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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: August 10th, 2023

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  • Not OP, but I chose not to go Bambu because of the closed ecosystem. I like that they’re enabling custom firmware now, but they presented as very closed and proprietary, including network printing going through their cloud. While I’m not printing anything sensitive, I could see that being a concern for some, especially if you’re designing your own prints. I get that they’re the turnkey solution that “just works” out of the box, but so do my Qidi X-Plus 3 printers, and I can SSH into them if I want.


  • Depending on what you meant by this question, I’d say Perplexity. It’s got access to a number of different LLMs, and cited its sources. The biggest concern I’ve had when it comes to LLMs is that they eventually make shit up. If you can verify its answers by checking its sources, you have a much higher confidence level in the answer.



  • I’ve been a software engineer for the last 17 years, with the last 11 years having been in management. The further people get in their career the easier it is to forget to stay humble. You can’t always be the smartest person in the room. It’s statistically unlikely. One of my favorite books I’ve read is “The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do” (not to be confused with “The Secret”). The book covers how you can stay humble in your career, reinvent yourself, value the contributions of others, etc. The fact is that even if you end up in a leadership position, you won’t necessarily be the smartest person in the room. Even if you made a great decision for the team years ago, that may not hold up now. Be open to the fact that you’re wrong. Be open to change. If you can’t do that then you’re going to end up set aside as a dinosaur. Adapt. If you don’t then you’ll be left behind. And be kind, because you never know who you’ll work with again. Being smart isn’t carte blanche to be an asshole to anyone who isn’t as smart as you. You’ll likely need them at some point if you stick around long enough.


  • If your manager is a good manager, then nothing that comes up in your review should be a surprise. Talk about a plan to get to the next level. Nothing will ever be guaranteed, but if you work together on a plan and have milestones to meet then you’ll have a better chance of getting a raise and promotion. Obviously, not every review cycle can include a raise or promotion, so be reasonable.

    A good review has what are called SMART goals. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. If your manager fails to give you goals that meet that criteria, then chances are you aren’t both working toward the same thing. Be open to criticism, because you probably won’t be doing everything well. Make sure you’re having regular one-on-ones with your manager, or whoever gauges your progress. If you’re early in your career, I would recommend every week, or every two weeks at most. This way you have regular feedback. Make sure you take notes.


  • Jirard’s words were unambiguous over the years, though. It was always “we’re working with…” or “we’ve donated to…” and not “we’re looking at these charities”. I don’t know what the rationale for hanging on to that money was, whether it was for the right reasons or not. What I do know is that people were lied to. It doesn’t matter if he intended to or not. It’s not a good spot to be in, and I can’t imagine it gets much better from here. The whole thing felt very much like w crypto scam, except the money was still available, but there was a whole lot of “trust me, bro” and misrepresentation of what was happening behind the scenes.

    How many years of research do you need in order to pick the charity or university you want to fund? How many times do you repeat the lies (with numbers!) without even knowing what your own charity is doing? I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a different reason they hung on to the money, because this doesn’t pass the sniff test. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.



  • Are you sure what you got was good quality? I find Massachusetts to have the best quality stuff near me. I’ve purchased from New Jersey, but have questioned the quality on occasion. Once it was bad enough that I felt pretty off for a while, and felt like I was going to pass out, but ultimately didn’t. A couple of other times I’ve been stoned and just got light headed when I stood up, but that could also just be chalked up to getting up too quickly or not hydrating enough, and might’ve happened with or without weed.

    It’s possible weed just doesn’t agree with you, or a certain strain. From your other comments your doctor told you not to smoke when you brought it up. None of us should contradict your doctor’s advice, but if you’re not going to listen to that, then I’d at least suggest getting a second opinion.



  • I haven’t heard anything about this until now, but I loved the Monkey Island games. I started with Monkey Island 3 because I was too young to be aware of the other two. I didn’t like the fourth one much because they changed the style a lot. I think DoubleFine did made a few Monkey Island games after, but I haven’t played those.

    The Lucas Arts games of this era were amazing, so let’s see if this will live up to them, since it seems to be aiming for that. Full Throttle was sick, and I would love if somehow Full Throttle 2 were to still happen. Insert skeleton “still waiting” meme.




  • Having been recently opted for a voluntary layoff to avoid my team needing to lose anyone, I’m in a spot where I can finally relax, maybe take a vacation, and center myself to decide what my next move is. It will likely be another management position, but I have the luxury of not needing to rush to answer that question. I have an idea for a project that I started working on and could turn into a business idea. Doubling my money would mean I have more time to relax and figure myself out (I’ve been VERY stressed, and didn’t even realize it until I left). Ultimately, I’ll get bored, and having more money to do something with would mean I could throw more money at the stock market to try to improve my retirement.

    Does doubling my money change much? Hard to say. In the short term, no. Long term, probably.



  • I’m so sorry you see things this way. I just left my job after many years at the company, and while my goal wasn’t to make friends I definitely ended up collecting a few along the way. I was in upper management and definitely cared about my team, and so did the directors under me. I befriended some of the people in the C-suite as well. They threw a nice, big surprise going away dinner for me, which they definitely didn’t need to do. I’ve met up with former coworkers in other departments to catch up, because we genuinely enjoy each other’s company. I hope you find a place that values you and that you can find a friend or two that you can keep in your life.



  • Best of luck on picking one up! I rather like the design of the IS500, and of the previous generation IS (2006ish?). My only problem with the IS was its price compared to its performance. How can you charge so much for a sub-300hp V6? Then they put the V8 from the LC500 in the IS and it made much more sense to me.

    I don’t know anything about the way it handles, but if it’s anything like the way it looks, it should be a fun ride.



  • Second generation Audi R8

    I was lucky enough to own that alongside the Shelby GT350 for a short while, but ended up selling the GT350 within a year of getting the R8 since I have no need for two sports cars. I need a practical vehicle, so I got a Macan Turbo. If I could’ve afforded a Lamborghini Huracán I would’ve gotten that, but I couldn’t, so I got the next best thing and I love it. For anyone unaware, since VW owns Audi and Lamborghini, the R8 and Huracán share the same chassis, and a whole bunch more parts. Mine is a base V10 (not a V10+), so it has a different transmission than the Huracán, but the engine is the same.

    I’m FINALLY going to be able to take the R8 to the track to see what it can do. That’s why I bought it four years ago, and it’s what I did numerous times with the GT350, which aside from overheating issues was fantastic in its handling. I hope the R8 doesn’t disappoint.