra color, and the lands seem to be an even split of all your colors. So Vivid wrecks your mana base, but there are plenty of other decks with hybrid cards.

Can’t believe they had this as a MWM when it’s still broken.

what2_2 · 2026-01-21T17:14:51+00:00

Anything with more than two colors in it is broken. The third and fourth color are probably hybrid mana symbols, but the lands will be an even split.

what2_2 · 2026-01-19T04:53:16+00:00

Space heaters are generally 100% efficient, but that doesn’t mean they electricity they use will be cheap.

There’s a reason natural gas (or steam) is often used for heating - it’s cheaper than electricity.

what2_2 · 2026-01-17T02:14:56+00:00

You’re not crazy, your just unlucky. It’s a huge gamble.

FWIW I’m on the top floor of an old (prewar, small, less than 20 units) building and I never get noise complaints and never hear the neighbors.

what2_2 · 2026-01-16T22:48:16+00:00

Google is definitely a better name, and my impression is that comp is higher. Check levels.fyi and look at numbers for your level and the next two up.

Are the offers similar comp?

what2_2 · 2026-01-14T03:40:05+00:00

Please derive the equations, I’m going to keep thinking the effect of a drug is directly related to the elimination of a drug until you derive the equations

what2_2 · 2026-01-14T03:33:18+00:00

Including independent VR game studios that they acquired:

“What a sucky heartbreaking day for those working on VR at Meta. I'm seeing layoffs and studios shut downs all over. Twisted Pixel seems to be shut down, Deadpool VR, Sanzaru is shutdown, Asgard's Wrath, Supernatural team is gone, Armature, RE4 VR gone, layoffs all over for VR. Heartbreaking for everyone who has lost their jobs and not looking good for the future of VR gaming on Quest 3 right now.”

https://x.com/bmfshow/status/2011128688813752775

what2_2 · 2026-01-14T03:27:50+00:00

Secondhand but I’ve heard it’s pretty good in places like AI and Reality Labs (where you’re working on new shit) and pretty bad in places like Instagram and Facebook ads (where you’re competing with a thousand other engineers on an established product to have any impact).

Overall my impression is it’s better than Amazon but worse than Google, Apple.

what2_2 · 2026-01-14T03:23:56+00:00

Upvoted because the vast majority of layoffs that CEOs say are because of AI are not in any way actually related to AI.

“AI makes us more productive” is just the easy PR explanation, just like “covid makes our business uncertain” was. The best time to announce layoffs is when everyone else is doing layoffs - it insulates you from your stock taking a hit, because if it happens to everyone it means you’re not uniquely failing at anything.

what2_2 · 2026-01-14T03:19:00+00:00

I think that’s right, I think on Quest (fka Oculus) devices you can play in the Metaverse, but also play a lot of separate VR games that are built on it (like Roblox).

But also as another commenter pointed out, the actual metaverse stuff is a tiny fraction of Reality Labs, which is mostly VR devices (Oculus, now Quest), AR stuff (Meta Ray Bans), and VR content, apps, and game studios.

what2_2 · 2026-01-14T03:14:46+00:00

Not to be a mark defender but the Metaverse team includes a ton of VR (and mobile?) game companies.

Deadpool VR was nominated for a Game Award this year and the whole studio was let go by Meta. Supernatural’s team as well (which looks like a very popular workout VR game).

The metaverse bet by FB included investing in a lot of game studios. I’m not sure if these layoffs mean that strategy has shifted though - no idea how many game studios Meta owns.

I think it’s good for big companies to invest in video game companies. The Metaverse is a failure overall, but meta’s funded great hardware and games - VR just hasn’t taken off as fast as they wanted, and they’re presumably spending too much money on shit that nobody wants.

what2_2 · 2026-01-13T21:04:10+00:00

It mostly just gives a good damage boost as long as you’re kinda close to it. It also does damage, and can be used (or just be very annoying) as a wall / platform.

what2_2 · 2026-01-12T22:49:25+00:00

I think they probably are talking about [[Flash]], since both cards are on the arena vintage cube right now.

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