Thanks for your viewpoint and I think I’ll do that and keep working towards my first dev co-op etc. Nice to have the flexibility to transition down the line.

Thanks for your input. Web dev seems great and I’ve considered trying to deploy some kind of useful REST API, like for computing directions from one place to another on campus, probably with FastAPI in Python. Doing something with Docker is also on my todo-list…

I just started Forces of Production the other day. It’s interesting.

The other day I started reading a Chinese scifi novel 猫城记 Cat City/Cat Country. I thought about trying to translate it even though it’s above my reading level by just looking up all the words as I go. But I’m below that threshold of 95% understanding or whatever and have to look up many phrases on each page.

Behind the Urals is great. John Scott was a fellow traveller or party member in New York as I recall. Immigrated to the USSR to work in Magnitogorsk.

this board is a godsend.

I’m starting to think I should make this my whole undergrad research project. I could develop a tiny part of it for this DB course. Thanks for your response, lots of helpful stuff here and will come back to it and others’ comments…

Haven’t done any linear algebra or dug into matrices yet… do you think light study of the basics on KhanAcademy would be enough? I’ve done calc 1 and 2 and discrete math.

I read it years ago, and I should definitely dig in again and review. Big part of why I want to do everything in labour time as much as possible. However I think he suggests the use of a neural network at one point which is a little over my head for now. I am thinking simpler like the pen and paper material balance planning the Gosplan cdes used to do…

interesting thoughts

I’m asking because I wondered if dependence on colonial wealth could inform an argument that capitalism is historically contingent, that it was possible for there not to be capitalism

There is no doubt that the unpaid internship is exploitative, moreso than the already discouraging/tiring path to a first job programming. But I also think you were right to accept it as a step towards launching a career. It’s something you will never have to do a second time… onward and upward

Great magazine, loved the articles about modern sailing ships and sewage handling by aquaculture.

I believe as individuals and society we are over reliant on unnecessarily advanced technology and should seek alternatives to distance ourselves from this.

I feel about the same way, to the point I don’t even really want print media to die. We’re still looking at something right in front of us, but at least it isn’t a screen. I’ve been framing it mentally as part of an intentional relationship I want to have with technology, and I think generally others should consider this too. Adopt technology selectively and critically, don’t just let them foist new consumer durables on you, LOL.

40 minutes is completely workable!

Think it’d be pretty easy to tell a kid you can’t, or just not inform them that there is an opt-out process in the first place, but I could get it if some people object to the lying by omission

Makes sense, a limit as strict as 8 minutes for the youngest kids seriously inhibits basic communication, so really this either has to iterated on or a great deal of parents will just opt out so it has no effect.

Wow, I’d think somebody in a shit gig like that would be induced to develop some solidarity

To quote @Giyuu: I do not not live in China/am not Chinese/do not know [much of] the language/etc. But from the outside, it seems that due to reform & opening up, Chinese go through much of the same shenanigans we do, whether it will be eventually solved through planned economy or not. They have bosses, landlords, and cops; they work too much and compete for stressful jobs and rigorous education, and there is sure to be some amount of corruption even with the victories of the Tigers & Flies campaign… a friend from Tieling, Liaoning province personally complained of his folks having to pay bribes but did not get into why.

I think a modern socialist planned economy fit for our situation would come out with a very pemanent, modular, and repairable cell phone. It would resemble an Apple product in no way, making use of open source hardware and software and with an ideological commitment against planned obsolescence.

I’m considering starting a lemmygrad whitelist server with a couple mods. Maybe you guys would be interested!