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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • It’s almost as if doing this first, half a century ago, and, pardon my culturism, but probably less recklessly AND in a higher cost of living country would be substantially more expensive.

    But still, a genuine congratulations to India and everybody that worked on that project.

    Edit: I don’t know why I’m being downvoted, it’s a fact. “We did it for SO CHEAP” is not a brag or a flex.

    The cost to realtime process trajectories in 1968 was not the $10USD that a several year old, e-waste used iPhone is now.

    And the yearly salary of NASA engineers now is 100k-150k USD (glassdoor.com) while the Indian space program engineer median yearly salary (payscale.com) looks to be 200k-3M INR (median 800,000), which is $2,400USD-35K USD (median 10,000USD).

    So… Just on labor alone, that’s a factor of 5-50x. Then, take into account the improvements in materials and tech that can be basically gotten off the shelf. You don’t have to R&D reinvent tang anymore.

    Like, yeah, cool, you did it, that’s awesome. But then, trying to be like “oh we did it for so cheap” just makes me wonder how and then instantly realize that making me think about that undermines the very achievement it’s trying to brag about.

    And don’t get it twisted: money is fucked up in the world right now. Just leave it at: You did it, India. Congratulations, one of only four countries in the world have done it.



  • A room with perfect everything.

    I used to be a painter and did some construction. You would not believe how much I want a perfect room. It’s basically just like Morty on perfectly flat ground; most people wouldn’t get it until they were in it.

    I’m talking: sub, foundation, frame, crown, base, millwork, frames, drywall, paint. Everything is meticulous and perfect.

    The ground is perfect, the foundation is extremely thick, high gyp, super high quality, perfect. The framing is made of perfect ironwood, no flaws, is perfectly plumb, and is extra thick and rigid with those corner things; the room could be spun by a giant like a basketball. Perfect insulation, the absolute most incredible stuff and a ton of it, like R2000 and perfectly sound insulating -130db down to 0hz. The drywall is six layers thick, all of the corners and curves are perfect with the finest, strongest compound; it’s super smooth and the angles are all perfect because the framing is perfect, because the foundation is perfect, because the ground is perfect. The walls themselves are totally smoothwall, no texture whatsoever, it’s like touching a sheet of metallic plasticized glass, but really it’s just the extremely evenly applied dozen layers of the most advanced exterior coatings known to man; in not going to name names, but it’s fine stuff. All of the coatings on the walls, any millwork or cabinetry, and even the floors are all extremely high brightness white, the whitest white; the stuff that actually kind of glows because it’s converting some uv light to visible spectrum and is basically just pure titanium dioxide suspended in a crystalline structure. There are no chips in anything. No dents, no scratches, no fingerprints, no dust, no oil, no stains. Perfect. It’s well lit with natural light, and augmented with locational, directional, intensity, and temperature active diffuse lighting. The air is perfectly controlled and can have a constant flow of fresh, new air, or to have little to no airflow, depending on what I need in the moment - because having anything be possible on a whim takes the right resources. Sunsets, mornings, afternoons, overcast, nighttime, storms - every setting and energy and vibe is increased tenfold because the room is perfect.

    And in this room, nobody goes. It’s my room to be made by me, to be in, to have. I will know everything about it because I’ll have made it myself. The real wealth in this life is the ability to do whatever you want without consequence, because time is the real currency and we must all spend wisely - wealth, though, allows you to spend recklessly because, despite what’s seen on the surface, true wealth affords you to not waste time on being poor and having to work for others with small margins to save: the hours most people spend working and toiling are hours I would spend pursuing projects that are fulfilling to me…

    Like the perfect room - an eternal dessert for one’s existence.


  • 💯 Yeah, I get to sit in my own comfy chair, with ac, my own music or silence, without people coughing on me, with my doors locked if I feel like it.

    That type of busyness in either picture is exceptional. If I get into a car to get somewhere, it’s almost always easier AND FASTER to just stay in it.

    Do I think it would be better if they were all electric? Yes.

    Is coffee bad for the environment? At every step, yes.

    Do I like well made espresso? Yes.

    Do I want to go anywhere for a cup of coffee? No.

    Do I have the equipment to make good espresso at home? No.

    Do I think going without is the best form of being better for the environment? In many cases, yes.

    Will I still go somewhere for a chance at a great cup of espresso? Maybe once every other month.

    What is the goal of FuckCars and this sort of perspective? Seems like it should be sustainability and quality of life.

    Do I think cars are the enemy? No.

    Do I wish I didn’t have to deal with them? Yes.

    Are there any 100% sustainable, more efficient, better quality of life suggestions that are feasible out there? Not yet.

    Do I think FuckCars is a whine? Generally, yes.

    Do I think it’s an important debate to keep open? One of the most important.

    Why do I criticize it? Because it never addresses the complexity of the problem or produces any feasible solutions or steps to take. It’s a cope with blanket implicit blame. We all want better.












  • I’ll pay for stuff if it’s worth it. I buy hardware and utilities. Spotify was interesting at first, but when you realize how much money you’re paying for music over the years, it just doesn’t seem worth it compared to how much money we make over the years.

    So that almost makes me not care as much about advertising as I do about unfettered capitalism in general. There should be a wealth tax to discourage things costing so much to maximize profits. Investing is cool as a form of funding growth and innovation, but it squeezes returns and encourages extreme greed and profit. We should all make a little less, and things should cost a LOT less.

    When capitalism ducks up, the government is supposed to step in (to help the people). When the government ducks up, Robin Hood is supposed to step in (to help the people). When Robin Hood ducks up, the people must step in with pitchforks and the government must step aside (to help the people).

    It’s always been about the people. Government exists for the people, innovation exists for the people, business exists for the people, and even Robin Hood exists for the people. When those all fail, it’s revolution time.

    I’ll pay for stuff if I can afford it, and I don’t think most people are against basic economy stuff, either. But when it’s out of control, and people can’t afford or it’s not worth it, and then you make their experience worse and have to resort to psychological manipulation, you’ve already ducked up.

    In basically any interpersonal situation, if you have to resort to psychological manipulation, that’s a REALLY bad sign and something is super broken.