Does anyone think there’s a future in these quantum computer thingies?
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Talking to the rest of the hardscape crews yesterday I mentioned how much the weather is going to suck this next week and we might not get a full week. Then I said (jokingly) "that's okay though, you guys don't mind working next Saturday to make up for it, do you?" To which everyone said (sarcastically) "oh yeah, nooo problem!".
Tyler, the lead foreman for the lawn division hears the last part, so he says to his crews "what about you guys, you ready to work next weekend if needed!" To which his guys replied with a hearty "go f~+$ yourself!"
So Tyler says to me "I don't get it, man! How come your guys are so loyal!" "I don't know, man, it's a mystery!".
The answer is actually super easy. 2 guys I've worked with for 18 years, one guy I've known since he was 10, another guy (who is 21) I've known his dad for 18 years so I've been showing him how to build stuff since he was 3, my daughter, and 2 more guys I've been helping to train for the last 3 years.
Also, it turns out if you lead by example and treat your workers with respect they will literally smash through a brick wall if you asked them to. Of course so would anyone if you give them a really nice maul.
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Between Toys R Us and my current job I've spent too much time with zero accountability and complete artistic freedom to even consider joining a union.
I fully respect what they've brought us as far as worker's rights and everything but I feel like how they are currently it's outdated and probably unnecessary.
Of course I say that as someone with zero education on the matter so correct me if I'm wrong.
It's hardly a political flamestorm to say the obvious: As usual, as soon as unions became powerful, those who wanted that power and money took over and they became (arguably nearly) as corrupt as the corporations they opposed. And as usual, small, honest unions pop up from time to time, but just like corporate takeovers they are quickly subsumed by larger, more corrupt unions.
Does anyone think there’s a future in these quantum computer thingies?
** spoiler omitted **
Are we talking about qubits, or are there astonishing developments that I wouldn’t have heard about, as a non-techy person?
Last I heard, scaling things up to be practical was a vicious limiting factor, but I would never rule out the clever boffins working on these things.
It’s been years since I’ve hung around any scientists or engineers, sadly, but the ones I have tended to be bracingly “Well, let’s see what happens?” and “It will be an adventure!” about things.
I’m still waiting for them to build (at last) the ITER, dammit!
In the meantime, Derek Lowe’s columns about undesirable chemicals (with a shout-out to his entry about chlorine trifluoride, which is also a classic) are always fun.
Hmm. I’ve never been a huge fan of the PF alchemist, but now the idea of one inspired by the evidently colourful careers of the Strengs is growing on me.
Trying to decide if there's a realistic chance that I'll get around to playing either Expeditions: Rome or Assassin's Creed: Odyssey if I give in, since I have a soft spot for (ancient) historical fantasy.
I have a non-gaming computer from 2018 (integrated laptop-ish graphics card, i.e. no Video RAM whatsoever, the card reserves part of regular memory instead, nor certain high-end hardware graphics solutions making some games look really bad because of messed up textures) with 16 GB RAM. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is fully playable, with an occasional glitch here and there. I haven't played Expeditions: Rome (another game in endless queue of games waiting their turn or two), but I am somewhere in the middle of Expeditions: Viking and it works fine.
Probably talking qubits. There was a news piece on TV the other night. They were saying that the Chinese government was dumping lots of funding on the project. Looking for the super computer.
IBM and Google too.
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It's hardly a political flamestorm to say the obvious: As usual, as soon as unions became powerful, those who wanted that power and money took over and they became (arguably nearly) as corrupt as the corporations they opposed. And as usual, small, honest unions pop up from time to time, but just like corporate takeovers they are quickly subsumed by larger, more corrupt unions.Between Toys R Us and my current job I've spent too much time with zero accountability and complete artistic freedom to even consider joining a union.
I fully respect what they've brought us as far as worker's rights and everything but I feel like how they are currently it's outdated and probably unnecessary.
Of course I say that as someone with zero education on the matter so correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't know much about the situation in the US in general, though what I've heard about the AFL-CIO agrees with what Nobody/David/the Captain have said.
In my experience, Unions can be effective if they engage with their membership, have a membership that engages with the union (and they have to make a concrete, positive difference to their members' live at work in order for people to want to do that), and have a political line to work with. It also helps if they can represent and negotiate for large numbers of people in the same industry or sector.
The particular examples I'm thinking of in the UK are the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport) union, the train drivers' union (ASLEF) and, though not to the same extent, mine (the Communication Workers' Union). Larger, more general unions like Unite or the GMB don't quite have the same level of militancy, though do try, when not frightened about embarrassing the Labour Party. Having a political party whose job (on paper) is to represent organised labour in parliament has been a mixed blessing, and the party itself has long sought to turn itself into a British version of the US Democratic Party, with all the delights that might come with that.
Successive governments have made it harder and harder for unions to do what they really need to do, and those employment rights they did succeed in winning in years gone by are being taken away. I'd argue that they are still relevant, but have to work hard in order to make themselves so, which they won't do if they're feeling too comfortable.
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** spoiler omitted **...It's hardly a political flamestorm to say the obvious: As usual, as soon as unions became powerful, those who wanted that power and money took over and they became (arguably nearly) as corrupt as the corporations they opposed. And as usual, small, honest unions pop up from time to time, but just like corporate takeovers they are quickly subsumed by larger, more corrupt unions.Between Toys R Us and my current job I've spent too much time with zero accountability and complete artistic freedom to even consider joining a union.
I fully respect what they've brought us as far as worker's rights and everything but I feel like how they are currently it's outdated and probably unnecessary.
Of course I say that as someone with zero education on the matter so correct me if I'm wrong.
And don't get me started on the level of counter-productive competitiveness I've seen in the lower levels of union membership, mostly taking the form of either "Oh, you only worked 60 hours last week? Well, I worked 85. Beat that, scrub!" one-upmanship, or "We shouldn't let that guy get a slice of our benefits pie. He ain't even from 'round here!" exclusivity. These days, it's less "Solidarity!" and more "divide and conquer."
I'm a big fan of the idea of unions, but there are few things I loathe more than unaccountable bureaucracy and petty schoolyard politics, and the modern trade union environment (again, in my personal experience) has both in spades.
** spoiler omitted **...** spoiler omitted **...It's hardly a political flamestorm to say the obvious: As usual, as soon as unions became powerful, those who wanted that power and money took over and they became (arguably nearly) as corrupt as the corporations they opposed. And as usual, small, honest unions pop up from time to time, but just like corporate takeovers they are quickly subsumed by larger, more corrupt unions.Between Toys R Us and my current job I've spent too much time with zero accountability and complete artistic freedom to even consider joining a union.
I fully respect what they've brought us as far as worker's rights and everything but I feel like how they are currently it's outdated and probably unnecessary.
Of course I say that as someone with zero education on the matter so correct me if I'm wrong.
Great. Now I need to watch the movie again.
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While I understand that Americans' understanding of geography is a constant source of ridicule, and those on opposite coasts frequently get things ludicrously wrong (when GothBard was a child she accused a friend of lying because he claimed he was going to drive across three states in a matter of hours), I expect the New York Times to do better.
Next I'm expecting to find that one of the answers is Mount Rushmore.
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While I understand that Americans' understanding of geography is a constant source of ridicule, and those on opposite coasts frequently get things ludicrously wrong (when GothBard was a child she accused a friend of lying because he claimed he was going to drive across three states in a matter of hours), I expect the New York Times to do better.
I once got into an argument with a native Iowan who flatly (no pun intended) refused to believe that there are mountains in New York State.
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While I understand that Americans' understanding of geography is a constant source of ridicule, and those on opposite coasts frequently get things ludicrously wrong (when GothBard was a child she accused a friend of lying because he claimed he was going to drive across three states in a matter of hours), I expect the New York Times to do better.I once got into an argument with a native Iowan who flatly refused to believe that there are mountains in New York State.
There are mountains in NEW YORK?!
Freehold, you need to show us photos!
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Fantasy Monsters: Toll-o-Bell.
Ring the bells of doom!
While I understand that Americans' understanding of geography is a constant source of ridicule, and those on opposite coasts frequently get things ludicrously wrong (when GothBard was a child she accused a friend of lying because he claimed he was going to drive across three states in a matter of hours), I expect the New York Times to do better.I once got into an argument with a native Iowan who flatly refused to believe that there are mountains in New York State.There are mountains in NEW YORK?!
Freehold, you need to show us photos!
** spoiler omitted **
I believe I did share pics when I went to the cloisters, which is a pretty naked mountain chain in NYC.
Also have to drive through mountains when taking the scenic route to work.
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There are mountains in NEW YORK?!While I understand that Americans' understanding of geography is a constant source of ridicule, and those on opposite coasts frequently get things ludicrously wrong (when GothBard was a child she accused a friend of lying because he claimed he was going to drive across three states in a matter of hours), I expect the New York Times to do better.I once got into an argument with a native Iowan who flatly refused to believe that there are mountains in New York State.
Seconded. :) Mind you, I'm from a bit further north, and the ice age did a good job scraping most things pretty level around here. There are some neat craggy bits, but lofty peaks they ain't.
Though my mother's side of the family is on the west coast, so I was brought up to believe that things smaller than the Rockies don't really count, which probably skews my perspective.
Not that I actually have any sense for the interior of BC, and the Prairies are a mystery to me.
Yeah, pretty much anyone in Colorado and westwards has the attitude that if it isn't at least 5280' (~1.6km) in elevation, you're not allowed to call it a "mountain". So we hear about "Mount So-and-So in the Appalachians" with an elevation of 3000', and we think, "I've held my mother's legs so she could take pictures down cliffs that are higher than that!" (Or at least I do.)
And I'll admit, today Google taught me that the Appalachians, including in New York, routinely break that mark. That was news to me.
But still, our base camps tend to be at around 10,000-11,000', so we're pretty spoiled.
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In "those wacky irresponsible kids" news, I am pleased that it's not just my kids; most of the members of their extended gaming group choose neither to imbibe nor partake of semi-legal or illegal substances. (Impus Major's "drug group" is a different, older group of friends.)
But they have senses of humor.
And someone suggested that in honor of all of their party members finally meeting each other on St. Patrick's Day, they should all attempt to be somewhat tipsy for tonight's session.
Given their complete lack of experience with alcohol, reason won the day and some of them might have one shot. Though watching them attempt to go from teetotalling to straight liquor might prove seriously entertaining...
How many of them had reaction of 'ugh, why do people even pour that stuff into themselves?!'
How many of them had reaction of 'ugh, why do people even pour that stuff into themselves?!'
The game doesn't start for half an hour and the kids are already sequestered in their rooms, so I won't find out about the details until tomorrow. My only current knowledge is that both kids decided not to/forgot to partake.
Even though Oregon is certainly not a Southwestern state, there are regions of Eastern Oregon that have a definite Southwestern vibe. Those beige grasslands, so familiar…
Dang, the disrespect to the Appalachians...
The Appalachians are really pretty! If I weren’t a spoiled city princess, I wouldn’t mind hiking the IAT one day, but I don’t think I’ll ever be enough of a camping person to develop the skills for it. Never say never, but I’m not putting it on my bucket list.
Fair play to them, they’ve also got the highest point in Québec that pretty much any of us southern folk is likely to be anywhere near in our lifetimes, at 1 268 m, so NY has us beat there. Wiki suggests Nunavik just gets over the line to western respectability at 1 652 m, but if I ever end up that far northeast, something has gone terribly wrong, unless I ever visit Scandinavian parts overseas.
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Well, appearances can be deceiving, but at the moment it looks like my second-to-worst nightmare about the neighbors' house is coming true -- a couple of very corporate types in luxury "I've got more money than sense" vehicles finally showed up and are checking out the house.
Looks like a corporate buyout and one more home that will never be owned by a family.
I won't go into a political tirade here, but when we sell my parents' house in a few years I'm happy that I'll be down here to hand-pick the buyers. And even if they can't pay top dollar, the buyers won't be a corporation.
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Hand-painted sign seen from the truck window on the way to the job site today:
NO SMOKING PROPANE
I will certainly keep that in mind.
Maybe there should be a full stop after 'smoking' and a space after 'pro', and it's a message from someone who hates tobacco, but really, really likes windows.
Hand-painted sign seen from the truck window on the way to the job site today:
NO SMOKING PROPANE
I will certainly keep that in mind.
i recommend rediscovering your sense of adventure . . . .
i recommend rediscovering your sense of adventure . . . .Hand-painted sign seen from the truck window on the way to the job site today:
NO SMOKING PROPANE
I will certainly keep that in mind.
You first!
You first!i recommend rediscovering your sense of adventure . . . .Hand-painted sign seen from the truck window on the way to the job site today:
NO SMOKING PROPANE
I will certainly keep that in mind.
what, can't you hear the buzzing tone of my voice echoing from within the iron lung in the burn ward?
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in completely irrelevant news, i am loving the current state of my homebrew playtest campaign. the last few sessions have all been very solid in terms of narrative, character development, and player engagement. we're just having a blast, and it's a good thing.
DISCLAIMER: big honkin' wall-o'-text
perhaps off-topic of off-topic, but y'all are the only people i talk with on the forums anymore, so . . . .
i think the biggest step that i've made as a GM is to implement more of what is called "four-corner opposition" into the backdrop in which my players drive their characters. i'm getting better at having my enemies and NPCs make better, more believable decisions in the pursuit of their various motives, and to provide conflicting interests both within and without the party to keep things dynamic. i continue to pursue better stories, even as i find a way (or TRY) to reconstitute familiar mechanics into something a bit more accessible for newbies while still giving more experienced gamers the options they enjoy.
the party consists of, effectively, a warpriest, a magus, and an undead hunter. they have saved a marshland village from the dual threat of a zombie uprising and an infestation of demon-bugs, journeyed to an insular society atop a desert plateau governed by a seemingly benevolent ancient blue dragon, purged a long-abandoned keep of a band of goblin marauders, offered to escort a very young brass dragon to a safe location away from said blue dragon, and done all that while escorting a trade caravan along a relatively new route through wild territory. most recently, though, the caravan ran afoul of the machinations of a hobgoblin warlock, and he sent his minions to destroy the caravan and PCs, to retrieve the magic tomes they took from one of his disciples. the caravan has been scattered to the winds, and the characters have decided to assault the warlock's mountain fortress in an act of "righteous vengeance", so to speak. we've reached the point where they have just breached the mystic gate that secures the warlock's inner sanctum, and so next week promises to supply a series of epic combats, and perhaps a few surprises, as well.
since my system is an amalgamation of ICRPG and PF1 at its heart, one of the interesting mechanics i'm using is what i call the 'recovery die'. this die value allows for health to be recovered after a rest period, but it also indicates just how long a character has in which to be revived before dying if they drop to 0 health. in the course of the campaign, the magus has dropped to 0 health often, but has rolled a natural 20 on his 'recovery check' to stabilize no less than three times -- so he's occasionally been left for dead in the middle of combat and yet come back to consciousness with 1 HP, and picked right back up with the fight. this recurring event has attracted the attention of powerful extraplanar beings, and he is currently being accompanied by a 'lantern archon' conducting an investigation of the magus' possible "crimes against mortality". the aura of menace ability has led to some hilarious moments, especially since the archon is so uptight about being addressed by name, and responds negatively to blatant disrespect.
the warpriest has learned that this hobgoblin faction have become followers of a deity of toil and oppression (his deity's mortal enemy), and he intends to crush their reign of terror and liberate their victims. i'm going to set the stage for him to have an honor duel with the priest, but to present him with a dilemma at the same time: keep to the duel, or aid his allies? it won't be about making the right choice, but about demonstrating what's more important to him as a follower of a god of chaos and war -- his battle-brothers? or his own glory?
our vampire hunter's character arc is at a bit of a standstill -- his own personal quest is on the backburner due to geographic constraints. however, he's been playing as close to LG as anyone could ask, i think. the player is pretty paladin-y in his own life; he's doing the self-insert justice without making it cumbersome and awkward.
- - - - - - - - - -
i have finally gotten about 75% of the way through my first full iteration of the magic system. i've got a gamer friend that i don't get to see too often who is going to do some freelance R&D work for me to see how badly he can break the framework i have in place. if there are glaring issues, he'll find them; if there are subtle problems, he'll find those, too. i expect to be finished with the full beta test of the magic system by the middle of this year, at the latest.
fun times.
i LOVE getting to play fantasy ttrpgs. it helps make all the other nonsense more tolerable.
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Ah, the bizarre turnarounds of being around for long enough!
Today's our 30th wedding anniversary. If you watch GothBard's favorite movie, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Mike Myers goes to great lengths to throw a huge shindig for his parents for their 30th wedding anniversary, including an announcement in the newspapers, a Scottish party with dozens of guests and a band, etc. And all the attendees of his parents' generation are grey-haired retirees.
I'm greyer than GothBard and wouldn't be considered grey-haired by anyone's standards, and we're still at least 10 years away from retirement. The kids have never paid attention to our anniversary (to be fair, we never paid attention to our parents', either). And we celebrate our getting together in 1987 rather than our marriage in 1994, so tonight'll be a low-key affair of takeout and either a game or Starship Troopers in honor of everyone in the group playing a lot of Helldivers 2 right now.
So the entirety of our celebration will likely be our new dishware. Which we got a month ago, but it was our anniversary present to ourselves. And we like it.
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Wishing you and Gothbard nothing but the best on this special day.
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You are married for as long as I play roleplaying games.
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On the one hand, I vastly appreciate watching the blowback against abusive bosses: Not only did GothBard quit, but this morning I learned that Talky quit his job as well for similar reasons. (A toxic workplace and a boss who couldn't go a day without telling him how bad he was.)
So...
NobodysHome: Wow! At tonight's game I'm going to be the only person at the table who has a job!
Impus Minor: No! Impus Major has a job!
NH: He puts in ONE HOUR A WEEK! You can barely even call that a job!
GothBard: OK, look at it this way: You'll be the only person at the table earning an income.
Touché.
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Landscaping season has started as of yesterday. Myself and the other two "really old guys" (read: in their mid-thirties) actually stayed in shape over the winter, while all the young kids just hung out and partied. And... it really shows. We've been running circles around those guys.
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We went to see 'Dune 2'. Pretty good, if a bit long; I preferred the first one.
That is my Insightful Review.
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I doubt that will stay visible on the Careers page for more than a couple weeks.That was March 14. It's already been removed.
Sounds like someone is about to get overworked for minimal pay!
Landscaping season has started as of yesterday. Myself and the other two "really old guys" (read: in their mid-thirties) actually stayed in shape over the winter, while all the young kids just hung out and partied. And... it really shows. We've been running circles around those guys.
Yeah it was super hilarious watching Jose's guys struggle to spread dirt on a hillside and could barely move (not lift, move) a 2x2ish piece of flagstone. Meanwhile I build a huge flagstone patio going around a boathouse on multiple levels with flagstone sometimes as tall as me in the same amount of time.
Watched The Muppet Christmas Carol followed by A Flight of Dragons with one of the guys who hasn't seen it last night. Next up is Twice Upon A Time and then he will see where me and my brother get our humor from.
The flight of dragons art book is amazing to look at. (The pseudo bestiary was a lot of linear conjecture even for the genre)
The dragon and the George series (where flight of dragons gets most of the plot and characters) are a lot of fun.
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I loved The Dragon and the George. I did not care for the sequels nearly as much.
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Last night we really saw the difference between "classic" and "not". The kids weren't up to gaming, so instead we decided to watch Starship Troopers in honor of the whole family being into Helldivers 2 right now. Since GothBard was going to be out until 7:30, I wanted them to watch Aliens first, so they could compare a truly great "marines vs. aliens" movie to a truly crappy one.
Instead, they wanted to watch the original Alien. The movie was released in 1979. Some of the haircuts, the computer interfaces, and the poorly-fitting underwear are truly depressing. And yet 45 years later, it is still a great film. The kids all liked it. They said it was a really good movie. They're looking forward to seeing Aliens.
Then we watched Starship Troopers. I'd honestly forgotten how absolutely plastic they'd managed to make lead characters look in the 1990s. I don't know whether it was the makeup, or the cinematography, or what, but all the leads could have been playing living dolls in the Barbie movie. Or Doctor Who. They were so attractive and perfect it was creepy: Somehow the filmmakers had managed to make human actors and actresses cross the uncanny abyss.
Anyhoo, that aside, the movie is interminable. An hour of high school romance drama a la Beverly Hills 90210. Then pointless scene after pointless scene of bug shooting, and even Helldivers 2 has more consistent gameplay: In the movie, one bug would die after 3-4 shots. An identical bug might take 300. By about 9:40 the kids were asking, "Can't this movie end yet? We've been through like three climaxes already!"
It didn't end until 10:20, and I have to admit, I was expecting something short and silly that we could snark at and make lots of Helldiver 2 references about. First we had to sit through high school drama. Then we got to make snarky comments for about half and hour. Then we got bored.
Not a good movie.
I truly marveled at the juxtaposition: Alien is a 45-year-old movie with a surprisingly low amount of action. Starship Troopers is a 27-year-old movie with virtually nonstop action for the last hour. Yet Alien was by far and away the better, more exciting movie. You don't need guns blazing to make a movie exciting.
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Starship Troopers?
Read it, if you haven't already.
it was the cover art that sold me on it, WAY back in the day.
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There are PARTS of starship troopers I like. But its really inconsistent.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE.
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Starship Troopers?
Read it, if you haven't already.
it was the cover art that sold me on it, WAY back in the day.
The book is sooooo much better than the movie. I didn't like the changes they made.
Also, it looks plastic and doll-like because Denise Richards.