beat

75 ms·

751.
by beat 8y ago
As a songwriter, I wonder why I write so many sad songs. Like, a lot of them. Really, really sad songs. I just wrote one last week, inspired by a scene from a science fiction novel. It tells the story of a small fleet of spaceships fleein
752.
by beat 8y ago
"I have strong feelings, and therefore I will invent rational-sounding excuses to justify my feelings, and I know they are right because they are mine!" kind of writing.
753.
by beat 8y ago
I just listened to an interview podcast that was clearly done on Skype. Interviewer on the left stereo channel, interviewee on the right. Despite the sucky sound quality of Skype and mics, the stereo separation made it relatively easy to fo
754.
by beat 8y ago
That's missing the point. The point is that the introduction of plastic packaging has made food far safer and more accessible for billions of people.
755.
by beat 8y ago
To maybe make this more relatable, think about typing. How much do you type? How much do you think about it? Do you use your right thumb on the spacebar, the left thumb, or both? Why do you do it that way? Do you think you could type faster
756.
by beat 8y ago
Food is not a luxury item.
757.
by beat 8y ago
I've had ocular migraines my whole life, as long as I can remember (I clearly remember them happening before kindergarten, and was seeing doctors when I was six). Luckily, they've gotten far less common and intense as I've go
758.
by beat 8y ago
It's treatable, not curable. Treatment lasted about a year, consisting of monthly injections into my eyeball (yeah), and a laser surgery that cauterized about 50 tiny veins. I have a blind spot and some unevenness, but it's usable
759.
by beat 8y ago
Nah. I don't think I've ever heard the argument that LFLs are a substitute for public libraries, except in this article. Library defunding is always done on an "everyone needs to share the pain" ground, we can't rai
760.
by beat 8y ago
Yeah, I suppose. A few years back, I was blinded in one eye by a retinal vein occlusion (basically a stroke in the retina). They're actually pretty common, affecting 5-10% of the population, but unless it crosses your macula, you'
761.
by beat 8y ago
Truth. That said, I'm not calling for the abolition of either public libraries or little free libraries. I'm just saying we need to be clear about our goals when we do things (especially social justice things). If the goal is &quo
762.
by beat 8y ago
The people who build and use LFLs are the most likely to support a well-funded public library system, not the least likely. That's one of the key conceptual failings of the article.
763.
by beat 8y ago
A while back, a longtime friend posted a photo of 21 year old me on Facebook (over 30 years ago now). He asked what would surprise 21 year old me the most about today's me. I said "Mostly that I keep calling him 'dumbass&#x27
764.
by beat 8y ago
Right. Especially mass-market paperback fiction and the like. If the book is rare, or has deep sentimental value, keep it or pass it on to someone who will enjoy it. But "because I may read it (or read it again) someday" is not a
765.
by beat 8y ago
You don't need a map to find the darn things. Just leave the house every once in a while, walk around the neighborhood.
766.
by beat 8y ago
Virtue signaling goes both ways. Yes, there's plenty of middle class progressive virtue signaling in having a little free library, but there's also plenty in bashing them as a threat to the public library system. Progressiver-than
767.
by beat 8y ago
You're lucky to be alive. Pulmonary embolisms are often fatal.
768.
by beat 8y ago
My experience of the redwoods (the coastal redwoods in Humboldt county) is that they are SOOOO tall in the tallest groves that "tallest tree" is just incomprehensible. From the ground, the treetops are lost in the mist and fog. Fr
769.
by beat 8y ago
I'm always cautious about making assumptions of "intelligence" from the outside, for people who have expertise or experience that I don't have. Back in the Reagan days, it came out that his presidential decision-making p
770.
by beat 8y ago
A lot of people who appear lazy are just paralyzed by other things. If it wasn't for living at home, my son would probably wind up homeless just for a lack of coping skills. And he wouldn't be able to get out of it, because of a l
771.
by beat 8y ago
Push your logic a little farther. Any sane parent would think twice about risking their life for their child's life. Now push another direction... if you'd sacrifice your own life for your child, what about for someone else's
772.
by beat 8y ago
Most people would disagree with you. Many would act at risk of their own lives to save treasures that they feel are part of their national identity or human civilization. Just because you don't feel that way doesn't mean they&#x27
773.
by beat 8y ago
What's flawed about it? Are you saying firefighters wouldn't run into a burning building to save the original paper? To flip your point around, they'd save it because it's symbolically important . Same with the art in t
774.
by beat 8y ago
Not all software. Linux is over 25 years old and shows no signs of abandonment. I think the odds are very good that it'll still be in use a century from now. Apache is almost as old, if you count its NCSA roots. Microsoft SQL Server is
775.
by beat 8y ago
Yep, that's it! I'm just blown away by this book (and The Three Body Problem ), and really looking forward to the next one in the trilogy. Along the same technical lines, have you read A Deepness in the Sky , by Vernor Vinge? I
776.
by beat 8y ago
Yeah, nothing like a bunch of boys online with delusions of the grandeur of their own intellect, second-guessing professionals who probably had plans for such an occurrence in place already anyway.
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by beat 8y ago
Yeah, it works just fine on forest fires. Not so much in urban settings. But now that Trump has said it, a bazillion MAGAbots will be asking why they didn't use a plane, and start looking for a French conspiracy to destroy civilization
778.
by beat 8y ago
Someday, when we win the final battle against Moore's Law, computers will stop evolving. Software will become as stable as medieval architecture. Maybe not in our lifetimes, but it'll happen. I'm currently reading a science f
779.
by beat 8y ago
Sure, if you don't care about art, or national pride, you might not get it. Put it this way... would you run into a burning building to try to save the Declaration of Independence? (Assuming you're an American) Would most firefigh
780.
by beat 8y ago
Sure, technically it can be done. Socially, though... we have a hard time saying no to people. That's a lot to overcome. We have tools for interruption and social inhibitions against not using them.

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