bkimmel's recent activity
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Comment on What are your personal crackpot conspiracy theories about the world right now? in ~talk
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
bkimmel Link ParentI just finished Butcher's Masquerade yesterday, going to the book store today to grab the next one.I just finished Butcher's Masquerade yesterday, going to the book store today to grab the next one.
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Comment on What was the best job you ever had? in ~life
bkimmel LinkI worked at this grocery store for 2 summers: https://share.google/qNKYe5iVe8pekbJRD Go look at the streetview to see why.I worked at this grocery store for 2 summers: https://share.google/qNKYe5iVe8pekbJRD
Go look at the streetview to see why.
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Comment on I made a post here two years ago about starting my first SWE job, since then I've been promoted and have recently recieved a very exciting job offer in ~tech
bkimmel Link ParentCongratulations! Really glad to hear you're doing well and you have an exciting new role! Having AI in the title/focus might be a double-edged sword. This industry goes through violent whiplash...Congratulations! Really glad to hear you're doing well and you have an exciting new role!
Having AI in the title/focus might be a double-edged sword. This industry goes through violent whiplash every few years and "badges of honor" like "AI" that mean one thing now can mean something very different in a few years. Absolutely lean into it all the way and learn everything you can - and have fun! You've earned it!
Just keep in mind that the Software Engineer's cardinal sin is to assume that everything and everyone that came before them is stupid. When you get older you learn that everything is a big circle - old ideas just get changed slightly and offered up as a "revolution".
A helpful metaphor I point my junior engineers to is "Chestertons Fence" to make sense of it all.
Congratulations and best of luck!
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Comment on Suggest media in which the antagonist is an idea or an abstract concept rather than a person or intelligent entity in ~talk
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Comment on Why the US Navy won't open Hormuz in ~society
bkimmel Link ParentIt seems especially damaging to the U.S. as well, that before this boondoggle this was all somewhat "theoretical" that this kind of asymmetric warfare against U.S. carrier fleets would be...It seems especially damaging to the U.S. as well, that before this boondoggle this was all somewhat "theoretical" that this kind of asymmetric warfare against U.S. carrier fleets would be effective but it has just made the jump from theory to practice in a pretty convincing way. Iran is probably kicking themselves at this point on Hormuz thinking "why didn't we just do this earlier"? And I imagine others are watching and thinking roughly the same thing in whatever region they are in.
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Comment on What is your favourite shark? in ~talk
bkimmel LinkGreenland Shark. It's suspected that they may be functionally immortal but no one is sure.Greenland Shark. It's suspected that they may be functionally immortal but no one is sure.
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Why the US Navy won't open Hormuz
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Comment on Casino AI misidentifies man; Reno cops arrest and prosecute him anyway in ~tech
bkimmel LinkRelated: https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/north-dakota/ai-error-jails-innocent-grandmother-for-months-in-north-dakota-fraud-case -
Casino AI misidentifies man; Reno cops arrest and prosecute him anyway
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Comment on Living human brain cells play DOOM on a CL1 in ~tech
bkimmel Link ParentI'm thinking of this in a "ship of theseus" way and wondering how long it is before something approaching a "real human brain" is hooked up to do menial tasks like this.I'm thinking of this in a "ship of theseus" way and wondering how long it is before something approaching a "real human brain" is hooked up to do menial tasks like this.
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Comment on Living human brain cells play DOOM on a CL1 in ~tech
bkimmel LinkIs anyone else feeling the pure horror I am in reaction to this? How is this even legal?Is anyone else feeling the pure horror I am in reaction to this? How is this even legal?
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Comment on What’s a point that you think many people missed? in ~talk
bkimmel Link ParentThis but for the movie Idiocracy. It was funny 20 years ago - now it's depressing how close we are to it.This but for the movie Idiocracy. It was funny 20 years ago - now it's depressing how close we are to it.
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Comment on 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' movie review by Roger Ebert & Gene Siskel (1982) in ~movies
bkimmel LinkThe only work of fiction where I cry at the end no matter how many times I see it.The only work of fiction where I cry at the end no matter how many times I see it.
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Comment on 2025 NFL Season 🏈 Weekly Discussion Thread – Week 3 in ~sports.american_football
bkimmel LinkSad to see Rudi Johnson died from suicide (possible CTE- related) https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.tmz.com/2025/09/23/ex-nfl-star-rudi-johnson-dead-at-45/ He was one of my favorite running backs...Sad to see Rudi Johnson died from suicide (possible CTE- related) https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.tmz.com/2025/09/23/ex-nfl-star-rudi-johnson-dead-at-45/
He was one of my favorite running backs of that era.
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Comment on I tried to protect my kids from the internet. Here’s what happened. in ~tech
bkimmel Link ParentThis is the answer. My fever dream is that I'm going to get my son and a small group of friends LoRA Meshtastic radios and they think it's cool and just use those.This is the answer. My fever dream is that I'm going to get my son and a small group of friends LoRA Meshtastic radios and they think it's cool and just use those.
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Comment on How are you planning for a potentially bleaker future? in ~life
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Comment on As religion wanes, how do we replace it? in ~humanities
bkimmel Link ParentFrom Pew: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/04/12/how-highly-religious-americans-lives-are-different-from-others/ -
Comment on As religion wanes, how do we replace it? in ~humanities
bkimmel LinkSome interesting research on the subject: Also: And generally, when they do give they give more: And I think there are other philosophical/intellectual problems that come with the loss of...Some interesting research on the subject:
investigators examined the behavior of a large sample of the public across a typical seven-day period. They found that among Americans who attend services weekly and pray daily, 45 percent had done volunteer work during the previous week. Among all other Americans, only 27 percent had volunteered somewhere.
Also:
Pew has found that among Americans who attend worship weekly and pray daily, about half gather with extended family members at least once a month. For the rest of our population, it’s 30 percent.
And generally, when they do give they give more:
Philanthropic studies show that people with a religious affiliation give away several times as much every year as other Americans. Research by the Lilly School at Indiana University found Americans with any religious affiliation made average annual charitable donations of $1,590, versus $695 for those with no religious affiliation.
And
And people with religious motivations don’t give just to faith-based causes—they are also much likelier to give to secular causes than the nonreligious.
I think there are other philosophical/intellectual problems that come with the loss of religion, but those are more abstract. The hard numbers from respected research outfits like Pew paint the problem pretty starkly: Secular communities, even where they exist, don't produce the same kinds of pro-social behaviors that religious ones do. It's not just qualitatively different in some abstract way, it's an enormous quantitative problem. By some estimates, 73 percent of all giving in the U.S. is directed at explicitly religious groups (e.g. Catholic Charities).
It's fine to have your personal beliefs and I'm not saying anyone is obligated to behave a certain way in terms of what or who they give their money to, but you can't really claim those statistics are insignificant with any kind of intellectual honesty.
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Comment on The web could be so much more beautiful in ~tech
bkimmel LinkYes! I gave a whole presentation on this at work and I've been chasing people to use it more for years! It's nuts that even "design-forward" outfits like Apple don't use this yet when monks in the...Yes! I gave a whole presentation on this at work and I've been chasing people to use it more for years!
It's nuts that even "design-forward" outfits like Apple don't use this yet when monks in the 14th century had this figured out in their manuscripts.
I will say the results aren't always "100 percent awesome' and sometimes you can get better results by manually seeding some soft-hyphens in the text but it drives me bonkers seeing everything either left-justified or with huge whitespace rivers when 'hyphens: auto' has been there for at least 5 years now.
I was speaking to a friend last night who said he thinks that we're going to have a Reichstag at some point this summer in the U.S. - something to distract from the $7.00 gas at the pump and the epic failure of the Iran War - there is going to be some kind of false flag attack on a government facility made to appear as if it was organized by Antifa or something like that to rally the flagging support of the MAGAts and justify cancelling the election. I hope he's wrong.