devilized's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on How well do you cook? in ~life.men
devilized Link ParentI don't have kids, but I totally get how cooking for them would stifle the enjoyment of cooking. My sister and her boys, aged 2 and 4 are visiting for Thanksgiving week and it's always a little...I don't have kids, but I totally get how cooking for them would stifle the enjoyment of cooking. My sister and her boys, aged 2 and 4 are visiting for Thanksgiving week and it's always a little annoying to cook something that they actually like, and doesn't suck for adults. I end up with a box of dino nuggets for emergencies just in case I'm wrong about what they like.
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Comment on How well do you cook? in ~life.men
devilized Link ParentInteresting. I have never experienced this. But also, all my friends know that I cook so there are no assumptions.When I cook something for my friends group, my wife gets compliments on the food.
Interesting. I have never experienced this. But also, all my friends know that I cook so there are no assumptions.
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Comment on How well do you cook? in ~life.men
devilized LinkI love to cook, and I've been told that I'm good at it. I like cooking for other people, and joke around that my wife married me for my cooking (she doesn't like to cook). It really started off...I love to cook, and I've been told that I'm good at it. I like cooking for other people, and joke around that my wife married me for my cooking (she doesn't like to cook). It really started off with my mom teaching me the basics. My parents divorced and my dad wasn't a great cook (he was okay with a few limited things), so I took on a lot of that responsibility as a teenager. After freshman year of college, I moved off campus with friends and we rotated cooking duties instead of buying meal plans (at about 1/5 the cost of a meal plan). I took a few days per week. After I moved out on my own, I really got into it and learned a lot more technique, new dishes, and gathered a huge collection of recipes that I've gathered and modified to suit my tastes over the years.
I'm very thankful that it's a skill I've been able to hone. It saves soooo much money compared to eating out all the time, and in many cases, I can cook a dish to my liking better than what I would get at an average restaurant (there are definitely exceptions to this, of course). The funny thing is, when I was dating (before meeting my wife), none of the women cooked. There was one who sort of liked to cook, but she wasn't very good at it (IMO). The lack of cooking is something I've really noticed about people my age compared to my parents generation, where we very rarely ate out at a restaurant (it was a special treat).
As far as what I like to cook, pretty much everything. Maybe my favorite thing to make when I have time is pasta (from scratch) and bread. But I do all foods, all cuisines, and rotate between fish, chicken, beef/pork/other meat and vegetarian themed dishes to keep things interesting (and for health reasons).
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Comment on How Bluesky, the rival of Elon Musk’s X, is seizing the moment in ~tech
devilized LinkI've been enjoying Bluesky and have been surprised to see some of the people who have been moving over. I did try Mastodon a while back but it was more effort than I really cared to put into...I've been enjoying Bluesky and have been surprised to see some of the people who have been moving over. I did try Mastodon a while back but it was more effort than I really cared to put into social media.
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Comment on How self-driving cars will destroy cities in ~transport
devilized Link ParentThis is completely untrue. True self-driving where the passenger can do something else while getting transported directly to their desired location is a huge desire for anyone who would rather...Nobody asked for them either.
This is completely untrue. True self-driving where the passenger can do something else while getting transported directly to their desired location is a huge desire for anyone who would rather spend their time doing something else other than drive. I'd wager that millions of people want this feature. It's just a matter of reliability and cost.
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Comment on What are your favorite “chore” games? in ~games
devilized LinkMaybe Farming Simulator, if that counts. You start off with pretty basic equipment and have to go through the whole farming process before working your way up to better multi-purpose equipment and...Maybe Farming Simulator, if that counts. You start off with pretty basic equipment and have to go through the whole farming process before working your way up to better multi-purpose equipment and automation. I did enjoy Shipbreaker as well but haven't played it in a while.
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Comment on Taylor Swift fans are leaving X for Bluesky after Donald Trump’s US election in ~society
devilized LinkI've noticed lots of people coming over including mainstream reporting organizations and journalists. Many of the accounts I followed on Twitter have mirrored bot accounts as well, which was what...I've noticed lots of people coming over including mainstream reporting organizations and journalists. Many of the accounts I followed on Twitter have mirrored bot accounts as well, which was what finally got me to deactivate my Twitter acct and delete it from my phone.
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Comment on US election results (other than presidential) thread in ~society
devilized Link ParentI'm hoping that it means we'll be at least somewhat protected by some of the poor federal decisions that will be coming down the pipeline. But after the national results, I should probably just...I'm hoping that it means we'll be at least somewhat protected by some of the poor federal decisions that will be coming down the pipeline. But after the national results, I should probably just prepare myself to be further disappointed.
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Comment on US election results (other than presidential) thread in ~society
devilized LinkI'm mostly happy with NC's state elections. Stein (D) beat Robinson (R) in a relative landslide. It still amazes me that 40% still voted for the self-declared "Black Nazi", but I'll take the win....I'm mostly happy with NC's state elections.
- Stein (D) beat Robinson (R) in a relative landslide. It still amazes me that 40% still voted for the self-declared "Black Nazi", but I'll take the win.
- Jeff Jackson (D) beat Dan Bishop (R) pretty handily as well. As far as politicians go, Jackson seems like a really good guy. If he continues his work/platform like he has, I'd love to see him as Governor someday.
- Mo Green (D) beat Michele Morrow (R). Morrow was simply a nut job. This is a step forward for education in NC.
- The state Republicans lost their supermajority. They've done a lot of damage, so it's nice that they'll get their wings clipped a bit.
It's just crazy to me that our state politicians did pretty well but the state still went red nationally.
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Comment on American election mental health thread in ~health.mental
devilized LinkI can't think of election results I've dreaded more than these. Part of me is glad it's over, but most of me is fearful for what our country will become over the next 4 years. I feel like the best...I can't think of election results I've dreaded more than these. Part of me is glad it's over, but most of me is fearful for what our country will become over the next 4 years. I feel like the best thing for my mental health will be to give up news and social media. I already did away with Facebook years ago, Reddit last year and Twitter recently.
But I know reading about what the leading politicians do over the next 4 years is only going to make me angry. I like to stay informed on what's going on in the world, but now I have to balance that with being pissed off every time I read the news. At least here, I can mostly block out politics with tags and such, but I don't want to rely solely on this website for news.
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Comment on Why I’m running for Commissioner of Agriculture in North Carolina in ~society
devilized Link ParentI might have voted for her of Troxler didn't run, but I think he's done a decent job in his role. He was one of two republicans that I voted for on the whole ballot.I might have voted for her of Troxler didn't run, but I think he's done a decent job in his role. He was one of two republicans that I voted for on the whole ballot.
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Comment on AI is killing remote work in ~tech
devilized Link ParentI took another stab at Bluesky since first trying it a while ago. I found that many of the twitter accounts that I actually cared about are using bots to mirror their content over to Bluesky. And...I took another stab at Bluesky since first trying it a while ago. I found that many of the twitter accounts that I actually cared about are using bots to mirror their content over to Bluesky. And a couple have basically abandoned twitter and moved completely. So I added the mirror bots and disabled all notifications from Twitter. One step closer to just deleting my account, but there's still occasionally something there that I want to see.
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Comment on AI is killing remote work in ~tech
devilized Link ParentThis has been my experience as well. Is it a timesaver? Sure, somewhat. But you can't just have these tools generate production-ready code. I would also argue that for newer developers,...This has been my experience as well. Is it a timesaver? Sure, somewhat. But you can't just have these tools generate production-ready code. I would also argue that for newer developers, LLM-generated can be more difficult. It's always at least somewhat more difficult to debug code that you didn't write. And for new developers who haven't written enough code to fully understand the wide array of coding styles and algorithms whose style differs from their own, it can be very challenging.
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Comment on Russian court fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in ~society
devilized Link ParentIs their populous really dumb enough to see this as anything other than foolish nonsense from their legal system?Is their populous really dumb enough to see this as anything other than foolish nonsense from their legal system?
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Comment on No, raising the minimum wage does not hurt US fast-food workers in ~finance
devilized Link ParentI don't think they're necessarily lying, considering how often restaurants fail here in the US. Something like 60% of independently-run restaurants fail within the first three years and 80% within...I don't think they're necessarily lying, considering how often restaurants fail here in the US. Something like 60% of independently-run restaurants fail within the first three years and 80% within the first 5 years. So it's not just talk, it's actual business failure. I don't know a lot about the P&L of restaurants in Europe, but I'm familiar with it in the US. I imagine it has something to do with some combination of these:
- Actual raw food costs are more expensive in the US. We have a very long supply chain for food, and a lot of regulation
- Food portions are quite a bit larger in the US compared to Europe
- I imagine that commercial rent is more expensive in the US compared to Europe
- Labor is one of the most expensive costs for restaurants in the US. Only wait staff are tipped, so the rest of the staff is subject to local minimum wage, which can be pretty high
- Restaurants have a lot of health and safety regulations that they need to abide by. It's quite strict and expensive to remain within compliance
- Because of the high failure rate of restaurants, it's considered a high-risk investment, and is therefore expensive to obtain the loans necessary for the capital expenditure of opening a restaurant
- Alcohol is indeed a huge markup here in the US compared to other countries, but there are also all sorts of taxes and fees involved with selling alcohol in the US. But yes, alcohol is certainly more profitable than food in the US
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Comment on No, raising the minimum wage does not hurt US fast-food workers in ~finance
devilized Link ParentShrinkflation, sure - that's easy to do and it doesn't cost the restaurant much of anything to put fewer fries in a bag or cook a smaller loaf of bread. But automation requires an investment to...Shrinkflation, sure - that's easy to do and it doesn't cost the restaurant much of anything to put fewer fries in a bag or cook a smaller loaf of bread. But automation requires an investment to design, implement and run. A business needs to make a decision as to the ROI of that investment. The higher the labor cost that they're replacing, the better the ROI on the automation investment and the more likely they are to eliminate those jobs. Replacing a $7.25/hr worker with a $5k (+ongoing maintenance) kiosk might be a more difficult business decision than replacing a $20/hr worker with one.
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Comment on No, raising the minimum wage does not hurt US fast-food workers in ~finance
devilized Link ParentI think this is a very important and often overlooked aspect of this whole thing. When I was growing up, dining out was a luxury. We were on the lower end of a middle-class family and eating out...The hard, black and white truth is that paying another person to order, cook, and serve your food, then clean up after you is an expensive luxury, that in the last few decades, the average person has taken for granted as just a normal every day way to live, and that can only exist with extremely cheap labor.
I think this is a very important and often overlooked aspect of this whole thing. When I was growing up, dining out was a luxury. We were on the lower end of a middle-class family and eating out was a treat, something we only did about once a month. Nowadays, you have people who never cook and rely on takeout for all of their meals, but expect it to somehow be cheap despite the fact that they're paying for someone to do all the work for them. It's actually pretty incredible that it's as cheap as it is (in some cases, anyway).
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Comment on Copyright Office exemption makes McDonald’s ice cream machines repairable in ~food
devilized Link ParentContracts don't last forever, though. A contract is generally for a period of time, and McDonalds has had this problem for a very long time (20+ years). If Mcdonalds has partial ownership of...Contracts don't last forever, though. A contract is generally for a period of time, and McDonalds has had this problem for a very long time (20+ years).
If Mcdonalds has partial ownership of Taylor's, that's all the more influence that they have to fix the problem.
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Comment on Copyright Office exemption makes McDonald’s ice cream machines repairable in ~food
devilized LinkI never really understood why McDonalds of all companies is okay having such shitty ice cream machines. You'd think that at their scale, they could either force the company to provide a more...I never really understood why McDonalds of all companies is okay having such shitty ice cream machines. You'd think that at their scale, they could either force the company to provide a more reliable machine that requires less vendor maintenance, or just switch vendors. I'm assuming that the equipment procurement person for McDonalds corporation is related to some sales person at Taylor or something shady like that.
Started the Bobiverse series, finally. Loving it so far! It's popular enough that I probably don't have to describe it, and would do a poor job of doing so anyway. But it's definitely one of the better series I've read as of late.