terran57 · HackerTrans

terran57

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3 年前議論

I found the rented e-scooter experience in Paris to be a cost-effective, convenient, and quick way to get around the city. I much preferred taking one of them over the subways/bus system or taxis. I did see a lot of irresponsible riders over the years, which is partly why we are here now. My next trip will find me transitioning to e-bikes rather than returning to the old transportation options.

3 年前議論

I have a personal story that seems to dovetail with this article.

Back in the days of the pre-Y2K "crisis" hype, I lived in Colorado and was young and more impressionable, I started developing a prepper mentality. While I was pretty sure that we'd get through that, it seemed wise to plan for the future.

So, I fell into a group of like-minded people, and joined in conversations about what would be needed to survive in a post-collapse environment. We honed our hunting skills, pre-stocked camping backpacks, and formulated plans to flee into the mountains in case things went south. We also started looking into what it would take to buy a piece of property and build out a bunker, stock it, and prepare for whatever was to come.

My enthusiasm for this individual prepper mentality diminished quite rapidly due to a single conversation. I was in a "seminar" where we were all discussing the advantages/disadvantages of prebuilt bunkers and how to disguise them on the property. During a break, when I asked one of the "consultants" what his plan was. He took me aside, looked around so that nobody would hear him and said something along the lines of: "Kid, don't waste your time with this hiding in a bunker nonsense. Me and my kids and grandkids live up in the mountains and know where a lot of these preppers have their stashes. If things go south, we're just going use our bulldozers and diggers to dig them out and take what they've stored away for us. They won't be able to outlast a group of us."

I looked at him like he was Judas, but he then said. "Don't think I'm the only one in this business who's planning to do this, we'll gladly take their money and build whatever bunker they want, but at the end of the day, if things go to hell, we'll use whatever means we have to survive, and so if that means cracking open these stashes - so be it".

Then he said "the key to survival is being part of a community you can rely on. Ideally, this is your family as they're much less likely to betray you, but a good like-minded church group could also work".

I was a bit stunned by this, but it crystalized in my mind then, that the individual "prepper" was eventually doomed to fail at some point and it was pretty useless to prepare for it.

So, yes, I now agree that the best approach to "prepare" is to work to strengthen your community.

3 年前議論

A breakthrough in human life extension technologies could help alleviate the need to have more children to perpetuate the species. It is conceivable, as indicated in some research papers, that next century humans might be able to live past 100 with a high quality of life through advanced medical interventions.

Now, of course, we face great unknowns in how things will turn out in the future. So, living past 100 might be a moot point if society has broken down.

3 年前議論

What do you mean by revive?

3 年前議論

As someone who's done a couple of ultramarathons, my first reaction is "That's crazy."

However, the title of the race does have "Transcendence" in there, so it seems a primary motivating factor is to see if you can put yourself into that state of transcendence for the duration.

3 年前議論

Pardon the slight (irrelevant) quibble - but land hasn't been "destroyed" - only the "improvements" made to the land have been.

3 年前議論

The chart reflects what I've observed in the media in a visually appealing manner.

Personal datapoint: I loaded up Threads when it was announced, and then said "meh" because there wasn't enough content at the time. This post actually reminded me to take a look at it again and now I see much more content, so I'll take a second look at it to see what's there.

Also - Still waiting on my Bluesky invite.

3 年前議論

First - please seek some professional help immediately - you are not alone, and these feelings are common in people who've had a setback. Perhaps there's a slight chemical imbalance in your brain that needs to be reset - but only a professional can guide you there. Perhaps, all you need is some time to reflect and unwinds. Just don't make any rash decisions that have permanent consequences.

RE: startup failing.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison

Having a startup fail is, in itself, a success. At least you tried and with the failure, you learn things that you can use with the next startup.

Don't give up. There's so much negativity in the news we're not seeing the positive sides of things. Technology is advancing quickly and we're on the verge of a new age. It'd be a shame to not see how it turns out.

3 年前議論

Another reminder that I'm glad to use Photopea.

3 年前議論

That's great! Which APIs are you using?

3 年前議論

Cool project - thanks for sharing!

3 年前議論

Your $10 needs to be $15 now...

3 年前議論

$10K - no, but if he'd be willing to trade shares of BRKA in exchange for it ... I'm listening.

3 年前議論

It's amazing how many wonderous discoveries are published on the first day of the fourth month of the year.

3 年前議論

$10 in 1970's dollars ~ $50 today's dollars. Nicest house on the block with a nice large corner lot.

3 年前議論

My mom worked a split-shift (3 hours in the morning, and 5 hours in evening Wed-Sun). My dad was in the army and was deployed to far-away lands for a significant portion of my life between 8-16 years old. My mom hired a couple of "minders" - but the first one made a baby in our bathroom with her boyfriend, and the second one did nothing but watch TV and sneak some shots of whiskey between TV shows (on the three networks then available). Long story short, I was left to my own devices a lot. My mom tried to make dinner for me - but sometimes (being a growing boy) I was just really hungry - so chef-boy-r-dee pizza was a staple - at least until I learned that one could phone in an order for pizza and have it delivered! Now we were cash-poor, so when wanted spending money, I'd have to go house-to-house to ask if they needed their lawns mowed. I'd get somewhere between $5 or $10 depending on the lawn size and would use the money for pizza delivery once or twice a week. Pretty amazing to think about it - a kid between 10-15 years old being left alone for hours a day and having to go house-to-house to mow lawns for extra money! (let's not forget it was the 70s so things like bike helmets, seat belts and non-smoking areas didn't exist either).

3 年前議論

Eisenhower warned about the "Military-industrial" complex - but it seems to me that has morphed into a "Military-Industrial-Political" which is geared more towards enhancing shareholder value and political capital rather than military preparedness.

3 年前議論

I installed it locally about an hour ago and have been running it through some paces. Nice work! (In addition to the predefined prompts, I like the API usage meter at the top).

(now, I just need Openai to take me off the waitlist for GPT-4)

3 年前議論

Sadly, Google's track record makes this more likely than not.

3 年前議論

I find myself nodding in agreement.