#566

“Hey, listen!”

Separate it from Disney. (financially, legally, ethically, forcefully…)

Actual Budget is an open-source envelope-style budgeting tool similar to YNAB. It has a self-hostable syncing service so that you can manage your budget across multiple devices.

The reason you might want to do this is that it’s probably easier to do full account review sitting at your computer, but you might want to track expenses/receipts on your smartphone while you’re away from home.

See? Invincible. I can’t be vinced.

redneck engineering energy

something something small government… federal overreach… oppression

When people you have maligned and persecuted show you compassion and give you aid, that should be humiliating and humbling.

Unfortunately it probably won’t have that effect on the people who need it.

On May 22, 2010, now known as “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” Laszlo Hanyecz, the Florida man, agreed to pay 10,000 bitcoins for the delivery of two Papa John’s pizzas.

[…]

Nine months after the purchase, Bitcoin reached parity with the U.S. dollar, making the two pizzas worth $10,000. In 2015, the fifth anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, the two pizzas were valued at $2.4 million. On May 22, 2024, Bitcoin was at just over $69,181 making the pizzas worth…you get the point.

https://www.investopedia.com/news/bitcoin-pizza-day-celebrating-20-million-pizza-order/

A ten-gallon hat on a one-quart head.

Now there are three of them!

There is no paradox.

Tolerance is a social contract.

If you abide by the terms of the contract (e.g. tolerance) then the contract applies to you and you are protected by it.

If you do not abide by the terms of the contract then it is broken, and you are not protected by the contract.

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to inform you of a fire that has broken out on the premises of 123 Cavendon Road…

Ah yes, finding the rotting corpse of a long-dead rat, maggoty and moldy, bones and fur and decay… much less disturbing.

Ah yes, finding a bloody rat screaming and twitching, trapped under the wire, its spine broken… much less disturbing.

Deflation increases the value of money vs. goods and services. As a consequence, deflation concentrates economic power in the hands of people who already have money.

If you have debt, deflation increases the value of your debt making it harder to pay off.

I’ve had success printing TPU onto the uncoated steel side of a print bed. Flip it over and clean it, gently sand it if it’s too smooth for the first layer to grip.

Deflation is worse.

It’s not just the convenience of running water, it’s all of the infrastructure around making sure that water is clean and safe, which involves government regulation and audits, massive engineering projects, a lot of maintenance effort and a considerable amount of tax dollars.

Just as an example, leptospirosis is a common bacterial contaminant in untreated water:

Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe (bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil’s disease (/ˈvaɪlz/ VILES), the acute, severe form of leptospirosis, causes the infected individual to become jaundiced (skin and eyes become yellow), develop kidney failure, and bleed. Bleeding from the lungs associated with leptospirosis is known as severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome.

If you go hiking in places like Hawaii (where the government gives a shit about public health) you’ll see warning signs about lepto around pools and streams because people have this delusional fantasy about tropical paradises with clean flowing streams. If you go hiking in other places the lepto will still be there but the warning sign won’t. Untreated, uncontrolled water is a hazard.

Everyone can’t be an expert on water sanitation. Employing some experts to provide that service for thousands or millions of people is a fantastic solution. It’s probably impossible to overstate how much benefit water infrastructure provides for society.

So I disagree with you. “Running water” (centrally managed water sanitation and delivery) is one of the best things human society has ever done. The benefit to public health is incalculable.

The only reason you might discount how much benefit you gain from this system is that you’ve grown up with it as normal. You’ve never had to worry about groundwater contamination, about boiling every cup of water before you drink it, about filtration or desalinization or testing for lead. Which is why I describe having access to this as a privilege - because we take it for granted.

it’s hard for people so used to the comforts of capitalism to realise this is actually luxury

being inside, seated comfortably, doing non-manual work, educated, can read, listening to music, this is a job better than 99% of people who have ever lived have had

Hell, if you’re in this situation you have immediate and convenient access to potable water in your living space. This is a level of privilege beyond almost every other human that has lived in all of history.