manosinistra's recent activity

  1. Older folks: Do you feel like work ethic has changed? Better or worse? Do you notice any generalizations? Have the times changed that much?

    ~talk Ask (survey)
    Just wondering what the sense is from others. Is it even a thing that you notice if you are in a more detached, work from home setting? Were “things different in my day, harumph!” This isn’t...

    Just wondering what the sense is from others. Is it even a thing that you notice if you are in a more detached, work from home setting? Were “things different in my day, harumph!”

    This isn’t intended to be a ranting thread on millennials or such. But I’m rather genuinely curious what is considered “normal” in terms of work ethic and work attitudes.

    38 votes

  2. How would you teach math differently to young kids if budget was not a concern?

    ~talk Ask (survey)
    It seems to me we teach kids math in a way that prioritizes mass teaching and resource management over the actual learning of mathematical concepts. We rely on paper and pencil, and maybe some...

    It seems to me we teach kids math in a way that prioritizes mass teaching and resource management over the actual learning of mathematical concepts.

    We rely on paper and pencil, and maybe some limited manipulatives like unit blocks, and there’s 1 teacher for every 15-30 kids or so.

    What are some methods that might work better to establish a strong understanding of math if we were able to approach it differently?

    Or what are some methods that have been proven to work in other settings and why are they able to be successful?

    38 votes

  3. Comment on Microsoft Teams is/was down. What's your fallback? in ~tech

    manosinistra
    Link Parent
    If it helps any, I noticed that recently I suddenly had Teams screenshares that would crash Teams every 3-10 minutes. Turns out (by sheer trial and error) that it was due to HDR. If I turned off...

    If it helps any, I noticed that recently I suddenly had Teams screenshares that would crash Teams every 3-10 minutes.

    Turns out (by sheer trial and error) that it was due to HDR. If I turned off HDR then it was stable.

    Might be helpful for you?

    1 vote

  4. Microsoft Teams is/was down. What's your fallback?

    ~tech Ask (survey)
    Teams is down or was down for pretty much everyone I know (work context). Thinking in terms of business continuity, what is your fallback plan. Is your fallback a managed, enterprise class...

    Teams is down or was down for pretty much everyone I know (work context).

    Thinking in terms of business continuity, what is your fallback plan. Is your fallback a managed, enterprise class service?

    Might get everyone internally to install Signal since it's end-to-end encrypted, has a desktop client and can handle file transfers. That's just off the cuff.

    Thoughts?

    21 votes

  5. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    manosinistra
    Link
    Hello all. What does it feel like to be out of breath vs having exercise induced asthma? I am trying to figure out if I’m gassed or if I’m having some kind of asthma. I don’t think I knew there...

    Hello all. What does it feel like to be out of breath vs having exercise induced asthma?

    I am trying to figure out if I’m gassed or if I’m having some kind of asthma. I don’t think I knew there was a difference until now.

    I shall save my own personal symptoms to see if they align with the responses.

    Context is boxing / MMA.

    4 votes

  6. Comment on How do/did you survive post-war social disarray and unreliable/non-existent supply chains? in ~talk

    manosinistra
    Link Parent
    The more I ponder it, I think this rings truest. I don't think it's just Hollywood either, you have the preppers and the TEOTWAWKI (I love this acronym btw; sounds like an Aztec god) proponents...

    The more I ponder it, I think this rings truest. I don't think it's just Hollywood either, you have the preppers and the TEOTWAWKI (I love this acronym btw; sounds like an Aztec god) proponents that preach the idea that somehow things will go down catastrophically overnight. The graduated decline you speak of seems to be more plausible and historically observed.

    If it was war, at least you'd be in a posture of war. If it was a killer-of-worlds asteroid, at least we'd be somewhat prepared for it as a concrete actuality (as opposed to the spectre of fear).

    Governments are not great etc. etc. but the idea is that, yes, someone somewhere would be sending aid. That is to say, local society may collapse but a broader community will (hopefully) be altruistic enough to lend a hand, provide a skeletal infrastructure (and get rich off of rebuilding).

    Living through that period will suck but at least there will be an afterwards. It seems the best you can do is prepare enough to ride out the temporary vacuum of authority, or at least minimize the pain until "someone comes to restore things". It's a hopeful outlook that people will be more willing to band together than go every man for himself, at least after the initial panic.

    5 votes

  7. How do/did you survive post-war social disarray and unreliable/non-existent supply chains?

    ~talk Ask
    This started as a post on asking about how long you think you could survive a massive supply chain disruption and associated collapse of authorities ability to intervene. But the more I thought...

    This started as a post on asking about how long you think you could survive a massive supply chain disruption and associated collapse of authorities ability to intervene.

    But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to paint a picture of a postwar context. Post-Yugoslavian War, post-Korean War, etc. Also, I don’t know if we’ve had any recent memories of sudden, total plunges into anarchy.

    I wonder if the modern economy has lengthened the farm-to-table too much that no one could reasonably expect to sustain themselves for any longer than they have food in storage.

    What strategies would you use/did you use to survive? Did society break down into roving gangs? If such a thing happened now, do you feel like you could weather the storm?

    You can thank my being snowed in the last few days and watching World War Z, The Last of Us, Book of Elijah, Elysium, the Alone TV series and the Band of Brothers for inspiring this post.

    19 votes

  8. Sound engineers, help me name this vocal sound

    ~music Ask
    Savannah Locke’s “Oh Holy Night” has a vocal quality that I’ve heard many times before in other songs and I was always curious what it was called, as well as the general EQ settings to reproduce...

    Savannah Locke’s “Oh Holy Night” has a vocal quality that I’ve heard many times before in other songs and I was always curious what it was called, as well as the general EQ settings to reproduce it.

    I name this song because I feel like it’s a very over the top example that I first heard over the holidays on a random playlist. I can only describe the vocals as “paper-like”. The style is folksy but it’s that particular sound of the vocals I’m interested in identifying.

    Also, if there’s a particular nomenclature to these different types of styles or a glossary of some kind I’d appreciate it.

    Full disclosure: I’ve sat behind a mixing board as an enthusiast but am no means educated beyond lows, mediums, highs.

    Many thanks in advance!

    5 votes

  9. Comment on 50 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know (Second Edition) in ~comp

    manosinistra
    Link Parent
    I tend to think of algorithms less in terms of utility and more along the lines of knowing for the sake of knowing. Kind of like in Ready Player One where it was about playing the game and...

    I tend to think of algorithms less in terms of utility and more along the lines of knowing for the sake of knowing. Kind of like in Ready Player One where it was about playing the game and exploring rather than having a set goal.

    There was a sweet time not too long ago where everything was one abstraction layer away from machine language and we were inventing as we go. Discovery, revisiting, redesigning, and optimization, everywhere!

    Now things are so highly abstracted that you don’t know or even need to know how to implement a hash map or tree, and decide which trade off is better, ie speed or storage. Now you just add RAM and CPU.

    Not to sound like that old guy but it used to mean something to be able to cleverly use limited resources. I don’t think that’s a valued knowledge area anymore. The tinkering aspect has been replaced by something else but I don’t quite know what it is because I’m so lost pining for the Good Old Days (TM).

    3 votes

  10. Comment on 50 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know (Second Edition) in ~comp

    manosinistra
    Link
    Maybe we can remove the link and “(Second Edition)” and just have a fun discussion on which algos people find the most useful or even remember? Breadth First Search is always in the back of my...

    Maybe we can remove the link and “(Second Edition)” and just have a fun discussion on which algos people find the most useful or even remember?

    Breadth First Search is always in the back of my mind for some reason. “If I ever go blind this moment I know I’ll eventually get out of this place,” is strangely comforting.

    Also, mentally revisiting all the sorting algorithms keeps my brain sharp.

    17 votes

  11. How would you organize a global Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament?

    ~talk Ask (survey)
    A friend and I were bantering about how we should organize a RPS tournament, where the LOSER advanced and was ultimately kicked in the bum by the "winner" of the final round, and also given $10 as...

    A friend and I were bantering about how we should organize a RPS tournament, where the LOSER advanced and was ultimately kicked in the bum by the "winner" of the final round, and also given $10 as a pity for being the "greatest loser".

    This quickly morphed into daydreams of a global event, culminating in the grand finals at the Mandalay Bay, with coverage by ESPN 12, sponsorship deals, trading cards ("Joe is known for his southpaw stance and shooting from his off-hand which greatly throws off his opponent." and per-year statistics of Win % by rock, paper, and scissors); the whole nine yards.

    But it got us thinking... in today's age, would it be difficult to organize a simple RPS tournament GLOBALLY? What technologies would you use? Could you approach it 100% digitally? How would you verify the loser for advancement?

    Let's even say someone was willing to put up $20k or even $100k to actually fly winners from each continent or major population region and put them up at the Mandalay Bay (btw - that hotel just came to mind because it was the first to come to mind in Las Vegas) for a 1-day event. Would that change anything?

    RPS because the absurdity of it and the zero cost to entry.

    We await your thoughts...

    21 votes

  12. Fun things to do as a family with teens?

    ~life Ask (recommendations)
    We’re finding it increasingly difficult find meaningful time to spend with the kids. They’re teens but still want to do stuff together and yet with all the extracurricular and us working it’s hard...

    We’re finding it increasingly difficult find meaningful time to spend with the kids. They’re teens but still want to do stuff together and yet with all the extracurricular and us working it’s hard to just be together. They also have their own preferences and sometimes it’s hard to find common ground.

    Was hoping to find some inspiration and ideas. Thanks in advance.

    16 votes

  14. Comment on Do you have a favorite YouTube video? I want to know! in ~talk

    manosinistra
    Link
    Any of the “Veritasium” videos on math. Like the one about pi or solving cubics. Mind blown (at a relatively accessible 1st-year level). There’s also the brilliance of “kiffness sometimes I’m alone”.

    Any of the “Veritasium” videos on math. Like the one about pi or solving cubics. Mind blown (at a relatively accessible 1st-year level).

    There’s also the brilliance of “kiffness sometimes I’m alone”.

    5 votes

  15. Comment on Israel-Gaza Conflict Discussion Thread in ~news

    manosinistra
    Link Parent
    Truly one of the most exemplary of content I’ve ever read online. I don’t know how much of this is true as I am quite foreign to the topic. But comparing this to other sources online I feel like...

    Truly one of the most exemplary of content I’ve ever read online.

    I don’t know how much of this is true as I am quite foreign to the topic. But comparing this to other sources online I feel like it makes the most sense.

    An unfortunate situation by any measure, and not easily untangled. Intractable even? Sad for everyone affected and involved.

    9 votes

  16. Meaningful family games or activities for gatherings?

    ~life Ask (advice)
    Our extended family lives in the same city and we're always getting together (brother/sisters-in-laws, their kids). So basically our generation and our kids. Probably 13-15 of us. We meet maybe...

    Our extended family lives in the same city and we're always getting together (brother/sisters-in-laws, their kids). So basically our generation and our kids. Probably 13-15 of us.

    We meet maybe once or twice a month, but whenever we meet, kids just go do kids things, dads go over here, moms go over there. One of the dads invariably falls asleep, one or two of the kids kind of mull about not quite fitting in here or there.

    I was wondering if any of you had any ideas for something that can be done together that might help build memories or at least structure some time so that there's meaningful interaction and we can get to know each other better instead of defaulting to whatever is least effort.

    The only constraint is that is has to be that it's an in-home, indoor activity suitable for teens/pre-teens.

    25 votes

  17. App-based guitar or piano learning?

    ~hobbies Ask (recommendations)
    I already play piano and guitar to some degree but never got to learn what I really wanted to play which was blues music. I see ads here and there about “learn to play following this app!” and was...

    I already play piano and guitar to some degree but never got to learn what I really wanted to play which was blues music.

    I see ads here and there about “learn to play following this app!” and was wondering if people had any experiences or recommendations for app-based learning?

    15 votes

  18. Comment on Just got an Nvidia 4090 GPU, looking for local LLM + general generative AI software recommendations in ~comp

    manosinistra
    Link
    Sorry for the non-informative post, but some of the nomenclature used here makes me think it’s a gag thread. “Ogaboogaboinga”? It does help me to appreciate tho how out of the loop I am, and...

    Sorry for the non-informative post, but some of the nomenclature used here makes me think it’s a gag thread. “Ogaboogaboinga”?

    It does help me to appreciate tho how out of the loop I am, and conveys a sense of how nascent the whole field still is.

    A few months ago, wrapping my head around what AUTOMATIC111 is led to a whole morning of rabbit holes.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on Turmeric could treat indigestion just as well as NHS drugs, study finds in ~food

    manosinistra
    Link
    Curious now… what are some other research-proven herbal medicines?

    Curious now… what are some other research-proven herbal medicines?

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Hanging 100lbs punching bag in ~life.home_improvement

    manosinistra
    Link Parent
    Thanks. Seemed like a bag stand didn't provide a lot of access from the sides.

    Thanks. Seemed like a bag stand didn't provide a lot of access from the sides.