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[2020-03-19 10:48:29] - https://kotaku.com/white-house-doctor-we-need-millennials-to-stay-healthy-1842401810 white house doctor: we need millennials to stay healthy because they know how to speedrun video games (not the onion) - aaron
[2020-03-18 22:41:02] - earn it act: lindsey graham (r-sc) richard blumenthal (d-ct) dianne feinstein (d-ca) dick durbin (d-il) kevin cramer (r-nd) josh hawley (r-mo) doug jones (d-al) rob casey (d-pa) sheldon whitehouse (d-ri) joni ernst (r-ia) john kennedy (r-la). ~a
[2020-03-18 17:21:23] - a: Maybe I should write a book: Penny Infects. -Paul
[2020-03-18 17:21:11] - a: It's the power of compounding.... but used for evil. -Paul
[2020-03-18 15:57:53] - social distancing info-graphic. probably not speaking to anybody here, but people keep saying that everything is going to be fine and we don't need to do anything different. ~a
[2020-03-18 15:00:54] - https://i.redd.it/ccyeozs3pfn41.jpg
[2020-03-18 13:56:05] - a/Paul: I drank slightly less. Might account for some of my lack of filter on my darker moments. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-18 13:53:06] - a: https://anchor.fm/rampant-discourse/episodes/047---Coronavirus-ebienh I think it was this one, but I had drunk a LOT that night... -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:51:47] - a: "lets fix both, man" Yes, I know. I responded to that exact same point when you said, ""we can have both"
-paul[2020-03-18 13:50:52] - a: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/dow-wipes-out-gains-under-trumps-presidency-still-slightly-positive-since-his-election.html This is why you might be wrong about "nothing bad happening to him". He has staked a lot on the performance of the stock market and economy. That might bite him this election. -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:40:47] - you have no choice but to vote for me, because your 401(k), everything is going to be down the tubes ~a
[2020-03-18 13:39:06] - i missed that podcast. which number? ~a
[2020-03-18 13:37:40] - a: I took a stab at answering it on the podcast for the BTC question Paul asked me there (similar to here), and the very short version is, we're not getting inflation as a result of these governmental programs because we had the inflation already. This is all a massive stimulus (effectively ongoing since 2008) to avoid deflation. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-18 13:36:01] - is inflation so low because we're all completely and totally deluded? ~a
[2020-03-18 13:35:14] - economics is hard, god, i couldn't agree more. inflation has been so low during our adult-lives and i have no idea why. ~a
[2020-03-18 13:33:10] - a: They're borrowing it, of course. Which means selling Treasuries, which is really easy because the Federal Reserve board is practicing QE. Which basically means printing it. Which means inflation. Except not, because... well. Economics is hard. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-18 13:31:52] - xpovos: i know i probably shouldn't ask this, but where are they getting the money? isn't this the most literal example of wealth-distribution since the tax rebate of 2008? ~a
[2020-03-18 13:29:14] - i've never shorted something before either. i think it's super dangerous and a great way to lose a shit-ton of money. but part of me wants to try it out with aprn. ~a
[2020-03-18 13:27:16] - i'll concede that easy banking is way more important than easy voting. but i'm not sure why that was even a question. and other comments i can just copy-paste from lower down. ~a
[2020-03-18 13:26:48] - lets fix both, man. ~a
[2020-03-18 13:25:50] - a: Everybody and their cousin is always trying to offer to help me register for voting. Nobody is eager to help people sign up for a savings account. -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:25:26] - a: And I still think the impediments to that, which DO include signing up for a bank account (I mean, that's probably the majority of the hurdle, right?) are higher for banking. -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:24:46] - a: But sure, if you want to bring it around to that... I still think we as a nation would be better off prioritizing getting more un-banked people into banking than we would be by getting more non-voters into voters. -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:23:32] - a: Yeah, but I was talking to Daniel at the time and not you.
-Paul[2020-03-18 13:23:23] - paul: bitcoin is an enigma. don't try to logic that one out. i've been watching bitcoin like a hawk since 2009 and it has never followed a pattern or ever did what seemed to make any sense to me. markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent, or whatever. ~a
[2020-03-18 13:23:06] - a: I don't short things, but that seems like a screaming short to me... -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:21:04] - paul: "I think the discussion shifted to a discussion about which we think is more important" i specifically said that i rejected that change in the discussion as unrealistic and utterly unhelpful to the argument. ~a
[2020-03-18 13:18:57] - paul: wtf. i mean, i get it, they're obviously well positioned to make a killing, but is it time to short aprn? like wtf is going to happen to that stock when the virus ends? ~a
[2020-03-18 13:01:35] - Xpovos: This is why I can't figure out why bitcoin is tanking. These kinds of hyperinflationary policies seem ideal for bitcoin. -Paul
[2020-03-18 13:00:45] - aDaniel: If we want to talk about whether voting or banking is more important for EVERYBODY.... then that's a big question I hadn't fully considered. I tentatively still lean towards banking because I can't even figure out how to disentangle it from our economy, but I also haven't lived in a non-Democracy before so I could be discounting that.
-Paul[2020-03-18 12:59:24] - aDaniel: I'll admit that your points have more validity here since this did kinda start with a discussion about laws that would affect everybody. Still, I think the discussion shifted to a discussion about which we think is more important, and I still maintain that to an individual life, banking is far more important. -Paul
[2020-03-18 12:57:25] - Man, I'm so glad money is a meaningless human construct, otherwise I'd start to be worried. https://www.thehour.com/news/article/White-House-coronavirus-plan-aims-to-send-2-000-15140061.php -- Xpovos
[2020-03-18 12:57:23] - a: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/APRN?p=APRN&.tsrc=fin-srch OMG. Look at the 5 DAY chart... -Paul
[2020-03-18 12:41:38] - just now, he called it the "chinese virus" again. wtf. his own aids even keep telling him to stop calling it that. ~a
[2020-03-18 12:38:36] - just to clarify - not worse than a slave but worse than not banking in my head. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 12:27:32] - I mean thats like history? Before voting people pretty much just got shit on. So yeah I think voting is pretty important. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 12:27:02] - I guess my point is that I think not banking makes day to day life harder not voting means you just end up a serf? Or slave? Or something which is worse. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 12:26:11] - Yeah I wasn't think ONLY me. That doesn't really make a ton of sense. I guess if everyone else can vote and its JUST me then maybe I would choose banking. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 12:25:20] - the other weird part is i agree with you on this one. since we can only fix one thing, i think we should only fix banking. even though banking is fine. ~a
[2020-03-18 12:24:16] - who cares about one person? why write laws for one person? it makes no sense. ~a
[2020-03-18 12:23:47] - paul: i think i hear you, you want that to be the comparison, but it's a bad one. comparing just daniel not being able to vote with everybody not being able to bank doesn't make sense. we're talking about making voting easy for everybody, not voting easy for just-daniel. ~a
[2020-03-18 12:21:49] - a: Right, but that's the common... disagreement (I would say misconception) here. We ARE talking about just Daniel voting. That's the main crux of my argument. Whether or not Daniel votes has NOTHING to do with whether or not anybody else votes. But whether or not Daniel banks has a huge affect on his life. -Paul
[2020-03-18 12:21:10] - this is so crazy to watch. he bet big and lost. like usual, though, nothing bad will happen to him. ~a
[2020-03-18 12:13:39] - (if you're talking about *just* daniel voting, you have to change the banking scenario too. i don't care if only-paul can't bank. sorry, paul) ~a
[2020-03-18 12:13:02] - "Do you think your votes over your entire life will ever change anything in your life at all?" well we're not talking about daniel voting, we're talking about voting. everybody voting. so the scenario is not having any one person vote, but having anybody at all vote. so basically an oligarchy? or more likely, eventually a dictatorship? not great, but i feel like with good banking, we could still fix it. ~a
[2020-03-18 11:45:14] - a: Whichever comes first.
And yes, I didn't plan that at all but thought it was fitting when that was when the market order resolved at. -Paul[2020-03-18 11:44:50] - Daniel: That boggles my mind because banking seems like it directly affects a huge part of almost everybody's life, whereas... well, let me ask you: Do you think your votes over your entire life will ever change anything in your life at all? -Paul
[2020-03-18 11:42:04] - $4.20, fitting. ~a
[2020-03-18 11:41:25] - until your bankruptcy or theirs? ~a
[2020-03-18 11:41:03] - a: Haha, yes. My first purchase was at $4.20 so I'm right there with you. I've resigned myself to holding this until bankruptcy (only half joking). -Paul
[2020-03-18 11:14:08] - well, it might come down to semantics, but in my opinion, good banking means good everything: good/stable cash, good access to checking accounts, good apps on your phone, good access to bitcoin, etc. bad banking, semantically means its hard to move/use wealth. ~a
[2020-03-18 11:11:22] - I agree that its an entirely separate discussion. "without banking we couldn't lobby for better voting" - Why is that true? I think you can still trade / mail straight cash if you needed or like bitcoin(!) or something but voting definitely is what sets the rules for things. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 11:05:20] - daniel: i *reject* this scenario as unrealistic and utterly unhelpful to the argument. but just for fun, i'll argue against you! . . . with banking you can fix politics way easier that vice-versa: most of the time we vote for the person unhelpful to fixing any problem. look at our current executive, pushing hard in the fascism direction. he'd nationalize the banks in a second. but without banking we couldn't lobby for better voting
~a[2020-03-18 10:59:47] - Paul: I mean its definitely a bit of a silly question but I think vote and not be able to bank. Then I could vote for the politician who was going to fix banking
Life without banking would be very inconvient but I think doable. -Daniel[2020-03-18 10:51:45] - i see you did still own it at least in january. ouch, right? ~a
[2020-03-18 10:47:21] - i bought about $1k worth. it's now worth about $90. ~a
[2020-03-18 10:45:41] - daniel: derailing is fine. paul: do you still own kshb? ~a
[2020-03-18 10:45:22] - sorry I wasn't trying to derail the original conversation - I just got intruiged by pauls assertion. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 10:40:25] - paul: "You can't bank, no matter how convenient it is, without being able to set up an account" you only set up a bank account/register once. if you had to pick one (since we seem to like picking only one), which would you prefer being easy? setting up a bank account/registering? or depositing a check/voting? ~a
[2020-03-18 10:33:49] - paul: "which life would you rather live?" we're talking about making one easier, not getting rid of one. ~a
[2020-03-18 10:32:58] - Daniel: Sure, but banking has so much more of a direct impact on your life. I know people bizarrely disagree with me on whether a single vote counts or not, but which life would you rather live? One where you can vote but not take advantage of any banking services? Or one where you can't vote but have a bank account? -Paul
[2020-03-18 10:31:40] - a: We can separate them, but I think that's integral to the process. You can't bank, no matter how convenient it is, without being able to set up an account. The same is true for voting. -Paul
[2020-03-18 10:29:07] - Paul: I mean at a basic level voting is what controls banking. So picking one is picking higher up the food chain. On a different approach people basically fight and die over changing the system of governance and getting the ability to vote. I'm unfamiliar with that happening for banking. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 10:21:42] - paul: yep. we might want to separate setting up a bank account/registering with depositing a check/voting. because i think both scenarios are different. ~a
[2020-03-18 10:21:07] - Daniel: You think voting is way more important than banking? Really? Why do you say that? -Paul
[2020-03-18 10:20:44] - paul: ah, ok. well they're both a huge priority for me. ~a
[2020-03-18 10:20:43] - daniel: yeah, i stand by my statement. i'd prefer both be easy, but if i had to pick one being easy and one being hard, i'd prefer banking be easy. ~a
[2020-03-18 10:20:39] - a: So you are arguing that banking is way MORE convenient than voting? -Paul
[2020-03-18 10:19:38] - a: "we can have both" Yes, which is why I phrased it as "isn't a huge priority for me", because in theory you can work towards both but in actuality there have to be priorities and making voting easier is a low priority for me compared to most everything else. -Paul
[2020-03-18 10:17:04] - "I think being able to bank is WAY more important for everybody than voting." - This is an interesting statement. I'm not sure I agree though I definitely agree it would things more of a pain day to day. But if I had to pick one I might pick voting. -Daniel
[2020-03-18 10:13:21] - one of your comments spawns three (now four) replies from me? is that a record? ~a
[2020-03-18 10:12:27] - paul: i never argued that banking and voting were equally convenient. i deposit checks in the morning in my pajamas before i've fully woken up. check the mailbox, open a letter, put that check into my phone. can't do that shit when voting. it'd be nice to be able to vote in my pajamas, but i'm not holding my breath. ~a
[2020-03-18 10:06:53] - i'll concede that easy banking is way more important than easy voting. but i'm not sure why that was even a question. ~a
[2020-03-18 09:28:01] - you know, we can have both. stupid voting laws don't make your banking any easier, man. ~a
[2020-03-18 09:06:26] - a: Even if they were equally convenient (which I still dispute, but let's just assume it is), I think being able to bank is WAY more important for everybody than voting. Voting is basically worthless except making you feel good about participating in Democracy. Banking is pretty essential for everybody. -Paul
[2020-03-18 08:34:36] - bike shops in philadelphia are now considered essential businesses. ~a
[2020-03-18 08:22:50] - (ignore the file name, that image shows multiple situations). ~a
[2020-03-18 08:20:42] - paul: some can. ~a
[2020-03-18 07:07:42] - mig: I vaguely recall having to press the corners down on the large stickers that we put on the board when opening up new areas and also the stickers that go on the character sheets explaining new abilities. It wasn't a huge problem, but I did usually have to do it about once a game. The stickers for population were also a little problematic. -paul
[2020-03-18 07:05:48] - a: And you can vote by mail as well, right? Absentee ballot? -Paul
[2020-03-17 20:40:49] - For you guys that played through pandemic season 2. Did you find the stickers to be ... pretty bad? Michelle and I are playing through it and some of the stickers just won't stay put on the board or on the the reference sheets. The new action stickers and the recon stickers are the worst offenders so far. - mig
[2020-03-17 20:34:59] - a: yes, there are constitutional consequences if the general election is postponed or cancelled. Roberts I'm sure is looking forward to sorting that potential mess out. - mig
[2020-03-17 17:27:59] - a: https://www.taylorelections.com/m/Voter-Information/Signature-Update -- Xpovos
[2020-03-17 17:26:11] - a: ID requirements in Virginia seem reasonable (to me). I was hearing/reading about Florida's signature verification methodology. That sounds awful. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-17 16:44:30] - paul: just you wait until you have to get a real-id. if you thought banking was hard, you'll hate voting. ~a
[2020-03-17 16:43:37] - a: I'm lucky enough to have the money and resources to have a free checking account and a smartphone with an app to do mobile banking and I STILL find banking to be a hassle. -paul
[2020-03-17 16:23:03] - paul: opening a bank account is a bad analogy: opening a bank account is symmetrical with registering to vote which is not the same as voting. voting is symmetrical with depositing a check, which is something you can do by mail. ~a
[2020-03-17 16:22:37] - paul: what you describe is non-trivial and difficult in many situations. showing up someplace on a day that i have work, with an expensive ID that i can't easily get, when i'm not allowed or it's difficult to leave the house, and they won't allow me to mail in a ballot? ~a
[2020-03-17 16:19:18] - a: Banks are only open limited hours, usually during the weekdays when people work. Opening an account often requires a bunch of documentation or minimum balances to avoid fees or other things. -paul
[2020-03-17 16:17:33] - a: What data could I possibly have to back that up? I say voting is easy because in most places, all you have to do is show up someplace relatively close by with a valid ID almost anytime during a specific day. You can also often vote absentee. I can't think of many other things that are easier, including banking. -Paul
[2020-03-17 15:58:55] - paul: your example of banking and starting a business is also ridiculous. you can do both of these by mail/online! i started a business by mail: march 18, 2010. a nice coincidence there. ~a
[2020-03-17 15:56:48] - also i think voting is relatively difficult for people who are in bad-weather situations, or people who are living through live virus outbreaks. ~a
[2020-03-17 15:55:55] - paul: "voting is relatively easy" do you have any data to back that up? i think voting is relatively difficult for the working poor and the disabled and seniors. ~a
[2020-03-17 15:54:55] - a:Technically, I said it wasn't a priority, but sure, I'll take the more extreme argument of saying it is neutral. I understand some people have legitimate obstacles when it comes to voting, but all things considered, voting is relatively easy. I would much rather put effort towards things like making banking easier or making is easier to start a business or other things. -Paul
[2020-03-17 15:53:37] - here is an interesting thought. if the election gets postponed (for more than a few months) due to corona/covid19, how do you think it'll go down? can the electoral college convene without an election? i've heard that pelosi would take over in january since trump and pence's terms will have expired. do you agree? i've read the twelfth amendment and it's pretty complicated. ~a
[2020-03-17 15:44:02] - paul: just because its easy for you to vote doesn't mean it's easy for everyone to vote. ~a
[2020-03-17 15:43:52] - paul: ok, i guess your point is that making voting easier is neutral? easier voting is neither good nor bad? for the millions of voters that have a hard time making it to the polls because of their jobs or weather/hurricanes/tornadoes (or virus outbreaks and the potential for a shelter-in-place order), they might think that you should worry about making voting easier. ~a
[2020-03-17 15:42:52] - a: I'd be happy with 0.02% (2 basis points), I think. Depending on definitions of fraud. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-17 15:41:07] - xpovos: yeah, i'd push for something much lower. 2 basis-points, maybe? its achievable i think. imo, you want "confidence in the election". and if there's potentially hundreds of thousands of illegal votes, that'll rock "confidence". ~a
[2020-03-17 15:35:59] - a: *Shrug* I don't know enough about the pros and cons. Making voting easier isn't a huge priority for me (not that I am necessarily against it), but I also acknowledge that voting fraud also doesn't seem to be a huge problem. -Paul
[2020-03-17 15:15:26] - a: Ballpark? I'll say 0.2% I'd like lower but I think with a number that low you're probably not going to affect elections and are within the margin of error for most existing fraud, intentional and otherwise. But that's a "top-of-my-head" number, not one well-researched. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-17 15:12:26] - paul: i guess since i'll probably end up losing this argument, i'll make a different one that you still might like: how much voter fraud is acceptable? ~a
[2020-03-17 14:55:29] - paul: if it didn't, would you be for it? ~a
[2020-03-17 14:54:57] - a: Wouldn't voting by mail make voting fraud a lot easier? -Paul
[2020-03-17 14:43:19] - ooooooh, here's the only actual silver lining i've seen so far. jfc if we had a national right to vote by mail that would be so sweet. too bad it'll never pass: republicans have too much to lose by having vote by mail. ~a
[2020-03-17 12:39:25] - yeah, i hear you. you're probably right. but i feel like people who design stock markets are more logical and . . . callous? they wouldn't care about what people "mind". i feel like an economist/statistician/scientist should look at this problem (if it even exists) from every side. ~a
[2020-03-17 12:34:16] - a: Your logic is sound, but I honestly think my theory is the reason it only goes one way. -Paul
[2020-03-17 12:22:51] - the point of the "panic sell" scenario is that the new price isn't in following with the market/stock/company's earnings and its future. it can create a spiral of issues. but all that can be said about a market with the prices too far in the other direction too. ~a
[2020-03-17 12:21:47] - yes. i know. but shouldn't they? ~a
[2020-03-17 12:16:12] - a: Because people (usually) don't mind if the stock market goes up that fast.
-Paul[2020-03-17 12:10:29] - if the breakers are a bad idea, fine (i possibly agree). but *if* they're a good idea, i feel like they should go in both directions? ~a
[2020-03-17 12:10:12] - regarding "breakers" in the stock market. whether its a good idea or not, i don't know, but i have a different thought: why don't the breakers go in both directions? can a sudden increase in the stock market have the same/similar disruptions in the world as a sudden drop? irrational exuberance vs panic selling . . . they both seem similarly harmful? ~a
[2020-03-17 10:52:00] - a: I haven't used guice before. That might make it more interesting at least to put in something new instead of spring. -Daniel
[2020-03-17 10:07:45] - daniel: also, you could always use a factory? i think that would at least put all your instantiation in one place, which would make it easy to replace with something else later. ~a
[2020-03-17 09:54:33] - daniel: have you ever used google injection (guice)? it's a lot like spring injection, but without all the other web stuff. it's pretty nice, i like it a lot, and it's fairly easy to use. i've honestly not used spring a lot, but i've used google injection a bunch. lately i've been working on a project that uses none of the above: things get pretty ugly when you want to have unit tests, etc. i'm going to add google injection soon. ~a
[2020-03-17 01:34:02] - I think the thing that I'm perhaps most sad about is not using spring for injection so I just have new this and new that all over the place. Cause in the very begining its all w/e I don't need spring I'm just throwing some stuff together. Now I'm like ug I don't want to deal with switching everything over. Some day I'll bite the bullet. -Daniel
[2020-03-17 01:32:43] - a: Its not actually important but figured out my SLOC for gibsonreports: 269 unique files - Java: 19613 SQL: 5592 XML: 1481 JSP: 2475. So not tiny but not like big big. Also its kind of a sad reflection sometimes of things where since it was all done after hours mostly I just want to get it done so many things are just tossed in that don't get fixed / improved / refactored. -Daniel
[2020-03-16 11:50:44] - a: geez that sucks, i would think the positive effects of the prayer would counteract the negative effects of sharing the same spray bottle - aaron
[2020-03-16 10:04:26] - ugh. it's weird how the numbers work. 46 people could potentially infect thousands indirectly. this one belief (salt water) could be the cause of a lot of suffering and it was probably created/promoted by one person. ~a
[2020-03-13 16:00:24] - a: You absolutely did warn about grandstanding.
-- Xpovos[2020-03-13 15:56:59] - maybe the hard part is she didn't have a calculator there?
she had a pre-defined summation. having different answers would have risked her doing math on the fly. can't have that ~a[2020-03-13 15:55:39] - "she's ignoring the witness' testimony and stating her own facts. I was correct. Fantastic" not exactly? she wasn't ignoring it. she responded to him as he talked. she didn't talk over him and she replied to everything he said. (in my defense, i warned you about the grandstanding). if the witness had answered correctly, she would have written down his response. ~a
[2020-03-13 15:53:38] - a: So she's ignoring the witness' testimony and stating her own facts. I was correct. Fantastic. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-13 15:46:14] - xpovos: no i think you misunderstood. she's having him guess (just "for fun") and she's writing down the correct number. in most cases his guesses were ultimately very close (and close enough). but she's writing down the correct numbers. ~a
[2020-03-13 15:31:28] - a: I don't have the volume up super high, but is she just ignoring every number he says and writing her own numbers? I swear that on at least three occasions he's said a number and she's written a completely different number. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-13 15:12:21] - kinda an interesting video: https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1238147835859779584 . . . katie porter. she has a nice last name at least. video is six minutes long, and kinda hard to watch, but very interesting imo. my guess is if you're a libertarian or dislike grandstanding, you'll be very uncomfortable. ~a
[2020-03-13 15:10:11] - *gouge. ~a
[2020-03-13 15:09:33] - well you'd technically have the option to buy one in dc or maryland. i'm not allowed to gauge you on prices in virginia.
~a[2020-03-13 15:06:46] - a: I thought we established that they do nothing. But if I wanted one, I am glad I have the option to buy one instead of just being SOL. -Paul
[2020-03-13 14:43:49] - paul: i can't sell them on ebay. or in virginia, so we'll need to make the exchange across the key bridge. or on the key bridge?! even better. ~a
[2020-03-13 14:43:04] - paul: i just found a bunch of n95 masks in my closet. do you want to buy them for $100 each? ~a
[2020-03-13 13:28:08] - kinda like the difference between sprint and marathon on new tetris? in marathon, you can kinda relax in the beginning. ~a
[2020-03-13 13:27:36] - ah. ok, i guess i enjoy watching that play-out. i can see why you think its boring, but i kinda like it. the pressure is more volatile than a normal game: minutes of easy buildup, then a flurry of decisions. ~a
[2020-03-13 13:25:28] - a: That's why I at least TRY to get an early-ish (in reality, more mid-game) attack in... Try to shake things up a bit. Even though I know it likely will just get me killed. -Paul
[2020-03-13 13:24:56] - a: Oh, yeah, I know that's clearly the best strategy. It's also kinda the most boring IMHO. It lends itself to everybody just sitting back and building up to 200 supply of their preferred Uber unit (Thors/Battleships/Carriers/Void Rays/Brood Lords/Ultralisks) and then an uneasy standoff until one person randomly wins because they happen to not get attacked. -Paul
[2020-03-13 13:16:57] - paul: i think the last time i played in that mode was with logan and whatnot back in the brood-wars days. i've definitely seen it in the UI for sc2 though, so i know its still a thing. ~a
[2020-03-13 13:15:00] - paul: next time we have a bunch of people (4 or 5?), i want to figure out how we turn off lock-alliances. i know its not an easy mode to turn on (maybe you *have* to start on a non-ffa mode like 2v2?), but i really think it could be a fun mode. i def makes the end-game where there is one clear winner more fun imo, because now everybody can much more easily gang up on them. ~a
[2020-03-13 13:12:22] - paul: win in the meta-game: let everybody else kill eachother off. i even started creating shield batteries in that last game. i never make shield batteries in a normal game, but i was trying to build up stuff that would help me past 200-supply. ~a
[2020-03-13 13:11:25] - paul: nm, i can't help myself: my strategy on FFA is to be an ultra-pacifist. never attack. if someone attacks you, fight them off, but don't attack back . . . don't ever retaliate. if someone is on the run, let them run. chances are high that the retreating force will get killed off by someone else. oh, also, even if you're at 200 supply, i still wouldn't attack. just upgrade the shit out of everything once you get to 200. ~a
[2020-03-13 13:02:55] - yeah ffa has its own problems. for fairness . . . on FFA i always use the same strategy. i kinda don't want to tell it to you because its been working so well for me
~a[2020-03-13 13:01:55] - a: Regardless, it seems like there should be SOME counter other than "don't let it happen". I don't know if any other race has something similar. -Paul
[2020-03-13 13:01:27] - a: Fair, but in FFA it seems like a "go after the Protoss first to eliminate him or else everybody else eventually loses" situation. That could be more a fault of FFA though. -Paul
[2020-03-13 12:55:30] - also, regarding terran, whenever i see a whole bunch of marines and med-ships, it usually doesn't matter how many voids i have. ~a
[2020-03-13 12:54:16] - paul: that's fair, but as someone who often make void rays, it's not an AlwaysWin strategy. the fact you like to quote often: you can stop void rays by not letting me create void rays. creating a huge fleet of voids takes for-fucking-ever and eats up a shitton of resources. if you see a whole bunch of voids, its because you probably wasted your minerals-gas-and-time on something dumb
~a[2020-03-13 12:40:55] - a: Yeah, what Daniel said. They're passable on creep. Positioning is still a huge issue where you have to try to catch the void rays where most or all of your queens / hydras can hit them (I guess this is where fungal bloom can help). Just seems a little tough that zerg needs to do all this preparation and positioning to even have a chance to counter void rays. -Paul
[2020-03-13 12:33:49] - super slow off creep. only normal slow on creep. -Daniel
[2020-03-13 12:18:17] - they're super slow, right? is there an upgrade to their speed? ~a
[2020-03-13 12:03:53] - a: I suspect a large clump of them could be pretty effective.... although I am also not convinced they could do that well against Void Rays. -paul
[2020-03-13 12:03:19] - a: Queens are often used because they have decent anti-air, don't take gas to make (unlike a lot of zerg anti-air, so they work well complementing those), and can use transfusion to heal each other. -Paul
[2020-03-13 11:40:59] - paul: that is *weird*. usually when i see a few queens i don't care. maybe it's because they don't move around too quickly? ~a
[2020-03-13 10:26:38] - Daniel: Also, I've heard rumors that infestors (fungal bloom) with hydras and queens (because they only take minerals) used to work okay against void rays (back in like 2015). Obviously hard to mass queens in a hurry, but something worth trying next time maybe. -Paul
[2020-03-13 07:39:08] - Has anybody here played Risk legacy? -Paul
[2020-03-13 07:38:44] - Daniel: Aren't you glad you did? -Paul
[2020-03-13 00:29:49] - I played! -Daniel
[2020-03-12 16:31:55] - Daniel: Come on... what are you going to do? Go outside and risk getting bitten by the Covid zombies? -Paul
[2020-03-12 16:31:31] - Paul: Solid maybe for SC2. -Daniel
[2020-03-12 16:29:34] -
~a[2020-03-12 16:29:28] - a: Also, I am secretly hoping Daniel and/or Xpovos and/or Mig and/or Dewey sees this and decides to join us. 2v2 with friends is always more fun than 2 v randos. -Paul
[2020-03-12 16:29:22] - i can always come back and get my laptop. also, i could probably play on my home desktop, i'm just lazy. ~a
[2020-03-12 16:28:45] - a: Sorry! I didn't see on this page and I didn't want you to forget your laptop. -Paul
[2020-03-12 16:28:34] - i mean before just now.
~a[2020-03-12 16:28:20] - yes. three times i think. maybe only twice. ~a
[2020-03-12 16:28:04] - a: Did I already ask and you already answer?
-Paul[2020-03-12 16:26:07] - yes already. ~a
[2020-03-12 16:25:16] - a: We on for SC2 tonight? -Paul
[2020-03-12 15:08:52] - is it coronavirus or is it something else? ~a
[2020-03-12 13:08:27] - a: My reading was it was ONLY a Sec. 230 provision, so it's a way of handling them in limited situations. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-12 12:25:20] - 230 is supposed to protect "providers" (facebook, but also verizon, etc). not sure about the new law: does the new law not affect 230? i kinda got on 230 because of what you said. ~a
[2020-03-12 12:22:58] - a: This is where I might be misunderstanding. My reading was that it was limiting it to the "platforms." That's awful. I'm not a fan. But if I'm using Facebook, I kind of have to assume that there's no encryption anyway, because even if there is, it's not mine. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-12 12:01:33] - a: Well, in 6-12 months I should have other funds freed up that I could also use.
-Paul[2020-03-12 12:00:57] - if not, then no. ~a
[2020-03-12 12:00:37] - paul: nobody will know. if the stocks keep dropping for the next 6-12 months, then yes. ~a
[2020-03-12 11:59:51] - a: I'm thinking of doing some early withdrawal of CDs (and paying the penalty of 90 day interest) to use that money to buy stocks. Am I crazy? -Paul
[2020-03-12 11:56:00] - paul: yes, that's fair. gold and silver are also down. maybe people are selling commodities to buy stocks? seems unlikely, i don't get it. ~a
[2020-03-12 11:24:54] - xpovos: "it's not intrinsically about encryption" aren't they *making* it about encryption? won't it be about encryption all-of-a-sudden? i mean, i get it, we'll still be able to perform encryption, we just won't be able to use the internet to transmit encrypted messages? how is that ok? ~a
[2020-03-12 10:21:07] - Also, everybody says we should stay inside and avoid social interaction.... so help save lives and join Adrian and I online tonight at 9pm to play SC2! -Paul
[2020-03-12 10:20:21] - a: I'm just confused as to why it hasn't held up during this time. Seems like this would be an ideal time for bitcoin to shine. -Paul
[2020-03-12 10:19:55] - a: I supect unintended consequences. Sec. 230 is a mess, but it's not intrinsically about encryption. Still, this will get messy. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-12 10:19:41] - a: Why? It makes zero sense for you to feel bad or to send me more. I bought when I did. -Paul
[2020-03-12 09:33:40] - wow, yeah, sorry man. i can send you more. . . . i feel bad about that. ~a
[2020-03-12 09:33:06] - a: Also, I should've waited to buy bitcoin. Seems a little odd to see it falling now. -Paul
[2020-03-12 09:32:23] - Jeez, the world seems to be coming to a screeching halt. NBA suspending the season? NCAA tournament in front of no fans? Tom Hanks with Coronavirus!? -Paul
[2020-03-12 09:29:49] - hopefully this doesn't pass while we're all paying attention to covid. dianne feinstein! why! ~a
[2020-03-11 14:50:35] - this is a really weird wikipedia article: . . . pseudonyms of Donald Trump. ~a
[2020-03-11 14:47:32] - Also surprising? My portfolio as a whole is largely outperforming the market during this pullback... or at least staying pretty even. It helps that I have companies like Teledoc. -Paul
[2020-03-11 13:43:35] - Daniel: I was surprisingly hanging tough and staying within reach until this week when my guys started collapsing too. It's not all lost, though. Joe was looking unbeatable with his Beyond Meat pick which was up like 60% one month in... -Paul
[2020-03-11 13:42:49] - Daniel: Yeah, it's incredible how he managed to pick TDOC and TSLA: like the two stocks that are doing well in 2020. -paul
[2020-03-11 13:06:38] - yeah i've resigned myself to losing that one. ~a
[2020-03-11 12:36:44] - Just looked at the stock market challenge. Dewey killing it. Rest of us not so much. -Daniel
[2020-03-11 11:45:50] - https://staythefuckhome.com/ ~a
[2020-03-10 16:31:30] - a: Owner is subject to a $100 fine, if my reading is correct. That's pretty tame, all things considered. But if they want to go the voter intimidation route, it could get a lot uglier. I'll be honest, I don't think that was the intent at all. It was just weird. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-10 16:04:32] - a: The owner was definitely in violation of the letter of the law. Virginia's dog restraint laws are pretty strict. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-10 14:50:01] - xpovos: i liked the dog story. the police should probably ticket the owner if they find out who he is. ~a
[2020-03-10 14:21:52] - paul: you do purchase hundreds (or maybe thousands) of gallons of gas per year from the oil and gas industry.
now that gas prices have fallen and will fall further, i'm guessing that will only get worse. ~a[2020-03-10 10:36:14] - My ac got replaced a few years ago already when it died but I suspect our doors to the back yard are super leaky but its hard for me to say for sure if thats our top offender or something else. -Daniel
[2020-03-10 10:28:59] - Daniel: https://rampantdiscourse.com/inadvertent-quest-lower-utility-bills/ I did one of those! It was pretty helpful, although since we replaced our HVAC system around the same time, it was pretty hard to isolate what exactly was the most helpful thing we did. -Paul
[2020-03-10 10:25:08] - I'm trying to set up an energy audit thing that my utility company does to see what home renovations would be the best to pursue. Woo! -Daniel
[2020-03-10 10:10:20] - I'm not working with the oil industry at all and in fact am in the process of getting solar panels to get further off of those dirty fossil fuels that are killing our planet.
-Paul[2020-03-10 10:08:48] - i've been tangentially working with the oil and gas industry: we're using chemical detectors at work that are primarily sold to oil and gas hazmat units. the unit i have right now can detect carbon monoxide, and hidrogen sulfide, and a bunch of other gasses that are commonly found around oil and gas machinery. i'm writing software to interface with the detectors. ~a
[2020-03-10 10:03:56] - well having it not be your only source of income *and* having low expenses is pretty nice.
your cousin has a second job too, right? ~a[2020-03-10 10:03:03] - I think OXY is a customer of my side hustle. I haven't talked to my cousin in the last few days. I wonder if we are going to be a luxury that gets cut from a lot of these companies. Hmm. -Daniel
[2020-03-09 22:17:30] - a: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/938153.aspx There's a chart here that shows how closely the 30 year fixed rate mortgage has "tracked" the 10 year treasury lately. -Paul
[2020-03-09 22:16:52] - a: Yeah, I don't know. I know there was a time when Apple had a ton of debt because they were borrowing (at super low rates) to pay a dividend because their cash was all overseas. I thought that got fixed after the tax changes. -Paul
[2020-03-09 17:06:38] - aapl does have a huge cash pile. i wonder what "debt to equity" means then. maybe that they have huge debt and huge cash? that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. ~a
[2020-03-09 17:06:05] - hmm, ok maybe not. ~a
[2020-03-09 17:05:30] - you're living in the past, man. ~a
[2020-03-09 17:03:46] - a: Those numbers don't sound right. Aren't Apple and Microsoft notorious for their cash hoards? -Paul
[2020-03-09 17:02:41] - a: Yeah, and I get why, but my 4.25% rate hits the sweet spot of considerably more than I can get with CDs and a lot more conservative than putting it into the market. We've gone around in circles about that (and bonds) before, though. -Paul
[2020-03-09 17:02:32] - msft is in the middle with 70%. ~a
[2020-03-09 17:01:51] - paul: god damn. aapl debt-to-equity: 120%. goog debt-to-equity: like 0%. wtf, that's a stark difference. ~a
[2020-03-09 17:01:43] - paul: i'm already there: i don't plan on ever paying down my mortgage early. i think even at a much higher rate, i'd still rarely consider it. ~a
[2020-03-09 17:00:31] - a: Not just tracks, but "loosely tracks", so yeah, it's pretty vague. Still, I would absolutely love a sub 1% mortgage rate. I could pretty much not have to worry about paying down my mortgage early ever again.
-Paul[2020-03-09 16:59:29] - paul: "tracks" is the key word here. tracks means . . . they typically go the same direction? actually, i'm not sure if "tracks" has a mathamatical definition. regardless, i've heard the same thing. the 10 year treasury bond and the 30-year fixed mortgage are related to each-other, because mortgage lenders decide what rates to use roughly based on this and what other lenders are using. ~a
[2020-03-09 16:56:55] - paul: oxy debt-to-equity: 110%. bp debt-to-equity: 80%. xom debt-to-equity: 30%. yeah that fits. ~a
[2020-03-09 16:55:53] - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/09/mortgage-rates-could-be-lower-but-lenders-struggling-to-keep-up-with-demand.html "The average rate on the 30-year fixed loosely tracks the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond" If only... isn't the yield on the 10 year treasury like under 1% right now? -Paul
[2020-03-09 16:54:36] - hmmm, debt, yeah. i hadn't considered that. if you have huge amounts debt, i guess weathering a short-term storm could be a problem. ~a
[2020-03-09 16:53:34] - a: And maybe they've got debt and might be in danger of not lasting longer term? No idea. -Paul
[2020-03-09 16:53:02] - a: I don't know the industry super well, but I've heard that there is a certain oil price level where companies can make money, and below that level they can't, so I guess we went below that level? -Paul
[2020-03-09 16:51:23] - paul: no, i don't really follow anyone on twitter. i just go directly to his feed on occasion. ~a
[2020-03-09 16:51:03] - yeah, weird. you'd think even if their ability to make money in the short term was hit super hard, that they'd still be positioned ok to make money in the future . . . maybe not? ~a
[2020-03-09 16:50:09] - a: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=OXY Wow, oil stocks got hit HARD today. -Paul
[2020-03-09 15:05:17] - a: "yeah i literally only follow one feed on twitter (his)" Not me?
-Paul[2020-03-09 14:33:57] - right, most of his stupid tweets don't bother me. mostly because they don't change my very low opinion of him. ~a
[2020-03-09 14:32:01] - yeah i literally only follow one feed on twitter (his) . . . and even that one i follow infrequently. ~a
[2020-03-09 14:30:30] - a: I don't follow Twitter, particularly not Trump's because of that. Normally I find out about his tweeting because of news articles, like this. And the vast majority of those, I don't care about. He's often acting in a stupid way in his tweets. But they don't bother me. This one did. I find that interesting. It puts me into the shoes of someone who got upset about the earlier stupidity. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 14:26:34] - "If you were Trump, you wouldn't have retweeted it, right?" of course not. but his strategy is not one i would take: tweet out *everything* that comes to mind. even/especially if it'll piss off a ton of people. even if it'll piss off some of your own supporters. signal to noise is very low on his feed. ~a
[2020-03-09 14:26:28] - yah. my guess is he didn't think it was pandemic related. it was a tsunami of bad press. or a tsunami of angry people. he doesn't care about them. he probably also doesn't care about corona, but i doubt he thought it was referencing corona? ~a
[2020-03-09 14:25:06] - The actual Emperor Nero story isn't all that important. You might as well make a Louis XV reference (Apres nous, le deluge!). Almost no one is going to get that. But if there's a picture of Trump with a tsunami coming in, no one is going to think it's a good thing. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 14:23:12] - a: That is, I think the bigger problem is that 1) Trump didn't know and 2) he retweeted anyway. Both of those are really bad. You not knowing is fine, and even then, you knew enough to realize it was bad. If you were Trump, you wouldn't have retweeted it, right? -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 14:22:18] - a: I'd say you got enough to understand it. And the fact that Trump didn't is the bigger issue. He saw it and said, "yeah, that's something I should re-tweet," despite commenting that he wasn't sure what it meant. It's a remarkably stupid move. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 14:15:32] - xpovos: ok, before googling anything, i would have said that he's playing the fiddle. meaning he doesn't care about the incoming pandemic. it's going to come and he won't care. is that accurate enough of an interpretation to "get it"? after googling around, it seems like this is a more specific historical reference to italy. i doubt anybody knows about this though. ~a
[2020-03-09 14:13:52] - a: Really? I mean I get that I'm not "in-touch" with the average American, but this seems really obvious to me. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 14:08:48] - meh i think most people won't get it. i didn't get it until i googled around. ~a
[2020-03-09 14:05:03] - I stand by everything I said, in a negative sense, about Biden. But fucking hell, Trump. Why? https://theweek.com/speedreads/900761/trump-retweets-white-house-photo-fiddling-says-doesnt-know-what-means -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 13:36:30] - a: I'd also love feedback on the Joe Biden article, but that's a different kind of feedback. Probably a lot less fun. -- Xpovos
[2020-03-09 13:33:16] - that one works thanks. ~a
[2020-03-09 13:32:45] - a: https://anchor.fm/rampant-discourse/episodes/045---Super-Tuesday-2020-ebc4n4 ? -Paul
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