papasquat's recent activity
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Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
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Comment on The Boring Company faces Nashville tunnel criticism in ~transport
papasquat Link ParentBuilding a new lane isn't cheap or easy, and it really isn't a good solution. It's certainly cheaper and easier than tunneling under 40 feet of rock through. This isn't a particularly dense route...Building a new lane isn't cheap or easy, and it really isn't a good solution.
It's certainly cheaper and easier than tunneling under 40 feet of rock through. This isn't a particularly dense route we're talking about here, so land use issues aren't nearly as much of a problem as the dense urban areas where subways make economic sense.
The whole pitch of the boring company is that you can bore faster if you use smaller tunnels; tunnels that only one car can barely squeeze through. The entire issue there is that having a tunnel that is so narrow that you can't pass is incredibly unsafe and inefficient. All it takes is a single breakdown, and everyone in the tunnel is trapped in one direction.
An accident completely shuts the tunnel down until you can tow the car completely through the other side.
Ignoring that, cars are a really awful way to transport lots of people.
The really frustrating thing about their pitch is that they compare apples to oranges. They say that the Nashville loop route will take 8 minutes to complete versus 15-30 minutes via road.
They're comparing an uncongested loop with zero wait time traveling at maximum speed with real world road conditions.
The thing is, it's an 8 mile drive. If this was a zombie movie situation where absolutely no one was on the road, I could go balls to the wall and get there in 8 minutes too. The loop doesn't somehow break physics and eliminate the time it takes to get somewhere. It's just a road. If you look at the Vegas loop during peak hours, it would have usually have been faster to drive, because the roads in Vegas have way higher capacity than the loop does. You have to wait in line for your own personal Tesla to roll up and then wait in traffic, except this time it's underground.
Throughput is the main thing that matters when talking about high volume transit. The theoretical, traveling only time when the system is operating 100% smoothly and uncongested is so irrelevant that it's not even worth bringing up, but that seems like the main thing this crap gets sold on.
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Comment on The Boring Company faces Nashville tunnel criticism in ~transport
papasquat LinkI don't get the point of this thing. It's like you take a highway and a subway, combine them by using the worst parts of each, then make it have new disadvantages that neither of them have. Even...I don't get the point of this thing. It's like you take a highway and a subway, combine them by using the worst parts of each, then make it have new disadvantages that neither of them have.
Even if you have an irrational hatred of trains, you could literally just build another lane on i-40. It would be cheaper, safer, faster, and move more people.
It's like everyone just becomes laser focused on these projects and immediately get to work thinking up justifications without ever stepping back to ask "what is actually the point of this thing?"
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Comment on OpenAI exec becomes top US President Donald Trump donor with $25 million gift in ~society
papasquat Link ParentThe law was dead as soon as citizens united was decided. Since then, it's been "we're not doing bribery. Wink wink." We know it's massive poltical corruption, they know it's corruption. We all...The law was dead as soon as citizens united was decided. Since then, it's been "we're not doing bribery. Wink wink." We know it's massive poltical corruption, they know it's corruption. We all just pretend it isn't because of strange loopholes.
Politicians in theory aren't allowed to tell PACs how to spend their money or what to do. In practice, why would they ever have to? Their platforms are, by nature, as public as possible. We know what Donald Trump supports, so he doesn't need to pick up the phone to tell you what to advocate for.
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Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentSort of? Not really though. When you get a hair transplant, they take hair from the back of your head, which is resistant to DHT. That's the reason that even totally bald guys still have the donut...Sort of? Not really though. When you get a hair transplant, they take hair from the back of your head, which is resistant to DHT. That's the reason that even totally bald guys still have the donut ring around the back of their heads.
Those follicles remain DHT resistant no matter where they're transplanted. So you won't lose any transplanted hairs to androgens. The hair around them is another story though. Your hair loss for the follicles around where you were already losing hair will continue as normal, so a lot of guys stay on drugs after transplants so that they don't have a bunch of new hair loss behind their transplanted hair.
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Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentI've looked into this pretty extensively. There are potential sexual side effects with fin and dut. They're very rare though. It's also very difficult to figure out how much of that is placebo and...I've looked into this pretty extensively. There are potential sexual side effects with fin and dut. They're very rare though. It's also very difficult to figure out how much of that is placebo and how much are actual physiological effects. As soon as you put the idea of sexual side effects into someone's head, they're going to watch like a hawk for them.
There are many, many threads filled with guys overanalyzing the strength of their erections after being on finesteride. Even so, the majority of those side effects go away after being on the drug for a bit as your body reestablishes an equilibrium. The ones that don't generally go away after ceasing the drug.
There's a very, very small contingent of men who report side effects after ceasing the drug, but this is exceedingly rare, and we're not sure if this is the drug, a psychosomatic effect due to guys being obsessed with looking for side effects, or just an unfortunate coincidence that comes naturally with aging for many men. (Most guys who take finesteride are entering middle age, when ED problems tend to show up even without any drugs).
For me, my conclusion was that it was an exceedingly small risk, and I've not experienced any negative side effects at all.
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Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
papasquat LinkI started balding at around 23 or so, and I'm in my early 40s now. By the time I was about 33, my hairline had receded so much that I was shaving my head. I went through a lot of personal stuff...I started balding at around 23 or so, and I'm in my early 40s now. By the time I was about 33, my hairline had receded so much that I was shaving my head. I went through a lot of personal stuff that started making me self conscious of it in a way that I wasn't really before so I started trying to actually solve it. Finasteride, caffeine and minoxidil topically 2x a day. It sooooorta worked? Not really noticeably though. In the end, I got a hair transplant when I was 37, and it's one of the best decisions I ever made.
You can't tell I was ever losing my hair unless you look at some thin areas very closely, and I don't ever really think about it anymore. I never really thought of myself as a bald guy, so it was always jarring looking in the mirror after I started shaving my head. I just didn't have the build or skull shape to pull it off. It kinda reminded me of the Matrix, when in the real world, Neo is bald, but when he's in the matrix his residual self image is of him with a full head of hair. Even after years of shaving my head, I still felt like that. Having a hair again has helped me feel like "me" a lot more, of that makes sense.
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Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentIt depends entirely on your response to it. I don't respond to minoxodil whatsoever. Finasteride is slightly better for me, but lots of people don't really respond to it either. Unfortunately...It depends entirely on your response to it. I don't respond to minoxodil whatsoever. Finasteride is slightly better for me, but lots of people don't really respond to it either. Unfortunately they're the best we have, but they're not a panacea.
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Comment on ‘House burping’ is a cold reality in Germany. Americans are warming to it. in ~life.home_improvement
papasquat LinkThis is kind of crazy to hear about for someone who lives in Florida. Virtually every building has central air conditioning here, so ventilation isn't a problem, and if someone tried to open all...This is kind of crazy to hear about for someone who lives in Florida. Virtually every building has central air conditioning here, so ventilation isn't a problem, and if someone tried to open all of my windows in the middle of summertime after my poor heat pump chugged away fighting the good fight against the swampy hot fog we call air here because of some German tradition/social media trend, I think I would actually physically restrain them.
It seems a little bit counterintuitive to spend a bunch of money on high efficiency, insulated windows, and then regularly throw them open a few times a day so you can dump all of that energy outside. Surely a ventilation system is a better solution there?
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentMost earth orbits, especially the easy to get to ones, also eliminate the one possible advantage of having things in space. If something is flying around the earth, about half the time its...Most earth orbits, especially the easy to get to ones, also eliminate the one possible advantage of having things in space. If something is flying around the earth, about half the time its orbiting, the earth is occluding its view of the sun. You could put something in the orbit of the sun instead, but that would require wayyyyy more launch energy to do.
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentNeither do I, but I hear this argument a lot about running out of space, usually in the context of solar panels taking up a lot of space. People don't comprehend how much empty space exists in the...Neither do I, but I hear this argument a lot about running out of space, usually in the context of solar panels taking up a lot of space. People don't comprehend how much empty space exists in the US, especially if they haven't spent much time in rural areas in the western part of the country.
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Comment on The internet wasn't built for live sports in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentThe two use cases I can think of for low latency, wide distribution video is sports betting, and streamer reactions. I'm scratching my head to think of anything else where it might be relevant....The two use cases I can think of for low latency, wide distribution video is sports betting, and streamer reactions.
I'm scratching my head to think of anything else where it might be relevant. Maybe new years eve so that when the ball drops on TV it's not a minute after everyone on my street shoots off fireworks?
There are definitely a lot of legitimate use cases for low latency over the internet, but those usually are to one person or small group of people and can be achieved more or less with current technology in so far as physics allow. The issue is scaling that up.
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentAlso, xAI is absolutely hemmoraging money with no path to profitability in sight. If he takes it public again, he can use his legendary bullshitting skills to get retail shareholders to burden a...Also, xAI is absolutely hemmoraging money with no path to profitability in sight. If he takes it public again, he can use his legendary bullshitting skills to get retail shareholders to burden a lot of that risk like they do with Tesla. Then he doesn't actually have to deliver good products via either SpaceX or X anymore.
He just has to string people along to pump the share price when he wants to, which is the main thing he's good at.
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentFor comparison, the ISS, the biggest and most expensive space construction project in human history by far, requring dozens of countries decades to build and over $120 billion dollars generates......Electricity. A single H100 GPU, excluding the rest of the server, pulls 700W. Lets just say a single server is still a 1kW spec heater. 42 high, 100 racks = 4200kW, and that's ignoring the larger cost of cooling (each of those 100 racks needs about a half dozen window AC units worth of cooling on earth, and it's harder to cool things in space). 1kW of solar generation is about 2 square meters of space, so we're talking kilometers...
For comparison, the ISS, the biggest and most expensive space construction project in human history by far, requring dozens of countries decades to build and over $120 billion dollars generates... 120kw.
I could buy a generator for $50,000 that can supply that, or solar panels here on earth for about $200,000. That's 150 GPUs, ignoring cooling. Large AI data centers run hundreds of thousands of them.
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentNo ones backyard is in the middle of the Mojave, which would be a way cheaper and easier place to build data centers. Most large scale data centers are already in the middle of nowhere, and if...No ones backyard is in the middle of the Mojave, which would be a way cheaper and easier place to build data centers. Most large scale data centers are already in the middle of nowhere, and if NIMBY opposition grew, which is entirely reasonable, they would move even further to the middle of nowhere. The US has an absolutely insane amount of land area that's available.
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentSattelites worked before SpaceX launched them. They already knew they worked, and we knew how to launch them. They also launch them because there are no feasibile alternatives to provide worldwide...Sattelites worked before SpaceX launched them. They already knew they worked, and we knew how to launch them.
They also launch them because there are no feasibile alternatives to provide worldwide radio coverage. Google tried using balloons, terrestrial cell providers use towers, but all of those have significant drawbacks compared to sattelites if your goal is covering the entire world.
Data centers are not in the same situation. No one has built a data center in space before. We have good alternatives to putting them in space. There aren't significant constraints to building them on earth, and there a lot of contraints to putting them into space (as there is for putting anything into space).
There also aren't any significant advantages to putting them in space. Yes, they use a lot of power on earth. They'd use a lot of power in space too though. The power requirements don't magically go away because they're in space. Yes, solar panels are a lot more efficient in space, but solar panels are extremely cheap now. Launching them into space is not. Any efficiency gains are totally wiped out by that fact, and that would be the only possible advantage.
It's really a nonsensical idea.
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
papasquat Link ParentOne thing that the last 20 years of investors in Musk's companies should have shown us, it's that shareholders are very, very stupid. It's extremely easy for Musk to trick them by invoking sci fi...One thing that the last 20 years of investors in Musk's companies should have shown us, it's that shareholders are very, very stupid. It's extremely easy for Musk to trick them by invoking sci fi ideas with no feasibility to drum up excitement.
He drummed up investment in SpaceX by promising crewed mars missions by 2024. He drummed up investment in Tesla by promising self driving in 2014.
He's a proven liar who consistently makes things up to boost stock prices to his advantage and people keep falling for it.
Data centers in space is not only an uninformed gamble, it's a completely unworkable idea from a technical standpoint, let alone an economic standpoint.
It would literally make more sense to invest in a company that promises to build factories at the bottom of the ocean, or farms in Antarctica.
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Comment on US judge allows last of five offshore wind projects halted by Donald Trump to proceed in ~enviro
papasquat LinkOf all of modern conservatisms baffling, harmful, ignorant positions, the hate for renewable energy is the most baffling to me by far. Even if we were to ignore the absolutely gargantuan amount of...Of all of modern conservatisms baffling, harmful, ignorant positions, the hate for renewable energy is the most baffling to me by far.
Even if we were to ignore the absolutely gargantuan amount of evidence supporting the idea that CO2 emissions will result in massive economic and quality of life impacts and pretend climate change isn't real, there are so many other advantages.
It's now the cheapest type of energy production there is, even including bundling battery storage with it. It makes sense, because it doesn't require labor intensive prospecting, fracking, drilling, and transportation like fossil fuel extraction does. It also doesn't have the problem of fossil fuel extraction where each unit of energy extracted makes the next unit of energy more difficult and expensive to extract, since decisions on where to extract fossil fuels are made based on how cheap it is, so after that site is depleted, the next site available is more expensive.
It reduces reliance of foreign powers for energy, because we have enough land in the US to produce all of the energy we could conceivably need for hundreds of years to come, and that energy never runs out. It's literally given to us for free for millions of years.
It seems like such an absolute no brainer, and I constantly scratch my head at why anyone, but especially conservatives would never oppose it. It's literally the free market choosing the most efficient option. It can be completely manufactured, controlled, and maintained within the US, and it preserves our natural resources.
It seems like just by a sheer flip of the coin that they've taken a lot of money from fossil fuel interests and so this has just become their policy position, divorced of any actual semblance to what they preport to believe in.
We can, and do have a thriving manufacturing industry based on renewables in the US. It could be even stronger, and actually have a chance of returning some of those manufacturing jobs that Republicans keep complaining that are going to China, because gigantic turbine blades are some of the few things that might make economic sense to not ship across the ocean and instead build in place if you can help it.
It always makes me confused when conservatives try to contort themselves into knots to reconcile their stance on that one.
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Comment on I let my wife have an affair. Do I have to console her now that it’s over? in ~life
papasquat Link ParentHonestly, this reminds me of my own "traditional" marriage. Except I don't not talk to my friends and family with problems out of shame. I don't talk to them because I don't want to taint their...A lot of "traditional" marriage types have nobody at all to talk about when things go wrong, and are motivated by shame to hide them very hard from closest friends and family, adding additional stress and barriers to healing.
Honestly, this reminds me of my own "traditional" marriage. Except I don't not talk to my friends and family with problems out of shame. I don't talk to them because I don't want to taint their perception of my wife. I think that's very common.
I love my wife, and I love spending time with her, and we generally communicate well and have very few problems. We do have minor problems now and then though, like every couple. If I told my parents or my sister when those problems came up, or when my wife does things that annoy me, those problems will color their perceptions of her forever.
I know this from experience. If I bring up one time that it annoys me when a girlfriend leaves her clothes on my side of the bed, for years it became "Oh, you must be busy cleaning up after her because of how messy she is".
That becomes one of her main defining character traits forever in their minds. I'd rather not deal with that perception and having to correct people about it, so to the outside world, my wife is and will always be a perfect angel who doesn't do any wrong.
It does leave a gap for who to actually talk to about stuff though.
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Comment on I let my wife have an affair. Do I have to console her now that it’s over? in ~life
papasquat Link ParentI don't see how this possibly could have ended any other way. If you cheat, "actually, I think I'm non monogamous" is a complete cop out. You've failed to live up to an agreement you had with your...I don't see how this possibly could have ended any other way.
If you cheat, "actually, I think I'm non monogamous" is a complete cop out. You've failed to live up to an agreement you had with your significant other, and there's no way to slice it other than an extreme betrayal. I'd argue that non monogamy started that way is virtually always coerced.
I think there are people for whom non monogamy can work well, but I think they're an extreme subset ot the population. Just because you can, on a rational, logical level reason that there's nothing morally wrong with two people mutually deciding they they want to have sex with other people does not mean you're compatible with that lifestyle.
I think the mistake that people make with this stuff is that they look at their marriage, they look at the fact that they can't have sex with other people then go "I like this marriage, except I can't have sex with other people. It'd be even better if I could!"
It's so much more complex than that though. There are so many additional problems and struggles that opening up a relationship brings that you need to weigh. There's a reason why monogamy is the default relationship status, and it's not solely because of oppressive religious mores like a lot of ENM people claim.
When considering this stuff, a lot of people need to look at their relationships and say to themselves "this is great, and that's good enough" instead of "...but it could be even greater!!!".
Well thank you for that, that's very flattering.
Although I thought about it and I felt that I should state, since I'm sort of giving medical advice. I'm not a doctor and I have no medical experience at all. I'm just a formerly bald guy who had a lot of time on his hand to do research on hair loss.