Rubenerd

Everyone’s done those hypothetical about what one would do with a million dollars. I feel its somewhat less exciting for my generation, given that amount would barely cover an apartment in Singapore or Sydney. But if we took absolute numbers out, and assumed selfishness in lieu of altruism, what would you buy?

There are far-out ideas like paying the European Space Agency to build you a rocket to Neptune, or genetic engineers to make you immortal. I also find those less exciting, maybe because they don’t seem obtainable somehow. Maybe I lack sufficient imagination.

Until this most recent news story broke, my fantasy had been to buy the Queen Mary from Long Beach, and Queen Elizabeth II from those Dubai property developers, and berth them together in a maritime museum. Maybe even get the rusting hulk of the SS United States restored and shipped from Philadelphia.

But the idea of owning my favourite building would be simply too irresistible a chance to pass up. Standing in the lobby of the Chrysler Building two years ago was one of the highlights of my life, even if the security guards quickly ushered us away. The photo above was taken shortly after we saw the building for the first time; because of course we went back a couple more times.

I’d turn the top floor into a free observation deck, the penultimate floor into a chill cafe, another into an apartment for Clara and I, and the entire pedestal section of the building into an art deco museum.

holoduke on a Hacker News thread:

It is still running and making 20 times more than I would get with a normal job. But i was lucky. Lucky to be born in a rich country. Lucky because I was given a computer at the age of 5. Lucky because I had unlimited education opportunities. Lucky because I had a friend who gave me access to something I needed for my business. And many other lucks. I will never deny that fact. But reading these stories makes me a bit angry, because it is just not that simple. It’s always easy to translate a successful story into a guideline. But that guideline isn’t worth anything when all those luck properties are different.

And arbuge’s response:

In practice that particular thread likely required all kinds of environmental details to occur - details the entrepreneur might not have noticed at the time, might have forgotten about later, or might be discounting as unimportant.

There’s no such thing as a self-made person. I say this as someone who feels like he’s worked hard to get where he is, leaving aside his predilection for the third person to which he refers to himself in.

My brain has got to the point where it filters news about Mr Orange automatically. But this one slipped through the cracks, like a supine slurry of cheap citrus cordial; desperate to taste like the real thing, but fooling fewer and fewer people. Or less people, as he’d say.

Mr Orange walked out of a meeting with the congressional Democrats, tweeting it was a “waste of time” and “bye-bye”. The American government shutdown is now well into its millionth week, to use one his rally estimations.

I’m confused as to why it’s hard, he said he’d make Mexico pay for it. He wasn’t being figurative, he literally quoted specific dollar figures and consequences if they didn’t comply with his demands.

That said, this was the guy who authored coauthored appeared on the cover of The Art of the Deal. If the livelihoods of federal workers weren’t in the mix, this dummy spit would be hilarious.

There’s a debate raging in Australia about whether music festivals should do pill testing. I couldn’t understand the logic for years; why should people demand a venue test their illegal substances? In what other context would that be logical? Wouldn’t it also be the very definition of probable cause for law enforcement?

I still think that to an extent. If your concern is the drugs you’re taking have unknown ingredients, you’re a f… fool for taking them. Those of us who’ve lost loved ones to disease or accidents are floored at this preventable and selfish waste of human life.

But the reality is people will take these drugs regardless of legality; it’s why the drug wars have been such a catastrophic failure. The real answer is drug legalisation and the availability of medical-grade alternatives.

In the meantime, and this is something that had to be pounded into my stubborn head for at least a few months, pill testing is a scientifically verified form of harm minimisation. They can’t test for every noxious additive, but it’s literally better than nothing.

I’ll keep this as non-specific and vague as possible. Having worked for myself, with family, and for businesses, there are certain clients who won’t pay invoices on time. Or ever. I probably shouldn’t make this public, but I’ve generally been poor at chasing people for payment. I figure they have their reasons.

Some people are just pricks, or cheapskates, or figure they can get away with not paying. Others have tough financial decisions and decide for entirely understandable self-preservation they’ll pay bills for mortgages or touchy suppliers before their more chill ones.

But then there are others who claim financial hardship.

I can empathise. There were times, especially during family medical events, where money was tight and I couldn’t pay bills. Going to bed knowing you’re going to be getting angry people in your life is gut wrenching in a way few other experiences are.

In those cases though, I contacted people, explained my situation, and asked if I could either delay a payment, or work out a payment plan. Almost all of them were happy to oblidge, and appreciated that I reached out before my account was overdue and they had to chase me. And for the few that weren’t, I wasn’t any worse off than before.

What I’m beginning to resent, unfortunately, are people who don’t pay for months at a time, then only claim financial hardship when you ask.

Part of that is knowing that most were outright lying to me, and using it as a stalling tactic. Having lived through those aforementioned family events, may bees nest in your armpits if you claim your partner has cancer when they don’t.

My Fate/Grand Order luck has been hit and miss of late. I summoned Ishtar who I wanted from the start, but I didn’t get the angelically handsome and supremely useful Merlin, or the Bride version of everyone’s favourite Umu from last year.

I only had thirty saint quartz, so I could only perform one full summon. When that failed to materialise anything, I cashed in mana prisms for a few summoning tickets to try again. Chances were slim, but worth a shot.

You could say, my reaction was:

The Canadian Press is reporting:

“Tailored marketing means Bell will be able to customize advertising based on participant account information and service usage patterns, similar to the ways that companies like Google and others have been doing for some time,” the company says in recent notices to customers.

He’s not wrong about Google. In fact, Bell is doing better by asking for permission instead of requiring an opt-out. But I’ll bet that won’t last.

Remember these delightful suppositories of wisdom from our former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull?

• All Australians understand that high-quality, reliable and affordable broadband is a critical part of the infrastructure our nation needs to prosper in coming years.

• The coalition NBN will be sooner, cheaper, and more affordable.

• A vote for One Nation is a vote for Labor.

• If you try to come to Australia by boat, even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Nobel Prize winning genius, we will not let you in.

• The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia.

But this is the one I’m sure he wrestles with the most now:

• I don’t find myself in moral turmoil. I’m not given to turmoil of any kind.

I’d list our current PM’s gaffes over the last few months, but I want this post to be finished before I turn 60. Bring on the election.

Music Monday time. Each and every Monday, except when I forget and blatently post on a Tuesday, I post a song I find delightful or otherwise thought-provoking, in the hopes it will delightfully provoke you. At least part of that sentence came out wrong.

From Darwin Derby by Vulfpeck:

Of all the creatures in the sea, my favorite is the bass
It climbs up all the rocks and trees
And slides down on its hands and knees
But why does the shark have teeth?
The shark has teeth to eat, I see
And why does the whale have feet?
Well it… I don’t know

This song is criminally funky.

Sam Harris’s podcast with Renee Diresta titled Information War should be required listening for anyone who uses the internet in 2019. It’s written in the context of Russian meme propagation in the United States, but could easily apply to anywhere.

On calling it information war:

Renee: Our adversary sees it as information warfare. We’re not doing ourselves any favours pretending this is some peace-time governance problem where social media could moderate a little better.

On using memes to infiltrate groups and spread thought:

Renee: They were going after people, and manipulating people … what do you do when you realise infiltrating activist communities is the whole goal [with these memes]? It’s been a goal of Russia since the Cold War, this is not a new tactic. It’s just now they can do it even more remotely. You don’t even need to send a spy and do it in person, you communicate over Facebook DMs.

On what a different threat it poses:

Renee: We thought cyber war was going to be attacks on infrastructure. There’s a sense of the rules of engagement that this won’t be tolerated. So the shift has been to these adversaries who recognise that we have a democratic society with freedom of expression. They can put stuff up on social media, and we’re so loathe to take any of it down without being 1000% sure it’s inauthentic and manipulative, particularly as they launder and amplify exisiting polarised American thought.

And on their effectiveness:

Sam: When you step away from how toxic all this is, it’s really not hard to empathise with these people and understand how much fun they were having doing this. They’re creating fairly clever, divisive, funny memes that are gaining traction and having their intended effect. Jesus wearing a Make America Great Again hat … the fact we can be so successfully gamed by this as a society is really troubling.