Seems like a compendium of devices and processes that violate the laws of thermodynamics. "Converting water to fuel" isn't hard, doing it without a source of energy seems not only hard but, um, "imaginative".
Readit Newscranky908canuck commented on The Secret Law That's Buried 6,471 World-Changing Inventions wisewolfmedia.substack.co... · Posted by u/douchecoded
I'm the earliest of the Gen whatevers. Once were were introduced to texting and email, we began avoiding the phone, wherever we could.
I'm still unlikely to demand someone's immediate attention by triggering klaxons and fanfare on their device - not if quieter, more considerate comms will do the job.
Fair enough.
I have dealings with Gen(xyzqbvwhatever) that don't respond to the 'more considerate forms' in a timely fashion. So after a grace period, I jangle the bell.
I get the other side of this. I get a ping for a message while driving, I can't do anything about it (distracted driving etc). So I either pull over (or turn off the highway altogether), or resolve to deal with it at my destination.
Nine times out of ten, if I pull off, it's an urgent notification that 1) my screen time is up by 17 minutes, 2) Second Cousin in Arkansas reposted a message about another missing cat, or 3) your soliac serucity number has been supsedned, CLICK HERE NOW TO AVOID ARREST AND JAIL.
However, when I get to the destination, I forgot that I got a ping.
Sometimes I think that the best option is to toss the cellphone, so that nobody has illusions about how (not) to contact me.
cranky908canuck commented on Primesweeper Number Puzzle Game vole.wtf/primesweeper/... · Posted by u/arantius
I do not see a link on the page for the creator of this. If they are about I have some thoughts about this.
(over and above "why have you allowed me to waste so much time on this" --- wry grin)
cranky908canuck commented on EU lawmakers vote to bar carry-on luggage fees on planes france24.com/en/live-news... · Posted by u/gnabgib
Seems backward: carry-on capacity is a scarce resource. Allow charges for that. There's value in that you 'just walk out of the airport', vs wait (and, maybe wait and wait, and wait, at the carousel).
But ban checked baggage fees, that's what's driving the carry-on mania.
Or, mandate fee-free one but not both...?
cranky908canuck commented on NYT: Discussion of Sick Day Usage nytimes.com/2025/06/21/ma... · Posted by u/cranky908canuck
I suppose I didn't start the debate properly, in the direction I was attempting.
I was looking for discussion not of "ok, don't call in sick three days a week during notice", but how to deal with the second level effects that often work out to "take sick days when you get them, and if you actually get sick for two weeks, deal with that if and when". I'm trying to form an opinion on this, leaning toward:
- sick days are special, and don't impact your vacation day allowance (you can have 5 weeks of sick time and still accumulate vacation (PTO [unified vacation/sick/whatever] does not allow this) time up to (say) four weeks to take at once.
- however, sick days don't just evaporate if you leave / get laid off / go over the limit, so there's no incentive to be sick of nine-to-five on Friday.
cranky908canuck commented on NYT: Discussion of Sick Day Usage nytimes.com/2025/06/21/ma... · Posted by u/cranky908canuck
So the response from the host of the column is "don't do that, that's abusing the benefit".
I get that.
I do think there are a lot of other issues though... in some environments, for some people, sick days are another form of PTO. So "'Joe is sick today' ... 'ok, yeah he got allocated a day, we expected that'".
On the other hand, if you don't take them, and retire/get laid off/ etc ... "thank you for your service".
Some organizations do treat unused sick time as a retirement allowance (eg., 0.60 credit). That's an incentive to bank them but maybe not if you run the numbers...?
This seems like a 'hard problem'... I'm interested in stirring up a discussion!
cranky908canuck commented on NYT: Discussion of Sick Day Usage nytimes.com/2025/06/21/ma... · Posted by u/cranky908canuck
discussion of "should I spend my sick days when I'm quitting".
>> Did you screw up the font size on some text you just published? Ok, you can fix that in about 5 seconds, and it affects pretty much nothing. Doesn't cost 100x.
Actually, i find these to be worse, because i've been in scrum meetings where 6 people spend 2 minutes talking about this bug, then another 2 minutes talking about the QA of it the next day. Tiny issues are very expensive to fix if you have formulaic team members who arent taking the reigns.
I will willingly risk karma hazard by suggesting this isn't about "bugs leaking into later phases" but about "corporate culture allowing endless nitpicking".
(Which I reckon is what my parent comment is saying too!.)
So ok, not totally willing: 'end-sarky'.
Do you have any size or transportation constraints?
Yes, I think... I'd like to be in a place of "I can pick it up" .. ok, so "I can manage to lift it"!, so no more than about 25kg/60lb. This keeps the output to about 2kW, which I think is ok (I have no experience dealing with generators anyway, so the thought process is "that's 2kW more than I've ever had in the past"). It's for a split glamping and minimal emergency use, so I (think I) can get away with "enough to refrigerate the essentials".