Wow. Fascinating.
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nelox commented on Our collective obsession with boredom: Interview with a boredom lab researcher nautil.us/why-the-do-noth... · Posted by u/akakievich
What’s the plan as the solar maximum returns?
> Indian students
Is this cultural? I ran a small business some years ago (later failed) and was paying for contract work to various people. At the I perceived the pattern that Indian contractors would never ever ask for clarifications, would never say they didn't know something, would never say they didn't understand something, etc. Instead they just ran with whatever they happened to have in their mind, until I called them out. And if they did something poorly and I didn't call them out they'd never do back as far as I can tell and wonder "did I get it right? Could I have done better?". I don't get this attitude - at my day job I sometimes "run with it" but I periodically check with my manager to make sure "hey this is what you wanted right?". There's little downside to this.
Your comment reminded me of my experience, in the sense that they're both a sort of "fake it till you make it".
This sounds like a real cross-cultural mismatch, but it’s doing too much work with nationality alone. In a lot of Indian (and broader South Asian) work contexts, questioning instructions can be read as challenging authority or admitting incompetence, so people default to executing without asking. That’s often reinforced by education systems and contractor dynamics where producing something quickly feels safer than pausing to clarify.
Add in time zones, language friction, and fear of losing work, and "just run with it" becomes a rational strategy. Meanwhile, many Western workplaces treat clarification and check-ins as professionalism, so the behavior reads as strange or careless.
The key point is that this usually isn’t lack of curiosity or reflection, but risk management under different norms. The pattern often disappears once expectations are explicit: ask questions, check back, iteration is expected.
nelox commented on The Brazen Illegality of Trump's Venezuela Operation newyorker.com/news/q-and-... · Posted by u/rbanffy
Yes, this is apparently the moment international law finally collapsed. After decades of regime change, covert action, targeted killings, proxy wars, and executive unilateralism carried out by every administration of both parties. What makes this case uniquely intolerable is not the conduct itself, but the failure to dress it up in the usual layers of euphemism and multilateral paperwork. The real violation, it seems, is skipping the rituals.
nelox commented on Microsoft Office renamed to “Microsoft 365 Copilot app” office.com... · Posted by u/LeoPanthera
Right, because this time humans will heroically reject cheaper, faster, better substitutes out of pure reverence for "the human condition." Any day now. We’ve famously done that with factory goods, photography, recorded music, CGI, calculators, spellcheck, and literally every other technology that "could never replace" human craft.
The claim boils down to: AI won’t replace humans because humans like feeling special. A rigorous argument. History definitely supports the idea that sentiment reliably beats convenience, especially once the imitation is indistinguishable and half the price. But yes, this disruption will surely pause out of respect.
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nelox commented on Microsoft Office renamed to “Microsoft 365 Copilot app” office.com... · Posted by u/LeoPanthera
1975: Traf-O-Data renamed Microsoft. Traffic counting ditched. Visionary.
1985: MS-DOS released. Users typed everything. Peak convenience.
1995: Windows 95 launched. Clippy forced assistance. Users thrilled.
2012: Metro interface rolled out. Tiles everywhere. Intuitive design.
2014: Windows Azure renamed Microsoft Azure. “Windows” dropped. Bold move.
2020: Office 365 renamed Microsoft 365. Bing renamed Microsoft Bing. Defender renamed Microsoft Defender. Branding masterstroke.
2022: Office brand killed after 32 years. Portal substituted. Heartwarming farewell.
2023: Bing Chat renamed Copilot. Azure AD renamed Entra ID. Creativity unleashed.
2024: Groove Music renamed endlessly. Finally axed. Customer loyalty rewarded.
2025: Microsoft 365 renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot app. Price hiked. Bargain.
2026: Copilot slapped on everything. Rebranding triumphs. Bugs eternal. Pure genius.
nelox commented on Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes reuters.com/world/america... · Posted by u/jumpocelot
A lot of talk about how the administration didn't even try to justify this, but I think that the administration actually believes they did justify it. They exist in some bubble completely un-tethered from reality. I don't know what that means for the future but it's terrifying.
How? Try this:
https://www.state.gov/nicolas-maduro-moros/
[edit] Maduro remained under US federal indictment on narco‑terrorism and related cocaine trafficking conspiracy charges throughout the Biden administration.