thecakeisalime's recent activity
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Comment on Anyone can access deleted and private repository data on GitHub in ~comp
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Comment on The best and brightest don’t want to stay in Canada. I should know: I’m one of the few in my engineering class who did. in ~life
thecakeisalime Link ParentI'm a decade out of Waterloo, still in Canada, and haven't hit $200k (CAD) yet. I'm quite comfortable and I don't regret staying in Canada, but I definitely understand the desire to move to the...I'm a decade out of Waterloo, still in Canada, and haven't hit $200k (CAD) yet. I'm quite comfortable and I don't regret staying in Canada, but I definitely understand the desire to move to the states for the much bigger salary.
I think if I were to start over, I probably would try to work in the states for about 5 years, build up a nice nest egg, and then move back to Canada. But after 5 years in the states, maybe I'd have ended up staying.
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Comment on Dozens were sickened with salmonella after drinking raw milk from a California farm in ~health
thecakeisalime Link ParentAnyone who's had a kid should be well versed in these risks. The guidelines for usage and storage of breastmilk (and formula) are incredibly strict. And while they're not law, they're certainly...Anyone who's had a kid should be well versed in these risks. The guidelines for usage and storage of breastmilk (and formula) are incredibly strict. And while they're not law, they're certainly there for a reason. On a couple occasions I find myself thinking "it's only 30 minutes past the deadline, how bad could it be?", but I'm not willing to risk it. Based on my limited knowledge of biology and the strictness of government regulations, it is probably fine, but I have no way of knowing how much wiggle room they've given people in their guidelines, and how much is them trying to avoid any chance of liability.
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Comment on What's your recommended survival crafting game to play solo? in ~games
thecakeisalime Link ParentI don't think I'd consider Factorio a survival game in the same way a lot of these other recommended games are. Survival in Factorio peaks in mid-game and you have to be ready for it, but it's...I don't think I'd consider Factorio a survival game in the same way a lot of these other recommended games are.
Survival in Factorio peaks in mid-game and you have to be ready for it, but it's basically a trivial annoyance by end-game. And while I think Factorio is infinitely replayable, the survivability aspect doesn't change very much game to game. The expansion might change all that (just announced for Oct 21), but I suspect it's still going to be primarily crafting, survival secondary.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2024 in ~games
thecakeisalime Link ParentThat's an interesting thing to collect. I've PMed you the Pandemic keys.That's an interesting thing to collect. I've PMed you the Pandemic keys.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2024 in ~games
thecakeisalime (edited )LinkI found a very old humble bundle (from 2021) for board games that I haven't fully redeemed, so I figure you guys might want the games I didn't use. This is a very old bundle, and Pandemic is no...I found a very old humble bundle (from 2021) for board games that I haven't fully redeemed, so I figure you guys might want the games I didn't use. This is a very old bundle, and Pandemic is no longer for sale on Steam, but I believe the keys should still be redeemable.
Platform: Steam
Method: First Come, First Serve
Game Limit: 2 games (plus any/all unclaimed expansions/DLC for that game if applicable)
Timeframe: I will PM people keys on or before EOD Friday.Games
Claimed Games
- Pandemic: The Board Game Note: No longer available for purchase on Steam.
- Pandemic: Roles & Events Note: No longer available for purchase on Steam.
- Pandemic - Mutation Note: No longer available for purchase on Steam.
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Comment on For many Olympic medalists, silver stings more than bronze in ~science
thecakeisalime Link ParentI wish they had expanded upon this statement (maybe they do in their actual paper, but the previous studies linked in the article seem pretty thorough to me). This phenomenon has been known for a...Prior studies haven’t been able to thoroughly test this phenomenon. But by using artificial intelligence, we were able to test these two theories on a large and diverse set of image data for the first time.
I wish they had expanded upon this statement (maybe they do in their actual paper, but the previous studies linked in the article seem pretty thorough to me). This phenomenon has been known for a while (since the first study in 1995). Replicating studies is always welcome, but they're presenting this as though they did something novel.
And is 413 athletes over 5 Olympic Games (maybe 9 if you include Winter Olympics) really a large set of image data? Granted, it's an order of magnitude larger than the previous studies, but there's more medal winners at a single Olympic Games (339x3 this year in Paris, 340x3 in Tokyo) than in their dataset. They could just look at Paris this year and have 678 examples to go through. Maybe I'm just put off by the use of AI while still having such a small dataset. One of big advantages of AI is that it can go through millions of data records. Its use here is to remove bias (a good thing), but it just feels like they didn't use it to its full potential. They also didn't explain how the manually coded facial recognition algorithm is worse than the AI algorithm (which will also have bias).
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Comment on What would it take for a soup to be exciting? in ~food
thecakeisalime LinkPeople eat soup all the time. People even go out to eat soup all the time on purpose! But when you just call it "soup", people don't (immediately) think of the "exciting" soups, they think of...People eat soup all the time. People even go out to eat soup all the time on purpose! But when you just call it "soup", people don't (immediately) think of the "exciting" soups, they think of chicken noodle soup from a can. But people are willing to pay $20/bowl for some noodles in hot pork water if you call it ramen.
So to answer your question, you just need to call it ramen, pho, or chowder. There may be other exciting soups that I am not thinking of or don't know about, but in general, if a restaurant can survive by just selling soup, that type of soup is probably exciting enough.
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Comment on Questions about DEI standards in ~humanities
thecakeisalime Link ParentYes, that is a pretty tone-deaf statement, but it's also generally correct. Same-race teachers seem to have a notable effect on success rates of their students: If we were trying to maximize...- Exemplary
Take, for example, this quote from the linked article:
"Who better than a Latino teacher to instruct students of the same background?"
Imagine if this statement came from a white parent or white teacher and they said, "Who better than a white teacher to instruct students of the same background?"
Yes, that is a pretty tone-deaf statement, but it's also generally correct. Same-race teachers seem to have a notable effect on success rates of their students:
We show that assigning a black male to a black teacher in the third, fourth, or fifth grades significantly
reduces the probability that he drops out of high school, particularly among the most
economically disadvantaged black males. Exposure to at least one black teacher in grades
3-5 also increases the likelihood that persistently low-income students of both sexes aspire
to attend a four-year college.If we were trying to maximize learning potential and further education without regard to anything else, segregation would probably be correct. Of course, there are a lot of other things that we (as a society) care about that makes segregation a bad idea. Luckily, it appears that it's not necessary to exclusively race-match teachers - it's only necessary that they have at least one same-race teacher (long article - it's probably worth reading, but the paragraph relevant to my point is quoted below):
What about the less-likely circumstance where a Black student has multiple Black teachers? These results don’t show compounding effects; rather, it appears that having just one Black teacher as opposed to none is what’s driving the observed impacts on academic and non-academic outcomes. Providing Black students with a race-matched teacher at some point during elementary school may not require a dramatic increase of teacher candidates of color in the immediate term. Currently, some 45 percent of Black elementary-school students in the U.S. are never taught by a Black teacher between kindergarten and fifth grade. The main task is to change that number from zero to one, which means that policymakers need to pay attention to the distribution of teachers of color, not just their overall numbers.
This means we don't need to segregate to reap the benefits of same-race teaching. We just need to make sure that all students are exposed to teachers of as many races and backgrounds as possible throughout their education, preferably in their early education. So if (for example) all grade 3 teachers are black, all grade 4 teachers are Latino, all grade 5 teachers are white, that would guarantee racial coverage for about 90% of the racial makeup of America. That's just one clunky example, but hopefully it gets the point across.
So, is the 1000 by 2025 initiative a good idea? It's better than nothing. Simply having a more diverse workforce will increase the odds of pairing same-race teachers and students together at some point in their education. Once the teachers exist, the distributions can be adjusted to better maximize the reach, but just existing is a good first step.
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Comment on I'm really tired of trying to be understanding to my right-winger friends in ~talk
thecakeisalime LinkYou seem to have realized you can't change your friends. That's an unfortunate reality, but it's an important step in figuring out what comes next. Do you want to keep that specific group of...You seem to have realized you can't change your friends. That's an unfortunate reality, but it's an important step in figuring out what comes next. Do you want to keep that specific group of friends, despite your ideological differences? Do you want left-wing friends who agree with your politics? Do you want both?
Either way, I would start looking for new friends. Don't dump the old friends just yet, but actively seek out new friendships that are better (per whatever criteria you choose) than your existing ones. Don't mix the friend groups. Once you have a second established group of "better" friends, it's likely that you will naturally drift away from the old group over time as you start hanging out with your new friends more. With some more active involvement, you can either accelerate the separation or you can maintain those old relationships (your choice), but if you do nothing, you'll eventually separate anyway.
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Comment on Amazon returns have gone to hell in ~tech
thecakeisalime Link ParentI believe this is because no one at Amazon checks why things are returned and they often just get put straight back into inventory as long as the packaging looks fine. I bought a ring from Amazon...It was some dumb Amazon-Apple counterfeit policy where the item goes straight to Apple rather than Amazon
I believe this is because no one at Amazon checks why things are returned and they often just get put straight back into inventory as long as the packaging looks fine.
I bought a ring from Amazon a while back. The outer package said the correct size, but the ring inside did not match that size. So I returned it and tried to buy another one (which they claimed was in stock). The shipment of the new ring was delayed several times, but shortly after I got the notification that they had finished processing my return, they shipped the "new" ring. Of course, they shipped me the exact same ring I had just returned.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
thecakeisalime Link ParentThat's a fair reframing, and I think I agree with most everything you said. However, this law is Seattle's attempt to force companies to align their businesses with society's values. As a city,...That's a fair reframing, and I think I agree with most everything you said.
However, this law is Seattle's attempt to force companies to align their businesses with society's values. As a city, they don't have a huge amount of options. Profit taxing and redistribution really needs to start at the state level, if not the federal level.
I do think that once society has reached the point where it's properly taxing profits and redistributing it as something like a UBI, that things like minimum wage will be unnecessary (and possibly even counterproductive). But until the larger governments do something about it, this is probably the best thing that Seattle can do.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
thecakeisalime Link ParentI think your premise is flawed. It's working from the basis that these people don't provide enough value to earn a living wage. People shouldn't be required to provide value to live. You're...I think your premise is flawed. It's working from the basis that these people don't provide enough value to earn a living wage. People shouldn't be required to provide value to live. You're basically making the same argument that Walmart makes when they don't pay their workers enough and they still have to rely on food stamps. Yes, there's a lot of people who will work for a couple cents less than the "competition" just to get a job, but that doesn't make a good society, and it's why we have things like a minimum wage. The gig economy does the same thing while evading many existing worker protections; it directly pits workers against each other instead of focusing the corporation that isn't paying them enough. Is it better to pay 100 people $100 per week, or to pay 10 people $1000 to deliver those same orders, leaving the other 90 to find something else? Seattle's law has adjusted the demand side of food delivery, and it will take some time for the supply to adjust accordingly.
There are plenty of things that "not valuable" people can do for society that don't just give their time and labour directly to a corporation. Picking up trash from public spaces, maintaining public parks, teaching/assisting with workshops at the public library, sorting books at the same library, etc. The government is already paying for these people (often via food stamps), why not just pay them real money and give them a job that helps society?
And if there's not enough jobs to make society better? That's where something like universal basic income comes into play.
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Comment on What do I do if I don't have any clothes? in ~life.style
thecakeisalime Link ParentThis is my wardrobe. I have a handful of graphic tees and band shirts that haven't fallen apart yet, but the only shirts I've bought for myself in the last decade are a couple packs of solid...This is my wardrobe. I have a handful of graphic tees and band shirts that haven't fallen apart yet, but the only shirts I've bought for myself in the last decade are a couple packs of solid coloured shirts from Costco and Walmart. Easy to pair with jeans or slacks. Depending on the weather, I can throw on a zip up sweater (also a solid colour) and/or a jacket over top.
When I want to be "fancy", I have a couple button up shirts that can pair with those same jeans (the ones that don't have holes in them) or slacks.
It's not a particularly unique look, but if everything fits right you'll be comfortable and will have an "outfit" for almost anywhere.
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Comment on San Francisco sues Oakland over proposed airport name change in ~transport
thecakeisalime Link ParentDo people not look at where the airports are before booking their flights? Most airports are located an hour or more away from the region they represent. Figuring out how to get from the airport...Do people not look at where the airports are before booking their flights? Most airports are located an hour or more away from the region they represent. Figuring out how to get from the airport to your actual destination is all part of the trip planning.
If I'm looking up flights to San Francisco, I might not know that Oakland Airport is an option. But if it somehow gets on my radar as an option (either because they've changed their name, or it came up in a search), I'm still not going to assume that it's a short walk from the airport to downtown SF - I'd still want to research how I'm getting to and from the airport.
I suspect the opposition to the name change is actually because SFO is afraid of losing business to Oakland, rather than the stated reason of misleading customers.
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
thecakeisalime Link ParentThanks! I started looking into this when I realized the dough wasn't right, but by that point it was too late to do anything for the loaf. It still tasted great, only the texture wasn't quite...Thanks! I started looking into this when I realized the dough wasn't right, but by that point it was too late to do anything for the loaf. It still tasted great, only the texture wasn't quite where I wanted it.
One interesting thing I noticed as I started investigating gluten percentages was that a lot of all purpose flour in Canada is about 13-14% protein. The only place I've found 10% AP flour is at Costco, though I'm sure it's available elsewhere. I hadn't thought about gluten content much before working with bread, but it definitely has an effect on cakes and cookies as well.
My biggest annoyance with flour labelling nowadays is when they give the nutrition facts per 30g instead of per 100g. 4g/30g protein could be anywhere between 11.6% and 15% protein, and that's a pretty big range when it comes to baking.
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
thecakeisalime Link ParentBaking should always be by weight, not by volume. Things like flour, brown sugar, and salt vary dramatically in their densities depending on how you load your volumetric measuring device, and 1...Baking should always be by weight, not by volume. Things like flour, brown sugar, and salt vary dramatically in their densities depending on how you load your volumetric measuring device, and 1 cup of something isn't going to be the same every time.
If you're baking bread using volumetric measurements, you'll still end up with bread, and it probably won't be too different week to week, but it will occasionally be inconsistent and you might not know why. If you're baking something more temperamental, like cookies or pastry, then using volume for flour is going to make a much bigger difference batch to batch, and it will be difficult to achieve consistent results.
There are workarounds, like fluff, spoon, and level for flour, or packing as tight as you can for brown sugar, or having various conversion charts for different types of salt, but they're all subject to error, and more work than just weighing your ingredients. For the same price as a set of measuring cups/spoons, you can buy a scale, and have much more consistent and repeatable results.
Just to be extra pedantic, you don't need to know what a baker's percentage is for your example; that's just regular percentages. :P
My example is in baker's percentages, though I didn't write the 100% for flour. If you use regular percentages for my example, you end up with 28% flour (to 70% water), and I think that's just called soup.
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
thecakeisalime Link ParentFunny you ask, because I recently went from making loaves with 500g of flour to loaves with 400g of flour. So not quite 83%, but pretty close. I don't know how often you think someone needs to...How often do you need exactly 83% of a loaf?
Funny you ask, because I recently went from making loaves with 500g of flour to loaves with 400g of flour. So not quite 83%, but pretty close.
I don't know how often you think someone needs to bake to make something worth learning, but I bake it weekly, and I keep tuning my ratios to have enough bread for the week, and no more. 500g was too much, 400g seems fine for now. But beyond that, it also lets me easily incorporate other flours (rye, whole wheat, etc.) into the basic recipe and see how it turns out.
As a home baker, the scaling factor of baker's percentage is much more useful so that I can compare my once per week loaves with each other. If something doesn't work (for example, I added too much rye to a recent loaf and it was flatter and denser than I wanted), then I can look at how much I added (as a percentage) and scale it back from there, regardless of how big my loaf actually was.
And yes, it is just math. But it's math that simplifies a lot of conversions, and also makes it easier to remember recipes. I could start with a recipe with 483g flour, 338g water, and 10g of salt. Or I could make a recipe with any amount of flour, 70% water and 2% salt. It makes more sense to start with what you want and figure out the other numbers from there, rather than starting with a bunch of numbers and having to convert them all individually. It's also a lot easier. How do you scale that above recipe to use only 400g flour? You'll need 400g flour, 400/483x338g water, and 400/438x10g salt. Or... you could do 400g flour, 400x0.7g water, and 400x0.02g salt. I can do the latter in my head. I need a calculator to convert the former recipe.
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Comment on The Yorkshire Pudding recipe battle royale in ~food
thecakeisalime LinkI think they're called muffin cups, but that can get ambiguous with the muffin cups made of paper that can also go in there. I would also accept "muffin tin holes" and "muffin cavity". I've never...each muffin section (spot the non-chef, not sure what they're called).
I think they're called muffin cups, but that can get ambiguous with the muffin cups made of paper that can also go in there. I would also accept "muffin tin holes" and "muffin cavity".
I've never made yorkshire pudding, and now I'm wondering why not. I love eating them, and I already bake all the time. Thank you for your recipe, and reminding me that this is a thing.
On first glance at this recipe, if you're not eating them with gravy, you probably want to add some salt (best guess is 2-4g) to the recipe. A little salt goes a long way with drawing out flavours in bread.
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
thecakeisalime Link ParentOf all the techniques and styles related to baking bread, baker's percentage is one of the most useful things for me. Using baker's percentages, I can easily scale my recipes up or down, and it...Nobody needs to know what a baker’s percentage is except for a baker
Of all the techniques and styles related to baking bread, baker's percentage is one of the most useful things for me. Using baker's percentages, I can easily scale my recipes up or down, and it lets me easily track and compare different recipes.
If you're just making the same recipe week after week, then sure, it's not useful. But it's certainly useful when experimenting with different flours and volumes of water.
If they follow good security practices (hah!) then any keys they committed should have rotated long ago anyway. The biggest problem here is just that private source code isn't so private.
Premium SaaS offerings are largely support-based, so if someone wanted to pirate it and run it on their own, well, they may have been able to do that anyway for a lot of things. They just wouldn't get any support, and it wouldn't be legal, which are the two things that people (companies) who pay for SaaS tend to want.