Chiasmic's recent activity

  1. Comment on Affinity V3 is here with a new freemium model in ~design

    Chiasmic
    Link
    The difficulty is, I already went to Affinity as an alternative to Adobe. Are the alternatives to Affinity any good?

    The difficulty is, I already went to Affinity as an alternative to Adobe. Are the alternatives to Affinity any good?

    2 votes

  2. Comment on What are your favorite low cost main dishes/meals? in ~food

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    I can’t visualise eating soup with rice (I’ve only really ever used bread or plain). Do you put the rice in the soup? Or pour it on top of rice like a curry?

    I can’t visualise eating soup with rice (I’ve only really ever used bread or plain). Do you put the rice in the soup? Or pour it on top of rice like a curry?

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    Well that is my thoughts, but more recently more and more deals are locked behind them, and I am feeling ripped off if I don’t use one, but also feel like I will if I do.

    Well that is my thoughts, but more recently more and more deals are locked behind them, and I am feeling ripped off if I don’t use one, but also feel like I will if I do.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    I’ve never seen that in the UK. I’ve seen people print a receipt with a code so you click the points later if you forget your loyalty card as an alternative.

    I’ve never seen that in the UK. I’ve seen people print a receipt with a code so you click the points later if you forget your loyalty card as an alternative.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on What are creepy, spooky or scary places you've been? in ~talk

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    403 error, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tildes hug of death for a website before…

    403 error, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tildes hug of death for a website before…

  6. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    Yeah phone numbers are a problem. I would love a service which allowed masked phone numbers like they do for email (e.g. iCloud or fastmail).

    Yeah phone numbers are a problem. I would love a service which allowed masked phone numbers like they do for email (e.g. iCloud or fastmail).

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    I acknowledge your point, but it’s more of the principle, and what could be theoretically deduced by your purchase history (especially for food which is inherently linked to biology and health)....

    I acknowledge your point, but it’s more of the principle, and what could be theoretically deduced by your purchase history (especially for food which is inherently linked to biology and health).
    Also, all of these are ultimately done to try and increase your spending, and done for the companies benefit, not yours. It also opens the way for more personalised pricing in the future, which is where the consumer is really on the back foot.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    Interesting, I didn’t know that you didn’t need to give any details for nectar. Thanks for that, very helpful.

    Interesting, I didn’t know that you didn’t need to give any details for nectar. Thanks for that, very helpful.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    Yes, Aldi/Lidl in the UK have held out, as has Waitrose. Waitrose is too expensive, and Aldi/Lidl are too far away for me, and I find their food goes off quite quickly. In a way, I would rather...

    Yes, Aldi/Lidl in the UK have held out, as has Waitrose. Waitrose is too expensive, and Aldi/Lidl are too far away for me, and I find their food goes off quite quickly.
    In a way, I would rather give data to a different company to avoid over centralisation of all my information, especially when it’s different domains of information.

    2 votes

  10. Supermarket rewards card- yes or no?

    ~finance Ask (advice)
    I have held out for years from getting a loyalty/membership card from supermarkets as I hate the tracking that they do. But here in the UK so many prices are now locked behind it in most...

    I have held out for years from getting a loyalty/membership card from supermarkets as I hate the tracking that they do. But here in the UK so many prices are now locked behind it in most supermarkets, it feels like I’m just giving them so much extra money it’s getting ridiculous. I end up spending more money to shop where they don’t do this, but most of the major players are now adding these member only prices it’s hard to keep the status quo.
    For other privacy minded people, how do you manage this?

    37 votes

  11. Comment on What is happening to Japan? in ~tech

    Chiasmic
    Link
    As an aside his book Abroad in Japan is a fun easy read with a nice slice of life flavour. I would recommend it!

    As an aside his book Abroad in Japan is a fun easy read with a nice slice of life flavour. I would recommend it!

    15 votes

  12. Comment on What's your video game comfort food? in ~games

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    How do you feel about the others in the series?

    How do you feel about the others in the series?

  13. Comment on Who tried beetroot? in ~food

    Chiasmic
    Link
    I really like beetroots but beware the juice, it will stain bad!

    I really like beetroots but beware the juice, it will stain bad!

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Indecision: Get a camera despite having a phone in ~tech

    Chiasmic
    Link
    I have a dslr, and I find the photos are better even in brightly lit scenes (where smartphones perform best) The aperture is key and so much more varied in a real camera along with pixel size....

    I have a dslr, and I find the photos are better even in brightly lit scenes (where smartphones perform best) The aperture is key and so much more varied in a real camera along with pixel size. Having. Said that, my iPhone does HDR much better, autofocus and video. I still use my phone for most pictures, but I get some great photos I couldn’t get otherwise on my real camera.

    4 votes

  15. Comment on Using Apple Photos captions for journalling in ~tech

    Chiasmic
    Link
    I do use this feature but mostly to help me find the photo later. So I might put in “mums stew” then I can find it next time by search phrase rather than digging through when it might have been

    I do use this feature but mostly to help me find the photo later. So I might put in “mums stew” then I can find it next time by search phrase rather than digging through when it might have been

  16. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~books

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    I remember that now but it has more given me a desire to use it! I dislike the lack of distinction between soon that means “do it not right now but before I move on to the next thing” and soon...

    I remember that now but it has more given me a desire to use it! I dislike the lack of distinction between soon that means “do it not right now but before I move on to the next thing” and soon “I’ll do it in a bit but not in the current moment”. Maybe I’ll start using it ‘soon’…

    3 votes

  17. Comment on What words do you recommend? in ~talk

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    That’s the easy one, it’s the every two year one that seems hard to work out!

    That’s the easy one, it’s the every two year one that seems hard to work out!

    4 votes

  18. Comment on What words do you recommend? in ~talk

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    Oh I like plausible because it doesn’t have a probability attached to it. I find people tend to use the word likely for events they have no stats on (because they don’t or can’t exist), and I feel...

    Oh I like plausible because it doesn’t have a probability attached to it. I find people tend to use the word likely for events they have no stats on (because they don’t or can’t exist), and I feel plausible is a much better work for what is a scientific deduction more than a statistical/experiential deduction.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on What words do you recommend? in ~talk

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    What do you do for biyearly?

    What do you do for biyearly?

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Growth vs. value stocks in ~finance

    Chiasmic
    Link Parent
    I agree with you- it’s wise for the vast majority of your investments to be in well diversified ETFs. I am way too risk averse to do anything but that. But I don’t agree there are no situations...

    I agree with you- it’s wise for the vast majority of your investments to be in well diversified ETFs. I am way too risk averse to do anything but that. But I don’t agree there are no situations where an individual can’t have an edge.

    There is a caveat to what I’ve said: on average, you can’t mathematically beat the market- that’s the nature of the market. While the market itself is not zero sum, beating the market average sure is. That includes actively managed funds- ie professional investors on average don’t beat the market either. If you try play the markets in general as an individual investor you will most likely lose.
    The difference (imo) is when you stick to just situations where you can make wise decisions, have a comparative advantage, and not get drawn into situations where you get greedy and over confident and most often lose money. Leave the greed to the professionals who have to play the game.

    For example, If you are a domain expert in x, and you can see how new device/invention y will change the industry, you have a signal others don’t.

    These points where you have a specific unique life experience (I use that term to avoid just referring to peoples jobs) are the situations where you can have an advantage over generic investors. These situations are few and far between, and it’s a lot easier if you know how to assess the companies you might want to invest in. For me, learning how to assess companies and stocks for future use in these rare cases is mostly what I’m looking at gaining. I don’t think I can financially assess companies better than professionals, but when I think I do have an edge I want to be able to assess the company to a basic degree at least.

    I mean, an extreme take on your view is that you can never as an individual (even if your area of expertise) make a difference to the world or do better than average, as the large companies who have more data will always know more and do better than you. I don’t buy that, in particular rare situations within my chosen domains at a time of my choosing, I reckon I do know better than the rest of the world at large.

    But I’m not a professional, and you do what you think is right and you are comfortable doing. For me, when I’m confident in my opinion, I’ll put some money where my mouth is. I enjoy it, and if I’m wrong, I’m only going to lose a small amount, and learn from my mistake.

    I’m not sure how well this makes sense, I’ve written this on less sleep than I would like, so please interpret what I am saying charitably!

    2 votes