bloodorange

I seldom post here nowadays and have been visiting the site for quite a while.

A major change I observe is that, unfortunately, a lot of political stuff finds place on the front page. In the past something that is likely to appear on the front page of the BBC would not appear here and it was mostly tech and startup stuff (barring the odd thing that would pique curiosity but that too I categorise under' tech'). Anything else was rare.

Also, over time, it seems to have become acceptable to show mild disrespect in communication - pasting LLM output as their own messages, leaving punctuation out (all lowercase messages), reddit meme like messages (this one not as often as the others).

I think some charm the place had is lost and it has become more utilitarian - or more of a hustler's place than a curious mind's place.

EDIT: Forgot another important one: clickbait headlines are more accepted now. In fact, the lack of integrity seems to be a badge of honour sometimes: "if you didn't regret the click, I don't regret baiting it", I recall someone saying here.

I say all this in comparison to earlier.

But these days, single parenting is the norm rather than the exception.

This is a rather unusual observation I have to say. How did you come to this conclusion, might I ask?

On ice, when you fall, you slide and it's not so bad as a lot of momentum is transferred to the sliding movement. On inline skates, you don't have that benefit. Definitely wear wrist guards, knee guards and a helmet like heavenlyblue has already suggested. Also, if you can find someone who teaches inline skating, take some lessons in stopping. If you are 100% comfortable and confident in being able to come to a halt safely or slowing down safely, you will skate with more confidence. Also, taking lessons might help improve your technique. Some aspects of efficient movement on inline skates (or on ice) are typically not instinctive.

It also serves to offer some protection against future attempts to outlaw it.

Given how much of general purpose computation we lose every year to walled-gardens/prisons, I think it might help a wee bit now and then.

There will _always_ be more to do than for which you can make time. It is a matter of priorities. Figure out what is important. Then figure out how much time you are going to spend on the important things. Set aside a fixed amount of time for chores too. This ought to leave you with some free time as well so that you can unwind from the day's labours and this is vital too. It helps the mind reset and helps you maintain the energy and discipline to go towards where you want to be.

It is not really complicated but it does require discipline and commitment. Like some other commenters have suggested, a complicated system or a massive to-do isn't as reliable as a simple system which is easy to follow and gives you a quick overview of where things stand. In my experience, To-do systems don't help motivate - they help a bit to stay organised.

Melbourne has one too: http://thenomadicexplorers.com/sites/default/files/users/65/...

(Not as big as the one in Sweden though)

That depends on how you measure the payoff.

Why would they do that when not spending any resources, time and money on having such scenes is more profitable as it doesn't appear to be hurting their viewership numbers?

I'd suggest spending the time needed to read through the documentation they have. It's not a lot of reading and it helps you understand how it works, what choices it makes and subsequently, it is easier to figure out for yourself how you want to use it.

https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual20.html

I've come across that as well. However, I'll add that it's a bit like saying that, in a 400m race (running), all the athletes are back where they started and they'd have been there even without going around the track.

It's a film trying to show the adventures of Indiana Jones.

Indeed. I think that is to allow them to stretch. If you take something like a shirt, for example, it'll be all merino wool.

EDIT: Also I see that the proportions differ based on the type of socks.

I'm afraid, to me, that doesn't seem like sufficient explanation. Now, given a choice, even with outdated graphics, I'd rather play Diablo 2 than play Torchlight 2.

It's not a problem if you find appropriate quality and thickness. One example is Icebreaker Ultralight socks. I use them in summer and they are rather thin.

Cotton remains damp after you sweat and eventually also stinks of sweat. It's not a good base layer in cold weather. A lot of merino wool products are easy to clean and maintain. I have never seen polyester called wool.

While Torchlight and Torchlight 2 have a lot of "quality of life" improvements and are decent games in general, I've found that they lack the replay value which Diablo 2 (with LOD) has. I can't exactly say why but this is how it felt to me.

A thicker device would be more comfortable to hold as well. It feels heavy and it is slim. So, it "digs" into the palms a bit depending on how you hold it and that is not comfortable for extended periods of handheld use.

If you are willing to strip the DRM and convert the files to epub or PDF, you can read them on the Remarkable 2. I do this as I prefer to read on the Remarkable 2 (compared to reading on the Kindle). It's just convenient to have all the technical material, notes and the leisure reading in one place.

I'm afraid we are talking past each other. I can not answer endless questions on this medium as it doesn't seem to take us forward. I'll leave you with a question though: Why does it bother you so, that others aren't bothered by the same things (or similar) and to the same degree (or similar) and that they do not react in the same (or similar) way? Why is what you see "the one right way"?

I took the liberty to make a few assumptions in my questions but you may also note that it is likewise with your line of questioning.

Cheers,

I'm afraid I have to disagree. There are innumerable issues which cause suffering and everyone chooses which ones they will concern themselves with (if at all) and to what degree. Even the leaders you elect probably fall on the wrong side of the line as per others who disagree with his/her policies. This is just life. Not everyone will be bothered by the same things as you and to the same degree.

As for me, I can go to bed in peace without worrying about world peace and world hunger. I never claimed otherwise. If one were to accuse me of hypocrisy in this matter, I'd expect some evidence before I consider the possibility that there may be a point to it.

Rather than an individual thought, consider the "line of reasoning" or "train of thought" and then consider again where it leads.

From two comments, it is hard to see whether your usage of "you" is rhetorical or whether you mean me in particular.

The easy case is the latter and for that I'll say that, I would be rather surprised if you had an accurate idea of what kind of a life I led and how much suffering is in my day-to-day life.

Let's go to the other instance, where you are speaking in general using the rhetorical "you". Here, I agree that there is a lot of suffering in this world. I'll take a specific case of it - hunger. There are a lot of hungry people in this world: even children dying of starvation. We have only considered humans so far. Imagine a little kitten somewhere abandoned by his mother (or just lost) and crying out in hunger (I've found a few like this). The question then arises: How can you eat any meal in peace? Does anyone have a right to eat in peace as long as involuntary hunger exists? Are they "permitted" to eat without guilt or shame? What if one eats a sandwich? What if it is rice? What if it is rice and chicken? What if it's an ice-cream? What if it's chocolate fondue? What if it's a king's feast?

I was unable to see any other natural end to that line of reasoning except a monastic life. Does that mean that when a butcher buys ice-cream for his little daughter, this act should in fact give them both guilt and shame instead of joy? This is not a simple matter if you were to think about how to thresh it out by taking both sides and pitting them against each other in your mind.

I have lived among people of very "opposing" cultures (different countries). Guilt features prominently in one of them. In my view, it is a kind of abuse to foist such a mindset on a young mind and teach a child that one has to look at an activity so natural and important as eating (or sleeping) and feel guilt or shame because of it. How does this not increase suffering? If one's ideal is to work towards diminishing suffering in this world, is causing more of it (to others or to oneself) the right method? In either case, why? And then follows the rationalists question to the idealist: "Will that work?"

If I were to be entirely honest, I do not think this medium can serve well to settle this matter. If we had met in person, I'd have been happy to share a meal with you and learn where each of us is headed. Not that that would settle it of course but it is much easier to debate such matters in those circumstances. I wish you luck and hope that you find a path to what you seek.

If you want to go down that line of thought, you would still have to concede that without adequate sleep, you will be ineffective. In either case, lying in bed, unable to sleep, thinking about those things doesn't lead to anything positive (in my view). Even Gandhi had to sleep.

Feeling guilty and the victim mindset are different sides of the same coin here. Neither is productive.

I assume you have already considered and observed the effect of alcohol and/or caffeine intake.

One thing that definitely helps me is to have a routine for bedtime. A hot shower, bed preheated in winter (heated underblanket), keeping the room cold and reading a book while lying in bed. I typically pick technical material as it's less likely to keep me up all night with an engrossing story. At some point, I notice that the mind is tired and I am able to gather words from the page but not comprehend the material. I then set the book aside, turn off the bedlamp and try to sleep. Usually, this is sufficient and I fall asleep in no time. Some people just fall asleep while reading. For me, it's reading. For a friend of mine, it's watching a TV show. He has something playing on the computer or TV and falls asleep while watching it.

The idea is to get the body relaxed (hot shower in my case) and then do something (devoid of stress) that keeps ones mind off the hustle and bustle of one's day.

Also, going to bed and rising at (roughly) the same time everyday will also get the body and the mind trained to be sleepy at that time and it'll get easier to fall asleep.

EDIT: I naturally tend to drift to a nocturnal routine if left to my own inclinations. The hardest part of what I wrote above is just pulling myself away from the day to go to bed at what most would consider a reasonable hour. If you can not convince yourself that sleep is important and commit to maintaining discipline in your sleep/wake routine, no "technique", "advice" or "substance" will be effective on the long run.

While a surprise birthday party etc. is definitely not a problem for me, if any of my friends considered my address, phone number etc. as his/her data, there'd be a rather serious conversation about it.

The author of this particular book made his choice based on his experience teaching the course. While, of course no one can stop you from criticising his choice, on any day, I'd respect his opinion more than that of an angry internet commenter as he (the author of the book) has more invested in it _and_ has given free resource to the community after putting a lot of work into it.

The remarkable 2 tablet is a good (though expensive) device for writing. It feels quite a bit like paper and the different writing instruments you can select make for a lot of choice even in doodling/sketching stuff. You can also use it to take notes on a PDF you are reading etc.

After the bridge has fallen, there may yet be people ferrying themselves across the river. This, however, does not mean the absence of the bridge is not a notable impairment to people's movement across the water.

If you like Van Gogh's work, do not miss the movie "Loving Vincent": http://lovingvincent.com/

Please consider the possibility that you might be "escaping" using reddit or using it to fulfill some unmet need. If you are unable to figure it out by yourself a good therapist might be able to help you channel it towards something healthier or just bring balance to how you use reddit.

EDIT: The idea behind this being that perhaps the addiction is a symptom of some other problem and trying to get to the root of the matter might help make it easier to find a way around it.

If the work you are doing is not stimulating and is merely a means to get a salary, then of course, you will eventually be drained of motivation and energy and it gets harder to wake up for it with every passing day.

On the other hand, something to look forward to, might give you the spark to "rise and shine".

If on top of uninteresting work, you pick up an uninteresting side-project, you are bound to make things worse. However, if the side-project is something for which you are itching to make time, then you might in fact wake up with excitement for it.

I found that (for me) the key to making a habit out of some things is to eliminate as much friction as possible in just getting started. If I were you, I'd look at the simplest things like "7 minute workout" to just get started with something easy enough to fit into my routine and once it becomes a habit, one could consider making it more intense. There are interesting challenges like the "100 pushups" or "200 squats" challenge for which you only need a bit of free space on the floor.