CanadianCorhen

Well, no one ever accused the American government of being smart...

I came across this piece:

I’m a big supporter of public transit and usually in favour of ambitious infrastructure projects. Still, this article raised some great points about how big transit builds are planned, justified, and communicated to the public.

It got me wondering, how do we strike the balance between building bold, future-proof systems and keeping projects practical and efficient? When is a project like this justified, vs LRT?

Would like to hear how others read it, either agreeing with it, or rebutting it.

Haven't seen any chatter here a out the new Murderbot show.

My wife and I are absolutely loving it so far, feels like a really faithful and respectful adaptation to the books, with most of the changes being positive!

Anyone else watching this?

As a lover of The Expanse, I recently picked up The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey and ended up binging it in a day while waiting for work. Spoilers ahead.

The book is set on a world inhabited by two competing forms of life: carbon-based organisms introduced by humans around 4,000 years ago, and the native crystalline lifeforms. Just as a team of scientists makes a genetic breakthrough—enabling these very different life forms to coexist—they detect a gravity anomaly that functions as an “Outside Context Problem.”

Now, as a newly subjugated species, the scientists must prove to their new overlords that humanity still has something to offer to the vast, interconnected web of civilizations that make up the alien polity.

As a soft science fiction space opera, I really enjoyed the book. The Carryx, with their striking orange-and-blue morality, are fascinating, and humanity’s attempts to "humanize" them predictably fall flat. I do wish it had been longer—the 400 pages flew by—and the “science” that drives the plot remains mostly hidden, despite being the central pivot of the story.

A lot of the drama—and even the action—comes from the clash of two different moral philosophies: Is it better to cooperate with an oppressor to save everyone, or should you refuse, knowing it could damn everyone to death? It’s a brutal choice, weighing the survival of humanity, and living to fight another day, against the cost of submitting to tyranny.

Each section opens with a quote from the Carryx perspective, often hinting at how humanity eventually contributes to their downfall. I’m really looking forward to seeing that play out.

Solid 8/10. Bring on the sequel—and the fall of the Carryx.

I had a plan in my head for a custom end table for quite a while, something made of local wood, a book shelf, and integrated wireless charger. This is the result.

Wood is arbutus wood, treated with tung oil just need to add a drawer. Plans are entirely unique, made in Civil3d. I took the raw wood, rough cut it, planed it, sanded and polished. It's as close to scratch as you can get.

Really pissed off that we are fighting inflation, skimpflation and shrinkflation all at the same time.

Buying chocolate granola bars, only to realize after they only "chocolaty" instead really pissed me off!