krellor's recent activity
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Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
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Comment on The crisis of the US university started long before Donald Trump in ~finance
krellor Link ParentUnfortunately, that has not been my experience and I've overseen the FDA compliance activities at a university that elected to be the manufacturer of record for a new medical device during the...Unfortunately, that has not been my experience and I've overseen the FDA compliance activities at a university that elected to be the manufacturer of record for a new medical device during the investigative period.
I would suggest the book Loonshots, which looks at balancing research culture with stable/franchise culture. It's not that universities can't do the rigorous work, but that it is significantly different in culture and leadership temperament than most have today. And you can't fix that with just more money. It takes an intentional and laying cultural shift in leadership to be really good at commercialization activities.
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Comment on The crisis of the US university started long before Donald Trump in ~finance
krellor (edited )LinkThe author is right that the problems facing universities predate Trump. But he’s also omitting and conflating issues throughout. To understand why universities are struggling, you first have to...- Exemplary
The author is right that the problems facing universities predate Trump. But he’s also omitting and conflating issues throughout. To understand why universities are struggling, you first have to step back and ask what universities are even for, because they aren’t all the same.
The Types of Universities
First, you’ve got private universities like Harvard or the University of Chicago. Historically, these were small, selective places that educated the affluent and the talented. They mattered culturally because they produced elites, but they didn’t teach that many students or churn out much research. That changed after WWII, when Vannevar Bush pushed for massive federal funding of science. Before then, they ran on tuition, endowments, and donations.Then there are the land-grant universities, born out of the Morrill Act of 1862 (expanded later in 1890, 1914, and 1994). These were designed to teach agriculture and the mechanical arts to the “sons and daughters of toil.” They run the Cooperative Extension programs, have extensive agricultural and applied science arms, and traditionally serve a large number of in-state and first-gen students. Their funding comes from a mix of federal support, state appropriations, and tuition.
Finally, you have non-land-grant public universities, like the University of Washington or the University of Texas. These were created by states to serve state priorities. Today, there’s an overlap with land-grants, but many of these public universities try to brand themselves as “flagship” or “premier” institutions to differentiate. There is also frequently an urban/rural divide between public state and land-grant universities, but not always.
What Changed After WWII
The big turning point was the growth of federal research funding after WWII. Without it, public and land-grant universities would likely have left the privates in the dust (or confined them to the humanities). Instead, federal dollars kept private universities at the forefront of research. So when the author waxes nostalgic about the lofty ideals of private universities and education led by active researchers, he skips the part where that whole system was built on federal public policy.That’s why it rings hollow when he blames the Bayh–Dole Act for the state of UChicago. Bayh–Dole is just another expression of federal policy: it lets universities keep ownership of federally funded inventions and license them out. If UChicago is mishandling that, fine. But don’t pretend that’s a universal crisis. Most universities don't overinvest in commercialization, and many land-grant institutions, in particular, put only a tiny fraction of resources into it. The bigger picture is that Bayh–Dole has been good for partnerships and innovation.
One last point about Bayh–Dole: people tend to lump “research” and “development” together, but they’re not the same thing. Universities are good at research. They’re mostly bad at development activities like prototyping, patents, navigating FDA approvals, or scaling a product. Bayh–Dole encourages universities to license discoveries to companies that can actually commercialize them. UChicago may be engaging in auto-cannibalism, but the broader university ecosystem is not and benefits from those partnerships.
The Real Problems
For public and land-grant universities, the bigger issue is mission drift. Leading up to the 2008–09 recession, schools were competing for students and rankings, building amenities and new programs, while forgetting the legislatures and communities they were supposed to serve. State budgets show this clearly: line items tied to specific university programs or even individual positions. As states hit fiscal crunches, they grew frustrated that universities had lost the plot, and funding eroded. The schools that fared best were the ones that stayed laser-focused on state goals, whether that meant churning out STEM grads or running forestry programs (even when those programs lost money on a tuition-only basis).That put extra pressure to cut instructional costs, grow out-of-state and international student enrollment, and chase more grants. Take UChicago as an example: of its roughly $3 billion in revenue, about $894 million comes from competitive research awards (over half a billion of that federal). That research funding includes hundreds of millions in indirect costs to keep the lights on.
At the same time, university leaders were too slow to adapt to the new world, continuing to fund prestige projects or fill shortfalls from cash reserves throughout the 2010s. All the while, we approached a student cliff both due to demographic shifts and changes in the perceived value of a four-year degree. When you layer all of that with the increasing politicization of higher ed and the somewhat valid criticism of ideological capture, universities are really hurting. And then you get to the last leg of the stool cracking: the cuts, delays, and withholding of federal research funds.
Universities are hurting for several reasons, including macro events, failures to adapt, and overspending on overhead and prestige projects. But it is hardly even worth mentioning the Bayh–Dole Act.
Anyway, I'm running out of steam, but I was annoyed enough by the article that I felt the need to chime in. I've worked in higher ed for many years, care a lot about the mission, and am frustrated by the self goals. However, this article fails to make its point, focusing instead on a relatively niche issue that likely mostly affects either the privates or just UChi.
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Comment on Looking for tips/advice for a hardware firewall/VPN for a small to medium size nonprofit in ~tech
krellor Link ParentMax is overkill. For the money 2 pros in high availability would be better than one max.Max is overkill. For the money 2 pros in high availability would be better than one max.
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Comment on Looking for tips/advice for a hardware firewall/VPN for a small to medium size nonprofit in ~tech
krellor Link ParentNot @Landhund who have excellent suggestions, but I'm back with coffee and took a look at the latest ubiquiti hardware. I would definitely recommend the Dream Machine Pro. For the cost of the...Not @Landhund who have excellent suggestions, but I'm back with coffee and took a look at the latest ubiquiti hardware. I would definitely recommend the Dream Machine Pro. For the cost of the Dream Wall, you could by two Pro's running with shadow mode for redundancy, and a POE switch.
I know non-profits don't like spending money, but if their Internet goes down and they really on it for on site and remote work, that effectively stops their entire workforce. For the cost of a high end laptop, they can have a resilient ubiquiti border/core/WiFi deployment that will just work for years to come, no subscription, and solid performance.
So my suggested bare ones would be
- 1 dream machine pro
- Their standard 16 port PoE switch
- A couple U7 pro's to give good wifi coverage
That would come to probably $1,200 taxes, plus some cables.
From there you can add in high availability etc, based on budget, needs, growth.
No one ever thinks they need HA until they are down for 7 hours at a critical time...
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Comment on Looking for tips/advice for a hardware firewall/VPN for a small to medium size nonprofit in ~tech
krellor LinkI ran networking teams and projects for years, from small 5 person sites to campus plants with 50,000 users. I need to go to bed, so I'm just going to drop quick thoughts on things to look at and...I ran networking teams and projects for years, from small 5 person sites to campus plants with 50,000 users. I need to go to bed, so I'm just going to drop quick thoughts on things to look at and why;
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Meraki: deployed meraki to probably 30 remote sites. The nice thing is you can get all your needs met and managed on one platform from firewall to wap, to portable home vpn, with vlan tagging and want balancing and all that good stuff. And it's slick and solid and can grow with you. It does have a subscription, but you are basically paying for a network engineer in a box, and this will make it easy for you or others to help them, which is worth something. Also, try and haggle if you are buying through a channel partner. I got up to 56% off MSRP hardware and 72% of subscription for nonprofits. Larger, so volume was helping me.
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Ubiquity gateway products. Used these a lot at set it and forget it sites, but am not familiar with the latest hardware. They aren't quite as Fischer price easy as meraki, but not hard, and solid and cheap enough to just keep spare parts on hand. Not a bad option.
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Protectli hardware with your choice of software. I run a bunch of these now for extended family, with a mix of Artista firewall (formerly untangle) but have been shifting to OPNsense. This would be the most work, and I'm not sure there is much upside for you over ubiquity gateways. I use these paired with ubiquity WAPs and a unify controller hosted in AWS, dynamic DNS with a lambda function that updates security group rules to ensure the sites can access the wireless controller.
Everything else I have experience with is not relevant, e.g. palo alto firewalls, junipers, etc.
Best of luck, happy to answer questions in the morning with coffee. ☕
Edit: just confirming all of these have sizes that support the 100 user mark and can support wire guard or open VPN. Have used both with all, and works great and easy with proper config.
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Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
krellor LinkI'm definitely feeling the sameness in my training routine. Wakeup, run David bar, electrolytes (150cal, 28g protein) Work, coffee Run, core, weights Salad with nuts, berries, crunchies (800cal)...I'm definitely feeling the sameness in my training routine.
- Wakeup, run
- David bar, electrolytes (150cal, 28g protein)
- Work, coffee
- Run, core, weights
- Salad with nuts, berries, crunchies (800cal)
- Jog/brisk walk
- Block of grilled Safeway organic super firm tofu (~550cal, 45g protein)
- Small treat
Repeat next day, except Saturday where replace the first run with ruuuunnn. I'm up to about 105 miles/week.
Today I went to a small family run dessert shop and wrecked my routine with a giant dish of cherries jubilee, then did a nice steady run. No tofu or salad today, just desserts and protein bars. Then I was chased by biting flies, but you can't have everything I guess.
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Comment on Dicing an onion the mathematically optimal way in ~food
krellor LinkThis is great, thanks for posting! When they mentioned that horizontal cuts don't improve consistency I was surprised. However, in thinking about it I don't usually cut onions with the idea of...This is great, thanks for posting!
When they mentioned that horizontal cuts don't improve consistency I was surprised. However, in thinking about it I don't usually cut onions with the idea of maximizing consistency, but more to set a ceiling on piece size. I know that consistency helps with uniform cooking, etc, but as a home chef I mostly want to make sure everything is small enough to cook in time, not worrying if the odd bit gets a little crispy.
Great read!
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
krellor Link ParentIt sounds like watching people argue on a forum where you can tell they've started watching for replies and posting faster and faster with more typos and unfiltered language. We've truly made the...It sounds like watching people argue on a forum where you can tell they've started watching for replies and posting faster and faster with more typos and unfiltered language. We've truly made the chatbots we deserve, lol
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
krellor Link ParentYeah, outside storage, or where that's can get to would be tough. I keep bird seed in metal canisters outside. For indoor pantries though, the food safe five gallon buckets and gamma seal lids...Yeah, outside storage, or where that's can get to would be tough. I keep bird seed in metal canisters outside. For indoor pantries though, the food safe five gallon buckets and gamma seal lids should be fine unless you've got a real rat problem, and is pretty much the same way restaurants store large amounts of food.
But I've never really needed to deter rats, so people who do should be careful.
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Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
krellor Link ParentOh man, I'm the opposite with the treats. Love, laugh, run, eat pastries. While I want to balance fitness and nutrition, I just budget the calories in my normal days budget, and only restrict...Oh man, I'm the opposite with the treats. Love, laugh, run, eat pastries. While I want to balance fitness and nutrition, I just budget the calories in my normal days budget, and only restrict things like protein or other recovery items based on my level of exertion.
Cheers, and good luck with the kid that's exciting stuff!
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
krellor Link ParentSpace and budget allowing, the five gallon buckets with gamma seal lids are amazing for bulk staples.Space and budget allowing, the five gallon buckets with gamma seal lids are amazing for bulk staples.
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
krellor Link ParentRight, being open minded isn't a bad thing. But an idea is a dangerous thing if it's the only one you have and you construct argument after argument to circle back to that idea. But I do think...Right, being open minded isn't a bad thing. But an idea is a dangerous thing if it's the only one you have and you construct argument after argument to circle back to that idea.
But I do think it's worth differentiating ideas and forcing thought patterns. Like the article mentioned with the zizians, much of their violence and oddness stemmed from forcing their decision making through a specific philosophy.
So it's less that rationalists entertain ideas outside the mainstream (which they do), and more that they sometimes try and force the complexity of the world into a single, sometimes inflexible, way of thinking. Which creates seemingly strange jumps in logic to people who don't subscribe to their views. And sometimes those jumps and their desire to rationalize them are alarming.
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
krellor LinkThe article hits it pretty well, but my own personal experience has been that groups or individuals that believe they have some inside line on the RightTM way to think have a bad habit of going...The article hits it pretty well, but my own personal experience has been that groups or individuals that believe they have some inside line on the RightTM way to think have a bad habit of going weird. Not that there aren't exceptions, like the article points out. But speaking purely of personal experiences, that rationalists I've run into, which were the higher functioning ones referenced in the article, were also rather unpleasant conversationalists and tended toward the odd.
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Comment on How to calculate how long a large project will be delayed? How likely it will be completed at all? in ~engineering
krellor LinkYears ago I developed a model for a decision aid system but never got around to publishing it. The long and short is that I used a combination of BERD data, generalized versions of the federal...Years ago I developed a model for a decision aid system but never got around to publishing it. The long and short is that I used a combination of BERD data, generalized versions of the federal Technology Readiness Level, generalized version of the Manufacturing Readiness Level, and some other user inputs to estimate:
- Reasonable funding for each segment of the project.
- What type of funding is needed, e.g., research, development, IP transfer, public/private partnership, direct acquisition
- Timeline for the different segments
- The appropriate federal policy vehicle for the funding to achieve the specific aims.
So you could put in high level information about a project, including what technologies and NAICS sectors it depends on, and it will estimate cost, timeline, and suggest how to achieve it through public policy.
Unfortunately, this is limited to US projects, and despite being designed for non wonks, it still requires some detailed knowledge about the goals of the project because it is intended to help improve project planning and allocation. Fundamentally, it takes tools used to assess a specific technology or manufacturing capability and abstracts it to the planning phase using economic data and some historical statistical analysis to try and improve decision making upstream of acquisition.
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
krellor Link ParentMy kids always had access to tech, but it wasn't unlimited and not without robust guardrails. But we also prioritized family outings and IRL activities over anything technology related. But it's...My kids always had access to tech, but it wasn't unlimited and not without robust guardrails. But we also prioritized family outings and IRL activities over anything technology related.
But it's not all on parents, though a big portion of it is. Society has deemed it unacceptable to let kids take risks (or to let parents let kids take risks). While I don't think this opinion essay picks the ideal case to argue, it gets to the point.
They Let Their Children Cross the Street, and Now They’re Felons
But since we are all pulling out the anecdata cards, personally I've noticed that those who have pulled back from society to any significant degree, such as hiding in niche digital spaces, etc, have all regressed socially regardless of age. I know Gen X and boomers and young people all become less able to interact, more rude and uncaring, largely to whatever extent they retreated. And COVID made a lot of people retreat (as well as politics)
Social skills are a mental skill, as much like a muscle as any other mental skill. And letting it atrophy, for whatever reason, whether it is avoidance of people you disagree with to simple discomfort, just makes it worse and more difficult and uncomfortable to engage socially.
That's my observation anyway.
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Comment on The PC and Internet revolution in rural America (2022) in ~comp
krellor Link ParentHah, yeah, similar experiences. Funnily enough, I deployed a new hub at a major Internet exchange and deployed a 5g modem as out of band emergency access. Only the 5g coverage in this major global...Hah, yeah, similar experiences. Funnily enough, I deployed a new hub at a major Internet exchange and deployed a 5g modem as out of band emergency access. Only the 5g coverage in this major global metro, inside an Internet exchange, was too spotty. So we paid for a slow DIA circuit in addition to our commercial transport links. The only reason we had tried the 5g modem is because we already used a service that gave us a single access portal to all our sites out of band interfaces, some of which were fairly rural and it just worked. But not in the heart of the Internet!
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Comment on A day in the life of @Akir in ~life
krellor LinkI just wanted to say I appreciate you sharing your experiences. What you’re going through is hard and stressful, and those feelings are often easier to repress than to process. I relate to a lot...I just wanted to say I appreciate you sharing your experiences. What you’re going through is hard and stressful, and those feelings are often easier to repress than to process.
I relate to a lot of what you wrote. As a teenager, I dropped out of school to raise my kid brother, working split shifts while studying for my GED. Years later, I finished my undergrad and grad degree while working full time and raising kids. When my youngest turned one, I realized I’d given so much to work, school, and family that my health was suffering—and it took a lot of effort to turn that around. You’re right: the excess skin doesn’t disappear, and neither do the feelings or the memories from years of stress and fighting for every scrap.
I’m not saying this as a “you can do it” pep talk, but as a mix of cautionary tale and encouragement. If you keep working, you will make progress: on career, weight, and school. But you might need help along the way. Whether that’s advice on career or school, managing stress, or dealing with feelings of unfairness, it’s okay to ask for help. Sometimes we don't have people in our life that we feel we can talk to. And unlike Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire", sometimes it really is okay to depend on the kindness of strangers. So please do share when it is helpful to do so.
Take care.
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Comment on Accessing a Google account without attaching to the phone on Android in ~tech
krellor LinkI keep edge on my phone just to open Google in desktop versions of the site so I can login with alternate organizations credentials. You can access most any Google service of you switch edge to a...I keep edge on my phone just to open Google in desktop versions of the site so I can login with alternate organizations credentials. You can access most any Google service of you switch edge to a default desktop display. For Gmail, you mostly need to remember that you have to open messages separately as it isn't combined on the mobile desktop version.
You can also enable new mail notifications for Gmail in edge, though I haven't tested those much. Edge being edge, doesn't want you all in on Google, so logging in there doesn't bleed over to other phone settings. Then I just leave certain edge tabs open to switch to the different Google services like drive and mail.
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Comment on Question - how would you best explain how an LLM functions to someone who has never taken a statistics class? in ~tech
krellor Link ParentI think within the parameters of the post, it holds up. This is a "explain like a fourth grader the pitfalls and foibles of LLM usage," not "opine on the philosophy of thought." In a world where...I think within the parameters of the post, it holds up.
How should chatgpt etc be explained to the public at large to avoid the worst problems that are emerging from widespread use?
This is a "explain like a fourth grader the pitfalls and foibles of LLM usage," not "opine on the philosophy of thought." In a world where LLMs are role-playing people into unhealthy spaces it does feel like it is important that people not treat LLMs like thinking people, regardless of the encoding similarities.
Now, a different audience with a different message? Sure, it could be helpful to expound on nuances.
Not exactly the same, but what I listed is the part that stays the same. The salad has a lot of variation with different nuts, seeds, berries, and other additions. I also mix up raw fruits and veggies on the side, and the odd splurge. But except for traveling, pretty consistent while training.