rkcr's recent activity

  3. Comment on Bill requires employers to keep implanted microchips voluntary for workers in ~tech

    rkcr
    Link
    I found this headline deeply confusing, here's one that's more clear: "Bill makes it so implanted microchips cannot be required for employment."

    I found this headline deeply confusing, here's one that's more clear: "Bill makes it so implanted microchips cannot be required for employment."

    9 votes

  4. Comment on The 2020 Steam Summer Sale is live and goes until July 9th in ~games

    rkcr
    Link
    Interesting, the points shop is no longer a one-time bonus setup for a single sale; it looks like it's going to be persistent:

    Interesting, the points shop is no longer a one-time bonus setup for a single sale; it looks like it's going to be persistent:

    Do Steam Points expire?

    Nope! Also, The Points Shop is here to stay, now open all year around.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on Cards Against Humanity statement in ~games.tabletop

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    Yeah. I was waiting for their response but I cancelled it yesterday. It was not transparent and I just don't want this hanging over my head while I do a puzzle.

    Yeah. I was waiting for their response but I cancelled it yesterday. It was not transparent and I just don't want this hanging over my head while I do a puzzle.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Cards Against Humanity statement in ~games.tabletop

  7. Comment on Scott Alexander has deleted his Slate Star Codex blog due to the New York Times planning to reveal his real name in an article in ~misc

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    Tim Ferriss' post 11 Reasons Not to Become Famous is what I'm thinking about right now. Specifically the parts about how even the semi-famous has to deal with stalking, death threats, harassment,...

    Tim Ferriss' post 11 Reasons Not to Become Famous is what I'm thinking about right now. Specifically the parts about how even the semi-famous has to deal with stalking, death threats, harassment, etc. It's just a numbers game; some percent of humans aren't entirely stable, and if you have enough followers, you've practically guaranteed you're going to run into them.

    12 votes

  8. Comment on Scott Alexander has deleted his Slate Star Codex blog due to the New York Times planning to reveal his real name in an article in ~misc

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    He lives in the bay area and has written about polyamory before; between those two facts, stuffing 10 people into one house doesn't sound totally unreasonable.

    He lives in the bay area and has written about polyamory before; between those two facts, stuffing 10 people into one house doesn't sound totally unreasonable.

    11 votes

  9. Comment on Apple, Hey, and the path forward in ~tech

    rkcr
    Link
    Tangential, but I'm surprised that Basecamp had employees work over the weekend, since publicly they're a champion of regular working hours.

    Tangential, but I'm surprised that Basecamp had employees work over the weekend, since publicly they're a champion of regular working hours.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    rkcr
    Link
    I got Disco Elysium and as a long-time Planescape: Torment fan, this game feels like it was made exactly for me. It's like someone said "let's remake P:T, only we'll remove the stupid parts of it...

    I got Disco Elysium and as a long-time Planescape: Torment fan, this game feels like it was made exactly for me. It's like someone said "let's remake P:T, only we'll remove the stupid parts of it like the mediocre combat and really lean in to the dialogue trees."

    Haven't finished it yet, but that ain't gonna last long at the rate I'm consuming it. It's very gripping.

    6 votes

  12. Comment on How many hours per day are you working? in ~life

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    I believe that what one measures has a huge impact on one's motivations. If you decide to measure "hours worked" then that will change how many hours you work, with your stated goal of improving...

    I believe that what one measures has a huge impact on one's motivations. If you decide to measure "hours worked" then that will change how many hours you work, with your stated goal of improving your hours.

    But like ~emdash said, hours worked is not what you actually care about. Just putting in more hours doesn't mean you make any progress in the direction you want - just that you sat in front of a computer longer.

    Freelancing is your real concern. I would examine your exact goals and gather metrics based on that - like the progress of your portfolio, or how many leads you've been following.

    5 votes

  13. Comment on How many hours per day are you working? in ~life

    rkcr
    Link
    I don't use a time tracker but I feel like it'd be a mistake to track the exact minutes I'm working (as a developer). If I think about a problem while I go to the bathroom... is that work? If I'm...

    I don't use a time tracker but I feel like it'd be a mistake to track the exact minutes I'm working (as a developer). If I think about a problem while I go to the bathroom... is that work? If I'm browsing Tildes while code compiles... is that work?

    Not only that, but development is nonlinear work - amount of time does not equal amount of output. Sometimes I log off for the day, frustrated at a problem. I wake up the next morning, refreshed, and solve it instantly. I wasn't focused on work at all, but just taking the time for myself sped up the time when I do.

    17 votes

  14. Comment on Ending my relationship with Cards Against Humanity and Max Temkin in ~games.tabletop

    rkcr
    Link
    Max Temkin's latest project is a Magic Puzzles KS that just ended, but rumor has it that KS is issuing refunds even though the funding phase has closed. I backed it not knowing any of this and...

    Max Temkin's latest project is a Magic Puzzles KS that just ended, but rumor has it that KS is issuing refunds even though the funding phase has closed.

    I backed it not knowing any of this and feel kind of icky now. I want to see what their response to it is first before requesting a refund, but it's good to know it's an option.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Results from the 2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey in ~comp

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    If I had more free time, I'd take the top "beloved" languages and learn their basics so I could see why they're so beloved and how I might apply some of their ideas to my own work. E.g., people...

    If I had more free time, I'd take the top "beloved" languages and learn their basics so I could see why they're so beloved and how I might apply some of their ideas to my own work. E.g., people really love Rust, I'd love to have the time to learn why that is.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on Yet another political map simulator in ~misc

    rkcr
    Link
    People get really hung up on how geographically large each state is instead of its relative population, so for fun I made a map where one side absolutely covers the map but still loses the...

    People get really hung up on how geographically large each state is instead of its relative population, so for fun I made a map where one side absolutely covers the map but still loses the electoral college: https://www.yapms.com/app/?m=20gu

    6 votes

  19. Comment on The coming disruption - Scott Galloway predicts a handful of elite universities and tech companies will soon monopolize higher education in ~humanities

    rkcr
    Link
    Just to give a bit of context, Galloway regularly makes big, sometimes wild claims (for example, he repeatedly said that Michael Bloomberg was definitely going to win the Democratic primary). I...

    Just to give a bit of context, Galloway regularly makes big, sometimes wild claims (for example, he repeatedly said that Michael Bloomberg was definitely going to win the Democratic primary). I find his predictions amusing to read and it gives you something to consider, but I would not take what he says as any sort of indication of the future. That is, he's good at imagining future possibilities (that others might not consider), but he doesn't really seem to be good at predicting which one will actually happen.

    8 votes

  20. Comment on Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage in ~finance

    rkcr
    Link
    I knew on-demand delivery was in a bad place, but I didn't realize it was such a clusterfuck. The article floats the question of "how does delivery pizza work anyways" without answering it. Having...

    I knew on-demand delivery was in a bad place, but I didn't realize it was such a clusterfuck.

    The article floats the question of "how does delivery pizza work anyways" without answering it. Having delivered pizzas in the early 2000s, I feel like I can shed light on this: it's all about efficiency.

    How many deliveries can a pizza driver do in an hour? The key here is that I would take out multiple orders at once, reducing downtime. It took ~10-15 minutes for driving/ringing doorbell, then another few minutes to get back to home base and reload. That all meant ~3-4 delivers/hour (and I was incentivized to go quickly, because the more deliveries I made, the more tips I got).

    On top of that, suppose it's a Friday night. You've got multiple drivers, so you organize the deliveries so it's more efficient for each driver. Now you're almost guaranteed 4 deliveries/hour, which lets you guarantee breaking even.

    At a 3-4 delivers/hour, charge a $2.50 surcharge and most of the time you've made the driver's minimum wage just through the surcharge alone.

    Compare that to Door Dash, where a single person gets a single order. The driver has to spend time getting to the restaurant (whereas I'd already be sitting there, waiting to go out). They take a single order out to a house. Then they have to figure out where to drive next (eating time just distributing the work). It's horribly inefficient by comparison. The surcharge would have to be wildly high, and on top of that, you'd make way less on tips because you're simply delivering fewer times/hour.

    11 votes