ctdonath

85 ms·

871.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Well, the context here is largely about relative vacation time. Now if you'd rather have a job which was notable in the 14th century, that's a different - and also interesting - discussion.
872.
by ctdonath 9y ago
When the land isn't producing (winter), and you're just living mostly off reserves, and you're not enjoying being pretty much trapped in a hut covered with snow, that counts as "unemployment". Sure isn't a &quo
873.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Enough so that Playboy went under.
874.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Excellent point. We've basically just outsourced the servants. I show up at one of a proliferation of restaurants, and expect cooks & servers at my beck-and-call. I set my thermostat, and expect someone will ensure the temperature
875.
by ctdonath 9y ago
You use no heating or cooling? That's unusual. Approximate latitude? I spent 37 years largely without A/C, northern climate usually being below preferred room temperature. Heating, however, was essential. Moving south, both are su
876.
by ctdonath 9y ago
The exact mode of payment is irrelevant. The point is they had to work for sustenance - whether it was trading skills for money, or producing goods and bartering them, or just producing direct necessities. The core topic is "vacation&q
877.
by ctdonath 9y ago
I'd be dead four times over (and those are the obvious near-lethal maladies), and I just turned 50.
878.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Good (and apparently unaddressed) point. We get several more hours per day for leisure precisely because "daylight" can be continued indoors indefinitely.
879.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Standard of living == hours available for chores Interesting definition. Needs expansion to address the number of hours required to perform chores. Having more hours available to do laundry isn't better if laundry takes significantly
880.
by ctdonath 9y ago
That's equating unemployment with vacation. And that's overlooking how hard mundane existence was: heat required collecting firewood, cooling was opening a window, cooking was over open indoor fires, food was hard to preserve, bed
881.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Why? No HVAC, electricity, running potable hot water, limited literature, long delivery times.
882.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Agreed. Whilst touring Neuschwanstein Castle and Biltmore Estate, what struck me: for all the luxurious art & fineries & service kings & tycoons enjoyed, what we consider basic necessities were hard to come by, if available at a
883.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Methinks medieval peasants would consider most modern work a vacation.
884.
by ctdonath 9y ago
More like the herd got out six years ago, and Z is trying to distract from the fact that it's a glue factory.
885.
by ctdonath 9y ago
"the most important actions to prevent this from happening again today we have already taken years ago." This...is not comforting.
886.
by ctdonath 9y ago
You're failing to differentiate a program from the programmer. You're equating Odin (or whatever) to the operating system, which while superior to other programs is, in essence, just another program. I'm equating Odin (or wha
887.
by ctdonath 9y ago
There are interesting world maps depicting [in]tolerance of various common foods: wheat, milk, alcohol, etc. Humans are adaptively omnivores - those intolerant of one food (when identified) can avoid it via plenty of alternatives. http:&#x
888.
by ctdonath 9y ago
A History of the World in Six Glasses https://smile.amazon.com/History-World-6-Glasses-ebook/dp/B0...
889.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Tangent: I've long wondered when we'd see invention of drop-in roads - transportable segments of self-leveling roadways, robust enough for heavy use & a substantial lifespan yet easily disconnected & replaced (unlike curre
890.
by ctdonath 9y ago
I've been casually considering: what would the universe look like from a photon's point of view, considering that its entire lifespan is - from its own perspective - instant? Photon views itself as a point, with the totality of ev
891.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Rule of thumb: anyone using the term "best practices" doesn't understand them. (Yes, some do. On the whole I find most don't.)
892.
by ctdonath 9y ago
[paraphrasing] Acceleration is a kind of speed. The more you're accelerating in a given direction, the faster you're going - even if there's something stopping you. Gravity makes you accelerate - even if there's ground s
893.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Prices are plummeting though. I can get a software-dimmable app-controlled LED (Philips Hue) bulb for cheaper ($10) than the serial-replacement incandescents it replaces. It's to the point that I'm bummed I can't find any m
894.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Moore's Law has been hitting - and going through - walls for the last 30 years.
895.
by ctdonath 9y ago
That's monopoly in action. Given right-of-way exclusivity, there's little reason to endure the enormous costs of upgrading. Were other companies given opportunity to compete, you'd see a lot more improvements in shorter tim
896.
by ctdonath 9y ago
I still miss the police warnings, but I also changed my driving habits to where I don't need them anymore. Hey, that's an idea: obey the law. [ETA: funny that this is being downvotes.]
897.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Most of the time I do. I only use Waze when on long-haul freeways, concerned about police & other traffic issues. I usually use Apple Maps as general runabout guidance, Google Maps when really concerned about best/scenic routes, Go
898.
by ctdonath 9y ago
I don't take it as necessarily an implication of accumulated failure. Career paths just tend to end, somewhere somehow. Might flame out. Might get a bad rep. Might be doing just fine but that tech & corp might just be leading to &q
899.
by ctdonath 9y ago
Did embedded software for a couple decades at numerous companies. Was good at it, but saw the path was going to slowly drift into the weeds (company was aspiring to build products competing with what competitors had discarded as obsolete).
900.
by ctdonath 9y ago
My library correlates to my self. Most of the books therein either molded me, or were chosen because of how I was molded; it's a reflection of who I am. Already aware of how short my life can/may be (and even if long-lived), it ca

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