Odysseus's recent activity
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Comment on For the atheists of Tildes, do you feel the need to show gratitude for comforts of your life and how do you do it? in ~talk
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Comment on What's something that makes you feel like we're living in the future? in ~talk
Odysseus Link ParentChildbirth is a big one for me. My child could not have been conceived and my wife and child might not have survived birth if it wasn't for modern technology. So many things did not go as planned,...Childbirth is a big one for me. My child could not have been conceived and my wife and child might not have survived birth if it wasn't for modern technology. So many things did not go as planned, yet everything worked out in a relatively low stress manner thanks to modern medicine and technology.
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Comment on What's something that makes you feel like we're living in the future? in ~talk
Odysseus LinkSo many things. I'm sure my wife is sick of me gushing over every modern comfort we have today, but in no particular order: running water, available on demand (it's drinkable too!) LED light bulbs...So many things. I'm sure my wife is sick of me gushing over every modern comfort we have today, but in no particular order:
- running water, available on demand (it's drinkable too!)
- LED light bulbs (they use so little electricity and they barely create any heat. it might as well be magic)
- Wireless anything
- my e-reader (up close, from any angle, it LOOKS like its printed, plus it holds a literal library's worth of books in something thinner than children's novel)
- the fact that I can access nearly every film ever made, every song ever recorded, from my desk.
- my smartwatch that's basically a personal running coach
- my not-smart watch that's solar powered and radio controlled. Perfectly accurate all the time, never runs out of power, waterproof beyond any depth I'd ever go to, and resistant to most knocks I'd ever subject it too.
- anything precision machined to a degree beyond what a human could ever hope to accomplish by hand
- the dreaded thinking machine. The fact that I can have a reasonable conversation with an LLM running locally on my not particularly overpowered computer is insane to me. That on that same computer, I can generate an original work of "art" that just a few years ago would be considered genuinely good, in seconds.
- a cheapo air quality monitor I got for less than $50. There is a microprocessor in that. A backlit display. How is that so cheap that it's damn near disposable?
I could keep going, but the modern world never ceases to amaze me.
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Comment on inZOI has been officially released in Early Access in ~games
Odysseus LinkThose are some intense system requirements. A RTX2060 minimum and a RTX3070 recommended feels a bit heavy to me. Asking for a 7800X3D as your recommended CPU is kinda wild.Those are some intense system requirements. A RTX2060 minimum and a RTX3070 recommended feels a bit heavy to me. Asking for a 7800X3D as your recommended CPU is kinda wild.
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Comment on What keeps you up at night? in ~talk
Odysseus LinkI'm the sole source of income for my family. Right now, we have a very decent life. Very middle class. I don't make much, but we have a house, everything we need, and enough left over to squirrel...I'm the sole source of income for my family. Right now, we have a very decent life. Very middle class. I don't make much, but we have a house, everything we need, and enough left over to squirrel away every month if I'm careful with my spending.
What keeps me up is that all of that rests on a job I sort of lucked into. I have no connections, no real network, and an unexceptional resume. Not to mention, I live in Japan and my Japanese language ability is passable, but hardly at a professional standard.
If I lose this job, I'm not sure I can get another one as good. I have some savings, enough to carry me for a few months, but not much beyond that. Forget about any retirement accounts.
Life is good, my baby is healthy, and my wife is a blessing, but it just feels very precarious at times.
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Comment on A court orders the Unification Church in Japan dissolved in ~society
Odysseus Link ParentPer the BBC:Per the BBC:
The order handed down by a Tokyo district court will strip the church of its tax-exempt status and require it to liquidate its assets, but it will still be allowed to operate in Japan.
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
Odysseus LinkSalaried employee at a Japanese company, I get 14 days PTO a year, no sick leave or any other type of paid leave other than national holidays. I'm honestly a bit mixed on it. On paper, it's really...Salaried employee at a Japanese company, I get 14 days PTO a year, no sick leave or any other type of paid leave other than national holidays.
I'm honestly a bit mixed on it. On paper, it's really not a lot, but in practice, it's been fine? Japan has a lot of holidays, so there are very few months where I don't have at least one 3-day weekend. I also work remotely with flexible hours, which means that I generally don't HAVE to take time off for things like dentist appointments. I'm required by law to use 5 days of my leave a year, but unused leave rolls over so I have a good amount of time accrued. The company is super cool about people taking time off, and people do take their days off. There's some weirdness about people taking unpaid leave, but the paid leave is very much respected and deadlines are adjusted accordingly without any sort of negativity.
There is a feeling that a week off is just a week behind, but that's less to do with the company and more to do with it being a small team. There's no one else doing my job or who could realistically do my job.
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Comment on Non-Americans: How's it going? in ~society
Odysseus (edited )LinkLife is more or less the same as it's always been here in Japan. The yen is still crazy weak, so we're still seeing inflation, which is uncomfortable. The big companies are raising wages to keep...Life is more or less the same as it's always been here in Japan. The yen is still crazy weak, so we're still seeing inflation, which is uncomfortable. The big companies are raising wages to keep up, but the small to medium sized enterprises who employ most of the country aren't really able to, especially with a lot of the inflation being imported (prices are going up, but profits aren't). People really aren't happy with the government right now, but that's largely due to rising food and energy prices, plus that LDP corruption scandal still hanging in the back of people's minds. The LDP coalition not having an absolute majority in government is also a change. In theory, this might lead to the LDP taking on more liberal stances in order to get support from the opposition to pass legislation, though personally, I just feel that it just means things are less likely to get done.
There's been a lot of moves to try and make japan's economy more dynamic (i.e. make Japan's economy look more like America's economy), but it just seems like prioritizing shareholder profits at the expense of everyone else. I don't know how I really feel about this one, because inefficient stagnation isn't exactly a sustainable option either.
On the Trump side of things, he's not popular here, and the business community does not like the uncertainty, but there's a cautious hope that Japan might be able to carve out exemptions to the broad tariffs Trump is proposing on the back of major Japanese investment in America and Japan's position as the main US ally in Asia against the backdrop of the "rising Chinese specter".
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Comment on Live updates of day one executive orders / actions taken by US President Donald Trump in ~society
Odysseus Link ParentI really hope it comes to pass. Being a US citizen abroad is really annoying when it comes to anything banking related, and I really don't make that much moneyI really hope it comes to pass. Being a US citizen abroad is really annoying when it comes to anything banking related, and I really don't make that much money
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Comment on Live updates of day one executive orders / actions taken by US President Donald Trump in ~society
Odysseus Link ParentThere's a lot of wealthy Americans with offshore bank accounts. At the very least, I remember reading an article in the national reporting that Trump is considering loosening regulations for US...There's a lot of wealthy Americans with offshore bank accounts. At the very least, I remember reading an article in the national reporting that Trump is considering loosening regulations for US citizens overseas.
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Comment on Is there a way for Donald Trump to run for US presidency for a third time? in ~society
Odysseus Link ParentI agree, though I don't want to be alarmist about it. Trump is coming in with a strong mandate, faith in American institutions are at their lowest point since the civil war, and flooding the civil...I agree, though I don't want to be alarmist about it. Trump is coming in with a strong mandate, faith in American institutions are at their lowest point since the civil war, and flooding the civil service with loyalists will no doubt allow them to do things that they wouldn't be able to if they had to go through congress, but a third trump term without a constitutional amendment is such a black and white violation of a black and white amendment, I don't see the courts nor the American people letting that slide. In my view, people voted the democrats out more than voted Trump in.
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Comment on Is there a way for Donald Trump to run for US presidency for a third time? in ~society
Odysseus LinkIt's insanely unlikely. You'd need 2/3 of congress, in both houses, to amend the constitution to allow him to try for a third term. I can't even imagine this conservative supreme court letting it...It's insanely unlikely. You'd need 2/3 of congress, in both houses, to amend the constitution to allow him to try for a third term. I can't even imagine this conservative supreme court letting it slide either.
With that said, until the underlying issues that led to the rise of Trumpism are addressed, I don't think this is the end of the MAGA movement. Just the end of this particular flavor of it.
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Comment on Why do you live? in ~humanities
Odysseus LinkInertia mostly. I'm already living. Life is decent enough, I see no reason to rush towards the final end. Every morning, I wake up, and for the most part, I'm not dreading existence. I want for...Inertia mostly. I'm already living. Life is decent enough, I see no reason to rush towards the final end. Every morning, I wake up, and for the most part, I'm not dreading existence. I want for little, and that's plenty enough for me.
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Comment on Valve appear to be testing ARM64 and Android support for Steam on Linux in ~games
Odysseus Link ParentI think ARM based handheld gaming PCs are probably still years away, at least not until games start being compiled for ARM. x86 handhelds can barely handle AAA titles as it is. Throw architecture...I think ARM based handheld gaming PCs are probably still years away, at least not until games start being compiled for ARM. x86 handhelds can barely handle AAA titles as it is. Throw architecture emulation into that mix and you need an ARM processor a magnitude more powerful than what x86 has just to offer the same performance. IIRC, even Rosetta 2 sees up to a 30% performance hit depending on the task.
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Comment on Japan faces labor shortages and demographic crisis as elderly population hits record high in ~society
Odysseus Link ParentSo long as the birth rate stays below replacement, the elderly will always be the largest cohort as every successive generation will be smaller than the preceding one. Sure, the values will shift...So long as the birth rate stays below replacement, the elderly will always be the largest cohort as every successive generation will be smaller than the preceding one. Sure, the values will shift with every generation, but it will always be the values of the elderly generation and the priorities of the old.
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Comment on Sid Meier’s Civilization VII | Gameplay reveal trailer in ~games
Odysseus Link ParentCiv VI struggles on the switch. It's incredibly laggy and prone to freezing/crashing. I can see how people might worry that if the game is being released on the switch, they may have scrapped...Civ VI struggles on the switch. It's incredibly laggy and prone to freezing/crashing. I can see how people might worry that if the game is being released on the switch, they may have scrapped features and mechanics to make sure it can run at all on decade-old mobile hardware.
With that said, with a successor to the switch on the horizon, maybe it's nothing to worry about
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Comment on Dow Jones drops 864 points, and Japanese stocks suffer worst crash since 1987 amid US economy worries in ~finance
Odysseus Link ParentJapan's GDP:debt ratio is a weird one, because almost half of that is owned by the Bank of Japan itself. Don't get me wrong, with the BoJ scaling back their purchases of JGBs and the hike in...Japan's GDP:debt ratio is a weird one, because almost half of that is owned by the Bank of Japan itself. Don't get me wrong, with the BoJ scaling back their purchases of JGBs and the hike in interest rates, the Japanese government is definitely going to be more constrained, but any profit the Bank of Japan makes goes back to the Japanese government itself, and the Japanese government is expecting a primary budget surplus for 2025.
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Comment on IVF alone can’t save us from a looming fertility crisis in ~health
Odysseus Link ParentI agree wholeheartedly. There's no singular solution to the issue. You can't just throw money at people and hope they have kids. Communities and towns need to be structured around raising families...I agree wholeheartedly. There's no singular solution to the issue. You can't just throw money at people and hope they have kids. Communities and towns need to be structured around raising families if that's the goal you're trying to achieve. Families need ample living space, places to take their kids, ways to connect with other families, ample social support, and so much more. You can't squeeze people into dense cities or fling them hundreds of miles from extended family and expect that they'll want to or be able to raise more than a single child on average if at all
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Comment on IVF alone can’t save us from a looming fertility crisis in ~health
Odysseus Link ParentImmigration as a solution, ignoring the social hurdles of integrating large numbers of people from other cultures for a moment, is just kicking the can down the road in rich countries at the cost...Immigration as a solution, ignoring the social hurdles of integrating large numbers of people from other cultures for a moment, is just kicking the can down the road in rich countries at the cost of robbing developing countries of their best and brightest. As those countries develop, we're seeing their fertility rates plummet, and at a much faster rate than it did in the west and east Asia. India, for example, is already at around 2 and is on track to hit Japan levels by 2050.
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Comment on Does anyone have any advice for new dads? in ~life.men
I wouldn't describe it as a need to express gratitude, but I do try to take time to be grateful for what I have, to no one in particular. I guess it might seem strange without having someone to be grateful to, but for me it's more about just being appreciative. I am in many ways a very fortunate person and taking time to express gratitude helps me keep perspective.